Boxing Challenge: Joshua Dropped, Tsyzu retires Spence

      No upsets over the weekend, but the biggest news came from a near-upset as unknown Kristian Prenga dropped former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua twice in the first round before Joshua would return the favor by stopping Prenga in the second.

Joshua's next opponent, Tyson Fury, won his warm-up fight over veteran Mariusz Wach when Wach was unable to answer the bell for the eighth round.

Fury and Joshua are scheduled to meet sometime in the fall.

In Australia, former junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu won a unanimous decision over comebacking former welterweight champion Errol Spence.

Spence announced his retirement after the fight.

Former junior middleweight and middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade won his ring return with a first-round KO of Douglas Ataide.

Josh Kelly retained his IBF junior middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Caoimhin Agyarko, and Hamzah Sheeraz kept his WBO super middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Simon Zachenhuber in two boring fights on the Joshua-Prenga undercard.

Edgar Berlanga stopped Steven Butler in seven rounds in the Zuffa main event from New York City.

Richardson Hitchins won a unanimous decision over Ricardo Salas, and Jalil Hackett earned a unanimous decision over Sergey Dereyvanchenko in the supporting bouts.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 85 Pts (13)

Ramon Malpica: 70 Pts (10)

Vince Samano: 58 Pts (12)

Boxing Challenge: Usyk repeats win

    It wasn't as dramatic as their first match but it was probably a better fight as Oleksandr Usyk repeated his win from the spring with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

It was similar to the first match as Fury banked some early rounds and Usyk slowly wore the much larger man down winning most of the final two-thirds of the bout.

The problem that Tyson Fury has with Oleksandr Usyk is this- all of the skills that have made Fury an excellent champion are skills that Usyk possesses and better.

All three judges scored Usyk a winner 116-112, the same as mine, and I think this is the consensus score.

If you give every remotely close round to Fury, you might get to a draw but even that feels wrong.

Usyk was challenged by IBF champion Daniel DuBois after the fight and it came off especially classless, especially since Usyk knocked out DuBois last year and DuBois has a difficult title defense in February against Joseph Parker on tap.

Fury can always fight Anthony Joshua for a big payday and draw a stadium-sized crowd in the UK, so I wouldn't think his career is over.

In the other challenge bouts, promising heavyweight Moses Itauma impressively mowed down Demsey McKean in one round, and junior middleweight Serhii Bohachuk defeated Ishmael Davis when Davis's corner stopped the fight after the end of the sixth round.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 190 Pts (6)

Ramon Malpica: 186 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 116 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge: Usyk dethrones Fury!

     It was an action-filled Saturday in the boxing universe with several upsets, new champions crowned, and maybe even a new addition to the all-time greats of the sport.

In the biggest bout of the day, Oleksandr Usyk unified the world heavyweight title by adding the WBC title to his three others with a split decision win over previously unbeaten Tyson Fury.

Fury won most of the first half of the fight before Usyk began to change the narrative in round seven and in round eight, Usyk exploded with a series of punches that sent Fury reeling around the ring in a daze that had referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight, I don't think there would have been a large controversy.

Fury was able to get up from the knockdown with the round closing after Fury rose and give the Englishman credit for getting himself together between rounds.

Fury wouldn't win a round on my card thereafter but he fought competitively and had his moments against Usyk, who nonetheless had the advantage in the final rounds.

The scorecards were for Usyk 115-112 (my score and the score that seems to be the most common), 114-113 (meaning without the knockdown, it would have finished as a draw), and 114-113 for Fury (which I disagree with but if you gave everything close to Fury, I can see it).

Usyk will be the undisputed champion for days or a week if he's lucky as the IBF will demand Usyk defend against their top contender Filip Hrgovic, which Usyk is unlikely to do as the two fighters agreed to a two-fight series when the contracts were signed.

I suppose it's possible that Hrgovic could take step-aside money but it's unlikely and the most likely scenario is that Hrgovic's fight against Daniel DuBois on June 1 will be for the vacant IBF title.

DuBois was stopped last year in a title try against Usyk, so a DuBois win will make things even more ridiculous.

One question on Oleksandr Usyk is whether or not this win qualifies him as an all-time great.

Perhaps not as an all-time great heavyweight but as an all-time great fighter- yes.

A fully undisputed title at cruiserweight followed by an undisputed championship at heavyweights with wins over the best of each division except for Deontay Wilder makes an excellent statement for Usyk's greatness.

Usyk's boxing skills along with his underrated punch definitely rate him as an all-time great and now that he has added Tyson Fury to his record pushes him up the ladder of greatness.

I have some things to do so the remainder of the weekend recap will have to wait until I have more time.

Fury shades Ngannou, Foster rallies past Hernandez!

    The biggest event of the boxing weekend was the non-title heavyweight bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between WBC champion Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannous but I didn't include it in the boxing challenge.

I thought the fight was a sideshow with the lineal heavyweight champion in a clear money grab against someone who had never boxed before before a difficult title unification against the man that holds the other three titles Oleksandr Usyk.

I could not have been more wrong and while there may be reasons for Ngannou doing better than expected, it would be unfair to avoid giving him credit for an incredible effort considering his lack of experience.

In all honesty, it was far from a titanic war with both men exchanging bombs through the non-title ten rounder but it had enough action to be entertaining and provided one memory that should stand the test of time in both boxing history and those who enjoy MMA- the third round knockdown of Fury with the above photo that immediately went viral.

The left hook that floored Fury didn't appear to seriously hurt him, and he was likely stung much worse against Deontay Wilder but that knockdown swung the eventual narrative that Ngannou was robbed.

I thought Fury controlled the middle rounds strongly and although Ngannou had his moments, I thought Fury did enough to edge the decision by 95-94 (6-4 in rounds minus the knockdown) on my card with the official scores reading 96-93 and 95-94 for Fury overruling the opposing judges 95-94 for Ngannou.

Ngannou's performance cannot be understated and while Fury looked a little out of shape and may not have taken him seriously enough to prepare well, Fury outlanded Ngannou and more often than not, handled him when the fight was at a distance.

I can understand those who don't know boxing going overboard for the underdog and thinking Ngannou won but the 95-94 card for him is about as far as you can go reasonably which would be 5-5 in rounds with the knockdown making the difference.

