Indholdsfortegnelse for 11 December 2025 i Boxing News

IT IS ALWAY sad to hear that a fighter has passed away, but even more so when the boxer in question is young and should have been able to look forward to many more years of life. So, to hear that Vanes Martirosyan had been taken from us at only 39 years of age hit hard in the boxing community. Vanes died on November 23 after a two-year-struggle with skin cancer. He was born in Armenia but moved to the United States with his parents when he was four, and he was a longtime resident of Glendale, California. Vanes was never a world champion, although he made three title attempts - twointhesuper-welterweightdivision and the other at middleweight, when Gennady Golovkin stopped him in the second round in what was Vanes’…

OUTSTANDING GOOD FAIR DISAPPOINTING RUBBISH The star ratings indicate how well the writer believes the fighters match up, the fight(s)’ contextual significance, and how good the fight(s) will be MAIN EVENT UNDERCARD WHERE Stockton Arena, Stockton, CA WHEN Saturday, December 13 WATCH DAZN from 1am THERE can’t be many Mexican-American and French fighters who boxed in Britain, both against the same opponent, and then ended up facing one another in a US main event. Answers on a postcard … Back in December 2021 in Manchester and March 2023 in Liverpool, Kevin Lele Sadjo and Diego Pacheco both touched down in England with Jack ‘Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver’ Cullen waiting for them. Cullen, a solid domestic operator and former British and Commonwealth champion, gave each man rounds but was ultimately outgunned…

WHOLE SHOW IN ANY sport, the phrase, ‘This kid passes the eye test’, tends to get bandied around. Often, it is used to describe a talented youngster who, while unproven at any real level, has nonetheless displayed glimpses of genuine world-class potential. Whether it be through their seamless movement, sheer athleticism or remarkable composure, these ‘kids’ typically seem as if they have been crafted in a laboratory of some kind, possibly by some mad scientist who, for some bizarre reason, is determined to create an army of sporting prodigies. Even when removing that rather outlandish sci-fi theory, it is as if these wunderkinds are expertly designed to succeed in practically any athletic vocation. But, every so often, a selection of these gifted athletes choose to try their hand at boxing;…

NOTTINGHAM DECEMBER 7 WHOLE SHOW PRO BOXING debuted at The Nest which, adjoining Notts County’s Meadow Lane stadium, serves as the football club’s fan zone on match days. Trilogy Promotions and Carl Greaves promoted a Sunday-afternoon show topped by a six between unbeaten Leicester southpaw Callum Blockley (14-0-1, 2 KOs, 150½lbs) and Seaham’s Jordan Ellison (15-60-5, 1 KO, 152lbs) who, here in his 80th paid outing, seldom gives his opponents an easy ride. No surprise, then, that despite ‘Blocko’ running out a 58-56 winner at the conclusion of an oft nip and tuck affair refereed by Ryan Churchill, former Northern Area superlightweight champ Ellison pushed him hard throughout. It might not be in the best interests of Islington grafter Jordan Grannum  (14-175-7, 165lbs 2oz) to win too often, as that could…

BIRMINGHAM DECEMBER 7 WHOLE SHOW A LITTLE Sunday afternoon fare was served up on this latest promotion at Birmingham Airport Holiday, Inn which has become a regular host for boxing over the past couple of years. Four fights were on the menu, with all four going the distance and the home corner triumphing on each occasion. Stepping up to six rounds for the first time, having bagged a quartet of points wins over four, local favourite Oscar McCracken (5-0, 144lbs) went in against Mexican Ramiro Lopez Garcia (8-34, 7 KOs, 148½lbs) and condemned the Josh-Wale stabled visitor to a 20th successive defeat, Erdington referee Peter McCormack tallying 60-55 in his favour. Durable in the extreme, Garcia was having his 16th outing of the year in a British ring and has gone…

LIVERPOOL DECEMBER 7 WHOLE SHOW RUNCORN’S Jack Power extended his perfect record to 7-0, 1 KO, with a hard-fought shutout win over Ukraine’s Mykhailo Sovtus atop the bill at the Grand Central Hall. Power was given a stern examination by the extremely durable Sovtus (5-48-1, 2 KOs, 161lbs 4oz), but he was well worthy of the 60-54 victory in a contest refereed by Andy Kremner and scored by Mark Lyson. Both boxers weighed 161¼lbs. Liverpool’s Joe McGrail (12-0, 5 KOs, 129¼lbs) also claimed a six-round shutout win, his over Mexico’s Mario Victorino Vera (8-12, 3 KOs, 130lbs), with Mr Kremner refereeing and Jamie Kirkpatrick scoring. Other fighters who preserved unblemished records on the Stalkers Boxing card were Liverpool’s Callum Thompson (9-0, 2 KOs, 136lbs 8oz), Sheffield’s Bree Burbeary (7-0, 2…

