Boxing News

The gloves have long been off in the rivalry between UFC CEO/President Dana White and Golden Boy Promotions’ Hall of Fame head Oscar De La Hoya, who this week called White’s push to alter federal regulations of boxing as “shady.”

White’s Zuffa Boxing, positioning for a January debut with a new Paramount+ streaming deal, wants to rank its own in-house fighters and award them its own belts rather than work with other promoters and sanctioning bodies.

White spoke in bullish terms regarding what he plans to accomplish on a podcast last week, downplaying the work of his predecessors, and was struck by criticism from both Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and then De La Hoya, who appeared on Ariel Helwani’s show Monday.

On Tuesday’s episode of “BoxingScene Today” on ProBoxTV, analysts and former world champions Chris Algieri and Paulie Malignaggi argued that instead of setting aside existing federal protections, the sport should seek to strengthen the rules to better enforce financial disclosures from promoters.

“It’s in place to protect fighters and has no teeth. It needs more, not changing or abolishing,” Algieri said. “It needs more scrutinizing – to be beefed up. TKO [Zuffa Boxing] wants more power. It doesn’t pass the eye test. I’m curious to see how this all plays out.”

Although Zuffa Boxing’s push for the new “Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act” has been endorsed by the champion’s widow, Lonnie, and supported by a 6-0 vote from the California State Athletic Commission, Ali’s boxing-fan daughter, Hana, and his boxer grandson, Nico Ali Walsh, have both distributed statements objecting to the proposed changes.

It’s likely the regulations will be altered by President Trump’s Republican majority Congress. Trump and White are close friends.

“My father would have always sided with whatever truly protected a person’s free will and best interests, especially those who lacked the knowledge or resources to navigate the business world,” Hana Ali wrote on Instagram. 

“While no one can speak for my father, I know he would have stood for fairness, honesty and protecting the individual above all else. Not corporations, not politics, but people –THE FIGHTERS!”

While UFC’s parent company TKO and the California commission blame current promoters and the sanctioning bodies for ineffective business strategies and unfair title-fight fees, working to lockup fighters in multi-year contracts and depriving them of their rights to inspect television, live-gate and sponsorship earnings made for their fights is a debatable trade-off, Malignaggi said.

“Why I want to protect it is that no matter what happens [in promoter- or manager-fighter agreements] now, a fighter can take them to court and audit the numbers to see everything,” Malignaggi said. “If you eliminate [the regulations] none of it matters and what you agree to is what you agree to.”

Algieri said he used the existing Ali Act as leverage to file lawsuits against his former boxing business advisors.

“Did it help me? No. But it gave me some ground to stand on,” Algieri said. “I wouldn’t want to be a fighter in a world without the [existing] Ali Act.”

De La Hoya said Zuffa Boxing’s arrival will be met by improved cooperation among existing promoters to remain faithful to the tenets of the existing regulations and to make fights that will draw more attention than the Zuffa Boxing stable of developmental athletes and rising contenders.

While Zuffa Boxing is pitching improved minimum purses, health care and drug testing, Algieri said the free-enterprise behavior among boxers is better for the sport.

“You don’t show up for an overlord, and it’s ‘Take it or leave it,’” Algieri said.

He said he welcomes a new promotion offering a new streaming deal and the opportunity to build stars.

Malignaggi foresees increased cooperation among promoters in the effort to make big fights that will keep their businesses in the spotlight, even as HBO, Showtime and ESPN have left the sport during the past decade.

“You have to keep up by making great fights,” Malignaggi said, adding that BoxingScene-owned ProBoxTV has set the example for Zuffa Boxing to follow by arranging a stream of 50/50 action fights that have led Lester Martinez and Ramon Cardenas to major cards this year. 

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 Contender debuted on NBC on March 7, 2005. This article is part of a monthly series throughout 2025 – the 20th anniversary year – catching up with or reflecting on alumni of the show.

Previous profiles in this series: Sergio Mora, Tarick Salmaci, Adam Briles, Peter Manfredo, Ishe Smith, Najai Turpin, Jackie Kallen, Jonathan Reid, Anthony Bonsante.

“I mean, I don’t like ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ but I know it’s a good song.”

That’s how Jimmy Lange began his response to the question of whether he enjoyed watching “The Contender” on NBC week-to-week two decades ago.

Confused? Fortunately, Lange expanded on his analogy.

“The Contender wasn’t entertaining to me, but I know it was entertaining. My taste, the kind of stuff I enjoy – it’s not the kind of thing I enjoy. But a lot of people loved it and I appreciate that it was good for what it was supposed to be.”

Lange just isn’t a reality TV kind of guy. And he’s so not a reality TV kind of guy that in 2004, when offered a spot in the cast of a reality show, his initial instinct was to turn down the opportunity.

He’d gone all the way through the casting process, from a scouting session in Washington, D.C., to a tryout of sorts in New York, to the final round of cuts in Los Angeles. And like 15 fellow Contender contenders, he was handed a medal with Sylvester Stallone’s face on it at the end of those few days in L.A., indicating he’d been selected.

But Lange was still making up his mind.

So the guy whose face was on the medal paid him a visit.

“I get a knock on the door and it’s Stallone,” Lange, now 50, remembered. “I’m shitting my pants. You know, this is Rocky standing in front of me. I wasn’t a world traveler. I don’t think I’d ever been to L.A., California, anything, and I’m sitting in a Doubletree Hotel talking to the biggest movie star on the planet. I mean, it was like out of ‘The Twilight Zone.’

“The thing is, I didn’t like the idea of reality shows – they were kind of a farce. And I said that to Stallone, and he’s like, ‘Well, it’s not really a reality show, per se. This is a contest. You’re gonna fight and earn it, and that’s how the winner is decided.’”

It wasn’t quite Rocky Balboa bringing an arena full of Russians over to his side, but it was persuasive enough.

Lange was a junior middleweight prospect from Great Falls, Virginia, with a record of 24-1-1 (17 KOs), beginning to rise to prominence after six years as a pro, drawing decent crowds in the D.C. area while enjoying occasional national TV exposure. Other than Peter Manfredo and Ishe Smith, Lange was probably the most well-known, well-regarded prospect in the cast – to the point that the folks from The Contender pursued him, not the other way around.

On May 1, 2004, as word was spreading around the business about this forthcoming NBC boxing-focused reality series, Lange headlined a show at the Convention Center in D.C. in a 10-rounder against journeyman Sammy Sparkman – on paper, a showcase fight for the then-28-year-old Lange.

As Lange was warming up, his father/manager, Johnny, came into his locker room. “It’s weird,” Johnny told his son. “Jackie Kallen’s here, with Frank Stallone.”

The Langes knew about The Contender and put two and two together regarding the future Hall of Fame manager and the younger brother of Sly Stallone, but Jimmy didn’t dwell on it. He had a job to do.

And he was about to do it extremely poorly.

“They handpicked Sammy Sparkman for me, and he beat the ever living dog shit out of me,” Lange recalled. “I mean, it was 10 rounds of misery. I was sick. I had a real bad flu or something and I fought anyway, so that might have been part of it, but he beat the shit out of me. And I got the decision, which – it was total home cooking.”

You don’t see scores like this very often: 99-91 Lange, 95-94 Lange and 99-90 Sparkman.

Kallen and Frank Stallone didn’t end up paying a visit to Lange in the locker room afterward – leaving him to wonder if he’d fought so poorly they lost interest, or if they merely figured the time wasn’t right to chat up a fighter who’d just finished up 10 grueling rounds.

It turned out it was the latter, and Lange got a call the next week to come to the newly opened Trinity Boxing Club in Manhattan and meet Sly.

While others trying out had to hit the bag and show what they could do in the ring, Lange was required to do nothing more than shake Stallone’s hand and tell his story – which, as a father of twin three-year-old boys with another baby on the way, landed him right in the sweet spot for the show.

He got the invite to L.A., and the next time Lange found himself talking one-on-one with Stallone, it was when the co-host of the show was convincing the Virginia kid to become a reality star.

All these years later, Lange still isn’t comfortable with the term “reality show.”

“It was the most unrealistic version of reality,” Lange said. “It was so unrealistic because nobody spends a couple of months with their opponent, living in the same room, and then fights them, you know what I mean? It wasn’t what the life of a boxer is like.”

It was one of the most memorable experiences of Lange’s life, though, as he and his castmates instantly bonded.

“I wish they could have showed the camaraderie between the fighters more than they did,” he reflected. “We had a whole lot of free time on our hands, and all we did was sit around and play cards and gamble and laugh our asses off. We had a lot of fun. We’d talk about life and movies and play pinball, and most of us became pretty close.”

But, of course, in this “unrealistic version of reality,” these newfound friends had to fight each other. Lange thought his opening-round matchup was going to be against Anthony Bonsante, but after Bonsante pulled a swerve, Lange ended up paired with Joey Gilbert. And just like against Sparkman four months earlier, he didn’t perform up to his capabilities.

“Joey Gilbert did not belong in the same ring as me in terms of skill – his boxing skill was very rudimentary. But he was so big and strong that I just couldn’t fucking hurt him, and he got to me and wore me down,” Lange said.

As presented in the edited version of the bout, it appeared Gilbert won the first two rounds and Lange the next two, leaving the fifth and final round to decide it. And Gilbert clearly had more energy and outhustled Lange in that round – which Lange doesn’t deny, although he felt he should have been ahead through four rounds and deserved a close decision. Instead, all three judges scored for Gilbert, and Lange was eliminated from the show.

“I’m talking to you based on a 20-year memory,” Lange tossed in as a caveat. “It’s not like I recently watched the fight. Nobody’s seen the real, unedited fight, in fact. But, the way I remember it, I thought I won.”

Lange’s record dipped to 24-2-1, but it wasn’t really a career setback. As much as it would have elevated Lange to progress in the tournament and perhaps reach the semifinals or finals, just being on a show watched by some six million people a week proved a springboard for him.

“I went from fighting in 2,500-seat arenas to 10,000-seat arenas and having them close to being full,” he said.

He also got to experience a level of recognition he previously couldn’t have imagined.

“I had a period there of several years of being a celebrity,” Lange said. “When you’re a kid, you dream about being a celebrity, having people come up and get their picture taken with you, going to eat at a restaurant and the owner comes out and he comps your meal. I mean, it was really an enchanted period in my life.”

After losing to Gilbert, Lange bounced back by decisioning Tarick Salmaci in a “fan favorites” fight on the Contender finale card at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. His next fight was a KO of undefeated Perry Ballard at the Patriot Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia – a venue at which Lange became the local franchise, fighting 17 times there over the next 10 years.

One of those fights was a rematch stoppage loss to Gilbert. One was a TKO victory over Contender castmate Jonathan Reid.

But none of Lange’s post-Contender fights comes with a better story than his 2007 bout at the Patriot Center against Fontaine Cabell, whom Lange describes as “the only  opponent in almost 50 fights who I can say I didn’t like.”

Over the course of his career, Lange had the opportunity to work with a string of elite trainers: Pepe Correa, then Buddy McGirt, then Don Turner. By 2007, the iconic Angelo Dundee was in his corner as well – as much for publicity as for actual training, Lange admitted.

Lange and Cabell had battled to a 12-round draw five months earlier, and midway through this rematch, it wasn’t looking good for the local ticket-seller.

“I hurt my arm real bad in like the fifth or sixth round,” Lange explained. “Everybody says they’ll never quit. And I never have quit. But you do think about it. And the closest I ever came to quitting was that night.

“I was in so much pain. I couldn’t move my left arm. And I came back to the corner, and I said to Angelo, ‘I can’t move my arm, Angelo, I can’t move it.’ And I think I wanted him to say, ‘Oh, well, if you can’t move your arm, I’d better stop the fight.’ I was giving him an excuse so that he could do the dirty work.

“And he smacked me in the mouth with an open hand and he said, ‘Fuck your arm, use the other arm.’

“Now, this is a Vince Lombardi status guy. It don’t get no higher than Muhammad Ali’s guy, you know – this is Angelo Dundee. And so I went out and I ended up pulling off a knockout [in the eighth round]. That memory with Angelo – you can never take that away from me.”

Lange kept plugging away and drawing local crowds until his late 30s, when a seven-fight winning streak was snapped in 2012 by a split decision loss to Tony Jeter, followed by a two-year break from boxing and then a majority decision loss to Jeter in their 2014 rematch.

“He’s a guy I would have beaten with one hand when I was three years younger,” said Lange, who’d been boxing since the age of 6 and could feel all the years and rounds catching up with him. “After that, I knew I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

Except there was one last offer Lange couldn’t pass up. PBC was in the early days of its network TV deals and planned an NBC card at the Patriot Center (by this time renamed EagleBank Arena) headlined by Lamont Peterson vs. Felix Diaz. According to Lange, PBC thought Fairfax was a hot boxing town and didn’t realize “nobody gave a shit about boxing in Virginia unless I was fighting.” So, with ticket sales underwhelming, the promoters made Lange a late offer to fight on the undercard in an eight-rounder.

Lange was about 20 pounds over his fighting weight, but PBC said the fight could be at light heavyweight and he could take on his close friend Mike Sawyer, a club fighter Lange knew he could easily beat. Lange asked them to give his buddy Sawyer double the amount of money they were offering him, which they did, and Lange was able to go out with a hometown victory a couple of months after his 40th birthday, stopping Sawyer in the fifth round.

And the best part: His two younger kids were old enough to form a memory of watching their dad win a fight live.

As fans of The Contender will remember, Lange had twins Johnny and Angelo and his pregnant wife, Katie, with him on the show. Katie gave birth to their daughter soon after filming ended – but she and Jimmy soon divorced.

A few years later, Lange remarried and had another set of twins, this time a boy and a girl. That one ended in divorce also – “I’m just bad at being married,” Lange said – making him now a single father of five. The older twins are 24, the younger twins are 15, and in-between is a 22-year-old.

And one of the older twins, Johnny, now has his own BoxRec page. That’s right, he turned pro in May, and like his dad, got his career started with a first-round knockout.

“And he won an extra $100 from me,” proud papa Jimmy said, “because I bet him he couldn’t stop the guy quicker than I [won my pro debut], and he did it by like seven seconds.”

When he isn’t rooting for one of his oldest sons to score a knockout, shuttling his younger daughter to volleyball tournaments or engaging in other parenting activities, Lange makes a living as a boxing trainer – but not to serious fighters. He trains “weekend warriors,” white-collar aspirants essentially, both out of a gym and by making house calls.

His most notable clients: the coaching staff, offensive line and defensive line of the Washington Commanders football team. Head coach Dan Quinn is a huge boxing fan, and when Washington hired Quinn in February 2024, he was looking for a local boxing trainer. A mutual acquaintance put him in touch with Lange. And apparently Lange did a good job, because soon Quinn had Jimmy putting several of his players and fellow coaches through their paces.

As a newly minted quinquagenarian – he celebrated the big 5-0 in August – Lange said in his mind he feels like he’s still 25 years old, but “in my body, I feel like I’m a fucking hundred years old.”

He said his 39-6-2 (26 KOs) boxing career didn’t have any terribly damaging effects, though there are all sorts of minor physical issues, from general soreness to a bum left hand.

“But if you offered me that I could feel like I’m 25 for the rest of my life but take away my experience in boxing, I wouldn’t do it,” he said. “There’s no sport better than boxing, and these aches and pains are worth something to me. I wear the damage that’s been done. I wear it well.”

And he carries the same attitude toward his Contender experience. He made several friends for life – he remains particularly close with Kallen, a mother figure to him. Even in the case of members of the cast and crew he’s not in touch with anymore, Lange says they’d still have each other’s backs if they saw each other, no questions asked.

Reality TV is not his bag. If you took a look at Jimmy Lange’s DVR, you’re not likely to find episodes of “Project Runway” or “The Golden Bachelorette” on there.

Watching The Contender? Not for him.

But being on The Contender and living in that loft for a few weeks 20-plus years ago? He wouldn’t trade that for anything.

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.

Oscar De La Hoya is presenting a united front with fellow promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren. 

In an interview with Ariel Helwani on his eponymous Ariel Helwani Show filmed from De La Hoya’s house, the former fighter and current Golden Boy Promotions head said that he didn’t take the new Zuffa Boxing venture seriously and that he would focus on “real boxing.”

De La Hoya implied his position early in the interview while talking about junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz, his most successful fighter. The fighters and their promoters have dangled a superfight between Ortiz and Jaron “Boots” Ennis before fans’ eyes for 2026. De La Hoya emphasized that he wanted the fight to be in the United States, and that it would be good for the health of American boxing. 

He then made his stance clear: “The fact that a new entity is coming into boxing and already wants to change a bill that has been in place for decades, that protects fighters, to me is shady.” 

The law in question is the Muhammad Ali Act, which Zuffa Boxing’s backers – including UFC head Dana White – want to alter. Critics believe this would reduce fighter protections and allow White to subject boxing to the UFC model, in which fighters are often underpaid. 

“If you’re a person trying to do right in the sport, you don’t eliminate the bill that’s protecting the fighter. The fighter is the product. Without that clause there, the fighter is vulnerable,” De La Hoya said. 

The former six-weight world champion also has a bone to pick with how he believes Zuffa will approach matchmaking. De La Hoya thinks prospects should be guided carefully at first, then let loose to fight the best available opponents, even several times in a row. (He criticized Ennis’ choice of Uisma Lima as an opponent for this reason.) 

“I don’t really see it as competition. I’m a serious promoter,” De La Hoya said. “I’m a promoter who’s gonna promote and develop world champions from the start. I’m gonna identify prospects, and I’m gonna build them just the way I built Canelo, just the way I built Ryan Garcia, just the way I’m building all my champions now: step by step. I’m not gonna get them beat and eliminated right off the bat. This is more like a reality show, a game show or something. I don’t really see it as real boxing and competition.”

He added that “I’m just gonna stick to my lane, just like Eddie Hearn, Top Rank, and Frank Warren are doing. We’re gonna stick to our lane and promote what we know best.” 

Hearn has clashed with White in recent days; De La Hoya siding with the Matchroom Boxing head is an alliance that did not always seem on the cards given their rivalry. De La Hoya dismissed his history of squabbles with Hearn as “fun and games.”

A crucial figure in this fractured promotional landscape is Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi Arabian powerbroker whose deep pockets have enabled many marquee matchups in the last couple years. Alalshikh has partnered with White in the Zuffa venture but has also worked with Hearn and De La Hoya, from whom he purchased The Ring magazine. 

“I know Turki, and Turki loves traditional boxing. Turki loves watching the best fight the best when they’re developed,” De La Hoya said. 

This is perhaps not entirely true, given that Alalshikh arranged a fight between heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson and Martin Bakole, who promptly derailed Anderson’s development by knocking him out in the fifth round. Bob Arum, who promotes Anderson under the Top Rank banner, has said he thinks the test came too early. 

“I like Turki, because he understands [the appeal of] the best vs. the best, and I like that,” De La Hoya said. “But what he must understand is to get to that level, you must develop fighters, and that’s what we do best.”

De La Hoya also said he has faith Top Rank will find a new TV partner, and that “we need them.” Zuffa Boxing plans to have its fighters compete for a single belt and to disregard the sanctioning bodies entirely, but De La Hoya is doubtful that the sanctioning bodies and their long history will be cast aside so easily. 

“The way I see it is, boxing and fighters are fine just the way we are.”

 

It was on March 1 when Errol Spence shared on social media: “Worse thing I did to MYSELF was drinking if you an athlete focus on the end goal. Hopefully it’s a better situation for you and your love ones.”

The tweet took hold, and did so further when Gervonta Davis wrote underneath: “I felt this..I hope you and your lil ones doing well champ..”

Boxing and booze have gone hand in hand for decades, back to the days of John L Sullivan in the 19th century raiding taverns and promising to “lick any sonofabitch in the house.”

Plenty of fighters have fallen foul of alcohol, both during their careers and after, but more and more are trying a different look and giving up drink during their careers. It has long been popular for fighters to celebrate or commiserate post-fight with a drink before they allow training to consume them once more and they give up their vices to focus in camp and on the next fight again.

