ZEPEDA OUTWORKS ROACH FOR WBC LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE

Posted on August 2, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Steven Cummings
DestructionAndDestroy@aol.com

William Zepeda won the vacant WBC lightweight title on Saturday night with a dazzling effort against Lamont Roach. in Las Vegas, NV. Zepeda (34-1, 27 KOs) brought his well-known high work rate and put on possibly his best performance in notching a comfortable points win over the respected veteran Roach. Official scores were 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110, all for the new champion. InTheCorner.net scored it 117-111 for Zepeda.

Roach Jr. (25-2-3, 10 KOs) employed his counter-punching technique, largely from in the pocket, and paid the price as Zepeda was relentless from the opening bell. Coming off of a decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in July of 2025, a good performance in a loss to the elite Stevenson, Zepeda looked to be even better against the ring-savvy Roach.

There were times when Roach let his hands go and got some business done, but for the bulk of the fight, Zepeda was forcing the issue, and Roach could only do so much in the face of a two-fisted attack coming from all angles.

While most of the top fighters in and around this weight class are debating on social media, these two warriors agreed to fight and took care of business in the ring. Zepeda was bouncing back from his first professional loss while Roach was coming off of two disputed draws, one to Tank Davis and the other to Isaac Cruz. Both were hungry.

While the scores were one-sided, the action wasn’t boring as Zepeda had his foot on the gas throughout and the crafty Roach was constantly looking for the answer to the puzzle. It was dramatic early but turned into a bit of a coronation down the stretch and Zepeda’s lead grew.

This DAZN Pay-Per-View offering was also the second installment of TNT’s monthly boxing series, The Fight. The undercard wasn’t anything special and the pacing of the bouts was typical of DAZN’s production, which is to say there was a lot of filler between fights. It could certainly be better, but at the same time, we’re getting more accessible boxing so at this early stage, boxing fans need to be happy and home for improvement.

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TSZYU DOMINATES FADED SPENCE JR.

Posted on July 25, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Steven Cummings
DestructionAndDestroy@aol.com

Tim Tszyu improved to 28-3 (18 KOs) with a comfortable win over 36-year old Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday night (in the States). Tszyu was in control from the fourth round on as Spence Jr. (28-2, 22 KOs) had very little to offer after some early-round energy.

Official scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 for Tszyu. InTheCorner.net scored it 117-111 for Tszyu.

There were many questions around both fighters going in, and all of them were answered in the first half of the fight. One-time welterweight superstar Errol Spence Jr. could not compete at 160 pounds, at age 36 or after a three-year layoff.

Tim Tszyu bullied him.

Social media showed sentimental fans giving Spence Jr. rounds he was nowhere near winning. The judges did better. I gave Spence Jr. the third, the 10th and the 11th, and I didn’t really have to give him that 10th.

Tim Tszyu was too big and too strong and his punch resistance to anything Errol spence Jr. was throwing was obvious early on. Spence stood in and tried to attack but his footwork and balance was problematic. And when he did land, even when he landed flush, it did little to no damage.

All day today I saw concerns of sports books not taking action on this fight and concerns that something was amiss. Turns out the only problem with this fight is that it was terribly one-sided.

You don’t know until they get in the ring together. You might think you’ve done all of the analysis, but when they square off, that’s when we see what the situation really is.

This was a bad matchup for Errol Spence Jr. He made it to the final bell, but the 12th round, possibly the last round of his career, he absolutely mailed it in.

It’s best to keep this one simple. Tim Tszyu was too much for this version of Errol Spence Jr. and Tszyu’s career continues on an upward trajectory, while Spence Jr’s first announced retirement has started in earnest. It wasn’t exactly a mega-fight and we had many questions going in. But now we know.

