October 2025 boxing predictions

The September Report

• After a two round feeling-out process which almost lulled me to sleep, the remainder of the fight was much more lively. Nunez was intent on staying in the pocket for much of the fight and Diaz played a willing dance partner while probing for openings and letting his hands go. Diaz landed substantial blows but it was Nunez who scored two knockdowns in round 7 - one questionable and one indisputable. Things only heated up from there with several back-and-forth rounds in a fight which lived up to the rich history of Mexico vs. Puerto Rico boxing matches being fun to watch. A fight of the year contender. But as previously mentioned on this site, Mexico usually wins.
  • Prediction: Nunez by unanimous decision
  • Result: Nunez by unanimous decision
• La Princesa bullied his opponent senseless before the referee eventually stepped in. It was the kind of stoppage a British referee would've made 30 seconds earlier.
  • Prediction: Olascuaga by KO/TKO in the second half of the fight
  • Result: Olascuaga by TKO 2
• In The Founder, Crock wins by unfair means too. Most people only gave Crocker the two rounds in which he scored knockdowns. After the last fight I figured Donovan must've known a robbery was on the cards so he surely had to go for the knockout to win. It appears he or his team have misplaced faith in boxing judges.
  • Prediction: Donovan by KO/TKO in the second half of the fight
  • Result: Crocker by split decision
• CANelo did the same thing he always does when facing a tough opponent, he does not fight like a Mexican and he does not vary up his style. A few body shots here, a lack of head movement and ring generalship there, followed by the judges then awarding him the decision regardless while he plods into shots. Not tonight. Bud was smoking on that canelito pack. At the time of writing he'll be turning 38 in a few weeks but like somebody said earlier in the year "38 is young". Inspirational stuff. And of course, the post-fight interview and commentary immediately turned not only to questions of if retirement is on the horizon, but of insisting that there is nothing more to be achieved and that retirement must follow. Ridiculous stuff. If B-Hop and Big George can be competitive into their mid-40s then there's nothing to suggest Bud and Usyk can't.
  • Prediction: Crawford by unanimous decision
  • Result: Crawford by unanimous decision
• Alright, so I was completely wrong. But think about it this way, wouldn't it be boring to be right 100% of the time? Well, it would be more impressive and financially lucrative, but I still find enjoyment in being surprised. And it sure was surprising to see how susceptible Takei was to the lefts and rights raining down on him.
  • Prediction: Takei by KO/TKO in the first half of the fight
  • Result: Medina by TKO 4
• You have to give me credit for calling that it would go the distance when Inoue has been on a knockout streak since going the full 12 against Donaire in 2019. Why not Inoue by KO/TKO this time? Because Akhmadaliev is a tough son of a gun and because Inoue's last few performances have me openly contemplating if the monster is over the hill. He won every round but this was a snoozefest. A 12-0 shutout can be entertaining, like prime Roy Jones against any number of people who had the misfortune of facing a prime Roy Jones, but Inoue is more than happy to reduce his output to the bare minimum. It doesn't make for good viewing.
  • Prediction: Inoue by unanimous decision
  • Result: Inoue by unanimous decision
• I heard it was a bizarre stoppage before I watched it and so it was! Vayson was definitely in the fight and though getting more dinged in the 7th, his legs were under him and his eyes were clear as he continued looking for counters off the ropes. According to the commentators, he usually doesn't fight moving backwards so maybe this concerned his corner so greatly that they interrupted a promising performance? People forget boxing is a team sport in essence.
  • Prediction: Collazo by KO/TKO in the middle rounds
  • Result: Collazo by TKO 7

5 outta 7 including mostly perfect reads; fortune good and otherwise involved so I'll take it. October looks to be another light month on the title front as the boxing circus will be preparing to return to Riyadh for 'Night of Champions' in November.

October Schedule

Oct. 25th - O'Shaquie Foster vs. Stephen Fulton, WBC @ 130lbs

Foster's last two fights against Robson Conceicao were close decisions that could've gone either way on either occasion. By anyone's measure, Fulton is a better boxer than Conceicao.

Prediction: Fulton by unanimous decision

Oct. 25th - Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman, WBC @ 154lbs

It's a tall order as Thurman faces the 6ft6 Amblin' American Fundora. Though his record remains impressive on paper Thurman has been woefully inactive lately, having had only six fights in the past 10 years. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he drops out of this fight too. If he shows up, he'll find that Fundora is becoming less shy about using his ridiculous height and reach advantage.

Prediction: Fundora by unanimous decision

Oct. 26th - Pedro Taduran vs. Christian Balunan, IBF @ 105lbs

Almost missed this all-Filipino contest. Taduran is fresh off of ending Shigeoka Ginjiro's career in May, whereas Balunan is having his first fight since December and arguably his first serious challenge in the ring. He looks to be a good body puncher but the gap in experience is undeniable.

