Turki Alalshikh has emerged as the man to have organised and arranged some of the biggest boxing fights in the past few years.

A Saudi Arabian adviser at the Royal Court under the rank of Minister and the current Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), Alalshikh has helped Saudi host a series of high profile fights.

Even when the fights are not in Saudi, the fingerprints of Turki Alalshikh are all over them.

Case in point being the recent fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

Taking place at Wembley Stadium in England, the bout was billed as part of Riyadh Season and there was even the Saudi national anthem sang before the main event.

If that’s not an indication of the influence of Turki Alalshikh and Saudi on the sport of boxing, then nothing is.

So when Alalshikh comments on what’s set to take place in the world of boxing, it’s important to take note.

And he’s just provided an insight into some of the future fights lined up.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol clash on Saturday, the Saudi matchmaker made a series of revelations.

“See in February again Queensberry against Matchroom, 5 vs 5, we will finish it maybe this week with a big surprise and then let’s see the result about this fight, the result of the big fight December 21, [Oleksandr] Usyk-Tyson [Fury].

“Joshua, Dubois, Tyson, Usyk, everyone, everyone on the line.Martin Bakole claims Zhilei Zhang ‘ran’ from their fight

“This is what we want. We want the big fights and to see who’s really the best fighters in each division.”

There’s a lot to unpack there.

Firstly, it seems that Queensbury vs Matchroom 2 is taking place in February, with an official announcement coming soon.

And then Turki Alalshikh seems to imply that Joshua vs Dubois is likely to be happening around that time also.

So it looks like February 2025 is the date being earmarked for the rematch.

Of course, things can always change.

Right now, Anthony Joshua is still suspended from boxing and must wait until he’s allowed to return to the ring.

Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, has already stated that AJ’s preference is a rematch with Dubois.

So while the result from the Usyk vs Fury fight may alter things, it seems that the plan right now is for Anthony Joshua to fight Daniel Dubois in February.

And if anything can make that happen, Turki Alalshikh is certainly the man for the job.

There is no doubt that Austin Trout still has more fights left in him.

The 39-year-old Trout, a former junior middleweight titleholder who scrapped with some of the best of his era, is now moonlighting as a bare knuckle fighter for the fast-ascending, Conor McGregor-backed Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. 

Trout – 37-5-1 (18 KOs) in boxing – is 2-0 in the BKFC and has already picked up the promotional company’s 165-pound title, and he’ll be defending his crown for the first time against Rico Franco on Saturday in Marbella, Spain, on DAZN.

“No, I have not officially retired from boxing,” Trout told BoxingScene. “As the BKFC champion, I feel like I do have a certain responsibility to make the BKFC my main piece, as pimps would say. But I still love boxing, and if they have an opportunity for me, and if it fits my BKFC schedule, why not? But boxing hasn't had any opportunities for me, even though I'm still looking. The call has not been made yet. So I'm just going to keep bare knuckle fighting until I get the best opportunities.”

Trout made his bare knuckle fighting debut in February 2023 and scored a fourth-round TKO win against Diego Sanchez. In February of this year, Trout was already fighting for the vacant title, scoring a five-round unanimous decision against Luis Palomino.

His boxing career is much more decorated. Trout became a 154-pound titleholder in 2011 by beating Rigoberto Alvarez, the brother of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. He defended the title four times, with wins against the likes of Miguel Cotto and Delvin Rodriguez, before losing to Canelo in 2013 in a competitive clash.

“I can still make 154 pounds in boxing,” said Trout. “I fight at 165 pounds for the BKFC, but the plan is to come down to 155 pounds and take that belt, too, to become double champ.”

Doing so will make Trout even more marketable for the BKFC and perhaps interest McGregor, who became the first UFC fighter to earn double-champ status during his heyday, to fight him. 

In April, McGregor became a co-owner of BKFC and has already teased fighting in the discipline himself. 

“Conor is taking bare knuckle fighting to the next level, for sure,” said Trout. “We've seen it with the buzz. There is a lot of momentum, and I am proud to be a part of it. It's a perfect time to be a champion of the sport that's about to break through ceilings. I think 2025 is going to be great as we reap what we are setting up now.

“Conor has teased us plenty of times, saying that he's willing to fight in the BKFC – and I don't doubt it. He knows what it would do to his investment. He's a big fan of it. I assume it's going to be hard sitting on the sidelines watching your baby grow. It seems like a good idea.

“Y'all already know me. I'm more than happy to do that fight. But I am going to ruin everyone's plans, you know what I am saying? It wouldn't be the smartest fight [for McGregor], but I would love to take it.”

Trout has not scored a significant boxing win since his career-defining conquest against Cotto nearly 12 years ago at Madison Square Garden in New York. Defeats in several title fights followed. He last fought in a boxing match in October 2023 in Germany, scoring an eighth-round unanimous decision win against journeyman Omir Rodriguez.

However, with a revamped diet and newfound discipline, the native Texan feels that he has found the fountain of youth in bare knuckle fighting, and he can’t wait to prove it again in boxing, too.

“I'm getting better as I keep going,” said Trout. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) , Instagram , LinkedIn and YouTube , through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com .

Junior middleweight Tim Tszyu isn't interested in prioritizing money over titles and activity – or whatever else he may want to do at any given moment. 

Speaking at a media workout Monday in Las Vegas ahead of his Oct. 19 title fight against current titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, Tszyu emphasized that he, like high-profile peers Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gervonta Davis, is not swayed by boxing’s recent influx of Saudi cash.

“We don’t have to sell our soul, as they say, for money,” said Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs).

Tszyu's relationship with advisor Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has been rocky. Tszyu, 29, was set to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. as part of a Riyadh Season undercard that would have been on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov event in Los Angeles. Then, a sequence of events unfolded. Tszyu, whose forehead was cut badly in his split decision loss to Sebastian Fundora in March, was not cleared to fight on the card. Ortiz was moved back to Aug. 10 and defeated Serhii Bohachuk via a majority decision in a grueling fight. Most thought Ortiz-Tszyu would be imminent. 

However, Alalshikh unexpectedly cut ties with Tszyu after Ortiz’s win in August. “I will not work with Tim Tszyu,” Alalshikh told Fight Hub TV then. “Let him do his way. He doesn’t understand.”

Despite the drama, Tszyu expressed a desire to fight in Saudi Arabia one day – though acknowledged that his urge to fight in the United States had greater pull. “I'd love to fight in Saudi Arabia. I think it's an emerging country, first of all,” Tszyu said. “But for me, as a young kid and a boxing lover, America is where it’s at. I grew up watching big fights here, and it has always been a dream of mine to be fighting in the U.S. and experiencing it all.”

Tszyu is now set to face 31-year-old Russian titleholder Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs), who resides in California and is managed by Egis Klimas – the same manager who backs Oleksandr Usyk, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Janibek Alimkhanuly.

And Orlando – in the United States – is indeed where it’s at.

Lucas Ketelle is a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and author of “Inside The Ropes of Boxing” (available on Amazon). Contact him on X @LukieBoxing.

“He’s getting weaker, Joe. I can feel him getting weaker.”

Callum Johnson was on the verge of a terrific upset. The heavy-handed former light heavyweight, from Boston, England, had tasted the canvas in round one, but had dropped brilliant Russian Artur Beterbiev in stunning fashion with a second round left hook.

Buoyed, Johnson went back to his corner and saw trainer Joe Gallagher between rounds.

Undefeated in some 20 fights at the time, Johnson believed he might just have the Russian where he wanted him.

