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The Keyshawn Davis-Edwin De Los Santos lightweight title fight scheduled for Saturday in Davis’ hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, has been called off by Sampson Lewkowicz, the promoter told BoxingScene on Friday evening.

Davis, 13-0 (9 KOs), was set to make his first defense of the belt he earned with a knockout win over Denys Berinchyk in February, but he arrived on the scales Friday more than four pounds over the 135lbs lightweight limit and was subsequently stripped of his title.

The fighters’ teams attempted to negotiate a new deal, but Lewkowicz – who represents De Los Santos – says he made the decision, along with trainer Humberto “Chelo” Betancourt, to opt out of the bout in the best interests of his fighter’s safety.

“After three decades in this business, I know that he was ready to fight at 140 and he trained to fight at 140,” Lewkowicz told BoxingScene of Davis. “He never trained to fight or make the weight at 135, and that was the reason [we canceled the fight]. Money doesn't buy health.”

As a result, a 10-round junior welterweight bout between Kelvin Davis (Keyshawn’s brother) and Nahir Albright originally scheduled for the undercard in Norfolk on Saturday will become the bill’s new main event, Top Rank spokesperson Evan Korn told BoxingScene.

At Friday’s weigh-in, Keyshawn Davis admitted to Top Rank commentator Crystina Poncher that he “outgrew” the lightweight division – a subject he has danced around and that has been increasingly speculated.

“I was up late last night, I woke up early this morning trying to make the weight,” Davis said. “I just outgrew the weight. … it is what it is.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll still take the fight. The show must go on.”

It will continue – but not with Keyshawn Davis, nor with De Los Santos. Davis was already staking out a possible fight with fellow up-and-comer Abdullah Mason at Friday’s weigh-in, and he’ll have no trouble finding matches with the best at 140. Even Top Rank chairman Bob Arum intimated that Davis didn’t seem to make an honest effort to cut down for Saturday’s fight, telling Dan Rafael “He never really tried to make 135.”

But the cancellation cost Davis’ intended opponent. Although the Dominican Republic’s De Los Santos, 16-2 (14 KOs), may have been entitled to his full purse after he made weight Friday, he lost a second shot at a title after his unsuccessful challenge of titlist Shakur Stevenson in November 2023. He has been inactive ever since, and now his wait continues.

“I'm his promoter. Without my authorization, there is no fight, OK?” Lewkowicz said of De Los Santos. “He wanted to fight. But I will not allow it. To take a risk for money. … Another opportunity, it will happen somehow, because he deserves it. He deserves to fight for the world title.”

Lewkowicz pointed to Ryan Garcia’s since-overturned win against Devin Haney in April 2024 – for which Garcia blew off making weight, battered Haney in a three-knockdown performance and shortly after was penalized for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs – as a cautionary tale against fighters accepting reworked terms with opponents who come in heavy.

“I hope that people realize the mistake that Haney made against Garcia, and you see the consequence,” Lewkowicz said. “I will not do that. Money doesn't buy me or the health of my fighters.”

Asked to clarify whether he believed Davis blew off making weight because he was already planning to move up to 140 and because he had a negotiating advantage to pressure De Los Santos to stay in the fight, Lewkowicz didn’t hesitate.

“That's correct. Exactly as Garcia did – and Haney paid the price,” Lewkowicz said. “Yeah, he got the money, but … at the end, it was more damage for him.”

BoxingScene senior US writer Lance Pugmire contributed reporting for this story.

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.

Ahead of the first defense of his WBO lightweight title against Edwin De Los Santos, Keyshawn Davis weighed in more than four pounds over the 135lbs limit. 

“He lost the first battle, and now we’re going into the second one,” De Los Santos, who came in at 134.7lbs said on stage following the weigh-in.

“A lot more motivation now. It got a lot better now,” De Los Santos said when told that if Davis couldn’t shed the extra weight in the following hour, he would be the only fighter eligible to win the title on Saturday night at Scope Arena in Norfolk.

Team De Los Santos initially declined a face-off, to which Davis insisted he wouldn’t touch his opponent. In their face-off following the press conference yesterday, De Los Santos tugged at Davis’ WBO belt. Davis slapped his hand away, then shoved De Los Santos hard in the chest. Apparently the initial gesture was prophetic.

“Are you gonna try [to make weight]?” Top Rank commentator Crystina Poncher asked Davis after the touch-less face-off.

“Nah, I outgrew the weight,” Davis said sheepishly. “Been making this weight for over four years now…I was up late last night, I woke up early this morning trying to make the weight. I just outgrew the weight…it is what it is.”

“I’m pretty sure he’ll still take the fight. The show must go on.”

The penalty Davis will pay for missing weight so badly, an echo of his recent opponent Gustavo Lemos, who came into their November 2024 bout even more egregiously over the limit, is yet to be determined.

Poncher asked Davis if this would be his last fight at 140lbs. Davis ducked the question, talking more about putting on a show. To her credit, Poncher followed up sharply, and earned a straight answer.

“I mean, I was honestly gonna go to 140 after this anyways,” Davis said.

Abdullah Mason, whom Davis called out this week, is the star of the co-main event. The electric lightweight action fighter will take on Jeremia Nakathila in what he hopes will draw him closer to a title shot. 

Also on the card are two of Davis’ brothers, Kelvin and Keon, making up the oft-mentioned “DB3.” Kelvin Davis, 6ft 1ins, needed two tries to make weight, initially coming in at 140.1lbs for his junior welterweight scrap against Nahir Albright. The brothers are from Norfolk and will fight in front of plenty of adoring fans.

Full weights for the card are below.

12 rounds, lightweights
Keyshawn Davis - 139.3lbs
Edwin De Los Santos - 134.7lbs

10 rounds, lightweights
Abdullah Mason - 134.5lbs
Jeremia Nakathila - 134.8lbs

10 rounds, junior welterweights
Kelvin Davis - 140.0lbs
Nahir Albright - 139.0lbs

10 rounds, welterweights
Tiger Johnson - 146.5lbs
Janelson Bocachica - 147.4lbs

10 rounds, middleweights
Troy Isley - 159.9lbs
Etoundi Michel William - 159.7lbs

6 rounds, contracted at 150lbs
Keon Davis - 149.2lbs
Michael Velez-Garcia - 149.8lbs

10 rounds, middleweights
Euri Cedeno - 160.0lbs
Abel Mina - 158.9lbs

6 rounds, contracted at 136lbs
Deric Davis - 134.2lbs
Naheem Parker - 136.4lbs

4 rounds, cruiserweights
Patrick O’Connor - 199.0lbs
Marcus Smith - 190.6lbs

It feels rather fitting that the 40th anniversary of Barry McGuigan’s greatest night should fall on a weekend which includes not one but two events taking place in UK football stadiums. After all, McGuigan’s greatest night, against Eusebio Pedroza in 1985, played out in the middle of the pitch at Loftus Road Stadium, home of Queens Park Rangers. It is remembered as much for that, its location, as McGuigan’s inspired 15 rounds and Barry’s father, Pat, singing “Danny Boy” during the pre-fight introductions. 

There is, and always has been, just something special about football stadium fights in the UK. Aside from the fact they attract larger crowds and create a greater noise, a fight in a football stadium moves us ever closer to the image of gladiators inside a colosseum, therefore only adding to the tribalism and theatre of it all. 

This weekend two Brits, Fabio Wardley and Callum Simpson, will both headline shows at football stadiums and, unlike McGuigan, will be representing the teams they support. In the case of Wardley, that means Ipswich Town, whose ground, Portman Road, hosts his heavyweight fight with Justis Huni, an Australian. As for Simpson, his team is Barnsley, and it is on their pitch, at Oakwell Stadium, he will compete for the vacant European super-middleweight title against Italy’s Ivan Zucco. 

Neither Wardley nor Simpson have so far scaled the heights like McGuigan, of course, but they have no doubt taken inspiration from the Irishman’s fight at Loftus Road 40 years ago and understand the importance of big fights at football stadiums. Not only that, they both have an association with the two clubs mentioned, which should promise a good turnout on Saturday as well as for future fights. 

“From a promoter’s point of view, it’s probably easier to sell tickets because the database is there for the fans and they know a lot of the season ticket holders are going to go because there’s a novelty to it,” said Chris Billam-Smith, a cruiserweight whose affiliation with AFC Bournemouth led to him winning his WBO title at their Vitality Stadium in 2023. “They’re going to go to their favourite ground to watch boxing instead of football. It had never been done at Bournemouth and that meant it was one of those occasions where people wanted to say, ‘Yeah, I was there.’ Down in Bournemouth there hasn’t been a lot of boxing in recent years and suddenly it’s getting a bit of a resurgence and the people in the community want to be a part of that. 

“It’s the same for these Wembley [Stadium] fights. [Anthony] Joshua vs. [Daniel] Dubois, for example, was a fight between two British heavyweights at Wembley and people wanted to say, ‘I was there.’ That’s why these stadium fights feel like special nights, because they are different from what we see as ‘normal’ boxing events. The football clubs know this and they want to get involved. They see one club do it and now they want to do it as well. We’ve seen Barnsley, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace all host fights recently and they’ve all done it in slightly different ways. The fans turn out every time because it’s a new experience. The whole town gets behind the football club when the club is in a smaller town, or area, and that means that if there is an event at the stadium, whether it’s a music gig or a boxing match, you’re almost guaranteed to sell tickets and attract interest.”

Of all the fighters who have been inspired by McGuigan, few have been more inspired than Chris Billam-Smith. For not only is the cruiserweight from Bournemouth trained by McGuigan’s son, Shane, but he has also spent plenty of time in the company of the former featherweight champion, both soaking up his advice and listening to all the old war stories. 

The Pedroza fight, in particular, is forever a talking point when McGuigan is around. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t avoid being asked about it, and the hunger to hear about the experience has never abated in the 40 years since the fight happened. Young boxers still want to know what it was like to dethrone a great champion in front of 27,000 fans in a football ground and McGuigan is only too happy to revisit that time in a life otherwise beset by difficulties and, alas, tragedy. He was, on that magic night in west London, able to exist only in the moment and worry about nothing else. He was able to listen to his father serenade him before battle and then, even better, make his old man proud by snatching the WBA featherweight title from a Panamanian champion hard to read and harder to beat. 

“He was impassive,” McGuigan told me, speaking of the Pedroza he encountered on June 8, 1985. “He never gave me anything. I thought I had him in the seventh [round] and he came back in the eighth and then I thought I had him in the ninth and he came back. His legs went; I went crazy. 

“I knew in about round nine that I had him, but he never gave up. He had a poker face. Look at the pictures of the fight. His expression never changed. All the really great fighters have that ability to stay poker-faced in the heat of battle – not all of them, but most of them. 

“Even though they have a poker face, you can still tell when you're in that punching distance and you're right on them and you're breathing and you're sweating and you're smelling. It's body language, I'm telling you.”

Of course, because Pedroza was the visitor that night, it was a lot easier for him to control his emotions, remain cool, and perform with a necessary detachment for 15 rounds. For McGuigan, on the other hand, it was not so simple. By his own admission, he needed to block out the sound of his father singing “Danny Boy” for fear of “breaking into tears” and he also suggested that the occasion itself was reason enough to collapse. “You're holding it in,” he said. “Your adrenaline is screaming.” 

To distract himself, McGuigan said a silent prayer, over and over again, and in that moment envied Pedroza’s ability to go about the job without an entire stadium – an entire nation, no less – riding on his back and living vicariously through him. 

“They [the English fans] were fairly apathetic for that fight, whereas we had 12,000 people come over from Ireland and they all got hammered that day and it was almost like they were in the ring with me by the time the first bell rang,” McGuigan recalled. “They behaved themselves impeccably well, but when I came out to the ring I had to be surrounded by police. 

“Afterwards there was a big rush to the ring and Tom Cryan – God rest him, he's long gone – and Sean Kilfeather, two Irish journalists, were sitting there and a couple of Irish fellas stood on their heads and shoulders to climb closer to the ring. It was very funny. It was a great night.”

Such was the noise inside Loftus Road, McGuigan and Pedroza struggled to hear the referee’s instructions and the sound of the bell to end each round. Even the referee, McGuigan said, had difficulty knowing when a round was meant to finish. This led to some spells of confusion during the fight, most notably in round 13, when McGuigan struck Pedroza three times after the bell. “It wasn't like I purposely hit him after the bell,” McGuigan said. “Santiago del Rio [Pedroza’s manager] came in and he fucking remonstrated and was shouting. It wasn't my fault, though.”

By that point in the fight McGuigan had sensed he had broken Pedroza’s will, but could neither rest on his laurels nor fully block out the pain of everything he had endured to get there. It had been a long, arduous battle, one analogous to McGuigan’s life. 

“I had to move my head so much,” he said. “My neck was so sore after the fight and I couldn't swallow for about three days. He kept hitting me on the Adam's apple. He didn't mean to. He just kept happening to land there. I was lucky really. When he fought [Juan] Laporte [in 1982], he found him 150 times. I subdued that side of things because I kept so busy. I kept the pace so high. I knew he needed time and knew he liked to slow the pace down. I knew the only way to beat him was to make sure he didn't have that luxury. 

“When I started to hurt him at close range, I believed I could get the better of him. I remember hurting him with a left hook to the body in the fifth round – boom, boom, boom with the final hook – and he gasped. He kept that poker face, though, so I wasn't sure I'd properly got him. He shoved me away and the bell went ding. He then lifted his leg up before walking back to his stool and that was the sign. I knew I'd got him. I could see my brother [Dermot] down at the side of the ring getting animated and jumping up and down. We were getting to him.”

In the end McGuigan got him and was duly awarded a unanimous decision at the bout’s conclusion. Today, he calls the win against Pedroza his “best night” and his win against Juan Laporte, which took place four months prior, his “best performance”. His “most courageous performance”, meanwhile, came 12 months after beating Pedroza when McGuigan lost his WBA featherweight title against Steve Cruz in the 125-degree heat of the Las Vegas desert. He also calls that one his “worst night”, though knows, given the circumstances and the trouble he had making weight, it could have been even worse. “It was all too fleeting,” McGuigan said. “It should have been longer-lasting. I know that had Vegas not happened, I would have held onto the title for considerably longer. But such is life.”

Some things, like title reigns, last only a short time. Legacies, however, last a lot longer.

 

Light heavyweight Albert Ramirez, of El Vigia, Venezuela, punctuated a night of short fights as he scored a second-round highlight-reel knockout against late sub Michael Flannery on Thursday at the Montreal Casino in Montreal.

Ramirez, 33, dropped Flannery in the first round after a big left hand rocked him. Ramirez followed it with a sequence of punches ending with a grazing right hand that sent Flannery to the canvas.

Flannery, a 28-year-old originally from the United Kingdom and now residing in Bangkok, Thailand, found himself outgunned by the 2016 Venezuelan Olympian Ramirez. In the second round, Ramirez landed a right uppercut on the chin of Flannery, who tried to get up from the jarring shot but wasn’t able. The time of stoppage was 1 minute, 9 seconds of Round 2.

During the telecast, Camille Estephan, president of promoter Eye of the Tiger, expressed a willingness to match Ramirez – who improved to 21-0 (18 KOs) – with David Benavidez later this year. Ramirez is currently ranked No. 3 by the WBA, No. 4 by the WBC and WBO, and No. 5 by the IBF.

Flannery fell to 13-1 (11 KOs). This was only his second fight outside of Thailand and his first fight on a national stage.

Also on the card, light heavyweight Mehmet Unal, who trains out of Montreal, stopped Jan Czerklewicz, of Warsaw, Poland, in the first round. The time of the stoppage was 2 minutes, 56 seconds.

Unal, a 2016 Turkish Olympian, dropped the 27-year-old Czerklewicz in the first round with a looping hook. Unal put down his opponent in the same corner again with an overhand right, then closed the show with a right hand that sent Czerklewicz back to the canvas once more, forcing the referee to call the fight off.

The fight marked the best performance of Unal’s career, coming against a former sparring partner whom it was believed would test Unal. Unal has now knocked out his past four opponents, improving to 13-0 (11 KOs).

Czerklewicz is 14-3 (3 KOs) and now on a two-fight losing streak.

Russia’s Arthur Biyarslanov, a junior welterweight who trains out of Toronto, Canada, stopped Antonio Collado, of Quintanar de la Orden, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, in the third round with 38 seconds remaining in the frame.

Biyarslanov recorded four knockdowns in the fight. He dropped Collado twice in the first round, once in the second and finished him in the third. The bout ended with a right hook from the 30-year-old Biyarslanov that landed on Collado’s head. Collado, 25, took the fight on a week’s notice. Notably, Biyarslanov suffered a cut on his left eye at the end of the second round.

Biyarslanov is now 19-0 (16 KOs), while Collado dipped to 19-2 (3 KOs).

France’s Moreno Fendero, a super middleweight who trains out of Montreal, knocked out Kristaps Bulmeistars, of Riga, Latvia, in one round. The time of stoppage was 2 minutes, 46 seconds into the frame.

Bulmeistars appeared to have ankle issues or perhaps picked boots that lacked traction, limping through the opening round before being dropped. A well-timed right hand from Fendero put down Bulmeistars.

