Alright, so plenty of boxing took place this past weekend that spanned the globe from Sydney, Australia, to Liverpool, England and the noted boxing, the Caribe Royale, in Orlando, Florida. Here are some of my thoughts on what transpired and what it means for the future.
- 'Boxingpalooza' began on Wednesday from 'Down Under' as Keith Thurman was a man at work as he scored a dominant third round knockout of Brock Jarvis. For Thurman, who long ago was a unified welterweight champion, this was his first outing since 2022.
He showed that he can still take care of the likes of Jarvis (who was halted in one by Liam Paro in his only other loss) and given the circumstances at play, Thurman looked pretty good. Yeah, yeah, some will point out that Jarvis was far from elite and built to order. No argument there. But in this game how you win matters. And the manner in which he dispatched Jarvis makes him a viable opponent for Tim Tszyu down the line.
Now, that fight may not mean much to many casual fans in America, but in Australia, this is a big fight/event, even now. So from that perspective, it's mission accomplished for Thurman
- Then on Thursday in Tokyo, you had the barn burner between Kenshiro Teraji and Seigo Yuri Akui for the WBC flyweight title. Akui, who came into this contest as the defending champion was able to beat Teraji to the punch early on and seemed to have the lead going into the championship rounds.
But Teraji, who has a history of being one of the guttiest fighters in boxing, rallied back, and was able to close the gap. Finally, he started to break through in the 11th, and then understanding that the fight was in the balance, let his hands go furiously in the final round. After stunning Akui, he was able to score a dramatic stoppage in the 12th. It turned out he was down 105-104 on two scorecards.
Naoki Fukuda/Top Rank
You can debate if the fight was waved off a tad early by referee, Katsuhiko Nakamura, but it doesn't take away the quality of this bout, or how dramatic it was. This is an early contender for 2025 'Fight of the Year'. No country has as many quality bouts involving their champions as Japan.
- Then from the Echo Arena in Liverpool, Nick Ball successfully defended his WBA featherweight title by steadily wearing down the game TJ Doheny in 10 rounds. But beyond just successfully holding onto his belt, what Ball really did was keep his lottery ticket for a shot at Naoya Inoue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j34Uif3-q1s
'The Monster' is currently the ruler at 122, but there's been a lot of speculation about a move up in weight and Ball -- because he has one of those gaudy trinkets -- is in prime position to land that lucrative assignment.
While it would be another weight class for Inoue to climb up to, the diminutive Ball looks to be built to order for him. While strong and rugged, Ball doesn't seem to have nearly the skill or speed to deal with the sharper skills and firepower of Inoue.
Still, Ball will probably make life-changing money for his troubles. Don't let anyone tell you that belts don't matter.
- Finally from Orlando, Matchroom Boxing put on a show that featured a main event between Ammo Williams and Patrice Volny, the most interesting part of this card that was broadcast by DAZN was the back-and-forthing between Edgar Berlanga and the head of Matchroom, the always loquacious, Eddie Hearn.
Berlanga, who was last seen losing every round, minute and second to Canelo Alvarez last September in a pay-per-view, felt disrespected by being relegated to being an undercard fighter in his return. Never mind that he was facing a guy in Jonathan Gonzalez, who had been off for a full decade (yes, you read that correctly) after serving time for armed robbery.
Matchroom Boxing
Hearn, who delivered on his promise of getting Berlanga that big payday versus Alvarez, had the temerity to not want to lose any money on a fighter who may not be with him moving forward. It's well-known that this is the end of their current deal.
Not surprisingly, Berlanga got rid of the over-matched Gonzalez in the first round. Now, Berlanga can move on with his career being his own boss (while at the same time signing on with another promoter) and Hearn is now rid of this headache.
