If Davis is stern about fighting now, it would represent a clear change in direction. He showed no real interest in fighting Cruz as a professional. Meanwhile, Cruz publicly continued their fight, repeatedly calling Davis “my son,” a move intended to highlight the imbalance he believes still exists between them.
Taking this fight would be a real risk for Davis, especially as his attention has turned to welterweight. He has openly talked about moving up to 147 pounds to face Devin Haney for the WBO title. For that path to remain open, Davis must first defeat Jamaine Ortiz on Jan. 31 at Madison Square Garden.
Even then, finances will likely depend on Riyad’s support for the idea over the season. A Davis victory over Haney would complicate plans for a second fight between Haney and Ryan Garcia, a rematch whose value would plummet if Haney lost.
“Let’s say Andy Cruz knocks down Muratalla. Okay, boom, now we can fight,” Davis told The Ring Magazine. “You just knocked out Muratalla. Forget about 147. Let’s see how we can make this fight happen.”
Skepticism is justified. Davis has everything to lose in the match against Cruz, and nothing in his previous meetings suggested that the result would change. He lost every time they fought, and the gaps between their rivals widened rather than narrowed.
None of this will matter if Davis can’t get past Ortiz. Many fans see this fight as a draw. Ortiz looks faster, throws cleaner combinations and faced a stronger opponent. He was also busier. Top Rank’s cautious approach to Davis against a weaker opponent may finally catch up with him.
“There’s a lot going on between me and Devin Haney right now. It’s a huge fight for me,” Davis said. “Why not go to 147 and fight him?”
He also presented other options, including a fight against newly crowned champion Dalton Smith in the UK. But it all depends on January 31st. If you lose there, the conversation with Cruz becomes irrelevant. Win, and Davis still has to decide if he actually wants to face the one fighter who has always had his number.
Mauricio Sulaiman says Terence Crawford was aware of the WBC’s reported $300,000 penalty charge long before his undisputed fight against Canelo Alvarez last September, providing a different version of the recent dispute over the champion’s title costs
The WBC president addressed the issue during a recent interview after Crawford publicly questioned why the organization would not honor terms that he believed had been accepted by other sanctioning bodies. Sulaiman said the amount had already been communicated in advance and was not a surprise once the fight was finalized.
“He knew well in advance what the WBC estimated for this particular fight and it was supposedly 300,000. That was the upper limit,” Ring Champs said of Crawford before his fight with Canelo.
Sulaiman added that this amount is lower than the percentage the organization says it can collect under its regulations. He said the WBC capped the fee rather than applying the full rate.
The dispute became a topic of discussion after Crawford publicly responded to previous comments related to the sanctions process. Sulaiman avoided escalating the exchange, saying he did not want to personally criticize Crawford.
“I’m not going to talk bad about Crawford,” Sulaiman said.
He also said that fighters and promoters receive contracts and terms before title fights are approved, describing the process as standard practice and not something created for a single event.
“There are contracts. When you as a promoter give in and get sanctioned, there are rules,” Sulaiman said.
When a player earns tens of millions, the standard 3% suddenly becomes sedate money, and that’s when the backlash usually begins.
The comments highlight a long-standing problem in boxing, where sanction fees are often accepted during negotiations but become controversial when vast funds are involved. Huge fights usually reveal how much power the belts still carry.
Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, respected for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fighting landscape. His reports focus on the most significant fights, division development and the most discussed stories in sports.
Before their meeting, many suspected Spence was the top dog at 147 pounds, even after a life-threatening car accident in 2019.
He eventually recovered from the traumatic incident with back-to-back victories over Danny Garcia and Yordenis Ugas, but suffered an undisputed defeat against Crawford.
As a result, Spence is set to make his long-overdue move to 154 pounds before his next appearance, with Report from the boxing scene that he will face former super welterweight champion Tim Tszyu on July 25 in Australia.
It was also recently reported that Tszyu had named Jeff Fenech as head coach after he fired his training team for the second time in three fights.
This followed the Australian’s unanimous decision victory over Denis Nurja in Wollongong, Australia earlier this month, which followed an equally dominant triumph over Anthony Velazquez in December at the TikTok Entertainment Center in Sydney.
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old lost in the seventh round to Sebastian Fundora in July 2025 during his last meeting at world level.
Tszyu previously lost a split decision in their first meeting before finding himself facing a three-round demolition task against Bakhram Murtazaliev in 2024.
Eddy Reynoso may have said more than he intended when discussing Canelo Alvarez’s next move, as his comments pointed less to Christian Mbilli and more to the winner of next week’s Jaime Munguia-Armando Resendiz fight
Canelo is expected to return to Riyadh for the season in September after recovering from surgery on his left elbow. Reynoso told Ring magazine that the plan remains super middleweight and named several possible opponents, including Mbilli. However, the strongest language in the interview was the conversation about the May 2 fight between Munguia and Resendiz for the WBA title.
“This time it’s Munguia against Resendiz in a pan-Mexico fight on a pan-Mexico card,” Reynoso told Ring Magazine, discussing Cinco de Mayo weekend. “This is going to be an amazing fight and we are prepared to win. This fight is going to be so good that it will steal the show. They have the ingredients to distract from the main event.”
This was unique because Reynoso trains Munguia and has a direct stake in the outcome, but it also sounded like early preparation for what comes next. If Munguia wins, a rematch with Canelo will be an straightforward sell to the Mexican crowd and an straightforward one to build to. If Resendiz wins, he will arrive with the belt and fresh momentum.
After his recent victory over Lester Martinez, Reynoso mentioned Mbilli as a “massive challenge,” but the tone was different. This sounded like one option on the list as the Munguia-Resendiz fight gained full popularity.
Canelo’s team has also ruled out other routes. Reynoso said the David Benavidez fight is now over and suggested there is little chance of seeing it again. Staying at 168 pounds also reduces the likelihood of a rematch with Dmitry Bivol.
This leaves less room than it initially seemed. When camps start praising one fight with such a hard month ahead of time, it’s usually worth paying attention to.
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