Boxing
Then enter the lion’s den in Ipswich
Published
5 months agoon
Fabio Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KO) believes that four-division heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is “a man of his word” and will decide to defend his undisputed crown against him, just as he promised when he announced that he would face the winner of his fight against WBO interim champion Joseph Parker (36-4, 24 KO).
Wardley did his part by stopping Parker in the 11th round on Saturday night and became the fresh mandatory challenger for the WBO title and interim champion at the O2 Arena in London. It was a grueling fight for Wardley, during which he was injured several times. Ultimately, however, he managed to stop the 33-year-old Parker in the 11th round after hitting him with a series of unanswered punches.
Parker wasn’t pleased with how referee Howard Foster stopped the fight in the 11th round when he came under fire while trying to fend off Wardley’s storm of shots. It was pretty clear that Fabio wasn’t going to get tired of throwing after getting hurt. Referee Foster had no choice but to stop the fight or risk helping catch Parker on the canvas if Wardley laid him out.
Man of his word
“Could I have gotten him out of the second stage? Who knows?” said Fabio Wardley iFL Television about Joseph Parker, who lost his mouthpiece in the second round after a solemn injury. “I believe he is true to his word. During the preparations he said: ‘I would be cheerful if there was a winner.’ So I’m a winner. Let’s fight me, baby,” Wardley said when asked if he believed undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk would fight him.
Leave or confirm
If Usyk refuses to fight Wardley, as he did against Moses Itauma, he will have to give up the WBO title. Of course he can do it, but who else can he fight? Tyson Fury revealed this week that he will remain retired because he doesn’t want to risk brain damage. A trilogy with Anthony Joshua would be nice, but Usyk has already beaten him twice. Joshua would have to be a glutton for punishment to want to fight Usyk again.
The ancient mouthpiece trick was a good one by Parker. He lost like an ancient vet at just the right moment when Wardley delivered him to a clinical knockout. The break bought Parker valuable time to survive the second round.
Ipswich crowns champion
“I think Ipswich is massive enough to take care of Usyk. Come on, Usyk. Have a word. That’s not me,” Wardley said when asked if he would rather fight Usyk than fight for the vacant WBO title. “I am a man who has earned everything in the ring.”
Usyk will likely face Wardley next as it is a fight that will generate a lot of interest around the world. There is money to be made on Usyk and there is money to be made if he can outsmart him like Justis Huni did for long periods last June.
“I don’t plan on someone handing it to me and me sitting there and enjoying it. I want to fight for it and win that way,” Wardley said.
Last update: 26/10/2025
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Boxing
Tyson Fury doubts whether the judges will give him victory over Oleksandr Usyk
Published
1 hour agoon
March 11, 2026
“I won the third fight,” Fury told Gareth A. Davies. “But the thing is, I know if he gets up at the end of the fight, I’m not going to make a decision. For me, it’s like, I might as well give him the fight before we even start boxing. Give him a W and I’ll give him an L.”
Usyk defeated Fury twice in 2024 in hard-fought championship fights that decided the undisputed heavyweight title. The Ukrainian’s victories transformed the division and left Fury trying to rebuild momentum in the final stage of his career.
When the discussion turned to the scoring of these fights, Fury made it clear that he still viewed the outcome differently from the official verdicts.
“And like I said, I thought I won that fight,” Fury said. “But you know what he did? That’s someone else’s opinion again.”
Fury’s comments suggest that from his perspective the debate surrounding these fights remains unresolved. Instead of treating the defeats as decisive setbacks, the former champion still doubts whether a third meeting would have produced a different outcome on the scorecards.
This lingering doubt keeps the trilogy discussion alive even as the heavyweight landscape moves forward with other matchups. Fury has talked about returning to winning form and then fighting main fights again, but his comments show that the controversy surrounding Usyk’s decision has not abated.
For Fury, the conclusion remains the same: if he doesn’t stop Usyk, he doubts the judges would award him the victory.
Olly Campbell is a boxing journalist covering this sport since 2014, providing reports from the ring and technical analyzes of the most essential fights. His work focuses on fighter tendencies, tactical adjustments and the details that shape high-level competition.
