The Boxing Truth®

As the end of 2013 draws near, a question that many fans and experts alike will have going into 2014 is what may happen to the Heavyweight division? The   question has gained more prominence due in large part to the recent announcement that WBC Heavyweight world champion Vitali Klitschko has relinquished his portion of the World Heavyweight Championship and has been named champion emeritus by the World Boxing Council (WBC). Most probably saw this as a formality as it has been common knowledge to many fans that Vitali Klitschko has had his sights set on running for the presidency of Ukraine for some time. In short, Klitschko’s “Emeritus” status basically gives him the right to challenge the WBC world champion in the Heavyweight division if at some point in the future he opts to resume what has been a stellar career. Klitschko’s decision to relinquish his title however, has for the time being, broken at least in part the dominance of what this observer has often called “T...

One of the things that makes the sport of Boxing unique and great is that a fighter can become a star of the sport in a couple of different ways. Of course the most notable way to most would be for a fighter to win and win impressively. There are however, fighters who have endeared themselves to Boxing fans by the courage they have shown in battle. Sometimes it is not wins and losses that can make a fighter star, but rather how they fight. A fighter who has endeared himself to Boxing fans for the courage he has shown win or lose is Welterweight contender Josesito Lopez. One might argue that Lopez became a star after defeating former Welterweight world champion Victor Ortiz last year in a grueling back and forth fight where Lopez broke Ortiz’ jaw in route to a ninth round stoppage when Ortiz could not continue. Lopez, who had entered the fight as a substitute opponent, in his first fight in the Welterweight division showed his courage by going toe to toe with Ortiz. In a fig...

When the modernized concept of BKB: Bare-Knuckle Boxing was introduced in July by United States satellite television provider DirecTV, this observer had obvious concerns with regard to the fighters safety, but was at the same time intrigued and curious to see what this concept would look like in practice. A concept that involved the use of knuckle exposed Boxing gloves and a circular fighting area known simply as the “BKB pit.” The BKB pit certainly stands apart from a traditional Boxing ring in that it measures seventeen feet in diameter and 227 square feet making it just over half the size of a traditional 20 x 20 Boxing ring with no ropes or corners. Colored lift gates that signify each fighter’s corner are used to lift and lock the fighters in the pit at the start of each round. The first BKB card provided much excitement and showed that this unique concept had potential to grow. The second BKB card premiered on December 7th and like the first card was available v...

It has been a truly stellar year for the sport of Boxing. Among several well-matched fights that have taken place this year the spotlight has also shined on rising stars who have become major players in their respective divisions. Two such fighters who have each made a major impact in their division in 2013 are Light-Heavyweight champions Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev. Both fighters successfully made the transition from top contenders to world champions in 2013. Stevenson, winning the WBC world title by scoring a devastating one punch knockout over longtime division cornerstone Chad Dawson in June of this year, and Kovalev scoring a knockout over previously undefeated WBO world champion Nathan Cleverly in August. An argument could be made that Stevenson has in some ways received more attention than has Kovalev. This argument could be based on Stevenson after all winning his world title by defeating a fighter in Dawson who had just faced the legendary Bernard Hop...