Fendero, 26, improved to 10-0 (8 KOs), while the 32-year-old Bulmeistars fell to 13-4 (5 KOs).

Junior welterweight Wyatt Sanford, of Kennetcook, Nova Scotia, Canada, stopped Tomas Lastra, of Santiago de Chile, Chile, in the first round. The time of stoppage was 2 minutes, 59 seconds.

Sanford, 26, dropped Lastra with a left hand in Round 1. Lastra beat the count but was stopped when the referee intervened. Sanford trapped Lastra in the corner, letting fly a flurry of punches to which Lastra was unable to respond. 

Sanford, a 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, improved to 2-0 (2 KOs). Lastra suffered the first loss of his career to slip to 2-1 (1 KO).

In the opening bout, junior lightweight Armenian Erik Israyelyan, who trains out of Montreal, knocked out Alex Gagnon, of Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada, in the second round. The time of stoppage was 1 minute, 18 seconds.

Israyelyan, 20, landed a right hand on the 28-year-old Gagnon’s head, sending him to the floor and unable to get up. Israyelyan is now 2-0 (2 KOs), while Gangon continues to look for the first win of his career, falling to 0-3-1.

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.

Vasiliy Lomachenko has announced his retirement at the age of 37.

The Ukrainian, by all estimations a modern great and by numerous others among the greatest of all time, does so as a three-weight world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist whose reported amateur record was 396-1.

He fought, for potentially the final time, in May 2024 when he stopped Australia’s George Kambosos Jnr to move to 18-3 (12 KOs) and to win the vacant IBF lightweight title.

“I’m grateful for every victory and defeat inside the ring and outside the ring,” he said on social media. “I’m thankful that as my career comes to an end I’ve gained clarity about the direction a person must take in order to achieve true victory, not just in the ring.

“I thank God for my honest and wonderful and kind parents for their care, love and warmth I’ve felt throughout my life. My father [Anatoly] taught me not only boxing, but how to be a role model for my own children.

“I’ve made many mistakes in life and in the gym but he was always by my side, correcting me when needed. I have many warm memories.

“To my family, you have always stood by me. You shared in my victories and you felt the pain of my losses. Those losses only made us stronger.”

Lomachenko won titles at featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight after turning professional in 2013, following his winning gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

His first professional title, at featherweight, came via a majority decision victory over Gary Russell Jnr in 2014, and in only his third fight. His first at junior lightweight came when he stopped Roman Martinez in 2016, and in 2018 he stopped Jorge Linares to become a champion at lightweight.

Two of three of his defeats – the first against Orlando Salido and the third by Devin Haney – were particularly controversial. He fought Salido in only his second contest, and lost a fight for a version of the featherweight title via split decision after the overweight Salido produced a foul-filled performance. The defeat by Haney came via unanimous decision in 2023, but on an evening when countless observers believed Lomachenko deserved victory. He also lost via unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez, in 2020.

“I’ve got nothing to prove to anybody, and nothing to return for.”

Tyson Fury spoke those words in a video posted on social media on May 24.

Call me a sucker, but I believe he meant what he was saying.

Yes, this is a man who has announced his retirement at least five times now. And, yes, only a man who has un-retired four times can retire five times. So, the default position should be extreme skepticism, if not outright repudiation.

And the words themselves aren’t necessarily true. I suppose the first half, about having nothing to prove, may have some validity for a 36-year-old fighter who fought 37 times across 16 years. But to claim he has “nothing to return for”? That’s just factually inaccurate given the sort of money in the pot if he were to finally fight Anthony Joshua.

Still, I believe Fury believes he has nothing to return for.

I believe he doesn’t feel an AJ payday is worth his while, not with the money he already has and with the fire in his belly nearly snuffed out.

Every previous Fury retirement has been entirely unconvincing. Every time, you just knew he was coming back eventually.

But something feels different about this one.

I’m not saying he won’t fight again; the smart money is always on a boxer dusting off the gloves one last time.

But if he didn’t fight again, if this retirement were to stick, I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe I’m an easy mark, but I think there’s an entirely reasonable chance that we’ve seen Fury in the ring for the final time.

Or, short of that coming true, I think it’s highly possible that he’s content enough to stay retired for at least a couple of years. By the time the urge returns to again be the center of attention in a way that only headlining a boxing event can satisfy, Fury will be too old and too far gone to alter his legacy one way or the other.

What is that legacy?

If Fury never fights again, or at least never fights again as a vague approximation of the prime “Gypsy King,” what mark has he made and how will he be remembered?

Let’s get the easy part out of the way: Fury is a Hall of Famer. Whether his fiercest critics like it or not, he will make his way to Canastota.

To take it a step further, he will in fact be a first-ballot slam dunk – as long as he doesn’t find himself on the same first ballot as three or more all-timers. Hypothetically, if Oleksandr Usyk, Terence Crawford, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and Fury all retired the same year, then Fury would be stuck waiting for his second ballot to get in.

Barring that, Fury is getting a plaque on the wall the moment he’s eligible.

Unfortunately, getting into the Hall of Fame as a heavyweight champion doesn’t necessarily mean you cracked the pantheon of true heavyweight greats.

Michael Moorer, Riddick Bowe, Ingemar Johansson, Ken Norton, Max Schmeling, James J. Braddock, Luis Firpo, Jack Sharkey, Jess Willard — the list is long of Hall of Fame heavyweights whose names probably wouldn’t cross your mind as you’re working on a top-20-ever list.

That raises a compelling thought exercise with regard to Fury.

If a boxing writer is given an assignment to rank the 20 greatest heavyweights, and he’s putting together that first rough list where he just wants to make sure he has every name who could possibly make the cut — a starter compilation maybe 25 to 30 names long — does the writer jot down “Tyson Fury” for consideration?

Here are some factors in Fury’s favor:

• He held the lineal heavyweight title for 8½ years. Yes, he was inactive for the first 2½ of those years, and there were some 10-rounders mixed in, so it’s a bit reminiscent of what folks still criticize a century later about Jack Dempsey’s reign (seven years, just five successful title defenses). But here’s a complete list of champions with a longer uninterrupted lineal run than Fury: Joe Louis. That’s it. End of list.

• That reign began with a convincing win — ugly though it may have been — over a first-ballot Hall of Fame champion in Wladimir Klitschko, who at the time hadn’t lost a fight in more than 11 years.

• He was one-half of the most thrilling heavyweight trilogy at least since Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield, and was undefeated in that trilogy, going 2-0-1 against Deontay Wilder (and most feel Fury should have been 3-0). Their third fight was quite possibly the most exciting heavyweight title of this century; at worst it was number two behind Joshua-Klitschko.

• The first Fury-Wilder fight featured probably a top-five most memorable moment in boxing in the 2000s. There’s Juan Manuel Marquez knocking out Manny Pacquiao; the finish of Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo; round nine of the first Micky Ward-Arturo Gatti fight; and - somewhere right in there among them for a singular iconic moment - Fury getting up off the canvas in the final round of that Wilder fight.

• If indeed Fury is retired, he will have ended his career with losses to only one opponent. Usyk defeated him — closely — twice. Nobody else quite hung a loss on Fury.

Now here are some factors working against Fury:

• After Klitschko and Wilder, who’s the next best opponent he defeated? Probably Dillian Whyte. Maybe Derek Chisora. Next on the list after those two would be Otto Wallin. The point is, it’s a massive drop-off from the two best heavyweights Fury beat in his career to everyone else.

• The list of quality opponents Fury didn’t face is rather lengthy. There’s Joshua, of course. At various points in the last five years or so, Daniel Dubois, Zhang Zhilei, Joseph Parker, or Andy Ruiz could have made a lot of sense. Had Fury faced and beaten any of those men, they would have done wonders for that drop-off from Fury’s second-best opponent beaten to his third-best.

• He was one round on one scorecard away from losing to Francis Ngannou.

• Even though positive tests for cocaine are not held against Fury from a competitive standpoint, there was a positive test for the banned steroid Nandrolone early in his career. Is one failed PED test a legacy-killer nowadays? No. But it’s still a strike against you.

• If the action and drama of the Wilder fights counts to some small degree in Fury’s favor when considering his place in heavyweight history, then it’s only fair to count the lack of action of the Klitschko fight against him. For 36 minutes in Dusseldorf that night, boxing lost its designation as a combat sport.

Add it all up, and I think it’s fair to call Fury heavyweight history’s most overachieving underachiever.

He accomplished so much more than you ever would have expected if you saw him early in his career. Fury became the subject of an iconic GIF when he accidentally uppercutted himself in the face. There was also concern over his chin when he was getting dropped by cruiserweights and generally embodying the term “galoot” better than any boxer ever.

But he could have accomplished so much more than he did if he’d stayed focused, not abused his body, and fought a few more of his most deserving challengers while he was still in his prime.

It’s hard to believe now, but in 2020, after the second win over Wilder, it was suggested that Fury might be favored over any heavyweight from history.

Perhaps it was recency bias; that abovementioned win came in the most complete and destructive performance or Fury’s career. He was 30-0-1 at the time, could box, could slug, could fight inside, could fight outside, and was able to do all this at (officially) 6-foot-9 and some 270 lbs.

When Fury was going well, before we’d seen Usyk hand him a couple of defeats, there was that moment when people wondered: How would Muhammad Ali have dealt with this guy? What could Joe Louis have done against him? Would his namesake Mike Tyson ever have gotten close enough to hit him?

Of course, those are probably inappropriate questions to try to answer when a boxer is at his absolute apex and we haven’t yet seen what his inevitable fall looks like. It’s just as unfair to mythically match him up against the greats right now, when his two losses to Usyk are so fresh in our minds.

We need a little distance, perhaps, to properly assess Fury’s legacy.

But if indeed the Usyk rematch is his final fight and he never competes again, how will Tyson Fury be remembered?

He may be remembered foremost for his enormity — in both personality and stature.

He will also be remembered for his uniquely awkward effectiveness — as well as his uniquely effective awkwardness.

He will be remembered for the length of his lineal reign and for the depth of his trilogy with Wilder.

And he will go down as a heavyweight you probably pause to consider when compiling a list of the all-timers, even if you ultimately find it not all that difficult to trim him as you make your next round of cuts.

Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with nearly 30 years of experience covering the sport for such outlets as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, and The Ring (where he served as managing editor for seven years). He also co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Outside boxing, he is the senior editor of CasinoReports and the author of 2014’s The Moneymaker Effect. He can be reached on X, BlueSky, or LinkedIn, or via email at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.

All around me people were falling asleep, their eyes closed and their mouths open. It was not because of boredom or a lack of interest that they had logged off, more because the excitement of what was to come had exhausted them. It was also late. Really late. It had now gone midnight, in fact, and the fight had yet to even start. Some of the natives were understandably restless. Others were just resting. “Wake me up before ‘Blue Moon’,” I heard one man say to his son, and he would, too, with a gentle nudge. 

In the meantime, visible on big screens and inside a small ring were two boxers scrapping in an undercard fight. They did their best to distract and kill time, this pair, but there was only so much they alone could do. More interesting than that was what was happening around the ring, where Showtime, the US TV network, were only now starting to get their crew in position to do their preamble to camera. It was for them and their American audience we were all being made to wait, of course. It was on their account scores of Brits were falling asleep in the nosebleed section at the Manchester Evening News (M.E.N) Arena in early June. 

If nothing else, it was at least quiet up there, remote. In the lower tiers, and at ringside, remaining inconspicuous while sleeping would have been rather difficult. Yet, up in the nosebleeds, it was easy. Too easy. “Just resting my eyes,” was how my father described his own attempt, to which I said, “Don’t you dare.” For I knew how far we had both travelled and how long we had waited. We had done 11 rounds. We couldn’t then quit before the 12th.

Under normal circumstances, Ricky Hatton, the antidote to fatigue, would have been fighting closer to 10pm, a more civilised hour, and that would have given his Manchester fans licence to drink beforehand, eat a meal, attend the fight, and then perhaps go out again afterwards. This, however, was a special kind of fight and therefore a different kind of night. This time, if they wanted to see their man fight the best the world had to offer, they had to make some tiny adjustments and sacrifices of their own. Meaning: in order to experience the great Kostya Tszyu in the flesh, they had to prove how much they wanted it. They had to first beat the rush to get tickets and they had to then turn up on June 4, 2005 for a main event that would not take place until the wee small hours of June 5. 

In other words, while Hatton managed to retain some of his home comforts the night he stepped up, he could not retain all of them. As good as it was dragging Tszyu, the champion, to England, there were still enough alien elements to the occasion to ensure Hatton and his legion of fans were under no illusion as to the magnitude of what was about to happen.

Most people, it’s true, only had to watch Kostya Tszyu perform to realize that. In his last fight against Sharmba Mitchell, for example, Tszyu had not only bettered a previous result against the same opponent but looked arguably sharper and more devastating than ever. Without moving out of first gear, he stopped Mitchell in just three rounds. He lined him up repeatedly for that destructive right hand of his and demonstrated supreme finishing instincts the moment he sensed Mitchell wilt. It was quick, it was decisive, and it would have been hard for fans of Ricky Hatton not to torment themselves by imagining the damage that Tszyu right hand could do to someone as busy and hittable as the “Hitman”. 

Back then, you see, for all his attacking prowess, nobody could be sure how Hatton would react or cope with it. His previous fight, a 10th-round stoppage of the veteran Ray Oliveira, was far from adequate preparation for what he would encounter in the form of Tszyu. That much we knew. The same could be said, too, of the fights prior to the Oliveira one, against Michael Stewart, Carlos Vilches, and Dennis Pederson, all of which helped to enhance Hatton’s record but did little to convince anybody that he was ready to now jump up and fight the best in the world. In fact, only his record – 38-0 at the time – and his protracted and somewhat draining relationship with the WBU (World Boxing Union) light-welterweight title, which he held for four years, had people itching to see what would happen when Hatton eventually joined the big league. Some, when the time came, felt he would flourish, and that all he ever needed was to be trusted, while others had their doubts. They said there was a reason Hatton had stayed loyal to the WBU and delayed moving on. They said there was a reason he had been the favourite in every one of his 38 pro fights.

His best wins, at that stage, arrived between 2002 and 2003 when Hatton had three distance fights which each taught him something. The first, against Eamonn Magee, saw Hatton dropped by a counter right hook in round one and then attempt to navigate his way around Magee’s various booby traps for the remaining 11 rounds, striking that sweet spot between cautious and assertive. 

The two other Hatton fights of meaning, pre-Tszyu, were less competitive but no less revealing. The opponents, Vince Phillips and Ben Tackie, won barely a round between them, yet that was immaterial, never the point. In their right hands they both possessed danger, enough to settle Hatton down and have him rediscover the virtues of his jab. Also, both fighters, although past their best, came with a degree of durability which served to remind Hatton that not every opponent was going to succumb to the first combination he aimed at their head and body. These men, Phillips and Tackie, were a different brand of toughness. Not only that, they had both spent time in the ring with Kostya Tszyu, the champion Hatton hoped to one day face, so offered a trial run or gateway of sorts.

As for Tszyu, though it has become fashionable to suggest he was halfway out the door by the time he fought Hatton, this could not be further from the truth. Instead, the 35-year-old Australian was, in 2005, widely considered one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the world and coming off one of the most impressive performances of his career. That he chose to retire after the Hatton loss – only the second loss of his pro career, by the way – is more a testament to Tszyu’s intelligence and foresight than an indictment of his form. He got out when he felt it was time to get out, not necessarily because his time was up.

Perhaps misconceptions surrounding the events of June 4, 2005 owe to the fact that the Hatton we know today is different from the Hatton we knew 20 years ago. In those days, days of mystery and uncertainty, British boxing fans had no idea whether Hatton, at 26, would be able to even compete on the same level as Tszyu, much less beat him. They had hope, of course, but the expectation was, at best, muted. Whenever it threatened to get out of hand, fans of Hatton would need only to remember what he was up against, with Tszyu’s knockout of Zab Judah played on repeat. They would also remind themselves that world-class champions like Tszyu seldom visited the UK to fight and that it was hard to even watch them on TV, with Sky Sports, the UK’s main boxing broadcaster, often showing only highlights on a Sunday or on Ringside, their midweek magazine show. This created both a hunger to see the likes of Tszyu in action and a real mystique around them. Yes, there were world champions everywhere you looked at that time, but these world champions – world champions like Tszyu – were different from the ones we called “world champions” in 2005. 

Indeed, once it had been confirmed that he would be defending his IBF title against Hatton in England, my interest in the fight had as much to do with seeing Tszyu box in the flesh as seeing Hatton prove his doubters wrong. Like any teenager, I was easily blinded by the big brand and the shiny letters and was quite content to watch Tszyu dazzle and dominate in Manchester if that should be the script. In fact, turning up that night as a neutral rather than a local, I expected it, almost wanted it. It was the main reason my dad and I bought the tickets in the first place and the reason why we drove four hours to get there. We were, we were certain, about to witness a master at work. 

