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.
Canelo Alvarez came out with a clear win over Christian Mbilli over the weekend, but not everyone thinks so highly of his performance. Speaking to Fight Hub TV, David Benavidez explains why he wasn’t impressed by what he saw out of Canelo and believes Canelo owes a better effort to the fans and those who pay him a fortune to fight. Here are some excerpts of what he had to say below.
“He earns all this money, he’s supposed to be the greatest fighter in the world, right?” Benavidez said. “We expect him to go in there and knock this guy out. We don’t expect him to just go in there and look for counter shots. If the other guy is not throwing any shots, then be Canelo. Go in there, put pressure on, use your defense, use your head movement, go in there — just like how he did it with Caleb Plant…
“So, in my opinion, you’re getting $40M, $50M, that’s a lot of money. You [should] be ready to push it to the limit every single round, from round one to round 12. And I’m not trying to talk sh-t or nothing, but is that not true? Is that not what you guys see? There’s just a lot of waiting going on. As a fighter, Canelo is way better than Mbilli. You guys seen it, he has more tools. It’s just that he wasn’t pursuing the knockout like he should be.
“I think if you’re better than the fighter, you have more skills, put them skills to the test, especially if you’re getting money like that. That’s just the way I think. I think it was a great performance by him but he just needed to — I don’t know, I think he could take all these guys out, could knock them out, especially like Mbilli. Mbilli was fighting scared but you know you’re going to get a guy to fight scared — put the pressure on, do some Julio Cesar Chavez and get that knockout.
“He’s too much of a good fighter to just be cruising like that, especially earning them top dollars.”
Jake Paul putting his career on the line against Cédric Doumbé tells you everything about how little danger he sees coming back at him. Paul claims he will retire if Doumbé pulls off the upset on Christmas Eve in Dubai, though anyone who follows combat sports knows retirement often just means a paid vacation.
“If he wins, I will hang up the gloves and call it a day,” Paul announced while promoting the eight-round cruiserweight bout. He promised a knockout too, which is quite the claim for someone returning from a broken jaw after Anthony Joshua stopped him in six rounds last December.
Paul brings 14 pro bouts into the ring against Doumbé’s single appearance. The French striker captured two kickboxing world titles and collected 45 knockouts in that arena. He certainly knows how to land devastating punches. Paul simply figures that stripping away Doumbé’s kicking game removes the setup that makes those strikes lethal.
That makes plenty of sense for a return bout. Paul built his entire run by taking combat athletes out of their primary disciplines, hyping their resumes, then forcing them into traditional boxing rules. The retirement angle is just his latest pitch to convince fans the outcome carries real finality.
Doumbé does not even need a knockout to expose the cracks. Slipping shots, landing clean counters, and dragging Paul into deep waters will quickly reveal the lingering toll of a year-long layoff and facial surgery. Paul expects his ring craft to settle matters before those questions get asked.
A Doumbé victory would give social media plenty to chew on over the holidays. Even so, hand Paul several months of rest and the right payday, and boxing will see exactly how long that retirement lasts.
Promising retirement is the oldest trick in the fight game to inject drama into a matchup that lacks real sporting legitimacy. It turns what should be an ordinary matchmaking exercise into a make-or-break event, giving casual viewers a reason to tune in just to see if the loudmouth finally gets silenced for good.
If Doumbé catches him or puts him away, Paul might step back for a while to let the dust settle and let his jaw heal further, but walking away entirely makes no financial sense. Paul runs Most Valuable Promotions, controls his own dates, and draws massive paydays regardless of whether he wins or loses. The loss to Tommy Fury did not slow down his business, and getting stopped by Anthony Joshua did not keep him away either.
The minute someone dangles an enticing name or a massive check in front of him, that retirement pledge will be forgotten overnight. He is selling a spectacle, and the bet is just part of the sales pitch.
Naoya Inoue is eyeing up a move into the featherweight division, with each of the reigning 126lb champions seemingly keen to secure a lucrative shot at the pound-for-pound king. Now, after scoring a fifth consecutive win inside of the distance, one featherweight ruler has publicly called for a clash with the Japanese sensation.
Inoue has issued a March deadline to Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez as hype around their potential match-up continues to first build and then be dampened by a possible collapse, as Rodriguez toys with the idea of remaining at bantamweight or challenging for the undisputed super-bantamweight throne.
Regardless, it is believed that Inoue will make his move into the featherweight division next year, with current world champions; Angelo Leo (IBF), Bruce Carrington (WBC), Brandon Figueroa (WBA) and Rafael Espinoza (WBO), each jostling to be selected as the man that Inoue wishes to challenge.
On Saturday, Espinoza managed a fifth straight knockout win in as many outings since becoming a world champion and during the aftermath of his victory over Ricardo Blandon, ‘Divino’ unveiled his plans to either unify or take on Inoue, on the DAZN broadcast.
“The truth is, I want to unify. I want a unification fight. I want to be able to say I’m the best featherweight, and also wait for that big fight with Inoue. That would be a dream. My biggest dream is to become one of the pound-for-pound best. That’s what I want, and that’s what I’m going to pursue.”
Inoue’s move to featherweight hinges on Rodriguez’s next move, but it is expected that the pair will collide in Marchbefore the Japanese superstar ventures up to what he has declared will be the highest and final weight-class of his career.
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