fight

The 46-year old’s comeback bid for 13th world title falls short with a draw against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

Manny Pacquiao’s bid to become the oldest welterweight champion in boxing history fell short as he failed to beat Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

But he did not lose, either.

Instead, the 46-year-old Pacquiao and the 30-year-old Barrios fought to a majority draw on Saturday, with one judge giving Barrios a 115-113 win and the other two judges scoring it a 114-114 draw.

The result allowed Barrios (29-2-2, 18 knockouts) to retain his WBC welterweight belt.

“I thought I won the fight,” Pacquiao said afterwards.

“I mean, it was a close fight. My opponent was very tough. It was a wonderful fight. It was good.”

Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) already holds the record for the oldest welterweight champion, winning the belt via split-decision over Keith Thurman in 2019.

The Filipino legend was enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame last month. Pacquiao dominated Saturday’s fight early on, showing energy against his younger foe.

Ultimately, though, CompuBox stats had Barrios landing more punches (120-101) and more jabs (45-20), though Pacquiao landed 81 power punches to Barrios’s 75.

Pacquiao held the lead on all three cards after 10 rounds, but Barrios took all three rounds on all three scorecards to avoid the upset. Age and stamina were definitely on Pacquiao’s mind after the fight.

“I need to continue my training for longer going into a championship fight,” said Pacquiao, who lost his senatorial bid in the Philippines in May. “Because of the election, I started late, but it’s OK. Of course, I’d like a rematch. I want to leave a legacy and make the Filipino people proud.

“Don’t tell that to Barrios.

“His stamina is crazy,” the champion said. “He’s still strong as hell, and his timing is real. He’s still a very awkward fighter to try to figure out.”

As for a rematch, Barrios is ready.

“I’ll do the rematch. Absolutely. This was huge for boxing. I’d love to do it again.”

Vice President Joe Biden, who has traveled to some America’s leading medical centers in recent weeks as part of what he has called his moonshot to cure cancer, will soon take his quest to the Vatican.

Biden will address a major conference on the progress of regenerative medicine in Vatican City on April 29, the vice president’s office said Wednesday.

The gathering, hosted by the Stem for Life Foundation and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, will also draw leading physicians, ethicists and philanthropists to discuss the potential of emerging research to treat cancer and other diseases. The initiative has been championed by Pope Francis, who worked as a chemist before he entered the priesthood and has written in support of scientific progress.

Biden will be the latest leading U.S. political figure to attend a major gathering at the Vatican. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, will travel there this week to address a separate summit on social, economic and environmental issues.

Other details on the vice president’s three-day trip to Rome and the Vatican, including a possible meeting with Francis, had not yet been determined, his office said.

Biden, the nation’s first Catholic vice president, attended Francis’ papal inauguration in 2013 and attended multiple events during the Catholic leader’s visit to the U.S. last fall, including his address to Congress and departure from Philadelphia after the World Meeting of Families there.

Biden has praised Francis’ message of inclusion, writing in Time magazine that the pope “put a welcome sign on the front door of the Church.” Biden has also spoken of Francis’ personal empathy toward him and his family since the death last May of Biden’s eldest son, Beau, and the role of his faith in coping with personal tragedy.

The vice president’s effort to cure cancer, first announced by Biden as he said last fall that he would not run for president, was formally launched this year in President Obama’s State of the Union address. Biden has since traveled to Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University and other research centers as part of his effort to bring stakeholders together in search of a cure.

Follow @mikememoli for more news out of Washington.

ALSO:

Top GOP senator meets Obama’s Supreme Court pick to tell him there will be no vote

‘We need an outsider like Trump,’ says this two-time Obama voter

In his return to boxing after four years without a fight, Manny Pacquiao says he has more “passion and determination” than ever.

The 46-year-old Filipino star says his disciplined training regimen will help him shine in the ring Saturday and defeat World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion Mario Barrios — a fighter 16 years Pacquiao’s junior — in the main event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (5 p.m. PDT, Prime Video).

The 30-year-old champion Barrios is known for his effective counter-punching and is in the prime of his career. But the most important opponent for “Pacman” will be weathering Father Time. The last time Pacquiao was in a competitive fight was when he lost in late 2021 by unanimous decision to Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas, throwing a lot of punches, but connecting on few.

“It’s my passion, and the fire in my heart, in my mind is still there,” Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) said in an interview with The Times at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. “I can still work hard in training and I can still fight.”

Manny Pacquiao, center, and WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios pose at a news conference in Los Angeles on June 3.

(Greg Beacham / Associated Press)

If he wins, Pacquiao would make history in many categories: he would become the second oldest champion in boxing history, after Bernard Hopkins became the oldest world champion at 46 years and 126 days by beating Jean Pascal in 2011. He would also be the oldest oldest champion in a division below light heavyweight and the only active champion to be part of the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Pacquiao noted that one of his goals in his return to boxing is to become the oldest fighter in boxing alongside trainer Freddie Roach, extending an illustrious career in which he has won titles in eight different divisions. The Filipino is the only boxer to conquer and retain titles during each of the past four decades.

“He’s having very good combinations, his power is still there,” said Roach, who first met Pacquiao in 2001.

“My goal is to be the oldest champion and retire as champion,” said Pacquiao, who expects to participate in two or three more fights, including some exhibition bouts. Prior to this fight against Barrios, Pacquiao held two exhibition fights against South Korean DK Yoo in 2022 and kickboxer Rukiya Anpo in 2024.

Pacquiao said that despite going four years without fighting competitively, he maintained a strict training regimen for this contest.

“Sometimes my trainers ask me to stop,” Pacquiao acknowledged. “They don’t want me to overtrain. They want me to give my body time to rest, give me time to recover.”

Pacquiao received a lot of criticism for being a direct contender for a world title after such a long break and being given a shot at the world championship without any recent bouts.

“All I can say is, like, I’m different than fighters to prepare for a fight. When I prepare for a fight like this, I’m seriously 100% disciplined and I work hard,” Pacquiao noted.

Barrios, known as “El Azteca,” is not only 16 years younger than Pacquiao, he also has a seven-inch height advantage. The Mexican-American won his title by defeating Ugas by unanimous decision in 2023 after knocking him down twice. He defended his crown twice in 2024 by beating Fabian Maidana and recently had a draw with Abel Ramos on the same bill as the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson showdown in November.

WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios poses on the scale at a ceremonial weigh in on Friday in Las Vegas.

(John Locher / Associated Press)

“I’ve been working with the mindset that I’m facing a legend. At the end of the day, it’s another man trying to take my title. I respect what he’s done in the sport and the person he is, but come fight night, that respect won’t be there,” Barrios said at his camp in Las Vegas. “When they proposed the fight to me, I didn’t know whether to take it as disrespect or respect because he wanted me. But it doesn’t matter, I’m the champion for a reason and I’m going to show why I have the WBC belt.”

Also on the bill, Pacquiao’s eldest son, Emmanuel, 24, will be making his professional debut, despite having limited amateur experience. According to Pacquiao, Emmanuel’s arrival in professional boxing by sharing an evening with him is a “blessing from God.”

“My advice to him is to work hard, look at my training, the way I prepare, the way I punish myself, the way I focus on training,” Pacquiao said.

The Las Vegas card will also feature WBC super welterweight world champion Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora taking on Australian Tim Tszyu in a rematch of the 2024 bout won by Fundora. Former world champion Isaac Cruz will now square off against Omar Salcido Gamez in a 12-round super lightweight bout after Angel Fierro withdrew from the event on Friday due to health concerns. Also, former two-division world champion Brandon Figueroa will battle Joet Gonzalez in a 10-round featherweight showdown.

This article was first published in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

Daniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk hit the scales in London before their undisputed heavyweight title fight on Saturday at Wembley Stadium.

READ MORE: Body shots and ‘dirty’ tactics – how does Dubois beat Usyk?

