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.
Shakur Stevenson is regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, but one reigning world champion believes the Newark southpaw is ‘terrified’ of him.
Stevenson looked to be a level above Teofimo Lopez when they collided back in January, as Stevenson became the third-youngest four-division world champion in the rich history of the sport.
However, the unbeaten superstar is yet to fight since, despite informing O’Shaquie Foster that he could get his shot if able to defend his WBC super-featherweight world title against good friend, Raymond Ford, back in May.
Foster claimed a majority decision win to continue his second 130lb title reignbut talks for a clash between he and Stevenson then went quiet as the latter signed with Zuffa Boxing, whilst Foster eventually moved on to a three-belt unification with Emanuel Navarrete.
Speaking to Fight Hub TVFoster fumed at Stevenson for going back on his word and declared his belief that the 29-year-old is ‘terrified’ of him.
“I think that he is terrified of me and I think that he hopes that somebody else beats me so that he won’t have to ever fight me. He said it on Twitter, after Lamont [Roach] fought he was talking about ‘it is your time coming, I can’t wait to clown you on it.’ He is goofy.
“He is hoping that somebody else beats me, that is why he was hoping Ray Ford beat me, so that he can chat about it online instead of hopping in there himself with me.
“I am not a bully, but real guys know real guys. You sons, your mans, I beat ‘em up, why you ain’t trying to fight now?”
Navarrete-Foster takes place on Saturday, October 24, where ‘Ice Water’ could inch closer to becoming the first undisputed super-featherweight world champion since Hiroshi Kobayashi in 1969; a feat which Vasiliy Lomachenko is also trying to achieve.
Canelo Alvarez spends some time talking to Mike Coppinger on behalf of Ring Magazine about this state of his career, his October 31 title fight with Christian Mbilliwanting a rematch with Terence Crawfordand more. Read some excerpts from Canelo below with the full video in the link at the bottom.
“He’s a champion and he’s a very aggressive fighter. He go forward, throws a lot of punches and that make me excited because it’s good styles to make a good fight. Could be Fight of the Year.”
On why the fight was delayed from September
“Because I wasn’t ready. I have a little bit of problems with the family I need to fix and everything. And I like to have a pre-camp and then come to the training camp, so that’s why I postponed that fight because I learned from the past, you know…At this level [there’s a tiny margin for error] between win or lose.”
On what motivates him at this stage of his career
“I love boxing. Sometimes I try to say ‘why am I here if I accomplish everything?’ but I love boxing. That’s why I’m here, because I still love boxing and I enjoy it a lot.”
On a rematch with Crawford
“I hope so. If you realize that I always did good in my rematches. So, I always do good in the rematch so I hope that fight happens again…I just try to learn how much I can from the loss and from the other fights and get better, learn more and do better in the ring.
“[I’ve rewatched the Crawford fight] like five times, and it was very close. It’s not that much [that separates us]. But, yeah, it’s very [fine line between winning and losing] but I know what happened and I know my mistakes, and plus Crawford is a great fighter and you need to be 100%.”
Japan’s traditional year-end title bonanza appears to be underway, as U-Next announced a trio of championship bouts on November 29th at Tokyo’s venerable Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Leading the way is some variety of WBA bantamweight title rematch between “world” champion Riku Masuda (11-1, 9 KO) and former titlist Seiya Tsutsumi (13-0-3, 8 KO), who beat Masuda by unanimous decision when both were on the rise in 2023. The timeline here is, as best as I can tell:
And now, here we are. Tsutsumi, who by all rights should be owed a shot at Rodriguez, fights for a crappier version of the belt he never lost in the ring.
On the bright side, odds are we’re in for a treat. Two aggressive finishers with history between them should make for fireworks.
Three pounds south, multi-weight champion Kenshiro Teraji (26-2, 16 KO) makes his first super flyweight title defense against no. 10 contender Jassiel Ramon Amador Gamez (15-0-1, 13 KO). The 25-year-old Amador fights for the first time outside his native Mexico and for just the second time outside his home state of Baja California Sur; his strength of schedule is about what you’d expect, but unheralded Mexican knockout artists cause stirs on the regular and Teraji’s lost a step, so who knows.
Also at 115, WBA champ David Jimenez (18-1, 12 KO) faces former flyweight titlist Seigo Yuri Akui (23-3-1, 13 KO), whom you may remember from his Fight of the Year candidate against Teraji last year. There’s some f***ery at play here; the sanctioning body ordered Jimenez to rematch mandatory challenger John “Scrappy” Ramirez, only to turn around and grant Jimenez a “special permit” for this voluntary defenseclaiming it “has the authority to modify mandatory defense deadlines and grant special permits under justified circumstances.”
At no point in the press release does it say what those “justified circumstances” are. It claims that the winner must fight Ramirez within 120 days, but note their purported authority to “modify mandatory defense deadlines.”
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