In a sport where unbeaten prospects are often kept away from each other, we are soon to see a clash between a pair of rising junior lightweights: Frankie Scarboro Jr. (14-0, 9 KOs), a 30-year-old from Maryland, and Dominic Valle (13-0, 7 KOs), a 25-year-old Floridian.

Only one of them will remain on an upward trajectory afterward.

Scarboro vs. Valle will take place on September 11 at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California, on a ProBox TV card headlined by Abass Baraou vs. Giovanni Santillan.

In his two previous bouts this year, Scarboro won a pair of 10-round decisions, outpointing Brandon Valdes in a battle in late January and getting a unanimous nod over Maxwel Montes at the start of May.

Valle, meanwhile, is also coming off a decision victory in his sole appearance so far in 2026, taking a decision victory in March over the 29-5-3 Eduardo Ramirez. Some observers felt Ramirez was more deserving of the win.

Scarboro recently corresponded via email with Fighting Words Boxing:

[Note: Fighting Words Boxing is completely free and supported solely by your donations. If you want to buy me a cookie ($1), a cup of coffee ($3) or a beer ($5), my Venmo username is DavidG412.]

Fighting Words Boxing: Your next fight is against Dominic Valle, who like you is an undefeated junior lightweight prospect. This feels to me like the biggest fight in your career so far. But what about your perspective — how do you look at this bout?

Frankie Scarboro Jr.: I feel as though every fight in my career is the biggest fight of my career at this point, so I treat every opponent the same. Without a title actually being on the line, every fight since I started has been a title fight to me, and this is nothing new.

Fighting Words Boxing: Both you and Valle have fought on ProBox cards, though never on the same show. How familiar were you with Valle prior to this fight being signed?

Scarboro: I wasn’t familiar with him at all. As some people know, I broke my hand and had to sit out for a year. Valle kind of jumped me in the rankings, and that’s when I first even heard his name. Now I need my spot back by any means necessary.

Fighting Words Boxing: I’m assuming you and your team have been studying up on Valle ever since this fight became official. What do you think of him? What does he do well? What weaknesses do you see that you want to take advantage of?

Scarboro: I think he’s a decent fighter, honestly. The easiest way to compare it is by using sailors. He’s a decent sailor, but I’m a better sailor. I’ve been on voyages that most sailors wouldn’t have made it back from, so I have the experience. He has a big boat, but it’s nothing compared to mine. My boat is a state-of-the-art, one-of-one edition, and it’s stocked with everything you could possibly need. So when we get out there, it’s not just about who has the bigger boat. It’s about who knows how to sail, and I’ve been through storms he hasn’t seen yet.

Fighting Words Boxing: Neither of you are ranked right now in the Top 15 of any of the sanctioning bodies, though Valle is No. 33 with the WBC. I’m wondering if the ranking situation could change for the winner of this bout.

Scarboro: I don’t pay attention to those rankings, neither do I care. The only ranking that matters is ranking No. 1, and I have a lot more work to put in if I want to get there. But I can assure you it’s coming. It may be a surprise to many, but not me. I know I’ll get there.

Fighting Words Boxing: What have you been working on improving since your last fight against Maxwel Montes?

Scarboro: What I’ve been working on is a secret. People want to see how much I’ve grown, and it will be clear on September 11. The only catch is, it’s $5 now [Note: the fee to subscribe to ProBox TV for a month]. So for only $5, you’ll get the answer to that question.

Fighting Words Boxing: This is your third fight of 2026, and just about four months since the Montes bout. How does staying active like this benefit you, both physically and in terms of keeping people aware of you?

Scarboro: Staying active benefits me because I never get a chance to breathe, relax and kick my feet up. It’s caused some complications in my life, but I’m the type of guy who would rather suffer now and live the rest of his life as a champion.

Fighting Words Boxing: I believe this is only your second pro fight outside of D.C. and Maryland. This will be Valle’s first outing outside of his native Florida. Of course, you fought all around during your amateur career, but how do you feel about going to California for this match?

Scarboro: I feel great. All the pressure on my back disappeared. At home, people know how to get in contact with me, even if it means showing up at my house on fight day. But out of town, I’m incognito. I’m focused. Not even my mom knows my room number, and I perform my absolute best. I can’t wait to gain some California fans. My style is what they love, and I’m very aware. That’s why I got the call.

Fighting Words Boxing: What are you hoping boxing fans watching on September 11 take out of your fight against Valle?

Scarboro: I hope that they understand that I’m the real deal and it’s time for me to step up the competition even more. I’m not next up. My time is now.

Fighting Words Boxing: Anything else you want to add?

Scarboro: I know Valle is going to come in at his best. How could he not? But I also know what I’m stepping into. His last fight on ProBox was the only ProBox show I’ve ever watched where the commentary itself openly acknowledged that they believed the wrong man won. That man was Valle. So I’m not taking anything away from him, but I believe that result speaks for itself. Now he has the opportunity to prove that he belongs at this level, and I have the opportunity to prove that I’m on a different level above him.

Note 1: While this schedule won’t include absolutely everything, everywhere, we strive to feature the highlights of the upcoming fights. Is this schedule missing a notable event or bout? Got something incorrect? Please feel free to comment below or send me a private message.

Note 2: All dates correspond with Eastern Time in the United States, as opposed to local time where the fights are taking place.

Note 3: Fighting Words Boxing is completely free and supported solely by your donations. If you want to buy me a cookie ($1), a cup of coffee ($3) or a beer ($5), my Venmo username is DavidG412

September 2026

Friday, September 4: Andy Ruiz vs. Damian Knyba (TNT, TruTV and DAZN in the U.S., DAZN worldwide)

• Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey

• Key undercard fights:

  • Vito Mielnicki Jr. vs. Austin “Ammo” Williams

  • Alan Chaves vs. Eridson Garcia

  • Zaquin Moses vs. TBA

Saturday, September 5: Katie Taylor vs. Flora Pili (DAZN)

• Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland

• World titles: Taylor has the IBF, WBA and WBO junior welterweight titles and is the lineal and Ring Magazine champion. The vacant WBC title will also be on the line. The winner will be the undisputed champion.

• Preview column: Katie Taylor’s farewell fight should be (almost completely) like John Cena’s goodbye

• Key undercard bouts:

  • Paddy Donovan vs. Tyrone McKenna

  • Emmet Brennan vs. Taylor Bevan

  • Matthew Boreland vs. Joe McGrail

  • Thomas Carty vs. Dave Allen

  • Paul Ryan vs. Paddy Gallagher

  • Molly “Meatball” McCann vs. Sylwia Doligala

Saturday, September 5: Slawa Spomer vs. Faisal Abubakari (DAZN)

• Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Ludwigshafen, Germany

Friday, September 11: Giovani Santillan vs. Abass Baraou (ProBox TV)

• Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California

• Key undercard fights:

  • Luis Alberto Lopez vs. Daniel Lugo

  • Dominic Valle vs. Frankie Scarboro Jr.

  • Hebert Conceicao Sousa vs. Adame Chio

Friday, September 11: Feudri Franco vs. Junior Desir (CombatVisionTV.com)

• Coliseo de Boxeo Carlos Teo Cruz in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Saturday, September 12: Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn (Paramount+ in the U.S., DAZN in the U.K. and Ireland)

• T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

• World title: Garcia has the WBC welterweight title

• Key undercard fights:

  • Jai Opetaia vs. Noel Mikaelian

    • World title: Opetaia is the lineal cruiserweight champion

  • Mark Magsayo vs. Andres Cortes

  • Jose Ramirez vs. Alexis Rocha

Saturday, September 19: Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz vs. Nestor Bravo (DAZN)

• Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California

• Key undercard fights:

  • Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Meiirim Nursultanov

    • World title: Ramos has the interim WBC middleweight belt

Saturday, September 19: John Hedges vs. Pat Brown (DAZN)

• Co-op Live in Manchester, England

• Key undercard fights:

  • Shabaz Masoud vs. Ckari Mansilla

  • Kieron Conway vs. Mark Jeffers

Saturday, September 19: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Jeison Troncoso

• Gimnasio Miguel Hidalgo in Pueblo, Mexico

Thursday, September 24: Hasim Rahman vs. Phillip Triantafillo (Combat Sports Now)

• Hammond Sportsplex in Hammond, Indiana

Saturday, September 26: Liam Davies vs. Nathaniel Collins (DAZN)

• BP Pulse Live in Birmingham, England

• Key undercard fights:

  • Nathan Heaney vs. Gerome Warburton II

  • Luke McCormack vs. Kay Prospere

  • Nelson Birchall vs. Gully Powar

Saturday, September 26: Zuffa Boxing 11: Johnny Fisher vs. Michael Pirotton

• Copper Box Arena in London, England

• Key undercard fights:

  • Craig Richards vs. Radivoje Kalajdzic

  • Lee Cutler vs. Louis Greene

Saturday, September 26: Jose Zepeda vs. Alberto Machado

• Las Vegas, Nevada

• Key undercard fights:

  • Yokasta Valle vs. TBA

  • Naomy Valle vs. TBA

  • Anthony Garnica vs. TBA

  • Nathan Rodriguez vs. TBA

October 2026

Saturday, October 3: Ben Whittaker vs. Conor Wallace (DAZN)

• Utilita Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England

Thursday, October 8: Osleys Iglesias vs. Oliver Zaren (DAZN and Punching Grace)

• Theatre Capitole in Quebec City, Canada

• World title: Iglesias has the IBF super middleweight title

• Key undercard fights:

  • Wilkens Mathieu vs. Vladimir Shishkin

  • Leila Beaudoin vs. TBA

    • World title: Beaudoin has the interim WBA junior lightweight title

  • Dzmitry Asanau vs. Luis Santana

  • Imam Khataev vs. Padraig McCrory

Saturday, October 10: Floyd Schofield Jr. vs. Lucas Bahdi (DAZN)

• Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois

• World title: The vacant WBA lightweight title is on the line

• Key undercard fights:

  • Ricardo Sandoval vs. Oscar Collazo

    • World titles: Sandoval has the WBA and WBC flyweight titles

Saturday, October 17: Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley II (DAZN)

• The O2 in London, England

• World title: Dubois has the WBO heavyweight title

Saturday, October 17: Sebastian Fundora vs. Ermal Hadribeaj (TNT and TruTV in the United States, DAZN worldwide)

• The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada

• World title: Fundora has the WBC junior middleweight title

• Key undercard fights:

  • Brandon Figueroa vs. Tomoki Kameda

    • World title: Figueroa has the WBA featherweight title

  • Jermall Charlo vs. Koen Mazoudier

Saturday, October 24: Emanuel Navarrete vs. O’Shaquie Foster (DAZN)

• Frost Bank Center in San Antonio Texas

• World titles: Navarrete has the IBF and WBO junior lightweight titles, and Foster has the WBC junior lightweight title

• Key undercard fights:

  • Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzales vs. Edward Vazquez

  • Frank Martin vs. TBA

Saturday, October 24: Dalton Smith vs. Alberto Puello (DAZN)

• Utilita Arena Sheffield in Sheffield, England

• World title: Smith has the WBC junior welterweight title

Sunday, October 25: Shauna Browne vs. Jade Burden (DAZN)

• York Hall in London, England

Saturday, October 31: Christian Mbilli vs. Canelo Alvarez (DAZN Pay-Per-View)

• ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• World title: Mbilli has the WBC super middleweight title.

• Ring Magazine: Canelo-Mbilli bout pushes back to make room for Garcia-Benn on Sept. 12

November 2026

Saturday, November 7: Joshua Buatsi vs. Willy Hutchinson II (DAZN)

• AO Arena in Manchester, England

Sunday, November 8: Elif Nur Turhan vs. Alycia Baumgardner (ESPN)

• College Park Center in Arlington, Texas

• World title: Turhan has the IBF lightweight title; Baumgardner’s junior lightweight titles are not on the line

• Key undercard fights:

  • Tiara Brown vs. Ellie Scotney

    • World title: Brown has the WBC featherweight title

  • Skye Nicolson vs. Miyo Yoshida

    • World title: Nicolson has the WBC junior featherweight title

  • Ramla Ali vs. Mikiah Kreps

    • World titles: This fight is for the vacant IBF and WBO junior featherweight titles

Saturday, November 14: Bakary Samake vs. Uisma Lima

• Paris, France

• News coverage: Odd and ends: More fights coming to AWE; Dalton Smith receives Ricky Hatton tribute title; plus other news

December 2026

Saturday, December 19: Anthony Cacace vs. Nick Ball (DAZN)

• The O2 Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland

• World title: Cacace has the WBA junior lightweight title

Marco Romero certainly made the most of his Premier Boxing Champions debut.

Romero (15-0, 13 KOs) is a 20-year-old who’s been competing at super middleweight and expects to ultimately move down to middleweight. The first two years of his professional career took place on smaller shows. He was a free agent, a developing prospect hoping to catch the attention of the larger promoters.

Romero signed with PBC in July. He and another signee announced at the same time, unbeaten junior welterweight Carlos Utria, were featured on the big August 22 event headlined by Rolando “Rolly” Romero (no relation) against Teofimo Lopez. Marco Romero and Utria performed on the preliminary undercard.

While Utria took a debatable split decision over the 13-1-2 Israel Mercado, Romero shined by dispatching the 6-1 Kahlil Mitchell in the first round. Days later, the Kansas native spoke with Fighting Words Boxing. Among the topics we covered:

• His debut with PBC and why he chose to sign with them over other promoters

• Why he remained a free agent for the first two years of his career

• How he’s improved in recent years and what he still needs to work on

• When he expects to fight again

• What current and historical fighters he models himself on

Video and a transcript of our conversation are below. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

[Note: Fighting Words Boxing is completely free and supported solely by your donations. If you want to buy me a cookie ($1), a cup of coffee ($3) or a beer ($5), my Venmo username is DavidG412]

Fighting Words Boxing: First-round knockout! When you were envisioning this fight, how did you want it to go?

Marco Romero: I honestly didn’t envision the knockout. It couldn’t have been better. I thought Khalil was a tough opponent that was going to maybe give me some rounds. But I saw the opening and I just took the kill shot, and that’s all they wrote.

Fighting Words Boxing: What kind of response did you get from fans and from your team afterward?

Romero: They were all super, super happy. My family, my team, the PBC family was really, really happy with my performance. I think I was the only one with a knockout, if I’m not mistaken, that whole night. [Note: This is correct.] So they were all super happy, and I think it just showed what’s to come in the future, just major success for me.

Fighting Words Boxing: There are so many prospects out there, you have to stand out somehow, and that is one way to stand out in there. I’ve been getting your press releases for a while and I know that you’ve been a free agent for a while. Now you’re with PBC. What led you to make this decision to sign with them?

Romero: I think it was just time for me to move on from the local, here and there shows. I went to Florida; Portland, Maine; Colorado. I think it was time to show my level to the world now at that world-class stage. I think it showed [August 22] where I’m going to be at here in the near future.

Fighting Words Boxing: What is it about Premier Boxing Champions in particular that made you think it’s a good fit for you?

Romero: Honestly, you just see PBC, it’s pretty self-explanatory. They have great champions. They have David Benavidez right now, Sebastian Fundora. They’ve had major events, promoted fighters all the way to the top level where I want to be at. I saw that, and I saw their interest and belief in me, and that just guided me towards them, honestly.

Fighting Words Boxing: It’s really good timing for both PBC and for you. They had this new deal with DAZN and that led to them, I think, wanting to get more fighters. They had both you and Carlos Utria on the card. You got to show up on this first real big show for them.

Romero: It was amazing. Honestly, I’ve been telling everybody it’s been a surreal experience. I think it’s just now sitting in that I just signed to PBC, I just fought at the T-Mobile Arena, where a bunch of greats have fought in Las Vegas. I’m just blessed beyond words and thankful to PBC and all my team.

Fighting Words Boxing: I want to come back to PBC in a little bit, but you mentioned fighting in T-Mobile Arena after fighting in Kansas, after fighting in Florida. Clearly, you didn’t shrink or shy away from the spotlight, but what was the difference like for you going from these smaller shows to being in that big arena?

Romero: Man, it’s crazy. It’s crazy. Actually, it’s funny. We were just talking about this with my father not too long ago. He was like, ‘How did you feel?’ It’s just a different type of pressure, I think. The major greats have fought there. I think everyone’s dream as a professional fighter is to get to that level. Now that I made it there, like I said, it’s just a surreal feeling, but we just stayed focused and just grounded on what we had to do. We got the job done. But it was an amazing experience, though, for sure.

Fighting Words Boxing: This is also what you’ve been training for. The ring is the same. It’s just the spotlight, the number of people, the size of the arena. I don’t know how much that weighs on you ahead of a fight.

Romero: You definitely think about it. It’s definitely a fact that you think about, especially coming, like you said, from these smaller shows, smaller events from Kansas, Florida, all these other places I’ve been to, to now where the mecca is at. It’s definitely a fact that you think about, but like I said, you just try to stay focused on what the job is and don’t let that distract you.

Fighting Words Boxing: All this time that you were a free agent, were you getting offers? Were you intentionally staying a free agent to build up more of a case for yourself? What was the thinking behind that?

Romero: We decided to stay a free agent for a while, just because with the shift in boxing, where Top Rank lost – everyone lost TV [deals], pretty much. We were in that uncertain spot. We came into the professional game where boxing was the most uncertain it’s been in a while. We decided, you know what, let’s stay a free agent, fight in these smaller events, build my record, get that experience. That way, whenever boxing comes back to a more stable point and we get to that signing point, we’re ready, and we’re ready to show out.

Fighting Words Boxing: Is that frustrating for you when you’re seeing the business kind of out of your control?

Romero: Yes. It was probably the most frustrated I’ve ever been in my boxing career, just because if I would have turned pro three years ago or four years ago, I would have no problem signing right out of the gate. I don’t know if you saw my resume, but I have like 23 national titles, was ranked number one in the nation, was on Team USA for many years. I have a pretty good amateur background. I wouldn’t have had a problem signing with a big promoter coming out of the amateurs. But with the uncertainty and everyone losing their TV deal, it became harder. It became way, way harder. But like I said, I’m super grateful I’m at the point I am now. I’m grateful for the experience that I had to wait. It just taught me a little bit more, stay patient, everything comes at its time.

Fighting Words Boxing: I feel like it might’ve also been a blessing in disguise. Obviously you can’t go back, but had you signed at 17 or 18 with a major promoter and then their TV deal fell apart, you could have been sitting on the sideline and had your development halted. And so while you were growing on smaller shows, smaller paydays, you were still growing.