Follow live text and radio commentary from 20:00 BST on Saturday on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.

Molting peacocks squawked in the distance and a Pacific breeze whispered through the eucalyptus as flamingo keeper Liz Gibbons tidied her station at the San Francisco Zoo.

It had been an unusually cold summer in a city famous for them. Marooned on “a breathtaking piece of land” at the peninsula’s far western edge, steps from the deadly surf at Ocean Beach, the timeworn seaside menagerie had endured weeks of gray gloom.

But late that July afternoon, the sun broke through the clouds. Then word began to spread.

“Everybody was like, ‘Oh my God, did you hear?’” the keeper recalled. “It’s the news we’ve been waiting for.”

A sign at the Highway 1 entrance of the San Francisco Zoo.

(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)

For more than a year, the keepers, gardeners, train drivers and office staff of Teamsters Local 856 had been fighting to unseat their boss, longtime San Francisco Zoo Chief Executive Tanya Peterson.

They were not alone.

A growing chorus of animal activists, government watchdogs and civic leaders had called for Peterson to step down. In May, the San Francisco Zoological Society, the park’s nonprofit operator, split down the middle in a failed attempt to remove her.

From late last spring through early this summer, there was a vote of no confidence by the union, a blistering exposé in the San Francisco Chronicle, a damning report by the Animal Control and Welfare Commission, a looming audit by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and a hail-Mary intercession by Mayor Daniel Lurie.

Even the consul general of China had privately sought Peterson’s ouster.

“He was like, ‘You have issues — fix them,’” said Supervisor Myrna Melgar, whose district includes the zoo.

A similar fight recently sent fur flying in Los Angeles, where the city and its former nonprofit zoo partner have locked horns over control of a $50-million endowment. At stake in San Francisco’s power struggle is a pair of cuddly new tourist magnets: two giant pandas from China, hailed as a coup for the tarnished Golden City when then-Mayor London Breed inked the deal to bring them last year.

Only two other American zoos have pandas: San Diego and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. In San Francisco, where nearly a quarter of residents identify as Chinese, the thrill was palpable. City Hall hoped the panda prestige would burn off any lingering haze of a doom loop.

“We’re getting our house in order,” Lurie said. “We already are a world-class city. When the pandas arrive in San Francisco, that’s just going to be yet another draw.”

A giant panda plays at Chongqing Zoo in Chongqing, China, on May 10, 2025.

(Costfoto / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Others saw the black-and-white bears as a rebuke to Trumpian isolationism.

“The best response to the displeasure of Washington is to be awesome and successful,” Melgar said. “The pandas are a part of our success and a part of our value system.”

For Peterson, who led the zoo since 2008, bringing a pair of the world’s most sought-after animals to San Francisco was a dream come true. The political urgency and multimillion-dollar price tag seemed to ensure her continued leadership.

“The same day that the [Zoological Society] board was meant to vote her out, she let everyone know she was meeting with the Chinese Consulate,” said activist journalist Justin Barker of SF Zoo Watch. Peterson “essentially tells the Board of Supervisors, ‘If you move forward with this audit, you might not get pandas.’”

So how did the ace up her leopard-print sleeve bring her down?

Peterson did not respond to requests for comment. In an emailed statement, zoo spokesperson Sam Singer said she “served with distinction and devotion.”

San Francisco Zoo director Tanya Peterson plans to depart from the zoo on Aug. 1.

(Paul Chinn / The San Francisco Chronicle)

In her own message to staff this month, Peterson likened her planned departure on Aug. 1 to the death of the zoo’s beloved silverback gorilla, writing that “some animals may leave this earth, but they never leave our souls.”

“It has been an honor to serve you, our animals, and the loyal constituents of this amazing community,” she said.

For workers, her exit brought elation.

“I haven’t seen this level of positivity and excitement ever,” said Stephanie Carpenter, a reptile and amphibian keeper.

Former carnivore curator Travis Shields name-checked the infamous large cat wrangler from the Netflix series “Tiger King” when asked what the next zoo leader should bring in comparison with Peterson.

“I don’t think [keepers] care who comes next,” he said. “It can’t be any worse unless Joe Exotic comes in — and he’s still in prison.”

Attendees watch a Western Lowland Gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo.

(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)

But the long fight has clawed open old wounds. Many in and around the zoo described the bitter panda power struggle as the worst crisis the institution has faced since the fatal tiger attack that vaunted Peterson to her current position and nearly shut down the zoo.

“They’re holding their breath,” said one former manager, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. “It’s a similar feeling to after the tiger got out — what’s going to happen to everything?”

For Peterson’s usurpers, the $25-million question is now: What’s going to happen to the pandas?

The rise of Tanya Peterson is inextricably linked to the fall of Tatiana the tiger, the first and only animal to escape and kill a visitor at an Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited facility.

San Francisco acquired the 2½ -year-old, 242-pound Siberian from the Denver Zoo in 2005 as a mate for its 14-year old male Tony. They lived in the tiger grotto and were fed at the Art Deco-style Lion House, built for the original Fleishhacker Zoo by the Works Progress Administration.

The park’s original Depression-era structures are iconic, rising gray and craggy from the muted landscape like the Monterey cypress through the ever-present fog.

A lion and tiger emerge into their open enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo.

(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)

“The zoo is right on the water, it’s right next to the beach and all the structures are daily battered by the fog and the wind and the sand and the salt,” Melgar said.

Much of the century-old site is in disrepair.

“The infrastructure really left a lot to be desired,” said Manuel Mollinedo, who took over as the executive director of the San Francisco Zoo in 2004 after a successful turnaround at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Twenty years before Tatiana arrived, the tiger grotto was briefly repurposed to house two giant pandas, Yun-Yun and Ying-Xin, who passed through during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics before visiting again in 1985.

Those publicity tours preceded a slump in attendance through the mid-1990s. In 1993, the nonprofit San Francisco Zoological Society took over operations, while the city retained ownership of the property.

Many zoos are run on a similar nonprofit model, including the Bronx Zoo and the San Diego Zoo, Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums President Dan Ashe said. Others, such as the Los Angeles Zoo, are run by cities or for profit.

By the mid-aughts, efforts to draw in more blue-collar visitors had begun to bear fruit, and tax records show more than a million people were coming each year.

“The zoo had really turned a corner,” Mollinedo said. “Our attendance was the highest it had ever been since the pandas were brought in 20 years before.”

Then, during a public feeding in the Lion House in December 2006, Tatiana reached under the bars and grabbed keeper Lori Komejan by the arm.

The tiger mauled her as she attempted to drag her into the cage, leading to permanent damage, according to a lawsuit later settled with the city.

Mary Ryan, a San Francisco Zoo employee, arranges a makeshift memorial to Tatiana the tiger in January 2008.

(Noah Berger / Associated Press)

But that wasn’t the end of it. One year after that incident, on Christmas Day 2007 — Tatiana escaped, mauling two men and killing a teenager.

The city and the zoo ultimately reached financial settlements with the injured men and the family of 17-year-old Carlos Eduardo Sousa Jr. A federal investigation found panda-era modifications probably paved the way for Tatiana’s escape.

“It was really rough for everybody,” said Gibbons, the flamingo keeper, who grew up in the Outer Sunset neighborhood and climbed the ranks through the zoo’s youth volunteer program. “I remember the city wanting to close it as a zoo and have it be a sanctuary.”

Instead, the board pushed Mollinedo out and installed Peterson, a fellow board member and an attorney at Hewlett-Packard, whose then-husband had just run the finance committee for then-Mayor Gavin Newsom’s reelection campaign.

“She said all the right things — that she wanted to hear from staff, that her door was always open,” longtime zoo gardener Marc Villa said. “For the time being, it was kind of a breath of fresh air.”

Echoing other critics, Mollinedo said Peterson “knew nothing about animals.” But she made up for it with philanthropic prowess.

