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Hopkins and Kovalev both went toe to toe over the weekend with the latter coming out as the victor. Picture: RDXSports

This weekend saw Sergey Kovalev completely outclass the Bernard Hopkins to claim the WBA Super and IBF world titles to his collection of belts. 

The two went toe to toe at Boardwalk Hall in front of a crowd of 8,545 on Saturday night, and, from reports it was a bit of a one sided fight. 

Kovalev, 31, really bought the fight to soon-to-be-50 year-old Hopkins who spent the majority of the fight on the back foot. The end result saw that not even a single round was very close with judges scores reported as 120-107, 120-107 and 120-107 in favour of the Russian.

Hopkins fights under the monkier of 'The Alien' which he adopted ahead of his fight with Karo Murat last year. The meaning behind the name swap from "the executioner" according to Hopkin's was because: "I'm an alien because I am of this world, but I'm not from this world." he told Mail Online.

As the executioner, he had a string of success, and this is the first loss that he has suffered in his professional boxing career since swapping the name. His current record is 55 wins (with 32 knockouts), 7 losses and 2 draws. Since the turn of the decade, he has had 5 wins, 2 losses a draw and a no contest. 

One thing that Hopkins can definitely take from this fight is that he was the first fighter to take Kovalev past eight rounds, a fantastic achievement, and one that definitely should not be overlooked. 

It was a special fight for Kovalev, 31, who just recently became a father for the first time on October 20th. The Boxer has yet to see his new son, Aleksandr, because of training commitments, but he did dedicate the fight to him.

November 22 will see Scott Quigg take on Hidenori Otake in Liverpool's Echo Arena to defend his WBA World Super Bantamweight title. We've been looking at the stats on Boxstat to see which way it might go when the two come toe to toe. 

From the offset we're seeing a lot of green on the side of Quigg who seems to be the favourite for the upcoming bout. One thing that jumps out initially is the amount of punching power which for Scott Quigg is around 76.3% compared to the 56.9% of his opponent. This should lend a big advantage to the home fighter. 

An explanation on how this is worked out by the site. (Boxstat.com)

Two attributes that are actually surprisingly close are the Past Opponents Punch Resistance and the Ability to take a punch. This demonstrates that the two are pretty much on a level when it comes to taking damage which will mean that Quigg's overall higher punching power might win it for him. 

On a basic Wins/Losses/Draws level, Quigg comes out on top with 29 Wins, 0 losses and 2 draws, whereas his opponent's track record is 22 wins, 1 loss and 3 draws. This translates for Quigg as a 93.5% Win percentage and a 84.6% win percentage for Otake for the Japanese fighter. 

Stamina-wise it initially looks as if Otake has the advantage in the fact that he has boxed 25 more rounds than Quigg (158 as opposed to 133), however, Scott Quigg's average winning round has been 4.1 compared to the 6.4 of Otake which may be the reason behind this. 

We've been seeing some great fights recently! Keep up your training everyone and stay strong. - RDX

The two boxers will be going toe to toe in Summer next year. Picture: RDXSports 

Luke Campbell and Tommy Coyle both saw impressive wins this weekend in front of a home crowd in Hull. 

Both victories mean that the two close friends will face off at the KC stadium in their home town on 30th May next year according to promoter Eddie Hearn. He also stated that the two will face each other next year but will have matches individually first. 

The two were the first to confirm it as well in post match interviews. 

Close friends, Campbell sat ringside to watch his future opponent Coyle take on Michael Katsidis in a bout that ended up with the former winning with a second round knockout. 

The winning hit came from an on-the-ropes Coyle which connected with the side of the Australian's head. Katsidis beat he count but intervention from referee Marcus McDonnell meant saw the bout end there due to how unsteady the boxer was on his feet. 

Describing Coyle's win as "fantastic" Campbell entered the ring shortly after the match to join his friend and announce their upcoming fight. 

"Luke is a mate of mine and it will be a bit weird but we can put our friendship aside for 36 minutes and go at it like two warriors." Coyle told Sky Sports News. 

