The Boxing Truth®

The time has come once again for this observer to pull out the periodic feature here on The Boxing Truth®️ Jabs And Observations. A feature column that was originally thought up as a bi-monthly addition as an attempt by yours truly to cover even more ground than what is typically found during a standard calendar year in covering the sport of Boxing. In more recent times, however, the concept of what I refer to as J&O in referencing upcoming features on social media has been used when pauses in the usual schedule have been unwanted, but necessary. While the month of July necessitated such a pause that was not intended by yours truly, it certainly did not mean that the sport was inactive. In fact, it was quite the opposite. When one will look back at the month that was July 2025 down the line, it will likely be summed up in two words: “Marquee Events." A description that due largely to the fourth of July holiday, the fact that it is in the middle of the summer here in the United...

The story leading up to undefeated three-division world champion Shakur Stevenson's bout against Artem Harutyunyan on July 6th was his first title defense as the WBC World Lightweight champion.  Before a hometown crowd, Stevenson put forth a dominant performance, skillfully out Boxing Harutyunyan over twelve rounds to retain his world title.  While this observer summed up what occurred at the Prudential Center in Stevenson's hometown of Newark, NJ,  there is more to the story, which was omitted from the preview penned by yours truly last week, but was not done so as a means of ignoring on my part. It was simply something that I chose to hold off discussing until after the fight. Just what am I referring to? The fact that this fight and what turned out to be the latest successful, lopsided outing for Stevenson, was the final bout under his current promotional agreement with Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum's Top Rank Inc. Normally, I do my best to try and avoid discussing th...

  With the departure of former Undisputed Lightweight world champion Devin Haney, the period of transition in the 135lb. Lightweight division continues with several world champions in the division looking to make their claim as being the best Lightweight in the world. In recent times both Vasyl Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis have made their respective arguments. Lomachenko emerged as a unified world champion in the division on May 12th with an eleventh round stoppage of IBO world champion George Kambosos in Kambosos’ home country of Australia. Along with the IBO world championship, Lomachenko also gained the vacant IBF crown, emerging as a unified world champion, and in many ways, by default, because he became a unified world champion, became the fighter that all top contenders, other world champions, and would be prospects look to target for a potential fight. The vacant WBO world championship would be decided on May 18th when undefeated top contender Denys Berinchyk scored what ma...

The fight between undefeated former two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson and WBC number six rated Lightweight contender Edwin De Los Santos was not only for the vacant WBC Lightweight championship of the world, but some felt it could signal the beginning of what might be a new era in the 135lb. Lightweight division. A new era that seemingly has started with the former Undisputed Lightweight world champion Devin Haney choosing to roll the dice and move up in weight to challenge WBC Jr. Welterweight world champion Regis Prograis in a fight that will take place on December 9th in San Francisco, CA.  While Haney still holds three portions of the World Lightweight championship as of this writing, it is expected by many whether or not he wins that fight against Prograis that he will remain as a 140lb. Jr. Welterweight going forward, due largely to struggles he has had in making the 135lb. Lightweight limit in recent fights. Although there was little to say prior to Stevenson’s bo...

The career of undefeated former two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson thus far has been one of dominance. After winning world championships in both the 126lb. Featherweight and 130lb. Jr. Lightweight divisions, Stevenson in part because of difficulty making the 130lb. Jr. Lightweight limit prior to his last scheduled title defense of the unified WBO/WBC world championship against Robson Conceicao In September of last year, losing the championship on the scale prior to scoring a twelve round unanimous decision, Stevenson set his sights on the 135lb. Lightweight division where in his debut as a Lightweight, he scored a knockout of a “Game,” but overmatched previously undefeated Shuichiro Yoshino in an elimination bout to determine the number one contender for the World Boxing Council ( WBC ) Lightweight championship of the world. As most Boxing fans know, the WBC world championship had been fully unified as part of the Undisputed Lightweight championship of the world held by Devin...

  Mexican Independence Day weekend has traditionally been one of the marquee dates on the Boxing calendar ever year routinely featuring some of the biggest fights in the history of the sport. The 2023 Mexican Independence Day weekend featured a bout for the IBF Featherweight championship of the world between defending champion Luis Lopez and two-time world title challenger Joet Gonzalez, who was getting his third opportunity to win a world championship. A fight that took place at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX on September 15th. While many of the previous battles that have taken place during Mexican Independence Day weekend have featured fighters regarded as the marquee attractions in the sport facing off against each other, this fight may not have been regarded as being in that category by some, but it was a solid encounter between two world-class fighters and featured a world champion in Lopez, who’s star has been on the rise. It was also a fight that featured a s...

The Lightweight debut of undefeated former two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson on April 8th was one that in some ways felt more like a formality than what one would consider a legitimate test for a fighter who has proven to be a difficult puzzle for opponents to solve. Perhaps adding to that feeling of formality was that Stevenson per his being a former unified world champion in the 130lb. Jr. Lightweight division, was moved immediately into an elimination bout to determine the next mandatory challenger in the World Boxing Council's (WBC) Lightweight ratings, which theoretically would put him in line to challenge the winner of the upcoming world championship bout between undefeated Undisputed Lightweight champion of the world Devin Haney and former three-division world champion Vasyl Lomachenko, which will take place on May 20th in Las Vegas, NV.  Formalities and what seemed designed to be a clear prelude to Stevenson challenging for a world championship in now a third wei...

Boxing is truly a sport that seems to breed stars almost as quickly as fighters tend to be positioned in the sport's mythical "Pound For Pound" debates. While often there is not much criteria for the latter as the entire concept is based almost exclusively on opinion and by its very nature is very subjective, the emergence of a star in the sport is often easier to see because it is something that one can see develop from the very early stages of a fighter's career. One such star that has emerged is undefeated former two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson. Stevenson, unbeaten in nineteen professional fights after winning a Silver medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics, was able to win world titles in both the 126lb. Featherweight and 130lb. Jr. Featherweight divisions, despite not having twenty pro bouts as of yet and in the process, has been a star on the rise for the past several years. Although Stevenson is at a point in his career where many fighters at similar st...

  While it was originally intended as a monthly to bi-monthly feature that was introduced earlier this year by this observer here on The Boxing Truth® as a means to frankly cover as much ground as possible in covering the sport of Boxing beyond the short-form card coverage and individual features that cover specific fights and subjects throughout the calendar year, Jabs And Observations has been absent since March. Although this was not intended as such, I felt coverage provided throughout 2022 had been smooth where the feature would be used on an occasional basis for the remainder of the year when circumstances warranted, with the aim of returning it as a bi-monthly feature column in 2023. As tends to be the case from the months of September through the remainder of a year, yours truly began the month of September in the midst of what I consider to be my norm, covering what usually tends to be a very active Boxing schedule during the latter months of the year. Even though most ...