“She’s a good fundraiser, I’ll give her that,” said San Francisco Recreation and Park Commissioner Larry Mazzola Jr., who heads the zoo advisory committee.

A mandrill at the San Francisco Zoo.

(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)

As interim CEO, Peterson swapped her corporate wardrobe for ostrich-feathered sheaths, tiger-striped hatbands, snakeskin-patterned coats and cheetah-spotted sneakers.

Her early tenure was already marked by constant tension between what animal experts felt needed fixing and what donors wanted done. Outrage over half-finished safety measures led the Teamsters to their first no-confidence vote in 2014.

“All of this has been degenerating for a long time,” Melgar said. “We have not had labor peace at that institution for years.”

By 2024, the zoo’s annual attendance had slipped to 700,000 — 15% below the nadir after the tiger attack, and roughly two-thirds of the yearly visitors to the Oakland Zoo across the bay.

The pandas were supposed to fix all those problems. Instead, they fomented a coup.

When Breed announced the panda deal late last April, zookeepers were shocked.

“None of the senior managers knew anything about it,” Villa said. “Everybody’s scrambled: How do we make this work? Where are we going to put them? It was just, ‘Hey, we’re getting pandas!’”

It was a week after the union’s second vote of no confidence against Peterson. To many, the move felt emblematic of her leadership flaws.

“If we do have a vision for this zoo besides pandas, it’s not been communicated very well,” Villa said.

Pandas are wildly popular with the public. But they’re a thornier prospect for zoos, experts warn.

Two visitors at at the grizzly bear enclosure at The San Francisco Zoo.

(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)

The bears cannot be kept near lions or other large carnivores. They need a special diet, experienced keepers and state-of-the-art new enclosures. For San Francisco, the cost has been estimated at $25 million.

Raising that money will fall to the interim CEO, which San Francisco has not yet named. The search for a permanent replacement will pit San Francisco against two of the state’s premier animal attractions, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the San Diego Zoo.

Despite the promise of greater oversight and the possibility of more funding from the city, many animal activists and former zoo staff remain staunchly opposed to the panda project.

Some current keepers also expressed concerns.

“Guests are always asking, ‘Where are the tigers? Where are the monkeys? Where are all these animals that used to be here?’ We need to take care of the animals we have right now,” said Carpenter, the reptile keeper.

But City Hall remains staunchly pro-panda. So does the Chinese Consulate, the Teamsters and the Board of Supervisors, which just last month threatened to withhold $4 million from the Zoological Society over its failure to produce audit paperwork.

“People are proud that we’re doing this, and want us to pull it off,” Melgar said. “The pandas will have a view of the ocean!”

The Chinese visitors were originally slated to arrive at the end of this year. Then, this spring, they were assured by next April, just after the Super Bowl. That date has been pushed again, to the end of 2026.

“We don’t know where we’re going,” Villa said. “Everything runs on rumors and speculation.”

For now, the Teamsters are keeping their ears perked, waiting for good news to swirl in with the fog.

Late one fateful evening, Malam Muhammadu Sodangi of Tuwon Tsoro watched helplessly as armed raiders made off with the cattle, sheep, and goats belonging to his family. The livestock, including prized ploughing bulls and small ruminants raised by his wives, were their sole means of livelihood. Without the bulls, Malam Sodangi cannot farm, and his wives cannot trade.

“They came in the late evening. My livestock and those of Malam Hamidu and Abubakar Garba were gone, making life very difficult for us,” said the 62-year-old.

In northwestern Nigeria, a surge in livestock raids has been linked to terror groups, with the Lakurawa group, an affiliate of the Islamic State in the Sahel (IS-Sahel), being among the most notorious. 

Operating with stealth, Lakurawa conduct their attacks through door-to-door, farm-to-farm, and pen-to-pen raids, often under the pretext of collecting zakat (an Islamic form of almsgiving). This strategy has wreaked havoc on rural communities across Sokoto and Kebbi States, leaving farmers and pastoralists reeling from the loss of their herds and livelihoods. 

Farmers and herders have been brutalised and the local economy crippled, leaving residents in a desperate struggle for survival. Lakurawa’s use of Niger Republic as a fallback position after each raid has made the group both elusive and resilient.

Muhammadu and his neighbour, Malam Hamidu, told HumAngle that since November 8, 2024, rural communities across Augie and Arewa Local Government Areas (LGA) in Kebbi State have come under increasing threat from armed groups.

Augie shares borders with Silame and Gudu in Sokoto State, two LGAs known to harbour Lakurawa hideouts. To the east lies Arewa LGA, considered the group’s most active stronghold in Kebbi, and Niger Republic, whose porous frontier serves as a strategic entry and escape route for the militants.

“The porous border has left Augie’s rural communities dangerously exposed to repeated attacks. Residents are routinely subjected to livestock raids carried out by the Lakurawa militants,” said Hamidu.

Operating from entrenched strongholds in Tangaza, Silame, Gudu, and Arewa in Sokoto and Kebbi states, as well as the forested regions of neighbouring Niger Republic, the assailants launch sporadic incursions.

Rustled Herds, Havoc Funds

In northwestern states like Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Sokoto, armed groups engage in cattle rustling as a means to finance their operations. Multiple reports have confirmed this. 

While an analysis by ENACT–an organisation promoting knowledge on response to organised crime in Africa–indicates that non-state armed groups have long relied on cattle rustling as a primary revenue stream, an estimate by the local newspaper Vanguard places total annual criminal earnings from livestock theft, kidnapping for ransom, illegal gold mining, and extortion between ₦200 billion and ₦500 billion.

Livestock remains a key early driver of this illicit economy, and this has long been the case, not only in Nigeria’s North West, but also in Chad and Cameroon. A study conducted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Chad and Cameroon revealed that “stolen cattle are sold to fund weapons and fighters.”

Academic research (via Tandfonline) has also stated that “cattle rustling offers a crucial channel for financing, especially for the procurement of arms and sustaining the loyalty of gang members, and this makes it indispensable to terrorism financing in the North West.”

Malam Hamidu of Tuwon Tsoro told HumAngle that Lakurawa’s activities in and around Augie, Arewa, Silame, Gudu, and Tangaza are reportedly funded by huge revenues generated through the sales of stolen herds in local markets.

Proceeds from these illicit transactions are believed to fund essential operational demands, including the procurement of firearms, compensation for local recruits, and the upkeep of remote hideouts scattered across forested areas in the North West and along the porous border regions of neighbouring Niger Republic.

A victim of livestock theft in Mera community, Augie, speaking on condition of anonymity, said:

“We learnt that whenever they steal our cows and sheep, they transport them to rural markets in Arewa and Bunza LGAs, where they’ve effectively taken control of local trade. The money from those sales is used to buy weapons, fuel, and food, and even to recruit more locals into their ranks.”

Communities shattered

While the cattle rustling crisis first emerged in Augie in 2021 with sporadic kidnappings and seizures of ploughing bulls by armed groups crossing over from Tangaza, Silame, and Gudu in Sokoto State, the situation has worsened significantly over the past eight months. 

Since November 8, 2024, attacks have intensified from the Lakurawa group through door-to-door raids. Entire communities have been devastated, and at least 27 communities have had their herds raided. 

The victims are mostly farmers and pastoralists, including women for whom livestock formed the household and economic backbone.

According to Babangida Augie and Lauwali Aliyu Sattazai, who have tracked the violence since a deadly raid on November 8, the losses are staggering.

“Apart from the Mera incident, which saw over 100 cows stolen, we estimate that about 2,000 cows and more than 1,500 other ruminants have been rustled in just eight months,” said Babangida Augie, with Aliyu Sattazai corroborating it. 

Herders from different ethnicities are affected. Abubakar Lamido, Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Kebbi State, said the Lakurawa indiscriminately target both Hausa and Fulani herders.

“They steal from both Hausa and Fulani communities. As at [sic] the time of the Mera incident alone, Lakurawa have seized 120 cows, 51 goats and numerous sheep from Fulani pastoralists in Augie, under the guise of collecting zakat,” Lamido stated.

