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By Mo van Morgen in Predictions —

June 2025 boxing predictions

World title boxing predictions for June 2025.

The June Report

  • I'd be lying if I said I watched and scored this whole fight, but from the little I saw it seemed close.
  • Well, Scull didn't wake up tired fans. While he did make Canelo miss big shots and worked jabs/counters in enough rounds to win 7/12 on my card, he could've taken the 'make him pay' part of the assignment more seriously. 119-109 (11 rounds to 1) for Canelo was a disgusting card but then again Canel0-Crawford was already announced before this fight. It was maddening to hear the DAZN maroons hate on Cuban boxing and the IBF instead of calling Canelo out for not remembering how to cut off the ring or how to start combinations with a jab.
  • Espinoza is simply too big and too strong for this division. He turned 31 last month and hopefully he'll prove himself against some big names in the next 18-24 months, given how many of the old names will be calling time in the not-too-distant future I can see his becoming known as a fan-friendly one.
  • I don't dislike Inoue, but my goodness he is one of the more overhyped boxers of recent years. Stats on paper aside, his best win by a country mile is still beating a long in the tooth Nonito Donaire. And in my humble opinion, legends and #1 P4P fighters don't get dropped by the likes of Ramon Cardenas, especially if they're rehydrating from super-bantamweight to light-welterweight. If Inoue fought at his natural weight (like Tank Davis does), he would be fighting the likes of Tank Davis. But should Inoue move up to 126lbs, then I'm not sure he would even get past Rafael Espinoza at this point.
  • Probably should've given Suarez and his amateur credentials some more credit in the lead-up to this one. While I still believe Navarrete could've pressed the action and got his man out of there in the first three rounds, the fact is that he didn't and it was turning into a long night for him. The bizarre finish was caused after a mystery cut. My first thought was that it was a headbutt, upon watching the replay it seemed to be a punch, and after seeing the replay another 5-10 times, it was actually a very slight (presumably accidental) lacing from the right glove of Suarez. The officials stuck with the referee's call of headbutt because the footage, from their perspective, was inconclusive. It was right of them to call it a foul either way. If it had gone on longer, cut or not cut, Navarrete might not have kept his title. Given how much trouble he had getting to 130lbs, another attempt at lightweight is likely but that division is full of killers at the top.
    POST-SCRIPT: The California State Athletic Commission has declared the cut was caught by a punch and have declared the fight a No Contest. Another case of using the wrong method to get the right answer since Suarez didn't deserve a loss on his record. But I'm still amazed they're saying the cut was caused by a punch, could it really be that everyone involved in this has forgotten what lacing is? Either way a rematch has been ordered.
  • Ioka did invest in a haircut but forgot to invest in head movement. Martinez is making a habit out of fighting in Japan, and one that will put him in good stead should he choose to move up to bantamweight proper in the near future.
  • 25 year old Shigeoka Ginjiro, the younger brother of Shigeoka Yudai, lost the fight and lost his boxing career in the rematch against Pedro Taduran, following which he left the ring on a stretcher. After suffering an acute subdural hematoma and undergoing a craniotomy (surgery where part of the skull must be removed so the brain can be operated on), we will not see him fight again. Scary stuff. And one of the semi-regular reminders of how dangerous this sport, if it can even be called a sport, can be. He's now reportedly in a stable condition and I hope that he is supported in never getting hit in the head again, as it is difficult for young fighters who have only ever known boxing to stay out of the gyms when they eventually recover from an injury, especially if they come from fighting families.
  • I said it was going to be close.
  • Well, some wires got crossed.

Only 3 out of 11 but that's with a no contest, calling the Canelo fight wrong out of spite, refusing to call the Teofimo Lopez at all, and going the wrong way on two 50-50 contests. A bad month of boxing.
 And what an incredible """""coincidence""""" that soon after I raised suspicions about Jai Opetaia's next opponent not really existing, the fight is mysteriously delayed by an injury. Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos was also cancelled after Davis did not make weight (and did not appear particularly weight drained either), it'll be interesting to see if he goes up to 140lbs or takes a break from boxing for a minute.

Jun. 8th - Nakatani Junto vs. Nishida Ryosuke, WBC/IBF @ 118lbs

There's nothing to suggest that Nakatani is not THE guy at bantamweight.

