The Boxing Truth®

Initially, this column was intended to be a post-feature covering two Heavyweight bouts taking place on April 25th taking place in two different countries. As some might know, however, the scheduled bout between former WBO World Cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie and Tony Yoka , which was to take place in Paris, France, was cancelled in the days prior to the bout due to Okolie having been found to have tested positive for what was described as an “ Adverse Finding " in randomized prefight testing conducted by the Voluntary Anti-doping Agency (VADA).  With that fight being cancelled the focus shifted to Las Vegas, NV where Heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller met undefeated contender Lenier Pero in a twelve round WBA Heavyweight elimination bout at the Fontainebleau Hotel and Casino . It can be viewed as the most unintentional of coincidences that one fight that depending on one's perspective, which would have gotten significant attention, was cancelled due to a fighter ...

April 11, 2026 marked the beginning of a new chapter for former two-time World Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury . Following another in a series of sabbaticals away from the sport of Boxing, this one following suffering his only two career defeats in consecutive fights to Oleksandr Usyk , this chapter at the age of thirty-seven was the start of a comeback. Fury’s opponent for his first fight in nearly two years was contender Arslanbek Makhmudov in London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium .  Makhmudov, a veteran of twenty-three professional fights coming into this encounter, had the size and punching power that on paper appeared as though he may have been able to pose a legitimate challenge to Fury, and was not a soft touch for a “Comeback Fight.” Initially, Makhmudov seemed as though he would provide just that by frequently and aggressively pushing Fury back against the ropes and frailing wide, looping punches. Although it needs to be pointed out that Tyson Fury has not been known as a tr...

In August of last year, undefeated Heavyweight contender Moses Itauma was tasked with what many felt would be the first significant test of his career when he was pitted against longtime Heavyweight contender and former world title challenger Dillian Whyte in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia . Despite being one of the top Heavyweights of the last fifteen years and having a significant experience advantage over the young and unbeaten “Knockout Artist,” Whyte found himself on the receiving end of a brutal first round knockout loss as many previous Itauma opponents have found themselves.  The eleventh knockout in thirteen professional bouts for the twenty-one year old current Commonwealth Heavyweight champion seemed to serve as another example of evidence some are pointing to, to annoint Itauma as potentially the next marquee Heavyweight and future world champion. As emphatic as that knockout of the normally durable and always “Game” Whyte was, the question remains, who can provide Mose...

In a follow-up to the column that was released on the website on Sunday, March 1st , discussing the recently announced upcoming World Heavyweight championship bout between Olekaandr Usyk and former World Heavyweight Kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven , which will take place during the month of May in Egypt , the World Boxing Council ( WBC ) released an official statement on it's website and social media platforms regarding its decision to sanction the bout for it's version of the World Heavyweight championship, despite Verhoeven only having one professional fight as a professional boxer. The statement can be read below: Credit: World Boxing Council  We will have a preview of this World Heavyweight championship bout released here on The Boxing Truth® as we get closer to the event and will keep readers updated on further developments as they become available. The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.  Follow Beau Denison on the follo...

Credit: DAZN In the summer of last year, future Hall of Famer Oleksandr Usyk further cemented his legacy by becoming the first man in Boxing history to have fully unified the Undisputed World Heavyweight championship twice, adding a third undisputed crown to his extensive list of accomplishments following previously unifying the Cruiserweight division before setting his sights on the Heavyweight division. As record-setting and ground breaking as Usyk’s second unification of the World Heavyweight championship was, it came as a result of the politics that be in the sport of Boxing ensuring a short first reign by not allowing him to maintain the undisputed crown while fulfilling his contractually mandated obligation to give Tyson Fury , the man he defeated for his first undisputed crown at Heavyweight, an immediate rematch. Unfortunately for Usyk, his second undisputed championship at Heavyweight would have a similar outcome as the first as shortly after he reclaimed the IBF world cham...

Below in the following screenshots released on its website and social media platforms is a statement released by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and it's current president Gustavo Olivieri regarding the decision of now former two-time Undisputed World Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to vacate its version of the World Heavyweight championship as of Monday, November 17th. Credit: WBO Credit:WBO Credit:WBO As previously reported here on The Boxing Truth®️ per Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, with Usyk now having vacated the WBO world title in the Heavyweight division, per WBO rules , which is a standard throughout the entire sport regardless of sanctioning organization, Fabio Wardley , who was the undefeated mandatory challenger for Usyk in the WBO Heavyweight rankings, and held interim championship status as a result, following his stoppage of previous number one contender and former WBO world champion Joseph Parker on October 25th in...

According to Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, Oleksandr Usyk the undefeated two-time Undisputed Heavyweight champion of the world, and one time former Undisputed Cruiserweight world champion has chosen to relinquish the WBO World Heavyweight championship . Not only does this mean that Usyk is once again no longer an undisputed world champion in the Heavyweight division after successfully fully unifying it for a second time earlier this year with a knockout win in his rematch with Daniel Dubois , after having a similar situation occur after he successfully unified the division the first time in his first fight with Tyson Fury in 2023, when Dubois was a mandatory challenger in the IBF Heavyweight ratings , after previously being stopped by Usyk prior to Usyk’s first of two bouts with Fury, but it also now elevates undefeated number one mandatory challenger Fabio Wardley , who Usyk had been mandated to fight by the WBO as its latest mandatory challenger, to now WBO World Heavyweight c...

