Junior middleweight Vito Mielnicki Jr. will fulfill a promise to his father on Friday night when he steps into the ring at Madison Square Garden.

Mielnicki (19-1, 12 KOs) is set to face Italy's Khalil El Harraz (16-5-1, 2 KOs) on the undercard at the Theater in Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Mielnicki, who made his Top Rank debut in August with a second-round disqualification win over Laszlo Toth, expressed frustration over the outcome. After knocking down Toth, the fighter's father and trainer entered the ring, leading to the referee’s decision. Mielnicki was disappointed not to record a knockout on his official record.

Now, in his second fight under Top Rank, Mielnicki is ready to fulfill a lifelong dream. He recalled attending a Miguel Cotto-Austin Trout fight at the Garden with his father years ago. “We were here, and I told my dad, ‘I’m going to be here one day. I’m going to fight here one day,’” Mielnicki said. “To be here now, part of this event, it’s truly a blessing.”

The 22-year-old from New Jersey, who trains with Ronnie Shields in Houston, expects strong support from his hometown crowd. “We'll have a bunch of people here too, so it's going to be a great atmosphere, and I’m going to put on a great performance Friday night,” he said.

Mielnicki, currently on an 11-fight win streak, shares the card with fellow Top Rank prospect Xander Zayas, the event’s co-feature. With a history dating back to their amateur days, a future showdown between the two seems possible, especially given their rising profiles. However, Mielnicki remains focused on the task at hand.

“Right now, I’m focused on Friday night, and that's all I'm worried about,” he said. “Obviously, there’s a big fight on the horizon, but Xander and I are cool – great friends. He knows what it is. At the end of the day, business is business.”

#VitoMielnickiJr #KhalilElHarraz #TopRankBoxing #MadisonSquareGarden #VitoAtMSG #FightNightNYC #RonnieShields #BoxingDreams #NewJerseyBoxing #XanderZayas #BoxingProspect #FightNight #MSGFights #LaszloToth #JuniorMiddleweight

The streaming service DAZN, home to numerous boxing events and promoters, is facing a proposed class action lawsuit in California.

The 32-page suit claims that the streamer has charged renewal fees without viewers consenting to the charges, according to an article from ClassAction.org (a hat tip to Matthew Brown of Brunch Boxing, whose report brought this story into greater awareness ).

If the lawsuit’s allegations are proven, the fees would be in violation of California’s Automatic Renewal Law.

In the filing, it is alleged that DAZN uses “consumer confusion and inertia” as ways of maintaining subscription levels and increasing revenues.

The suit adds that “online retailers” in the state must highlight extension terms in “a clear and conspicuous manner,” as well as obtain permission from customers before their accounts are charged with subscription renewal fees.

It also states that terms surrounding automatic renewals must include an easy option for account cancellations.

The suit claims DAZN “systemically violates” the California Automatic Renewal Law and that the streamer “makes it exceedingly difficult and unnecessarily confusing” for those wishing to cancel their subscription.

The confusion, alleges the suit, has also resulted in “accidental or unintentional sign-ups” courtesy of apparent dark patterns on the site.

The case added that the Defendant’s conduct had “drawn the attention and ire of customers across the country, with countless angry customers taking to the Internet to voice their discontent over [the] Defendant’s deceitful tactics.”

#DAZN #PPV #Subscriptions #PPV #Lawsuit #Boxing #BoxingNews

As intrigue of a fight between Sebastian Fundora and Errol Spence Jr. continues to simmer , promoter Sampson Lewkowicz is only focused on staging a fight for Fundora against Terence Crawford. 

On Aug. 28, the WBO ordered the interim junior middleweight titleholder Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to face full titleholder Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) and indicated that both camps had 30 days to agree to a deal or the matchup would be sent to a purse bid.

Although an agreement hasn’t been announced yet, Lewkowicz realizes that Crawford is committed to climbing up to 168 pounds, hoping to get a crack at super middleweight king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

“It looks like Crawford only wants to fight Canelo,” Lewkowicz told BoxingScene. “If Canelo gets $100 million for the Crawford fight, he will take it and knock the shit out of Crawford. He's not stupid. It's an easy fight, and that's it. It's the end of Crawford's career. If Canelo doesn't take the Crawford fight, we’re ready to fight Crawford. All of our efforts are on Crawford. We have nothing else in mind. We want to fight Crawford. Sebastian believes that he will beat Crawford, and when he does, he will become a superstar. Sebastian has the balls and is a dangerous fight for anybody.”

Earlier this month Lewkowicz said he didn’t have an offer to consider yet for a Fundora vs. Spence matchup.

Fundora, 26, revived his career in March by scoring a split decision win against Tim Tszyu. It was Fundora’s first fight since suffering a stunning stoppage loss to Brian Mendoza in April 2023. Spence stepped into the ring following the Fundora-Tszyu fight, seemingly calling next to face “The Towering Inferno.” 

Spence has not fought since suffering a one-sided stoppage loss to Crawford in July 2023 for the undisputed welterweight title, but he has indicated that a move to 154 pounds is next.

The soon-to-be-37-year-old Crawford, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision win against Israil Madrimov in August in his 154-pound debut to win the WBA title.

#SebastianFundora #ErrolSpence #TerenceCrawford #boxing #boxuingnews #boxingfans #sports #news

I’m not above causing a little trouble. So after asking Rick Ramos if his wife, Jessica McCaskill, might get the itch to break off her retirement after watching this Friday’s bout between Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer, he told me to repeat the question so she could hear it.

“I'm done,” laughed the former two division champion, who hung up the gloves in July, following her May loss to Lauren Price.

And that’s that. As for her husband, who also was McCaskill’s coach and manager, he said, “It would have to be a perfect scenario, where it made sense, but unless she wanted to do it, then nah, it's not a big deal to me.”

Ryan vs Mayer is a big deal for the post-McCaskill world of women’s boxing, a WBO welterweight title fight in Madison Square Garden’s Theater that could shake up an interesting division, and given the bad blood that’s broken out between the two, an extra layer of intrigue has been added. It’s got Ramos interested, and given that he’s worked against Ryan before, in her 2023 draw with McCaskill, he’s got a better view than most on what makes this a fight to watch.

“I truly think that if Sandy fights the right way - pressures, gets the left hook off to the body and just bullies her, punches and even pushes her after the bell and gets a little disrespectful - Sandy Ryan wins. I truly believe that the key to victory is pressure from Sandy and Mikaela Mayer not getting emotionally involved. If she (Mayer) has the talent to just stick and move, stick and move, she can win 6-4 very close. But I definitely think that her ego is going to get in the way, and I think Sandy Ryan could stop her or beat her up bad. And that's just the way I feel. Obviously, we've been in the corner with Sandy Ryan, so I know she's strong. But she's got to pull the trigger faster. She's got to come forward and she's got to want to make it a fight.”

Ramos is spot-on in his analysis, as well as with the intangible of Mayer sticking to the game plan and not getting emotionally involved, which seems to have already gone out the window considering the drama surrounding Ryan working with Mayer’s longtime (and now former) coach, Kay Koroma 

“Mikaela Mayer has got to focus on the fight and make it a boxing match,” said Ramos. “She's so focused on everything else. That's why I believe she loses. She's just so focused on being heard, she's focused on being the A side, she's focused on letting everyone know that she still beat Baumgardner. She's so focused on everything else. If she just went in there and boxed and used her talent, she probably would've won those fights (with Baumgardner and Natasha Jonas). And because she got distracted, I believe that's a big part of why she lost those fights.”

It's proof positive that at the top level of the sport the mental game is as important as the physical one. Ramos believes that the percentage isn’t 50-50, but a lot higher than that. Having that unbreakable mentality is something that McCaskill always had locked in, and Ramos is stressing its importance to the fighters he’s working with, most notably, unbeaten pros Eddie Olivares and Brandi Robinson, super middleweight up and comer Olivia Curry, and amateur standout Mariano Sandoval.

“It is 90% of the fight,” said Ramos, who was recently announced as an inductee into the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame. “You can go back, and we rattled Cecilia Braekhus in the second fight so bad I thought she was going to quit in the second or third round. And I believe if Sandy Ryan had more confidence when she fought Jess, that she might've snuck one by us, but I didn't think she fought confidently. I understand that conflict is part of Mayer's game. But Mayer doesn't have to do all that. She's got the accolades as an amateur, she's got the money behind her. What are you doing? You don't need to be the enemy. I just think she's taking a role that isn't hers, where Jess and I had to take that role because we didn't have gold medals, we didn't have the amateur background, we didn't necessarily have the money behind us, so we had to take a different position. But I don't think Mikaela Mayer has to do it.”

So who wins on Friday night?

“I do think Sandy Ryan pulls away,” he said. “I think she's going to come in here and show her strength and power and confidence. She has to. Because whoever loses is going to take two steps back.”