Prediction: Nakatani by KO/TKO in the middle rounds

Jun. 8th - Jai Opetaia vs. Claudio Squeo, IBF @ 200lbs

Sure would be surprising if this fight got delayed again... NOT! Prediction unchanged.

Prediction: Opetaia by TKO 4

Jun. 14th - Richardson Hitchins vs. George Kambosos Jr., IBF @ 140lbs

Kambosos hasn't had a good win since 2021. His opponent's name is literally 'hit chins'. Hitchins's last fight was against a Liam Paro, an Australian lightweight who I would expect would win in a fight against Kambosos, so there's no reason for Hitchins to not take care of business here. He might even get the stoppage.

Prediction: Hitchins by unanimous decision

Jun. 19th - Cristian Araneta vs. Thanongsak Simsri, IBF @ 108lbs

Simsri could fall victim to the southpaw curse, Araneta could fail to show up and get outboxed. I must confess I'm not particularly familiar with either of these boxers, it really could go either way. It's this kind of fight that validates my decision to only focus on title fights on this website, because there are so many relative and complete unknowns fighting to win one of boxing's 68 world championships that these names would've been the top 10 contenders of old - you'd only know them if you're deep in the weeds.

Prediction: Simsri by unanimous decision

Jun. 19th - Brian Norman Jr. vs. Sasaki Jin, WBO @ 147lbs

If boxing wasn't a culturally irrelevant sport, I'd say Norman is a slept on fighter. Sasaki, a student of the Arturo Gatti school of blocking punches, is likely in for a tough night.

Prediction: Norman Jr. by KO/TKO in the middle rounds

Jun. 28th - Gilberto Ramirez vs. Yuniel Dorticos, WBA/WBO @ 200lbs

It's just hit me, you know what makes cruiserweight such a frustrating division? I can't recall there ever being any knockout artists around at 175-200 in my lifetime. I mean, who was the last one? Evander Holyfield? Anyone with a punch ends up trying their luck at heavyweight. Ramirez and Dorticos have knockouts on their records but you wouldn't recognise the names of anybody they've knocked out. And I seriously doubt Ramirez will knockout the almost 40 year old Dorticos.

Prediction: Ramirez by unanimous decision

Steady State of Boxing

I don't get involved boxing news of the day very much, mostly because there often isn't much worthwhile boxing news floating around. This is a problem that boxing media either hasn't clocked or doesn't care to solve, probably both. The reason why most news is falls into a neat flowchart of 'this fight is being negotiated -> this fight has been agreed/signed -> this fight has been delayed (optional) -> who is fighting/where to buy the fight -> report of who won the fight -> post-fight comments (optional)' is because that's all most of them know to do. People are just going through the motions. From being vaguely familiar with the field of pre-internet journalism, it's clear that not only is there less news hunting going on nowadays but there's also less attention being paid. So here's some stuff that somebody else should have told you about but you're hearing it from me instead.

First of all, B-Hop. They called him The Alien, but on the Andre Ward podcast this was our dearly-missed friend The Executioner. Now 60 years old, you won't see Bernard Hopkins in the prize-ring again but don't think this means he's stopped fighting. In an interview that ran as long as an Oscar-nominated nominated movie, Hopkins got to tell his story. From prison to losing his pro debut, from his loss against Roy Jones to knocking out the undefeated Tito Trinidad, from becoming undisputed middleweight champion by being the only man who made Oscar De La Hoya take a 10-count to becoming an owner of Golden Boy Promotions and being one of the key players in breaking Don King's stranglehold of the sport. Even from a hyper-condensed biography such as that Bernard Hopkins is an elder statesman in boxing, people don't say it often enough. Here's a simple thought experiment for any doubters, if he's not a legend then who is?
 Amidst the reminiscing and gem-dropping, Hopkins made references to the age-old status quo between ham-and-egg fighters and butter-and-egg promoters. With attempts to relitigate the Ali Act taking place, Hopkins had the following to say:

