The Undisputed

British heavyweight Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce cemented his place high in the world rankings with an emphatic fourth round stoppage of Christian Hammer at the Wembley Arena, London on Saturday.

Joyce (14-0, 13 KO’s) bludgeoned his way to victory despite leaving himself exposed to heavy overhand rights from the German-based Romanian, and sometimes looking devoid of any defensive skills or self preservation. The Londoner has never been the most elusive of fighters and this is compounded by his sometimes robotic style. However, give credit where it’s due, he got his man out of there and emphatically at that.

The Rio Olympic silver medallist dropped Hammer four times en route to victory with sickening body shots before referee Victor Loughlin called a halt to proceedings after 1:20 of the fourth stanza.

Whilst it lasted, Hammer (27-10, 17 KO’s) was game and after gaining early success from heavy overhand rights detonating high on Joyce’s head he took the fight to the Londoner. There were moments in the opening eight minutes where sitting ringside you thought there might be a tremendous upset here, but Joyce dropped Hammer with a left hook to the body before the bell in the third and the Romanian began to unravel. He was up on the count of eight and saved from further punishment by the bell. Whilst Hammer re-grouped between rounds Joyce came out with almost a look of relish to finish the contest scoring further knockdowns.

The 36 year old Londoner remains in pole position for a crack at the fighter who emerges from the Usyk/Joshua/Fury triumvirate. Currently ranked #1 by the WBO he is the mandatory challenger for the winner of the Usyk/Joshua rematch being held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 20. The boxing future of Tyson Fury remains uncertain but a return is expected and Joyce is well ranked with the WBC to face him.

Joyce on this showing has the power to win any contest against any of the above should he land his bombs first, but to be victorious the next six months will undoubtedly need to be focused on his defence. His standing is improving with every contest and the key will be to keep him active. Despite his limitations he’s a good watch and the next few years are sure to be entertaining.

Performance of the night was delivered by South African super-bantamweight Zolani Tete who stunningly knocked out Britain’s Jason Cunningham 0:34 secs into the fourth round.

Going in, there were doubts whether Tete, a former double-weight ‘world’ champion, had at 34 seen his best days and after having a lengthy period of activity. However, from the opening bell he was on point, flashing out his quicksilver jab from a southpaw stance and dominating the early exchanges. Cunningham struggled to get any success in the first nine minutes and looked tentative throughout.

The stoppage early in the fourth was sensational with a straight left dropping Cunningham shortly after the opening bell, and although the Englishman was up on the eight count, Tete jumped on him and after a dozen unanswered punches poleaxed him. Cunningham fell heavily to the canvas and referee Howard Foster waved it off immediately. There were a few moments of concern as the loser received extended medical attention and Tete to his credit delayed his celebrations. Cunningham recovered some minutes after and the South African team eventually joined in an emotional victory hug.

The win brings the classy Tete (30-4, 23 KO’s) right back into world title contention. Cunningham drops to 31-7 (7 KO’s).

There were also impressive wins for Portsmouth’s Mark Chamberlain (11-0, 7 KO’s) defeating tough Spaniard Marc Vidal unanimously on points to gain the IBF European lightweight title, plus welterweight Micky Burke Jr, super-lightweight Henry Turner and promising cruiserweight Tommy Fletcher on debut. The Queensberry promoted card was an excellent watch with a number of competitive fights.

Performance of the weekend on the world stage was Australian southpaw Jai Opetaia (22-0, 17 KO’s) winning a unanimous decision against Latvian Mairis Briedis (28-2, 20 KO’s) to gain The Ring magazine and IBF world cruiserweight championship. The Aussie came through a broken jaw in the fight and is now the man to beat at 200lbs.

Top of the bill tonight is the international heavyweight clash between Britain’s Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce and German-based Romanian Christian Hammer.

The Queensberry card at Wembley Arena, London will pit the world ranked and Rio Olympics silver medallist Joyce (13-0, 12 KO’s) against heavyweight gatekeeper Hammer (27-9, 17 KO’s). Londoner, Joyce, is highly ranked by all world sanctioning bodies but not fought since July 2021 in winning against Carlos Takam by sixth round stoppage. However, he’s ideally placed once the shakeout of the Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury triangle reaches conclusion, being in pole position to face the winner. Now 36 years old, Joyce doesn’t have much time to cash in but a win tonight is essential to maintain momentum and that championship aspiration.