As for the legacy of Tyson Fury, I think this is a small stain to struggle to this degree with a basic novice, no different than it would be for Ngannou to be taken the distance by Fury in an MMA cage and win a close fight.

It's easy to say now but I've always found the talk of Tyson Fury as an all-time great to be premature and questionable to start with.

He did dominate Deontay Wilder with two wins and a draw that he deserved in their three-fight series but if you question Wilder as a great (certainly a champion and huge puncher but not great)  Fury's only win of note historically is his dull decision win over the great but past his prime Wladimir Klitschko.

Fury has only himself to blame for his lack of sharpness as it's been Fury who dropped out of fights and spent more time announcing demands from opponents than training.

Now no matter if he beats Oleksandr Usyk or not (and he better be in shape for that fight), Fury will be remembered by the casual sports fan for being knocked down by a novice than defeating an excellent champion such as Usyk.

And it's all his doing.

Meanwhile, in Cancun Mexico,  an excellent fight was waged as WBC junior lightweight champion O'Shaquie Foster charged from behind to salvage his title with a final-round stoppage over Rocky Hernandez.

Hernandez won most of the early rounds as he was too busy for Foster, who was successful boxing but wasn't throwing enough punches to win many of those rounds.

After ten rounds, Hernandez led on the scorecards, and with Foster's lack of power over his career, Hernandez looked to be six minutes away from a world title.

The stage was set for the round of the year with Foster seeking a knockout, Foster battered Hernandez around the ring for most of the round with the challenger appearing to be out on his feet and just as it seemed the fight needed to be stopped, Hernandez fired back and hurt Foster, driving him backward.

Both fighters exchanged blows late in the round but Hernandez appeared much worse for wear entering the final round.

Hernandez led on two of the three cards and if he could last the final round, he was likely to be crowned champion.

Foster had other ideas as he dropped Hernandez early in round twelve and again punished him badly with Hernandez refusing to grab and hold to kill the clock.

Hernandez hit the floor again and barely beat the count before being given one more chance to survive but was ripped with punches from Foster and the fight was ended with only twenty-two seconds remaining.

The stoppage was a good one and Hernandez was given every chance to try to make it to the final bell, so no complaints on that part.

One still has to feel bad for Hernandez to come so close to victory but admire Foster for the fortitude to win a fight he was losing in a way that was not his forte.

Foster appears likely to fight a unification match next as the Matchroom fighter will face the winner of next Saturday's IBF title fight pairing champion Joe Cordina and challenger Edward Vazquez, both of whom are signed with Matchroom.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 161 Pts (1)
Ramon Malpica: 148 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 109 Pts (0) 

Boxing Challenge: Fury Batters Chisora

 Tyson Fury got what he needed from his WBC heavyweight title defense against Derek Chisora- several rounds of work and a willing opponent to showcase his abilities as Fury won every round against his friend and defeated him via an easy tenth-round knockout when the referee finally ended the brave but limited Chisora's night.

Fury never knocked Chisora down but delivered a steady beating throughout the fight with Chisora offering only a sturdy chin, some pantomime, and an occasional right hand against the much larger Fury.

After the fight, Fury expressed his wish for a title unification fight with WBA, IBF, and WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk sometime next year and with Usyk's management owning connections with Top Rank (Fury's co-promoter) with Vasyl Lomachenko among others, I would think this could be an easy fight to sign.

The co-feature saw Daniel DuBois retain his minor title with a third-round knockout of former cruiserweight contender Kevin Lerena that saw five knockdowns in the three rounds of action.

DuBois may have earned the victory but he continued to show that a chin that has been questioned since he was stopped in ten rounds by Joe Joyce will be questioned even more after being dropped three times in the opening round by Lerena.

DuBois appeared ready to concede victory but he somehow survived the round and when Lerena surprisingly didn't pursue his advantage in the second round, DuBois had enough resolve to pull himself together enough to drop Lerena down in the third and battered him along the ropes late in the round to score a second knockdown with the ropes holding Lerena up.

The bell rang to end the round but the referee chose to stop the fight rather than give Lerena the same chance that DuBois had received following the end of the first round.

The downside of fighting a British native in Great Britain I suppose and Lerena may have done this to himself considering his lack of aggression in round two but I thought it was a quick stoppage although DuBois was most likely going to finish the fight in the fourth round anyway.

DuBois may very well be his generation's version of the very popular British heavyweight Frank Bruno.

Like Bruno, DuBois has lots of skills, boxing ability, and can punch with power but his chin will lose him fights that he could be winning and no opponent will ever be out of chances in a fight with DuBois, as his chin could fail him at any time.

Boxing Challenge

TRS:198 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica; 169 Pts (3)
Vince Samano: 158 Pts (0) 

Boxing Challenge: Fury Knocks Out Whyte!

  Tyson Fury ended his defense of the WBC heavyweight title against Dillian Whyte exactly as most thought that he would with one punch as Fury crunched Whyte with one right uppercut that knocked him down in the sixth round and even though Whyte would beat the count, his unsteady legs forced the fight to a stop.

Fury won every round on my card, despite Whyte trying to overcome his obvious physical disadvantages and simply was unable to overcome the versatile Fury, who boxed more against Whyte than he did in his two victories over Deontay Wilder.

Whyte did find a bit of success when he was able to push Fury into the ropes but as long as Fury was able to keep the fight into the middle of the ring, Whyte was generally ineffective against the larger champion.

While the knockout was spectacular, the fight wasn't all that thrilling but it's heavyweight boxing so if you receive an explosive ending, it's been a pretty good fight.

Fury once again talked about retirement after the fight, claiming no interest in the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua victor but discussing a hybrid exhibition against Francis Ngannou, the heavyweight champion of the UFC, and a potential appearance with the WWE as soon as the summer.

I find it hard to believe that Fury will pass on the dollars against the Usyk-Joshua winner. particularly if it would be against Joshua, but he could decide to take time and avoid any sanctioning body obligations although, with Whyte as his mandatory challenger, that shouldn't be an issue for a while.

As for Dillian Whyte, he'll return to making interesting fights against other top ten-fifteen fighters and should be paid good money to do so.

