One of the absolute greatest match-ups that can be made in all of professional boxing is just around the corner. On December 9, undefeated WBA super bantamweight world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs) will move up two full weight classes to challenge WBO super featherweight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) at the Madison Square Garden theater.
Muhammad Ali (56-5, 37 KOs) is widely viewed as the greatest heavyweight of all time. During his long and illustrious career, Ali has the unique distinction of being the only three time lineal heavyweight champion in the rich history of professional boxing.
Saturday night on HBO former unified light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev (31-2-1, 27 KOs) defeated Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (19-2, 16 KOs) for the vacant WBO title that Kovalev once possessed. Kovalev dropped Shabranskyy twice in the opening round, and again in round two. He bravely rose to his feet once again following the third knockdown, but by then the damage had been done. Cool as an assassin, Kovalev continued breaking Shabranskyy down until referee Harvey Dock mercifully called a halt to the contest.
In the rich history of professional boxing, there have been many champions, especially in the last 30 to 40 years when things evolved to the point where we now have 4 major sanctioning bodies. We don’t have many undisputed champions in boxing these days, and in the rare instance that one emerges, boxing politics and the corrupt nature of sanctioning bodies usually make for short-lived undisputed reigns.
The heavyweight division has started to become interesting again. And there are three heavyweights in particular that have a lot of fans talking. We have unified IBF/WBA world champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs). Then we have WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs). And off the radar, but perhaps back in the picture, we have the man who ended Wladimir Klitschko’s long streak of dominance, Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs).
In somewhat of an unexpected surprise, unified light heavyweight champion of the world, Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) retired from professional boxing. Ward was 33 years old, and was widely viewed as the best pound for pound boxer in the world. He is coming off of an impressive stoppage victory against Sergey Kovalev last June.
The controversial draw between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin in last Saturday’s middleweight championship showdown continues to resonate throughout the boxing world. Controversial high profile fights always get extended attention – but in this instance, two of boxing’s biggest stars put on a good show, despite the unpopular verdict. This fight has huge rematch written all over it. It’s inevitable. It will happen. It’s just a matter of when.
The highly anticipated showdown between undefeated unified WBA/WBC/IBF middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin and lineal middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez took place this past Saturday in Las Vegas. While the fight may not have lived up to its lofty expectations, it wound up being a very good competitively fought encounter. But despite that, the fight still wound up disappointing a large portion of fans, when it was controversially ruled a draw.
The highly anticipated rematch between undefeated unified WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight world champion Andre Ward and former champion Sergey Kovalev did not fail to live up to expectations. The two pound for pound elites battled a second time for pound for pound supremacy in a back and forth fight which again brought out the best of both fighters. In their first bout, Ward was awarded a controversial unanimous decision where most observers believed Kovalev had done enough to win. This time, Andre Ward left no doubt as to who the better fighter was, and he won via eighth round stoppage in another terrific fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fIHFLem59s
In the third and latest historical divisional rankings experiment, we turn our eyes to the super middleweight division. Who were the top 20 super middleweights of all time? It is an intriguing topic that has undoubtedly been the cause of its fair share of heated discussions.