It was all going so well. For about eight rounds it looks like Moses Itauma was on his way to becoming the IBF heavyweight champion, as he was shellacking Filip Hrgovic from pillar-to-post at the O2 Arena in London, England.

But a funny thing happened, Hrgovic — after taking a quick trip to the canvas in the second — in the subsequent rounds weebled-and-wobbled, but never fell down again. And in-between all the punches he took, started to give a few back in return.

And then suddenly in stunning fashion, Itauma who looked so strong and explosive early on, became limp and flaccid in the ninth frame. As powerful as he was throughout this contest, he was just as physically impotent at the end. This was the worst crash landing since the Hindenburg.

Yes, Itauma hit the proverbial wall on Saturday, and not the kind that the late Kevin Samuels spoke off.

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As the end of summer nears the fall boxing calendar got a few additions to it. Also, it looks like Dmitry Bivol has made a decision on his next fight -- and I don’t think it’s a very popular decision. Here’s the latest ‘Pee Chee Folder’...

WINDY CITY

Golden Boy Promotions (along with MVP Promotions) is going back to the Windy City of Chicago on October 10 as they are staging the bout between Floyd Schofield and Lucas Badhi for the WBA lightweight title at the Wintrust Arena.

Schofield (19-0/13 KOs) had been hoping to face Gervonta Davis (who had held this title) but ‘Tank’ has been inactive since being held to a draw back in March of 2025. Schofield has not fought since last June when he struck down Tevin Farmer in one round. While Badhi (20-0/15 KOs) last saw in action in August of 2025 when he scored a 12-round decision over Roger Gutierrez.

This is a fight that should be sponsored by Rust-Oleum.

“There’s been enough talk outside the ring, and now I’m ready to let my fists do the talking. I’ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this, and I’m just one fight away from accomplishing my dream of becoming a world champion,” said Schofield. “I know Lucas Bahdi is coming to fight and will bring his best, but I’m prepared for whatever he brings. On October 10, it’s time to settle everything inside the ring and show the world that I belong at the top of the lightweight division. I’m coming to put on a show and leave Chicago as a world champion.”

Badhi, who is best known for his 2024 upset KO of Ashton Sylve stated,“I’ve been waiting to fight for a world title since the first time I laced up a pair of gloves. I’m extremely appreciative of this opportunity and can’t wait for Saturday, October 10 in Chicago.”

This isn’t the only title fight on the bill. Ring Magazine strawweight champion, Oscar Collazo, will be moving up two weight classes to challenge unified flyweight champion, Ricardo Sandoval, who is rated number one in the division by Ring Magazine. While Collazo is currently rated 10th in their current pound-for-pound rankings.

This is certainly one of the best and most intriguing fights on the upcoming boxing schedule.

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There is a heavyweight championship fight taking place this Saturday as Moses Itauma faces Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF belt at the O2 Arena in London, England. Itauma is thought of as the games most promising big man at age 21, and is already a significant draw in Britain (where they don’t care much for stuff like Week O in college football).

But I have a question, does anyone in the States know, or care about this?

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Yesterday Netflix released its latest installment of its ‘Untold’ anthology series. The focus of this chapter is on Vince Young. It takes a look at his career as a prep phenom in a football crazed state, and then his iconic run as a Texas Longhorn, to his disappointing professional career.

There is the familiar rise-and-fall story line in play. Basically ‘Untold’ is the ‘Behind the Music’ of sports. As a college football fan and as someone who watched a ton of games featuring Young during his days at Texas, I found this to be entertaining and I learned a few things.

But in my view, the story really gets interesting as it delves into his relationship with Tennessee Titans head coach, Jeff Fisher. Their personal dynamic could’ve been an episode of ‘Beef’. It’s clear that even to this day, both have some harsh feelings towards one another. To a point that Fisher wouldn’t even respond to a letter that Young wrote him. (Yeah, that’s more petty than Tom and Richard combined)

This wasn’t just a dysfunctional relationship, but one that was downright toxic. Which is a problem given that the quarterback-coach union is pretty damn important in the game of football. Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll may have not seen things eye-to-eye and won Super Bowls, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

I wonder, in the deepest recesses of Young’s mind if he would behave differently early in his career as a franchise savior if he had it to do over again. The way he did things might have been more palpable as a flashy wide receiver or defensive back, but a quarterback has to be the guy that’s the first-in-the-building-and-last-out. In that regard Young was no Drew Brees or Peyton Manning.