Whyte has always been an exciting fighter when fighting opponents of his level and especially his size and with a style that isn't afraid to engage, has the power to knock out opponents, and a chin that that can be dented with one punch, so there will be plenty of fights available for Whyte in the future even if not at the championship level...

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 66 Pts (3)

Vince Samano: 56 Pts (1)

Ramon Malpica: 54 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge: Fury finishes off Wilder.

    The undercard for the third and likely final fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder may have disappointed but the main event certainly did not as Fury and Wilder slugged it out into the eleventh round before Fury conclusively finished Wilder with a crunching overhand right that left no doubt on who the better heavyweight is and retain his WBC heavyweight title.

Fury knocked Wilder down in the third and tenth, while Wilder sent Fury to the floor twice in the fourth round and just missed pulling off an amazing upset.

Fury generally controlled most of the action as he did in the first two fights, but Wilder had a few more moments in the third fight and his fourth-round knockdowns had Fury in more trouble than after either of the two knockdowns in the first fight.

My scorecard entering the final round had Fury ahead 94-91.

For Fury, the bigger man did what he did in the second fight, using his size and footwork to wear down Wilder on the inside and in clinches and at the same time move well enough to frustrate the often wild swipes from Wilder.

Wilder was effective in the early rounds when he scored with combinations and was able to stun Fury enough to keep the larger man off balance but by the sixth round, his legs were essentially gone and left Wilder resigned to basically winging the right hand and hoping to clip Fury with a miracle bomb.

Fury appears to be destined next to face Dillian Whyte, the longtime top WBC mandatory contender in what would be a huge fight in England, should Whyte defeat Otto Wallin in their October 30th fight and that's not a guarantee when you consider Wallin's close loss to Fury.

Should Fury defeat Whyte as he will be favored to do (or Wallin should he defeated Whyte), I would imagine he would next face the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch sometime next summer to unify Fury's WBC belt with the other three organizations titles held by the winner of the rematch.

As for Wilder, I'm not convinced that at 36 years of age that he might be better suited to consider retirement.

Wilder would have to be rebuilt in order to qualify for a future title shot that would be at least 18 months away at the earliest and while there would be interest in a Wilder-Joshua or even a Wilder-Usyk bout, even after all these years, I think few would be interested in a fourth Wilder-Fury fight.

And with PBC having nothing to with Usyk, Fury, or Joshua, Wilder's best bets could be against former champion Andy Ruiz, Robert Helenius, or Frank Sanchez, both of whom won on the undercard.

Still, Wilder may have proved more with his strong effort and willingness to go out on his shield than in any of his title defenses against mostly soft touches.

I thought the fight was very good at a high level but I didn't think it was the greatest heavyweight title fight of all time as some claimed after the fight.

I would say it's in the middle to back half of the top ten heavyweight title fights in history.

The undercard was thought to be paired with two fights that could be action slugfests and both came up short.

Robert Helenius left no doubt about his second win over Adam Kownacki with a sixth-round battering that left Kownacki with a broken orbital bone.

Kownacki stumbled around and was repeatedly smashed by the taller and longer Helenius before the fight was stopped in the sixth.

I had given Helenius all five rounds before the stoppage.

In a very droll fight between two undefeated heavyweights, PBC's Frank Sanchez won a unanimous decision over Top Rank's Efe Ajagba in a fight that really deserved to be skipped.

Sanchez knocked Ajaaba to one knee in the eighth round for the fight's only highlight.

I had Sanchez a 98-91 winner and looks to be placed against a PBC veteran that has a name or high ranking in the near future.

Part of the reason that this was posted so late as I was waiting to have time to watch "The Battle of Liverpool" that pitted former WBO champion Liam Smith against rising prospect Anthony Fowler in junior middleweight slugfest on a DAZN/Matchroom card.

Smith finished Fowler in the eighth round with a left hook that Fowler got up from but was unable to continue with the referee stopping the bout.

Fowler started fast, winning the first three rounds on my cards and cutting Smith above the left eye in the first round.

Smith began to turn the tide in fourth when he returned the favor to Fowler and scored a knockdown in the fifth and had taken the lead on my card after seven rounds, 67-65.

Smith will stay on the scene with the likelihood of meeting someone in a title eliminator for one of the sanctioning bodies soon while Fowler seems to be more of a European title level veteran rather than a top fifteen style contender.

In the boxing challenge, I scored five points to Ramon Malpica's two to move my lead to 135-116.

Boxing Challenge: Fury tames Wilder!

The fight for the WBC heavyweight championship appeared to be a 50-50 proposition entering the fight as Tyson Fury had won his first fight against Deontay Wilder on the scorecards of most, despite the official verdict of a draw, but Fury didn't look great in his last fight against Otto Wallin and Wilder had delivered a one-punch knockout of Luis Ortiz since their first fight.
Add to that, the memory of Wilder's knockdown of Fury in the final round of their initial bout and that made the betting line close, but it seemed like most of the media was leaning towards Wilder, with many tossing high compliments toward the champion such as "the hardest punching heavyweight ever".
I didn't see anyone select Wilder via decision and no one picked Fury by knockout, which appeared to be the least likely outcome.

Since this is boxing, the least likely outcome is exactly what happened as Fury battered Wilder throughout, knocked him down twice and after the second round pawed Wilder around such as a cat with an injured mouse before forcing Wilder's corner to throw in the towel in the seventh round.
The win likely moved Fury to the top of the division and gained him the WBC title, which was the only one of the four that was not taken from Wladimir Klitschko in Fury's first title win.

I'm not sure you could have designed a more impressive win for Fury, who won all but the second round (which I circled as a round that could have been given to either corner) on my scorecard by backing the bomber up, stuck him with power punches that damaged his ear with Fury's domination so total that the fight could have been stopped anytime after the fourth without a critical word.
While I gave Wilder the second round, the beginning of the end appeared to come with the final seconds winding down as Fury landed a strong right that rocked Wilder.
Wilder didn't hit the mat from that punch, but my guess is that punch caused the damage to Wilder's inner ear and he would never recover.
The only things that Fury did wrong were losing a point in the fifth (after dropping Wilder from a body shot) for hitting Wilder behind the head and lick the blood off Wilder in the sixth to surge Fury to the lead for sickest sports moment of the year.

