3,425 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Cliff Rold byline.
Every story follows our editorial policy. To report a mistake, use our corrections form; for anything else, contact us.
By Cliff Rold - Women’s boxing had some interesting developments in 2017 on the US side of the Atlantic. For the first time, the Boxing Writer’s Association of America has awarded a female fighter of the year. Amanda Serrano, a titlist in four weight divisions, brought women’s world title action back to premium cable. And, by the end of the year, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Claress...
It wasn’t a classic but, as is often the case, unification brought out some of the best of both men involved. In the end, Japan’s Ryochi Taguchi made his seventh WBA title defense, and added the IBF title at 108 lbs. in the biggest win of his career to date. He’s the first unified titlist at Jr. flyweight since Giovani Segura defeated Ivan Calderon in the 2010 fight of the year.
By Cliff Rold - The big hardware is out the door and the ball has dropped on 2017. Anthony Joshua was honored as Ffghter of the year (to debate among the readers and vast disagreements between press outlets on who deserved the nod). Joshua’s fight with Wlaidmir Klitschko was almost universally hailed as fight of the year as well, though even there one could find some healthy back and...
It’s the last big fight of 2017 for those who realized the year isn’t done just yet. While many a US press outlet has put in their fighter and fight of the year bids, there is still one fight that could affect at least the honorable mention categories of both. Filipino Milan Melindo fell short in title tries at flyweight and Jr. flyweight before exploding with his best campaign to date. He finally won a title with a shocking first round thrashing of Akira Yaegashi and won a tough fight with former Strawweight titlist Hekkie Budler. Now he has a chance to unify two titles at 108 lbs.
By Cliff Rold - So often, the true superfights let us down. Oscar De La Hoya’s fights with Felix Trinidad and Floyd Mayweather, and Mayweather’s fights with Saul Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao, smashed the box office. They weren’t smashing in the ring. The same was true of Lennox Lewis’s bouts with Evander Holyfiel...
Since the last update, only one of the top four fighters on the list stepped into the ring. In early December, Vasyl Lomachenko silenced the Cult of Rigo, overwhelming the Cuban maestro and forcing him to quit after six rounds.
by Cliff Rold - For weeks, everyone knew IBF super middleweight titlist James DeGale would be making his return on December 9th. After a rough, thrilling draw in a unification bout against Badou Jack in January, the “TBA” next to his opponent listing signaled this wasn’t about finding a serious challenger. DeGal...
Another year of International Boxing Hall of Fame voting has come and gone. It will be another year where Donald Curry, the one time undisputed welterweight champion of the world, did not get the call. There was a time where Curry looked like he might be the pound for pound leader of the sport. A possible showdown with middleweight champion Marvin Hagler seemed inevitable. He was a thrilling knockout artist who could also box an opponent silly. The road to lasting greatness was open.
By Cliff Rold - 2017 was a fantastic year for boxing. Part of the fantastic was the continued explosion of activity and recognition for the deeply talented pool at 115 lbs. Outside welterweight, where it’s hard to find an extended dry spell over the last hundred years where it didn’t feature several of the sports best, most divisions go through notable ups and downs. The ups in the lower weight divisi...
Roughly year ago, WBO middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders was taking a beating in some corners of boxing social media. He was fresh off a year long layoff, looked ho-hum against a largely unknown opponent, and was seen as relevant only insofar as he had the belt Gennady Golovkin didn’t have.