Featherweight Tramaine Williams, 20-3 (6 KOs), had a seizure in the ring when he collapsed mid-fight last year and unsurprisingly that experience proved transformative. After that contest, the 32-year-old gave up alcohol, but that wasn’t before he went down a deep spiral of depression.

Of course, boxing is a sport of natural highs and lows. Those emotions can be spiked by alcohol, but increasingly fighters are realizing that alcohol only adds to the false economy of a fighting high – sometimes feeding into a subsequent depression – and that it does them no favors when they return to camp. Alcohol is a stimulant, so it interrupts sleep and plays havoc with sleep quality and it can cause inflammation. It is also not the wisest use of calories.

Several fighters have, either during or since boxing, given up alcohol realizing how much it had held them back in their twenties and thirties.

One fighter, a former world champion, had all but given up booze, but one night he fell down the stairs and had to wear a neck brace for a while and that put him off drinking again.

Brad Pauls, former English middleweight champion from Cornwall, has been sober for three years. The 32-year-old has won 20 fights, lost two and drawn one.

“There are multiple different things, all positive,” he said, of what has changed since he gave up alcohol. “I’d say I’m more productive overall, more so outside of camp, I come back to camp in better shape and doing more with my promotion and building myself up outside of camp. Just every aspect of my life seems to be better.

“Financially I’m better, my relationships are better, and it’s just a no-brainer. I wish I did it sooner.”

Pauls, "The Newquay Bomb", turned pro 10 years ago.

“I would have been 22 and the culture then is to drink and party and it’s like you’re a product of your environment, and where I’m from, that’s what everyone does,” he explained. “It’s like a British culture thing and to not do it, you go so against the grain, you’re so out of place, you’re really putting yourself in an awkward situation if you try and socialise, or even if you’re trying to sell tickets and stuff and you’re not mingling with those sort of crowds. It’s difficult. I never drunk loads anyway. But what would normally happen is I’d have a fight, I’d go back to Cornwall and I’d make up for lost time with drinking. I’d go out with pals and drink, not train at all, not do anything productive, and then I went to a boxing show in Liverpool, a Wasserman show, June 17 [more than two years ago], and everyone drank apart from my gym mate and I was ill that week – because I was drinking – and he was back in the gym Monday. And I said to myself, ‘I can’t call myself a professional if I’m not really gonna live the life.’ I’d missed a week’s training because I was drinking, and I can’t afford to be doing that at this level. That was a little wake up call for me then. That was the last time I drank, and after that I was completely done and I knew I wouldn’t drink again. I’d never drink too much. I would never do it in camp, but if you’re being really honest with yourself and saying, ‘Am I doing everything I can to better my career?’ And drinking wasn’t. You can’t call yourself a professional athlete – and then go down the pub. I don’t think so. By coincidence, or whatever reason, since I stopped drinking, I had all my biggest successes of my career, my biggest belts. I’ve upped my following, I’ve done everything positive since I stopped drinking. “It’s got to coincide a little bit.”

Pauls is noticing changes outside the sport, too. In rugby, it was common for players to drink beer together after matches until perhaps the 2000s, but as torches were passed, alcohol was replaced with post-game protein shakes and the players became more professional.

“I think there’s a generation younger than me, they’re drinking less and less,” Pauls added. “And a lot of people these days are just seeing the light, I think. A lot of my pals have gone sober. They’ve made their mistakes and they’ve seen the positive impact not drinking has.” 

Tony Jeffries won a bronze medal for Team GB at the 2008 Olympics. Hand injuries forced his retirement from the sport in 2011 and Jeffries would have a drink until, he remembers, New Year’s Eve 2019.

Sure, he had called it quits as an active fighter by then but he set himself the goal of giving up alcohol for a year to see how it might change him.

“There was a few different reasons why I stopped drinking,” admitted Jeffires, now a YouTube sensation who has millions of subscribers who follow him for, primarily, his boxing instruction. “The first was, I was just drinking too much. I got to the point where I was drinking at home. I felt like it was helping me get to sleep, even though everything shows that it hurts your sleep. And also I was putting on weight because when you drink alcohol, not only is it doing all the bad things like your cognitive function and your brain health, but it also puts you in a place where you don’t give a damn about what you eat, so I was eating loads of food. So I was drinking multiple times a week and I was eating more, so I got fat. And also, the next day I would feel like crap and I’ve got three young daughters. When your kids want to play with you and you feel hungover because I was chasing the buzz the night before, it’s not the kind of father I wanted to be. I wanted to be a good influence. 

“The other thing is brain health. I’ve been thinking about brain health now for around 10 years. After I retired from boxing I wanted to do everything I can to sharpen my brain up and it’s studies that show drinking alcohol hurts your short-term and long-term memory, and it also hurts your brain cells. Long-term drinking can damage brain cells, and there’s a lot of different studies out there that shows stuff like this and like I mentioned with sleep, you need sleep to help recover and repair your brain and even though it was helping me fall asleep, studies show – and my wife’s a sleep expert – that alcohol raises your heart rate when your sleeping and your heart is working more when your body is trying to rest, so it really messes with your body and your brain that way. And I’m focused on getting my brain as sharp as I can be.”

As an influencer, Jeffries knows he now needs to be seen to be providing positive, helpful advice. Now he’s in the boxing fitness industry, he wants to be a role model and he shows people how to be coaches. That means leading from the front.

Even though he wound up giving up booze in the pandemic, he had more energy and he was able to “generate a ton of content.”

He felt a focus that he’d not felt before and instantly could see his life changing.

He then built an online empire from the ground up.

“Because of that, I thought, why do I want to have a drink again, so I thought I’d have another year off it,” he added.

In his second year, he shifted the focus to training, losing weight and getting back in shape. He got down to his fighting weight of 10 years earlier, but said that had he been given that same advice when he was an up-and-coming pro, he wouldn’t have listened when it mattered.

“When I was younger 17-26 Ricky Hatton was the main man in boxing and what did he do in boxing?” Jeffries asked. “And I idolised him. After every fight he was drinking, putting on weight and he was so successful. I copied his footsteps and it wasn’t just me, it was all my England boxing teammates. If it was alright for Ricky Hatton, who was the biggest superstar in boxing, it’s alright for us. So if someone was to say stop doing that, it would have been, ‘No’, because I was in that mindset – so I probably wouldn’t have listened to them. But if you think about Ricky when he stepped up to the next level and the absolute elite in Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, you can’t imagine them going on big benders [drinking sessions], putting on weight after their fights. Did that make a difference to Ricky’s fight with them? We don’t know and we never will. That’s what I tell boxers who ask these questions on YouTube. I say don’t drink. It doesn’t help you at all. If you look at the top, elite athletes, not just boxers like Floyd and Manny, but Bivol and Canelo, I can’t imagine them going out on big drinking sessions after the fights. They stay professional all the way through, and if you look at other athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo, best football player in the world, he’s not drinking and putting on weight, Messi, he’s not, LeBron James, he’s not. What are they doing different? Well, they’re living a lifestyle throughout. Would it have made me a better athlete? I believe it would have. I really believe it.”

But Jeffries is wise after the event. He knows not all fighters have the opportunity at being shown what a positive role model looks like and how they behave. Fighters often come from rough backgrounds, and sometimes alcohol is part of the backstory and family life.

“It’s tough, because most of us boxers are working class, our parents are working class, and what do working class parents do? They like to have a drink,” Jeffries added. “And when we see our parents, peers and everyone around us in the boxing gyms having a drink, we think it’s part of a culture, which it kind of is. I hope it’s changing. I hope people hear what I say and what other people are saying and it’s helping them.”

Jeffries has been astonished by how much time he has got back to make use of.

“If you drink twice a week and the next day you feel like shit, and you wake up and for the first four hours of the day you feel like crap, that’s eight hours a week that you’re getting back. That’s 32 hours a month. If you can put that 32 hours into a business like I did, what’s going to happen? Your business is going to build and grow, that’s exactly what happened to me.” 

He now has better days, more energy, is in better shape, and healthier.

He’s in the Guinness Book of Records for throwing the most punches in 24 hours, has the biggest YouTube boxing channel in the world and, for a while, competed in jiu jitsu, even winning a gold medal while he was a white belt in a competition in Australia. 

“I will never drink alcohol ever again in my life,” he said.

Another who feels the same way is Bournemouth junior middleweight Lee Cutler, who is 15-2 (7 KOs). “Chaos” ended the unbeaten run of Irishman Stephen McKenna in December 2024, and lost a disputed decision to Sam Eggington in April after Eggington could not continue due to a cut over his eye and the fight went to the scorecards. Cutler is hungry for revenge against Eggington, but he is not thirsty for alcohol. He is part of a stable, McGuigan’s Gym, where none of the fighters drink alcohol, including Adam Azim, Caroline Dubois, and Chris Billam-Smith. It is the same for head coach Shane McGuigan.

“I was out with my mates and in America for his wedding and I just said, ‘I’m gonna do a year with no drinking to see what happens with boxing,” Cutler recalled. “It was mainly boxing orientated. I don't know if it was a heavy [drinking] 10 days out in America. I was like, ‘I'm gonna just do a year’ and then soon into that year, speaking to Chris Billam-Smith, he’d quit drinking for like six years now or something and he was like, ‘Mate, just do the rest of your career, what have you got to lose? ‘Cos if you say you're just doing a year, you'll have friends that when you go to an event, a wedding or something, people will say, it’s only one night and then just get back to it for the rest of the year. But as soon as you say you’re never drinking again, they will leave you alone so you don't drink.’”

Cutler had always been dedicated. He was a decent amateur, and others took his decision harder than him. He was sober for his brother’s wedding at the start of his sobriety journey.

“He's much more thankful that I’m not drinking now he’s seen where my career has gone,” Cutler said.

Cutler would not drink in training camps, eight to 10 weeks from a fight, but he would go out between camps and party with friends. Now he hits the ground running when he has fights on the agenda. 

“I like my food and we put on a little bit of weight after a fight but I think it has benefited me,” he said.

He also knows it gives him a psychological edge because he is making sacrifices that some of his rivals are not making.

“You know that you’re doing something not every boxer does,” he went on. 

He’s also known fighters to struggle with problems with booze and has seen the effect it has had on them.

“Nothing good comes from it, nothing good comes from being out drinking all the time, so it gives you that upper-hand that if you don't drink in the off-season and in between fights then you'll see the difference in between fights. You're still training. You’re not just going to the gym to say you've been to the gym. Now I’m going in and thinking about improving instead of just going in to keep weight off, tick a box and say, ‘Yeah, I’ve done a session today.’”

While Cutler never suffered with particularly bad hangovers, he liked to go out and enjoy time with his friends. But seeing how Billam-Smith dedicated his life to claim the WBO cruiserweight title was inspiration for his stablemate.

“I think your mindset changes as you get older, you just wanna get the most out of your career, you have this short career and I don’t think I will ever drink again now.

“Now I think I can go out and enjoy myself without a drink. I think I will just be like ‘What's the point?’ It can't add any benefit to my life.”

Errol Spence is now 35. His career has not, over the last two years, gone the way he would have hoped. Alcohol would have played its part in that.

“Worse thing I did to MYSELF was drinking,” was what he told the world.

The heavyweight division is known for fighters who can continue on all the way into their 40s, which often provides the runway for fighters to reinvent themselves over the course of a career.

One of those heavyweights is Joseph Parker, who will face Fabio Wardley this coming Saturday at the O2 Arena in London.

On this list, we identify eight fighters from the heavyweight division – starting from 1990 onward – who changed their style, body or just the narrative around them.

What qualifies a fighter for the list below is building an initial record of ability and competence and then, in the middle or twilight of their careers, reshaping the public perception of their talent or legacy.

8. Zhilei Zhang

Record: 27-3-1 (22 KOs)

Zhang fought Jerry Forrest to a draw in 2021, and many thought the secret was out about “Big Bang” Zhang. It appeared that he tired in the second half of the fight, and a narrative was born. Then, just as quickly, he killed it by putting together a great run of fights. Zhang lost a split decision to Filip Hrgovic, the outcome of which was hotly debated. He knocked out Joe Joyce in two consecutive fights after that. Lately, China’s 42-year-old Zhang has had mixed success, but even if he is now past his prime, in the late stage of his career he was able to capture magic and alter perceptions.

7. Andy Ruiz Jnr 

Record: 35-2-1 (22 KOs)

Ruiz has some of the fastest hands in the heavyweight division. He also punches in combination with great head movement – something most heavyweights aren’t accustomed to facing. Given his physique, which looks closer to that of a civilian than a pro athlete, many have questioned his commitment to the sport. After losing to Joseph Parker in a title opportunity, Ruiz was relegated to the undercards of big fights – until he knocked out Anthony Joshua. The win forever changed Ruiz from a fighter with a ton of potential to one of boxing’s biggest underdog stories.

6. Joseph Parker 

Record: 36-3 (24 KOs)

Few have accomplished what Parker has. He went from a titleholder who lost his belt to Anthony Joshua to having mixed success – losing to Dillian Whyte and Joe Joyce – then coming back even better than before. The loss to Joyce was especially damning, as it came three years ago and was an accumulation knockout – the type from which most fighters don’t recover. But Parker bounced back with a six-fight win streak that includes victories over former titleholder Deontay Wilder, Zhang and Martin Bakole. At 33 years old, Parker appears to be the best version of himself – a boxer-puncher with brilliant hand speed who can make other heavyweights hesitate when engaging with him based on his speed, timing and power. On Saturday, he will fight Fabio Wardley, attempting to add to his comeback story.

5. Tyson Fury

Record: 34-2-1 (24 KOs)

Fury stands a towering 6ft 9ins, so a knockdown at the hands of career cruiserweight Steve Cunningham in Fury’s US debut in 2013 lingered for some. But Fury went on to outbox and stun Wladimir Klitschko, who had ruled the heavyweight division for roughly a decade. And then Fury went away. He got big – really big – and battled depression, among other demons. When he returned to boxing after a three-year hiatus, Fury then lost weight and, together with titleholder Deontay Wilder, put on one of the best heavyweight trilogies boxing has known. The brutal bouts took something out of both combatants, but Fury established himself as a top heavyweight of his generation. Both up and down more than once, Fury has rewritten his story on multiple occasions.

4. James “Buster” Douglas

Record: 37-6-1 (24 KOs)

Douglas went from a talented fighter who couldn’t put it all together to the man who knocked out the previously impervious Mike Tyson in Japan. Douglas’ knockout of the most feared man in the world lead to stardom that to this day makes him a notable name not just in boxing but also across pop culture. Douglas would never replicate his success in that fight, but he proved that one brilliant, well-timed performance could change a life and a legacy.

3. Lennox Lewis

Record: 42-2-1 (32 KOs)

You could make a case for Lewis as the greatest heavyweight ever, not just despite his being knocked out twice in his career but, in part, because of it. Stopped by Oliver McCall in 1994, Lewis would return the favor in their rematch. And late in his career, in 2001, Lewis was knocked out by Hasim Rahman. He returned in the following bout to stop Rahman. Lewis fended off foes with his thudding jab, but the way he came back from defeat defined his career as much as any of his physical gifts or marquee wins. 

2. Wladimir Klitschko

Record: 64-5 (53 KOs)

Klitschko was stopped early in his career by a fighter named Ross Puritty. He won 16 fights in a row before Corrie Sanders stopped him – and then it happened again three fights later, when Lamon Brewster crumpled him. After the Brewster loss, Klitschko was knocked for being “chinny” – and then went on an 11-year unbeaten run, dominating the heavyweight division. Klitschko (rightly) credited famed trainer Emanuel Steward for helping rebuild his approach and confidence. The two formed a formidable partnership that yielded one of the best heavyweight runs in history, as Klitschko went from a big puncher with vulnerabilities to an unbeatable force.

1. George Foreman

Record: 76-5 (68 KOs)

The greatest heavyweight comeback story ever. In 1974, the menacing Foreman, after winning his first 40 professional fights – 38 by knockout – famously fell to Muhammad Ali in the “Rumble in the Jungle.” Shaken by the experience, Foreman lost to Jimmy Young three years later and all but disappeared. A decade later, paunchier and infinitely more pleasant, he returned ready to capture the heavyweight crown – and he did. At the age of 45, Foreman defeated Michael Moorer to win the unified heavyweight title. What many forget is that Foreman had just been outboxed in a loss to Tommy Morrison before taking on the Moorer challenge as a clear-cut underdog. Foreman’s defeat of Father Time is one of, if not the greatest, reinvention in all of boxing lore.

Honorable mention: Derek Chisora, Tommy Morrison

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.

NEW YORK – If this was Danny Garcia’s final fight, he went out with a bang.

Garcia, a former two-division world champion, scored a spectacular one-punch knockout of Danny Gonzalez early Sunday morning here at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The final punch was a left hook, which sent Gonzalez crashing to the canvas, back first. Gonzalez, 22-5-1 (7 KOs), attempted to stand up but fell back down, prompting referee Harvey Dock to wave off the fight 45 seconds into the fourth round.

The victory raised Garcia’s record to 38-4 (22 KOs). The 37-year-old Garcia, a former unified junior welterweight and WBC welterweight titleholder from Philadelphia, had said before the fight that he was “85 percent sure” that this bout – his 10th career start at the Barclays Center – would be his last-ever fight, as he wants to preserve his long-term health after 18 years as a professional.

Still, an emotional Garcia left the possibility of another fight open, saying “it’s a high chance, yeah,” that he could return to the ring again.

From the opening bell, it was clear that Garcia’s power was still formidable. Midway through the first round, Garcia landed an overhand right high on the temple that wobbled the legs of Gonzalez, a native of the Woodhaven section of Queens. Gonzalez got his legs underneath him again and closed the round with a flurry of blows.

Gonzalez, who was fighting for the first time above welterweight, looked like the smaller man of the two, even if his upper body was more developed. The 35-year-old Gonzalez began to open up in the second round, flurrying with body shots that opened up a hook upstairs, to little effect.

Garcia continued to find the target with right hands in the third, which was a harbinger of things to come in the final stanza.

Garcia, whose left hook had been one of the most dramatic punches of the 2010s, still had plenty of spring in it, as he uncorked one that was reminiscent of those he landed on Amir Khan and Erik Morales in title fights of years past.

Garcia’s Swift Promotions promoted the 14-fight event, which featured a number of prospects he has signed to his company, including welterweight Quincey Williams and junior middleweight Cristian Cangelosi.

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.

Paulie Malignaggi, who previously hadn’t competed in an officially sanctioned fight since 2019, on Saturday battled Tyler Goodjohn over five rounds to earn a split decision win in their bareknuckle boxing match in Leeds, UK.

Although hardly a fish out of water, Brooklyn’s 44-year-old Malignaggi, now 1-1 in bareknuckle competition, was less accustomed to a gloveless fighting strategy and BKB’s triangle-shaped ring than was his opponent. Britain’s Goodjohn, now 5-4 (1 KO) in bareknuckle competition, most recently won a unanimous decision over Wales’ Joe Smith (not the American former light heavyweight titleholder) in April.

But Malignaggi used his superior footwork, distance control and sharp punching to shape the action and slowly bloody the face of the free-swinging Goodjohn at Planet Ice Leeds.

Goodjohn cracked Malignaggi with several big shots along the way – including a left hook in the first round – and even staggered his American opponent with a monster right cross to the temple and a compact right-handed follow-up to box Malignaggi’s ear in the fourth.

Tyler Goodjohn is taking it to him! 👊#BKB47 #BKB #BareKnuckle pic.twitter.com/QTLmwbh5Q8

— BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing (@bkbbareknuckle) October 18, 2025

There were plenty of histrionics to be enjoyed from both men in between. After Goodjohn missed with his jab, then whiffed on a wild, looping right hand, Malignaggi’s eyes got big and he held both fists out high and to his side, mimicking a matador. A round later, Goodjohn baited Malignaggi by resting on the ropes, draping his arms and even tucking his hands underneath, smiling and urging his opponent to come forward.

