Boxing

Deontay Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua – who will win?

Published

11 months ago

December 25, 2025

Image: Deontay Wilder vs Anthony Joshua - Who Wins?

The only recent result that actually says what level Joshua is at in the heavyweight division is still beating Dubois at Wembley – he went down early, lost his legs, stopped after five minutes, trying to negotiate his way out rather than finish the fight. Ngannou’s earlier knockout gave him the advantage, but it didn’t solve the same elderly problems: retreating in a straight line, freezing under sustained pressure and leaving his chin in range after a throw.

Wilder’s line “we must meet” and its meaning

Deontay Wilder says: “We have to meet” ” sounds like a speech about destiny, but the context is that a 40-year-old with a 1-4 advantage since 2020 and the weather behind Tyrrell Herndon being sold as proof of life. That fight with Herndon was like a pack under the lights: Wilder dropped the willing journeyman twice, took a few shots, and showed that his right hand still cracked when the other man wasn’t firing at full power.

This quote is less about a great calling and more about a man searching for the last jackpot while his name keeps screaming. “We’re both still in the business” means “we both still have value on the poster,” not “we’re at the top of the food chain.” The coach who listens to this hears urgency, not confidence

What could go wrong for Joshua?

Stylistically, Joshua has always been susceptible to exactly what Wilder still does better than almost anyone else: long, quick right hands thrown out of a broken rhythm. Joshua likes arranged phases – jab, jab, right hand, reset – and when the pattern becomes disorderly, he tends to square off, hold his feet too long and try to respond rather than stop the exchange, which is exactly when Wilder’s rights land at the top.

Dubois’ defeat showed that Joshua was still not good at dealing with panic rounds: he got injured early, never really re-set his feet, and struggled to stand his ground when he had to choke, clinch, and take a breather from the fight. In the Wilder fight, one such moment of ego – staying in the pocket a half-stroke too long to “send a message” – causes a fight he controls to suddenly turn into staring into the lights.

What problem is Wilder actually creating now?

Even Wilder’s dim threat is elementary and ugly: he can lose every round and still turn things around with one right if he can lure you into overcommitting. Herndon showed that his timing wasn’t gone yet; he continued to find distance when the other man’s performance dropped, and when he saw an opening he didn’t need many spotless touches to force a stop.

The real threat to Joshua is the mental vigorous, not the accumulation of physical damage: you can box well, bank well, and then get greedy and throw one too many combinations because you get bored of winning the jab. Wilder’s entire game is now based on this bad decision – ponderous fight, low volume, and then suddenly sprinting to full speed when your discipline drops.

What this fight exposes instead of proving

Joshua–Wilder in 2026 does not settle any mythical “era” debate; Fury, Usyk and Dubois have already written this story. This shows whether Joshua can go twelve rounds without a mental breakdown when he has real strength in front of him again, and whether Wilder has enough legs and timing to even create a real opportunity to finish the match, rather than just a winger promising a right from too far away.

The fight also shows how both men deal with risk when they have no belt attached to them, only cash and reputation rewards. Strip away the prescriptive excuses and unquestioned politics and you’ll see who’s still willing to step into the ring with a chin on the line purely for pride and a paycheck.

Business, time and what is actually possible

Usyk’s possession of the main belts means this is a pure box office fight: no sanctioning body is forcing it, no obligatory ticking of the clock, only whether the Saudis or the American network believe there is enough energy left in both names to justify guarantees. Paul’s numbers – 33 million viewers worldwide on Netflix – give Joshua a robust advantage; his side may argue that he doesn’t need Wilder to sell out arenas or generate streaming traffic

There is no bigger payday for Wilder than Joshua; Usyk would be high risk and lower reward from a spectacle standpoint, and heavyweight contenders don’t make the same money. That’s why you hear “I will almost certainly fight Joshua” – it’s not about vision, it’s about economics.

If it goes wrong

If Joshua signs a contract with Wilder and gets knocked out, staggered and saved, whatever – he will no longer be talked about as a guy who can come back for titles and will become an costly name for crossover events and prospects who want a scalp. A second violent defeat in two years, in addition to Dubois’ collapse, will tell any top-10 heavyweight that if you can make him think and punch at the same time, he will break.

If something goes wrong for Wilder – if Joshua leads him to a systematic beating or even just finishes him off behind schedule when his legs are gone – the “one punch” myth will die for good and he will be lost in pure nostalgia: highlight clips and guest of honor roles, not live dog status. Either way, this fight, if it happens, won’t rebuild careers; closes one of them for good.