“I felt like when I was in there, I genuinely thought I was going to get him. I felt him getting weaker and I was saying to Joe, ‘I’m gonna get him, Joe. I’m gonna get him.’” 

Callum, now campaigning at cruiserweight, pauses for further thought – and possibly for effect.

“Then he got me.” 

Ultimately, Johnson could not stop the collision course that is Saturday’s enticing meeting between the two top light heavyweights of this generation, Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

“Yeah, I am looking forward to it,” Johnson admitted, on his way to a training session. “I have the same opinion as everyone else. It’s the best fight in boxing. I personally fancy Beterbiev, it’s obviously 50/50 and down the middle, looking at what people think, it’s very 50/50. I’m favoring Beterbiev and I’m asking myself, is that a biased pick or not? I don’t think it is. And I do think if the fight was two or three years ago, I don’t think I’d have any doubt. But obviously age and the fact that he’s coming off that knee surgery and everything else, at some point it will catch up with him. But will it be this time? I don’t know. I still think he’ll have enough to win.”

The torn meniscus in Beterbiev’s knee that caused the postponement of the fight in June is a talking point. So is Beterbiev’s inactivity. He is also nearly 40. Factor in Bivol’s qualities on top, and that leaves plenty of unanswered questions.

“People talk about Bivol moving better and everything else and it [the movement] is very good, it’s unbelievable,” Johnson continued. “It’s probably the best out there by any fighter, but I think Beterbiev will deal with it because he’s not got any height [disadvantages to deal with], they’re the same kind of height, he hasn’t got the reach disadvantage so it’s just the movement and I know when you look at him when he fought [Oleksandr] Usyk – and I know that’s in the amateurs – but he deals with that movement. It’s not like it’s something he’s never seen before, so I just think he’ll have enough to deal with it.”

Asked to recall the evening he shared a ring with the Russian who is now 20-0 (20 KOs), in October 2018, Johnson did not feel as though he was in there with someone who could potentially be heralded as a great. Johnson, a decorated amateur and fierce punching contender in his own right, did not believe he was out of his depth – until he was suddenly underwater and drowned.

“People ask me this all the time and it’s weird because when I was in there I didn’t feel as though it was anything crazy. It wasn’t like I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy,’” he went on. “It didn’t bother me. I wasn’t bothered. Obviously when he hit me, I went down, so that obviously shows how hard he hits. Obviously, we know the first knockdown I wasn’t looking and he kind of hit me and knocked me into next week. I think after that… I can’t really remember too much about the fight anyway after that point. I think I was fighting on instinct anyway.”

A combination of Beterbiev’s blunt fists, time and maybe even the occasion itself means it all seems a little hazy to Johnson now, some six years on, but he is rightly proud of his showing and his significant what if moment.

“Obviously he punches very hard. His record speaks for itself, doesn’t it?” the Englishman added.

“Looking at it now, obviously I got him well and he was on unsteady legs. At the time, I can’t remember too much about it. It’s a blur. It’s one big blur. I remember being in there and I remember hitting him and him going down. I’ve got the visuals of it. I remember walking to the corner. But other than that, it’s a big blur, the whole thing. After that first round knockdown, I don’t think I ever got my senses fully back anyway. I don’t know if I was in Lala Land or deluded or what, but I genuinely, all the way until the end of the fight, thought I was going to get him again. But obviously I never did.”

For some, the walls close in on them as Beterbiev grinds away. It wasn’t like that for Johnson. The finishing sign was in sight, and then Beterbiev crossed the line first and Johnson was left licking his wounds. 

Of that part, Johnson tells it best.

“I remember being in there with Joe [Gallagher] and I remember feeling like he was getting a bit weaker and I remember saying to Joe, ‘He’s getting weaker. I can feel him getting weaker.’ Then he got me, didn’t he? He got me.”

Marc Ramsey is happy with the work ethic of his super middleweight contender Christian Mbilli. The trainer believes Mbilli’s progress has earned the fighter a positive reputation – which shows in the rankings.

Rated No. 2 and No. 3 by the WBO and IBF, respectively, Mbilli, 29, is gunning for a 168-pound title following an impressive 10-round unanimous decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in Quebec City, Canada, last month.

Mbilli, a French fighter of Cameroonian descent, has risen steadily to become one of the hottest properties at 168, having recorded stoppage victories over Rohan Murdock and Mark Heffron earlier this year.

According to Ramsey, unified light heavyweight champ Artur Beterbiev, whom he also trains, has raised the standard of training in the gym.

“I want [Beterbiev] to focus on his stuff, but he still influences the rest of the gym to follow his ethic at training and as a professional,” Ramsey told Pro Boxing Fans. “And now it's the turn of Christian Mbilli, who’s following in his footsteps. A very dedicated fighter, very easy to coach and gifted, strong, and he has a lot of tools.

“Christian also became an example for the new and upcoming fighters. I have a couple of new prospects coming in, and they all look up to Christian and Artur, and it's a kind of reputation that the gym has right now.”

The hard-hitting Mbilli is on course to be considered as a future opponent by 168-pound superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who dominated Edgar Berlanga in a unanimous decision win last month. The unified 168-pound champion is weighing his options and could opt to face the winner of Saturday’s 175-pound undisputed championship fight between Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

When asked if his fighter would consider facing Alvarez next, Ramsey said promoters Top Rank must decide what’s best for Mbilli.

“We don't know yet,” Ramsey said. “Christian had a little surgery right after the last fight. Now he's OK, but we're gonna let the promoters decide. If it's Canelo, we're gonna be very happy. But we don't want to wait on Canelo.

“We want to continue to push [Mbilli], to work with him technically and tactically, to get ready when the phone rings. Boxing is always a question of timing like this, but it's a project that we have, and we really believe we're gonna reach a target at one point with them, no doubt.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com .

The Rafael Espinoza-Robeisy Ramirez WBO featherweight title rematch will not go to a purse bid tomorrow, as Top Rank reached an agreement with both fighters before the deadline, per reporting from Lance Pugmire of BoxingScene.

Espinoza and Ramirez will be the co-main event on the Dec. 7 Top Rank card in Arizona, headlined by the rematch between Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez.

Their first bout in December was considered one of the best of the year, with both fighters hitting the canvas. Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs) of Mexico earned a narrow majority-decision win, dropping two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Ramirez (14-2, 9 KOs) in the 12th round to capture his first world title. Ramirez had previously floored Espinoza in the fifth round. Espinoza was a +800 underdog going into the fight.

Espinoza, 30, has fought once in 2024, scoring a fourth-round technical knockout over Sergio Chirino in June at the newly opened Fontainebleau Las Vegas, dropping him three times.

Ramirez, also 30, secured a seventh-round technical knockout over Brandon Benitez in his lone 2024 fight at the James L. Knight Center in Miami Beach, Florida.

There was nothing simple about the way Willie Pep boxed. The term “the sweet science” was coined for fighters like him, a man whose feet were performing ballet while his fists unfurled combinations. He could execute everything by the book if he wanted to, but he rarely wanted to. He layered in unorthodoxy, in the way he stood, the way he pivoted, the way he used a subtle shoulder feint to freeze an opponent. You won’t find many clips on YouTube of Pep standing flat-footed and throwing a predictable one-two. What you will find is Pep dancing, ducking, dodging, and landing spectacularly clean punches on befuddled opponents.

He fought with maximum complexity.

His favorite phrase, however, the one he frequently signed photos with, was as simple as could be. Two words: “Keep punching.”

From the moment actor James Madio began to learn about Willie Pep, recognized his physical resemblance to Willie Pep, and combined forces with his screenwriter/producer friend Steve Loff to get a script for a Willie Pep biopic in motion, those two words came to define the effort.

