The Boxing Truth®

When the history of Boxing is written, one fighter who will be able to take credit for elevating the sport for female fighters to levels previously unthought of by many is undefeated five-division world champion Claressa Shields. If there is one word to describe Shields’ career up to this point in Boxing it would be “Dominant." First emerging on the mainstream scene as the only fighter in United States Boxing history female or male to have won two Olympic Gold medals in two consecutive Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016. Since turning pro late in 2016, she has continued to defeat all challengers compiling a record of 15-0, with 3 Knockouts and becoming an undisputed world champion as a Middleweight and Super-Middleweight, just part of an already Hall of  Fame career that has thus far seen her win world titles in five weight divisions from Jr. Middleweight to Heavyweight. It was in her last fight in July of last year where Shields became the unified World Heavyweight champion in scorin...

Press Release: January 30, 2025 By DAZN-  Light Heavyweight Rematch Between Beterbiev and Bivol Headlines an Unmissable Night on Saturday, 22 February 2025    LONDON – January 29, 2025 – DAZN , the global home of boxing, can announce that  it will broadcast The Last Crescendo,  the fight card of the century, live on Saturday, 22 February 2025 worldwide. The PPV is available for purchase now  from DAZN.com/boxing     This monumental event, part of Riyadh Season, will take place at the ANB Arena in Saudi Arabia and features a stellar line-up of championship bouts, headlined by the highly anticipated rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed light heavyweight World Championship.    Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs), the reigning champion and one of boxing’s most impressive fights, is set to defend his perfect record in a rematch against Bivol (21-1, 11 KOs), who is determined to avenge his 2024 loss in what was one of the g...

As 2025 has now begun, Boxing’s 168lb. Super-Middleweight division is still dominated by one fighter, the once and perhaps future Undisputed king of the division Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who still reigns as the division’s unified world champion, despite having relinquished the IBF world championship due to his decision to face top contender Edgar Berlanga last September, rather than the International Boxing Federation’s top contender William Schull, who was due in the rotation of mandatory challengers that subsequently made up the Undisputed Super-Middleweight championship of the world. Schull went on to win the IBF crown and could still face Alvarez at some point this year in what would be a rarity in Boxing, a reunification bout involving a title that was given up by one of the champions involved due to circumstances that can only be summed up as the politics that be in the sport of Boxing. Two fighters, however, that have been angling for a shot at Alvarez for some time will instead ...

Credit: Prime Video  The upcoming pay-per-view card headlined by a WBC Light-Heavyweight elimination bout between undefeated former WBC Super-Middleweight world champion David Benavidez and undefeated top Light-Heavyweight contender David Morrell is now available for preorder on Prime Video . The card, which will take place on Saturday, February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV is being promoted by the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) group of promoters for $79.99. To order this pay-per-view event on Prime Video Click Here . We will have a preview of Benavidez-Morrell released here on The Boxing Truth®️ on Wednesday, January 29th. Stay tuned. “And That's The Boxing Truth."  The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.  Follow Beau Denison on the following Social Media Platforms: X: (Formerly Twitter) www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison   Facebook: www.facebook.com/BeauDenison1   Threads: www.threads.net/@BeauDeni...

Undefeated Undisputed Jr. Featherweight world champion Naoya Inoue scored a fourth round knockout of WBO number eleven rated Jr. Featherweight contender Ye Joon Kim on Friday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Despite Kim taking the fight on eleven days notice, over 15,000 spectators filled the Ariake Arena, a site that has hosted several of Inoue’s previous fights. A testament to the star power of Inoue in his native Japan where he has become in many observer’s opinions as among the best fighters pound for pound in the world. This fight also presented a little of a different challenge for the four-division world champion in having to adjust to a change of opponent after original opponent, IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman was forced to pull out of the fight twice, first on the original date on Christmas Eve of last year and then having to pull out of the rescheduled date of January 24th due to the cut that he suffered in training prior to the original postponement. Kim appe...

The official weigh-in for Friday's Undisputed Jr. Featherweight world championship fight between undefeated champion Naoya Inoue and challenger Ye Joon Kim took place earlier today in Tokyo, Japan. The fight, which can be seen here in the United States on digital subscription sports streaming network ESPN+ will headline a card of Boxing held at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena. Both champion Inoue and Kim weighed in identically just under the 122lb. Jr. Featherweight limit at 121 ¾ lbs. The bout is scheduled for twelve rounds.  As of this writing, there is no word regarding what other bouts on the card, which includes four additional bouts, will be included on the ESPN+ broadcast. Inoue vs. Kim takes place on Friday, January 24th at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The fight can be seen in the United States on digital subscription sports streaming network ESPN+   beginning at 4:15AM ET/1:15AM PT and will be available for on demand viewing immediately following the live broadcast.  ...

There is little doubt that one of the biggest stars to emerge in the sport of Boxing over the last several years, not just in the lower weight divisions, but in the entire sport has been Nayoa Inoue. If a fighter with a near 90% career knockout percentage is not enough to earn one star status in the sport on its own, Inoue is a four-division world champion, who has this far won world titles from the Jr. Flyweight to the Jr. Featherweight divisions becoming an undisputed champion in both the Bantamweight and Jr. Featherweight divisions along the way.  A fighter that has truly carved a Hall of Fame career in just twenty-eight professional fights having fought a who's who along the way, dominating all opposition and emerging still unbeaten. While the question that typically follows a fighter like Inoue who has gone through multiple weight divisions with relative ease is how high up the weight scale before they hit the ceiling, not just in terms of how high they can go, but also doing ...