"And the Muhammad Ali Act is a bill that gives a fighter, at least, what we never had in the history of boxing business, an opportunity to see what's there and sign off at every major fight. Or every fight that they have til day at 2025. My blood is on that. They will never tell you. They never put it up because it's not news. But let me tell you, this is something I'm proud of.
 Like Satchel Paige, God rest his soul, when he stood up for the Negro League and the players - Satchel Paige - anybody who knows about baseball, I know about the history of Satchel Paige. He stood up when it wasn't popular. Just like other athletes, woman or man, stood up when others who had the power, who had the fanfare, who had the legendary status didn't do. The special ones. The unique ones that come across our generation, every generation has one or two of those individuals that step up and go against the grain.
 Did I leave millions on the table being who I am? Today and back then? Absolutely. Because I'm not going to sell out me. It ain't necessarily the community that I love. It's me first. It's easy to be just like everybody else. It's easy to go along to be alone or feel like that you are going to lose out on opportunities which I have. I know for a fact I have. But today, in 2025, they know that they've got a serious problem with me. Because not only am I still alive, but I'm alive and healthy. And I sound just as good and clear that I did before I took a punch and in between the 30 years of a punch and I believe, inshallah, that I will be in the same position 10 or 15 years later.
[...]
We must understand. Golden Boy, especially now with the new change and the resources that's being pumped into boxing to make the better fights that we are all craving for. But you must be conscious of some that want to take the tradition of capitalizing on ignorance of those who don't know. And that's what I will expose very very soon. Because to me when I hear fighters say certain things and there are receipts out there that I can get to because of our relationship with people that respect us, and people that respect Dre, there are certain things pick up a phone call and you would get that clarification. And then you would get it if you needed to see it. I will have breaking news soon but I gotta get receipts to be accurate."

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to read between the lines here. Hopkins is the Satchel Paige of boxing. But until the receipts are produced (inshallah), we're left to watch this space. You know who we won't be watching though?

Delicious Orie was supposed to be the next Anthony Joshua. An Olympic medal, followed by a steady knockout streak against journeyman, before ultimately getting a shot at a piece of boxing's splintered heavyweight titles. The Olympic dream died in Paris, as Orie was outfought in his first match by Armenian Davit Chaloyan (who himself lost in the next round). In his professional debut last month the knockout streak never got started, as his opponent Milos Veletic (3-7) survived the 4-round distance due to Orie neglecting body work in favour of missing shots upstairs, to call his footwork Bambi on ice would be to severely overestimate his chances of not getting dropped later in his career. And the heavyweight title did not come true. It never will, as Orie announced his retirement earlier this week. As a university-educated 27 year old, Orie didn't really need boxing. People go into boxing to escape from something and he never seemed the type to want to escape from a 9-5 desk job, then again the old saying goes that boxers and rappers never really retire.
 The small relief is that we won't be in the situation of having to call a grown man Delicious. Forgive me but when I first heard that this was his real name no gimmicks, I assumed that his father was African. And I turned out to be right. But not entirely right. In a morning TV interview, Delicious Orie was asked about his name and of course his Nigerian father chose it. Usually first names like 'Success' and 'Innocent' are aspirational, though it's harder to see the nominative determinism behind 'Christmas' and 'Delicious'. But according to Orie, his dad was a fan of the group "Boyz II Men" and was inspired by a member called Dillius or Delius and was inspired by that to name his son Delicious. You already know where this is going; there isn't anybody called Dillius or Delius in Boyz II Men. Never has been and there isn't anything close to it. Maybe the spelling varies, maybe it's a different '90s R&B vocal group, or maybe his father lied to him. I'm curious to know. If Orie does come back to the world of boxing I'll have to see if I can find out.

Speaking of British heavyweights, the Slovakian-born Moses Itauma (also the son of a Nigerian father) has been back in the headlines. You might have heard of his ambition to beat Mike Tyson's record as the youngest ever heavyweight champion. Or you may have seen the tweet announcing that Frank Warren's fighter is now the number one ranked heavyweight contender in the eyes of the WBO, after his 2nd round knockout win over a 41 year old set-up called Mike Balogun. According to the WBO, Itauma is now a better heavyweight than Filip Hrgovic, Zhilei Zhang, Anthony Joshua, Derek Chisora, Murat Gassiev (who knocked out Balogun over two years ago), and Efe Ajagba. Perhaps he is, but ordinarily you'd prove it by beating at least one of them. Surely you can't be a #1 contender without having faced anybody in the top 10?
 It wouldn't be so bad if he at least looked better in the fight. Under Boxercise Ben Davison, I suspect - and worry - that he won't correct his bad habit of dropping his other hand when he throws a punch. Balogun traded with him on one knockdown and if he'd have opted for a straight instead of hook on the final exchange he would've traded again. A quicker and harder-hitting fighter could cause real trouble for Itauma. Lucky for him the heavyweight landscape still hasn't been revived... yet.

