3,425 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Cliff Rold byline.
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Leo Santa Cruz won a vacant WBA featherweight belt from Abner Mares, lost it and regained it against Carl Frampton, and now attempts to ‘unify’ WBA belts against WBA featherweight titlist Abner Mares.
By Cliff Rold - Summer is sequel season for moviegoers. It’s only fitting we get a notable sequel this weekend in boxing as well. Featherweight Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1, 19 KO) will attempt the second defense of his second reign as WBA titlist against the man he initially defeated to win a belt in a third weight class. For...
This hasn’t been a dull year so far. Several men on the last top ten have seen action as well as several on the fringe. It’s caused plenty of room to shake things up. The big question is at the top. Vasyl Lomachenko rose to lightweight and won an excellent scrap with Jorge Linares to capture a belt in his third weight class. Previously rated fourth, was it enough to leap all of the men in front of him?
By Cliff Rold - He was the breath of fresh air the boxing world never got to exhale. When Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KO) lifted the heavyweight championship of the world from Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, it was hard not to be both impressed and intrigued. The fight itself wasn’t particularly thrilling but Fury had done something no one else had in a decade, in a way no one had before. Fury...
There might not be a better fighter in the world right now. When Japan’s Naoya Inoue performs the way he did against veteran Jamie McDonnell, it’s hard for that thought not to creep in. As people assemble pound for pound lists, lots of caveats come into play. Some weigh the breadth of a career; others accomplishments; still others, recent form.
A busy weekend for the new ESPN+ app got off to a roaring start with Naoya Inoue’s debut at 118 lbs. against Jamie McDonnell. Saturday, the spotlight focuses on the division he just left behind. Even without Inoue, 115 lbs. is still loaded. Ancajas (29-1-1, 20 KO) defends his IBF share of the Jr. bantamweight crown against a fellow Filipino in Sultan (14-3, 9 KO). It’s a rare all-Filipino world title clash
by Cliff Rold - Hardcore boxing fans have been waking up early in the morning to watch Naoya Inoue for a few years now. The former Jr. flyweight and Jr. bantamweight titlist is the sort of dynamic offensive fighter who stands out no matter the size. For some of his fights, like his title winning effort against Om...
MGM Grand Harbor, Maryland - In a battle of former United States Olympians, Gary Russell Jr. (29-1, 17 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Joseph Diaz (26-1, 14 KOs) to retain the WBC featherweight world title. The scores were 115-113, 117-111, 117-111.
The evening’s live action began in the light heavyweight division. The action didn’t last long. Reuben Simmons (3-0, 2 KO), 166 ¾, of Fort Polk, Louisiana, was awarded a technical knockout when 26-year old Ayron Polk (0-2), 172 ½, of Princeton, West Virginia, was deemed unable to continue prior to the second round. It was an awkward finish. During three lackluster opening minutes, few punches connected but a nasty clash of heads clearly occurred near Polk’s red corner. The doctor checked on Polk after the round the final ruling ended up a technical knockout. The referee was Kenny Chevalier.
An old-timer cliche, paraphrased from various forms, goes like this: a fighter doesn’t really learn their craft until they lose. In this era of more tightly managed careers, losses aren’t often seen as the same sort of necessary building block. Fighters don’t fight enough to be able to afford them. That doesn’t mean they don’t have their value.