The Boxing Truth®

In a follow-up to a previous story we have been following here on The Boxing Truth ®, it has been announced per Ring Magazine that WBA World Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara will now defend his title against Johan Gonzalez .  As previously reported here on the website , Lara was to face unbeaten unified WBO/IBF World Middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly in a unification bout, but Alimkhanuly ha been pulled from the fight due to testing positive for a banned substance. As of this writing, it remains unclear as to Alimkhanuly’s status with regard to both the WBO and IBF as each respective organization’s current World Middleweight champion.  Lara, (31-3-3, with 19 Knockouts) will now defend his title against Gonzalez, (36-4, with 34 Knockouts) who is stepping in in a little less than four days notice to challenge Lara, and who is not currently rated in the top ten in the World Boxing Association’s Middleweight ratings. Lara vs. Gonzalez will take place on the under...

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has released an official statement through its website and social media channels following it's World Middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly testing positive for a banned substance ahead of his scheduled unification bout with WBA World Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara on the undercard of the Isaac Cruz-Lamont Roach pay-per-view card scheduled for Saturday night in San Antonio, TX . As of this writing, the International Boxing Federation (IBF), whose World Middleweight championship Janibek Alimkhanuly also holds, has not released a statement regarding the situation. The WBO’s official statement can be read below. Credit: WBO As of this writing, the scheduled bout where the WBO, IBF, and WBA World Middleweight championships would be on the line, remains on as scheduled. We will keep readers updated on developments as they become available. Stay tuned. “And That's The Boxing Truth."  The Boxing Truth®️ is a registered...

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 fight between Women's WBA Jr. Middleweight world champion Mary Spencer and two-division world champion Mikaela Mayer on October 30th in Montreal,Canada , largely centered on Mayer attempting to add the Jr. Middleweight division to her resume of having won world championships after winning world titles in the 130lb. Jr. Lightweight and 147lb. Welterweight divisions. It was also a fight void of personal animosity and was rooted in respect between the two world champions. This was simply about two champions putting their respective skills against one another. Although as this observer stated in previewing this fight , this amounted to an away game for Mayer by traveling to Casino Montreal to face the Montreal native Spencer for her WBA world championship on her home turf, it did not appear as though that was a factor both in her approach in the lead up to the fight as well as how she approached the combat once the fighters were in the ring. A world champion moving up in wei...

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...

On Friday, May 23rd, a world championship bout will occur in the Women's Lightweight division featuring three-division world champion and current holder of the WBO crown against unbeaten former IBF Women's World Jr. Welterweight champion Natalie Zimmermann at Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, England. A world title bout that can be seen globally on digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN . This will be the first defense of the WBO World Lightweight championship for Harper that she won in September of last year with a ten round unanimous decision over Rhiannon Dixon in Sheffield, England. Harper, who has won world titles from the 130lb. Jr. Lightweight division to the 154lb. Jr. Middleweight division has rightfully earned her place as one of the biggest stars in Women's Boxing. Like many female fighters in the sport, Harper has moved up and down the weight scale depending on the fight and opportunity. While that is an indication of a sport that is still very much i...

In the 1990’s in the Middleweight and Super-Middleweight divisions, there was perhaps no more bitter rivalry than the one between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr., two world champions, who would go on to become legends, Hall of Famers and in terms of the Boxing hotbed of the United Kingdom, two of the most dominating British fighters of their era. Like many great rivalries, there was demand for the two to meet and once they did, no shortage of debate as to who had the upper hand.  In their first fight in November 1990, Eubank became a world champion by stopping Benn in nine rounds to win the WBO World Middleweight championship in a fight where the fighters were separated by only one point on all three official scorecards. A classic encounter in every sense of the term. Three years later, the two would meet again in October 1993, this time in the Super-Middleweight division where the two, at the time both world champions holding the WBO and WBC world titles respectively, fought to ...

On February 15th a world title elimination bout took place in the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division to determine a number one contender in the World Boxing Organization ( WBO ) Jr. Welterweight world championship currently held by Teofimo Lopez. The bout, which took place in Manchester, England, pitted Arnold Barboza and Jack Catterall the WBO’s number one and two contenders respectively. What was refreshing about this particular encounter beyond it being one between the legitimate top two contenders meeting to determine who will be next to challenge for a world title, but it was simply a bout between two of the top fighters in the Jr. Welterweight division, which did not see any grandstanding or pre-fight hype tactics that all too often crosses the line from simply trying to draw interest in a fight to legitimately personal attacks. This was simply two of the best fighters meeting to test their skills against each other. What resulted was a tactical battle where both fighters seemed to...

