Category Archives: Recent Fights

Inoue defeats Cardenas by 8th-round knockout

Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Naoya Inoue is one of the greatest fighters of this generation and certainly ranks as one of the greatest, period! In a weekend in which great fights were promised but failed to deliver, this one did. The first round was feeling round in which the underdog Cardenas got in a few jabs as Inoue was looking to see what Cardenas had. Cardenas showed a quick jab.

Cardenas launched a combination at the beginning of the second round while Inoue used his jab, body and head shot against his opponent. Cardenas began to push the action and near the end of the round, he put Inoue down with a sharp left hook. 

Cardenas continued to move forward and using his defense to avoid the big Inaoue shots and Inoue found himself in a fight and Cardenas deliver combinations while Inoue found himself open to the counters. After three rounds 29-27 in favor Cardenas.

The fourth round was Inoue best of the first four round as he moved forward out boxing Cardenas and forced Cardenas  to retreat.38-37 still in favor Cardenas. The fifth round was closer as Inoue continued to pursue his opponent, but Cardenas successfully countered to make the round close but Inoue even the fight on my score card.

The sixth round saw Inoue dominating the round and punish Cardenas throughout the round and for the first time, Inoue showed the domination expected and halfway through the fight, Cardenas was behind 57-56.  Very few thought this fight would last this long.

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Canelo by decision over Schull … regains undisputed 168 title belt

Middleweights, Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Canelo Alveraz wanted to reclaim his unanimous undisputed super middleweight championship as he fought the present IBF supermiddleweight William Schull.  Alvarez was the super middleweight champion, but he was stripped of his IBF championship when he chose to fight Berlanga versus the IBF mandatory challenger.

This fight follows the pattern of the Time square boredom as we saw the lowest total of punches by both fighters in CompuBox history and Canelo Alvarez even finished in the top three in individual lowest total.  He averaged 5 landed for 13 punches and Schull averaged 5 punches and threw 24 per round. 

Alvarez was not impressive in this bout, but he did win as he landed nearly 40 percent of his punches whereas Schull only landed nearly 20 percent.  Schull tried to box his way to victory and landed a punch here or here but for the most part, Schull was ineffectua.

After four rounds, you could have called the fight even as Schull avoided getting hit and Alvarez was throwing very little and landing little.

Continue reading Canelo by decision over Schull … regains undisputed 168 title belt →

Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney, Rolly Romero, Victorious / Results From New York

Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

On Friday night, May 2, 2025, it was boxing in New York Times Square, however the Haney -Ramirez and Garcia-Romero were setting records for some of the lowest boxing CompuBox stats.  Most fans would been better off people watching in Times Square or watching paint dry than either of those two matches.

Teofimo Lopez faced the undefeated Arnold Barboza, jr. in the WBO super lightweight  championship.  Barboza entered the fight after a split decision victory over Jack Catterall and there was still concern if Lopez will be able to reach his full potential, This fight, he defeated a slick undefeated boxer rather easily as Lopez won the bout 116-112, 16-112, and 118-110.

Barboza has been looking forward to fighting Lopez, but it was obvious that he was not yet ready to fight Lopez.

Lopez boxing skills were on display as he slipped punches and proved elusive while he landed counters. Barboza tried to jab his inside, but this proved ineffectual as he landed only 38 jabs versus 54 jabs for Lopez.  Lopez had rhythm and even did a little showboating while Barboza landed only 16 percent of his punches. (In fairness and while he was more accurate, Lopez landed only  22.1 percent.)

Lopez landed 127 punches versus only 71 punches for Barboza, nearly five punches more punches per round than his opponents and  landed more than double power shots.  Lopez boxing superiority and powerful right hand prove decisive and he by himself threw more punches than Haney and Ramierz combined, and more than Garcia-Rolando combined in their fight.

Lopez goal is now take on Jaron Ennis.

CompuBox Punch Stats

PunchesLopezBarboza
Total landed12771
Total thrown574426
Percent22.1%16.7%
Jabs landed5438
Jabs thrown376238
Percent14.4%16%
Power landed7333
Power thrown198188
Percent36.9%17.6%
Continue reading Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney, Rolly Romero, Victorious / Results From New York →

Sebastian Fundora Defeats Chordale Booker … AND … Saying Goodbye to George Foreman / R.I.P.

Heavyweights, R.I.P., Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWWA)

Sebastian Fundora kept his unified WBC and WBO championship with an easy fourth stoppage of Chordale Booker.  Fundora, who carries 154 pounds on a 6 foot five inches presents a challenge for any fighter, and he used his reach and height to be bloodied Booker behind his left-handed jab.