I say all that not to expose myself as an away fan in the home end but to instead highlight the significance of what Hatton went on to produce against Tszyu. This, make no mistake, was no ordinary performance and no ordinary win. On the contrary, it represented something major. It was something Hatton never surpassed in his illustrious career and something no one else from Britain has surpassed in the two decades since. It also did something for the reputation of British boxing at the time, if only because Hatton, by winning The Big One, had bucked the rather painful trend of plucky Brits falling to their knees when stepping out of their comfort zone. For once, we had someone dump their spurious “world title” (WBU), behind which many Brits were hiding, and audaciously fight – and beat – the very best fighter in their division, forcing them to retire, no less (both in the fight and from the sport). 

Twenty years on we know now that Hatton was a world-class fighter in his own right and would win additional world titles at both light-welterweight and welterweight, yet these achievements should not detract from or minimise what he did against Tszyu, nor dilute the narrative surrounding that particular fight. Because if you were there you would know how it felt. You would know that the reason why so many adult men partook in an impromptu sleepover at the M.E.N Arena was due to a mix of anticipation, nerves, and fear. You would also know that when Hatton finally walked out to “Blue Moon”, and countless men woke up, not a single one of us in the arena, in cheap seats or ringside seats, could be certain whether we were about to witness Hatton’s coronation or the complete unravelling of his supposedly manufactured career.

Whichever it was, we were now alert, keen to find out. If you weren’t jolted awake by the up-tempo rendition of “Blue Moon”, the noise of the crowd would have done the trick. If even then you still found yourself starting to drift, Hatton’s approach to the fight would have been enough to have you edging forward in your seat and rubbing your eyes. He was, after all, relentless to an almost annoying degree that night. Overstimulated, like the child who wants more, he ambushed and harassed Tszyu for 11 rounds and refused to leave him alone. He punched him, he wrestled him, he held him, and he exhausted him. 

Meanwhile, with the pre-fight tension having made way for giddy disbelief, the volume inside the arena only increased. As one, we all got to our feet and watched the right hands we previously feared bounce off Hatton’s head and shoulders and we watched Hatton attack Tszyu as though he posed no greater threat than Oliveira, Stewart, Vilches or Pederson. We then watched in a state of similar disbelief when Tszyu, having had enough, opted to remain on his stool rather than come out for round 12. For a second, just a second, there was even a moment’s silence. A stunned silence, that is. 

Afterwards, as 20,000 fans poured from the arena back onto the streets of Manchester, it seemed like the whole city had been woken up to what had just happened. Even those who were not at the fight knew about it, for it is that kind of city, and Hatton is that kind of fighter. The only mystery, in fact, concerned food and where to now get it with so many places closed. To the fans, it felt like morning; a new day; the start of something. Forget closing up. Forget going home. Now was the time to eat, celebrate. Now the same fans who had struggled staying awake during an undercard of mismatches struggled to fathom how they would sleep after seeing what they had just seen. The surprise element alone was enough, enough to have their minds racing and their perspective changed, but the thought of Manchester’s Ricky Hatton being the best in the world was something hard to believe. Had they even woken up?

Fuelled by the same disbelief and excitement, my dad was quick to drive us out of Manchester and for the next four hours we were on the road, relatively quiet given the time of day. Between my dad’s knees was a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken procured from a motorway service station and the car’s steering wheel was now being operated primarily by his elbows, an ill-advised technique he had gradually come to master. During the four hours we were in the car together, we spoke of nothing else, only Hatton and what he had done. If it was my dad’s turn to speak, I would do all I could not to interrupt, and vice versa. I would also, during any lull, occasionally glance in the overhead mirror just to see his eyes, hoping to see them open and not “resting”, as well as track the rate at which they were blinking. I sometimes wondered, as I did, how much scarier this same journey would have been had the fight gone the way we all expected – routine, predictable, anticlimactic. I was in the end grateful to Hatton that it hadn’t gone that way. The shock alone was enough to keep my driver awake and us both alive. 

By the time we were home, it was almost eight o’clock in the morning and the sun was up. There was only one thing left to do: sleep. So, I tried. I stowed away my fight programme, climbed into bed, and attempted the frankly impossible task of nodding off in a sunlit bedroom in which three other boys were still sleeping. All I really wanted to do, despite my tiredness, was make noise, wake my brothers up, and tell them every detail of the miracle I had just seen in Manchester. But even if I had, I suspect they would not have believed it. “You had to be there,” I would have said in the face of doubt. “You were sleeping.”

In some respects, when it came to Ricky Hatton, we all were.

LAS VEGAS – He endured a bloodbath for the ages to become a champion, and he quickly disposed of his first challenger.

Next, as Sebastian Fundora readies for his rematch on July 19 with former champion Tim Tszyu of Australia, the WBC 154lbs champion from southern California seeks to continue his elevation.

“Of course – I am a champion so I have to compete like that,” Fundora, 22-1-1 (14 KOs), told BoxingScene during a session with reporters to formally announce his bout with Tszyu, 25-2 (18 KOs), which serves as the co-main event to the Mario Barrios-Manny Pacquiao WBC welterweight title fight at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand on Prime Video pay-per-view.

The bout is a renewal of their clash in March 2024 on Premier Boxing Champions’ debut Prime Video promotion. Former welterweight champion Keith Thurman withdrew from fighting Tszyu because of an injury, and Fundora – coming off a knockout loss to Brian Mendoza – was inserted as the replacement opponent.

Relying on his nearly 10-inch reach advantage, Fundora, 27, outworked Tszyu for the narrow victory.

Fundora knows there’s a lingering perception that he only defeated Tszyu by split-decision because the then-WBO champion sustained that vicious gash atop his head when the 6ft 6ins Fundora accidentally planted his sharpened elbow tip on to Tszyu in the second round of their gory war.

Tszyu has said he “lost his mind” because of the cascade of blood he lost through the fight, but Fundora dealt with blood loss, too, from a nose injury.

Given that he’s been through 12 rounds with Tszyu – who proceeded to get knocked down five times and finished in the third round in October versus the IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev of Russia, Fundora is seeking a convincing outing to illustrate his development.

Asked if he expects to go another 12 rounds with the 30-year-old Tszyu, Fundora, said “No”. He expects to finish him.

“We’ve been training very hard,” he said. “I’m the champion; still growing.
“We’re going to make some changes. We always try to improve.”

Fundora ideally would like to join his sister, Gabriela, as an undisputed champion, but he opted to drop his WBO title rather than defend it against his mandatory opponent Xander Zayas of Puerto Rico, who will instead fight Mexico’s Jorge Garcia Perez for it on July 26 in New York.

“It’s just the business of boxing,” Fundora said of Zayas. “I don’t get paid more to fight the mandatory. That’s what a promoter and a manager are for. It doesn’t bother me. I’ll still fight him.”

Fundora’s representatives, promoter Sampson Lewkowicz and Premier Boxing Champions-linked promoter Tom Brown, have each explained how the public’s interest and financial support of the Tszyu fight trumps an obligatory bout with Zayas.

Win this rematch, the thinking goes, and Fundora proves how good he is while pressing on towards lucrative dates against the heavies of the junior-middleweight division – including former undisputed champion and PBC stablemate Jermell Charlo, unbeaten Vergil Ortiz Jnr, Murtazaliev, and the winner of Zayas-Perez.

“Everyone wants to be the best – that’s how you stamp that,” Fundora said. “There’s a lot of fights to be made, a lot of names, and I want to fight all of them.

“People can say whatever they want [about dropping the WBO belt]. If [Zayas] wants the WBC [belt], he’s going to have to fight for it. I’m still champion.”

Fundora has remarked he witnessed some “PTSD” from Tszyu when the former champion reached for his head at the spot he was cut during the pummeling by Murtazaliev. Tszyu returned with a victory over Joseph Spencer in April.

“I expect a great fight,” Fundora said.

If there’s any lingering discomfort from Tszyu during the rematch, Fundora said “You’re going to see” the effect.

The theme of Fundora’s media session was hooked to the notion that he doesn’t expect this rematch to be close to the Braveheart-type battle both men staged previously. 

“I don’t want that,” Fundora said. “Not on my side.”

Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez have each signed a contract to fight August 16 in Saudi Arabia, an official with knowledge of the negotiation told BoxingScene on Monday.

The bout pitting the pair of two-division champions – who each won on the May 2 Times Square card in New York – is an anticipated clash of two of the so-called “Four Horsemen,” a phrase coined by member Ryan Garcia that also includes unbeaten lightweight titleholder Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Davis is also scheduled to fight August 16, defending his WBA lightweight belt in a rematch versus Lamont Roach Jnr in Las Vegas.

The bout between Haney and Lopez is expected to be fought at a catch-weight of 145 pounds, according to an official, and the pair have agreed to enroll in random drug testing administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA).

Lopez, 22-1 (13 KOs), was asked about his next fight and Haney, 32-0 (15 KOs), on Friday night at the Golden Boy Promotions fight card in Las Vegas. Lopez smiled, raised his eyebrows and said, “Maybe him.”

Haney’s father/trainer/manager, Bill Haney, pressed for the Lopez fight in a recent conversation with BoxingScene, saying Haney was a more attractive, more lucrative choice than unified welterweight titleholder Jaron “Boots” Ennis.

“I thought you [were] looking for the big-money fight? That's what you complained about your whole career – that you weren't able to earn the right … but now there’s nowhere else to run and no place else to hide,” Bill Haney said of Lopez on May 16.

The elder Haney was also upset at Lopez’s apparent utterance of a racial epithet last month.

“Devin told me he will beat Teofimo for all the disrespect he has uttered, to tell him, ‘Take it back’ every round and take back every word he’s said disrespecting the culture,” Bill Haney said. “He knows Devin is going to be a punishment. There will be no more Teofimo Lopez; just like there’s been no more JoJo Diaz; [Vasiliy] Lomachenko; [Jorge] Linares; Regis Prograis [other opponents beaten by Haney].

“[Lopez is] picking people and barking up the wrong tree.”

Lopez, the current WBO titleholder and lineal champion, defeated then-unbeaten interim titleholder Arnold Barboza Jnr at the May 2 card in Times Square, and Haney followed by defeating former unified 140lbs titleholder Jose Ramirez in a bout that drew criticism for its inactivity.

Instead of fighting Garcia next, however, in a rematch of their controversial 2024 no-contest in New York, Haney, 26, watched Garcia lose the May 2 main event to Rolando “Rolly” Romero. Haney therefore is turning his attention to the 27-year-old Lopez.

The card, which has yet to be formally announced by Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh, is expected to land on DAZN.

The California State Athletic Commission voted unanimously Monday to change WBO super-featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete’s May 10 unanimous-decision victory over Charly Suarez to a no-contest, with the WBO immediately ordering a rematch.

Reviewing a series of replays that showed a Suarez punch landing exactly where a cut opened widely over Navarrete’s left eyebrow in the ESPN-televised main-event bout at San Diego’s Pechanga Arena, the commissioners ruled “the only fair thing to do” was to convert the outcome to a no-contest.

If the proper replay had been available to officials in the minutes after a ringside doctor stopped the fight over the severity of Navarrete’s cut, Suarez would’ve been declared the winner because Navarrete was unable to continue because of the cut caused by a legal punch.

Instead, referee Edward Collantes, shielded from the incident, had previously ruled the sixth-round cut was caused by an accidental headbutt, sending the bout to the scorecards, which supported Mexico’s three-division champion Navarrete, 77-76, 78-75, 77-76.

“Suarez punched [Navarrete] directly where he got cut, but I’m always against changing a loss to a win,” commissioner Dr. AnnMaria De Mars said at Monday’s meeting.

“It was bang-bang, and hard to see,” before a definitive replay surfaced approximately 30 minutes after the bout was stopped, said another commissioner.

Top Rank Vice President of Boxing Operations Carl Moretti said in the meeting that his company will honor the WBO’s request for a rematch and will do it in a “timely” manner.

Navarrete 39-2-1 (30 KOs) is currently on medical suspension from the California commission until July 9.

Ricardo Navalta, an attorney for Philippines’ Suarez 18-0 (10 KOs), said he understood the commission’s ruling, but wanted to emphasize the toll of the event on his fighter.

“These guys spend their whole lives for a night like this. To feel that you didn’t get a fair shake, that’s pretty tough. This kid has already been deprived of his moment,” Navalta said.

 

LAS VEGAS – Mario Barrios never stopped trusting the process. 

The 30-year-old San Antonio continues to extract an extraordinary amount of notoriety from his WBC welterweight title reign. His current run includes back-to-back appearances on Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-headlined Pay-Per-Views, an undercard slot on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson Netflix event and now his own main event against comebacking ring legend Manny Pacquiao.

“These are the fights that will be talked about long after I retire,” Barrios told BoxingScene after a press conference to formally announce his July 19 clash with the former eight-division titlist. “The fact that I’m going in there to defend my WBC world title against a legend is a great honor.”

Barrios-Pacquiao will headline a PBC on Prime Video PPV from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Both fighters met the press and then each other during a May 31 press conference at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, down the road from their forthcoming showdown. Barrios, 29-2-1 (18 KOs) was humble and appreciative as ever, as he’s always remembered the road that led him to this point. 

He had the fortune of turning pro in his San Antonio hometown, deep on the undercard of a Golden Boy show on Fox Sports 1 in November 2013. He gradually made his way up the running order, though there was still a common theme through his first 15 or so fights – near-empty arenas and still-arriving crowds well before the most significant bouts of the evening.

“It’s wild to look back at those fights, when I was fighting with practically nobody in the arena,” Barrios recalled. Now I’m headlining a PPV against Manny Pacquiao. I never take these moments for granted.” 

Barrios’ first headlining act came in a July 2016 win over Devis Boschiero atop a PBC on ESPN card from Trenton, New Jersey. He’s been a regular TV fixture since 2017 and ultimately punched his way onto the title stage with a September 2019 decision win over then-unbeaten Batyr Akhmedov in a terrific fight. 

Barrios’ reward that night was a secondary version of the WBA junior welterweight title. 

It was enough of a bargaining chip to land what was a career-best payday at the time against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in his second attempted title defense. Their June 2021 Showtime PPV headliner resulted in Barrios’ first defeat, an eleventh-round knockout to end his reign. 

His other loss came one fight later. Barrios moved up to welterweight where he dropped a unanimous decision to a comebacking Keith Thurman atop a February 2022 Fox Sports PPV show in Las Vegas.

Three wins and a draw have followed, the run which has seen a considerable spike in his public profile. Gone are the days where he fights before the fans are in attendance. His draw with Abel Ramos last November was part of Netflix’s first ever live boxing event. 

Even though he left the ring without a win, Barrios has experienced a fanbase he never knew existed.

“Fighting on Netflix took things on a different level,” Barrios admitted. “I have fans around the world, just random countries who are now in my DMs all the time. I’ve had people from Canada, Brazil, even from India always messaging me. It’s crazy where that show took me.” 

Barrios hasn’t fought since that night, though there was the sense that another big fight was on the horizon.

There had to be, since nearly every top welterweight has called for him by name.

A fight with Pacquiao, 62-8-2 (39 KOs), however, has been rumored for more than a year. Naturally, it required a return to the ring for the iconic Filipino southpaw. 

Pacquaio hasn’t fought since an August 2021 defeat to Yordenis Ugas. 

His extended absence lasted long enough to make his way to the voting ballot for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Pacquiao was elected on the first try and will be officially enshrined this weekend.

Six weeks later, he will attempt to become the first elected Hall of Famer to win a major title. That storyline adds to his return at 46 and the name value he still carries – which can only work in Barrios’ favor, from a recognition perspective. 

“Even in life after Netflix, we still have these things going on,” stated Barrios. “I think this fight also has that type of global exposure, just because of Pacquiao’s name. 

“When you’re talking boxing around the world, people always mentioned Manny’s name. Now, they’ll be mentioning my name right along with his.”

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

This was supposed to be a setup. Instead, it ended with an upset.

Don’t let anyone spin this otherwise. There was never supposed to be too much danger for either of the top names at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. 

The matches weren’t supposed to be evenly matched. This night was supposed to be about Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo, about them fighting separately before they faced each other.

Those were the designs. That’s what was on the blueprint. But when it came time to build toward the finished product, it turned out that there was a shakier foundation than expected.

Charlo did his part to start.

Charlo, who arrived at the arena with a record of 33-0 (22 KOs), was stepping back in the ring after 18 months away and strings of inactivity that stretched back even further, in large part due to public struggles with his mental health and legal trouble. 

The former junior middleweight and middleweight titleholder had fought just twice in the past four years. His last bout came against Jose Benavidez Jnr, someone who could never be considered anywhere near an upper-tier super middleweight. And neither could Charlo’s opponent in the co-feature on Saturday, Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna.

LaManna came in at 39-5-1 (18 KOs). While his defeats had only been against recognizable names, it’s not that those recognizable names were all top fighters, and it’s not that anything LaManna did against them then left the impression that he would do well with Charlo.

Two losses were to prospects Antoine Douglas (LaManna was stopped in the sixth round in 2015) and Dusty Harrison (LaManna lost a unanimous decision in 2016). 

Two were in 2020 to fringe contenders Jorge Cota (LaManna was taken out in five rounds) and Brian Mendoza (LaManna lost a unanimous decision).

And one was against middleweight titleholder Erislandy Lara in 2021. That was an 80-second obliteration.

In the four years since, LaManna has won nine fights while also working on occasion as a boxing promoter – both for shows featuring him as well as those spotlighting others. 