Welterweight Evgenii Kurdanov scored a five round unanimous decision over former Bareknuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) World Welterweight champion Elvin Brito on Saturday night at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Pechanga, CA. A very tactical fight from the opening bell that saw both fighters trying to find openings and looking to counter each other in what were five very closely fought rounds, it was ultimately, Kurdanov’s better timing, combination punching in close, and ring generalship that ultimately proved to be the difference as Kurdanov scored the unanimous decision victory over the currently rated number five rated BKFC Welterweight contender in Brito.  Official scores were: 50-45 (On two scorecards) and 49-46 for Kurdanov. Evgenii Kurdanov advances to 5-2, with 0 Knockouts. Elvin Brito falls to 6-6, with 2 Knockouts. Also on this card: Lightweight Robbie Peralta scored a five round unanimous decision over Jordan Christensen. Peralta controlled the tempo of the combat ...

Press Release: January 18, 2025 By Prime Video - The fifth Installment of Gloves Off will explore the backstories of the two world-class fighters trading punches in a PBC Pay-Per-View event on Prime Video at T-Mobile Arena on February 1   Photo Credit: Prime Video    NEW YORK—January 18, 2025— Today, Prime Video announced a Saturday, January 18 premiere date for Gloves Off: David Benavidez vs David Morrell, the fifth installment of the compelling docuseries. As momentum builds for an epic night of PBC Pay-Per-View action on Prime Video on Feb. 1 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, this two-part edition explores the motivations behind the main event fighters in a highly anticipated, 12-round light heavyweight championship clash between undefeated stars.   A former two-time Super Middleweight champion, David “El Monstro” Benavidez sports a record of 29-0, 24 KOs, while David Morrell Jr. boasts a mark of 11-0, 9 KOs. They will meet for Benavidez’s Interim WBC Li...

Undefeated WBC Continental Americas Featherweight champion and number two rated WBC Featherweight contender  Omar Trinidad scored a workmanlike ten round unanimous decision over veteran Mike Plania on Friday night at the Commerce Casino and Hotel in Commerce, CA. While not a notable fight in terms of highlights, Trinidad simply went through his paces, worked behind a consistent jab, managed distance and outworked the always “Game” Plania to the point of frustration for the veteran over ten lopsided rounds to earn a convincing unanimous decision victory. Official scores were: 100-90 (On two scorecards) and 99-91 in favor of Trinidad. Omar Trinidad advances to 18-0-1, with 13 Knockouts. Mike Plania falls to 31-5, with 18 Knockouts. Also on this card:  Undefeated Women’s WBO Jr. Bantamweight world champion Mizuki Hiruta scored an eight round technical unanimous decision over former WBA Jr. Bantamweight world champion  Maribel Ramirez. Hiruta’s footwork and ability to attack ...

Undefeated British and Commonwealth Middleweight champion Callum Simpson scored a second round stoppage of Steed Woodall to retain his championships on Saturday night at the   Park Community Arena in Sheffield, England. After an uneventful first round, Simpson dropped Woodall with a double left hook, right uppercut combination to the head in the second round. Woodall got up on unsteady legs and was put on the ropes after getting up at the count of nine only for Referee Mark Bates to seemingly step in at a questionable moment and stop the fight. Official time of the stoppage was 1:56 of round two. Callum Simpson advances to 16-0, with 11 Knockouts. Steed Woodall falls to 19-3-1, with 12 Also on this card: WBC Women’s World Lightweight champion Caroline Dubois retained her world title via a three-round technical draw with two-time world title challenger Jessica Carmara. Dubois was in control from the opening bell and dropped Carmara with a one, two combination to the head in the open...

Undefeated IBF World Cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia scored a brutal fourth round knockout of previously undefeated IBF number ten rated Cruiserweight contender David Nyika on Wednesday night at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Queensland, Australia. Opetaia, who has quickly established himself as a “Knockout Artist" faced what should be considered a stern test in the form of a determined David Nyika, who showed no hesitation in being willing to engage with the champion. What resulted was a give and take, toe to toe battle through most of the fight. When one fighter would land solidly with their punches, the other would respond almost immediately with punches of their own. Frankly, through much of the flight, there was not much to separate the two fighters. This began to change ever so slightly in round three when Opetaia began to vary his attack to the body and head of the challenger. It would be in round four where the champion would find his opening. Opetaia started to s...

As fate would have it with several scheduled bouts that were to take place over the Christmas holidays and were intended to be covered in a package form in this column by this observer being postponed, it would turn out that the last major event on the Boxing calendar in 2024 was the second encounter between undefeated unified WBO/IBO/WBA/WBC Heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk and former two-time Heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury. A highly anticipated rematch that took place on December 21st in the same location as their first meeting for the then Undisputed Heavyweight championship of the world on May 18, 2024, the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. By now, most Boxing fans are familiar with the close competition of that first fight and also familiar with the showboating approach through several of the early rounds by Fury, which in addition to a controversial knockdown ruled against him in the month round, in which some believed the fight should have been stopped, cost...

Introduction: It is that time of year once again. What has become a yearly tradition here at The Boxing Truth® ️ where this observer begins the new year by sharing his “Boxing Wishlist" with the dear readers who have followed my writings over the many years I have covered Boxing and by extension combat sports. By the title of this column for those who are unfamiliar with previous editions, this is a list of things that I would like to see happen in the sport of Boxing during the course of the new year. It also should be pointed out for those who may be reading the “Boxing Wishlist" put out by yours truly for the first time that this is not a standard list in the sense of a numbered list from 1-10 for example, but rather a condensed selection of topics that will be highlighted in Bold that I will try to discuss in both a detailed as well as a condensed form as possible within the context of a single column. While I always hope to add new topics that have not been featured befo...