Dec 11 IMAM KHATAEV vs RICHARD RIVERA Lac Leamy Casino, Gatineau, Canada Dec 12 KUBRAT PULEV vs MURAT GASSIEV Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium (WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title) YOUTUBE @IBABOXING Bakhodur Usmonov vs Maxi Hughes Dec 13 DIEGO PACHECO vs KEVIN LELE SADJO Adventist Health Arena, Stockton DAZN Joe Cordina vs Gabriel Flores Jr Ernesto Mercado vs Antonio Moran Skye Nicolson vs Yuliahn Luna Cheavon Clarke vs Anthony Holloway BADOU JACK vs NORAIR MIKAELJAN Los Angeles (WBC cruiserweight title) AMAZON PRIME Brook Sibrian vs Gloria Munguilla KEVIN HAYLER BROWN vs CLETUS SELDIN Caribe Royale, Orlando Jasmine Artiga vs Stephanie Silva (WBA super-flyweight title) Yoeniz Tellez vs Kendo Castaneda JOSE SALAS REYES vs LANDILE NGEKXE Mexico City (vacant IBF bantamweight title) LUIS ALBERTO LOPEZ vs MIGUEL AREVALO MEJIA Palenque Fex, Mexicali…

PICTURE the scene: You’ve been down the pub and you decide to drive home. But along the way, the police pull you over, they administer a breath test, and it detects you have consumed alcohol prior to driving. If the level of that consumption is shown to be above the legal limit, there is only one chain of events that will follow: you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, and you will lose your licence. And no, you will not be allowed to drive while this process unfolds. You may have your excuses, your mitigations, even outright denials, but it matters not: the results of the test are all that counts. It might be that you were only a tad over the limit. Or maybe you did it because…

Highlighting the best of the week’s stories WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET NIGEL BENN has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Benn joins the class of 2026 alongside other headline inductees Gennady Golovkin and Antonio Tarver. As well as having held the WBO middleweight and WBC super-middleweight titles, Benn is best known for his ferocious all-British rivalry with Chris Eubank in the early 1990s – a feud which was carried over to the next generation as their sons clashed in two blockbuster bouts this year. Benn Sr couldn’t quite defeat Eubank Sr in the ring – losing to him in 1990 and having to settle for a draw in 1993 – but he will take some satisfaction in beating him to the Hall of Fame. Eubank was on the same ballot…

WHOLE SHOW WHERE Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo WHEN Wednesday, December 17 WATCH Video.UNext.jp from 8.30am THE WINNERS of the 2025 Boxing News Awards will be revealed in the next issue and, while there is no category for “Destination of the Year”, Japan would be a strong contender. Throughout 2025, the country has delivered a steady stream of value-for-money shows, consistently matching quality with entertainment. That trend continues with two more world title cards before year’s end, beginning at the famed Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, where Nonito Donaire attempts to win a 10th world title at the age of 43 when he challenges 29-year-old WBA bantamweight champion Seiya Tsutsumi. Donaire (43-8, 28 KOs) is again chasing history at 118lbs. He became the oldest bantamweight champion in 2018, aged 35, when he…

THE MAIN knock against Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul is the obvious one: The perception that it’s a fight that Paul has no chance of winning. Still, there have been many mismatches in heavyweight history. A long list of heavyweights have gone into the ring when given little or no chance of winning. In that sense, Joshua vs Paul is no different. What of those no-hope heavyweights? No hope. It’s such a harsh term, yet in many heavyweight fights it’s been applicable. And, sometimes – if rarely – a heavyweight given zero chance of winning can actually produce a performance that becomes that fighter’s shining moment. The obvious example is Chuck Wepner. No one, surely, gave Wepner any sort of a chance against Muhammad Ali when they met in Cleveland…

BROADBEACH DECEMBER 6 WHOLE SHOW ATMOSPHERE IBF CRUISERWEIGHT title challenger Huseyin Cinkara was taken to hospital following his knockout defeat to Jai Opetaia, where it was found he had a brain bleed and a neck fracture. While not thought to be life-threatening, the injuries will surely bring an end to the Turkish-German’s boxing career, and offer a reminder of the risks involved in this sport. It also reaffirmed Opetaia’s reputation as the most destructive puncher in the 200lbs division, if not the the most destructive active fighter of them all, and yet, post-fight at the Gold Coast Exhibition Centre, the Australian described himself as “pissed off” by his own performance. When listening to him do so, it was tempting to conclude he simply hadn’t recovered from the way his legs…