The fight between former IBF World Flyweight champion Sunny Edwards and undefeated contender Galal Yafai was one of experience versus youth. Edwards, a former world champion who was looking to get himself back into position to fight for a world championship in his second fight since losing the IBF crown in a unification bout against WBO World Flyweight champion Jesse Rodriguez. With an interim designation on the line between Edwards and Yafai in the WBC’s Flyweight ratings, the winner of the fight would essentially be in position to challenge current WBC world champion Kenshiro Teraji. What had all the appearance of a high-stakes encounter took place before an enthusiastic crowd at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England on November 30th. In previewing this bout, this observer pointed out that the strategy of Edwards, a fighter with only four knockouts in twenty-one previous fights going into this encounter, and one who was used to going a world championship distance of twelve r...

The 160lb. Middleweight division has been one that has gradually moved on from an era largely dominated by former two-time Middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin and towards a period of ongoing transition. A transition that to date has no finish date as no fighter has yet emerged as the division’s next central figure. One fighter that has been making a strong case for himself, however, is current unified WBO/IBF Middleweight world champion Janibek Alimkhanuly. Alimkhanuly, a native of Zhilandy, Kazakhstan, is in many ways viewed as Golovkin’s unofficial successor. Not only are both Golovkin and Alimkhanuly, Kazakhstan natives, but like Golovkin, Alimkhanuly established himself off of an ability to score quick and often devastating knockouts. Unbeaten in fifteen professional fights, Alimkhanuly has scored knockouts in ten of those bouts registering a current career knockout percentage of nearly 67%. While not quite at the same degree as what this observer often called “A Path Of D...

With the focus of the Boxing world continuing to be on unified Super-Middleweight world champion Saul “Canelo" Alvarez, who will next defend his crown against undefeated Super-Middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga on September 14th, unbeaten WBO number one Super-Middleweight contender Dirgo Pacheco chose not to sit on the sidelines and wait patiently for an opportunity to face the winner of that upcoming fight, but instead to take a risk by facing former world title challenger Maciej Sulecki on August 31st at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA. A battle of youth versus experience, what stood out to this observer was the patience of the twenty-three year old Pacheco as he simply took his time and studied what Sulecki brought with him into the fight. What was also noticeable was Pacheco’s ability to take the punches that Sulecki threw at him, which often came off of faints and were difficult to time. As the fight progressed, however, Pacheco was able to use his seventy-nin...

There is little doubt that one of Boxing’s biggest stars in recent years has been the undefeated Naoya Inoue. A fighter known simply to Boxing fans as “The Monster." Inoue has been one of the most dominant fighters of this generation being one of the few fighters to become an undisputed world champion in multiple weight divisions. Currently sitting atop the 122lb. Jr. Featherweight division as its undisputed champion, Inoue has rarely faced an opponent that has been able to withstand his constant pressure and punching power, which has seen him score knockouts in twenty-four of his twenty-seven career wins registering a career knockout percentage of nearly 89%. As intimidating as that statistic is, there have been a few occasions throughout Inoue’s career where he has been tested. Some may recall Inoue’s first encounter with future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire in November 2019 in the finals of the World Boxing Super Series® ️ Bantamweight tournament. In what was the fight of the ye...

It may seem like a cliche in present times because there are many talented fighters throughout the entire sport of Boxing that one might argue could have this label bestowed upon them, but there are few fighters that can legitimately lay claim to being a true “Generational Talent." One such fight that this observer has used the term in describing is undefeated multi-division world champion Terrence Crawford.  If one were to ask me to sum up Crawford’s career up to this point in a single word, it would be “Dominant" Crawford has simply dominated every weight division he has been in from the 130lb. Jr. Lightweight division, to the 147lb. Welterweight division, becoming an undisputed world champion in both the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight and Welterweight divisions. As his dominance has continued, the question that has begun to be asked is when and where will Crawford reach his ceiling in terms of the weight scale. With a Hall of Fame career already cemented, having fully unified his...

The career of two-division world champion Teofimo Lopex has been one marked by highlight reel knockouts and an expedited rise up that saw him go from rising star, to a world champion, to an undisputed world champion rather quickly. As most know, his reign as an undisputed world champion was short in losing the title in his first defense following successfully unifying the crown with a decision victory over Vasyl Lomachenko in October 2020, to then unbeaten top contender George Kambosos in November 2021. As the rise up of Lopez was quick, so too would be the rebuild process. A rebuild process, which began in August 2022 and saw him move up in weight to the 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division, to win two bouts before defeating the previously unbeaten Josh Taylor in June of last year to win the WBO Jr. Welterweight world championship. Lopez’ second reign as a world champion began with his first title defense of the WBO crown earlier this year when he scored a twelve round unanimous decision ...

As this observer reflects on his almost three decades covering Boxing and other combat sports, there are times where I will ponder if an event I covered over that span of time could have been approached from a different angle. It is after all understandable when one writes columns and other forms of content in various mediums day after day, week after week, and yes, year after year, that while one should always stand behind their works and views, much like a film or television director, when one has the benefit to look back years later there may be a feeling that maybe though the work is still good, little tweaks here and there may have made things even better.  In previewing the encounter between undefeated Heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for the Undisputed Heavyweight championship of the world and one where for the first time in Boxing history, all five major sanctioning organizations would have their respective world championships on the line in a single bout...