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

Jaron “Boots” Ennis took on Xander Zayas, for Zayas’ WBA / WBO Junior Middleweight titles. Both fighters were undefeated, but Ennis was the heavy favorite and in the first round, he showed why he was the favorite as he thumped Zayas around the ring. An Ennis left spun Zayas to the canvas for a knockdown and gave Ennis the opening round sending many fans wondering how quickly this would end.

In the second round, Ennis continuing to pound Zayas as he easily took the round and the fight moved to the third, where Zayas showed life as landed a right hand that Ennis walked through but the second right got Ennis attention and Zayas won the round and in the fourth round saw a Zayas punch spin Ennis head around as both fighters gave as much as they got.  The round was close, but I gave it to Zayas, but it could have gone for Ennis. In the third and fourth round, Zayas landed 50 punches to Ennis 41. Zayas 28 and 22 punches in the third and fourth rounds, whereas Ennis landed 19 and 22.

Ennis got control of the fight in the fifth as he nailed Zayas with everything but the kitchen sink. He sent Zayas down a second time with a right upper cut and overall, he landed 37 punches to Zayas 16. 

In the sixth round, Ennis landed three times as many punches but at the end of the round, Zayas was still standing. The seventh round saw the end of the fight. Both fighters mixed it up in the middle of the ring, but Ennis landed a hard punch combination and began walking Zayas down   Ennis left connected and followed by swift combinations, send Zayas down for a third time and the fight ended as Zayas went down to a knee.

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

(Result / May 30, 2026 / El Paso, Texas)

Holly Holm nearly won another championship at the age of 44 but lost a controversial bout in which she outpunch her opponent by 30 punches, and scored with more punches, in 10 of the twelve rounds against Stephanie Han and in the last three rounds, she landed 40 punches to Han 17 punches to finish strong.  The judges had it a majority decision for Han, but I had Holm the winner but that is boxing.

As for the Han fight, Holm stated her case on a recent podcast, “I felt like the first few rounds, it started a little closer, and then I just started to take over and took control of the fight. I felt in control, for the most part. Anything can happen. And obviously, there’s some [punches], like if I pull out [and pull away], and it almost looks worse than what it is. It’s a 10-round fight. It’s not like she didn’t land any shots. I never felt any hard shots that really did a lot, and I know that I was dictating the pace. I know I was the one with more action. I felt like I threw more punches. I know I was in her hometown, but you still have to trust that maybe these judges are going to be professional.”  She was right as Compubox had her landing more punches and the more active fighter. There is a saying in boxing, you must take the crown from the champion and in my view she did.

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

This was a tight fight as Inoue barely defeated Juno Nakatani, a battle between the two best 122-pound fighters but Naoya Inoue found a way to win a close bout. Inoue is now 33 and the question is he still at his peak or on the downside of his career. However, in this fight, Inoue found a way to win a competitive tough fight. Momentum shift. at a crucial part when Nakatani suffered a cut from a head butt and Inoue moved forward to win the last two rounds. Inoue noted, “I fought thinking it would be alright to hold back a little and concede some points. Today, my mental stamina was depleted. That’s how tense the 12 rounds were. It was a technical battle of hitting and missing, hitting, and missing. We were both enjoying it. It was an enjoyable fight.”

Inoue reflected on the fight, “I’m not sure about if this fight means history yet, but in the future, we might think this is the day history was made. My boxing career isn’t at the end. We just finished the fight, so I think I’m going to have great history in the future. I hope I can make history more and more.” 

The fight was in front of 55,000 strong crowd in Tokyo Dome and while the opening rounds were two reluctant warriors feeling each other out but in the fourth round, Inoue used his jab more effectively, and he came on strong in the fifth and sixth round. Nakatani started to counter in the seventh round by hitting combinations. Nakatani’s corner advise him to get more aggressive and let his hands go. Nakatani pushed the issue in the ninth as he faced more precise Inoue movement which kept the rounds close.

In the tenth round, Nakatani suffered a cut following a clash of heads and while it didn’t deter his efforts in the tenth round, Inoue did take advantage in the eleventh round as he ramped up the pressure and landed two big uppercuts with both hands as the blood bothered Nakatani from the cut. The judges scored 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 all in favor of the champion. I had it 115-113. 

Inoue landed 140 punches to 120 for Nakatani over the 12 rounds, maybe two more punches per round and the head butt certainly was a factor in the final two rounds. Inoue is the pound for pound now that Terrance Crawford retired.

