Naoya Inoue’s rise through boxing has been nothing short of meteoric and veteran broadcaster and former titleholder Raul Marquez believes Inoue still has a lot left to give to the sport.

The two-time undisputed champion, now reigning as such at junior featherweight, Inoue has made world-class fighters look like novices with his explosive power and precision. As one of boxing’s top pound-for-pound fighters and surely the greatest Japanese boxer in history, Inoue has left fans eagerly awaiting his return in December, though no opponent has been officially named.

Marquez recently shared his thoughts on Inoue’s career and the potential challenges ahead for the fighter known as “The Monster.” When asked about how far Inoue, 28-0 (25 KOs), could go in terms of weight divisions, Marquez was both admiring and cautious. He believes featherweight could be Inoue’s limit.

“They’re talking about him going up to 140[lbs] or even 147, but I think that’s a bit too much,” Marquez told BoxingScene. “Sure, Manny Pacquiao did it – he started at 106 and went all the way to 147, fighting guys like Margarito at 154.”

But Pacquiao was a different animal.

Inoue has fought twice this year, winning both bouts by knockout – though neither performance was as spectacular as those from previous years. He was dropped in the first round by Luis Nery before stopping Nery in the sixth, and he allowed the visibly bigger TJ Doheny to find some early success before patiently bludgeoning him to defeat in seven.

There is some speculation about whether Inoue, at 31, is still in his prime – especially given that lower-weight fighters tend to age faster. Marquez, however, isn’t concerned.

“I think he’s still there, man,” he said. “He’s still got a lot of fights left in him. I’m excited to see what he does next.”

One matchup that has fans buzzing is a potential clash between Inoue and bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani, who has been making waves of his own. For Marquez, the prospect of the all-Japanese showdown is thrilling.

“That’s a fight I would love to see,” Marquez said. “At this stage of his career, you want to see Inoue in big fights. Why take a risk fighting someone without a name? I would love to see that fight.”

Lucas Ketelle is a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and author of “Inside The Ropes of Boxing” (available on Amazon). Contact him on X @LukieBoxing.

Rising star Adam Azim and veteran Ohara Davies made weight ahead of their junior welterweight clash at London’s Copper Box Arena tomorrow.

“I feel really good. I made the weight easy. I’ve had an amazing camp. Feeling good. Feeling positive. Let’s do this,” said the 22-year-old Azim, 11-0 (8KOs).

Thirty-two-year-old Davies, 25-3 (18 KOs), who has been hit and miss in fight week and skipped yesterday’s public workouts, told Sky Sports he was happy to be back on the platform and added:

“It’s been a good build up, and we’re ready to go,” he said.

Show weights...

12 rounds – junior welterweight

Adam Azim – 140

Ohara Davies – 139lbs

10 rounds – light heavyweight

Anthony Yarde – 179bs

Ralfs Vilcans – 177 1/2lbs

12 rounds – British light heavyweight title

Dan Azeez – 174lbs

Lewis Emondson – 174 1/2lbs

12 rounds – welterweight

Michael McKinson – 146 1/2lbs

Tulani Mbenge – 146 1/2lbs

10 rounds – heavyweight

Franklin Ignatius – 230 1/2lbs

Jeamie Tshikeva – 258lbs

Eight two-minute rounds – bantamweight

Ana Karla Vaz De Moraws – 120 1/2lbs

Fran Hennessy – 121 1/2lbs

Four rounds – middleweight

John Henry Mosquera – 162lbs

Sam Hickey – 163 1/2lbs

Six two-minute rounds – bantamweight

Catherine Ramos – 124lbs

Shannon Courtenay – 128lbs

Dmitry Bivol has had a little time to watch and reflect on his loss to Artur Beterbiev last Saturday in a fight for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.

And he sees what he should have done differently – not just in this fight but also in case he gets to step into the ring with Beterbiev again for a rematch.

“I want to improve more with my movements. I didn’t move enough,” Bivol said in an interview with Marcos Villegas of FightHub one day after suffering his first defeat . “I felt I had to move more. More counterpunches. I just need to add more. I felt some moments where I could do it, but I was a little bit careful.”

Both Beterbiev and Bivol felt that they could have done better.

For Beterbiev, 21-0 (20 KOs), he retained his undefeated record and added the fourth and final major world title to his collection, but he was taken the distance for the first time and was awarded a close decision that many feel could have gone either way.

For Bivol, 23-1 (12 KOs), he lost for the first time, lost the world title he had held for years and lost on the scorecards despite thinking he may have done enough to win.

In particular, there were the final three rounds of the 12-round bout.

Beterbiev swept those final three rounds, leaving us with the final scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112. Had Bivol won just one of those rounds, the fight would have been a split draw: 115-113 for Bivol, 114-114 and 115-113 for Beterbiev. Had Bivol won two of those rounds, the result would have been a majority decision in his favor.

Instead, Bivol epitomized a cliche: He let perfect be the enemy of good. He was waiting for the right openings from Beterbiev rather than Bivol just opening up with his own offense. According to CompuBox, Beterbiev went 46 of 205 in those final three rounds while Bivol was a mere 38 of 99. Bivol was more accurate but less active, and the judges favored what Beterbiev was throwing and how clean and hard they perceived Beterbiev as landing.

“I knew before how to beat him, you know? And he knew, also, how to beat me,” Bivol said. “But I think all fans in front of the TV, they know how to beat him and how to beat me. It’s the easiest part to know, but the hardest part to do it.”

