The Boxing Truth®

The 160lb. Middleweight division has been one that has gradually moved on from an era largely dominated by former two-time Middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin and towards a period of ongoing transition. A transition that to date has no finish date as no fighter has yet emerged as the division’s next central figure. One fighter that has been making a strong case for himself, however, is current unified WBO/IBF Middleweight world champion Janibek Alimkhanuly. Alimkhanuly, a native of Zhilandy, Kazakhstan, is in many ways viewed as Golovkin’s unofficial successor. Not only are both Golovkin and Alimkhanuly, Kazakhstan natives, but like Golovkin, Alimkhanuly established himself off of an ability to score quick and often devastating knockouts. Unbeaten in fifteen professional fights, Alimkhanuly has scored knockouts in ten of those bouts registering a current career knockout percentage of nearly 67%. While not quite at the same degree as what this observer often called “A Path Of D...

Press Release: July 6,, 2023 By ProBox TV -  England’s Jimmy Kelly has somewhat reinvented himself in recent years. The Manchester based middleweight has ventured to American shores since his collaboration with ProBox TV last year.  Kelly (27-3, 10 KOs) upset the odds defeating Kazakhstan’s Kanat Islam last year in Plant City. He has since tasted defeat at the hand of Jaime Munguia but got back to winning ways with a victory over Edward Ulloa Diaz in February. Credit: ProBox TV  With a 100 percent win record against Kazakh fighters, Kelly has thrown his name into the hat for a potential homecoming fight with Gennadiy Golovkin. “I think my name should be in the hat for that fight.” Kelly said. “I beat Kanat Islam, a popular fighter from Kazakhstan. From what I can gather my name is well known over there due to that fight, and I just think I’m in the conversation. It excites me. “He is arguably one of the best ever 160 pound fighters. He has had so many title de...

The story going into the WBO Middleweight world championship fight between undefeated champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and WBO number four Middleweight contender Steven Butler on May 13th in Stockton,CA was not so much about the fight itself, nor was it about the world championship that was on the line, it was more about whether either fighter would be able to make a statement. A statement for a fighter in a division that by all accounts appears to be heading towards a period of transition as potentially being the division's next focal point or star attraction. While there was little more about this fight beyond an undefeated world champion in the early stages of his reign defending his title against a top contender, the search for the next star of the Middleweight division as longtime division cornerstone and future Hall of Famer Gennady Golovkin appears to be heading toward retirement, is something that will likely hang over any fight involving fighters at or near the top of the div...

The 160lb. Middleweight division in addition to being one of the most competitive throughout the history of Boxing is also a division that has been defined by fighters that have through their success in the weight class, have gone on to be stars in the sport with many ultimately being regarded as legends when their careers are over. In recent times the fighter most identified with the Middleweight division has been two-time Middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, who's first reign as champion saw him tie the record set by Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins for most consecutive successful title defenses of twenty. Throughout Golovkin's reign, which this observer chronicled as "A Path Of Destruction" due to Golovkin also compiling a streak of knockouts in addition to making a run for the record held by Hopkins, I also routinely discussed the parallels between him and another legendary Middleweight world champion, the late great Marvelous Marvin Hagler in that much like...

The story of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez' defense of his Undisputed Super-Middleweight championship of the world against WBO number one mandatory challenger John Ryder was not about a fight between two of the best the 168lb. Super-Middleweight division has to offer, but about an event. An event of an undisputed world champion coming home to defend his crown before over 50,000 spectators in his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico at Akron Stadium. In terms of the actual fight, despite being heavily favored due largely to his status as one of the superstars in the sport of Boxing, the last year was not entirely kind to Saul Alvarez. It was at this time last year when Alvarez had moved up in weight to challenge undefeated WBA Light-Heavyweight world champion Dmitry Bivol. As most know, in a fight that went the distance, Alvarez was thoroughly out boxed and out worked by a master boxer in Bivol. Although losing one fight should not define a fighter's career, the twelve round unanim...