Fundora stunned Booker and with a combination that sent the challenge down.  Compubox punch stats says it all as he landed more than double the punches and dominated power shots landing 50 versus only 16 for Booker.

CompuBox Punch Stats

PunchesFundoraBooker
Total landed7937
Total thrown361150
Percent21.9%24.7%
Jabs landed2921
Jabs thrown21190
Percent13.7%23.3%
Power landed5016
Power thrown15060
Percent33.3%26.7%
   

Fundora noted Booker did a lot of movement, mostly to avoid getting nailed.   Originally he was to fight Errol Spence, but that fight has been canceled.

Fundora has some compelling matches coming up including Puerto Rican undefeated fighter Xander Zayas who is a mandatory opponent or a reunification Bakhram Murtazalieve. 

George Forman was one of the great heavyweights and did what was consider impossible, he lost a title in 1974 to the great Ali but then 21 years later he came back in a miraculous way to recapture his title against Michael Moorer, a fight he was losing by a wide margin before he stopped Moorer..  

After nine rounds, Foreman was down 9 rounds to zero but in the tenth round, he caught Moorer with a left hook and then finished up Moorer with a straight right.  This was a redemption 21 years in the making, making up for his loss to Ali in the rumble in the jungle.

Continue reading Sebastian Fundora Defeats Chordale Booker … AND … Saying Goodbye to George Foreman / R.I.P. →

Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr. / fight result a majority draw

Lightweights, Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Lamont Roach Jr. was supposed to be another win for Gervonta “The Tank” Davis on his way to other bigger fights against Lomachenko, Shakur Stevenson, and a rematch with Ryan Garcia but something happened. Roach fought the fight of his life and the fight ended up with a majority draw.  One judge had the fight for Davis, the other two a draw.  This was a close fight, and it could easily been 115-113 in favor of Roach as opposed to 115-113 for Davis on one judge card.

Here are some stats to consider, Roach landed more punches in 6 of the 12 rounds, Davis only 3 of the 12 rounds with three rounds even.  Roach landed 112 punches to Davis 103 punches and Davis was the more accurate puncher and Roach the more active as he threw 120 more punches.  On power shots, Davis landed 93 power shots to Roach 87.  As you can see, this was an even fight, hard to judge and hard to determine a winner.

Davis is normally a slow starter and in this fight, it was no different but what was different is that Roach did not wilt as the fight progressed.  In the last round, Roach landed 16 punches with 13 of them power shots versus Davis 9 punches and only 8 power shots.  On many scorecards, this was Roach round.

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Bivol “Majority Decision” over Beterbiev for “Undisputed” Light Heavyweight Title

Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers Association of America

The past year, boxing has been blessed with some great fights, first there was the two Usyk-Fury in which Usyk narrowly beat Tyson and this past weekend, Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol finished their second bout and this time Bivol came out on top.  Both Beterbiev and Bivol fights were tight close fights, but this fight saw Bivol winning many of the later rounds, rounds that Beterbiev won in their first fight.

Bivol won the first three rounds as his jab and boxing skills dominated as it did in the first three rounds in their first fight, but Beterbiev turned on a switch as he forced the action and landing solid shots in the both the fourth and fifth round.  Beterbiev landed 37 punches to Bivol 26 punches plus 24 of those punches were power shots and Bivol only landed 7 power shots.  The sixth round was close while I gave it to Bivol, Beterbiev landed several right hands and both fighters landed similar numbers

I had 58 to 56 for Bivol but others had the fight even, which was reasonable.  Bivol countered Beterbiev in the seventh round and in the eighth round, Bivol dominated with his own body shots and in the ninth round,  Bivol slipped Beterbiev and then turned the table as he landed three shots and by this point, Beterbiev was not hurting Bivol.  I had the fight 88 to 83 in favor of Bivol. 

The tenth round was close and Beterbiev landed more punches and with two rounds left, the fight was 97-93 on my card. 

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Benavidez Defeats Morrell … Unanimous Decision

Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Benavidez continued his undefeated status as he outworked David Morral to earn a unanimous decision in battle of light heavyweights contenders.  Benevidez used power shots and unrelenting body assault to outwork Morrell. 

The first three rounds were feeling out process as neither fighter had much advantage but in the fourth round, Benavidez took control as he dominated the round in which he landed 30 punches to Morrell 22 punches. 

From this point, he dominated most of the rounds with the exceptions of the eleventh.  From fourth to tenth Benevidez landed 151 punches to 104 for Morrell in those rounds.  He built up a big lead, but the eleventh gave Morrell’s fan hope.   He landed more punches than Benevidez and even knock Benevidez down but instead of 10-8 round, it ended up a 9-8 as Morrell threw a punch after the bell ranged.

