Boxing Challenge: Garcia busts Benn

   Ryan Garcia dropped Conor Benn with a right hand and finished him off after a shaky Benn got to his feet in round two, for a painless stoppage of Benn in the biggest fight promoted by Zuffa Boxing in their short existence.

Benn slugged it out evenly with Garcia in the first round, but his drop from the middleweight division may have weakened him, as the Englishman crumbled with the big right hand from Garcia.

Garcia has spoken of several opponents for his next fight, asking for a return from retirement from former three-division undisputed champion Terence Crawford, a rematch with Gervonta Davis, who stopped Garcia in seven rounds in 2023, or a unification fight with WBA champion Teofimo Lopez.

Benn will likely rise in weight but doesn't have an obvious opponent for his next fight and will have to revitalize himself after a devastating loss.

Unbeaten former IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opietaia stopped WBC champion Noel Mikelian in nine rounds in the co-feature, but didn't win the title as Mikaelin was stripped of the title before the fight.

Andres Cortes won a unanimous decision over former featherweight champion Mark Magsayo in a lightweight ten rounder and in the best fight of the night, welterweight contender Alexis Rocha won a competitive unanimous decision over former junior welterweight champion Jose Ramirez.

I'd like to see Rocha and Ramirez in a rematch.

Boxing Challenge

TRS:  106 Pts (5)

Ramon Malpica: 91 Pts (4)

Vince Samano: 60 Pts (0)

 

Boxing Challenge: Zuffa Era begins with Opietaia win

   Jai Opietaia's victory over Brandon Glanton was as dominant as one could see, but it could be more significant for what happened outside the ring, as Opietaia was stripped of his IBF cruiserweight title before the bell rang.

In the ring, the bout was forgettable as Opietaia puffed up Glanton's eyes and forehead and did about everything a fighter could do short of scoring a knockdown.

Honestly, the fight could have been stopped in the corner of Glanton in the late rounds, and I would not have complained.

Glanton was penalized for holding and low blows, and somehow Opietaia was penalized for holding, which was the only thing preventing Opietaia from a perfect score with all three judges scoring the fight 119-106 for the Australian.

The real fun was outside the ring where despite paying the sanctioning fees, the IBF still took their title away in a snit over the Zuffa championship.

I'm no Zuffa apologist but this is all on the IBF.

Yes, Dana White (Zuffa head) has made his statement about the boxing status quo but their fighter (Opietaia) has made it clear that he wanted to unify all four titles, and they are trying to make that happen with their cooperation to date.

I could do without the Zuffa title but it's not a major problem yet.

There will be a showdown eventually but for now, Zuffa has played by the standard rules and deserves the recognition of being right.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 26 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 24 Pts (1)

TRS: 22 Pts (1)

Boxing Challenge:Nakatani closes out Nishida

     Junto Nakatani added the IBF bantamweight title to his previously owned WBC belt when the fight was stopped before the start of the seventh round, with Ryosuke Nishida's right eye closed.

Nishida didn't go down easily as he attacked Nakatabi throughout, and the fight was all-action for six rounds.

However, it was the heavier blows of Nakatani that controlled the contest, with Nishida's face showing damage as early as round three.

Nakatani could fight once more this year, perhaps against WBO champion Yoshiki Takei in another unification match. Still, the big fight is expected early next year against undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue in what could be the biggest fight ever in Japanese boxing.

In Australia, Jai Opietaia knocked out Claudio Squeo with a left hook in the fifth round to retain his IBF cruiserweight title.

Squeo tried hard, but he looked half Opietaia's size, and the fight was a physical mismatch.

Opietaia hopes to meet WBA and WBO champion Gilberto Ramirez later this year.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 89 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica: 84 Pts (3)

Vince Samano: 38 Pts (5) 

Boxing Challenge: Opetaia outslugs Nyika in four

     The boxing year kicked off in Broadbeach, Australia, with an exciting fight and a vicious conclusion. Jai Opetaia knocked out David Nyika in the fourth round to retain his IBF cruiserweight title.