 #RickRamos #MikaelaMayer #SandyRyan #JessicaMcCaskill #AlyciaBaumgardner #NatashaJonas #MadisonSquareGarden #WomensBoxing #BoxingFight #WBOWelterweight #FightNight #BoxingNews #WelterweightClash #WomensTitleFight #BoxingAnalysis

 

If Scott Pemberton ever forgets the exact date on which he got engaged to Margaret Sylvia, he can always just look it up on BoxRec.

It was July 25, 2003, the day of his instant-classic first fight against Omar Sheika. Minutes before the bout, with gauze and tape wrapped around his knuckles, he slid a ring past two of hers. The ESPN2 Friday Night Fights cameras were there in Pemberton’s dressing room to document the moment, and the heartwarming clip made the broadcast, between the fifth and sixth rounds.

It only took another 21 years, one month, and 18 days for Scott and Margaret to actually get married.

Two weeks ago, on September 12, they finally said their “I do’s.”

“I’ve been with this woman since she was 17 years old, and she’s been through hell and high water and back with me,” Pemberton, now 57, said this week. “I proposed before the Sheika fight, she said yes, she looked absolutely beautiful. But … we just hadn’t done it yet. It’s like, why fix it if it ain’t broken, right? It was one of those deals where I’ve considered her my wife for a long, long time, but we just never did it.”

It took a tragic turn to push Pemberton to make it official. Margaret’s mother, who became like a second mom to Scott after his own mother passed away years ago, fell ill recently.

“She got sick, she was in the hospital,” he explained. “Ya know, she was dying. And she said to me, she goes, ‘Scott.’ She goes, ‘If you don’t treat my daughter good, I'm gonna come back and haunt you.’ We got a good laugh out of it.”

But the health situation was serious, and, sadly, Pemberton’s longtime fiancee’s mom didn’t recover.

Properly motivated to make the proverbial “honest woman” out of Margaret — whether out of a desire to do the right thing or a fear of being haunted — Pemberton finally ended the never-ending engagement this month.

And the clip of the proposal is right there on YouTube for all to see, embedded within the signature victory of one of the most TV-friendly boxing careers of the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

Pemberton has been retired from the ring for 18 years now. He was your classic clubfighter-turned-contender, a late bloomer from Massachusetts, a warrior who consistently delivered action and drama — a poor man’s Micky Ward, you might say. Becoming super middleweight champion of the world was perhaps slightly beyond his grasp, but he hung around until he at least got a title shot and a decent payday, and as soon as it was apparent he didn’t have it anymore, “The Sandman” got out with his health intact.

“I’m not busted up from boxing at all. I mean, maybe I have a little slurred speech,” he said with a laugh. It was unclear if he was cracking a joke, or maybe half-joking, but the fact is he sounds the same as he did toward the end of his career — perhaps there’s a slight hint of slurring, but it’s difficult to say where the thick New England accent ends and any mild effects of taking punches begins. Ultimately, he sounds like your classic fifty-something blue-collar Boston-area tough guy.

“But yeah, I feel fine from boxing,” Pemberton continued, as he stood in his yard, intermittently yelling at his two overprotective German shepherds whenever they barked at passers-by. “I got injured much worse jumping out of planes in the military. That’s why I had a hip replacement — it had nothing to do with boxing.”

Back to the uncertainty over whether Pemberton was joking about slurred speech — part of the reason to wonder about that is that the man now loves delivering punchlines as much as he once loved delivering punches. Several times during our conversation, he greeted a serious question with a snappy, unserious answer.

“So, Scott, how many kids do you have?”

“Fourteen!”

“What have you been doing for work since you stopped boxing?”

“Extortin’!”

“When you went down or got rocked in the Sheika fights, were you as badly hurt as it looked?”

(Extreme deadpan voice.) “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The actual answer to the first question is three kids. Pemberton has a 32-year-old son, Jarel (yes, named after Superman’s father), from a separate relationship before he started dating his now-wife, and Jarel had a brief pro boxing career, going 3-0 in 2017-18 before focusing on his job as a firefighter in Revere, Massachusetts. And Scott and Margaret have two kids together. Their 22-year-old daughter, Riley, will be making the newlyweds grandparents soon. And their 17-year-old son, Seth, is, like his dad and his half-brother, trying his hand at boxing.

“I’ll tell you a little story,” Pemberton said. “When Seth was 14 years old, I wasn't trying to push boxing on him or anything, he was playing sports, football and stuff like that. But it's so political with the football. He was kind of a heavy kid, he weighed 225, and they used to put him on the line, but then he stopped drinking soda and he lost all this weight, and now he's the same size as me — he’s like 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2, 185 pounds. And, they had him playing offensive tackle. He’s like, ‘I don't want to play offensive tackle. I'm never gonna get a scholarship playing offensive tackle. I’m not big enough.’ So he's not playing no sports in school anymore.

“So I decided to bring him to the gym. We went there for two weeks, I was working the mitts with him, I did everything with him. So I said, ‘Seth, I’m gonna have you spar tomorrow.’ I go, ‘The reason why I'm gonna have you spar tomorrow is because I don't want you to be in here and we’re workin’ out, workin’ out, we’re doing all this, and then you start sparring and you start getting hit and you go, ‘Dad, this is not for me.’ So he goes, ‘Who am I gonna spar?’ And I looked around the gym, and I go, ‘That guy right there.’ And I picked out this guy who’s 24 years old and has been going to the gym for like three years. So Seth goes, ‘No way, Dad, that guy will kick my ass.’ I’m like, ‘Ah, don't worry about it.’

“So we go home, he tells his mother, ‘Hey, Ma, Dad’s gonna have me spar this man tomorrow.’ But she don't pay him no mind, because she knows I would never put him in a bad position. So the next day we go there, and I said, ‘Listen, Seth, whenever the guy gets close to you, I want you to pop out that jab just like we do on the mitts. I want you to make him pay for real estate whenever he gets near you.’

“The kid gets out there and starts sparring, and it was like, holy shit . It was like he was boxing for years already. I couldn’t believe how good he did. I personally think he’s going to become a way better fighter than me. He actually has really good defense — and, you know, I didn’t have any defense.”

That’s probably a slight exaggeration — but only slight. Pemberton’s record gives you a sense of the sort of fighter he was. He finished with a mark of 29-5-1. Of his 29 wins, 24 were by stoppage. Of his five losses, all five were by stoppage.

He turned pro in ’94, already 27 years old, getting a late start after his time in the military and an amateur career consisting of only seven fights. Fighting exclusively in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Pemberton won his first 12 pro fights, then got TKO’d two times in a row in ’96, both times in Providence. He shook off the setbacks and went on a run, gradually stepping up the competition. In ’98, he knocked out 11-1 Jaime Velasquez, followed later the same year by a KO win over Richard “The Alien” Grant. In ’99, he avenged a controversial technical draw with a first-round knockout over 12-0-2 Bill Rollins.

Pemberton hit his first legal speed bump in 2000, when he spent 30 days in jail for throwing a punch in a road rage incident, breaking another man’s cheekbone with a single, regrettable left hook.

He got back in the ring and TKO’d veteran Glenwood Brown in nine rounds on Friday Night Fights , a minor breakout victory. But the next year, on the verge of a major fight against Thomas Tate, he was arrested for being a debt collector for a drug trafficker. Others with whom he was associated were sentenced to many years; Pemberton got a little under nine months.

By the time he returned to the ring in 2002, Pemberton was 35 and knew he was running out of time and chances. He won two fights by knockout and earned the biggest opportunity of his career: an August 2002 showdown with former super middleweight titleholder Charles Brewer.

It was an all-out thriller, named the ESPN2 Fight of the Year. Pemberton was knocked down in the second round, but came back to hurt Brewer repeatedly. Brewer, though, dropped him again in the sixth, and referee Steve Smoger — who almost never stopped a fight prematurely — waved it off amid demonstrative protesting from Pemberton.

“Oh man, I almost had Brewer!” Pemberton said animatedly more than 20 years later. “Listen, if Steve Smoger would’ve kept his fucking nose out of my business … there’s no way he should have stopped that fight.”

The Sandman had earned fans and respect in defeat, though, and soon came the wars that would define his time in boxing, his two wild battles with Sheika.

Pemberton had sparred with Sheika a few years earlier and had done well, so he came into their first fight loaded with confidence. That confidence was shaken when the heavy-handed Sheika floored him in the second round. Pemberton recovered (good thing; otherwise ESPN2 wouldn’t have had a chance to show his proposal to Margaret), came back, built a lead — and then got drilled with about six seconds left in the 11th round and was out on his feet, surviving on pure defiant instinct.

“It was right at the end of the round,” Pemberton remembered. “If he would have hurt me that bad at the beginning of the round, the fight would have probably been over.”