Romero: Yeah. Those frustrating moments that I had before I signed, that’s what we would talk about with my father and my manager, John Brown. That’s what we talked about. He’s like, “This is probably the best thing for you right now, especially as a young up-and-coming prospect. OK, we don’t sign right now. And you don’t get that dream where you’re signing young’ — I mean, I’m still young, but at 18, right off the amateurs — ‘You might not get that right now, but you’re going to get all this other experience, staying active, staying in the game, training, fighting. That’s what’s important.” So it worked out perfectly for me.

Fighting Words Boxing: You mentioned John Brown, your manager, and he’s also still your trainer as well, right?

Romero: Yes

Fighting Words Boxing: And how long have you been with him now?

Romero: Since I can remember. I’ve been with him since I was probably 9 years old.

Fighting Words Boxing: Right. So you’ve been with him for all this time, more than half your life. And for people who aren’t familiar, John Brown has been around for a while. He worked with Tommy Morrison from 1988 to 93. So when this person who has had such an impact on your life and is knowledgeable of the sport is giving you this advice, I feel like it resonates even more.

Romero: I think you have to listen. He’s the godfather of boxing. I mean, like you said, he’s been with Tommy Morrison. He founded Ringside [an equipment company]. He was president of USA Boxing. He’s coached for, I don’t even know how many years, like 50 years. So I think you have to listen to him and keep what he tells you in mind and take it in, for sure.

Fighting Words Boxing: So when it came time to make that leap, were you getting multiple offers? Was PBC the sole offer?

Romero: I got many offers. Top Rank was in the mix. Golden Boy, PBC, Eye of the Tiger – the folks out there in Canada. Salita Promotions as well was in the mix. And everyone was good. We read them through. We took our time with each and every one. But we just found that PBC had the most interest in me that I saw, had that belief in me. And they knew what I wanted. And I saw that in them. And they’re going to take me there for sure.

Fighting Words Boxing: Would you mind please expanding on that in terms of what you wanted and how they’re going to help you get there?

Romero: My goal is to become a world champion. My goal has been to become world champion. And I see that with PBC, they have that clear path for me, developing me, bringing me from a prospect to contender to that world championship level, you know. So that’s why I thank PBC for that interest and belief in me. And like I said, I saw that perfect path. And that’s why I chose PBC.

Fighting Words Boxing: Who were you in conversation with? Who are your contacts at PBC?

Romero: Oh, I know we have talked with Luis DeCubas [Jr., a PBC executive]. PBC’s matchmaker actually came down to watch me; he came to Kansas and watched me train as well. We talked to Tom Brown [of TGB Promotions, which puts on PBC shows] as well before, and some other guys that I’m probably forgetting. But I know that from the conversation they were having with John, they were super interested and super excited about me.

Fighting Words Boxing: You were talking about the path from prospect to contender to titleholder. What does that timeline look like for you?

Romero: Man, I want to be world champ. I’m 20. I’m about to be 21 here in November, so I’m still young. I just had my debut. So I’m seeing maybe ending next year, beginning of 2028.

Fighting Words Boxing: For fighting for a world title?

Romero: Yeah, that’s my goal. And I think we can make that happen with PBC for sure.

Fighting Words Boxing: In terms of your development, what do you feel like you still need to work on?

Romero: You know, I think there’s not necessarily one specific thing I could say I need to work on. I think we need to work on everything, or everything can always be improved, from technique, head movement, skills, punch placement. Everything can be worked on. I know I’m already pretty good at everything I do, but it can always be worked on. And that’s why I’m always in the gym. I’m always in the gym trying to just perfect my craft, just trying to get to that perfect level. I think we can always work on everything. And I know keeping that mindset is going to take me to that world title eventually.

Fighting Words Boxing: I think I read that you haven’t lost in more than seven years, dating back to the amateurs.

Romero: Yeah, I haven’t lost since 2019 and around this time, actually.

Fighting Words Boxing: Do you remember who that loss was to?

Romero: Yes, I lost to — he’s a good friend of mine, actually. His name is Benjamin Johnson. He actually fought on the undercard as well here in Las Vegas.

Fighting Words Boxing: He’s from my area here in DC. I mean, if you’re going to lose to somebody who is another top prospect — so since facing Ben Johnson, who has given you the toughest fight, and why?

Romero: Like two, three fights ago now, probably my biggest test in the pros has been against William Langston [in March 2026]. It’s the only fight I’ve gone all eight rounds. He’s a tough, tough guy, big, strong, has had a lot of experience as well, has been in there with some great contenders as well. [Note: Some of Langston’s other losses were to prospects such as Moreno Fendero and Khalil Coe.] So he’s giving them a problem. He’s actually won rounds against these other top contenders. And with me, it was a tough fight, but I won every round.

Fighting Words Boxing: How important is it for you to get rounds? Obviously, [a knockout is] great for, you know, sending a message, but I feel like you also want to get some more rounds under your belt.

Romero: 100%. From that William Langston fight, I learned a lot. I saw my game level up a lot just from that one fight, that one time going all eight rounds. I think it’s important for me to go more rounds against tougher opposition, because that’s the only way you’re going to learn. You know, it looks great, these first-round [knockouts], and it feels good to get them out right away. But I think, moving forward, definitely getting more rounds, getting that experience of testing myself out in those later rounds or facing some type of adversity is going to give me that experience to get that world championship that I want.

Fighting Words Boxing: I know it’s only been days since you fought. You obviously don’t have a mark on you. When do you think you’re going to be back in the ring?

Romero: Well, we were talking about it right after with Luis. After the fight, we went backstage and he came, congratulated me and my team. And they were talking about October 17 [on the undercard of Sebastian Fundora vs. Ermal Hadribeaj] and sometime again in December.

Fighting Words Boxing: You were talking about what you still are improving on. What’s the difference between the version of you now and the version of you that turned pro?

Romero: I just think I’m more mature. I’m definitely more mature in every aspect as a boxer, in my skills and in my IQ. Everything has definitely leveled up. I’m way stronger now. I implemented strength and conditioning, only like two years ago. In the amateurs, I really never did too much strength and conditioning; everything was kind of just, you know, run, body weight movement that I just did. And then I implemented strength and conditioning. And I’ve seen in my sparring, you can ask John or anybody, I look like a freaking monster now. Like, I punch somebody and they stay away, they run from me. [I’m] definitely stronger, smarter, faster. Everything’s just been improved, man. Everything’s leveled up.

Fighting Words Boxing: In current boxing, maybe in historical boxing, are there certain fighters that you admire or try to model yourself off of?

Romero: One I’m named after is Marco Antonio Barrera. Definitely him, Julio Cesar Chavez are two big ones that I watch. The ones I recently have watched a lot are David Benavidez and Canelo. I like watching a lot of Shakur Stevenson.

Fighting Words Boxing: Are there certain things about any of these five fighters that you mentioned that you try to incorporate into your own style?

Romero: Benavidez is one that I’ve been watching a lot recently, just because of his volume and his combination punching. I’m a pressure fighter, so I have to throw combinations and get those punches out. And he does it, you know, phenomenal. So I try to watch that a lot. And then, if you see me, I try not to get hit a lot. Even though I’m a pressure fighter, I try not to get hit a lot. So I watch a lot of Shakur Stevenson for that. And Canelo, because their waist movement, their head movement, their timing, the reaction time, it’s amazing. So I try to implement that into my game as much as possible.

Fighting Words Boxing: Have you had a chance to meet any of them yet?

Romero: No, unfortunately not. But I’m praying here soon I can meet one of those guys.

Fighting Words Boxing: I know that part of what helps young fighters grow a lot is sometimes being in with some of these experienced fighters, whether you’re a sparring partner or being in camp. Have you had any of those opportunities during your development?

Romero: I have been in camp with the Christian Mbilli camp. I didn’t get to spar Christian Mbilli, but I got to spar some of his other sparring partners and some other top contenders that they have there. I believe I sparred with a guy named Imam [Khataev], he fought David Morrell not too long ago. I sparred with Moreno Fendero, Erik Bazinyan. And then I’ve also been in camp down in Tampa, I sparred with Hot Rod [Radivoje Kalajdzic], and then some other Zuffa fighters they have there. Hopefully soon I’ll get invited to some of these other camps and join in with them too.

Fighting Words Boxing: How is making the weight for you right now?

Romero: It feels good. I haven’t really struggled at all. It’s been pretty comfortable. I know I fought at 165 for this fight. So it wasn’t difficult at all. I know we’re going to have to get down to that ’60 mark here soon. So just staying on my diet, staying disciplined with the food and everything, it always comes off pretty easy.

Fighting Words Boxing: When you’re not boxing, what are you doing when you’re at your happiest?

Romero: Honestly, you’d be surprised, man. I really don’t do too much. I stay home. I just chill with my dog. Kind of just do my own thing, man. I go to the mall. I have a girlfriend, so I do hang out with her. And yeah, just stay calm, not do too much. I don’t really go out. I just hang out with my brother. That’s pretty much it, man.

Fighting Words Boxing: For people who are just now getting acquainted with you, what else do you want people to know about you?

Romero: I just want everyone to know that I’m just a humble, hardworking boxer that comes from a not-very-known state, as one would say in the boxing world, but is just trying to do everything [I] can to put Kansas on top, bring back to [my] community and bring the world title back home.

If Atif Oberlton is going to become the next top light heavyweight — or, as he puts it, “the one that’s going to come and change the whole game” — then he’s doing exactly what he needs to do.

Fight often. Keep winning. Win impressively. Become undeniable so that the big names at 175-pounds can’t avoid him. Or if they don’t face the 28-year-old from Philadelphia, then he can begin to collect the world titles left behind.

And it’s not just what he does in the ring. Oberlton, whose nickname is “Lord Pretty Calvo,” wants to be captivating and charismatic, whether between the ropes or outside of them.

For his next fight night, the unbeaten prospect will have his next opportunity to impress on August 15, when Oberlton faces Roamer Alexis Angulo at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Oberlton vs. Angulo will stream on Zeus Network, headlining the preliminary undercard for the Kaye Scott vs. Claressa Shields unified middleweight title fight airing on DAZN.

“I’ve been putting in the work for years, since a kid. I’ve been very overlooked and underbooked for a very long time,” Oberlton said in an interview with Fighting Words Boxing. “So I’m just here and I’m ready to just like put that pain in. I’m ready for whatever they give me. If it was a title shot tomorrow, bring it on. I just feel like I’m ready for the world. Everything that I’ve been working on, I’m just 100% confident in who I am.”

One cannot help but feel confident when you’ve not yet been defeated as a professional. Oberlton is 16-0 with 14 knockouts. He turned pro at the start of 2021 and fought four times that year, then three times in 2022, just once in 2023, three times in 2024 and three times in 2025.

This will be his third fight of 2026. At this pace, with wins in February and May and now this upcoming bout in August, Oberlton could wind up performing four times this year.

“These are the quick turnarounds that I always wanted in my career,” Oberlton said. “I wanted to fight back to back because I think I progress the best that way. Just everything is better, keep the momentum going and all that.”

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The activity coincides with Oberlton adding Salita Promotions to a team that already included Marshall Kauffman of Kings Promotions. Salita works with DAZN and Wynn Records, which is helping ensure that the fighter is no longer overlooked nor underbooked.

In February, as the co-feature of the Claressa Shields vs. Franchon Crews-Dezurn rematch in Detroit, Oberlton took on the 13-1 Joseph George. That fight ended abruptly and frighteningly when George collapsed after returning to his corner following the end of the first round. (According to what George’s team told Salita, the fighter was nervous and had not eaten all day.)

Oberlton was able to get more rounds in May when he faced the 22-3 Carlos Gongora, whose only defeats had come at super middleweight by decision against Lerrone Richards, Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez. Oberlton vs. Gongora was thrust into the main event when the original headliner, Angelo Leo’s featherweight title defense vs. Ra’eese Aleem, was called off due to Aleem being overweight.

Oberlton stopped Gongora, who didn’t come out for the sixth round.

“Taking the things that you work in the gym on and then coming in the ring and then seeing it work effortlessly during fight night, those are the things that really surprised me a lot.” Oberlton said. “What I would have liked to [have] done better is make him not hold me as much, because I wanted to get more off.”

This fight with Angulo will put Oberlton in against another experienced foe who’s been in with high-level opposition. Angulo (29-4, 24 KOs) has only lost to Gilberto Ramirez (a wide decision in their 2018 super middleweight title fight); David Benavidez (stopped after 10 rounds in their 2020 super middleweight title fight); Edgar Berlanga (a wide decision in 2022); and prospect Umar Dzambekov (an eight-round decision in June 2025). Angulo last fought in March, days before his 42nd birthday, dispatching a 15-9 fighter in three rounds.

“I’ve been studying him,” Oberlton said. “He’s just like another guy that’s in the way, but he’s like a tough guy. He going to take the punishment and he going to try to win. He’s going to throw some shots where he try to get you out of there and stuff like that. And that’s what we need to help take us to the next level and showcase to the world how dominant I am.

“Cause it’s not just about if I win — I’m going to win — but it’s how I win.”

That being said, Oberlton doesn’t believe he has to stop Angulo in order to send a message.

“I don’t need to do anything but win impressively, which I’m going to do,” he said.

When we first met earlier this year, Oberlton compared himself to musician Rick James, whose career began when he was a teenager but who didn’t really hit it big until he was 30 years old. For Oberlton, the talent has always been there, but it wasn’t widely noticed, and he wasn’t prominently featured as a result. Overlooked. Underbooked.

“Sometimes I feel as though when you’re the one that’s going to come and change the whole game and make everybody feel everything when it’s all said and done, you know, you’re kind of like the golden child. You’re God’s child. Things take longer because it’s foundational and it’s meant to last longer and not be here [today] and gone tomorrow,” Oberlton said.

“A lot of guys that get on fast, they here today and go on tomorrow. These guys get exposed quick and everything. So I think it’s in God’s hands and God’s book. And I believe that the way he got things set up for me, that it might not be to my liking at first, but in the end it’s going to be everything I could imagine and probably more,” he added. “If you look at my track record as an amateur and all that, a lot of guys got past me, you know, due to having the right promoter or being in the right positions. And for years, I’ve been winning [...] I don’t know what it is, the powers that be, you know, certain people got connections or whatever, but I always knew I was the one.”

Oberlton’s trainer is Tom Yankello, who is based in western Pennsylvania and coached Paul Spadafora. Their first bout together was Oberlton’s January 2024 drubbing of Cleotis Pendarvis. Yankello spoke highly of Oberlton in a conversation with me earlier this year, a couple days before Oberlton’s February bout with George.

“He’s not too far away from being the best light heavyweight in the world. I really believe that,” Yankello told me. “After this fight, I could see him fighting one or two more fights that just considerably jump up, and then fighting for the title.”

The light heavyweight division has three big names — Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev and David Benavidez — and yet is in flux right now.

Bivol is the lineal and Ring Magazine champion and has the IBF, WBA and WBO titles, and yet he has fought just once since beating Beterbiev in their February 2025 rematch for the undisputed championship at 175 pounds. Bivol returned this past May after 15 months — part of that layoff due to back surgery — and easily shut out unheralded mandatory challenger Michael Eifert. He’s since undergone a procedure on his left elbow and could return later this year against interim WBO titleholder Callum Smith.

Beterbiev hasn’t fought since the Bivol sequel. The 41-year-old is still aiming for a rubber match with Bivol. And Benavidez, who was upgraded to the WBC’s primary light heavyweight titleholder after Bivol declined to face him, is currently focused on his campaign at cruiserweight, where he has two world titles and could soon be going for a third.

So how does Oberlton view the 175-pound weight class at the moment?

“I see it being mine, all for the taking, and anybody in the way is going to get rolled over,” Oberlton said. “I want to roll over anybody in the top 10 that want to step up and take this smoke.”

I asked him who might be willing or available.

“I have no clue. To tell you the truth, I got to look at the top 10 list because I don’t focus on nobody but myself,” Oberlton responded. “But I mean, even the names that people say, those guys ain’t in a rush, or they ain’t talking to do anything. And you know, it’s been a lot of contracts sent out because I’m a hard guy to match.”

I tried another tack and asked specifically about Bivol, Beterbiev, Benavidez and Smith, whether they might be potential challenges. Oberlton is both confident yet respectful.

“Everybody’s a potential challenge when you’re in my weight class. And I think well of those guys,” Oberlton said. “They had the chance to show the world and prove to the world who they are. So I can’t do nothing but respect that. Bivol and Beterbiev and Benavidez, these guys been earning their way and their keep [since] when I first started my pro career or probably even before then. So I’m never going to front on anybody that put the work in, but I know the work I put in and I know who I am. And I just feel like I stand over top of anybody.”

There are two potential routes, then, so long as he fights often, keeps winning, wins impressively, and becomes undeniable. Either he lands those big fights against those big names, or he accumulates acclaim and world titles in their absence. The power structure will shift, and there on the throne would be Lord Pretty Calvo.

“I got everything that you ain’t seeing no more. And then some things that you probably haven’t seen before,” Oberlton said. “I got the old-school mentality. I got old school teachers behind me, my whole team. And I’m a student of the game. I’m doing things that people ain’t doing anymore. The little fine small details. And then the showmanship. You get a fight. You get a show before the fight, after the fight, during the fight. You’re gonna get everything. You’re gonna get personality. You’re gonna get somebody that actually makes you feel. That’s what it’s all about.”

Here’s the good news: A fight between two of the top cruiserweights has been made.

Here’s the bad news: The fight isn’t between Jai Opetaia and David Benavidez.

Here’s the messy news: There may be a legal challenge to Opetaia’s fight with Noel Mikaelian taking place on the September 12 undercard of Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn. Oh, and the making of Opetaia-Mikaelian won’t clear up the world title picture at 200 pounds.

Let’s take a few steps back to talk about each of the players here:

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Jai Opetaia

Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs) is the lineal and Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion. He is the man who beat the man, topping Mairis Briedis in 2022. Briedis had assumed the throne in 2020 when he won the second World Boxing Super Series tournament at cruiserweight, becoming the new champ in the wake of Oleksandr Usyk’s departure from the division.

Opetaia has also had an on-and-off relationship with the IBF title. He won that strap from Briedis in 2022, defended it once against Jordan Thompson, then ditched it in order to take a big payday against Ellis Zorro in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2023. Being beltless didn’t mean Opetaia wasn’t still the champ at 200. And he regained the IBF title soon enough anyway, besting Briedis in their rematch in May 2024. He subsequently defended it in victories over Jack Massey, David Nyika, Claudio Squeo and Huseyin Cinkara.