On the other hand, would Fisher -- who was definitely an old-school coach -- try and nurture that relationship with Young in a different manner? I found it revealing that he admitted that in the 2006 NFL Draft that it was Jay Cutler from Vanderbilt that he really coveted. Maybe he was never going to look at Young as his next Steve McNair. And quite frankly, he never played like him.

Both needed one another, and both in many ways failed one another. And both suffered from it.

You can tell that Young still lives with some regrets, not just with his NFL career, but some of the legal and financial issues that have plagued him. But overall, I found Young to be a likable guy. One that still has a lot to live for. In the aftermath of Texas’s victory over USC, his coach, Mack Brown, made it a point to tell his players that this shouldn’t be the high point of their life.

I hope that’s not the case for Vince Young.

Here are some other random thoughts on this episode (warning, there are some spoilers, here)....

- As they showed footage of Young at Madison High and the fact his games had to be played at the Astrodome, I’m reminded of ‘Friday Night Lights’ and the fervor the surrounds high school football in Texas. Great players are Gods, here. You can argue which state produces the best players, I don’t think there’s any doubt which state takes football the most seriously.

- So Young’s dream school was actually Florida St, much of it to do with 1993 Heisman Trophy winner, Charlie Ward. Unfortunately, they wanted him as a wide receiver.

- Which brings me to this point, I think a lot like Michael Vick, he was ahead of his time as a quarterback. He was never meant to be a pure drop-back pocket passer. But even in that era of football, they didn’t fully utilize the athleticism of QB’s like they do now. Yes, there were some spread concepts used at UT for him, but I wonder what he could’ve done with stuff like the RPO, the read-option and going full blown tempo.

And in the NFL, he was always going to be a bit of a square peg to a round hole, in that era.

- So it was McNair, who was a father figure and mentor to Young, basically talked Young out quitting the team early in his career. He was all set to leave Austin. You wonder how the history of college football and the legacy of Mack Brown is altered if McNair never calls Young on that day.

- It’s great to see that Young is still an exulted figure in Austin. For his sake you hope he can monetize this, hey, call it retroactive NIL. There is no doubt that he is among the most beloved figures in UT history. Which is a great part of college football, that long after you leave/graduate, your legacy can live on. I wonder in the age of the transfer portal, just how many more players will have this status.

It’s clear that Young is in the Longhorns Mt. Rushmore of football players. I’m thinking its him, Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams and.....? Tommy Nobis?

- Finally, the 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC makes an argument for the greatest college football game ever played. It had all the elements, from two highly talented teams (both had NFL bodies all over on both sides of the ball), well-regarded coaches in Brown and Pete Carroll, an incredible setting at the Rose Bowl and Keith Jackson on the call. I mean, does it get any better than that?

And then the game itself. It actually surpassed the hype.

It’s the type of game(and again, this is the beauty of college football) that Longhorn fans will watch over and over like they would their favorite movie, while Trojan fans probably wince every time it comes on and quickly change the channel.

Alright, so a few things are on my mind after this past weekend. Fights make fights, as they say in boxing (I think it was Larry Merchant who told me that years ago.) But I’m not really sure that’s the case any more. Regardless, in the aftermath of Teofimo Lopez’s victory over Rolly Romero on Saturday, I do wonder what this means for the division. Lopez captured the WBA welterweight belt with this win.

It’s obvious that he will be eyeing the winner of the September 12 bout between WBC titlist, Ryan Garcia, and Conor Benn.

But there is something that is looming -- the WBA mandatory for Lopez versus Jack Catterall. ‘Catt’ earned this distinction by defeating Shakhram Giyasov (who was ignored for over a year by Romero and the WBA while he was the number one contender) on May 23. But there were announcements made that the winner of that bout would become the mandatory challenger.

What should take place in an orderly sport is Lopez-Catterall for the WBA title. But unfortunately, this is anything but that. And I get the sneaking suspicion that Catterall will get the shaft (again). To be fair, that is just my opinion -- which granted, doesn’t mean much -- but at this point in my life I’ve been more and more cynical about this whole process.

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As I was watching the welterweight title bout on Saturday night between Rolly Romero and Teofimo Lopez, which was eventually won by Lopez, someone came to my mind -- Oba Carr. Remember him? The one time Kronk prodigy was a welterweight contender from the 90’s.

He had to be disgusted by what he witnessed (that is if he forked out $80 to even watch this mediocre affair.)

