Boxing
True or not boxing: the unquestioned fund? Ryan defeated Mayer?
After an unsuccessful attempt to face Errola Spence Jr. In 2024, Sebastian Funda returns to the ring to defend its WBC and WBO titles of medium weight against Chordale Booker in Las Vegas, in what is seen as a fight for the master. But will the fund be able to win other masters and fully unite the 154-pound division until the end of 2026?
Over two years from the announcement of the fight Chris Eubank Jr. And Connor Benn will finally meet in London in April. The average fight in Nontitle was postponed in October 2022, when Benn obtained a positive result into two forbidden substances. The Eubank-Lin competition dates back to the 90s, when their fathers fought twice in the same medium weight ward. Can Benn win the right to brag and even stop Eubank?
On March 29, in Las Vegas, Mikaela Mayer defends the WBO welterweight belt against Sandy Ryan in the rematch of their fight from 2023, in which Mayer received the title most of the decisions. Can Ryan take revenge?
After four -time competition in 2024, Richard Torrez in massive weight, a silver medalist for the USA in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, returns to the ring on April 5 on his first fight this year to face the most notable opponent. Torrez, who has so far detained 11 of his 12 opponents (in December he also has a victory at DQ nad Joey Dawiejko), will face Guido Vianelllo in Las Vegas in his first fight, which played a boxing card. Can Torrez show that he is the best current American great man?
A week later, on April 12, Jaron Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis are fighting to unite two welterweight titles in the battle between unbeatable warriors. Ennis is a favorite by ESPN -700 and should win that he is fighting for his potential.
At the beginning of this month, the former welterweight champion Keith Thurman returned to the ring for the first time since 2022 to defeat Brock Jarvis in Australia by TKO the third round. While the performance was impressive, Jarvis is far from an elite warrior in the 154 pounds division. But did he win Catapult Thurman to the top and get him the opportunity to win another world title?
Mike Coppinger, Timothy Bardley Jr., Nick Parkinson and Andreas Hale answer these questions and more, trying to separate what is true and what is not.
Real or not: Sebastian Fundor will become the undisputed junior lithe champion in 2026
It is not real. On Saturday, the fund should next to Chordale Booker in its first defense of his WBC and WBO titles, including what is the fight. The fund was waiting for Errol Spence Jr., a clamorous fight, which was first planned for October 2024, but then postponed many times, until it was scraped.
The fund gained sedate nervousness when he developed Tim Tiszu in the brutal and bloody fight of Tsyzyu adopted in 11 -day overtaking in March last year. Unfortunately, the fund had not fought since this fight and was unable to rely on the impetus.
Activity will be a real challenge for the fund, which is a high 6 feet-5 1/2 in 154 pounds. The other two owners of titles in Munior Middle Weigh are Bakhram Murtazaliev (IBF) and Terenka Crawford (WBA).
Crawford goes to 168 pounds and the September fight against Canelo Alvarez and will eventually abandon his title in 154 pounds. WBA can always restore Jermella Charlo, his master during the break as a full master. Yoenis Tellez, like Charlo and the Fund, is with PBC and is a momentary champion of WBA.
So if the fund is to be the undisputed champion next year, he could allegedly fight Murtazliev this summer, and then showdown before the end of 2026 against Tellez or Charlo to fully unite. But it is extremely hard to imagine two more unification fights that merge for the funds in 2026.
Real or not: Sandy Ryan promised his close defeat with Mikaela Mayer in the rematch
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Mikaela Mayer receives a majority victory to become the recent WBO champion
Mikaela Mayer wins the main event thanks to the majority decision to nervous Sandy Ryan and become a recent WBO -secondary champion.
True. Ryan lost to Mayer in September last year, but the victory was overshadowed when someone threw a red paint in Ryan a few hours earlier, when she left the hotel in Novel York to go to Madison Square Garden for a fight. Ryan accused someone of the Mayer team of conducting an attack, but Mayer denied the accusation. The incident undoubtedly restless Ryan in the last hours before the fight for the title of welterweight and you are wondering if it influenced her performance. Mayer won a majority decision with 97-93, 96-94 and 95-95 results cards.
If Ryan can make his plan in a rematch and apply his intensity, he can recover the WBO belt and take revenge sweetly.
“This time I will be fully prepared for everything that comes,” said Ryan in ESPN in January. “What happened before the fight last time meant that I was fighting with anger and it clearly influenced my performance. The world would see a concentrated, determined and talented warrior in the shape of her life.”
Real or not: Conor Benn Will Ko Chris Eubank Jr.
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Chris Eubank Jr. lists Conor Benn with an egg at the forefront
Chris Eubank Jr. He hits Conor Benn during their fight before fighting in April.
It is not real. Eubank may not be in a completely convincing form, but it has the size and experience on its side, which should mean that he provides KO, not Benn.
Benn jumps up two weight classes so that this fight is over two years after it was canceled in October 2022 due to the positive Benn test in terms of the prohibited substance. Since then, Benn was confined to two performances in three years, both decisions win against opponents from outside the first 15.