But there was a big kerfuffle ahead of Opetaia’s March fight against Brandon Glanton, the first under Opetaia’s new deal with Zuffa Boxing. The IBF wound up stripping Opetaia; the sanctioning body said it was because the Zuffa belt was being marketed as a world title, not as a trophy. Opetaia has since sued the IBF.

Noel Mikaelian

Mikaelian has himself had an on-and-off relationship with the WBC title. He won the vacant belt in November 2023 when its previous owner, Badou Jack, was mulling a move to bridgerweight and was therefore named the “champion in recess,” which is what I was in middle school.

Mikaelian was ordered to defend against Ryan Rozicki, but that fight was postponed several times and never took place. By 2025, Jack was ready to return to 200 – having never actually competed at 224. He was reinstated as the primary titleholder while Mikaelian became the new champion in recess. (These days, I am the champion of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.) Jack vs. Rozicki was scheduled for the May 2025 undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull

But Rozicki got hurt, and so Mikaelian stepped in and lost a debated decision to Jack. The WBC ordered a rematch, and this past December Mikaelian outpointed Jack for the belt.

This year, Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs) was put in the strange but not unprecedented position of being ordered to defend against another organization’s titleholder. That person is:

David Benavidez

Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs), is a former super middleweight titleholder who currently has both the WBC belt and secondary WBA strap at 175 pounds — as well as the WBA and WBO titles at cruiserweight. He won those latter two titles with an impressive stoppage of unified beltholder Gilberto Ramirez this May.

Weeks later, the WBC ordered Mikaelian vs. Benavidez, reminiscent of in 2015, when the same sanctioning body ordered Adonis Stevenson to defend his WBC light heavyweight belt against Sergey Kovalev in what would have been for the undisputed championship at 175 pounds. Kovalev’s team, which had pushed for the fight, pulled out of the purse bid.

Michal Cieslak

Cieslak (28-2, 22 KOs) is the interim WBC cruiserweight titleholder because, well, the WBC. He might be about to get his third shot at a world title.

Boxing reporter Abraham Gonzalez — one of boxing’s truly good guys and also a hardworking reporter — says that Cieslak could face Benavidez in November or December. Cieslak previously lost against Ilunga Makabu for the vacant WBC belt in 2020 and then-WBO titleholder Lawrence Okolie in 2022.

Cieslak then went on a six-fight winning streak, none against anyone of note, before landing a fight against Jean Pascal for the vacant interim title in June 2025. Pascal was even less deserving, mind you, though we’re talking about a secondary bauble that shouldn’t even have existed to begin with.

The WBC could wind up stripping Mikaelian and upgrading Cieslak, which would make Benavidez vs. Cieslak a unification bout for three world titles.

Don King

King promotes Mikaelian, though the legendary promoter has — you guessed it — an on-and-off relationship these days with many of the names that foolishly sign onto his roster. They tend to sit on the shelf, and when they do land fights outside of King’s involvement, he sues them.

Per boxing reporter Dan Rafael: “Although promoters Sampson Lewkowicz and Don King made a deal for David Benavidez-Noel Mikaelian 3-belt cruiserweight unification fight for November, Mikaelian, I am told, did not agree, has (or will) sign with Zuffa (probable Opetaia opponent), & King likely will sue.”

Rafael’s post came out before Zuffa’s announcement about Opetaia vs. Mikaelian being official. Now comes a question of what will happen with that fight. If Mikaelian is unable to face Opetaia in September due to the legal challenge, he might wind up not only without the bout (and the payday), but without his WBC belt as well.

King says he and Benavidez’s team have a deal in place for Mikaelian to fight in December.

“I love Noel, and I hope he does the right thing,” King told BoxingScene’s Lance Pugmire.

In the Zuffa press release announcing Opetaia vs. Mikaelian, Mikaelian’s adviser, Anthony Girges, said:

“My job has always been to put Noel in the best position to succeed. More than 60 days after Noel vs. David Benavidez was ordered, we still haven’t received a bona fide offer. Noel wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines any longer. This isn’t just about two champions in Noel and Opetaia. It’s about protecting the integrity of the sport and making the fights the fans deserve.”

The announcement that two of the foremost promoters of women’s boxing — Matchroom Boxing and Most Valuable Promotions — will now be working together is great news.

The relationship has begun with WBC junior featherweight titleholder Skye Nicolson, long a Matchroom fighter, joining the fold with MVP as her new co-promoter. She will defend against former two-division titlist Miyo Yoshida on MVP’s August 29 show.

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Matchroom, which streams its shows on DAZN, has eight women on its roster. In alphabetical order: Tiah Mai Ayton, Beatriz Ferreira, Molly McCann, Nicolson (now co-promoted by MVP), Sandy Ryan, Shannon Ryan, the soon-to-retire Katie Taylor, and Elif Nur Turhan.

MVP has more than 50 female fighters, a deal with ESPN and ESPN+ in the United States and with Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.

MVP’s stable includes: Ramla Ali, Jasmina Artiga, Alycia Baumgardner, Evelin Bermudez, Ebanie Bridges, Tiara Brown, Sa’Rai Brown-El, Jocelyn Camarillo, Chantelle Cameron, Kim Clavel, Shannon Courtenay, LeAnna Cruz, Natalie Dove, Caroline Dubois, Mayelli Flores, Tysie Gallagher, Amanda Galle, Irma Garcia, Shadasia Green, Stephanie Han, Cheyenne Hanson, Terri Harper, Logan Holler, Holly Holm.

Also: Cherneka Johnson, Oshae Jones, Lourdes Juarez, Savannah Marshall, Mikaela Mayer, Lupita Medina, Shurretta Metcalf, Raquel Miller, Jennifer Miranda, Yesica Nery Plata, Nicolson (still also promoted by Matchroom), Jully Oliveira, Elizabeth Oshoba, Miranda Reyes, Desley Robinson, Krystal Rosado, Ellie Scotney, Amanda Serrano, Brittany Sims, Elise Soto, Reina Tellez, Tamm Thibeault, Dina Thorslund, Naomy Valle, Yokasta Valle, Yolanda Vega and Iyana Verduzco.

This so-called “strategic alliance” won’t solely be about pairing the promoters’ fighters against each other – given the disparity in stable size, that wouldn’t last long — but it can allow us to dream about what fights can be made now that we know there are fewer obstacles in the way.

Here are seven possible matches:

Sandy Ryan vs. Holly Holm

If Matchroom’s Sandy Ryan is going to have a notable MVP dance partner awaiting her, it’s most likely going to be a recent lightweight moving up to junior welterweight. The most likely pick: Holly Holm.

Ryan (9-3-1, 3 KOs), is a former welterweight titleholder who won the vacant WBC belt at 140 pounds earlier this year. MVP has two junior welterweights: the 1-0 Jully Oliveira isn’t going to be fighting for a title for quite some time, while the 10-2 Yolanda Vega is coming off consecutive losses to Holm and Miranda Reyes.

Mikaela Mayer (22-2, 5 KOs) is MVP’s sole listed welterweight. Ryan and Mayer have history, and their rivalry is over for now. When Ryan was at 147, she lost her belt to Mayer in a close fight in 2024 back when Mayer was promoted by Top Rank, and dropped a clearer decision to Mayer in their 2025 rematch. Besides, Mayer is currently focused on campaigning at 154 pounds. She has a unification bout against MVP stablemate Chantelle Cameron scheduled for August 29 with three alphabet belts on the line. (Mayer does still have her one word title at 147 as well. The other three welterweight belts belong to Lauren Price, who is promoted by Boxxer.)

Perhaps the loser of Mayer vs. Cameron will move back down to 147. Cameron (22-1, 8 KOs) competed at 140 in the past and was once its undisputed champion. She vacated her WBC junior welterweight belt before moving up, the same belt that Ryan now owns.

All roads, it seems, lead to Holm (34-4-3, 9 KOs). MVP’s lightweight titleholders, Caroline Dubois (WBC and WBO) and Stephanie Han (WBA), might not want to move up to 140 just yet. MVP’s three other 135-pounders are Holm, Reyes, and the woman Reyes will face on August 29, Terri Harper. Ryan already beat Harper in March 2024, stopping her in four rounds at welterweight.

Holm, while 44 years old, is coming off back-to-back decision losses to Han. The International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee returned to this sport in 2025 after a dozen years away, which she largely spent competing in the UFC. Holm still feels she can box against the best. Ryan would be a good test.

Caroline Dubois vs. Beatriz Ferreira and Stephanie Han vs. Elif Nur Turhan

You could easily switch out Dubois’ and Han’s opponents, but under this scenario, the winners of each fight would both have two lightweight world titles and could then meet with the undisputed championship on the line.

MVP’s Dubois (13-0-1, 5 KOs) has the WBC and WBO belts and is the Ring Magazine champion. She is coming off a unification bout win against Terri Harper in April and is scheduled to defend against the 4-0 Amelia Moore on the August 29 undercard of Mayer vs. Cameron.

Matchroom’s Ferreira (8-1, 2 KOs), who won Olympic silver in 2021 and bronze in 2024, held the IBF title from April 2024 until last December. She was shocked by Turhan in December, hitting the canvas twice and losing via fifth-round TKO. She hasn’t fought since and might not deserve an immediate title shot. Ferreira is currently ranked 10th at lightweight by the WBO and eighth at junior lightweight by the WBC.

If Ferreira prefers to compete at 130, then that’s a wholly different conversation: MVP has unified and lineal champion Alycia Baumgardner as well as Jennifer Miranda, Elizabeth Oshoba and Elise Soto. But if Ferreira remains at 135, she could take aim at Dubois or Han.

MVP’s Han (13-0, 3 KOs), the WBA titlist, took a technical decision over Holm in January and then won their closely contested rematch by majority decision in May. Matchroom’s Turhan (14-0, 8 KOs), since taking the IBF belt from Ferreira by force in December, has looked less convincing in a split decision over Taylah Gentzen in January and a unanimous nod against Gabriela Telez in June.

The winner of Han vs. Turhan would be the IBF/WBA titleholder, setting up a fight against Dubois (or Moore, or Ferreira under this dream scenario) for the title of the lightweight queen.

Tiah Mai Ayton vs. Reina Tellez

Why list MVP’s Tellez as a potential opponent instead of MVP’s featherweight titleholders, Amanda Serrano and Tiara Brown?

Because Matchroom’s Ayton (6-0, 5 KOs), is just 19 years old and has only been a pro since June 2025. Her seventh pro bout is scheduled for August 22 in London on the undercard of George Liddard vs. Dario Morello. Ayton’s opponent is the 8-1-1 Ellie Hellewell.

Tellez (13-1-1, 5 KOs), is 23 years old. While she turned pro in February 2021, her second fight didn’t come until August 2023. Tellez took a big step up in January, when she came in on short notice to challenge Serrano, losing a unanimous decision. Tellez will also compete on MVP’s August 29 show, meeting the 10-1 Jessica Barry.

Skye Nicolson vs. Mayelli Flores

As noted earlier, Nicolson is now with both Matchroom and MVP. Nicolson (16-1, 3 KOs) is a former featherweight titleholder who moved down to 122 after being dethroned by Tiara Brown in March 2025. She picked up the interim WBC junior featherweight belt last December and was elevated to the primary titleholder once undisputed champion Ellie Scotney left the 122-pound division and moved up to 126.

MVP’s Flores (13-2-1, 4 KOs) was the person Scotney beat for that undisputed championship. Flores had been the WBA titleholder since May 2025, when she took a split decision over Nazarena Romero. While diminutive — Flores is listed at 4-foot-11 — her pressure style can force opponents to work. Given that Nicolson prefers to box, this would be an intriguing pairing of styles.

Nicolson first needs to get by Yoshida on August 29. But if she were to move on to Flores, a win for Nicolson would give her even more credibility in this weight class. Flores, meanwhile, would gain an important piece of leverage, and a huge victory, were she to defeat Nicolson.

Molly McCann vs. Ramla Ali

Ali’s (11-2, 3 KOs) early pro career was followed with significant fanfare. She competed in the Olympics in 2021, the first boxer from Somalia to take part in the Games (Ali moved to England as a child refugee). Beyond her time in the ring, Ali is also a model and an activist. Ali won her first eight pro fights before getting knocked out in the eighth round by the 12-2-2 Julissa Alejandra Guzman in June 2023.

Ali narrowly outpointed Guzman four and a half months later and moved on to a shot against junior featherweight titleholder Yamileth Mercado in June 2024. Mercado won the decision, and Ali has only fought twice since. But with multiple world titles available following the departure of undisputed champion Ellie Scotney, MVP’s Ali has agreed to face Mikiah Kreps (11-0, 3 KOs, promoted by Lou DiBella) for the vacant IBF and WBO belts.

Matchroom’s “Meatball” McCann (4-0, 1 KO) came to boxing in 2025 after about a decade in MMA. Her fifth fight is scheduled for the undercard of Katie Taylor’s swan song on September 5. McCann will face the 8-2-2 Sylwia Doligala.

Ali and McCann are both 36 years old and live in England. This fight makes plenty of sense for the not-too-distant future.

Irma Garcia vs. Shannon Ryan

This fight between MVP’s Garcia and Matchroom’s Ryan seems highly likely, given that Garcia is the IBF junior bantamweight titleholder and the sanctioning body lists Ryan as her No. 1 contender.

Garcia (26-5-1, 6 KOs), is a 45-year-old who has been in the sport since 2010, was a bantamweight titleholder more than a decade ago and captured the IBF belt at 115 pounds in November 2023. She’s only defended it twice, most recently dispatching the 8-0 Emma Dolan in three rounds in April.

Ryan is 11-1 (2 KOs), and that one loss came against Dolan via split decision in June 2024. Since then, the 29-year-old has won four in a row and is coming off a two-round TKO of the 8-1 Nicola Hopewell in May.

Stephen Fulton vs. Liam Wilson has been made a title eliminator

When Stephen Fulton and Liam Wilson face each other this Saturday night – Sunday in Australia, where their bout takes place – they will now be fighting for a world title shot at 130 pounds.

No Limit Boxing, which is promoting the card in Sydney headlined by Tim Tszyu vs. Errol Spence, has announced that Fulton vs. Wilson has been made a WBA title eliminator.

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Fulton is ranked sixth at junior lightweight by the sanctioning body while Wilson sits in the seventh spot. Above them in the ratings are Moussa Gholam at No. 1, Jazza Dickens, Sultan Zaurbek, Hayato Tsutsumi and Masanori Rikiishi. The primary WBA titleholder is Anthony Cacace, 25-1 (9 KOs), who seized the belt from Dickens in March, while the secondary strap belongs to Elnur Samedov, 22-1 (11 KOs).

Fulton, 23-2 (8 KOs), is a former two-division titleholder from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He won the WBO junior featherweight belt from Angelo Leo in early 2021 and then seized the WBC title in a closely contested unification bout with Brandon Figueroa later that year. Fulton then outpointed former unified titleholder Daniel Roman before getting stopped by Naoya Inoue in 2023.

Fulton subsequently moved up to featherweight, struggling to a split decision over Carlos Castro in 2024. He looked fantastic in his rematch with Figueroa in February 2025, winning by a much clearer unanimous decision. Fulton then moved up to junior lightweight to challenge O’Shaquie Foster last December, but Fulton came in two pounds over the limit. Instead, the bout was for the WBC’s interim lightweight belt, and Foster defeated Fulton widely on the scorecards. This will be the 32-year-old Fulton’s first fight back since.

Wilson, 18-3 (10 KOs), is a 30-year-old from a town in Queensland that is about 10 hours away from Sydney. He turned pro in 2018 and suffered his first defeat three years later, stopped in the fifth round by the 18-2-2 Joe Noynay. Wilson blew through Noynay in two rounds in their rematch in March 2022.

Eleven months later, Wilson challenged Emanuel Navarrete for the vacant WBO junior lightweight title. Wilson dropped Navarrete in the fourth round, but the referee controversially allowed Navarrete significant time to recover. Navarrete wound up putting Wilson away in the ninth round. Wilson won two bouts before getting his next opportunity, facing Oscar Valdez in March 2024 for the interim WBO strap at 130 pounds. Valdez defeated Wilson via seventh-round TKO.

Both of those bouts took place in Wilson’s sole appearances outside of Australia, each in Glendale, Arizona.

“I’ve been to America twice chasing this dream and come home with nothing to show for it but the scars,” Wilson was quoted as saying in a press release. “Robbed once, stopped once. I know what it feels like to have it taken off me. Not this time. Not in my own backyard. This is everything. This is my world title. Nobody is taking it off me again.”

Wilson is on a five-fight winning streak.

Tszyu vs. Spence is a pay-per-view available for purchase via Amazon’s Prime Video, DAZN, PPV.com, and traditional cable and satellite providers.

Demetrius Andrade’s comeback winds up on DAZN

If you want to watch former two-division titleholder Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade fight for the first time since 2023, you won’t need to trek to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The card will stream on DAZN, with the show scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (11:30 p.m. BST).

Andrade, 32-1 (19 KOs), now 38 years old, will take on Douglas Ataide, 20-5-1 (11 KOs), in a super middleweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds. Ataide is a 35-year-old from Brazil with two of his defeats coming against a pair of recognizable names: Jorge Heiland (via DQ in 2013) and Ryota Murata (via fifth-round TKO in 2015).

Ataide also was dispatched in less than a minute by the 17-0 Daniel Valdivia in 2017; outpointed by the 32-10-1 former super middleweight titleholder Giovanni De Carolis in 2023; and sent away in the fourth round by the 17-1 Kemahl Russell in November 2024. Ataide returned this past February from more than 14 months away, making short work of a 3-5 opponent.

Andrade, who hails from nearby Rhode Island, has been out of the ring since receiving that sole blemish on his record. In November 2023, Andrade was stopped in the sixth round by David Benavidez. Andrade held a junior middleweight title from 2013 to 2015, making one successful defense, and a middleweight belt from 2018 to 2022, with five successful defenses.

The show also features the return of featherweight prospect Kevin Walsh, 20-0 (10 KOs), a 33-year-old from Massachusetts coming off a surprising split decision victory over Michael Conlan in March in Northern Ireland. Walsh will face Dannis Aguero Arias, 20-5 (17 KOs), who has lost three straight to Guillermo Rigondeaux (KO1 in 2024), Otar Eranosyan (DQ6 in 2025) and Tramaine Williams (UD8 this past June).

Steven and Daniel Grandy learning from Hall of Fame fighters

If you’re going to learn new skills and improve, learning from two of the best ever to fight is a wise choice.