Pemberton gutted out the final round and prevailed by split decision, winning by a single point on two scorecards. An immediate rematch was a natural, so it happened six months later, and was a remarkably similar fight: Sheika again dropped Pemberton in round 2, and Pemberton rallied back in an all-out war, but this time there was no 11th-round assault for the New Englander to endure because he stopped Sheika in the 10th.

Two more stoppage wins for Pemberton followed, and when Joe Calzaghe and Jeff Lacy were scheduled for a unification bout in November 2005 and Calzaghe dropped out with an injury, Pemberton got the call to challenge Lacy. It was his long-awaited shot at the big time, for a belt, on Showtime, for a career-high purse of $150,000.

Pemberton had sparred with Lacy a few years earlier, and believed he had a shot at pulling off the upset. “My plan coming in,” he said, “was to make Lacy think that I was a little weak at first, and get him to relax, and then I would surprise him.” He never got the chance to play possum; the power-punching former Olympian hurt Pemberton early and took him out in just two rounds.

But the paycheck helped soothe the pain. Pemberton made a down payment on a house — he’s still paying off the mortgage nearly 20 years later, but he’s much closer to the end than the beginning. Pemberton said that for the last few years of his boxing career, when he was fighting on national TV regularly, he was making about $25,000 a fight and getting in the ring about three times a year, adding up to enough for boxing to be his full-time job for that brief stretch.

But that stretch ended in February 2006, three months after the Lacy disappointment. He took on The Contender star Peter Manfredo in Providence and, at age 39, just wasn’t the same fighter anymore. It was all over in three rounds.

“Listen, there’s no way I was supposed to lose that Manfredo fight. He got me with a lucky freakin’ uppercut, that prick,” Pemberton said with a chuckle. “Nah, I love the Manfredos, they’re good people.”

But it was the end of the road, and Pemberton knew it. One last arrest soon followed — for drug conspiracy and possession in 2007 — but Pemberton has kept off the police blotter since then.

Contrary to his joke answer about his day job, he isn’t “extortin’” anyone — for the last 10 years or so, he’s been driving a garbage truck for Capitol Waste Management. And he has a rewarding unpaid gig as young Seth Pemberton’s trainer.

He still watches all the fights — “I think Anthony Joshua is a freaking bum,” he blurted out, unprompted. And he watches with more than a little envy over the pay scale.

“I wish I was fighting today,” he said. “I might have made a lot more money. I mean, I’d beat Jake Paul's freaking ass.”

Well, a different ex-fighter in his late 50s got that particular high-paying gig. And the time for Pemberton to be trading punches has passed, anyway.

There are some things you can do a couple of decades after the fact — like get married, for example. But there are other things you should only do when you’re young. Pemberton seems to be in a good place, better served focused on cracking wise than on cracking chins.

#ScottPemberton #MargaretSylvia #OmarSheika #ESPN2FridayNightFights #TheSandman #BoxingLife #BoxingCareer #MadisonSquareGarden #BoxingFamily #SethPemberton #JarelPemberton #CapitolWasteManagement #BoxingJourney #BoxingChampion #BoxingLegacy

Tensions threatened to flare as WBO welterweight champion Sandy Ryan and former junior lightweight titleholder Mikaela Mayer both successfully made weight, setting the stage for their clash Friday night at Madison Square Garden’s Theater.

Ryan (7-1-1, 3 KOs) of Derby, England, weighed in at 146.6lbs, while Mayer (19-2, 5 KOs) who trains in Las Vegas tipped the scales at 146.8lbs. However, the intense staredown between rivals did not boil over and the bad blood remained simmering. 

In the co-feature, junior middleweight Xander Zayas (19-0, 12 KOs) weighed 153.4lbs, slightly lighter than Damian Sosa (25-2, 12 KOs) at 153.6lbs. Zayas, 22, from Puerto Rico, last fought in June, defeating Patrick Teixeira in a 10-round unanimous decision at the same venue in the main event. Sosa, 27, of Tijuana, Mexico, is riding a three-fight win streak since a surprising loss in April 2023.

The ESPN opener features featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (12-0, 8 KOs) of New York City, who weighed in at a ripped 125.8lbs. His opponent, Segawa (17-4-1, 6 KOs) from Uganda, came in at 123.8lbs, coming off a significant win over Ruben Villa in July.

The card’s weights are listed below. 

Junior welterweight  – 10 rounds

Sandy Ryan (146.6 pounds) vs. Mikaela Mayer (146.8 pounds)

Junior middleweight - 10 rounds 

Xander Zayas (153.4) vs. Damian Sosa (153.6) 

Featherweight - 10 rounds 

Bruce Carrington (125.8) vs. Sulaiman Segawa (123.8)

Junior middleweight - 10 rounds

Vito Mielnicki Jr. (153.8) vs. Khalil El Harraz (152.4)

Bantamweight - eight rounds 

Floyd Diaz (117.8) vs. Mario Hernandez (117.2)

Junior welterweight - eight rounds

Elvis Rodriguez (142.8) vs. Kendo Castañeda (142)

Junior welterweight - eight rounds 

Tiger Johnson (140.8) vs. Yomar Alamo (140.2)

Junior welterweight - 10 rounds 

Rohan Polanco (143.4) vs. Marcelino Lopez (143)

 

#SandyRyan #MikaelaMayer #XanderZayas #DamianSosa #BruceCarrington #VitoMielnickiJr #FloydDiaz #ElvisRodriguez #TigerJohnson #RohanPolanco #MadisonSquareGarden #Boxing #BoxingNews #ESPN #TitleFight #BoxingNight

The last year and a half of undisputed junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner’s life can be best described as being filled with disorder, disarray and disruption, and she can’t help but get emotional when discussing the details of it.

Baumgardner tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug following her unanimous decision win against Christina Linardatou in July 2023. After being suspended and placed on probation, a lengthy investigation indicated she didn’t intentionally use banned substances and the ruling was overturned.

During the PED ordeal, Baumgardner’s father, Mario Guzman, who introduced her to boxing when she was eight, died at age 56. Additionally, Baumgardner had to deal with a stalker who has since been sentenced.

As she heads into the final fight of her Matchroom Boxing deal, the 30-year-old Baumgardner (15-1, 7 KOs) is ready to turn the page on her life and career by getting back into the ring Friday against mandatory challenger Delfine Persoon (49-3, 19 KOs). The all-female Global Combat Collective card will stream for free on Brinx.TV and Fubo Sports and will take place at Lux Studios in Atlanta.

“I have the opportunity to come out with a great victory against a great opponent and make a statement and show the world why I can overcome,” Baumgardner told BoxingScene in an interview while holding back tears. “I have always been the underdog given the biggest challenges. I'm happy to be here and to just be in this position today and tell people, 'I made it through.'”

Baumgardner had to fight tooth and nail in an attempt to save her reputation after testing positive for mesterolone and androsterone.

“I'm happy that the sanctioning bodies and commission were able to look at this thoroughly, because not everybody is cheating,” said Baumgardner. “I didn't have to cheat to make it in life. I've always advocated for a clean sport and asked to be drug-tested.

“I was already judged, with the way my body is already set up, being a natural athlete with a natural build. I was already looked at as if I was already on PEDs. And I am also beating these girls at the highest levels. It felt like I already had a target on my back. I had to keep proving myself. When the adversity came with the PED test, I again overcame and showcased that I have always been a clean athlete.

“I've been able to keep my faith and believe in who I was and who I am as a person. God blesses those who are honest and understand the assignment. My calling is much bigger than boxing. Boxing is not my end-all be-all. It's something I love to do, but it's very challenging. Boxing has kept my mind sharp and focused.

“I'm in a fresh new skin. I've done a lot of inner reflection. I am happy. I am blessed. I am happy to fight against a great opponent in Delfine.”

Persoon, a 39-year-old former two-time lightweight titleholder from Belgium, will debut in the United States. Persoon is best known for her two fights and losses to Katie Taylor. In 2019, Persoon gave Taylor a tough tussle and suffered a razor-thin majority decision loss. The 2020 rematch was also close but resulted in a unanimous decision win for Taylor.

“She's a great opponent and veteran in the sport,” said Baumgardner. “Everyone is looking at this fight and saying, 'Who is Alycia Baumgardner?' We've been at this stage before. It's another fight to either get behind me or just keep talking about me.”

Baumgardner has boxed beautifully the previous two times she has been summoned for a showcase opportunity. In 2021, she enjoyed her breakthrough moment by knocking out Terri Harper in four rounds for a lightweight title and then unified the division in 2022 with a split decision win against Mikaela Mayer.

“Those wins changed my life because it showed diligence, discipline and dedication to my work,” said Baumgardner. “It's going to be a great fight against Delfine. I can't wait to see what the future holds. A lot of great things are happening amid what seems to be chaos. I can't wait for people to see how much I have improved during this layoff. This is not just for me. This is for my dad. A win would be amazing for my family.”

