Innholdsfortegnelse for 14 August 2025 i Boxing News

IMES like this are what boxing aficionados dread. Times that make us doubt if we even should be following the sport. Two young boxers are no longer with us – two men who boxed on the same show at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on August 2 suffered brain damage and died in hospital days later. This has never happened before. We have had ring fatalities, of course. But never two from the same promotion. The boxers in question, Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa, were both aged 28. Before delving deeper into this, allow me to give my thoughts on the two fights in question after reviewing them on YouTube. I’ll first look at the main event, a 12-round draw in the fight between Kotari and Yamato Hata. Kotari left the ring…

HYPERBOLE and hoopla are constant companions in modern sport, with fans and businesspeople alike eager to anoint the next big thing. But for every prodigy who lives up to the billing – Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Ayrton Senna, Diego Maradona, Pele – there are many more who don’t. In boxing, particularly the heavyweights, the search for a generational talent never ends. The next Ali. The next Tyson. The next myth made real. Most don’t make it. But every now and then, someone comes along who just might. At only 20, Moses Itauma has yet to complete 30 rounds as a pro, yet a world title already feels like a matter of when, not if. A dozen fights into his career, many seasoned observers believe he could already trouble the sport’s…

DAVID ADELEYE adopts an immersive approach to his craft – so much so that, even when taking a moment to rest his enormous knuckles, he can never quite seem to find the off-switch. In fact, while sitting on a chair that just about supports his muscular frame, it becomes glaringly obvious that the 28-year-old’s mind, as if searching for a more stimulating environment, remains far removed from an office room filled with ring binders and A4 sheets of paper. The Londoner, in that sense, possesses a special type of mindset; one that is almost expertly designed for combat. In an alternative reality, he would likely have plied his trade on the battlefield, often charging into a cluster of goons while swinging an axe high above his head. But it is…

BALL-GOODMAN FORD-NOVA HEAVYWEIGHTS take centre stage in Riyadh on Saturday but the most intriguing fight on the show sees Liverpool’s Nick ‘The Wrecking’ Ball defending his WBA featherweight title against Australia’s Sam Goodman in a meeting of unbeatens. Ball is a 1/5 favourite but those odds might be a little harsh on Goodman, a smart technician with an excellent chin. Goodman (20-0, 7 KOs) was a world youth champion as an amateur. He rose to the occasion in his biggest fight as a pro when he won a split decision over Ra’eese Aleem in an IBF 122lbs title eliminator. That earned him a title shot at Naoya Inoue, but the fight was scrapped after two postponements due to Goodman getting cut in sparring. Now Goodman is moving up 4lbs to…

THIS WEEK’S History Of Boxing article on the 1924 Wembley show got me thinking about other big heavyweight contests that took place at a British football ground, and the one that sprung to mind most quickly was that between Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper at Highbury in 1966. The ground was home to Arsenal FC until 2006, formally known as the Arsenal Stadium but known to every football fan as Highbury, and it had never been used for boxing until this contest. White Hart Lane had housed some spectacular contests in two shows held in the 1940s, and Stamford Bridge had hosted a Jimmy Wilde bout back in 1918. Cooper had defended his British and Empire heavyweight titles at the Birmingham City ground in 1965 and Anfield in Liverpool was…

Aug 15 OMAR TRINIDAD vs LORENZO PARRA Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez, California UFC Fight Pass Mizuki Hiruta vs Naomy Cardenas Gomez (WBO super-flyweight title) CAN XU vs JAOUAD BELMEHDI  Beijing MUHAMMADKHUJA YAQUBOV vs WILLIAM FOSTER III ProBox TV Events Center, Plant City, Florida ProBox TV Gary Antonio Russell vs Dervin Rodriguez Aug 16 MOSES ITAUMA vs DILLIAN WHYTE Riyadh DAZN PPV Nick Ball vs Sam Goodman (WBA featherweight title) Filip Hrgovic vs David Adeleye Ray Ford vs Abraham Nova Hayato Tsutsumi vs Qais Ashfaq Aug 20 MICHAEL ZERAFA vs MIKEY DAHLMAN ICC Exhibition Centre, Sydney Nikita Tszyu vs Lulzim Ismaili Brock Jarvis vs Sam Beck Aug 23 JACK RAFFERTY vs MARK CHAMBERLAIN Planet Ice, Altrincham DAZN (British and Commonwealth super-lightweight titles) Zak Miller vs Leon Woodstock (Commonwealth featherweight title) Jack…

THERE is nowhere on a fighting man’s CV for the simple word ‘decency’, and that is a shame. Tommy Brooks was a decent man, and he worked as a trainer with dozens of decent and exceptional fighters. It is an impressive list. He was also kind, nice and polite; often a hindrance in the boxing game where Manners are just two brothers from Leeds. Brooks never pushed Tommy; he never shouted about his achievements. And, just like George Benton, he just came, did his business in the gym and in the ring, and left in the shadows, his small bag of essentials in his hand. He was in charge in the corner, but he was seldom the loudest mouth for hire, and he never bragged. That seemed to suit Brooks.…