Hammer, 34, has fought in good company, going eight rounds with Tyson Fury in 2015 and facing Cuban heavyweight challenger Luis Ortiz and Rio Olympic gold medallist Tony Yoka in recent years. In all these contests he’s come up short, but the fact the matches have been made shows his level. He’s normally durable but limited.

The heavy hitting Joyce, at 6’6″ and having a solid jab, should make good use of these advantages and make easy work of Hammer. We expect a stoppage around the fourth.

The card also features an interesting super-bantamweight contest between Britain’s Jason Cunningham (31-6, 7 KO’s) and South Africa’s former two-weight world champion Zolani Tete (29-4, 22 KO’s). Cunningham is the current European champion at 122lbs (8st, 10lbs) and Tete trying to rebuild after being stopped early by John Riel Casimero in 2019. We see this going the full distance and Cunningham likely eeking out a close decision victory.

The card will be shown live in the UK on BT Sport from 19:00 BST and main event on ESPN in the US.

Enjoy your fight night.

An intense Los Angeles staredown signified the official renewing of hostilities between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin in lead up to their third and much anticipated ‘superfight’.

The contest, to be staged at the 20,000 seater T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 17, will pit the undisputed super-middleweight (12st/168lbs) champion in Alvarez, against Golovkin the unified middleweight (11st,6lb/160lbs) champion. The bout will be held in the higher weight class.

This match should favour the 31 year old Mexican, Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KO’s) having recently fought at 12st, 7lb (175lbs) in a losing effort to Russian Dmitry Bivol and campaigning regularly at super-middle. Kazakhstan’s, Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KO’s) has never fought outside the middleweight division but, having just turned 40 years, the time looks right to put on the additional poundage and step up.

The trilogy contest is in the top three most anticipated contests in world boxing, and for a long time looked liked it wasn’t going to happen as Canelo sought out other options to cement his legacy. GGG was left to mop up the middleweights which he’s done successfully coming off a recent unification victory against Ryota Murata in Tokyo.

Canelo, until the Bivol defeat, was largely accepted as the pound-for-pound #1 in the sport. The pack has been re-shuffled and he must stake a claim again. GGG will aim to set the record straight after not having officially beaten the Mexican in their two earlier contests. He was widely viewed as the victor in their 2017 meeting but had to accept the judges calling the contest a draw and then lost a wafer thin majority decision to Canelo a year later.

Friday’s press conference picked up where the hostilities had ended. It was their first face-to-face meeting since their last fight in 2018 after barbs had been exchanged on social media in the intervening years.

The initial face off was something to behold. Lasting close to three minutes with neither fighter breaking their stare, before they responded to media questions. Canelo, first up, said “It’s personal for me, because he talk(ed) a lot of things, I just can’t wait to be in the ring”. Continuing “He’s two different people…he’s an asshole…he talks a lot of s**t”…KO is the only way I want to finish this fight”.

GGG in response, was more circumspect “I don’t think it’s personal, I think it’s a sport”. Continuing “If he has something against me that’s fine…I’m confident in order to have your hand raised you have to do a lot”.

The fight is a matter of months away but will bring an end to a magnificent collection of fights at the same venue, with the true 160-168lb champion of this generation being crowned.

Highlight of the weekend in the UK was seen in Coventry, England on an excellent night of boxing shown on Sky Sports. The BOXXER promoted event packed in solid back to back contests but the star of the show was junior-welterweight (10st/140lbs) prospect Adam ‘Assassin’ Azim (5-0, 4 KO’s) as he stopped Belgian Anthony Loffet inside 35 seconds by TKO.

There were also big wins for Sam Eggington decisioning previously undefeated Pole, Przemyslaw Zysk at super-welterweight, for Dylan Cheema at lightweight in outpointing tough Stu Greener and, female Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Kariss Artingstall impressively winning on her professional debut.