NEATH NOVEMBER 29 WHOLE SHOW FIVE WELSH hopefuls advanced their records with clear points wins on Pat Barrett’s Black Flash Valley Of Fire promotion at the Sports Centre. The traditional 10 bells were tolled in memory of recently departed Team GB coach Nigel Davies and ex-Welsh Area secretary Dai Corps. Pick of the pack was Crymych’s classy Garan Croft (5-0, 2 KOs, 161lbs) who appears destined for titles. The well-drilled 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and European U22 finalist has fast hands and all the shots, and he coasted past Costa Rica’s crass but sturdy Jose Aguirre (2-21, 1 KO, 168lbs), earning a 60-54 shutout on ref Rhys Carter’s card. In another six-rounder, moustachioed mullet man Morgan McIntosh (5-1, 153½lbs) was also awarded every round, from official Chris Jones, against Newark’s…

BETHNAL GREEN DECEMBER 5 MAIN EVENT UNDERCARD ELI FRANKHAM was hit with the hardest punch a world-rated heavyweight could throw, collapsed, and, while he gamely got up, was ruled out by the referee. It was a sudden but otherwise expected result in a fight which pitted Michael Hunter, arguably America’s best active heavyweight, against an inexperienced English underdog – but Frankham had put in a game effort. The fight was memorable for its vivid finish, and for Frankham boxing nicely, landing jabs in multiples, and maybe even winning a round or two against a man seen as several leagues above him. Memorable indeed – and yet, according to BoxRec, none of this happened. I’m pretty sure it did. I saw it myself. The event, you see, was sanctioned by the…

ABERDEEN NOVEMBER 29 WHOLE SHOW UNDEFEATED local Gregor McPherson moved into eight-round class and up to 11-0, 2 KOs, overall in his Beach Ballroom headliner. He was also facing a fellow unbeaten boxer for the first time, with Kosovan superlightweight Riad Kunushefci bringing a 6-0, 1 KOs, record into this joint Kynoch Boxing/Northern Sporting Club promotion. The event was tagged Rise Of The Machine, in reference to ‘Mean Machine’ McPherson (138¼lbs), but Kunushefci (137¾lbs) appeared to have been programmed to win, too. It looked like the 21-year-old Aberdonian was going to cruise to victory when he bagged the first round and then scored a knockdown in the second, but the visitor was not prepared to accept his fate so easily. Kunushefci, 24, regained his composure in the third and then…

THIS IS a story about young heavyweights, old heavyweights, ancient heavyweights, a tyrant, dreamers and other fools in pursuit of the WBA “regular” heavyweight championship of the world. Moses Itauma was meant to fight for the title this weekend and Fres Oquendo has been waiting since 2014 for his chance. It is a rare piece of jewellery, won and worn so far by just seven men during a 14-year spell. There was Alexander Povetkin and there was also Trevor Bryan – that is two extremes in any boxing language. Lawyers have got rich off it, men have been broken by it and Ramzan Kadyrov, the Lord of Grozny, a rebel leader and notorious hardman, was briefly on the boxing map because of it. Kadyrov sat on a throne at ringside,…

Highlighting the best of the week’s stories WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET A PACKED Bangkok ballroom was taken on a tour through boxing’s machinery at the 63rd annual WBC Convention. One division after another, the WBC announced mandatories, settled disputes, and clarified the chaos (and in some cases added to it) that so often shadows its 18 weight categories, shaping what the next championship season will look like. But the biggest bombshell came early when the WBC stripped super-middleweight champion Terence Crawford of his title – a ruling that silenced the room and instantly reshaped the future of the division. Crawford had been scheduled to attend the convention but never materialised, raising eyebrows even before the ruling was read out. The WBC said the until-then undisputed champion had been stripped due to unpaid sanctioning…

MAIN EVENT THE BEST thing to say about Kubrat Pulev vs Murat Gassiev on Friday is that it’s not the worst fight ever staged for the WBA’s ‘regular’ heavyweight title – though that’s more of an indictment of the notorious standards set by that bizarre sub-genre of championship boxing than any positive appraisal of this individual match. It is, however, a fair match. As such, under ordinary circumstances, it would be labelled accordingly under Boxing News’ star-rating system, which indicates a three-star bout is “fair”. But also under ordinary circumstances, we may not have previewed this at all. Because, under ordinary circumstances – or even remotely sane ones – this fight would not have the words “world heavyweight title” attached to its poster. So, we judge this occasion according to…