Prediction: Taduran by unanimous decision

Oct. 29th - Melvin Jerusalem vs. Siyakholwa Kuse, WBC @ 105lbs

Did you notice that this fight is being billed under the 50th anniversary of the Thrilla in Manila? Not only is the date off by 4 weeks, but to go from two bitter rivals competing for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world to two random guys competing for 25% of the championship in boxing's smallest weight division is a downgrade by anyone's definition. The reigning Filipino 'El Gringo' should retain his title but it was thought the Thrilla would be a walk in the park for Ali too. I'm not expecting a classic but I think it will be a pick 'em.

Prediction: Jerusalem by split decision

Earth is for the living

Sometimes I come across a headline which sounds like it was designed in a laboratory by malevolent forces just to annoy me. The last such headline is 'Mike Tyson to face Floyd Mayweather in 2026'. If Floyd Mayweather could read he would know he's turning 49 in February and that his opponent, Grandpa Dynamite, is older than the Six-Day War. Will anybody be interested to see Tyson after his well-publicised plaintive defeat last year? Unless someone bothers making an AI-powered Muhammad Ali hologram, it feels like these meme fights are finally peaking. What other star-power names are left from the world of combat sports? From McGregor to Tyson, 2017-2026 has been an especially sorrowful period in boxing history. Don't get me started on Tank.

Zuffa-Ring Succotash!

Max Kellerman, the voice that sunk a thousand broadcasts, is back with a new weekly Ring Magazine show - Inside The Ring. As a long-time Max detractor, it was gratifying to see the muted response to this announcement that was teased on Ring social media over the course of several days. My favorite was a silhouette of Max Kellerman standing in a boxing ring, because Max Kellerman has the most default not-yet-unlocked placeholder silhouette imaginable.

If that didn't get your endorphins reaching for the bedside revolver, then the addition of Mike Coppinger as co-host surely sent your joi de vivre shuffling off this mortal coil. This is a golden age for people who like their boxing analysts to have a permanent deer-in-the-headlights look, but then again they are journalists working for Saudi Arabia. Apparently there will be a rotating tertiary host and for some unknowable reason, the third wheel on this show is Sean McCoy (me neither). Why not a boxer to bring some actual legitimacy and repute to this show? As things stand, it's just more slop to shovel into the podcast void. And despite initially being announced as a DAZN-exclusive, the presumably atrocious viewing figures very quickly resulted in episode 2 onwards being uploaded to Ring Magazine's YouTube channel in full.

You know what newsworthy topic they refused to cover? Dana White, who was front and centre at the Canelo-Crawford fight week presser, being accosted by Sean Zittel over changes to the Ali Act. But never mind that, gotta shill Ryan Garcia's return instead.

G.O.A.T. Simulator

Andre Ward called Bud the "GOAT of this generation". Max Kellerman called him "the GOAT of this era". Do words not mean anything anymore? Either you're the greatest of all time or you're the greatest of a generation/greatest of an era. Pick a lane. I will tell you the definitive answer for the question on everyone's lips thoughever:
"Who would win in a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford?"
"That's easy, Mayweather would never fight him."

PPV: It just won't stay dead!

Are people really going to pay "around £25.99 UK / $59.99 US / $49.99 AUD/NZD" for Parker-Wardley? So soon after Turki Alalshikh promised that cards under Riyadh Season and Ring Magazine (both of which are sponsoring/supporting this card) would no longer be PPV? Who could have seen this coming? Though not for all intents and purposes, the fight is essentially an eliminator because Parker is either confirmed to get a shot at Usyk after he wins or he's eliminated from the running by suffering an upset loss. Fights of this caliber are not usually PPV affairs but may it have something to do with trying to make up for the lost revenue of other future boxing PPVs being included in the DAZN subscription?

eSportswashing, it's in the game

Some people think the label of sportswashing is accusatory or derogatory. I think it's merely descriptive. As Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman himself put it: "If sportswashing (is) going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we'll continue doing sportswashing". The latest Gulf acquisition will be Electronic Arts, the video game publisher which owns The Sims, Dragon Age, Battlefield, Mass Effect, Plants vs. Zombies, Need For Speed, as well as the EA Sports line of video games including Madden, FIFA (now EA FC), NHL, F1, UFC and many other titles.

At a pricetag of $55bn (roughly the annual nominal GDP of the nation of Jordan), this is the largest ever buyout in the history of buyouts. Sure is nice to be living in historic times, eh? EA will be jointly taken over by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, American private equity firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners (owned wholly by Jared Kushner, best known as the failed Middle East peace negotiator and son-in-law of U.S. President Donald J. Trump). Why is this worth mentioning on this boxing website? Because EA Sports used to make the Fight Night games.

The series was last seen in 2011's Fight Night Champion, with EA Sports pivoting to making floorhugging UFC games instead. But now there's a scenario where Saudi Arabia will effectively own the mainstream of boxing and, crucially, own the Fight Night series including its propietary game engines. Given the lukewarm response to the indie game Undisputed by the smalltime developer Steel City Interactive, and the big push that Fatal Fury (from Saudi-owned SNK) got, it would appear inevitable that a new boxing game is on the way.