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod . He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast . David’s book, “ Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing ,” is available on Amazon.

WBA bridgerweight champion Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (5-0) retained the title last night in Ufa (Russia) on an IBA Champions Night promotion with a unanimous decision over German challenger Leon Harth (22-6-1). The judges all had it 120-108 in favor of the champion.

Lightweight Albert Batyrgaziev (11-0 as a ‘pro’, retained the IBA Pro World title and stopped Albert Pagara (35-1 in the pros) from the Philippines in the fifth round of a scheduled 10-rounder. 

Why do pro fighters opt to fight for unrecognized semi-pro world titles? There are many reasons for this and they all spell money. Outside of Riyadh Season, IBA is probably paying more than anyone else.

Junior lightweight Artur Sukhankulov (7-0) outscored Chinese Wensong Liu (11-4-1) over 10 and won something called the WBA Asian title. Sukhankulov is also the IBA Pro European champion.

Namibian Immanuel Josef (16-4-1) beat Russian "debutant" Vasiliy Egorov on a technical decision. Egorov was unable to continue after a clash of heads in the seventh and it went to the scorecards. Josef won the vacant WBA Asia flyweight title.

The IBA roadshow is in Vienna (Austria) tomorrow Saturday, October 19. The Austrian pro federation, FvA, are not involved in this event. 

Former WBO super-welterweight champion is aiming to become a two-time 154lb champion on Saturday night as he takes on reigning IBF title-holder Bakhram Murtazaliev in a first fight since losing his belt. However, despite a difficult task ahead of him, the Aussie is hoping that the contest is far less arduous than his last.

Tszyu was seen as the poster boy of the super-welterweight division just months ago and was being linked to a showdown with arguable pound-for-pound number one, Terence Crawford, ahead of the American’s eventually successful move up from 147lbs.

Yet, after Keith Thurman pulled out of their title contest, ‘The Soul Taker’ proceeded with his fight date and accepted a clash with late-notice replacement Sebastian Fundora – appropriately nicknamed as ‘The Towering Inferno – who represented an entirely different obstacle than the bout that Tszyu had been preparing for.

An early cut to Tszyu did not aid his attempted title defence but Fundora did enough to edge a win a split-decision on the scorecards in one of the upsets of the year, becoming the unified WBC and WBO champion (as the vacant WBC crown was also on the line for that contest).

Although Tszyu was hopeful of a rematch with Fundora, the 29-year-old son of the legendary Kostya Tszyu has instead accepted a title challenge against Russia’s Murtazaliev, in the hopes of thrusting his name back into the title picture for possible unification affairs during 2025.

In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Tszyu admitted that he is not concerned with what the IBF champion will bring to the table and that, in a perfect scenario, the fight will be over inside 30 seconds.EXCLUSIVE: The Return of KRONK – Brit dreams of revitalising boxing’s most respected gym

“I haven’t thought much about him at all, in all honesty. I know he’s tough and dangerous and stuff like that. It’s me who’s in the ring. Exactly,”

“[Ideally I stop him in] 30 seconds, but I’m not looking for the knockout,”

“I’m just looking to show the dog in me, and I’m ready to have that feeling back.”

Murtazaliev-Tszyu takes place in Orlando on Saturday October 19th and will be the first PBC card on Amazon Prime to not be a pay-per-view event.

Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke birthed one of the greatest British level rivalries in recent years when they met back on Easter Sunday but their fight last weekend was far more one-sided. Now, Ben Shalom has revealed his suspicion regarding Wardley’s gloves and a spokesperson for the British Boxing Board of Control has provided on update on the situation.

‘Big Fraze’ battled to a hard-fought draw when he met British heavyweight champion Wardley earlier in the year and a similar encounter was anticipated to take place in Riyadh, as the highlight of the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard.

Yet, Wardley instead delivered an emphatic first-round knockout that left the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist dented both mentally and physically – requiring surgery as a consequence of the damage dealt by the undefeated champion.

During the aftermath, Clarke’s promoter Ben Shalom has prolonged his recently intensified animosity with Frank Warren and Queensberry Promotions by suggesting that there may have been foul play, bringing the legitimacy of Wardley’s gloves and victory into disrepute.

Speaking with The Sun, Warren responded to Shalom’s ‘disrespectful’ claims and revealed that Wardley’s gloves were checking during a recorded meeting the day before the fight.

“Frazer was a gentleman all week and has praised Fabio’s brilliant performance.

“The only person who has mentioned any suggestion of impropriety is Ben.EXCLUSIVE: Ben Shalom puts Frank Warren on blast after viral outburst

“It’s a disgrace Shalom has tried to tarnish Fabio’s win and reputation with such a dangerous suggestion.

“The British Boxing Board of Control checks and approves all gloves at the Friday meeting – which is filmed these days – and no issues were raised.

“I will be taking Shalom to the Board for bringing the sport into disrepute with this libellous allegation and questioning the integrity of the Board and everybody involved in the Riyadh show.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the BBBofC has informed The Sun that Shalom’s comments regarding an ongoing investigation are false.

“There is no investigation. The gloves were approved.”

With any uncertainty regarding his win now removed, Wardley is hopeful of building on the momentum of his most impressive performance and securing a big name opponent in the near-future.