The combatants swapped power shots for the first three rounds, with Opetaia having the advantage. Still, Nyika also landed his share of strong punches, notably wobbling Opetaia near the end of the second round.

Opetaia's class showed up in the fourth when he dropped Nyika and after the fight resumed, crushed Nyika with a right hand that left the New Zealander prone on the mat for several minutes.

Opetaia and promoter Eddie Hearn commented after the fight on their desire for Opetaia to meet WBA and WBO champion Gilberto Ramirez, which is expected to happen sometime this year, and a possible future trip to the heavyweight division to challenge Oleksandr Usyk in 2026.

Opetaia and Ramirez would be meeting for three of the four cruiserweight titles and are the best two fighters in the division, so a matchup would be very interesting indeed.

As for the previously unbeaten Nyika, who accepted the fight on three weeks' notice, he was impressive in his loss and could be a future force in the division, assuming he can move on after losing for the first time,

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 2 Pts 

TRS: 2 Pts

Vince Samano: 2 Pts

Boxing Challenge: Beterbiev bumps Bivol

    The long-awaited light heavyweight unification match between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol may not have been a firefight but it was a fascinating technical battle at the highest level that the sport can offer and at the end of twelve closely-matched rounds, it was Beterbiev who emerged with the narrow victory and adding the fourth (WBA) title to his three (WBC, IBF, WBO) and the title as the undisputed best in the division.  

The fight's scoring has been criticized but I scored it 114-114 which agreed with one judge and the others giving an edge to Beterbiev 115-113 and 116-112.

Beterbiev threw over two hundred more punches and landed the stronger shots but Bivol landed six more punches overall for a higher percentage. 
I thought it was even but if I am forced to choose, I would lean towards the more aggressive Beterbiev.

Beterbiev went the distance for the first time in his career after twenty knockouts in his previous twenty fights, while Bivol suffered his first defeat.

I would not have an issue if someone scored Bivol a close winner and a rematch seems to be the main money fight for each man as neither is likely to move to cruiserweight and Bivol's loss may render him uninteresting for Canelo Alvarez, now that Bivol does not hold a title.

The undercard was pretty mundane with one exception as Fabio Wardley conclusively finished his rivalry with Frazer Clarke with a stunning first-round knockout.

The two hooked up in a sensational war in March that was scored a draw but this one ended when Wardley hurt Clarke with a right hand and sent him to a knee in the corner in no condition to continue.

An excellent win for Wardley, who will move up in the ratings after a spectacular victory.

Jai Opetaia retained his IBF cruiserweight title with a sixth-round stoppage of Jack Massey.

Opetaia was well ahead on my card when Massey's corner threw in the towel.

Opetaia is the top cruiserweight currently and I would love to see him against the winner of this fall's unification match between WBA champion Gilberto Ramirez and WBO king Chris Billam-Smith.

Middleweight Chris Eubank Jr, knocked down Kamil Szeremets three times before stopping him in the seventh round of a middleweight mismatch.

In Nagoya Japan, Masamchi Yabuki won the IBF junior flyweight title with a ninth-round stoppage of Sivenathi Nontshinga.

Yabuki, the former WBC champion in the division and the only fighter to defeat Kenshiro Teraji knocked down Nontshinga late in the eighth round and was dropped twice in the ninth round before the referee ended the fight.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica; 143 Pts (6)

TRS: 136 Pts (6)

Vince Samano: 80 Pts (4) 

Boxing Challenge: Opetaia outlasts Briedis, Cacace stuns Cordina

      The undercard for the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury main event was interesting with a world title back where it should have been all along, a surprising new world champion, a developing heavyweight contender, and what will hopefully be goodbye to a once-great fighter.

Jai Opietaia won back the IBF cruiserweight title that was stupidly stripped from him and repeated his 2022 win over Mairis Breidis by unanimous decision.

The fight wasn't quite as good as their first fight in action but it was similar with both fighters marking up the other, Opietaia building a large lead, and staving off the late rush by Briedis, who hurt Opietaia twice in the final few rounds.