“They arrived at my home around 6:30 p.m. with guns and took away 32 cows, 27 sheep and several goats, including those belonging to my wives. We were left with nothing, not even a horn,” said Sodangi.

Malam Hamidu and Abubakar Garba were pulling ploughs on their farms when the attackers struck.

“They met us in the field with guns. They took away my work bulls, which we rely on for ploughing. From my farm, they moved to Abubakar Garba’s farm, also stealing work bulls and several sheep. Without those animals, we cannot survive,” he said.

Beyond material losses 

For some, the consequence runs deeper than material losses. In Mera, where the November attack not only saw herds of cows carted away but also left 18 people dead, residents now live in constant fear.

Alhaji Bawa Mera was among those affected by the attack. He spoke of losing not only his 24 cattle and his son, Garba, who was tragically killed while pursuing the Lakurawa in a bid to recover the stolen herds, but also his peace of mind, shattered in the wake of the violence.

“Since that day, we have not known peace of mind,” he said. “Some of us no longer dare to farm our distant fields. We fear we might not return alive.”

Sodangi of Tuwon Tsoro told HumAngle that he had also been having sleepless nights for more than two weeks. “Since the day they took our herds, I’ve not trusted any unfamiliar face. I’ve been having sleepless nights, and this place no longer feels like home. I’m considering relocating to a safer community.”

Crippling rural economies

Academic studies show that livestock rustling dramatically undermined the socioeconomic well-being of agro-pastoral communities across the North West. Herders and farmers lost their means of livelihood. In many rural communities, such as in Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara, rustling led to a significant reduction in household income, deepening poverty.

In Kebbi, it appears to be part of a deliberate strategy to destabilise livelihoods. Victims and community members believe the sustained raids by armed groups are intended to cripple the rural economy and instil fear across farming and herding communities. 

With each attack, farmers and pastoralists are forced to abandon their traditional ways of life. Many have fled their villages and farmlands out of fear, seeking safety in communities across Nigeria and the Niger Republic. Some herders, seeing their livestock as a magnet for attacks, have sold them off, surrendering their livelihoods so they can live.

“Keeping animals now is like inviting death,” one herder, who requested anonymity, revealed. “It is not worth the risk.”

“It is a calculated plan to destroy our economy,” said Abubakar. 

The increasing collapse in livestock ownership is fuelling a growing crisis: unemployment among rural youth, many of whom are now vulnerable to recruitment by the very armed groups tormenting their communities.

The economic toll has been heavy on both men and women.

“My wives have lost their only source of income,” said Sodangi. “Their sheep and goats were stolen. They can no longer trade or support the family.”

Communities respond

Many of these affected areas have developed some defence strategies. In Zamfara and Katsina states, there are community volunteer security groups called Yan-Sakai, composed of local hunters, ex-servicemen, and herders. The groups patrol forests, roads, and grazing corridors where rustlers often strike.

In the face of incursions and raids by Lakurawa, the people of Augie are refusing to fold their arms. 

With little more than grit, local knowledge, and a commitment to protecting their way of life, communities are stepping up where institutions fall short. 

The heart of this resistance lies in grassroots security efforts. Youth vigilantes, mostly volunteers, have taken up the task of guarding their villages, often confronting well-armed raiders with sticks, locally made weapons, and sheer courage.

“When our cattle were taken in Mera, Yan-Sakai mobilised immediately,” said a member of Yan-Sakai who asked not to be named for safety reasons. “We went after them, not because we had better weapons, but because we had no choice,” he added.

Fear and uncertainty

While pastoralists are offloading their herds, farmers face a difficult decision: whether to keep their work bulls or sell them to purchase ploughing machines, known as power tillers, in the hope that machines may be spared where animals are not.

Tensions escalated when reports emerged from some communities in Sokoto and Garu village, near the Augie border with Niger Republic, that certain directives were being given by the terror groups to farmers.

“Farmers are being threatened for attempting to replace their work bulls with ploughing machines,” said Abubakar. “The implication is clear: retain livestock that can easily be stolen or risk losing the right to farm entirely.”

Sodangi expressed growing concern: “We’ve heard that the Lakurawa have warned people [in other areas] not to switch from work bulls to power tillers. They don’t want machines in the fields, they want bulls, so they can come and take them. That’s why panic is spreading, and many of us are now considering relocation to safer communities. I am considering moving to Tibiri, in the Niger Republic, to stay with my relatives.” 

While the local response has been swift and defiant, official responses are not as efficient.

“They only come after the attacks,” said Babangida Augie. “We have noticed a pattern of Lakurawa scouting for villages first, then returning a few days later to strike. This happened in Tungar Tudu, Sattazai, Bagurar More, and now, they have visited Illelar and Zagi once. We fear they will be next,” Babangida added.

Call for proactive security

The stolen herds are not just livestock, but a symbol of broken security, broken lives, and broken rural economies in the North West. The trend reflects the growing humanitarian fallout of insecurity in Nigeria’s northwestern frontier.

“We are not just losing cows,” said Sodangi. “We are losing our futures, our means of survival, our confidence in government, our belief that tomorrow will be better.”

There is a growing call for the Nigerian state to ensure the presence of security personnel in rural areas of the North West, fully equipped with modern tools, training, and welfare support needed to confront the Lakurawa threat effectively. 

Without such measures, human lives in the rural communities in the zone and beyond may continue to buckle under the weight of a crisis that shows no signs of abating.

They were deployed by the Trump administration to combat “violent, insurrectionist mobs” in and around Los Angeles, but in recent days the only thing many U.S. Marines and California National Guard troops seemed to be fighting was tedium.

“There’s not much to do,” one Marine said as he stood guard outside the towering Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood this week.

The blazing protests that first met federal immigration raids in downtown Los Angeles were nowhere to be seen along Wilshire Boulevard or Veteran Avenue, so many troops passed the time chatting and joking over energy drinks. The Marine, who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, said his duties consisted mostly of approving access for federal workers and visitors to the Veterans Affairs office.

More than five weeks after Trump mobilized an extraordinary show of military force against the will of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, few National Guard troops and Marines have remained in public view, most retreating to local military bases in Orange County.

As an indication of the military’s dwindling role in immigration enforcement operations, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered the release of 2,000 National Guard troops. Now, Bass, Newsom and others are demanding the complete removal of remaining troops — or about 2,000 California National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines.

“Thousands of members are still federalized in Los Angeles for no reason and unable to carry out their critical duties across the state,” Newsom said on X, accusing Trump of using California National Guard troops as “political pawns.”

“End this theater and send everyone home,” the governor said.

Bass said the troops’ primary mission in L.A. was to guard federal buildings that “frankly didn’t need to be guarded.”

“They had to leave their families, they had to leave their education, they had to leave their work,” Bass said at a news conference Tuesday. “We have had no problems for weeks, so why were they here?”

Steve Woolford, a resource counselor for GI Rights Hotline, a nonprofit group that provides free, confidential information to service members, said calls from troops had gone down dramatically over the last month.

“The most recent people I talked to sounded like they’re sitting around bored without much to do,” Woolford said. “And they’re happy with that: They aren’t asking to do more. At the same time, I don’t think people see a real purpose in what they’re doing at all.”

The majority of National Guard troops have been stationed at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, according to military officials and governor’s office officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Over the last few weeks, a massive tent city has risen at the Orange County base — about 25 miles southeast of downtown L.A. The tents, some of which stretch up to 50 yards long, provide living quarters, cafeteria space and other facilities. On a recent morning, National Guards troops — some dressed in full combat fatigues, others in T-shirts and shorts — could be seen exercising, milling about and playing a game of touch football.

A separate group of Marines and National Guard troops have remained at the Westwood federal building for an entire month. The federal building has been outfitted with sleeping and eating arrangements for troops, according to a Marine who spoke with The Times.