Six-division world champion and world-renowned promoter Oscar De La Hoya has been consistent in his defence of Ryan Garcia. Now, Devin and Bill Haney have filed a lawsuit against both Garcia and De La Hoya’s promotional outfit and ‘Golden Boy’ has finally offered a response.

Ryan Garcia famously dominated Devin Haney back in April to seemingly hand the young champion a first career defeat, knocking ‘The Dream’ down for the first, second and third time of his career on his way to a shock majority-decision win.

However, during the aftermath, it was revealed that Garcia had tested positive for a performance enhancing drug (Ostarine) on the day of the weigh-in and on the day of the fight.

After months of deliberation, Garcia’s most impressive performance and victory was rendered as a no-contest and ‘King Ry’ was handed a one-year ban from the sport.

Then, around three weeks ago, it was announced that Devin Haney would be filing a lawsuit against Garcia, suing him for battery, fraud and unjust enrichment.

Now, Oscar De La Hoya has taken to social media to reveal further details of the case and defend both his firm and his fighter.🚨This weeks episode of Clap Back Thursday, starring Oscar De La Hoya‼️ pic.twitter.com/Lzvf6N4n0q

— Boxing Kingdom (@BoxingKingdom14) October 18, 2024

“The Haney’s named my company ‘Golden Boy Promotions’ in the lawsuit because they want a full accounting of Devin’s fight against Ryan. In other words, they want to see my books. EXCLUSIVE: The Return of KRONK – Brit dreams of revitalising boxing’s most respected gym

“They don’t believe the fact that Garcia-Haney only did a little over 300,000 homes and that they have been paid what they are owed. They want more money that doesn’t exist.

“Number one, Bill, we live in the same fancy neighborhood in Henderson, you could have knocked on my door and simply asked to see my books. We have told you over and over that this fight just didn’t sell – those are the facts.

“Number two, you guys are suing Ryan Garcia for battery? You do know that your son Devin is a professional fighter, right? His livelihood is based on battering other opponents. This has to be the lamest claim that I have ever seen in the four decades that I have been involved in the sport.

“Now, Bill, you are going to say that Ryan was doped up for the fight. The traces of Ostarine were so minute that professionals have said that it didn’t even matter or make a difference.

“The truth is simple, that your son couldn’t block the left-hook. He couldn’t stay on his feet in those nasty Ugg’s that he was wearing and he couldn’t handle Ryan Garcia.”

Garcia’s ban will end on April 20th, 2025 due to it being backdated and already the Californian is eyeing up potential opponents for his comeback.

Although, a grudge match rematch with Haney would likely be the most fruitful if the former undisputed lightweight champion dares step through the ropes to take on his nemesis for a second time.

Ohara Davies could retire from the sport after his scheduled fight against Adam Azim this Saturday at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.

Davies, now 32, has been around the professional game for more than 10 years and has faced some of the best 140-pound fighters in the world – Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall, and he suffered defeat to both.

Davies has picked up some big wins against the likes of Tyrone McKenna and Lewis Ritson, and was on course to fight for a world title but endured a devastating first round knockout loss to Ismael Barroso earlier this year. Davies is not taking too much from that performance, however, and is looking forward to fighting again on Saturday.

“Everyone knows I just threw the wrong shot,” Davies told BoxingScene of what went wrong in January. “I was so tired, I didn’t sleep and just got hit with a good shot. It’s not like I got out-skilled and then I got stopped. It’s just one of those things that can happen. It’s very unfortunate, but it is what it is and I get my second chance this weekend.”

Davies will now face the 22-year-old Azim, one of the most promising young junior welterweights in the sport. Davies may be 10 years Azim’s senior, but is very familiar with his foe after the two shared a gym with each other in the amateurs. Davies has been impressed with Azim’s development, watching him progress from a nine-year-old amateur to one of the best prospects in British boxing.

“He’s good, he’s sharp, he’s fast, he’s young, and he’s got youth on his side,” Davies said. “I’m very impressed with him. [I’m most impressed with his] speed. Damn, I don’t know if you can out-speed him. The faster he gets I’m like, ‘Damn, I’m actually in a very hard fight.’

“He’s got long arms, maybe he’s got everything. The only thing I’ve got that he hasn’t got is the experience and that’s what I’m going to have to use to my advantage.”

The pair have been on good terms since the fight was announced, refusing to get involved with any of the usual fight week antics. Davies believes that this won’t change on fight night.

“It won’t become real; it’s like sparring,” he said. “I spar my friends all the time; I hit them, I jab them, I hook them. There is no animosity on my part.”

The knockout defeat to Barroso and the aftermath has left Davies with a bad taste in his mouth. He is now questioning whether he will continue boxing after his fight with Azim.

“I don’t know if I’ll box again after this fight,” Davies said. “I have fallen out of love with the sport of boxing and this might be my last fight.”

Thursday, October 17

To be around Tim Tszyu 48 hours before his most important fight is to understand why the contest with Sebastian Fundora unfolded as it did.

It was at late notice in March when he agreed to fight Fundora, when an injury suffered by Keith Thurman – a significantly different nature of fighter – robbed him of the opponent for which he had long prepared. 

He then, against Fundora, fought on fearlessly from the second round with blood pouring so heavily from his scalp that his vision was affected – and there remain observers of what unfolded at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena who believe that he deserved to be awarded victory, instead of a split-decision defeat. 