Opietaia won the decision at 117-11 and two scores of 116-112, which was a little wider than my score of 115-113 for Opietaia.

In the upset of the day, underdog Anthony Carace stopped Joe Cordina in the eighth round to win the IBF junior lightweight title.

The win wasn't without controversy as in the third round, the referee yelled "break" and Cordina stopped fighting.

Carace didn't, cracking Cordina with a right hand and would send him to the canvas later in the round.

The fight was all Carace after that round as Cordia could not bounce back from the knockdown.

The punch did take a little of the shine of the surprising win for Carace.

Heavyweight Agit Kabayel continues to cement his reputation as a heavyweight contender as Kabayel dominated previously unbeaten Frank Sanchez and took him out in the seventh round with a body shot.

The normally smooth-boxing Sanchez clearly had knee issues from the start of the fight made him a sitting duck for Kabayel, who pressured Sanchez into submission.

Sergey Kovalev is at the end of his career as he lost almost every round to the unheralded Robin Safar and was knocked down in the final round in spectacular fashion.

Give Kovalev credit for getting up and avoiding the knockout but he's finished as a fighter, so continuing to box will only make things worse.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 75 Pts (4)

TRS: 63 Pts (3)

Vince Samano: 41 Pts ( 7)

Boxing Challenge: Canelo shuts out Charlo

     Few gave junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo much of a chance of leaping two weight divisions and troubling super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and Charlo lived down to those expectations in landing only seventy-one punchesand losing every round in one of the most timid big fight performances that you'll see as Alvarez retained his titles by unanimous decision.

Alvarez knocked Charlo down in the seventh round and was never threatened by Charlo in winning every round on my card (120-107) and dominating on the official cards of 119-108, and two judges at 118-109.

The overhand right that landed in the seventh dropped Charlo to one knee and looked to be the beginning of the end for Charlo but he managed to survive the fight and some of the final few rounds were the best work for him. although it wasn't enough to win a round on my card.

Alvarez has been mandated by the WBC to face mandatory contender David Benavidez next, so unless he wants to give up one of his four titles and undisputed status, Benavidez would be next in a fight that many, including myself, would love to see.

Talk in recent days has involved Alvarez in a potential fight against another undisputed champion, welterweight Terence Crawford but that's unlikely for reasons beyond David Benavidez.

Alvarez spoke after the fight with disinterest in a potential Crawford fight with the sort of disinterest that a younger Canelo used to discuss fights against Gennady Golovkin.

Canelo is a businessman, if he speaks that way about a fight/fighter he's not interested in fighting them anytime soon

As for Charlo, who is no longer the undisputed champion at 154 pounds as the WBO stripped him as soon as the bell rang to start this fight for understandably taking more money to face Canelo than fighting mandatory challenger and now WBO champion Tim Tszyu, I'm not sure what can be done after such a timid effort from the supposed Lion.

He holds three titles at junior middleweight with three mandatories that are overdue but not big box office- WBA Israil Madrimov, WBC Charles Conwell, and IBF Bakhram Murtazaliev.

A move to middleweight would normally make sense but his brother holds the WBC title and only WBA champion Erislandy Lara of the remaining champions would be an easy fight to make but again not for a big check.

Tim Tszyu would be a viable option but unless Charlo would be willing to travel to Australia, some of the luster has been taken away from that fight I would think.

The biggest fight could have been against Terence Crawford and the two had been jawing on social media even before Crawford's win over Errol Spence but Crawford seems to have ruled Charlo since he no longer holds all four titles and with his marketability damaged for now.

Jermell Charlo seems to have cashed in for a payday that I cannot blame him for taking but I'm not sure that I see a major fight in his future and he may not be satisfied with regular defenses as a champion.

I wrote that the junior middleweight fight between Jesus Ramos and Erickson Lubin was an almost guaranteed barnburner and added the almost as an off-handed insurance policy.

