There was one man, however, who has accused ‘Money’ of avoiding a fight with him. That man is Brazilian boxing legend and two-weight world champion Acelino Freitas, who is often regarded as one of the most underrated fighters of all time.
Freitas rose from a poverty-stricken childhood to become an accomplished fighter who captured world titles at lightweight and super featherweight, in a career that spanned 22-years.
“So many were running from me when I made 10 defenses [of lightweight and super featherweight titles].
I wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather but he did not want to fight me. It was easier for these guys to run from me. You can’t blame them.”
Freitas lost on just two occasions throughout his 43-fight career. He defeated the likes of Joel Casamayor and Barry Jones during his tenure, but did fall short in his 2004 contest with the late-great Diego Corrales, suffering a tenth-round stoppage victory at the hands of ‘Chico’.
‘Popo’ retired from unofficially professional boxing in 2017, but has since had four exhibition contests in his native Brazil.
It’s a battle of the unbeatens as David Benavidez puts his interim WBC light heavyweight title on the line against reigning WBA light heavyweight champion David Morrell in Las Vegas.
Boasting an impressive 29-0 record with 24 of his victories coming by way of knockout, Benavidez is quickly emerging as one of professional boxing’s top stars. In his last three outings, ‘El Bandera Roja’ has bagged big wins over Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade, and Oleksandr Gvozdyk — the latter of which earned him the interim WBC light heavyweight strap.
Now, he’ll put his gold up for grabs against Morrell, an 11-0 fighter with an 82% finish rate, and his sights set on adding another title to his growing collection.
Morrel starts with a jab to the body and throws a couple of right hands that are just out of range. Benavidez fires back with a left-right followed by a right hook. Benavidez jabs to the head and then the body. Morrell ducks in and lands a nice right. Both fighters are showing off their speed early, but it appears that Benavidez is the man with more power. Morrell unleashes four unanswered punches as he’s definitely the more active fighter with a minute to go in the round.
Benavidez lands to the body and Morrell comes right back with a jab that gets through his opponent’s guard. Benavidez sits down on his punches, ruthlessly attacking Morrell’s body in the center of the ring. Morrell is keeping the volume coming, but
Round 2
Benavidez lands a couple of lefts right out the gate and puts Morrell on his back foot. Morrell uses his jab to punch his way off the ropes. Benavidez responds with a power right. Morrell comes right back with a combination and a big shot to the body. Benavidez gives him his receipt, landing a nasty uppercut to the midsection. Both fighters are standing in the pocket and slinging heavy leather. Morrell throws an uppercut to the chin and then connects with a right hook.
With 10 seconds left in the round, they stand and trade. Morrell showboats a bit, dropping his hands and shrugging after eating a shot from Benavidez. Morrell heads back to his corner with a big smile on his face.
Benavidez throws a powerful right hand that backs Morrell into the corner. Morrell circles his way out and attempts to get Benavidez moving backward with a flurry of strikes near the ring ropes. Morrell throws a right uppercut that narrowly misses. Benavidez rips to the body but gets a warning for the shot being below the belt. Morrell throws a four-punch combo and Benavidez waves him on, asking for more.
Benavidez unleashes a combination of his own. Morrell again misses with the uppercut in close. Benavidez backs Morrell into a corner again, but Morrell punches his way out and avoids taking any more damage before the bell sounds.
Round 4
Morrell lands a right hand, but it’s Benavidez who’s controlling the action early, working Morrell into the corner and lighting him up with blows to the head and body. Morrell tries to fight his way out, but not before eating a couple of stiff shots in the process. Benavidez again puts Morrell against the ropes and Benavidez lands a big uppercut. Morrell uses a couple of lefts to himself out of danger.
Morrell is fighting entirely on the back foot now as Benavidez has taken complete control of the ring. Benavidez clips Benavidez with a vicious straight right hand near the corner, but that seems to spark something in his opponent as Morrell responds with a barrage of strikes in the corner and appears to have Benavidez on the ropes. Benavidez comes right back with a combination right before the bell.