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SPENCE JR. vs. TSZYU WEIGHTS, PREDICTION

Posted on July 25, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Steven Cummings

Errol Spence Jr. returns to the ring for the first time since 2023 and faces Tim Tszyu in a true crossroads fight. The fight will headline a card from New South Wales,Australia and is being broadcast live on DAZN and Amazon Prime PPV.
Official weights:

ERROL SPENCE JR. – 158
TIM TSZYU – 158

Both fighters are looking for a meaningful win, coming from different paths of disappointment.

Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) lost a one-sided contest with Terence Crawford in 2023 and stepped away from the sport for almost exactly three years. Tszyu (27-3, 18 KOs) lost his 154-lb. title to Sebastian Fundora in 2024 and ended up losing three of four fights, including a rematch with Fundora in 2025.

There was a brutal stoppage loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev for Tszyu in 2024 as well.

Since the second loss to Fundora, Tszyu has notched two decision wins against lesser opponents. Errol Spence Jr. represents a world-class name with an impressive resume.

But the biggest question going into this showdown is what Spence Jr. will look like at age 36 and coming off of a long layoff. The Texan had a serious car accident and had damage to one of his eyes to go along with the crushing defeat at the hands of Crawford.

The pace of the fight seems to be pretty easy to predict just by going off of past performances. Tszyu will press and throw a ton of punches. If he gets tagged, he will keep pressing and keep throwing a ton of punches.

The young Errol Spence Jr. could do just about anything in the ring. He outboxed Mikey Garcia and outslugged Yordenis Ugas. He has always been a difficult fighter from his left-handed stance, and the Ugas fight showed that he will fight fire with fire just as well as Tim Tszyu.

There will be fireworks early. If Spence can land the left hand with authority like Murtazaliev did, he’s in good shape. But Tszyu will be on the attack and he will return fire no matter what comes.

Spence Jr. took a lot of shots from Ugas in 2022 and showed toughness and resilience. Does he have those superpowers in 2026? That’s going to be the key to this fight. History says Spence Jr. will want to engage, fire back and beat Tszyu down. Will he be able to?

Or, will and older and wiser Errol Spence Jr. come in with a boxing-first plan and try to use his skills to avoid Tszyu’s rushes and do damage from the edges? We won’t know until the bell rings.

PREDICTION

I expect this fight to look a lot like Spence Jr. vs. Ugas. It may not start that way, but it will get there before too long. Tszyu is easy to predict, but much harder is what this version of Spence Jr. will be.

My rooting interest is with Spence Jr., but only slightly over Tszyu. I don’t want to see the once-great Errol Spence Jr. end his storied career with another loss. I’d also like to see Tim Tszyu get a big win on his resume and not have his career go completely south at age 31.

But my analysis leads me to predicting a win for Tim Tszyu and I think it will be by stoppage. With age and inactivity dogging Spence Jr., it seems like he sees the end a little more clearly than Tszyu. He has mentioned that this will be the end if it doesn’t go how he wants it to go. That could contribute to him retiring on his stool at some point if it is one-sided the other way.

After watching Tszyu’s fight with Murtazaliev, it was clear that the Australian takes a lot of shots from left hands. That’s one of Errol Spence Jr.’s specialties. That could rock Tszyu and put Spence Jr. in the vicious attack mode that could end the fight.

But I feel like Tszyu has too many X-factors in his favor. Age, activity, home-field advantage. These all line up pretty big for Tim Tszyu. I think he stops Errol Spence Jr.in the mid-to-late rounds.

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SPENCE vs. TSZYU FIGHT WEEK SCHEDULE

Posted on July 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

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PACHECO STOPS ALEEM IN 11

Posted on July 20, 2026 | Leave a comment

 

Unbeaten super middleweight Diego Pacheco stopped Immanuwel Aleem in the 11th round on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA. Pacheco (26-0, 19 KOs) was in control throughout, using his length and quicker hands to build up a lead over Aleem (22-5-3, 14 KOs).

Official time of the stoppage was 2:32 of round 11.

After the win, Pacheco, ranked #3 by the WBO and #4 by the WBC, called out all of the champions at 168.