This was not an A-list movie star volunteering to play an A-list ex-athlete and having studios throw tens of millions of dollars at him for a project that couldn’t miss. This was a working man’s actor, with one of those faces you’re pretty sure you know but you can’t quite remember what you know him from, wanting to play an all-time great fighter famous only to hardcore boxing fans, a few octogenarians, and maybe people from Hartford, Connecticut. So it was never going to be quick and easy to get made. Madio and Loff had to tell themselves, over and over and over: Keep punching.

For 12 years.

I’ve seen “The Featherweight,” the new film that hit about 15 theaters in select locations over the last couple of weeks and now awaits wider distribution, and one of my main takeaways is this: Thank goodness it took so long to happen.

It’s the right actor in the right role with the right script at the right time, and had “The Featherweight” come together quickly, a decade or so ago, it wouldn’t have worked nearly as well.

“Yeah, that’s the thing,” the Bronx-born Madio said this week from his home in Ohio, where he lives with his wife and three kids. “Twelve, thirteen years ago, I wasn’t married, had no kids, didn’t lose my mother, didn’t go broke and then make money, didn’t do the roller coaster of finances 17 times. So there was nothing to reflect on, nothing to pull from. And as an actor, you need those scars. They help you. As hard as they are, you can pull from them. So, dealing with the loss of a parent, dealing with having children — this performance in this movie, 12 years ago that performance would have never been. The trajectory of this, it’s what it was supposed to be and it landed where it was supposed to land.”

Madio is 48 now. He was in his mid-30s when his dad first told him to look up the ex-fighter Willie Pep, to learn about this all-time great who was maybe the best defensive boxer ever and went through a half-dozen wives and came back from a plane crash in the middle of his career and returned for 10 fights in his early 40s after being out of the ring for six years. Madio printed out a picture of Pep and put it by his computer. The resemblance was undeniable. Loff certainly saw it when he laid eyes on that photo, and they set to work — on a multi-decade period piece spanning Pep’s life from age 19 to 45.

It was only after six years of running into walls at every turn that a different approach occurred to Loff. He would focus in on a specific point in Pep’s life, when he was 42, broke, drifting, married to a woman half his age, and wanting to fight again. And he landed on an inventive framing: The movie would be a faux documentary. A camera crew shows up at Pep’s house in 1965 to see what the ex-champ is up to, decides to make a film about him, and we, the audience, are watching that footage — with the occasional archival flashback clip mixed in.

So now Madio didn’t have to play Pep across various eras — other than a few boxing scenes, he could focus on playing just the weathered, 42-year-old version.

And by the time everything was green lit and they finally started filming in November 2021, Madio was 45 and had the life experience to relate perfectly to much of what that Willie Pep was going through.

“The objective was to show him in this light, this man who has a film crew knock on his door and that excites him. He thinks he’s going to now be able to be back in the spotlight,” Madio said. “But the joke’s on him because documentary filmmakers, if they find something to track and follow, they're gonna go with it. They're gonna see you when you're crying over your dying father or see you when you're fighting with your kid, and they're gonna get in your face.”

Just when it feels like every version of a boxing movie has already been made, “The Featherweight” comes along and tells a somewhat familiar story in a fresh way. That wouldn’t have been the case if the original version of the script had gone the distance.

Once the documentary-style approach was in place, bringing with it an avenue to make the film on a manageable budget, Appian Way Productions — the company founded by Leonardo DiCaprio, Madio’s co-star in “The Basketball Diaries” way back in 1995 — came on board. At first, “Hoop Dreams” director Steve James was attached, but he took a different job and instead recommended another documentary filmmaker, Robert Kolodny.

This became Kolodny’s debut directing a feature film of the scripted variety. On the September 18 episode of “ The Boxing Movie Podcast ,” Kolodny told host Steve Hunt that, in Pep, Madio had found the defining role of his career.

“Well, look … I hope so,” Madio said when informed that his director had said that. “I worked my ass off for it — it's not like I was given this. I had to go earn it, and now I feel like I'm in a really good place, so if this can help me play more vibrant characters and get better roles, then great, I’ll take that.”

Part of Madio working his ass off for it included the entire movie shoot being crammed into just 18 days. They shot in Pep’s hometown of Hartford, and Madio said it was hectic but rewarding.

“It went by in the blink of an eye,” he recalled. “There's a lot of pressure, but it’s wanted pressure, pressure that you had asked for your entire life and career. And playing Willie Pep, this is something that as an actor, this is the moment you’re waiting for, right? I tried, not in a method-acting way, but I tried to really stay with who Willie was while I was there for those 18 days, because I thought that that would help.

“And the way we shot it, as a documentary, the camera is always rolling. So there was this freedom to explore and move around in ways you wouldn’t normally be able to in traditional narrative filmmaking. I didn't have to worry about hitting a mark. I didn’t have to worry about continuity, because most of the time it was only one take. So there was a great freedom in the way we did it.”

As for the boxing scenes, Madio — who grew up a boxing fan and even gave the sport a try in his early teens, until he faced a southpaw in the gym and took a beating and realized this was not something he should pursue further — said the challenge for him was not in trying to look convincing as a boxer, but in trying specifically to move and box like Willie Pep.

“That man was incredibly gifted, such a special fighter,” Madio said. “It was difficult, knowing his footwork was his specialty, learning his triple jab, his V step, all of that stuff. I would work on that religiously.

“But the good news for me was, it’s filmmaking. There’s an edit that can help me look good. The editor, Robert Greene, could cut out any shot where the boxing didn’t look good enough. I was protected, in a sense. I was protected by an edit.”

Still, it isn’t easy for a guy in his mid 40s to plausibly pass as the 22-year-old Pep who beat Chalky Wright for the featherweight title. One aid to Madio on that front (besides hair coloring products): He stayed in shape for 12 years, always ready to start filming as Pep if a deal to make the movie came together.

Astute boxing fans will notice two familiar faces in cameo roles in “The Featherweight”: The second-best-ever boxer from Hartford, former welterweight titlist Marlon Starling, pops up early in the movie. And current featherweight prospect Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington appears later as a sparring partner for the comebacking Pep.

It’s best to stop there in terms of anything resembling spoilers. Hopefully, fight fans will be able to see the movie soon. Madio said he expects it won’t be long before it’s available on a streaming platform, but in the meantime, powered by mostly positive reviews (81% on Rotten Tomatoes), they’ll keep pushing for a wider theatrical release.

They’ll keep pushing, and they’ll keep punching. Just because “The Featherweight” is, after a dozen years, a finished product, that doesn’t mean the fight is over.

Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering the sport for such outlets as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, Ringside Seat, 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 or LinkedIn , or via email at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.

Dana White is not a man to hold back his thoughts.

When asked a question, he’s a straight shooter who is happy to provide an answer.

That’s what happened recently when the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president was asked about claims made by former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou about the difference in pay from the UFC to boxing.

In typical Dana White fashion, he put across his thoughts in a forthright manner.

And his comments has stirred a reaction from Ngannou.

The former UFC heavyweight champion is currently signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) after losing his last boxing match to Anthony Joshua by devastating knockout.

Among his greatest achievements, during his fight against Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 in March 2018, Ngannou landed a devastating uppercut that led him to win by knockout in the first round.

This punch was measured at 129,161 units on the UFC’s punch meter, setting a new record.

After Ngannou parted ways with the UFC due to a prolonged contractual dispute, the French Cameroonian has headlined two boxing events against heavyweight stars Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

Unfortunately, his loss against Anthony Joshua put a stop to his boxing career.