"We're lads from Hull at the end of the day and the fans want it, they pay our wages, let's give them it."

Amir Khan from his latest RDX photoshoot. Picture: RDX (Promo)

Amir Khan is looking very likely to fight Devon Alexander in December in Las Vegas according to recent reports.

Word from the Alexander camp is that the fight was 'in the works' on Tuesday. 

The fight is supposed to take place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on 13th December as part of a larger event, with Demetrius Andrade and Keith Thurman both defending their respective titles at the event. 

Khan has been looking for a bigger fight for a while now, back in August he told BBC Sport that he was looking to go toe to toe with the boxer from Missouri or the Californian Robert Guerro as a warm up fight for the coming year.

The British boxer has been looking for a fight with Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, but after attempting to set up fights with both and being rejected, he's more determined than ever to make it to the top, regardless of who he has to fight first to get there. 

Mayweather opted to fight Maidana in Las Vegas back in September as a rematch instead.

Last weekend saw MMA journalist Spencer Lazara ditch the microphone for the gloves and step into the ring. We don't think he'll be forgetting this night in a hurry.

The journalist has been covering the sport for years for mmainterviews but friday's bout was the first time in which he had stepped into the ring. Fighting against Nevada Welterweight, Sir Mosley, it looked to be an interesting fight for the debut fighter. 

Lazara was trained by Nick Blomgren, nicknamed "One-Kick Nick" who will have been proud with his student's performance. The coach has been in the business for 25 years with a fair few names under his belt, one wonders where this will be placing. 

The video starts in the final third of the second round. The first round was reportedly uneventful with a lot of groundwork which ended up in a stalemate, neither opponent being able to secure a convincing lead on the other. 

We see the southpaw Lazara right at the beginning of the video throw 3 devastating lefts in quick succession, throwing his opponent against the side. Mosley manages to dodge a fourth and then back away. 

From what we can see, Mosley then goes for a spin which puts him out of position against Lazara, who then capitalizes on this with another left. This puts Mosley onto the canvas, not to get back up. With his opponent out cold, Lazara celebrates. 

Watching the video back, it seems as though Mosley is put off balance by the third of Lazara's punches, which lines him up to be finished off by that killer left from the latter. 

Lazara's future in the sport currently remains unknown, however, if he keeps finishing fights in this manner, he'll definitely be one to watch!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeK4D-1v0HU

Joshua (middle) claimed the WBC International Heavyweight title on Saturday. Photo: WorldSeriesBoxing (flickr)

After watching Anthony Joshua in his fight on Saturday, David Price is already wanting to face the Olympic champion. 

Joshua claimed the WBC International Heavyweight title on Saturday Night against Denis Bakhtov within the second round. The fight was expected to go on much longer as Bakhtov was supposedly a lot tougher than Joshua's previous opponents. 

It is because of his early-round stoppages that Joshua's stamina has come under question, prompting worries that he won't be able to compete with tougher opponents as he won't be used to longer fights. 

Price, however, isn't worried about how many rounds Joshua can go:

"I’ll be going out with the same intentions as Anthony Joshua. It will be like an explosive fight." He said: "I’m not this durable fighter, who comes in to get rounds in. I’ll be going in to take his head off his shoulders type of thing, without sounding too manic."

Price is back on the up after losing consecutive fights with Tony Thompson and has his sights well and truly set for Joshua. 

In a vote on the Bleacher Report, Price is second favourite for the next Joshua fight under Tyson Fury who has 45.6% of the 946 votes. Fury was due to fight on the recent card at Manchester Arena but pulled out due to his late uncle being taken seriously ill. 

Boxing is big business for promoters, Warren reckons that he's lost £90,000 in unpaid managerial commission and that W. Promotions Ltd. (WPL), is owed £1.8m in lost income. Picture: Chris Isherwood (flickr)

Boxing promoter Frank Warren is currently suing ex world boxing champion Ricky Burns to the tune of around £2m. 

His reason? "He got tapped up. That's the bottom line." Said Warren. 

The notion of tapping up is an attempt by one team to tempt a player from another team over to their side, without the knowledge or permission of the team he/she currently plays for. 