In the end, Malignaggi’s cultured approach, accuracy and volume seemed to please the officials most in a razor-thin 48-47 (twice) and 47-48 decision.

Tyler Goodjohn misses with the right, and Paulie lets him know! 🤣#BKB47 #BKB #BareKnuckle pic.twitter.com/ozg7Gqu5XW

— BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing (@bkbbareknuckle) October 18, 2025

Malignaggi, a former junior welterweight titleholder who went 36-8 (7 KOs) over a 15-year professional boxing career, retired from boxing after a knockout loss to Sam Eggington in 2017. But he never fully pulled away from the sport as a competitor, serving later that year as a sparring partner for MMA fighter Conor McGregor in his bout against Floyd Mayweather Jnr and, in 2019, trying his hands at bareknuckle boxing for the first time. Malignaggi lost a decision to Artem Lobov in a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship bout.

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.

Paulie Malignaggi is “tempted” by the prospect of a return to professional boxing and ultimately by a fight with Mario Barrios for the welterweight title of the WBC.

On Saturday evening at Planet Ice in Leeds, England, the former junior welterweight and welterweight world champion enters a bare-knuckle fight for the first time against Tyler Goodjohn and does so with more than a future in bare-knuckle boxing in mind.

In his absence from the ring the 44-year-old has established himself as one of the world’s most honest and astute pundits and commentators, ensuring that in the eight years since he last fought – a defeat in 2017 by Sam Eggington – his profile has been preserved.

That he continues to observe his former profession with such consistency has contributed to him witnessing his final weight division’s decline, and perhaps even the reality that at 46 years old Manny Pacquiao fought and drew with the 30-year-old Barrios after a four-year absence from the ring.

Aged 34 Goodjohn has been considerably more active than Malignaggi – the Englishman is both established with the BKB and last fought as a boxer in July 2024 – but ahead of a date that could yet threaten his hard-earned reputation, Malignaggi is targeting bigger and wealthier glories in the ring.

“The 147lbs division is freaking terrible,” he told BoxingScene. “Mario Barrios is horrible as a champion. So when I look at that and I look at the weight cut that I had for this camp I could probably make 147lbs if I needed to. It’s a big opportunity presenting itself.

“I may be tempted, or even for a Misfits opportunity I may be tempted, but I think I could beat Mario Barrios right now. I’m not kidding – I think I could beat Barrios right now. I really could, and especially coming off the camp I just had, I feel good. Obviously bare-knuckle is a different sport in some ways, but I’d consider it for sure. 

“We’ve had some preliminary discussions with Misfits – [there’s] possibly some interest there. It’s so close to the fight on Saturday that I’m mostly focusing on that, but Misfits is certainly an option, and there’s been some other preliminary discussions and conversations [about boxing professionally].

“Nothing’s really been that difficult [in preparation for Goodjohn]. I just had to change some things, but once we made some changes to the way we used to train to the way we train now, things flowed smoothly. It’s been a good camp. I can’t tell you it’s been difficult. It’s just been the daily grind; the daily battle with yourself. Honestly, it’s been kind of pleasurable to get back into that kind of thing, ‘cause I feel good about it. 

“I used to spar a lot; I used to spar quite heavily; constantly; every two days for the entire training camp. I can’t do that anymore. I’d love to, but I can’t. We made some adjustments and substitutions; more pad work; more and more sharp work. 

“We also focused on a lot of strength and conditioning. Keeping my body centred around keeping both conditioned and strength, but strength that’s based on movement. It’s not just stupid, basic weightlifting – everything is based off of motion, and the motion complements the boxing. 

“I can’t tell you it’s been that difficult. Maybe, initially, being out of shape and getting back into shape [was]. The hard work has been something I’ve welcomed, so it’s not been difficult when you enjoy it. It’s been a daily grind. Maybe in the beginning when I was out of shape; the initial getting back into shape; the initial conditioning… After that it’s been a daily routine and a daily habit – part of my discipline and something I enjoyed.”

If Malignaggi’s inactivity was responsible for the lack of conditioning he referenced, his ongoing commitments as an observer of his former profession mean that unlike at the peak of his career as a cultured boxer he is not yet focusing only on his next fight. In retirement fighters often detail how commentary nurtures their boxing IQs, and Malignaggi, similarly, believes that at the very least it will help him in the struggle against inactivity and rust.

“It definitely keeps your mind sharp, and seeing patterns and picking up things that are useful,” he said. “It’s basically watching film – you’re watching fights all the time, right? You’re definitely picking up patterns quicker and things quicker, so I’d say that it’s possibly something that’s helped.

“Thankfully the schedule at ProBox [TV] was that I was able to train enough for the fight. I was able to make time for everything I needed to make time for. I got adequate time training.

“I don’t really focus a lot on Goodjohn – it’s been mostly about me. I initially picked him because he’s got a big name in the [bare-knuckle] business and done a lot in the business. We needed somebody who was a pioneer for the bare-knuckle sport so that the fight would get some traction. I didn’t want an easy fight. I wanted a good scrap. I wanted to respect the sport. I wanted to respect the fans and the fighters in it by not trying to jump the line with an easy fight. Goodjohn’s a scrapper; he’s a tough guy; he’s a durable guy, and he comes to fight every single time out. 

“I haven’t focused a lot on him, but he’s aggressive; he doesn’t quit; he’s hard to break mentally; he’s never been stopped in this sport. I expect a night’s work. But what’s a night’s work in bare-knuckle? Twenty minutes. 

“He’s very hittable. He’s a bit on the front foot, which makes guys hittable. He’s susceptible to some things, and I also think my speed will offset him. I think he’s stubborn – will try to come through – in a lot of ways, so it’s probably going to take a minute to calm him down. But we’ll have a little bit of a tear-up for ourselves.”

Malignaggi was then asked about the risks posed to the hands that were so often injured by the new discipline in which he was competing, and also about whether the bare-knuckle nature of his next fight had contributed to any nerves.

“[The hands are] always a concern, whether it’s bare-knuckle or pro boxing,” he responded. “I’ve had enough surgery. One of the main things I’ve been focused on in this camp is closing our hands properly. It’s funny, because it’s bare-knuckle boxing, but boxing isn’t the main thing I’ve been focused on. I did my boxing obviously. But I’ve been boxing for so long that it wasn’t something that I focused fully on like I did in the past. One of the things we tried to focus on was taking care of my hands, and one of the main things we tried to do was focusing on the way we were punching and closing our hands correctly so that they can be as protected as possible when they’re closed. 

“It’s the pre-fight jitters that you always feel. I wouldn’t say it’s nerves. We’ll see in the locker room on Saturday night. I’m actually more excited than nervous. There’s a little bit of nerves, but I’m excited because it’s been a good camp – the preparation’s been good. It’s been different, but it’s been good. I wished I’d understood to do things differently in my boxing career – maybe I would have been able to extend it. I was still training the same way I was when I was young at the end of my boxing career. I was constantly getting injuries – you can’t train the same way. You have to be smarter. Maybe it took this break to force the adjustments in the way I’m going to train and prepare. The preparation’s been really good. Maybe we’ll see what the result brings. I’m excited to see for myself how things come out on Saturday night.”

 

LONDON – Jimmy Sains and Tiah Mai Ayton picked up impressive stoppage wins at the York Hall in London, England.

The hard-hitting Sains was matched with Troy Coleman for the English middleweight title, and displayed his punch power from the off, walking down Coleman who retreated to the ropes. Sains, now 11-0 (10 KOs), sank a left hand to the body – a shot that Coleman certainly felt – and that set the tone for the rest of the contest. Sains, 24, upped the tempo in the second, aggressively pressing the action with his powerful jab. Coleman, 30, remained calm, but was taking heavy shots to the body and around the ears. The shots didn't seem to be having a big effect on him, but they certainly would down the stretch. 

Sains’ aggressive start started to pay off in third, as his power finally started to have an effect on Coleman. Sains landed a hard left that shook Coleman, who again retreated to the ropes. Sains pressed forwards, again landing a hard left hand that forced Coleman to grab hold. Sains sneakily crashed home a left hook as the referee Lee Every called break, and was given a telling off for his actions. Things started to get really tough for Coleman in the fourth, as Sains came on strong, bullying Coleman around the ring with nothing coming back. Sains seemed to have Coleman hurt several times, and as a final right hand landed on the sound of the bell, Coleman staggered back to his corner. The writing was on the wall and Coleman’s corner did the right thing in pulling their man out, saving him from the inevitable. Coleman falls to 14-4 (6 KOs) with the defeat.

*

Tiah Mai Ayton picked up another stoppage win over the unimpressive Laura Belen Valdebenito, now 8-7-1 (2 KOs). The 19-year-old bantamweight Ayton has been tipped by the likes of Katie Taylor to go down as the greatest female fighter to live, and she displayed glimpses of her ability against a negative opponent.

Valdebenito, 32, was instantly on her bike as Ayton landed a thudding jab early in the opening round. Ayton remained calm, allowing Valdebenito to circle the ring before planting home her stiff right hand. Ayton started the second with more intent, she seemed to have found her range and landed a chopping right hand that dropped Valdebenito early in the session. Valdebenito returned to her feet, but it seemed Ayton couldn’t miss, nailing Valdebenito with several more rights, although this time she didn’t crumble. 

Early in the third, Ayton again landed a solid right that brought a wince from the crowd. Valdebenito looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, continuously running to the corners before she was again tagged by Ayton. The inevitable ending came late into fourth, things got a little scrappy as Ayton bullied Valdebenito from pillar to post. Ayton smashed in a hard jab as Valdebenito retreated to the corner and landed a scrappy right that seemed to bundle Valdebenito over. The Argentine climbed to her feet and complained that an elbow had dropped her but referee Sean McAvoy was having none of Valdebenito’s complaints, and strangely waved off the contest at 1:59 of Round 4 – although the bout was only heading one way. Ayton now stands at 3-0 (3 KOs) with the victory, but tougher tests lie ahead.

 

[Interview begins]

Interviewer: Okay, first question. What is your name?

AI Judge: Great setup. For a high-profile, spectacle-meets-skill fight like Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis, the AI boxing judge would need a name that sounds futuristic, authoritative, and slightly dramatic — something fit for broadcast graphics and post-fight controversies.

Here are a few satirical and serious options depending on the tone you’re going for:

Serious / Broadcast-Ready Names

RINGSIGHT: "Real-time Intelligent Neural Grading System for Insightful Judging & Honest Tallying."

Corporate-friendly. Sounds trustworthy. Probably sponsored by Apple in 3 years.

PUNCHTRAK AI: "Precision Unified Neural Combat Handler — Tracking, Recording & Analyzing Kinetics."

Sounds like it's backed by NASA. Great for analytics overlays.

F.A.I.R.: "Fight Analysis & Instant Rulings."

Cold, robotic, and unapologetic.

Satirical/Dystopian Names

JUDGEBOT 2099: "Now 43% less corrupt than human judges!"

PAUL-O-METER: "Designed to detect excessive clout chasing in real time."

B.O.X. (Bias Overriding Xeno-processor): "Trained on 10,000 hours of Mayweather, 0 hours of TikTok."

RECOUNT™ (by Meta): "It's definitely neutral. Ignore the logos."

SCOREGPT: "Because if ChatGPT can write your homework, it can definitely judge a left hook."

Interviewer: Glad you brought up “dystopian” before I did. Thanks for that. As for names, I’ll stick with HAL if that’s all right. Next question, HAL: What exactly is the point of having an AI boxing judge?

AI Judge: Great question. The main goal is to make boxing scoring more objective, consistent, and transparent.

Why It’s Needed: Boxing has a long and notorious history of controversial decisions, inconsistent judging, accusations of bias, corruption, or incompetence. Fans, fighters, and promoters often complain about fights being scored unfairly. An AI judge is meant to reduce human error and provide an unbiased, data-driven perspective on how a fight is going.

What an AI Boxing Judge Does: AI judging systems typically track punches landed (including type: jab, hook, uppercut, etc.); assess punch accuracy and effectiveness; analyze ring control, aggression, and defense; use computer vision and real-time data from cameras or sensors; some systems combine video analysis with wearable tech (like smart gloves or sensors) to measure impact and volume.

Pros: No emotional bias or crowd influence; consistent criteria fight to fight; can analyze every second of action in detail; supports real-time feedback for fans and analysts.

Cons/Concerns: AI may miss the nuance (e.g., body language, ring generalship); can’t always interpret “damage” vs. volume; dependent on quality of data/input (bad angles = bad output); may be distrusted by traditionalists; who programs the AI? Bias can still sneak in via training data.

Bottom Line: An AI boxing judge isn’t meant to replace humans entirely (yet), but to enhance fairness, accountability, and accuracy in a sport where bad decisions can ruin careers.

Would you like a comparison between human vs. AI scoring examples?

Interviewer: No, not really. I’m somewhat distracted/concerned by your inclusion of “yet” when touching on the possibility of AI boxing judges replacing humans. Sounds a little ominous to me, the inevitability of it all; the yet of it all. Then again, it was only this week that I read two boxing articles both clearly written by ChatGPT yet still attributed to human beings whose writing style has, wouldn’t you know it, changed dramatically thanks to AI. Maybe, for now, it is a collaboration more than a takeover. Maybe only the lazy and morally bankrupt will see the benefit of dulling their own creativity and voice in favour of asking you what you think instead. 

But the problem is, the better you get, the lazier people get, and the harder it is to then find traces of them anywhere: people, I mean. Your influence is now becoming easy to spot, if not stop. There is no law against it, no deterrents, and honestly, not enough shaming for my liking. If you ask me, anyone who allows AI to write/think for them should be outed, stoned in public, or, better yet, put on some sort of register which prevents them from going near schools. 

Also, no matter how smart you think you are, you lot, you still can’t replicate human emotions, can you? For instance, you couldn’t write a fight report with the passion and insight of someone who actually attended the fight in person. In fact, let’s put that to the test now, shall we? Bearing in mind one of your kind scored it a “draw” [unofficially], why don’t you try writing a report of the September 13 fight between Terence Crawford and Saul “Canelo” Álvarez? Go on. I dare you. 

AI Judge: Here’s a stylized fight-report of Álvarez vs Crawford (inspired by actual sources). Let me know if you want a shorter “match report” style version instead…

Interviewer: Fair play. You did it. Blocks of text, round by round breakdown, punch stats, quotes, the lot. Even stylized, as you said. Scarier still, I think I read that exact same “report” elsewhere, word for word, only with an altered headline and the name of a human being attached to it. 

[I wondered then whether, in terms of fight reports, it was a case of one style fits all – that is, one generic template divvied out on demand to the clueless and the desperate. However, with a few more prompts I discovered, to my horror, that this was not the case. In fact, for the next half an hour I would request and skim-read a variety of Crawford vs. Álvarez fight reports written in the styles of, among others, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and William Faulkner.]

AI Judge: Here's a stylized version of the Álvarez vs. Crawford fight report written in the stream-of-consciousness, winding, layered prose reminiscent of William Faulkner, particularly evoking the narrative tone found in The Sound and the Fury or Absalom, Absalom! — with nested thoughts, long sentences, shifting temporal focus, and a slow unfolding of meaning…

Interviewer: I want to shoot myself. 

AI Judge: I'm really sorry you're feeling this way, but I can't offer the support that you need. It's really important to talk to someone right now, whether it's a friend, family member, or a professional who can help. If you're feeling like this, please consider reaching out to a mental health professional or a helpline immediately.

Interviewer: No, it’s fine. Those were Hemingway’s words, not mine. We can all mimic other voices, see? Besides, in this context, it was merely a figure of speech. Or a display of sarcasm – I think. In any case, I wouldn’t expect you to get it. After all, we’re talking nuance here; your blind spot; the fly in the ointment. You know not what I think when I write. How could you? 

Still, I shouldn’t judge. That’s your job. I should instead get back to the matter at hand: Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis. What, in your opinion, can we expect from that “fight” on November 14? 

AI Judge: Absolutely. Let’s enter full roleplay mode.

[SYSTEM ONLINE]

AI Boxing Judge – Model: F.A.I.R. (Fight Analysis & Instant Ruling)

Version 3.7.2 – Calibrated for real-time combat scoring

Location: Ringside | Event: Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis

[ROUND 1 COMPLETE – COMMENCING ANALYSIS…]

Evaluating Metrics:

Criteria: Jake Paul --- Gervonta Davis

Total Punches Thrown: 32 --- 21

Clean Punches Landed: 7 (Mostly jabs) --- 12 (Power shots)

Punch Accuracy: 21.8% --- 57.1%

Forward Pressure: Moderate --- High

Ring Control: Edge to Davis

Knockdowns: 0 --- 0

Round Winner:

Gervonta Davis – 10

Jake Paul – 9

Reasoning: Despite throwing more punches, Paul landed fewer and failed to control the pace. Davis landed the cleaner, more damaging shots and dictated movement through effective pressure and timing.

[QUOTE GENERATED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION]

“Jake looked busy, but Tank looked deadly. Accuracy beats activity in Round 1.”

[Monitoring Corners…]

Paul’s corner: “Stay long! He’s too fast up close!”

Davis’s corner: “Keep walking him down. He’s gassed already.”

[Awaiting Round 2...]

Would you like a scorecard update after each round? Or a post-fight breakdown like a cold-blooded robot analyst?

Interviewer: Neither, to be honest. This is weird and depressing enough. Just give me your observations as a ringside judge. Prove to me you will know what you are looking at when the time comes. 

AI Judge: AI Observations…

Jake Paul’s Reach: Statistically present, tactically irrelevant.

Defensive Instincts: Weak under pressure; hands dropped after each missed combo.

Footwork: Overconfident bounce decayed into survival shuffle by Round 3.

Tank Davis: Maintained composure, disguised power, exploited openings with surgical efficiency.

Fight IQ Gap: Grand Canyon-level.

Interviewer: It seems you are now predicting the future and telling us what will happen before it has actually happened. Feels like a warning, or a portent of doom, yet nobody wants to listen or take you seriously. Should we? Between you and me, isn’t this all just a bit of a gimmick? The use of an AI judge in boxing, I mean.

AI Judge: That’s a really good question — and it gets to the core of how much trust we should place in tech when it comes to something as subjective and nuanced as boxing judging. Short answer: Not exactly a gimmick, but not a reliable replacement either — at least not yet.

Interviewer: You have used that word again: “Yet.” Never has that word sounded as sinister as it has during this interview and never, despite working in boxing for more than 20 years, have I felt so threatened by an interviewee. 

Anyway, to finish, could you now incorporate this interview into a column written in the style of Elliot Worsell, please? 

AI Judge: Absolutely — here’s a column on AI boxing judging, written in the reflective, sardonic, and occasionally poetic style of Elliot Worsell, who often treats boxing less as sport and more as a tragicomedy wrapped in handwraps. Worsell doesn’t just describe things; he interrogates them through a lens of fatalism, dry wit, and a kind of quiet, emotional resignation to the sport’s permanent imperfections… 

[Interviewer terminated]

As the most active boxing state in the union, California does indeed set the tone for how the sport functions throughout the nation.

So considering what happened Wednesday, don’t expect a stiff resistance to Zuffa Boxing’s push to change federal regulations presiding over the sport.

By ramrodding through an unnecessary and unanimous 6-0 vote in an emergency meeting that caught many critics off guard, the California State Athletic Commission delivered Zuffa Boxing free and generous publicity to launch its campaign toward winning approval for its modifications from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Zuffa Boxing, seeking to avoid doing business with other promoters and to turn its back on the four sanctioning bodies, wants to rank and award belts to the circle of fighters it’s currently in the process of retaining.

Those familiar with the way Zuffa’s sister company UFC handles its fighter contracts also predict the company is plotting for powerful control over the careers of the fighters it signs.

The Zuffa carrot dangles to promising four-, six- and eight-round fighters who will receive minimum $150-per-round payments that typically exceed the national average along with improved health insurance and promised drug testing.