Charlo had been unranked by the WBA entering the fight. LaManna was rated 11th by the sanctioning body. Depending on your cynicism, LaManna’s insertion into the WBA rankings a couple months back was either on the strength of a March victory over an 11-6-1 opponent, or because he had signed to face Charlo, and a win for Charlo over a ranked contender would help set up a desired grudge match with Plant for Plant’s interim WBA belt.

On paper, an inactive Charlo at the age of 35 – toward the tail end of a boxer’s prime years, despite how much less punishment he’d taken given how rarely he’d fought – would be the one who seemed primed for an upset against the 33-year-old LaManna.

But even this rusty, aged Charlo had more than enough left in him to dispatch a fighter who couldn’t make it out of the first round against Lara. Charlo dropped LaManna in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. The fight was called off as the bell rang to start the sixth.

Now it was on to the main event. Now it was on Plant to complete the final step toward a match whose seeds had been, well, planted in July 2023. He and Charlo had an altercation during the fight weekend for Terence Crawford-Errol Spence in Las Vegas. That altercation’s conclusion was caught on camera, with Plant slapping Charlo and people subsequently wondering whether (and when) they’d lace up gloves to settle things.

On paper, Plant had to be the clear favorite against Resendiz.

Plant, who came in at 23-2 (14 KOs), had only lost to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and David Benavidez. Canelo is the best super middleweight of recent years. Benavidez is a former two-time titleholder at 168lbs (and currently a titleholder at 175lbs) who never lost his belts in the ring and was seen as the top super middleweight never to get the chance to face Canelo.

Plant was a world titleholder at the time he lost to Canelo. His reign began in early 2019, when he won the IBF belt from Jose Uzcategui, and lasted for three successful defenses. After getting stopped in the 11th round by Canelo in November 2021, Plant returned in October 2022 with a big ninth-round knockout of Anthony Dirrell. The decision loss to Benavidez came in March 2023, and Plant spent 18 months away before battling it out with Trevor McCumby last September en route to a ninth-round TKO win, capturing the WBA’s interim belt in the process. 

Resendiz, meanwhile, was 15-2 (11 KOs) and had neither succeeded at as high a level as Plant, nor had his failings come against as good opponents as Plant.

Resendiz’s first loss came in September 2021 via unanimous decision against the 14-4-2 Marcos Hernandez. He bounced back with two wins, including a big victory over faded former unified junior middleweight titleholder Jarrett Hurd in March 2023. Resendiz was well ahead on the scorecards going into the 10th and final round when the fight was called off due to Hurd having a badly cut lip.

That landed Resendiz another opportunity as the B-side to Elijah Garcia, who at the time in September 2023 was still an undefeated middleweight prospect. Garcia stopped Resendiz in the eighth round. After nearly 15 months away, Resendiz returned this February and put away a 5-2-1 opponent in five rounds. Resendiz was ranked 15th by the WBA, the lowest a fighter can be and still be allowed to compete for a world title.

But Resendiz was just 26 years old and still had time to show whether he’d reached his ceiling in those losses or had more room to grow beyond them. Plant was 32, usually still in a fighter’s prime years, but his style also meant that any decline in his foot speed or reflexes could leave him more vulnerable.

Plant indeed went through quite a battle with the hard-punching McCumby. For some, that fight may have been an elevation for McCumby, who had come in undefeated but was otherwise untested at that point. For others, the fact that Plant was getting caught by McCumby’s heavy blows was a warning sign, even though Plant weathered the storm and got the TKO win.

Plant said all the right things going into this fight, recognizing Resendiz as “a tough competitor” who would be “looking to seize his big moment.” But perhaps Plant still underestimated Resendiz, overestimated his own remaining abilities, and had at least part of his mind on the Charlo fight (and the impending birth of Plant’s son).

Whatever the underlying reasons might be for Plant’s performance, Resendiz deserves credit for it as well. Resendiz outworked and outlanded him, going 186 of 600, according to CompuBox, while Plant was 108 of 509. In terms of power punches, Resendiz was 109 of 294 while Plant was 70 of 193. Resendiz took advantage of opportunities to lead, opportunities to counter, and opportunities when Plant thought exchanges were over, when in reality Plant was open and still in-range. Resendiz won the split decision, two judges favoring him with 116-112 scores while the third judge had Plant ahead 115-113.

This is why they fight the fights. 

When the Plant-Resendiz/Charlo-LaManna card was announced, I thought of it as a dud of a doubleheader, a waste of a rare Premier Boxing Champions show being broadcast for free to Amazon’s Prime Video subscribers rather than another pay-per-view. There are many boxing fans who will watch to see their favorites win, no matter the opponent. But with PBC trying to rebuild after losing its longtime home on Showtime, it seemed a shame to put on what looked, on paper, to be two guaranteed victories.

Resendiz’s upset win doesn’t excuse the decision – it doesn’t elevate the decision after the fact. It’s doubtful that the matchmakers wanted Plant to be upset, never mind wanted Plant to have a tougher-than-expected victory that could also make the Charlo match less marketable.

There are a few routes that could be taken next.

Option 1: We could wind up with Charlo against Resendiz. After all, Resendiz now has the interim WBA belt, and a Charlo victory over Resendiz would either position him for a fight with Canelo or for becoming the primary titleholder if Canelo vacates or is stripped of the title.

Option 2: We could get a rematch between Plant and Resendiz, giving Plant a chance to prove whether he just had an off night and still has what it takes to defeat Resendiz. 

The day before Saturday’s doubleheader, once-beaten light heavyweight prospect Khalil Coe had a rematch with Manuel Gallegos, who’d dominated and stopped him last November. In their return bout, Coe finished Gallegos after five rounds. 

Making a rematch between Resendiz and Plant would also give Charlo the time to shake off more rust. A second Resendiz victory over Plant could send us back toward Option 1, while Plant gaining revenge would put the original plans back on track.

Option 3: We could get Plant-Charlo next no matter what. There’s still a rivalry between the two of them, a score that needs settling. And there are precedents where fighters suffered upset losses but still went directly into the next matches that had already been in the works. Among them: Erik Morales had his second fight with Manny Pacquiao despite being soundly out-boxed by Zahir Raheem, and Zab Judah still faced Floyd Mayweather Jnr three months after taking a shocking loss to Carlos Baldomir.

Raheem went on to lose to Acelino Freitas in a fight for a vacant lightweight title. That defeat, plus an at-times aesthetically displeasing style, plus a fourth-round knockout loss to Ali Funeka in a 2008 elimination bout, meant that Raheem never ascended any higher than he did with that win over Morales.

Baldomir defended the world title he took from Judah with a stoppage victory over Arturo Gatti and then picked up a significant payday while losing widely via decision to Mayweather. The most notable fights in the remainder of his career were both losses – to Vernon Forrest in 2007 and a young Canelo in 2010 – but they were bouts that would not have been possible had Baldomir not made his name on that one night. (Baldomir has since tarnished his name forever after being convicted of sexually abusing one of his children.)

Resendiz now has several doors open, and all of them had seemed unlikely entering this weekend. This is why they fight the fights. And this is also one of the reasons why we love the sport.

There were designs and a blueprint. And then Armando Resendiz came in and blew the house down.

This is a fairy tale turned reality. It is a story that took an unexpected turn – and there’s at least one more chapter still to come.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.

LAS VEGAS – Armando Resendiz once again ruined plans in place for a former full titleholder under the PBC banner.

Resendiz, a fiery Mexican super middleweight, pulled off one of the year’s biggest upsets in a split decision victory over Caleb Plant. Judge David Sutherland (115-113) had Plant winning seven of the 12 rounds, overruled by Steve Weisfeld (116-112) and Max DeLuca (116-112), who rightly awarded the fight to Resendiz in their PBC on Prime main event Saturday evening from Michelob ULTRA Arena.

With the win, Resendiz claimed the interim WBA super middleweight title. More importantly, he helped torch targeted plans for a fall showdown between Plant and Jermall Charlo, 34-0 (23 KOs), the latter who stopped Thomas LaManna early in the sixth round in the evening’s co-feature.

The fight began in typical Plant fashion, some early posturing before the locally based former IBF titleholder opened up his body attack. Resendiz didn’t show any concern for the incoming but didn’t immediately have an answer for Plant’s sharp left.

Plant continued that path in the second round and dared Resendiz to adjust. Resendiz, the 26-year-old challenger from California by way of Nayarit, Mexico, did just that as he began a body attack that ultimately produced severe reddening along Plant’s left side.

Resendiz officially shifted momentum in his favor in the third. Plant was able to land in combination, but Resendiz stormed back with left hooks as well as a right hand to the chin late in the frame.

Both fighters scored with body shots in the fourth, though Plant was able to get the better of such exchanges. Resendiz better asserted himself in the fifth, coming forward while Plant used his slick defense in his best effort to avoid the incoming.

It didn’t work that way in the sixth.

The Mexican fans in attendance were loud and proud in favor of Resendiz, who drew his supporters to their feet when he slammed home a pair of rights. Plant remained upright and was able to catch his breath for a few seconds when Resendiz was warned for leading with his head.

Resendiz kept it clean and cracked Plant with a left hook upstairs and a hard right hand, which was met with booming cheers from the crowd. 

Chants of “Si, se puede” rang out as Resendiz continued his attack. Plant was mildly cautioned for holding but also managed an uppercut at close quarters. Resendiz’s right hand continued to find the mark as the threat of an upset continued to build.

Plant was forced to absorb another right hand early in the eighth. Resendiz made the ring a very small place for Plant, a Tennessee native, but had to pause his attack when time was called to clean up loose tape on his gloves.

Plant enjoyed a better round in the 10th and 11th, when he let his hands go more and held less frequently. Resendiz continued to seek out opportunities for his right hand, but Plant’s stellar defense allowed him to avoid the incoming and return with body shots.

Resendiz sought to close the show in the final three minutes.

Plant employed lateral movement while extending his left. Resendiz didn’t bite as he continued to target Plant’s midsection. Plant threw a pair of right hands on both sides of the 10-second clapper, to which Resendiz responded with a right of his own. The two let the hands go until the bell, after which point they both turned in celebration. 

CompuBox credited Resendiz with landing 186 of 600 total punches (31 percent), compared to 108 of 509 (21.2 percent).

The loss was the third in a five-fight span for Plant, 23-3 (14 KOs), who suddenly finds himself at a career crossroads. The 32-year-old Plant previously lost only to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 63-2-2 (39 KOs), and David Benavidez, 30-0 (24 KOs), two of the very best in the game.

Alvarez ended Plant’s IBF super middleweight title with an eleventh-round knockout in their November 2021 full unification match. 

Plant rebounded with the 2022 Knockout of the Year when he flattened Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round of their October 2022 clash. He also stopped Trevor McCumby in the ninth round of their interim WBA 168lbs title fight last September at nearby T-Mobile Arena, 18 months after his 12-round decision defeat to Benavidez. 

Saturday’s setback was far more damaging to his brand. Plant was upwards of a -2500 favorite to win, which would have set up a long-awaited grudge match with Charlo.

At the absolute minimum, that matchup is now on hold, if not shredded altogether.

Ruining the best laid plans has become commonplace for Resendiz, 16-2 (11 KOs). 

His biggest win prior to Saturday came in a March 2023 tenth-round stoppage over former unified 154lbs titlist Jarrett Hurd in Ontario, California. Hurd was on course for at least one more big payday with a win but was badly cut along his lip. 

Resendiz was stopped in the eighth round by then-unbeaten Elijah Garcia just six months later but has now rebounded with two wins. 

None was bigger than what he achieved on Saturday, as he honored his word to tear up the script. 

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

LAS VEGAS – Jermall Charlo held up his end of the bargain.

The former two-division titlist floored Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna three times en route to a sixth-round stoppage in their super middleweight contest. Referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight on the advice of the ringside doctor 1 second into the sixth round of their PBC on Prime co-feature Saturday evening from Michelob ULTRA Arena.

Charlo’s previous fight came in this very arena, though 19 months ago. The fight was also his first back with Hylon Williams Sr.

“It feels good to be back,” said Charlo. “I'm thankful to everyone who stood by me. I love y'all. It goes on, man. I’m back. You know you gotta go through things to get better. I felt good. I got to work and I knew my timing was there. Shout out to my trainer Hylon Williams Snr.”

Charlo spent the first couple of rounds behind his jab as action was slow out the gate. LaManna did his best to seize those moments – his best chance at victory in a fight in which he was a massive underdog – but could manage only an occasional right hand.

The tempo of the fight changed for good in the third. Charlo scored the first of three knockdowns on the night, though LaManna refused to roll over. He continued to play to the crowd, though he lacked the equalizer to ever threaten to turn the tide.

LaManna – a 34-year-old former title challenger from Millville, New Jersey – was dropped again late in Round 4. A right hand caused his legs to buckle, but Nelson ruled that he avoided the canvas. 

Replay review – which is used in between rounds upon demand in Nevada – confirmed that LaManna’s knee touched down to overrule the in-ring call. 

Charlo sent LaManna to the deck for the third and final time. The battered face of LaManna – a cut and bruise under his right eye, swelling around his left – told the tale. He still managed one final right hand inside the final 10 seconds, which seemed to irritate Charlo more than anything else. 

Time was called at the start of the sixth round as LaManna was paid a visit by the ringside physician. It led to a brief conference with the referee, who was instructed to wave off the contest. 

LaManna, 39-6-1 (18 KOs), ended a nine-fight win streak versus modest opposition. The run included a stay-busy fight earlier this year, a necessity since this matchup was due to take place last December before the entire show was cancelled.

Charlo, 34-0 (23 KOs), led 60-52 on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage. He was credited with landing 67 of 210 total punches, compared to just 19 of 150 for LaManna.

Saturday’s feat was just the second win in four years for Charlo, as well as his first stoppage since December 2019, when he halted Dennis Hogan inside of seven rounds.

Injuries, personal issues and mental health concerns slowed Charlo’s career to a crawl over the past four years and also resulted in the end of his WBC middleweight title reign.

Saturday’s victory was right on time, however. 

The fight was packaged with a Caleb Plant-Armando Resendiz interim WBA super middleweight title fight. Wins by Charlo and Plant are expected to set up a grudge match later this fall.

“I was so focused on this fight and getting this fight out the way,” noted Charlo. “They know what it is, they know where I’m at. I want my lick back. They know what's going down.

“I'm just looking to stay well-known and relevant. No more dark places, and keep my head straight. I just want to encourage everyone in the world, keep God first, keep God first.”

Previously, a second-round knockdown by Cuba’s unbeaten Yoenli Hernandez paved the way for a 10-round unanimous decision win over Kyrone Davis. Scores were 100-89 on all three cards for Hernandez in their 10-round contest.

The knockout streak ended for Hernandez, 8-0 (7 KOs), but he very much remains a middleweight to watch. A Cuban export based in Providence, Rhode Island, Hernandez had never gone past the eighth round and came out determined to continue that stretch. Delaware’s Davis – trained by Stephen “Breadman” Edwards – was sent to the canvas in the opening round, though the sequence was ruled a slip.

The veteran contender’s luck changed for the worse in the second. Hernandez connected with a left hook to floor Davis for the bout’s only knockdown. Davis beat the count, but his body language throughout the second and third raised cause for concern.

Action slowed and ultimately leveled off altogether in a slow-moving second half of the fight. Davis enjoyed his best round of the fight in the seventh, one that Hernandez all but took off.

Hernandez used more lateral movement in the closing round, while Davis fought behind a high guard as he attempted to work his way inside. 

The crowd tried to will a knockout finish out of Hernandez, who loaded up with overhand rights in the 10th and final round. 

Davis slipped and blocked most of the punches during one exchange, but he found himself pinned on the ropes with less than a minute to go. Hernandez dared Davis to come forward, then connected with uppercuts and an assortment of power shots that drew a rise out of the fans just before the bell. 

A three-fight win streak ended for Davis, who fell to 19-4-1 (6 KOs). Among that run was an upset split decision victory over then-unbeaten Elijah Garcia last June 15 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, his last fight prior to Saturday.

Hernandez picked up his second win of the year, both in Vegas. He tore through Mexico’s Angel Ruiz in a fifth-round knockout on the David Benavidez-David Morrell Jnr undercard at nearby T-Mobile Arena.

Opening the livestreamed portion of the card, Isaac Lucero enjoyed a breakout performance at the expense of his countryman.

A battle of unbeaten Mexican junior welterweights saw Lucero – a La Paz native based in Las Vegas – overwhelm Tijuana’s Omar Valenzuela, 23-1 (20 KOs), en route to a second-round knockout in his US debut.

The bout saw both fighters go to work early. It didn’t take long for the Sampson Lewkowicz-promoted Lucero to establish his dominance, as he was quicker to the draw during every exchange. Valenzuela avoided an opening-round knockdown when referee Michael Ortega ruled that he was floored by a rabbit punch.

That luck didn’t extend too far into the second.

A left hook by Lucero, 17-0 (13 KOs), floored Valenzuela for the fight’s lone knockdown. Valenzuela beat the count but was unable to avoid the inevitable. Lucero unloaded with a volley of punches which left Valenzuela defenseless to force the stoppage at 2 minutes, 57 seconds of Round 2.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I'm thankful to everyone watching,” said Lucero, who has stopped his past six opponents. “This is something I’ve been dreaming of and it feels amazing. Once I started landing, I thought he was feeling my big shots, and I knew it was a matter of time.”

