Vasiliy Lomachenko is one of Ukraine’s greatest boxers ever. But some of his countrymen see him as less than a patriot during their time of crisis.
In this Sunday Long Read original, Sean Nam explores Lomachenko’s relationship with his country and with Russia.
1. Naoya Inoue
2. Terence Crawford
3. Oleksandr Usyk
4. Dmitry Bivol
5. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
6. Artur Beterbiev
7. Gervonta Davis
8. Kenshiro Teraji
9. Junto Nakatani
10. Shakur Stevenson
Ryan Garcia is the megastar that boxing deserves: as American as apple pie, and automatic weapons for sale at Walmart.
The freakshow fights keep on coming: Adrien Broner-Blair “The Flair” Cobbs topping a Don King card, Rampage Jackson-Shannon Briggs in Qatar and Jake Paul-Mike Tyson on Netflix.
Briggs is 52 and hasn’t fought since 2016, but I remain surprised, failed drug test aside, that his social media antics in that phase of his career never landed him a big fight.
ICYMI, former 2 division titlist and heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek, inactive since a 2018 loss to Jarrell Miller, returned in February to stop a MMA fighter in 3 rounds of a boxing contest staged inside a cage.
What a time to be alive.
The WBA are bringing regular titles back, baby.
David Morrell moves to 175lbs. to pick up a second regular belt so that Gilberto Mendoza can double dip on Riyadh $eason once Beterbiev-Bivol is over.
The wait for Manny Charr’s first defence of the WBA regular heavyweight title he won in 2017 continues.
Only in boxing would you see someone conducting an interview to promote a fight they know is already called off:
We are closer than ever to the return of pro boxing to Kerry:
I must end on a somber note by mentioning the tragic death in February of bantamweight Kazuki Anaguchi.
I highlighted his December fight with Seiya Tsutsumi as one of the best of 2023 in a recent post:
January 14th’s Random Boxing Rants
Rest in peace, warrior.
1. Terence Crawford
2. Naoya Inoue
3. Oleksandr Usyk
4. Dmitry Bivol
5. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
6. Artur Beterbiev
7. Gervonta Davis
8. Kenshiro Teraji
9. Junto Nakatani
10. Shakur Stevenson
1. Claressa Shields
2. Katie Taylor
3. Chantelle Cameron
4. Seniesa Estrada
5. Amanda Serrano
6. Alycia Baumgardner
7. Yokasta Valle
8. Sandy Ryan
9. Savannah Marshall
10. Natasha Jonas
1. Claressa Shields
2. Katie Taylor
3. Chantelle Cameron
4. Amanda Serrano
5. Alycia Baumgardner
6. Seniesa Estrada
7. Yokasta Valle
8. Sandy Ryan
9. Savannah Marshall
10. Natasha Jonas
February 2nd – Legally deaf “Quiet Storm” Julian Smith upset Cuban prospect Orestes Velazquez after a dramatic nine rounds at jr. welterweight.
Ref Massimo Montanini incorrectly ruled a third round knockdown scored by Smith as a slip and also missed a knockdown from an uppercut during a wild round eight.
I hesitate to be too critical of Montanini in a hard-to-officiate fight. He correctly deducted a point in the eighth for excessive holding, and scored a knockdown against Velazquez in an untidy exchange as both men landed and fell to the floor.
The conclusion to the fight was chaotic with Velazquez bring dropped twice more in the ninth. Then with ten seconds left, the bell sounded early and Velazquez went down again on a shot that landed a fraction of a second after the early bell. This knockdown wasn’t counted, but the fight was stopped anyway in the corner before the final round began.
February 7th – Another Tanzania Professional Boxing Regulatory Commission (that’s a mouthful) gem courtesy of Tim Boxeo:
https://x.com/TimBoxeo/status/1755348280731476254?s=20
If you’re going to quit after 30 seconds of your debut when hardly a punch has been thrown, then what’s the point?
February 8th – Steve Weisfeld continued his trend of awful scorecards in the Teofimo Lopez-Jamaine Ortiz fight, helping Lopez to his latest fortunate win with a laughable 117-111 tally.
On the undercard, Weisfeld also turned in an inaccurate 76-75 card for the Rene Tellez Giron-George Acosta bout.
As Naz might say, I think he should finish.
February 10th – Ex-prospect Qais Ashfaq was stopped in five rounds by Masood Abdulah.
Kieran McCann missed a knockdown on a fatigued Ashfaq towards the end of round four.
February 15th – Joseph Diaz- Jesus Antonio Perez Campos could have gone either way.
Perez Campos came away with the split decision, but Lou Moret’s 99-90 card was nonsensical.
On the undercard, Tiffany Clinton somehow scored Jorge Chavez-Diuhl Olguin 60-54, despite Chavez being floored in the first round.
February 16th – Sergio Chirino Sanchez stopped Dennis Contreras in three rounds at super featherweight.
Emigdio Nicolas administered a very long count to Contreras in round one. There was also no hint of a point deduction or hard warning as the referee leisurely gave Contreras extra time to put back in the mouthpiece that he had blatantly spat out in front of him.
In New York, there was a farcical refereeing display from Shada Murdaugh during the Guido Vianello-Moses Johnson heavyweight bout.
Firstly, the ref incorrectly ruled the first knockdown from two clean right hands as a rabbit punch. The fight should have been over there and then. Instead, it continued for a whopping four further knockdowns until Johnson was finally left crumpled on the canvas at round’s end.
February 24th – Shakhram Giyasov laboured to a technical decision win over Pablo Cesar Cano in a fairly competitive fight.
Judges Dave De Jonge, Tina Griffith and Michael Tate (all 99-109) gave the veteran Cano zero credit.
February 28th – In Florida, Alvaro Rodriguez’s 99-91 card for Najee Lopez in his win over Marcos Escudero did not accurately reflect a fight that could have been scored either way.
In Japan, Kosei Tanaka continued to make a Hall of Fame case by winning a fourth division world title versus Christian Bacasegua.
In round eight, Tanaka pushed Bacasegua into the ropes after hurting him with a body shot. This was incorrectly ruled a knockdown by Bence Kovacs.
1. Terence Crawford
2. Naoya Inoue
3. Oleksandr Usyk
4. Dmitry Bivol
5. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
6. Artur Beterbiev
7. Devin Haney
8. Gervonta Davis
9. Kenshiro Teraji
10. Junto Nakatani
pound 4 pound ireland 