3,425 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Cliff Rold byline.
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Light Heavyweight: Joe Smith’s upset of Andrzej Fonfara sees him crash the top ten and send Fonfara plummeting. Fonfara remains rated, if barely, forcing Artur Beterbiev from the rankings. Beterbiev will almost certainly be back.
As signs point to Donnie Nietes moving towards a rise in weight, the 108 lb. class could be losing the man most see as its top battler. Even if he doesn’t ultimately move up, Nietes isn’t getting any younger. Considering his size, his time consistently near the top probably won’t be that much longer relatively speaking.
By Cliff Rold - WBA welterweight titlist Keith Thurman (27-0, 22 KO) is saying exactly what he should be saying. He’s saying what’s best for the sport and for the brand umbrella he fights for. Thurman, hot on the heels of his exciting title defense against Shawn Porter, is saying he wants to face WBC welterweight titlist...
In a low contact engagement that brought out the boo birds in spots, 33-year old Jr. lightweight Edner Cherry (35-7-2, 19 KO), 131 ¾, of Wauchula, Florida, won a debatable and oddly wide unanimous ten-round decision over 28-year old Lydell Rhodes (23-2-1, 11 KO), 133, of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the main event Tuesday night at the Sands Bethlehem Events Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The referee was Gary Rosato.
The crowd didn’t sound like they approved of the decision, with cause, but the hopeful comeback of former Jr. welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado continues with tentative steps. The 35-year old Alvarado (36-4, 24 KO), 147 ¾, of Denver, Colorado, managed a tough eight-round majority decision at welterweight over a spirited 26-year old Josh Torres (15-5-2, 7 KO), 147 ¾, of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Torres bruised up the face of Alvarado but couldn’t sway the judges in his favor in the main event at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. The referee was Neal Young.
by Cliff Rold - Saturday night (CBS, 9 PM EST), we find out if the wait was worth it. After talking about fighting late last year, and then pushing the fight back following a car accident for Keith Thurman, we arrive at an interesting fight in an interesting time at welterweight. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao still loom...
By Cliff Rold - The news was not good. Last Saturday, fight fans got an interesting upset on national television when Joe Smith stopped light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara in the first round. Too bad national television didn’t tune in. One could look at this from a glass half full perspective. The Smith-Fonfara...
By Cliff Rold - There aren’t a lot of names more common than Joe Smith. On Saturday night at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois, an uncommon result made a name for a fighter making his arrival among the top ten light heavyweights in the world. 26-year old Joe Smith Jr. (22-1, 18 KO), 173, of Long Island, New York...
While it isn’t the official main event, for serious fight fans the bantamweight title rematch beneath the light heavyweight bout between Andrzej Fonfara and Joe Smith (NBC, 8:30 PM EST/5:30 PM PST) might be the best reason to tune in.
By Cliff Rold - Perhaps we can consider the current bantamweight scene as the ‘player to be named later.’ In team sports, the phrase represents the end of a trade. In boxing, it could apply to a division that could be running hot just over the horizon. Bantamweight had some good fights in 2015. The two longest running powers...