While Eubank suffered a sedate failure when the former world champion Liam Smith stopped him in four rounds in January 2023, he looked malicious in a rematch when he stopped Smith in round 10 in September this year. Smith, a former world champion in medium weight, entered the revenge at the back of four consecutive wins in space and was completely dominated by Eubank, who threw 448 strokes more than Smith, according to Compubox. In October, Eubank recorded victory in the seventh round over Kamil Szereme.
Benn will hope to repeat Smith’s feat in the first fight, but he did not beat anyone from the Eubank caliber. Benn is expected to start a furious start, and Eubank knows it, so Eubank would have to be very negligent to lose this claims of the fight by knockout. It is more likely that Eubank withstands an early storm and uses his better strength to stop Benn in the second half of the fight.
Real or not: Keith Thurman will win the title at Junior Middle Wweight
It is not real. Yes, Thurman looked like the “one -time” aged against Brock Jarvis, who ended a three -year break. But … it is Brock Jarvis is far from the elite younger medium weight. At the age of 36, Thurman is an elite boxer when his CV is littered with more fighters who retired (Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter, Robert Guerrero, Josessito Lopez) than actively competing. He can only have one loss in his career, but he is in a division full of teenage, hungry fighters drooling to add your name to their CV.
It is hard to see Thurman beating Vergil Ortiz Jr., Israil Madrimov or Bakhram Murtazaliev, taking into account his recent inaction. Even with his disadvantages, a united champion Sebastian Fund, who is five inches higher and has an 11-inch advantage, would be a physical nightmare for Thurman. I would like to see how he is dealing with someone like the former master Tim Tziu or teenage pretender Xander Zayas before skating him in the field of justified candidates for the title. Thurman still has a lot to prove that he will regain the glory of his escape in 2015-2017, when he reigned as the owner of welterweight titles, and time is simply not on his side.
Real or not: Richard Torrez Jr. is the best current American massive weight
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Richard Torrez Jr. he wins DQ after Joey’s mouthpiece fell out
Richard Torrez Jr. He claims that the victory after Joeya’s mouthpiece is excessive, forcing disqualification.
True. I can’t assist myself from a sense of pride when I see an American heavyweight warrior with the potential that appears in the ranks. That’s why I am excited about Torrez. For good reasons he is an Olympic silver medalist. There is Southpaw, such as the United Master Oleksandr Utyk, relatively tiny for the division at 6 feet-2 with excellent speed and foot speed. He does not have the same technical skills as Utyt, but Torrez is dishonest clever with his configurations and attacks, grabbing his opposition. It pushes the crazy pace of battle, swarms from the competition, remaining close enough to fire, does not burn.
Torreza strength seems to be an elite at this level of competition, but we will receive the final answer after improving its competition. However, his combined blow, general strength, dedication and willingness to win are at the highest level, because he has 11 wins in his 12 professional fights. Sure, he fights with several journeymen, but who is not at this stage of his career? It has been planned that so far he had faced the most hard test, his own Italian at 6 feet-6 Guido Vianello on April 5, in a fight, which should provide a barometer in which Torrez is popular. I think that at the moment he is the best massive weight in America. Another claimant for the best American heavyweight, Jared Anderson, who, I think, is the most qualified, seems to have a problem with the motivation to achieve the highest class heavyweight division.
Real or not: Jaron Ennis defeat Eimantas Stanionis to unite two welterweight titles
True. Ennis has this strange outflow and flow, in which one day looks like the future Hall of Famer, and then turns into a performance that makes us wonder if we were surprised in his potential. Ennis’s last trip against Karen Chukhadzhian in November certainly belongs to the second category when he expanded in the third defense of his IBF welterweight title. But I think that this inconsistency is more about the fight of Ennis to the level of his competition than to exaggerate, and Stanionis will find out why Ennis is the next five pounds per pound.
Hitter from Filadelphia Switch is too talented and still has a lot to prove. He knows that everyone is watching, and “shoes” tend to do when the spotlight lithe shines. There is a bit too much for Stanionis to deal with it for 12 rounds, and Ennis seems to encourage the dominant performance.
Inactivity can be a burden in this fight for stanionis. From 2020, Stanionis fought six times while Ennis competed in 10 fights. This is a great opportunity for Ennis, because it is more than able to ask the brilliant performance to unite the titles.
“Now Frank is the mandatory for Hrgovic. We plan on enforcing it. We’ve already had discussions about it. It’s happening,” Valencia told BoxingScene. “There’s not going to be step-asides for no amount of money. He believes he can be world champion and wants to be world champion, and [nothing] is going to interfere with that opportunity.
“Moses wasn’t strong enough to hurt Hrgovic in the first six or seven rounds. It’s a completely different story with Frank Sanchez. Frank has speed and big power.”
Itauma did hurt Hrgovic, dropping him in the second round and landing enough heavy shots to build a huge lead. His failure was not a lack of strength. He emptied his gas tank trying to force a stoppage, abandoned his jab as fatigue set in, and eventually became a stationary target.