For teenage twin prospects Steven and Daniel Grandy, that means time spent in Tampa, Florida, to work with a pair of International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees from the Sunshine State – former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver and former junior middleweight champion Winky Wright.

The Grandy brothers are scheduled to fight on Friday, August 14 at Constellation Field, a minor league baseball stadium in Sugar Land, Texas, just outside of their adopted hometown of Houston. Steven, 4-0 (4 KOs), is a junior lightweight who will take on Gerardo Chavez Reyes, 3-5 (2 KOs), in a four-rounder. In his previous bouts, Steven Grandy has faced opponents with records of 0-9-1, 0-2, 0-1 and 0-0.

“This is something we’ve dreamed about,” Steven was quoted as saying in a press release. “Growing up, we watched guys like Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright compete against the best fighters in the world. Now they’re taking time to teach us, correct us and help us improve. That’s something we don’t take lightly. Every day we’re in the gym, we’re trying to earn their respect and become better than we were the day before. We’re undefeated, but we know we still have a lot to learn. That’s why we’re here. We want to become complete fighters, not just talented fighters.”

Daniel, 4-0 (3 KOs), is a lightweight who will face Eduardo Tarango, 1-5 (0 KOs), in a scheduled four-rounder. In his previous bouts, Daniel Grandy defeated foes with records of 0-5, 1-4, 3-14-2 and 2-23-2.

“Being around champions changes the way you think,” Daniel said in the press release. “Coach Tarver and Coach Winky have seen everything in boxing. They’re teaching us little details that make a huge difference. It’s not just about throwing punches; it’s about being smarter, staying disciplined, and understanding the game at another level. We’re grateful for this opportunity because a lot of young fighters never get this kind of experience. We’re going to take everything we learn here and bring it back home on August 14.”

As you can tell by the records of their opposition, the Grandy twins are still very, very early in their development – and for good reason, as they are just 17 years old. If their names sound familiar, however, that’s because you might have first met them when they were just 5 years old, when videos of them doing boxing training exercises went viral (see a couple of those videos below). Their growth has been chronicled on social media in the years since.

Earlier today, we tried to make sense of the WBA’s latest monthly ratings update. Now the WBO has released its own update and, well, it’s hard to make sense of the two most newsworthy items:

• Tim Tszyu is now the WBO’s No. 1 contender at junior middleweight

• Emiliano Vargas is now the WBO’s No. 1 contender at junior welterweight

Let’s take a look at how they got to the point where each could wind up being the mandatory contender for a world title shot.

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Tim Tszyu

Tim Tszyu, 27-3 (18 KOs), is a former WBO junior middleweight titleholder whose reign ended in March 2024 in a bloody split decision loss to Sebastian Fundora.

Since then, he’s gone just 3-2:

• October 2024: Tszyu was clobbered for three rounds by then-IBF titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev.

• April 2025: Tszyu won a confidence-builder, taking out the 19-3 Joey Spencer in four rounds.

• July 2025: Tszyu lost his rematch to Fundora in a far more one-sided fashion, calling it a night after the seventh round.

• December 2025: Tszyu shut out the 18-0-1 but limited Anthony Velazquez.

• April 2026: Tszyu blanked the 20-0 Denis Nurja on the scorecards.

Going into the Fundora sequel, the WBO had Tszyu at No. 3. But Fundora-Tszyu was only for the WBC title — Fundora had vacated the WBO belt to face Tszyu rather than mandatory contender Xander Zayas. That meant Tszyu was temporarily out of the WBO’s ratings while challenging for another organization’s belt.

The second loss to Fundora kept Tszyu out of the WBO’s rankings at 154 pounds. That changed after be beat the unranked Velazquez, which led to Tszyu being inserted at No. 2 — behind Brandon Adams, but ahead of Keith Thurman, Israil Madrimov, Abass Baraou, Murtazaliev, Rashidi Ellis, Giovani Santillan, Adrian Marcelo Sasso, Nikita Tszyu, Milan Prat, Freddy Kiwitt, Julian Vogel, Ryota Toyoshima and Marco Ezequiel Garcia.

• After February 2026, Tszyu was briefly ranked at middleweight, sitting at No. 3 and then, one month later, at No. 4.

• After April 2026, following his win over the unranked Nurja, Tszyu was back in the junior middleweight list, rated No. 3, behind Adams and Ellis.

• After May 2026, Tszyu was up at No. 2, behind only Jaron “Boots’ Ennis, with Adams and Ellis suddenly at No. 3 and No. 4.

• After June 2026, with Ennis’ victory over Xander Zayas to win the WBA and WBO belts, Tszyu moved up into the No. 1 spot.

Tszyu is scheduled to face Errol Spence on July 26 in Australia at a 158-pound catchweight. Spence is not presently rated by the WBO. As for the other sanctioning bodies:

• The IBF ranks Tszyu at No. 6 at 154 pounds; Spence is unranked.

• The WBA doesn’t have Tszyu or Spence ranked.

• The WBC ranks Tszyu at No. 4 at 154 pounds; Spence is unranked.

Emiliano Vargas

Vargas, 18-0 (15 KOs), first entered the WBO’s junior welterweight rankings after his wide points win in November 2025 against the unranked 19-3 Jonathan Montrel. The WBO inserted Vargas at No. 7 at the time.

• He was behind Keyshawn Davis, Alfredo Santiago, Lindolfo Delgado, Oscar Duarte, Alberto Puello and Arnold Barboza.

• And Vargas was ahead of Aram Faniian, Hendri Cedeno, Adam Azim, Jamaine Ortiz, Jack Rafferty, Antonio Moran, Ernesto Mercado and Faisal Abubakari.

After February 2026, when he defeated the unranked 22-2-1 Agustin Ezequiel Quintana via ninth-round TKO, Vargas moved up to No. 5.

• He was behind Davis, Santiago, Delgado and Puello.

• And Vargas was ahead of Barboza, Mercado, Azim, Rafferty, Yaser Al Ghena, Arthur Biyarslanov, Kenneth Sims Jr., Cedeno, Kuntae Lee and Abubakari.

After May 2026, Vargas jumped into the No. 2 slot, though he hadn’t fought since February. He was behind only Lindolfo Delgado. Here are some potential reasons why the other men who had previously been ahead of Vargas were no longer there.

• Keyshawn Davis had announced his move to welterweight.

• Alfredo Santiago had dropped down to No. 9, having not competed since a March 2025 win over Javier Fortuna.

• Puello had dropped down to No. 7.

So this advancement for Vargas was more a matter of attrition rather than accomplishment. As June came to a close, Vargas scored a fourth-round TKO against the unranked 22-1 Bryce Mills. So without having defeated a single ranked opponent, Vargas is now sitting at No. 1, first in line to challenge WBO titleholder/lineal and Ring Magazine champion Shakur Stevenson.

As for the other sanctioning bodies, only the WBA has released an update since Vargas’ most recent fight. The WBA has him at No. 12. Going into last month, the IBF had Vargas at No. 13, while the WBC had him at No. 14.

Sometimes we will analyze these big changes in standalone pieces — like this one — and sometimes they will be incorporated into an Odds and Ends.

But enough intro. Here we go…

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Teofimo Lopez gets welterweight slot ahead of Rolly Romero fight

Teofimo Lopez, the former lineal lightweight and junior welterweight champion, is moving up to 147 pounds after getting dethroned by Shakur Stevenson at 140 earlier this year.

Lopez is expected to challenge Rolly Romero next for the WBA belt. So it is no surprise that Romero entered the WBA’s rankings at 147 pounds, moving in at No. 6, just behind Richardson Hitchins (who will be fighting at welterweight on July 26 at Zuffa Boxing 09) and ahead of former WBO titleholder Brian Norman Jr.

Pavel Sosulin becomes the new No. 1 junior middleweight

Jaron Ennis had been ranked No. 1 at 154 pounds going into his big fight last month with unified titleholder Xander Zayas. Now that Ennis stopped Zayas to capture those two belts, that left a vacancy in his former spot.

In moves Pavel Sosulin, 13-0 (7 KOs), who had previously been slotted at No. 2. Last July, Sosulin was awarded a split decision over the 26-1 Magomed Kurbanov. And in his most recent appearance, Sosulin stopped the 12-2 Victor Nagbe after eight rounds in March. (Sosulin is also 3-0 in IBA Pro bouts, which BoxRec lists separately.)

This isn’t Sosulin’s first time in the No. 1 position. He had been there from the December 2025 rankings (released at the end of the month) to the April 2026 rankings.

But Ennis, who had won the WBA’s interim belt with his first-round destruction of Uisma Lima last October, gave up that bauble ahead of the Zayas bout in order for the WBO to rank him, and therefore for him to be allowed to compete for the WBO’s title as well.

WBA scatters bridgerweights into heavyweight and cruiserweight rankings

The end of the WBA’s bridgerweight division means that up to nine fighters — its titleholder, interim titleholder and the seven other ranked men — needed new homes.

With the WBA’s latest regularly scheduled ratings update, we now know where some of them have landed.

At heavyweight:

• Vartan Arutyunyan, who was the interim bridgerweight titleholder, is now No. 5 at heavyweight

At cruiserweight:

• Muslim Gadzhimagomedov, who was the primary bridgerweight titleholder, is now No. 5 at cruiserweight

• Julio Cesar La Cruz, who was No. 1 at bridgerweight, is now No. 7

Unranked anywhere:

• Andrew Tabiti, who was No. 2 at bridgerweight

• Evgeny Romanov, who was No. 3

• Georgiy Yunovidov, who was No. 4

• Umar Salamov, who was No. 5

• Armend Xhoxhaj, who was No. 6

• Carlos Fromenta Romero, who was No. 7

And the new arrivals helped a few people get bumped from their divisions:

• Lenier Pero, previously No. 11 at heavyweight. Pero’s decision loss to Jarrell Miller in April had dropped him from No. 2 to No. 11, but now he is out altogether.

• Ryan Rozicki, previously No. 10 at cruiserweight, who lost a very close battle to Chris Billam-Smith in June by TKO. Billam-Smith moved up from No. 4 to No. 3 at 200 pounds.

• Aleksei Papin, previously No. 14 at cruiserweight. Papin hasn’t fought since July 2025.

WTF: How is Cletus Seldin still ranked after testing positive?

Cletus Seldin has a long history of testing positive for banned substances. In 2017, Seldin tested positive twice for performance-enhancing drugs. And it happened again in December 2025, taking Seldin out of a secondary junior welterweight title bout against Kevin Hayler Brown.

And yet Seldin remains ranked by the WBA at 140 pounds. In the most recent update, he sits at No. 9.

Moussa Gholam now No. 1 at 130 pounds

The WBA has had no one ranked No. 1 at junior lightweight since earlier this year, after the man in that spot, Elnur Samedov, defeating John Lenon Gutierrez via 11th-round TKO for the interim title.

At last, the WBA has moved up Moussa Gholam from No. 2 to No. 1. But he’s not first in line, as the WBA has ordered primary titleholder Anthony Cacace to defend against Samedov, thankfully setting up getting rid of another unnecessary bauble (at least until the WBA resurrects it again).

Gholam, 26-1 (17 KOs), took that lone loss against Samedov via split decision back in December 2022. He’s on a seven-fight winning streak and most recently fought in February, knocking out a 12-4-1 foe in the third round.

Tyson Fury vs. Mariusz Wach set for July 24 in Thailand

Tyson Fury will have one more interim bout — presumably just one more — ahead of his still unscheduled mega-fight with fellow British former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Fury, 35-2-1 (24 KOs), will face long-faded former title challenger Mariusz Wach, 39-13 (20 KOs), on Friday, July 24. The show will take place at the Max Muay Thai Stadium in Pattaya, Thailand, and will stream on Netflix. (Correction: According to boxing reporter Darshan Desai, Fury-Wach “will NOT be on Netflix as it stands right now, despite Netflix being on the poster.”)

That is one day before Joshua, 29-4 (26 KOs), faces Kristian Prenga, 20-1 (20 KOs), in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on a DAZN Pay-Per-View.

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Fury, who supposedly retired after his December 2024 rematch loss to Oleksandr Usyk, returned earlier this year in order to make the long-desired match with Joshua, which remains highly marketable even though neither man is at his best anymore.

Fury shook off some rust in April with a near-shutout of Arslanbek Makhmudov, who at the time was 21-2 (19 KOs). Joshua-Prenga was scheduled to help “AJ” get back in the ring for the first time after the horrible car crash Joshua was in last December that killed two of Joshua’s close friends.

Profits from ticket sales will be donated to local charities in the region, where Fury has trained before, according to his promoter, Queensberry Promotions.

“I’m excited to be able to bring this event to Pattaya, a part of the world that is special to me,” Fury was quoted as saying in a press release. “We’re coming together to put on a great show for the fans, while using the opportunity to give back to the local community, who have been so good to me every time I have visited. At the same time, I’m fully focused on preparing for a tough opponent and making sure I’m the best version of Tyson Fury going into fight night. It’s the start of a huge second half of the year for me.”

Wach, a 46-year-old from Poland, is a far cry from the version of him who lost to Wladimir Klitschko in a wide decision in 2012, and was stopped in the 12th round by Alexander Povetkin 2015. Wach is now a measuring stick for various prospects and contenders. He has lost seven of his last 10 bouts and is coming off a shutout defeat in March against the 17-1 Viktor Vykhryst.

IBF orders Frank Sanchez vs. Moses Itauma for vacant heavyweight title

In the wake of Oleksandr Usyk vacating his three remaining heavyweight world titles — he does remain the lineal and Ring Magazine champion — the IBF has called for a bout to establish a new titleholder.

The IBF announced today that it is mandating negotiations between Frank Sanchez and Moses Itauma. The two parties have until July 29 to reach an agreement.

Sanchez, 26-1 (19 KOs), is ranked No. 1 at heavyweight by the IBF thanks to his second-round KO of Richard Torrez Jr. in May in an elimination bout. Itauma, 14-0 (12 KOs) is ranked No. 3. The second spot is vacant.

Itauma presumably will be going forward first with his August 29 main event in London against Filip Hrgovic, 20-1 (15 KOs), who is ranked No. 4 by the IBF.

There also is a question of whether Itauma would prefer to face the potentially difficult Sanchez or instead take what may be the path of less resistance, meeting the winner of the July 11 bout between Murat Gassiev, 33-2 (26 KOs), and Tony Yoka, 15-3 (12 KOs). Gassiev had been the WBA’s secondary heavyweight titlist given Usyk’s status as the organization’s primary champion.

Sanchez had a hard time getting other heavyweights to face him for the eliminator. Will he run into similar issues again, or will that be different now that the world title is up for grabs?

Edwin De Los Santos’ team filing protest after controversial KO loss to Jose Valenzuela

As expected, lightweight contender Edwin De Los Santos’ team will be appealing to the Nevada State Athletic Commission to overturn his knockout loss this past Sunday to Jose Valenzuela in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 08.

We went much more in-depth about what happened in this column here on Fighting Words Boxing, but in short: Valenzuela dropped De Los Santos hard with a huge right hook in the second round, but then tagged the downed De Los Santos with a left hand. The referee missed the call, and athletic commission officials ringside felt that the illegal blow wasn’t consequential enough to overturn the ref’s call and disqualify Valenzuela.

“Rules are rules. It doesn’t matter where the shot landed or how hard it was,” Adrian Clark, who manages De Los Santos, said in a press release. “When a fighter is on a knee or down, it is illegal to hit him. Edwin was robbed of the opportunity to recover from the blatantly illegal shot.

“It’s my job to make this appeal. The punch that knocked him down was a good shot by Valenzuela. However, if De Los Santos was out, the referee would have immediately waived the count and called the fight. Everyone watching that fight knows that is a foul. My petition is based around the protection of fighters. If the commission for the state that lands a majority of the big fights says that an illegal shot has no bearing on the outcome of a fight, that’s a problem for the sport.”

Given past history, it is unlikely that an athletic commission would disqualify a fighter days or weeks after the fact. If the Nevada commissioners do decide to overturn the result, it would probably become a no-contest.

No matter what happens with the appeal, De Los Santos and Valenzuela have had two brief but fun firefights, and a third bout should be made.

“I will let the appeal go through the proper channels, but I am not going to focus on the illegal hit,” De Los Santos said in the press release. “I got caught with a good shot. I was stunned, but not hurt. I won’t make any excuses. Eventually I’m going to get the opportunity to fight him again.”

Undercard announced for Katie Taylor’s farewell event

Katie Taylor’s final pro fight, a huge event against Flora Pili at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, will feature a number of Irish boxers. The undercard, announced today by Matchroom Boxing, includes:

• Paddy Donovan, 15-2 (11 KOs), a welterweight from Ireland, against Tyrone McKenna, 25-6-1 (8 KOs), of Northern Ireland.

• Emmet Brennan, 6-0 (1 KO), a super middleweight from Ireland, against Taylor Bevan, 9-0 (8 KOs), who lives in Wales.

• Matthew Boreland, 7-0 (2 KOs), a junior featherweight from Northern Ireland, against Joe McGrail, 13-0 (6 KOs), of England.

• Thomas Carty, 11-0 (9 KOs), a heavyweight from Ireland, against Dave Allen, 26-9-2 (20 KOs), from England.

• Paul Ryan, 10-2 (4 KOs), a middleweight from Ireland, against Paddy Gallagher, 17-6-1 (10 KOs), from Northern Ireland.

• Molly “Meatball” McCann, 4-0 (1 KO), a junior featherweight from England who is Taylor’s cousin and a former MMA fighter, will face Sylwia Doligala, 8-2-2 (0 KOs), of England.

• Adam Olaniyan, 2-0 (2 KOs), a heavyweight from Ireland, against TBA.

• Bobbi Flood, 2-0 (1 KO), a junior middleweight from Ireland, against TBA.

When is Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell?

Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell is on Saturday, July 4. The broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST). The preliminary undercard will stream at 7 p.m. ET (midnight BST).

What channel is Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell on?

Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell will air on TNT and truTV in the United States and on DAZN worldwide.

The preliminary undercard will stream on DAZN, Top Rank and DAZN’s YouTube channels, and the Top Rank Classics channel on Roku.

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Where is Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell?

Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell is taking place at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Who is Abdullah Mason?

Abdullah Mason, 20-0 (17 KOs), is a 22-year-old from Cleveland who will be fighting in front of his home crowd for the first defense of his WBO lightweight title. Mason won that vacant belt — which previously belonged to Top Rank stablemate Keyshawn Davis — last November in Riyadh on the undercard of David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde.