The reason his name popped up was that coming into the weekend the welterweight titlists were: Devin Haney (WBO), Ryan Garcia (WBC), Liam Paro (IBF) and now Lopez, who out-pointed Romero over 12 largely uneventful rounds. But truth be told, his wins to capture the lightweight titles (against Richard Commey, and then Vasiliy Lomachenko) and the junior welterweight crowns (versus Josh Taylor) were far more impressive in nature.

This fight could be summed up like this: one guy did little, and the other guy was happy for it.

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On this week's edition of the Friday Pee Chee Folder, there is a card taking place today/tonight that has me intrigued, not because of the actual fights, but where it is being broadcast. And other assorted news and notes from the boxing world...

TIK TOK

There is a chance that as you’re reading this that the card at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, has already begun. It’s a show largely featuring the female roster of Jake Pauls’ MVP Promotions, with Amanda Serrano headlining versus Lucrecia Manzur.

OK, you probably know by now that I’m not the biggest fan of women’s boxing. It is what it is. I watch what I have to, but it’s just not my cup of ginseng tea. What is most interesting about this card is that it’s not on a traditional platform such as ESPN, DAZN or even YouTube.

This is being telecast on Tik Tok.

Now, even though I do have a Tik Tok account (k9kim1) I don’t utilize it nearly as much as I do Twitter (@SteveKim323) or Instagram (@steveoralekim) but the fact of the matter is that many younger people do. But if there is ever an occasion that a few of my buddies and I do a group ‘Running Man’ dance, I’ll be sure to post it there.

I looked it up and it has right around two billion (again, with a ‘B’) users on a monthly basis. So say whatever you want about it, but it is a major platform.

In recent years post-HBO and Showtime, boxing has had problems gaining traction in the United States as many of the networks that once broadcast boxing, for the time being, have shunned the sport. Now, that could change, but the reality is that as the likes of Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions looked for new broadcast deals recently, didn’t find any takers. Now, they are both under the DAZN umbrella.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but just how many subscribers they have in America has never been clear. There is a belief it may not even be 100,000. Beyond that, how many under the age of 25 are on it?

Tik Tok, for whatever you say about it, doesn’t have that problem.

Growing the next generation of boxing fans should be a priority for everyone in the business of boxing. Sure, running to Turki for a piece of his war chest was lucrative but it’s largely short-term thinking. Unless you have a social media presence like a Ryan Garcia, it has become increasingly difficult for young boxers to gain footing with the general public. And if the traditional terrestrial and cable outlets have no interest in boxing, how do you ever grow the fan base?

This means you better be creative and take some chances because HBO and Showtime aren’t coming back, and for the time being Netflix seem to be more into big, tent pole events more than investing into boxing.

But ask yourself this, just how many people are really going to view this weekends welterweight title bout between Rolly Romero and Teofimo Lopez? How many watched the last outings of Jaron Ennis and Jesse Rodriguez, two of the very best American boxers.

The recent ratings of the TNT ‘the Fight’ series show that when you put solid bouts on a larger platform, there is a significantly larger audience.

So let’s the do the math, if this show tonight (which begins at 7 pm, ET/4 pm, PT) at it’s peak does just 10-percent of Tik Tok’s two billion users, that’s 200 million. Being realistic, that’s probably not going to happen. Now, at 5-percent, that would be around 100-million viewers. Again, I don’t think it does close to that number.

One percent would be an audience of 200-million. OK, even that seems a bit overly optimistic. Being as realistic as I can be, should this MVP card get 0.1-percent of the Tik Tok base, that would represent two million viewers. May not seem like all that much.

But ask yourself this: when was the last time a card of this nature had such an audience?

WBOrder

Its not clear what light heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol, will do next, but if he wants to keep his WBO title it looks like he’ll have to face Callum Smit next.

But you wonder if Bivol, who returned the ring on May 30 by scoring a wide decision over Michael Eifert (his IBF mandatory), will go through with this fight if more lucrative bouts against David Benavidez and Artur Beterbiev are available. He’s at the stage where money matters a bit more than the belts.

Personally, I’d like to see the rubber match against Beterbiev, to close that chapter.

ZUFFA BOXING

Johnn Fischer will face Michael Pirotton at London’s Copper Box Arena on September 26 in what will serve as the main event on Zuffa Boxing 11 that will air on Paramount+.