#AlyciaBaumgardner #DelfinePersoon #MarioGuzman #ChristinaLinardatou #KatieTaylor #BrinxTV #FuboSports #GlobalCombatCollective #BoxingNews #WomensBoxing #UndisputedChampion #ChampionComeback #Resilience #FightNight #AtlantaBoxing

Tim Tszyu is going from losing his world title to Sebastian Fundora — a bloody battle in which Tszyu suffered a nasty injury — to taking on another world titleholder in Bakhram Murtazaliev.

Oh, and he was initially hoping to face Vergil Ortiz this summer, too, until the doctors told Tszyu that he couldn’t yet get back in the ring.

That’s a different route than many other fighters have taken. But this is the way that Tszyu wants things to be.

“There’s no fear. It doesn’t exist in my bloodstream at all,” Tszyu told media on a September 24 conference call. “I just want the biggest and best challengers out there. Whoever they call the bad guy, give him to me. Feed him to me.”

Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) won the IBF junior middleweight title in early April, a week after Tszyu vs. Fundora, knocking out Jack Culcay in the 11th round.

The fire is what Tszyu faced in late March, when his head accidentally collided with Fundora’s elbow toward the tail end of Round 2 and opened a horrifying gash on his hairline. Blood poured out and blocked his vision. Tszyu dropped a split decision and his WBO world title, and Fundora also picked up the vacant WBC belt.

The fire is also what Tszyu would have faced on August 3 had he been cleared to fight Ortiz. Instead, Ortiz wound up winning a battle with Serhii Bohachuk on August 10.

 

“I’m bringing the heat,” Tszyu said. “Hopefully he doesn’t take a step back. Hopefully there's not as much blood on my side this time. Hopefully there's going to be some relentless action, and we bring the fans a fight to remember.”

And if he gets beyond Murtazaliev, Tszyu can keep going for the best and baddest out there, given that he is in a division full of talent.

“Red hot names, some big matchups to be made,” he said. “When you think about it, let’s say in the near future there’s going to be so many crazy matchups to be made. It’s so exciting.”

#TimTszyu #BakhramMurtazaliev #SebastianFundora #VergilOrtiz #IBFChampion #Boxing #JuniorMiddleweight #FightNight #Knockout #BoxingNews #WBOChampion #FightPreview #JackCulcay #TszyuVsMurtazaliev #TitleFight #BoxingLife

Self-proclaimed ‘face of boxing’ Gervonta Davis has emerged as one of the biggest pay-per-view draws in the sport and as a result the opportunity to fight him is one that his lightweight rivals dream of. Whilst lightweight unification contests are continuously pushed back, ‘Tank’ has been linked with a return to the ring against an alternate contender and the trainer of one of his lightweight rivals has now revealed who will be in the opposing corner.

Davis stopped Frank Martin in what was both his first defence of the WBA lightweight title and his lone appearance of 2024 thus far, halting ‘The Ghost’ in the eighth-round of their Las Vegas showdown to stamp his authority on the 135lb division and further the common opinion that he is the man to beat at the weight.

Since then, the Baltimore-born knockout artist has been linked with the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko (IBF) and Shakur Stevenson (WBC) in title unification contests but with both men deemed unavailable for the time being, Davis has recently been touted to appear on December 14th in an outing to keep up his activity.

In an interview with Mill City Boxing, Humberto “Chelo” Betancourt, trainer of Edwin De Los Santos, revealed that the Dominican lightweight was offered the chance to fight Davis but that the WBA champion has decided on a meeting with WBA super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jr. instead.“We were getting ready for Tank bro, to tell you the truth.”

“Yes, we were [offered the Tank fight], but did they accept it? No, they didn’t. They denied the fight, I guess they chose Lamont Roach. That’s a good fight, I ain’t knocking them but he is 130lbs going up to 135, like Shakur [Stevenson] says, why not fight somebody that is a natural 135lber?”

Roach has strung together a six-fight win streak since defeat to Jamel Herring back in 2019, that being the lone blemish on his record. ‘The Reaper’ outpointed former ‘Tank’ opponent Hector Luis Garcia to claim the 130lb WBA strap back in November and dominated against Ireland’s Feargal McCrory back in June.Chris Eubank Jr Brands Eddie Hearn And Frank Warren As “Scumbags” At Beterbiev-Bivol Presser

Light-heavyweight fan-favourite David Benavidez appeared on the Tank-Martin undercard back in June and has been linked to a fight on the December bill before Davis’ main-event once again – although rumours of a scrap with David Morrell would supposedly see that fight become a main-event on an alternate date.

Meanwhile, Betancourt went on to admit his interest in a fight between De Los Santos and Frank Martin on the December 14th card, with the latter hoping to bounce back from a first career defeat.

Other reports suggest that a potential Davis-Roach card could take place on December 21st but the fact that this date collides with the rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk means that PBC would be unlikely to proceed with the idea.

#GervontaDavis #LamontRoach #Boxing #HoustonTX #SuperFeatherweight #FightNight #SportsNews #BoxingUpdate #HoustonFight #BoxingFans #CombatSports #FightLife #Knockout #BoxingWorld #DecemberFight

Anthony Joshua became the latest victim of Daniel Dubois’ extraordinary rise through the heavyweight hierarchy when the IBF world champion proved himself worthy of the mantle with a show-stopping knockout – and what a show it was to stop. Still, former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew has declared that Dubois would not be able to repeat the feat if the pair were to meet again.

‘Dynamite’ Dubois exploded onto Joshua from the sound of the opening bell onwards in front of a record-breaking 96,000 strong crowd at Wembley Stadium last weekend, stepping through the ropes as an overlooked champion but exiting through them as both a household name and a worthy title-holder.

Just days since the contest and talks of an immediate rematch are already dominating the headlines, many refusing to accept that the long-standing poster boy of British boxing could be battered from pillar to post in such an authoritative manner. Today it has emerged that Turki Al-Alshikh is one of those fans beckoning on a second encounter, and as we have discovered since the Saudi kingpin’s involvement in the sport – his wishes usually come true.

Speaking with Instant Casino, Tony Bellew outlined his belief that tactics were Joshua’s downfall in Saturday’s perceived changing of the guard rather than a decline or deficit in ability, favouring ‘AJ’ to come out on top in the rematch, which he believes will last less time than the five rounds that Joshua was able to withstand at the weekend.“If he takes the immediate rematch, is it one I think he can win? Absolutely. If Anthony Joshua comes out and lets his hands go and meets Daniel Dubois head on and lands first, the fight is over, but he didn’t and that’s not what happened. If Anthony Joshua meets him head on and lets his hands go, it’s George Foreman and Ron Lyle all over again but I’ll tell you something, it’s over even quicker.

“When your attributes stack up better than your opponent’s attributes – when you’re a little bit faster than your opponent, stronger, better technical ability, better footwork, better defence – I don’t understand why you don’t get into exchanges with them straight away.

“If you’re a bit quicker, you’re going to get there first. If you’re a bit more explosive, the shots are going to be more damaging. AJ just didn’t take that approach and that’s on him and the team.”Gervonta Davis’ Next Opponent Confirmed By Rival Trainer After His Fighter Was “Denied”

Should Joshua instead look elsewhere for his return to the ring, Bellew went on to explain that Joseph Parker is the man most deserving of a shot at Dubois’ throne, following on from impressive victories against Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang.“If Anthony Joshua doesn’t take an immediate rematch, I think there’s only one person in the world of boxing who deserves that shot at Daniel Dubois, and I think that’s Joseph Parker. Nobody in the heavyweight division has taken the people on that Joseph Parker has, nobody.

“Joseph Parker has faced two bogeymen who no one wants to go near back-to-back. He fought Deontay Wilder and literally beat him up, and then he went in with Zhilei Zhang against all the doubters. I thought he’d lose twice and he proved me wrong. Give Parker a shot at Dubois.”

Eddie Hearn has revealed that any such rematch between Joshua and Dubois would not be possible in the near future, due to the fact that the two-time heavyweight champion will understandably need sufficient time to recover from the brutal beatdown.

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The upcoming fight between Jai Opetaia and Jack Massey will indeed be allowed to be competed for the IBF cruiserweight title – in addition to Opetaia’s lineal championship – but the winner will have to defend next against the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger.

That mandatory challenger, Huseyin Cinkara, won an eliminator in April, knocking out Armend Xhoxhaj in 4 minutes and moving to 22-0 (18 KOs) in the process. Cinkara is ranked No. 1 by the IBF, while Massey is rated No. 11.

The IBF approved that request on Sept. 25 under four conditions:

Opetaia vs. Massey can’t take place any later than Oct. 12.

2. The IBF must receive fully executed contracts for Opetaia vs. Massey by Oct. 10.

3. The winner of Opetaia-Massey must defend the IBF title by Jan. 20, 2025.

4. The IBF will not grant any more exceptions for defending against the cruiserweight mandatory challenger.

Opetaia is 25-0 (19 KOs). He won the IBF title and lineal championship in July 2022, when he defeated Mairis Briedis by unanimous decision. But Opetaia vacated the title after one defense. He had been ordered to have a rematch with Briedis but had also been offered significant money to go to Riyadh and face Ellis Zorro in December 2023 on the same show as Joseph Parker vs. Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin.