To be sure, some California National Guard troops embarked on tense missions with federal immigration agents on sweeps at farms, warehouses and public streets.

On July 7, Guard troops accompanied federal agents as they descended on MacArthur Park on horses and in armored vehicles in a heavily militarized show of force. It’s still unclear whether any arrests were made that day, but crowds quickly formed around the federal agents and military troops, screaming for them to “get the f— out!”

A few days later, Guard troops wearing riot face shields and clutching long, wooden batons faced off with hundreds of protesters in Ventura County as immigration agents arrested about 200 suspected undocumented immigrants at Glass House Farms, a large, licensed cannabis greenhouse in Camarillo.

But most of the deployed Guard troops and Marines do not appear to have been engaged in raids or even the federal building security in recent weeks.

An estimated 90% of the National Guard troops stationed in the L.A. area over the last few days have not been deployed on daily missions, according to a source within Newsom’s office who has knowledge of the military operation.

“For the most part … they’re sitting around,” the source said.

The source, who spoke on condition on anonymity because they were unauthorized to speak publicly on the deployment, said an estimated 3% of the 4,000 troops — about 120 soldiers — were taking part in daily missions, mostly consisting of security at federal buildings.

An additional couple hundred were standing by for “quick response force” missions — ready to mobilize within a few hours for an immigration raid or a crowd control operation. But even if all those troops were used each day, the source said, that still left about 88% of the 4,000 troops — or about three-quarters of the remaining 2,000 — underutilized.

The Pentagon and Task Force 51, the military’s designation for Los Angeles area troops, declined to answer questions about how many Guard troops and Marines were engaged in protecting federal buildings or accompanying immigration agents on daily missions. Nor did they comment on the claim from Newsom’s office that most troops were “sitting around.”

Guard soldiers and Marines were “primarily protecting fixed-site federal facilities and protecting federal law enforcement personnel while they conduct immigration enforcement activities, such as warrant services,” read a task force statement.

Federal officials have also declined to provide precise details on the cost of the deployment. Hegseth previously said that the mobilization of troops would cost $134 million, but it’s unclear whether that estimate is accurate.

Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a military research group, said there is little evidence that the military presence is necessary.

“The need for military forces in Los Angeles is low while the need for National Guard forces elsewhere in the state is rising,” Kavanagh said. “That they’re still deployed after so much time, when there doesn’t seem to be a need, suggests that this really is about setting precedent of having military forces involved in immigration enforcement and deployed in U.S. cities.”

Kori Schake, senior fellow and director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, agreed: “They have a real job to be training for — fighting and winning the nation’s wars — which this performative policing is a distraction from.”

The first convoys of Guard troops rumbled into L.A. on June 8, shortly after the Trump administration announced it would send 2,000 Guard members to the city to quell unrest as protesters graffitied buildings downtown, set Waymo driverless cars ablaze and clashed with ICE agents as they tried to conduct immigration raids.

As California leaders protested, and called the deployment unnecessary, the Trump administration doubled down. On June 10, 700 Marines from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center about 150 miles west in Twentynine Palms arrived in L.A. A week later, the task force ballooned to 4,800 personnel when Hegseth added 2,000 more Guard troops.

Newsom condemned Trump for diverting members of the California National Guard as they geared up for wildfire season, noting that the unit assigned to combating wildfires was at just 40% of its regular staffing levels due to the deployment. The governor’s office also complained that about 150 California Guard soldiers were being pulled from the state’s Counterdrug Task Force, which focuses on interrupting drug trade at the U.S.-Mexico border and throughout California.

The Trump administration eventually approved a request to release 150 Guard members for state wildfire suppression.

The Guard has been deployed to Los Angeles before, but never against the will of the L.A. mayor and California governor.

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush mobilized the National Guard to L.A. after multiple days of riots following a jury’s acquittal of four white police officers in the beating of Black motorist Rodney King. About 6,000 troops were ultimately sent in, requested by California’s then-Gov. Pete Wilson and Mayor Tom Bradley, to guard trouble spots and gain control of neighborhoods after rioters attacked stores, torched buildings and, in some extreme cases, beat and killed residents. The Times dubbed it “the worst civil unrest in Los Angeles history.”

Nearly 30 years later, Guard troops were called in again during the 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd. After downtown buildings were vandalized and graffitied and police cars were set aflame, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti asked Newsom to send in 1,000 National Guard troops to restore order and assist local law enforcement.

But last month, the federal government sent in the troops without local politicians’ support, setting in motion an intense legal showdown.

A day after National Guard troops hit the ground in L.A., Newsom and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to end the “illegal and unnecessary takeover” of a California National Guard unit. They argued that the unwarranted commandeering of National Guard troops, without the consent or input of the governor, violated the U.S. Constitution and exceeded the president’s Title 10 authority.

A U.S. district judge in San Francisco sided with the state, ruling June 12 that Trump broke the law when he deployed thousands of California National Guard troops to L.A. against the state’s will. The judge issued a temporary restraining order that would have returned control of the National Guard to California. But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals paused that court order, allowing the troops to remain in L.A. while the case played out in federal court.

Kavanagh said she was disturbed to see Guard troops accompanying federal agents on immigration raids. Even if they had orders not to participate in law enforcement activities, confrontations could escalate quickly.

“There’s so many chances for things to spiral out of control,” she said. “While we haven’t seen any unintentional escalation yet, that doesn’t mean we won’t.”

When troops were first deployed to L.A., advocates for service members warned of low morale. The GI Rights Hotline received a flurry of calls voicing concern about immigration enforcement, Woolford said.

Some military personnel told the hotline that they did not want to support ICE or play any role in deporting people because they considered immigrants part of the community or had immigrants in their family, Woolford said. Others said they did not want to point guns at citizens. A few worried that the country was on the verge of turning into something like martial law, and said that they didn’t want to be on the side of being armed occupiers of their own country.

Many were shocked that the deployment orders were for 60 days.

“There’s no way they’re really going to keep us here that long, are they?” Woolford said he was asked.

But as the military brought in more contractors and set up giant tents with cots, Woolford said, callers to the hotline seemed more resigned to the idea that they would remain in L.A. a long time.

Asked about the pressures facing troops on their mission to Los Angeles, one Marine outside the Wilshire Federal Building summed it up this way:

“That’s just orders,” he said. “We do what we’re told — it’s the system.”

Times staff writer Jeanette Marantos contributed to this report.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” killed thousands of people.

For years, Catholic priest Flaviano Villanueva has gathered evidence of alleged extrajudicial killings.

He exhumed victims’ bodies for forensic examination and protected a key witness who claims he worked as a contract killer for Duterte.

In March 2025, the priest’s persistence paid off when Duterte was arrested and extradited to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court.

101 East follows Father Villanueva’s fight for justice for the victims of Duterte’s brutal crackdown.

Oleksandr Usyk has had a whirlwind year at the top of boxing’s heavyweight division and will face another formidable challenge when he takes on Daniel Dubois in a much-anticipated rematch.

In May 2024, Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world when he beat Tyson Fury in a fight for the ages, but had to vacate one of his belts a month later.

The man who took that belt was his other great rival in Dubois, a fighter he defeated in a controversial bout two years ago, and who is now challenging the undefeated Ukrainian for the rest of his world titles in a spectacular unification showdown.

Here’s what you need to know about Usyk vs Dubois 2:

What is the date and start time for the Usyk vs Dubois fight?

The fight is scheduled for Saturday, July 19.

Usyk and Dubois are expected to undertake their ring walks at 9:45pm local time (20:45 GMT), which is 4:45pm ET and 1:45pm PT. The fight will begin shortly thereafter.

Where is Dubois vs Usyk being held?

The famous Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom will host the blockbuster fight.

For boxing matches, Wembley Stadium can hold up to 96,000 spectators.

Where can I follow and watch the Usyk vs Dubois title fight?