More and more of Zuffa’s recent cards have been taken out of the antiseptic atmosphere of their Apex in Las Vegas, and this will be their third overseas card in recent months.

Now, when will they announce Shakur Stevenson’s upcoming bout?

This Saturday night from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, a match-up between one-time friends, Rolly Romero, and Teofimo Lopez takes place. If you’re not attending -- and judging by what I’m seeing, not many of you are, but more on that later -- you can watch it for the mere price of $80.

Yeah, this is how far we’ve fallen.

A bout between the inactive and flawed Romero and a guy who just lost 11 of 12 rounds in his last outing is behind a paywall -- a pretty expensive one at that. But I cover boxing, so I’ll be watching it (no matter what Mario Lopez claims.)

Some thoughts on this fight and the overall card.

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Last week the WBO ordered negotiations to begin between their super middleweight champion, Hamzah Sheeraz, and their mandatory challenger (and former unified middleweight titlist), Janibek Alimkhanuly. This is an intriguing match-up, and would be one of the highlights of the fall/winter boxing schedule.

But I do have one question...

Will Sheeraz accept this assignment?

In the past, you’d never ask such a thing. A champion would be given a mandate to defend his title, and he would dutifully fulfill it. That’s part of the responsibility of being a belt-holder. But more and more in recent years we have seen boxers just simply vacate the titles because certain opponents were simply a bit too difficult, or were too difficult and didn’t come with enough reward attached to face them.

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Late last week a video came up on my YouTube feed, it was a compilation of highlights of James Toney on his 1991 from Top Rank. Being a big fan of ‘Lights Out’ (he was actually my favorite fighter post-Marvin Hagler during the early-to-mid 90’s) I didn’t hesitate to give it a look.

This video mainly focused in on his step-up bout against Merqui Sosa that begin this year, his title winning effort versus Michael Nunn, then his first defense against Reggie Johnson, and finally his memorable clash with fellow future Hall-of-Famer, Mike McCallum..

But this video doesn’t really do justice to the type of campaign Toney had in ‘91, where he was named Ring Magazine’s ‘Fighter of the Year’ for his efforts. This is the type of year that simply will never happen again in the sport of boxing moving forward.

After making his pro debut in 1988, Toney had compiled a mark of 23-0-1 (he later defeated the man who held him to that draw, Sanderline Williams near the end of 1990.) As the new year began, Toney, who was relatively unknown was paired in mid-January with the hard-nosed Sosa who at the time was undefeated in 18 fights.

Ask yourself this, do you think in today’s game that either camp would agree to such a fight? This bout that was on a Sunday night at the Trump Taj Mahal was on ESPN as part of their ‘Top Rank Boxing’ series. That was the first time I can recall watching Toney, who won a hard-fought 10 round decision. I recall being somewhat impressed by his skills but not necessarily blown away.

Then by the end of March, Toney stopped Alberto Gonzalez in five rounds at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Again, how many young boxers at the 10-round level today are afforded an opportunity to fight twice in less than two months in the current system?

On May 10 of that year, Toney marched into Davenport, Iowa to face the unblemished and highly regarded Michael Nunn for the IBF middleweight title. These days, boxers who get the number one position wont actively seek out a difficult champion, and basically squat on their rankings in hopes that it becomes a vacant title. Back then, young contenders didn’t really hesitate in these situations. They really didn’t have a choice.

Toney made a loud statement as he wore down the slick Nunn, and stopped him in dramatic fashion in 11 rounds in his own backyard. At that point, everyone knew that he was a formidable fighter. This was the first bout on TVKO, which was the short-lived monthly pay-per-view series of HBO.

Now, this is where the game was completely different. Toney defeated Nunn at the beginning of May, by the end of June he was facing Reggie Johnson on ABC at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas in his first title defense. So yeah, less than two months after winning his crown, he was defending it. That simply doesn’t happen today.

After an early trip to the canvas, Toney fought back to win a close, 12 round decision.

He got a longer respite before his next outing, which was a mid-October assignment in Monaco with Francesco Dell’Aquila in defense of his IBF strap. He had an easy night, stopping the challenger in four. But that wasn’t the end of his year.

On December 13, he was slated to face ‘the Body Snatcher’ at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City. In what a classic bout -- that was eventually given ‘fight of the year’ honors by Ring -- Toney and McCallum engaged in a physical chess match that would’ve done Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky proud. This contest was ruled a draw. (In later years as I re-watched this, I give the edge to Toney, who finished strong down the stretch.)