Round 5
Benavidez immediately backs Morrell up but neither fighter lands anything substantial through the first minute of the round. Benavidez is doing a good job of slipping Morrell’s shots. Benavidez doubles on the jab as Morrell moves forward and connects with a couple of solid shots to the body of Benavidez. As Morrell circles away from the ropes, Benavidez pops him with a left, landing his most significant strike in an otherwise lackluster round from Benavidez.
Round 6
Morrell is dancing around the ring and Benavidez is in hot pursuit. Benavidez traps Morrell in the corner long enough to land a combination. Morrell circles away, but Benavidez stays right on him and continues to pepper Morrell with shots against the ring ropes. Benavidez continues to punish the body and throws a right followed by a booming left uppercut that has Morrell backing up. Benavidez starts to unload which prompts Morrell to start fighting back.
Morrell gets Benavidez backed to the ropes and throws a few potshots before Benavidez fights his way out. Benavidez misses with a left hook to the body. Benavidez lands a lead right hand to the body and unloads a couple of uppercuts as the round comes to a close.
Round 7
Benavidez lands a jab to the body and Morrell gives him one right back. Benavidez retakes the center of the ring and rips to the body. Morrell responds with a three-punch combo, but none of them get through Benavidez’s guard. Morrell lands and uppercut. Benavidez delivers an uppercut of his own as the fighters stand in the phone booth and trade. Morrell eats a stiff body shot and takes a deep breath.
Benavidez lands a left and Morrell comes back with a combination. Benavidez lands a right to the body and Morrell gives him his receipt. They continue to go blow-for-blow with Benavidez and Morrell trading rights. Benavidez goes back to working the body as the 10-second clacker sounds. Benavidez lands one more short shot just before the bell.
Round 8
Benavidez continues to march forward. Morrell jabs to try and keep Benavidez at bay as Benavidez jabs to the body. Benavidez lands a glancing left. Morrell lands a counter left that gets a reaction from the crowd. After spending much of the seventh round throwing one punch at a time, Morrell is starting to put together combinations, catching Benavidez with a left to the chin. Benavidez continues to wear on his, landing a right hook, but Morrell comes right back with a combination.
Benavidez backs Morrell to the ropes and unloads some power shots. Morrell lands a right before circling away from and riding out the last few seconds in the round.
Round 9
They meet in the center of the ring. Morrell is throwing shots, but Benavidez’s jab is keeping Morrell just out of range of landing. Benavidez starts to open up, landing shots to the body and uppercuts to the face. Morrell covers up and patiently waits before firing back with a three-punch combination. Benavidez connects with a right hook. Morrell fires right back, going to the body of Benavidez.
Morrell is once again throwing one punch and a time and backing up. Benavidez pursues and rips to the body, but eats a counter right at the end of the round.
Round 10
Through nine rounds, Morrell has thrown more strikes but hasn’t landed nearly as many as Benavidez. Morrell is doing his best to fend off Benavidez with single strikes, but Benavidez is undeterred and lands a stiff uppercut. Morrell throws a right and eats a counter over the top. Benavidez rips to the body as Morrell is covering up and missing with every swing he takes. Benavidez lands a counter right hand and starts to showboat with a little shuffle against the ropes. That gets the crowd riled up as we head into the penultimate round.
Round 11
Benavidez opens with a couple of right hands down the middle before going back to his jab. Perhaps knowing he needs a knockout to win, Morrell starts to move forward and connects with a combination against the ropes. Benavidez lands a left hook to the body. Benavidez follows that up with a lead right, but it’s Morrell who is sitting down on his punches, throwing with lethal intent against the ropes.
Benavidez encourages Morrell to keep throwing as we hit the two-minute mark of the round. Morrell eats a jab before connecting with a counter left that puts Benavidez on the mat for just the second time in his career. Benavidez answers the count and immediately comes out with a vengeance, looking to even the score. As the fighters continue to throw, the bell sounds signaling the end of the round. Benavidez begins to back away, but Morrell throws one more shot that connects.
The referee brings a pause to the bout and immediately deducts a point from Morrell for the late shot, essentially negating the knockdown he scored moments before.
