Boxing News

Previews, reports, analysis, fight diary, small halls, UK results and in-depth amateur coverage

BOXING NEWS ANNUAL AWARDS

OUR INTERNATIONAL Fighter of the Year award goes to Terence Crawford. ‘Bud’ only boxed once in 2025, the win over Canelo Alvarez – but what a win it was. Canelo was the slight betting favourite in the superfight that took place in Las Vegas in...

HEAVYWEIGHT NO-HOPERS

THE MAIN knock against Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul is the obvious one: The perception that it’s a fight that Paul has no chance of winning. Still, there have been many mismatches in heavyweight history. A long list of heavyweights have gone into the...

TRADITION REVIVED

THAMANOON NIYOMTRONG (aka Knockout CP Freshmart) attempts to become a two-weight world champion when he challenges for the vacant WBC 108lbs title in Bangkok today. And with Thanongsak Simsri, the current IBF 108lbs champion, interviewed in this...

Proud efforts by Yarde and Noakes

IF BRAVERY alone could win world titles, Britain would now be celebrating two new champions. One could barely have asked for any more from Anthony Yarde and Sam Noakes as they bookended the four-fight main card of this Night Of Champions event in the...

END OF TWO ERAS

IT TOOK 35 years and four attempts, but a Benn finally beat a Eubank. And Conor Benn’s victory over Chris Eubank Jr was so emphatic that even though the statistical advantage still lies with the other side, at 2-1-1, the twogeneration rivalry can now...

Eubank and Benn’s risky business

THE OFFICIAL title of Saturday night’s rematch between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn is Unfinished Business. The operative word, however, is very much ‘business’, as it is a contest inspired more by the opportunity to generate more cash than by any...

Tank turmoil; Khan wants Pacman

WARDLEY STOPS PARKER

GREENWICH OCTOBER 25 ★★★★★ MAIN EVENT ★★★★ ATMOSPHERE DESPITE its brutality, boxing is a sport designed for highly skilled competitors; those who, above all else, have a nous for finding a way to win. To the untrained eye, it may seem little more...

EX-BOXERS’ ASSOCIATIONS

Manchester EBA remembers Ricky

UK & IRELAND ACTION

Small hall reports & Irish title fights

ALLEN VS MAKHMUDOV

★★★★ MAIN EVENT ★★★★ UNDERCARD AT THE age of 33 and after twists and turns in his career, David Allen has astonishingly acquired a new lease on life as a fighter. He’s actually a heavyweight contender now (No. 8 in the WBA ratings). Fights against...

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GREATNESS ON DISPLAY

TERENCE CRAWFORD fought history, logic, and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in one night as 70,482 fans watched a showdown etched in spectacle and drama. History dictates that fighters like ‘Bud’, who climb two, even three, divisions to confront a bigger man,...

CANELO VS CRAWFORD

One for all EVERY so often we get an elitelevel contest that epitomises all that is best in boxing; a meeting of two highquality fighters that has fans divided on the outcome and where a strong case can be made for either man winning. Saul ‘Canelo’...

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Top amateurs alight in Liverpool

Ranking the most influential people in the sport

R k ng the mos fluenti l people n the spor

TWO-MINUTE WARNING

RIYADH AUGUST 16 ★★★ MAIN EVENT THERE’S a story as old as time itself as it pertains to the careers of boxers; the old wolf on the hill must make way for the young wolf climbing it. This was a narrative that was exhausted in the buildup to this...

EX-BOXERS’ ASSOCIATION

IAM FOREVER stressing how important it is that EBAS show they are involved in, and care about, today’s scene. So I’m very pleased the latest Central (Midlands) EBA newsletter features an in-depth piece on current pro heavyweight Hughie Fury. Hughie...

BOXING’S BEST 25

BEST OF THE BEST IT’S THE conversation had in boxing gyms, barbershops and bars the world over – who is the very best boxer in the world? Who’d beat who if they were the same size? ‘Pound-for-pound’, as a term in common use, and as a set of rankings,...

EX-BOXERS’ ASSOCIATIONS

Vivid memories of a first fight

USYK-DUBOIS II PREVIEW

CAN DANIEL DUBOIS complete an unlikely turnaround and become undisputed heavyweight champion? Or will Oleksandr Usyk leave Wembley as a three-time undisputed king across two divisions? Their first fight, two years ago, featured controversy and left...

GARDEN PARTY

IT IS DIFFICULT to look at Katie Taylor’s illustrious career, defined by a symphony of frenetic battles, without arriving at a somewhat bleak conclusion. Too many times, it seems, the 39-yearold has been forced to revisit the well, each trip made only...

