August 2025 boxing predictions

The July Report

• A very ugly fight. Puello got away with a lot of headbutts but Matias responded with fouls of his own in the form of forearms and lowblows. On my scorecard I gave Puello rounds 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12 and gave Matias rounds 4, 6, 7 - so a wide 9-3 (117-111). I thought 3, 5, 6, and 8 were swing rounds plus I wouldn't hold it against anyone who says Puello stole 7 at the end (except Chris Mannix, I'll hold it against him), so at best Matias lost by a round. Matias had his most success going downstairs when Puello was on the ropes but he was outworked, lethargic and second-best for too much of the fight, Puello was landing clean and eye-catching punches with gusto. On a night where Tom & Jerry was evoked as a pejorative, I'm guessing the message 'you don't (or shouldn't) win fights by running' stuck with the judges. Turki Alalshikh was stood behind Matias when the scorecards were read out, make of that what you will.
  • Prediction: Matias by KO/TKO in the second half of the fight
  • Result: Matias by majority decision
• In an interview with Cigar Talk, Stevenson made whatever the scaled-down boxing-equivalent of waves are a few days before his fight by referring to Sugar Ray Robinson, universally regarded as one of the greatest - if not the singular greatest - pound-for-pound fighter there ever was as "buns". Stevenson tried to justify his insult by saying "boxing has evolved", "Who was [Robinson] fightin'? White boys.", and "back in the day white boys couldn't jump." Let me state officially for the record that the worst fighters Ray Robinson faced would go a 15-round distance with Shakur Stevenson, and his best opponents would have Shakur Stevenson eating soup through a straw. Have you seen the St. Valentine's Day Massacre? At the time it would've been the most watched fight in boxing history thanks to new technologies, you could argue that this fight alone created a whole generation of boxing fans. There isn't a single Shakur Stevenson fight that would make a non-believer into a convert. This fight against Zepeda was one of his best nights and it was still just ok. As things stand, over 70 years from now nobody is going to be arguing about if Shakur Stevenson was an all-time great boxer, because there isn't even anybody who would stand up to make that case today. I don't even dislike Stevenson, I just think he's really bad at being a heel and that boxing (and boxing marketing) have devolved in undeniable ways.
  • Prediction: Stevenson by unanimous decision
  • Result: Stevenson by unanimous decision
• Is it possible to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world with no foot movement, head movement, upper body movement, and punch accuracy? Maybe, though it certainly doesn't help your chances. Dubois, now with 3 losses on his record, will have to shake off the 'Triple L' image before getting another shot at the title. This is his second title challenge where was made to sit down by a jab. Usyk, now 38, declared "38 is a young guy, 38 is only the start" and yet people seem to be calling for his retirement. Why? It's not like he's getting beaten up by young guys like a Lennox Lewis did against Vitali Klitschko. He could absolutely coast off 1-2 fights a year for the next few years if he wanted to, and he should be aiming to have at least 30 professional fights under his belt before retiring if he wants to be in contention for all-time great discussions outside of Blighty. This is one for the record books though: it's the first undisputed heavyweight title fight to end inside the distance since Buster Douglas didn't show up against Evander Holyfield way back in 1990.
  • Prediction: Usyk by KO/TKO in the second half of the fight
  • Result: Usyk by KO 5
• Cafu's strategy was a simple plan comprising of two steps: move along the ropes and counterpunch his way to victory. Trouble is, he was so focused on the first that the second part never happened. You don't win fights by not throwing punches and Bam was happy to demonstrate why he's one of the better little men in boxing today. I'd like to see Cafu in world title contention again, just not this version.
  • Prediction: Cafu by split decision
  • Result: Rodriguez by TKO 10
• Like their previous encounter, the claret came streaming from the nose of Fundora. But this time Tszyu's wishes were answered and there was no freak cut to bring the result into disrepute. The biggest difference in this fight was that Fundora has finally started boxing tall, electing to rely on one-two combinations and the odd uppercut or hook like we usually see from the Eastern European school of boxing. Tszyu's gameplan consisted of eschewing footwork and body punches to instead move backwards while looking to counter and potshot, which allowed Fundora to fight more comfortabaly at mid-range. The corner retirement was the right call after Fundora ate Tszyu's best punches of the fight and still came back to dominantly bully him.
  • Prediction: Fundora by unanimous decision
  • Result: Fundora by RTD 7
• I could just feel that Barrios wasn't going to beat Pacquiao and while Pacman won on my card, I wouldn't call this a robbery as others are doing (it's not the Bradley fight by a long shot). There were few clear rounds in this fight because of the low punch output though I can see the argument that Barrios did less than what little his senior could muster. It's truly a shame Pacquiao couldn't find just a tad more. Could this be the worst result for him in the long run? With a win he might have gone out on top and with a loss it might have been time to concede the argument, but a close draw is the kind of stalemate where he's left with something to prove and has a promising result to encourage him.
  • Prediction: Pacquiao by unanimous decision
  • Result: Majority draw (Barrios retains title)
• Puerto Rico is back with Zayas now the youngest world champion in boxing today. Zayas is shaping up to be one to watch.
  • Prediction: Garcia by unanimous decision
  • Result: Zayas by unanimous decision
• Did Higa Daigo break a mirror or insult a witch or something? Three title fights, three different opponents, one close loss and now two unanimous draws, the most recent one coming after conceding a 12th round knockdown. At this rate becoming a two-time champion looks a distant dream as he talks of retirement once more.
  • Prediction: Vargas by split decision
  • Result: Unanimous draw (Vargas retains title)
• Teraji Kenshiro, who is partly responsible for this website's existence by winning in January of last year, has fallen despite scoring a knockdown. It's a brave new world. A hard-earned win for Sandoval but 117-110 was a diabolical scorecard.
  • Prediction: Teraji by KO/TKO in the second half of the fight
  • Result: Sandoval by split decision