Should Tszyu lose for the second time in succession on Saturday night, at Orlando’s Caribe Royale, there is little question that his career will require rebuilding. Yet for all of the pressure that that represents, and the heightened attention that complements the presence of his celebrated father Kostya, like only the most natural born fighters he has the air of a warrior licking his lips.

It had long been tempting to consider Tszyu a “throwback”, such was his apparent willingness to fight any opponent and his relative disregard for his fame. When in the aftermath of the defeat by Fundora he agreed to fight Vergil Ortiz Jnr – he was ultimately prevented from doing so by the cut that required further healing – he enhanced that reputation, and he enhanced it still further when unlike so many of his contemporaries he was dismissive of Turki Alalshikh.

Tszyu not only cuts a confident, relaxed figure, on the eve of what is considered the most competitive fights against a thankless opponent he has a glint in his eyes that betrays the extent to which he is relishing the imminent physical and psychological tests.

“When we step in the ring it’s all going to be a bit different,” he said from the top table of Thursday’s press conference. “That’s the best part about boxing – being taken by surprise. ‘He’s faster than I thought; he’s stronger than I thought; he’s harder than I thought.’ That’s all the questions that are going to be answered on Saturday night.”

If he were attempting to promote his next fight he’d have done so effectively, but Tszyu can be refreshingly reluctant to say much that he doesn’t believe.

When he first spoke, he declared he hadn’t prepared anything of significance to say and that he was “just winging it”, and unlike is increasingly common in the modern era insisted that beyond Saturday’s fight he and Bakhram Murtazaliev have no rivalry at all.

It has been suggested to BoxingScene that should he win, and emerge without another injury, he hopes to fight again as early as December, which ultimately speaks of a fighter determined to make up for lost time.

There, similarly, is little question that despite his compatriots Jai Opetaia, Liam Paro and Skye Nicolson possessing world titles, Tszyu remains Australian boxing’s leading figure. The broadcaster Fox’s dedication to covering his career has contributed to an official total (there will be others) of 27 journalists travelling from there to Orlando, Florida to cover his fight against an opponent who doesn’t speak English; as recently as Thursday his manager Glen Jennings described his father Kostya as “our greatest of all time”. 

If Tim Tszyu, often the driest of communicators, was far from desperate to exaggerate the picture surrounding Saturday’s contest, the reality is that he will regardless have known that promoters Premier Boxing Champions would attempt to sell the world a warped dream.

“He said you didn’t want the fight,” the host of Thursday’s press conference told Murtazaliev directly after Tszyu had finished answering one of his questions, when the reality was that Tszyu had said no such thing. Murtazaliev wouldn’t have known he was being misled – he was spoken to and responding via a translator – so he responded, and Tszyu then responded again, so that host’s goal was achieved.

Tom Brown of PBC was absent, and said to be arriving later on Thursday. But Kostya Tszyu’s presence sold Saturday’s fight better than Brown could have hoped to, even if more important to “The Thunder from Down Under” was supporting his son, and being reunited with Nikita – Tim’s younger brother – for the first time in 11 years.

At the conclusion of Thursday’s press conference Team Tszyu – Kostya included – sat down to take some personal photographs. Kostya briefly and lovingly massaged his son’s neck and upper back to ease his hidden tension as only a retired fighter who knows what he is going through. He then got his own phone out to demand that others be taken, so that he had the same images for himself.

Kostya Tszyu wanted his son Tim to avoid fighting a Russian until learning that a world title was again at stake.

On Saturday, at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, the 29-year-old Tim Tszyu will challenge Bakhram Murtazaliev for the IBF junior middleweight title and to move on from his first professional defeat.

His father, Kostya, the retired junior welterweight and Hall of Fame inductee, will be present at one of Tim's fights for the first time since the occasion of his professional debut.

The Russian-Australian Kostya lives in Moscow, and Murtazaliev, 31, is from Grozny, and has become one of Russia’s leading fighters.

Kostya’s faith in his son’s abilities contributed to his concern that it is a Russian he is preparing to fight, but after watching from afar when Tim Tszyu lost his WBO title to Sebastian Fundora in March, he recognizes that the opportunity represented by Murtazaliev was too good to dismiss.

“I’ve spoken to him about him, but my dad wasn’t too keen on [me] fighting a Russian first, just because it’s a Russian [and because of my dad’s background],” Tim Tszyu told BoxingScene. “But when he found out it’s for a world title, it doesn’t really matter who’s in front of you; what nationality. You’re just trying to take him out.

“He throws certain shots quite uncomfortably, so I think that presents a tremendous task. He’s awkward.

“He’s got little holes to exploit – [with] certain punches. I think he’s open to getting hit. I can’t really comment yet [on whether or not he’s a tougher fight than Fundora] because I haven’t really seen him in a dog fight yet, you know? I don’t think he’s fought anyone yet.

“I think he did well [when defeating Jack Culcay], but he did get caught a few times, so it’s exploiting that. I really don’t know [how tough he is]. We shall see.”

Tszyu admirably agreed to fight Vergil Ortiz Jnr before the damaging cut he suffered against Fundora dictated that he would not be ready.

The circumstances surrounding that fight mean that, unusually, defeat hasn’t set him back, but he recognizes that a second successive defeat on Saturday will do so, and therefore that it is a considerable risk.

“It’s back to looking at factory jobs,” he said with a laugh before being asked if he had ever considered a tune-up, and responding: “No, never. 

