Teofimo Lopez reveals bizarre reason why he would choose not to fight Shakur Stevenson.

                                     

Teofimo Lopez says the reason he doesn’t want to fight lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson is because he saw how he was suicidal after a loss in 2015 at the National Golden Gloves in Las Vegas.

Lopez says Shakur wanted to go to the top of the hotel and “jump off.” Teofimo adds that he doesn’t want to have the “blood” on his hands if Shakur falls apart after losing to him and takes his own life. Fans saw Shakur cry after his defeat in the 2016 Olympic finals against Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez. He was all broken up after that defeat. The judges weren’t into giving Shakur a win after he was outworked by a young Robeisy, who was on the attack the entire fight, outslugging him. That fight showed the blueprint for defeating Shakur: attacking him relentlessly, chasing him down, and not letting him win rounds with his low output.

Teofimo fights at 140 now, and he’s big for that weight class. In making weight for Teofimo’s last fight against Steve Claggett on June 29th, he appeared badly drained and performed poorly, struggling to beat the fringe contender by a 12-round unanimous decision in a fight closer than the judges’ scores.

Shakur looks big for the 135-lb division, but his lack of power makes it near-impossible for him to move up to 140 to fight the stronger punchers like Teofimo, Alberto Puello, Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela and Liam Paro. Those guys hit too hard and would be difficult for Shakur to handle. Stevenson had recent hand surgery, but he’s expected to defend his WBC lightweight title against William Zepeda in February. That will be a very difficult fight for Shakur because Zepeda is a pressure fighter who can punch and has a high output. Moreover, Zepeda cuts off the ring well and walks through punches to land his powerful body shots. He’s kryptonite for runners.

Mauricio Sulaiman speaks on the heavyweight landscape.

                                   

The heavyweight division will always be the one that moves the world of boxing and sports fans in general.

The world heavyweight champion is considered the most fearsome and powerful man on the planet, ever since the beginning of the sport of fists.

John L. Sullivan was the last heavyweight champion when gloves were not used and fights were bare-knuckle, and he was also the first world heavyweight champion with gloves.

He was a legend, the first athlete in the history of the United States to become a celebrity, and the first to earn a million dollars.

Another legend defeated him and became champion, Jim Corbett, known as Gentleman Jim. Thus, the crown was passed between gladiators who shocked everyone in every place they stood. Then came Jack Johnson, the first black world heavyweight champion.

He was quite a character in a crude era of humanity and was hated by whites. The champion was imposing and feared nothing and no one. He married a white woman, which led to him being accused, imprisoned, and stripped of everything he owned.

Other giants who wore the award were Joe Louis, who defended his championship 25 times, Rocky Marciano, who retired as an undefeated champion with a record of 49-0, and Sonny Liston, a fearsome man considered invincible.

Then came Cassius Clay, who changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and was, is, and will be the most famous and influential athlete in history.

Ali changed boxing and the way sports are promoted forever. He was known by every human being who walked the earth and is still remembered today as the greatest.

In modern times, the impactful knockout artist Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, and the brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko also stood out.

And who brought interest back to the top division was the knockout artist Deontay Wilder, who was champion for five years, followed by Tyson Fury, who knocked him out twice, and the current champion, the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.

The boxing scene has changed and, above all because of the great campaign of fights between the world’s top heavyweights.

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh appeared on the boxing map, and in less than a year he has achieved a revolution.

In October, 2023, he put together the inaugural Riyadh Season event called Battle of the Baddest with the WBC world heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, against the former champion of the same weight, but from the UFC, Francis Ngannou.

That card was exclusive to heavyweights and served as an elimination tournament. The best have faced each other, and today we can say that there are at least six to eight fights of great interest that may take place in the near future.

The best in the world have fought each other, and the possible combinations between Usyk, Fury, Dubois, Joshua, Wilder, Kabayel, Zhang, Sanchez, Okole and Ruiz continue.

