The Boxing Truth®

It was announced earlier today by the World Boxing Council ’s ( WBC ) annual convention in Bangkok, Thailand that Conor Benn , who recently scored a twelve round unanimous decision in his rematch with former two-division world champion Chris Eubank Jr. on November 15th in a bout held in the 154lb. Jr. Middleweight division , has been named the new WBC number one contender in the 147lb. Welterweight division . This announcement puts Benn as a replacement for previous number one contender and Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao , who fought to a draw in July of this year with current WBC World Welterweight champion Mario Barrios . Barrios is rumored to be nearing a title defense early in 2026 against Welterweight contender Ryan Garcia , which has not been officially announced as of this writing. As for Manny Pacquiao, his next move as he intends to continue his comeback in 2026 is uncertain as of this writing. We will keep readers updated on developments as they are made available. Stay tuned....

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...

The story going into the Flyweight bout between 2020 Olympic Gold medalist Galal Yafai and former British Flyweight champion Tommy Frank on August 19th at the Birmingham Arena in Birmingham England was whether Yafai, who entered the bout ranked number fourteen in the world in the World Boxing Council ( WBC ), could continue on what has been a fast track since beginning his career in February of last year. Although it is not uncommon to see fighters who are able to benefit from the exposure that the Olympics offers, and to be more specific, those fighters who are able to reach the medal rounds, progress at a faster pace upon embarking on professional careers as compared to those with limited or no amateur experience, Yafai has been able to work his way to a low top-twenty ranking in a world sanctioning organization's rankings in only four professional fights. While Yafai entered the bout unbeaten in four bouts having gone the distance in one of those fights, the question this observ...

Originally, August 19th in the world of Boxing was to be spotlighted by the highly anticipated World Light-Heavyweight championship fight between undefeated champion Artur Beterbiev and former Super-Middleweight world champion Callum Smith. As some know, the bout between Beterbiev and Smith has been postponed to January 2024 due to Beterbiev needing time to recover from recent dental surgery. While that fight was initially one of the highlights of the month of August 2023, a bout that could be described by some as under the radar could prove to be interesting. This observer is referring to the Flyweight bout between undefeated Flyweight contender Galal Yafai and former British Flyweight champion Tommy Frank, which will take place at the Birmingham Arena in Birmingham, England that can be seen globally on digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN.  While the 112lb. Flyweight division does not always get much exposure, particularly here in the United States, one thing that m...

Press Release July 20, 2023 By Dragon Fire Boxing and Jarred Cross- Noongar boxer Alex Winwood has climbed to no.2 in the World Boxing Council's strawweight ratings, earmarking a push to get his hands on a world title in the division. Credit: Dragon Fire Boxing    WBC's ratings released this week places Winwood behind only Mexican fighter Luis Castillo on the list of challengers to interim champion Yudai Shigeoka and world champion Panya Pradabsri.   "This is very special and brings me so much closer to my dream of being a world champion," Winwood wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.   This time last year the 26-year-old was yet to enter the ring as a professional.   Just three fights in, Winwood's manager Tony Tolj said it's an "unheard of" trajectory into the elite.   The International Boxing Federation has Winwood at no.8 and World Boxing Organization at just outside the top ten at no.11 in their latest ratings.   "To be honest, his ris...

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...

  The sport of Boxing is no stranger to tournament style competition. While many likely associate the idea of Boxing being contested under tournament style formats with the amateur ranks with several tournaments taking place yearly and of course, Olympic competition occurring every four years, the professional side of the sport has seen its share of tournament concepts as well. While many of these tournaments have served a purpose of unifying world championships in a given weight division, often accompanied by significant elements of hype by the respective promoters and television networks involved, there have also been reality television style competitions such as The Contender and The Next Great Champ series that did serve as a way to introduce several fighters to a more casual audience and in the case of Sergio Mora, the winner of The Contender's first season, an eventual world champion, who since retirement has gone on to become one of the sport's respected expert commentat...