IBF rules prohibit consecutive voluntary defenses, according to a report at the time by Jake “Jazz Hands of Stone” Donovan .

“I fought through absolute agony to win that belt and it saddens me to relinquish it,” Opetaia told Donovan. “But the fact is, Briedis isn’t ready to fight on Dec. 23, and I need to stay active. I simply can’t turn down a career-high payday.”

Opetaia wound up rematching Briedis this May, with the vacant IBF belt on the line. Opetaia won another unanimous decision.

Massey is 22-2 (12 KOs) and is coming off a decision win in June over Isaac Chamberlain. Massey’s two losses were via decisions against then-cruiserweight prospect Richard Riakporhe in 2019 and at heavyweight against Parker in early 2023.

Cinkara’s recent victories have come against the 22-4-1 Al Sands, the 21-14 Vaclav Pejsar and the 20-10 Reinaldo Gonzalez. That was somehow enough to land Cinkara an elimination bout with Xhoxhaj, who was 18-3 at the time.

Xhoxhaj has already fallen short in two shots against upper-tier cruiserweights, stopped in four rounds by Mateusz Masternak in 2021 and knocked out in five rounds by Chris Billam-Smith in 2022.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod . He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast . David’s book, “ Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing ,” is available on Amazon.

Last year, Jai Opetaia (25-0) was stripped of his IBF cruiserweight world title for failing to rematch Mairis Briedis and instead facing Ellis Zorro, only to fight Briedis for the then vacant IBF title six months later. Now, Opetaia could wind up being stripped for a second time, should he beat Jack Massey (22-2) next month and refuse an additional title defence in the weeks that follow.

Opetaia opted to go ahead with the Zorro fight on the mammoth ‘Day of Reckoning’ card that featured both Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder last year, utilizing his opportunity to appear on the big stage, although it didn’t last long. The Aussie backed up the popular belief that he was the man to beat in the cruiserweight division with a brutal first-round stoppage of the Londoner but did so without a world title to his name.

Soon after, on the Fury-Usyk undercard, Opetaia became a two-time champion and reclaimed his IBF crown with an arduous points victory in the rematch with Briedis, declaring in the aftermath that his focus was on unification bouts and the undisputed throne from there on out.

However, with fellow champions Chris Billam-Smith (WBO) and Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (WBA) set for a unification of their own and Norair Mikaeljan (WBC) fighting at the end of the month, Opetaia has decided to keep up his activity with a voluntary defence of the belt against Jack ‘One Smack’ Massey, on another blockbuster ‘Riyadh Season’ bill.

Now it has been revealed that the IBF have allowed the world title to be on the line for Opetaia’s clash with European champion Massey, but also that the victor must take on the mandatory challenger, Huseyin Cinkara (22-0), no later than January 20th 2025 – likely causing an additional delay to possible unification showdowns, as per Boog Williams.Daniel Dubois Reveals Plans For Next Fight Following Stunning Anthony Joshua KnockoutJai Opetaia is granted an exception to fight Jack Massey on 10/12/24. Winner has the fight the mandatory Huseyin Cincara in 90 days. pic.twitter.com/4msXSxheDi

— Boog Williams (@Ovajay) September 25, 2024“The Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey bout must take place no later than October 12, 2024.

“The full executed contracts for this bout must be received by the IBF in fifteen days or no later than or by Thursday October 10, 2024.

“The winner of the Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey bout must defend his IBF Cruiserweight title within ninety days of October 10, 2024, or no later than Friday January 20, 2025.

“The IBF will not entertain any additional exception requests to further delay the cruiserweight mandatory.”

Germany’s Cinkara has stopped 18 of the 22 opponents on his undefeated record but at 39-years-old there is a feel that this will be Cinkara’s first and last chance at a world title. Earlier this year, Cinkara halted Armend Xhoxhaj in just two rounds in a career-best win but the timing of his mandatory challenge could see him called up to fight on a much larger platform at the end of the year, with the winner of Opetaia-Massey likely to oblige to the IBF demands and feature on the Fury-Usyk II card on December 21st in Riyadh.

#JaiOpetaia #MairisBriedis #boxing #boxingfans #boxingnews #fightfans #JackMassey #Cruiserweight

Former junior featherweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev has called on unified champ Naoya Inoue to either fight him or surrender one of his belts.

Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KOs) won the IBF and WBA belts with victory over Daniel Roman in January 2020 but lost them via controversial split decision to Marlon Tapales in April 2023. Tapales thus earned a unification bout with Inoue, which he lost by 10th-round stoppage, leaving Akhmadaliev in the cold. And that is where he has remained, despite the WBA listing him as its mandatory challenger ever since.

“It’s a weird situation,” Akhmadaliev told BoxingScene over Zoom from Uzbekistan. “I’m the mandatory. You have the belt, you have to fulfill your obligations. I don’t know if he’s scared or his team is scared, or what’s going on, because I told them right away, ‘I’m ready to fight. Just name the date and place and I’ll be there.’ It doesn’t matter to me where it’s going to happen. I fought all my life in enemy territory, and it was never an issue for me. So I’m ready and willing to step in.

“But if for some reason he doesn’t want to – and we can see, in his case, that he doesn’t want to fight, because despite calling my name and saying that he wants to fight me, they never reach out, so it’s all a bluff – then just vacate the title. Rules are the same for everyone. Canelo [Alvarez] got stripped of the title [by the IBF, for facing Edgar Berlanga instead of that organization’s mandatory, William Scull]. Why is Inoue not getting stripped? I believe that belt belongs to me and I was screwed on the scorecards, and I still feel like a champion. And I can prove it against Inoue, because I know that I can beat him.”

Akhmadaliev is complimentary of Inoue, who is universally regarded, along with Oleksander Usyk and Terence Crawford, as part of the triumvirate atop boxing’s pound-for-pound rankings. But, he says, he just wants the opportunity to prove himself against the man known as “The Monster,” who has scored stoppage wins against Luis Nery and T.J. Doheny since Akhmadaliev was named the WBA mandatory.

“I know that I’m the best fighter at 122 pounds,” he said. “Everyone in the world knows that if there is someone who can beat him, it’s me. I still feel like a champion in this division, you know, and they’re finding a lot of excuses [not to fight me]. I really respect him. I think he’s a great fighter, but he doesn't act the way he talks. He's been called the best fighter in the world. And I feel it’s embarrassing when the best fighter doesn’t want to fight his mandatories. They’re avoiding the fight, and I’m OK with that. Just vacate the title and move on. Just tell the whole world that you don’t want to fight me. Don’t be saying my name and that you want to fight me but never fight me.”

Of course, there’s a good chance that Akhmadaliev could have already had the opportunity he craves had he taken care of business against Tapales. During the build-up to the contest with the Filipino, the prospect of a battle with Inoue for the undisputed crown was dangled before the winner, a prospect that came to fruition for Tapales. But although Akhmadaliev admits that, “of course, looking back, I would do some things differently” in that fight, he still insists that he deserved to have his hand raised – noting that while two judges scored the contest 115-113 for the challenger, the third saw Akhmadaliev winning by a country mile.

“One judge gave me 10 rounds in that fight, and I was the defending champion,” he said. “I pushed the pace. I was the one hunting that guy. I landed the bigger shots. I was the aggressor in that fight. I could have put pressure on a little bit earlier and got rid of him. But again, I still won that fight, and that’s why, right after the fight, the WBA ordered the rematch. And Tapales’ team avoided that rematch. They said that they already had the fight set up with Inoue, and my team was OK with it because the winner was supposed to face me. But it never came through. So now, looking back, would I do things differently? Yes. But there are judges for a reason. They have to do their job, and that night, they screwed up.”

Akhmadaliev has fought just once since the Tapales bout, stopping Kevin Gonzalez in eight rounds in December. Since then, he has been training for a fight that has yet to manifest, but he insists that, one way or another, he’ll be back in the ring before 2024 is over.

“I was preparing to fight mid-summer,” he explained, “and then there were talks, and the WBA, for the second time, named me as official contender, and gave us a negotiations period [to agree terms with Inoue]. But then, obviously, he faced Doheny. So I started a training camp again, and I was supposed to fight in September, and then the date got postponed again.  So I’ve been in camp for like four months, and I had to pull out because I was a little bit overtrained, and I knew the dates would get postponed, postponed. So I decided to take a rest and I went back home. I’m resting a little bit right now, I’m training with the Olympic team, and I’m not waiting for him. I’m waiting for the sanctioning bodies to make their decision. I’m going to fight in December and I believe that I’m going to fight for the title. I hope that he’s going to do the right thing. But if not, he’s going to get stripped, and I’m going to fight for the title anyway.”