This past Saturday, Turki Alalshikh with Riyadh Season, and under the promotion of Queensberry and Matchroom, filled the legendary Wembley with 96,000 fans to witness the fight between two English giants: the champion Daniel Dubois, and the former champion, Anthony Joshua.

The spectacular nature of this premier division came to light from the first round to the surprise of most fans. Joshua fell to the canvas after receiving a powerful right hook, just at the end of the round.

The second and third rounds were highly anticipated, because while Anthony tried to get back into the fight, Daniel clobbered him with blows that staggered AJ.

Finally, in the fifth Joshua managed to connect a tremendous right hand that sent Dubois to the ropes, and when he tried to finish him off, they exchanged right hands and Joshua fell, poleaxed.

On December 21, the rematch will take place between Usyk and Fury in Saudi Arabia and depending on the result, the division’s plan will be defined in 2025.

Devin Haney pursues legal action against both Ryan Garcia and GBP.

                                    

Devin Haney’s doesn’t appear to have come to terms in regard to how his April 20th fight in New York transpired. TMZ Sports has recently confirmed that Devin is now suing Ryan in an attempt to seek closure. Haney who appeared to lose the high profile bout, prior to the adverse findings, filed the lawsuit against Garcia in New York last Friday. Devin has alleged that Garcia committed battery and fraud in the leadup too, and during their April 20 event at Barclays Center.

Garcia initially was ruled to have won the fight after knocking down Haney multiple times … but the outcome was later ruled a no-contest after NYSAC officials found that Garcia had Ostarine in his system.

Haney said if he had known Garcia had ingested a performance-enhancing drug prior to stepping into the ring, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to the fight. Therefore, Devin states that he never consented to being on the wrong end of Garcia’s punches under such circumstances. 

Haney also said, among other things, that by ingesting the banned substance despite agreeing to fight under the guise that he would test clean, Garcia made misrepresentations that would have caused Haney to withdraw from the match as well.

In addition to Garcia, Haney is also suing Golden Boy Promotions for a breach of contract.

In his suit, Haney is suing for damages, claiming the entire ordeal caused him both physical injuries and damaged reputation which will amount to millions of dollars, along with emotional and mental distress. 

We’ve reached out to Garcia’s attorney for comment, without any successful responses so far. 

Harper becomes 3 weight champion with unanimous win over Dixon at lightweight.

                            

Double weight champion Terri Harper 15-2-2, (6 KOs) dethroned WBO lightweight champion Rhiannon Dixon 10-1, (1 KO) by a decisive ten round unanimous points decision on Saturday night to become a 3 weight title holder at the Canon Medical Arena in Sheffield, England. Scores were 96-94,97-93, 97-93. Harper has held world titles at super featherweight, super welterweight and now lightweight.
Super bantamweight Peter McGrail 10-1(6 KOs) knocked out former British and Commonwealth 122lb champion Brad Foster 15-4-2, (5 KOs) in round two with a body shot. The bout was for the WBA International title.
2020 Olympic flyweight gold medalist Galal Yafai moved to 8-0, 6 KOs with a third round stoppage of journeyman Sergio Orozco Oliva 9-9, (7 KOs). Yafai is now slated to face former world champion Sunny Edwards later this year.

Dubois dominates Joshua, establishes reign as IBF Champion.