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

LAS VEGAS – If there’s one thing Manny Pacquiao has proven he can deliver in a boxing ring, it’s the element of surprise.

From his upset victory as a replacement fighter in his US debut to his one-sided triumphs over Marco Antonio Barrera and Oscar De La Hoya, through his rise as an eight-division champion and his world-title victory at age 40, Pacquiao knows how to prove others wrong.

So as he prepares, at age 46, to return from retirement and follow next week’s International Boxing Hall of Fame induction by fighting WBC welterweight titlist Mario Barrios Jnr on July 19 in Las Vegas, Pacquiao embraces his underdog assignment.

“I’m excited to become an example. I always want to bring surprises to my fans. I always work out every day. I punish myself in training and push myself … I want to please my fans,” Pacquiao, 62-8-2 (39 KOs), told reporters at a news conference preceding Saturday night’s Premier Boxing Champions card featuring WBA interim super middleweight titleholder Caleb Plant and former two-division titleholder Jermall Charlo in separate bouts at Mandalay Bay.

Pacquiao is seeking to join soon-to-be fellow Hall of Famers George Foreman and Bernard Hopkins as the lone fighters to have won a major belt after their 45th birthdays.

Pacquiao was asked by BoxingScene about which skill he believes he possesses that gives him a convincing edge over Texas’ 30-year-old Barrios, 29-2-1 (18 KOs).

The expected answers were experience, wisdom, comfort under the big lights.

In a stunning response, he replied, “I’m faster than him. My movement, my speed’s still there. Nothing’s gone. I can develop that in training. I still have that.”

Pacquiao laughed heartily upon learning Barrios wasn’t born when Pacquiao began his pro boxing career.

He and advisor Sean Gibbons first targeted Conor Benn for a comeback fight in Saudi Arabia, but Benn was slow to have his PED suspension ended, so Gibbons turned to Barrios once he won the belt vacated by Terence Crawford.

Promoter Tom Brown, a former matchmaker, agreed with the push for Pacquiao’s comeback, along with PBC founder Al Haymon.

Barrios’ forward fighting style, which incorporates little left-right movement, leaves him susceptible to the creative angles Pacquiao skillfully employs to batter his foes.

Pacquiao told reporters he wanted to fight again after trying to expend physical energy during retirement playing basketball and badminton.

A floating shuttlecock couldn’t please him like punching someone in the face.

“I’m coming back because I miss boxing. I want to be the champion of the world,” Pacquiao told a reporter when asked if money most influenced his decision.

He said he doesn’t feel his age while maintaining his typical training regimen at Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood under trainer Freddie Roach.

Returning to the spotlight is fulfilling, he said, mostly because it means he’s involved in a “big fight” on a card that includes the WBC 154lbs world title rematch between champion Sebastian Fundora and former champion Tim Tszyu, along with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz-Angel Fierro II and Brandon Figueroa versus Joet Gonzalez on Prime Video.

As for other fights that could emerge in victory, Pacquiao said he must devote all his focus to Barrios.

“Thank you, I miss you all,” Pacquiao said. “It’s nice to be back in boxing, and I hope with this fight you all will be happy.”

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.

Caleb Plant has done a great job of staying relevant without being particularly active in recent years.

His handling of some potentially difficult out-of-the-ring situations has been almost perfect, and made him a fan favourite, despite this being only his fourth fight since November 2021. 

He, regardless, is very talented, and I like what he’s been doing with Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, who I believe is a very good coach. In his most recent fight, with Trevor McCumby in September, he showed he is continuing to mature; he was knocked down in a difficult start, and had to battle back by fighting on the inside – which we’d not seen him do much before. He’d been proven at boxing on the outside, with a fantastic jab; instead, against a both talented and strong opponent, he had to become the stalker and fight at close range; that he won an exciting fight means I expect him to get a lot of attention again on Saturday night, against Mexico’s Jose Armando Resendiz.

When Plant fought Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in November 2021 and recorded the first of his two defeats – the second came against David Benavidez in March 2023 – Canelo was at his very peak. He gave Canelo difficulty early on until being broken down, but since then Canelo’s declined, and Plant’s got better. Against Benavidez he looked capable of folding like he did against Canelo, but he didn’t – he powered through and survived. He showed that he’d improved again against McCumby; he looks better than he ever has. 

Resendiz is a tough opponent, and, for what’s his biggest fight, can be expected to be in great shape and at his best. At 26 he has youth on his side, and he’s tough, which is relevant against an opponent who can be hurt. If he can turn it into a dogfight, instead of allowing Plant to dictate from the outside with that jab and his feet, he has a chance – but he hasn’t showed that he can win at this level. 

Plant, a former kickboxer, is getting better at pacing himself, and aged 32 looks more durable than ever. He’s rangey, and has fast hands and good feet, which should prove too much for Resendiz, who I expect to be stopped in the mid-to-late rounds.

Like everyone else, if Plant wins, and Jermall Charlo – also on Saturday night – beats Thomas LaManna, I expect them to be matched later in 2025. If they’d fought 18 months earlier – they have history – it would have been more appealing than it is today, but if they both look good some of that appeal will immediately be recovered.

There are far more questions surrounding Charlo than Plant. At 35, the undefeated Charlo has fought only once since June 2021 – but it’s important to recognise he again looked impressive, in victory over Jose Benavidez Jnr, when he did.

He again showed on that night, in November 2023, that at the very least he’s very gifted. The uncertainty surrounding him owes in part to suggestions his inactivity stems from him struggling with his mental health, but the far-reaching speculation about the past few years in his life means it would be unfair to question if he can recover his very best form when so little of that is established fact. 

Even at 70 per cent, Charlo is capable of beating his opponent, Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna – they appear to have been matched to continue rebuilding Charlo’s reputation. LaManna isn’t dangerous to someone with Charlo’s abilities – he’s consistently struggled when he’s been stepped up. What their fight will tell both us and their promoters Premier Boxing Champions is whether Charlo is capable of making it as far as a higher-profile fight with Plant. There are perhaps more questions around him than any other fighter in the world, but he’s still among the most talented out there – and to the extent that even if he wins convincingly, many of those questions will remain. 

It’s difficult to make a case for LaManna winning. He might be tall, but he’s fighting above his natural weight division, which looked 154lbs. He needs to maintain distance between he and Charlo, and stop Charlo from achieving a sense of balance and getting set, because of the combinations Charlo will put together when he does. At 33 he’s also past his physical peak. I don’t see how he can achieve what he needs to until the final bell.

Fundamentally, Charlo’s one of the best – he’s far too good for LaManna – and he has a killer instinct. Physically, he’s previously shown he’s got it all. I expect his 23rd stoppage from his 34th fight to follow, and then confirmation of a date with Plant.

*

I’d like to extend my best wishes to Japan’s Ginjiro Shigeoka, and his family, team and friends. The first fight with Pedro Taduran, of the Philippines, was brutal; you could see in his face when he entered the ring for their recent rematch that he knew he was entering another difficult contest. He had a good game plan – a different one from their first fight – fought well, and tried his best. He narrowly lost but he fought at an intense pace throughout, and then wilted at the final bell, which was harrowing to see. He’s a warrior, and he’s fighting the toughest battle of his life – it’s one I desperately hope he wins. 

 

LAS VEGAS – Amid talk from boxing power brokers that the uncertainty over the setting for the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford megafight is “holding the sport hostage,” another turn rocked officials connected to the event on Friday.

As construction setbacks have delayed the opening of Mexico’s Arena Guadalajara into early September and scrapped concerts including Katy Perry’s, many in the industry learned that a possible shift from the venue by the UFC 320 "Noche" event scheduled for September 13 could re-shake an already unsteady situation.

One official connected to the event but unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter told BoxingScene Friday that there have been discussions about shifting UFC 320 to a U.S. venue, perhaps even as a non-pay-per-view event.

A UFC spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a voicemail with questions about the matter.

The situation could save Saudi Arabian boxing financier Turki Alalshikh’s bacon, who at this hour has no U.S. licensed promoter, no venue and no broadcaster for the bout between four-division champions who’ve combined to stand as undisputed champions across three divisions.

If UFC 320 is downsized off pay-per-view on September 13 or shifted to another date – September 20 in Las Vegas is open, for example – boxing officials canvassed by BoxingScene Friday feel it opens the door for UFC Chairman and TKO Boxing head Dana White to return as the Alvarez-Crawford promoter and lean on his mightier connections to arrange a broadcaster and venue.

“With every day that goes by, the ‘fight of the century’ becomes less important,” said an official with a business interest in the bout.

In the uncertain climate, fight promoters are frozen out from staging a boxing card on the popular Mexican Independence Day weekend that typically packs a Las Vegas venue.

White was originally in talks with Netflix to stage Alvarez-Crawford at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas – home of the NFL’s Raiders – on Friday, September 12.

An official briefed on the situation told BoxingScene that Alalshikh became convinced Friday was a bad day for such an immense fight after his attempt to do it on a shrunken Times Square card headlined by Ryan Garcia May 2 fizzled out.

The official said White didn’t want to stage both UFC 320 and Alvarez-Crawford on the same night, prompting Alalshikh to announce Saudi Arabia’s Sela would promote the bout, and that more information would be forthcoming on the venue and broadcaster.

Confronted by shrinking U.S. venue options led by Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena and Texas’ Globe Life Field (home of the Texas Rangers), Alalshikh always maintains the ability to bring the fight to Saudi Arabia.

But after fighting in the early-morning hours there May 3 in a subdued showing over William Scull that diminished his reputation, Alvarez has expressed that he does not prefer to return to the Middle East venue that lacks an effective audience, according to an official briefed on the matter.

The official said Alvarez wants to return to Las Vegas, where his 2024 Mexican Independence weekend fight versus Edgar Berlanga outdid the UFC 306 event at The Sphere after Alalshikh said the UFC show he sponsored would “eat them.”

To bring the fight to Allegiant Stadium, a UNLV football game scheduled there for September 13 would need to be shifted. If Alvarez-Crawford is assigned to T-Mobile Arena, ticket prices would likely be increased to compensate for the smaller crowd.

The multiple moving parts leaves the boxing power brokers reduced to watching and waiting and asking questions, including whether Netflix will reconsider streaming boxing’s biggest fight in years.

If Netflix takes it after generating 108 million streams for Mike Tyson-Jake Paul in November, other promoters said they will be free to consider staging their own pay-per-view fight on September 20 or September 27.

“No matter how he tries to paint it, Dana [White would be] coming back with his tail between his legs,” one veteran boxing official said. “After supposedly taking a stand and walking away over the Canelo event moving to the same date as the UFC event, he’s now apparently [considering] coming back on board the Canelo event.”

What matters most is communicating a plan – to the masses and to the industry.

“None of us know what’s going on,” said an official connected to the event.

LAS VEGAS – One of the best fights of 2025 will get an immediate sequel.

Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz and Angel Fierro are set to run it back, with their rematch confirmed for the Mario Barrios-Manny Pacquiao undercard. Their junior welterweight bout is part of a four-fight PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view event set for July 19 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Also confirmed for the show is former two-division titlist Brandon Figueroa, 25-2-1 (19 KOs), and veteran bubble contender Joet Gonzalez, 27-4 (15 KOs), who will open the four-fight telecast. 

Cruz-Fierro is one of two rematches on the card. As previously reported by BoxingScene, Sebastian Fundora, 22-1-1 (14 KOs), will defend his WBC junior middleweight title against former WBO beltholder Tim Tszyu, 25-2 (18 KOs). Fundora defeated Tszyu via split decision to win the WBO and vacant WBC title last March 31 at nearby T-Mobile Arena. 

The anticipated rematch between Cruz and Fierro comes just more than five months after their February 1 ten-round slugfest at T-Mobile Arena. Mexico City’s Cruz prevailed via unanimous decision in a bout that came in supporting capacity to the David Benavidez-David Morrell secondary light heavyweight title fight. 

Cruz, 27-3-1 (18 KOs), rebounded from a loss to Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela, which ended his brief WBA junior welterweight title reign. 

Fierro, 23-2-2 (18KO) – a Tijuana native now based in Lakeside, California – suffered his second defeat within a three-fight span, though his fiery effort raised his stock regardless. 

Texas’ Figueroa also appeared on that same February 1 card but it ended in disappointment. He conceded his WBC featherweight title to Stephen Fulton in a lopsided, unanimous decision defeat, a far less competitive effort than their razor-thin first fight in 2021. The setback ended Figueroa’s three-fight win streak. 

Gonzalez – a Glendora, California native – is 4-4 over his last eight starts but is riding a significant win over Arnold Khegai headed into this contest. 

The three-time title challenger outpointed Khegai over ten rounds on March 8 in Long Beach, California. The victory came eighteen months after Gonzalez lost a decision to then-IBF featherweight titlist Luis Alberto Lopez in a September 2023 title fight in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Gonzalez has also suffered title fight losses to Shakur Stevenson and Emmanuel Navarrete, both at featherweight where he has regularly campaigned for the past eight-plus years. 

All eight PPV participants are due to appear before the media in a kickoff press conference this coming Tuesday at The Novo at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. 

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

LAS VEGAS – Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo literally flexed their muscles for their looming showdowns by both making weight ahead of separate super-middleweight bouts Saturday night at Mandalay Bay.

Former IBF and current WBA secondary champion Plant, 23-2 (14 KOs), showed off his right biceps while standing on a scale reading 167.2lbs Friday. He turned to glare at his challenger, Mexico’s Armando Resendiz, who weighed in at 167lbs.

“I’m right where I want to be – feeling good, feeling strong, feeling sharp and ready to put on a show,” Plant said after weighing in.

Resendiz is banking on his preparedness and inspiration.

“For me, this fight means a lot because I am fighting for you guys,” Resendiz, 15-2 (11 KOs), said to members of his Mexican fan base. “This fight is dedicated to my [child], who’s on the way.” Resendiz is expecting a son in the coming days.

As undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez awaits a September defense against four-division champion Terence Crawford, Plant and former two-division champion Charlo appear bound to match wits and fists in the next-best bout the division can offer.

It would be a reunion from their July 2023 scuffle when Plant slapped Charlo at T-Mobile Arena here as both attended the Crawford-Errol Spence Jnr weigh-in – with the violence officially sanctioned this time.

There was no such hostility Friday as the 35-year-old Charlo, 33-0 (22 KOs), appeared with his twin brother, former undisputed 154lbs champion Jermell Charlo, and flexed his own muscles to prove his readiness for opponent Thomas LaManna, 39-5-1 (18 KOs).

“Nobody’s calling me easy work. I’m ready,” Jermall Charlo said. “You know what I can do. I’m ready. If he makes a bad move, I’ll knock him out.”

A Plant-Charlo winner would be a prime candidate to fight Alvarez in 2026 should the popular Mexican fighter defeat the underdog Crawford.

Charlo weighed 167.4 pounds and LaManna weighed 166.6.

In other bouts to be streamed on the same Prime Video card, Cuban middleweight Yoenli Hernandez weighed 159.6 for his middleweight bout against Kyrone Davis, who hit the scales at 159 even.

While Hernandez is the No. 1 contender to countryman and fellow Premier Boxing Champions fighter, WBA champion Erislandy Lara, his promoter Luis DeCubas Snr told BoxingScene he is also focused on a move up from No. 6 in the WBO rankings behind unified champion Janibek Alimkhanuly. Davis is ranked No. 7 by the IBF and is also in the WBC and WBA rankings.

“It’s a very interesting fight, but you know who’ll win,” the determined Hernandez said. “I’m going to look for the knockout.”

The card begins with an all-Mexican, junior-middleweight battle between Tijuana’s Isaac Lucero, 16-0 (12 KOs), and the 23-0 (20 KOs) Omar Valenzuela.

Both fighters spoke of the importance of maintaining their unbeaten record and adding another knockout to their ledger, as promoters Tom Brown and Sampson Lewkowicz both touted the matchup’s fight-of-the-night promise.

“Two undefeated Mexicans going at it – you could put this one in a phone booth,” Brown said. “It reminds me of the old glory days of the fights in Southern California, where they’d throw money in the ring after the fight.

Lewkowicz said the facial similarity between Lucero and Canelo Alvarez is not the only thing they share in common.

“You will find out. You all need to see him,” Lewkowicz said.

Lucero weighed 154.8 pounds and Valenzuela was 154.6.

LAS VEGAS – The irony in Caleb Plant’s well-marketed revenge tour is that he may never get a second look at the only two fighters to beat him. 

While rematches with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and David Benavidez would be ideal down the road, neither fight is a priority now. In fact, Plant, 23-2 (14 KOs), is doing just fine without them and has emerged as a lucrative option for anyone in the vibrant super middleweight division. 

The former IBF titlist and current interim WBA 168lbs titleholder next defends his secondary belt against Armando Resendiz, 15-2 (11 KOs). Their scheduled 12-round bout will headline a PBC on Prime Video quadruple-header this Saturday from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

“That means I’m in the spot I’m supposed to be in,” Plant told BoxingScene and other reporters during a media scrum. “That means I’ve been doing the right thing. That’s their job, too – gunning for the big dogs. 