It wasn’t a great showing for Pacheco but he did what he should do against a fighter of Aleem’s caliber. He was never in any trouble and it seemed he was either cruising to an easy points win or working toward the eventual outcome, a stoppage.

On the undercard, Andy Cruz bounced back from his first professional loss with a dominant TKO3 over Abraham Montoya. Cruz 97-1, 4 KOs). It was an explosive effort for Cruz, the Cuban phenom who dropped a majority decision to Raymond Muratalla his last time out.

Cruz blasted his opponent from the opening bell and had the 24-8-1 (14 KOs) fighter from Mexico in trouble nearly the whole time.

After the fight, Cruz indicated he would go down to 130.

The fight card was promoted by Matchroom and broadcast on DAZN.

 

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ENNIS STOPS ZAYAS IN 7

Posted on June 28, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Steven Cummings

Jaron “Boots” Ennis dropped Xander Zayas three times and lifted two super welterweight titles with a TKO7 on Saturday night in Brooklyn, NY. The heavily hyped showdown exceeded all expectations as Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs) outslugged the 23-year old Puerto Rican in a star-making performance.

Official time of the stoppage was 1:49 of round seven when Zayas’ corner threw in the towel after the third knockdown.

Ennis scored a knockdown early in the first round the the tone was set for the rest of the fight. Zayas (23-1, 13 KOs) caught a solid right hand and went down under a rush of punches. “Boots” attacked and Zayas took on a lot of damage in a rough first round.

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ZAYAS vs. ENNIS WEIGHTS

Posted on June 26, 2026 | Leave a comment

Official weights for tomorrow night’s  super welterweight title fight on DAZN PPV :

XANDER ZAYAS – 153.8
JARON “BOOTS” ENNIS – 153
WBO/WBA Super Welterweight title

EMILIANO VARGAS – 138.6
BRYCE MILLS – 139
12-rounds, Super Lightweights

BEN WHITTAKER – 174.4
RICHARD RIVERA – 173.8
10 Rounds, Light Heavyweights

JAHI TUCKER = 159.8
EURI CEDENO – 158.8
10 Rounds, Middleweights

Promoted by Top Rank and Matchroom Boxing, prelims air live on DAZN at 3:30PM Pacific time.

Weights courtesy of FightNews.com

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COLLAZO STOPS VALDEZ IN 2 AT 112-LBS

Posted on June 20, 2026 | Leave a comment

Oscar Collazo stopped late replacement Neider Valdez in the second round on Friday night, winning a WBA flyweight title in the process. Collazo (15-0, 12 KOs) holds multiple belts at 105, but moved up when original opponent Joey Canoy had visa problems and was replaced by Valdez, who could not make the 105-lb limit to challenge for Collazo’s titles.

Collazo dropped Valdez (15-4-3, 12 KOs) three times in the second round, with the fight being waved off at the 2:35 mark of round two.

Collazo – Valdez headlined the Golden Boy Promotions show at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, CA and was broadcast on DAZN.

Valdez was for the challenge of the pound-for-pound star, but Collazo never let him get anything going. Collazo smothered him with pressure and power shots and the knockdowns came in quick succession.

Up next for Collazo could be a showdown for a light flyweight title or a flyweight super bout vs. Ricardo Sandoval.

UNDERCARD

YAIR GALLARDO UD10 over BUNEET BISLA

Light Heavyweight Yair Gallardo (12-0, 9 KOs) weathered a storm against rangy Buneet Bisla (14-2, 7 KOs) for a 10-round unanimous decision. Bisla got up from a second-round knockdown and came on through the middle rounds to make it an interesting fight. Gallardo had too much power and looked to be in control against Bisla’s sharp-shooting.

It was a quick start for Gallardo and he dropped his foe in the second round while building an early lead. But the Canadian kept it together and outboxed Gallardo for long stretches in middle of the fight. The punches did little damage on Gallardo, and the unbeaten Mexican continued to come forward.

Ultimately, the judges saw it for Gallardo by scores of 98-91, 97-92 and 96-93.