Al Jazeera’s live text commentary and photo coverage will begin at 17:00 GMT on Saturday, July 19. We will bring you all the pre-fight talking points, analysis and build-up before bringing you Usyk-Dubois 2 updates live.

This whole fight card will be available live worldwide exclusively on DAZN pay-per-view.

Which titles are Usyk and Dubois fighting for?

The clash will be an undisputed championship fight, and the titles on the line will be Usyk’s WBC, WBA and WBO belts, as well the IBF title held by Dubois.

It’s just the second undisputed heavyweight championship bout of the past two decades.

What is the fight purse?

The record-breaking prize money for the rematch is reported to be $203m.

Why did Usyk lose his IBF title?

In May 2024, Usyk won the world’s first undisputed heavyweight championship in 25 years, an unprecedented feat in boxing’s four-belt era, when he beat Fury by split decision.

However, having decided not to defend the IBF crown against then-interim champion and mandatory challenger Dubois, Usyk vacated the belt in June and was left with the WBC, WBA and WBO belts.

Who is the favourite?

Usyk is widely expected to defeat Dubois a second time, according to most leading bookmakers who are quoting the Ukrainian at 1/3 on, or in metric terms, paying out $1.33 for the win.

Odds on a Dubois victory currently range from 5/2 ($2.50) to 13/5 ($2.60).

Who is Daniel Dubois?

Dubois was born in Greenwich, London, where his father began training him as a boxer at an early age. A home-schooled child, Dubois loved boxing and later joined boxing clubs in southern London.

Also known as Daniel “Dynamite” Dubois, the boxer turned pro at the age of 19.

The 6ft-4inch (1.93-metre) boxer has gained the reputation of being a giant-killer, having defeated fellow Briton Anthony Joshua and Olympic bronze medallist Filip Hrgovic of Croatia.

Who is Oleksandr Usyk?

Usyk is a 2012 Olympic gold medallist from Ukraine who had previously won the AIBA World Boxing Championship in 2011.

The 6ft-3inch (1.9-metre)  tall fighter has spent time on patrol at home during Russia’s war on Ukraine.

He turned professional in 2013, aged 26 and made a steady rise in the cruiserweight division, before switching to heavyweight in 2019.

Saturday’s fight gives Usyk the opportunity to become the undisputed champion of the world for the third time, having also held the title in the cruiserweight division in 2018. The southpaw is the third man ever to have held the title in two weight divisions.

What’s Usyk’s fight record?

The Ukrainian remains unbeaten in his professional career.

• Fights: 23
• Wins: 23
• Wins by KO: 14

What’s Dubois’ fight record?

The 27-year-old challenger, despite being 11 years younger than Usyk, has more career professional fights than his opponent.

• Fights: 24
• Wins: 22
• Wins by KO: 21
• Losses: 2

What happened in Dubois-Usyk 1?

The pair fought for the first time in Wroclaw, Poland in August 2023, when Usyk stopped Dubois in the ninth round, but only after controversially getting time to recover from what was adjudged a low blow by Dubois in the fifth round.

It sent Usyk to the canvas, where he sat against the ropes. Replays showed the punch hitting around Usyk’s belt, and Dubois still maintains he was robbed.

“I want to get my rematch,” Dubois said of Usyk, “and put the wrong right.”

What has Usyk said about the rematch?

The 38-year-old said that he is ready to “become undisputed again,” referring to the reunification of all heavyweight titles he held after beating Fury on May 18, 2024.

“[I am still boxing] because Jesus gives me the opportunity, and I take this,” Usyk said in an interview on host broadcaster streaming platform DAZN. “Now my goal is to become a three-time undisputed. Listen, I love boxing, training hard. I guess it’s my last two fights, with Dubois and next, I don’t know who.”

“I love my British opponents,” Usyk added. “I think Daniel is a good athlete, a good boxer, and has good skills. He has had great wins in his last three fights, is a great fighter. I think Daniel deserves [the rematch].”

What has Dubois said about the rematch?

Dubois has pledged to exact revenge on the Ukrainian fighter.

“I can’t wait to put him [Usyk] to sleep,” said Dubois.

“I’m on fire now. I’m just pent up. I’m ready to go. It’s going to be a bloodbath … in the ring on the night, he’ll be doing a funny dance when I hit him.

“We don’t care about no body shots. We’re going to knock him out on July 19.”

The Brit has repeatedly stated that he’s a “10 times better” fighter than he was in his first fight against Usyk and is ready to “unleash hell”.

Why did Dubois’ trainer accuse Usyk of ‘conning the boxing world’ in their first fight in Poland?

The British fighter’s trainer accused Usyk of “conning the boxing world” at the pre-fight news conference in April.

Referring to Usyk’s 2023 fight against Dubois, Don Charles accused the Ukrainian of being hurt by a legal body shot and said his fighter should have won the encounter.

“The actions you did that night, you’ve heard of the Oscars? You should’ve won an Oscar,” Charles said.

“You conned the referee, you conned us, and you conned the boxing world.

“You pride yourself as a God-fearing man – ‘Thou shalt not lie’ – so I question what kind of God do you worship? The God has summoned you for our son Daniel Dubois to get revenge on you.”

How did Usyk respond to the accusation?

Usyk shrugged off accusations of cheating and fakery and said he was ready to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world for a second time.

“I’m ready right now,” Usyk told a news conference at Wembley Stadium.

Usyk, smiling, said the Oscar would be coming. “You must teach your fighter to punch clean,” he added.

“It’s just talking. For me, it doesn’t matter.”

Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, said after that photographs of the blow were produced, with the Ukrainian’s camp accusing Dubois of up to 20 low blows, Usyk could not be accused of cheating.

“Don’t call my man a cheat,” he said. “He didn’t cheat. He had an opportunity to rest and he rested … tell it to the referee, not my man.”

Who is on the undercard?

In the penultimate fight of the night, the UK’s Lawrence Okolie will defend his WBC silver heavyweight title against former world champ Kevin Lerena of South Africa.

In the light heavyweight classification, Poland’s Daniel Lapin will put his IBF intercontinental and WBA continental belts up for grabs against another local fighter, Lewis Edmondson.

The first bout is scheduled for 5:40pm local (16:40 GMT).

• Lawrence Okolie vs. Kevin Lerena: (WBC silver heavyweight title)
• Daniel Lapin vs. Lewis Edmondson: (IBF Intercontinental and WBA Continental light heavyweight titles)
• Vladyslav Sirenko vs. Solomon Dacres: (Heavyweight division)
• Aadam Hamed vs. Ezequiel Gregores: (Super lightweight division)
• Lasha Guruli vs. James Francis: (Super lightweight division)

The first encounter between Usyk and Dubois was in Wroclaw, Poland, in August 2023.

It was a fight not many gave Dubois a hope of winning, but he floored the reigning champion in the fifth round.

The referee, though, immediately called a low blow and Usyk was controversially given time to recover. The Ukrainian had the mostly partisan crowd on his side, but Dubois’ team at ringside were furious with the decision.

The call is still being debated and was a major talking point at the announcement news conference.

Once the fight resumed, Usyk quickly went to work, slowly chipping away at Dubois’ energy reserves.

By the eighth round the Briton looked exhausted and frustrated when he tried to fend off a flurry of shots. He hit the canvas, managed to get to his feet, but was then dropped again in the ninth round and couldn’t beat the referee’s count.

Aside from the controversy over the low blow, Usyk was the better fighter with a more controlled display. He landed more shots, 88 to 47, and was the more accurate puncher with 25% landing compared to 16% for his opponent.

But will Dubois target the body more in the rematch to come out on top?

CHANTELLE CAMERON takes on Jessica Camara in a HUGE clash at Madison Square Garden.

Cameron and Camara come to blows on the undercard of the hotly anticipated Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 3 card in New York.

2

2

34-year-old British boxer Cameron comes into the clash with a record of 20-1-0, having won her last two fights.