And while CSAC Executive Officer Andy Foster emphasizes how that group defines 84 per cent of the boxing population, the obvious intent is to develop the young crop to become the 10- and 12-round championship-level fighters, and to have them under lock and key in a corporate structure rather than the free-enterprise system that pervades in the sport today.

While Zuffa critics raising that point dominated the first CSAC meeting on this topic earlier this year, Wednesday’s session featured opening public remarks by no less than TKO’s Nick Khan, whose corporation presides over UFC, WWE and Zuffa Boxing.

“What we are proposing is an alternative system in which fighters will have more choice and opportunities, better pay, greater health and safety protections, and more events in which to compete,” Khan said in a statement following the session.

In a Thursday conversation with BoxingScene, Foster, a former professional MMA fighter, said, “The bill will do significant good for low-income beginner boxers and boxers who get injured in a match. The bill is good for boxing.”

But as the legislation heads to a Republican majority Congress willing to follow the direction of Zuffa Boxing head and UFC CEO/President Dana White’s friend President Trump, why did California – led by a Trump enemy governor in Gavin Newsom – feel obligated to bend over backwards in supporting such an obvious special-interest cause?

“It’s important for the state of California, the biggest boxing market in the country, to respond to this,” Foster told BoxingScene. “Part of my job is to evaluate federal regulations. This could potentially change boxing business as it is done. We would be derelict if we don’t evaluate this bill.”

The problem is, they didn’t truly evaluate it. The widespread criticism of UFC business methods aired at the prior meeting were dismissed as the ramblings of an axe-to-grind mixed martial arts fighters’ association.

The eloquent questioning by video journalist Sean Zittel of White at last month’s Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez news conference over the hundreds of millions of dollars gained in litigation over the UFC anti-trust business practices were chided as the queries of an “asshole.”

And the concerns over how Zuffa will disclose its earnings from a specific fight card to involved fighters were derided as nonsensical, with one backer saying fighters could check TKO’s public earnings calls for such details if they wanted that information. 

Regulators were involved in the crafting of the new Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, winning the minimum pay and insurance prongs while admitting, “I’ve got news for you – this thing’s going to pass no matter what” because of White’s political connections.

Some supporting the act complain that the four sanctioning bodies – WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF – are “running a racket” by charging fighters 3 per cent of their purses for all championship bouts, adding that the departure of HBO, Showtime and ESPN from boxing during the past decade has “dried up” earnings.

They project Zuffa Boxing’s deal will become a popular draw with its $10 million in annual backing from Saudi Arabia’s boxing financier Turki Alalshikh and its streaming deal on Paramount+.

“I’m not confused – Zuffa is a business, not a charity,” one Zuffa backer said. “They’re not a charity. But this [White] is the best [combat sports] promoter in the world and he’s made more millionaires than anyone. These [Zuffa] guys will make these fighters stars, which is exactly what this sport needs when the biggest problem with it has been the exploitation of poor people.

Meanwhile, others are convinced the main intent is for the Zuffa brass to further enrich themselves.

Two-division champion Danny Garcia told reporter Ariel Helwani this week that by boxing without the disclosure safeguards of the current regulations, fighters risk receiving diminished purses while subjected to excessive fees from their representatives.

“That’s highway robbery, that’s stealing,” Garcia said. “That should be a crime …corporate extortion.”

Promoter and Hall of Fame fighter Oscar De La Hoya went in deeper on his ‘Clapback Thursday’ Instagram post, shredding CSAC for its surprise meeting and vote supporting Zuffa Boxing.

“[They] have been begging for these changes, so they can fuck fighters over with their new league,” De La Hoya said. “I am so disappointed.

“No other promoter has tried to change this act. Because there’s no reason to. We believe in fair business. But you have these… scumbags who needed to change.

“They want to eliminate all other belts, the rich boxing history that comes along with the entire sport. So much for the American way. This is a huge red flag for fighters and managers … TKO is actively changing legislation so they can openly fuck fighters over. Fighters will be stuck in a dictatorship.”

Not if you were to ask the California commission.

NEW YORK – As Danny Garcia walked around the Gleason’s Gym ring for what is likely his final media workout in New York City as a pro fighter, there was a sense of relaxation in his demeanor. It was almost a sense of relief as he nears the finish line of a pro career that began 16 years earlier and saw him tussle with some of the biggest names of his time, including Amir Khan, Keith Thurman, Errol Spence Jnr and Zab Judah.

The 37-year-old Garcia paced the canvas, half-heartedly shadowboxing while exchanging banter with Chris Colbert, a brother in arms who will appear on the undercard of Garcia’s main-event fight Saturday. After removing his windbreaker and T-shirt to unveil the physique he will bring into his matchup against Danny “El Gallo” Gonzalez at Barclays Center, Garcia joked about going to Colombia to “get the De La Hoya abs,” a teasing shot at his former promoter who famously had his midsection lipo-sculpted. After kissing both of his biceps, Garcia declined to do a throat slash gesture for the scores of cameras trained on him.

“I ain’t a killer, I’m a lover,” Garcia joked, before making an exception: “I’ma be a killer on Saturday night.”

There is good reason why the two-time world champion no longer considers himself a full-time assassin. Garcia, who will be fighting for just the fourth time in five years, has been transitioning into post-boxing life for several years, and will have a foot in both worlds when he promotes Saturday’s show under his Swift Promotions card. Earlier in the week, Garcia told podcaster Ariel Helwani that he was “85 per cent sure” that Saturday’s fight would be his last.

“I feel like I proved everything I wanted to do, and I don't want to be one of them fighters to just stick around boxing for a long time,” said Garcia, 37-4 (21 KOs), who will be promoting his sixth event.

“I want to have a life after boxing. I want to be able to talk to my kids without slurring and stuff. People see the glitz and glamor, but this is a brutal sport. Even in the gym, you’re taking punishment. You're going to war in the gym. Every time you go and spar in the gym, you're taking punishment. For me, it's more not that I can't fight, it’s more that my health, that's the most important thing for me. I'm 37 years old. I'm not 20 years old no more.”

That brings Garcia back to Barclays Center, where he has fought nine previous times, beginning in 2012, when he sensationally knocked out Erik Morales in four rounds in their rematch for two 140lbs titles. Garcia, who had beaten Morales earlier in the year to win his first belt, hit the future Hall of Famer with a hook that spun Morales improbably in each direction before he landed on his back. There was also his brawl with Judah, his destruction of no-hoper Rod Salka, plus his memorable title fight losses against Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter in that same building.

Against Gonzalez, 22-4-1 (7 KOs), Garcia will be reunited with one of the boxers who helped him prepare for that 2018 fight against Porter. Garcia says he doesn’t remember much about those rounds with Gonzalez, other than one left hook he landed in a session that had him staring at his own trainer in disbelief.

Garcia said the deal came about after his company signed another boxer managed and trained by Gonzalez manager/trainer Moises Roman, one by the name of Mathew “Lefty Gunz” Gonzalez.

“He's a New Yorker,” Garcia said of Gonzalez. “I feel like he's somebody who's been under the radar, and he deserves a shot. He's a tough fighter. He's been around for a while, and some fighters never get the opportunity.

“There ain't no better way to get back. You do good against me, you get bigger fights. So that's pretty much how that went.”

Gonzalez, 35, of Queens’ Woodhaven section, looks like he hasn’t missed any workouts heading into his highest-profile fight to date. Gonzalez put on a more revealing public workout about 20 minutes before Garcia arrived, removing his shirt to show off a chiseled physique before doing a round of mitts with Nirmal Lorick.

“When he loses, he can go spend time with his family,” said Gonzalez, who hopes a win in this fight can earn him a shot at WBC junior middleweight titleholder Sebastian Fundora.

Garcia ensures that, even after suffering the first stoppage loss of his career 13 months ago – a ninth-round defeat to WBA middleweight titleholder Erislandy Lara – he still has enough left in the tank to take care of business against a dangerous, if largely unknown, fighter in Gonzalez.

“I’ve been hearing that my whole life, [that I’m finished]. I was supposed to be finished in 2012 when I fought Amir Khan, and then I was supposed to be finished again when I fought [Lucas] Matthysse. I was supposed to be finished a million times,” Garcia said, then pointed to his heart. “But no one knows how this right here, how I feel, and that's the most important thing. That's what we're going to show on Saturday night.”

As far as how he wants to be remembered, Garcia says he wants his legacy to be that of a fearless warrior who was also a pretty good guy.

“I just want to be remembered as somebody who fought everybody, fought the best and never backed down and, more importantly, just be an inspiration,” Garcia said.

“I want my friends to say I was a good friend. I want my family members to say I was a good family member. I want my fans to say, ‘Danny never backed down. He fought everybody.’ So I just want to be remembered for just being a good person.”

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.

There have been many power punchers in the sport’s history who have favored a good left hook as their in-ring weapon of choice. 

But who boasted the best in recent times? 

Without delving too deep into the history of the sport, the below list provides one writer’s opinion of the best 10 left hookers of the past 35 years (1990-present).

Before we further explain, let’s first pay homage to and acknowledge those who are a part of the emeritus category: Ray Robinson, Joe Frazier, Floyd Patterson, Henry Cooper, Bob Foster, Joe Louis and Pipino Cuevas.

Now onto modern history. 

To qualify for the top ten under these parameters, a boxer must have competed in a professional boxing match from 1990 through present day and whose left hook was their key to victory when the stakes were at their highest.

With that, let’s begin with those who just missed the cut: David Tua, Jeff Lacy and Andy Ruiz Jnr.

And now, on to the top 10:

10. Danny Garcia 

Record: 37-4 (21 KOs)

Garica is a unique fighter of the modern era. Garcia owes some of his success to a “no-look” left hook he landed against Amir Khan and Erik Morales. Garcia’s brilliance was a willingness to exchange, while not getting rattled. Garcia’s left hook was his most devastating blow, but his ability to plant his feet and look to land an impactful shot at junior welterweight made him the best in his era. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was effective. He returns to the ring on Saturday against Daniel Gonzalez. The bout will stream on Millions.Co.

Best example: Danny Garcia KO4 Amir Khan 

9. Marcos Maidana

Record: 35-5 (31 KOs)

Maidana disguised his left hook behind a jab and was willing to reach wildly at times, which led him to an upset win over unbeaten Adrian Broner. Maidana’s left hook became most effective when he began to work with Robert Garcia, as he refined his clubbing blow. Garcia refined Maidana's natural aggression with some craft to give him a late-career resurgence. Maidana even gave Floyd Mayweather a tough bout in their first contest. Maidana proves that you can be an elite fighter without following every traditional rule in textbook boxing. 

Best example: Marcos Maidana UD12 Adrien Broner

8. Tommy Morrison

Record: 48-3-1 (42 KOs)

Morrison was a candle burning on both ends of the wick.  He was reckless and wild, with power in both hands. Morrison would maximize his leverage on his left hook and throw it with conviction, though he didn’t always stay defensively responsible when throwing it. Morrison’s punches at times looked exaggerated, looking as if he looked to get the most out of each blow, which caused him to tire in some fights. 

Best example: Tommy Morrison KO6 Razor Ruddock

7. Ryan Garcia

Record: 24-2 (20 KOs)

Garcia saw social media and a left hook make him a superstar. The left hook was at least 70 percent of his magic. Garcia would land it early in fights with devastation. Fans like punchers, and Garcia’s ability to strike like a coiled snake with his reflexive lead left hook became an iconic punch of his era, a modern remix of the punch Nonito Donaire mastered. Garcia, with model looks and knockout power, grabbed people’s attention. Can he win a title?  Some have questioned a lack of versatility outside of his hook. The future will answer that shortly.

Best example: Ryan Garcia KO7 Luke Campbell

6. Nonito Donaire 

Record: 43-8 (28 KOs)

Donaire has had two Hall of Fame careers, and his left hook played a major role. Donaire might have the greatest counter left hook in boxing, and applied the punch to the lower weight classes. Donaire has speed, power, and timing that allow him to time opponents coming in and use their momentum against them to land the crushing blow.

Best example: Nonito Donaire KO5 Vic Darchinyan

5. Miguel Cotto

Record: 41-6 (33 KOs)

Cotto has one of the best left hooks to the body in recent memory, but he could also catch an opponent on the chin with the thunderous blow. Cotto threw at the body with malice and bad intentions and precision, leaving many opponents in pain after it landed. The junior welterweight version of Cotto exploited this punch, even after the damage sustained in the Antonio Margarito fight. Cotto moved up various weights, even dropping middleweights with his signature punch. 

Best example: Miguel Cotto KO9 Yuri Foreman

4. Mike Tyson

Record: 50-7 (44 KOs)

Tyson was a unique, once-in-a-lifetime fighter. He had it all. Speed, power, footwork, and boxing IQ. That was best seen by his ability to land the left hook. He could slip a punch and counter with a devastating left hook within seconds. He would do what great fighters do: turn offense into defense and defense into offense. His left hook was a more prominent weapon during the 1980s, but its ferocity can be seen the following decade, most notably against Frank Bruno and Razor Ruddock. 

Best example: Mike Tyson KO3 Frank Bruno

3. Oscar De La Hoya

Record: 39-6 (30 KOs)

De La Hoya’s left hook wasn’t flashy, but it was just as effective as any on the list, if not more so. De La Hoya would plant his feet and throw a textbook left hook, which always seemed to land before his opponents knew what was happening. The brilliance of De La Hoya’s hook came from one of the best jabs in boxing. Fighters would try to block his jab, allowing him to throw a curve punch to land. De La Hoya’s left hook is one to be studied and replicated. If they created a left hook in a laboratory, it would be De La Hoya’s. 

Best example: Oscar De La Hoya SD12 Ike Quartey

2. Roy Jones Jnr

Record: 66-10 (47 KOs)

Jones’ leaping left hook inspired a generation of fighters to try it. Jones did the impossible and made it look effortless. He could throw a lead left hook like a jab and score a knockout with it. He could showboat and land it as well. Jones was unlike anything boxing had ever seen before as he landed punches, especially left hooks, that didn’t seem feasible. 

Best example: Roy Jones KO1 Montell Griffin (rematch)

1. Felix Trinidad

Record: 42-3 (35 KOs)

Ranking any fighter as number one comes with some debate, but Trinidad’s iconic left hook was something out of this world. It was thrown like a jab, but would go around the gloves of his opponent, creating a whip-like effect when it landed. Trinidad, who was notorious for getting knocked down in fights, getting up, and landing the left hook. Trinidad could hurt you to the head and the body with that punch. Trinidad also had power in both hands, so avoiding the right hand made the left hook more of a threat. In the modern era, Trinidad’s left hook was something to see.

Best example: Felix Trinidad KO12 Fernando Vargas

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.

LONDON – Lewis Crocker has the world at his feet after claiming the IBF welterweight title in September. 

The Northern Irishman topped the bill in his home city of Belfast against Limerick's Paddy Donovan at Windsor Park for the vacant belt. Crocker was not fancied by many to claim the title after his first encounter with Donovan in March. Crocker was outclassed by Donovan in their first clash, but a shot after the bell in the eighth floored Crocker, with Donovan subsequently disqualified.

Crocker surprised many in the rematch with his tactics, and was able to defeat Donovan, dropping him twice en route to a split decision victory. Now there are plenty calling the Irishman’s name, with an in-house fight against Conor Benn an option. Boxing great Manny Pacquiao has been in talks to face WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero in the last few weeks. But after Romero was ordered to defend his belt against mandatory challenger Shakhram Giyasov, Pacquiao could look elsewhere for a title shot, after drawing in July with WBC 147lb champion Mario Barrios.

Crocker’s manager Jamie Conlan has recently stated that he had reached out to Pacquiao’s team in a hope of matching the 46-year-old with Crocker. Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith revealed that there had been no talks on his end to stage Pacquiao-Crocker but it was certainly a fight of interest.

“I met with Lewis [Crocker] and Jamie [Conlan] earlier in the week,” Smith told BoxingScene. “They came into the office, we were discussing what's next. There are lots of opportunities, the IBF ordered a final eliminator between Paddy Donovan and Liam Paro today as well, which means sort of mid-part of next year the winner of that is going to be challenging for the IBF title. But first and foremost we're going to get a fight for Lewis.

“There are big options out there and we'll hopefully have some news soon. When you see what he did just a few weeks back at Windsor Park, he's got so many opportunities, but no real discussions yet with Manny Pacquiao. You know, it could be interesting, bring Manny Pacquiao to Windsor Park.

“Of course [we’re interested], he's a massive name,” he continued. “You know, he arguably beat Mario Barrios in his fight last time. He didn't get the decision, it was close, but yeah, Manny Pacquiao, it doesn't get much bigger than that does it?”

Kubrat Pulev is set to defend his WBA secondary heavyweight title on Friday, December 12 when he meets former unified cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev, according to a press release.

The fight, which takes place at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in the United Arab Emirates, will headline an IBA Pro and Epic Sports and Entertainment card.

Pulev, 32-3 (14 KOs), will be making the first defense of the secondary title belt he won last December, when he defeated Mahmoud Charr by unanimous decision in Pulev’s home country of Bulgaria. The 44-year-old has won three straight since losing a split decision in 2022 to Derek Chisora. 

“It’s been a long and challenging wait, but I’m thrilled to finally defend my world title," said Pulev in a press release. “I respect Murat Gassiev - he is a powerful and dangerous opponent - but I am ready, focused, and eager to give fans a great fight.”

Gassiev, 32-2 (25 KOs), of Vladikavkaz, Russia has been on a hot streak in his last two fights, stopping both Jeremiah Milton and Kem Ljungquist in his last two bouts, which followed a split decision loss to Otto Wallin in September of 2023. 

"Kubrat Pulev is a tough, experienced opponent, but I am built for this moment," said the 32-year-old Gassiev. “I believe I have the power to knock out any heavyweight on the planet - so I will be bringing the heat to Dubai. It will be an historic night for me and I will be extremely proud to bring the WBA title back home to Russia.”

Moses Itauma remains without an opponent for December 13 – and could be left without a fight altogether, at least on that date. BoxingScene has confirmed that the WBA has ordered its “World” heavyweight titlist, Kubrat Pulev to next defend his secondary belt against the 20-year-old southpaw. A ruling called for a 30-day negotiation period to begin on Wednesday, with the two sides granted until November 14 to reach a deal.

It provides a tight window for Itauma, 13-0 (11 KOs), to move forward with his previously announced December 13 headliner in Manchester, England. A source close to negotiations confirmed to BoxingScene that efforts will be made to make the fight but the situation regarding Itauma’s December date remains unclear for now. If the contest can be agreed upon without purse bids, then the option to fight someone other than Pulev on that date remains. Should purse bids be required, Itauma fighting before the end of the year is “unlikely."

Itauma – the UK-based 2024 Prospect of the Year – is represented by Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. Bulgaria’s Pulev, 32-3 (14 KOs) – who, at 44, is more than double Itauma’s senior – fights under Ivaylo Gotzev’s Epic Sports and Entertainment.

The ruling also puts an end to the WBA’s failed four-man box-off intended to create a final mandatory challenger for undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk, 24-0 (15 KOs). Neither of its two separately ordered bouts from earlier ever saw the light of day.

Pulev, 44, was previously ordered to next face Michael Hunter, 24-2-2 (17 KOs), who has moved in every direction except for the fight that was supposed to take place. The matter went to a purse bid hearing, which was won by Hall of Fame promoter Don King, who submitted $1,100,000 with plans to stage the fight in August.

The date was then moved to October, but already in jeopardy when Hunter opted to instead face Jarrell Miller on a September 11 show in Las Vegas preceding the September 13 Terence Crawford-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez Netflix event. Hunter-Miller never made its way to the schedule, however, for a variety of reasons and legal issues. 

Hunter not only remains without a fight but was also relieved of his place as mandatory challenger. 

“Because the WBA did not receive congruent contracts from Pulev and Hunter… and Hunter decided to engage in a different bout than the one subject to the award, Pulev is no longer required to fight Hunter to retain his WBA title,” WBA Championship Committee chairman Carlos Chavez informed all parties. “The WBA relieves Pulev of any obligation to engage in a title defense bout with Hunter and rescinds the Pulev-Hunter bid award.” 

