Boxing 2022

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2022 starts off with a decent heavyweight showdown. Luis Ortiz vs ‘Prince’ Charles Martin. Winner may get back into the bigger picture, loser is surely finished.

Bivol stunned/hurt Ramirez in the fourth.
3-1

Bivol 4-1 some beautiful work by the Russian. He’s like a surgeon with that jab.

5-1 Bivol he’s picking Ramirez off at will here.

6-1 Bivol too slick and his defence is magnificent. Ramirez slow and unwilling or unable to let his hands go.

Bivol 7-1 the Russian lighting up Ramirez in that round.

8-1 Bivol, Ramirez had some success in the 9th, but Bivol pounds him for the last 90 seconds.

Ramirez takes the 10th, Bivol literally did nothing that round.
8-2 Bivol

9-2 Bivol back on it in the 11th. His footwork is just too good.

Bivol takes the 12th and wins 118-110 on my card. Absolutely dominant by the champion. He’s a modern day master of the ‘sweet science’. Best light heavyweight on the planet and I’m a massive Beterbiev fan.

Official scorecards: 118-110 117-111 117-111

Bivol likely to face Canelo or Buatsi next - they have no chance against the Russian.

You called it and more or less got it exactly as the judges scored it - no canelo for the judges to favour.  I had seen some highlight reels before the fight and Ramirez, although having knockout power, looked ungainly and a bit slow (swing and miss, swing and hit) compared to the neat and tidy Bivol.

Best light heavyweight on the planet? No, that goes to Artur Beterbiev

Herman Jaeger wrote:Best light heavyweight on the planet? No, that goes to Artur Beterbiev

Beterbiev has a punchers chance against Bivol. That’s it.
And as I said previously Beterbiev is my guy.

Bivol win pretty easy again. He has that ability to make the other fighter miss and overwork and he has proven he can do this against the very best. He is starting to look like he might me a special fighter.

Jeff Navarro wrote:

Herman Jaeger wrote:Best light heavyweight on the planet? No, that goes to Artur Beterbiev

Beterbiev has a punchers chance against Bivol. That’s it.
And as I said previously Beterbiev is my guy.

Agreed, Bivol is technically superior to anyone in and around his weight.

Great fight Bivol against the winner of Yarde/Beterbiev

Won’t happen of course but while he’s waiting on that a rematch with Craig Spider Richards would be good. Can Richards feel a little aggrieved not getting the nod in the Buatsi fight?

I don’t think the unification happens before this time next year tbh.

Beterbiev needs to make his mandatory defence against Yarde(WBO) but he also needs to make his WBC mandatory against C Smith. Factoring in Ramadan, Beterbiev won’t be free to fight Bivol until last quarter 2023.

So it’s seems like:
Beterbiev vs Yarde winner vs C Smith
Bivol vs Buatsi in-house fight. Bivol vs Canelo if the Mexican still wants it.

The money Canelo is making and he’s never proved himself number one at either middle, super middle or light heavyweight. Talk about overpaid

He definitely wants Bivol again don’t you worry about that because the alternative is David Benavidez. I think he’s starting to have nightmares about Benavidez tbh

Aside from being undisputed at 168lbs, beating all the champions in the process.

You think he can call himself, to hard core fans, the best super middleweight in the world, without beating David Benavidez?

Herman Jaeger wrote:You think he can call himself, to hard core fans, the best super middleweight in the world, without beating David Benavidez?

Yes I can. Smith, Saunders and Plant were the champions while Benavidez was busy coming in over the limit.

Spot on about Benavidez tbh - he twice lost his WBC belt by being unprofessional.

Couldn’t hold a candle to César Chávez. Had to fight your biggest challenges in his day. So disappointing what boxing has become

JCC showed no inclination to rematch Whitaker after that robbery.

Artur Beterbiev: 21 Jan. 1985 (age 37): 18 professional fights - unbeaten.
Dmitry Bivol....: 18 Dec. 1990 (age 31): 21 professional fights - unbeaten.

Doesn’t seem like undisputed fight will happen at 175 - IBF confirms they will enforce their mandatory after Beterbiev’s WBO and WBC commitments…

In rather bizarre news and 31 years too late, the WBC have changed the result of the first fight between Jeff Fenech and Azumah Nelson. They now recognise the Australian as a four weight world champion and consider the result a split decision in his favour.