MOHAMMAD SAFARI moved up in weight for the Brandenburg Box Cup and came home with a gold medal after silencing the German crowd. The 17-year-old southpaw from The Ring ABC in Bracknell finished top of the podium at 55kgs. He reached the final with a unanimous points win over Vidan Humbatov, scoring a knockdown on the way to victory over the Azeri to set up a final against Mohamed Al-Manouchi. The German won World Under-19 silver last year after beating England’s John Tom Varey in the semi-finals and had the home crowd behind him in Brandenburg. They chanted: “Germany!” throughout the final, but Safari was too sharp and won a split decision. Darren Taylor, Safari’s coach at The Ring, says the move up in weight suits Safari, who won England Boxing’s…

I DON’T think British boxing has ever seen a heavyweight fight quite like Moies Itauma vs Dillian Whyte, with a 12-0 fighter a massive favourite over a veteran with a 31-3 record. But the 1/10 odds reflect the widely held perception that Itauma is the next big thing. What, though, of past British heavyweight fights where, for want of a better way to put it, new meets old? There have been a lot of these. Mostly the fresh faces have beaten the older ones. I’ll look at some of them here, starting with Billy Walker vs Joe Erskine. The fight took place at Wembley Pool on October 27, 1964, with Walker winning a 10-round decision. Walker brought a record of 12-3-1, 9 KOs, into the fight while Erskine, the former British…

★★★★★ OUTSTANDING ★★★★ GOOD ★★★ FAIR ★★ DISAPPOINTING ★ RUBBISH The star ratings indicate how well the writer believes the fighters match up, the fight(s)’ contextual significance, and how good the fight(s) will be ITAUMA-WHYTE HRGOVIC-ADELEYE AFTER veteran heavyweight Scott ALeDoux was battered to a three-round defeat by a young Frank Bruno in 1983, the 34-year-old American lamented in the post-fight interview: “Ten years ago, I would have beaten him.” Asked if this was a concession that he was now past his best, LeDoux quipped: “No, it’s because 10 years ago, Bruno was 12.” Dillian Whyte now finds himself in a similar position when he faces Moses Itauma on Saturday in Riyadh – he’s a thirtysomething former contender facing a rising heavyweight in his early 20s, and just like LeDoux…

BELFAST AUGUST 1 WHOLE SHOW ATMOSPHERE THE FIRST of two Belfast shows within the space of 24 hours went ahead at the Devenish Complex, Jamie Conlan promoting a six-bout affair that saw the home corner triumphant throughout. Local favourite Jack O’Neill (5-0, 1 KO, 126lbs 11oz) stepped up to six rounds for the first time and, as expected, proved too much for Bradford road warrior and old adversary Jake Pollard (1-94, 125lbs 6oz) who, despite enjoying little spells in the ascendancy, wasn’t able to prevent him from taking the 58-55 decision of third man Eamonn Magill. Jack had secured a debut win over the Yorkshireman almost a year ago, taking all four rounds on that occasion. Only inside-distance victory of the evening was secured by Cookstown super-feather Teo Alin (5-0, 1…

OWAIN HARRIS-ALLEN’S euphoria in March as the IOC restored boxing to the 2028 LA Olympic programme was swiftly doused when, a month later, he discovered his natural 57kg habitat had been usurped from the schedule. During his two-year tenure on GB’s Podium squad at Sheffield, the Welsh wizard skirted around world class. A 2022 Commonwealth Games medallist in his teens, Owain’s guts and guile brought Welsh and Tri Nations Elite titles, plus victory over a multitude of national champions while sweeping up medals and titles at multi-nations meets. In January 2024, the tenacious box-fighter topped the podium at the World Boxing Cup event in Sheffield. The following month, he steamrolled regarded Cuban Ewart Martin and Mexican champ Andrey Bonilla to lift gold at the Boxam in La Nucia, Spain, before…

I AM FOREVER stressing how important it is that EBAs show they are involved in, and care about, today’s scene. So I’m very pleased the latest Central (Midlands) EBA newsletter features an in-depth piece on current pro heavyweight Hughie Fury. Hughie hasn’t had the best of luck since turning pro, and author Craig Birch goes into his career (amateur and pro) in detail, pointing out that when Daniel Dubois had to pull out of his match with Joseph Parker on this February’s show in Saudi Arabia Hughie was quick to offer his services, eager for the chance to gain revenge over one of only three men to have beaten him (all on points). But, writes Craig, “the call instead went to Martin Bakole, who folded inside two rounds”. Frustratingly, there…