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Adam Azim ‘a risk’ that ‘few’ rivals will take – Shane McGuigan

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Adam Azim put in another impeccable performance on Saturday, but finding a worthy, willing opponent is becoming challenging for his team as he quickly rises up the rankings.

Junior welterweight Azim (14-0, 11 KO) dominated talkative American Kurt Scoby on the Eubank Jr.-Benn Il undercard in London, controlling every minute of the fight before being stopped in the 12th round.

It was the 23-year-old’s first fight since February, but he showed no signs of ring rust after a professional display of his boxing skills. He positioned himself behind the left punch, and then during the fight he presented a whole range of combinations.

Azim is expected to return to the ring in January or February as he looks to prepare for a world title shot, but trainer Shane McGuigan said finding opponents willing to fight his fighter would be challenging.

“The only people who really want to fight him are former world champions who are leaving soon,” McGuigan told ESPN.

“But if they’re just going to be there and be negative, it won’t make good TV either. That’s why we need someone who really believes they can win. But not many people want to risk that.” [Saturday’s win]then they will say: “He can shoot.” Can fight in close quarters; can box at a distance.

“It’s antique [saying] they don’t want all this smoke, all this bulls—. But they don’t actually do it.”

Azim and domestic rival Dalton Smith have been challenging each other over the past 18 months, but with Smith (18-0, 13 KO) set to fight Subriel Matias on January 10 for the WBC title, a fight between the two seems unlikely at least in the first half of 2026.

Azim has barely lost since turning professional in 2020. Scoby tried difficult to get under his skin last week but Azim handled it well and rose to the occasion in front of a vast crowd at Tottenham Hotspur.

-Chris Eubank Jr. says he went “through hell and back” during Conor Benn’s fight camp.
–
Conor Benn: ‘I’ll come home and cry’ after victory over Chris Eubank Jr.

“I never underestimate them, all my opponents, so I was very focused on this fight,” Azim said.

*He was a good cinematographer, but this week I let my hands do the talking. Throughout the week I had a lot of thoughts about “he’s going to break me, he’s going to do this, he’s going to do that.” But that didn’t happen.”

Asked what he expects in 2026, Azim replied: “I want world titles. That’s all I want.”

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Dana White Responds to Terence Crawfords Return from Retirement for Ryan Garcia Fight

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"Dana White Responds to Terence Crawford's Return from Retirement for Ryan Garcia Fight"

Zuffa Boxing promoter Dana White believes Terence Crawford will end his retirement, but remains unsure whether he would choose to face Ryan Garcia.

The 38-year-old announced his exit from the sport last December, calling time on a scintillating career that saw him become a three-division undisputed king.

He did so by moving up two weight classes and dethroning Canelo Alvarezwho produced an impressive performance but ultimately lost their super-middleweight encounter by unanimous decision.

But while Crawford cemented his greatness by moving up to 168lbs, his frame, even now, is much better suited to the 147lb and 154lb divisions.

He has therefore been linked to fights with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and, more recently, Garcia, who retained his WBC world welterweight title with a second-round finish over Conor Benn earlier this month.

It then came as a surprise when The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reported that a clash between Garcia and Crawford, who has expressed his own bewildermentis being considered as a replacement for Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.

The two heavyweights are set to collide at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11 but, due to issues behind the scenes, their long-awaited showdown now appears to be in jeopardy.

While addressing the Garcia rumour at a Zuffa press conference, though, White admitted he is unsure that Crawford would make such a speedy return.

“I don’t know if that’s the fight Crawford would come back for. There’s a lot of options out there, obviously for Ryan. The question is: what is the fight that Crawford would come back for?

“I think there’s a fight out there that Crawford would come back for, [but] I don’t know if Ryan’s it.”

While White has claimed to have been involved in negotiations, it remains to be seen – should the fight actually take place, that is – whether he will have any promotional participation in Fury-Joshua.

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Gervonta Davis Expresses Desire to Share Fight Card with Naoya Inoue

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"Gervonta Davis Expresses Desire to Share Fight Card with Naoya Inoue"

Gervonta Davis says he would share a card with Naoya Inouebut he will not fight him. He points to the weight difference. They compete 13 pounds apart: Tank could come down five pounds to 130, and Inoue could move up eight. Both would have to take a risk, but the fight is possible if they want it.