Round 12
With time running out, Morrell comes out fighting fast and furious. Morrell is throwing with intent, but Benavidez lands with a stiff left. Morrell comes with a couple of right hooks followed by a left. Benavidez connects with a left to the body and then an uppercut. Morrell throws a three-punch combo but eats a left hook from Benavidez. With a minute left in the fight, Morrell appears to be nearly out of gas as Benavidez keeps the pressure coming. Morrell throws a looping left that’s just out of range.
As we hit the last 10 seconds of the fight, both fighters decide to show off for the crowd. Morrell throws one more desperation left, but he’s too far out of range and the fight ends with Benavidez celebrating what should be his 30th career win.
Official Result: David Benavidez def. David Morrell via unanimous decision (115-111, 115-111, 118-108)
Just a few months following his controversial showdown with Mike Tyson, Jake Paul is now being targeted by another former world heavyweight champion.
The 28-year-old YouTube star turned professional fighter defeated ‘Iron’ Mike in an 8-round heavyweight contest at the AT&T Stadium in Texas last November, picking up the eleventh win of his storied boxing career.
Paul received heavy criticism for going ahead with a fight against the once formidable heavyweight legend, who hadn’t fought as a professional since losing to Kevin McBride back in June 2005. ‘The Problem Child’ was reluctant to throw certain shots during the 8-rounds he shared with Tyson, which fuelled rumours that the fight itself was ‘scripted’.
Sharing a message he has sent to Paul on Instagram, ‘The Cannon’ made it clear that he wants to face the 28-year-old next, claiming ‘Iron’ Mike was only in it for the ‘money’.
“You wanna run it, or just run? Mike [Tyson] wanted the money I just want [blood]. Let’s go champ!”
Briggs – who was the WBO Heavyweight Champion from 2006-2007 has had his sights set on returning to the sport for a few years, calling out a number of both active and inactive heavyweight fighters including former long-reigning unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
The 53-year-old, hailing from the same area in Brooklyn as Tyson, was last in the ring 9-years ago when he knocked out Emilio Zarate during the 1st-round of their contest at the O2 Arena in London. It was his 53rd stoppage victory.
‘AJ’ suffered a shock fifth round knockout defeat against newly crowned IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium last September, but has confirmed he will be making a return to the sport this year.
The man standing opposite Joshua in his next contest could have just been revealed though, after a heavyweight powerhouse claimed he has had his next fight confirmed by Turki Alalshikh.
Martin Bakole has picked up 21 wins in 22 professional contests, securing 16 knockout victories in the process and is on a run of three stoppages all inside six rounds. His last outing came in August when he blasted out highly rated American prospect Jared Anderson inside five rounds.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Bakole – who has picked up the tag of the most avoided man in the division – revealed he has been advised by Alalshikh that his next fight will come against two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in Africa.
“I love that fight, and I would like to say thank you to [His] Excellency because he’s behind this. He said ‘Martin we have a big fight in America, finish with [Efe] Ajagba and then Anthony Joshua is next in Africa.’
“Even I heard Anthony Joshua said he needs to fight in Africa, so all he need was a promoter or someone to promote that fight. Between me and him in Africa that will be a good fight.”
Bakole has also secured impressive wins against Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka in 2022 and Carlos Takam in 2023. His maiden career defeat came at the hands of Michael Hunter, who stopped him in the final round of their fight back in October 2018.
Tyson Fury retired from the sport of boxing at age 36 this year following back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk.
The big man from Morecambe is a two-time world heavyweight champion with statement wins over Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder. He fell short for the first time in his professional career in May of 2024, battling Usyk for the undisputed title.
In the rematch, the Ukrainian put three of the four major belts on the line after vacating the IBF. He retained them with a unanimous decision, one which Fury branded a ‘robbery.’
“Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet. I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing, it has been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it and I’m going to end with this; Dick Turpin wore a mask.”
Speaking to TalkSPORT, Usyk’s longtime promoter Alex Krassyuk joked that it was the ‘seventh’ time the Brit had announced his retirement.
“I thought it was the seventh time. That was my personal calculation.”
Krassyuk went on to praise Fury and said that he believes fans will see him step through the ropes once more.
“It’s 50/50. He did sound serious, but I can’t be sure he’s out of the ring forever. That’s my personal opinion, my hunch, my feeling. I still can see him fighting. It can be anything, like money, something interesting.