“That’s one thing Armando is trying to do. Maybe one day he’ll be a big dog but it ain’t gonna happen on Saturday night. It’s not his time yet.”

Plant is listed as a massive -2400 favorite according to bet365 sportsbook, which has Resendiz as a longshot +1120 underdog. 

The odds don’t faze Plant, however. The 32-year-old Tennessee native – now based in the greater Las Vegas area – has too much to protect and, besides, has never been one to leave anything to chance. 

A ninth-round stoppage win over previously unbeaten Trevor McCumby last September saw Plant level up to just 2-2 in his last four starts. His other win during that run was a violent, ninth-round knockout of former WBC titlist Anthony Dirrell in their October 2022 grudge match in Brooklyn, New York. 

The two defeats came at the elite level, and both at nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena. 

Plant was competitive early before he was dropped and stopped by Mexico’s Alvarez, 63-2-2 (39 KOs), in the eleventh round of their November 2021 WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO super middleweight full unification bout. 

The setback ended his near three-year stay as an IBF titleholder. Plant rebounded with the above mentioned win over Dirrell. It led to a long-awaited grudge match with Benavidez, who enjoyed a strong second half surge to prevail in their March 2023 interim WBC title fight.

More so than the defeat was the 18-month wait between fights for Plant, who shook off ring rust and a fourth-round knockdown to eventually upend McCumby. 

The win proved right on time given the current state of the division. 

Benavidez gave up on the pipe dream of Alvarez ever looking his way and has moved up to light heavyweight where he holds the WBC title. Alvarez recently defeated unbeaten William Scull to become a two-time undisputed champion and will likely next face Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, assuming they can find an appropriate venue to line up with their targeted September 13 date. 

Few other fighters in the division represent a big enough payday to where the rest of the super middleweight players are racing to fight each other.  

That leaves Plant in a terrific position, in addition to his career-long willingness to take on all comers. 

Saturday’s show is designed to set up a grudge match with former two-division titlist Jermall Charlo, 33-0 (22 KOs), who faces Thomas ‘Cornflake’ Lamanna in the chief support. Plant has also previously called for showdowns with Edgar Berlanga, Diego Pacheco, Hamzah Sheeraz and – prior to his recent drug testing scandal – Jaime Munguia.

“There’s a lot of great fights out there,” acknowledged Plant. “All those fights are great for me. Any one of them could fight each other and it wouldn’t be as big as if any of them fought me. That’s a fact.”

For now, though, all focus is on the guy he is fully expected to defeat.

“It feels good to be in this position. If you’re the main event, that means you’re in a good place,” noted Plant. “I got my title and plan on keeping it. I feel like every time the bell rings, I put on a show. Even the fights where I came up short, they’ve always been in entertaining fashion. 

“This fight is no different, I’m gonna get my hand raised for sure this Saturday night.”

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

It sounded like the setup to a joke, with the punchline to follow. The joke: Ever hear the one about the boxer who retired after just one fight? 

As it turned out, there was no punchline. It was real. Delicious Orie, a 1-0 heavyweight prospect from Great Britain, had used Instagram to announce his retirement from boxing a mere seven weeks after making his pro debut. 

The only thing more surprising than that was the reaction to it. If Orie, a one-time Olympian, had feared any sort of criticism or mockery, that fear was thankfully misplaced. Instead, once people realised that it was not a joke, and there would be no punchline, he received the kind of appreciation and respect a boxer typically receives for a display of bravery or acumen. In Orie’s case, it was for the latter. Or maybe, on reflection, it was for both. Maybe Orie, in quitting when he did, and having the courage to do it, showed not only a level of intelligence, or at least foresight, beyond that of his peers, but also a certain bravery, if only for accepting he had made a wrong decision and then doing something about it. 

After all, to varying degrees each of us are guilty of sticking with something longer than we should for fear of the repercussions of ending it. This could be a job, a relationship, or a Zoom call. Whatever it is, often what causes a person to endure is a lack of courage and conviction and the unknown that inevitably follows any major change. 

In retiring when he has, Orie knows his future will be an uncertain one, but he has a degree in Economics and Management and a desire to enter the corporate world, so has accepted the challenge. He is also someone for whom boxing professionally was never a given once his amateur days were over. Back then, Orie, by his own admission, was torn between making a go of it as a pro boxer and entering the world of pro wrestling. Back then, the signs were obvious to anybody paying attention. 

“Over time, I’ve come to recognise that the same fire and love I once had for boxing gradually faded,” Orie, 27, wrote on social media this week. “As I’ve grown, I’ve come to value clarity and honesty with myself above all. I hoped that turning professional would reignite the passion, but the truth has become clear: it hasn’t. Every fighter knows you need a deep love for the craft to reach the top – and without it, there’s no path forward. 

“Out of respect for the sport and for myself, it’s time to step away with honesty.”

For obvious reasons, the timing of Orie’s retirement statement is important. Not only has it come early in his career, therefore mitigating the damage, but it comes at a time when boxing is in a state of flux and the pathway for an amateur star to make it as a pro is no longer as clear and straightforward as it once was. Now, with all roads leading to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and with powerless promoters more interested in the present than the future, the journey for an amateur star turning pro has never seemed longer or more convoluted. Even for someone like Orie, who has an interesting name and decent pedigree, there were no guarantees as a pro. There were no guarantees that, one, he would make it, and two, anybody would care enough or be patient enough to let him show what he can do. 

Also on the subject of timing, one cannot ignore the fact that Orie’s retirement announcement arrived on the same day that Ginjiro Shigeoka underwent brain surgery following a loss to Pedro Taduran in Japan. That alone should provide vindication for both Orie and any other boxer questioning their career choice. 

In addition to that, Tuesday was the day that Doncaster’s Dave Allen expressed an interest in fighting Deontay Wilder, the former WBC heavyweight champion who turns 40 this year. Allen, of course, has had a fairly up-and-down, uncertain relationship with boxing and announced his own retirement back in 2021. He has since then returned, as so many do, but his comments regarding the business side of the sport and the damage the sport has done to him are still hard to shake and forget. 

In many ways, testimonies like Allen’s will help newcomers like Orie turn pro free of the delusion that fuels those debutants who prefer to disregard the signs. They then take on even greater meaning, these testimonies, when the very person who issued them is lured back despite knowing everything he knows.

It's not just Dave Allen. Others have said similar and at the time meant it, too. Besides, with or without those testimonies, there’s enough information out there now for boxers to enter the sport with both eyes open and know exactly what it is they are about to receive – physically as well as financially. Even the most ignorant of boxers will have an appreciation for how damage works and how it grows and spreads with time. We have evidence now; case studies. We also have books on the subject and countless articles written about it. 

In fact, with knowledge only increasing, boxing now fights the same battle fast food chains face in 2025. Though it remains popular on account of how addictive it is, and its accessibility, some will now choose to avoid it due to all the information available and the understanding that it is bad for them. 

In the end, you see, there is no protection from both the truth and the inevitable. In boxing, you get punched in the head and this naturally does damage to the brain and one’s ability to function. In return, and if lucky enough, you might be well compensated and you might reach a level of fame that will trick you into thinking it will never end. But that still doesn’t alter the details of the exchange. Nor the reality of what you must give in order to take.

It is for that reason the sport’s horror stories, of which there are plenty, act as vital cautionary tales. For if from the outset a boxer is under no illusion about what the sport entails, they can at least then make a rational decision as to whether they want to compete or not. Also, when the moment then arrives for them to call it quits, they will hopefully be less inclined to wonder why nobody cares and why there is so little help out there for retired fighters. Because boxing, for all the good it can do, functions no differently than any other job when a worker is deemed surplus to requirements. The money stops and so too does the interest and concern. If you don’t realise this by now, that’s on you. 

For some, the silence and uncertainty is worse than the damage done to them by the sport. Oliver McCall, for instance, is set to have his 78th professional fight on June 3 and is now 60 – yes, sixty – years of age. All in all, the “Atomic Bull” has been a professional heavyweight since 1985 – some 40 years – and has dedicated both his life and brain to this one single pursuit. Unlike Orie, a man of youth and a man of options, it is at this point too late for McCall to do anything else, think of anything else, or pretend he is anything else. This is it now for McCall. He is to be a boxer until the very end and is prepared to live and die by the rules of the game and the choices he has made. 

For his service, and for demonstrating such longevity, McCall might expect more people to watch, admire and respect him at the age of 60. However, all he gets is their concern and their pity. It is interesting, too, in light of how Orie’s decision to quit after just one fight has been received. Perhaps, in a sense, it suggests progress in terms of how we view courage and toughness in 2025. Or perhaps McCall is simply at the stage now where his obsession with boxing, and his fear of stopping, has led to him being seen as a somewhat delusional character, one whose capacity to keep going in old age is considered not admirable but instead comical. It could be that McCall is the joke. The joke: Ever hear the one about the boxer who cleans both his gum shield and his dentures following a fight? Or it could be that boxing, the world’s worst care home, is forever the joke. If so, the joke writes itself.

The sounds that define Wild Card Boxing Club have returned.

The thunderous thwacks against the heavy bag. The vicious grunts of a man expending every bit of force into the blows. 

Record eight-division champion and impending International Hall of Fame member Manny Pacquiao is back in the game, intent once more to reign as welterweight champion.

This time, at age 46.

“I’m still excited for it, and I’m enjoying all the training,” Pacquiao 62-8-2 (39 KOs) told BoxingScene. “I still have the passion like before, so I’m excited I don’t have to worry about that.”

Pacquiao moved on quickly from his May 12 election loss for a return trip to the Philippines Senate, committing to fight WBC 147lbs champion Mario Barrios Jnr 29-2-1 (18 KOs) of San Antonio.

Barrios is 30.

“I’m confident I’ll win the fight,” Pacquiao said. “But I’m not taking it lightly and not underestimating him. I have to punish myself as I’ve done before in training.”

Working under Hall of Fame cornerman Freddie Roach and returning to the grueling conditioning regimen that made he and Floyd Mayweather Jnr the top fighters of this century, Pacquiao said his dedicated routine will lead to a far superior performance than the two lackluster exhibition fights he undertook since his 2021 welterweight title loss by decision to Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas.

“I just trained one week for those, so… ,” Pacquiao said. “They can all expect a good Manny Pacquiao.

“I know the fans are excited to watch Manny Pacquiao again. I will do my best, and that’s why I’m doing [this] in training, doing all the hard work like I did before in the gym. I’m here to put up a good fight. I won’t let the fans down.”

Pacquiao has been boosted further this week by the world-title victories of two fighters he promotes, Mexico’s super-flyweight Willibaldo Garcia and countryman Pedro Taduran, a minimumweight fighter.

“I’m excited and happy for them and happy that I can help others reach my goal,” Pacquiao said.

Defeating Barrios would give Pacquiao his 13th welterweight title victory since first having the WBO strap wrapped around his waist following a 12th-round technical knockout of Hall of Fame four-division champion Miguel Cotto way back in 2009.

Feeling that again is something that has occupied Pacquiao’s thoughts often in recent weeks. 

“It means a lot to come back, and I asked that of the Lord,” Pacquiao said of reclaiming a world title at the second-most advanced age in the sport’s history.

Some are expecting him to do it, including new secondary WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero, who has called for a showdown with a victorious Pacquiao.

Would Pacquiao consider fighting after Barrios?

“I don’t know. One at a time. I need to focus on this one fight,” he said.

A revenge-driven win by Jaime Munguia is now at risk of being nullified. 

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the former WBO junior middleweight titlist tested for a banned substance surrounding his May 4 win over Bruno Surace. Tijuana’s Munguia, 45-2 (35 KOs) was credited with a unanimous decision win over France’s Surace, 26-1-2 (5 KOs) in their 12-round super middleweight bout on May 4 (local time) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

However, a post-fight urinalysis revealed an adverse finding of exogenous testosterone from testing contracted through Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA). Munguia now has 10 days from the date of notice to request the testing of his B-sample. 

Absent proof of contamination or a different result produced by the B-sample – the latter an extremely rare scenario – Munguia now faces a likely suspension and fine, along with his victory changed to a No-Contest. The verdict change would also restore Surace’s previously unbeaten record.

News of the development was first reported by Ring Magazine, owned by Turki Alalshikh who presented the Riyadh Season event headlined by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s win over William Scull to become a two-time undisputed super middleweight champion. 

Munguia previously suffered a sixth-round knockout loss to Surace last December 14 at home in Tijuana. The unlikely feat was recognized by BoxingScene as the 2024 Upset of the Year. 

Both sides eventually agreed to terms for their rematch after a brief hiccup in such talks. The sequel moved to Riyadh, and Munguia linked up with new trainer Eddy Reynoso, best known for his career-long work with Alvarez. 

Munguia was winning until he wasn’t in their first fight but offered a more disciplined performance in their rematch. Judges Howard Foster (117-111), Ron McNair (117-111) and Kieran McCann (116-112) all had Munguia winning by a comfortable margin. 

The drug testing result now casts a cloud over the feat, as Munguia will have to appear before the British Boxing Board of Control, the presiding commission for the event. 

It will leave the 28-year-old super middleweight contender with just one win in his last four starts. 

Seven months prior to the abovementioned knockout defeat to Surace, Munguia was floored and outpointed by Alvarez in a failed undisputed super middleweight championship bid last May 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The loss was his first as a pro, though bookended by stoppage wins over John Ryder and then-unbeaten Erik Bazinyan as part of an active 2024 campaign.

Munguia previously held the WBO junior middleweight title from May 2018-December 2019. He managed to cram a title win and five successful defenses in a 16-month span but has yet to replicate that success in his respective campaigns at middleweight and super middleweight.  

The rematch with Surace marked Munguia’s seventh overall above the middleweight limit and sixth straight since he moved up to 168lbs two years ago. 

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

In a preemptive strike aimed at anyone plotting tweaks of the Muhammad Ali Act, World Boxing Organization president Gustavo Olivieri distributed a statement this week backing the federal rights protecting boxers.

“This legislation remains a cornerstone in protecting boxers from conflicts of interest, unfair contracts and non-transparent practices,” Olivieri wrote. “It promotes ethical standards, independent rankings and safeguards fighters’ rights at a time when there are renewed calls to weaken or repeal the Act, we must remain vigilant.

“The WBO stands firmly in support of preserving and strengthening this critical law for the integrity of the sport and the protection of those who compete in it.”

Make no mistake that this stance is in direct response to the stated plans of the newly proposed TKO Boxing promotion that will sign fighters and stage bouts in traditional weight classes, with the intention of awarding its own belts as TKO head and UFC CEO Dana White has done for years in his mixed martial arts organization.

Although the strength of TKO’s association with Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh is less certain than it was earlier this month following the decision to separate for the promotion of the planned September 13 superfight between four-division champions Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford, White has met with Association of Boxing Commissions head Mike Mazzulli about “amending” the Ali Act stipulation that forbids promoters from awarding belts.

“The problem is not awarding a belt. The problem is you controlling the fighters, you controlling the ratings, you controlling the path,” Olivieri told BoxingScene in elaborating on his statement.

“There’s no independence. It’s an absolute control of the whole structure. It’s not good. There should be an equal balance. It’s why there’s a balance of power in our republic – the executive, legislative and judicial branches. The purpose of the separation of powers is that none will override the others and have absolute power. If you control the ratings, the fighters and the title, you have absolute power, absolute control.”

In a social media post from a combat-sports attorney, boxers are warned that promoters acting as managers and matchmakers is “a major conflict of interest,” reminding that the Ali Act protects them from “long-term contracts you can’t escape” and “hidden financial deals that rob you of your fair cut.”

Olivieri said he is “absolutely concerned” that the TKO model will begin watering down the Ali Act.

And while White and former UFC Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta embraced the principle of “running to regulation” while gaining MMA acceptance from state commissions across the nation during the organization’s formative years, White’s close friendship with President Donald Trump likely empowers him to pursue whatever adjustments he may want for the Act, which has existed since 2000.

White and a UFC spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about TKO’s position on the Ali Act.

“The act serves a purpose. That’s why it was enacted – to protect the fighters,” Olivieri said. “At the negotiating table, the fighters are in an adverse bargaining situation. They don’t have the leverage in most situations. So, the act – although it’s not perfect – if it’s properly and consistently enforced, the fighters have some sort of protections. You’d rather have an act in place and not need it than to not have it and need it.”

After having taken over for Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel in December, Olivieri will address the situation with fighters as part of the formation of his new “WBO Gives Back” program, which launches with an educational conference in June.

“The Ali Act is part of that. It is of critical importance and should be defended and supported. The fighters should know their rights, from a ratings perspective, for financial disclosures and all the other provisions that help them, to avoid exploitation of contracts – all the pockets the act covers,” Olivieri said.

“We’ll also address financial literacy, legal advice, investments, first-property acquisitions, knowing minimum contractual guidelines – critical financial information the fighter should be aware of. Through our new program, the WBO will at least provide the fighters some guidance through seminars, publications, educational social media, videos and tutorials.”

The WBO also has a self-serving interest in this position – to continue existing as one of four major separate ratings organizations empowered to award belts and charge sanctioning fees.