WBC announced Russian and Belarusians will not be permitted to fight for WBC titles.

Doesn’t effect Beterbiev(dual national) and Bivol(US residency).

Also WBC says Beterbiev will be granted exemption to fight Bivol after Yarde. Callum Smith is mandatory but WBC says he must take in interim bout.

Saul Alvarez reputedly has deactivated the rematch clause with Dmitry Bivol...
Rematch was set at 175...
Bivol reputedly could get $20m+ if he agrees to school Alvarez 168...

IBF has mandated Oleksandr Usyk against Filip Hrgović

In turn WBC says Fury mandatory against Wilder will be called…

Errol Spence’s mandatory defence against Keith Thurman has been called. No idea how Thurman is mandatory. But Spence might move up to 154.

Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde rescheduled bout confirmed for January 28 - at Wembley Arena, London.

Should the Russian win, he’s expected to face Callum Smith after.

Dillian Whyte got a gift decision against Jermaine Franklin in a terrible heavyweight matchup.
Whyte is finished and Joshua will ice him inside 3 rounds.

John Ryder beat Zach Parker by 5th round stoppage when Parker pulled out with an injury. Ryder in now WBO interim super middleweight belt holder - he is also now mandatory for Saul Alvarez.

Regis Prograis KO’d Jose Zepeda in the 11th round to win the vacant WBC light welterweight title. Prograis’ power eventually proving too much for Zepeda.

Wardley vs Adeleye. Domestic. British. Consumer friendly. Mini megafight. Anyone agree? And at 140 there’s a good fight wherever you look. That’s an entertaining division for the next couple of years. Taylor/Catterall what a rematch next one fans be lasering in on

https://youtu.be/i4aMsYP3dAo

Jeff Navarro wrote:Dillian Whyte got a gift decision against Jermaine Franklin in a terrible heavyweight matchup.
Whyte is finished and Joshua will ice him inside 3 rounds.

John Ryder beat Zach Parker by 5th round stoppage when Parker pulled out with an injury. Ryder in now WBO interim super middleweight belt holder - he is also now mandatory for Saul Alvarez.

Haven't watched the fight nor will I bother...But Whyte is 6ft 4 and 250+.......and its far too heavy. Buster Douglas looked great at 230 against Tyson and looked like a slob against Evander at 245.....Whyte is 7lbs heavier at the same height,,

Douglas was a good boxer better than Whyte and could use his great jab against inferior opposition.

Unless Whyte loses weight he might as well as quit..

It was a terrible fight, you literally missed out on nothing.

By all accounts Fury Vs Chisora 3 'Who actually cares' Is proving a flop, touts are selling tickets at a low low price and those personalties that normally sort group tickets out are reporting next to no interest.

Serves them right for recycling a fight we’ve already seen twice over... and the same guy won both fights...

Manual Charr would have been a better filler just because Charr’s got a bit of charisma and height and strength and will and something new etc. They could have had a go with it. He couldn’t lose it but it may have sold. Literally zero interest in the Derek trilogy

R.I.P. Mills Lane. "LET'S GET IT ON"

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/35197067/mills-lane-hall-fame-boxing-referee-dies-age-85

Mills Lane, the Hall of Fame referee who officiated the Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield "Bite Fight" and more than 100 other championship bouts, died Tuesday morning at his Reno, Nevada, home, his son Terry Lane confirmed to ESPN. He was 85.

Lane, known for his prefight catchphrase "Let's get it on," suffered a stroke in March 2002 that partially paralyzed him and left him virtually unable to speak.

He was surrounded by his wife, Kay, and sons, Terry and Tommy, during his final days. Much of that time was spent watching videos of roughly 50 fights he refereed during the 1980s and '90s, including Marvin Hagler's 1979 draw vs. Vito Antuofermo for the middleweight championship.

"The past 20 years after the stroke were pretty tough, to be honest," said Terry Lane, who manages prominent Chinese boxers Zhang Zhilei and Fanlong Meng. " ... We're relieved of the outpouring of support.