MONTE CARLO DECEMBER 6 WHOLE SHOW MATCHROOM’s annual excursion to Monte Carlo proved far from a glitzy formality; instead, it delivered one of their more engaging cards of 2025. Inside the jewel-box Salle des etoiles, five contests produced uninterrupted drama in a setting more accustomed to tuxedos than tearups. The main event – a high-quality pairing for the vacant European super-bantamweight title – matched the increasingly accomplished Shabaz Masoud against decorated amateur and gifted southpaw Peter McGrail. McGrail, carrying both pedigree and pressure, began with sharp urgency. The ‘Liverpool Lomachenko’ pressed the unbeaten Masoud with fast hands, committed bursts and a desire to seize control early. For four rounds, he succeeded. Masoud was forced to rely on timing and poise, his backhand a precious equaliser as he tried to claim…

SAN ANTONIO DECEMBER 6 MAIN EVENT ATMOSPHERE PRESSURE and workrate from Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz was countered by the sharper boxing skills of Lamont Roach in a thrilling 12-rounder that perhaps fittingly ended in a draw. Each man felt he had done enough to win. Cruz was credited with scoring a knockdown in the third round, but this was cancelled out when referee James Green told the judges to take a point from Pitbull’s score for hitting Roach around the back in the seventh round. Cruz said afterwards he felt the referee was against him – but he was given some leeway when it came to boring in with his head. It was one of those close contests that could have been scored either way. Judge Chris Tellez had Mexico’s Cruz…

NOTTINGHAM DECEMBER 6 WHOLE SHOW UNBEATEN Dubliner Pierce O’Leary topped the bill in what was a real League of Nations affair at Rushcliffe Arena and duly scored the only inside-the-distance victory of the evening. Referee Ryan Churchill completed his count 53 seconds into the eighth and final round despite Argentinean Braian Esequiel Ronner (5-6-1, 142½lbs) rising at “eight”, having been sent to one knee by a body shot in his own corner. The Irishman (18-0, 1 KO, 144½lbs), in a first outing since outpointing Liam Dillon to claim the European super-lightweight title back in June, was increasingly calling the shots and headed for a wide victory anyway. After bagging six successive victories, Armagh’s James Freeman (146lbs 2oz) had to settle for a share of the spoils against Mexican Benito Sanchez Garcia (17-14-4,…

DUDLEY DECEMBER 4 WHOLE SHOW FORMER European middleweight titlist Tyler Denny continued to rebuild as he romped to an 80-72 decision against Chatham’s tough Grant Dennis in topping a BCB-promoted card at Dudley Town Hall. Southpaw Denny (21-3-3, 1 KO, 162lbs) pushed the veteran back consistently, putting his punches together well downstairs. As early as the second, Dennis’ work seemed to be solely to keep Tyler off him. Grant was wobbled in the third as the home fighter upped the pace, but a timeout by referee Ryan Churchill after a horribly low left gave him welcome rest bite. Tyler, from Rowley Regis, looked to grind his man down and was very dangerous with ferocious waves of body attacks and hard, fast clusters. Grant (19-18, 3 KOs, 166lbs) desperately tried to…

LIVERPOOL DECEMBER 6 WHOLE SHOW IN A BATTLE for the Central Area super-feather title at the Greenbank Sports Academy on this Black Flash promotion, Liverpool’s Brian Philips (13-5, 3 KOs, 129lbs 7oz) won his first belt by taking every round against Whiston’s James Francis (8-3, 2 KOs, 129lbs 7oz). After a close first, Phillips went through the gears and, backed by an excellent defence, was well ahead by the halfway mark. The seventh, however, was Francis’ best by far but, until the last, when he tried to stand toe-to-toe with his opponent, this was as close as he got to making any dents in a not-to-be-denied Phillips who, after a number of solid shots, came close to bringing an early end to proceedings in the ninth. Despite the seventh and…

IN LATE 1944, there was considerable optimism that the War might finally be coming to an end. Allied Forces had made huge incursions into enemy territory since D-Day, while on the Eastern Front, the Russians were driving the Germans back towards Berlin. In London, a new terror, the ‘Flying Bombs’, the V1 and V2 missiles, were imposing a second Blitz upon the city, but there was a general feeling that the War might not last much longer. This optimism was reflected within the pages of Boxing News when, on November 9, in the first edition to be published for more than five months, it was announced that while “faithful readers of the Old Boxing Bible, may have concluded that the shutters had come down firmly, and finally, it takes more…