Wilder has thirty days to activate his rematch clause and he's likely to take it, even if it is to the detriment of his chances to win.
Wilder would be better suited to a fight or two to prepare for the third fight, but the contract won't allow such a decision and from a financial standpoint, taking the rematch would be far more lucrative than several fights against low to mid-level contenders with the PBC, who lacks anyone to get excited about to fight Wilder.
Unless a 3rd Ortiz fight or the limited Adam Kownacki does something for you, which they certainly do not for me, Wilder would be trapped on the 'wrong side of the street' with Fury likely moving onto other money fights and it might take years for Wilder to get the third fight.
It's not a great spot to be in, but even if Wilder's chances in an immediate rematch aren't very bright, I think he almost has to take it.

As for Fury, he showed a new aspect to his game under new trainer SugarHill Steward and proved that his power could be better than expected, should he commit to digging in and popping power shots.
I say could, mainly because I've never been convinced of the quality of Deontay Wilder's chin.
Other than being badly hurt by Luis Ortiz in their first fight, Wilder had never faced a good puncher before and I couldn't ever shake his knockdown and survival against Harold Sconiers to take my suspicions away.

The fight everyone is now asking for is Fury against Anthony Joshua, who holds the other three titles, in an event that could rival the best of royal events pitting two Britons for the undisputed championship.
I'd favor Fury slightly against Joshua, but I certainly think Joshua would have a chance against Fury.
Joshua is a big puncher, although not quite to the standard of Wilder, and like Wilder also has questions about his chin after suffering his KO loss to Andy Ruiz.

Finally, who was the biggest winner other than Tyson Fury on this night?
It just might be Otto Wallin, who gave Fury all that he wanted in losing a decision last September as an unknown quantity and might have been a media misstep away from the upset after he gashed Fury gruesomely over the right eye from a left.
Fury's corner believed the cut came from a headbutt and ESPN notified his team that it was from a punch, which allowed them to tell Fury he would not be able to rely on the headbutt to win on the cards.
Wallin returns to the ring in March against faded former contender Lucas Browne and with a good performance against Browne with the success against Fury, Wallin could be in place for a big fight.

The undercard was as dreadful as I thought it would be and it's barely worth mentioning.
Former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin knocked out Gerald Washington with a 12 to 6 left in the sixth round to end a boring fight.
Washington barely beat the count, but referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight anyway.
I had Martin ahead 48-47 (3-2) in a fight that featured little more than slow-motion sparring.
The win may put Martin in a spot to eventually challenge Anthony Joshua in a rematch of their 2016 fight when Joshua snuffed out Martin in two rounds to win the IBF title.
I'm thrilled.

Emmanuel Navarette wasn't as sharp as usual. but dominated every round before stopped Jeo Santisima in the eleventh round to retain his WBO junior featherweight title.
A Navarette-M.J. Akhmadaliev fight would result in three titles being unified and would be one of the more exciting fights that can be made in boxing.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica picked up a point on me in scoring five points to my four.
The Charles Martin knockout was the difference as Ramon cut my lead in the season standings to 33-30.

Boxing Challenge: Fury slashes by Wallin

In a surprisingly strong battle, Tyson Fury survived a very ugly cut over his right eye and won a unanimous decision over little-known Otto Wallin in Las Vegas.

The cut pumped blood constantly throughout the bout after Wallin landed a looping left that ripped open the face of Fury in the fifth round and several times Fury's eye was checked and the bout was in danger of potentially given to Wallin via TKO.
Fury managed to continue and eventually would wear down Wallin with his superior size and strength to win most of the second half of the fight other than Wallin's desperate attempt to knock Fury out in the final round.
I agreed with the closest of the three cards scored for Fury at 116-112 on my personal card.

Some notes on this fight.
First, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the ESPN crew telling the Fury corner that the cut had been ruled (rightfully so) from a punch and not from a headbutt as Fury's team believed at the time.
ESPN is walking a very dangerous line between making news and reporting news as it felt to me that the network was making sure that the fighter that they have the investment with had every possible edge.
It's not illegal, mind you, and no rules were broken, but I'm not sure that I like the look and especially with how it occurred.
From my perspective, it appeared that blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore was coaching reporter Bernardo Osuna (who I really like) to give Fury's corner information which could have swung the fight result.
Here's how- Fury's cut was severe, and the doctor checked the cut several times to observe Fury's vision.
Almost on every occasion, if the fighter says I'm having trouble seeing- the doctor will stop the fight then and there.
If Fury's corner thinks that it was caused by a headbutt, the fight would then be decided with the scorecards, on which Fury would have been well ahead and could have conceivably said "I can't see" knowing they would win.
By giving them that information, they knew they couldn't play that card and knew that their fighter needed to say he could see, even if he couldn't.
I would not have had a problem telling the corner the truth had they asked, but it felt to me that ESPN was trying to protect their guy.

Second- it showed the dangers of fighting squash matches instead of "marinating" fights.
This isn't on Fury, it's on Deontay Wilder, who insisted on fighting a Luis Ortiz rematch before the agreed-to Fury rematch (BTW, I still haven't seen a date for Wilder-Ortiz II), but no matter the blame, it shows just how quickly a big check can go away no matter the opponent.
It should have been Deontay Wilder in the ring with Tyson Fury this fall, not Otto Wallin.

Third- It'll be interesting to see just how the career of Otto Wallin develops.
Will he be this generation's Axel Schulz, who was equally as unknown as Wallin when he was robbed of a decision that he won against George Foreman and other than losing to Michael Moorer for a title vacated by Foreman was rarely seen on the world stage again?
Or will this be a jumping-on point for the Swede, who will build off his first fight against world-class competition and stick around as a viable contender?

