Boxing
Petar Milas, Granit Shala and the referee who lost control
In case anyone is wondering, Timo Habighorst is the name of the referee officiating this fight.
It should be examined immediately.#KabayelKnyba
— MarkusB (@markusbthegoat) January 10, 2026
The first knockdown should be an intervention
At the beginning of the tenth round, Milas dropped Shala. The takedown itself was neat rather than explosive, but the problem was Shala’s reaction. He stood up without his legs under him, his balance was disturbed and his consciousness was dulled. Milas recognized it immediately. Instead of pushing forward, he turned towards judge Timo Habighorst and gestured that Shala was in trouble. Fighters rarely do this, especially heavyweights who sense a break. This signal alone should have prompted closer inspection.
Habighorst conducted a routine count and waved the fight away without any meaningful assessment. No long looks into Shala’s eyes. No pauses to check stability. The judge treated this moment as procedural, not medical.
A few seconds later, Milas stepped in with a tiny, controlled “1-2” punch. Shala fell again. This time the damage was unmistakable. Shala tried to get up by pulling himself up the ropes, his feet were slipping, there was no high guard, and his body was no longer responding in sequence. The signs were no longer subtle.
Referee Timo Habighorst experienced an absolute shock in the fight between Petar Milas and Granit Shala.
He could have stopped it after the first knockdown in the final round. Instead, he allowed Shala to continue and bring out the absolute madness in him rather than stop the fight.
— Anthony Cocks – Australian boxing writer (@el_pollo_loco) January 10, 2026
Ignoring a corner kick removes any remaining defense
As the count continued, Shala’s corner threw in the towel and headed to the ring. This is the final and purest signal in sports. The cornerback gave up responsibility because their man could no longer protect himself. Even then, Habighorst kept counting before finally stopping the fight.
By this point, all the safeguards had failed one by one. The opponent asked for intervention. The number of knockdowns was accumulating. The warrior’s physical condition was obvious. The corner came in. The judge still hesitated.
Milas emerged with a halftime victory and a 20-1 record. Shala left after taking a penalty that served no competitive purpose. The discussion about innings won or lost before ten is only relevant on paper. In the ring, an essential moment occurred when the referee refused to take action, even though all available information pointed in the same direction.
The way Habighorst conducted himself in this fight raised questions about the standards of refereeing and control in the ring. Judges have the license to make quick and uncomfortable decisions to prevent unnecessary harm. When these decisions are repeatedly put on hold, the inevitable question becomes: how does this man continue to be assigned to fights at this level?
Boxing
Mauricio Sulaiman claims that Crawford knew in advance that he would have to pay $300,000. dollars fee for WBC
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.
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Last updated: 25/04/2026 at 18:31
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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Last updated: 25/04/2026 at 13:22
Mauricio Sulaiman claims that Crawford knew in advance that he would have to pay $300,000. dollars fee for WBC
Errol Spence Jr.’s opponent and return date have finally been confirmed
Canelo Camp announces Resendiz-Munguia as the winner next
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