CHORDALE Booker has proven to be one of boxing’s toughest competitors. The Stamford, Connecticut, pro nicknamed “The Gift,” has won six straight bouts, compiling a respectable record of (23-1, 11 KOs). The 33-year-old southpaw, ranked nine with the WBO at super-welterweight, has arguably the slickest hands in the division, bulldozing past each respectable contender with…
JAI OPETAIA is prepared to fight twice in two months if it means securing a deal to face Chris Billam-Smith. The two cruiserweight world champions are considered the best in the weight class and Opetaia is eager to find out who is the top dog. Both men have gone back and forth in recent weeks…
MARC RAMSAY has ranked super-middleweight contender Christian Mbilli alongside light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev as one the best fighters he has trained to date. Ramsay’s resume includes former world champions Jean Pascal, David Lemieux and Eleider Alvarez, while also currently guiding Mbilli and Beterbiev out of his Montreal gym. “To be honest with you, he always…
By Daniele D’Alessio CANELO Alvarez and Gervonta Davis are two of the biggest pound-for-pound superstars, yet neither have worked with Turki Alalshikh. Just over two months remain until the one-year anniversary of Riyadh Season in boxing. Ever since Tyson Fury fought Francis Ngannou in the ‘Battle of the Baddest’ on October 28, 2023, Saudi’s grip…
By Oscar Pick THE cruiserweight division is wide open, awaiting its next bona fide star to fill the void left by Oleksandr Usyk. Since the Ukrainian stepped up to further cement his greatness in the land of the giants, four formidable champions have seized the jewellery that fragmented following his undisputed reign. And yet, while…
Before Imane Khelif confounded the critics and won gold, Steve Bunce discussed the ongoing turmoil. THE guilty and the innocent in all sports deserve a fair hearing. Imane Khelif has not had a fair hearing at the boxing in Paris. The Algerian boxer in the under-66 kilo class has been globally condemned and is at…
ANGELO Leo is the new IBF featherweight champion after dethroning Luis Alberto Lopez with a crunching 10th-round knockout. Mexican Lopez once again travelled into an opponent’s backyard, but on this occasion, he was snared into an unexpected trap and blasted away by a left hook. At the time of the stoppage, the judges all recorded…
IT might not have been the one-sided display he’s used to, but Vergil Ortiz gritted out a title win at the Mandalay Bay last night, defeating Serhii Bohachuk by majority verdict. The Ukrainian soaked up the kind of shots that have stopped lesser men in their tracks and did everything he could to retain his…
LIN Yu-ting won a featherweight gold medal, defeating Poland’s Julia Szeremeta by unanimous decision. It was a real clash of styles. Szeremeta’s hands down, confident swagger against Lin’s taller, upright, rangy stance. Lin was the significantly more experienced woman. Similar to Imane Khelif, who won gold last night, Lin Yu-ting has had to contend with…
By Steve Bunce I SAT with two Olympic dreamers 10 days before the first bell in Paris. It was Callum Smith and Tasha Jonas, and the venue was an outdoor bar in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle. They had the same dreams at the same time, and they had been dreaming of boxing at the Olympics since…