“I’ll fight on a card with him, but not [against] him. It’s weight classes for a reason. Let him be great,” said Tank Davis on his MoneyTwofly account on September 27 and then deleted.

Davis floating a joint event forces the question of billing: where would Tank actually fight on that card? Sticking Davis into an undercard slot below Inoue reduces him to a fading attraction riding another champion’s coattails. Inoue cleaned out divisions and chased every meaningful belt across multiple weight classes.

Davis spent years squatting on secondary titles at lightweight while sidestepping elite threats. Place both men on the same bill, and the difference in ambition becomes impossible to ignore. He has never stepped through the ropes as an underdog. Every matchup has been against opposition he was expected to beat, which is another reason why his popularity has gone downhill since 2023.

Dropping to 130 pounds to fight Inoue would ask something of Tank that his recent schedule hasn’t: make the weight, take a serious risk, and face a fighter who can hurt him. Win or lose, that is the kind of fight that would get people talking about Davis for what he does in the ring again.

Sharing Inoue’s card offers Tank an easier deal. He gets the crowd, the international attention, and a big payday without having to fight Inoue. If Tank then takes a soft opponent in the co-feature, he gets the benefit of Inoue’s event while avoiding the challenge that made the idea interesting in the first place.

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Boxing 24/7 Wire

Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.

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Dan Rafael Backs Joshua and Hearn Amid Fury Dispute

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"Dan Rafael Backs Joshua and Hearn Amid Fury Dispute"

Eddie Hearn has spent years building Anthony Joshua into one of boxing’s biggest attractions. Dan Rafael argues that Hearn has no reason to give Dana White a promotional role in Joshua’s fight with Tyson Furyespecially if the agreement excludes him.

The December 11 fight has been announced for Cardiff on Netflix, but its promotional arrangements remain in dispute. Critics have portrayed Hearn and Joshua as obstacles to a fight fans have wanted for years. Rafael’s response is that a signed deal should mean something, even when enforcing it delays a major event.

“Why should Eddie Hearn help assist that by letting them get the foot in the door to be the promoter of arguably the largest fight going right now on a mega platform like Netflix? Eddie is not a dummy. Why would you do that? You protect your asset. You purposely negotiated a deal point that said that this person could not be involved in the promotion,” said Rafael to iFL TV.

His point is sharper than a personal defense of Hearn. Joshua is the attraction Matchroom helped build. Giving Zuffa Boxing credit for promoting Joshua–Fury on Netflix would put a direct competitor beside that attraction at the moment of maximum exposure. White would gain a showcase for Zuffa without having spent the years developing Joshua’s career.

The broadcast relationship adds another reason for Hearn to stand firm. A prominent role in this event could help White build ties with Netflix for future boxing shows. It does not follow that one fight would make Zuffa the platform’s gatekeeper, but Hearn would hardly want to help a rival make that introduction using Matchroom’s biggest star.

None of that settles what the contracts actually require. They have not been made public, and Rafael’s assertion that Joshua’s agreement is being breached remains his account of the dispute. But if Matchroom negotiated a restriction on White’s promotional role, treating it as disposable because the fight has been announced would weaken the value of the term Hearn fought to secure.

Rafael proposed a way through: The Ring promotes the main event, while White attends at Turki Alalshikh’s invitation and participates through Zuffa fighters on the undercard. Whether that satisfies Joshua’s agreement is for the parties to decide. It does, however, separate White’s presence at the show from promoting Joshua–Fury itself.

Rafael also raised Joshua’s camp’s concern about Fury joining the agreed drug testing program. That deserves scrutiny and a response from Fury’s side, but there is no basis here to claim either camp is using testing as a bargaining tactic.

Rafael believes the payday will ultimately bring everyone together. Until then, Hearn’s refusal to yield on White’s role has a straightforward business logic: Joshua helped make this fight valuable, and Matchroom does not have to hand a rival the promotional credit for it.

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Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.

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