In the co-feature, Emanuel Navarrete stopped Juan Miguel Elorde after Elorde's corner refused to allow their man out of the corner for the fifth round.
Navarrete knocked Elorde into the ropes in the fourth for a technical knockdown as only the ropes allowed him to stand and the corner's decision was the right one as it seemed their fighter had nothing left with a hard-punching champion waiting for him.
Navarrete retained his WBO junior featherweight title with the victory and with the other three titles at DAZN with WBA/IBF champion Daniel Roman (Matchroom) and WBC beltholder Rey Vargas (Golden Boy) building towards a fight with each other, would appear to be on the outside looking in.
However, a recent shoulder injury could sideline Roman for a while, and Top Rank and Golden Boy recently agreed to a deal for the vacant WBO featherweight crown between Shakur Stevenson and Joet Gonzalez, so could it be possible that a Navarrete-Vargas all-Mexican unification bout could be agreed on?
Steve Kim reports that Vargas was seen at the fight rather than the Golden Boy card on DAZN, so that does make me think something is possible in the future

The opener saw Jose Zepeda win a unanimous decision over Jose Pedraza in a junior welterweight fight.
Zepeda won the first six rounds on my card before allowing Pedraza to get back into the fight a little bit but never hurt Zepeda enough to challenge seriously for the duke.
I scored Zepeda a 97-93 winner and he could receive a rematch next year with WBC/WBO champion Jose Ramirez.
Zepeda gave Ramirez all he wanted in losing a majority decision in February and I wouldn't mind seeing the pair against each other again.
As for Pedraza, who has won titles briefly in two divisions, I'm not sure where he goes from here.
I don't think he seems strong enough at 140 and if making 135 is not an issue for him, he might be best served to drop back and hope that Vasyl Lomachenko gives up his titles sometime next year to be in the mix.

Update: Jaime Munguia stopped Patrick Allotey in the fourth round after knocking Allotey down twice in the third round and again in the fourth when referee Jack Reiss, nearing ten in his count, saw the Allotey corner signaling for the fight to end.
Considering the opposition (Allotey is a natural welterweight and had lost in two rounds in his only fight against notable opposition in Patrick Teixeira), Munguia looked strong in his first fight after his controversial majority decision win over Dennis Hogan but considering the quality of his challenger, I'm not going to give him too much credit, other than ending the fight early as he should against such an overwhelmed opponent.
After the Hogan debacle and it is Mexican Independence Day weekend, this was a showcase for Munguia and he took advantage of being showcased, which isn't a bad thing. but it didn't prove anything either.
Having apparently reached a dead end in the 154-pound division with the other three champions (WBA/IBF champion Julian Williams and WBC titleholder Tony Harrison) fighting with the PBC, unification is very unlikely, so Munguia is expected to vacate his title and move to the middleweight division, a division that is more friendly at this to the Golden Boy promoted boxer.

In the boxing challenge- I scored four points to Ramon Malpica's two to move my lead to 224-193.
The point difference between us was caused by Navarrete's KO win and the win by Jose Zepeda. 

Boxing Challenge:There's only one Tyson Fury

Five fights on a Saturday that carried over the course of the day with some crazy routes to get to the final destinations, which saw almost all the favorites earn victories.
I'll be writing about the other cards later and will focus on the Las Vegas event here.

In the most important fight to the mainstream observer, Tyson Fury crushed Tom Schwarz in two rounds in Las Vegas to retain his "lineal" heavyweight championship.
Fury showed the power that he has been a bit reluctant to let loose in the past (Fury has never scored even a knockdown against a top twenty level opponent) to knockdown Schwarz in the second, rip open a nasty gash over his nose and impressively end the bout with a strong flurry that drove Schwarz into a corner before the corner attempted to toss the towel in, but was beaten to the punch by referee Kenny Bayless.
The enhancement match did what it was intended to do, which was introduce Fury to the American audience, but proved little for Fury.

Here are my personal thoughts on Fury.
He seems like a very nice person away from the hype and seems to be one of the more gracious winners in the game since his return to the ring from his personal issues.
Fury also might be one of the slicker fighters in the heavyweight division in a long time as far as avoiding punches and making an opponent look bad and he has skills in the ring that men of his size may have never possessed in the history of the ring.
Fury's defensive game is the type that hasn't been seen in the division since the days of Chris Byrd, who was a much smaller fighter and wasn't a natural heavyweight, let alone be 6'9 250!

I'm still not sure about his chin.
Yes, anyone, Deontay Wilder hits can go out and give Fury bouquets for surviving two knockdowns against Wilder, but I still can't forget his knockdown against former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham.
The survival against Wilder goes a long way in proving his mettle, but fighters that walk such a tightrope eventually run into someone that finishes the job.

He's just not that entertaining in the ring.
Full credit for finishing off Tom Schwarz early rather than prolonging viewers (and that of Schwarz) agony with seven or eight lopsided rounds, but that's usually not Fury's M.O and his lack of power can make him less than entertaining at times.
Those power questions exist because he's never scored a knockdown against a contender.
That isn't the be all and end all as he's proven he can outbox champions such as Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder, but it can make his fights more than tedious if the opponent stops attacking as in the Klitschko fight.
It's the lack of power that could prove to make Fury a less than fun champion in the ring.

He's definitely fun outside the ring.
The post-fight singing and the pre-fight entrances come off more fun than others that seem so choreographed and it mostly seems in good fun, although I could have done without Fury calling Schwarz a "bum" in pre-fight press conferences.
Calling top fighters names is reasonable because everyone knows it's not true and fighters are playing head games, enhancement talents like Schwarz (and the fans paying to watch) know this already- we don't need to have it drummed home.

Where do I rank Tyson Fury among the heavyweights?
Currently, number one.
I had Anthony Joshua ranked first before his shocking loss to Andy Ruiz and I can't rank Ruiz above Fury yet.
I thought Fury defeated Deontay Wilder despite the official draw and his win over Wladimir Klitschko as dull as it was, means more on a resume' than Wilder's best win- the late round KO of Luis Ortiz.

Tyson Fury might be the most unusual heavyweight champion in a long time with the unusual combination of his boxing skills and size without a big punch to go with the package.
Fury has plenty to prove with really one official good win, but for now, I'd rate him the best of the bunch.

In the semi-final from Las Vegas, Jesse Hart made his initial venture into the light heavyweight division a winning one with a mild upset over veteran contender Sullivan Barrera via unanimous decision.
Both fighters were hurt at various times in an entertaining, yet sloppy battle with Hart being credited with an eighth-round knockdown that was either a flash knockdown or a knockdown of questionable quality depending on your perspective.
Hart moves on to another fight in the loaded and just as importantly controlled by Top Rank, light heavyweight division, while the aging 37-year-old Barrera may have reached the end of his days as a top ten contender and might be reduced to a gatekeeper in the division.
I scored Hart a 96-93 winner.