Of course, the fight was dull with neither man really willing to step up the pace and most thinking Ramos deserved the nod (I scored 116-112 for Ramos) but it was Lubin with the unanimous decision win at 117-111 (awful), 116-112 (terrible), and 115-113 (maybe if you give Lubin every remotely close round).

The cards were bad but Ramos allowed Lubin to hang around and it wasn't a good fight to order a rematch.

Mario Barrios pulled a mild upset to win a minor WBC title that is likely to become the full title should Terence Crawford leave the division in his defeat of former WBA champion Yordenis Ugas.

Barrios closed the right eye of Ugas, who had suffered a broken orbital bone around the same eye in his most recent fight, a loss to Errol Spence, and dropped him in the second and twelfth rounds.

The second-round knockdown was a flash knockdown from a Barrios jab but Ugas was in trouble in the last round with the knockdown and an additional point deduction for spitting out his mouthpiece in the final round as the veteran attempted to survive to the final bell.

Barrios won by scores of 118-107 times two and 117-11.

Barrios fought as well as I've seen him although how much of that was due to the fading Ugas will wait to be determined until Barrios fights again and while I still don't think he was deserving of the opportunity, give Barrios full credit for taking advantage of it.

Earlier in the day, Jai Opetaia retained his IBF cruiserweight title for the first time in London when Opetaia crushed Jordan Thompson in four rounds.

Thompson did what he could and came to fight but this was all Opetaia, who was the stronger man and after round one bullied Thompson into submission with knockdowns in rounds three and four.

It was a devastating outing for Opetaia, who hopefully will have a rematch with Mairis Breidis in his next fight after their excellent first fight.

Otto Wallin won a split decision over Murat Gassiev in Turkey in their twelve-round heavyweight tilt.

I haven't seen this so not much to write about Wallin's victory.

Boxing Challenge 

TRS: 153 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 139 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 107 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge: Opietaia Upsets Briedis

    In what can only be described as a bruising battle, Jai Opietaia survived a broken jaw and a furious late-round rally from Mairis Briedis to win a unanimous decision and take away the IBF cruiserweight championship in Broadbeach Australia.

Opietaia dominated the early rounds by outboxing Briedis from the outside and busted the aging champion up early, breaking his nose in the fourth round and winning six of the first seven rounds on my card.

But Briedis was far from finished as he began to break Opietaia down, breaking his jaw (which left him unable to speak after the bout) and badly hurting him in rounds ten and twelve to pull closer on the cards.

I saw some people on social media that thought the late-round stretch allowed Briedis to salvage a close win but my scorecard of 115-113 for Opietaia agreed with one official score with the remaining two tabbing Opietaia the winner at 116-112.

Briedis asked for a rematch, which I think he deserves after his late-round rally, and with the blood and guts action from the fight, it should be an easy sell especially if Briedis returns to Australia for the rematch.

A very good fight that is a notch below fight of the year level but a fight that will have no problem gaining interest for a potential second match between the two

In London, WBO number one heavyweight contender Joe Joyce lost the first two rounds to journeyman Christian Hammer but walked through the best hammers thrown to score a fourth-round knockout.

Joyce scored a knockdown in the third and two more in the fourth to pull the curtain down on the fight.

Hammer was a semi-late replacement and he gambled on taking Joyce out early because he didn't have the conditioning to go into the late rounds and he had success for two rounds.

Joe Joyce has a world-class chin and he can punch but I wonder what happens when he faces the best of the division.

Joyce takes a lot of punches and wings his shots a bit but he is going to come forward until his opponent stops him and even if you beat him, Joyce is going to make you pay for your victory.

In the other London fight, former junior bantamweight and bantamweight champion Zolani Tete scored a spectacular fourth-round KO of Jason Cunningham to perhaps placing his name in contention for a 122-pound title shot.

Tete knocked Cunningham down in the fourth and when the action resumed, landed a few punches that saw Cunningham go down and hit his head after falling which was quite scary.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 118 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 99 Pts (0)

Vince Samano: 96 Pts (3)