3,425 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Cliff Rold byline.
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By Cliff Rold - Assuming an eleventh-hour glove controversy doesn’t derail plans, and these controversies seldom do, sometime in the next twenty-four hours, we will have an answer to the most exciting question in boxing. Who is the best Jr. middleweight in the world?
By Cliff Rold - Boxing is a sport without seasons, making it hard to identify strict beginnings and endings to its eras. It takes time to identify who the real players in a memorable time period will be and for older names to fade. A constant fluidity only looks concrete from a distance.
By Cliff Rold - In little more than a week, boxing fans will be treated to their second fight for just about everything that says ‘the man’ in a weight class. It’s the second four-belt unification of the year. Jermell Charlo (34-1, 18 KO) puts his three alphabet straps, Ring Magazine title, and claim to lineal the Jr. middleweight throne on the line against Brian Castano (17-0-1, 12 KO). The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board will recognize the winner as the king of the Jr. middleweights as well.
By Cliff Rold - Given how few pounds separate most of boxing’s seventeen weight divisions before the massive jump from light heavyweight to cruiserweight, it can sometimes feel like little more than a meal stands as an obstacle to combat. Those who understand how hard it is to shave pounds can explain how untrue that might be but perceptually it often doesn’t sound like much. It makes a showdown of contenders in weight classes just four pounds apart almost certain to carry a stamp of quality.
By Cliff Rold - We may look back one day and have a good laugh at what we didn’t know. It wouldn’t be the first time. In the last year or so, the idea of a possible new fabulous foursome around lightweight fired up plenty of imaginations. It may play out to early expectations. Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney, and Ryan Garcia have all held up their end so far.
When and how defeat occurs is a big part of framing the future. When Vasiliy Lomachenko lost his second pro start (excluding paid World Series of Boxing bouts) to veteran Orlando Salido, it was seen as both a learning experience and a little bit of a check on such early audacity. Lomacjenko followed with a decided win over Gary Russell in his next bout and kept right on going from there.
By Cliff Rold - The mission of the team around Gervonta Davis has been clear. Put butts in seats. Create a pay-per-view star. The former they’ve been doing with regularity in multiple stops across the United States. Last October, they made their first play for the latter and with pay-per-view the in-ring risk is escalating.
Pick It: TBRB #9 at 140 Mario Barrios vs. TBRB #2 at 130 Gervonta Davis (Saturday, Showtime PPV, 9:00 PM EST) - 26-year old Jr. lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis (24-0, 23 KO) hasn’t had any issue delivering power so far. Will it carry up the scale? We find out Saturday as Davis jumps two divisions to test the waters at Jr. welterweight against 26-year old Mario Barrios. Barrios is considerably taller and has a chance to break through in a big way.
By Cliff Rold - Punchers are always welcome. Punchers who take a few to get the job done are even more so. 26-year old two-time Jr. lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis (24-0, 23 KO) is both and has emerged as one of the best ticket sellers in the United States. Davis has sold tickets in his hometown of Baltimore, Texas, California, and returns this weekend to Atlanta, Georgia for his second foray as a pay-per-view headliner.
Heavyweight: Dillian Whyte avenged a loss to Alexander Povetkin to become the interim WBC titlist. Povetkin, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist who never quite got all the way to one of the primary sanctioning body belts, retired after a long run.