That night, Mason outpointed Sam Noakes in a competitive battle, one that showed both how far Mason had come, but also how much more he will need to grow if he is going to compete against the other top fighters at 135 pounds.

From early on in his career, Mason was labeled the future of the lightweight division. And then he found himself on the canvas in November 2024, getting dropped twice in the first round against the 26-5 Yohan Vaszquez. Mason is far from the first prospect or contender who endured scary moments or tough tests while young. And Mason rose and stopped Vasquez in the second round.

The Vazquez battle was followed by three TKO wins against the 16-2-1 Manuel Jaimes, the 28-4 Carlos Ornelas and the 26-4 Jeremia Nakathila, which built him up for the win over Noakes.

But will Mason be able to retain amid everything else going on? There are a lot of potential distraction and changes.

He’s headlining in his hometown, with all the requisite responsibilities and requests that come with the spotlight. His brothers Abdurrahman and Ibrahim, both prospects very early in their pro careers, will be on the preliminary undercard. Mason was originally expecting to face junior lightweight Joe Cordina, but Cordina was unable to get approved for a visa to enter the United States due to a pending criminal charge back in the United Kingdom. So Mason is instead facing unbeaten contender Albert Bell on short notice.

“New opponent, same mission,” Mason said.

Who is Albert Bell?

Albert Bell, 28-0 (9 KOs), is a 33-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, about two hours away from where this fight is taking place. He is coming in as a late replacement, though he’d already been in the gym preparing for a July 18 elimination bout against Andy Cruz.

While that means the 6-foot Bell will have two fewer weeks to make 135 pounds, it’s also understandable that he doesn’t want to wait any longer for a title shot. And he’s been waiting for some time, held back by not being connected with a major promoter or network, and therefore not having the ability to land matches against better opponents.

His biggest victory came in 2019, when he upset Top Rank prospect Andy Vences via unanimous decision on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Tom Schwarz. Bell was occasionally able to get televised slots on ESPN or ESPN+ through his deal with the promoter, but that relationship concluded in 2021.

Still, by August of 2023, Bell was rated No. 1 by the WBO at junior lightweight. He remained in that slot until September 2024, when the WBO started to downgrade Bell because he had not faced anyone else in the top 15.

“I don’t think no guy’s really interested in fighting me. I’m a tough fight for anybody in the division,” Bell told Matthew Brown of Brunch Boxing in 2024.

All of which underscored a major flaw in the way sanctioning bodies operate. In essence, major promoters or managers can freeze out a contender they don’t want to face, and that contender could ultimately be dropped from the rankings — opening up an opportunity for their own fighter without a single punch being thrown.

Bell’s past four fights all took place in Toledo. At the end of 2023, he took out the very faded Jayson Velez in the second round. In Bell’s sole fight of 2024, he needed less than three minutes to dispatch faded former junior featherweight titleholder Jonathan Romero. Thirteen months later, in April 2025, Bell arrived at lightweight and shut out the 24-7-3 Josec Ruiz. And last August, Bell blanked the 16-2 Keith Hunter on the scorecards.

Bell is presently ranked again, this time at 135 pounds. The IBF has him at No. 4, which is what qualified him for the elimination bout against No. 3 Andy Cruz. The WBO has him at No. 6, which is why he was allowed to step in against Mason.

“The opportunity was presented, I said yes,” Bell said in a press release. “If you know my story, it’s been a long road.”

What other fights are on the undercard of Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell?

The undercard features Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, 17-0 (10 KOs), making the first defense of his WBC featherweight title against Rene Palacios, 19-0-1 (10 KOs). Carrington knocked out Carlos Castro in January for the vacant strap.

We spoke with Palacios’ adviser in advance of this match: “Rene Palacios jumped at Bruce Carrington title shot even before knowing what he’d be paid.”

Also on this show is a battle of unbeaten welterweights Delante “Tiger” Johnson, 17-0 (8 KOs), and Christopher Guerrero, 16-0 (9 KOs); plus lightweight prospect Deric “Scooter” Davis, 11-0 (10 KOs), will take on Carlos Ramos, 18-4-1 (10 KOs).

The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.

We boxing fans have a bad habit when it comes to bad endings.

We tend to forgive or ignore mistakes — even major mistakes — if we think those major mistakes didn’t matter. That is: If those mistakes didn’t cause a fighter to lose, but rather just expedited his inevitable defeat.

This past weekend in boxing had a few bad endings like that.

On the undercard of the Xander Zayas vs. Jaron Ennis pay-per-view at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, we saw light heavyweight prospect Ben Whittaker get a second-round TKO of Richard Rivera, and junior welterweight prospect Emiliano Vargas take out Bryce Mills in the fourth round.

Whittaker was the heavy favorite, even if Rivera had once given a cruiserweight version of Badou Jack a close fight en route to a controversial split decision loss. Whittaker’s speed and power were expected to be too much for him. Lo and behold, Whittaker dropped Rivera once in the first round and again early in the second. Rivera seemed fine, yet referee Michael Griffin waved the fight off.

A premature stoppage, though few complained given that all signs pointed to Whittaker stopping Rivera at some point anyway, and likely in a more painful manner.

There were also two knockdowns in Vargas vs. Mills. The first knockdown, in the third round, seemed more like Vargas cuffed Mills with his wrist and pushed/pulled him to the canvas. The second knockdown, in the fourth, was far more substantial. Yet Mills rose and was in the middle of returning fire when ref Ricky Gonzalez jumped in.

“Emiliano was going to win but WHAT was that stoppage?” posted Mike Leanardi, the head of boxing for Most Valuable Promotions, who was watching the Matchroom Boxing/Top Rank show as a fan. “They were mid-exchange!”

Said boxing trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards: “What’s up with these stoppages? Mills was throwing punches as the fight was stopped. My goodness. Vargas is excellent, but let him earn the stoppage.”

One night later came the Zuffa Boxing 08 card at The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada, headlined by a rematch between Edwin De Los Santos and Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela. And it concluded with a highlight-reel knockout that unfortunately included a blatant foul — a foul that was seemingly ignored by the referee, not spoken of for quite some time by the broadcast crew (but covered later), and dismissed by the presiding athletic commission.

It was reminiscent of how Roy Jones Jr.’s first fight with Montell Griffin ended.

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Roy Jones’ first pro loss

The official scorecards were close — 77-75 and 76-75 for Jones, 76-75 for Griffin — after the first eight rounds between Jones and Griffin in their March 1997 battle for the WBC light heavyweight title in Atlantic City, New Jersey. So was the card from unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman, working the broadcast for HBO. Lederman had it 76-75 for Jones.

And then came the ninth round.

With about a minute to go in the round, Jones landed a pair of clean right hands. Griffin tried to hold on but was unable to, and so he sought to move away. Yet his gloves were down as he backed himself into the ropes, and Jones capitalized with another right hand. Jones then sent out a pair of left hooks as Griffin careened in another direction. As Griffin found himself on the ropes once again, he seemed to voluntarily take a knockdown, his left knee and his left glove both touching the canvas.

The next moment is infamous: Jones tagged Griffin with a right hand that seemed to draw a protest from Griffin, who looked up just as Jones slugged him with a left hook. Griffin teetered onto all fours and wound up face-first on the mat. The referee, Tony Perez, counted to 10.

Jones celebrated. HBO’s broadcast team, including commentator Larry Merchant and trainer Gil Clancy, noted that Jones had fouled Griffin with those two blows. Blow-by-blow man Jim Lampley called on Lederman to explain the rule and the necessary ruling:

“In my mind, there is absolutely no question that Tony Perez had just cause to disqualify Roy Jones Jr. should he have made that decision. It’s the referee’s call. In my eyes, absolutely he fouled him. Griffin seemed to be down on one knee, and Jones knocked him out when he was on the floor.”

The broadcast went into replays, hoping to examine and explain the situation. And less than two minutes after the knockdown happened, Merchant broke the news that Jones was going to be disqualified by order of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission.

The end may have come soon anyway, given how much trouble Griffin was in, and how great Jones was in the late 1990s. But the DQ was absolutely the right call.

Less than five months later, Jones and Griffin met in a rematch. Jones sent a spiteful message, finishing Griffin quickly, and legally, within the opening round.

Jose Valenzuela vs. Edwin De Los Santos had met once before

Sunday’s Zuffa Boxing 08 main event between Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela and Edwin De Los Santos was a rematch of a fun battle that took place in September 2022 on the undercard of the Andy Ruiz vs. Luis Ortiz pay-per-view.

In their first fight between these two southpaws, De Los Santos had Valenzuela reeling around the halfway point of the second round, only to get wobbled and dropped. De Los Santos beat the count and soon had Valenzuela badly hurt. Valenzuela fell to his rear end, his back on the ropes, and De Los Santos charged forward with a big looping right to his downed foe. Despite the foul, Valenzuela rose rapidly. The ref, Ray Corona, acknowledged the foul and gave Valenzuela time to recover. The knockdown counted, but De Los Santos was also docked a point.

The latter wouldn’t matter. But the incident remained relevant.

“You do not take revenge, OK?” Corona told Valenzuela as action was set to continue, a concept that Valenzuela perhaps held onto for nearly four years.

But revenge wouldn’t come in the first fight, not legally or otherwise. Early in the third round, De Los Santos crushed Valenzuela with a left cross, scoring his second knockdown of the night, and the third overall in the fight. Valenzuela got up but was on a short leash. A little past the one-minute mark, De Los Santos scored with a flush left cross, and Corona moved in to stop the fight.

The time between their first and second matches was up and down for both men.

De Los Santos faced Shakur Stevenson for a vacant lightweight title in November 2023, losing a decision in an aesthetically displeasing bout where the two men combined for only 105 landed punches over the course of 12 rounds, including a mere 33 power shots.

De Los Santos didn’t fight at all in 2024 but landed a second title shot in June 2025. Alas, that fight was canceled the day before, when titleholder Keyshawn Davis came in massively over the lightweight limit. De Los Santos’ team wouldn’t let the bout go forward, a point of contention that led to De Los Santos and his promoter ending their relationship. De Los Santos returned to the ring last December, ending a 25-month layoff with a quick win. This rematch with Valenzuela was his debut under the Zuffa Boxing banner.

Valenzuela’s September 2022 loss to De Los Santos was followed six months later by a second defeat, this one razor-thin on the scorecards against Chris Colbert. Valenzuela and Colbert fought again in December 2023, and Valenzuela won via sixth-round knockout. Valenzuela then moved up from lightweight to junior welterweight to challenge Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, boxing well enough to score a split decision win and earn the WBA title.

Valenzuela lost the belt in his first defense, dominated in March 2025 by Gary Antuanne Russell. Eleven months later, he joined Zuffa, once again a lightweight, widely outpointing Diego Torres this past February.

The rematch — and the controversy

There would have been plenty on the line even if not for their shared history. Valenzuela, who came in with a record of 15-3 (9 KOs), and De Los Santos, 17-2 (15 KOs), sure fought like that on Sunday.

Once again, there was little to no feeling-out process. As the first round came to an end, Valenzuela seemed to hurt De Los Santos with a few shots. About a minute into the second, a Valenzuela right hook had De Los Santos taking a couple steps backward. With 70 seconds to go in the round, Valenzuela had De Los Santos positioned against the ropes. Both men threw, but it was Valenzuela who caught De Los Santos with a counter right hook.

De Los Santos tried to retaliate, coming forward with a jab. Both men threw left crosses that missed. Both followed up with right hooks. Again, Valenzuela landed better, and this time it was a detonation, De Los Santos’ head popping in the air, his arms dropping to his sides. De Los Santos’s went down on his left knee and had just put his left glove down when Valenzuela landed a follow-up left hand that seemed to hit De Los Santos around where the chin and neck meet.

De Los Santos fell the rest of the way to the canvas, referee Thomas Taylor kneeling over him and counting to 10.

Paramount+, which broadcasts Zuffa Boxing, has uploaded all of Sunday’s fights individually but did not appear to have the full, unedited show online at the time this article was written. So the rest of this is to the best of my recollection:

The main broadcast crew of Joe Tessitore, Max Kellerman and Andre Ward continued to marvel over the knockout, talking about how big the win was for Valenzuela and where he now stood in the lightweight division. They did not acknowledge the foul.

Apparently the post-show, which came on after this old man went to bed, discussed the matter. According to Mike Coppinger, a boxing reporter who works Zuffa’s shows, the commission felt that the foul was not consequential enough to overturn the knockout.

“Spoke to Jeff Mullen, executive director of the NSAC,” Coppinger posted on social media. “Regarding Rayo’s punch that connected while De Los Santos was on canvas: determined after replay from multiple angles that it grazed the [chin] and mostly connected with the shoulder. No impact on result.”

Matters of perspective

That’s not what I saw, though I admittedly do not have the benefit of the replays that the Nevada State Athletic Commission reviewed. To these eyes, the foul blow registered with De Los Santos’ head — one can clearly see it being moved by the punch. And whatever balance that De Los Santos had suddenly went away. He went from downed to down for the count.

De Los Santos might have been counted out anyway as a result of the legal blow, that hellacious hook from Valenzuela. But just like with Jones-Griffin I, this should have been a disqualification, however disappointing and unfortunate a conclusion that would wind up being. The two fights and their fouls aren’t parallels, but what happened in 1997 is illustrative of what should have unfolded in 2026.

As another social media commenter noted, there’s another example: Arthur Abraham vs. Andre Dirrell. In their 2010 bout, Dirrell was ahead on the scorecards entering the 11th round. About a minute into the round, Dirrell slipped in a wet corner and dropped down to both knees and one glove. Abraham clocked Dirrell, who appeared to be badly hurt by the shot. The referee promptly disqualified Abraham. Of course, Abraham-Dirrell wasn’t a case of a fighter being dropped by a heavy blow and then potentially finished with a foul.

So what will happen next in the case of Valenzuela vs. De Los Santos II?

The referee made his ruling. The athletic commission officials ringside upheld it. The only avenue left for De Los Santos would be to file a protest with the athletic commission itself.

If past protests from other fighters are a guide, De Los Santos’ team will ask for a disqualification, but the most an athletic commission would do after the fact — if it overturns the result at all — is to change the verdict to a no-contest.

No matter what happens with the commission, there should be a trilogy between Valenzuela and De Los Santos. Even if the conclusion wasn’t controversial, their first two fights have been eventful. The rivalry remains.

The first fight ended in the third round. The second fight ended in the second. Will the third fight end in the first?

No matter what, the fans shouldn’t blink. And no matter what, the fighters shouldn’t throw a punch the next time they score a knockdown.

In more than three decades as a boxing promoter, Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing has worked with world titleholders such as Antonio Tarver, Chris Algieri, Demetrius Andrade and Joe Smith Jr. And he is continuing to look for the next names to add to that list.

In part 2 of our interview, DeGuardia discusses Tarver’s induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame; the chances one of his current light heavyweights, Richie Rivera, 27-2 (20 KOs), has this coming weekend against highly hyped prospect Ben Whittaker, 11-0-1 (8 KOs); and other fighters within the Star Boxing stable that he is excited about.

(Please also check out Part 1 of our interview, which covered some of the ways that boxing promotion has changed over the course of DeGuardia’s years in the business, and whether he still loves the sport itself.)

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

[Note: Fighting Words Boxing is completely free and supported solely by your donations. If you want to buy me a cookie ($1), a cup of coffee ($3) or a beer ($5), my Venmo username is DavidG412]

Fighting Words Boxing: Your fighter, Richie “Popeye” Rivera, is fighting June 27 at Barclays Center in what I think is a potentially difficult fight against Ben Whittaker. From a promotional standpoint, what led you to decide to have Richie go forward with facing Whittaker?

Joe DeGuardia: There’s multiple aspects to that. Because not only do I have Richie fighting at the Barclays Center that night, but on the same Long Island — Brooklyn and Queens are considered on Long Island — I have the show at the Paramount, you know, my venue. So it’s tough, making those decisions about putting Richie on and about putting Richie in a fight against Ben Whittaker, who is the darling of, the future for U.K. boxing, so to speak.

Really what it comes down to is opportunities, presenting opportunities. And I believe it’s in Richie’s interest to take this fight. I think it’s the kind of fight that can really propel him. When he fought Badou Jack, nobody gave him a shot. In the meantime, he should have got [the decision in] that fight. It was a wild night out there in Saudi Arabia. It’s an opportunity for him to shine and really propel his career. And at this stage, I think he’s got to do that. He’s got to step up and do that again the way he did with that Badou Jack fight.

And from the perspective of myself and my company and my other show, look, it’s tough because I have commitments on both ends. I made commitments to fighters when I booked my show and already was on sale for tickets and stuff like that at the Paramount on June 27. And I had gotten a call about Richie at the Barclays Center. So it’s tough because, you know, I have commitments to the fighters that I put on the June 27 card at the Paramount. And I also have a commitment to do the best thing for Richie.

So we’re splitting our forces and doing both. So I keep the show for the Paramount going and keep those fighters who we committed to on, and keep the show going. You know, I got a great relationship with the Paramount. I’m going to keep that going; when I give them a date, I’m going to keep that date. And by the same token, let Richie have the opportunity of a lifetime right now to shine. And if he wins in Brooklyn and beats Ben Whittaker, Richie’s in a great position for himself and his future.

Fighting Words Boxing: Really the second opportunity of a lifetime, because as you mentioned, he went overseas to face Badou Jack about four years ago. And as you said, you thought that he deserved a decision, even though the official scores were split in Badou’s way. Many people will see Richie as the underdog against Ben Whittaker. Do you agree with them? And even if you agree with them, why do you think that this is a winnable fight for Richie?

Joe DeGuardia: Before we get to that, on the Badou Jack fight, the wildest part of that fight was that eighth round, where it was a four-minute round. And Richie had gotten tagged with 10 seconds left in the round, so he had to deal with one full minute of getting banged around and still came back the ninth and 10th, and I thought did well. But that eighth round was a big change and it became a two-point round that would have been a one-point round anyway. It’s wild how things happen in the game.

But as far as the Whittaker fight, look, I think that it’s a tough fight. Whittaker is an up-and-coming prospect; he’s a top prospect. I can see why he would be the favorite in the fight. Remember, the favorite comes based upon who’s betting on what. And that’s where that comes from. So when he’s seen on his amateur pedigree, he’s been on a roll, coming out lately with his knockouts and stuff like that. And he’s certainly got a big force behind him because Matchroom’s putting the huge might of their company behind him. So I could see that more people are going to know him, and that’s going to be the facts.