“He’s a champion. He’s strong. He’s well loved and respected in the world of boxing. Why should he quit? I think after six, seven months, he will have a rest and he will probably change his mind.”
Should Fury heavyweight return, he is widely expected to face Anthony Joshua after years of the fight marinating. As for Usyk, he has a keen eye on Daniel Dubois’ IBF title defence against Joseph Parker on February 22, with a match-up against the winner giving him a chance to become undisputed yet again.
Anthony Joshua is heading towards the end of what has been a hugely successful boxing career.
The Brit reinvigorated the heavyweight division and brought huge numbers of fans to the sport over the last 13 years since he won his gold medal at the Olympics in 2012.
After turning professional, power puncher ‘AJ’ quickly rose up through the ranks to become a world champion and then a unified belt holder. As well as good wins over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte and Aleksandr Povetkin, there were setback losses on the way to Andy Ruiz and then back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk that left him belt-less.
His attempt to regain world honours fell short back in September when he lost to Daniel Dubois by 5th round knockout. In the aftermath, many thought the one and only fight left to make was with former champion and fellow British boxing star Tyson Fury, who also twice lost to Usyk.
Speaking to talkSPORT Boxing, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that Joshua has moved on from the idea of fighting Fury for now and named the fight he wants.
“Daniel Dubois rematch.”
He then corrected himself and pointed out Joshua was more interested in becoming a three-time world champion than getting his revenge.
“Not even the Dubois rematch. The world heavyweight championship. I think Parker is going to be Dubois so maybe we fight Parker.”
All eyes then turn to February 22 when Dubois puts his IBF title on the line for a second time against former champ Parker. Though Hearn believes the New Zealander will upset the odds, former Parker opponent Derek Chisora backs Dubois.
Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk remains on the hunt for his next opponent after conquering his division.
The 38-year-old from Ukraine retained his WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles in December with a second consecutive points decision victory over Tyson Fury, cementing himself as arguably the greatest heavyweight of his generation.
Usyk appears to have expressed his desire to continue his boxing career instead of walking away from the sport and has stated his desire to move back down to cruiserweight at some point.
Undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev declared he would be interested in moving up to face the Ukrainian at 200lbs, in what would be a rematch of their 2007 amateur contest.
“I repeat, from a pure sporting perspective I would be interested in this fight, of course, because we boxed in the Olympics and the World Championships as amateurs.
It would be interesting to try as professionals, not for money, although money would be nice, but my interest in this fight would be purely sporting, much more than monetary. Much more.”
However, the Russian superstar now looks to have made a U-turn on his initial decision. Speaking to FightHub TV, Beterbiev was asked to share his thoughts on a potential rematch with Usyk, claiming the Ukrainian is actually ‘too strong’ for him.
“No, he’s too strong for me you know. He’s like heavyweight you know it’s too strong even if he came back down. He’s too strong [even at cruiserweight], too good.”
The 40-year-old is gearing up to face light heavyweight rival Dmitry Bivol for the second time in their highly anticipated undisputed championship rematch, which takes place on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
PFL chairman Donn Davis has provided updates on what to expect from Francis Ngannou this year, and a potential ‘hybrid rules’ showdown with Deontay Wilder could be on the cards.
After leaving the UFC back in 2023, Ngannou decided to test his luck in the world of boxing. ‘The Predator’ first went head-to-head with Tyson Fury. Despite dropping the Brit, the former UFC heavyweight champion would go on to lose via split decision. The 38-year-old returned to the squared-circle last year against Anthony Joshua but was brutally knocked out by ‘AJ’ in the second round of their dust-up in Saudi Arabia.
Later that year, Ngannou returned to the Octagon to take on Renan Ferreira and needed just a few minutes to topple the Brazilian giant. The Cameroonian is targeting another fight in boxing this year, but could face Wilder under mixed-rules. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ is widely regarded as one of the hardest-hitting punchers in the history of the sport, but his best days are behind him following back-to-back defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
That said, Davis has revealed a fight between the two heavyweight stars could take place with a mixed ruleset – combining both MMA and boxing in what could be a jaw-dropping crossover. He told Sky Sports: “He’s going to fight twice this year – once in MMA, once in boxing. What order?