Last weekend (21st September) Anthony Joshua aimed at greatness as he challenged newly announced IBF heavyweight title holder Daniel Dubois to try to grasp a version of the heavyweight crown for a third time. Unfortunately, the reigning champion and scripted underdog in this case had other ideas. The title holder Dubois entered the ring first as an afterthought to the favourable Joshua despite defending his hardware, but it was evident from his demeanour that Daniel entered the ring completely primed and switched on. Joshua in contrast seemed to sleepwalk his way through the pre fight formalities and appeared bone dry in comparison to his opponent. From the opening bell Dubois took control of the action, cutting off the ring and offering Joshua very little breathing space, towards the end of the opener the pair engaged in an exchange which finished with AJ backing into the ropes, Dubois wasted no time in lashing over a long right hand which dropped the former champion in the first shock of the night. Joshua who had been posturing from the opening bell with a loose defence and his chin help wildly exposed. Joshua only survived the session due to the bell saving him to end the round. Dubois maintained the well designed pressure through rounds 2 and 3, where he’d score another heavy knockdown, stamping almost certain dominance over Joshua. Dubois remained surprisingly composed through to round 4 where he would again stun AJ before scoring the third knockdown of the night, leaving the former champion literally fighting for survival. Joshua’s corner appeared to revive Anthony between rounds and instill some urgency into his approach. Joshua entered the 5th with a more assertive attitude and for the first time forced Dubois to take a defensive stance. Joshua landed his first significant right hand of the night clean on Dubois chin and seemed to stagger the champion momentarily, Anthony desperately seized his chance of levelling the score and rushed across to finish his rally, Joshua landed a further right hand but in opting to throw a wild right uppercut, was countered by a lethal Dubois right hand that dropped Joshua heavily. Joshua gamely made every effort to climb off the canvas but appeared completely removed of his faculties and was counted out after a minute of the session by Marcus McDonnell. Joshua didn’t seem to fully recover from the first knockdown and displayed a whole bunch of amateurish mistakes in an uncharacteristic showing that only enhanced Dubois terrific performance. The 34 year old former champion now drops to 28-4 (25 Ko’s) whilst the 27 year old, newly established IBF champion 22-2 (21 Ko’s) elevates himself into the elite heavyweight landscape with 3 high profile scalps to stake his claim. Dubois looked every inch a heavyweight champion tonight and appeared a completely rejuvenated version of the man who folded in his previous defeats to Joyce and Usyk. Joshua and his team may need to carefully consider the next move for their man as he looked a distant memory from the man who looked destined to rule the division 24 months ago. 93000 attended this landmark event at Londons Wembley stadium which was promoted by Frank Warrens Queensbury promotions in association with Eddie Hearns Matchroom boxing. 

Zhang loss may signal the end for Wilder.

The main event on Saturday nights, 5 v 5 show at the Kingdom arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia may have signified a definitive conclusion to the colourful career of former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder after a 5th round knockout defeat at the hands of Zhilei Zhang. Wilder and Xhang entered the bout coming off decision defeats at the hands of Jo Parker and viewed the fight as an opportunity for redemption on a huge PPV stage. Wilder had made it clear that his loss to Parker was largely down to his more civilised attitude having abandoned the evil, destructive alter ego. Wilder did state to the press that there was a realistic chance he could lose to Zhilei and if he didn’t produce the goods on fight night, this could be the final time that we would see Wilder in the ring. The imposing Zhang entered the fight outweighing the former champion by a whopping 68 pounds, with Wilder opting to box at an athletic 214 pounds. Zhang took the action straight to Wilder from the opener, forcing the Alabama fighter to give ground and weather the storm. Wilder was forced to box at long range and negate anything that Zhang chose to set up in short bursts. It appeared by round 3 that Wilder was trying to find clear opportunities to land clean single shots but struggled to set himself under heavy pressure from the Chinese fighter. Wilder found some success and began to rally in the 4th and was able to disorganise Zhang with sporadic success with single right hand attacks. Midway through a sedate 5th round, Wilder over reached with a right hand and was caught clean by a long right hook that grazed his nose, dazed by the shot Wilder appeared disorientated and spun around, almost facing the opposite direction as his opponent, seizing the chance, Zhang capitalised on the damage by landing a vicious right hand that folded Wilder up in a heap, in serious trouble. Deontay managed to beat the count comfortably but in rising appeared unsteady and was stopped by referee Keiren McCann. Wilder now drops to 43-4-1 (42 Ko’s) and appeared a shadow of the dominant former champion that terrorised the division 10 years ago. Zhang isn’t the finished article but moves on towards the promise of some lucrative opportunities at 27-2-1 (22 Ko’s) Wilders hopes of meeting Anthony Joshua or a once lucrative 4th fight with Fury now seem far away in the rear view mirror as the former destructive champion may opt to choose live as a proud family man having reached the lowest point of his career. 

