Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is back on the scene with a new knee! And now that he’s getting around again, he was able to catch up with Fight Hub TV to give his perspective on what’s been going on in the boxing business as of late, particularly as it pertains to Zuffa Boxing who appear to be in a state of flux. Check out what he had to say below!
Boxing
Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford: Career Hills, Tactical schedule and final anticipation
Published
1 year agoon
When you talk about Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and you look at what he achieved-from the debut as a fifteen-year-old boy after thirty-five years-it is basic to miss superlatives. The same applies to Terenca “Bud” Crawford.
Words legend, Super -Gwiazda, the undisputed master and the great pound for pounds, for decades they have been throwing boxes boxing, but we rarely hear that the fighters are described as unique. Crawford and Alvarez are like that; They are both unusual in what they have achieved in their lives as boxers.
Crawford began boxing at the age of seven at the local gym in Omaha, Nebraska. He conducted a campaign in seventy competitions before he turned into a professional in 2008.
Alvareza Amateur Foundation
Alvarez came from the Fighting Family, following the brothers to the gym every day, where he watched how they train and blamed. He was thirteen when he started boxing with amateurs. After forty -six competitions, Alvarez became a professional in 2005 at the age of fifteen.
In 2014, after gathering an impressive series of winnings 22-0, Crawford went to Glasgow in Scotland to challenge the proud WBO master Ricky Burns. The lasting master was laid and overtaken when Crawford took his heart and title, defeating him in points to win his first world championship title.
Climbing after divisions
Good victories over Yuriorkis Gamboa and Raymundo led Crawford to promotion to Thomas Dulorme for the title of WBO Delicate-Welterwight in Texas. Crawford fought Dulorme to win in the sixth round and become the world champion of two weighted.
Crawford defended his title slight weight, and then defeated the extremely tough Ukrainian boxer Victor for the title of WBC slightly Welterwagtht and the ring belt in 2016. After another defense, he faced Julius Indongo for his WBC and WBO belts with the IBF title, knocking him with the third round.
In 2018, Crawford approached the challenge of the Australian adventurer Jeff Horn for his newly won the WBO WBO Eleternwaight title. Crawford dismantled and withdrew the master to win the title of world champion in the third weight class.
Crawford vs. Top Phenenders
Crawford defeated Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Shawn Porter in vast winnings. It was now 2022, and the next was David Avaneyan. Crawford knocked him out in the sixth round to preserve his WBO welterweight title, and this win played a key role in ensuring a mega struggle with the United World Champion, Errol Spence Jr. Entering the fight, many outside people had Spence as too massive, too quick and too powerful for Crawford. I chose Crawford to dominate and control the fight – my view was that Spence came in as a damaged warrior. I thought Crawford would head Spence’s eye, and he did it, beating the United Master of Miazga to become the undisputed world champion in the welterweight.
After a free year, Crawford approached the challenge of the WBO Junior Master ISRAIL Madrimov in 2024. Madrimov was a decorative amateur with 350 competitions under the belt and was undefeated as a professional. A man from Uzbekistan was well scholar and tough as stone.
Crawford boxed well, counteracting Madrimov and winning inside, but the master fought pride and determination to take Crawford for a distance in a huge fight. Crawford won on all three results cards to become a world champion in the fourth weight class. Terenka Crawford has 41-0 from 31 KO.
The first title of the world of Alvarez
Saul Alvarez won his first world title in his thirty -seventh fight. He defeated the English warrior Matthew Hatton at points to get the free championship WBC Junior Middle weight in 2011.
After winning knockouts over Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez and Kermit Cintron, he was matched to fight Shane Mosley in 2012. Alvarez fought patience and maturity against the risky and experienced Mosley, winning points in Las Vegas.
Directed towards Mayweather and more
After defeating the trout, Jossito Lopez and Austin and adding the Medium WBA and Ring belts, he accepted Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather was too good inside, too shrewd outside, and too quick for Alvarez, beating him at points in 2013.
Alvarez returned in March 2014 with the tough Angulo Angulo, defeating him in ten rounds, and then fought with Erislanda Lara in a strictly questioned fight, which he won in the matter of disputed division. Next was the powerful James Kirkland, but the pressure, speed and power of Alvarez were too high – throwing him in the third round to start fighting Puerto Rican Great Miguel Cotto.
Cotto Clash and Khan nervous
Alvarez and Cotto traded in blows on twelve amazing rounds, but ultimately the speed, time and variety of strokes turned out to be decisive. Alvarez counted Cotto with vast right hands, mountains and tough arrows to win a unanimous decision in Las Vegas.
In 2016, Alvarez accepted Amir Khan and was sent until he entered the destructive right hand in Khan’s jaw in the sixth round, throwing him chilly. Then Alvarez won the WBO Junior Medium Libra after breaking the brave Liam Smith, loading his body with a quick left tear to take him in the ninth round.
