Roy Jones Jr. doesn't see a need for boxing to follow the UFC 's model. The UFC's parent company, TKO Group, has entered the world of pugilism with Zuffa boxing. UFC head honcho Dana White and Zuffa are currently pushing for revisions to the Muhammad Ali Act, enacted in 2000 to protect fighters from exploitation. White aims to create a Unified Boxing Organization that would bring boxing under a central banner, akin to the UFC for MMA.
Last Saturday night in Manchester, Zak Chelli, a 28-year-old supply teacher from Fulham, produced one of the sporting upsets of the year when he knocked out Cuba's esteemed David Morrell in a stoppage as shocking as it was compelling. Chelli had been offered the fight two weeks earlier and despite the limited preparation he proved himself a formidable late replacement. Morrell was ahead on the scorecards, but he was hurt badly in the ninth round.
“There's a lot of great fighters from this gym, and all around Oakland,” McElroy Jr. tells me. At 19 years old, he's fully aware of the legacy of this soil. Retired Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward and current World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Devin Haney both started in the Town. Notable fighters like Bilal Mahasin, Amari Jones and Anthony Garnica learned the ropes here, as did Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire and Juaquin “Killer” Gallardo, a 1996 U.S. Olympic team alternate.
Camille becomes morbidly obsessed with the purely psychosomatic pain in his arm that prevents him from boxing properly, to the rage of his coach and teammates.
When one system controls access, choice becomes theoretical, not real, professional boxer Nico Ali Walsh told lawmakers, framing the stakes of a debate that could dramatically reshape boxing's economic model.
Miller, who is 37, panics. He did this himself. The veteran heavyweight boxer had experimented the night before with some hair dye and filler, hoping to fill in a few thin spots for his fight on Saturday. But instead of replacing some of the divots, he accidentally scorched most of the fairway.
Alycia Baumgardner retained her WBO, IBF and WBA junior lightweight titles with a commanding 10-round unanimous decision over South Korea's Bo Mi Re Shin, dominating the fight for five rounds before winning by scores of 98-92, 98-92 and 99-91.
"I wanted to try boxing, but my father said no. He said, 'I don't want you to do boxing because it's very hard. Punches in the face, punches in the head.' He told me many times, 'Son, you don't need to do this.' I said, 'Dad, I love boxing.'"
Lin Yu-ting has won a bronze medal at the Asian Boxing Elite Championships in her first competition since a gender-eligibility row overshadowed her Olympic gold medal-winning performance at the 2024 Paris Games.
Lauren Price's absence from the ring for nearly 13 months reflects the complex politics of boxing, where promoter decisions and financial negotiations often dictate fight opportunities.
'Our new rules, 'Stand and Bang,' between Materla and Jungwirth, that would be something special. Now it's basically gonna be boxing with small gloves, with elbows also, clinch on the fence, but no takedowns, no kicks. And I believe this will be something special.'
World Boxing took over as the sport's governing body last year, and it implemented a sex eligibility policy last August requiring all fighters to take a one-time genetic test designed to identify the presence of a Y chromosome.
The wood-and-concrete contemporary, completed this year, features a lounge with a wet bar, mirrors with built-in televisions and a three-sided fireplace that divides the main floor. Within the 4,788 square feet of open space is a modern kitchen with a large center island, a formal living room, dining room and a master suite with an en suite yoga studio for six bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
A decade and a half ago during their prime, they should have fought two or three times, producing a series or trilogy for the history books; two of the greatest to ever step into the ring meeting to crown the best fighter of their generation. The offensive relentlessness of Pacquiao against the defensive genius of Mayweather. It could have been Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier-type stuff.
On Sunday, a passenger might glance at the driver in the rear view mirror and ask the usual: "Good weekend, mate? Get up to much?" For 37-year-old Bilal Fawaz, the answer could be a little different than the usual traffic complaints or remarks about the drizzle. "I became a British champion. And then I drove this Uber," he plans to say, using the same casual tone he might use to discuss a bottleneck on the North Circular.
