The Boxing Truth®

  Undefeated top-ten rated Light-Heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi scored a hard- fought eleventh round knockout over Ricards Bolotniks on Saturday night at Matchroom Headquarters in Brentwood, England. In what was billed an an elimination bout for the WBA Light-Heavyweight world championship, the two fighters engaged each other in close quarters from the outset. This scenario saw several exchanges between the two fighters with Buatsi generally getting the better of the action due largely to his edge in hand speed. Bolotniks however, was able to provide Buatsi with a level of resistance that he had not experienced before in being able to extend the fight.    Buatsi dropped Bolotniks with a perfectly timed left hook to the jaw in a short exchange of hooks in round six. Despite going down hard and being hurt, Bolotniks was able to get up from the knockdown, survive the round, and continue to put up a fight in the rounds that followed. In round eight, Buatsi was penalized ...

  The official weigh-in for Saturday’s Boxing card that will conclude the 2021 season of Matchroom Boxing’s Fight Camp series took place earlier today in Brentwood, England. The weights for the entire card, which will take place at Matchroom Headquarters and be broadcast globally by digital subscription sports streaming network  DAZN  are as follows.   Main Event: Light-Heavyweight – 12Rds.   Joshua Buatsi 174 3/4lbs. vs. Ricards Boloniks 174 1/2lbs.   Welterweight – 10Rds.    Michael McKinson 146 1/2lbs. vs. Przemyslaw Runowski 146 1/4lbs.   Featherweight – 10Rds.   Raymond Ford 126lbs. vs. Reece Bellotti 125 1/4lbs.   Bantamweight – 10Rds.   Ukashir Farooq 117 1/2lbs. vs. Luis Castillo 116 1/4lbs.   Jr.Lightweight – 10Rds.   Joe Cordina 134lbs. vs. Joshuah Hernandez 132 3/4lbs.   Lightweight – 8Rds.   Zelfa Barrett 136 1/4lbs. vs. Viorel Simion 139 3/4lbs.   Jr. Featherweight – 6Rds.   Hopey Pric...

  The second season of Matchroom Boxing’s Fight Camp series held on the grounds of the family estate of promoter Eddie Hearn in a beautiful scenic setting in Brentwood, England has largely focused in its first two weeks on the 126lb. Featherweight division. A focus that in part was magnified by undefeated Welterweight contender Conor Benn being forced to withdraw from his scheduled July 31 st  bout against Adrian Granados, which was to headline week one of the season due to Benn testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. As most know, this led to back to back weeks where two Featherweight bouts that were at or near the top of the division took centerstage. As those first two weeks have been covered extensively by this observer here on The Boxing Truth®️, week three, which will bring the 2021 season of Matchroom Fight Camp to its conclusion will see the focus shift away from the Featherweight division and center on the 175lb. Light-Heavyweight division.   Headlining week thr...

  Longtime contender  Kid Galahad made the transition from contender to world champion by stopping a “Game” but overmatched James Dickens to win the  IBF Featherweight world championship on Saturday night at Matchroom Headquarters in Brentwood, England. A rematch from 2013 when the two met for the British Jr. Featherweight championship, which was won by Galahad in ten rounds, the second encounter between the two would have a similar outcome.   From the outset, Galahad implemented a very tactical approach that had an emphasis on both being active with his offense, but also accurate with the punches he threw. Dickens suffered a cut over the left eye in the first round as a result of an accidental clash of heads. This in addition to not being able to nullify Galahad’s hand speed and movement continued to worsen as the fight progressed.    By the middle rounds, the accumulation of punishment became more visible and it appeared as though the combinations that Ga...

  The official weigh-in for Saturday’s second week of the 2021     Matchroom Fight Camp series took place earlier today in Brentwood, England at Matchroom Headquarters. Weights for the entire card, which can be seen globally on digital subscription sports streaming network   DAZN   and will be headlined by a rematch between Kid Galahad and James Dickens for the vacant IBF Featherweight world championship are as follows.   Main Event: Vacant IBF Featherweight World Championship – 12Rds.   Kid Galahad 126lbs. vs. James Dickens 125 1/2lbs.   English Heavyweight Championship – 10Rds.   Fabio Wardley (Champion) 235 1/2lbs. vs. Nick Webb 256lbs.     Heavyweight – 8Rds.   Alen Babic 210lbs.vs. Mark Bennett 272 1/2lbs.     Heavyweight – 4Rds.   Johnny Fisher 239 1/2lbs. vs. Danny Whitaker 259 1/2lbs.     Women’s Bantamweight – 8Rds.   Ebanie Bridges 118 3/4lbs. vs. Bec Connolly 119lbs.     Jr. Li...

  The second season of Matchroom Boxing’s Fight Camp series kicked off in a big way on July 31 st  at Matchroom Headquarters in Brentwood, England. As this observer stated in  his post-coverage of week 1 , the sales hook for this series is relatively simple “No Easy Fights.” Although not originally intended, the first two weeks of this season will be headlined by bouts that could have a potential impact on the near future of the 126lb. Featherweight division. As most know, in week 1, British Featherweight champion Leigh Wood significantly stepped up in caliber of opposition and due to circumstances of COVID-19 saw himself in the main event against WBA mandatory challenger Xu Can. Wood turned in the best performance of his career in out Boxing Can over twelve rounds before dropping him in dramatic fashion in the final round, which led to a stoppage with seconds remaining in the fight.   This indirectly sets the stage for the main event of week 2 of Matchroom Fight Cam...

  In an upset,British Featherweight champion Leigh Wood scored a twelfth round stoppage of top Featherweight contender Xu Can in the main event of week 1 of Season 2 of Matchroom Fight Camp on Saturday night at Matchroom Headquarters in Brentwood, England. From the opening bell, Wood used angles and his reach to keep the normal volume puncher Can on the defensive and only getting his punches off sporadically. This along with consistent combination punching firmly established the momentum in Wood’s favor. As the fight progressed, Can, who entered the fight holding interim/regular champion status in the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Featherweight ratings, started to pick up his pace, but was unable to turn the ebb and flow of the combat in his favor, perhaps affected by ring rust after being inactive for nearly twenty-two months due largely to the ongoing COVID-19 global epidemic.    The story of the fight became Wood’s ability to remain disciplined. With momentum seemin...

  One of the biggest things that came as a result of the ongoing global COVID-19 epidemic when it began impacting everyday life including the day to day operation of sports around the world in 2020 was the necessity for all sports to adapt to the changing environment created by the COVID-19 virus.     Following a lengthy pause that lasted in some cases over three months, Boxing was one of the sports that sort of laid out a blueprint of sorts for other sports, particularly in the combat sports space to follow as the process of trying to resume normal day to day activities began. While some promoters are still struggling over a year into the epidemic to resume their schedules, some promoters who because of their standing in the sport had the financial resources and the benefit of lucrative agreements with television and streaming networks to not only resume activity, but also essentially take residency at venues around the world in environments that did not feature spectato...