Since then, Dana White has made several jabs at Ngannou since the former heavyweight champion left the UFC.Jake Paul challenges Mike Tyson with $5 million bet

White has also claimed that the UFC offered him the largest heavyweight contract in UFC history, and that he would have earned more than in his first two professional boxing fights combined.

Upon hearing these accusations, Ngannou did not stay silent and has now responded by labelling the UFC president a liar.

In an interview with SHAK MMA, Ngannou said, “Unless he was the one writing the check, I don’t see how he could know that.

“But for me, as the one receiving that money after leaving the UFC, and based on what the UFC was proposing, it was just a trap.

“It wasn’t a solid contract… so that’s a lie.”

Additionally, Ngannou reacted to White’s comments about entering the boxing business.

“Honestly, I don’t know anything about what he said.

“He has said many things so far; we are all confused.”

It seems that the relationship between the two will remain complicated.

For UFC fans dreaming of a reconciliation between the two men any time soon, it certainly seems far from happening.

The good thing about having low expectations is that it means you are rarely disappointed. 

This rang true again this evening (October 10) when Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev shared a top table at yet another press conference ahead of their light heavyweight battle on Saturday (October 12) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Fed up with talking, both Beterbiev and, to a lesser extent, Bivol were content to allow the giddy promoters and managers on either side of them to do most of the selling on their behalf and no amount of coaxing could get them to change their ways. 

Of the two, Bivol was the most vocal. He spoke in complete sentences and appeared happy to elaborate when pressed. 

“Every time when I think about my opponents, I am getting excited,” he said. “One of them is the face of boxing (Saul “Canelo” Alvarez), and it’s exciting to fight against this guy; another had almost 50 fights and never lost (Gilberto Ramirez); and another guy (Lyndon Arthur) is a champion also. It makes me more excited, not nervous. Artur is a great champion. He has what I want. He has belts. It’s not only about belts. When I look at his skills, I want to check my skills against this amazing fighter.”

Asked if he has imagined how Saturday’s fight with Beterbiev will play out, Bivol, 23-0 (12), said: “In my training camp, in my head, I’m always trying to realise how it goes. There are a lot of different scenarios. Usually a fighter will be more calm in some situations when he realises he is ready for everything. If he trains something in his training camp, and this happens in the ring, he is more confident. Against Beterbiev, we had to do a great camp. We had to think about different scenarios and we did. Now I am just curious how it will be in the ring.”

It is fair to say that most watching tonight’s press conference in Riyadh were slightly curious to see how Beterbiev, 20-0 (20), would react to being asked questions. Having been accused in recent days of being “arrogant” by Eddie Hearn, Bivol’s promoter, it could have gone one or two ways. Either Beterbiev could have taken the bait, tried to overcompensate, and simply gone on the attack, or, conversely, he could have doubled down on his truculence and annoyed Hearn further. 

“I think we talk a lot,” said Beterbiev to start, at which point it became clear he had no interest in appeasing anyone. “I’m preparing for a good fight,” he added. “We’ll see. Be ready. I will be, too.”

As for Bivol, as well as ready, he said this to finish: “I’m just different. I just have a different name, different body, different skills. This is why it is such an interesting fight. We all know everybody is different.”

Bivol and Beterbiev are certainly different, that much is true. Also, at a time of loud noises and unearned hype, different can be considered rather refreshing, a nice change.

It has often been said that Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol is the best and most enticing fight to make in the entire sport, and that might well be true. The fighters are exceptionally good at what they do, but each needs a victory over the other to be recognized as the best light heavyweight of their era.

Such is the case in the modern age, when sanctioning-body belts essentially hold their owners hostage, keeping them away from their best opponents for too long. The records of Beterbiev and Bivol – though glossy and eye-catching – are not exactly bulging with truly elite-level opposition.

Bivol has the win over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – a natural super middleweight – and another over Gilberto Ramirez. But after that, it’s slim pickings when finding opponents on his record that could elevate him to the status of an all-time great. And for Beterbiev, though he has won all his 20 fights by knockout, there is only a smattering of victories over truly befitting opposition.

Nonetheless, over the course of their 10 Greatest Hits – a collaborative effort, with both of their finest showings on the playlist – there are plenty of performances to further whet the appetite for Saturday night’s fight.

10) Beterbiev KO4 Gabriel Campillo (April 2015)

The belief that Beterbiev, an outstanding amateur, was a champion-in-waiting gathered pace with this one-sided drubbing of perennial contender Gabriel Campillo. Though the Spaniard was past his best, he was on a three-fight win streak and widely regarded among the top 10 light heavyweights in the world. Beterbiev, in only his eighth professional outing, dropped his man in the opening round with a right and closed the show with his other hand in the fourth.

9) Bivol UD12 Joe Smith Jr. (March 2019)

Smith, a solid and perennial figure in the 175-pound top 10, is the common rival who highlights the difference in approach taken by Bivol and Beterbiev. Five years ago, with Smith closer to his best than when he encountered Beterbiev, Bivol patiently outboxed and befuddled his willing foe, hurting him on occasion. There was a moment at the end of the 10th, when Smith clattered Bivol on or just after the bell, that saw the Russian walk back to his stool unsteadily. Complete control was regained in the 11th, however.

8) Bivol TKO6 Malik Zinad (June 2024)

Though sometimes a little too happy to go through the motions, Bivol reminded the world what he can do when in a clinical mood. Bivol started quickly, exposing a somewhat crude approach from his opponent, left-hooking Zinad to the mat in the opening round. The challenger continued to burst forward, only to be countered and largely outclassed. Bivol finished matters in the sixth when two shots from his left opened up his foe for a two-fisted barrage.

7) Beterbiev KO9 Marcus Browne (December 2021)

Beterbiev appeared to be getting on top of Browne after a slow start when their heads came together in the fourth and left the favorite with a gruesome, gaping gash in the middle of his forehead. The wound was so severe, in fact, that it continued to pump claret for the remainder of the fight. No matter. Beterbiev decked Browne in the seventh and, after being warned at the start of the ninth that the fight would be stopped due to the cut, duly knocked his opponent out with an uppercut.

6) Beterbiev TKO8 Anthony Yarde (January 2023)

There were moments (and only moments) when Yarde looked like he might (and only might) pull off a ginormous upset when he challenged Beterbiev in London last year. Yarde had success to the point that two of the three judges had him winning the firefight going into the eighth. Not for the last time, however, Beterbiev responded positively. With both fighters cut, Beterbiev fired an overhand right that wobbled Yarde, then another that floored him. With the fight as good as over, the Englishman’s corner rescued their man when further punishment came hurtling at him.  

5) Beterbiev TKO2 Joe Smith Jr. (June 2022)

A sizzling demolition job for Beterbiev over a fellow belt-holder that was markedly more memorable than Bivol’s victory over the same foe. Smith, known for his durability and having never been stopped, made the foolhardy decision to punch with Beterbiev. He went down midway through the first, only for it to be ruled a slip. Over the course of the next three minutes, Smith would take three counts before being hauled out by the referee in a severe state of discombobulation.

4) Beterbiev TKO7 Callum Smith (January 2024)

A warning for Bivol: Prior to Beterbiev’s most recent outing, we were being told that “The Beast” was getting old, that his injuries were catching up with him, that against a smart and rangy boxer like Callum Smith, he might have significant problems reproducing his old form. What followed was one of Beterbiev’s most destructive and impressive showings, as he overcame the former super middleweight belt-holder in Round 7, decking him twice and demanding surrender from Smith’s corner.

