The Boxing Truth®

The story going into the Featherweight bout between former two-time Olympian and world title challenger Michael Conlan and rising contender Jake Bateson was whether he could continue building momentum in his second fight since returning from a lengthy hiatus following three knockout losses in a relatively short timeframe. In previewing this bout , this observer stated that this fight was part of a rebuilding process for Conlan and that a win here would not necessarily indicate whether he would be back to a point where he was three years ago when he was ahead on the scorecards in his world title challenge of then WBA World Featherweight champion Leigh Wood going into the final round of a grueling and competitive fight and being literally minutes away from becoming world champion, before suffering a brutal knockout loss, which seemed to start a slide for him in the wrong direction as a fighter.  Despite yours truly saying prior to his encounter with Bateson that there would likely n...

It can be a cliche, but those who are familiar with the sport of Boxing and really combat sports as a whole, know that there are several stages throughout a fighter's career. Such stages have been chronicled numerous times by this observer in covering countless fighters over the last three decades that I have covered combat sports, and have been discussed as a focal point when a fighter either prepares to enter a new phase or as that fighter is on the rise up the ranks. One such fighter that saw such a rise is Featherweight contender Michael Conlan. Conlan, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland is a two-time Olympian and former Olympic Bronze Medalist. Upon turning professional in 2017, Conlan went on to win sixteen straight bouts leading to a world championship bout when he challenged then WBA World Featherweight champion Leigh Wood in March 2022. In a grueling back and forth fight where he was ahead on all three judges scorecards, Conlan would find himself on the receiving end of...

The showdown between two-time Featherweight world champion Leigh Wood and former two-time Featherweight world champion Josh Warrington was one which was highly anticipated in the United Kingdom as it was an encounter that brought together two of the top fighters in the sport and two of the top draws in the United Kingdom as well. It was also a clash between two boxer/punchers that stylistically appeared as though it could be a fight of the year candidate. Before an enthusiastic sellout crowd in the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England on October 7th, Boxing fans were treated to a memorable battle. Before the battle occurred however, there were questions regarding the condition of the WBA world champion Wood, who had struggled on the day before the fight to make the 126lb. Featherweight limit. This fueled speculation that no matter the outcome, Wood, who was making the first defense of his second reign as WBA world champion, would be moving up in weight after this fight.  For a sig...

One of the bigger bouts remaining on the Boxing calendar for 2023 will kick off the month of October as two-time Featherweight world champion Leigh Wood will begin his second reign as WBA world champion as he makes his first defense since regaining the title in May of this year, against former two-time Featherweight world champion Josh Warrington on Saturday, October 7th. The showdown in the 126lb. Featherweight division, which will take place at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England and will be broadcast globally on digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN , has the possibility to be a sleeper candidate for Fight of the Year. Not only does this encounter bring together two of the biggest stars that the United Kingdom currently has to offer, each with significant followings, but also two of the best the Featherweight division has to offer. Leigh Wood's recent career could probably be best described as a rollercoaster. Many likely remember his thrilling and brutal knoc...

The rematch between Mauricio Lara and Leigh Wood for the WBA Featherweight championship of the world seemed to be a relatively straightforward process. Despite criticism for invoking his rematch clause a little over three months after losing his title via knockout to Lara where his trainer Ben Davison was also criticized for his decision to throw the towel in to prevent him from further punishment, Leigh Wood was strong in his belief that he could improve in a rematch. After all, in their first encounter in February of this year, Wood was out Boxing Lara convincingly before he got caught by a left hook to the head that led to the stoppage in the seventh round. While that fight could best be described as a sudden ending where a fighter who was in control simply got caught, it was nevertheless questionable of Wood though commendable that he would want a rematch so soon in theory not giving himself time to recover from the knockout from both a physical as well as a psychological standpoin...

In February of this year, one of the rising stars of the 126lb. Featherweight division, Leigh Wood entered the ring to defend his WBA Featherweight world championship against top contender Mauricio Lara in Nottingham, England. By all accounts, it was a fight that was viewed as a next step in the rise of Wood that would theoretically potentially lead to him looking to unify the Featherweight division down the line. For a significant period of time for the champion, it appeared that he would box his way to a convincing victory over the dangerous Lara as he applied a smooth Boxing approach that not only served to out box the challenger, but more specifically build a lead on the scorecards over the first six rounds of the scheduled twelve round world championship bout. As can sometimes be the case in Boxing however, the fight would suddenly turn in the favor of Lara. Equally as sudden would be how the fight would end. In an exchange of left hooks in the seventh round, Lara's left hook ...

One of the first marathon days of Boxing in 2023 took place on February 18th as digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN , presented three different cards taking place in three different countries taking place in one day. For the purposes of this column, the three respective main events will be discussed. First, it was former two-division world champion Felix Sturm, who at age forty-four returned to the ring in Stuggart, Germany. The former Middleweight and Super-Middleweight world champion made his debut in the 175lb. Light-Heavyweight division. Sturm’s opponent on this occasion was relative unknown  Sukru Altay. This can best be described as a fight that was fought in a phone booth. In that both men opted to stay in close and engage in a toe to toe battle for ten rounds. While Sturm was not the fighter he was many years ago in terms of his movement, he still showed flashes of what made him one of the best fighters in the world during his prime.  This included a hig...

A consistent theme of this observer’s work particularly here on The Boxing Truth® over the last several years has been the gradual shift of the sport of Boxing away from traditional television platforms and pay-per-view and towards digital subscription-based streaming networks and platforms. While the pay-per-view model unfortunately still exists in 2023 and has even creeped into the subscription-based streaming model, one of the benefits to subscription-based streaming as it relates to Boxing is generally offering more value to consumers as compared to traditional television platforms, including, but not limited to, offering a subscriber the opportunity to see every bout on a card as well as offering multiple events on one platform in a single day. On February 18th, digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN will offer a full day of Boxing from three different countries that will feature a former world champion continuing his comeback, a fight for a version of the World Feath...

 Originally, this column was intended to focus strictly on the landscape of the 126lb. Featherweight division that took a significant spotlight during the month of March in the sport of Boxing. Due to circumstances beyond this observer's control however, this column will be expanded to include some of the other events that took place during the last full week of March. This is due in part to technical issues that yours truly experienced during what was expected to be coverage of the RJJ Boxing card, which took place on Thursday, March 24 th in Nayarit, Mexico. Unfortunately, due to those technical problems, coverage of that card will be limited to the following results.   In the opening bout of the card, which took place at the Palenque de la Expo, Lightweight Marco Moreno scored a four round unanimous decision over Jonathan Zuniga. Featherweight Hector Cruz scored a six round unanimous decision over Miguel Hernandez. Jr Lightweight Armando Almanza scored an eight round d...

  Over the last few weeks, the sport of Boxing at least in regard to the professional side of the sport has seen a focus of sorts on the 126lb. Featherweight division. Of course, readers here on The Boxing Truth®️ have seen the coverage that this observer has provided over the last two weeks of Matchroom Boxing’s second season of its Fight Camp series at the estate of promoter Eddie Hearn and the Hearn family known in Boxing circles as Matchroom Headquarters. Coincidentally, the first two weeks of the season have been headlined by two Featherweight bouts that may have an impact on the upper echelon of the division going forward.    First, it was Leigh Wood, who scored a dominant twelfth round stoppage of top contender Xu Can on July 31 st  that earned him an interim/regular championship designation in the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Featherweight ratings. This was followed by longtime contender Kid Galahad, who scored an eleventh round stoppage this past weekend...