But I think that Richie’s a live underdog. I think that when you look at the fight, Richie can extend that fight and can present certain kinds of challenges to Whittaker that he hasn’t seen yet in the pros. And Richie has become a veteran. He’s got a lot of experience, a lot of experience in the gym also with different sparring and things like that. And I’m hoping that that can of spinach does him well and Popeye comes through and prevails and beats Brutus out there.

Fighting Words Boxing: So you think we’ll get Richie coming out in the Popeye outfit again?

Joe DeGuardia: Oh, yeah. That’s Richie. He’ll be walking around with that can and with that pipe and the whole bit, I’m sure.

Fighting Words Boxing: Antonio Tarver just got inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. How satisfying was that for you? I mean, you already knew he had a great career, but for that to then lead to him being enshrined in Canastota.

Joe DeGuardia: Oh, it was great. I’m so proud of him, and proud to have been associated with him, with all the big fights that he had. It’s really something special. He deserves it, obviously. Also, in and out of the ring, remember he’s got some great accomplishments outside the ring as a speaker. He’s one of the most innovative guys we had. I mean, when you think about what he did and that second Roy Jones fight, just before the bell, and he did that, “What’s your excuse going to be tonight, Roy?’ It was shocking. You could hear a pin drop in the Mandalay Bay that night in Las Vegas.

It was fascinating. And then he went and knocked Roy out, which at that time, Roy was, you know, the pinnacle. And leading up to that fight, I don’t know if you remember, but Tarver chased Roy at press conferences and everything to get that fight. So it was tremendously rewarding. I look at the Tarver days, and those were great days. The sport was at a peak also. Remember, Tarver that next day or two days later, was on the Jay Leno show. It was great stuff, and it was great to be a part of that.

And it’s obviously so rewarding when you see a fighter that you — look, I remember when we signed Tarver, it was right after the [first Eric] Harding fight and he had the broken jaw. He was really down and out in a lot of respects, and to see him rise to the pinnacle of the sport and everything that he accomplished and now get enshrined in the Hall of Fame, it’s just fantastic.

Fighting Words Boxing: Obviously, you’re not going to sign a fighter without believing that he’s going to go somewhere, but signing him off that Harding fight, what were your expectations for the career that he was going to have with you from there?

Joe DeGuardia: Well, I had a lot of confidence in Tarver anyway. He had real pedigree in the amateurs. He was a skilled fighter. I think he was underrated at the time. I think that Harding fight, look, things happen in a fight, and he did break his jaw. And I thought I could see the drive and determination, and I felt confident that he was going to make it. And then above and beyond all of that was the charismatic character he was outside. I mean, he could speak well.

I had some great experiences with Tarver, and we became good friends even after he retired, much more friendly actually than when we were doing the business of boxing. He has that charismatic personality. And that’s important. So you look at the things inside the ring and outside the ring. And to me, he looked like he had that package, and he did.

Fighting Words Boxing: Who else within your stable right now are you excited about? And of those names, are there any of them that you feel could become that next crossover star?

Joe DeGuardia: Any one of them could really break through. You need the right opportunity, the right desire, the right determination. We do have a couple of guys that we feel strong about, obviously — and that not only feel strong about, but that are on the cusp of potentially breaking through.

Guys like [22-0-1 super middleweight prospect] Junior Younan, if he could just get the right opportunity and the right fight, that would be something big. You know, he’s got the skill level, the talent level. He’s got the good amateur pedigree. He’s aching for a big fight, and we’re trying to get him a big fight, but it’s getting those [Jaime] Munguias and at the time [Armando] Resendiz-es and [Edgar] Berlangas of the world to take him. And he’s more risk than reward right now. So it’s difficult to get those things done. But he’s a good prospect.

Rajon Chance [a 9-1-1 junior featherweight], I think is a great fighter. Very, very good fighter, a lot of potential skill, skill set. And I think he could be in the ring with anybody at his weight division, 122 through 126. The guy we have fighting [June 27], if he wins that fight, he’s going to be on top, Popeye [Richie Rivera]. Wendy Toussaint, who also fights [June 27] at the Paramount, very underrated fighter. Gives everybody fits in the gyms. He was one of Joe Smith’s sparring partners. As you know, Wendy’s a 154 pounder. He went up to fight Ammo [Austin Williams as a last-minute replacement on January 31], they ended up both fighting at 168. It was a one-day notice that he took that fight. So Wendy could turn the page. If the beast comes out in Wendy in the right night, I think he could beat anybody.

Fighting Words Boxing: Given the situation with TV networks these days for somebody like Junior Younan or some of these other fighters that you mentioned, is it something that you might need to work with Zuffa Boxing for getting these guys on those shows? Or are there other promoters that you think would also be amenable to working with you and your fighters?

Joe DeGuardia: We’ve always been able and willing and had great relationships with all the promoters to be able to do deals. We’ve been doing it with Top Rank for 30 years. We’ve been doing it before, when Cedric Kushner was in the game, when Lou [DiBella] was at HBO and then when Lou was at his own company, when Gary Shaw was alive. You name it, we’ve promoted it with everybody. Matchroom now. PBC with Al Haymon.

So on all of the fronts, yes, if it makes sense for my fighter, I’m going to co-promote with somebody. I’m going to do a deal with them. I’m going to do what makes sense. You know, Zuffa’s in the game. They’re a powerhouse in the game now. And nobody knows where that’s going to lead. Look, Berlanga is with Zuffa. Berlanga is 168 pounds from New York, from Brooklyn, New York. And I have an undefeated top prospect here who was in the same amateur circles as them, who is from the New York scene and from Brooklyn, and that’s Junior Younan.

Okay. Junior’s best, that biggest fight that I could see a big fight coming between [him] and Berlanga, and that’s a Brooklyn fight. That’s a huge New York fight. And the whole boxing scene knows both of those guys in the New York boxing scene, so to speak, which would generate a lot of interest. So if it turned out that Zuffa came to me and said, “Hey, let’s put Junior against Berlanga,” I’m going to look to make that deal. It’s in Junior’s interest. So yes, anybody in that game that it makes sense, pretty much I would look to do if it was beneficial to the fighter, and the fighter’s team, and us.

When is Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis?

Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis is on Saturday, June 27. The main broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST). A preliminary undercard will start at 6:15 p.m. ET (11:15 p.m. BST).

[Note: Fighting Words Boxing is completely free and supported solely by your donations. If you want to buy me a cookie ($1), a cup of coffee ($3) or a beer ($5), my Venmo username is DavidG412]

What channel is Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis on?

Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis is available for purchase on DAZN Pay-Per-View.

Where is Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis?

Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis is taking place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Who is Xander Zayas?

Xander Zayas, 23-0 (13 KOs), is the unified WBA and WBO junior middleweight titleholder. The 23-year-old, who hails from Puerto Rico and lives in Florida, is about to take on the toughest challenge of his career. And perhaps more eyes will be on him than ever before, not only because he is defending against Jaron “Boots” Ennis, but also due to his cameo appearance earlier this year during Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime show.

Zayas was regularly spotlighted on Top Rank shows as he developed from a prospect into a contender. Last July, he defeated Jorge Garcia via unanimous decision to pick up the vacant WBO belt at 154 pounds. Garcia had previously given highly touted junior middleweight contender Charles Conwell his first defeat.

Zayas then took a heck of a tough match for a victory lap, facing WBA titleholder Abass Baraou in a unification bout this past January, eight days before the Super Bowl. He brought out a boisterous crowd in San Juan, only the second time Zayas had fought in Puerto Rico as a pro, and the first time since he was a 3-0 kid on a minor show in February 2020. Zayas thrilled against Baraou, battling it out with his game opponent en route to a split decision victory.

Junior middleweight remains a packed division. The other titleholders are Josh Kelly (IBF) and Sebastian Fundora (WBC), while the list of contenders includes Brandon Adams, Caoimhin Agyarko, Ennis, Ermal Hadribeaj, Israil Madrimov, Bakhram Murtazaliev, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Pavel Sosulin and the winner of Errol Spence vs. Tim Tszyu. If Zayas can top Ennis, that will send quite a message to everyone else at 154.

Who is Jaron “Boots” Ennis?

Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 35-0 (31 KOs), is a former unified welterweight titleholder from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who will be fighting for the second time since moving up to 154. This match will take place the day after he turns 29 — on his behalf, I will eat a ton of cake and ice cream on the day he weighs in so that he does not have to.

Ennis was long touted as the future of the welterweights while Terence Crawford and Errol Spence ruled that division. He won the interim IBF welterweight belt in January 2023 with a shutout of Karen Chukhadzhian, then knocked out Roiman Villa in 10 rounds that July. Crawford unified all four titles three weeks later with his stellar stoppage of Spence, but he never fought again at 147 pounds.

That deprived Ennis of a shot at the champ, but he at least had the consolation of being upgraded to the IBF’s full titleholder in November 2023. Ennis made three defenses: a five-round stoppage of David Avanesyan in July 2024; a unanimous decision in a more competitive rematch with Chukhadzhian in November 2024; and a six-round beating of Eimantas Stanionis in April 2025 to unify the IBF title with the WBA title and the vacant Ring Magazine championship.

Ennis officially joined the party at junior middleweight last October, taking on Uisma Lima, who was 14-1 and had a better track record than those unfamiliar with him might have expected. Lima was coming off four straight victories over foes with a combined record of 66-1: Araik Marutjan, Haro Matevosyan, Sukhdeep Singh Bhatti and Shervantaigh Koopman. While none were household names, the wins established Lima as a legitimate opponent.

Ennis quickly showed himself to be levels above Lima, dropping him twice in less than two minutes for a first-round TKO. It was a great way for Ennis to announce his arrival at junior middleweight, though there will still be those who doubt Boots until he proves himself against a more notable 154-pounder. That’s what this fight with Zayas will be.

“Whatever he thinks he does well, I do better,” Ennis said of Zayas, according to a Matchroom Boxing press release. “You cannot jab better than me. You are not faster than me. You are not slicker than me. You are not stronger than me. Your defense is not better than mine. Your footwork is not better than mine. It's levels. […] I’m expecting him to do what he always does. And I’m going to capitalize on every mistake that he makes. I’m going to show show him what I’m really like, and he is going to see the difference.”

A victory on June 27 would make this the second weight class in which Ennis has become a unified titleholder.

“I’m just excited to be fighting a guy that got two belts, one of the top guys in the division, and I’m ready to shut everybody up,” Ennis said. “Those belts are coming back home to Philly. It’s time to have fun, make it easy work, look phenomenal, and come home with a big knockout.”

What other fights are on the undercard of Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis?

The main undercard features highly hyped light heavyweight prospect Ben Whittaker, 11-0-1 (8 KOs), against Richard Rivera, 27-2 (20 KOs). Whittaker won an Olympic silver medal while representing Great Britain in 2021. He has won three straight fights by early knockout, taking out Liam Cameron in two rounds in their April 2025 rematch, and scoring first-round KOs over the 19-1 Benjamin Gavazi last November and the 21-4 Braian Nahuel Suarez this past April. This will be first time Whittaker, a 29-year-old from West Bromwich, England, has fought professionally in the United States.

Rivera, a 35-year-old from Hartford, Connecticut, is best known for two things: dressing up as cartoon character Popeye for his walks to the ring, and a debated split decision loss to Badou Jack up at cruiserweight in 2022. Rivera has gone 6-1 since, dropping a majority decision to the 8-0-1 Luis Antonio Tejeda in 2024. The last time Rivera was in the ring was January 2025, so he will be coming off a 17-month layoff.

Also on this show: a middleweight bout between Jahi Tucker, 16-1-1 (7 KOs), and Euri Cedeno, 14-0-1 (12 KOs); and a clash of junior welterweights Emiliano Vargas, 17-0 (14 KOs), and Bryce Mills, 22-1 (9 KOs). Vargas — who was the other boxer appearing with Zayas during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime concert — isn’t the only son of a famed fighter fighting June 27 in Barclays Center. Junior bantamweight Juanma Lopez De Jesus, 5-0 (2 KOs), son of Juan Manuel Lopez, is due to face Alberto Motos, 6-2 (0 KOs).

The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.

Boxing has been around for the entirety of Joe DeGuardia’s life. His father was a pro fighter who would later go on to found the Morris Park Boxing Club in New York City. The younger DeGuardia launched Star Boxing in 1992 and remains active in the business.

This month alone has been eventful:

• Earlier this month, upstate in Canastota, former Star Boxing fighter Antonio Tarver was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

• This coming Saturday in Brooklyn, current Star Boxing light heavyweight Richard Rivera will challenge highly hyped prospect Ben Whittaker on the pay-per-view undercard of Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis.

• And on the same night as Whittaker-Rivera, Star Boxing will present a show at The Paramount in the Long Island town of Huntington.

This is not just a rundown of DeGuardia’s June. It is also representative of DeGuardia’s career.

He has worked with titleholders beyond Tarver, namely Chris Algieri, Demetrius Andrade and Joe Smith Jr. He is continuing to search for and develop fighters he believes will be stars, such as unbeaten super middleweight Junior Younan, 22-0-1 (14 KOs). He works with other promotional companies while also hanging up his banner for regular shows somewhat close to home.

Amid all this, DeGuardia took the time to speak with Fighting Words Boxing about a number of topics. In Part 1 of the interview, DeGuardia talks about some of the ways that boxing promotion has changed over the course of his three-plus decades in the business, and whether he still loves the sport itself.

In Part 2, which will come out tomorrow on Fighting Words Boxing, DeGuardia discusses Tarver’s IBHOF recognition, Rivera’s chances against Whittaker, and other fighters within his stable that he is excited about.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

[Note: Fighting Words Boxing is completely free and supported solely by your donations. If you want to buy me a cookie ($1), a cup of coffee ($3) or a beer ($5), my Venmo username is DavidG412]

Fighting Words Boxing: You’ve been doing this for almost 35 years now with Star Boxing. What was it about boxing that got you hooked back then and has kept you hooked all this time?

Joe DeGuardia: I’ve been bitten by the boxing bug since I’m a kid. My father was a pro fighter. My uncle was a pro fighter. So the boxing world was around my life from when I was born, literally from in the crib. I don’t even remember when I started because I always remember having gloves and boxing. I used to box my father, like to learn, stuff like that. We used to have boxing stuff on my patio in the Bronx. We used to get the gloves as kids, everybody, 5, 6 years old, whatever. And by the time I was 7, maybe, I think I started doing smoker fights.

And I was hooked from that time. I loved it. I loved the sport. I loved watching the old-time fights, watching the fights that came up. Back then you could watch it on regular television. The Wide World of Sports would have it on Saturdays and things like that. I was too young for the Friday night Gillette fights, but I used to watch the tapes of it. We had the Super 8 tapes. And I was going to the gym every day, meeting fighters, meeting old-timers, going to our gym or the other gyms in the Bronx and down in Harlem or Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn and all the spots where the boxing culture is. I grew up in that culture. I was in it literally every day of my life. So the bug has been in me straight through.

Fighting Words Boxing I know that even in jobs that we’re passionate about, there are days that work is going to feel like work. But after more than three decades, do you still love boxing? Do you still love what you’re doing?

Joe DeGuardia: Look, I still love boxing. There are days I don’t like what I’m doing. Ultimately, I’m always looking at the bigger picture and the bigger good, so to speak. But it’s a tough business. It’s tough in a lot of respects because you have all different kinds of people, and you’re dealing with so many different people and elements of the game. And not all are honorable, and that makes it difficult.

But there’s a lot of other good people in the game, too. So yes, there are times when you look at it and say, “What am I doing here?” And I never expected to be in the business of boxing. I always loved boxing. I remember when I was about 9 or 10. We used to get different boxing magazines. We used to go to the newsstands and there’d be tons of them. And I remember my father once showing me and talking to me about an article about how much money was involved in one of the fights, an old-time fight, and the business of it and how the network was paying, and how it was so different from the monies he was making when he was fighting in the ’50s, you know.

I remember I wasn’t really that interested in it. I was more interested in getting to the boxing pages, the real fights and who was fighting whom, who was coming up next, what fights were next, who was in the ratings and things like that. So talking about the boxing bug, when I retired from boxing myself and I thought I was done with the sport, the bug bit me and I got back in on the business end. You know, I was doing well. I was a lawyer and didn’t necessarily need the business of boxing, but some fighters were asking me for help, and I started helping, and the bug bit me again.

Fighting Words Boxing: How, if at all, has your approach as a promoter changed in recent years?

Joe DeGuardia: Well, the business has changed, so you have to adapt to the business. It used to be where we were putting up posters and making posters. And, you know, there’s no posters anymore. You don’t really have that world to try to generate the local crowd. Now you have to be involved with social media, which I don’t know that well. I don’t do it that well. My people keep telling me I have to do my own stuff and put my own stuff out there, too, which Star Boxing does. But it’s hard to make that change.

And then obviously the business has changed from a dynamic of it was a closed business, a tight business. A lot of it was based on relationships, and you knew who you were doing business with, which was always important. Sometimes I would have deals with HBO — I remember one specific one where we literally signed the contract the day of the fight as we were getting into the limo and getting to the arena.

Me and Mark Taffet [of HBO Pay-Per-View] were going through the final parts of the contract, because it’s a pay-per-view event with HBO. And we didn’t have it signed off literally to the day of. We had some issues that we were finalizing that I wanted, and he wanted things, but we both knew that when all was said and done, we were going to make our deal because we knew each other. We know that we’re reasonable, and reasonable minds can differ, but you’re going to work together to hammer out a deal.

But that world has changed a lot, too. New people come and get involved and you don’t know who’s what and who’s reliable. So you have to adapt to that. You have to figure those things out. And then also, obviously, it’s a different world in terms of certain things that in the past were pretty much given. You knew how you were going to operate. You knew that if you were doing business with X, Y and Z, you were going to be entitled to A, B and C. And that doesn’t necessarily apply anymore. So that’s a big change as well.

And then obviously the big picture is the business. The business model was you build a guy, you develop him, you get him exposure, you put him on ESPN regularly or you put him on USA Network or you put him on in any other ways that you’re going to try to get his name out there. And you’re going to parlay that into an HBO fight, a Showtime fight. And those fights would generate interest once the guys were on. Everybody watched it. And you’d be able to develop somebody from there.

You could create a star literally from being on HBO the way Antonio Tarver, when he beat Eric Harding and then ultimately got to the Reggie Johnson fight and then ultimately getting to Roy [Jones Jr.], he became a star. And that was a vital part of our business. Then all of a sudden now we’re doing business with HBO and making the deals. That reverberated throughout. Delvin Rodriguez with the ESPN fights and how many times he was on and how he could build up his name and parlay that to bigger fights. Ultimately, Chris Algieri, how he made it to HBO and the like.