3) Bivol UD12 Gilberto Ramirez (November 2022)

Bivol made a very good opponent in Ramirez (then 44-0) look completely ordinary late in ’22. The bout was eagerly awaited, with some picking Ramirez to win beforehand. In truth, he never got a sniff of victory. The Mexican was a former titlist at 168 and had looked destructive while halting all five of his opponents at light heavyweight, but Bivol, exhibiting his habit of making the hardest game look oh-so easy, peppered his foe with unerringly accurate assaults throughout.

2) Beterbiev TKO10 Oleksandr Gvozdyk (October 2019)

Before Bivol became the ideal opponent for Beterbiev, Gvozdyk was regarded as the biggest threat to Beterbiev’s supremacy at light heavyweight. Gvozdyk, 17-0 heading in and an amateur conqueror of Bivol, started well, and after eight rounds the bout looked poised. But Beterbiev was only just getting started; he had his opponent – ahead on two cards – reeling in the ninth and then on the canvas three times in the 10th.

1) Bivol UD12 Canelo Alvarez (May 2022)

Bivol was simply majestic in Las Vegas when he upset the revered Canelo in his adopted hometown. Alvarez was expected to win, but Bivol, fighting more aggressively than is his custom, never gave the Mexican superstar a chance, regularly jolting him from his rhythm while dictating both the pace and distance. Perhaps most impressive of all was that Bivol – such was the level of his control – was so at ease that he didn’t even appear to go into top gear.

Arriving in a new country is exciting. Once the bags have been collected and passport control has been cleared, visitors often spend the ride from the airport to the hotel staring out of the window at their new surroundings. 

While the other fighters arriving in Saudi Arabia for Saturday’s undisputed light-heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol marvel at the spectacular skyscrapers and the mega projects changing Riyadh’s skyline, for Jack Massey, the sight of the cranes and scaffolding will act as a timely reminder of just how far he has come. 

On Saturday Massey fights Jai Opetaia for the IBF cruiserweight title, but this time two years ago he was working on the scaffolds himself. Unable to secure a meaningful opportunity, the 31 year old went back to work.

The temperature had dropped to -6 degrees when his manager, Kevin Maree, called offering him the chance to box former heavyweight champion Joseph Parker. Massey, 22-2 (12 KOs) couldn’t say “Yes” quickly enough. He had almost given up hope.

“There was a few times,” Massey told BoxingScene. “There were some promotional issues around that time and I had to get back to work. 

“It was like, ‘I've been in this game nearly 10 years and I'm back on a scaffold. What am I doing this for?’ But at the end of the day, it's all I fucking know. It's pretty sad to say, but I've not got any qualifications or anything else. What am I going to do? If I do stop now, without any money in the bank, it's like going back to the factory where I worked 10 years ago.

“People my age, in their 30s, they've either got their own business or they're qualified plasterers or mechanics or whatever. It's a long way back down and it was a bit frightening and a bit scary to be honest, but I just knew that if I stuck to it, it would always come.”

Despite losing, Massey comfortably negotiated the 10 rounds against Parker, but rather than his efforts putting him directly into a lively domestic mix at 200lbs, his cruiserweight rivals and their handlers saw a hard, thankless night’s work and cast him back into the shadows.

This time, Massey stayed in the gym and when his phone rang again earlier in 2024 he was ready. The offer was a late notice European and Commonwealth title shot against Isaac Chamberlain. 

Things got tough during the middle rounds but, aware that he would be unlikely to be given another shot, the hard-nosed Massey bit down and showed some versatility by boxing his way to a close but deserved decision victory. 

The call offering him a shot at Opetaia’s IBF title didn’t come as such a big surprise. In fact, realising that the world’s cruiserweights were charting a course around the dangerous Australian, Massey saw his chance and actively chased down Opetaia. 

Massey respects Opetaia but believes that, outside of Mairis Breidis, he poses the toughest test yet of his credentials. 

“Watching him, you can't take it away from him that he's a very good fighter,” Massey said. “He looks good. But if you look at who he's fought, it's only really been Breidis twice, hasn't it? Coming to the back end of his career.

“But you can't take away the fact that when you watch him fighting, you can see that he's a very, very good fighter. You can't go in there underestimating him thinking he's only fought over-the-hill fighters. You can tell he's a good fighter and he's very good at what he does.”

Massey’s status as European champion qualifies him as a more than legitimate world-title challenger and he would be a very live underdog against the WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith, the WBC titlist Noel Mikaelien or the WBA champion Gilberto Ramirez. 

Opetaia, regardless, has quickly developed an intimidating aura and separated himself from the pack. Although he was an excellent amateur, the 29-year-old southpaw made his name by overcoming a horrifically broken jaw to take the IBF title from Breidis in 2022.

He has forged his reputation by ruthlessly taking out the overmatched Jordan Thompson and Ellis Zorro, and by the cold, no-nonsense fashion with which he goes about his business.

Massey has never been on such a big stage and will need to hold his nerve as the fight-week events progress, but his preparation has been focused purely on what goes on inside the ring and they took encouragement from Opetaia’s most recent outing.

In May, Opetaia gave the ageing Breidis a rematch, but although he controlled the vast majority of the action, he slowed down as the fight progressed and had to endure a difficult final round.

Massey respects Opetaia but he isn’t going to surrender to the hype before he has witnessed the reasons for it himself. Opetaia is going to have to prove himself to him. 

“That’s why he gets a lot of critics,” he said. “Because obviously a lot of people buy into him. They like him. They like his style and how he is outside the ring. Obviously, that also brings critics on board to come to the table and say, ‘Well, who's he actually fought?’ so he's got to prove himself a little bit more. 

“But people get excited, don't they? They hear the sparring stories and they watch him fight and stuff and start putting labels on him to be the next this and that. So, time will tell when Jack Massey gets in with him.”

Sebastian Fundora has the WBO’s blessing to pursue a junior-middleweight title defense other than Terence Crawford, but at this hour, Fundora’s top choice of former three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. is being frowned upon by the sanctioning body.

The WBO’s lead attorney told BoxingScene Thursday that if Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) chose Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) right now that Fundora would be stripped of his belt.

“Fundora must comply with WBO rules and fight an active, world-rated contender,” the attorney, Gustavo Olivieri, said. “Simple as that.”

By virtue of his bloody March 30 split-decision victory over Tim Tszyu in Las Vegas, Fundora of Coachella, Calif., captured both the WBO and vacant WBC belts. He was met in the ring afterward by Texas’ Spence, who expressed interest in meeting Fundora next.

Both fighters are under the Premier Boxing Champions banner.

But the WBO quickly let Fundora know he was obligated to next fight its “super” champion, the four-division world champion Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), and Fundora has sought to retain both of the belts.

Crawford, following his WBA junior-middleweight victory over Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3, has pushed instead for a showdown against four-division and super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, balking at the WBO deadline to negotiate a deal with Fundora.

On Wednesday, following a 10-day extension on Sept. 30, Crawford agreed to let Fundora pursue an alternate fight that would allow the new champion to retain the WBO belt.

(Whether that move means Crawford feels he now has an “in” to fight Alvarez is uncertain because Alvarez has previously shuttered the idea of fighting the lighter man, and he’s also expressed interest in a showdown with WBA light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol should Bivoil win that division’s undisputed title Saturday versus Artur Beterbiev in Saudi Arabia).

So while the speculation quickly turned that Fundora would go after a pay-per-view fight with Spence that could take place at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, the WBO says not so fast.

The WBO will only sanction title fights against opponents ranked in its top 15, which Spence is not.