“I would have said, ‘Get fucked’ [if anyone had suggested I take one]. ‘You’re fired.’”

Middleweight Alexandre Gaumont continued his upward career trajectory with a two-round destruction of Andres Viera in the main event at Casino du Lac-Leamy in Quebec, Canada, on Thursday night.

Canada’s Gaumont, 12-0 (8 KOs), made quick, light work of Uruguay’s Viera, 12-9 (9 KOs), after a big right hand in Round 2 sent Viera down to end the fight. Gaumont, 29, started strongly in front of a hometown crowd that heartily cheered him on.

Although he opened with the jab in the first round, Gaumont went straight at Viera, soon attacking him with right hooks and uppercuts. Still, Viera appeared unfazed and ready to take more of what Gaumont had to bring.

Not for long. The second round was cut short by a devastating right hand from Gaumont to the jaw of Viera, which sent the latter down to the canvas. Viera tried to rise to his feet, but he struggled to get his legs under him and the referee saw fit to end the bout, awarding Gaumont a TKO victory.

Gaumont, who was making his third ring appearance this year, was full of praise for promoters Eye of The Tiger after the fight.

“I want to thank all my fans that came from Toronto to watch me fight,” said Gaumont. “I’m happy to be making this steady rise in my career since joining Eye of The Tiger. This victory is well-deserved and I’m thankful to all of you for showing up to support me.”

When asked if he has specific opponents at 160 whom he wants to face, Gaumont wouldn’t call out anyone in particular.

“I’m ready to face anyone that would bring meaning to my career,” he said. “I don’t have specific names to mention, but I’m willing to face any of them.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com .

Kevin “Big Gulp” Nagle will face Jake Paradise in an eight-round heavyweight co-feature on November 1 at the DCU Event Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The “Worcester Championship Boxing” card is presented by Granite Chin Promotions.

Nagle, 9-0 (7 KOs), a 40-year-old former U.S. Army Reserve soldier fighting out of Scituate, Massachusetts, made his pro debut less than two years ago. At age 25, after a brief amateur career, he put down boxing for more than a decade before returning to the sport after a series of personal struggles.

Paradise, 8-3 (8 KOs), like Nagle, has faced his own hardships, including depression, drug addiction and homelessness.

“This will be a clash of recovering fighters,” Nagle said. “Anything can happen in boxing. I never know what to expect when I step into the ring.”

In a one-sided, dominant display, Arthur Biyarslanov stood tall against Jonathan Eniz in a 10-round unanimous decision win Thursday at Casino du Lac-Leamy in Quebec, Canada.

Two judges scored the bout 100-90, while the third had it 99-91.

Canada's Biyarslanov, 17-0 (14 KOs), began the opening round by using his jab, with Argentina's Eniz, 35-21-1 (16 KOs), trying to counter it with his left hook.

The fight became more physical in the second round as both fighters went for the kill. Biyarslanov, 29, started landing his combinations with right and left hooks to the face and body of Eniz, who concentrated on returning fire with powerful left hooks.

Biyarslanov attempted to set the tempo with his right jab in the third round. While he continued connecting with combinations, Biyarslanov also landed a big uppercut that slowed down his opponent.

Eniz had to resort to defensive tactics to avoid further punishment, but at the start of Round 4 he attacked, forcing Biyarslanov to land counter combinations to his face. 

Eniz’s appetite for big shots left him absorbing more punishment from Biyarslanov, who landed powerful right hooks. Eniz, now unstable, connected with a combination at the start of the fifth round, but Biyarslanov quickly retaliated.

As both fighters went trading, Biyarslanov’s shots looked more effective. Eniz, though fighting back, could not deal with his opponent’s tempo. The sixth and seventh rounds saw Eniz take a lot of punches to the face and body as Biyarslanov tried to wear him down. Biyarslanov first opened up with a dangerous combination in Round six, but a resilient Eniz managed to take it all on.

In the seventh, the fighters switched to body work, but it was Biyarslanov who continued to land clean combinations. Eniz banged a big left hand to the face of Biyarslanov, but his opponent was untroubled.

Eniz looked tired at the beginning of the eighth, but he fought on. Biyarslanov kept coming, landing combinations and body shots. In Round 9, the tempo of the fight dropped as both fighters showed signs of fatigue. But it was Biyarslanov who managed to win the round with effective right and left hooks to Eniz’s body.

Despite knowing he needed just to stay on his feet in the final round to win a decision, Biyarslanov did not stop chasing and punishing his opponent. He connected with a big shot to the head of Eniz, who tried to rally in the final minutes of the fight – with no luck.

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com .

Junior welterweight Steve Claggett recorded three knockdowns en route to a fourth-round stoppage of Eduardo Estela at Casino du Lac-Leamy in Quebec, Canada, on Thursday night.

Canada’s Claggett, 39-8-2 (27 KOs), who most recently had lost a challenge of 140-pound titleholder Teofimo Lopez Jnr in June, dropped Estela, 16-4 (11 KOs), twice in the third round before finishing him in Round 4.

Both fighters started the opening round by establishing their jabs, but Claggett concentrated more on working on Estela’s body. Uruguay's Estela, on the other hand, returned the favor with clean shots to the body of Claggett.

Claggett started mounting pressure on Estela in the second round with combinations to the face and body of his opponent, who kept moving and relied on his counterpunches.

