Sean Crose

When Tyson Fury upset Wladimir Klitschko over a decade ago the fight world looked toward the future. Not because Fury had performed brilliantly. He hadn’t. The fight world was excited because the Klitschko era was now over. That’s no knock on Klitschko. He was a great fighter and is an honorable man. But he was one of the least exciting knockout artists in history. Fury though obnoxious drew interest to the heavyweight division, an interest that was much needed. What’s more there were other gunfighters like Fury chomping at the bit. Again, times were changing and people felt they were changing for the better.

It’s pretty much common knowledge now that the upcoming mega fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will go down well past the sell-by date. Still it’s going to be a contest between two huge men who have great experience, along with great skill and some pretty serious punching power. In other words it’s going to be a fight worth seeing, despite how lacking in relevance that may well be. Let’s face it, this looks like a fun matchup. It really does. Not only that, it looks like a close matchup. I’m going to give the edge to Joshua but honestly a Fury victory certainly wouldn’t surprise me.

By: Sean Crose Julio Caesar Chavez. Roberto Duran. Boom Boom Mancini. Gervonta Davis. Pernell Whitaker. Vasyl Lomachenko. Each of these men has had the

Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield battled for the WBA lightweight title Saturday night in Chicago. His opponent, Lucas Bahdi, was older than Schofield, but like Schofield, was undefeated entering the ring. Their fight was scheduled for twelve and was the main event of a card broadcast live on DAZN. First, however, Ricardo Sandoval battled Sergio Mendoza in defense of his WBA and WBC flyweight championship belts. The first was a rather slow affair until the final seconds, with each man feeling the other man out. The second round was fast paced, with each man firing quickly and well. Indeed, Sandoval was dropped not once, but twice before the round ended. He got up both times, but it was a very interesting development.

It wasn’t so much that Sebastian Fundora defeated former world titlist Keith Thurman last March as it was the way Fundora defeated his fellow Floridian. Thurman, who had only been defeated once and that was to the legendary Manny Pacquiao, was completely overwhelmed and outgunned. Thurman, the colorful, hard hitting potential Hall of Famer, didn’t make it to round seven. And, although Thurman was rusty and over the hill, it was difficult to imagine the fighter called “One Time” besting Fundora in his prime. Fundora was just that dominant. The question that has arisen since that late winter night: who can actually beat this guy at this point in in his career?

He had no doubt taken some good shots. In fact he had gone down twice throughout the fight. Still after all he had been through Daniel DuBois was not going to call it quits. That more than anything else is why the man won the WBO world heavyweight title by besting Fabio Wardley within the distance earlier this year. It was an interesting, brutal affair which is why the public’s desire for a rematch made all the sense in the world. And now DuBois and Wardley are going to fight again this weekend at London’s O2 Arena.

WBC heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois defended his belt successfully Saturday at London’s O2 Arena. Perhaps “successfully” is an understatement. The truth is that Dubois completely mowed down former world titlist Fabio Wardley in two hard hitting rounds. Sure enough it seemed that Wardley was never in the fight. He got rocked early and never truly recovered. This fight was not like the previous one the two men had which had a back and forth element to it. This one was all Dubois. The man really showed what he was made of. In fact, with Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua on the downside of their careers, Dubois may be the face of the heavyweight division right now.

No fan of boxing needs to be told that one of the biggest things that plagues the sport right now is the overabundance of world title belts. When people ask who’s the heavyweight champion of the world, what exactly does one answer? There used to be a time where you coule say Tyson, Holyfield, or Lewis, and people would know who you were talking about. Now you could talk about two or three fighters no one’s ever heard of dividing up the heavyweight crown into slices. And that’s just the heavyweight division. Things can get crazier the farter down you go.

“Do not go gentle into that good night.” These words from the poet Dylan Thomas were directed towards his father who was close to death. And although no one is expecting or hoping Floyd Mayweather to die anytime soon, the man may well admire the poets’ words. For, years after his last professional fight which was against UFC star Conor McGregor, Mayweather is once again in the spotlight. Sure enough the man is regularly in the spotlight. Now though he’s ubiquitous across social media. Why? Because word is endlessly circulating that he’s coming back and not exactly in exhibition form. And against a major competition no less.

You know you’re in a relevant fight when none other than Vasyl Lomachenko wants to battle the winner. That was the case Saturday night in Texas, as Emanuel Navarrete squared off against O’Shaquie Foster for three of the four world titles in the junior lightweight division. The hard hitting Navarrete held the WBO and IBF belts while the slick Foster held the WBC title belt. The fight, which was scheduled for 12 championship rounds, was the main event of a card broadcast live by the DAZN streaming service. It was also one of the most interesting matches of the year – power versus skill at the highest levels of the sport.