THE LOMACHENKO EXPERIENCE

PRIOR to his multidecorated professional career, Lomachenko was possibly the greatest amateur boxer of all time, losing just one of nearly 400 bouts. So, facing him in the unpaid code was no small task, either – as Liverpool’s Sam Maxwell found out...

WHAT LIES BENEATH

DEONTAY WILDER, like most boxers, is an adrenaline junkie. For him, the thought of putting himself in uncomfortable situations, just to feel an overwhelming surge of dopamine, is intoxicating. Perhaps it is something acquired at birth – a...

GALAL’S GOALS

OFTEN, it takes times of hardship, or perhaps even the monotony of a menial day-today job, for someone to gain a fresh perspective on life. After resisting the urge to bang their head against a brick wall – wishing, more than anything, to feel...

FIVE-KNOCKDOWN THRILLER

Simpson and Zucco go to war

BIG FIGHT PREVIEW

AS HEAVYWEIGHT fights go, it doesn’t get much better than Fabio Wardley against Justis Huni. The two meet at Ipswich Town’s stadium on Saturday and the crowd will be right behind the home fighter, Wardley. Australia’s Huni, however, boxed in...

SCOTTISH GUARD CHANGES

ONLY A win, and a convincing one at that, would have sufficed to keep the dream of being a two-weight world champion alive for Josh Taylor in front of a partisan crowd at the Hydro, and he chose a tough assignment in his first outing as a welterweight...

Allen earns emphatic revenge

STRATFORD MAY 17 ★★★★★ MAIN EVENT ★★★★ ★ ATMOSPHERE DAVE ALLEN proved that the cover of a book, whether eyecatching or painfully dull, rarely tells the full story. Most would have seen Friday’s weigh-in and immediately given him little chance against...

CACACE VS WOOD

Apache wins at the crossroads

INOUE VS CARDENAS

NAOYA INOUE is one of the world’s most compelling boxers to watch because he has all the tools capable to dominate bouts on the scorecards, but instead he chooses to fight. “Everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” he said through a translator,...

BLOODLINE BATTLE

TOTTENHAM APRIL 26 ★★★★★ MAIN EVENT ★★★★★ ATMOSPHERE THERE exists a strange but very real relationship between pain and pleasure, unlocked only by those willing to place themselves in uncomfortable situations. At his fight-week press conference,...

BIG FIGHT PREVIEW

★★★★ MAIN EVENT FINALLY, it’s on. After PED allegations, trash talk and a two-year delay, Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn will meet before an estimated 60,000 crowd at Tottenham Hotspur football ground in North London on Saturday. The fight has...

HIGH NOON

MARCH 2015 Iron-chinned Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOS) is dropped for the first time in his career in the third, before being stopped in the eighth as Kovalev successfully defends his WBA/WBO and IBF titles in dominant fashion in Montreal. APRIL...

ANOTHER LEVEL

FOR many fighters, boxing will arrive at a time when there is, quite simply, no other way to turn. Their gym may offer an escape – a refuge, perhaps – away from the trials and tribulations that come with life beyond the ropes. Other fighters,...

NEW ERA

N A TUESDAY afternoon in Hammersmith, Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn sat side by side to gleefully announce Warren’s multi-year deal with streaming platform DAZN. It is a sentence that, had you uttered it even 18 months ago, would have rightly seen you...

HISTORY OF BOXING SERIES

British boxers take on America

USYK VS THE GREATS

WHEN Oleksandr Usyk moved up to heavyweight, having cleaned out the cruiserweight division, the conventional wisdom – borne of the old adage that “a good big ‘un always beats a good little ‘un” – was that he would be unable to take the scalps of the...

BALL GAME

THE message for TJ Doheny is the same as it is for all Nick Ball’s opponents. “I’m coming for you,” is always the promise. “I’m going to put it on you.” That style has taken ‘The Wrecking Ball’ to the WBA featherweight title that he defends against...

Gervonta gets away with one

BROOKLYN, NY ★★★★☆ WHOLE SHOW MARCH 1 ★★★★☆ ATMOSPHERE AFIGHT that almost everyone saw as a knockout waiting to happen instead became a desperate struggle for Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who retained his WBA lightweight title and unbeaten record with a...

BIVOL’S REVENGE

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA FEBRUARY 22 ★★★★★ MAIN EVENT ★★★★ ★ ATMOSPHERE THE Last Crescendo’ refers to a climactic point in a musical piece, whereby the music reaches a peak, unable to sound better. In many ways, this was an apt metaphor for the...