I'll be writing about the other three fights over the weekend in my next post.

Ruiz shocks Joshua! Heavyweight Division in Flux!

Photo Credit: Al Bello-Getty Images

Madison Square Garden was prepared for Anthony Joshua to dispatch Andy Ruiz, retain his three titles and with a successful American debut, begin to pound those drums for a fight with Deontay Wilder.

For two and a half rounds, everything was following the script, Joshua was using the jab, keeping the shorter Ruiz at bay and when Joshua sent Ruiz crashing to the mat in the third round, the stage was seemingly set for Ruiz to go away and for Joshua to try and sell Kubrat Pulev as another challenger that was worth watching even if they weren't Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury.

Then Andy Ruiz got up.
The fight changed as Joshua moved for the kill as Sergio Mora (I believe so) raved at ringside about Joshua's patented finishing ability, Ruiz began landing counter right hands and soon after it was Joshua on the floor!
Ruiz saw his chance for a massive upset and unlike so many fighters in a similar position in heavyweight title history, he didn't become passive.
Ruiz has been criticized by many (including me) for not moving his hands enough (I thought it cost him the fight in his only loss to Joseph Parker) and on this occasion, that mistake wasn't about to be made as he hurt a stunned Joshua and dropped him again near the end of the round.
A real argument could have been made that the fight could have been stopped right there with a clearly dazed Joshua, but referee Michael Griffin was paying attention, knew the end of the round was near and in an excellent officiating decision allowed the bell to clang and Joshua to trudge to his corner.
Joshua would have his moments in the 4th and 5th (even won the 5th on my card narrowly), but you had the feeling that Ruiz wasn't going away entering the sixth where Ruiz began to throw combinations and the Andy Ruiz on this night was fighting up to his potential and you could feel Joshua almost slump his shoulders at the end of the round.

In round seven, both fighters were throwing big shots from the start of the round, but it was Ruiz with the shorter and faster shots that seemed to bother Joshua more than really hurt him and twice Joshua went down from Ruiz's punches, but yet with a tinge of a beaten fighter with his mouthpiece flying out from the second knockdown.
Here is the one thing I would say about the stoppage,
Joshua goes to his corner, places his hands on the ropes, keeps looking to his corner like a fighter that expects a break for the missing mouthpiece, the referee removes his hands, Joshua puts them back and then the fight is stopped.
Do I think Joshua was hurt? Yes
Am I OK with the stoppage? Yes, because I think Joshua would have likely gotten a clean mouthpiece and then knocked down again, his legs were that gone-But I do think he was thinking/hoping for that break in a desperate manner and considering Michael Griffin gave him one break already in continuing, I have no problems in not giving him another.

I thought both Ruiz and Joshua were classy in victory and defeat, which is more than I can say for Deontay Wilder on Twitter degrading Joshua (Tyson Fury was very encouraging to Joshua in his tweet) and PBC mouthpiece Ray Flores, who used the opportunity to praise his boss Al Haymon for giving Ruiz another chance after his release from Top Rank and needle Joshua, but if Joshua is the biggest loser on this night, Deontay Wilder is second.
Like so many fights that never happened, Joshua-Wilder will never be as big as it could have been with both fighters undefeated and therefore will more than likely see both fighters make far less, if and when that fight ever happens.
Deontay Wilder lost a lot of money last night and that might be money that he'll never get back, although I don't think he'll need any financial donations anytime soon!
Another loser is the streaming service DAZN, who had based much of their boxing kingdom around Joshua (along with Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin) and took a huge blow with the loss.
DAZN too will have much on the line in the rematch.

You still have to feel good for Andy Ruiz, who lived up to his potential in the ring on this night.
Ruiz may look like a 1980's heavyweight, but looks can be deceiving.
The rematch will be quite interesting, can Ruiz reach those heights again?
Will the inevitable media tours and appearances take something out of him?
Fighters that have never dealt with that before can react in different ways and fighters that pull major upsets often are unable to deal all that comes with the fame and the title- think Leon Spinks, Buster Douglas, Oliver McCall, and Hasim Rahman to name a few.

As for Anthony Joshua, he will likely attempt one of the harder things in boxing-change a style that has been effective for him in order to adopt a new one that protects a vulnerable chin.
It's been done, most notably by Wladimir Klitschko and Lennox Lewis, but those two champions had Emmanuel Steward to guide them through that transition- Anthony Joshua will not.

Now we have total chaos in the heavyweight division- even worse than before.
Ruiz has three of the four titles but doesn't have a notable win other than this one against Joshua.
Wilder is the biggest puncher, most fun to watch and longest reigning champion but faced little in good competition other than Luis Ortiz and I thought he lost to Tyson Fury.
Fury is the linear champion and I thought he beat Wilder, but he's often dull to watch and he lacks a top 10 win other than his boring win over Klitschko.

You could toss these three in any order and it would be a reasonable rating, but I'll go Fury (because I thought he beat Wilder), Wilder (Mainly on the win over Luis Ortiz and the near stoppage of Fury) and then Ruiz for now.
And don't forget this, it was the IBF's top contender in Kubrat Pulev that was up next for Joshua in the title rotation and the IBF could insist on Pulev being next for Ruiz, regardless of the rematch clause.
I'm sure Pulev will be offered step-aside money, but if he declines that, the IBF could strip Ruiz of their title for fighting the contractually obliged to and more financially lucrative Joshua rematch.

A crazy night in heavyweight boxing and the division is now more muddied than before, which was substantially so.
It could be quite a while before this clears up.

Back later with the rest of the boxing weekend.

The Case for and against Deontay Wilder

After Deontay Wilder's one round demolition last Saturday night of Dominic Breazeale, suddenly some of the American media (boxing and otherwise) began to seriously discuss Deontay Wilder as the best heavyweight in the world, despite Anthony Joshua holding three of the four recognized heavyweight titles and Tyson Fury holding the lineal title.
As impressive as Wilder was in brushing aside the challenge of Breazeale and it was impressive- was it enough to really consider him as the best heavyweight in the world?

Here is the case for why Wilder is that man in the division and then I'll make the case for why he still  has much to prove.

