The Boxing Truth®

The event between social media influencer turned aspiring boxer Jake Paul and International Boxing Hall of Famer and two-time World Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was one that stirred much opinion, criticism, and worry for Tyson’s health given that he would be getting back into the ring at fifty-eight years of age, more than twenty years removed from his last competitive fight in 2005 and four years removed from a charity exhibition, which had been the only time he had entered a Boxing ring since retirement. It was also a circumstance that as most events featuring those labeled as “Influencers” going against an athlete or a celebrity in a Boxing ring drew significant interest, particularly among those who are casual sports observers. For better or worse, that was the target demographic of the promotion and not those for whom Boxing is a regular passion. Part of the draw was of course the appeal of Mike Tyson, a fighter whom in his prime was the primary drawing card of his time in the ...

The Heavyweight fight between two-time World Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and former UFC Heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou was a spectacle that was right in line with several of what this observer refers to as “Novelty" fights featuring either the top stars of the sports of Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) or celebrities from other realms that for one reason or another decide to enter Combat Sports. What made this particular encounter different was the fact that Francis Ngannou had proven in his previous foray into Boxing that he had the potential to transition to a career as a professional boxer in October of last year in putting forth an impressive showing against undefeated current WBC Heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury. Not only did Ngannou score a shocking knockdown of Fury, a two-time world champion, who was expected to outclass Ngannou primarily based on the significant experience gap between the two, but by the time the fight was over, Ngannou had suc...

In October of last year in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, former UFC World Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou shocked many in the Boxing world when in the latest novelty event featuring Mixed Martial Arts fighters stepping into the Boxing ring to face a star of the sweet science, he not only decked undefeated two-time Heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury with a left hook in the third round of the scheduled ten round bout, but, despite coming out on the losing end of a controversial split decision, emerged as the winner in the view of many where, Fury, the current WBC world champion in the Heavyweight division put in a lackluster performance against a fighter with no previous professional Boxing experience. When one considers that the bout between Ngannou and Fury was thought to be at minimum a curiosity and at most was expected to be a mismatch due to the difference in experience between Fury one of two current world champions in the Heavyweight division, and Ngannou, who recently par...

In August 2017, the Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) worlds were consumed by a fight that was a legitimate mega event in terms of interest. This observer is referring to the encounter between Boxing Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather and two-division UFC world champion Connor McGregor, which took place in Las Vegas, NV and was one of the last successful pay-per-view attractions to draw a significant buyrate of over four million buys. The action in the ring that August evening favored the experienced boxer Mayweather, who stopped a very "Game" McGregor in ten rounds. The Mayweather-McGregor fight followed a familiar pattern in the realm of combat sports. In that when a fighter from one combat sport ventures into another combat sport where they do not have experience in terms of that sport being their primary discipline, the results often are not favorable for that fighter and more often than not, such bouts tend to be regarded as mismatches when all is said and done. This has b...

Undefeated Welterweight Gorjan Slaveski successfully went from contender to world champion by scoring a hard fought five round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Jake Lindsey to win the vacant Bareknuckle Fighting Championship ( BKFC ) Welterweight world championship on Friday night at the Miami-Dade Fairgrounds in Miami, FL. The main event of BKFC 49 turned out to be an ugly, grueling, and great fight all in one.  A fight that began almost exclusively with both fighters trying to tee off on each other on the inside including trying to fight and grapple in the clinch, similar to what you would see in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), but not something that is legal in Boxing including Bareknuckle Boxing. As the bout went on however, both fighters had their share of moments in what became a seesaw battle in terms of momentum as both fighters landed hard, thudding punches to the head that frankly would have dropped many of fighters. Despite suffering an injury to his right hand as...

The question that this observer asked in the days prior to the scheduled Cruiserweight encounter between unbeaten hopefuls Jake Paul and Tommy Fury was whether the third attempt to get the two to face off in the ring would finally result in an actual fight between the two. While I did little to hide my cynicism in asking that question, it was fair to ask after two previous cancellations and a lot of grandstanding between the two and their respective teams that can be described in a single word. “Nonsense.” After those cancellations and endless verbal exchanges between the two, it finally culminated in two men, each very much trying to prove themselves as boxers meeting in a Boxing ring in Saudi Arabia. Despite the skepticism and cynicism of yours truly prior to the scheduled bout on February 26th, what resulted when it was time for the two men to do battle turned out to be a pleasant surprise. What was surprising? After all the “Nonsense,” the Boxing world was actually treated to a com...

  One of the many frustrations that unfortunately comes with the territory of not just Boxing, but all of combat sports are the potential for postponements/cancellations to occur that can put a halt to the plans of not just the fighters involved, not just the promoters, but more specifically the platforms, which broadcast the bouts. Recently, two events that were scheduled to take place during the month of August were cancelled both due to failure of conditions stipulated in a contract to be met by one fighter in a bout and an injury forcing the cancellation of another bout.     This observer is referring to two Boxing events that were to be headlined by two separate YouTube celebrities in separate bouts. The first bout that saw the ax of cancellation come down upon it was the scheduled August 6 th bout between undefeated Cruiserweight/ YouTube star Jake Paul who was scheduled to face Heavyweight prospect Hasim Rahman Jr. in a catchweight bout that stipulated that Rah...