3,425 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Cliff Rold byline.
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By Cliff Rold - Some choices are easy. Oleksandr Usyk as Fighter of the Year, at this website and through just about every outlet that covered boxing in 2018, was as easy as it gets. Three major wins, unification of one of boxing’s deepest current divisions, all while being in the opponent’s home country every time out? Check please. Some years, the choice for fight of the year is like that. In May 2...
Heavyweight: No changes here. Tyson Fury retains his claim to the lineal crown, Deontay Wilder to the WBC belt, and Anthony Joshua to everything else. However, for purpose of explanation, some readers may note Fury credited with three lineal title defenses while only thinking of Wilder as a title fight. Historically, the heavyweight title has been on the line in any official fight because there is no other division to fight in. Fury billed himself as the lineal king for each of his two comeback fights. If he’d lost, he would no longer have been able to do that, right? On those grounds, the defense number is 3.
As we know it today, three official judges decide a boxing match when it goes the scheduled distance. Two judges aren’t enough. Too often, boxing fans are left with the bitter impression only two showed up on their A game. Donnie Nietes versus Kazuto Ioka was an excellent, tightly contested battle for the vacant WBO 115 lb. title between two accomplished veterans. Nietes was attempting to join Leo Gamez and Roman Gonzalez as the only men to win titles from minimumweight to Jr. bantamweight. Ioka was looking for his third full title after stints as a unified minimumweight and flyweight titlist.
The results for the last quarter of 2018 are in. They didn’t change anything. No one in the last BoxingScene Pound for Pound list lost. No one had such a blowaway performance against an elite opponent to demand entry nor did anyone have the sort of win that demanded they rise above someone ahead of them.
It is rare that any single year goes by without each of boxing’s seventeen weight divisions delivering the goods somewhere along the way. What often makes the difference between a brief spasm of memorable and a great era is the combination of depth and matchmaking to consistently deliver over an extended period of time.
By Cliff Rold - Some guys are there to make a good show. And lose. That’s the role they are chosen for and expected to play matched with established names or rising stars with their eyes on bigger things. Heading into December 22nd, the most anticipated fight at Jr. middleweight already felt penciled in. Some...
By Cliff Rold - Boxing does not have seasons. It does, and has always had, dates or times of the year where the expectation of big time boxing heightens. Today, in the United States, fans know Cinco De Mayo and Mexican Independence Day weekend are likely to have big fights. The dates can shift a bit but...
Sometimes it’s more fun to be wrong. Going into the fight, it was perceived here Carl Frampton was just a little level better than Josh Warrington. That thinking was dispelled early as Warrington let loose streams of leather. Then one had to wonder if he could sustain as Frampton started to get into the fight.
The third fight with Leo Santa Cruz hasn’t come. Neither has a showdown with Oscar Valdez or Gary Russell Jr. Former unified Jr. featherweight and singular featherweight titlist Carl Frampton has instead stayed active and now gets a crack at a second belt at 126 lbs. with the perceived biggest names in the class still over the horizon.
By Cliff Rold - We already know that one pairing can deliver. Saturday, we’ll find out about the other. Heading into both, it’s fair to say regional rivalries are often something to look forward to. United Kingdom fans have a healthy pair on tap. US fans will have easy access to both. In a surprise move, Showtime announced they would air the heavyweight rematch between Dillian Whyte and...