The Case For:
                       Deontay Wilder is the biggest puncher in the division and with the arguable exception of Naoya Inoue, is the biggest puncher in the game.
Anthony Joshua is a huge hitter as well, but Wilder is the harder puncher of the two.
Tyson Fury isn't a top puncher,so while Wilder-Joshua for punching power is worth arguing, Fury doesn't even enter the picture.
The one punch power that Wilder possesses saved his title against Tyson Fury with a 12th round knockdown and anyone Wilder hits, he has the potential to take out.

                      Deontay Wilder has perhaps the biggest win of any of the three with his win over Luis Ortiz.
Yes, if we are looking at career resume's Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury each holding victories over Wladimir Klitschko are far bigger wins, but Luis Ortiz was closer to his peak than Klitschko was.
Klitschko vs Fury was one of the duller heavyweight title fights in history, while Klitchko floored Joshua and hurt him badly in their match.
Fury's win came first, but Klitschko was clearly sharper and better prepared in his challenge of Joshua.
Still, Luis Ortiz was the "best heavyweight that no one will fight" and Deontay Wilder showed courage and a better chin than I expected in beating Ortiz.

                    Deontay Wilder has made more title defenses than either Joshua or Fury.
Granted, many of those defenses were against C-level fighters, but Wilder still has more experience at the champioship level.
Almost all of those with the exception of Ortiz and Fury, weren't exactly even middle level contenders (you can make an argument that Dominic Breazeale might have been the best of the Wilder challengers outside of those two,although the first fight vs Bermane Stiverne would have a case as well), but still a title defense is a title defense.

The Case Against:
                              Deontay Wilder hasn't beaten anyone other than Luis Ortiz.
Remember that Tyson Fury drew with Wilder and it took two knockdowns to salvage that draw, so that's not a win, so you basically have Wilder with a resume that has a very good win over Ortiz, a draw against the lineal champion and a huge dropoff to Bermane Stiverne and Dominic Breazeale with another sizable dip for Wilder's other opponents.
Wilder is still relatively untested against top opponents and will have never faced a puncher on the order of Anthony Joshua.

                             Deontay Wilder still has a very questionable chin and he's just waiting to be exposed.
Wilder has never faced a puncher like Joshua, Ortiz is a good not great banger and Fury has never been noted as a knockout artist, despite his size.
Still, Wilder was in deep waters against Ortiz and full credit for surviving Ortiz in the fifth round, but the fight that I cannot get out of my mind is his early fight against journeyman Harold Sconiers.
Sconiers, who finished his career with a 18-27-2 mark, dropped Wilder in the second round of their fight and had Wilder in all kinds of trouble in Wilder's thirteenth pro fight.
Points for Wilder for getting up and winning, but the Harold Sconiers' of the world shouldn't be hurting fighters of the level of Deontay Wilder, no matter the point in the career that they fight.

                      Deontay Wilder is not at the technical level of the best heavyweight in the world.
Wilder is wild, wide open and undisciplined in his attack and that leaves Wilder vulnerable.
Wilder did try to fight off the jab and in a more orthodox manner once- in his title winning fight against Bermane Stiverne and that resulted in the dullest fight of his career, which made me question Wilder's ferociousness entering his fight with Luis Ortiz.
It could be that for Wilder to be technically stronger, that it takes away from what makes him the puncher that he is.
If Wilder fights straight up against Anthony Joshua, it might be a tedious fight and might leave him very vulnerable to Joshua's right hand, but charging in recklessly could result in an early KO loss.

I wouldn't rate Deontay Wilder as the top heavyweight in the world.
I would rate him as the hardest puncher in the division, if we look at pure power, but I'd rank him second overall behind Anthony Joshua and ahead of Tyson Fury despite Fury winning more rounds in their draw.
Fury's biggest win was a plodding and boring win over Wladimir Klitschko and even though Fury might be the superior fighter, I'd rank Wilder ahead of Fury for now.

Fury, Frampton win, Rosales crushes Barnes

The boxing challenge was brought to you from Belfast with three bouts of interest with world ramifications and some less than thrilling action at times.

The fight that most were interested in viewing, was Tyson Fury's second fight back from hiatus and the big question was not if Fury would win, that was a given against journeyman Francisco Pianeta, but could Fury avoid an injury that could cost him a WBC title fight against champion Deontay Wilder later this year?
Fury managed to do that in winning each round in a lopsided unanimous decision over the plodding Pianeta.
For all the appearances of the hulking frame from the 6'9 Fury, he just isn't that exciting of a fighter with a refusal to set his feet to throw power shots and it showed in this one as he never seriously hurt a fighter that has been stopped in one round by Ruslan Chagaev and in seven by vagabond Kevin Johnson.
Fury looks to me to be a fight or two away from being back in true condition, but you can't blame Fury or his promoter for pushing the chips in now to challenge Wilder.
Anything can happen in a heavyweight fight and Fury might as well get paid well for a Wilder fight that would likely double or triple, should Fury pull an upset over Wilder and move on to an Anthony Joshua battle for all the titles in the heavyweight division.

The press conferences and buildup might be the best part of a fight between two less than reticent fighters with the lip, but I could see at least the possibility of a good fight.
For all of Fury's issues, he does throw straight punches with an excellent jab and might be able to find the range against the harder punching, but technically crude Wilder, who still has many questions about the quality of his chin.
Still, this fight could be a dull one with two giant fighters standing on the outside that might be unwilling to take a chance (Especially Fury) to do much more than work off the jab.

The main event on the marquee' featured Carl Frampton in a homecoming against unheralded Australian Luke Jackson in a defense of his minor title and Frampton did what fighters in his situation should do with a ninth-round stoppage when Jackson corner literally threw in the towel midway through the round with Frampton chasing a stung Jackson across the ring.
Jackson fought well early, cutting Frampton over the right eye in round three, but gradually wore down under the pressure of Frampton before dropping to the floor in the eighth, leading to the eventual ending in the following round.
Frampton should receive a far sterner test in his next fight against IBF champion Josh Warrington in the fall.

