In The News #4

Don't Wince

Last year I had a lot of smoke for British boxing referee Howard Foster, and uncharitably described him as "one of the most incompetent referees in boxing, unquestionably in the present and with a strong case for a place in the history books" while also lamenting that "British boxing will never see a Gatti-Ward or Corrales-Castillo and the British Boxing Board of Control will tell you it's a feature, not a bug."
On the former point, I've been further vindicated. On the latter, the monkey's paw wish was answered as Howard Foster looked like he was attempting to atone for a lifetime of early stoppages in one night as Fabio Wardley got mauled by Daniel Dubois.

I didn't write a pre-fight feature/prediction but there were several tells that Dubois was going to win. The simplest is that whenever there's a big British card, BBC Sport will poll the closest thing to luminaries that the island has. They did so for Beterbiev-Yardley, Wilder-Chisora, Usyk-Fury, and Usyk-Fury II; in all cases, the fighter they overlooked and underestimated ended up winning. One of the reasons this happens is because of how reductive and facile much of the analysis is on this side of the pond. People get into the habit of rarely saying anything other than generic patter along the lines of "he's a big strong puncher, a real tough cookie, if he hits you then it'll hurt etc etc", and when you find yourself saying that about two guys who have similar styles on the surface then of course it'll be difficult to choose between them.

Going back 3 years, Dubois was knocked out in two of his last five fights. In 2023 the number one heavyweight in the world made him take a 10-count with a jab after nine rounds; in 2025, the number one heavyweight in the world countered him into oblivion in the fifth round. Here's a common sense tidbit that used to be so obvious you didn't have to say it out loud back in the day: there's no shame in losing to the best fighter in the world. Yes, Dubois lost to Usyk twice. But Usyk has beaten everyone he faced, I'm pretty sure Wardley would've lost if he faced Usyk. His only other loss was an off night where he ate so many jabs from the once-and-future-contendah Joe Joyce that he couldn't continue on account of a broken orbital bone. And despite that he was up on the cards when the fight was stopped. Dubois stopped Hrgović, who if you had to compliment at that point in his undefeated career you would say he had a good chin. He was up on the scorecards against Jarrell 'Big Baby' Miller and stopped him. He knocked the ever-living hell out of Anthony Joshua, who had lost before but never like that. For all the narrative about Dubois being a simple-minded slugger, he has deceptively fast hands and he does attempt to place short blows.

What did Fabio Wardley do to inspire such confidence in the last 3 years? Exhibit A is the dramatic and gruesome first round knockout win scored against Frazer Clarke. The sight of Clarke's misaligned jaw was so memorable that it became easy to forget how much Clarke was punching above his station. A white-collar boxer with no amateur background, his best win was that rematch against Clarke and the rematch only happened because their first fight was a draw; Clarke was down once and deducted a point and people still thought he should've had his hand raised. Wardley's two fights before that in 2023 were each a textbook example of the British Stoppage (BS) - where a British referee stops a fight early, almost always to the benefit of 'the A-side'. He was losing practically every round to Huni before landing a knockout blow in the 10th round, and he was losing to Joseph Parker before another BS win in October, which is what inspired my aforementioned ire for Howard Foster last year.

Another reason people willed Wardley to win is that it is an underdog story of a good kid with a good punch finding unlikely success. Fabio Wardley seems like a decent lad and you can't deny his accomplishments but the level of opposition he faced and the level at which he performed in those fights did not stack up to Daniel Dubois. Basically, there's levels to this ish. It was apparent as he sent a procession of windmill right hands via snail mail. Bar a flash knockdown in the opening seconds and Dubois taking a knee in the 3rd, Wardley lost nearly every second of every round. The only way it's possible to miss who the better boxer is if you reduce it to a game of "either one can win by knockout, don't blink!" but Dubois is pretty good at that game too. Did I mention that he's also the younger and more experienced guy? Most betting odds made it a 50-50 fight but betting odds don't tell you who is more likely to win, they tell you where the money is and a lot of believe-the-hype money was lost on Wardley.