So the world is different now. Now you don’t have that kind of outlet, so to speak. And what do you have now? It’s DAZN. It’s a different kind of market there. You know, you have to be looking for DAZN. So you’re not going to get the same kind of fan base that you otherwise had with HBO. But look, in the HBO days, we had to adapt then because before that, we were dealing and working with network television. And you had much greater reach. And we were worried about it then. So businesses change, things change.

People now anyway go and seek and get whatever they want. If they want to watch Misfits fights, they have that kind of stuff. You can find that. You go to your app, you go to your phone. If you want to see a Jake Paul type of fight, you’re going to see that. The kids got that with their social media. And if you want to watch people slapping each other, you can watch that. The world has changed. In the old days, everybody would turn on maybe the Johnny Carson show or something like that. And there were seven channels and everybody knew everything about everything. That’s why everybody knew who Muhammad Ali was. Now it’s a lot different. It’s a different world. So you have to go after your audience, target that audience and let them know where to find your content.

Fighting Words Boxing: From a promotional standpoint, you know, obviously the goal for any business is to make money, but at least back in the HBO days, you could hope that if you had a loss leader, you could eventually turn that into a profit later on. I presume that for you now, the reason that you’re able to still operate, and I assume at a profit with your shows, is that your eyes are not bigger than your stomach. You are now promoting largely in Long Island with some of these shows. And [streaming] on your own website. Is there still the aspiration to find the next Antonio Tarver? Are you content in this lane or am I misreading the situation?

Joe DeGuardia: Certainly, the goal is always to get your fighters to the top. That’s where they can make the most of their lives and their careers and for their families. And certainly we benefit when we can get a guy to the top. That’s the business. These other shows, from a strictly financial standpoint, they’re not something I would be doing if I was just worried about making money. It’s not the best business model. It’s a very difficult business model to be putting on local-type shows. You need that license revenue from television, from pay-per-view or whatever else that comes from streaming, whatever formats you might have. And it’s certainly a tough racket now to do that, especially in New York.

In New York, we pay so much more than any place else to put on shows. The TBI [Traumatic Brain Injury] insurance is just strangling promoters. So nobody’s really running. They come in, [do] maybe one or two fights, and they dont run anymore in New York. They can’t. And unless it’s a big show like they have [June 27] at the Barclays Center, or might have at the Garden. On a big show, you could absorb those costs, but a small show, you can’t absorb those costs. It hurts everybody. It’s no good.

As much as it sounds crazy, I prefer to have other promoters promoting in New York. You develop more fighters, you get that fan interest. [...]. Right now we’re pretty much the only ones doing it, and it’s difficult. So from a financial standpoint, it’s not an easy ballgame.

One fight ago, Rene Palacios defeated Sulaiman Segawa, best known for a debated loss to Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington. And now Palacios is getting ready to challenge Carrington himself for the WBC featherweight world title.

This might seem like a big leap for a boxer who wasn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the major sanctioning bodies before 2026 began, or even immediately after his signature win. Some of you might also wonder whether that Segawa victory alone warrants this title shot on July 4 in Cleveland, Ohio, on the undercard of Abdullah Mason vs. Joe Cordina.

Palacios’ team believes that now is an appropriate time. The 25-year-old from Chihuahua, Mexico, who is 19-0-1 with 10 knockouts, has surprised people before. They believe Palacios has what it takes to score the upset. But even if that ideal outcome doesn’t happen, they see a loss as a learning experience Palacios would grow from, rather than the kind of defeat that could significantly derail his career.

“If he was 18 or 19 and a baby, I probably wouldn’t have even done the Segawa fight,” said Robert Diaz, Palacios’ adviser and formerly the longtime matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions, in an interview with Fighting Words Boxing. “But he’s in the prime. He’s young. He’s had his record built. He has the amateur experience as well, which is very rare in Mexico. I like it. The timing is perfect.”

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Before and after Sulaiman Segawa

Before the Segawa bout, you could be forgiven for not knowing much, if anything at all, about Palacios. He had only fought once before in the United States prior to that January 2026 show at a casino in Maryland. There wasn’t ample footage of his bouts online before this co-feature on a ProBox TV stream.

Before the Segawa fight, then, you could be forgiven for predicting the outcome based mostly on paper. Segawa had been in with recognizable names, winning some (Ruben Villa, Elijah Pierce) and losing others (Carrington, Mirco Cuello, Jamaine Ortiz, Abraham Nova, William Foster III.) Palacios, meanwhile, was coming off wins against opponents with records of 20-10-1, 9-9 and 20-8-2.

After the Segawa fight, we learned much more about Palacios. He was the winner by split decision, showing that he was comfortable boxing — not just brawling — on the inside, and that he was confident in his skills even as he stepped up against capable opposition. While he ended the fight with significant swelling around his right eye, he also ended the bout with his hands raised in the air.

But we still don’t know what Palacios is truly capable of at the world level. There’s a difference between beating the fighter who troubled Carrington in September 2024 and beating the version of Carrington who will be in the ring opposite of him in the co-feature of the July 4 broadcast, which will air on TNT in the U.S. and on DAZN worldwide.

“Anytime you have any fighter in front of you that’s undefeated, they don’t know how to lose yet. It’s Rene’s job to teach them,” Diaz said. “But I didn’t think Segawa was going to be easy, and he proved me right. Segawa was a very tough fight and very rugged and very strong. I think it’ll be different, tough, but I think Rene is more than ready and more than capable.”

Palacios has a habit of jumping at opportunities

Palacios had been insistent on taking the Segawa fight even as Diaz had advised they need not rush into the match. Segawa at the time was ranked fourth by the WBC, while Palacios wasn’t in the top 15. After the victory, Palacios was slotted at No. 20, with Segawa just behind him at No. 21. But by March, Palacios was up at No. 12, qualifying him for a potential title shot. He’s currently sitting at No. 10. Palacios is not presently ranked by the IBF, WBA or WBO.

“This is what every young fighter dreams of. Sometimes it delays. Sometimes it comes quicker,” Diaz said. “He wanted the Segawa fight after he saw him stop [Bryan] Acosta. He said, ‘Get me Segawa.’ And now this opportunity jumps. And sometimes it’s a great measuring of their character.

“I’m all for a world title fight for a young man. And a lot of times today, the hurdle is the money. ‘We need more money.’ And you hate to see it fall apart or not happen because of money. Because especially a fighter like Rene, the money is going to come as long as you do your job. To price yourself out in this opportunity, you see it so much in young fighters.”

But that’s not at all what happened with Palacios.

“Rene [said], right away, ‘I want it. Yes, I’ll take it,’ Diaz said. “We hadn’t even discussed money. And he was already in the fight. So I like seeing that. First is ‘My dream come true.’ Second is, ‘OK, let’s go make the money.’ Because, you know, that’s my job, to make sure he gets paid well. But his job is to say, ‘Yes, I want it. This is what’s going to make me a star. This is what’s going to make me build a legacy, be somebody.’ He has the same confidence he did going into the Segawa fight. But extra now, because he’s even more motivated. Because now you have the prize. You have the gold at the end. And he knows how this can change his life.”

Triangle logic and how both men have improved since Segawa

Carrington’s fight with Segawa in September 2024 came on the same ESPN broadcast as Xander Zayas vs. Damian Sosa and the first Mikaela Mayer-Sandy Ryan bout. But while some boxing fans may have cooled on Carrington’s future in the featherweight division based on his performance that night, he kept moving forward toward a title shot. Carrington outpointed the 13-2 Dana Coolwell, defeated the 23-3 Enrique Vivas via third-round TKO, and nearly shut out the 14-0 Mateus Heita.

That landed Carrington in with Carlos Castro this past January on the pay-per-view undercard of Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson. And Carrington landed on Castro, scoring a highlight-reel ninth-round KO.

Needless to say, there’s no reason to fall into the fallacy of triangle logic — that because Carrington had a difficult time with Segawa, and Palacios beat Segawa, then this means Palacios will trouble Carrington.

“Logic does not exist in boxing,” Diaz said. “That’s how it’s supposed to work. But no, it doesn’t. There’s many factors. But everything being equal right now, you know, the odds are going to have [Carrington] the favorite, of course. And they should. He is already the proven champion. But trust me, I love our chances. You got a young, undefeated as well, hungry Mexican fighter coming in to take what he wants.”

And just like this will be a different version of Carrington than the one who fought Segawa 21 months ago, the same should be true of the Palacios who met the same opponent five months ago.

“We didn’t see Rene in January. That wasn’t the Rene that I know. That was a different Rene that had to make adjustments, “ Diaz said. “I even asked him after the fight, ‘Why did you fight the whole fight inside?’ He goes, ‘Robert, if I pulled out, this guy was so long and awkward.’ [...] There [against Segawa], you saw a phone booth.

“I think you’re going to see a lot more arsenal in Rene in this fight. You’re going to see a lot more speed. You’re going to see a lot more changes. Just a different fighter, which will show that he is the total package.”

It’s not really making a mockery of yourself — not when being yourself is what gets you mocked. For years, the WBA has done WBA things and gotten deservingly mocked as a result.

Have far more world titles than there are weight classes? Check. Announce, multiple times, that the WBA will cut down on the number of title belts but actively work against doing so? Check. Create title belts out of thin air and order absolutely undeserving fighters to compete for them? Check.

And yet there’s some special shame that needs to come with the recent revelation about Sharabutdin Ataev will face Jose Uzcategui in a WBA light heavyweight elimination bout on July 11 in Moscow, on the undercard of Murat Gassiev vs. Tony Yoka.

Ataev is a 27-year-old from Russia with a record of 9-0 (5 KOs), plus one decision win in an IBA Pro bout, which BoxRec lists separately. He is ranked third at light heavyweight by the WBA.

In Ataev’s three most recent fights, he knocked out the 19-2 Braian Nahuel Suarez in two rounds in September 2024 — the same Suarez whom Ben Whittaker recently faced and promptly dispatched as well; outpointed the 8-2 David Gladun over eight rounds last July; and shut out the 7-0-1 Saipaier Rouzi over the same distance this May.

Not exactly the most noteworthy campaign. But it’s still more substantial than what Uzcategui has been up to. We’ll get to him a little later.

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The increasingly long line for a WBA light heavyweight title shot

Mind you, it’s bizarre that the WBA is even having a title eliminator at this point. It already has two other people in line to challenge primary titleholder Dmitry Bivol, who also has the IBF and WBO belts.

That’s because the WBA has a secondary titleholder in David Benavidez, who took that designation from David Morrell in February 2025; Benavidez is also the WBC titleholder at 175 pounds, plus he has two cruiserweight belts.

Oh, and the WBA has a tertiary titleholder — it’s a sign of how messed up boxing is that some of you may now have to look up the word “tertiary” — in interim titleholder Albert Ramirez. That bauble was awarded to Ramirez after his August 2025 stoppage of Jerome Pampellone, and he was fortunate to hold on to it earlier this month with a highly debated split decision over Lerrone Richards.

The WBA’s most recent monthly ratings update came out before Ramirez vs. Richards took place, but Ataev’s placement at No. 3 means he’s ahead of Najee Lopez at No. 4, followed by Atif Oberlton, Richards, Samuel Arnold, Benjamin Mendes Tani, Michael Eifert, Uzcategui, Joshua Buatsi, Bradley Rea, Willy Hutchinson, Mehmet Unal and Umar Dzambekov.

It’s far from the strongest of slates in the WBA’s rankings, and the sanctioning body’s list is missing names such as Conor Wallace, Whittaker, Imam Khataev, Radivoje Kalajdzic and the man who upset Morrell last month, Zak Chelli.

Not that any of those men are deserving of a title shot just yet either.

And to be fair to the WBA — gasp! — Ataev is also ranked No. 4 by the IBF, behind only Wallace and Whittaker (with the No. 1 spot vacant).

As for Uzcategui…

You may recall that Jose Uzcategui, 34-5 (29 KOs), is a former super middleweight titleholder. He held the IBF belt for less than a year last decade— upsetting and unseating Andre Dirrell in their rematch in March 2018 and then getting outpointed by Caleb Plant in January 2019.

You’d be hard pressed to recall much of anything else Uzcategui has done since then.

Uzcategui has fought just eight times in the past six and a half years, going 6-2 during that stretch.

• 2019: After the Plant fight, Uzcategui knocked out a 10-9-1 opponent in the first round and then lost a 10-round decision to the 21-5 Lionell Thompson.

• 2020: Uzcategui didn’t fight at all, but that wasn’t rare in the sport given this was the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

• 2021: Uzcategui took out two opponents with records of 20-28-2 and 9-4.

• 2022: Uzcategui competed at cruiserweight, knocking out a 21-19-1 fighter before returning to super middleweight and dropping a unanimous decision to Vladimir Shishkin.

• 2023: Uzcategui didn’t fight at all.

• 2024: After 19 months away, Uzcategui returned at 172 pounds and blew by the 12-3 Fernando Brito.

• 2025: In March, Uzcategui weighed in at 188 pounds and needed just 87 seconds to put away a 20-17 fighter.

Uzcategui hasn’t fought in more than 15 months. He had dropped out of the WBA’s super middleweight rankings in March 2023. This February, he entered the sanctioning body’s light heavyweight ratings at No. 10, where he remains. This is despite Uzcategui not having done a single thing of note at 175 pounds, and not having competed in the division since July 2024.

In April, boxing observer ATokkers5 — yes, we only know him by his username, but he follows the sport very closely and watches far more bouts than me and most of my fellow scribes — saw that Uzcategui was listed by the WBA.

“Entered the WBA Rankings out of nowhere at 175 a few months back,” ATokkers5 posted. “He’s been put in for someone.”

Indeed. With Uzcategui at No. 10, that paves the way for the No. 3 light heavyweight to beat him and get a shot at a world title.

WBA stands for “Welcome, Beloved Ataev”

Ataev has been in the WBA’s rankings for some time without doing much to earn it. If you thought his recent run listed earlier in the article wasn’t enough, then you might be just as pained to learn that Ataev has been rated since September 2024 following his win over Suarez, entering the rankings at No. 5.

The WBA and the IBA entered a “collaboration agreement” in late 2022. The IBA used to be the main worldwide governing body for amateur boxing, and in charge of organizing the sport for the Olympics. But its role in the Olympics was taken away in 2019 due to concerns over the IBA’s governing and integrity.

The IBA isn’t just involved in amateur boxing. It helps promote pro fights as well, including Sergey Kovalev’s farewell bout, Gassiev’s win over Kubrat Pulev for the WBA’s secondary heavyweight title, and Jazza Dickens’ victory over Albert Batyrgaziev for the WBA’s secondary belt at junior lightweight.

Ataev has fought on a handful of IBA shows. So it’s no surprise that his next IBA show will be for a potential WBA title shot.

Two matches — including a second world title fight — have been added to MVPW-05, which will be headlined by the undisputed bantamweight championship match between Dina Thorslund and Cherneka Johnson. The show will take place on Saturday, August 8 at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Florida, and will air on ESPN.

In the co-feature, unified middleweight titleholder Desley Robinson, 12-3 (4 KOs), will defend her IBF and WBO belts against Tamm Thibeault, 4-0 (3 KOs).

Robinson, a 38-year-old from Australia, has found more success later in her career. She lost three of her first eight bouts, including a majority decision against Lani Daniels in a light heavyweight title bout in December 2023, and a majority decision to Kaye Scott in March 2024. But Robinson topped Scott unanimously in their rematch nine months later, picking up the vacant IBF belt. And she added the vacant WBO title in April 2025, topping Chloe Chaos via unanimous decision.

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Robinson signed with Most Valuable Promotions in July 2025 and has appeared on two MVP shows since, making short work of Logan Holler last October and then outpointing former 154-pound titleholder Mary Spencer on the May 30 undercard of Stephanie Han-Holly Holm II.

If Robinson beats Thibeault, it seems natural to set up a third fight with Scott, who has since gone on to win the WBA and WBC middleweight belts.

“This is the best fight that can be made in the middleweight division right now,” Robinson was quoted as saying of Thibeault in a press release. “Tamm Thibeault is a two-time Olympian, an amateur world champion, and the number one contender for a reason. I’ve been waiting for a challenge like this.”

Thibeault, a 29-year-old from Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada, competed in the 2024 Olympics, losing a close decision in her sole bout of the middleweight tournament. She turned pro under MVP’s banner in December 2024. In her two most recent bouts, Thibeault dispatched the 6-0 Mary Casamassa in five rounds last July and then put away the 1-0 Cristina Mazzotta in 56 seconds in September.

All four of Thibeault’s to date have been contested with three-minute rounds, though there’s no indication that this match against Robinson will be outside of the two-minute rounds that are the current norm in women’s boxing.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, but more than anything, I feel ready,” Thibeault said in the press release. “I’m preparing mentally and physically for a tough, experienced opponent, someone who knows what championship boxing looks like. I’m ready to go to war if that’s what it takes. This is not an opportunity I will let slip away.”

Also announced for this card is an eight-round bout at junior bantamweight between Shurretta Metcalf and Amanda Valle.

Metcalf, 15-5-1 (2 KOs), is a 41-year-old from Dallas, Texas, who held the IBF title one division north at 118 pounds from October 2024 until July 2025, outpointing Miyo Yoshida for the belt and then dropping it to Cherneka Johnson. Metcalf returned last October with a decision win against the 7-0 Krystal Rosado.

“Champions don’t get built by taking easy fights. They get built by beating the best,” Metcalf said in the press release. “Amanda Galle is a former world champion coming off the biggest fight of her career, and I respect what she brings to the ring. But I’ve already beaten undefeated fighters, world champions, and former world champions throughout my career, and after I beat her live on ESPN, the road to my second world title gets even clearer.”

Galle, 12-1-1 (1 KO), is a 37-year-old from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, who also competed previously at bantamweight. Although Metcalf called Galle a world champion, the IBO belt Galle held is not from one of the four recognized major sanctioning bodies. In her most recent outing, Galle lost a unanimous decision to Johnson in December.

“They say you’re only as good as your last fight,” Galle said. “Well, the last time I stepped into the ring on Jake [Paul] vs. [Anthony] Joshua, I won Performance of the Night!”

Oscar Collazo vs. Joey Canoy off, Collazo to face Neider Valdez instead

Unified strawweight titleholder Oscar Collazo was originally supposed to defend against Joey Canoy this Saturday, but he now will face a late replacement opponent instead.

