By: Sean Crose

Boxing is a brutal sport – a brutal, sometimes deadly sport. All fighters know that, but there are those who struggle to call it a career, regardless. The desire to stay in the ring can be especially forceful when the fighter in question has had a very successful career. The list of fighters who have lasted too long is long. No one wants another fighter to stay longer than they should have. That’s why former heavyweight champion and world star Anthony Joshua should seriously consider retirement after suffering a devastating defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois with gloves in his hometown of London last weekend.

Look, boxers get beat up — sometimes demanding. It’s not just part of the sport, but it doesn’t guarantee a life of misery for the fighters who take the beating. But Joshua has been beaten up many times — and by world-class fighters. While no one is saying that Dubois and Andy Ruiz (who also scored a brutal win over Joshua in 2019) are this generation’s Ali and Frazier, they are both world-class professional fighters who faced and beat Joshua while in their prime. Dubois and Ruiz are not tomato cans. Their punches hurt. And both men have done Joshua significant damage.

Then there’s Joshua’s incredible fight with former champion Wladimir Klitschko. Although he won the fight in great style, Joshua was crushed so badly by former champion Klitschko that he collapsed and was nearly finished off. Again, the guy got hurt in what turned out to be a classic slugfest. All of this is to say that Joshua didn’t just take a lot of punches, he took a lot of punches from the best in the business. I’ve long maintained that boxing is not an immoral endeavor as long as the long-term safety of the fighters is the highest priority. Joshua may have another fight or two, but now his long-term safety is at risk. The guy has simply taken too much damage to ignore reality.

Does this mean Joshua will retire? Maybe not. Maybe he’ll stay and prove to the world that he DID NOT HAVE to retire. But finding out is a risky investment for Joshua at this point. Here’s a prayer the guy makes the right choice.

On Saturday night, November 2nd, Teflon Promotions will be hosting a huge night of boxing at The Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, Recent Jersey.

In the evening’s six-round main event, undefeated cruiserweight Muhsin Cason will face Alvin Varmall Jr.

Cason, from Philadelphia by way of Las Vegas, has a record of 12-0 with nine knockouts. The 30-year-old Cason is a six-year veteran and has wins over Nathaniel Copeland (1-0), Montez Brown (8-1) and his most recent fight, when he stopped Lamont Capers in two rounds on April 27 in Philadelphia.

Varmall, from Catskill, Recent York, is 17-1 with 14 knockouts. The 32-year-old has been a professional for 11 years and has wins over Antonio Mignella (3-0) and Jesse Vice (1-0). In his last appearance, Varmall stopped Billy Cunningham in four rounds on Aug. 19, 2023, in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The event will be a six-round super welterweight fight between James Martin (10-4) of Philadelphia and Delen Parsley (13-2, 4 KOs) of Brooklyn, Recent York.

In four-round fights:

Tariq Green (5-2-2, 3 KOs) of Philadelphia will face Keithland King (5-2, 5 KOs) of Washington, Recent Jersey in a middleweight fight.

In a clash of undefeated super welterweights, Aaron Anderson (6-0, 4 KOs) of Dundalk, Maryland, will face Martin Sollano (5-0, 2 KOs) of Amarillo, Texas.

Ashwin Trail (0-1) of Pennsylvania will face the debuting Julio Dos Santos of AMarillo, Texas in a heavyweight fight.

Undefeated featherweight contenders Jaclyne McTamney (2-0, 1 KO) of Southampton, Pennsylvania, and heavyweight Paul Koon (4-0, 1 KO) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will face opponents whose names have not yet been revealed.

On several occasions, Joey Dawejko’s mouthpiece came off in his fight with heavyweight contender Richard Torrez Jr. last week. And on several occasions, Dawejko was warned, then docked points, then disqualified, giving Torrez a fifth-round victory.

Dawejko says he wasn’t looking for relief — extra time to recuperate while cleaning and replacing his mouthpiece — or a way to retire from the fight.

“To be clear, I didn’t spit out the mouthpiece on purpose,” Dawejko wrote on Facebook. “I was hit and the mouthpiece kept falling out.”

(Ryan Songalia from The Ring he was the first to report it.)

During the broadcast, commentator Tim Bradley asked if Dawejko had bought a homemade mouthpiece from a store that he boiled in water and pressed with his teeth. Bradley said that mouthpieces made by professionals, including those made by dentists, would not come out as easily or consistently as Dawejko’s mouthpieces.

It was the first time Dawejko had been disqualified, and only the fourth time he had missed the final bell. The 34-year-old Philadelphian now has a record of 28-12-4 (16 KOs).

Torrez, a silver medalist in the super heavyweight division at the 2020-21 Olympics, improved to 11-0 (10 KOs). It was his first fight that didn’t end in a knockout and only the third time he’s seen a fifth round, having defeated Curtis Harper in eight rounds last December.