For some fighters, the path to a world championship fight is not as simple as it might seem. Some are able to get their opportunity off of the strength of an impressive win, which in turn serves as the catalyst to drum up support for said fighter to fight for a world title. While this may seem like the quickest path to one getting a shot, there are countless other fighters that must for lack of a better term rely on the structure that be in the sport, which means for a fighter to work their way to a mandatory position to force a shot at a world championship. This is precisely the path that Super-Middleweight contender and former world title challenger John Ryder has taken, which has seen him fight his way to the number one contender's position in the World Boxing Organization's (WBO) Super-Middleweight ratings, which has now resulted in the native of London, England now being on the brink of the biggest fight of his career. A fight where he will challenge current Undisputed Sup...

In May of this year, undefeated WBA Light-Heavyweight world champion Dmitry Bivol entered the to defend his portion of the World Light-Heavyweight championship against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the man regarded by many as the best fighter in the world pound for pound, who had recently fully unified the Super-Middleweight division to become Undisputed world champion. Although Bivol went into the fight unbeaten and was a longtime champion, the champion was treated almost as if he were the challenger.   This was due largely to Alvarez’ standing in the sport and for better or worse fighters who are fortunate to covet such a position often take advantage of what are seen by some fans as perks, whether it be in contract negotiations and/or in the ability to dictate terms including, but not limited to at times who they fight, when they fight, and unfortunately for the fan/consumer how said bouts will be made available to the public. While some have used such a position to avoid challenges by...

  Press Release: By DAZN – September 21, 2022   – As Saul “Canelo” Alvarez ultimately outboxed Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin this past weekend to bring one of the most compelling rivalries in sport to an end, DAZN Group has confirmed the Canelo vs. GGG III fight night saw a global audience in the millions, with more than 1.06 million buys generated worldwide including PPV and DAZN subscriptions. Credit: DAZN   The event   - in partnership with Matchroom, Canelo Promotions and GGG Promotions -   marks DAZN’s biggest fight yet in 2022 both globally as well as in the United States. It also claims the title of #3 biggest boxing event globally on DAZN since its inception and #2 biggest boxing event in the United States since its 2018 launch.     Moreover, DAZN was once again the most downloaded sports app in the world, in addition to being the highest grossing app of any category in the United States.   Additionally, DAZN saw tremendous growth across its c...

Prior to the highly anticipated third encounter between Undisputed Super-Middleweight world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and two-time unified Middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, this observer asked one question. Would the third fight bring a finale to one of Boxing’s most heated rivalries over the last decade or would the third chapter in the story between the two fighters lead to a fourth encounter? Depending on one’s perspective, the answer to the question was either a simple or a complex one. Ideally, when one thinks of a trilogy in combat sports, the third fight more often than not serves as a tiebreaker after two fighters subsequently split the first two encounters. There are rare instances where three fights are not enough to settle matters and scenarios where the set up for a trilogy is not ideal. In this case, there was a controversial draw in the first bout between Alvarez and Golovkin and a debated outcome in the second fight where Alvarez was declared the winner ...

  The official weigh-in for Saturday’s third encounter between Undisputed Super-Middleweight world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and current unified Middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin took place earlier today in Las Vegas, NV. Alvarez, who’s undisputed championship will be on the line in the twelve round bout weighed in at 167 1/2lbs. The challenger Golovkin, who will be making his Super-Middleweight debut in tomorrow night’s bout weighed in slightly heavier at 167 3/4lbs. The twelve round world championship bout will headline a pay-per-view card available on DAZN Pay-Per-View in several countries including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The card however, will be available as part of a standard subscription to the DAZN digital streaming network in other countries.     * Weights for the undercard bouts are unavailable as of this writing.     Alvarez vs. Golovkin III takes place on Saturday, September 17 th at the T-Mobile Arena...

  Unless you are a fan with a mere casual interest in Boxing , one would likely say that one of the most heated rivalry that the sport has seen in the last decade has been between two of Boxing’s biggest stars. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “ GGG” Golovkin. Two fighters that with the exception of two fights against each other have dominated most of their opposition over that span of time.      As is the case with most rivalries, the first fight between the two in September 2017 was much anticipated. While such anticipation can at times be the type that is manufactured in that it is built up in such a way to make a fight appear bigger than it actually is in terms of what is at stake and the ramifications therein for a division and the sport as a whole , the anticipation for the first fight between these two stars was organic and did not need such hype tactics. This was due to Gennady Golovkin carving out what this observer referred to as “A Path Of Destruction” th...