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

This bout between Canelo Alveraz and Terrance Crawford, two of the better pound for pound fighters over the past generation and while many favored the boxing technician Crawford, Alvarez was the natural bigger fighter. Alveraz was the bigger fighter and younger fighter, and he has been fighting professionally since he was a teenager. As one person noted, he had more knockouts than Crawford had wins.

Crawford won 19 championship bouts whereas Alveraz won 23 so they were two of the more dominant fighters. I remember when Mayweather out boxed Alvarez despite being the smaller fighter but that was a younger Alvarez, and the present Alvarez was the natural bigger fighter and more experienced since the Mayweather fight, while Crawford won the intern WBO intern championship against Israil Madrimov but hardly impressive event in his first attempt in the junior Middleweight.

The first round saw Crawford moving and boxing, landing clean combinations as Alvarez tries to slow Crawford with body shots including a left. Second round saw Crawford giving Alvarez different look as he eats Crawford jabs to get body shots. Crawford jab may have won the second round, and I had it 20-18. Round three saw Crawford landing with jabs and even a body shots plus a left hook flush on Alvarez face while Alvarez landing left hook to the body. After three rounds, it is close, but I will give Crawford the edge in all three rounds. From this point, it is a question if Alvarez will eventually impose his will on the smaller Crawford. So, in the early going, it was not the case.

Crawford moved Alvarez back with a left as he picks up the pace in the fourth round. Alvarez lands a right to the body and head but so far at this point Crawford appeared to have the advantage and 40-36 after four rounds. Round five saw Alvarez move his upper body and defend him out of harm’s way of Crawford harder shots but while Crawford nailed Alvarez with a right, Alvarez may have won the hand with a hook to the body. It was 49-46. Sixth round saw both men exchanging punches and in the early part of the round, Crawford was beathing Alvarez to the punch. Alvarez landed a big shot to the body, but Crawford landed his own left hand and even ripped a shot or two to the body. Halfway through the fight I had it 59-55 but never underestimate Alvarez ability to gain close rounds on the judges score card.

Round seven still sees Crawford frustrating Alvarez as Crawford is countering Alvarez inside punching. Alvarez cornered Crawford but Crawford landed uppercut and circles away. In some ways it reminded me of how Mayweather also frustrated Alvarez. 69-64. Eighth round is close as Alvarez works his way on the inside, but Crawford is returning fire and while this was a close round judges may have given this to Alverez, but I gave it to Crawford 79-73. Ninth round may have been Crawford best at this point as he peeled off combinations that snaped Alvarez head back and during an attempt by Alvarez to counter his head collided with Crawford, opening a small gash over Crawford head. Alvarez hands a hard combination ending with a solid right but Crawford nails Alvarez with a short left and his movement stalled Alvaraz with three rounds left I had it 89-82 and it would appear that Alvarez needed a knockout on my card.

Crawford movement appears to be bewildered Alvarez, and his combinations is slowing the bigger man advances. Crawford won the round 99-91. The eleventh round another round that I had Crawford winning with combinations as Alvarez was taking two punches to land his one and at this point, Crawford was winning but there are few close rounds, and this is Vegas in which the judges may give Alvarez the benefit. Finat round saw Crawford landing combinations as Alvarez tried for one big punch to end the fight in his favor. As he lunged, Crawford nailed Alvarez with a right hand and land combinations. As the bell rang to end the fight, Crawford staggered Alvarez. I had the fight 119-109 in Crawford favor while the judges had the fight closer 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112, this was a virtuosa performance by Crawford.

At the age of 37, he moved up to Alvarez’s weigh and won against the bigger man. Most of the unofficial scorecards had Crawford winning big. ESPN had 118-110, 10 rounds to 2 and I had it 11 rounds to one. When you look at Compubox, it was a close fight with Crawford landing 115-99 but round by round, Alvarez had more punches landed in 6 rounds to Crawford 5 with one even, but Crawford landed more jabs and threw more punches while he was close in landing power shots 70 to Alvarez 83. Alvarez never had Crawford in trouble but there was couple of times that Alvarez was staggered. While I gave many close rounds to Crawford, part of it was Crawford constant movement and being more active but there were rounds close enough to reward them to Alvarez. Alvarez was given a few more close rounds that I rewarded Alvarez with, and I have no problem with that. Boxing can be a subjective sport to score but the judges did have the winner right.