“There should be some kind of independent rating system,” Olivieri said. “The current structure is not perfect, but it’s proper and, if consistently enforced, we should have no problem. The ratings structure is not perfect, the sanctioning bodies are not perfect, but if we act with transparency and honesty, we shouldn’t have a problem.”

There may be a way to address all of it through a restructured Ali Act, as long as the changes improve the fighters’ position, Olivieri said.

“I have no objection to sitting and revising the provisions that can be enhanced from the fighters’ perspective,” Olivieri said. “I know we are here for the fighters.”

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.

The boxing world has been clamoring for a fight between Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo for close to two years, dating back at least to their altercation in July 2023, which concluded with Plant slapping Charlo.

This night is about bringing us closer to that fight.

When is Caleb Plant vs. Jose Armando Resendiz and Jermall Charlo vs. Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna?

The main event of Caleb Plant vs. Jose Armando Resendiz and the co-feature of Jermall Charlo vs. Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna sit atop a four-fight show on Saturday, May 31. The broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST). 

What channel are Caleb Plant vs. Jose Armando Resendiz and Jermall Charlo vs. Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna on?

Caleb Plant vs. Jose Armando Resendiz and Jermall Charlo vs. Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna will stream on Amazon’s Prime Video.

Where are Caleb Plant vs. Jose Armando Resendiz and Jermall Charlo vs. Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna taking place?

The fight is taking place at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Who is Caleb Plant?

Plant, a 32-year-old originally from Nashville, Tennessee, is a former super middleweight titleholder who now holds the secondary WBA “interim” belt at 168lbs. His reign began in early 2019, when he won the IBF title from Jose Uzcategui. Plant made three successful defenses before being stopped by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in November 2021.

Plant returned in October 2022 with a big ninth-round knockout of Anthony Dirrell, lost a clear decision to David Benavidez in March 2023 and spent 18 months away before battling it out with Trevor McCumby last September en route to a ninth-round TKO win. Plant’s record is now 23-2 (14 KOs).

Who is Jose Armando Resendiz?

Jose Armando Resendiz, 15-2 (11 KOs), is a 26-year-old from Mexico. His first loss came in September 2021 via unanimous decision against the 14-4-2 Marcos Hernandez. Resendiz bounced back with two wins, including a big victory over former unified junior middleweight titleholder Jarrett Hurd in March 2023. Resendiz was well ahead on the scorecards going into the 10th and final round when the fight was called off due to Hurd having a badly cut lip.

That landed Resendiz another opportunity as the B-side to Elijah Garcia, who at the time in September 2023 was still an undefeated middleweight prospect. Garcia stopped Resendiz in the eighth round on the undercard of Canelo vs. Jermell Charlo.

Resendiz returned this February after a 15-month layoff, putting away the 5-2-1 Fernando Paliza in five rounds.

Who is Jermall Charlo?

Charlo, 33-0 (22 KOs), is one of two fighting twins alongside former undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell. Jermall is returning from a lengthy break. His last fight was a November 2023 unanimous decision over blown-up former welterweight and junior welterweight Jose Benavidez Jnr. That victory over Benavidez came after 17 months out of the ring for Charlo, who has struggled publicly with his mental health and legal trouble.

He’s trying to right his ship and return to some semblance of the fighter who reigned as a junior middleweight titleholder from 2015 through the end of 2016, moved up to middleweight, won an interim belt and was then upgraded. Charlo’s biggest win at 160lbs was a unanimous decision against Sergiy Derevyanchenko in September 2020.

If Charlo has anything left, he should be able to shine against LaManna.

Who is Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna?

Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna, 39-5-1 (18 KOs), is a 33-year-old from New Jersey. His defeats have come only against recognizable names, some of them prospects at the time (Antoine Douglas, Dusty Harrison), others fringe contenders (Jorge Cota, Brian Mendoza), plus one titleholder (Erislandy Lara). 

That loss to Lara was an 80-second obliteration in May 2021. In the four years since, LaManna has won nine fights while also working on occasion as a boxing promoter – both for shows featuring him as well as those spotlighting others. In March, LaManna scored a second-round TKO of the 11-6-1 Noe Alejandro Lopez.

LaManna recognizes that he is the underdog, and why.

“We all know the task at hand. I know what I’m up against,” LaManna said at a recent press conference. “We all know this is my last shot. I’m gonna make it my last shot, my best shot. I’m gonna give it my all.”

What other fights are on the undercard of Caleb Plant vs. Jose Armando Resendiz and Jermall Charlo vs. Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna?

Two more fights fill out the televised undercard at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Middleweight prospect Yoenli Hernandez, 7-0 (7 KOs), will face Kyrone Davis, 19-3-1 (6 KOs), best known for his draw with Anthony Dirrell in 2021, a TKO loss to David Benavidez later that same year, and an upset victory in his last fight, a June 2024 split decision over the aforementioned Elijah Garcia. 

And a pair of unbeaten junior middleweight prospects will face off, with Isaac Lucero, 16-0 (12 KOs), taking on Luis Omar Valenzuela, 23-0 (20 KOs).

The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.

Eddie Hearn has revealed that Anthony Joshua is in discussion with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season regarding a potential two-fight deal.

Joshua’s most recent two contest have come under the Riyadh Season banner: His second round stoppage win over Francis Ngannou in March 2024 and the fifth round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois six months later. There had been talk about a rematch with Dubois but Joshua instead chose to have surgery on an injured elbow.

Hearn revealed to BoxingScene earlier this week that the surgery had been a success and that Joshua would return to full training in around six weeks. It was subsequently reported by NoSmokeBoxing that Joshua is in talks with Riyadh Season over a three-fight deal.

“Yeah, that's not true, we are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season,” Hearn told BoxingScene. “We've been doing that, [Turki Alalshikh] said that on the night of Canelo [vs. William Scull, May 3], when we had our meeting, and that's the plan really. We want to box sometime this year, October, November, December.”

Hearn wants to see what happens in the July 19 rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois, both of whom have beaten Joshua, before confirming anything. Tyson Fury has long flirted with a comeback and would immediately be linked to Joshua should he return.

“We'll see what happens with Dubois-Usyk, we'll see what happens with Fury,” he said of a potential opponent. “And if we don't fight those guys, we'll fight, and then maybe we'll follow one of those guys next year.”

Hearn confirmed that both Dillian Whyte and Jared Anderson have also been mentioned as potential opponents for Joshua.

“Two guys that have been discussed, but nothing concrete,” Hearn said of the rumors.

 

YOKOHAMA, Japan – It was short and sweet from Yoshiki Takei who successfully defended his WBO bantamweight strap with a first round stoppage win over Yuttapong Tongdee.

Tongdee, a standout amateur, had vast more experience over Takei, a former kickboxing champion, but the contest that took place at the BUNTAI in Yokohama, Japan, proved to be a mismatch. Tongdee has wins over the likes of Robeisy Ramirez in the unpaid ranks, but just couldn’t live with the unorthodox Takei’s speed and power.

Takei, 11-0 (9 KOs), began his ring walk surrounded by his Ohashi Boxing Gym stablemates. A long line of some of the finest fighters in Japan. including Naoya Inoue, followed him to the ring. Takei relished being a star in his own right and appeared to take in every moment.

The fireworks that greeted the champion died down but it wouldn't be long before another explosion occurred. Takei came out in his wide, unorthodox stance and almost instantly lunged in with one of his trademark southpaw left hands and floored Tongdee. The traveling fighter from Thailand did not know what hit him and although he returned to his feet, he was still in a bad way,

Referee Chris Young had a good look at him before allowing the bout to continue by ushering Takei to resume the action. The champion again whipped in a left hand that sent Tongdee crashing into the ropes and followed it with another that took away his feet from beneath in. The challenger pleaded with the referee that he had slipped but he hadn’t. He didn’t even know what day it was.

The challenger was again allowed to continue, but it wasn’t long before Takei ended proceedings. He fired in a left hook and followed it with a right hook that turned Tongdee’s legs to jelly. Takei belted in another left and, with Tongdee wobbling around, Young had seen enough. The time of the stoppage was 2:07 of the first round.

Takei will now look to secure a clash with Junto Nakatani should he defeat Ryosuke Nishida in their IBF and WBC unification bout. Nakatani could move up to face Inoue, so Tenshin Nasukawa could be in line to fight for the vacant WBC title. A clash between the two former kickboxers would be huge in Japan.

Tongdee suffered the first defeat of his career and fell to 15-1 (9 KOs).

 

Jake Paul is pulling a reverse Bob Arum. Yesterday he was telling the truth, and today he’s lying.

Here’s what Paul said last December regarding suggestions that he may fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr next: 

“I want someone tougher [than Chavez] and I want a real belt, not just something that gets put up for entertainment value. … Honestly, he’s easy work and I want someone tougher to shut people up.”

Well, as it turns out, on June 28, Paul will fight that very same Chavez who wasn’t tough enough for him, whom he saw as “easy work.”

We know that Jake Paul knows exactly what this assignment is. We know that he knows he’s cherry-picking against a used-up former beltholder with a highly recognizable name.

And yet, in some corners, he’s getting away with it. He has both fight fans and people in the media helping him sell this “easy work” as a credible challenge, because, well, because Paul has done a masterful job of lowering the bar until people can’t even remember what a bar is.

It must be said that Paul’s career progression is unique and therefore challenging to process. There’s never been another boxer with anything approaching the combination of being this famous before they turned professional, taking the endeavor of boxing this seriously, building a record mostly against has-beens who competed in other sports, and then participating in the most widely viewed boxing match in decades.

Paul has walked a bizarre tightrope, wanting to improve his credibility and become a real cruiserweight contender while at the same time being perpetually capable of headlining pay-per-views in sideshow fights – and feeling pressure to take those sideshow fights, making everyone lots of money and also providing exposure for deserving undercard fighters.

It all peaked, of course, last November, when Paul, then 27 years old, squared off against Mike Tyson, then 58 years old. It was the most cynical of cash grabs, a nostalgia play, taking advantage of a public that has proven endlessly susceptible to gaslighting and memory-holing and that continues to cling to every feeling that Tyson made them feel almost 40 years ago.

By the time that eight-rounder was over – actually, by the time the first round was over – those who had been duped into believing it was a real challenge for Paul, or even that Tyson would knock him silly, were forced to come to their senses.

It was a mismatch. It was elder abuse. It was sad and sobering and a reminder that nobody can be elite at 58 in a sport that requires serious athleticism.

Paul did not exactly emerge from his 11th professional victory covered in glory, but memories are overwritten quickly and, as we’re seeing, he now benefits to a degree from the very things that made the Tyson fight so nauseating.

He fought a man in his late 50s who hadn’t had an official fight in nearly 20 years and was some 35 years removed from his prime.

And that’s precisely why so many people who should know better are giving him a pass for Chavez. The son of “The Lion of Culiacan,” after all, is “only” in his late 30s, is technically an active fighter and is “only” about a dozen years past his prime.

Graded on “The Tyson Curve,” Chavez looks like a legitimate foe for Paul.

Hats off to Paul for getting himself into a position where The Tyson Curve exists.

But shame on everyone who’s convinced themselves Chavez Jnr in any way resembles the boxer he was in 2012. That person is no more walking among us than the Tyson of 1988 is.

Let’s recall the Chavez trajectory.

Chavez, much like Paul, had to endure countless doubters in his early days. He had to prove he was more than just a famous name, and to a large extent, he did.

From 2010-12, he was beating solid opponents and real contenders in scheduled 12-rounders: John Duddy, Sebastian Zbik, Peter Manfredo Jnr, Marco Antonio Rubio, Andy Lee. To be sure, none of them was a pound-for-pounder. But it was a good run. Especially the seventh-round stoppage of Lee. That made Chavez perfectly worthy of a shot at the lineal middleweight champion, Sergio Martinez.

He came just a punch or two away from winning the Martinez fight and the legit championship of the world. But prior to the dramatic 12th round in which he knocked “Maravilla” down and nearly out, Chavez lost every minute of the fight.

In retrospect, Round 12 was the fluke, and rounds 1 through 11 the predictor of all that would follow.

Chavez next needed a controversial decision to beat Brian Vera in 2013 in what was supposed to be a safe comeback fight.

He got dominated and stopped in the ninth round by underdog Andrzej Fonfara in 2015.

He got one last shot at the big time two years later, in 2017, against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Cinco de Mayo weekend, and lost all 12 rounds on all three scorecards.

It is reasonable to suggest that by this point, Chavez, 31 years old at the time, was already far enough gone that the current version of Jake Paul could have beaten him.

In 2019, Chavez, 33 years old, took on Daniel Jacobs and surrendered on his stool after Round 5. Surely, it was all over now.

Nine months later, he lost by unanimous technical decision after six rounds to club fighter Mario Cazares, in a bout stopped due to an accidental headbutt. Now there could be absolutely no doubt whatsoever that it was all over.

In 2021, Chavez, at age 35, lost an eight-round split decision to 46-year-old MMA fighter Anderson Silva. Not even the Nadia Comaneci of mental gymnastics could find a way to deny now that it was all over.

But Chavez came back. And he beat David Zegarra, who was 34-6 at the time and is 35-12-1 now, and oh, by the way, of Zegarra’s 12 losses, 10 are by KO, and Chavez is one of the two exceptions who needed scorecards to beat him.

Then Chavez took 31 months off and returned last July to decision Uriah Hall, a 39-year-old MMA fighter with one prior professional boxing match, a meeting with former NFL running back Le’Veon Bell.

And on the back of that win, Chavez’s only boxing match in the last three and a half years, we are told by some to believe that Chavez – nearly 40, slightly undersized at cruiserweight, notoriously difficult to convince to train seriously even when he was physically able, 13 years beyond his best win, 11 years beyond his last vaguely meaningful win – is a serious opponent for Paul just because he’s an experienced professional boxer who isn’t in his late 50s.

That is The Tyson Curve in action right there.

I don’t point any of this out as a criticism of Paul. We all have the option to watch or not watch his fights, and there are only so many directions he can go in for opponents who will enable him to sell tickets and pay-per-views now that he’s beyond the pure beginner stage – and while he surely knows deep down he will get annihilated by any actual cruiserweight contender.

There’s talk, for example, of Paul trying to position himself for a challenge of unified cruiserweight titleholder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, who takes on Yuniel Dorticos in the June 28 PPV co-feature. That is both a guaranteed loss for Paul and a threat to his physical well-being, and there’s no way he will do something like that until he has completely given up on his dreams of a payday against Canelo and is fully ready to cash out of the sport.

Paul is extraordinarily accomplished for a celebrity boxer and yet miles away from contender status. He exists in a virtually unprecedented middle ground, where he can fight non-boxers like Nate Diaz and Tyron Woodley, nobodies like Andre August and Ryan Bourland, shot fighters like Chavez, beyond-shot fighters like Tyson – or real boxers who range from “probably will beat him” to “definitely will beat him.”

And all the while, he can float names like 135-pound titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis, yet another novel way to toe the line between intriguing and appalling.

This is the niche Paul has carved out for himself. And he’s now lasted more than five years past his professional debut. I applaud him for pulling this off. Whatever this is.

Just don’t try to tell me he’s testing himself against Chavez. Don’t try to tell me beating Chavez means anything.

Jake Paul knows it doesn’t, and he said that in definitive terms on a day when he was telling the truth.

He set the bar impossibly low when he fought against Mike Tyson. Let’s not confuse stepping over that bar with actually stepping up.

Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with nearly 30 years of experience covering the sport for such outlets as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, and The Ring (where he served as managing editor for seven years). He also co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Outside boxing, he is the senior editor of CasinoReports and the author of 2014’s The Moneymaker Effect. He can be reached on X, BlueSky, or LinkedIn, or via email at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.

Justis Huni entered 2025 with the expectation of a big fight to take his career to the next level.

Not quite on his bucket list was the chance to play the spoiler on relatively short notice, but the unbeaten Australian will fully lean into that role.

Brisbane’s Huni has not left England since he was formally announced as the new opponent for top 10 contender Fabio Wardley. Their modified matchup was revealed to the public five weeks out from their June 7 DAZN headliner from Portman Road Football Ground in Wardley’s hometown of Ipswich, England. 

“I didn’t come all the way over here just to take part,” Huni told BoxingScene. “I’m really come over here to cause an upset and crash this homecoming party Fabio has planned. 

“I’m just gonna give it my all and back myself all the way.” 

Huni, 12-0 (7 KOs), set up training camp in the Greater Manchester area shortly after their May 15 press conference in Ipswich. He accepted the fight one week prior - on roughly six weeks’ notice, replacing a reportedly injured Jarrell Miller, 26-1-2 (22 KOs). 

The need for Wardley, 18-0-1 (17KOs), to preserve his planned homecoming also provides Huni a long-sought step-up fight. It comes at the right time for the visiting 26-year-old, who is riding a trio of second-round knockouts. 

His showdown with Wardley will mark just the third outside of Australia for Huni, but the first in enemy territory. He claimed wins in Cancun, Mexico and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in back-to-back fights, though both cities which provided a neutral backdrop. 

That won’t at all be the case for this occasion. 

“The fans here are great, but I expect all of that to change once we get in the ring,” admitted Huni. “It’s gonna be loud, everyone against me and a lot of boos from the crowd when I’m walking into the ring. 

“That’s okay. I’m here to embrace it, take it all in. 

