March 2025 boxing predictions

The February Report

• My sincerest apologies to Stephen Fulton. I was wrong. I knew it from the moment I saw you'd be fighting in jorts and timbs, it's some real street ish to rock up to a televised boxing match dressed like a video game create-a-character. And the championship-winning performance matched the drip.
  • Prediction: Figueroa by knockout in the first half of the fight
  • Result: Fulton by unanimous decision
• There's a wonderful old school quality to making a guy take a 10 count from a body shot and Keyshawn Davis has it. He is different. Who got next? Cruz? Loma? Tank? Shakur? All great match-ups that could happen later in the year, lightweight is possibly the most exciting division in boxing today, let's hope that promoters and matchmakers strike while the iron is hot.
  • Prediction: Davis by KO/TKO in rounds 10-12
  • Result: Davis by KO 4
• I'm so confident that Stevenson will beat the last-minute replacement that I'm not even updating the prediction. The words you're reading now were typed before the fight happened. I wish he would've fought Jadier Herrera instead.
  • Prediction: Stevenson by unanimous decision
  • Result: Stevenson by TKO 9
• Sheeraz keeps his undefeated record, Adames keeps his belt, though in a just world only one of those should have happened. There was a good exchange at the press conference where Adames said (via a Spanish interpreter) that Sheeraz has never faced anyone as good as him and Adames fought like he wanted to prove it. Sheeraz talked a big game about the importance of boxing being entertaining but then spent much of the second half doing his best impression of a heavy bag. I'm sure another title shot could be guaranteed to him for later this year but he should probably take on a gatekeeper or two to prove that he's at the world level.
  • Prediction: Adames by unanimous decision
  • Result: Split draw (Adames retains title)
• My complaints about this decision are almost a repeat of their previous fight - despite Beterbiev fighting a good and effective fight, being more active and accurate in longer stretches than the first fight, the closest he got to winning a scorecard was one judge seeing it as 114-114 even. They were awkward rounds and I had Beterbiev winning a close 115-113. As much as I can appreciate that Bivol has had the wrong of the first decision undone and can for the rest of his life say he was once the best light-heavyweight in the world, it's a damp squib that a third fight (A Final Last Crescendo if you will) is now on the cards. After years of waiting to see them fight just once, I didn't expect to be saying that I'm not particularly excited by a trilogy.
  • Prediction: Bivol by unanimous decision
  • Result: Bivol by majority decision
• It's only been two months and people are already saying Round 9 will be the round of the year, you can see why. This was exactly type of the fight I was expecting, can you see why I said it would be hard to predict? I only gave Tsutsumi two of the first eight rounds and if I was harsh it could have only have been only one. Unanimous draw is rare result but a fair result. Higa was too hungry for his own good, the belt was within reach but he couldn't take it.
  • Prediction: Higa by unanimous decision
  • Result: Unanimous draw (Tsutsumi retains title)
• What did I tell you about that left hook!? Nakatani Junto, AKA "Critical Hit", is now on a 4-fight knockout streak and I wouldn't bet against him extending it when facing the other bantamweight belt-holders.
  • Prediction: Nakatani by KO/TKO in the second half of the fight
  • Result: Nakatani by KO 3

4 out of 7 correct winners picked but Adames got robbed (and maybe Bivol shouldn't have got the nod) so make of that what you will. Dubois pulled out of his fight with Joseph Parker on extremely short notice and I speculate about that further down.

March Schedule

Mar. 1st - Alberto Puello vs. Sandor Martin, WBC @ 140lbs

Don't expect a knockout in this one. Martin put in a decent (if slightly on the backfoot) performance against Teofimo Lopez. Puello is a good boxer who is also inclined to move backwards more than forward. I think this is going to be the kind of bout where commentators use the phrases "chess match", "technical display", and "mind game(s)" in abundance. The thinking man's fight. By that I mean everyone will be thinking "when's Tank fight gonna start?"

Prediction: Puello by split decision

Mar. 1st - Jose Valenzuela vs. Gary Antuanne Russell, WBA @ 140lbs

Russell got outworked by Puello in his last fight. Judging by Valenzuela's effective performance against Isaac Cruz in his last outing I think he should be able to outwork Russell too.

Prediction: Valenzuela by unanimous decision

Mar. 1st - Gervonta "Tank" Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr., WBA @ 135lbs

Lamont Roach is a good and capable fighter. But Tank is Tank. And Roach is coming up a division to face the man? Good luck to him. Nobody can say he doesn't have confidence and if he boxes well he might go the full 12 rounds.

Prediction: Davis by KO/TKO in middle rounds

Mar. 13th - Iwata Shokichi vs. René Santiago, WBO @ 108lbs

After failing to win this belt from Jonathan Gonzalez 12 months ago, Santiago regained his WBO no.1 contender status in a 10-round win against a Peruvian with a fairly bloated record later in the year. Iwata picked up the vacant belt when Gonzalez moved back to flyweight proper and this will be his first defense of a world title. It's a toss-up but I think the champ has enough slight advantages (height, home crowd, punching power) for me to see him winning.

