Hrgovic v Adeleye, fortune favours the bold.

An intriguing heavyweight fight appears to have presented itself for the 16th August, Cacace v Ford show in Saudi Arabia, see’s the colourful yet enigmatic David Adeleye roll the dice against the highly ranked and proven Filip Hrgovic in an attempt to gatecrash the upper echelon of the division. Both fighters have lost a sole fight, albeit at very seize rate levels, Filip dropping a game challenge to Daniel Dubois in what would have been for the vacant IBF championship, whilst David was more surgically exposed by Fabio Wardley in his first challenge for domestic honours a year prior. Filip has maintained a reputation as a rugged yet one paced workhorse, beating a moderate diet of opposition leading to his world ranking, winning an arguably controversial decision over Zhilei Zhang in possibly his most stern test aside from his loss. Adam Booth, the studious trainer of Adeleye has prior intel on Hrgovic going back to his days as head trainer for then WBA heavyweight champion David Haye. Booth employed Filip as a sparring partner alongside Richard Towers and Deontay Wilder and understands the pedigree that his new charge may face in such a dangerous challenge. Booth stated that Filip has some great attributes and even against Dubois, put together a fantastic start by utilising his jab and straight right hand, unfortunately Booth has noticed that he can fade and lose desire when fights become taxing, adding that Hrgovic never seemed to take that opportunity to step up as an accomplished heavyweight, tending to repeat his cycle of one paced pressure for as long as he can maintain it. Booth did add that the one time he did display the grit and fortitude to overcome adversity, was against Joe Joyce in his most recent showing, where he showed a willingness to fight through the discomfort of fatigue to subdue the notoriously resilient Joyce. Adeleye hasn’t seen anyone even close to the level of a Hrgovic, yet Booth explained that when you have a young, charismatic and spirited prospect, who can punch, when these types of rare opportunities present themselves, you’d be foolish not to afford yourself the gamble. David was due to rematch Jamie TKV in a repeat of their recent British title snoozefest, but opted to sidestep the less relevant match, to reach for higher honours. David is gifted and powerful, but he’s also complacent and hasn’t yet fulfilled his true potential, his best display being the 1 round annihilation of Sol Dacres last year, in a fight where he let his hands go and committed to the challenge. Booth understands heavyweight boxing and knows the enormity of the challenge that lies ahead for himself and Adeleye, but he also fully understands the rewards that come with victory at such an elevated stage, boxing is about timing and styles dictate the playout and outcome of fights, this one appears intriguing from both perspectives. 

Disturbing disclosure of fight fixing threats in Kazakhstan.

Daniela Leona Asenjo has revealed she was coerced into losing her IBO super flyweight world title rematch against Kazakhstan’s Angelina Lukas 15-1 (8 KOs) on May 31 in Taraz, Kazakhstan. Officially, Asenjo retired in the sixth round due to a back injury, but the Chilean  fighter and her coach, Alejandro Concha, allege they received death threats intended to ensure her opponents victory. The rugged Asenjo 17-5-3 (2 KOs) had previously fought through a broken sternum in a 2024 bout against Gabriella Fundora, the type of resilient form that lead onlookers to hold a level of suspicion regarding this recent mid fight submission. 

Almost a week after the match, Asenjo and Concha recounted a disturbing incident to journalist, Grupo Diario Sur. Both recalled an account, claiming that the fight’s promoter, an Azerbaijani national called Taryel Jafarov visited their hotel room, nervously placed a stack of U.S. dollars on Asenjo’s bed, and used a phone translator to say, “Asenjo isn’t going to win today, no way.” He allegedly added a more chilling message in writing, stating that If she wins, his life was in danger, they are going to cut my throat, and you won’t be able to leave Kazakhstan.”

Asenjo had previously fought Lukas 2 years ago, earning a points victory in Turkey. 

Wardley pulls out late knockout to extinguish Huni’s hopes or gatecrashing the party.

In what was to originally be heralded as a show stopping homecoming, Ipswich heavyweight Fabio Wardley 18-0-1 (17 Ko’s) was due to meet the colourful Jarrell Miller outdoors at Ipswich Towns, Portman road soccer stadium. Like most things in life, the schedule headliner fell apart and the unlikely Australian Justis Huni 12-0 (7 Ko’s) answered the late call to substitute as a considerable underdog. Last night the lightly regarded Huni outhustled and outlanded the heavy handed favourite with intelligent punch picking and fast feet for 9 rounds, before Wardley finally sprung to life with a perfectly timed overhand right to close the show and extinguish Huni’s dreams of a career defining upset and the WBA interim title strap. John Latham counted out the stricken visitor at 1.42 of the round. It’s likely now that Wardley meets Michael Hunter in the summer with a view to meeting the winner of the Usyk v Dubois match later in the year. 

Duane Ford steps down as president of the NABF after lengthy service.

 Last week the executive committee of the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) met in Houston, Texas, to celebrate Duane Ford, who decided to step down from his long term presidency of the organization, paving the way for an historic event. Joanna Aguilar, from New Mexico, USA, was elected the new president of the NABF, becoming the first woman to lead this organization, which was founded in 1968. It was a very emotional meeting in which memories flooded back to everyone who took the microphone and knows the deep and loyal contribution that Duane has devoted to the sport.  Ford began with a very short career as an amateur boxer eventually leading him to fully love and understand the sport where he would serve as a judge and official before being recognised for his merits and being appointed as the commissioner for the Nevada state athletic control board. Duane presided over the commission during the golden age of boxing, during the time of the Four Kings (Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, and Durán). He has been a member of the World Boxing Council’s Board of Governors, a judge with over 300 world title fights, and finally, president of the NABF until last Saturday.

The WBC has however appointed Duane as the NABF Vice President for life.He was a great boxing commissioner, and as chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, actively participated in the process of important changes that the WBC implemented in the rules that have changed our sport in many ways, most importantly in the protection of fighters’ health and life after boxing.

During those years, the famous Muhammad Ali Act did not exist. It was created when a handful of American politicians used boxing as a means to generate massive publicity for their campaigns and won their respective elections. They then abandoned our sport. This law created a terrible divide between boxing organizations and the U.S. boxing community.

The law prohibits commissioners from that country from belonging to any organization, and that’s how great commissioners like Duane Ford and Dickie Cole had to decide between becoming commissioner of their state or of the NABF or the WBC.

To this day, commissioners are prevented from participating in the organization, and a large valuable gulf has been created. Not having commissioners in international organizations has created a great rift and has caused important changes that the WBC has implemented in the rest of the world.