Undisputed. Heavyweight history being made in Saudi.

In the current era of boxing it’s more the norm to see viewing figures rise for less than flattering crossover events including a you-tuber and a noted rapper, influencer or fading former fighter. The days where fans would druel at the sound of a superfight or the return of an iconic champion to roll back the years in a comeback seem far removed to the rear view mirror. The heavyweight division hasn't had a single standout lightning rod since the days of Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson and has dragged its feet for the anticipation of a unified champion for 25 years. Tonight in Saudi arabia we will see possibly the first historic steps in over 2 decades to bridge that gap and attempt to capture the imagination of heavyweight purists when WBC and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury meets unified 3 belt champion Oleksandr Usyk for all of the marbles and the opportunity to be heralded as the first universally recognised world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis back in 1999. Both men have made impressive statements at the top of their game with standout wins over Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua respectively yet both are guilty of less than stellar performances of late against underwhelming opposition in Daniel Dubois and Francis Nganou, however both are incredibly skilled and stand defiant and undefeated. The anecdote that a good big man will always beat a good little man very often doesnt apply, Michael Spinks is a prime example to contest that theory, Fury isn't just a good big man, hes an exceptional super big man who knows how to use the tools he was blessed with. Usyk these days isn't quite so little, but in comparrison is playing catch up on the physical stakes by giving away 30 plus pounds. Usyk however isn't to be underestimated, he is deceptively quick and unorthadox and always seems to find a means to victory. Its an intriguing match with a huge historic significance and has all the mystical ingredients to have boxing fans excited once again in anticipation of such a landmark step. Both participants appear in fantastic optimum condition and are at the pinnacle of their respective careers, i personally can see a case for either man claiming victory, however the true winner on the grand scheme of things is boxing which will win with this weeks premium global exposure all preluding to the crowning of an undisputed world heavyweight champion. Since fighting men put gloves on their hands, 25 men have claimed the unified title in over 100 years..  We are privileged this weekend to witness number 26.

Matchroom weigh in results: Joshua v Helenius show.

The weigh in for Saturdays Matchroom show at the O2 proved colourful today at the Westfield Shopping centre in London. The undercard fighters all made weight headed by Campbell Hatton’s 141.8 to Tom Ansell’s 141.9.

Other undercard weigh in results;

George Liddard 162.3 vs. Bas Oosterweghel 164.7

Brandon Scott 131.9 vs. Louis Norman 133.9

Maiseyrose Courtney 114.4 vs. Gemma Ruegg 113.8

Following this the heavyweights all tipped in appropriately starting with unbeaten Johnny fisher weighing 242 to Harry Armstrong’s 250. 

The highly ranked Filip Hrgovic weighed in at 243 to his opponent Dempsey Mckean’s 245 in an interesting battle of unbeaten contenders. The entertainment started when the popular former heavyweight title challengers Dereck Chisora and Gerald Washington took to the scales. Both fighters are self admittedly friends out if the ring and with tongue in cheek, Chisora verbally challenged Washingtons last minute attempt to request more money from the promotion, Washington denied this as the headstrong Chisora told his adversary that he would eat him alive even if he does decide to run. Both men weighed 252 and 237 respectively. At the stare down Chisora removed his opponents sunglasses and invited eye contact before the pair departed. The Londoner ignored a cordial handshake attempt from Washington before both men exited the stage. Finally both last minute replacement Robert Helenius and former unified champion Anthony Joshua stepped to the scales. Helenius was outweighed by Joshua 249 to 250 respectively. As both fighters faced off Joshua removed his gaze as the Finnish import continued to stare across at him with his face transfixed. Joshua asked Helenius if he was ok and if he had a problem with him, Helenius briefly replied that he didn’t as Joshua accused him of acting unnecessarily. There were no handshakes and a frosty departure of the pair as AJ appeared irked by his opponents frosty approach. 

Venue: O2 Arena, London, England
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Helenius replaces Whyte to face Joshua on 12th August at O2 London.