Meanwhile over in the US, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez stopped former champion, Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, to defend his WBC junior-bantamweight (115lb/8st,3lbs) title in a stunning eighth round TKO victory. He certainly looks one for the future in this stacked division and likely beyond.

Beterbiev v Smith Jr. – Five things we learned:

1. The Russian is the complete package – We knew going into Saturday’s contest that Artur Beterbiev was an elite fighter with frightening knockout power and a mystic demeanour that caused his competitors to seek alternative routes to titles. Even the former #1 pound-for-pound king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez chose to fight what he considered the lesser 175lb champion in Dmitry Bivol. This may not be the case, but a sign of the intimidation Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KO’s) exudes. The way he took the first few minutes to cautiously see what Smith Jr. had to offer, and having done that, just before the bell unleashed a devastating right high on the American’s head to drop him for the first time was scintillating. His follow up in the next round to systematically take apart Smith Jr. with two quick knockdowns, including a big right uppercut to end the fight on 2:22 was spectacular. This was all from a suggested slow starter. We’ve seen Beterbiev struggle early in fights, seen him dropped by fringe contenders, seen him with horrific cuts, but we’ve seen him knock out everyone who’s has been in a professional ring with him. The Russian showed on Saturday that he’s a force to be reckoned with and it will take an excellent fighter to beat him.
2. Smith Jr. chose the wrong game plan – ‘The Common Man’ was just too brave and confident for his own good. The decision to meet Beterbiev head on from the opening bell proved to be a suicidal one. Why would you do that ? Confidence, arrogance or maybe sheer nerves. Beterbiev seemed to have intimated Smith to such a degree that he lost all sense of a strategy that allowed him to work his way into the fight – almost a kill or be killed. True, it allowed Smith to navigate nearly three minutes of the contest but this tactic was doomed to failure. The Russian’s punches from very early in the contest seem to shake Smith to his boots, as soon as the first big one detonated the strategy should have changed.
3. The 175lb division is hot – Six weeks ago we saw Dimtry Bivol put in a career best performance in beating Canelo. Although we knew how good Beterbiev was, the Bivol win somehow placed doubts on the former’s credibilility as the light-heavyweight heir to the throne. What Saturday confirmed is that this is one hell of a weight division. All of sudden there is not just a fight for undisputed status, but a potential ‘superfight’. This is backed up by a list of excellent contenders – Yarde, Callum Smith, Buatsi, Gilberto Ramirez to name a few. We could be seeing a return to the historical battles of the 1980’s featuring Spinks, Saad Muhammad and Braxton/Qawi. That would be mouthwatering.
4. Beterbiev v Bivol is a fight for Russian supremacy and a pick ’ems – A combined record of 38-0 (29 KO’s), Bivol at age 31 and Beterbiev at 37, both elite amateurs, both coming off the back of their best ever victories and both looking indestructable. What more could you want ? Given what’s happening on the world political scene at the moment it is questionable whether a professional prizefight between two Russian’s should be taking place at all, but it is an intriguing matchup. This is going to a massive one to call if it’s up next. Do you go for Beterbiev’s, what looks on record to be superior power, or do you go for Bivol’s destructive jab and sublime boxing skills. Plus the fact that Bivol is coming off the back of a stand out win against a future hall of famer. This could be one for the ages which will certainly determine Russian fistic supremacy.
5. Mandatory obligations continue to suck – No soon had Beterbiev gathered the WBO strap that there was talk of fulfilling his mandatory obligation to meet Anthony Yarde. As worthy as the Brit’s challenge is, having just come up short against Sergey Kovalev in an earlier WBO challenge, the fight we now all want to see is against Bivol. In victory Beterbiev summed it up in his post fight interview “Unification fights is more intensity, is more motivation. I prefer unification”. We don’t want unification, per se, as that legitimizes the sanctioning straps. We want to see the best fight the best, and, as early as possible in their prime. The path is set for Beterbiev-Bivol to fulfil this, and Yarde should take the winner further down the line.

Also on the Top Rank card there was also an excellent win for double Olympic champion Robeisy Ramirez (10-1, 6 KO’s) in knocking out previously undefeated Abraham Nova (21-1, 15 KO’s) in the fifth at featherweight. The left hook that settled the contest was spectacularly delivered out of Ramirez’ southpaw stance and after an earlier career setback the Cuban is back on track for world honours.