Olivieri noted other Spence flaws: He’s coming off a one-sided knockout in his undisputed-welterweight-title beating by Crawford in July 2023, hasn’t fought since and hasn’t petitioned to enter the WBO’s top 15.

If Fundora fights Spence under those conditions, he will be stripped, Olivieri said.

That seems harsh and odd given that many of the occupants of the WBO’s top 15 would be underdogs if they fought Spence.

The cast under top-ranked Tszyu (who is participating in an Oct. 19 IBF title fight against champion Bakhram Murtazaliev) includes No. 2 Josh Kelly, the young No. 3 Xander Zayas, No. 9 veteran Erickson Lubin and No. 12 Jorge Garcia Perez (30-4).

The opening for Spence is this:

“Team Spence or his representatives can certainly petition and argue the reasons as to why he is deserving of world-rating consideration and request an opportunity,” to be ranked in the top 15, Olivieri said.

That opportunity will be at the WBO’s ratings and mandatories portion of its upcoming convention in Puerto Rico, on Oct. 31.

If successful in winning WBO sanctioning and winning his next fight, Fundora will be obligated to fight Crawford next, the WBO reminded.

Unless Crawford opts to fight someone else again, which would cause him to waive his position as a mandatory foe to the WBO champion.

Vasyl Lomachenko had a fabled amateur career and carried that success into the professional scene, becoming a three-weight world champion in just twelve contests. However, at 36-years-old and lacking motivation to return to the ring, the fan-favourite Ukrainian may be about the hang up the gloves.

‘Loma’ famously went 396-1 during his stellar amateur career and attempted to make history by challenging for world honours in just his second bout as a professional, but fell short in a split-decision defeat to Orlando Salido.

However, in the fight that followed, Lomachenko did manage to get his hands on a world title by scoring a majority-decision victory over Gary Russell Jr. for the WBO featherweight crown.

From there on out it the world of boxing became obsessed by the talent of ‘The Matrix’, as many tried and failed to lay a glove on the masterful technician, defending his featherweight title on three occasions before picking up the WBO super-featherweight strap – which was defended four times before a move up to lightweight.

At 135lbs, Loma appeared to have maxed out physically but he still had the superior skill to dominate Jorge Linares, Jose Pedraza, Anthony Crolla and Luke Campbell to become the unified WBC, WBA and WBO champion.

Although, that emphatic run that captivated the world of boxing was brought to an end by a then-unlikely contender as the now well-respected Teofimo Lopez upset the odds and pulled off the upset to make a name for himself and shake up the lightweight division.

After three wins, Lomachenko would return to the peak of the lightweight division and what an opportunity it was – a shot at his lifelong dream of becoming an undisputed champion against the youngest undisputed title-holder of all-time, Devin Haney.Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul: new fight added to undercard

Yet, despite the vast majority of fans believing that ‘Loma’ had done enough to win the fight, it was Haney who got the nod on the scorecards, leaving the veteran heartbroken.

But all was not lost for 36-year-old Lomachenko, who returned in another title fight earlier this year and rolled back the years to dethrone George Kambosos Jr. and become the IBF lightweight champion, ending an almost four-year run without having a belt to his name.

As a result, it was expected that Lomachenko would pursue the other lightweight champions; Gervonta Davis (WBA), Shakur Stevenson (WBC) and Denys Berinchyk (WBO), yet news that the hard-to-hit phenomenon was not motivated to fight Davis raised red flags.

Now, ESPN journalist Mike Coppinger has claimed that Lomachenko refused a fight with ‘Tank’ because he is ‘contemplating retirement’, whilst previewing Davis’ recently-confirmed showdown with Lamont Roach.Gervonta Davis was in talks to fight Vasiliy Lomachenko – who is contemplating retirement – and after the prospect of the fight collapsed, Tank will now fight Lamont Roach in a fight where he’ll be a major favorite. Discussing Gervonta’s next fight on ESPN+’s State of Boxing. pic.twitter.com/m8F0Qcqmuf

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) October 10, 2024“Gervonta Davis was in talks to fight Vasiliy Lomachenko – who is contemplating retirement – and after the prospect of the fight collapsed, Tank will now fight Lamont Roach in a fight where he’ll be a major favorite. Discussing Gervonta’s next fight on ESPN+’s State of Boxing.”

Davis will fight Roach on December 14th in Texas, with a salivating co-main event also being reported for that bill.

As for ‘Loma’, he has recently been linked to an alternate opponent, but if this is the end – what a ride it has been.

After over a year of inactivity, Chris Eubank Jr steps back into a boxing ring this weekend.

The son of legendary boxer Chris Eubank, Jr is set to face Kamil Szeremeta on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Saudi.

Eubank Jr is looking to remind the world that he still has what it takes to become a world champion despite reaching 35 years of age.

A decisive win against Szeremeta will go a long way to building anticipation to see what’s next for the Brighton based boxer.

Chris Eubank Jr has never struggled to garner interest, not least because of his surname.

But it seems that he has his eye on a mega bout after confirming that he’s in discussions with three blockbuster names to fight next.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Eubank Jr seemingly already has one eye on the future.

“Yes, I need to win and do so in devastating fashion”, he told the television broadcaster in a sit down interview.

“If I don’t, why would people want to see me fight Canelo, Conor Benn, Billy Joe Saunders, or Terence Crawford?

“If I can’t beat this guy convincingly, why am I fighting them?

“There’s still so much for me in my boxing career. It’s not just a belief; it’s reality.

“We’re already in talks with Canelo, Benn, Saunders, and the middleweight titleholders.Huge rematch expected to land on Davis-Roach undercard

“I just need to do my job, stay disciplined, and all those big fights will happen.”

Those three names mentioned would undoubtedly be box office fights.

It seems that everyone in the middleweight division wants a fight with Canelo Alvarez and Eubank Jr is happy to have his name in the mix for that one.

Of course, one of his three losses in his career came against Billy Joe Saunders on split decision.

Those two have never met again in the ring and fight fans will be intrigued to see who would come up next.

But it’s the other name that will likely get the most attention.

Any card that features the names of Benn and Eubank will sell tickets.

And that’s the fight that Eubank Jr seems to want next.

“Yes, if he sorts out his license, that’s definitely a fight I want next”, said Chris Eubank Jr when asked about the Conor Benn fight.

These two were originally scheduled to fight in October 2022, but the fight was cancelled just days before after Benn had tested positive for banned substances.

Conor Benn has always protested his innocence despite the fight being called off.

It seems that the fight could be rekindled with these latest comments showing that there’s still an eagerness on the side of Chris Eubank Jr to make that fight happen next in his career.

Adam Azim has made headlines since bursting onto the British boxing scene four years ago.

At first, it was Azim’s blazing hand speed that attracted attention. But his impact saw him quickly pitched into a tit-for-tat battle of oneupmanship with his junior welterweight rival Dalton Smith.

Every fighter benefits greatly from having a talented, high profile rival but despite governing bodies best efforts, a meeting between the two is still clearly still some way away and it began to feel like the constant talk and maneuvering was overshadowing Azim’s development.

Ankle and wrist injuries have kept Azim (11-0, 8 KOs) out of the ring since he defended the European title against Enock Poulsen in February. As frustrating as it is for a young fighter to be forced onto the sidelines, the setbacks may have been his body’s way of telling him – and everyone around him – to slow down.

During his absence, Azim has relinquished the European title whilst Smith vacated the British belt after stopping a still dangerous Jose Zepeda to legitimize himself as a world title contender. The two are further away than they have been for some time.