Cameron has recently had two fights against Katie Taylor, beating her in 2023 to hand her a first and only loss in her career, before Taylor came back and won the rematch later in 2023.

Camara comes into the fight with a record of 14-4-1, most recently drawing with Caroline Dubois in January of 2025, but had won four consecutive bouts prior to the draw.

SunSport has everything you need to know ahead of the pair clashing at MSG.

When is Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica Camara?

• Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica Camara will take place THIS Friday, June 11.
• The clash is one of the earlier fights on the card, so ringwalks are expected around 12am BST.

How can I watch Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica Camara and is there a live stream?

• Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica Camara will be broadcast LIVE on Netflix as part of the Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 3 card.
• The huge trilogy bout will come at no additional cost to Netflix subscription holders.
• If you don’t hold a Netflix subscription, packages start from £5.99 per month, with the most expensive membership priced at £18.99.
• Alternatively, SunSport will live blog the action as it happens.

How to get tickets for Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica Camara

Limited tickets for Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 3 card, including the Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica Camara clash, are still available via Ticketmaster.

Secondary tickets are also available on StubHub.

**Please note that StubHub and similar secondary ticket resale sites may list tickets above face value.

Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica Camara full card

• Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano; undisputed women’s junior welterweight championship
• Alycia Baumgardner vs Jennifer Miranda; WBO, WBC & WBA super-featherweight titles
• Savannah Marshall vs Shadasia Green; IBF & WBO super-middleweight titles
• Ellie Scotney vs Yamileth Mercado; IBF, WBO & WBC super-bantamweight titles
• Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica Camara; Interim WBC World female super lightweight title
• Cherneka Johnson vs Shuretta Metcalf; IBF, WBC & WBO bantamweight world titles
• Tamm Thibeault vs Mary Casamassa
• Ramla Ali vs Lita Furtado

July 10 (UPI) — U.S. Border Patrol agents in Detroit arrested two men in the United States illegally over the past weekend, one of whom admitted to being a member of the gang MS-13 and spending time in a Salvadorian prison for murder.

Agents responded to a request for help from law enforcement partners in Sterling Heights, Mich., who were holding two men involved in a fight at a local motel Sunday, according to a press release from the Department of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Record checks showed that the two were in the United States illegally.

During interviews, one man claimed to be a member of the gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and said he had spent 20 years in a Salvadorian prison for the murder of a rival gang member.

The department didn’t reveal the names of the men.

“This is a major win for the U.S. Border Patrol and the safety of our communities,” said Detroit Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Javier Geronimo Jr. “This arrest is a clear example of how agents and our law enforcement partners are protecting our towns by removing violent criminals from our country.”

Both men are being processed for removal from the country, the release said.

MS-13 is a known gang that began in Los Angeles and was created to protect Salvadorian immigrants. It has since become an organized crime organization and has spread throughout the Americas.

MS-13 is listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

During the news conference, MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian announced there was a $250,000 performance bonus on offer for the best performance or fight of the night.

Bidarian also predicted the Serrano-Taylor bout would be the most watched combat sports event of the year so far, with Netflix streaming their second boxing event after broadcasting Jake Paul v Mike Tyson in November.

Taylor’s undisputed light-welterweight crown will be on the line once again, but this fight will have a 136lb weight limit at the behest of Serrano and her team.

The Irishwoman was also nonplussed about being announced on stage first – traditionally reserved for the challenger – branding the hoopla and pre-fight rituals as “nonsense”.

Having previously shared 20 rounds of all-out battle it’s not exactly a shock that some needle has built, with Serrano far from impressed by the scorecards from their second meeting in Texas last year.

Serrano, 36, fought most of that contest battling a massive cut above her eye.

She said adjustments are required, insisting she will box clever, and in relaying that information couldn’t resist another dig.

“I’m going to use my head, but not the way it was used on me,” Serrano said.

“We’re going to be smarter. We’re going to be smarter, work smarter. I work hard in every training camp so I didn’t work harder for this camp, but I did work a lot smarter for this fight.

“And I believe that we can come out victorious. We will come out victorious.”

Belfast’s Anthony Cacace has been forced to withdraw from his fight against former world featherweight champion Raymond Ford because of a back injury.

Cacace had been due to face the 26-year-old New Jersey southpaw on the undercard of Moses Itauma and Dillian Whyte’s heavyweight bout in Saudia Arabia on 16 August.

However, the 36-year-old has had to pull out of the 12-round super-featherweight contest after injuring his back in training.

“We wish Anto well in his recovery and hope to see him return to the ring later this year,” said Queensberry Promotions.

The fight would have given Cacace the chance to cement his position as one of the biggest forces in the 130-pound division.

In May 2024, he claimed the IBF title with a shock eighth-round stoppage win over Joe Cordina before beating Josh Warrington in a non-title contest at Wembley five months later.

Cacace vacated his IBF belt in January before stopping former two-time world champion Leigh Wood in Nottingham in May.

Jake Paul was a child actor.

He was once primarily known as a YouTube influencer.

When he started boxing, he was seen largely as a novelty act who didn’t face serious fighters.

As of Monday night, however, Paul is ranked by the World Boxing Assn. And as impossible as it may have sounded in the not-so-distant past, that makes him eligible to fight for a world title.

“I’ve worked hard to get here but there is nothing to celebrate,” Paul wrote on X after the WBA listed him at No. 14 in the latest edition of its cruiserweight rankings. “Long road ahead and I’m more committed to it every single day. I may veer off the path now and again, but being a world champion is my desired ultimate destination.”

The ranking came days after Paul’s victory by unanimous decision over former middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr., the most accomplished opponent the former Disney Channel “Bizaardvark” star has faced en route to a 12-1 record with seven knockouts in a boxing career that has spanned less than seven years.

During much of that time, Paul’s opponents included fellow YouTubers, an NBA player and several mixed martial artists. In the fall, he defeated then-58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson by unanimous decision in a bout that peaked at 65 million concurrent streams on Netfilix and netted a record gate of $18,117,072 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Paul’s only loss came in 2023 against Tommy Fury, a professional boxer and reality TV star. He reflected on that fight Saturday night after his win over Chávez.

“I don’t think I was a fighter at the time,” Paul told reporters. “I was barely 2½ years into the sport. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I didn’t have the right equipment around me, the right conditioning. My lifestyle outside of the ring was still like that of a YouTuber, a famous actor or whatever it was at that point in time. I wasn’t completely focused on boxing.

”… People still hold the Tommy Fury fight against me, but now I’ve beaten a former world champion and I’m coming to collect on that loss to Tommy.”

The current WBA cruiserweight champion is Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez, who was on the same bill as Paul last weekend and defeated Yuniel Dorticos in a close but unanimous decision. During the postfight news conference, Paul and Ramírez stared each other down.

“I want tougher fighters. I want to be a world champion,” Paul told reporters. “Zurdo looked slow … tonight. That’d be easy work too.”

Influencer Liver King says he still has his sights on Joe Rogan, even after he was arrested in Texas earlier this week for making online threats toward the popular podcaster.

The 47-year-old social media personality known for his carnivorous and “primitive” lifestyle was released from Travis County Jail Wednesday afternoon on $20,000 bail, officials confirmed to The Times. He was arrested Tuesday in Austin on suspicion of one count of misdemeanor terroristic threat. Court records show that the influencer — born Brian Johnson — must stay at least 200 yards away from and must not contact Rogan and his family. Johnson is also prohibited from possessing firearms and must undergo a mental health evaluation within a week of his release.

Johnson addressed his release and its terms in a video posted Thursday to his Instagram and Facebook pages. Standing on a vibrating exercise plate, Johnson seemingly hints at plans to confront Rogan — namedropping a Hollywood star to sidestep mentioning the podcaster’s name — while respecting the terms of his restraining order.

“If anybody knows where Seth Rogen is — the other version of him that rhymes with ‘blow’… where his family’s gonna be today, if you can let my team know so that we can stay away from them,” he said, before immediately walking back his request.