BETERBIEV VS BIVOL II BETTING PREVIEW

ARTUR BETERBIEV opened as a slight favourite to defeat Dmitry Bivol in this weekend’s return fight. Odds have hardly moved. This could be because there has been twoway action in the betting market, or it could be that bettors wish to wait until they...

WAR STORY

IF ‘THE Last Dance’ does prove to be Derek Chisora’s final fight in Britain, it was a good way for the veteran heavyweight slugger to say goodbye. In front of a crowd of around 12,000 at the Co-op Live Arena – and with Roberto Duran at ringside –...

BENAVIDEZ WINS A WAR

DAVID BENAVIDEZ proved there’s no match for experience as he outpointed the game David Morrell over 12 pulsating rounds inside the T-mobile Arena. After a heavily hyped promotion threatened to spill over on numerous occasions, the action on fight...

THE GAMBLER

NOW entering his 13th year as a professional, it feels like David Benavidez has been around forever. A delve into the archives shows that the journey to becoming one of the sport’s must-see attractions started long before his professional debut back...

INOUE’S BIGGEST THREATS

WITH Sam Goodman out as Naoya Inoue’s next challenger, probably forever after his second cuteye withdrawal, the Japanese superstar now faces Korean substitute Ye Joon Kim in Tokyo on Friday. This is, of course, little more than a showcase for the...

NO REGRETS

THE longest reigning world super-middleweight champion in history, Joe Calzaghe CBE, ruled the roost for more than a decade, registering an astonishing 21 world title defences during his unbeaten 46-0 run, and latterly left his mark Stateside with a...

UK FIGHT OF THE YEAR AWARD

A heavyweight war for the ages takes the top spot

STATE OF THE SCOTTISH GAME

HOLDING less than a tenth of the UK’S population, Scotland only packs a smidgen of our southern neighbours’ promotional clout. But, having had 15 world champions, from Tancy Lee in 1915 through to Josh Taylor’s undisputed reign during our own era, this...

USYK VS FURY II PREVIEW

TUNNEY vs Dempsey. Louis vs Schmeling. Lewis vs Holyfield. And back through the mists of time, Jeffries vs Fitzsimmons. The heavyweight division has had its share of intriguing rematches. Now we have another, with Oleksandr Usyk, winner in the first...

JOB DONE

THE British middleweight championship is Denzel Bentley’s for a third time after he outboxed ‘Newquay Bomb’ Brad Pauls at a noisy OVO Arena. Bentley also captured the vacant European middleweight title and became mandatory for the WBO belt held by...

FRANKLY SPEAKING

WHICHEVER way you slice it, the 72-year-old Frank Warren, who is currently hurtling towards 50 years as a promoter, is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. “Do you know what,” the Hall of Famer says. “I’ve had so much alcohol over the last two...

FLY GUYS

Edwards vs Yafai preview

RAMIREZ UNIFIES IN RIYADH

CHRIS BILLAMSMITH’S fairytale world title run came to an end on Saturday night, as he surrendered his WBO cruiserweight belt to WBA counterpart Gilberto Ramirez in a mini-classic in Saudi Arabia. On a weekend where the sport was thrust into the...

ONE NIGHT IN TEXAS

ASMILING Mike Tyson seemed somewhat amused by the absurdity of this surreal scene. Tyson, long boxing’s bad boy, was an unforeseen, 58-year-old voice of reason at a press conference in New York two and a half months ago. Unruly onlookers hurled...

HOT ROD

JESSE Rodriguez has established himself as one of the best fighters on the planet. The 24-year-old has been tearing through the lower weights since capturing his first world title back in February 2022 and, with a destructive seventh-round stoppage win...

CATTERALL TRUMPS PROGRAIS

‘El Gato’ claims another big name victim at 140lbs

DREAM WIN FOR AZIM

Ohara blown away at Copper Box

BETERBIEV WINS BIVOL WAR

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA OCTOBER 12 ★★★★★ MAIN EVENT IN AN absorbing fight that held your attention every second, Artur Beterbiev seemed, to me, a slightly fortunate winner over Dmitry Bivol, who boxed valiantly against a monster puncher but was deemed...

BATTLE OF THE CHAMPIONS

Beterbiev vs Bivol preview

THE FINAL HAND

OFTEN cast as the pantomime villain, at times by himself, Chris Eubank Jr says he has now grown up. Having been faced with mortality in his personal and professional life, those experiences, according to Eubank, have helped shape him from the brooding...

A STAR IS BORN

THE bad times in life have a tendency to make the good times so much sweeter. As a truly ‘Dynamite’ Daniel Dubois scored a spectacular fifth-round KO of crowd favourite Anthony Joshua in front of a spellbound 96,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium, one...