It sounds like Azim has benefitted from the time away. Rather than constantly working towards a specific opponent, he has been able to work on his all round game and instead of having to defend his career path, self-improvement has been his sole focus.

On Oct. 19, Azim returns to action in a sensible, meaningful domestic showdown with recent world title challenger Ohara Davies.

The talk about Smith will inevitably flare up again, but for a few more weeks the talented Azim is at the center of his own story again.

“My mindset for this fight is completely different. I've been working really hard in the gym, improving every single day and working extremely hard,” Azim told BoxingScene. “The good thing when you're in the gym all the time is just that you take pieces of what you have to do in the ring and keep working on that. So what I've been working on is my footwork and I've been working on inside fighting, which is one of the elements that I want to be working on.

“As a complete package – as a pro fighter – it’s good to have an inside game which is good, as also having an outside game as well."

Barely a month seemed to pass without Azim scoring the type of spectacular early finish that provides manna from heaven for social media teams and fuel for the hype machine.

Back in November 2022, Azim racked up his sixth consecutive quick stoppage by blowing away the tough Rylan Charlton inside two rounds, and the search went out for opponents capable of withstanding the early storm and providing him with quality rounds.

The matchmakers certainly did their job. 

Santos Reyes got up off the floor and took him the 10-round distance, as did Adam Faniian. Franck Petitjean made it to the 10th round of their vacant European title fight before finally being overwhelmed, whilst a shoulder injury forced Enock Poulsen to retire after five rounds earlier this year. 

The rounds were invaluable. They gave Azim confidence in his gas tank, but they also taught him which parts of his style would be effective at championship level and which needed more work.

“Do you know what?" Azim said. "After the Rylan Charlton fight, I fought Santos Reyes, and when I dropped him, I'm like, ‘Yeah, I've got him again.’ But there's a point where these lot have hard heads, good chins, and there's a way where you have to take him out in a mature way. With me, I was just throwing punches, trying to get him out without thinking about it."

“If I fought him again, there would be a different story because I know how to take him out now, you know? If I stayed inside with him then, I would have got him out because I was just keeping it long, ticking over. It's those threes and fours of punches coming in – not just ones or twos – where there's shots that they don't see.

“Even with the Aram Faniian fight, that was a dangerous fight for me at an early stage. He’d had 24 fights, and he's only lost one in that time, so it was a good step-up opponent for me.

“Now the fights have gone longer, I can think about how to take them out and break them down – but that comes with maturity. At that time, I was still 19, 20. I'm 22 now, so I'm getting older and obviously getting my man strength, which is a good thing to have as well.

“ I’m working really hard, so I know what to do in the ring now.”

Chris Eubank Jr. made headlines recently for launching a scathing rant at the press conference for Artur Beterbiev’s undisputed light-heavyweight showdown with Dmitry Bivol. However, his cousin, Harlem, has now revealed the real reason behind the middleweight contender’s ruthless verbal attack.

Eubank Jr. is scheduled to appear on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard against Kamil Szeremeta (22-2-2) on Saturday night as he hopes to edge closer towards a world title shot against Janibek Alimkhanuly or possibly Hamzah Sheeraz.

Yet, at the press conference for the event last month, the focus of Eubank Jr. did not appear to be on his opponent. Instead, the 35-year-old gunned for British promoters Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren and Kalle Sauerland, labelling each of them as ‘scumbags’ in the viral clip whilst explaining why he has signed with Ben Shalom’s BOXXER.Eubank Jr knows how to make a headline.

Here he is gearing into Warren Sauerland and Hearn for being scumbag promoters. Only Turki survives‼️🥊🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/OAIDRXXVdr

— LondonRunzBoxing (@LondonRunz) September 25, 2024

“Why BOXXER? Because every other promoter out here is scumbag.

“He [Frank Warren] sued me for a couple of hundred thousand a few years ago, so obviously I’d never go back to him. Scumbag.

“Kalle Sauerland, kept me in a terrible contract for several years. Scumbag.

“Eddie Hearn and Frank Smith tried everything they could to make this Conor Benn fight. So yes, scumbags.

“The only one who isn’t [a scumbag] is Turki Al-Alshikh. This is a man who isn’t trying to take money from fighters and use lawyers and accountants in slave contracts.”

Understandably, each of targeted promoters were outraged at the comments but none more so than Frank Warren, who threatened to take a legal course of action once again.

Soon after, Eubank Jr. released a statement and apologised for his words – with that apology being accepted by Warren.Chris Eubank Jr and Frank Warren release a statement. #fightclub247#boxing#fighter#beterbievbivol#champion#forthefanspic.twitter.com/KJcegynEFf

— Fight Club 24/7 (@fightclub247) September 25, 2024

“Following today’s press conference for the historic Riyadh Season event on October 12th, I would like to retract my inaccurate statements and offer my apologies to Frank Warren, Eddie Hearn and Kalle Sauerland. I now wish to focus purely on boxing and preparing for a huge fight in Riyadh next month.”

However, rising welterweight contender and cousin of Chris, Harlem Eubank, today exclusively told that this rant was one that was planned by Eubank Jr. and others, rather than one that was off of the cuff, explaining that someone gave him the ‘green light’ beforehand.

“Chris is always going to speak his mind, whatever he thinks. He is always happy to speak his mind and I think Ben [Shalom] had a hard week the week before in the AJ fight build-up, and I think that Jr. came to the rescue.

“Chris is one of them people that is happy to express his views, especially if given the green light to do so.”

Whoever it was that encouraged Eubank Jr. to cause a stir will certainly be pleased with the outcome, but the former IBO middleweight world champion will be hoping that his speech did not cause too much of a distraction, and that he can still get the job done against Szeremeta on Saturday night.

Two months after signing with Main Events, junior featherweight Carlos Jackson will have his first opportunity to fight underneath the promoter’s banner.

The card will be held October 19 at the Caribe Royale Orlando. The televised undercard, airing on Amazon’s Prime Video, will include junior middleweight prospect Yoenis Tellez vs. Johan Gonzalez and middleweight prospect Mateo Tapia vs. Endry Saavedra.

Jackson was a promotional free agent who was flying under the radar, according to Joe Rotonda, director of operations for Main Events.

“He's a big puncher at 122. He took some time off and came back earlier this year. He wants to fight everybody,” Rotonda told BoxingScene.com. “He wants [undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya] Inoue at some point. ... We'll see what he looks like later this month. He's fighting Carlos Carlson, a tough kid, fought on UFC Fight Pass recently [in a Marchloss to Feargal McCrory]. We'll see what he looks like. I think we'll be impressed, though.”

Jackson turned pro in 2015 at the relatively late age of 26. He won his first 16 bouts before dropping a unanimous decision to Enrique Vivas (18-1 at the time) in July 2020. Jackson notched three more wins, then stepped away from the ring from September 2022 until this April, returning with a fifth-round TKO of Alexis Bastar (then 18-2-1).

The loss to Vivas came at featherweight, which Jackson has occasionally fought at over the years. Rotonda believes Jackson will be better off fighting in the 122-pound weight class. The match with Carlson will be right in the middle, at 124 pounds.

There have been other changes made besides Jackson’s weight class.

Time will be of the essence for Jackson, who is 35 years old.

“If Carlos gets past October 19 and we can go that ProBox route, there is no B-side of ProBox [matches]. ProBox is 50-50,” Rotonda said of the promoter, which, in full disclosure, owns BoxingScene.com. 

Main Events has been intentional about keeping a smaller roster , given that most of the television and streaming network dates belong to other promoters.