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Usyk Defeats Fury in Rematch by Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights, Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers Association of America – respected and honorable contributor to www.dmboxing.com since 2008

Oleksandr Usyk may be the best heavyweight of his generation, and he proved this as he defeated Tyson Fury for a second time in another tightly contested fight.  Fury is his rival and the one who has been a leading heavyweight for the past decade since he defeated Wladmir Klitschko to take his title.   Usyk was the older fighter and smaller fighter, who came up from the cruiserweight division before becoming the best heavyweight in the world and faced a big challenge against the bigger Fury.  Since the Klitschko brothers left the heavyweight scene after dominating it from 2004 to 2015, fellow Ukrainian Usyk has added to Ukraine’s list of great heavyweights in this century.

Tyson Fury has had a history of adopting new tactics in a rematch as he showed in the Wilder trilogy. In his first fight, he boxed and nearly lost the fight but for a gutsy performance of managing to survive a brutal knockdown in round 12. In the rematch, he became the aggressor and used his height and weight to overpower Wilder.   In their final match, Fury combined power and boxing skills to wear out Wilder and stopped him.

In their first fight, Fury landed 157 punches in a close fight with a connect rate of 32 percent whereas Usyk was the more accurate boxer landing 170 punches for 41 percent connect rate.  Usyk wore Fury out in the later rounds.  In the rematch, Usyk connected on 179 punches to Fury’s 144 punches and connected on a little over 42 percent versus Fury 28 percent.  In ten of the rounds, Usyk landed more punches than Fury.  And Fury did come in 14 pounds, or as the Brits would say, one stone heavier.

While this does not speak to the overall quality of the punches and many rounds were decided by one or two punches, this shows that Usyk connected more consistently throughout the fight versus Fury.

In the opening rounds, Fury opened up boxing and jabbing, even on occasions switching to southpaw.  Usyk in the fourth round nailed Fury with two big left hooks and Fury countered with powerful rights and as time wound down, he unleashed a right upper cut.  This round showed the competitive nature of the fight, and this round went Fury but in the previous third round, Usyk began to pressure Fury as he battered Fury to the body.

Halfway through the fight it was a close but as the second half proceeded, Usyk took control of the bout.  Over the last five rounds he landed 54 percent of his power shots and overall, he landed more punches than any other Fury opponent. I had it 116-112.

 

Over the years, Fury has proven to be a good boxer with defensive skills, but Usyk’s boxing skills overcame Fury’s size, boxing skills and power and allowed him to win two closes but no doubt decisions.

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Jake Paul defeats Mike Tyson by Decision … Katie Taylor over Amanda Serrano

Heavyweights, Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

The big fight on Netflix was Mike Tyson versus Jake Paul or that was the the fight that got all the intention.  Jake Paul’s job was to defeat a former great heavyweight who has not been in the ring in two decades and eligible for senior citizen discount. 

J

ake Paul did what Jake Paul was supposed to do, win the bout with jabs and combinations whereas Tyson hardly looked the fearsome fighter he was at his peak and connected on two punches per round.  It was easy fight for Paul and sad ending for Tyson but both men got rich in the process. 60 million people tuned in. 

In the fight round Paul landed a right that shook Tyson and Tyson landed a left hook that twenty years ago would have sent Paul in the front row, but it did nothing .   Paul jab was effective in keeping Tyson off.  I could remember a time when no jab would keep Tyson off in his prime.  He would find a way around it and knock you out.  But that was the young twenty something Tyson.  Tonight, father time reminded Tyson that indeed, he was an old fighter.

Continue reading Jake Paul defeats Mike Tyson by Decision … Katie Taylor over Amanda Serrano →

Beterbiev wins the “undisputed” light heavyweight championship with majority decision victory over Bivol

Recent Fights, Tom Donelson

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of Ameria (BWAA)

There was time that a fight between two elites undefeated fighters fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight title would have been a big thing but for most sports fan, boxing is no longer the major sport it once was, and it is approaching the level most Americans view soccer.  It is disappearing and if you look at the big fights and in particular among light heavyweights and beyond, they are dominated by European fighters where interest still reign. 

Heavyweight division is strictly a foreign affair as Usyk and Fury will fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship. At this moment, I view Dubois title as being granted because of politics as Usyk decided to allow Fury a deserve rematch since they are two best Heavyweight in the world.

Dmitry Bivol is classic boxer who already defeated Canelo Alvarez and Beterbiev has won every bout he participated by knock out and been a champion of his version of the light heavyweight since 2017.

Continue reading Beterbiev wins the “undisputed” light heavyweight championship with majority decision victory over Bivol →