4 outta 9 overall, I'll allow it. Just one title fight in August (I think) and only a couple of big cards in September and November. Is it me or does it feel like there aren't many fighters that jump out as the potential names of tomorrow? Boxing is going to be in rough shape if Whyte derails Itauma.

August Schedule

Aug. 16th - Nick Ball vs. Sam Goodman, WBA @ 126lbs

Goodman dropped out of the unwinnable Inoue fight after reopening a cut over his eye in a sparring session, he now finds himself in a more winnable fight agaist Kick Ball. While his odds are better now, if his old war wounds reopen that easily I don't see him keeping his undefeated record.

Prediction: Ball by unanimous decision

Da (Twilight) Zone

You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not of sight nor sound but of cheapo yet expensive and hard-to-unsubscribe streaming. A journey into a 1-dr0us land of shills and bots. Next stop, DAZN's Trustpilot page!

Back in February I wrote that "DAZN's TrustPilot reviews are still cratering at 1.1 out of 5 stars" (a minor improvement over the 1.0 rating they had in January), but they've since made a remarkable turnaround. At the time of writing, they've received 29,880 reviews in the last 3 months, 25,084 (83.9%) have been perfect 5-star reviews and the overwhelming majority of those appear to be from accounts with only one review. DAZN.com now sits at 34,915 total reviews with an average score of 4.6 out of 5 stars and a disclaimer that "this company may be asking for reviews in a way that Trustpilot doesn’t support. This can lead to bias and compromise the reliability of reviews." I've asked TrustPilot for further comment and am awaiting their response. Watch this space.

You're joking - not another one!

Tom Day's We Go Again Studios has gone again. Remember those boxing documentaries? Day of Reckoning, Knockout Chaos, and Undisputed? A new one is underway for Usyk-Fury II and it's called 'Watch The Throne'. Revealed in some Instagram posts the release date is still just 'Coming Soon'.

I was very tickled by this Instagram comment from @quubic: "Only Ade worth listening to. Bunce sounds like a squeaking balloon, GAD talks absolutel shit and Dev sounds like an AI robot that needs deleting" - it's good to be reassured that I'm not alone in feeling down about this same old tired line-up. Also Peaky Blinders finished over 3 years ago, Fury lost twice, I'd rather see a Ukrainian documentary crew be given the chance to talk up their man.

How old was Don Elbaum?

Don Elbaum, the man who introduced Don King to boxing, passed away recently. He was 97 years old according to local news outlets Erie-Times News and Erie News Now, but 94 years old according to Ring Magazine ("born on June 16, 1931") and BoxingScene. Another local news network gave his age as 97 earlier this year too. A cursory search shows his entry in the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame and a 2017 Brick City Boxing interview claiming "Nobody really knows how old he is; it’s the best-kept secret in boxing."

After a more in-depth search, I found that from 1949-1952 he was a 135-pound boxer fighting out of Erie, Pennsylvania, though bested to the Erie Golden Gloves championship by rival Connie Vicary. By November 1954 he had made the switch to promoter. A 2025 GoFundMe by his son Kipp Elbaum refers to him as "my 93 year old father". I'm guessing that 94 is right and people did their homework on the date. But the June 25th, 1931 Cincinatti Enquirer says that yesterday the birth of a boy was recorded by "Max and Sally [Elbaum], 2840 Burnet" and the December 26th, 1937 Cincinatti Enquirer records a "Donald Elbaum" giving a piano recital (with his mother). It's not out of the question that his birth wasn't immediately recorded since a Donald Elbaum was born "16 Jun 1931" in "Ohio, USA" according to the Ohio Department of Health, but you can consider it another PrizeFighting scoop that he was likely born in Cincinatti, Ohio before moving to Erie sometime between 1938 and the 1940 Census. I can find no record of him being a Korean War veteran, though that would explain the gap from 1952-1954.

KEN HISSNER: Don there has never been another character and jack of all trades like you that I have encountered. Is it true you got Don King into the boxing promotional business?
DON ELBAUM: Yes, and I’ve been apologizing to the world ever since.
Don Elbaum Has Done It All in Boxing for Over 60 Plus Years!, Brick City Boxing (December 2, 2020)

There's a new sheriff in town...

Chris Eubank has announced he lost his marshal badge while travelling from Shannon Airport in Ireland to Gatwick Airport in England. The 1990s WBO beltholder is offering an undisclosed reward for its return. Only problem is he lost it "18 months ago". Utterly stupefying why he didn't ask for help sooner. Or why he doesn't just ask for a replacement badge from the Opelousas, Louisiana police department (courtesy of the American taxpayer).