Warren claims that, behind the scenes, rival promoter Eddie Hearn was contacting Burns in order to get him to sign to his company Hearn's Matchroom Sport Ltd. He is suing for the money he allegedly lost when Burns signed for Hearn last year.

Burns was being promoted by Warren when he fought his way to super featherweight champion in 2010. The fighter then took the world champion's belt in the lightweight division shortly afterwards. 

It was his defense of this title that would end his relationship with Warren, with Hearn's company promoting the event. 

Warren's high court claim states that Burn's move were in breach of binding agreements made between the two, part of which gave his company W. Promotions Ltd (WPL), exclusive rights to promote Burns' next three fights. 

"Up until this litigation, I quite liked him." Said Warren: "Now I'm very disappointed. Very, very disappointed."

Canadian fighters claimed a majority of the wins at UFC Fight Night 54 much to the approval of the home crowd. Picture: Alex Indigo (flickr)

October 4th was a good day to be Canadian at UFC Fight Night 54. With fighters winning 7 games and losing only 2 in the octagon, the Canadian's kept up their impressive record on home soil. 

Of the 7 Canadians, that claimed victory at the weekend, 4 of them all trained at Montreal's Tristar Gym, which suffered no losses. 

Highlight of the evening was the headline fight, Rory MacDonald vs Tarec Saffiedine, when the Canadian (MacDonald) won by knockout in the 3rd round. This win improves his record over the last 9 games to 8 wins 1 loss in UFC events while it meant that his opponent was dealt his first ever knockout loss.

The win came from an uppercut that left the fans in Halifax heading home on a high note. A debut for the organisation in the area, the amount taken on the gate was $926,000 from the 10,782. 

Before the headline event, Raphael Assuncao defeated Bryan Caraway in one of the rare Canadian losses of the night.  The Brazilian is now on a 7 fight win streak which is on par with Dennis Bermudez and Demetrious Johnson for third longest in the UFC. The three are currently behind Chris Weidman with 8 and Jon Jones, who's leading the pack, on eleven. 

Out of these 7 wins, Assuncao has won 5 by decision. 

For all those in training! Keep your head up and carry on fighting! 

Original image: Heiko Hartsuijker.nl (flickr) 

Demetrious Johnson claimed victory at UFC 178 over his opponent, Chris Cariaso to claim an impressive 5th straight title defense. 

The UFC flyweight champ managed to submit his challenger 2:29 into the second round with an impressive kimura, locking the champion and winning the match. 

Johnson's win was not a surprise result. On paper, Johnson is the better fighter with a UFC record of 9-1-1 as opposed to Cariaso's 6-5, a fact which was highlighted with an early take-down from the defending champion at around 90 seconds into the first round. 

His winning pin came when in the 2nd round Cariso slipped after attempting to fend off Johnson with kicks. The latter capitalized on the mistake, locking up the left arm and securing a straight armbar which lead to the Kimura. 

“I feel good,” Commented Johnson, when asked how he felt about the bout, “It was a great fight. Chris Cariaso’s a tough opponent. I was a little too patient for my own good. But sometimes that’s good that way I’m not overextended and I don’t get knocked out.”

The win sees Johnson on a level with UFC Hall of famers Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes for consecutive defenses. The champion has remained quiet about who he thinks his next opponent will be stating that he doesn't call out anyone in particular.

Joshua (Right) is said to have an interest in the title, and wishes to then defend it! Picture: Bill (Flickr)

Heavyweight Anthony Joshua has declared an interest in the British Heavyweight title title, and then to defend it. 

The last person to hold the title was David Price, who held it from 19th May 2012 until he relinquished it on the 5th December the following year. Relinquishing the title is not that uncommon, with many previous holders leaving the title behind in order to fight for a higher title. 

Going toe to toe for the belt next will be Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury in their rematch at the ExCel Arena in London. Currently, it is looking like the former champion, Fury, might relinquish the belt yet again as he did in February 2012 after holding the belt for 6 months due to the fact that he hasn't been talking about it a lot recently. 