Take a bow, Boxercise Ben Davison and YouTube savant Lee Wylie, styles make fights but these guys make bums. Both Fabio Wardley and Anthony Joshua got demolished after leading with their rights against a guy with a mean overhand right of his own. This fight was exciting, it was over, and then it got ugly. The officiating was so disgraceful it's tempting to conclude that Howard Foster must have been struck deaf, dumb, blind, and heartless at some point. If not earlier in his career, then certainly after round 6, when Wardley returned to his corner bloodied and dazed after spending much of the last 30 seconds slumped on the ropes. On social media, Boxercise Ben Davison claimed:

I did not see Fabio stumble before walking over to the doctor at the start of round 10
As ironically we was discussing with each other to "have the towel in hand" By which time had had gone over and seen the doctor and seemed much steadier on his legs which is what we saw.

Davison's entire claim to fame was being 'the guy who brought back Tyson Fury' and under Davison we saw some of Fury's worst ever performances. This guy doesn't improve fighters and it's the fighters who trust him that end up paying the price. And even if somehow everyone in the corner missed it despite witnessing Wardley diminish in real time, it's still unbelievable that the doctor and referee looked at this beaten man and thought to let him continue rounds 10 and 11.

I wrote most of this the day after the fight and now, over a month later, Wardley still hasn't been seen or heard but his handlers have indicated they'll indulge an immediate rematch with Dubois.
Alexa, play 'Super Lyrical' by Big Pun.

Confidence, man!

A few months ago, iVisitBoxing's Ed Pereira promised a boxing match that would break the all-time attendance record and generated worldwide headlines by floating the possibility of a summer-bout featuring Oleksandr Usyk, current heavyweight champion, and Deontay Wilder, America's last great heavyweight. The announcement couldn't decide between being farcical and shambolic before ultimate opting for both. Somehow the Mayor of San Francisco was involved but even roping in this dope couldn't save the event once Usyk and Wilder said no. The heavyweight bout was downgraded to a flyweight contest between Anthony Olascuaga and Andy Dominguez before the July 11th fight was eventually postponed outright and moved to a different venue. On downsizing the competitors, there have been many wildly ambitious and delusional quotes throughout boxing history but “If you look at it on the American mindset, nobody knows who Usyk is in America but they definitely know who Olascuaga is.” is an all-timer from Señor Pereira.

Mas-chenko

When Vasiliy Lomachenko retired, I didn't react to it immediately, only later writing "I didn't say much at the time because I feel like he'll come back." In recent days and weeks, report are swirling he's looking to face Charly Suarez and then Emanuel Navarrete.

Suarez gave a good account of himself when he put in a performance against Navarrete which few people expected May last year, however the fight was stopped by an accidental cut Navarette received and ruled a no-contest. It's a good matchup for Lomachenko, who should be able to flex how well his amateur background stacks up to a guy who certainly knows how to box.

There are some guys who you see fight and their every movement tells you that they feel at home in the ring. Until taking off 2025, Loma fought professionally every year since his debut in 2013 and before that had been fighting every year since 2004. Of course Loma needed a break and of course he was going to come back. Boxers and rappers never retire; even Jay-Z is out here dissing Drake at his big old age. When you're used to doing something for a long time, when you're into that kind of rhythm for over half of your life, it's hard to fill the newfound free time with anything else.

The Girls Aren't Fighting

Twitter fingers are firing at a dizzying pace in social media spats involving Keyshawn Davis (27), Devin Haney (27), Shakur Stevenson (28), Lamont Roach Jr. (30), Gervonta 'Tank' Davis (31), and O'Shaquie Foster (32). The short version of this story is: who cares? For a number of years now 130-147 has been a tinderbox waiting for a firestarter, and yet the only match we've seen between these top names was Tank-Roach in March 2025. Throw in two more if you want to include Ryan 'The Bum' Garcia as a name. I do not want to document all the back-and-forths, this is an especially embarrassing time for what could be (and should've been) a boxing renaissance, but it has to be said these guys are collectively fumbling the bag and their credibility.

