The ambitions of the world title Goodman are still alive – barely.
The invincible Australian returned to the Hordenstan Pavilion in Sydney on Wednesday evening and won the dominant, but coarse decision over Mexico Cesar Vaca. It was supposed to be pure tuning. Instead, Goodman left the ring covered with blood and sewed again – but with on the board.
The judges won it 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92. No controversy. Only damage.
Goodman was at the top of the Super Bantamweight Division. At the beginning of this year, he was to face Nayy Inoue – a weight class monster – until the nasty training camp did not kill sleep. This fight concerned the restoration of the momentum and regaining his name in the mix.
He did it. But not without drama.
Goodman boxed sharply through the first half, dictating the pace, landing tidy work and never allowing Vaca to reach a foothill. But as the rounds of the fights passed, they became disordered. Goodman suffered Two separate cuts -One in the middle of the fight and one tardy because of the incorrect accidental hit over the eye. Blood spilled. The fans spilled. Goodman was still hit.
He managed the last rounds like a professional, remaining behind the stab, keeping the discipline and never allowing Vaca to build hope.
Now 20-0, Goodman remains the highest name in the division outside Inoue-i explained that he was not leaving.
After the fight, Goodman stopped his tears, turning to his support group, Crazy groupAnd he thought about what he called the wildest six months of his life. His words were not polished. They didn’t have to be. Emotions spoke enough.
He wants Inoue. And whether it is next or another, Goodman returned to the conversation.
Garside shakes the rust ring in returning to the victory over Bell
In the Gold Medalist coefficient from 2018, gold medalist, Harry Garside, long -expected return to a professional boxing after three years of play. And he didn’t waste time.
Garside won the victory over Charlie Bell before a slowdown crowd Sydney. . The judge’s decision to wave the fight surprised many, and Bell still stood and traded in arrows at the time of arrest. It wasn’t vintage, but it was enough. He showed movement, time and type of experience, which only sharpens under pressure. Bell tried to make him coarse, but Garside kept in control and overwhelmed him.
The finish came tardy. Garside won. And now he returned in a delicate conversation – again a real noise behind him.
IVIC vs. Vousiutu: War in massive weight that stole all this damn night
This was to be buried under the main event. I ended up in the fight, which everyone is talking about.
In the fight for the Australian heavyweight title Stevan Ivic and Toese Vousiutu went to the war for ten plain rounds in one of the most brutal, crowd Siedney, full of crowd, has seen for years.
It was ugly, it was wild, it was chaos.
In round 6 Vousiutu almost finished. His corner gave him an ultimatum: take it or throw a towel. He answered like a madman – and turned the whole fight on his head. He left swaying in round 7 and almost dropped Ivic with a monster’s shot. The place broke out.
Both men traded with haymaking after the round, with massive shots landing tidy. You could hear the Thuds ring. Tim Tziu, who viewed live, called it “a fight forever”. Ben Damon, a man of fun, said it was a “round of the year.”
And they didn’t exaggerate.
Ultimately, IVIC kept his title with a unanimous decision-96-94, 96-93, 96-93. But honestly, nobody lost. Both men took the last bell. The fans were on their feet for a few minutes.
It wasn’t a produced spectacle. It was two tough guys hammering into the basement and trying to tear each other in the fight for the title that turned into a war zone. It was not the best fight of the card – it could be the best fight in Australian boxing throughout the year.
Full fight results
Goodman himself Def. Cesar Vaca Espinosis by UD10 (99-92, 99-91, 100-90)
Harry Garside def. Charlie Bell by TKO5
Stevan Ivic def. Toese vousiutu by UD10 (96-93 × 2, 96-94) for the Australian heavyweight title
Mounir Fathhi def. Wade Ryan by KO3
Charlie Kazzi Def. Patrick Vella by UD8 (79-73 x2, 77-75)
Jason Fawcett def. Alex Lual by MD6 (59-55, 58-56, 57-57)
Top trainer and former world champion Robert Garcia has considered the outcome of a fantasy showdown between Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao.
The two generational greats reportedly came close to squaring off in 2021, back when Crawford was the WBO welterweight champion and ‘Pac Man’ held the WBA title.