The third round proved brutal for Claggett, who chased Estela with combinations to the body and head. Claggett recorded his first knockdown after a left-hook to the body dropped Estela. When he came up, Estela tried to fight back, but a determined Claggett maintained his composure by targeting the body and recorded a second knockdown moments later.

Estela, however, managed to survive the round when he was saved by the bell. When the fourth round started, Claggett remained the aggressor, attacking Estela from all angles. Estela was looking for breathing space, but Claggett wasn't willing to offer it to him. 

Claggett got what he wanted when an uppercut caught and dropped Estela, who struggled to get up, forcing the referee to stop the fight and award Claggett a deserved TKO victory.

On the undercard, Russia’s Shamil Khataev, 13-0-1 (4 KOs), blasted out Christian Rafael Coria, 30-11-2 (14 KOs), of Argentina, in three rounds in a middleweight contest.

Montreal’s Luis Santana, 13-0 (6 KOs), maintained his invincibility in the ring, recording an eight-round unanimous decision victory over Sebastian Aguirre, 19-6 (12 KOs), of Argentina, in a lightweight contest. Santana won 78-73 (twice) and 78-72 on the judges’ scorecards.

Undefeated light heavyweight Mehmet Unal, 11-0 (9 KOs), of Turkey, extended his winning streak with a third-round TKO stoppage of Germany’s Armenak Hovhannisyan, 14-5-1 (6 KOs).

Cruiserweight Pascal Villeneuve, 5-2-1 (2 KOs), of Canada, won a four-round unanimous decision victory against Uruguay’s Rafael Sosa Pintos, 63-20 (25 KOs). All three judges scored the one-sided bout 40-36 in favor of Villeneuve.

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com .

There’s an assumption that Sebastian Fundora is fixated on the idea that he’ll fight former three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jnr next, but that’s not true.

First, Fundora wants to consider his own option to become a three-belt junior-middleweight champion.

Fundora promoter Sampson Lewkowicz told BoxingScene that his WBO/WBC 154-pound champion intends to watch Saturday’s IBF junior-middleweight bout in Florida between former WBO champion Tim Tszyu, 24-1 (17 KOs) and new champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, 22-0 (16 KOs), before moving toward a specific target.

Fundora, 26, became champion March 30 by defeating Tszyu by split decision in Las Vegas.

Even though Spence met Fundora in the ring afterward to call him out, Fundora said afterward that he appreciated the effort Tszyu gave in fighting through a ghastly early fight head cut and promised he would fight Tszyu again.

“That is a great possibility, a major possibility,” Lewkowicz said when asked if Tszyu has the opportunity with a Saturday victory to emerge as Fundora’s next foe. “We’re waiting to see how (Tszyu) looks, and we can make it happen. Nothing else is set in stone.

“(Tszyu) would be a great fight. Sebastian will fight anybody, and we promised we would fight (Tszyu).”

Spence, 28-1 (22 KOs) would offer more live-gate and pay-per-view revenue, but at this hour he is not ranked in the WBO top 15, and the WBO lead attorney has said the sanctioning body would strip Fundora of his belt if Spence doesn’t receive approval to enter the top 15.

Spence can petition for that distinction at the WBO convention in Puerto Rico Oct. 31.

Tszyu is the WBO’s No. 1 contender at 154 pounds.

Fundora just waited out a disappointing two-month period during which WBA 154-pound champion Terence Crawford decided not to invoke his WBO right to fight Fundora by the end of the year, allowing Fundora to seek another bout.

While Lewkowicz has said he now expects Fundora to return to the ring in January or February, Tszyu has told reporters he wants to fight again by the end of the year should he emerge victorious and unscathed in Saturday’s Prime Video fight at Caribe Royale Hotel Casino in Orlando, Fla.

Tszyu says he open to a wealth of opponents ranging from Fundora and former undisputed 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo to former title challenger Erickson Lubin and the winner of Fundora-Spence in 2025.

“We have options that not every fighter has,” Fundora promoter Lewkowicz said. “So we will wait and see.”

Tito Sanchez will face Edwin Palomares in a 10-round junior featherweight co-main event October 24 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, Golden Boy Promotions announced Thursday in finalizing the show’s undercard.

Sanchez-Palomares will be the primary support for headliners Manuel Flores, 18-1 (14 KOs), and Victor Olivo, 21-4-1 (9 KOs), in a 10-round bantamweight fight on “Golden Boy Fight Night” (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET/ 6 PT), which will showcase Golden Boy’s top prospects from California’s Coachella Valley.

In addition to Cathedral City’s Sanchez, 13-0 (7 KOs) facing Mexico City’s Palomares, 18-5-3 (9 KOs), Coachella Valley’s Grant Flores, 6-0 (5 KOs), will take on Luis Ramos, 7-4-1 (7 KOs), of Carolina, Puerto Rico, in a six-round junior middleweight contest.

Also, Denver’s Daniel Garcia, 9-0 (7 KOs), will face Oxnard, California’s Jorge Villegas, 14-3 (13 KOs) in a six-round lightweight bout; prospect Gael Cabrera, 5-0 (3 KOs), of Sonora, Mexico, will contest a six-round junior featherweight fight against an opponent to be announced; and Coachella Valley’s Cayden Griffiths, 1-0 (1 KO) will meet Roxboro, North Carolina’s Markus Bowes, 3-6 (2 KOs) in a four-round junior welterweight bout in the broadcast opener.