The fight is by no means a foregone conclusion. In fact, most fans agree that Huni presents a stiffer challenge than would have been the case with Miller, a more recognizable name but who is basically wasted talent at this point of his career.

Wardley is a -333 favorite according to bet365, as high as -380 with Caesars Sportsbook. Huni is a +275 and +260 underdogs with those books, respectively. 

Still, the visiting boxer doesn’t view this as a chance to shock the world more so than to simply advance his career.

“This is just another steppingstone to get me to where I want to go,” insists Huni.

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

Caleb Plant is a man minding his own business and staying in his lane. 

But, often, trouble has gravitated toward the Nashville-born super middleweight, the everyman superstar who has become a cult hero for his never-back-down mentality, no matter the odds.

In July 2023, before Terence Crawford and Errol Spence fought in Las Vegas, Plant cracked Jermall Charlo with an open hand as they argued in the bowels of the T-Mobile Arena when Charlo put his hand in Plant’s face.

Nearly a year on, Edgar Berlanga got in his face – back in Vegas – and they shared an angry exchange, and when Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin fought, Plant was somehow dragged into an altercation with Ryan Garcia and his henchmen in the MGM Grand.

Plant did not give an inch on any occasion.

Even before that, there was a pre-fight rumble with Canelo Alvarez and genuine bad blood with Anthony Dirrell.

Now Plant’s brand has been built through the carnage, though he’d rather an online search that took the form ‘Caleb Plant – add Garcia/Berlanga/Charlo/Canelo/Dirrell altercation’ yield no results.

It is not how he wanted it to be.

“I try to handle my business inside the ring and I like to be left alone outside the ring,” Plant tells BoxingScene. “So as long as people leave me alone, I’ll leave them alone, you know.”

It sounds simple, yet it has been too hard for many to compute. They have veered into his lane, discussed his business and even his family, but in doing so Plant’s inability to cower submissively has made him a hero to those who might have shrunk in similar circumstances.

Of course, he won’t speak on what others might or might not do if faced with similar situations. Fight or flight is more reflex than flex. Until the circumstances face you, you won’t know what is in you. Like a fight.

“I feel like that’s an individual question for each individual, but, as far as I’m concerned, you know, I was raised a certain way by my grandfather and my father and they stand on certain principles as far as what they believe and how they believe they should be treated,” Plant adds. “And being bullied or harassed is not high on our list of things that we like. And so, if I ask somebody to leave me alone, it’s not really a request, you know what I’m saying? It’s a demand.”

The building of the brand might have indirectly been assisted, but it was never the aim, and it’s why Plant has not looked for trouble.

“I’ve never really thought too much about it or thought of it like that because, obviously in those moments I’m not looking to build my brand,” the 32-year-old continues. “I’m looking to get my point across when I can’t seem to get it across verbally. But yeah, I guess everybody out there likes to believe that they would stand their ground and take up for themselves, defend themselves if somebody is bullying them, harassing them or their family… their kids, their wife, whatever it may be. So yeah, maybe people like to see themselves in me through scenarios like that, perhaps.” 

The easy going demeanour that Plant has in conversation means you can tell he’s not drawn to being boxing’s enforcer. He’s too modest and too unassuming, and you can see him cringe when he’s asked the kind of question you know, given everything he’s been through, he has little interest in.

Has he noticed the uptick in his popularity on social media from the viral moments in which he’s been involved?

“I’d like to think it’s from more of what I’ve done in the ring,” he says, clearly trying to keep the talk to boxing. “But I’m sure some of it has to do with me standing my ground in other scenarios. But I haven’t really given that a whole lot of thought, honestly.”

I don’t doubt that for a minute

MAKING BREAD

Both Plant and his trainer, Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, are men who prefer to let their actions speak for themselves. Their union, which started after Plant lost to Canelo Alvarez in November 2021, and has seen them work out of the popular DLX Boxing Gym in Las Vegas, where Plant now lives, on Saturday, May 31, they will step back into battle again, in the Michelob Arena, where Plant will face Jose Armando Resendiz.

Edwards calls Plant “a man of principle” and Plant said after Canelo, “a role needed to be filled” with Edwards working alongside Plant’s pops, Richie.

“Bread is someone that I've always admired from afar, and we’ve known each other for some time,” Plant says. “I’ve picked his brain and asked him about boxing questions where I wanted to see where his head was at and things I wanted to know. And I always liked his answers. I’ve always been a big fan of [Edwards-trained] Julian Williams. I feel like he’s always been a super-crafty fighter and always had a huge bag of tricks and also knew that he was a young trainer, or a younger trainer; someone who would probably want to work, who was eager and wanted to prove themselves. You know, sometimes older trainers have not much left in the tank, and they’re just kind of like… they don’t really care no more.

“But Bread, he’s the opposite of that. He cares, he wants to win, and he’ll go to the end of the earth to get the job done. And I’m the same type of way.”

The chemistry was there from the start, and it was their ability to focus on the finer details, small adjustments and additions, that have made him a more complete fighter.

Asked for details, Plant adds: “One, obviously the inside work, I feel like I showed that in my last fight [stopping Trevor McCumby], how much that has developed. And a lot of that has to do with Bread and a lot of that has to do with my dad too, because, between fights, I travel to Philly [where Edwards his from] here and there, and he’ll come to Vegas here and there. But for the most part, it’s been me and my dad in the gym grinding every day.

“And, Bread will pass him the notes and my dad will follow those notes, but he’s also adding his own twist to it. And my dad has a certain way that he likes to go about things and him [Bread] and my dad have great chemistry as well. That’s been a blessing, because sometimes when two trainers aren’t on the same page and they don’t have good chemistry, old heads get to arguing and not seeing eye to eye. Him and my dad are always reiterating the same things. And it’s just good chemistry.”

Edwards also had Plant sparring more in the downtime between fights, and that is no hardship for the Nashville hardman.

“I love sparring,” Plant smiles without hesitation. “Sparring is the best part. You put all the work in and you go to all the physical recovery and massage therapy and eating right and sleeping right and putting your best foot forward on everything so you can spar good. And then you spar good so you can fight good. So I really enjoy sparring. And he’s upped the sparring a lot on a day-to-day basis for me year-round. So I feel like that’s helped me. 

THE SANCTUARY

Some 20 years ago, Richie Plant built a gym at the family home in Nashville, and Plant made that his nursery, but even before then Caleb had the taste for action by going to a boxing gym in the Rivergate area – a place off most Nashville tourist maps.

It was home to a cruiserweight fighter, Loren Ross – “Ross the Boss” – who had been on the army boxing team years earlier, and Plant would watch him shadow box, hit the bags and spar. 

“And man, he was super smooth,” Plant smiles at the memory. “He had a great boxing IQ and was just really smart. And he’s the one who really like planted the seed of my dad’s brain too, because my dad was a fighter as well, but his defense wasn’t really… you know… all that. And my dad wanted me to have good defense. And when he took me to Loren Ross and the things that Loren first started showing me… how to box, how to move, my dad kind of took that and ran with it.”

Plant’s dad had been an amateur kickboxer, but things were not so straightforward with his mom. 

The Plant family lived in a two-bed trailer in Ashland City on the Nashville outskirts and times were tough. The family were so poor, Plant – as a baby – slept in a dresser drawer rather than a crib.

His mom battled alcoholism and addiction and Caleb recalls frequent sounds of “yelling and breaking” in his childhood. While he concedes his mother was his No. 1 fan, he never wanted to be in a position where he had to clean up after her after she got high. In fact, the difficulties at home led Plant to move in with his grandparents, and his grandpop was a cowboy. Young Plant found a love of hunting, fishing, shooting, and riding horses, and enjoyed the quieter environs – away from the trauma of home.
But when his dad really started focusing on working with Caleb, things changed rapidly.

The Plant household developed its own facility – “a small rinky-dink gym” – and Plant would be out of school by 2.45pm, in the gym at 3.15pm, and he’d stay until 10.30pm. Six days a week. 

At first, the floor was tiled and “the ring” was marked only by tape. The boxers would stand around the square holding hands to fill in for ropes and the kids would fight.  

That was his routine, from the age of nine until Plant left school.

It was practice, it was repetition, it was life.

“But that was my sanctuary,” Plant admits. “That was my safe place, you know, not liking my home scenario very much. It was pretty chaotic and just feeling like a nobody really. Then, because of how much time I spent in the gym, it’s like I surpassed my peers pretty quickly. And now all of a sudden, I’m this kid in the gym who even like grown adults, grown folks are looking up to like, ‘Man, I want to be like him.’ ‘Man, I wish I could do this. I wish I could do that. Like him.’ 

“And now it’s like, all of a sudden I’m somebody and I’m somebody people want to be like, and then I leave the gym and I go back to being like somebody that nobody wants to be.”

It was never a pleasant transition. Life as society’s Clark Kent was far less fun, exciting, and rewarding. It was not like Plant was drunk on power from the gym, but he knew it gave him a self-worth that he had been unable to find outside of the ropes.

As a civilian, he was lost. It took going back to the gym to feel good about himself.

“And it just became this addictive drug for me where it’s the only thing I wanted to do and it is the only thing I thought about. And it’s the only place I wanted to be,” he continues.

“And it’s like, in the real world, you can’t always control what goes on. But in that boxing gym and that boxing ring, I have a lot of control. I have a lot of say with what can happen, what can go on… I can dictate a lot of things. 

“And I just fell in love with that.”

He played little league football too, and was good, but he liked fighting more. He’d started football at seven, but before his freshman year his dad urged him to make a choice.

With school about to start, Richie said to Caleb: “’Hey buddy, you need to pick one. I know you’ve been playing football a long time. I know you love it.

“I know you’ve been fighting a long time. But you know, high school ball is going to be very demanding.

“Obviously fighting is very demanding too. So you can’t be great at everything. You need to pick one.’”

Caleb admits school was not for him. He didn’t like it and wasn’t good at it.

“I come from a small town,” he says. “There weren’t like a lot of big recruits [for football]. And I was like, ‘Man, I just want to box. I just want to fight.’”

At what point did Plant realize boxing was his ticket to a better life?

“Nine years old, nine years old,” he sighs. “That’s why I want to be a world champion. 

“All I want to do is fight.” 

NO PLAN B

Caleb Plant – a former IBF super middleweight champion – still has a dream. He wants to hold a world title overhead again, carry it in a locked case as luggage when he travels and show the belts to his kids when he’s an old man. It is as much a dream now as it was when he was a child. 

How many left hooks did he throw in the mirror of that “rinky-dink gym?” How many shots has he taken? How many times has he tasted his own blood, or woken to run while the world sleeps, and put his courage to the test to achieve the dream?

Regardless of the specifics, the dream for Plant is the destination and the purpose of his colorful and emotional journey is a title. 

“Ever since I was nine years old, that’s really all I wanted to be,” he says, a glint in his eye. “[It’s] what I wanted to do. And my dad will tell you that that’s God's honest truth. I knew since I was nine years old, like, ‘Man, this is what it’s going to be for me.’”

But the chances of making it to the top – and staying there – in this rocky business are slender. It’s not a question of slipping punches, but rolling with them outside of the sport, too. The likelihood of success is small, but Plant felt the odds were in his favor.

“I always knew I was going to be the one, even in middle school. My teacher came around once, I wasn't doing my work. I was filling out my autograph on a piece of paper. I filled up the whole sheet, turned it over, and I filled up the whole sheet with my autograph on the front and back. My teacher would come around and say, ‘What are you doing?’ I was like, ‘I’m practicing my autograph. I’m going to be a world champion one day.’ She’s like, ‘Well, what if boxing don’t work out? You need to plan B.’ I said, ‘No, boxing is going to work out. I don't need to plan B. I’m going to be a world champion.’”

He won the national Golden Gloves in 2011, an Olympic alternate in London in 2012, and fought in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena in 2020 to defend his world title, and that same teacher updated her status on social media, telling the story of the stubborn kid who knew he was going to be a champion.

“I told him he needed to plan B,” she wrote. “And he told me, ‘No, I don’t. Boxing is going to work.’ And sure enough, if he didn’t go out there and become a world champion.” break

OUT OF THE DARKNESS

Plant might have always felt it was inevitable, that he could make his dreams factual, but to outsiders it was always a long shot. While his father might have tried to set him up for success, you could name scores of fighters who tried young, dazzled for a while, and ultimately faded, their dreams and ambitions condemned to a weary nostalgia of what they hoped life would be like and not what it had actually become.

Plant was different. He could feel it.

“For some reason,” he confides, “in my heart, no matter what was going on in my life, I just always had this thing in my chest pulling me towards it saying, ‘No matter what, if you keep going, you’re going to make it.’ And a lot of times that feeling kept me up at night. Sometimes it’s exhausting. And I still had that feeling in my chest like, ‘just keep going, just keep going, just keep going.’ It’s been exhausting so many times because it keeps me up at night and it’s just ongoing. It never goes away. But I just always knew like, man, it’s going to work out.”

And with the adversity he has faced, it would have been easy for him to have been blown off course, to join the wastelands of failed contenders and pretenders who didn’t have the gumption to see it through when the going got too tough or the spotlight shone too brightly.

And despite the hard exterior, Plant shares that there have been vulnerable moments. Despite being pushed in the face by a former champ, outnumbered by a boxing star and his goons, the bulletproof air Plant omits is in contrast to the considered man I’m in conversation with. He knows pain and he knows he can be hurt, but he also understands pain and loss and how those two horrible bedfellows have shaped what he has become.

In a glimpse into what life might have been like for Plant, in 2019, Plant’s mom pulled a knife on a cop and was shot and killed.

Four years before that, Plant had a daughter – Alia – who died in the winter of 2015 after an infection became pneumonia. She was just 19 months old. Alia had been born with a serious medical condition, suffered a heart-breaking decline and was on life-support four times. On the fifth occasion, with Alia at peace, Plant spoke to his baby, told her how proud he was of her and, at 10.55pm on January 29, the machines that were connected to the tubes and pumps that had been keeping her alive were turned off. 

Plant has talked about those losses before, but there are other moments of anguish he won’t disclose.

“I mean, those are two experiences [his mom and daughter] that I’ve shared, but there’s a whole book of experiences that I haven't shared that are…” he pauses to think about his word selection. “You know, I’m sure a lot of other people go through things, but other experiences that may stop people from getting where they’re headed. But like I said, for some reason, I just always have this super strong feeling in my chest and my heart in my head that said, ‘Man, this is going to work. This is going to work.’ And I feel like those experiences, the ones I’ve shared and the ones that I haven’t, they prepared me. They’ve strengthened me. They’ve made me tough. They made me… what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And anytime I fell short outside of the ring or inside the ring, I never felt like, ‘Man, I’m a step further away.’ I always felt like, ‘Man, I’m a step closer now. I’m a step closer.’

Wanting a new start, Plant moved to Las Vegas to put the darkness behind him.

“And, yeah, I think those experiences definitely toughened me and made me the man that I am today and made me strong enough to have the attitude and the mindset and the fortitude that I have to, no matter what, man, you got to keep pressing on. You got to keep putting one foot in front of the other.” break

THE TASK AT HAND

The next foot goes in front of the other at the Michelob Arena on Saturday night. Resendiz will be hoping to knock Plant off both feet, but the Mexican is a prohibitive underdog.

Plant is, again, the man with the target on his back. He has the Charlo fight waiting for him and the bounty that contest would finally promise. Resendiz is merely in the supporting cast of the overall story, but the Mexican knows it’s his chance to become a main character. Plant understands that, too.

“This is his moment,” Plant shrugs. “And I remember what it was like for me and my first big moment, how bad I wanted it and how much I knew like, ‘Man, if I get over this hump, if I get through this – which I know I will – then man, my life’s going to change forever.’ And I’m assuming that he’s feeling the same way. So I know how much he wants it, but it’s not his time. It’s not his moment. This isn’t his story. This is my story. And May 31st, I’m gonna step on him for trying to mess up everything that I worked towards. I’m gonna step on him.” 

As you would expect from Plant, he is not excited to talk about Charlo. If they get to it eventually, he will have more to say, but for now it takes a couple of questions to get even a quiet rumble and rise from Plant. He has business at hand first, and Charlo is not it.

“It’s not something I'm thinking about too much right now,” Plant says, shaking his head. “You know, there’s been so many fighters who have been in the same situation. It’s like, they put them on the same card. They both win that fight. Then they got the superfight. They got the megafight. And there always seems to be – not always, but too many times – where one person is focusing on that big fight and not the fight in front of them. All fights are big fights. All fights are tough fights. There are no easy fights. There are fights you can make easy, but no fight is easy. And training camp isn’t easy and the sacrifices aren’t easy.

“So I need to focus on the task in front of me right now. I need to focus on the fight in front of me. I’m gonna step on him May 31st. And then there’ll be plenty of time to talk about Charlo, think about Charlo, prepare for Charlo, whatever the situation, whatever the case may be. But right now, I need to focus on the task at hand because focus is what gets the job done.”

Would he like the opportunity to “step on Charlo” though?

“If he makes it to the ring, I'll step on him too,” Plant adds, happily enough. “I’ve stepped on him once. I’ll step on him again.” 

But, for now, Caleb Plant is minding his own business and staying in his lane.