Their unification match never materialised, though, as Pacquiao was scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr before ‘The Truth’ pulled out with a torn retina.
Instead, the Filipino legend ended up losing his WBA title to Yordenis Ugas at a stage when, while still serviceable, he was quite clearly past his best.
Crawford, meanwhile, was hitting top form around this time, just a few fights away from producing arguably a career-best performance against Spence.
He did, of course, manage to stop his welterweight rival in nine rounds, before moving up to 168lbs and becoming a three-division undisputed champion by dethroning Canelo Alvarez last September.
Based on those two performances, coach Garcia has told ESNEWS that he would favour ‘Bud’ to defeat even a prime version of Pacquiao.
“The Crawford that beat Spence – and the Crawford that beat Canelo – would probably beat Manny.”
While Crawford’s prime almost certainly came during his run of eight stoppages at welterweight, it is harder to pinpoint when Pacquiao ultimately reached his peak.
In terms of his most destructive performance at world level, however, many will point towards his second-round finish over Ricky Hatton in 2009.
While facing the ‘Hitman’ at 140lbs, Pacquiao would cement himself as a formidable welterweight champion soon after, dethroning Miguel Cotto with a 12th-round stoppage for the WBO title.
Former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk has been left between a rock and a hard place afterhis promotional contract with Zuffa Boxing has been terminated.
The Ukrainian dethroned long-reigning light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2018, scoring an 11th-round stoppage that left his opponent with a brain injury.
Gvozdyk then made a WBC title defence before losing to Artur Beterbievwho extended his ruthless surge with a 10th-round finish in their 2019 encounter.
Since that defeat, ‘The Nail’ suffered a unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez in 2024, before entering a perceived 50/50 contest against Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic in February.
With both making their Zuffa debut, the two veterans delivered a thrilling battle in which Gvozdyk scored two knockdowns and had built a sizable lead.
In round seven, though, the 39-year-old found himself on the canvas and was ultimately stopped on his feet after getting dropped a second time.
Given his overall performance, one would suspect he had done enough to justify another meaningful opportunity, yet Gvozdyk has since told vRINGe that he will no longer be fighting under the Zuffa banner.
“They terminated the contract in February after a loss. That is, every promoter has the option that if a boxer loses, they have the right to terminate the contract. That’s exactly what they did. After the fight, everyone was saying how great it was. That everything was great. I rested. I started preparing as planned – somewhere around May. And then, around April, they told me I’d received an email terminating the contract.”
This is because his contract has been terminated, while Kalajdzic’s next outing with Dana White’s promotional outfit is confirmed for September 26 against Craig Richards.
As for Gvozdyk, it is difficult to predict what will come next but, at the age of 39, one would suspect that he is close to hanging up the gloves.
Still, he could hardly have been happy to part ways with Zuffa, which also terminated its contract with Robert Meriwether following his defeat to Tony Hirsch Jr in April.
Former British champion and Olympic bronze medallist David Price has assessed whether his countryman, Conor Bennpossesses the necessary hand speed to defeat Ryan Garcia.
The two welterweights will square off at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on September 12, with Garcia making a first defence of his WBC world title.
It was arguably a career-best performance that saw him dethrone Mario Barrios in February, scoring a first-round knockdown before winning a wide unanimous decision.
But despite coming off this dominant display, Garcia was far less impressive when he returned from a year-long doping ban and lost on points to Rolando Romero in May 2025.
Still, many would argue that the 28-year-old has shown signs of world-class quality, while Benn remains glaringly unproven at the top level.
The 29-year-old has also not fought at 147lbs since 2022, with his last two outings resulting in unanimous decision victories over faded versions of Chris Eubank Jr and Regis Prograis.
Against Eubank, in particular, Benn’s speed seemed a key factor in their two middleweight encounters last year, despite him suffering a points defeat the first time around.
As he approaches this welterweight contest against Garcia, though, former heavyweight contender Price has told The Smith Brothers that he sees Benn contending with an unfamiliar disadvantage.
“I think I [favour Garcia]. Conor Benn’s got great hand speed, but I think [Garcia’s] hand speed could make the difference in the fight.”
Like Garcia, Benn tested positive for a banned substance – clomifene – and was eventually removed from his cancelled 2022 encounter with Eubank.
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