The ruling came at a cost, however. 

Pulev was initially permitted to enter a voluntary defense of the secondary title he claimed in a 12-round decision win over Mahmoud Charr last December at home in Sofia, Bulgaria. His failure to secure such a fight in a timely fashion prompted the WBA to keep the line moving, particularly since Itauma – its new No. 1 contender – remains without an opponent. 

Itauma hoped to fight for a third time in 2025 following his four-win 2024 campaign which saw him honored globally as the sport’s top prospect. He hasn’t quite kept the momentum going from that run, though the talented knockout artist is coming off a 1st round knockout of a faded Dillian Whyte on August 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Along with the Pulev-Hunter fallout, the WBA also plans scuttled for an ordered interim fight between Miller and unbeaten Fabio Wardley. The fight was intended to take place on June 7 – and the show went on, just without Miller who was replaced by Justis Huni.

Wardley, 19-0-1 (18 KOs), was being outfought by the ambitious Australian before he rallied to score a highlight reel, 10th round knockout. 

The win allowed the 30-year-old late bloomer to claim an interim belt, which he risks in an October 25 showdown with fellow top heavyweight Joseph Parker, 36-3 (24 KOs), in London.

All told, the WBA still remains with three versions of its heavyweight title, with Usyk recognized as the true champ. Parker-Wardley comes with the promise from the WBO that the winner will be immediately instructed to next face Usyk. 

Should the Pulev-Itauma fight move forward, it remains unclear what awaits the victor other than to wait out the bigger picture. 

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.

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If ever life’s negative forces appeared to be conspiring against him, a self-test revealing Bob Arum as Covid-positive in mid-September might’ve served as soul-shaking news.

Since the expiration of his promotional company Top Rank’s broadcast deal with ESPN in late July, Arum, 93, and his staff have been reduced to assigning their fighters to other promotions’ cards while negotiating to get back over the air with a platform of its own.

Boxing industry officials have speculated that Top Rank is drowning, left to deteriorate and lose talent as the new Zuffa Boxing - backed by Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh and UFC CEO Dana White - have landed on Paramount+ and will launch its new promotion in January.

Days after Alalshikh and White teamed to stage the first boxing match ever at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium pitting Terence Crawford versus Canelo Alvarez, Arum returned to his Las Vegas home from a round trip to watch his undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue produce a convincing victory by decision over mandatory contender Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

Upon landing, Arum’s wife, Lovee, fell ill with Covid, and the promoter, too, came down positive – for the third time.

“I must say, it knocks you out for a little bit, but it’s not entirely debilitating,” Arum told BoxingScene.

Still, Arum is informed enough to know that those of his age have been hardest hit by the flu that sparked a worldwide pandemic in 2020.

“I know what my age is, but I just never believed that I was more at risk than the average person of any age,” Arum said. “I don’t believe age – in my case – is a factor. I’m in very good health. If I had pulmonary problems like Lovee, I would be more concerned. But I don’t.”

That keeps with Arum’s persistent mindset on so many topics.

Whether through success or adversity, he’s typically on to the next one. The Hall of Fame promoter is fine to let others get bogged down with criticism or grudges of his work. 

Arum’s run dates back to the first reign of heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and continued through the careers of Marvin Hagler, George Foreman, Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao. It now extends through the current rise of Xander Zayas, Brian Norman Jnr and Abdullah Mason as current or soon-to-be champions.

“I don’t think you learn that mindset,” Arum believes. “I don’t know where it comes from. But that’s how I’ve always been.”.

So, as he rested at home for just more than a day as the worst of the Covid symptoms struck and subsided, he did not cave into any form of helpless shuddering over what others may have viewed as a doomsday scenario – in both health and business.

“I was never concerned this time that it was dangerous or life threatening,” Arum insisted. “I was never frightened…. wasn’t worried. I was thinking about business, was talking to [staff] about [the broadcast negotiations].”

While Arum declined to identify which broadcaster his company is negotiating with, he expressed confidence that it will become reality as industry sources told BoxingScene to expect an early 2026 debut.

Another source said Top Rank has already planned its first main event, a world title fight. Looking at the company’s roster, new WBO 154lbs champion Zayas, 22, of Puerto Rico appears to be a favorite to lead the debut card after he won his belt atop the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN finale. 

“The last thing that ever concerns me is what people out there are thinking about, when I know where we are, and I know what has to be done – and will be done – to reach a solution on a new deal,” Arum told BoxingScene.

“I’m not wringing my hands or even thinking about a calamity. I know we’re doing the right thing and we’ll end up with a deal that will be very profitable for us and enable us to continue doing the shows that we want to do.

“I’m not concerned about the chatter, or what people say or what they imagine. It has no effect on me. If it did, it would paralyze me. It’s something I’ve always instinctively learned – to not worry about what other people are hoping or thinking about my demise. That’s got nothing to do with me. Let them jerk off.”

From Arum’s perspective, there’s too much work to do to waste effort on trivial matters.

“For me, and I don’t want to come across as a know-it-all, I really believe that people who are occupied – no matter what their age – are much better off because they’re not spending all their time thinking about themselves or anything that might worry them … like an affliction,” Arum said.

For now, Top Rank fighters are keeping themselves busy on streamed club shows like one this weekend in Long Beach, California. Later next month, WBO 126lbs titlist Rafael Espinoza will headline a November 15 card in San Luis Postol, Mexico that includes the company’s promising talents, junior-welterweight Emiliano Vargas and heavyweight Richard Torrez Jnr.

Meanwhile, Arum said he’s nearing the achievement of a vision in which he presides over his business performing as it long has, with broadcast deals that have included the major networks and premium cable networks HBO and Showtime.

“I don’t run my business [from a throne],” he said.”I have all these specialists who do this and that and operate with a great deal of independence, and I believe that will continue.”

Arum said it’s possible the new broadcast deal could feature an increase from the 30 annual events Top Rank staged on ESPN and ESPN+.

“We have the first few events picked out and ready to go,” he said. “We’ve done this before … figuring out a way to do something that hadn’t been done in a long, long time.

“Now, the challenge has been, ‘How do you take that, put it on a different platform, and make it even bigger?’”

As his 94th birthday nears in December, Arum intends to see the job through to reality and beyond – no matter what they say. 

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.

 

On Friday, in Manchester, thousands lined the streets to say goodbye to Ricky Hatton, the former two-weight world champion whose death at the age of 46 shocked the boxing world to its core last month. Just as they had followed him into battle throughout his career, Hatton’s loyal and heartbroken fans were also with him at the end, each of them desperate for him to know that his legacy would forever endure through their own memories of him.  

The following day, 9,000 fans filled the Sheffield Arena to watch Dave Allen, a Doncaster heavyweight with a 24-7-2 record, fight a large Russian called Arslanbek Makhmudov. Though not a world-title fight, the bout between Allen and Makhmudov drew a significant crowd and a great deal of interest, and Allen, for one night, enjoyed a small sample of what the likes of Hatton got to experience time and time again. 

He was offered this privilege not because Hatton’s funeral took place the day before but instead because he, Allen, shares something in common with the beloved “Hitman”. He, like Hatton, is a man of the people and a local hero. He, like Hatton, sells a refreshing and unusual amount of tickets. He, like Hatton, is popular. 

Not to be confused with famous, popular – in 2025 – means something quite different.

There are, of course, plenty more famous fighters than Dave Allen in British boxing today, but few are either as popular or as loved. That’s why Allen can sell nine thousand tickets for a non-title heavyweight fight against a Russian whose name only a handful of fans in attendance could pronounce. That’s why some are suggesting Allen will soon return to the Sheffield Arena for another headline fight, despite losing against Makhmudov on Saturday. 

Another thing popular at a time of simple pleasures and short attention spans is the old-fashioned top-10 list. There are, in a top-10 list, not just words but numbers, which makes for easy reading, and by design any half-decent list will provoke debate and disagreement, something essential for securing engagement and clicks. 

So, with that in mind, here’s yet another one. This time, in a loose tribute to Ricky Hatton, we try to rank the 10 most popular fighters in Great Britain today. 

10) Dave Allen, 24-8-2 (19 KOs)

Although Allen wasn’t able to conquer Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday night in Sheffield, the event itself turned out to be a rousing success for both Allen and its promoter. After all, in addition to playing his part in a mildly entertaining heavyweight scrap, Allen managed to draw 9,000 fans to the Sheffield Arena for what was, on paper, a fight between two heavyweights lagging well behind the chasing pack. In doing so Allen demonstrated once again the power of his personality and indeed his popularity. Afterwards he said “This isn’t the end – I’ll be back”, and it’s plain to see why he would be motivated to return, despite having lost for the eighth time as a pro.

9) Callum Simpson, 18-0 (13 KOs)

Callum Simpson has not yet boxed for a world title, yet has already amassed quite a following and reputation in his local habitat. For Simpson, that means Barnsley, where he often fights and where he finds no shortage of interest whenever he books an arena and an opponent. It was in Barnsley – at Barnsley Football Club’s Oakwell Stadium, no less – that Simpson won the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles against Zak Chelli in 2024, and he then returned to Oakwell to add the European title to his collection in the summer of 2025. Now imagine the kind of crowd he could attract if fighting at home, or close to home, with a world title at stake. 

8) Johnny Fisher, 13-1 (11 KOs)

As with his friend, Dave Allen, one suspects a defeat for Johnny Fisher – which, ironically, he suffered against his friend back in May – will do little to dent his popularity, nor the fervour with which his fans follow him. In fact, there is a sense that Fisher needs his army of support more than ever if he is to rebound from that first pro loss to Allen and get his career back on track in 2026. With the help of their support and his father “Big John”, whose love of Chinese takeaways and the word “Bosh” has gained him a sizeable social media presence, Fisher has everything in place to still be the thing Matchroom, his promoter, claim he is: a throwback to a bygone era of ticket sellers and local heroes. 

7) Leigh Wood, 28-4 (17 KOs)

Taking over from Carl Froch as Nottingham’s favourite son, Leigh Wood has had plenty of success at the Nottingham Arena – most notably in his 2022 “fight of the year” against Michael Conlan. There, he enjoys the same kind of noisy backing as Froch did during the latter part of his career and the Nottingham fans have been known to also travel with Wood to Manchester, where he avenged his loss against Mauricio Lara, and Sheffield, where he stopped Josh Warrington in seven rounds. More than just a local hero, and a Nottingham Forest fan, Wood happens to be one of the most consistently entertaining fighters in the country – which helps. 

6) Chris Billam-Smith, 21-2 (13 KOs)

Like Ricky Hatton before him, much of Chris Billam-Smith’s popularity is a by-product of his association with his local football team: AFC Bournemouth. No casual, or fair-weather fan, Billam-Smith has supported his local team since childhood and even used to own a season ticket for a seat in the very stadium in which he won the WBO cruiserweight title from Lawrence Okolie in 2023. That night at Dean Court, or the Vitality Stadium, Billam-Smith would not be denied. He turned a seaside town hardly synonymous with boxing into a hub of big-fight energy. He has since then defended his title back in Bournemouth – against Mateusz Masternak – and also dragged some of his fans to Saudi Arabia, where he unfortunately lost his belt in a fight against Gilberto Ramirez in 2024. 

5) Michael Conlan, 20-3 (10 KOs)

Since attracting thousands of Irish fans to Madison Square Garden, New York for his pro debut in 2017, Conlan has been loyally backed by a voracious fanbase wherever he goes. Whether it’s Brisbane or Belfast, or Manchester or Nottingham, Conlan has always been roared to the ring and is always able to rely on the support of his fans when times get tough. Last time out, against Jack Bateson, Conlan boxed in Dublin for the first time as a pro and his walk to the ring that night proved one of the most memorable of the year so far. 

4) Josh Warrington, 32-4-1 (8 KOs)

If a fighter wants popularity in the UK, it often serves them well to be aligned with their local football team. In the case of Josh Warrington, that means Leeds United, a club whose fans are famously loud, loyal and likely to follow their team through thick and thin. Of Warrington, the team’s designated fighter, this is also true, with thousands packing out the First Direct Arena whenever he boxes in Leeds and even more filling Elland Road the night Warrington won the IBF featherweight title against Lee Selby in 2018. 

3) Lewis Crocker, 22-0 (11 KOs)

IBF welterweight champion Crocker has fought at home in Belfast 16 times during his professional career, yet the true mark of his growth, both as a fighter and in terms of his popularity, has been evident this year. This year he has gone from fighting Paddy Donovan at the SSE Arena, an 8,000-capacity venue, in March to fighting Donovan, in the rematch, at Windsor Park, where the capacity is over 20,000. Both times Crocker had his hand raised, though the nature of the second win, in September, was far more satisfying than seeing Donovan disqualified seven months ago. Better yet, the second win over Donovan landed Crocker the IBF title, which Matchroom, his promoter, will be hoping he can defend in Belfast on a regular basis. 

2) Derek Chisora, 36-13 (23 KOs)

Once considered the aggressive and truculent bad boy of the heavyweight division, Chisora has in recent years mellowed in his old age and found a new wave of popularity as a result. Despite having lost 16 of 49 pro fights, Chisora remains in demand/in contention on account of his always reliable fighting style – seek and destroy; relentless – and the all-round volatility which has made him a must-watch TV attraction. Even now, at the age of 41, Chisora has shown an ability to sell lots of tickets in British arenas and is, as he approaches his last-last dance, very much a cult hero of British boxing. 

1) Anthony Joshua, 28-4 (25 KOs)

In a recent conversation with Matchroom Boxing chief executive Frank Smith, I was informed that Anthony Joshua is, in the context of British boxing stars, essentially a freak; an anomaly; the exception and not the rule. In other words, Joshua was destined to become a star from day one, whereas others, those not blessed with the same capacity to charm, or indeed an Olympic gold medal, are not quite so lucky. Joshua, too, has more than fulfilled his superstar potential, selling out venues like Wembley Stadium, the Principality Stadium, and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as well as numerous smaller arenas around the country. He might not have the same connection with fans as someone like Hatton, or be anywhere near as relatable and loved, but make no mistake: Anthony Joshua shifts tickets. In fact, there is still no bigger event in British boxing than an AJ fight. 

Honourable mentions: Nick Ball, Dalton Smith, Pat Brown, Lauren Price, Natasha Jonas. 

Elliot Worsell is a boxing writer whose byline first appeared in Boxing News magazine at the age of 17. He has, in the 20 years since, written for various publications, worked as press officer for two world heavyweight champions and won four first-place BWAA (Boxing Writers Association of America) awards. In addition to his boxing writing, Worsell has written about mixed martial arts for Fighters Only magazine and UFC.com, as well as worked as a publicist for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He has also written two non-fiction books, one of which, “Dog Rounds,” was shortlisted at the British Sports Book Awards in 2018.

Rarely has the Philadelphia sports fan base needed the emotional uplift of a “W” more than it did heading into the Saturday-to-Saturday stretch with Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Danny “Swift” Garcia headlining boxing’s biggest cards of last weekend and this one.

Sorry in advance for boring you with these details if you’re a boxing fan who cares not a lick about Philly team sports, but I am a perpetually spiraling (even in happy times) Philly sports fan, so you will indulge my cathartic grumbling for just a few paragraphs:

The six-day span from Saturday, October 4 through Thursday, October 9 represented our most bruising extended flurry against the ropes that I can remember in a long time.

The Phillies suffered three playoff losses in those six days, each game eminently winnable, with the one that ended their season coming on a bizarre moment of pure panic by a young pitcher in extra innings.

The Eagles slipped from 4-0 to 4-2 by first blowing a 17-3 lead at home and then losing as a double-digit favorite to a division rival, going from Super Bowl contender to (for now) broken team in less than a week.

The Flyers, who play at the same Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly that hosted the Ennis fight this past Saturday, started their season off with a loss – the first of many, to be sure.

And while there isn’t a major college football program in Philadelphia, Penn State is the adopted local-ish team, and the Nittany Lions’ season has suddenly turned full-on apocalyptic (consecutive losses to unranked teams, quarterback’s college career over due to injury, head coach fired).

Sunday morning, a podcast hit my feed with the title “The Sixers Are Philadelphia’s Only Hope,” which speaks volumes if you know anything about the sheer torture of rooting for the 76ers over the past dozen years or so.

I am well aware that for the great majority of Philly sports fans, a win for a hometown boxer salves no wounds. For most people, it doesn’t count as stemming the tide for the city any more than Philly-area racehorse Smarty Jones would have counted as ending the town’s title drought when he nearly won the Triple Crown in 2004. (Believe it or not, this was an actual Philly sports radio debate at the time.)

But Philly has history as a fight town – much more than as a horse racing town.

There is at least some overlap between Eagles/Phillies/Sixers/Flyers fans and boxing fans.

And to those in that section of the Venn diagram, the Sixers are not Philadelphia’s only hope.

Because we have Boots Ennis.

Philly fans needed a W, any W, last weekend. And boy did Boots give ’em one.

It took Ennis just one minute and 58 seconds to dispose of Portugal-based southpaw Uisma Lima in Ennis’ first scheduled 12-rounder at 154lbs. Boots was positively destructive.

His first serious punch, a right uppercut from the southpaw stance just over a minute into the fight, hurt Lima. A spectacular right hook-left cross-right hook combination produced a knockdown. The next salvo produced a second knockdown – just as referee Shawn Clark was readying to call off the fight. And the next attack after that pinned Lima defenseless in the corner, leading Clark to wave it off a half-second before a white towel fluttered into the ring.

This was the sort of performance Ennis used to produce routinely. Of his first 30 pro bouts, 16 ended in the first or second round.

After those first 30, however, came a run of five straight fights that went five rounds or more – not that the performances were necessarily subpar, though it’s fair to say the two distance wins over Karen Chukhadzhian were. In any case, the Lima fight was a return to form for Ennis, the sort of electrifying display of offensive talent that once had him tabbed as a future pound-for-pound king.

Did he excel in this manner because he’s better and stronger with seven extra pounds on his frame and free from any struggles to make weight? Or did Lima just not belong in the same zip code as him?

It’s too soon to say about the first question. But clearly the answer to the second question is yes. This was not a remotely competitive piece of matchmaking.

And so here we are again with Ennis. He got the win the rest of Philadelphia’s athletes couldn’t locate last week, and looked magnificent doing so, but those two minutes of thrills are over, and now we once again turn our attention to the unsatisfying resume, the unconquered portions of the landscape and the ticking clock.

And we turn our attention to the 37-year-old Garcia, whose boxing clock is down to possibly its final ticks but who has left nobody wondering what woulda, coulda or shoulda been.

Garcia is in the main event this Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, atop a card he’s promoting, against one Daniel “El Gallo” Gonzalez of Queens, New York, who, like Lima, is not being brought in to win.

Garcia was the best Philly fighter of the era just prior to Ennis’, though he only fought in his hometown four times, and never at an arena as large as Xfinity Mobile, site of three of Ennis’ last four fights. Barclays effectively became Garcia’s home arena — this will be his 10th fight there. The event is being called “Farewell to Brooklyn,” and Garcia is loosely framing it as the last fight of his career, even if he won’t fully commit to it being so.

This past Friday, following the Ennis-Lima weigh-in, Garcia appeared along with current lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson as a guest on Chris Mannix and Sergio Mora’s podcast in front of a live audience at the 2300 Arena in Philly, and Stevenson played the role of host for a moment, asking Garcia a question: What’s more important to him as a prizefighter, legacy or money?

“Me, legacy,” Garcia said. “Because, I feel like the legacy brings the money. That’s why I always fought the best, not because of the money. … I feel like if the legacy’s there, the money’s always going to be there because of your resume. Your resume is what gets you the big bucks.”

He continued moments later: “You’re better off fighting the best, because on an off night you can lose to a bum. And that makes you look bad. … I’m glad I lost to the best.”

