Brandon Colantonio didn’t leave Las Vegas with a victory on Saturday night. The scorecards were wide, the odds he faced were 6-0, and the outcome was never in doubt.
And yet, after the final bell, many T-Mobile Arena residents were asking the same question: who is this guy?
Colantonio entered as the B-team opponent for undefeated heavyweight Joshua Edwards on the Ryan Garcia vs. Mario Barrios card. He emerged as the first to take Edwards beyond three rounds, the first to hear the final bell against him and the first to not touch the canvas in the process.
He didn’t win, but he changed the conversation.
A return to the past in a newfangled section
Colantonio calls himself “The Real Life Rocky”. This may sound like branding. On Saturday, that seemed like a description.
The 6-foot-7, 29-year-old native of Victoria, British Columbia, fights like someone from another era, more focused on keeping the distance than chasing highlights.
The origin referenced is intentional. Chuck Wepner’s physical drive. The stubborn resistance of Sammy Scaff, who was hanging around with teenage Mike Tyson. Players who are not made for posters, but for scoring points.
Against Edwards, widely viewed as one of the division’s rising contenders, Colantonio did exactly the same thing. He absorbed the early pressure, adjusted and started landing right hands overdue. He refused to fade.
“If it had been a twelve-round fight, it would have been a different story,” Colantonio said later. “The longer the fight goes on, I just start. I’m a twelve-round fighter. I was born to do this.”
Activity above the noise
Heavyweight boxing in 2026 is rarely about activity. Today’s heavyweights take their time. These are moved carefully, with managed risk, and deadlines are often stretched.
Colantonio’s recent schedule looks different.
On Saturday, he fought his third fight in three months. He boxed in January. He fought in November. In this episode, he already fought for two title fights. His record currently stands at 7-2 with one knockout in 47 professional rounds.
He’s not the type built for highlight reels – he’s the type built to stay there round after round.
“There are things I could have done better,” he admitted. “I wanted to win. But he is tough and that’s what we expected. I’m always in shape and I will always give a good fight.”
This consistency was developed regionally, long before Las Vegas. He learned his craft in the armories and miniature halls of the Northwest, where reputations are made the strenuous way.
From the Armory to Las Vegas
Last year, Colantonio fought for the WBC bridgeweight title inside the brick walls of Victoria’s Bay Street Armory, a venue that once hosted Joe Louis. For a heavyweight who talks about old-school values, the setting is fitting.
The Bay Street Armory is a place where boxing is so close you can touch it, and Rocky Marciano refereed matches there decades earlier.
However, the fight ended in a no contest after a cut interrupted the proceedings, leaving the belt empty.
“Not having a result sucked, but one day the belt will be mine,” Colantonio said at the time, telling Cleve Dheensaw about Times Colonist.
The bridge division between cruiserweight and heavyweight introduced by the WBC in 2020 was another step in a career that was not linear.
As an amateur, Colantonio went 30-10 and finished as the national silver medalist, failing to qualify for the Olympics. Disappointment changed his approach.
“I was very upset when I didn’t get to the Olympics,” he said earlier. “Now I’m more relaxed. I’m having fun. That’s why I love being a professional boxer.”
Outside the ring, he works as a foreman at HL Disposal. He gardens with his wife Liz. He believes coach Jason Heit has refined his style and perfected his fundamentals.
“The reason I am where I am as a boxer is because of Jason,” Colantonio said. “I wasn’t the most talented guy, but I work strenuous with all my heart and I’m determined.”
A statement that goes beyond the scorecards
After losing by unanimous decision, Colantonio did not question the judging. He described that night differently.
“I came to the United States. I love the way you treat me here. I’m here to represent the Pacific Northwest,” he said. “If Golden Boy or anyone else wants me back, I’m ready. I’m always here, I’m always in shape and I’ll always provide a good fight.”
He made another point just as clearly.
“I am a pure athlete. I represent the people with pride. I am here to fight.”
There was no knockdown. No dramatic unraveling. Just resistance, overdue momentum and the kind of resilience that rarely makes headlines but often shapes careers.
Colantonio’s record is not spotless. In addition to seven wins, he has losses and a no-contest. What’s more, he has only one knockout in ten professional fights.
But that’s not the point here; The story is about bringing back an old-school heavyweight fighter who many thought no longer existed after the 1980s and 1990s.
He didn’t leave Las Vegas with a victory. He left with proof that boxing still needs fighters like him.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
David Benavidez won the WBA and WBO cruiserweight world titles with his last fight, and the “Mexican Monster” may add to his collection in the future after one of the world champions was ordered to fight him under the threat of being stripped of his belt.