#MurodjonAkhmadaliev #NaoyaInoue #Boxing #TitleShot #WBA #IBF #SuperBantamweight #FightAnnouncement

 

All Star Boxing is set to return to Puerto Rico, teaming up with Miguel Cotto Promotions and H2 Entertainment to host a live event at Coliseo Marcelo Trujillo in Humacao. The “WBO Night of Champions” will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 30, as part of the 37th WBO Annual Convention. A press conference was held at the Royal Sonesta in Isla Verde, which will serve as the host hotel for the event.

The main event will feature Humacao’s junior flyweight contender Rene “El Chulo” Santiago (12-4, 9 KOs), taking on Panama’s Azael “Candelilla” Villar (21-3-4, 15 KOs) in a 10-rounder.

In the co-main event, Puerto Rican flyweight contender Juan Carlos “El Indio” Camacho (17-1, 8 KOs) battles Jayson “The Smasher” Mama (20-1, 10 KOs) of the Philippines in another 10-round contest.

WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel said: “These are exciting, toss-up fights, and we look forward to making this a historic night.”

Felix “Tuto” Zabala Jr., president of All Star Boxing Inc., reflected on the significance of returning to Puerto Rico for the 60th anniversary of his father’s first event there in 1964. “It’s special to be back with our WBO family and on ESPN+ and ESPN Knockout,” Zabala said.

Rene Santiago shared his enthusiasm for fighting in his hometown for the first time, while Juan Carlos Camacho thanked his promoters for their continued support.

#ReneSantiago #AzaelVillar #JuanCarlosCamacho #JaysonMama #WBONightOfChampions #AllStarBoxing #MiguelCottoPromotions #Boxing #Humacao #PuertoRico #BoxingEvent #FightNight #BoxingCommunity #SportsNews #ESPNKnockout

Mike Tyson’s name value is such that the now 58-year-old former heavyweight champion can express interest in returning to the ring and an NFL stadium in Texas is booked for the card.

And while we’re about six weeks from Tyson’s “comeback” exhibition against Jake Paul at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, there seems to be a better use of Tyson’s time: Expressing his boxing knowledge.

Tyson, who stages his own podcast, “HotBoxin’ With Mike Tyson,” appeared this week on the “Come and Talk To Me” podcast and weighed in on several relevant matters brewing in the boxing industry.

Tyson urged former three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. to return to fighting after his demoralizing beatdown against Terence Crawford in July 2023.

“A loss to somebody like that means nothing,” Tyson said. “(Spence) can still make a lot of money if he returns.”

Regarding the unbeaten Crawford, who became a four-division champion Aug. 3 by defeating Israil Madrimov by a narrow unanimous decision for the WBA junior-middleweight belt, Tyson said he has no interest in watching Crawford try to move up two more weight classes to fight three-belt super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

“I don't like that fight,” Tyson said. “It's just too much weight. And he had a close fight with the last guy [Madrimov] he fought because this guy was big, and he was awkward. He was really awkward.”

While Alvarez has drawn the fury of fight fans for avoiding unbeaten former super-middleweight champion David Benavidez until a richer payday emerges, Crawford’s move toward the Alvarez mismatch is also a greed play.

Having Tyson’s voice on it matters.

On Tuesday’s edition of ProBox TV’s “TopStories,” analysts Chris Algieri and Paulie Malignaggi discussed how this role as a boxing ambassador better fits Tyson than the carnival scene of him returning to box the YouTuber.

“When (Tyson) speaks, people listen,” Algieri said. “He’s got a lot of sage advice to young fighters coming up and also has a deep understanding of the history of the sport. He studied the all-time greats of the past, which is something I think a lot of young fighters are really lacking these days.

“He’s an elder statesman, an absolute superstar who moved the needle. It’s a vital influence in the sport today.”

Of course, there’s more money in the prospect of stepping in the ring once more, but as that date nears, there is increasing concern over Tyson fighting after he previously required a postponement to deal with ulcers.

A prominent state athletic commission head told BoxingScene last week that if it were up to him, Tyson would not be allowed to fight given everything that’s known about a veteran boxer’s brain and the effects of age.

Beloved now after standing as a more divisive figure who was imprisoned for rape between his heavyweight championships, Tyson made some valid points in his comments on Spence and Crawford-Alvarez, Algieri said.

“I want Errol Spence to get back in the ring, too,” Algieri said. “He is aging. He has a lot of miles on his tires, but I do want to see that (WBC/WBO junior-middleweight title) fight against (champion Sebastian) Fundora, and maybe even go to 160 (middleweight), which is barren.

“And Crawford-Canelo, a lot of people – especially boxing people – are not interested in that fight. It is a crossover fight with a lot of eyes on that … I want Crawford to get paid the money he deserves. He spent a lot of time not getting those dollars. Someone as skillful and good as he is, I want him to get that fight. In terms of watching that fight, I don’t care that much.”

Former welterweight champion Malignaggi added, “I’m not that interested myself.”

But having Tyson’s voice contributing to events of the day is meaningful, Malignaggi said. The former champion is among the most popular individuals in the world. 

“Anything he says moves the needle. Mike still has that presence about him,” Malignaggi said. “If Mike did a show on boxing, a lot of people would tune in and listen. He’s a knowledgeable, astute guy and obviously the former heavyweight champion.”

So why imperil that position?

“For that reason, you’d prefer for him not to fight again,” Malignaggi said. “Look what he can do with his knowledge of boxing. He had some thoughts and we’re here talking about them. In Tyson’s place, I’d love to see him just do shows and put those thoughts out there.”

Given the investment in the Netflix card that includes the Amanda Serrano-Katie Taylor rematch and Tyson’s own obvious push for an influx of massive cash, Tyson-Paul will likely proceed.

“I don’t want to see Mike fight,” Algieri said, reminding that Tyson’s Roy Jones Jr. aged exhibition was three years ago. “This position as an elder statesman doing shows and documentaries … he’s perfect for that.”

 

#MikeTyson #JakePaul #ErrolSpenceJr #TerenceCrawford #CaneloAlvarez #DavidBenavidez #ChrisAlgieri #PaulieMalignaggi #Boxing #HeavyweightChampion #BoxingCommunity #SportsAnalysis #FightNight #BoxingHistory #BoxingNews

Thirty-three-year-old Chordale Booker, currently ranked No. 8 by the WBO, continues to make an impact both in the ring and as a trainer. 

Booker, who has developed a notable social media presence for his boxing insights, shared his thoughts on the upcoming junior welterweight fight between Sandy Ryan (7-1-1, 3 KOs) and Mikaela Mayer (19-2, 5 KOs) which takes place this Friday.

Mayer, who will face Ryan in a 10-round main event at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City, has impressed Booker during her recent visits to the gym. “Mikaela surprised me with her size when she came into the gym. She’s making 130 pounds, which is impressive,” Booker said. “She’s quick, sharp, and her right hand is going to be a big factor in the fight.”

Booker also noted that Mayer's slick movements and powerful punches are key strengths. “Mikaela’s been practicing getting her head off the line before and after her punches,” he said. “Ryan’s upright, hands up. She's going to be willing to trade, and then Mikaela gets up under her shots, she's not going to see that shot coming, the shot that Mikaela is countering with.”

Regarding the weight class, Booker does not see it as a significant issue. “Mikaela has been at the top of the sport for a long time, and she’s sparred with bigger fighters throughout her career,” Booker said. “The height and long-range fighting of Ryan might pose a challenge initially, but once Mayer adapts, she’ll likely break Ryan down round by round.”

Booker also provided insight into Ryan’s style. “Sandy Ryan fights well on the outside but tends to be too upright,” Booker said.

The added rivalry between the two fighters is expected to intensify the bout. “The bad blood will motivate both fighters,” Booker said. “With the two-minute rounds, they won’t have much time to set things up, so expect them to engage quickly.”

Booker is confident in Mayer’s ability to win. “I would have already said this, that Mikaela wins the fight, but now after working with her I’m even more certain she’ll win this fight. Because I've done pad work with her, body shield work… I've had her punch me without the body shield, you know? So, I know what she brings to the table,” Booker said. 

#MikaelaMayer #SandyRyan #ChordaleBooker #WBO #Boxing #MadisonSquareGarden #FightNight #WomenInBoxing #BoxingTraining #BoxingConfidence #BoxingRivalry #BoxingNews #Sports #Knockout #BoxingFans #WomenChampions

The latest WBO rankings have shaken up the boxing world with significant changes. After recent fights, several boxers have seen their positions rise or fall. This update highlights the key movements across different weight classes.

In the HEAVYWEIGHT division, Anthony Joshua took a substantial hit, dropping from #1 to #7 after his loss to Daniel Dubois. This defeat has allowed Tyson Fury to reclaim the #1 spot. Meanwhile, Filip Hrgovic and Efe Ajagba swapped places, with Hrgovic rising to #9 after losing to Dubois in June, while Ajagba fell to #10.