Boxing
The 0-40 with 36 KO heavyweight division returns under a up-to-date name, now 0-43
Published
3 hours agoon
March 10, 2026
World Boxing News first reported on Dominican fighter Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez after he set one of the most remarkable records in current boxing by losing his first 40 professional fights, 36 of them by knockout.
At that point, it seemed like the story was over. Castillo Sanchez’s career appeared to be over in 2018 after a long string of losses that spanned over a decade in the sport.
However, official fight records show that the boxer later returned to the ring under a completely different name in his 40s.
Since then, Castillo Sanchez has competed as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, adding three more attacks to improve a record that was 0-40 when the case was first reviewed by WBN.
All three bouts ended in consecutive stoppage defeats, bringing the overall score to 0-43, with 39 losses by knockout.
For two of these latter defeats, there are no confirmed match stoppage details in the official records, meaning the exact moment or method of the knockout was never formally documented.
Name change
The change makes the situation even more unusual.
The boxer, previously known as Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez, has appeared on recent fight lists as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, which is a significant change from the name under which he was recorded earlier in his career.
World Boxing News determined the career continued after reviewing opponents’ recent records, where matching biographical details ultimately revealed the same fighter was competing again years after the original report.
Latest fights
The three additional fights occurred between 2022 and 2024, during which time Shephard was competing between the ages of 45 and 47, according to records.
In April 2022, Shephard lost by TKO to Dario Duran Gonzalez in Moncion. Four months later, he returned to Monte Plata, where he suffered another defeat in the second round against Emille Gonzalez Lopez.
His last appearance was on December 18, 2024 in Santo Domingo, where Shephard was stopped in the opening round by Omar Alexander Rivera Cerda after suffering a shoulder injury.
Each fight followed a familiar pattern from the earlier part of his career, which had already seen dozens of early finals.
An extraordinary record
When WBN first considered the case, Castillo Sanchez’s record was already distinguished by the huge number of losses due to stoppages and the length of the series.
The fighter started his career in 2007 and competed in many weight classes before finally moving up to heavyweight.
During this period, he faced a wide range of opponents, from first-time prospects to seasoned professionals, rarely lasting beyond the early rounds.
Additional fights recorded under the pseudonym Alexis de la Cruz Shephard extended this streak even further, creating one of current boxing’s strangest records.
Time will tell if his career will last beyond 0-43.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
Boxing
Rolly Romero only sees one winner in Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2
Published
3 hours agoon
March 10, 2026
WBA welterweight world champion Rolando Romero presented his prediction for Floyd Mayweather’s rematch with Manny Pacquiao.
Two pound-for-pound legends will face off at the Sphere in Las Vegason September 19, and their second meeting was the highlight of a live event on Netflix.
Their first meeting, which ended with Mayweather winning by unanimous decision, took place in 2015 and became the most lucrative boxing gala of all time.
By then, former multi-division world champions were already considered to be past their prime, and Pacquiao in particular no longer had the speed and ferocity for which he had always been known.
It must be admitted, however, that the Filipino has played eight professional matches since their first meeting, and his last assignment was in July against Mario Barrios.
And despite a nearly four-year layoff following his loss to Yordenis Ugas, Pacquiao was able to hold a controversial draw against the then-WBC welterweight champion.
Meanwhile, Mayweather hasn’t fought professionally since a 10th-round victory over Conor McGregor in 2017, but his dominant victory over “Pac Man” more than two years earlier led many to predict a similar result in the rematch.
One of them is Romero, who told “The Last Stand” podcast. that he cannot see Pacquiao, at the age of 47, making any drastic changes to his original performance.
“Floyd wins. And whatever happens, happens. It was meant to be. Whoever God wants to win, will win.”
“But what would be the difference [to] first fight? Was there really anything else Pacquiao could have had? [done]?”
Mayweather, now 49, has competed in a series of exhibition matches since his victory over McGregor, but now he is preparing to put his 50-0 record on the line.
Tyson Fury doubts whether the judges will give him victory over Oleksandr Usyk
The 0-40 with 36 KO heavyweight division returns under a up-to-date name, now 0-43
Rolly Romero only sees one winner in Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2
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