Canoy, 25-5-2 (15 KOs), is a 32-year-old contender from The Philippines. But he was unable to enter the United States in time due to visa issues. So in stepped Valdez, 15-3-3 (12 KOs), a 25-year-old former title challenger from Mexico, for this DAZN main event at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

The press release from Golden Boy Promotions describes Valdez as a “rising Mexican contender,” but that’s, well, more than a bit of hype.

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To be fair, two of Valdez’s three losses came against very good opponents. He was stopped in the fifth round by Erik Badillo in March 2024. Badillo is now a top contender in line for a title shot at 108 pounds. Valdez went the distance in defeat against Erick Rosa in December 2024. That fight was for the vacant WBA junior flyweight belt.

But if it seemed as if Valdez was merely a step or two below quality fighters named Erick or Erik, then came the surprisingly harsh reality of his third defeat.

In May 2025, Valdez failed to make it out of the second round against the 8-3-3 Victor Sebastian Rojas Gonzalez. Valdez took off the remainder of last year and has competed twice so far in 2026, making short work of an 0-1 foe in March and then fighting to a six-round draw against a 4-4 opponent on May 30. That means Valdez will have fought twice in the span of three weeks.

“When I received the phone call, I couldn’t believe it, but without hesitation, I accepted the challenge,” Valdez was quoted as saying in the press release. “I stay in the gym and work hard every day, always waiting for an opportunity like this. I know who Oscar Collazo is — he is the best fighter in his division today, and I have looked up to him for a long time. It is a great honor to share the ring with him on such a big stage. I am ready to deliver the performance of my life and take full advantage of this incredible opportunity.”

Collazo, 14-0 (11 KOs), is a 29-year-old from Villalba, Puerto Rico with the WBA, WBO and Ring Magazine titles at 105 pounds. He will be making his eighth title defense, and his fourth since unifying.

“My job is to stay ready for whoever my team puts in the ring,” Collazo said in the press release. “While the Canoy fight didn’t happen, my focus has shifted entirely to Neider Valdez this Saturday. Trust me, we’re about to add another unforgettable chapter to the historic Puerto Rico vs. Mexico rivalry.”

The undercard will feature a number of prospects in separate fights, including:

• light heavyweight Yair Gallardo, 11-0 (9 KOs)

• junior welterweight Ruslan Abdullaev, 4-0 (2 KOs), a 2024 Olympian

• heavyweight Joshua Edwards, 6-0 (5 KOs), also a 2024 Olympian

• welterweight Cayden Griffiths, 8-0 (7 KOs)

• junior welterweight Daniel Garcia, 13-0 (10 KOs)

Zuffa Boxing adds light heavyweight prospect Nasheed Smith

Not every fighter who joins up with Zuffa Boxing’s increasingly sizable stable receives a press release announcing their signing. So it’s a sign of the nascent promoter’s excitement that they’re bragging about adding undefeated light heavyweight prospect Nasheed “Sugar Sheed” Smith.

Smith is a 25-year-old from Washington, D.C., with a record of 10-0 (7 KOs) under traditional boxing rules since turning pro in November 2023. He’s fought twice so far in 2026 in nearby Maryland: an 81-second TKO of a 3-7-1 foe in February, and a six-round near-shutout of a 4-2-1 opponent in April.

Smith also participated in the Team Combat League, now known as the Team Boxing League, on seven dates from May 2023 to June 2024. In that sport’s one-round format, he is 6-5 with no knockouts.

Smith is a southpaw listed at 6-foot-2. He’s been trained since he was 10 years old by Barry Hunter, who is best known for coaching Lamont and Anthony Peterson. Hunter has also worked with fighters such as Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Isaac Dogboe, Adrien Broner, Austin Trout and Sharmba Mitchell.

Smith’s first fight date under the Zuffa banner has not yet been announced. But as Zuffa’s parent company also owns the WWE — and as WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” was in nearby Baltimore, Maryland, earlier this week — Smith was among the boxers spotlighted at ringside during the broadcast.

Chop Chop, Atang and Espinoza added to Diego Pacheco vs. Immanuwel Aleem card

Matchroom Boxing announced three more fights for its July 18 card in California, which will be headlined by super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco against gatekeeper Immanuwel Aleem and also features a lightweight eliminator between Andy Cruz and Albert Bell.

Joining this DAZN show at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson are featherweight Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez, heavyweight Leo Atang and middleweight Frank Espinoza.

Gonzalez, 17-0 (10 KOs), is a 24-year-old from Riverside, California, who is trained by Robert Garcia. In his past three outings, he stopped the 21-6 Leonardo Baez in the fourth round last October; took out the 25-4 Franklin Gonzalez in the seventh round this past January; and put the 12-4-1 Brandon Chambers down in less than two minutes in March. Gonzalez will meet Aaron Alameda.

“Aaron Alameda has fought for a world title before, so I know how tough he is,” Gonzalez was quoted as saying in a press release.

Alameda, 30-3 (27 KOs), is a 32-year-old from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. All three of Alameda’s losses came against familiar names. He battled Luis Nery for 12 rounds in a September 2020 junior featherweight title fight, dropping a unanimous decision. Alameda lost a majority decision to Angelo Leo in June 2021. He then embarked on a five-fight winning streak before getting shut out on the scorecards in his last outing, last July against prospect Yan Santana.

Atang, 7-0 (6 KOs), is a 19-year-old from York, England, who turned pro about a year ago with much fanfare in the United Kingdom. Most recently, he sent the 5-4-2 Fouad Shaili packing within the first round on the June 6 undercard of Josh Padley vs. Aqib Fiaz. This will be Atang’s second pro fight outside of his home country; he had a bout in Ghana last December. His opponent for July 18 has not yet been named.

“The worldwide tour continues,” Atang said in the press release.

Espinoza, 4-0 (4 KOs), is a 20-year-old from Sacramento, California. He turned pro in November and last fought on May 30, defeating his first opponent with a winning record by scoring a third-round TKO against the 4-2 Bryce Blackwell.

Espinoza’s opponent has not yet been announced.

Matchroom Boxing signs cruiserweight prospect out of amateurs

Atang wasn’t the only young prospect getting press via Matchroom Boxing in recent days. The company also announced the signing of Divine Omojor, a 19-year-old, 6-foot-5 cruiserweight from Wallsend, England.

Omojor’s entry into the pro ranks won’t halt his studies; he’s pursuing a degree in business computing, according to Matchroom’s press release. Outside of the classroom, he is trained by Ross Wilkinson — who was Omojor’s amateur coach and remains on the team — and new addition Dean Lain.

“This is a dream come true. I have grown up watching Matchroom Boxing, and all I’ve wanted to do since I stepped into the gym was be part of big nights,” Omojor was quoted as saying in the press release. “To be part of the team is huge and it’s what I have worked towards in my boxing career. I can’t wait to get started.”

The date of Omojor’s pro debut has not yet been announced.

“Divine is a hugely talented young fighter and we are thrilled to add him to our team,” Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn said in the release. “He is an absolute unit already and he has a bright future ahead of him. I’m certain [he] will make a name for himself in the professional ranks of this sport and bring some big nights to the North East. I’m excited to map out an important first year in the professional ranks for Divine. We believe he will go far.”

Jordan Orozco scores 17th straight KO

Yes, Jordan Orozco’s first 16 knockouts came against the standard slate of designated opponents or untested foes. The same can’t be said of the bantamweight prospect’s 17th KO victim.

Orozco — whose record is of course now 17-0 (17 KOs) — took on Fernando Diaz this past Saturday on the preliminary undercard of the MVPW show in Orlando, Florida. Orozco lost the first round but went on to force Diaz’s corner to call a halt to the fight after the third round concluded.

Diaz, who came in with a record of 16-7-1 (6 KOs), had never been stopped before. He had gone the distance in defeat against the likes of former titleholder Emmanuel Rodriguez, Dominique Crowder, Scrappy Ramirez, Abraham R Perez, Yankiel Rivera and Juan Carlos Camacho.

“I knew coming into this fight that making a statement against someone with his experience would show people that I’m ready for bigger opportunities,” Orozco was quoted as saying in a Boxlab Promotions press release. “My goal was to dominate every round and prove that I belong with the top bantamweights in the world. To be the first fighter to stop him means a lot because it shows the level I’m operating at and the work my team and I have been putting in behind the scenes.

In the sanctioning bodies’ most recent ratings updates, all released before Orozco vs. Diaz, he was ranked No. 9 by the WBA and No. 10 by the WBO.

“I believe this win takes my career to new heights,” Orozco said. “Every fight is about getting better and growing. Beating a respected veteran like Diaz the way I did proves that I’m ready to move forward and face tougher competition. I’m still young, still learning, and still hungry, but I feel like this performance showed that I’m no longer just a prospect. I’m becoming a serious contender, and I want everyone in the division to know that I’m coming.”

Time and again, “Bam” is reminiscent of “Bud.”

It has been that way since Jesse Rodriguez’s breakout performance in February 2022, when he stepped in as a late replacement, moving up in weight for the opportunity to make a name for himself, just like Terence Crawford did against Breidis Prescott.

Only four years and four months have passed since Rodriguez filled in for an ill Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, outpointed Carlos Cuadras and won a vacant junior bantamweight title in the process.

Crawford wouldn’t get his first lightweight title shot until about a year after he beat Prescott, who was originally supposed to take on Khabib Allakhverdiev at 140 pounds that night in March 2013. But four years and just about four months later, Crawford was the undisputed junior welterweight champion and on his way to his next division and set of challenges.

Rodriguez is similarly ascending pound-for-pound lists and weight classes, demonstrating exceptional talent and skills, and unifying world titles. And just like Crawford at the tail end of his career, Rodriguez is heading eagerly toward what on paper is his most difficult challenge yet.

Bam, like Bud, just moved up on the scales once again and already is considering doing it once more — this time for a fight where victory would put him on top of the entire sport of boxing.

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The prodigy reaches 10-0 in world title fights

“I’m ready for whoever, whenever,” Rodriguez said this past Saturday after knocking out Antonio Vargas for the WBA bantamweight world title. “Whatever my team says. They throw a name at me and I say yes right away. It don’t matter who it is or where it is. I’m ready.”

The crowd at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, voiced its approval after Rodriguez’s fourth appearance in the Phoenix region, a second home of sorts for the fighter from San Antonio, Texas.

Bam was answering a question from DAZN’s Chris Mannix specifically about whether Rodriguez would head right at a fight with undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue or would remain at 118 pounds a bit longer to take on some of the other names in the division.

Rodriguez’s answer might as well have applied to his career to date. The win over Cuadras was the start of an exceptional run, exceptional not just for the 10 consecutive victories in world title fights, but for who many of those victories came against.

He had been fighting as a flyweight prior to facing Cuadras, but even that isn’t giving him enough credit for the jump, as Bam came in a shade above 109 pounds for the bout just before.

Cuadras was one of boxing’s new iteration of the “Four Kings.” The 1970s and ’80s had future Hall of Fame inductees Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard mixing it up nine times, mostly between welterweight and middleweight. The 2010s were known for four talents taking each other on in some of boxing’s lightest weight divisions: Cuadras, Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

Cuadras’ best years were behind him, but he could still be considered a contender when he signed for a rematch with Sor Rungvisai set for February 2022 in Phoenix in what was supposed to be the 11th meeting among this foursome. The WBC belt at 115 pounds was up for grabs, vacant since two weeks after Estrada’s second bout with Chocolatito the year before.

Sor Ringvisai fell ill and pulled out. Bam moved up, dropped Cuadras in the third round and won a clear decision. Next came a June defense against Sor Rungvisai, whose only defeat in recent years had been in his rematch with Estrada in 2019. Sor Rungvisai had only fought three times since then, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, and was coming off a 15-month layoff.

Bam dropped Sor Rungvisai in the seventh round and stopped him in the eighth. He made one more defense of the WBC belt at 115 pounds, outpointing Israel Gonzalez in September 2022, and then returned to 112. His campaign there started by picking up the vacant WBC title in April 2023, taking a unanimous nod over Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez.

Then came a unification bout in Glendale with IBF titlist Sunny Edwards, an undefeated boxer whose skills and awkward style had troubled other challengers. Rodriguez wasn’t overly troubled; he sent Edwards packing after nine rounds. After the victory, it was time to head back up to junior bantamweight.

Estrada had regained the WBC title and otherwise remained the lineal and Ring Magazine champion, though he also hadn’t fought in a year and a half. Estrada vs. Rodriguez was set for Phoenix in late June 2024. It had not even been two and a half years since Bam beat Cuadras. Now Rodriguez was in the ring against the only member of the new “Four Kings” who reasonably could still be considered a king.

Though not for much longer.

Bam put Estrada down in the fourth round. He had to get off the canvas himself in the sixth. And one round later, Rodriguez landed a fantastic body shot that kept Estrada pained on the mat as the referee counted to 10.

Up next came a defense against Pedro Guevara, a former junior flyweight titleholder and longtime contender at 112 and 115. Guevara had never been stopped in his previous four defeats. For his fifth loss, Guevara was obliterated in less than three rounds.

Bam was doing things that others could not. And he dedicated 2025 to showing that his fellow junior bantamweight titleholders shouldn’t otherwise be considered his peers. Last July, he dispatched Phumelela Cafu in 10 rounds to take his WBO belt. In November, Rodriguez put away Fernando Martinez in the 10th to add his WBA title. Cafu and Martinez weren’t Bam, but they weren’t bums either.

Rodriguez wanted to go from unified to undisputed, but the IBF title fight wasn’t immediately available. Willibaldo Garcia had been ordered to defend against Andrew Moloney, who declined a step-aside payment — and went on to beat Garcia earlier this month. Instead, Rodriguez moved up to bantamweight, challenging WBA titleholder Antonio Vargas one week after Garcia-Moloney.

Vargas wasn’t a dominant 118-pounder. His only title defense had been a draw with Daigo Higa. He’d switched places back and forth with Seiya Tsutsumi, trading recognition as either the WBA’s primary bantamweight titleholder or as its unavailable “champion in recess.” He had skill and an Olympic pedigree, yes, but also a questionable chin, or at least porous defense, particularly early in fights.

But Vargas was available and marketable for Rodriguez’s entry into the weight class, and plenty of other fighters have chosen far less accomplished foes when debuting in a new division. Vargas had a good strategy, but he couldn’t hold up to Bam’s well-timed, well-placed power punches.

It was a sixth-round knockout. It was the 10th title fight victory for Bam, who is now 24-0 (17 KOs). And somehow he is still just 26 years old.

On the hunt for “The Monster”

“I’m here for a good time and not a long time. I don’t want to be fighting for a long time, so I want to get big fights and give entertaining fights to the fans, just be pure entertainment.”

Rodriguez said this just about two years ago, before he faced Estrada. And it remains the case. Many other boxers his age are still developing, are still prospects or contenders. Those who are titleholders often do more fighting on social media than in the ring. They seem to care more about winning negotiations than winning the actual boxing matches.

One could make a reasonable case that Bam has already earned a spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Rodriguez isn’t done yet.

The biggest bout available for him is with Inoue, another fighter with an awe-inspiring run through the weight classes. Inoue went from a prodigious titleholder at 108 and 115 pounds to the undisputed champion at 118 and 122. He is deservingly in the top spot of many pound-for-pound lists. Even if Inoue at the age of 33 is no longer in his physical prime, he has adjusted his in-ring approach and still was more than skilled enough to win a clear decision last month over Junto Nakatani.

Nakatani is 28, was a three-division titleholder and also was considered by many to be one of the 10 best fighters, pound-for-pound, in the world. Nakatani’s success at 118 only strengthened the calls for him to move up and face Inoue.

Sound familiar?

People have been calling for Inoue vs. Rodriguez since Bam was at 115. It was an understandable desire given Rodriguez’s talent level, and that he was one of the three superlative talents competing between junior bantamweight, bantamweight (Nakatani) and junior featherweight (Inoue).

It was still somewhat premature. It was still important to see Rodriguez handle his remaining business in his division, and then to see how he would handle the additional three pounds — on both his own body and his opponents’ — one division north at bantamweight.

So far, so good.

Rodriguez could move up to face Inoue next, but their teams may also want to build that up a little more. Maybe that would give Bam more time to grow into bantamweight and junior featherweight. A cynic would argue that maybe this could also mean Inoue would decline a little more, but that approach has never seemed to be how Rodriguez’s camp looks at matchmaking.

Bam’s team has spoken of a unification match with WBO bantamweight titleholder Christian “Chispa” Medina, 27-4 (19 KOs), a 26-year-old from Mexico. Medina upset Yoshiki Takei for the belt last September and then retained in February with a decision over former junior flyweight titleholder Adrian Curiel.

There’s also the winner of an expected rematch this September between WBC titleholder Takuma Inoue (Naoya’s younger brother), 22-2 (5 KOs), and Tenshin Nasukawa, 8-1 (3 KOs). Some fighters have spoken of Takuma over the years as a steppingstone opponent — though he’s no mere steppingstone — to help set up a clash with Naoya.

There’s always a danger in letting a big fight marinate, and either losing in the interim or putting forth a disappointing performance that lessens the excitement for said big fight. But there’s also a danger in moving up too much and too soon.

Once again, Bam could wind up following Bud’s example.

Crawford was inarguably the best fighter at welterweight. He took one match at junior middleweight, winning a world title from Israil Madrimov. And then he moved up two more divisions to face Canelo Alvarez.

While Canelo was no longer considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, he remained in many top 10 lists and had regained the undisputed super middleweight championship – recognition he’d previously lost not from a loss, but from vacating a belt.

Crawford was bold and ambitious. The huge payday was likely a big selling point as well. He capped his Hall of Fame career with a decision over Canelo, became the new king of 168, rose above every other name on the pound-for-pound list, and then retired just three months later.

Crawford was 38 when he hung up his gloves, but he was still clearly in peak form, and he had only just reached the most marketable point of his career. But he knew what he wanted and didn’t want from boxing. He knew he was ready to retire.

It’s too soon to know how much longer Rodriguez will fight on. Heck, it’s too soon to even know if and when the Inoue fight will take place.

There’s a longstanding belief that a fighter who is thinking about retirement already has one foot out the door and therefore will not be at their best in training camp or on fight night. Often that belief has proven true. Sometimes it is not at all the case.

Yes, Bam Rodriguez has said he’s here for a good time and not a long time. He’s clearly still having a good time. His pursuit of Inoue isn’t just about the money. As with Crawford and Canelo, it’s about accomplishment and respect.

Almost every young child is scared that the monster is going to eat them. But if anyone is hungry enough — and great enough — to beat “The Monster,” it’s Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.