Chavez Jr. and Duels Golovkin
In 2017, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1) was next. Nure, testosterone, Mexican pride and boasting of laws were the main topics of this fight in recall. Alvarez dismantled and punished much more Chavez Jr., taking him twelve rounds at the weekend of independence in Mexico in Las Vegas.
Gennades Golovkin for years terrorized the division of medium weight, and the fight against Alvarez was both lucrative and inevitable. Their first fight in September 2017 was recognized as a division – many called it a robbery. The rematch took place after a twelve -month delay, and Alvarez was announced by the winner by the majority of decisions, claiming that WBC, WBA and Ring Middle Weigh the World Championships.
Later career and title defense
From there, Alvarez defeated Rocky Fielding in Super Middle Wweight and Daniel Jacobs in medium weight in 2019. Then he approached the lithe heavyweight to challenge Sergey Kovalev for the title of WBO, stopping Kovalev in the eleventh round.
After defeating Callum Smith at points and defending his super medium -sized titles, he batted Avni Yildirim in three rounds, destroyed Billy Joe Saunders in eight rounds and stopped the Caleb plant in eleven rounds to end 2021 as the unquestioned master.
Alvarez dared to a lithe heavyweight to challenge Dmitry Bivol in May 2022. Bivol fought perfectly to close the Alvarez attack and retained his title.
Then Alvarez returned to Las Vegas to fight the Trilogy with Golovkin in the Super Middle Wweight, winning a unanimous decision and keeping all the main belts. He continued to defend his super medium -sized titles against John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, Jama Mungui, Edgar Berlang and William Scull.
After thirty -four, sixty -seven fight careers, is Alvarez at the end? Of course it is not. He made hundreds of millions, disassembly and rejecting opponents, but it seems that his destructive power has decreased as the years passed in Super Middle weight.
Comparative analysis: Experience versus skills
Crawford will be thirty -eight at night, but he had much less fights and much less wear. Since his fight, Madrimov won eleven stops, so he will be a fresher warrior.
From 2021, Crawford fought five times with four wins. Alvarez fought ten times, and seven of these fights went a distance.
A lot of conversations from people from information boxing that Crawford will be too diminutive for a super medium weight. This is an absolute nonsense. Alvarez has 5’8 ″ with a wings span 70.5 ″; Crawford has 5’8 ″ with a wings span 74.0 ″.
This fight is about who can better adapt to a man standing in front of them. Experience is with Alvarez. The skill is with Crawford.
Fight
Alvarez and Crawford have been fighting and training for years. Who is the warrior with the lowest wear? Crawford has 31 wins in detention and has been the dominant force since 2008. Alvarez has 39 wins, but his last TKO was in 2021 in Super Middle Wweight. Will Crawford bring two weight divisions? Probably not.
To win, Crawford must box, move and hold away from the ropes. Jab is the key – apply its stab and double it. Crawford has a rhythm, balance and movement and can without effort switch from Southpaw to Orthodox. He is an excellent boxer and can hit. Can he hurt Alvarez? Yes. Can he stop Alvarez? NO.
Alvarez is a pressure fighter – a fantastic machine, a piercing shooter. Will he apply Crawford’s leisurely start tactics? Or maybe Outbox Crawford? The answer is no. Will Crawford get antique and tired in battle? Yes.
Crawford with a unanimous decision in this battle for masters.
O Gary Todd
Gary Todd is the international author of the best -selling. He has been involved in all aspects of boxing sport for decades. Watch out for his latest book – the upcoming October 2025.
Last updated 06/30/2025
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Boxing
WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title
Published
13 hours agoon
October 22, 2026
Another day, another Zuffa signee losing his belt for shirking his responsibilities. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that the sanctioning body has denied middleweight champion Denzel Bentley’s appeal for a voluntary defense, giving him 24 hours to commit to facing mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.
Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) was the beneficiary of Janibek Alimkhanuly’s failed drug test and subsequent emigration to the super middleweight division, as the move elevated the interim belt he’d claimed against Endry Saavendra in April to the real deal. That came with conditions, namely a mandated showdown with Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) that failed to produce a a contract.
As for who’ll fight Hernandez for it, Vito Mielnicki Jr sits behind him at no. 2, followed by an otherwise-occupied Tim TszyuMichael Zerafa (lmao), and Fiodor Czerkaszyn. We’ll let you know as soon as an enterprising bachelor steps up.
Boxing
WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title
Published
13 hours agoon
October 22, 2026
Another day, another Zuffa signee losing his belt for shirking his responsibilities. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that the sanctioning body has denied middleweight champion Denzel Bentley’s appeal for a voluntary defense, giving him 24 hours to commit to facing mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.
Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) was the beneficiary of Janibek Alimkhanuly’s failed drug test and subsequent emigration to the super middleweight division, as the move elevated the interim belt he’d claimed against Endry Saavendra in April to the real deal. That came with conditions, namely a mandated showdown with Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) that failed to produce a a contract.
As for who’ll fight Hernandez for it, Vito Mielnicki Jr sits behind him at no. 2, followed by an otherwise-occupied Tim TszyuMichael Zerafa (lmao), and Fiodor Czerkaszyn. We’ll let you know as soon as an enterprising bachelor steps up.
Boxing
Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxings Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement
Published
14 hours agoon
October 22, 2026
Arum on Zuffa’s place in boxing landscape
“When you look at Zuffa, they are hoping to do what they’re doing with Saudi money and the Saudis have poured a lot of money into the sport and for a while were backing Zuffa, so Zuffa felt emboldened to offer big [money] to good fighters like Shakur Stevenson. Now, apparently the Saudis, Turki and Sela have gotten the word from up high in Saudi Arabia, ‘hey, this money is not going to be unlimited, you’ve got to cut down,’ or there’s no money — I don’t know what they’ve told them.
“So the Saudis are clearly pulling back and who knows if they’re going to be involved in boxing after this year. They’ve already, apparently, sold Ring Magazine to DAZN. So, if the Saudi money isn’t there, Zuffa is not going to spend its own money to promote fights because they have announced to their shareholders that they would not do that. And if they start doing it, then they leave themselves open to a major shareholder suit.
“So, again, we have to see what’s going to happen. There’s no animosity, people are doing what they feel is best for them and that’s business. How this all turns out, we’re going to have to see next year and the years after that.”
On whether he thinks Zuffa has done a good job thus far
“What does it mean to have done a good job? If somebody gave me a barrel of money to put on fights, would I be doing a good job? Sure. But anybody would be doing a good job. I mean, give Oscar this kind of money, give Eddie this kind of money.
“So it’s not a question of a good job, the question is can they make matches having a limited budget that is limited by the financial viability of the fight, not what somebody from the outside is pouring into it. That’s doing a big, good job — making it work for them, for the public, for the fighters without the fighters outside help putting in all this money without any way to get it back.”
On Shakur splitting with Zuffa before one fight together
“Once they realized there was no money coming from the Saudis to fund a $15M fight deal, then what do you do? If you can get out of that contract, you get out of it. Did they get out, did it cost them any money to get out? I don’t know. But, again, to pay Shakur $15M…financially it’s not viable. So, it is what it is. And once the Saudis really left the message that they got the word from The Boss that this unlimited tap is going to stop, it was bound to happen.”
On the Shakur vs Devin fight falling apart
“The fight fell apart, but essentially it fell apart is because DAZN had promised [Devin] Haney a certain amount of money, Zuffa had promised Shakur a certain amount of money, and it wasn’t a match because that money didn’t exist in the fight that they would have…Would the fight have justified the money being put up? Because otherwise nobody wants to break their ass doing a fight, promoting a fight, and ending up facing an absolute possibility that you’re going to lose money.”
On his prediction for the business once the Saudi money evaporates
“Looking at the past when this happened, and in boxing it happens all the time, the market then settles and fighters fight for what’s available and we get some very good fights that still go on and life continues. But how it’s going to come out after this, where we had so much money being put into the sport not existing, how is the sport going to continue? It’s going to continue, but how is it going to continue, I don’t know.
“Remember, [Al] Haymon came in when he had that deal with the mutual fund with hundreds of millions of dollars, and all he accomplished was pissing it away. So, again, I have the experience and I’ve been around enough not to say definitively what’s going to happen because I don’t know like nobody else does. I have an idea but again, it’s just an idea and not worth talking about. All I know is that the sport will continue, there will be great fights being made. How everybody will be compensated remains to be seen but that’s in the future.“
On Ryan Garcia saying he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather for the WBC title
“Will people be interested in it? I don’t know. I know Floyd [Mayweather] needs the money ‘cause he’s pissed away tons of the money that he made. I mean, he blames Haymon for that, he blames this for that, but ultimately I blame him for pissing it away. Will Garcia vs Mayweather generate money? Will it generate enough money to satisfy these guys? I don’t know. I think there will be limited interest in a fight where you have a young guy at the peak of his boxing prowess fighting an old man, which Mayweather has now become.”
On the Eddie Hearn vs Dana White beef over promoting Fury vs AJ, and Hearn insisting White can’t be involved
“Well, that’s right. Eddie [Hearn] is correct. Frank [Warren] and I have a contract with [Tyson] FuryEddie has a contract with [Anthony] Joshua. Dana has a contract with nobody. But if Dana wanted to be involved with the fight, be my guest. I mean, the money is the money. The Saudis are putting up the bulk of the money in that fight. They’ll do a good gate, get back some of it. But again, what do I care? What should anybody care?”
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WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title
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