The Heavyweight encounter between former WBO World Heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and undefeated top contender Fabio Wardley on June 25th at the O2 Arena in London, England was one that could and frankly should have repercussions for the talent-deep Heavyweight division going into 2026. Not only was it a rarity in that two number one contenders in two separate world sanctioning organizations,  chose to risk their respective standings against each other rather than sit and wait for a title shot to come to them, but stylistically, it provided the dynamic of a boxer/puncher in Parker, who has been at or near the top of the division for more than a decade going against a “ Knockout Artist ” in Wardley.  It was also a fight that came following a significant scare for Wardley in his previous outing against previously unbeaten Justis Huni earlier this year in a fight where Wardley was trailing on all three scorecards before dropping Huni late in the tenth round to score a d...

In May of this year , this observer penned a column here on The Boxing Truth®️ that asked a simple, yet complex question. Is Moses Itauma the future of the Heavyweight division? A question asked in the aftermath of his second round knockout of Mike Balogun in Glasgow, Scotland where the twenty year old “Knockout Artist" moved to 12-0, with 10 Knockouts in defense of regional championships, the WBO Intercontinental and WBA International Heavyweight titles.  Although only twenty years old with a relatively short resume in the professional ranks, the fact that Itauma had already achieved success in winning regional titles, which is used not only as a theoretical measuring stick for experts to gage the potential of prospects turned contenders as potential world title hopefuls down the line, but more specifically, a caveat to elevating a fighter up the world rankings towards that goal, made the question seem appropriate. As experienced and knowledgeable as yours truly is, having spen...

There is little doubt that over the last decade and a half few fighters have had the type of success as Deontay Wilder. An Olympic Bronze medalist in the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wilder took that accomplishment and made it part of his identity “The Bronze Bomber." An appropriate moniker given his reputation as a true " Knockout Artist” and having a five year reign atop the Heavyweight division as the WBC’s World Heavyweight champion from 2015-2020 where he successfully defended his crown ten times. The end of that run of dominance in being stopped in his second encounter with Tyson Fury in February 2020, however, began a slow, but consistent decline for Wilder including being on the receiving end of a second stoppage at the hands of Fury in their thrilling third enclosure in October 2021. Since that fight, Wilder has only won one of his last three fights.  In his last outing in June of last year, Wilder was the victim of a one sided fifth round knockout at the hands of top conte...

The circumstances that led to the Heavyweight bout between unbeaten top Heavyweight contenders Fabio Wardley and Justis Huni on June 7th at the Portman Road Football Ground in Ipswich, England was not ideal for either boxer. Due to the fact that it was made on short notice where Huni stepped in for the injured Jarrell Miller, neither man had the type of preparation that they would likely prefer going into a fight.  When one throws into the equation rainy conditions outdoors, one may not have known what to expect. In terms of styles, this was an adjustment for Wardley, who had been preparing to face a power puncher like himself in Miller, now tasked with facing a more balanced boxer/puncher in Huni. While the perception when fights like this are made on short notice is the fighter stepping into a fight is at a disadvantage, this was a case where one could say it was truly unknown as to having an idea of what could happen with one fighter having the type of punching power that is sud...

As the Boxing world prepares for the reunification of the Heavyweight division, which will come when the two champions of the division Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois meet in July in a highly anticipated rematch, this time for the Undisputed Heavyweight championship of the world, focus has begun to take shape in regard to the potential challengers that might follow for the winner of that fight. Recently, we saw the fast-rising Moses Itauma score his twelfth victory in his career by scoring a devastating knockout of Mike Balogun on May 24th. Itauma, who is rated in the top three in the Heavyweight division in both the WBO and the WBA rankings, may be on the short list of potential challengers for either Usyk or Dubois.  On June 7th, however, another Heavyweight who could also be a potential option will return to action. This observer is referring to undefeated WBA number one rated Heavyweight contender Fabio Wardley, who will face fellow unbeaten Heavyweight Justis Huni in a sche...

The premise leading into the rematch between undefeated Heavyweight contender Johnny Fisher and longtime veteran of the Heavyweight division Dave Allen was whether the unbeaten Fisher could validate his victory in the first encounter between the two men in December of last year in Saudi Arabia. In that fight, Fisher started out well, but it was Allen who was able to gradually rally as the fight progressed, forcing a fight in close quarters and seemed to wind up on the wrong end of a decision that some felt he had done enough to win. What became a close fight set up the ideal scenario for a rematch, which took place on May 17th at the Copper Box Arena in London, England. For a period of time, this return bout seemed as though it would follow a similar pattern to that of the first fight. Allen gradually trying to walk Fisher down and get on the inside where the terms of combat would be more favorable for him, Fisher trying to keep him at distance with his longer arms where it was more to...