In the UK, there were good victories for heavyweight Nathan Gorman (19-1, 13 KO’s) and welterweight Josh Kelly (11-1, 7 KO’s) on the Wasserman Promotions card in Liverpool. Both look to move onto title contention. Gorman’s only loss is to fellow Brit Daniel Dubois who gained a WBA title in the USA last weekend and a rematch there may be in his future.

The weekend also confirmed the rematch date for Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua set for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as 20 August. This will be for the Ukrainian Usyk’s world heavyweight titles. Tyson Fury remains The Ring magazine champion.

Fight of the weekend is the big light-heavyweight (12st 7lb, 175lbs) unification contest between Russia’s Artur Beterbiev and American Joe Smith Jr at Madison Square Garden, New York.

The contest will be held in the smaller Hulu Theatre of the ‘big house’, but that doesn’t detract from the quality of this match up.

Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KO’s), brings in a formidable record which has seen him win the WBC and IBF titles in an almost imperious rise to the higher eschelons of the division. He is a methodical, break you down fighter, with devastating finishing power in either hand. However, with a lengthy and elite amateur career and, at 37, time is running out for him to cash in on his undoubted quality and a potential ‘superfight’ with undefeated fellow Russian Dmitry Bivol, the current WBA champion.

Bivol’s standout victory against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez earlier this year has set him atop of the division in most fans and observers eyes, and all of a sudden Beterbiev is now playing catch-up. The imposing Beterbiev was considered the best of the bunch until Bivol’s shock victory.

A fight between the two Russian’s is much anticipated to finally establish the divisional king, and potentially one of the best match ups in boxing. But, first Beterbiev must come through Smith.

Smith Jr (28-3, 22 KO’s), holds the WBO title and impressive victories against hall-of-famer Bernard Hopkins, and contenders Eleider Alvarez and Maxim Vlasov, the latter against whom he won the belt.

At age 32, Smith’s been in big fights on big cards and this is his real opportunity to shake up the division and pave his own way to Bivol. Going by the nickname of ‘The Common Man’, which he inherited from a pre-fight slur by Bernard Hopkins, the affable American is the epitome of a blue collar fighter; from a working class community with a passionate local fanbase. This will be a local fight for him coming from Long Island, New York.

Smith’s style is one of immense bravery with a strong work ethic, backed by good skills. He’s so far got the maximum out of his strengths and will not be found wanting when the fight gets in the trenches. His record, heart and credible skills are to be respected.

Beterbiev, a family man, originally from Chechnya, is the one with elite pedigree having won amateur world titles and fought in Olympic Games. So far, he’s taken on and broken down all challengers and is nicknamed ‘The Beast’ due to his ruthlessness and imposing demeanour. He does though have a tendency to start slowly and has suffered from cuts in recent fights, but always found a way to win. His 100% knockout record is the finest in the sport.

It’s quite possible that a major upset could happen if Beterbiev is looking too far ahead and his miles on the clock all of a sudden start to show. However, there’s no evidence of this yet and it’s difficult to see anything beyond a victory for the Montreal-based Russian.

We expect a win for Beterbiev by stoppage in an attritional fight by the eleventh round. Then it’s onto Bivol and that contest for all the baubles.

The fight and card is promoted by Top Rank and will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK (2am Sunday) and in the US on ESPN.

It will also feature Olympic champion Robeisy Ramirez against Abraham Nova at featherweight .

Enjoy your fight weekend.

World ranked cruiserweight Richard ‘The Midnight Train’ Riakporhe took a big step towards securing a title shot when he railroaded Italian opponent Fabio Turchi at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.

The contest, headlining a BOXXER promotion and live on Sky Sports, had a tentative start with the British fighter poking out his jab, moving and sizing up his opponent for the first four plus minutes. The tall Riakporhe then unleashed a devastating left hook to Turchi’s midriff that forced the Italian to land and roll on the canvas writhing in agony.