Future of the heavyweight division

Ring Magazine's social media recently posted this picture of the future of heavyweight boxing and Itauma is front & center. But even I, the boxing writer and hardcore boxing fan of the 21st century, was left scratching my head as to who some of the others in the line-up are. The boxing world has done a horrendous job of building new talent. Blame promoters, blame the television networks and streaming platforms, blame the managers, blame Ring Magazine and YouTubers, it's what everyone else does. It's one of the more regularly things I do here. But I'm going to state for the record that the boxers themselves aren't faultless either.

Take Moses Itauma for another example. In a BBC Sport interview late last year, he referred to his background saying "I think I got the best of both worlds, that Slovak toughness, mentality, and I'm strong physically from my Nigerian side." In an YouTube interview last week, he restated "You know what, it's good 'cause I get from both worlds. I got the genetic side from my dad. Obviously I got that mentally tough, the mental toughness from my mom's side which is a good thing." Now, I don't know if the universal truth of positive eugenics was revealed to him in an epiphany or suggested to him by a friend/associate, but other sports have consciously shied away from that kind of thing since it was called out. Not only is it insidious, it's just not a very nice thing to say that Nigerians lack mental fortitude.
 Who benefits from this being said? Of all the things that could be said and for other people to write about, why this? The mythical sparring tales work for now but eventually it becomes old news, that's when something new has to be found. The most famous and beloved boxers all had very good speakers around them to sing their praises (and sometimes write their lines), if Itauma is to become the next Tyson then he'll have to avoid the mistakes of the last next Tyson. There's a reason why the names Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Ali, and Tyson survive over all others, including names of better fighters, and it's not because they didn't bother with media. Mike Tyson was the biggest name fighter of 2024, Manny Pacquiao might be the biggest name fighter of 2025. I like both of them but we're long overdue a new superstar. There is a formula. I just don't think people more than 2-3 times my age are going to be the ones who see the potential of, let alone have a vision for, the online world.

Post-COVID internet trolling has taken an especially racist turn. Teofimo Lopez and countless other terminally online celebrities have had their minds ruined by American social media companies. Many who see this digital behaviour ask themselves questions like "why?" and "to what end?", some try to sympathise that it's the result of mental health struggles and a cry for attention, most ignore it, plenty of others support it. There's no point pretending to be shocked or appalled, by now it's boring more than anything. What I'm about to say may sound harsh but this is the benefit of having an independent platform.
 The only sensible argument is to give people who engage in that sort of rhetoric the exact response they deserve: commit sudoku, go an hero. I'd enjoy seeing Teo's piece-of-shit parents crying in YouTube thumbnails about how they wished their son was still alive, wishing that they raised him better. Years from now, I hope there are documentaries where their kids break down in tears about how much they miss their fathers. I know, I know, it's callous, heartless, and cruel. But it's exactly the kind of energy nu-trolls put out into the universe and it's exactly the kind of energy they should get back. "Do not feed the trolls" has failed, it's time for an indifferent "drink bleach" response until they either get better or go away. I'm not too fussed which one they choose, the laughing-crying emojis will be ready in any case.
 Lopez seemed to have been scalded by hot water after referring to Turki Alalshikh, the most powerful spendthrift in boxing, as a "DICKtator". Shortly afterwards came the grovelling public apology, but it remains to be seen if this will cause him to be more careful with his words in the future. The most recent news is that the newest soap opera, negotiating a fight with Devin Haney, is on hiatus as Lopez goes to recover from his troubling case of foot-in-mouth disease.

And to finish on something slightly different, South Carolina battle rapper Swamp faced off against The Lame (AKA Eazy The Knockout Victim) and gave us the nicest boxing bar of the year so far:

"I never had no co-signs or no claim to fame on my way here,
the only way to get rid of a grimy mf is to not play fair,
I got 41s, 40s, 23s, 27s, it's a glock daycare,
I will do this bitch more greazy than the bitch that did Gervonta hair."

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