A red hot PPV attraction or not, the recently scheduled Anthony Joshua v Dillian Whyte bout did make a lot of sense. Joshua, Hearn et al appear to have exhausted all avenues leading to Fury and we’re viewing a victory over Whyte as premium preparation for the muted Deontay Wilder fight that still appears to remain part of the short term plan. Whyte and Joshua both have 3 defeats since their first meeting and have 8 years of added maturity since their last meeting. The prelude to the fight seemed surprisingly civil making the fight appear more intriguing to the average onlooker. Unfortunately this past week the revelation dropped that Dillian Whyte’s Vada test sample had returned an adverse finding, causing a postponement due to the close proximity of the event. Many of his peers have been unforgiving in the days since the news dropped, Whyte had twice previously failed drug tests, notably in 2012 and 2016 when he tested positive to Methylhexaneamine and Dianabol respectively. Whyte has served a ban for the first offence and with such a huge opportunity resting on the Joshua fight, justifying the findings may prove an uphill battle for the Brixton man. With a week to go, Hearn and Joshua did release a press statement to clarify that they still intended to continue with the promotion and find an appropriate replacement. With 5 days to go rumours were running rampant with warhorse Dereck Chisora appearing as the clear front runner to face AJ on the 12th followed by IBF ranked Filip Hrgovic and US import Gerald Washington, both of which are scheduled to appear on Saturdays show. Tuesday 8th August brought us the revelation that Finland’s Robert Helenius would replace Whyte and save the highly publicised show. Helenius appeared on a high profile stage last October when he was starched in a round by Deontay Wilder in Brooklyn but more interesting, he scored a 3rd round knockout only 3 days ago over one Mika Mielonen in Finland. So Joshua v Helenius will feature at the O2 with an interesting chief support featuring former world title challengers Dereck Chisora and Gerald Washington, and tough IBF ranked Filip Hrgovic taking on the largely untested prospect Dempsey Mckean, both undefeated. It’s unknown as of yet if the show will be a paid Tv event but will be broadcast on DAZN globally. 

Undefeated Agit Kabayel returns in January.

Undefeated, globally ranked heavyweight Agit Kabayel 22-0 (14 KOs) will return to the ring next month to face once beaten Agron Smakici 19-1 (17 KOs) on January 28 at the RuhrCongress Hall in Bochum, Germany. The European Boxing Union have officially sanctioned the bout for their vacant title, which Kabayel has owned on and off since 2016 when he beat Chris Lewandowski. Victory would be Kabayel’s second official reign as European champion. Kabayel most notable victory was a title defence in 2017 over two time world title challenger  Derek Chisora. Kabayel is a capable yet low key fighter who has only boxed 4 times in nearly 4 years, the appearances however have been in decent company against Kevin Johnson, Pavel Sour, Evgenios Lazaridis and Andriy Rudenko. The victory over Kevin Johnson in 2021 earned Agit the vacant WBA Continental heavyweight title.

Mills Lane passes, aged 85.

Sad news that Hall of Fame referee Mills Lane has passed at the age of 85 in his home City of Reno, Nevada. Lane, the district attorney best known for his no nonsense approach and the catchphrase ‘let’s get it on,’ was the middle man in a number of major boxing matches, spanning 4 decades including the infamous Tyson v Holyfield rematch in 1997 where he was forced to disqualify the former champion for the notorious double bite incident. Mills also officiated Hagler v Antuofermo, Tyson v Berbick, several of Larry Holmes world title defences along with Muhammad Ali’s bout with Bob Foster. The final world title bout that Judge Lane refereed was a 1998 world middle weight title fight between Bernard Hopkins and Robert Allen, ironically the fight was stopped and deemed a no contest when Mills physically broke the fighters from a clinch and accidentally pushed Hopkins out of the ring in round 4. After retiring as a referee and ringside official, Lane starred and hosted a reality TV court show for a number of years. Unfortunately, Lane suffered a debilitating stroke in 2002 that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. Lane was respected and loved by all that knew him in court, in the ring and in life, a wonderful man who will be sorely missed.