The promoters and matchmakers deserve a lot of smoke too. The promising Puerto Rican light-middleweight Xander Zayas will be facing the mismanaged American Jaron 'Boots' Ennis this weekend. Boots could've been a superstar -- a somebody -- but Matchroom and Eddie Hearn do not make superstars, it is beyond them. And so one of the biggest fights of the years is passing by with next to no hype and no buzz, on top of already having to compete with the final group games of the World Cup. People might miss Ben Spittaker (formerly 'Quittaker') against Richard Rivera, whose ring name is Popeye The Sailor Man, which tickles me immensely.

And since that's put me in a good mood, in the spirit of positivity, let me say something nice about each of the aforementioned fighters at 130-147:
Highest ceiling/most potential - Keyshawn Davis
Best disciplined - Devin Haney
Best defense - Shakur Stevenson
Most versatile - Lamont Roach Jr.
Best puncher/hardest hitter - Gervonta 'Tank' Davis
Best talker/most self-belief - O'Shaquie Foster

All capable ring generals, now all that's left is battle testing each other.

'Let Me Tell You Something'

Turki Alalshikh is back with two statements - truly we're being spoiled.
The first was posted on June 19th by Ring Magazine's socials, saying:

I'LL DO MY BEST TO DO A MEETING SOON BETWEEN MY BROTHERS DANA WHITE, NICK KHAN, FRANK WARREN, EDDIE HEARN & MY PARTNERS & FRIENDS DAZN TO MAKE PEACE, AND REVOLUTION FOR BOXING.

I HOPE I SUCCEED & BOXING FANS SEE THE WHITE SMOKE RISE FROM THE CHIMNEY.

I WANT TO DO IT BEFORE LOSING MY MEMORY. I'M AFRAID IN 2028 OR 2029 I'LL FORGET MY NAME.

The second, posted from his own account on June 21st, reads:

Till now I have not decided yet where the fight will take place and will work with me some ppl are making up a stories about it .. if you want to know the facts take it from me or the ring. If you want to waste your time listen to others .. I think you have tried me all past years and you know that what ever I say I do 🤷🏻‍♂️🥊

On the former, his health troubles have been widely known since his January 2024 breakout interview, where in the first few minutes he reveals he's had "a lot of health issues in the last five years maybe." But while details have been scarce beyond that, rumors on the grapevine do all seem to point in the same direction. On the second post, I gotta be firm but fair, there have been a few instances of Turki Alalshikh saying something and not doing it (wasn't there supposed to be a fight at Alcatraz Island?)

Plus all we heard last year was 2025 would be the death of PPV. Yet in July 2026 Anthony Joshua's tune-up bout with Albanania's second-best heavyweight will set you back £24.99 if you aren't subscribed to DAZN Ultimate for £249.99/Year ($449.99/Year). The pitch is 'Minimum 12 pay-per-views a year included at no extra cost' but these are the kind of fights they'll put on pay-per-view to make up the numbers when you tell them you'll pay-no-matter-what, a little over four weeks away and they haven't even announced the undercard yet despite swapping from Riyadh Season to (the much further away from Iran) Jeddah Season. Tyson Fury has name-checked Nelson Hysa for a possible tune-up of his own in August. And Joshua-Fury, the non-title 'Big in Britain' superfight, may happen in the U.S. or Saudi Arabia.
Turki's voted for Dana. The white smoke has risen and habemus papam - it's another Borja! Oh brother, boxing continues to be a mess.

Consider it mercy

R.I.P. in peace the WBA Bridgerweight (formerly 'SUPER CRUISERWEIGHT') division, we hardly knew ye. It first appeared in the WBA's November 2023 rankings and made what will hopefully be its final ever appearance in May 2026; after months of failing to conjure a full list of 15 contenders, the WBA is scrapping the decision in its latest 'I can change' promise to reduce the ludicrous number of belts in boxing. This move frees up impressive amateur boxers like Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (Hajji-Muhammadov) and Cuba's two-time Olympic gold medallist Julio Cesar La Cruz to ply their trade at heavyweight, and leaves the WBC's Ryad Merhy as undisputed bridgerweight champion of the world.

Contender for the 2026 'They Wrong For This 😭' Award