And the real star of the weekend was Cristofer Rosales, who slammed one body blow into former Olympian Paddy Barnes ribcage at the end of round four, sending the Irishman down for the count for the end of the fight and retained his WBC flyweight title.
Rosales, who looked very similar to countryman Roman Gonzalez in his previous win over the highly regarded Daigo Higa to win his championship, was challenged by Barnes in the first two rounds but won the third before his thunderous punch that ended the fight.
Rosales will be in against tough competition again next time against mandatory challenger Andrew Selby, who decisioned Rosales last year before Rosales won the championship against Higa.


Both Ramon Malpica scored three points in the boxing challenge (one for each fight) to move our totals to 125-100 for the season.

Crawford batters Horn, Santa Cruz decisions Mares

Lots to catch up on here at TRS as we have lots of inbox cleaning, our trip last weekend and starting to prep for the drafts for the Cavaliers and Devils.

First, though we have to move to the weekend in boxing while I was in the Canastota/Rochester area, there was plenty of boxing in the boxing challenge to catch up on.

We start in Las Vegas, where Terence Crawford battered Jeff Horn for nine rounds, gave him over twenty stitches for his cuts and lifted his WBO welterweight title as well.
Crawford was reported to have won every round and pounded the overmatched Horn to the point of needing to be saved by the referee.
I didn't see this fight as I am not an ESPN+ subscriber, although I will be soon.

I didn't start the ESPN+ subscription because at the same time (as I watched from my hotel room in Rochester), Showtime offered two title bouts from Los Angeles.
In the main event, Leo Santa Cruz retained his WBA featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Abner Mares in another good, but not great encounter.
Nothing really changed from their first fight and I didn't really need to see it again this time, but it was entertaining enough.
I had Santa Cruz as a 116-112 (8-4) winner and that was roughly how the judges saw it as well.
Santa Cruz is talking about a unification fight with WBC champion Gary Russell and with both being promoted by PBC, one would think that would be easy to make.
However, with Russell's history of inactivity and Santa Cruz often taking most of a year off before a squash match to prepare his return for an exile of his own making, I'd be only mildly surprised to see this happen at all and downright shocked to see it before 2019.

Jermell Charlo retained his WBC junior middleweight title with a majority decision over veteran Austin Trout.
Charlo dropped Trout in the third and eighth rounds and those knockdowns saved him from losing on one card, but Charlo generally controlled a less than thrilling bout.
I had Charlo a 116-110 winner, but to a certain degree, I thought Charlo was exposed in this one when you consider that WBA/IBF champ Jarrett Hurd stopped Trout last year and was much more dominant, Charlo may have shown that his hype and power might be overrated because many (including me) thought so highly of Erickson Lubin before Charlo knocked him out in one round.
I still don't think Charlo has beaten anyone of top five caliber and I'd pick Hurd over him in a potential bout.

Showtime continues to build itself as the fans fight network with a free stream from England with the return of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and a title vacancy filled in the junior welterweight division.
Fury goofed, clowned and patted his way to a TKO when Sefer Seferi surrendered in his corner after the fourth round.
In a fight that was more spectacle than contest Fury proved little other than to truly see what he has retained of his talents, we will still have to wait.

Maurice Hooker upset former WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan via a split decision to win the final of the 140 pound belts (WBO) to be filled after Terence Crawford vacated his four titles last year.
I had Hooker a close winner (115-113) in a bruising fight that was filled with more action than I've ever seen from a Flanagan bout.
Hooker's win not only gained him the WBO belt, but also an entry into the World Boxing Super Series in the fall tournament in the junior welterweight division.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica matched my weekend total of seven points.
Ramon earned three points from Terence Crawford, two from Leo Santa Cruz and one each from Jermell Charlo and Tyson Fury.
My points came from two each from Crawford, Santa Cruz and Fury with one from Jermell Charlo.

The challenge for the year stands at 97-78

Fury upsets Klitschko-Boxing Challenge

Big weekend in the boxing challenge as I retained my five point lead over R.L.Malpica at 141-136 through different means.
Before we start,I watched the HBO replay of the Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto fight and saw it at 116-112 for Alvarez.

The big news of the weekend saw England's Tyson Fury lift the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles from longtime champion Wladimir Klitschko via unanimous decision in Germany.
It was a truly dull fight without action,but I scored Fury a 115-112 winner (8-4 in rounds) after Fury was deducted a point late in the fight for punching behind the head.
Klitschko is contractually to a rematch and he has activated that clause .
Fury may vacate the IBF belt and begin to break up Klitschko's work as the IBF number one contender Vlacheslav Glazkov may not step aside in order to allow the rematch.
Klitschko looked very hesitant to me to throw the right hand and just couldn't "get it off".
It reminded me quite a bit of older Larry Holmes as Klitschko would cock the gun and just couldn't fire.
I understand why Klitschko wants and deserves a rematch,but as far as pleasing fights go,I doubt that it will be any better than this one-even if Klitschko wins....
R.L.picked Fury and added one point to his total as I selected Klitschko...

The fight of the weekend as far as action goes was from Quebec City,Canada as James DeGale took a unanimous decision to retain his IBF super middleweight title of Lucien Bute..
In a great fight,I had DeGale a 115-113 winner and I earned the point back that I lost from R.L with the DeGale win..
DeGale wants to unify titles with Badou Jack of the WBC and I'm all for that.
That may not be a huge fight,but I like seeing titles unified whenever possible,,,,

Neither of us scored points as Elieder Alvarez took a majority decision over Isaac Chilemba in a light heavy bout to become the mandatory contender for WBC champ Adonis Stevenson.
I scored it 114-114,,so my issue isn't Alvarez getting the duke,it's more because of a ridiculous 118-110 scorecard for Alvarez.

We enter the PBC mismatch portion of the show as each of us earned five points for squash matches.
Erislandy Lara knocked out washed up (and he wasn't that good to begin with) former IBF welter champ Jan Zaveck in three rounds.
Jermall Charlo stopped undeserving challenger Wilky Campfort in four rounds to retain his IBF 154 pound belt and super prospect Errol Spence stopped Alejandro Barrera in five.
I really see Spence as a rising star and I look forward to seeing Spence against improved competition whenever that will be,
PBC has tons of welterweight talent,if they would only match them up other than giving us more tired fights like the upcoming Danny Garcia-Robert Guerrero bout in 2016....