I just realized theres not a *single* american in the heavyweight top 10. That is wild. Has to be extremely rare for that to be the case... and its actually quite extraordinary that a country as big as the US doesnt have a single fighter in the top 10. Not one. This would have been somewhat hard to imagine a couple decades ago, imo.
Crazy how badly Ruiz fell off. Has to be up there with one of the most squandered careers of all time. Not necessarily in terms of achievements but certainly in terms of money made. Since losing to AJ in the rematch over 5 years ago, and coming back transforming into a more 'in shape' Ruiz... hes had a whopping... 3 fights. 3 fights in 5 years, hasnt fought in 2025, nothing scheduled as far as I know..... For someone that would at least be a semi decent contender, thats wild.
Truly a one hit wonder. Other than his draw with Big Baby and victory in AJ I, he really has nothing but shot to smithereens has-beens and never-weres. (Ortiz, Arreola, Liakhovich, Dimitrenko, Austin and...er, what's a notable next best win after those? It's a struggle to find a name anybody would've heard of...)
Y'know I dunno why this occurred to me today, but I got to thinking of when I first got into the sport and perused really old fights on Boxrec. You can get into a ton of interesting rabbit holes doing that. I think the silliest one I ever got into though lead me to this fight. https://boxrec.com/en/event/617777/1583919 "Kid T Bone vs. Kid Pork Chops" No idea how I ended up there at this point, but man. The images those names conjure up are pretty hilarious. I like to imagine it was two Danny DeVito looking dudes wearing mascot outfits for their respective cutlet of meat Even funnier, apparently this wasn't the only dude to go by the name Kid Pork Chop. There was another dude who went by it, as one word, whose only fight was a draw in 1919, 15 years before the clash of the cutlets. https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/617837 Again, no idea how I landed on that page, but I'm sure glad I did. I love this sport so much
The new era of heavyweight boxing is starting to take shape, and I suppose I am becoming interested in how this new era plays out. ...... Have the fresh blood leading the charge to try and make this their era... 20-0 Wardley 26-0 Agit 13-0 Moses 14-0 Torres Have the established names, and still formidable contenders from the previous era AJ Parker DD Have dark horse gatekeepers and contenders that offer good measuring guages for the new era Zhang Bakole Efe Filip Not a great division, but it really could be a lot worse. As always, the division will live or die based on what fights actually get made. Hopefully Turki helps making this a memorable era.
The HW divisions problem isn't that it stinks its that that the line ain't moving and this talent isn't getting their shot. So much of this divisions depth should have gotten title shots years ago and are in their late primes.
That would be insane. The loss to Bivol killed any ambition Canelo had left in him, I would be surprised if the loss to Crawford rejuvenated some of those ambitions. The man was eyeing a title at Cruiserweight at one point.
Just saw an interview with Malignaggi and its the first time Ive heard the brain damage being there. Very slightly showing up in his speech. Mild, but there. Sad to see in someone that was so sharp and articulate, and who would still be that way had he just quit when he should have. Wonder if it will get worse from here. I do wonder, when the brain is effected enough to change someones speech, what other behaviors and actions are also being mildly effected. I know that brain damage results in negative behavioral changes, would just be interesting to hear directly from the fighters and their families how they have noticed their underlying behavior change and what other actions beside speech do they notice a difference in.