In the LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT category, Joshua Buatsi has made a name for himself by moving up to interim titleholder after defeating Willy Hutchinson, who slid from #2 to #7. Jean Pascal entered the rankings at #6 following a knockout victory at cruiserweight. Conor Wallace also improved his standing, moving up to #5 after a split decision win.

The SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT division saw Erik Bazinyan drop from #2 to #10 after his loss to Jaime Munguia, who jumped from #5 to #3. Edgar Berlanga also fell to #5 after losing to Canelo Alvarez, while Alem Begic climbed to #7 with a recent victory in September.

In JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT, Erickson Lubin experienced a surprising drop from #4 to #9, despite not fighting since 2023. Meanwhile, Errol Spence has been removed from the rankings entirely. In the MIDDLEWEIGHT division, Troy Isley made a notable entrance, claiming the #11 spot after a victory in June.

Boxing fans should stay tuned for the next WBO update to see who continues to rise and fall in the rankings.

#WBO #AnthonyJoshua #TysonFury #DanielDubois #JoshuaBuatsi #WillyHutchinson #JeanPascal #ConorWallace #ErikBazinyan #JaimeMunguia #EdgarBerlanga #CaneloAlvarez #TroyIsley #FilipHrgovic #EfeAjagba

 

Xander Zayas is preparing for an aggressive approach from Damian Sosa this Friday night. Sosa, meanwhile, says there’s more to his game than that.

“He’s coming to fight. He's going to throw a lot of punches and put a lot of pressure on me. But I'm ready for that,” Zayas said.

Zayas is a junior middleweight prospect originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and now living in Sunrise, Florida. He signed with Top Rank at 16, turned pro a bit after his 17th birthday and now, at the age of 22, is 19-0 (12 KOs). In June, he won a wide decision over Patrick Teixeira.

Sosa, a 27-year-old from Tijuana, Mexico, is 25-2 (12 KOs). He lost a unanimous decision to the 31-14-4 Ivan Alvarez in April 2023 but has won three in a row since, including a split decision in April over previously unbeaten Marques Valle.

“The fight with Xander had been in the works for a little while. It had been mentioned to me before, but because of a loss I had, this fight was delayed a bit,” Sosa said. “But now [...] the opportunity has come up again. And now that I’m training with Robert Garcia, it couldn’t have come at a better time in my career.”

Having the backing of trainers like Garcia has helped Sosa become a more well-rounded fighter, he said.

“Xander knows how to adapt. I also know how to adapt, and I think that will make this fight very exciting. I’m still progressing and I'm still trying to improve my conditioning, my technique, and my strategy. Boxing isn’t just a sport where you go out and throw punches, and that’s something I’ve gradually understood.”

#XanderZayas #DamianSosa #PatrickTeixeira #MarquesValle #RobertGarcia #TopRankBoxing #JuniorMiddleweight #BoxingShowdown #FightNight #PuertoRicoBoxing #TijuanaBoxing #TeamZayas #TeamSosa #BoxingProspect #SweetScience

Undisputed junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner will return from a lengthy layoff Friday when she defends her titles against mandatory challenger Delfine Persoon. The fight will headline an all-female Global Combat Collective card at Lux Studios in Atlanta and stream for free on Brinx.TV and Fubo Sports.

Baumgardner will be boxing for the first time since a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs was overturned following her unanimous decision win against Christina Linardatou in July 2023.

Baumgardner (15-1, 7 KOs) is promising a stoppage win inside six rounds against Persoon (49-3, 19 KOs) to parlay the performance for more significant fights at higher weights as she heads into the final fight of her Matchroom Boxing contract.

“I want the superfights. I want to showcase the highest level of skills and pedigree and a woman in business,” Baumgardner told BoxingScene. “I look completely different in this camp. I'm stronger, physically and mentally. It just gets better. I can only imagine how it will look when I fight Katie Taylor or Amanda Serrano. I'm the top of the top, and top of the food chain.”

Taylor and Serrano have a scheduled rematch for the undisputed 140-pound championship on Nov. 15 during the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul undercard. Baumgardner believes Taylor will win the sequel as well after being awarded a razor-thin decision in 2022.

A potential fight against the winner would require Baumgardner to jump up from 130 to 140 pounds. But Baumgardner has even bigger plans by facing fellow Michigan rival Claressa Shields.

Shields (15-0, 3 KOs) last fought as a heavyweight, at 174½ pounds, and knocked out Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse in July, taking a break from her undisputed middleweight title reign for a crack at heavyweight glory. 

Baumgardner and Shields have been at each other’s throats in recent months. Baumgardner believes she can bridge the weight gap to settle their beef in the ring.

“I agreed to fight Claressa at 147 pounds,” said Baumgardner. “She agreed to it. There is proof that she said this. Claressa is at a stage of her life where she wants things to be easier for her. That's why she moved up to heavyweight. Good for her. We can fight at 147, like I stated. If she don't want it, she don't want it. Competition is at the 130-to-147 range, and that's where I plan to reign at. Right now, it doesn't make sense to go up to 154 pounds. You have to be smart about these things each time you move up a weight class. I'm not going to jump into something if it doesn't make sense.”

Baumgardner, 30, said she has more superior skills than Shields, 29, a two-time Olympics gold medalist and four-division champion who has fought just twice as a 154-pounder, the lowest weight of her career, from 2019 to 2020.

“She's my size, and I am bigger,” said Baumgardner. “As a fighter, we're competitors. I don't see anyone as a threat.’

“You see the sweet science in my fights. The jab, power, right hand, combinations. I put it together way better. It's a better package with me. 

“For me, fighting Claressa was about the money, but it got personal. Because it got personal, as a smart businesswoman, you would think she would be like 'this is great,' but it has not been the case.”

#AlyciaBaumgardner #ClaressaShields #DelfinePersoon #KatieTaylor #AmandaSerrano #MatchroomBoxing #BoxingNews #GlobalCombatCollective #BrinxTV #FuboSports #WomensBoxing #UndisputedChampion #SweetScience #BoxingShowdown #TeamBaumgardner #ClaressaVsBaumgardner

In this week’s mailbag, we tackle your thoughts on Daniel Dubois’ demolition of Anthony Joshua, including how much praise Joshua does or doesn’t deserve, who Dubois should face next, and the idea of a rematch between Dubois and Joshua. We also return to a discussion about Canelo Alvarez’s recent run of foes, especially when contrasted with what Naoya Inoue has done recently.

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.

ANTHONY JOSHUA IS NO WARRIOR

It’s hilarious to call AJ a warrior. He’s a guy who learned to box for the sole reason he was afraid he was going to get his shít pushed in, in jail. 

He's fought two younger men in his entire career — Joseph Parker and Daniel Dubois — and both weren't great fights for him. He got his hand held by the referee against Parker so much that it basically nullified any offense Parker could get going. And Parker is the only champion he's faced who had successfully defended his belt at the time of fighting, but people claim Joshua is some great champion slayer.

Against Dubois, the ref gave Joshua an unreal amount of leeway, even dismissing multiple knockdowns, and letting [trainer] Ben Davison get in the ring in the first round whilst he was still counting [the first knockdown], which should've been an immediate disqualification. It's another case of it looking like the ref was on the payroll.

Warriors don't need their hand held by external forces. 

-Boro

Tris Dixon’s response: I mean, where do you start?

Boxing gave Joshua a way out. It gave him structure, discipline and routine and has placed

him in a privileged position, but no one has had the fights for him.

However, I do agree that in both instances the officiating was not, shall we say, on point.

Marcus McDonnell is a good referee, but he appeared to lean into Joshua on Saturday. It’s no excuse, but I feel for referees in this instance. We know who the A-side is, and we

know that shouldn’t matter. But it must lie in their consciousness. And when a fight

threatens to go early, as Dubois-Joshua did, I can’t help but feel they try to give the fans

value for money and let the fight go on. Again, not saying that’s right, and we have of course seen fights stopped early.

The point of your note that I mostly disagreed with was that I feel Joshua has earned the

warrior tag — and specifically the piece you commented on (“ Warrior Spirit: Daniel Dubois sends Anthony Joshua a step closer to the garden ,” by Elliot Worsell) referred to lines used by both fighters through fight week in reference to movies such as Gladiator.

Whatever advantages you perceive Joshua might have been handed, he is all heart in the ring,

and I’m sure he doesn’t go out of his way to sway factors externally, either. There is a lot of

good work on Joshua’s record. He’s had plenty of psychological obstacles to overcome. And

while I understand why some might not want to drink the Joshua Kool-Aid, I do feel that

plenty are unduly harsh on him.

I understand he hasn’t moved the needle in America a huge amount, but he’s been an asset

to the sport in the U.K., and far more often for the right reasons. That said, how much more complete would his record look if, by now, he had the names of Wilder and Fury on it?