Boxing

Denzel Bentley Scores Knockdown Against Mosley Jr. for Close Decision Victory

Published

3 hours ago

November 8, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"Denzel Bentley Scores Knockdown Against Mosley Jr. for Close Decision Victory"

Denzel Bentley’s knockdown helped him secure a close unanimous decision over Shane Mosley Jr. on Saturday, giving the London middleweight a hard-earned victory in his Zuffa Boxing debut. Bentley won by scores of 96-94, 96-93 and 95-94 after 10 competitive rounds at the Copper Box Arena.

Bentley (23-3-1, 18 KOs) hurt Mosley in the second round, but the American recovered sufficiently to keep the contest close through the final bell. Mosley (23-6, 13 KOs) had talked beforehand about wanting a clear decision victory on the road. Instead, he left with a defeat in which one judge separated the fighters by just a point.

The knockdown was a significant part of the result. On the narrowest card, that extra point supplied Bentley’s winning margin, illustrating how costly a single defensive mistake can become in a closely contested 10-round fight. Bentley’s power gave him a scoring advantage that Mosley’s work across the remaining rounds could not fully erase.

Mosley deserves credit for preventing the early trouble from becoming a stoppage defeat. Bentley has the punching power to finish a hurt opponent, but he could not turn his success into a comfortable evening. The American remained competitive and forced Bentley to keep working rather than allowing him to coast behind the knockdown.

Bentley’s pressure was another factor. Mosley wanted to demonstrate that he could outbox him, but doing so required more than surviving the heavier punches. He needed enough clean work to persuade the judges in rounds where Bentley was advancing and looking to impose his power.

That was the difficulty with Mosley’s pre-fight ambition of winning a wide decision. A fighter can have competitive rounds against a puncher and still lose ground sharply when he gets caught. Once Bentley had scored the knockdown, Mosley had less room to concede close rounds.

The scorecards reflected a competitive contest rather than a dominant performance. All three judges favored Bentley, but none gave him a wide margin. The 95-94 card was particularly tight, and the other two scores also left little room for Bentley to take his foot off the gas.

For Bentley, the victory followed an unsettled period outside the ring. He entered this bout after losing his WBO middleweight title status amid the dispute over his mandatory obligation to Yoenli Hernandez. Beating Mosley gave him a positive start with his new promoter, although this non-title contest did not replace the championship he had lost.

Mosley arrived after stopping Serhii Bohachuk in his previous outing, making this a setback to the momentum he had built. His durability kept him in contention, but the early damage and knockdown left him chasing points in a fight where the margins stayed narrow.

Bentley earned the result through his power and pressure, with the knockdown providing the clearest scoring advantage of the night. Mosley made him work for the decision, but could not produce the clear road victory he had promised.

Boxing

Around the Table: Who Can Challenge Canelo at 160 or 168 Pounds?

Published

9 hours ago

November 7, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"Around the Table: Who Can Challenge Canelo at 160 or 168 Pounds?"

We all acknowledge that Canelo isn’t in his peak years anymore, but looking at the actual landscape around him right now, is there anyone at 168, or who could come up from 160, you think would beat Canelo Alvarez?

Canelo was sharp against Christian Mbilli, but I never thought Mbilli would beat or even really trouble Canelo too much. And that’s what you look for, even today, even with Canelo faded: It has to be a really, really good fighter, and the right kind of fighter.

It wasn’t Mbilli, and it’s not going to be Lester Martinez, either. I wouldn’t mind seeing that fight, because Martinez has earned it as much as one earns shots at belts in boxing, and maybe Martinez would prove me wrong. I’m certainly not saying he’s a 0% chance to win, but on paper I don’t see it.

Hamzah Sheeraz is the fighter TurkiCo seems to want in the spot, and there are aspects there that seem potentially interesting, but Sheeraz’s so-so showings in other fights don’t inspire much confidence. Osleys Iglesisas might be the guy, but he’d also be taking a huge step up in competition, and you can’t forget that; basically the same step up that Mbilli just took. I’m not saying they aren’t good fighters, but the records built in Quebec are not filled with world class opposition.

I don’t honestly see anyone at 168 or 160 that beats Canelo right now, next fight out. I just don’t think there’s anyone there who’s good enough right now; a couple of them would be in time, perhaps, but we’re not talking about two or three years from now.