On the preliminary card, Santa Ana, California’s Johnny Cañas, 5-0 (2 KOs), will battle Pedro Cruz, 3-5 (2 KOs), of San Jose, California, in a six-round lightweight fight. In another four-round lightweight contest, Victorville, California’s Daniel Luna, 4-1 (4 KOs) will square off against Caracas, Venezuela’s Giovanny Gonzalez, 2-5 (2 KOs). And in the show opener, West Covina, California’s Kevin Gudiño will make his professional debut against Bryan Cox, 0-1, of Cedar Hill, Texas, in a four-round bantamweight fight.

In the latest effort to sabotage all the work it took to create an undisputed champion, unbeaten, four-belt light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev learned Wednesday that he faces a mandatory fight with an obscure opponent or risks being stripped of his International Boxing Federation strap.

Less than 100 hours removed from his stirring majority decision triumph over then-unbeaten WBA champion and Russian countryman Dmitry Bivol, Beterbiev, 21-0 (20 KOs), was informed that he’s on the hook to fight little-known Michael Eifert, 13-1 (5 KOs), of Germany.

The obvious question is one that a representative of Beterbiev promoter Top Rank asked Wednesday: “Who’s Michael Eifert?”

Despite Bivol’s appeal for an immediate rematch and the light heavyweight presence of unbeatens David Benavidez and David Morrell Jr. and the WBO’s top-ranked contender Anthony Yarde, Eifert, 26, found his way to the top of the IBF ratings by defeating an aged Jean Pascal by unanimous decision in March 2023 and then scoring a second-round TKO of lesser-known Carlos Eduardo Jimenez, 13-6 (12 KOs), in August.

Consider all the wondrous options before Beterbiev, 39, at this hour: a Bivol rematch, the winner of the early 2025 Benavidez-Morrell bout or even a showdown with recently undisputed super middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum said he seeks to conduct a dinner meeting in December with Alvarez trainer-manager Eddy Reynoso when Reynoso and Alvarez are expected to attend the Dec. 7 WBO junior lightweight title fight of Reynoso-trained Oscar Valdez in Phoenix.

“We look at Eddy Reynoso and Canelo as friends … I want to sit down and have a meal with them and broach the subject,” Arum told BoxingScene on Wednesday.

At this hour, unbeaten former super middleweight titleholder Benavidez, 29-0 (24 KOs), is WBC interim light heavyweight champion and also stands as that organization’s mandatory for Beterbiev.

The IBF is professing Eifert is the first-in-line mandatory, again casting the organization as the saboteur of an undisputed champion after earlier this year ruling that Daniel Dubois had the ability to replace unbeaten undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk days after Usyk’s thrilling win in Saudi Arabia over Tyson Fury.

The IBF then stripped Alvarez for not fighting his little-known mandatory William Scull, who was given the belt and defends it for the first time Saturday in Germany against Russia’s Vladimir Shishkin – a fight so uncompelling that it’s not being streamed/televised in the U.S.

“These organizations are really destroying the sport by not allowing the fighters to remain undisputed. It’s really sad,” Arum said. “The IBF, in particular, gets carried away with itself.

“All of these organizations should sit down together after an undisputed title fight and figure out whom the champion should fight next. And honestly, after becoming undisputed, that fighter should be able to fight whomever he pleases.”

Top Rank President Todd DuBoef reminded that his company has worked diligently to move its fighters toward undisputed position among the four sanctioning bodies – the IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA.

The list includes Terence Crawford, Josh Taylor, Devin Haney, Fury (who lost) and now Beterbiev. All of those reigns were short-lived because of mandatory obligations.

“There’s the good and the bad to it – you bring all the belts together (hearing 'unify, unify, unify') and then you find it so hard to keep them (hearing 'mandatory, mandatory, mandatory'),” DuBoef said. “It becomes an impossible position to defend.”

DuBoef said it will be Beterbiev’s decision as to how he’ll proceed, that he deserves time to properly savor the biggest victory of his career before prematurely rushing to decide whether he wants to meet Eifert – whom he would likely flatten inside five rounds – or pursue the big fish of the division while likely being forced to toss the IBF belt in the waste bin for doing so.

“We can only offer him the opportunities in front of him, [reminding] it’s great to be undisputed, but hard. You win, then you have to peel off the titles,” DuBoef said. “You set the fighter on this path toward becoming undisputed, and then you have to work to hold that path without it getting splintered.”

DuBoef likened the situation to soccer, where many great athletes participate in several different leagues across the globe.

The best way to settle who’s best is the World Cup, which happens only every four years.

Maybe it’s the same thing in the legacy sport of boxing – if we can achieve an undisputed champion in every division once every four years, that’s the best we can hope for.

The IBF’s penchant for enforcing its mandatory fights is linked to a past corruption scandal involving its former president Robert Lee and Arum.

By the IBF not adhering closely to its mandatory rules, it can prompt a  wronged fighter and his handlers/legal team to make a hair-trigger move toward litigation – a pricey episode that the New Jersey-based IBF clearly wants no part of.

But as we’ve seen with the emergence of mandatory contenders such as Scull and Eifert, the IBF ratings are ripe for manipulation with rules that are “antiquated,” according to a veteran boxing official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of their frequent IBF dealings.

Arum raised a sound point: While mandatory rules can apply to non-unified IBF champions, they should not apply to undisputed champions who have proven they are a rare breed and have accomplished what the point of the game is: to stand as king of the hill of their given division.