“Don’t do anything to their family,” Johnson continues, before contradicting himself and asking fans again to alert him and his team if they are near anyone with “the last name Rogan.” He pans the camera down to display his ankle monitor and rambles about his plans to appear at the state capitol building.

He adds, naming the wrong celebrity: “I’m picking a fight. Who’s it with? Seth Rogen. It’s with Seth Rogen. What’s it for? Family.”

Neither representatives for Johnson nor Rogan immediately responded to The Times’ request for comment on Friday.

Liver King booking image.

(Austin Police Department)

A spokesperson for the Austin Police Department told The Times on Wednesday that detectives learned Tuesday morning that Johnson, 47, had “made threats against the “Joe Rogan Experience” host on his Instagram profile.” Detectives reviewed the posts and saw that Johnson was en route to Austin, where Rogan lives, “while continuing to make threatening statements,” the spokesperson said.

Detectives contacted the podcaster who claimed he never interacted with Johnson and felt threatened by Liver King’s online posts. The spokesperson said officials obtained an arrest warrant for Johnson and detained the social media star at an Austin hotel.

Johnson on Monday posted an Instagram video of himself bear-crawling as he calls out Rogan: “I challenge you man-to-man to a fight.” Johnson rambled in his video about his weight, the stakes of this would-be battle and the “real tension” he has with Rogan. Johnson continued to post Instagram videos — some still name-dropping Rogan and some filmed while he’s in a shower — throughout the day, even after he arrived at the hotel in Austin.

Johnson’s Instagram account also posted several lengthy videos documenting the moments prior to his arrest Tuesday. In one clip, Johnson can be seen getting dressed in a burgundy sweatsuit, including a hoodie featuring a design that essentially pits his brand logo against that of the “Joe Rogan Experience.” Videos also see Johnson haphazardly picking up dishes and various items — including a screwdriver and a multi-tool — as he instructs someone off-camera to keep recording.

A second video shows Johnson huddling and praying with his family in the hotel room before officers escort him down a hallway and into an elevator. In another video posted to Johnson’s account, the person off-screen explains to the influencer’s wife that her husband will be “in and out” and will “need to see a judge before he is dismissed.” They exit the hotel and approach the law enforcement vehicle, where officers are seen securing Johnson into the back seat.

In court documents reviewed by The Times on Friday, a detective noted that Johnson’s social media posts featured “long rants that didn’t appear to make much sense.”

“Affiant knows that behavior such as that can indicate some sort of mental health episode, indicating that Brian Johnson could be a danger to himself and others,” the detective wrote before detailing other videos from Johnson that raised concern.

The detective also wrote of their correspondences with Rogan, who spoke of Johnson’s alleged “significant drug issue” and said he feels “Johnson appears to be significantly unstable and seems like he needs help,” according to the court filing.

‘I want tougher fighters, I want to be world champion,’ Paul said in his challenge to former and current WBC champions.

Celebrity boxer Jake Paul has defeated former middleweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr by unanimous decision in a cruiserweight fight in California, United States.

The 28-year-old YouTube influencer-turned-boxer overcame his opponent with a judges’ score of 99-91, 97-93 and 98-92 in the 10-round fight at Honda Center in Anaheim on Saturday night.

The win marks Paul’s triumphant return to the ring seven months after his blockbuster fight against 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

Chavez Jr, 39, is a former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion who has not held a major boxing title in 13 years and has fought just once in the last three and a half years. He has also had some well-documented personal problems over the last few years.

Paul, who gained fame as a social media star on YouTube and became a boxer, now has a six-fight winning streak and a 12-1 record with seven knockouts (KOs).

‘I want to be world champion’

Following the win, Paul challenged a number of current and former WBC champions to a fight.

“I want tougher fighters, I want to be world champion,” he told streaming service DAZN in the ring.

He called on Zurdo Ramirez, Badou Jack, Anthony Joshua, Gervonta Davis and Tommy Fury to “stop running”.

However, Chavez Jr said his conqueror was a “good fighter” but was not ready to face the list of champions he had named.

“He is strong, [he is a] good boxer [but] I don’t think he’s ready for champions,” the Mexican said.

Paul, who was set to face Canelo Alvarez until the latter signed a lucrative four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season, said Alvarez was “ducking” the fight.

In a video posted to his social media account, Paul showed what he said was a contract signed by himself and Alvarez for a fight to be held in Las Vegas on May 3.

“The truth is, you [ Alvarez ] could be bought,” Paul said at the time. “You’re a money-hungry squirrel chasing your next nut. The truth is, these sports-washing, shady characters are paying you hundreds of millions of dollars to stop our fight from happening because they couldn’t fathom the fact that they can’t create a bigger fight than me and you.”

Alvarez, a Mexican boxing superstar, unified boxing’s super-middleweight world titles after a pedestrian but unanimous points win over IBF champion William Scull in Riyadh on May 3 .

Paul vs Chavez Jr: Contrasting fortunes

The 28-year-old is one of the sport’s top attractions despite not having a traditional fighting pedigree through a boxing association. Paul has made at least $60m since starting his boxing career, according to multiple sources.

His fight last November with Tyson, which Paul won in an eight-round decision, peaked at a staggering 64 million concurrent streams on Netflix.

Meanwhile, Chavez Jr – with a record of (54-7-1, 34 KOs) – last held a major boxing world title in 2012 and has had a difficult time inside and outside the ring in recent years.

In November 2021, his shock defeat by a split decision to 46-year-old former UFC fighter Anderson Silva in a crossover boxing match was undoubtedly the lowest – and most embarrassing – point of his professional boxing career. Coincidentally, Paul beat Silva in a fight last year.

The Mexican’s personal issues have included a lack of motivation, a repeated failure to make weight for fights, alcohol and drug addiction, an arrest for illegal possession of a firearm in his Los Angeles home and a failed drug test. At the launch of the Paul-Chavez fight in May at The Avalon in Hollywood, Paul mocked Chavez’s addiction problems as well as his “lack of mentality”.

Reports say that Paul has a chance of entering the WBC’s rankings with the win.

“The WBC ratings committee has been following Jake Paul’s career,” ESPN reported WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman as saying before the fight.

“If he defeats Chavez, and depending on how the fight plays out, the committee will make the decision. It’s very likely [Paul will be ranked] if he wins convincingly.”

I get asked about Paul all the time – “Buncey, what do you make of him?”

I tell them that Paul is one of boxing’s best-promoted and best-matched fighters. He’s the sport’s greatest modern self-publicist.

He’s had just 12 fights but operates with the publicity machine of a 30-year veteran. That’s the reality.

This next one – against Mexican Chavez – is another masterstroke. Win, and Paul can truthfully say he’s beaten a former world champion. Never mind that Chavez has been unmotivated and underwhelming for years.

This is elite matchmaking, the kind Mickey Duff or Frank Warren would have admired in the 1980s. Find a guy with a belt in the past, a name the public still knows and has just enough miles on the clock. Time it right, get the win, build the brand.

In fact, smart matchmaking has always been Paul’s strategy. Even the Mike Tyson fight was cold, calculated business. It may have counted to both their records but it was just a glorious payday for Tyson, who didn’t really let his hands go and nor did Paul either. There was a degree of benevolence in that ring.

Paul upsets the purists when he fights UFC guys and then starts calling out the likes of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez or Joshua. His mouth is his crime, not his commitment to boxing. I’ve seen him in the gym – Paul trains like a world champion.

He’s raw, his footwork clunky, his technique mechanical, but his commitment is real. He trains like he’s going 15 rounds at Madison Square Garden.

As for Chavez, this could be redemption. If a motivated, fit Chavez – the kind we haven’t seen in years – shows up, he could give Paul a real fight.

And if he wins, he’ll become a folk hero for those traditionalists eager to see the Paul machine slowed down.