IMPROVED DUBOIS VS. WINNER OF USYK-FURY 2

Dubious [sic] has become a much better fighter after his losses. Whoever wins in December [in the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch] is gonna have their hands full with him.

-vitali1999

Eric Raskin’s response: I know it’s just an innocent typo, or perhaps an autocorrect, but now I’m annoyed with myself for never noticing how close the words “Dubois” and “Dubious” are to each other and failing to come up with “Daniel Dubious” as a nickname for him on the heels of one of his losses. Oh well. He certainly isn’t “Daniel Dubious” these days.

As for the main point of your post: the notion that the Usyk-Fury II winner would have a tough time with Dubois. It’s incredible that Dubois has fought so well over the past year that a rematch with Usyk could be viable. But, indeed, it could be viable. In fact, if Usyk defeats Fury again and chooses to continue fighting, a rematch with Dubois is the most logical fight for him to take. 

What are Usyk’s other options? Joseph Parker is deserving, but I’m not sure that fight gets pulses racing. Martin Bakole is somewhat less deserving, but he could get those pulses racing. Dubois offers the best of both worlds. He’s earned another crack, and it’s more marketable than any other fight Usyk could be considering.

And I agree that Dubois would be a live underdog against whoever wins Usyk-Fury II. Two things stood out to me in Dubois’ destruction of AJ: the way he came forward from the opening bell, taking the fight to Joshua with total confidence; and the poise he showed in delivering the knockout punch, a perfect, full-force counter shot unleashed as Joshua appeared to have him buzzed. 

Would a Dubois who is brimming with self-belief and has the calm to uncork a counter shot the way he did be a handful even for the man who largely dominated him just over a year ago? I believe so.

REMATCH CLAUSE FOR DUBOIS VS. JOSHUA IS AWFUL

I find it awful that a challenger has a rematch clause against a champion. Ideally, I would like to see Dubois fight Joseph Parker, Zhilei Zhang or even Martin Bakole.

-Zelda

Kieran Mulvaney’s response: I should note up front that, according to Dan Rafael and notwithstanding Eddie Hearn's comments, there in fact isn't a rematch clause in this instance. That said, in general terms, I agree with you. I hate rematch clauses. Especially, as you note, in situations like these when the nominal challenger — who also got to walk out to the ring second — gets to invoke a rematch clause after getting his ass kicked. 

Talk to folks in the business, and while some will admit rematch clauses are truly awful, more will quasi-defend them as a necessary evil to get fights done. But they really aren’t, and boxing would be better without them.

 

There are some situations when they make some sense: when two top-level titlists meet in a unification bout, for example. Crawford-Spence was the ideal situation: The rematch clause helped the fight get made, but the first fight was so one-sided that those involved came to their senses and didn’t invoke it. 

Too often, rematch clauses mean we get what we got with Devin Haney and George Kambosos: a one-sided fight followed by another, unnecessary, one-sided fight. Sometimes it feels as if they’re being given out like candy: Why was Zhilei Zhang forced to beat up Joe Joyce twice, for example? He should have been free to pursue a title shot after the first fight. And surely Joyce would have benefited from moving on to someone who didn’t so obviously have his number. 

What if Joe Louis had a rematch clause against Max Schmeling and fought him again immediately after getting whupped in their first fight? He might have gotten beaten again, and suddenly boxing history looks very different. Instead, he went away, worked on his mistakes and came back and beat Schmeling later. That’s how it should be. 

And rematch clauses are even worse in an era when boxers fight maybe twice a year; they hold everything up and deny contenders opportunities and deny fans new and interesting matchups. Get rid of them.

JOSHUA WAS EMBARRASSED AND SHOULD NOT FIGHT DUBOIS AGAIN

It seems there are a lot of people who are Anthony Joshua fans and are refusing to accept what happened. I did not have a horse in the race and watched the fight for the pure pleasure and excitement of watching a fight. I did not really know who would win. However, there were no fine margins in that fight.

Joshua was brutalized, outgunned, outfought and embarrassed by the young Daniel. I was shocked at how one-sided a beating it was. I expected a much tougher, closer, give-and-take fight, much like Daniel’s previous fight with Filip Hrgovic, with momentum changing and then ultimately someone prevails and wins by KO.

I am not sure how Joshua can improve his chin for a rematch, because he literally could not take any of Daniel’s punches. Everything was hurting him. Even the jabs. He may be OK to fight Deontay Wilder now, but he should not go back in the ring with Daniel, because Daniel has Joshua’s number.

-BrankoB

Lucas Ketelle’s response: The toughest part of Anthony Joshua’s loss to Daniel Dubois isn’t just the knockout — it’s the unknown. Is it Joshua’s age? His chin after too many wars? Or just a bad stylistic matchup that led to his most humbling defeat?

Now, factor in the emotional weight for fans, the ones dissecting this result like armchair experts. These aren’t just casual viewers. For many, fights like these are a weekly escape from the grind of daily life. On Fridays and Saturdays, fight fans transform from cubicle dwellers or union shift leaders to boxing apostles. By Sunday morning, they’re the undisputed champions of hot takes. Their lives, in part, revolve around the fighters they invest so much time and emotion into — so, yes, they deserve a little credit.

Why would anyone expect anything less? Fans of Joshua might not even be boxing aficionados. They love his story, his journey. Being a fan isn’t about reason; it’s about feeling. When the end comes for a fighter, it’s like grieving. Denial, anger — it’s all part of the process. If this is the end for Joshua, of course people are going to be shocked, confused and unreasonable. That’s what the end does. It forces tough conversations, bold proclamations that somehow, some way, things will change when they won’t.

The end is final. Death is unreasonable, but it’s also natural. So why should the decline of a fighter’s career be any different for those who’ve spent countless Saturdays watching, hoping, and cheering? It’s the same kind of loss. Brutal, inevitable and real.

WHY DO YOU CRITICIZE CANELO BUT PRAISE INOUE?

Owen Lewis says that Canelo beating the likes of Berlanga, a +1000 underdog, doesn’t raise his stock ( see last week’s mailbag ). But on the other hand, you praise Naoya Inoue and never say that beating the likes of TJ Doheny, a +5000 underdog, doesn’t raise his stock. 

That is unfair and biased. Berlanga is a young and strong 27-year-old fighter while Doheny was 37 years old and shot.

-Carlos Valenzuela 

Owen Lewis’ response: A fair point! Fighters are more than their last fight, so when I considered Canelo and Inoue in that response, I had in mind their last several fights, not just their most recent. 

Inoue is on a heater right now, having knocked out everybody he’s fought since Nonito Donaire in 2019. When we talk about him as a potential pound-for-pound king, no one is thinking of the Doheny fight — we’re thinking about Inoue starching Stephen Fulton in what was considered close to a 50-50 bout. We’re thinking of him rising from the canvas to pummel Luis Nery. The Doheny fight was disappointing, both in-ring and in choice of opponent, but Inoue has plenty of phenomenal results that are still fresh in the memory.

Canelo, meanwhile, does not. He’s not as dominant as Inoue (Berlanga was his fifth straight opponent that he couldn’t knock out), and he’s not being as ambitious. Berlanga might be 27, but age doesn’t directly correlate with skill.

Let’s take a look at their last five fights and compare them, starting with the most recent outings: 

Canelo defeated Berlanga by decision; Jaime Munguia by decision, Jermell Charlo by decision, John Ryder by decision and Gennadiy Golovkin by decision.

Inoue defeated Doheny by TKO, Nery by TKO, Marlon Tapales by TKO, Stephen Fulton by TKO, and Paul Butler by KO.

You’re not wrong that beating Doheny doesn’t raise Inoue’s stock at all. It was a disappointing choice of opponent when the likes of Murodjon Akhmadaliev were out there. But it also felt like a departure from Inoue’s string of strong opponent choices, rather than more of the same.

It’s important to note that Inoue lacks one thing Canelo has — or had until David Benavidez went up to light heavyweight — a high-risk, high-demand opponent in their same weight class. Canelo has had the option to fight Benavidez for years, and he chose not to. Thus, each one of those last five fights can be seen as a duck of sorts — perhaps save the Charlo fight, since we couldn’t have known beforehand that he would be so reluctant to engage. (Recall that Golovkin was 40 at the time of their fight.) 

Inoue, meanwhile, may not have many available opponents who could make the odds close, but he has, for the most part, been clearing out divisions in exactly the way we want our champions to. While Canelo goes the distance with his opponents, Inoue knocks them out. That’s why you won’t find a credible pound-for-pound list on which Canelo is higher than Inoue at the moment.

#AnthonyJoshua #DanielDubois #JoshuaDubois #AJ #JoshuaVsDubois #DuboisKnockout #BoxingNews #HeavyweightBoxing #BenDavison #RefControversy #TysonFury #OleksandrUsyk #JosephParker #BoxingFans #BoxingDebate #BoxingChampion