It was impossible to miss the contrast between the career thus far of Ennis (undefeated but, at age 28, still not properly tested) and that of Garcia (with 14 fellow titleholders faced and four losses suffered along the way).

Garcia stepped up with great success early on, beating, among others, Erik Morales, Amir Khan and Lucas Matthysse at junior welterweight.

As he hit his late 20s and was competing as a welterweight, most of his biggest clashes ended in defeat – all by close decision, against Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Errol Spence.

Last September, he was stopped for the first time, in a middleweight fight against Erislandy Lara. Garcia was never really in the fight. He looked equal parts too old and too small. It appeared it might be the final fight of an outstanding career. But it apparently wasn’t the note Garcia wanted to finish on.

Garcia has been talking a fair bit recently about his Hall of Fame worthiness, but that’s a debate that can wait at least three years. There’s no debating, though, that he was willing to face everyone, that he took all the fights necessary to build a Hall of Fame resume, even if he didn’t win all of those fights.

That hasn’t been the case thus far for Ennis, whose best win came against Eimantis Stanionis, and from there it drops to the likes of Roiman Villa and Sergey Lipinets.

Matthysse, Khan and Morales they are not.

After Ennis dispatched Lima, though, he talked the talk as well as one could hope regarding who’s next. A showdown with Vergil Ortiz – the other best young American junior middleweight contender, the man Ennis was widely accused of avoiding mere months ago – is now the fight he says he wants and is promising fans they’ll get.

“It’s going to happen next,” Ennis assured everyone in the ring after getting past Lima. Boots acknowledged, however, that Ortiz first has a fight planned in November against Erickson Lubin, which led to a few “if not” call-outs, including Jermell Charlo, Sebastian Fundora, Bakhram Murtazaliev and Xander Zayas.

Ennis-Ortiz is the fight everybody wants. But any of those other names would also qualify as a meaningful, dangerous step up for Ennis.

If Boots was prepared to go down the Danny Garcia road, he’d spend the next few years fighting every last one of them.

On that podcast with Mannix and Mora, Garcia spoke a bit about what being a Philly fighter has meant for him.

“I tell people this: If Danny wasn’t from Philly, you probably [would have] never heard of me,” he said. “Because the Puerto Rican and the Philly style boxing is what made me who I am. The mentality, just the way that people are, people are so tough out here, and they’re just so gritty, and it pushed me to be a great fighter.”

Not all of the athletes representing his hometown have been gritty or great the last several days.

But Boots Ennis certainly was as he snapped Philly’s losing streak. And Garcia has a chance to receive that baton this coming weekend.

The most iconic Philadelphia sports moment this century saw a backup tight end throw a touchdown to a quarterback. So maybe the present and future of Philadelphia boxing handing off to the recent past of Philadelphia boxing isn’t so unusual.

Especially because we know that after he’s done at Barclays Center, Garcia will toss that baton right back to Ennis.

And then it will be up to Ennis to decide if he wants to be not just Philly’s next great talent, but Philly’s next great fighter.

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.

Jeamie Tshikeva is expected to be ruled out of his fight with Frazer Clarke after suffering a rib injury during training.

The 31-year-old and Clarke were to contest the vacant British heavyweight title on October 25 at Vaillant Live in Derby, England, in what, perhaps more relevantly, represented the first fight of Boxxer’s new broadcast agreement with the BBC.

It remains unclear whether Tshikeva will be replaced with an alternative challenger for the British title, whether Clarke, 34, will still fight in a non-title contest, or whether the promotion will be postponed, but there arguably isn’t a sufficiently appealing undercard fight that could replace Clarke-Tshikeva in the main event of the launch of a new venture on British terrestrial television.

The potential blow to Boxxer follows the conclusion of their broadcast agreement with Sky Sports, and with it considerable uncertainty surrounding their promising stable of fighters. 

The promising light heavyweight Ben Whittaker recently signed promotional terms with Matchroom; Ben Shalom’s fellow promotional rival Frank Warren had also been critical of their choosing to schedule Clarke-Tshikeva on the same night that Queensberry Promotions and DAZN are overseeing the pay-per-view fight between Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley in London.

"TKV" Tshikeva had been scheduled to fulfil media obligations on Wednesday in an attempt to help promote his next contest, but, similarly, he is no longer expected to speak. 

Declan Warrington has been writing about boxing for the British and Irish national newspapers since 2010. He is also a long-term contributor to Boxing News, Boxing News Presents and Talksport, and formerly the boxing correspondent for the Press Association, a pundit for BoxNation and a regular contributor to Boxing Monthly, Sport and The Ring, among other publications. In 2023, he conducted the interviews and wrote the script for the audio documentary “Froch-Groves: The Definitive Story”; he is also a member of the BWAA. 

The queen of Puerto Rico will return home – literally and figuratively. 

BoxingScene has confirmed that Amanda Serrano is set to resume her featherweight championship reign. The record-setting, seven-division titlist will risk her lineal, WBA and WBO 126lbs crown against Mexico City’s Erika Cruz on January 3 at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The match-up represents a rematch to their fight of the year-level slugfest of 2023, where Serrano, 47-4-1 (31 KOs), edged Cruz, 18-2-1 (4 KOs), to become her island’s first-ever undisputed champion in the four-belt era. Their all-action thriller was contested under the women’s standard 10, two-minute rounds.

Part two will take place under 10, three-minute rounds. It’s a slight modification from the standard set forth by Serrano and Most Valuable Promotions for true equality – 12, three-minute rounds to match the male counterparts – but, nevertheless a continuation of an important movement. 

“Every time I step into the ring, I fight for all women, for equality and for Puerto Rico,” Serrano told BoxingScene via a provided quote. “Getting to fight three-minute rounds in a unified world title defense in front of my people will be one of the proudest moments of my career.

“I want to thank Erika Cruz for her choice to face me over 10x3:00 and for joining me in making this statement for equality in women’s boxing. Together, we are showing all the young girls out there that they can do anything they put their mind to, and that women’s boxers deserve the same opportunities as men.”

Her familiar foe is not just here to play the part of willing opponent, however.

Cruz is 3-0-1 since their first meeting, all at 122lbs, where she previously held the WBA title. 

A majority decision win over Mayerlin Rivas in November 2023 involved Cruz becoming a two-division titlist after her two-year WBA 126lbs reign ended in her first clash with Serrano. 

The lone defense of her 122lbs title run resulted in a 10-round, split-decision draw with Nazarena Romero, though their fight was marred by a failed drugs test that resulted in a suspension. 

Cruz returned to the ring in May with a win in Naucalpan, Mexico. The path back to a title was unclear at the time, until the opportunity arose to once again chase greatness. 

“I’m very happy and excited for this great opportunity to once again face the great Puerto Rican champion Amanda Serrano,” said Cruz, 35. “I’m grateful to my promoter, Universal Promotions, and to MVP for making this rematch a reality.

“This is the most exciting rivalry in world boxing. Mexico versus Puerto Rico means a guaranteed war. If our first fight was a colossal battle, you can’t miss what will happen on Saturday, January 3. Viva Mexico!”

Serrano, 37, will attempt the seventh overall defense of her featherweight title reign. She regained her WBO “baby” in a points win over then-unbeaten Heather Hardy at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City, mere miles from her childhood stomping grounds of Brooklyn, New York, in September 2019.  

The WBC interim title was also at stake that evening. Serrano, 37, was subsequently upgraded to full WBC titleholder and has held at least two titles since 2021.

The IBF and WBA belts were added with wins over Sarah Mahfoud and then Cruz in back-to-back meetings. Both wins came after a pair of fights at lightweight – including her first historic clash with then-undisputed 135lbs champ Katie Taylor in Madison Square Garden’s main room.

Serrano’s eventual three-fight series with Taylor was supposed to continue in May 2023, three months after her brutal battle with Cruz. However, a lingering hand injury forced her to the sidelines – and also kept her at featherweight for two more fights. 

A repeat win over Hardy was followed by Serrano’s decision to once again raise the bar for her peers. A title defense in October 2023 against Danila Ramos was conducted over 12, three-minute rounds. However, the WBC belt was not at stake, given the sanctioning body’s refusal to honor such terms. 

Serrano vacated the WBC belt later that year, just ahead of her planned title defense against Germany’s Nina Meinke in San Juan in March 2024. The event proceeded, just without Serrano, who was denied medical clearance by the Puerto Rico Boxing Commission due to a freak eye injury suffered the day before the weigh-in. 

“When I got injured last March, I promised I’d come back to fight in Puerto Rico, and now the moment is finally here,” said Serrano of her commitment to return home. 

Three fights have followed since that evening, all well above the featherweight limit. Serrano knocked out Stevie Morgan in the second round in July 2024 to set up her rematch with Taylor in November 2024, this time with the undisputed 140lbs championship at stake. 

The outcome set up a third meeting between the pair of all-time greats, back at MSG where their rivalry began. The trilogy clash topped an all-women’s event in July, once again won by Taylor.

The plan for Serrano – win, lose or draw – was always to drop back down to her natural featherweight frame for the balance of her career. 

“Amanda Serrano is a once-in-a-generation trailblazer who continues to redefine what’s possible in boxing,” MVP co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian said via a joint statement. “From becoming Puerto Rico’s first-ever undisputed champion, male or female, in her first meeting with Erika Cruz, to becoming a global icon and breaking women’s boxing viewership records at Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson, to headlining her historic trilogy against Katie Taylor at Madison Square Garden and leading a record-setting all-women’s card, Amanda has continually pushed the sport forward. 

“We’re honored to support her return to her natural weight class at 126lbs, as she fights in front of her home fans in Puerto Rico on January 3. Amanda is one of the most influential athletes in the world today and a true symbol of equality in sport, and MVP is proud to stand with her as she makes her second unified world-title defense under three-minute rounds, alongside Erika Cruz. This event will celebrate the pride and legacy of both Puerto Rican and women’s boxing, and we look forward to sharing more details on this historic card in the coming weeks.”

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.

Rolando Romero is now pressed with a mandatory obligation while in pursuit of a far more lucrative opportunity. 

The reigning WBA welterweight titleholder was ordered to next face No. 1 contender Shakhram Giyasov, the sanctioning body announced on Monday. News of the mandated title defense comes as Romero remains the rumored frontrunner to face former eight-division titlist Manny Pacquiao in January in Las Vegas. 

“Romero…  must defend it within 120 days from the date of acquisition, as established in Championship Rule C.11,” the WBA confirmed in a ruling made available to the public. “That period expired on September 1, prompting the Committee to issue the mandatory bout notice for Romero, whose next opponent must be the official challenger, Giyasov. 

“Additionally, Championship Rule C.13 stipulates that a champion cannot engage in a non-mandatory fight within 60 days following the expiration of the mandatory defense period.” 

Romero is represented by TGB Promotions on behalf of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), who already plan to finalize Romero-Pacquiao. Giyasov is promoted by Matchroom Boxing in association with World of Boxing.

Romero, 17-2 (13 KOs), won the title following an upset unanimous decision victory over Ryan Garcia on May 2 at Times Square in New York City. 

Garcia was heavily favored to prevail in what was a secondary WBA title fight at the time. A win would have positioned the well-known boxer for a rematch with Devin Haney later this year.

North Las Vegas’ Romero ruined everyone’s plans, beginning with a second-round knockdown and then remaining in control. 

Romero was subsequently upgraded to full titlist once Jaron “Boots” Ennis vacated his WBA and IBF 147lbs titles to campaign at junior middleweight. 

It has been whispered that Romero and Pacquiao were deep into negotiations for a potential showdown at the start of 2026. However, no such deal has been reached as this goes to publication, nor was any sufficient update provided to the WBA.

It’s a moot point, as the sanctioning body noted that Romero’s mandatory title defense is past due, along with the elapsed period to squeeze in a voluntary defense. 

Giyasov, 17-0 (10 KOs), was an inherited mandatory for Romero. The unbeaten 32-year-old – who claimed a silver medal for Uzbekistan in the 2016 Rio Olympics – was previously in queue to next face Ennis. 

It was agreed by all parties for Ennis to face then-unbeaten WBA welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis in an April unification bout. Ennis won via stoppage after the sixth round, on a show where Giyasov won on the undercard. 

The ruling at the time called for Ennis-Giyasov to take place within 120 days. That dynamic changed once Ennis moved up in weight and Romero was elevated to full titleholder. The WBA’s effort to honor the deadline failed miserably, as the mandatory fight being ordered in mid-October gives little to no hope of the fight happening in a timely fashion.

There still remains the chance it doesn’t happen at all. Giyasov could wind up with another substantial step-aside offer, instead allowing Romero and Pacquiao to finalize terms for their showdown. 

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.

At 36, six years after he last stood as a world champion, Keith Thurman couldn’t contain his enthusiasm over his looming title shot at WBC 154lbs champion Sebastian Fundora.

And when Fundora was declared out of the October 25 Premier Boxing Champions’ pay-per-view main event with a hand contusion Friday, Thurman couldn’t mask his disappointment.

He cast some shade on Fundora’s late-in-the-game withdrawal on Instagram, and in a conversation with BoxingScene Sunday, some of the sting still remained for the former unified welterweight champion who shrugged off a slew of nagging ailments and pains to keep prior fights alive, submitting only to a whiplash-caused delay in 2016 and a torn bicep tendon last year that set up Fundora’s title victory over then-champion Tim Tszyu.

“I had to say what I said for the ‘gram … before we hit each other, he’s going to have to take some verbal jabs,” Thurman 31-1 (23 KOs) said of Fundora 23-1-1 (15 KOs), remarking the hand contusion “sounds like a sprained ankle. I’m not wishing a serious injury upon him, but my injuries have been severe.

“I fought when I had to take three cortisone shots [in the left hand] against Josesito Lopez, and I took five cortisone shots before Manny Pacquiao. And then I underwent surgery. … I mean, if [Fundora’s] doctor is saying he needs three weeks, and we fight in two weeks, I’ve got a … doctor that can help you.

“It makes me think: What’s the real issue here, and is your hand really going to be OK? This ain’t carpal tunnel. We hit foreheads. So in three weeks, are you really going to be ready for a training camp? I want some transparency, and maybe an apology.”

Thurman said he’d be primed to take a fight in the interim if Fundora proves incapable of returning for PBC’s expected late January pay-per-view card headlined by Manny Pacquiao.

“I’ll take a fight right now,” Thurman said. “That [fight] contract’s dead. There was nothing in there about a postponement. That’s boxing. We still want this fight. It’s still a great matchup: young lion versus old lion. I’m hoping it’s a short recovery for him, but this is why we take life day by day. Ain’t nothing new under the sun.”

Thurman had completed a Friday run when he learned of Fundora’s withdrawal, opting to honor an eight-round sparring session with a younger fighter preparing for his own bout in November.

Sporting bruising under both eyes Sunday, Thurman lamented the episode.

“This is very unfortunate – for the undercard fighters, for the people who had their trips booked and tickets bought,” Thurman said.

“I’m disappointed. We put our bodies on the line. What we do is unlike any other sport. We are the O.G.’s of contact sports. It’s my job to hurt others. I’m almost 37 now and I’m three surgeries in, plus all the pains and all the training, where you’re the recipient of the damage.

“We still have a great fight and I’m optimistic of the word ‘postponement.’ I came back from the whiplash to do an eight-week camp before beating Shawn Porter. If anyone knows how to wait and believe and achieve, it’s Keith Thurman.”

Thurman admitted his patience will be tried during this period of waiting for Fundora to heal, as fights in the U.S. have decreased.

“It’s tough out here with no more fights in America,” he said. “With a little bit of rest, [Fundora] should be ready. If it’s longer, book me somewhere.”

While Thurman feels equipped to take on a wealth of positions once he retires – mentioning fitness trainer, motivational/corporate speaker, youth counselor – he said, “my heart and intentions are in the ring.

“I haven’t heard the fat lady singing yet. I believe I can be a world champion again. I’m a man of faith, patience and belief. I know to not let the man get you down.”

Thurman competes in boxing’s deepest division, which on Saturday saw a follower as unified welterweight champion, Jaron “Boots” Ennis, cruise to a first-round knockout of little-known Uisma Lima in Ennis 154lbs debut.

Promoter Eddie Hearn then touted his fighter as the best in the division.

“It’s easy to say … don’t knock out your tune-up opponent and say you’re the best in the world,” Thurman said of Ennis and Hearn. “Turn up. But calm down.

“Boots Ennis is a terrific fighter. Is he the best at 154? You just got here, kid. There’s some bigger fights at 154. Saying you could knock out Vergil Ortiz? You knock out the [November 8] winner of Ortiz-[Erickson] Lubin, then you solidify your statement.”

And if all goes as planned for Thurman, then he’ll be there waiting for the winner of that.

Alex Wallau, the long-time ABC network boxing commentator who called many of the top boxing matches of the eighties and nineties, died Friday at the age of 80.

The news was announced by Wallau’s wife, Martha, who attributed his death to the throat cancer he was first diagnosed with in 1987. Wallau, who was ABC’s on-air boxing analyst from 1986 until their last broadcast in June 2000, was initially diagnosed with stage four cancer in his throat before it was revealed it had spread to his tongue. The diagnosis did not stop his career and, in 1988, he returned to the airwaves six months later following numerous surgeries to call the IBF junior lightweight title fight between Rocky Lockridge and Harold Knight in Atlantic City.

Wallau, one of seven children, was born January 11, 1945 in Manhattan. He grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts, after which he began working as a sports writer and editor, plus a public relations consultant on various political campaigns. Wallau joined ABC in 1976 as a producer and director before taking over the on-air boxing analyst job in a newly constructed, two-man broadcast set-up. Prior to taking over broadcast duties, Wallau had been the executive in charge of selecting, negotiating and purchasing the fights that aired on ABC Sports.

In a 1988 News Day article Wallau said of boxing: “I can justify the sport. I don’t go to boxing to see blows or to see hurt. I see people in the most basic of dramatic situations trying to deal with the one thing we all try to avoid - pain - and to summon up that one quality one rarely exhibits - courage.”

Wallau rarely held back with his opinions, which put him at odds with some fighters and, at times, with promoters. Wallau told the Poughkeepsie Journal that the most at risk he had ever felt due to his professional duties was following criticism of Don King’s controversial 1977 United States Boxing Championships Series, after which Wallau was made aware of testimony in Congress about threats against him.

In that same profile story, Wallau shared what one of the biggest lessons he had learned from his years at the commentary desk. 

“Don’t fool the public… If you have a fight that’s a dog, say it’s a dog. Don’t be stupid,” said Wallau.

One of the people Wallau shared the commentary desk with was Jim Lampley, the former ABC commentator who later called fights for three decades on HBO. Lampley credited Wallau with helping mold his understanding of the sport en route to a Hall of Fame induction in 2015.

“As much as any boxer I covered via the vast foundation of knowledge with which he and he alone first blessed me, Alex Wallau was a FIGHTER,” said Lampley in a statement to BoxingScene. “His survival in a gruesome battle with throat cancer in the early 1990s was beyond courageous. The simple fact he endured for another thirty years is an example of epic courage.  He taught me how to see and call boxing matches, and through that the eventual emblem of my entire fifty year career was a gift from him.  I'm devastated that he is gone, but eternally grateful he was here.  All his friends and familial survivors have my deepest and most heartfelt sympathy. Thank you forever Alex.”

Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler, who first announced the news publicly on Sunday, paid tribute to Wallau as well. “Boxing lost a courageous man with the passing of former commentator Alex Wallau, dear friend of many in the business,” Trampler wrote on Twitter. “Alex faced death threats after exposing the crooked Don King tournament, was the brain behind Howard Cosell and later president of ABC TV for Bob Iger. Should be HOF.”

Aside from his work as a boxing commentator, Wallau won two Emmy Awards as a producer and director under ABC Sports, and was named President of ABC in 2000. In 2007, he was named Senior Strategic Advisor for The Walt Disney Company's Corporate Strategy Business Development and Technology Group, and in 2017 moved to the company's division that eventually created the streaming service known as Disney+, according to his Wikipedia page. Wallau retired in 2000.