It’s an interesting question, and I’ll just preface the rest of my response by highlighting the fact there’s a difference between would and could. I say that to say this: I actually thought Canelo looked really sharp against Mbilli, with his reaction time and defense on point. But even though Canelo is a fighter with elite level skill, he’s still an aging fighter. Aging athletes in general never forget what to do, but the most noticeable decline is consistency in their performances.

The older and more worn, the less consistently they can perform at the levels they’re accustomed to. In that respect I would compare Canelo to an older pitcher. On some nights he’ll still have some of his best stuff and on those nights he’ll look good, but he’s not going to consistently bring his best stuff anymore, and on the nights he doesn’t he’ll be vulnerable to a potential slip up.

If I’m just estimating, I think there’s 0% chance we’ll ever see Canelo in better form than we just saw him, about a 35% chance he can match the form we just saw, and about a 65% chance that he has something less to offer on a given night. If Canelo can duplicate his most recent performance, I can’t honestly say that any fighter between 160-168 would beat him right now, but I do think it’s more likely than not that he’s in worse form. In that case I’d say perhaps someone like Yoenli Hernandez, and to a lesser extent Carlos Adames or Hamzah Sheeraz could potentially give him a run for his money, but it’s certainly far from a sure thing.

The cheeky answer would be Erislandy Lara, since there was so much controversy over his split decision loss to Canelo at the time. But, I don’t think Lara actually won that fight, and I certainly don’t think that a 43 year old Lara moving up to super middleweight would beat Canelo in 2026.

I think that, given the landscape, there’s really just one guy at the weight with an argument right now: Osleys Iglesias. It would be a huge step up for Iglesias, but part of that is his difficulty getting a major fight yet given how formidable he looks. The people who have beaten Canelo, officially or otherwise, had exceptional skill and enough stopping power to keep him honest. Iglesias looks like he checks both boxes. I’d love to see him get the chance.

Otherwise, you’re looking down at 154 lbs and trying to guess if someone like Boots or Fundora can do it, because I don’t think anyone at middleweight is a realistic threat.

My Hiroo Onoda answer is that David Benavidez was the guy. The one weird trick to beating Canelo seems to be a refusal to let him get comfortable and Benavidez’s kit is perfect for that: height, reach, volume, hand speed, offensive variety, and criminally underrated defense. Him losing the WBC belt by failing to make weight against Roamer Alexis F*ckin’ Angulo right as Canelo kicked off his undisputed super middleweight chase is up there with the butterfly ballots in “things that make me want to run full-speed into a brick wall if I think about them too hard.”

As for who can do it now, the only guys who seem like they belong in the conversation are Janibek Alimkhanuly and Osleys Iglesias. The kings of the heap at 160 are Carlos Adames and Old Man Lara, whom nobody in their right minds would pick to topple Canelo, and who else is there at 168? Diego Pacheco and Hamzah Sheeraz, who looked pedestrian against far lesser opposition and clearly want no smoke whatsoever? Lester Martinez could be interesting and will be next for Canelo if Mauricio Sulaiman keeps his word (lmao), but I’m not sold after his own performance against Christian Mbilli.

Alimkhanuly has the technical pedigree to potentially find the holes in Canelo’s ultra-optimized game and the physical abilities to exploit them. Iglesias isn’t quite as credentialed, but his speed and power are at or near the division’s peak and that pile bunker jab of his is the sort of disruptive weapon that could give Canelo fits. That said, I’d still favor Canelo over either.

Boxing

Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson 2 Live Results: Round-by-Round Updates and Analysis

Published

10 hours ago

November 7, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson 2 Live Results: Round-by-Round Updates and Analysis

Welterweight Jack Rafferty (28-0-1, 18 KOs) defeated Hovhannes Martirosyan (20-2, 12 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision to claim the vacant IBO title. The judges scored it 116-111, 116-111 and 114-113 after a hard-fought contest that saw both men land heavy punches.

Martirosyan boxed effectively off the back foot and enjoyed lengthy spells of success, while Rafferty kept pressing and throwing in volume. Rafferty scored a disputed knockdown in the 12th, with the incident drawing questions over whether a push had sent Martirosyan through the ropes.

That call proved crucial on the closest card, where Rafferty finished just one point ahead. Martirosyan’s late fade allowed Rafferty to finish strongly, but the unbeaten favorite had to work through a much tougher fight than the two wider scores suggested.

Bradley Rea (23-2, 12 KOs) knocked out Ezra Taylor (13-2, 9 KOs) in the second round to retain his WBA Inter-Continental light heavyweight title. The scheduled 10-round contest ended abruptly as Rea punished Taylor’s decision to trade early.