Before Riakphore (15-0, 11 KO’s) landed the telling blow it felt like we were waiting for a bomb to go off as the Londoner pawed away with the crowd transfixed, knowing the power he possessed, as he lined up the jab trying to set up the combination to finish the contest. In the end it was one leading shot that did the damage; a sickening body blow. The Italian dragged himself to his feet on the nine count, but referee Steve Gray waved it off as Turchi’s cornermen raided the ring and threw the towel in.

The win elevates Riakphore to a #2 world ranking with the IBF and places him in pole position for a shot at Ring magazine champion Maris Briedis.

Turchi (20-2, 14 KO’s), was expected to put up a stern test but in the end it was a walkover.

The promotion also featured the debut of Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Lauren Price MBE and a host of excellent contests.

Wales’ Price got in a good six rounds against tough Valgerdur Gudstensdottir. Despite her opponents name being 30 points in the board game Scrabble, the Icelander was just what Price needed on debut. The Olympic champion was allowed to move through the gears over the six two minute rounds and show her full array of skills, most notably the blinding hand speed that will be a feature in the paid ranks. The journey to championship level is up and running and going to be an exciting one with the blond southpaw.

Also on the card were excellent wins for Zak Chelli (12-1-1, 6 KO’s) capturing the English super-middleweight title in a highly competitive contest with Germaine Brown, Viddal Riley (13-7, 3 KO’s) smoked Jone Volau with a stunning first round knockout at cruiserweight and Chris Kongo (14-1, 7 KO’s) gained the WBC silver title at welterweight with a unanimous points victory over tough Sebastian Formella.

In the US, ‘Dynamite’ Daniel Dubois (18-1, 17 KO’s) scored a spectacular fourth round knockout over American Trevor Bryan to win the WBA heavyweight title. It was thought the 24 year old Londoner would have trouble fighting in the champion’s country, especially on a Don King promotion, but Dubois overcame this disadvantage with a big one shot blowout. Whilst it won’t resonate amongst the elite heavyweights, given Bryan’s limitations, it does get the power punching Dubois back in the heavyweight reckoning and at his youthful age there is much more to come.

Tomorrow at London’s Wembley Arena world ranked cruiserweight Richard ‘The Midnight Train’ Riakporhe takes to the rails again when he faces Italian Fabio Turchi in an international contest.

The 32 year old Riakporhe (14-0, 10 KO’s) is on a fast track to challenge for a world title after impressive victories against Olanrewaju Durodola and Deion Juma at the same venue in the last seven months. The big punching Londoner has entered the top ten of the IBF world rankings and tomorrow’s contest is billed as an official eliminator for their title held by Latvian kingpin Mairis Briedis.

The supremely conditioned 6 foot 5 Riakporhe said in yesterday’s final press conference “The fight is perfect for me because it sets us up for a big world title clash in my next fight, so there’s a lot to fight for”. He continued “We aren’t taking Fabio Turchi lightly, we made sure we covered all areas in training…we want to deliver on Saturday night”.

Turchi (20-1, 14 KO’s), at aged 24, is a good test having fought in respectable company and possesses solid knockout power. However, he’ll be giving away significant height and reach to the Londoner who in recent fights has shown to be very heavy handed. We expect Riakporhe to get his man out of there by the sixth round in spectacular fashion.

The BOXXER promotion also sees Tokyo Olympic Gold medalist Lauren Price MBE make her professional debut on the undercard. Much is expected of the charismatic Welsh lass after a sensational victory in Japan when she was very much in the public eye. She is sure to impress again in her first paid contest.

Welterweight Chris Kongo faces a test against German Sebastien Formella who has gone the distance recently against Conor Benn and Shawn Porter. Kongo, from Bermondsey, south London will be looking to cash in by adding Formella’s name to his record. Potentially this is the contest of the night and we expect Kongo to win a tight twelve rounder on points.

The card also features Londoner’s Zak Chelli (11-1-1, 6 KO’s) and Germaine Brown (12-0, 3 KO’s) facing each other at super-middleweight for the English title. Last but not least, undefeated Viddal Riley and Joe Pigford also feature.

The card will be televised on Sky Sports in the UK from 7pm.