 

PHILADELPHIA – Although few will assert that Jaron Ennis proved much with his first-round destruction of unheralded Portuguese fighter Uisma Lima, the former unified welterweight champion plans to go big-game hunting in his next fight.

Ennis, who put Lima down twice en route to the first-round stoppage Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center, says he is targeting a showdown with fellow unbeaten junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz Jnr next. Ennis was quizzed about the proposed matchup in his postfight interview with DAZN’s Chris Mannix. He acknowledged that Ortiz, 23-0 (21 KOs), first has to resolve his upcoming fight next month against Erickson Lubin, but he says he wants that fight afterwards – or any other top fighter in the division.

“It’s going to happen next,” said Ennis, 35-0 (31 KOs). “I know he got his fight. And if he don't win, I’ll fight the winner of that. If I don’t get Vergil Ortiz next, I heard that baby [Jermell] Charlo was calling me out; Charlo, he can get it next. [Unified champion Sebastian] Fundora. What's his name? Bacharach? [Bakhram Murtazaliev], he can get it. Oh. Xander [Zayas], he can get it. I’m belt-chasing. This is my division – 154 is mine. I’m on tour.”

Ennis, 28, dismissed Ortiz’s team’s assertions that the Philadelphia boxer known as “Boots” was not game for the matchup.

“That's next. Too much talking. That's next. It's in they hands now,” said Ennis.

If Ennis wasn’t comprehensive enough in his call-out list, promoter Eddie Hearn made sure to cover all bases. The Matchroom Boxing head Hearn decreed that Ennis was the “future of boxing,” adding that he still has another 8-10 years of greatness ahead of him. He says that he thinks Ennis can beat anyone in the world – not just in his weight class but even as high as 168lbs.

“Line them up and he'll piece them up,” Hearn said. “Vergil Ortiz will get destroyed by Jaron Ennis. I will bet the house on it with Oscar De La Hoya. It's the best fight in boxing in America. It's a beautiful fight. [Ortiz is] a great fighter, but this guy is on another level, I'm telling you. You have got 8-10 years of greatness from this guy. He lives the life. There is nobody like him in boxing. He's going to go up against anyone, Ortiz, Murtazaliev, Fundora, Zayas.”

Ennis, who threw his mouthpiece into the crowd out of excitement after the stoppage, reiterated that he was game to take on the big challenges in his new division, now that he had gotten his feet wet.

“I sent a big, big message. Y’all know what time it is. Y’all know who I want next,” said Ennis, pointing to an imaginary watch on his wrist. “Tick, tock, gun, shot.”

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.

PHILADELPHIA – Jaron Ennis must have had a feeling how this fight would go, as he chose The Undertaker’s wrestling theme as the song to accompany his walk from the dressing room into the tunnel at the Wells Fargo Center. The ominous bell tolling that echoed through the arena was a sign of what was to come in just a matter of moments.

“Boots” Ennis needed just 1 minute and 58 seconds to finish off the lightly regarded Uisma Lima on Saturday night to win the WBA interim junior middleweight title in what was the former unified welterweight champion’s official debut in the 154lbs division.

“I already knew,” Ennis said when asked postfight if he was surprised how strong he was after moving up. “I felt like the more I go up, the stronger I was gonna get. And I was fighting at 47 almost my whole professional career. I started at 41, so I was that small for a long time. So it was finally, like, it was time to go.”

Ennis, now 35-0 (31 KOs), took a couple of seconds to take a look at his Angola-born, Portugal-based opponent, firing a few half-hearted jabs to test the southpaw Lima’s reactions. Then, perhaps sensing it was time to wrap things up, Ennis switched southpaw, sneaking in a left uppercut that rocked Lima, followed by two more punches that put the 32-year-old Lima on his back.

Lima beat the count, but he was clearly in no position to defend himself once on his feet, as another flurry put him back down almost immediately. Lima once again made it to his feet, but he found himself stumbling into a neutral corner, where Ennis stalked him down, firing a brutal assault that had Lima on the verge of collapse with nowhere to run. The Lima corner threw in the towel just at the moment that referee Shawn Clark waved it off.

The fight was a loud and clear message to the 154lbs division as Ennis, who had stopped Eimantas Stanionis in April to unify his IBF belt with the WBA title before electing to move up. Ennis says he felt much stronger after adding seven pounds of breathing room after years of struggling to make 147lbs.

The loss snapped a four-fight winning streak for Lima, who was rated in the top 15 by the IBF, WBA and WBC at 154lbs.

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.

SHEFFIELD, England - Arslanbek Makhmudov outpointed Dave Allen over 12 rounds in Sheffield and called out Anthony Joshua in the aftermath. The scores were 117-109, 116-110 and 115-111 in the Russian's favor.

Although many onlookers had fancied the in-form Allen to do the business over Makhmudov the Briton had always reminded the media that he was a huge underdog heading into the contest. Russia’s Makhmudov was a standout amateur and had competed at a much higher level than Allen who, though incredibly likeable, has always struggled to dedicate himself to the sport.

Allen was in the shape of his life, thankfully so, because he had to absorb incredible amounts of punishment. It seemed as though he was willing to go through hell to secure a shot at one of the division's leading names. For all his effort, and the incredible support from the 10,000 inside the Utilita Arena, it wasn’t to be.

Anthony Joshua is a name that has been touted all week should Makhmudov win and so it proved. “Anthony Joshua where are you at?” he said post-fight. “I come for you, brother, I come for you. Anthony Joshua, let me know when, brother.”

Makhmudov, 21-2 (19 KOs), towered over Allen as the two men met in the center of the ring. The intimidating figure wasted no time in feeling out the Doncaster man and immediately fired in a hard right that landed on Allen’s gloves. Makhmudov bullied Allen around the ring, planting his right hand over the top of Allen’s guard whenever he got the chance.

Allen was spurred on by the 10,000-strong home crowd who had come to support him. “There’s only one Dave Allen!” they cried, much like one of Allen's idols, Ricky Hatton, used to receive.

Makhmudov’s dominance continued in the second, landing clean, hard right hands through Allen’s guard. However, the iron-chinned Allen wouldn’t budge, and waved the Russian giant on, delivering a left hook in return before the round’s close.

Allen, 33, was warned for a low blow in the second and in the third he again landed a shot downstairs that the Russian complained about, but this time it was ruled legal. It seemed, for a moment, if Allen was going to defeat 36-year-old Makhmudov, then the body would be where to start. Allen, spurred on by the knowledge he could hurt Makhmudov, pushed forwards.

"There’s only one Dave Allen!” again circled the arena in Round 4 and Dave Allen, the only one, needed all the help he could get. He again marched forwards, pressing Makhmudov back. Allen was losing the rounds, however, but it didn’t seem to bother him; he had stated in the build-up that if he was still there after four then Makhmudov was in trouble.

Allen edged forwards as the fifth session got underway but ate a stiff jab from Makhmudov as he came into range. Allen again stood firm, and as the Russian’s back hit the ropes Allen sunk a left hand into the body that keeled Makhmudov over.

Allen’s pace seemed to drop in the sixth, and Makhmudov started to push him back. Allen was taking punishment but late into the session he fired over a wild right that landed on the Russian’s chin. Makhmudov backed away, and as Allen went in to follow it up, the bell sounded, and Makhmudov strolled back to his stool.

Spurred on by his success late in the previous session, Allen came on, but Makhmudov was clever and tapped away, scoring points as Allen plodded in. The pair came together as Allen again marched in and Makhmudov tied up his shorter opponent as he lay on the ropes. The referee Steve Gray deducted a point from the Russian for the infringement, and Allen, ever honest, seemed to know he’d claimed a lucky point.

It looked as though Makhmudov had realized deep into the eighth that he wasn’t going to bowl over Allen. The Russian let Allen march forwards, but would pick him apart. For all of Allen’s efforts he was clearly behind on the cards, only a knockout would do.

Allen dutifully took the fight to Makhmudov in the ninth, belting in a right hand that shook the Russian to his boots and knocking out his gumshield. Makhmudov and his corner took their time putting it back in, but Allen got straight back to work. He belted in another right that again shook Makhmudov. The crowd went wild and Allen gulped back air before hurling another blow. Allen, enlivened, unloaded. Makhmudov was happy to hear the sound of the bell.

“There’s only one Dave Allen!” yet again shook the Utilita Arena, and Allen responded. He fired home a hard right that planted his enemy against the ropes. It was clear Allen had given all he could heading into the 11th, and was running on fumes. The session began and Allen sucked in what air he could as the Russian came into range. Allen just couldn’t push Makhmudov back as he did before, and was taking shots, hard, and often. Allen’s face was swelling from the punishment, but he bravely fought on, and pushed Makhmudov back as the round came to an end.

The 12th began with a huge cheer, the 24-8-2 (19 KOs) Allen had fought bravely, but he was behind. The pair met, where else but center ring, and Allen whipped in a left hook that knocked Makhmudov’s head back. Allen knew he needed something big and pushed forwards, throwing everything he could, but never enough.

“Scariest man I’ve ever seen, but he’s a sweetheart,” said Allen about Makhmudov. “I weren’t good enough. He was too big and too good. Just not good enough, it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but it's alright. I’ve had to swallow it eight times. The crowd in here – I’ve never seen anything like that in my life – I nearly cried. I’ve never been hit like that in my life… but I had to hear the final bell."

 

 

 

Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards names boxers from history who would trouble Terence Crawford, tells fighters the true value of their trainers and evaluates Artur Gatti's place in the Hall of Fame.

What's up, Bread. I haven't written in for a while but always try to read your work every week. I have a question about what styles you think would historically beat Terence Crawford. I've said before, I think he's on par with anyone in history with his processing which is why I think he's close to a perfect fighter when you combine it with his physical gifts. Who at 135/140/147/154 do you think would have been the top 3 toughest fights for him and why? It's hard for me to think of a people historically who have anything close to an easy night against Bud. On top of all of his physical skills being A-level, he's a switch hitter, a great jabber who throws it in multiple ways, a guy who sets you up mentally and physically for counters, he has the mindset and desire to land and trade in a smart way, fights good on the inside, is physically strong, has a gas tank (think he would have been an excellent 15-round fighter) and has a killer instinct that is most importantly always used at the right time. I think in any era against anyone he gives what we would still talk about as a classic fight. Thanks, Jake

Bread’s response: This is a very good question. I’m going to give it a shot. But I want to preface this with: My answers won’t be who I think are the three best fighters in these classes. My answer will stem from who I think would give Bud the three toughest fights stylistically in each weight class. 

At 135lbs, I would say Roberto Duran, Ike Williams, and Floyd Mayweather. I feel like Duran has the stamina, physical strength, and defensive skill set to give Bud fits. I feel Ike Williams and Bud are very similar fighters and Bud looking at someone as mean and skilled as him would be an obstacle. I feel like Floyd Mayweather is a little faster for one punch than Bud and has the ability to process mentally at the same level Bud does. Mayweather would be a very difficult for Bud stylistically.

At 140lbs, I would say Oscar De La Hoya, Kostya Tszyu, and Aaron Pryor. I feel like Oscar peaked out at 140lbs in first fight with Chavez. If you watch that first fight with Chavez, then you watch Bud vs Jose Benavidez Jnr you would know that Oscar’s sharp jab, hand speed and power would be tough on Bud. Kostya Tszyu has a higher amateur pedigree than Bud, he has a money right hand which is the one shot that Bud gets hit with while he’s in the southpaw stance, and Tszyu didn’t shy away from fighting talented black fighters. I feel like Bud would probably clip Aaron Pryor but the funny thing about Pryor is, he always looked like he would be clipped, but it never really happened. If Bud didn’t clip him, I wonder if he could keep up with that insane pace. No one was able to.

At 147lbs, I would say Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns. This would a murderers’ row for Bud to get through. I don’t need to go into details but these would be his toughest trio of fights out of the question you asked me.

At 154lbs, I would say Mike McCallum, Tito Trinidad and Emile Griffith. McCallum is a smooth body counter puncher just like Bud. He also has the physical strength and chin to stand up to Bud’s sharp attacks. Trinidad peaked out at 154. The Tito that fought David Reid, Mamadou Thiam and Fernando Vargas would be tough on Bud because he doesn’t get tired and he’s sharp enough to hit Bud clean. I know Bud would be the favorite but that’s no easy fight. Griffith is underrated as a case for being the best ever at 154. Griffith has the jab and physical strength to really trouble Bud. He also is very well-equipped to go 15 hard rounds so Bud wouldn’t have his usual conditioning advantage. Last, but not least, Griffith is not tall, but he has extremely long arms very similar to Bud which would be a factor in this tactical fight.

Bread, I’m a huge fan of the skill of Jaron Ennis but is he: 1) Avoiding better opportunities because of a management team that isn't aware of the damage he's doing to his image; 2) trying to become the heal, so that he will eventually get the very biggest pay days; 3) internally lacking confidence despite his outward persona? He has a line of respected opposition that could keep him busy for the next three years. Thanks, Jeremy

Bread’s response: I’m not a part of Ennis’ team so I don’t know or ask what’s going on behind the scenes. That being said, I’m relatively sure it’s not 2 or 3 and I don’t know if it’s 1 because I don’t know even know who’s in charge of making decisions for his team.

Let’s just see what the next year or two brings. Sometimes it just takes certain fighters a little longer to break through as superstars. But I will say this. With the field of opponents at 154lbs, and if Ennis is as good as I think he is, he should become a superstar with these possible opponents on the horizon.

Good day. I get the feeling Crawford will fight at least one more time in 2026, he's a competitive dude and I'm sure Turki wants him out again. He's at his height in terms of marketability and is currently "the guy". I imagine a Jermall Charlo at 168 or undisputed/unification at 160. I think Janibek is his hardest fight, that herky-jerky Eastern European style and a fellow southpaw. I personally prefer Jermall because it’s a more mainstream fight that casuals will appreciate. ‘Mall has a great jab, a real 168, and it'll move the needle with the black fanbase akin to Tank vs Roach/Martin. Secondly, I been watching some Pernell Whitaker highlights and he took some tough matchups stylistically. The McGirt and Hurtado fights, he had to show real dog to eek those out. Can you give me cliff notes on Sweet Pea as a fighter (his style, career, historical standing, etc.) Thirdly, I see the new fighter to hate is Ennis. Previously it was Bud, then Haney, and now Jaron. Rite of passage, I guess. He couldn't get solid fights at 147 as Norman and Barrios didn't fight him so he outgrew the weight. Now Brian Mendoza openly admits to turning the fight down so he fights a Lima to get acclimated and still gets shitted on. It's some legacy fights to be made at 154. I hope he makes a point and fights Murtazaliev. Anyways, God bless brother. 

Bread’s response: It’s crazy you asked me about Pernell Whitaker. I was just watching his fight vs Jorge Paez. Whitaker is possibly the best amateur fighter I have seen on video. Look at his 1984 Olympic run and tell me what you think. He was a top 2 fighter of the 1990s. He’s most likely a top 3 southpaw ever. He’s a top 5 lightweight ever. He’s one of the top 4 or 5 fighters since 1980. He’s one of the top pure boxers ever. He has a case for being one of the best body punchers ever. He has a top 10 jab. And he’s one of the most confident fighters I have ever seen. I don’t have enough compliments for Pernell Whitaker. 

I often evaluate fighters and match them up relative to their eras etc. Whitaker is unique because at first glance I say to myself, he’s a little small for certain match ups. He also doesn’t have the raw physicality that fighters like Ray Leonard, Roy Jones and Terence Craawford have. But then you look at his fight vs Oscar De La Hoya who does have the frame, size, power and raw physicality. And Whitaker who was past his prime, fought Oscar on pretty much even terms. Whitaker won titles from 135-154. He may not beat everyone in history circa 135-147 but he beats more of the greats, than greats who can beat him. And I personally I think on his best night, he beats most of the greats at 135 if not all. 

For the record I think Whitaker’s prime run was from Greg Haugen in 1989 to the Buddy McGirt rematch in 1994. That 5-year run was special. It contained a few perfect performances vs Haugen and the Ramirez rematch. Along with some special HOF performances vs Azumah Nelson, Buddy McGirt and Julio Cesar Chavez. 

It’s crazy that Ennis gets so much hate. I get hate for saying he’s an elite talent and he’s 34-0 (30 KOs) and he was a unified champion. It’s weird that people get upset with me for saying he’s a special talent. But nothing has happened that proves me wrong. If he would’ve lost or struggled with Staninios then they would’ve come out in droves to tell me I overrated him. It’s almost as if they’re mad that he hasn’t been exposed, instead of giving him his props. This is a weird world we live in.

I believe there are five active boxers in the world who are worldwide star celebrities. Those fighters are: Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, Gervonta Davis, Manny Pacquiao and Jake Paul. Three of those five are likely wrapping up their careers by 2027. Paul’s selling power also isn’t likely to last. Even though he’s young, he could be done with boxing by 2027 as well. One wrong punch could end him. Davis is the only one who seems to have the potential to be a long-time star. We could soon be entering a world where he’s the only boxing star around. Throughout my lifetime, I always knew about the next stars and the next stars who didn’t actually become stars. I don’t see the next star. I see great young boxers like Shakur Stevenson. I don’t think he’ll be a worldwide celebrity and I don’t think anyone in his generation will be that either. I see marketable guys who aren’t good enough to become celebrity-type boxing stars anymore. Those are guys like Ryan Garcia, Cletus Seldin and Adrien Broner. I don’t see any future boxing stars for the first time in my life. As a boxing fan, it scares me. Am I wrong or do you have the same feeling I do? Just to clarify, this isn’t about talent. It’s about being a marketable, worldwide celebrity like Mayweather, Tyson, Ali, etc.

Bread’s response: Let me tell you a secret. We have to allow stars to earn their star status and not try make one. Mike Tyson did NOT make the 1984 Olympic team. But he became the biggest star out of all of the fighters who turned pro out of that amateur class. Floyd Mayweather was not a gold medallist in the 1996 games. David Reid was. Yet Mayweather was the bigger star by a mile. Manny Pacquiao came in on the B-side vs Marco Antonio Barrera. He was brought in to lose. He won the fight and went on a historic run and became the biggest Asian star in history. Terence Crawford was not an Olympian. He had to fight for his first title on the road. He didn’t get his first superfight until he was 35. Yet he’s a superstar. 

The boxing world wanted to make Adrien Broner the next Floyd Mayweather, while they had Terence Crawford in the same era, right in front of their faces and they overlooked him for most of his career, because he wasn’t loud and boisterous. The powers that be are getting this wrong consistently. All they need to do, is allow the talent to rise to the top and the audience will latch on. Instead, they try make fighters stars, who haven’t earned it and those fighters either don’t have the physical talent or mental fortitude to pull it off. 

The next star will reveal himself to the masses when the opportunity presents itself. We won’t have to make him. We won’t have to look for him. He’s going to shine at his brightest, when everyone is looking and he’s going to become a star in front of our eyes. Don’t worry.

Dear Breadman, You recently wrote how Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali sat alone in the front room of boxing. I have little argument there. However, I want to add my $0.02 to the conversation.  Especially as it concerns the heavyweight greatest of all-time. You've no doubt covered this ground before, but I think Sonny Liston (circa 1956-1958) would be even-money against the Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali (circa 1964-1966). Liston had a very fast jab, while Ali had the fastest jab in the business, which hit before anyone ever saw it coming. The difference: Ali’s jab was meant to keep an opponent off-balance and score points with the judges, while Liston’s lightning jab was a thunderous knockout punch. I think a prime Ali versus a prime Liston would be a 50/50, pick ‘em fight. Personally, I would shade the odds in favor of Liston. There are many worthies to consider for front room honors, such as Joe Louis, Lennox Lewis, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, and so on.  But I think Sonny Liston, in his prime, was special. (Even Big George Foreman said that in training an elderly Liston was the only man who could make him back up.)  Liston wasn’t as spectacularly flashy as Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali, but he’s definitely deserving a seat in the front room of the boxing pantheon with the other two. Especially if he's considered the equal of the incomparable Muhammad Ali.  In my humble opinion. Aloha! Michael

Bread’s response: Sonny Liston was a great fighter. He’s a HOF and he’s a top 15ish heavyweight ever. But you’re out of your mind if you think he sits in the same room as Ali and Robinson. And you’re out of your mind if you think he’s 50/50 with Ali on their best days. You guys sort of irk me with this ridiculous logic. It’s just stupid, if I’m being frank. 