“I'm not into signing 60 guys and having nowhere to put them,” Rotonda said. “I know a ton of these guys go out and they sign all these fighters, and there's no way to honor those deals. [...] So if I can guarantee that I can keep you busy, we'll bring you on. Especially if you actually want to fight, you want to fight anyone and figure out whether you can fight or not, and we can figure that out too for you.”

Added Duva: “We're not well-situated to sign a guy who's turning pro. You need to keep them active. But to get to the people like Carlos Jackson who are at a crossroads in their career, I think we're well-positioned to help them. So that's what we're going to do.”

Fabio Wardley has proven himself to not only be a worthy British champion but a possible world title threat by maintaining his 18-fight undefeated record at the peak of the domestic level. Yet, Saturday night represents his toughest test to date and ahead of fight night, the Ipswich fan-favourite made a shocking admission.

Despite no amateur experience, Wardley rose into British title contention after knockout victories in all outings since his debut and after 14 wins and 13 knockouts, Wardley was offered the shot at the vacant title against Nathan Gorman – who was halted in just three rounds.

An opportunity on the big stage soon followed, as Wardley stopped American Michael Coffie before returning to defend the Lonsdale Belt on the Fury-Ngannou Riyadh Season card in Saudi Arabia, knocking out David Adeleye in a career-best performance.

Yet, it was Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke who was being picked by many to put an end to Wardley’s reign and an Easter Sunday showdown gave further substance to those suggestions.

Wardley and Clarke went to war in one of 2024’s fights of the year thus far, where Wardley scored a knockdown and Clarke was deducted an additional point, but still the judges scored the contest as a draw – meaning Clarke would have been victorious if not for the low blow.

Now, Wardley and Clarke will rematch in what many feel is the highlight of the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard and in an interview with Boxing News, 29-year-old Wardley declared that he intends to vacate the British title during the aftermath.Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul: new fight added to undercard

“Obviously, the Frazer Clarke era, whatever that bit of my life was or bit of my boxing career was – that will be finished after Saturday night. And my British title, British area level fights. I think they’ll be done as well. I can’t see any more contenders that is a right [fight] for me to take at this juncture in my career. I’ve had my good run with it, time to probably let that go.”

This will be Wardley’s third defence of the belt, allowing him to keep a hold of the belt and add it to his collection even after it has been officially vacated.

Although, the strong-willed power-puncher hopes that the British title will not be the only strap that he can look back on after his career, adding that he is hoping to close in on a world title shot during 2025.

“Ultimately setting up for a world title or at least a shot at a world title or eliminator or a voluntary shot.

“I’m up there in the mix. We know the big fight that’s happening at the end of the year. So, once that happens and then a few months later when things start to fragment and mandatories start to get called and eliminators everything moves starts to move in all sorts of directions. I want one of those directions to be towards me.”

Fabio Wardley currently sits at #8 in the world rankings with both the WBO and WBC, #9 with the WBA and #12 with the IBF. As he suggests, belts are likely to become available in the near future, but the route selection may prove pivotal depending on which belts the victor of Fury-Usyk decide to retain.

Trainer Andre Rozier is confident Artur Beterbiev will be too strong for Dmitry Bivol when they clash on Saturday.

Beterbiev, who holds the WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight titles, is on the cusp of facing Bivol, who has the WBA belt, for the undisputed 175-pound championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Russian duo – one pure boxer with pop, one thundering puncher with boxing skills – are expected to produce a thrilling fight.

Ahead of the much-anticipated encounter, Rozier believes Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) would be a tall order for Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs).

“No one beats Beterbiev,” said Rozier in an interview with Fight Hype. “The only way you're gonna beat that man is before time catches him and holds his hand and says, ‘Come on. Come with me.’ That's the only way. Beterbiev is a wrecking machine.”

At age 39, Beterbiev could be nearing retirement and his career has been plagued with injuries lately. The Bivol fight was initially scheduled for June and had to be postponed when Beterbiev ruptured his meniscus.

Beterbiev will be defending his unified titles for the third time by becoming the undisputed light heavyweight champion. Having added the WBO title to the WBC and IBF belts by a round two stoppage win over Joe Smith Jr. two years ago, Beterbiev beat Anthony Yarde and Callum Smith to retain his belts.

Rozier said that Beterbiev, with his impeccable KO record, has been a force to be reckoned with even when he has encountered difficult moments in the ring.

“I mean, he does so many things well," Rozier said. "People will be like, 'Oh, he was knocked down.' Like, everybody in boxing has been knocked down except for Canelo [Alvarez]. That's why it's not gonna happen on Saturday. And you just have to say, 'I know if I do get knocked down, I have to get back up and win,' and that's what he did.”

Meanwhile, Bivol has a deep resume, having defeated the aforementioned iron-chinned Alvarez, Gilberto Ramirez and Joe Smith Jr., among others. In his most recent fight, Bivol finished off Libya’s Malik Zinad in six rounds.

When asked about the quality of the matchup on Saturday, Rozier said, “I think that it's gonna be a fantastic fight. Two very, very gifted athletes. Bivol, Beterbiev – no better fight than this.

“I mean, I just can't wait for it because you have the consummate articulating boxer Bivol and you have the crushing pressure and tenacity of Beterbiev. What a fantastic fight. I'm glad that Turki Alalshikh put this fight together.”

Tim Tszyu and Bakhram Murtazaliev are set to fight over the IBF junior middleweight title on Saturday 19th October.

Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida is the current location for the clash.

But that looks in serious jeopardy as of now.

Hurricane Milton has been all over the news in the United States of America.

People have been ordered to stay indoors by police as Hurricane Milton smashes into Florida.

Two people have already died from a tornado as Hurricane Milton approached.

The National Weather Service has issued the highest level of flood warning possible to residents of Tampa, St Petersburg and Clearwater. There are approximately two million residents who are subject to the alert.

The situation is pretty dire right now.

With winds recorded of 390km/hour, it’s one of the worst hurricanes in USA history.

A boxing fight is not at the forefront of most people’s minds in Florida right now.

With so much destruction and devastation, it’s looking unfeasible that the fight will be staged in Orlando next week.

No Limit CEO George Rose, who is promoting the fight, has detailed plans to the media around the possibilities.

“It’s been a bit of a tumultuous last week as we found out about the weather trends over in the U.S,” Rose told media.Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul: new fight added to undercard

“It’s been a bit of a scramble for all of us. At the moment, what I can say is both fighters are safe and both are preparing for what is going to be the biggest fights of their careers.

“We’re staying in touch with our U.S. counterparts as often as we can and as it stands at the moment everything is proceeding as per planned but we are prepared to make a mad dash and a mad change if we have to.

“At the moment we’re staying alert and staying prepared for every update and every change that happens between now and then.

“I seriously cannot believe how big this is.

“We thought the floods and everything we faced here in Australia had been the biggest, craziest weather phenomenon we’d have to worry about in putting on an event but this is huge.

“This is very scary.

“But it’s something I think we’re well aware of and we’re going to make sure our fighters are safe and we do make the best decision at the end. But we’re ready to move on whatever we have to do.”

This is not the first time that No Limit have had to move a fight for one of their boxers.

No Limit had to postpone Nikita Tszyu’s professional boxing debut in 2022 after the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre was flooded.

“We were able to move that event within 24 hours and make that happen,” Rose said.

“Obviously this is larger scale with a world title fight happening over there in Orlando but we’ve got no hesitation in having to move and choose a safer option to ensure Timmy still gets his world title shot and Mateo Tapia gets to continue on his trajectory towards the same position as Tim.”

So it seems that there’s a distinct possibility that the fight will be moved if things don’t improve much in Florida.