3,425 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Cliff Rold byline.
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Almost two years out of the ring. An injury to be detailed at a later date. Failure to make weight on the first attempt. For those who believe in signs, none of them look good for defending WBC featherweight titlist Gary Russell Jr. Across the ring on Saturday night (Showtime, 9 PM EST),
By Cliff Rold - The inactivity of WBC featherweight titlist Gary Russell (31-1, 18 KO) since winning his belt with a four round thrashing of Jhonny Gonzalez in 2015 has never obscured the reality of what happens when the bell rings.
Boxing is off to a slow start in 2022 with the schedule not set to pick up steam for a couple weeks. For the fighters who compete in the meantime, it’s an opportunity to fill a void and make statements.
By Cliff Rold - COVID continues to wreak havoc on boxing as 2022 gets underway with a late replacement in the main event on ESPN (10 PM EST). WBO light heavyweight titlist Joe Smith Jr. was supposed to make his first defense against established, if fringe, contender Callum Johnson. Johnson is out, opening the door for Steve Geffrard’s
By Cliff Rold - The pecking order between the two best light heavyweights in the world isn’t clear. The next man in line right now is. 32-year old WBO light heavyweight titlist Joe Smith Jr. (27-3, 21 KO) has been a hell of a story over the last two years, and a roller coaster over the last five. Smith retired one of the great fighters of the last thirty years in Bernard Hopkins. Smith proceeded to lose his next fight and two of his next three overall.
By Cliff Rold - 2021 is in the books and awards season here at BoxingScene is winding down quickly. The debut of awards categories for the women’s side of the sport will close the show this year. On the men’s side, BoxingScene honors so far have gone to:
With roughly half a year of action to add to the pool, and a New Year all rung in, it’s a good time to look in on the competition level of the upper tier of the sport.
Boxing’s new season is already in full swing with a heavyweight pay-per-view card already in the bag. January 2022 will play out with multiple title fights but the bigger stuff is still over the horizon.
It wasn’t a busy weekend for the sport but as the world welcomed 2022, boxing ended and then began its latest seasons with notable action at heavyweight and Jr. bantamweight.
The second half of the boxing year has almost passed since the last update and the boxing world has changed plenty. It hasn’t changed at the top. Saul Alvarez remains the sport’s assumed leader, now with all the hardware at super middleweight. Teofimo Lopez, after a loss to George Kambosos, and Jermell Charlo, after a unification draw versus Brian Castano, dropped out of the top ten.