BACK IN the 1930s, Northern Ireland produced many boxers from fighting families. The most successful were the Warnock brothers, especially Jimmy, who beat Benny Lynch on both occasions he fought him. The other three fighting Warnocks were Billy, Freddie and Dave, and they were all good. Another wellknown fighting family from the time were the McStravick brothers, of which there were also four. Gerry was the lesser known, although he went on to manage the other three for a short time. There was also a good fighter named Gerry McStravick in the 1950s, who was also related to the family. On February 15, 1939, BN printed a list of ratings for the leading Northern Ireland boxers of the day, and within the bantamweight division, which was headed by Jack Mussen…

HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Oleksandr Usyk | Ukr INTERIM CHAMPION Agit Kabayel | Ger 1. Lawrence Okolie | UK 2. Daniel Dubois | UK 3. Anthony Joshua | UK 4. Moses Itauma | UK 5. Filip Hrgovic | Cro 6. Efe Ajagba | Nig 7. Martin Bakole | DRC 8. Richard Torrez | USA 9. Frank Sanchez | Cub 10. Zhilei Zhang | Chi CRUISERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Badou Jack | Swe INTERIM CHAMPION Michal Cieslak | Pol 1. Noel Mikaelyan | Ger 2. Ryan Rozicki | Can 3. Yamil Alberto Peralta | Arg 4. Chris Billam-Smith | UK 5. Mateusz Masternak | Pol 6. Ilunga Makabu | DRC 7. Brandon Glanton | USA 8. Leonardo Mosquea | Fra 9. Roman Fress | Ger 10. Yuniel Dorticos | Cub LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT…

HEAVYWEIGHT SUPER WORLD CHAMPION ★ Oleksandr Usyk | Ukr REGULAR WORLD CHAMPION Kubrat Pulev | Bul 1. Moses Itauma | UK 2. Lenier Pero | Cub 3. Martin Bakole | DRC 4. Nelson Hysa | Alb 5. Filip Hrgovic | Cro 6. Arslanbek Makhmudov | Rus 7. Dainier Pero | Cub 8. Kem Ljungquist | Den 9. Michael Hunter | USA 10. Gurgen Hovhannisyan | Arm CRUISERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Gilberto Ramirez | Mex 1. not rated 2. Leonardo Mosquea | Fra 3. Lenar Perez | Cub 4. Aloys Junior | UK 5. Mike Perez | Cub 6. Yuniel Dorticos | Cub 7. Aleksei Egorov | Rus 8. Chris Billam-Smith | UK 9. Aleksei Papin | Rus 10. Robin Sirwan Safar | Swe LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT SUPER WORLD CHAMPION ★ Dmitry Bivol…

HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Oleksandr Usyk | Ukr 1. not rated 2. Derek Chisora | UK 3. Frank Sanchez | Cub 4. Richard Torrez Jr | USA 5. Daniel Dubois | UK 6. Jared Anderson | USA 7. Martin Bakole | DRC 8. Bakhodir Jalolov | Uzb 9. Richard Riakporhe | UK 10. Lawrence Okolie | UK CRUISERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Jai Opetaia | Aus 1. Huseyin Cincara | Ger 2. not rated 3. Chris Billam-Smith | UK 4. Mateusz Masternak | Pol 5. Roman Fres | Ger 6. Leonardo Mosquea | Fra 7. David Nyika | NZ 8. Floyd Masson | Aus 9. Viddal Riley | UK 10. Juergen Uldedaj | Alb LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Dmitry Bivol | Rus 1. Michael Eifert | Ger 2. Conor Wallace |…

HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Fabio Wardley | UK 1. Moses Itauma | UK 2. Filip Hrgovic | Cro 3. Zhilei Zhang | Chi 4. Daniel Dubois | UK 5. Jared Anderson | USA 6. Derek Chisora | UK 7. Nelson Hysa | Alb 8. Bakhodir Jalolov | Uzb 9. Richard Torrez Jr | USA 10. Anthony Joshua | UK CRUISERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Gilberto Ramirez | Mex 1. Roman Fress | Ger 2. Umar Salamov | Kyr 3. Tahir Kahrovic | Ger 4. Robin Sirwan Safar | Swe 5. Chris Billam-Smith | UK 6. Mike Perez | Cub 7. Mateusz Masternak | Pol 8. David Nyika | NZ 9. Leonardo Mosquea | Fra 10. Brandon Glanton | USA LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION ★ Dmitry Bivol | Rus INTERIM CHAMPION Callum Smith…