Stateside Saturday in Miami, Florida, Daniel Dubois challenges Trevor Bryan for a version of the WBA heavyweight title. The 24 year old Londoner (17-1, 16 KO’s) has rebuilt slowly after a career halting stoppage by Joe Joyce in the British showdown in late 2020. Since then he’s recorded two knockout wins against Bogdan Dinu and Joe Cusumano, the latter in the US.

American, Bryan (22-0, 15 KO’s) is making the second defence of his title won against Bermane Stiverne in January 2021. Despite being age 34 the only name of note on his record is the now shopworn Stiverne.

The outcome of this will largely depend on whether Dubois has fully recovered from the Joyce defeat; physically (after his orbital bone fracture), and psychologically, in losing for the first time when last stepping up. Bryan is limited, but as an undefeated champion is to be respected. We expect Dubois’ power to be the telling factor and him to continue his rebuild by stopping the American in the fifth.

The event is noted for being promoted by the legendary Don King and is being televised by BT Sport in the UK. Ring entrances are expected around 11:30pm.

Enjoy your fight weekend.

Monster mashes the Flash

Think Thomas Hearns destroying Roberto Duran, think Donald Curry icing Milton McCrory, now witness Naoya Inoue dismantling Nonito Donaire.

All second round KO’s, all against fighters with a quality resume, all equal in their spine-chilling finality.

The ‘Monster’ nickname was no more apt than in the Saitama Arena, Japan lunchtime today (UK time). ‘Filipino Flash’ Donaire entered the ring with a record of 42-6 (28 KO’s), ‘world’ titles in four different weight classes and appearing in his 22nd world title fight. After a bright opening he left the ring bludgeoned and befuddled four and a half minutes later.

Pound-for-pound #3, as ranked by The Ring magazine, Inoue was fighting in his homeland again after his opponent had extended him twelve rounds in a toe-to-toe battle just under three years ago at the same venue. A contest that was awarded The Ring’s 2019 fight of the year. We expected something similar, but knew it would be very hard to equal.

What we got was an annihilation, and a stoppage so destructive that the argument now is the ‘Monster’ is #1. The pound-for-pound debate will rage on but we know, if we didn’t already, that Naoya Inoue is a generational talent and undoubtedly the best bantamweight in the world. His march to the Hall of Fame has started and who knows where it will take him ’til he resides there.

The Japanese is 29 years old and having moved through three weight classes already, is prepared to move up further, as he alluded to post-fight. But, let’s enjoy him first among the 118 pounders. In his native country he’s a national hero who transcends his sport, now his 67 inch reach is spreading across the continents. Twice on the cover of The Ring already and more to follow.

Inoue came to the ring to the soundtrack of Kill Bill, ably supported by a national celebrity soloing on a lead guitar in ring centre. The screech of the guitar as the main notes resonated almost signalled the onset of the carnage we were about to witness. Donaire followed to the ring with something melodic but more tranquil. A sign ?

After the anthems, pre-fight instructions and ding of the opening bell, the Filipino started quickly but both fighters knew the power each had in their arsenal so despite landing solid shots, were tense. The round was about to reach a cautious conclusion, then BOOM !

A powerful right hand counter detonated on the side of Donaire’s head. He hit the deck immediately, shocked, but still with enough energy and composure to lift himself to his feet. Canadian referee Michael Griffin continued the count, Nonito stood up, rocky, but on nine the bell for the end of the round sounded simultaneously. A 10-8 round in the Japanese’ favour.

The corner of the WBC champion frantically tried to get stability and semblance into Donaire’s legs. The second round bell rang and the Filipino tried to meet fire with fire. A mistake.

Within 1:24 mins of the round Donaire had been wobbled twice and as the Japanese loaded up and landed repeatedly he landed a vicious left hook to score the second knockdown. The referee waved the fight over immediately. The destruction was complete and a multi-weight champion had been systematically taken apart by a potentially great fighter and new star in the sport.

‘The Monster’ had indeed mashed his opponent inside four and half minutes. The Undisputed expected a Inoue victory, maybe spectacular, but not this early. Within seconds of the stoppage Inoue was a picture of composure, adourned with the multiple belts of the sanctioning bodies.

