May 2025 boxing predictions

The April Report

• One helluva knockout! Which makes it all the more surprising that there's no official highlights besides ESPN's video (region-locked to USA/Canada, only 30k views in 3 weeks). Somebody on the promotions side dropped the ball. It must be the same person who decided Janibek doesn't need English lessons.
  • Prediction: Alimkhanuly by KO/TKO in middle rounds
  • Result: Alimkhanuly by TKO 5
• Boots should thank whatever god he believes in that Bud is moving up for a payday and likely won't be coming back soon. Boots doesn't just get caught, he gets tagged. It makes for entertaining fights but if someone with heavier hands than Stanionis lands that cleanly it'll be trouble unless somebody up there likes really him.
  • Prediction: Ennis by unanimous decision
  • Result: Ennis by RTD 6

Two for two, big names facing no-hopers wouldn't be as big a deal if they were more active than 2-3 fights a year.

May Schedule

May 2nd - Teofimo Lopez Jr. vs. Arnold Barboza Jr., WBO @ 140lbs

Sorry not sorry, not going to watch this fight. Teofemale isn't worthy of my time or money.

Prediction: N/A

May 3rd - Badou Jack vs. Noel Mikaelian, WBC @ 200lbs

Mikaelian won this vacant belt in November 2023. He was stripped for inactivity and it was handed to the previous holder, Badou Jack, who won it in February 2023 and has not fought since. And people wonder why boxing is in the gutter? I'll give it Mikaelian because he fought more recently, he did better against their mutual opponent (Makabu), and he's 7 years younger. Whichever man wins I hope they fight Opetaia.

Prediction: Mikaelian by unanimous decision

May 3rd - Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez vs. William Scull, UNDISPUTED @ 168lbs

Another fight where it's hard to muster excitement. Since Canelo is already scheduled to face Bud in September, we know he won't be fighting Benavidez in 2025. There's nothing to suggest he'll fight him in 2026 either, for all we know Canelo-Crawford will be stretched out into a trilogy. Alvarez-Benavidez has been mooted since 2018 but the champion does not want it, he does not seem to be in a rush. His 2014 opponent Erislandy Lara is still fighting at the age of 42 so maybe Canelo is planning on fighting (and collecting huge paydays) into the 2030s? Scull can shake up the boxing world and wake up tired fans if he gets the upset. He almost certainly won't but anyone with a soul will be rooting for the little guy.

Prediction: Scull by unanimous decision

May 4th - Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez, WBO @ 126lbs

Vazquez is a good boxer, Espinoza is a good fighter.

Prediction: Espinoza by KO/TKO in middle rounds

May 4th - Inoue Naoya vs. Ramon Cardenas, UNDISPUTED @ 122lbs

Cardenas is in his first 12 round fight but somehow I don't see this one going 12 rounds. Inoue should be able to impress fans in his big American homecoming.

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

May 10th - Emanuel Navarrete vs. Charly Suarez, WBO @ 130lbs

Though Filipino challenger Charly Suarez, AKA 'King's Warrior', seems an interesting challenger at age 36, I'm not going to underestimate Navarrete again. The Phillippines doesn't even have a king, but the nation was named after King Philip II of Spain (the same one who gets shouted out in the Dutch national anthem).

Prediction: Navarrete by KO/TKO in rounds 1-3

May 11th - Fernando Martinez vs. Kazuto Ioka, WBA @ 115lbs

Delayed from December, prediction unchanged.

Prediction: Ioka by unanimous decision

May 13th - Jai Opetaia vs. Claudio Squeo, IBF @ 200lbs

You've never heard of Claudio Squeo. That could be a made up name for all you know. You could look up a picture of him and still come away open to the idea that Squeo was generated by artificial intelligence. I'm officially a Squeo truther. This fight isn't real. They're just going to put out a press release saying that Opetaia wins by TKO in the fourth round and you sheeple will believe it.

Prediction: Opetaia by TKO 4

May 24th - Pedro Taduran vs. Shigeoka Ginjiro, IBF @ 105lbs

Taduran became the only Filipino boxing world champion when he closed up Shigeoka's eye so badly that the reigning beltholder was unable to defend himself, forcing a referee stoppage. He did it before and I don't see why he shouldn't be able to do it again.

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

May 24th - Angelo Leo vs. Kameda Tomoki, IBF @ 126lbs

'El Chinito' (Leo) versus 'El Mexicanito' (Kameda). Leo will be making the trip to Japan to defend and I think there will only be un poquito in it.

Prediction: Kameda by split decision

May 28th - Takei Yoshiki vs. Yuttapong Tongdee, WBO @ 118lbs

I like Tongdee, his picture on Boxrec is him wearing a suit. Despite being the challenger, he has more experience than the reigning titlist.

Prediction: Tongdee by unanimous decision

May 28th - Eduardo Nunez vs. Rikiishi Masanori, IBF @ 130lbs

力石-さん, しろ！

Prediction: Rikiishi by KO in one minute!

In Other News

Boxxer had been hitting up social media to share that Eubank Jr. and Benn Jr.'s grudge match has "Less than 1000 tickets remaining with less than a week to go..." A far cry from two months ago when Eduardo Hearn claimed "Over 130,000 people in the queue for pre-sale tickets for Spurs members ALONE. This is the biggest fight this Country has ever seen."

The promotion for this event was bizarre, from one of the worst fight posters in recent memory to a fight trailer that confused and frightened anyone over the age of 35. The sport does need new fans and stakeholders are taking a scattered approach to things. The TKO Group (UFC's Dana White, WWE's Nick Khan et al) are setting their phasers to kill and pointing at the Ali Act. The WBC launched the Boxing World Cup Grand Prix Bowl and confirmed that this was only Phase One, the Boxing World Cup Grand Prix Bowl: Endgame won't actually assemble until December. And the Golden Boy himself, Oscar De La Hoya told the world that the "Boxing right now is thriving" plus the emperor's new clothes are magnificent. Did you see the news that Ring Magazine is now free?

Another example of how well boxing is doing is that the Times Square triple-header left it to the last minute to reveal crucial information beyond 'pre-order a video game for a chance to win' and 'trust us'. I trust that some people will greatly enjoy the antics of Garcia and Lopez, they're likely the same people who enjoyed Chris Eubank Jr. slapping his opponent with an egg, or delight in the career of Ben Spittaker - the only reason classless behaviour exists is because there are enough people who will sustain and support it. But it seems to me that a silent majority of people are repulsed by it because boxing was more popular before these things became commonplace (compare how people reacted to Mike Tyson in the 1980s vs the 2000s). The marketing rationale is scant too, as surely it would be bigger news if someone didn't push their opponent at a press event nowadays.

Pope Francis passed away the other day. I'm not a Christian nor a big fan of the Catholic Church as an institution, but all I heard about him as a person led me to believe that he was trying to be a good and decent man in life. He didn't shy away from saying that war is bad, he went woke and broke traditions of discriminating against women, homosexuals, and transgender people, he called racism a sin and spoke out in support of priests and bishops who said that black lives matter, and he used his platform to highlight the plight of the poor and needy. Looking around at the global outpouring of grief and respect for the man, it reminded me of when Muhammad Ali died. The former heavyweight champion used to visit kings and presidents, but he also shared his time with prisons and youth facilities, with the destitute and downtrodden. Doing the right thing isn't always easy or profitable, which is why it's discouraged by existing systems and pressures, but that's also why people will have that much more admiration for those who do it. Everyone is capable of good and I maintain that belief even for as sullied a world as professional boxing.
"A me piace pensare l'inferno vuoto, spero sia realtà."