This is the rare fight that is appreciated by both the purists and the casual fans of the sport. This was the true art of professional boxing, with plenty of skill and punching mixed together. It’s both educational and entertaining.

So in summary, that was six fights for Toney. To put this into perspective, a few days ago I listed the number of fights the current Ring Magazine pound-for-pound list had so far in 2026, and the total was eight (with none of them having a fight officially announced for the fall). And Toney was showcased on ESPN, TVKO, and ABC throughout the year, and he even fought overseas.

All this at age 22-23.

At the beginning of 1991 he was basically an unknown entity. By the end of it he was a valuable commodity. Yeah, as this one boxing scribe likes to say -- activity matters. From a personal standpoint, there was nobody I enjoyed watching more from this point to the end of 1994 more than Toney, who was really the last big-time American champion to take non-title fights. (Yeah, that used to be a thing.)

Unfortunately, what takes place in the modern day business is that a young champion will win a world title, and then be relegated to basically two defenses a year on a network that has an exclusive deal with their promoter. Which means that slots are doled out based on association and contractual obligations, more than merit. And now with DAZN housing most of the major promoters, opportunities for a particular fighter to be more active are probably more scarce.

I’m not even sure an enterprising young pugilist would be able to do what Toney did in this era even if he wanted to. Many of the outlets that he performed on in-between his more significant assignments on HBO, haven’t televised boxing for decades.

I, along with many other boxing fans around my age, were lucky to have seen this career unfold. And the stark reality is that we’ll probably never see something like this again.

Alright, we’re right around the midway point of August (and I still can’t believe that kids are going back to school so soon, seriously, we used to return after Labor Day. What is happening to our country!?!?) But anyways, not much happening this weekend in boxing, but some things are being worked on for the fall. Here’s the latest ‘Friday Pee Chee Folder’ with all the recent news, notes, rumors and scuttlebutt in boxing...

MANDO

The WBO has ordered that the camps of Hamzah Sheeraz and Janibek Alimkhanuly begin negotiations for a fight. Sheeraz currently holds their super middleweight title, while Alimkhanuly held their middleweight title (along with the IBF strap). Last December, Alimkhanuly was headed to a three-belt unification bout against Erislandy Lara before he failed a pre-fight VADA test for meldonium.

At the end of his suspension, he made the decision not to face Denzel Bentley (who won their interim title a few months ago) and instead, chose to campaign at 168 moving forward. As for Sheeraz, he struggled in his initial title defense a few weeks back versus Simon Zachenhuber.

Now, there are those who will state that Alimkhanuly is not being punished harshly enough, and the WBO in a way is rewarding him. I can see that argument. But on the other hand, this is an intriguing fight that I’m looking forward to.

Both things can be true.

You can make an argument that those who fail drug test should face more severe sanctions, especially in an era where most champions fight no more than twice a year. On the flip side, I think many fans are starved for good fights that they’ll take anything they can get.

I fall into this category.

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There used to be a phrase and a belief that, ‘as the heavyweight division goes, so goes the business of boxing.’ I’m not sure that has really been true since the heyday of Mike Tyson in the mid-to-late 80’s when he was one of the five most famous people in the world. My view is that the health of boxing is tied into how many true stars exist, or how active the elite fighters in the world are.

For the past several years I have kept track of how busy the games blue-chippers are, and quite frankly, the results are bleak. Long gone are the days when you’d see active world champions making three or four title defenses in a year.

I use the current Ring Magazine pound-for-pound list at the end of the calendar year as my group of boxers. My view is that if you’re on this, you are among the games most talented and best known. I didn’t do one for 2025 as my time writing for SNAC.com came to an end, and I hadn’t begun this Substack. A few weeks ago it dawned on me that in 2026 the games elite hadn’t fought all that much. Well, lets see how true that is.

We are now well into the third-quarter of 26, which has given everyone in the sport an opportunity to perform at least once, and then a chance to schedule another fight. So how (in)active have the marquee boxers been since the beginning of the year? Once again, I will be going with the current Ring Magazine pound-for-pound list...

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Alright guys, I got some good news and I got some bad news.

OK, lets start off with the positive, ratings for TNT and ‘the Fight’ series seemed to be very good and improving after two installments. The last one being the August 1 card featuring the battle between William Zepeda and Lamont Roach for the vacant WBC lightweight title in Las Vegas.

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