In his post fight interview the Japanese said he felt Donaire’s power “In the very first round I received the left hook from Nonito and that punch made me wake up…I just decided to finish the fight”. And finish it he did, in an emphatic history making performance.

Donaire, now 39 years old, dropped to 42-7 (28 KO’s) and having won multiple ‘world titles has his name in the Hall already, when he finally calls it a day. Always a devastating puncher and box office, he will be missed. But today was the performance of the year so far and the ‘Monster’ will do far more mashing over the next few years. Hold onto your seats, a star has arrived !

The event was co-promoted by Top Rank Inc and is immediately available on their YouTube site.

A new lightweight king was crowned in Melbourne, Australia when Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney comprehensively outboxed George Kambosos Jr over twelve rounds on Saturday night.

The contest took place in the city’s Marvel Stadium and the American put in a superhero performance. He kept his opponent and the capacity crowd subdued for most of the contest taking control from the opening bell and working off a solid jab with excellent ring generalship to gain an impressive win. All three judges were in agreement returning scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110. The Undisputed scored the contest 117-111 in Haney’s favour.

Despite the pre-fight hostilities the contest, though always interesting, never really took off. The Australian entered as a unified champion after his shock defeat of Teofimo Lopez last year, but couldn’t get any success or control inside the dominant jab of the slick Haney. The Aussie spent most of the fight countering off Haney’s near perfect straight left stick and, although having some success in the mid rounds, could never really maintain a pace and intensity that allowed him to corner his opponent for sustained periods.

Haney (28-0, 15 KO’s) showed the full extent of his boxing IQ by dictating the pace of the fight with his slick skills. A couple of times he got nailed with solid shots from the advancing and upright home fighter, but the American was able to ride them comfortably.

In his post-fight interview Haney explained “The gameplan was to hit and not get hit…I fought a good, smart fight”. This summed up his approach and how the contest went.

The former champ was accepting in defeat saying “I give him full respect for the victory” but added “I thought the fight was very close”. He ended saying “Let him have his moment” pointing to and knowing the rematch clause built into pre-fight negotiations. On this result there won’t be a clamour for the rematch as it was a classic case of styles making fights and Haney on this showing would likely prevail again. Kambosos suffered his first defeat and drops to 20-1, 10 KO’s but will come again.

The Las Vegas based American is now the legitimate world lightweight champion adding all the sanctioning straps to his WBC title. He adds the prestigious Ring magazine championship which was also on the line.

The 9st,9lb (135lbs) division is stacked with talent and strong challenges await from Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia and former champion Vasiliy Lomachenko amongst others.

In Cardiff, Wales former elite amateur Joe Cordina spectacularly took the IBF world junior-lightweight (9st,4lb/130lbs) title from Japanese Kenichi Ogawa with a stunning second round knockout. The massive right hand he registered on the former champion’s jaw is an early contender for punch and knockout of the year. As soon as it detonated and the Japanese slumped to the canvas the fight was over.

In a fight that we predicted the hometown challenger would win narrowly he completely obliterated those early thoughts with his stunning KO. This was by far the standout performance of Cordina’s career and it sets him up for unification fights further down the line. The 30 year old ‘Welsh Wizard’ rises to 15-0, 9 KO’s and former champion drops to 26-2-1, 18 KO’s.

A fantastic bantamweight contest is set for tomorrow in Saitama, Japan when pound-for-pounder Naoya Inoue meets Filipino Nonito Donaire for a second time. Their first meeting, also in Saitama, was The Ring magazine 2019 fight of the year with the Japanese, Inoue winning a hard fought unanimous decision.

Inoue (22-0, 19 KO’s) goes by the moniker of ‘The Monster’ due to his destructive power and intensity and should be too much this time for multi-weight and current WBC champion Donaire (42-6, 28 KO’s). The ‘Filipino Flash’ performed exceptionally well in the first contest but almost three years on, now aged 39, is close to the twilight of his career. The younger man at 29 should register the KO this time, likely in the last third of the fight. It will though be exciting whilst it lasts.

The contest is promoted by Top Rank Inc. and will be available on Top Rank’s YouTube channel with ring walks expected at 12:30pm BST. It is also available on ESPN+ in the US and Amazon Prime in Japan.