"He was just this really amazing father and husband and I don't know if people got to see that kind and sensitive side of him. My mom took care of him since the stroke; he never spent one night in a nursing home. I don't know if Dec. 6 is my dad's date of death or a new life for her."

Lane, regarded for his no-nonsense attitude as the third man in the ring, started boxing after he joined the Marines in 1956 and was later defeated in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1960 in San Francisco.

He turned pro as a welterweight the following year and suffered a first-round TKO loss in his debut. Lane went on to win 10 consecutive fights (with six KOs) and retired in 1967 with a 10-1 record.

He graduated from the University of Utah's law school in 1970 and refereed his first title fight the following year.

Lane always seemed to find himself in big boxing moments. Whether it was Tyson's comeback DQ victory over Peter McNeeley or Julio Cesar Chavez's rematch win over Meldrick Taylor, Lane was there as arguably the most recognizable referee in boxing's storied history.

In 1998, Bernard Hopkins' fight with Robert Allen ended in a no contest when Hopkins was ejected from the ring while Lane was trying to break one of the many clinches. Even his final fight -- Tommy Hearns' first-round KO of Jay Snyder in 1998 -- featured an ultrarare double knockdown.

That same year, Lane crossed over into the mainstream with his syndicated court program, "Judge Mills Lane," which ran until 2001 (the Savannah, Georgia, native previously served as both a district attorney and district judge.)

Lane added to his place in pop culture lore when MTV's popular Claymation series, "Celebrity Deathmatch," debuted in 1998 with Lane as the referee complete with his trademark catchphrase.

"Everything is discipline," Lane told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. "When I'm working a fight, I give the same energy and attention to a four-rounder as I do a million-dollar fight. The way I see it, in either case, on that night, it's the most important fight in those fighters' careers."

Mills Lane big mate of Lou Duva.......Great referee with great timing. Always seem to hate on Camacho.

Unlike Steele and Cortez never saw any fighter's team object to him.

Favourite Lane moment probably after Norris decked Taylor and he got it up saying "I'm okay I'm Okay" and Lane while he was finishing the mandatory 8 count reassuringly told him..."I know that I know that"..

He will be missed.

Luis Alberto Lopez beat Josh Warrington by majority decision to win the IBF featherweight title.
The scorecards: 114-114 115-113 115-113

Warrington had been hoping for a unification in America but there’s up in smoke now.

Terence Crawford beat David Avanesyan by devastating 6th round KO to retain his WBO welterweight title.

Teofimo Lopez received a gift decision against Sandor Martin, Lopez once again hitting the canvas.
Lopez doesn’t have it anymore. He keeps begging for Josh Taylor or Regis Prograis, both would lay Lopez out.

He’s quite a defensive master Martin definitely worth a watch,  Lopez couldn’t really get near him, but because he didn’t do much work of his own the fight maybe should have been scored a draw. I don’t think Lopez did enough to win.  Just because Lopez has had a couple of sub par performances doesn’t mean a fight with Prograis isn’t still a great fight as someone already mentioned. Lopez needs a quality win to bring his star back up and Prograis looking very hard to beat right about now if not invincible

Sandor Martin is plenty good. Dude retired Mikey Garcia, and that fight was wider than the 97-93 scores (ignoring the 95-95 complimentary card brand fighters get). He probably won this fight too, and he did it going away imo. Lopez needs to drop his dad. Dude is technically deficient, and it's killing his son.

I thought Lopez was the future, but the boy might be like the 15th-best fighter between 135-147

Leo Santa Cruz vacated his WBA featherweight title.
Leigh Wood is now the WBA champion.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Leo Santa Cruz vacated his WBA featherweight title.
Leigh Wood is now the WBA champion.

Goddamit that could have been a good fight for Leigh as well

Derbymanc wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Leo Santa Cruz vacated his WBA featherweight title.
Leigh Wood is now the WBA champion.

Goddamit that could have been a good fight for Leigh as well

Haymon won’t deal with Hearn…

WBA has ordered Usyk vs Dubois title consolidation fight. WBA seems to think their mandatory is due.
IBF has already called their mandatory as well.
WBO rejected Joyce’s call to jump the queue.

Funny and games…