Taylor was dropped and appeared unsteady, raising questions about whether the referee should have ended the fight sooner. Rea finished the job with a heavy knockout, handing Taylor his second consecutive defeat. Taylor’s own punching power offered little protection once Rea had him hurt.

Coming off a stoppage win over Liam Cameron, Rea delivered another decisive finish to strengthen his position in the division.

Gully Powar (14-1-1, 1 KO) captured the vacant British featherweight title with a unanimous technical decision over Zak Miller (17-2, 3 KOs). The judges scored it 96-95, 97-94 and 96-94 after the scheduled 12-round contest was halted in the 10th.

Severe swelling on Miller’s forehead from accidental head clashes prompted the doctor to stop the fight and send it to the scorecards. Powar’s persistent pressure and punch volume helped him edge a competitive contest, with both fighters landing quality shots.

Miller remained willing to fight, but the swelling prevented him from getting the final two rounds to overturn Powar’s lead. Powar secured the Lonsdale Belt at his second attempt after drawing with Rhys Edwards in his previous British title challenge.

Middleweight Stephen Clarke (11-0, 2 KOs) defeated Harley Collison (3-10-2) by an eight-round points decision. Referee Steve Gray scored it 80-72, awarding Clarke every round. The Liverpool prospect controlled the contest and took a clear victory over the experienced Southampton fighter.

Collison completed the distance, giving the 25-year-old Clarke eight rounds of work. A former national amateur champion, Clarke is trained by Stephen “Swifty” Smith and managed by Paul Smith. This was another step in his professional education, although stronger opposition will provide a better measure of his progress.

Junior middleweight John Joe Carrigan (5-0, 5 KOs) stopped Cheikh Diop (6-2) in the fourth round to maintain his perfect knockout run. The 19-year-old southpaw secured the finish against an opponent who had previously lost only by decision.

Diop entered with more professional experience but became the fifth fighter unable to go the distance with Carrigan. The Carlisle teenager turned professional in late 2025 after winning gold at the Under-19 World Championships.

He trains in Hartlepool and has carried his amateur success into a promising start with Queensberry Promotions. The official time of the stoppage was not immediately available.

Tony Yoka (16-3, 12 KOs) defeated Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko (10-21-1, 7 KOs) by a six-round points decision in their heavyweight bout. The reported score was 59-55 for the Frenchman.

Yoka controlled the contest, although the Ukrainian veteran took him the distance. Dovbyshchenko has also gone the rounds with Moses Itauma, making this a predictable opportunity for Yoka to get some work.

The 2016 Olympic gold medalist is rebuilding after consecutive defeats to Martin Bakole, Carlos Takam and Ryad Merhy. This victory kept that process moving, but beating an opponent with Dovbyshchenko’s record offers little evidence of how Yoka would fare against contenders.

Javokhir Ummataliev (3-0, 1 KO) defeated Atacayte Santana (4-4-2, 1 KO) by a six-round points decision in super middleweight action. The referee scored it 60-54, giving the Uzbek all six rounds. Ummataliev controlled the contest and secured a clear win in his third professional appearance.

Santana completed the distance after entering as a clear underdog. The 21-year-old Ummataliev arrived in the professional ranks with a strong amateur background, including a 2025 World Championship gold medal. After stopping Damian Drabik in two rounds in his previous outing, he gained more rounds of professional experience against Santana.

Super middleweight prospect Alex Arthur Jr. (6-0, 1 KO) defeated Jose Aguirre (2-32, 1 KO) by a six-round points decision. Referee Steve Gray scored the contest 60-54, awarding Arthur every round.

The 24-year-old Scot controlled the fight and finished with a clear victory over the experienced Costa Rican. Aguirre completed the distance, giving Arthur six rounds of work in his sixth professional outing.

Arthur is the son of former WBO super featherweight champion Alex Arthur. The win provided more experience, although Aguirre’s lengthy losing streak limits what it tells us about the unbeaten prospect.

Tumi Phillips (7-1, 1 KO) defeated Angelo Dragone (10-17-1) by decision in their super lightweight bout. The referee scored it 40-37 for Phillips.

Phillips controlled the contest and was a clear winner at the finish. The younger fighter produced a solid showing against an opponent with considerably more professional experience.

Dragone heard the final bell after suffering a stoppage defeat in his previous outing. No knockdowns were reported, with Phillips taking the victory without any major drama. The official score was not immediately available.