In a huge fight tonight in Melbourne, Australia all the world lightweight (9st,9lbs/135lb) straps are up for grabs when homeboy George Kambosos Jr. faces American Devin Haney.

The 28 year old Kambosos (20-0, 10 KO’s) is a unified champion and recognised as The Ring magazine champion having beaten previously undefeated Teofimo Lopez in a stand out victory last year. Haney (27-0, 15 KO’s) brings his WBC title to the ring. It’s a brilliant clash of styles with the aggressive Australian facing a slick, well schooled American. The fight will be staged in the Marvel Arena before a capacity 60,000 crowd.

Kambosos has been a road warrior in recent years finally getting his shot at the titles in the US and seizing with both hands. Lopez was tipped to be the next big star in boxing on beating Ukrainian pound-for-pounder Vasiliy Lomachenko, but Kambosos tore up the script winning a deserved split decision in The Ring’s upset of 2021.

The Australian, self proclaimed ‘Emperor’ with Greek heritage, is now a major celebrity in his sports mad homeland and hoping to build on the outstanding fistic legacies of fellow Aussies Jimmy Carruthers, Lionel Rose, Jeff Fenech and adopted hero Kostya Tszyu.

On the prospect of making his first defence in front of his compatriots Kambosos said “It’s great to be be back home. Five years of hard work…I had to go through every bit of adversity. I had to earn my belts…the hardest way…I know the stadium will be buzzing with my support…It’s a great moment for Australian boxing and I am very excited”.

Haney, 23, enters the contest extremely confident in his own abilities, buoyed by his undefeated record and recent impressive victories. He has a win over multi-weight champ Jorge Linares and last time out beat Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz in a comprehensive points victory. In a fight week press conference he said “There’s nothing he can do in the ring that’s better than me, and I will show that on fight night. I take nothing away from him. I think he’s a good fighter, but I just think I’m on a whole different level”.

Big overnight news was Kambosos’ failure to make the stipulated weight at first attempt, being .36 of a pound over, and returning to the scales 75 minutes later to finally successfully weigh in. Kambosos claimed this was a tactic to unsettle his opponent, but this is unlikely and could be a factor if weight draining has become an issue for the unified champion. Haney weighed in 134.9lbs at his first attempt.

The Australian has all the tools to win on the night with sound boxing skills backed up by respectable power. We liken this fight to Barry McGuigan v Bernard Taylor in the mid 1980’s, with the American having the superior skills but being overwhelmed by the Aussie’s early intensity and a rabid, vocal home support down the stretch. We just give Kambosos the edge with the benefit of this support carrying him home to a wafer thin points victory.

The contest and solid support card is co-promoted by Top Rank Inc, DiBella Entertainment and the fighter’s promotional companies and is available live in the UK on Sky Sports from 02:00 BST Sunday. It is being shown in the USA on ESPN (9pm ET).

Earlier Saturday night (UK time) from Cardiff, Wales will be the world IBF junior-lightweight (9st,4lb/130lbs) title fight between Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa and Wales’ challenger Joe Cordina.

The 34 year old champion has an excellent 26-1-1 (18 KO’s) record and will be looking to cash in on his title as he enters the back end of his career. He’s mostly fought in Japan, but with a couple of fights stateside, should not be intimidated by the expected hostile local crowd in the Motorpoint Arena.

For Cordina (14-0, 8 KO’s), now 30 years old, it’s a ‘put up or shut up’ fight. He’s been a pro for a six years since representing Team GB in the Rio Olympics and, although still retains an undefeated record, this will be his first step up to an elite level. The Welshman said pre-fight “I’m at that world level. I’ve sparred plenty of world champions and I’ve been in with some tough guys…I’ve also got a great boxing brain…I can think my way around the fight and get that win on Saturday”. Ogawa has promised a very aggressive approach and to be victorious on the night.

Cordina has the youth, skills and world experience as an amateur to make this a difficult night for the Japanese. If he can work behind his solid defence for the earlier part of the fight, we see him making the fight extremely competitive and ultimately just eeking out a victory in another close fight won by the hometown fighter.

The contest and card are promoted by Matchroom Boxing and available on the DAZN streaming platform.