Scott Gilfoid of Boxing News 24, however thinks that Joshua is better than that: 

"I’d be very, very surprised if Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn will park him at the British level and have him wasting time defending the British strap against the likes or Sam Sexton, Michael Sprott and Dereck Chisora for any length of time." He writes: "I mean, Joshua will likely go after and win the British strap, but if his idea is to defend the strap 3 or more times, it would be a huge waste of time. Even going after the belt at all is a waste of time in my view."

A new video has been released teasing us for what is to come at one of the biggest events on the UFC calendar. 

The flyweight title fight, Johnson vs Cariaso, will be the main headline event of the night.  Originally, 178 was meant to be a rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, however, due to the latter pulling out first due to a torn muscle in his right knee and also on the outside of the same knee. 

Leg injury struck again, this time Jones was the one to pull out of the fight against a new opponent, Cormier. This meant that the flyweight title was moved from 177 to this card. 

Khabib Nurmagomedov being sidelined indefinitely by a knee injury meant that the brief possibility of a bout between him and Donald Cerrone was off the table. Instead, Cerrone, after being temporarily reassigned to fight Bobby Green, would fight Eddie Alvarez after the latter was released from Bellator MMA. 

Green will be booked for a future fight card against a new opponent. 

People often ask us what it takes to be good at the various combat sports that we offer equipment for. Get back to basics and that will be the key to your success!

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights." - Muhammad Ali

Scott Quigg (left) vs. Stephane Jamoye. Quigg gained a win in the third round. Picture: Kelly White

Stephane Jamoye was given a masterclass in tactical boxing by WBA regular title holder Scott Quigg last Saturday.

After being on top for the fight, the boxer from Bury managed to drop his challenger in the third round with a great right. Even though the former European champion managed to get his feet, referee, Terry O'Connor, ended the fight and handed the victory to Quigg. 

Three was the magic number of the night, on top of Quigg being victorious in the third, Rogowski and Joshua also attained a win during the round. 

Calm and collected, Anthony Joshua, who took gold at the 2012 Olympics, floored his opponent, Konstatin Airich, with a barrage of hits that prompted a stoppage. A great result for the 24 year old but an upset for scheduling, who had the fight down for 8 rounds.

 Rogowski also caused an upset in the third round when he put down Macclesfielder Liam Hanrahan with an impressive left hook. 

A boxer's best friend. His pull up bar. 

The humble pull up bar is one of the most effective pieces of kit to get your arms and core in shape. In boxing and other martial sports, your upper strength and fitness could be the deciding factor that means you win or lose. In this article, we're going to look at a couple of exercises that you can do to fully make use of your bar. 

1. The chin up 

Start off by grabbing the bar with hands shoulder with apart, palms facing you; Pull yourself up until your chin is on level with the bar then slowly lower yourself until your arms are fully extended. 

While some may think that the chin is an obvious process, getting the hand position right with the right technique, can mean a reduction in the chance of injury. 

2. The climber pull up

Starting in the same position but with palms forward, pull your weight straight up. When you reach the top half of the move, slowly shift your weight to the right and aim your chin for your right hand. Lower yourself down to the starting position and repeat on your left. 

More challenging than the standard chin up, this technique balances your bicep strength. 

3. Hanging leg raises

Holding the bar with palms facing you, lift your legs up by bending at the hips. Keep your torso steady and arms extended to raise your legs parallel with the floor. 

Rather than working on your biceps, this lift develops the front of your abs. If you can't manage a full leg raise, bend at the knees to make things easier.

4. Hanging Reverse Shoulder Shrugs

Starting the same way as the last one: palms facing you, arms straight. Lift up slightly by shrugging your shoulders downwards away from the head. Make sure you do your repetitions at a quick pace in order to really work on your traps.

A great way to build solid, rounded shoulders, the hanging reverse shoulder shrugs really work on those trapezius muscles with some great results! 

5. Windscreen wipers

Again, with palms facing you, swing your legs up and hold your torso steady. Use your core to swing your left as far as you can and then repeat for the right.