The Cuban presents a different test. He is more comfortable boxing at a controlled pace, changing angles, and forcing slower heavyweights to reach for him. Hrgovic had trouble finding Itauma when the 21-year-old stayed disciplined early. That kind of movement is available to Sanchez without the pressure to satisfy a British crowd by turning every exchange into a firefight.
The danger is Sanchez’s low punch output. Against Efe Ajagba and Christian Hammer, he often waited to land single counter rights or lead left hooks. Hrgovic keeps throwing after taking clean punches and can steal rounds through activity alone. Sanchez cannot circle for three minutes, land two eye-catching counters, and assume the judges will ignore everything coming back.
Agit Kabayel also exposed the fastest route to breaking Sanchez down: sustained body punching. Hrgovic is not a committed body attacker. He prefers straight rights upstairs and rough right hands in close, which allows Sanchez to use his upper-body movement against predictable head shots. If Hrgovic cannot slow his legs by attacking downstairs, chasing him around the ring may turn into an ugly night.
Hrgovic still carries physical force that Richard Torrez Jr. could not match. At roughly 245 pounds, he can make clinches exhausting and punish Sanchez once his movement declines. The real test comes after the eighth round, when Sanchez must continue slipping heavy shots while producing enough offense to protect his lead.
Abel Sanchez helped Hrgovic settle down against Itauma by getting him to stop lunging and allowing the younger fighter to exhaust himself. Similar patience will be required against Frank Sanchez. Reckless pursuit gives the Cuban the exact counterpunching opportunities he wants.
Frank Sanchez may possess the tools to hurt Hrgovic in ways Itauma failed to sustain, but Valencia is overlooking the champion’s durability, output, and ability to keep applying physical pressure. One sharp combination will not be enough over 12 rounds.
Hrgovic’s trainer wants the champion’s cuts to heal before a January return. Valencia is willing to wait, provided Frank Sanchez remains next.
Massive paychecks kept rolling in without Joshua. Ruiz collected lucrative pay per view main event money against Arreola and Luis Ortiz, enabling him to stay rich while keeping his schedule quiet. Arreola dropped him early, Ortiz forced him into sporadic bursts, and Jarrell Miller battered him down the stretch in August 2024 to force a draw.
Hurting his right hand against Miller offers little excuse for the decline. Ruiz has failed to deliver a commanding performance in four consecutive outings following his career-best win over Joshua. Camp insiders promise better conditioning and renewed focus before every return, yet the actual ring work routinely mocks the promotional rhetoric.
Atlas still ranks Ruiz as the superior technician heading into Friday at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Hand speed, punch resistance, and seasoned ring generalship all tilt toward the veteran. Atlas simply refuses to endorse Ruiz until the California heavyweight proves his appetite survived a lifestyle sustained entirely by past paydays.
“There is a window of opportunity for Knyba to use the reach, use the height, use his legs a little bit, and box on the outside. I’m curious to see if I’m going to think that Knyba is a little bit of a live dog at three-to-one. I ain’t laying it so fast because of those ifs,” Atlas said on THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas.
Thursday at the weigh in, Ruiz registered 254.3 pounds, his lowest official reading since 2018. The figure represents a 20.1 pound drop from the 274.4 pounds he carried into the ring against Miller. Ruiz admitted ballooning near 300 pounds during his long sabbatical, giving merit to camp reports detailing a drop of more than 40 pounds throughout training.
Trimming down looks clean for promotional cameras, though bathroom scales cannot measure actual fighting endurance. Ruiz has to demonstrate that shedding blubber revived his footwork rather than simply leaving him depleted. At 36, stripping off substantial weight after a long layoff rarely restores the blistering hand combinations of 2019.
Knyba suffered a three-round stoppage against Agit Kabayel in January, yet Ruiz brings an entirely different stylistic approach. Kabayel walked down the giant Polish contender, battering his ribs without intermission and stripping away room to punch or clinch.
Relentless body punching vanished from Ruiz’s arsenal years ago. The former unified king now hunts overhand rights, fires sudden hooks up top, and retreats to admire his handiwork. Hunting exclusively around Knyba’s earmuffs will allow the taller man to tie up the Californian, reset center ring, and establish his preferred distance.
Atlas spots that tactical trap immediately. Ruiz possesses the timing to counter over Knyba’s pole jab, yet single counterpunches accomplish little without persistent ring cutting. Following Knyba around the perimeter gives the underdog freedom to pile up points behind his natural reach.
Newark also gives Knyba an advantage Kabayel denied him in Germany, starting with genuine regional backing. Knyba trains locally and owns three victories inside Prudential Center. Northern New Jersey features a massive Polish population ready to turn the arena into a boiler room against a West Coast invader. This booking functions as a home game, not a neutral showcase.
Linking up with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom demands an emphatic statement. Heavyweight hardware is scattering across multiple sanctioning bodies, opening avenues for marketable names. That promotional reality explains why Ruiz commands big television slots at his age.
Laboring to an ugly points win will do zero favors for Ruiz’s marketability. Sputtering through a low-tempo struggle against Knyba merely proves the transformation stopped at the bathroom scale.
Atlas asks the proper question because the malaise has lingered for seven years. Friday reveals how much fight actually exists once Knyba forces Ruiz to work.
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