“I’m not sure. What opponents? We’re working on options. I think Deontay Wilder is one that we’ve talked about, that he has talked about. Some sort of mixed rules or alternating rounds or just taking one aspect away from MMA rules. I think Deontay Wilder is particularly interesting but you have to get the fans to understand it and it be a legitimate sport.
“We view it as upside but there is risk. There is no free lunch in the world whatever you do. Could he get hurt? Could he diminish his reputation? Could it delay certain schedules? Could it hurt other opponents? Of course, there is no free lunch. He’s now the most beloved fighter because of the challenges and the risks he’s taken so we view the upside as greater than the downside.”
Davis was also quick to sing Ngannou’s praises following a successful return to the cage against Ferreira. “I’m not even sure Francis knew he was still the baddest man on the planet,” he said. “If we could all see into his soul, I’m not so sure walking into that cage that he knew. He showed he was.
“To do it after defying UFC, after blowing up the boxing world [with his split decision loss to Fury] and going through a personal tragedy [the death of his young son]. Then to show [that] in under one round against [Ferreira], who’s 6’8″ and a black belt… wow, he’s the baddest man on the planet, no question.”
While Ngannou’s next fight is yet to be determined, Wilder is reportedly planning a major return to boxing. Boxing journalist Manouk Akopyan recently revealed that he’s looking at April for his next fight against an opponent who will be named in the near future.
Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez is preparing for a big year in the sport of boxing, with his usual May and September dates now taking shape.
The 34-year-old is currently unified super-middleweight world champion and, despite previously dismissing the fight, has recently been in talks with fellow four-division titlist Terence Crawford for a fight this September. The match-up will see Crawford jump up two weight classes from his last outing.
Canelo intends to keep his usual fight date around Cinco De Mayo in May before facing ‘Bud’ on the weekend of Mexican Independence Day later in the year.
Speaking to Boxing Azteca, his longtime trainer and manager Eddy Reynoso named William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) and Christian Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs) as the two top options for May.
“Well, there are several, there is William Scull, there is the other classified by the WBO, Mbilli, I think he lives in Canada. They are the ones that are more or less there right now, but there is nothing concrete. You can also hear about Crawford for September, but we still don’t really have anything sure until about 15 days or so.”
Cameroonian-French Mbilli is currently ranked number one with the WBC and WBA and two with the WBO. He presents a more dangerous option than the tricky Scull with 23 knockouts from 28 wins.
As for Crawford, he recently confirmed that he will not be taking a fight before September when he is expected to go in with the elite Mexican.
Roy Jones Jr has spoken about whether or not he thinks Anthony Joshua can reclaim a world title before the end of his career.
Joshua is one of the most decorated heavyweights of his generation. He is a former Olympic gold medalist who started racking up knockout wins as soon as he turned over. By 2015 he was British champion after knocking out Dillian Whyte, and then he stopped Charles Martin to pick up his first world title.
He added further belts with a victory over Wladimir Klitschko. A second unification with Joseph Parker saw him go the distance for the first time in his career, but the prize was to add the third of the four major world titles to his collection.
Although he rebuilt with more impressive KO wins, he lost in his attempt to become a three-time world champion when he was stopped inside five rounds by IBF ruler Daniel Dubois back in September.
Speaking to Covers, former multi-weight world champion Jones Jr suggested things would have been different had he coached ‘AJ.’
“Of course things would have been different if I had the chance to work with (Joshua), but you can’t blame people for their opinion and the way they do things. I feel bad the way they thought about me working with him, I know what I could have helped him out with and how much I could have changed him but I can’t change what doesn’t want to be changed.”
Asked about his future, Jones Jr still backed the Brit to get back to the top.
“It’s still possible he becomes a world champion, he still has the heart, he’s still got the athletic ability, so I think he could.”
Right now Joshua has no fight scheduled but many hope Tyson Fury will come out of retirement and the pair will have a legacy-defining showdown to settle their long feud once and for all.
As for becoming champion again, the only current options to do that are Dubois and Usyk, neither of which ‘AJ’ would step through the ropes as a favourite.