As a result, the 29-year-old must decide whether he should return to the featherlight heavyweight scene or stay in the cruiserweight division, where he put in arguably the best performance of his career last time out after tuning out his fight with Jai Opetaia.
However, Benavidez was also named the WBC cruiserweight mandatory challenger and was ordered to fight WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian, another who has been linked to a fight with Opetaia.
If Mikaelian refuses to defend the title against Benavidez, the WBC president announced in an interview for the WBC magazine that he would strip the Armenian of the belt. Boxing Scene.
“The WBC order is Mikaelian against Benavidez. That’s all. If he fights again, he will waive his obligations to the WBC.”
“[There is no deadline] at this time. I will be talking to different managers. This is the highest priority. I look forward to making sure that happens.”
If Mikaeilian decides to continue the fight with Opetaia and thus lose the world title, it can be expected that Polish-born interim champion Michał Cieślak will benefit. Either he will be elevated to full world champion and ordered to make his first defense against Benavidez, or he will be included in a vacant belt fight against the three-division world champion.
“Well, he has his team there and I’m not criticizing anyone, but in both fights his tactics weren’t good,” Peter said in an interview with Sport Boxing.
“It worked out badly because look, if we have a little guy here who can throw, let’s say, a welterweight who can throw a thousand punches, and we have a heavyweight, will a heavyweight fighter throw a thousand punches with him? No.”
“Or maybe he’ll step in and take one good shot? Absolutely.”
“So basically yes, the strategy was just wrong. It doesn’t mean Usyk was better than him. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t say anything. You misunderstand the tactics and they are wrong.
“And you know, when you look at Usyk’s structure and what he does, when he distances himself and tries to box an elite boxer who is lighter than you and who is giving away pounds, he will ping you all over the shop. That should be noticed,” Peter Fury said.
Tyson Fury announced his return earlier this year and is expected to have a preparatory fight before the start of his scheduled series with Anthony Joshua. Queensbury promoter Frank Warren recently confirmed that Fury’s next opponent could be announced in the coming days, with the long-awaited fight against Joshua expected to take place later this year.
Usyk remains at the top of the heavyweight division and has been ordered to fight WBC interim champion Agit Kabayel. Warren also confirmed that negotiations for the fight are ongoing.
Fury’s third meeting with Usyk has not been announced. Peter Fury, however, remains convinced that the strategy used in the first two fights determined the result.
Jorge Kahwagi achieved something almost impossible in professional boxing. The Mexican politician retired with a perfect record of 12-0, knocked out every opponent he faced, and finished his entire career in just 15 rounds.
On paper, this looks like one of the most devastating runs the sport has ever seen. In fact, many boxing fans wondered if they even believed it.
Perfect record
Kahwagi turned professional in 2001, despite having no boxing experience. Over the next fourteen years, he set an undefeated record, won regional titles, and never once heard the final bell.
Twelve fights brought twelve victories. All twelve victories were by knockout in just fifteen rounds.
The numbers are tough to understand even now.
Several of Kahwagi’s opponents entered the ring in defeat. Others seemed hopelessly outmatched.
But the record continued to grow as the politician and businessman rose through the cruiserweight ranks without ever being seriously tested.
By the time he retired in 2015 after returning from a ten-year hiatus for one final fight, Kahwagi owned one of boxing’s most remarkable undefeated records.
Why fans never bought it
The controversy surrounding Kahwaga was not in itself. This is how some of these victories turned out.
His last fight against Ramon Olivas remains the fight most frequently mentioned in discussions about Kahwagi’s career. The break came after seemingly minimal contact, prompting criticism from fans and observers.
Doubts have already surrounded previous victories, including the victory over veteran Roberto Coelho.
Whether these doubts were justified or not, the damage was done and many fans never accepted Kahwagi’s record at face value.
WBC
Boxing has seen this before
Kahwagi’s record may be extraordinary, but in boxing there is always controversy when it comes to results.
As WBN reports, while John Riel Casimero faces a fight-fixing investigation in 2025, debates continue to arise in the contemporary era about what happens inside the ropes.
Long before that, Roy Jones Jr. denied winning Olympic gold in Seoul despite dominating Park Si-hun in what many still consider the greatest heist in boxing history.
More than thirty years later, Park returned the medal to Jones.
The Kahwagi case falls into a different category, but the result is often the same. Once fans stop believing what they’re watching, the debate never really stops.
Still one of the strangest
Few fighters retire with a perfect record, and even fewer retire after every knockout victory.
Kahwagi handled both, finishing his entire professional career in just 15 innings, and those numbers remain remarkable.
More than a decade after his retirement, the debate surrounding his record has never really died down.
That’s why Jorge Kahwagi’s perfect 12-0 record remains one of the strangest in boxing history.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
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