The Boxing Truth®

Credit: DAZN  On March 18th, the focus of the Boxing world focused on Madison Square Garden in New York City where a press conference was held where digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN announced its latest partnership in forming a multi-year worldwide broadcast deal with Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum and Top Rank Inc , marking the latest promotional entity to join the network that has marketed itself as “The Global Home of Boxing.” While the aforementioned tagline is a clever marketing tool, it is really as close to reality as one could claim. After all, in 2018 when DAZN entered the United States market, many laughed at the idea of a strictly streaming-based platform that would operate primarily under a subscription model as a potential power broker in the sport of Boxing. This observer has from the moment I was informed of the network’s entry both into the United States, but also Boxing was supportive of what was being attempted. Before I elaborate further, it ...

  Undefeated Light-Heavyweight Darius Fulghum scored an uneventful ten round unanimous decision over veteran Vaughn Alexander on Thursday night at the Fantasy Springs Hotel and Casino in Indio, CA. Alexander, who was a late replacement for Super-Middleweight contender Ronald Ellis, who had to withdraw from the planned Super-Middleweight bout with Fulghum due to illness, spent the majority of the fight trying to stay in close to Fulghum, but only sporadically letting his hands go throughout the ten round bout. When he did let his hands go, however, he landed clean shots that were easy to see. It was what Alexader did not do in the rest of the bout that was the story as the crowd in attendance frequently and unapologetically voiced their dissatisfaction over what was taking place inside the ring.   What frankly at times resembled little more than a sparring session was controlled by Fulghum, who simply was able to win rounds by being the more active of the two fighters. Ful...

The fight between Jr. Welterweight contender Ryan Garcia and contender Oscar Duarte on December 2nd should have represented a fresh start and the beginning of a new chapter in Garcia's career as he looked to bounce back from the first loss of his career earlier this year to Gervonta Davis. Instead, much of the attention prior to the bout, which took place at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX, did not center on the fight itself or what Duarte brought to the table as an opponent and possible threat to Garcia, but rather on what at best can be described as a contentious relationship between Garcia and his promoter Oscar De La Hoya and by extension his promotional company Golden Boy Promotions .  It is true that this fight took place under a condition in which this observer cannot recall seeing before, or at least not in this form. In that the bout took place while the fighter Garcia, and the promoter De La Hoya, are engaged in a legal battle against each other in an effort by Garcia to...

    Press Release: August 8, 2022 By DAZN – LOS ANGELES, CA (August 8, 2022) -  Out to prove they are worthy of fighting for a world championship fight in the near future, South El Monte’s Joseph “JoJo” Diaz, Jr. (32-2-1) will face Mexico’s undefeated rising star, William “Camaron” Zepeda (26-0, 23 KOs) of San Mateo Atenco, Mexico in a dangerous 12-round lightweight main event that will be broadcast live worldwide exclusively on  DAZN  on Saturday, November 5.  Credit: DAZN   In the crossroads matchup, former IBF junior lightweight titleist Diaz, Jr. has his eyes locked on continuing his campaign to take over the lightweight division despite a minor setback after facing Devin Haney in December 2021.   “I am very excited to be back in the ring and do what I love,” said JoJo Diaz, Jr. “I’m going to take on the toughest challenge that will bring out the best in me. I’m going to show the shrimp what it's like to swim with...

As the fight between undefeated top Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia and Javier Fortuna approached, this observer found himself not feeling the normal anticipation that I normally have prior to a fight where there is significant interest. For someone who covers Boxing on every level imaginable and does so full time, I would be lying to the reader if I said that every single fight had the same level of anticipation. In the days prior to this fight, the anticipation level at least for me seemed to bottom out. Perhaps it in part had to do with the fatigue that one can experience during a calendar year covering the sport of Boxing, but I thought to myself that the question going into this fight was in a way too simple. Would Javier Fortuna be able to impose his will on Ryan Garcia and pose more of a challenge than Garcia’s previous opponent Emmanuel was able to do earlier this year. There were times after all when Garcia’s fight with Tagoe, his first since returning from a hiatus to focu...

  In December of last year, Gervonta Davis, the former Jr. Lightweight world champion, who had scored knockouts in every one, but one of his professional fights received an unexpected test in the form of Lightweight contender Isaac Cruz. Perhaps what made that unexpected was that Cruz stepped into the fight on short notice when original opponent Rolando Romero had to withdraw from the bout to deal with issues outside of the ring. Nevertheless, the pressure Cruz was able to put on Davis for twelve rounds created something that Davis had not experienced before, uncertainty. Although Davis was ultimately able to adapt and score a twelve round unanimous decision to remain unbeaten, the performance of Cruz provided an impression that perhaps a blueprint of sorts had been made for future opponents on how to fight Davis.   With the issues he was dealing with outside of the Boxing ring resolved, what became an anticipated encounter between Davis and Romero was finally able to take pla...