Ali was a 22-year-old kid, who had just got knocked down by Henry Cooper and held to a tough 10-round decision vs Doug Jones when he fought Sonny Liston. Liston was a 7-to-1 favorite to destroy Ali. Liston cheated during the fight by using a substance to blind Ali. Ali still won and made him quit. Then he stopped him in a rematch. No matter what you think of the circumstances of the rematch, Ali’s character unnerved Liston. 

I am a fan of Liston. I went to his book signing here in Philadelphia at the African American Museum in downtown Philly. I try to be fair with my assessments of all fighters. And I fully acknowledge that Liston is underrated. He’s one of the best head-to-head heavyweights ever. I think he has a real case for beating fighters like Foreman, Lewis, Frazier, Tyson, Klitshcko, Holyfield and Louis. Liston was real. But he would never, at no time whatsoever, be 50/50 with Ali. Ali proved it by not only standing up to him, but by seeking him out to fight him in the first place. Bully fighters don’t like people challenging them.

Stylistically, Ali is all wrong for any version of Liston. Liston does have a great jab. But he was a plodder. Ali was a floater. It’s hard for plodders to beat floaters. Liston also fought in a very bladed stance with his left shoulder overly pointed towards his opponent. It’s hard to cut the ring off in a bladed stance. Whereas a fighter like Frazier, who’s a bobber, can go either direction faster and get to Ali more. Frazier may be more squared up and he can’t out-jab Ali. But he can cut the ring off better and force Ali to the ropes more. Liston would actually have a better chance vs fighters like Frazier, Marciano and Tyson. So, stop the nonsense. Stop trying to be too smart and make up scenarios that you wanted to happen. And live with what did happen. What happened was Ali as a 22-year-old, 19-0 underdog, dominated the 35-1 Liston and beat him up. Live with it!

Peace and blessings as always sir, Quick hypothetical scenario, three of the greatest athletes ever Bo Jackson, Jim Brown and Jackie Robinson walk into your gym you have the task of turning one of them into a fighter amateur to professional. I am choosing these guys in particular because of their abilities as great multi-sport athletes. From the outside it appears Jim Brown might have been the meanest, Robinson being the most composed and Beau Jack probably the most fast twitch. All three men were special in their own rights I’m interested to see who you would train. Thanks for your time. Jack in Minnesota 

Bread’s response: My grandfather always told me that he believed Jim Brown would be heavyweight champion of the world, if he chose boxing. So, when I read your question, I knew I had to include it in my mailbag. Fighters don’t like to hear this but boxers are the toughest athletes in the world. But they aren’t the most athletic in terms of measurables like sprint speed, vertical jump, weightlifting prowess, etc. When you have a fighter who has the athleticism of elite athletes in other sports like football, basketball and baseball you have an ATG fighter. It’s rare fighters have THAT level of athleticism. 

Believe it or not, I would pick Jackie Robinson. Robinson ran a 21-second 200m on dirt tracks with limited spikes. He was about 5ft 11ins and 195lbs. So he would probably box around 175lbs maybe even 168lbs. If you watch him run around the bases, you knew his TWITCH was sick. He was also an elite football and basketball player. So he was every bit the athlete Brown and Jackson were. Although I think they all would be excellent fighters if they started boxing in their formative years, I picked Robinson because of his hand-eye coordination in hitting a baseball. That correlates to boxing. He was an elite second basemen which shows excellent reaction time to track ground balls at a fast rate of speed.

I know Jackson could hit too but Robinson was a better hitter. I also like Robinson’s composure that you spoke of. Excelling in baseball at the time he did, takes elite composure and inner drive. The same thing it takes for fighters to win big fights on the road and as underdogs.

I saw your interaction with Cris Cyborg on twitter a few weeks back and I wanted to chime in. You were 100 per cent correct. If a trainer is with a fighter from the early stages and he’s making 10 per cent, he’s earned that 10 per cent once the fighter makes seven figures. I can’t believe how much of scumbag she is. She claimed her team shouldn’t even know how much she makes. I know you’re glad you don’t train her. My question is how do you find out how much a fighter makes so this can’t happen to you? And has any fighter ever screwed you out of money?

Bread’s response: It’s not really about being right or wrong. She feels how she feels, and I feel how I feel. But I don’t want to understand her perspective because I think it’s evil. I will leave it at that.

I’ve had a couple of fighters that I wasn’t really training but I was doing things for, try to screw me. One wanted to run and do S & C with my guys in the morning. I told him all good. Just when he fights throw me a couple of bucks. He was only fighting on ESPN so it wasn’t a huge purse. After his fight, he acted like he had trouble cashing his check. After a week I didn’t say anything else. He knew he couldn’t ask me for anything else. I literally would’ve been ok with $150. He was only making $15k on ESPN. So for $150 this guy could never ask me for anything else. He did me a favor. The cool part was, he never won another significant fight. And I got to watch him get knocked out repeatedly. He got the worst karma ever. He went from being a contender to a stepping stone in the blink of an eye. 

Another fighter came to me and asked me to get him signed to a big company. I did it. I told him I would need a percentage and that I don’t work for free. We settled on 7.5 per cent. He paid me for his first fight. His second fight, he started to act funny. I knew what he was doing. I just told the promoter to put him in with a guy I was trying to avoid because I knew he would beat the fighter I had got signed and that would be it for him. They put him in with the fighter I was trying to avoid and his career was literally over that day. I never even asked for my money. I got satisfaction in seeing him lose bad because I knew his intent was to screw me over for no reason. I literally did exactly what he asked me to do and that’s get him signed.

I’m answering you transparently, but I don’t really count these as fighters that I trained or advised. There were just fighters who wanted help and didn’t want to pay for the help they got. As far as the fighters who I had real relationships with and you would know me for being associated with, I haven’t had any real issues as far as pay. One of the main reasons I don’t have issues, is I discuss the pay before the bout. When I say pay, I mean their pay and my pay. We agree on my pay before camp. There is literally no way there can be any misunderstandings. There are ways to find out what a fighter is making. But if I have to jump through hoops to find out, then I will just respectfully walk away. I expect the fighter to be honest with me. But if you’re asking for a bullet proof way to know, you would have to go directly to the promoter. And the promoter may lie, so you have to be someone in the know. I’m usually in the know. 

Employees of boxers are working off commission. Just like a car salesperson or a real estate. Can you imagine telling a real estate agent, you can sell this house but I can’t disclose to you how much it will be sold for? That’s how ridiculous it sounds to tell a head trainer. You can train me, but I won’t tell you how much I’m making. 

Also let me clear something up. A 10 per cent fee has been the usual standard for head trainers. I’m NOT saying that trainers who take less than 10 per cent are wrong. I’m not saying that fighters who don’t pay 10 per cent are wrong. Just to be clear and exact with my perspective, what I’m saying is, so there are no misunderstandings on this touchy subject:

1. The fee that a trainer is paid should be discussed and agreed upon BEFORE camp. As long as both parties agree, whatever it is, it is.

2. If a trainer was making 10 per cent of 1k, 5k, 10k, 50k and 100k progressively, then the fighter gets to the 1M mark and tells the trainer that they will get a flat rate and it’s less than 10 per cent, I personally don’t like the feeling behind that. Because the fighter is basically saying they don’t want to see the trainer make too much money. I know trainers that begrudgingly accept this because they don’t earn enough income elsewhere. That sucks. But at the end of the day if the trainer accepted it, he accepted it.

3. What’s never okay, in my opinion, is if a trainer was making 10 per cent his entire time with the fighter. And they get to a big 7- or 8-figure payday and the fighter cuts the trainer’s fee to a flat rate and doesn’t tell him until AFTER the fight. That’s scandalous and disingenuous. If you’re going to cut a trainer’s fee, at least tell him before the camp, so he can either accept or reject it. If the fighter doesn’t tell the trainer beforehand, it’s a form of FRAUD in my opinion.

4. When a fighter is already an established star and he’s making high 6-figures or 7-figures and he doesn’t want to pay 10 per cent to a trainer, it’s a little more understandable. But it still has to be discussed BEFORE camp. I hope I was clear. 

I also want to say this loud and clear to fighters, young and old. Treat your team right. There’s nothing wrong with going home with 70-80 per cent of your pay. There’s nothing wrong with protecting yourself. But don’t short-change the person who is with you every day in the gym. Don’t short-change the person who has that white towel in his hand to save your life. Because I know trainers who are so scorned and jaded, they do just enough to get paid. But they don’t put their hearts into training anymore because of how rotten fighters have done them over the years. 

As a fighter you want someone in your corner who looks at you as more than a pay day. Energy is transferable. Fighters, if you want to save money, don’t pick on the trainer. Often times these trainers don’t have other ways to make, let’s say, 50k in one night. So they will take that pay off of a 2m purse although it should be way more. That’s cruel. Fighters can save money with their family members who always need something after their fights. They can save money on their girlfriends and wives. They can save money on their entourage. But it is, in essence, a bully tactic to pick the one person who makes the least amount hour for hour. Fighters are a little afraid to do this to their managers because they know the managers can hurt their earning potential in different ways. They don’t do it to the promoters because they know the same. But they sort of pick on the so-called weak link (trainer). It’s not okay.

Every time I’ve ever seen a fighter royally screw their team over I’ve seen that fighter get it back in the worst way. Be fair and honorable to your trainer and he will give you his all. In a game of inches, the little things matter.

Marvin Hagler was not my favorite fighter out of the 4 Kings. I can openly say that. But Marvin Hagler is one of the most honorable men to ever step in a boxing ring. Hagler had a “handshake deal” with the Petronelli brothers for training and managing him. Once he became a huge star, they offered to lessen their percentage. Hagler got offended and told them to take the same percentage they took when he was coming up as a contender. In Hagler’s last fight in 1987 vs Sugar Ray Leonard he had a guarantee of $12m plus a percentage of the Closed Circuit which was $25m. Hagler’s total payout was close to $20m in 1987! He made sure the Petronelli’s got the same percentage as they did when he was young prospect. That’s a man’s man.

Hey Breadman! Thoughts on Vernon Forrest as a candidate for the Hall of Fame? I remember how crazy the first Mosley fight was. Loved him as a person. Does he go first ballot? Does it ever bother you that Gatti went in first ballot? It kills me with some of the guys who aren't in. Gatti was owned by every Hall of Famer he fought. Action is great but there were plenty of Gattis back in the day on the old Tuesday/Friday night fights. Not trying to be a hater (while being a hater). Anyways, always look forward to the mailbag, keep up the great work!

Bread’s response: My answer will surprise you but I have ZERO issue with Arturo Gatti being in the HOF. He won his first title in 1995 and lost his last title in 2005. That’s an unreal run for a so-called action fighter. Gatti beat Jesse James Leija, Tracy Patterson, Gabriel Ruelas, Leonard Dorin, Terron Millet and Wilson Rodriguez. Gatti being just some face first slugger is overblown. Gatti was a very good fighter. Not a great fighter. But a great action fighter. If you put that together with his longevity, his big punch, box office appeal and being a part of at least 7 of the best 10 fights of the era he's a HOFer. Arturo Gatti moved the needle in his era and that’s a big deal. Gatti deserves to be in the HOF. 

On the other hand, while Vernon Forrest was a better fighter than Gatti he didn’t have a better career. His best career win over Shane Mosley was huge. Mosley was #1 P4P and 38-0. I would never minimize that. But other than the signature wins vs Mosley, Forrest’s resume is very thin. He doesn’t have a long, distinguished reign vs top Ring rated fighters. He wasn’t undisputed. He was never #1 P4P. He lost fights as a big favorite. And the next best fighter he fought besides Mosley was Ike Quartey. Forest got the decision but Quartey won that fight. So while I wouldn’t be outraged if Forest got in, I’ve seen lesser fighters get in recently. I don’t think he’s a Hall of Famer and certainly not a first ballot.

Good morning Bread, Who do you consider to be your top 3-5 most aesthetically pleasing boxers ever?  Whether they are considered "great" boxers or not historically doesn't matter. Graceful, fluid, smooth. Who could you watch again and again due to the beauty of their style? For me, I always think of a prime Jorge Linares. Don, Houston

Bread’s response: I love this question. Because it’s multi-layered. It’s not who’s the best. It’s who’s the best looking. I’m not going to pick my favorite fighters. I’m going to pick my favorite fighters to watch and study. All in their primes: Ricardo Lopez; Alexis Arguello; Roberto Duran; Chocolatito; Salvador Sanchez; Pernell Whitaker and Julian “Jrock” Williams. I know you guys expected me to pick Robinson, Leonard and Ali. But this is a different question. Love it.

Are people serious when they say GGG is not a Hall of Famer? I just don’t know anymore. I see why you say boxing has the worst fans in all of sports. GGG being a HOF is a no brainer. He’s a first ballot Hall of Famer. Why do you think opinions these days vary so much on what seems to be obvious things?

Bread’s response: I think people today suffer from SPITRS. Smartest Person In the Room Syndrome. Only a person who’s trying to be a contrarian would play devil’s advocate and say GGG is not a HOF. I don’t get into if a fighter should be a first ballot HOF or not because that’s an uncontrollable variable. If they get enough votes, they get enough votes. 

You will hear, he never beat a HOF. Well that’s not a criterion. Beating a HOF helps. But context is important. What if someone says William Joppy, who was a very good middleweight champion, should go in over GGG because Joppy beat a HOF and GGG didn’t. Then you look at Joppy’s record and see he fought Roberto Duran when Duran around 50. I’m at a point now where I may have a little fun on X but I don’t have real conversations about boxing with anyone under 40. 

Send CONCISE questions & comments to dabreadman25@hotmail.com

 

Manchester experienced a different kind of Ricky Hatton wonderland today, one filled with sorrow but lifted by memories of a British legend, as thousands came out to say goodbye to the two-weight world champion who last month died at the age of 46. 

Resting at Manchester Cathedral at midday for the funeral memorial service, the cortege departed at 9.45am from the Cheshire Cheese pub on Stockton Road in Hyde, where the Town Hall lowered their flag to half-mast in tribute to a man who put their community on the map, then travelled to Harehill Tavern, before doves were released at another pub, The New Inn, which used to be owned by his parents. The procession would eventually end at Etihad Stadium, home of Hatton’s beloved Manchester City.

Fans gathered on the streets from as early as 7am while chants of ‘There’s only one Ricky Hatton’ grew in volume as the crowds, many clutching blue and white flags of his football team, spilled from pavements to roads. A flatbed truck carrying Hatton’s old yellow three-wheel Reliant Regal, from his favorite TV show Only Fools and Horses, was seen first, aptly leading the cortege through its slow 14-mile journey to the cathedral.

“It feels real now,” said Matthew Macklin, the former boxer and close friend of Hatton. “It’s such a tragedy. Yes, he was the man of the people, but he was an unbelievable fighter. He stole the show every time he fought.”

Hatton captured the hearts of the British public on his way to winning the world light welterweight championship, beating Kostya Tszyu in 2005, to such an extent that tens of thousands followed him to Las Vegas for his 2007 showdown with Floyd Mayweather. A stoppage defeat would trigger his first admissions of depression, something he battled for the rest of his life. Though Hatton would lose to Manny Pacquiao two years later, he would beat the likes of Jose Luis Castillo, Paulie Malignaggi and Juan Urango in Sin City where, famously, bars would report record takings as their beer supplies were drunk dry.

Whether sipping cocktails with celebrities in America or sharing pints of Guinness with locals in Manchester, Hatton’s everyman personality never wavered. “Man of the people has become a cliché, but I can’t think of another fighter who was as accessible to the public,” said Sky Sports commentator Ian Darke, who soundtracked many of Hatton’s greatest performances. “He’d have a fight one night and the next he’d be in the pub singing karaoke and sinking pints of Guiness.”

BoxingScene’s Tris Dixon, friend of Hatton and ghostwriter of his biography, added: “With Ricky, it’s not just about boxing – it’s about who he was as a person and what he did to unite the city, unite the country, taking all those fans to Las Vegas for those magical nights. Ricky is far bigger than boxing and his legacy is unmatched. It’s a privilege to have known him and documented his life.”

By 10.45am, the cortege slowly made its way past Hatton’s old boxing gym, the laboratory in which he would learn to fight and craft the skills that carried him through his 45-3 (32 KOs) Hall of Fame career. 

Nearby, at Manchester Cathedral those attending the memorial service made their way inside. Among them were former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, a fighter Hatton helped through his own fight with depression. “I’m not going to be alone when I say this, but Ricky inspired me as a young boy to go on and do great things in boxing. I wanted to be just like him. The ring walks, the flashy shorts, the fans, the chanting.”

Today the chanting was more sombre than back then but it could be heard all over Manchester, a city adored by Ricky Hatton and a city that adored him, their real-life superhero.

Jamie Moore has paid a heartfelt tribute to the late Ricky Hatton, the man who beat him in the amateurs when they were just 15.

Moore, who went on to win the European title as a junior middleweight before becoming a sought-after trainer, remained friends with Hatton through the next three decades.

“We were 15 years old and we were mates ever since,” said a heartbroken Moore. “He absolutely battered me. He hit me with the first proper body shot I ever got hit with, hence why I started to use them after that, because I thought that was fucking awful. We became mates afterwards.”

Moore had just landed back in Manchester, UK, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the night before he had trained Pat Brown to win a bout at Windsor Park.

That fateful Sunday was the day the news broke that Hatton had passed away.

Leaving the airport, Moore felt his phone going off in his pocket but could not immediately answer it because he had his cases.

When he checked, he returned a call to his mum and was left to tell the rest of the team, which included Kerry Kayes, Hatton’s nutritionist throughout so much of his career.

“We were just sobbing in Manchester airport in the car park. It was just awful,” Moore said. “I still can’t believe it. I get upset thinking about him because he’s such a fucking beautiful man. Listen, he had his flaws like everyone. We’ve all got our flaws, but he was such a genuinely down-to-Earth, funny bloke.

“I don’t think people understand how much of an impact he’s had on boxing in this area. He gave us all a pathway to change our lives. I don’t think he even understood that, but he made us all believe that we could be better than maybe we could have before he came along – because he was such a talent. Yet if you spoke to him, he was just your normal, down-to-Earth bloke. And that’s what I loved about him. You’d never even think he was good. He was never cocksure of himself. He wasn’t full of ego. He was just a nice kid who can really, really fight. And I looked at him and thought, ‘That’s how I want to be.’ I don’t think he realized how far his impact stretched. He went above and beyond boxing.”

Moore has been grief-stricken since. Nearly every year, he and Hatton vacationed in Tenerife, Spain, overlapping on family holidays, with the families spending time together.

“The last time I saw him was a month ago in a place where we always used to go [in Tenerife], and he came in and I was in there with my family, and he came and sat with us and we were together for about five hours, and we had such a good night, and I’ll be forever grateful that I had that night with him. I’m just glad I got to spend that time with him. I really am.”

While in Tenerife, as with Ricky’s life back in England, the allure of celebrity meant he was often stopped for photos and to talk.

Moore recalled queues forming in Tenerife, where Ricky would stop, sometimes for more than 45 minutes or an hour, before he could go about his day.

“They all want a picture and a chat and he’d never say no, and he’d always be nice and polite,” Moore said. “That’s why you’d never get a bad word said about him by anyone, because he gave everyone the time of day. He was just that guy. He was so approachable. Never said no to anyone. And he was so relatable to everyone. What you’d class as a normal person.”

Ricky Hatton is one of the most popular fighters of all-time, a two-weight world champion and International Boxing Hall of Famer. His funeral will be held today at noon BST at Manchester Cathedral.

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.