Prediction: Iwata by split decision

Mar. 13th - Anthony Olascuaga vs. Kyoguchi Hiroto, WBO @ 112lbs

Princesa is making a habit of fighting in Japan and I think it'll keep working for him. Considering Kyoguchi's performance against Teraji Kenshiro (lasting only 7 rounds) compared to Olascuaga's (who lasted 9 rounds despite being a late replacement), I'd be surprised if the belt changes hands.

Prediction: Olascuaga by KO/TKO in the first half of the fight

Mar. 13th - Teraji Kenshiro vs. Seigo Yuri Akui, WBA/WBC @ 112lbs

Now this is some good matchmaking. I know Teraji is probably the favourite going into this fight but I have to root for the underdog. Do not miss this fight.

Prediction: Seigo Yuri Akui by unanimous decision

Mar. 15th - Nick Ball vs. TJ Doheny, WBA @ 126lbs

In his last fight Ol' Man Donehy, now 38 years old, injured his back during a one-sided challenge against one of the world's top pound-for-pound fighters. Normally, losing a fight means you have to rebuild your reputation a little before getting another shot at a title. Nick Ball mocked Ol' Man Donehy for quitting against Inoue but is still choosing to fight him over any other featherweight in the world. These matches do not make boxing exciting. And these matches endanger the health of geriatrics.

Prediction: Ball by KO/TKO in first half of the fight

Mar. 22nd - Sebastian Fundora vs. Chordale Booker, WBC/WBO @ 130lbs

Fundora is having his first fight in 12 months following the blood-soaked battle he had with Tim Tszyu. Booker likes to crouch when he fights and is almost off-balance when standing tall, plus since his first round knockout loss to Ammo Williams a few years ago he's not exactly been proving himself against top opposition in preparation for his first 12-round fight. Given all that, and the fact that Fundora has a height and reach advantage, Fundora should be able to pick off Booker without too much trouble. He may even win inside the distance.

Prediction: Fundora by unanimous decision

Mar. 29th - Angel Ayala vs. Masamichi Yabuki , IBF @ 112lbs

Yabuki won the IBF belt at 108lbs is his last fight and is immediately moving up to challenge in a fight that's missing from seemingly every boxing schedule except box.live again. Ayala will be having his first title defense (and first fight outside of Mexico) in Japan. Both good fighters but I said it before and I'll say it again, Yabuki is called Yabuki.

Prediction: Yabuki by unanimous decision

Mar. 29th - Brian Norman Jr. vs. Derrieck Cuevas, WBO @ 147lbs

Originally scheduled for November and delayed because Norman reinjured his hand in training (according to him, it was originally hurt throwing the left uppercut that ended his last fight, karma for stunting mayhaps). The delay has only further disadvantaged Cuevas, who now hasn't fought since December 2023.

Prediction: Norman by KO/TKO in the second half of the fight

Looking Ahead

Was Daniel Dubois really ill? Maybe. But who really knows? What we do know is that now there's no chance of him losing his belt to Parker (necessitating a dreaded rematch clause being activated). A lot of people were calling The Last Crescendo the greatest card in boxing history and most of those people were paid to say that. There's an important difference between a great card on paper (which promoters can control) and a great card in practice (which is up to the fighters). But peep the renewed focus on the former, is it me or is there a vision lining up?

We know Terence Crawford will be fighting Canelo for the undisputed super-middleweight title in September (unless Scull earns an upset victory). We know that Usyk-Dubois is the natural match-up to make for both fighters in 2025. Could Beterbiev and Bivol be allowed to fight for all the belts in a rubber match? Three undisputed title fights on one card? It's not as far-fetched as it would've been just a few short years ago.

The Ring Magazine survey has called for new responses again. Apparently the entry period is "25th of January 2025" to "30th of May 2025" but "Draw conducted on 22nd of April 2025". Weirdly, it says that "These terms and conditions are governed by English law" despite The Ring Magazine FZ-LLC having its registered address in Dubai. Maybe it's because their social media is run by Anglo zoomers?

In smaller news, Top Rank are running a poll on YouTube about video titles for old fights.

It's good to see that someone at their company is thinking about things like this and that boxing fans have given a landslide victory to the correct answer (the way that PBC has been uploading them for years and the way that they get uploaded to Turki Alalshikh's YouTube channel). One day, when there's a single website where you can watch all of boxing in one place, I hope it adopts the fighting game replay system where you can toggle to see who won with the press of a button. Incredibly, the results of this poll were actioned immediately. Top Rank changed the title of "Teofimo Lopez Earns A Close Split Decision Victory Against Sandor Martin | FREE FIGHT" to "Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin | DEC 10, 2022 | FREE FIGHT" within days. I wish Ring Magazine was this on top of business.