“The WBO and WBC, and even the WBA, have all been terrific on this subject. … They understand what it means to be undisputed,” Arum said. “Artur shouldn’t have to be thinking about jerking around with this German guy he’ll knock out in two rounds. … He has far more lucrative fights to get to, and he’ll fight anybody.”

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.

Jamel Herring retired once before, following his May 2022 loss to Jamaine Ortiz. That lasted about 17 months. He returned nearly a year ago, and while his comeback hasn’t gone as well as he’d hoped, the former junior lightweight titleholder isn’t thinking of hanging up his gloves again.

“For me, it has to make sense,” Herring said in an interview with FightHype . “I’m just sitting back. So whatever comes up, comes up. I’m not in it for just the cash grab or anything like that. I’m fine where I’m at in life. For me, it’s more like adding more to legacy, more than just like picking up a paycheck.”

Herring, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, turned pro after competing in the 2012 Olympics, where he was dispatched in his first bout of the tournament. He was among a talented class from the United States boxing team, but a pair of setbacks in the paid ranks seemed to indicate that Herring had reached his ceiling. He was stopped in the 10th round by Denis Shafikov in July 2016 and, two fights later, lost a unanimous decision to Ladarius Miller in August 2017.

He is 24-5 (12 KOs). And he is proud of what he has accomplished after turning pro alongside the likes of fellow 2012 Olympians Errol Spence, Jose Ramirez, Marcus Browne, Joseph Diaz Jr., Rau’shee Warren and Claressa Shields.

“I always feel like there’s always room for more,” Herring said. “But I think I overachieved with what many thought I could do to begin with.”

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod . He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast . David’s book, “ Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing ,” is available on Amazon.

An eight-round light heavyweight matchup between Umar Dzambekov and Eric Robles will headline a three-fight prelims “freeview,” which has been added to 360 Promotions' October 26 “Hollywood Fight Nights” at the Commerce Casino Event Center in Commerce, California.

Leading into the UFC Fight Pass broadcast of the seven-fight main card, the three preliminary bouts will be streamed on the UFC Fight Pass YouTube page, starting at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT). The five-fight main card will follow at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT), headlined by Omar Trinidad vs. Hector Sosa.

This marks the second 2024 appearance for Los Angeles-based Dzambekov, 9-0 (6 KOs), who trains out of Wild Card Boxing Gym, following a fourth-round knockout of Edward Jeramie Ortiz on August 31. Robles, 10-4 (9 KOs), of Tijuana, Mexico, is coming off a knockout win over Jesus Montenegro in June, snapping a three-fight losing streak.

“With 10 sensational fights scheduled for our ‘Hollywood Fight Nights’ event on October 26, this is shaping up to be one of our best shows in the last six years,” said Tom Loeffler, President of 360 Promotions. “We’re excited to work with Dana White and UFC Fight Pass to make the prelims available on a freeview for fans who subscribe to the streaming service.”

Also featured on the freeview will be junior featherweight Adan Palma, 9-0 (5 KOs), of San Diego, who will take on Las Vegas’ Carlos Mujica, 8-7 (2 KOs), in a six-round bout. Palma, 22, made his “Hollywood Fight Nights” debut on July 26.

In a scheduled six-round lightweight fight, Sebastian Gutierrez, 6-1-1 (4 KOs), of Oxnard, California, will face Cesar Villarraga, 10-10-1 (5 KOs), of Bogota, Colombia.

Tim Tszyu is planning to have a banner campaign next year if he beats IBF titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev on Saturday at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida on Prime Video. 

“Right now a perfect 2025 would be fighting Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr, and Jermell Charlo,” Tszyu told BoxingScene. “But people's stocks go up and down every month and the dynamic changes with new winners and losers.”

Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) knows far too well about how quickly a fighter’s fate can change based on their last performance. In March, the 29-year-old Austrailian suffered his first career loss in a bloodbath to Sebastian Fundora via split decision. Tszyu lost his title, but because he showed a solid account of himself, he’s been thrust back into the spotlight for yet another significant matchup. 

Tszyu was supposed to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. in August on Riyadh Season’s debut show in the United States, but the gash he suffered near his hairline in the Fundora fight was not properly healing. The timing of the circumstances forced the fight to get canceled. 

“Me and Vergil are both young, so there is no rush to make the fight happen right now. We've still got heaps of time left,” said Tszyu. “I am happy with the position that I’m at. What do I need to do? Everything is good at this stage. If there are big fights to be made, we'll start talking and consider it.” 

If Tszyu beats Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) and reclaims a 154-pound belt, he’ll once again be in a position of authority in a loaded division to better pick and choose his desired dance partners. 

After beating Tszyu, Fundora has since turned his attention to facing Spence and Crawford as well. 

“I'm leaning more toward Fundora beating Spence due to activity, and height. I don't know what Spence is still there,” said Tszyu. 

“A Crawford fight against me would be cracking. Styles make fights, and that one would be one hell of a show. I think Crawford did well against Israil Madrimov. Critics are going to always be like that. Madrimov is not a bum. People don't understand that.

“But right now I have all of the fights in front of me. We'll see how it goes. As soon as I get a fight offered, I say yes. I want to fight in the United States, 100 percent. This is where it's at. I've basically moved here in America to live my dream.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) , Instagram , LinkedIn and YouTube , through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com .