RUSLAN ABDULLAEV KO5 over ORESTES VELAZQUEZ

Super lightweight Ruslan Abdullaev of Uzbekistan improved to 5-0 (3 KOs) with a fifth-round stoppage of Orestes Velazquez of Cuba. Velazquez crumbled under the weight of a combination in the corner and did not beat the count. Official time of the stoppage was 1:32.

Velazquez came to fight and stood in against the heavy-handed Abdullaev early on, getting in some quality shots. But the heat was too much and Abdullaev was clearly a class above.

JOSHUA EDWARDS KO2 over GARRETH PAYTON

2024 Olympian Joshua Edwards (7-0, 6 KOs) stayed perfect, winning his heavyweight bout via KO2 over Garreth Payton (7-3, 4 KOs). Payton was not on the level of “Rocket” Edwards and retreated from the power shots from the opening bell. The end was somewhat suspect, as it didn’t appear that a lethal shot was what put Payton on his back, but the end came at 1:06.

CAYDEN GRIFFITHS TKO3 over ALAN CRISTOSTO

Rising Golden Boy star Cayden Griffits got it done with an unsatisfying TKO3 over Alan Crostotsto. Griffiths was clearly the better fighter but his opponent’s corner bailed on the mission after their fighter was dropped by a body shot in the third round. Cristosto appeared to have weathered the storm and was working from the outside to stay out of further danger.

But with just 15 seconds to go, the corner directed the commission representative to throw in the towel and the fight was over. It would have been over at some point in the near future, but it was an odd surrender.

 

 

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‘BAM’ RODRIGUEZ CAPTURES BANTAM TITLE WITH KO6

Posted on June 14, 2026 | Leave a comment

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez successfully moved up to 118-lbs and lifted the WBA title from Antonio Vargas via KO6 on Saturday night in Glendale, AZ. Rodriguez (24-0, 17 KOs) took some shots from the defending champion but closed the deal with his well-known power. Vargas (19-2-1, 11 KOs) took the fight to Rodriguez and fared well early, but succumbed to the fight-changing power in the end.

Rodriguez, as we all know, is moving up from 115 to set up a high-profile showdown with 122-lb. champion and P4P contender Naoya Inoue. The bantamweight division is expected to be a stop along the way.

Vargas did nothing to avoid the vaunted power of Rodriguez and, early on, he looked to be in good shape as he landed big shots and fought “Bam” to a standstill at the very least.

But the bravado of Vargas proved to be folly as Rodriguez dialed in his attack in the fourth round, dropping the defending champion, then finished matters with a big left hand in the sixth.

The potential big-money fight with Inoue requires Rodriguez to jump two weight classes and Saturday night’s fight may have revealed reasons for concern. Vargas was a busy fighter and stood in the pocket, peppering Rodriguez consistently over the first few rounds. “Bam” has dynamite in both fists and ultimately brought that power to bear as he changed the fight in the fourth.

How would it go for Rodriguez at another weight class higher against a surgical power puncher in Inoue?

We may very well find out. On Saturday night, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez passed the test and in a very satisfying way. He carried his next-level power up to 118-lbs. and scored a dramatic victory.

As I like to say about the game of boxing, in good times or bad, the story continues.

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0’SHAQUIE FOSTER PULLS AWAY FROM RAY FORD FOR MD12

Posted on May 31, 2026 | Leave a comment

By Steven Cummings

WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster retained his title with a 12-round majority decision over Ray Ford on Saturday night night in Houston, TX. Foster (25-3, 12 KOs) came on down the stretch and separated himself from Ford (18-2-1, 8 KOs) with superior boxing skills. Official scores were 118-110, 116-110 and 114-114.

InTheCorner.net scored it 116-112.

The main event of the Eddie Hearn-promoted card featured a grudge match between Foster and Ford, who went at each other in the pre-fight buildup. The early rounds were tense, with both fighters cautiously looking for openings over the first couple of frames. The southpaw Foster and the conventional fighter, Ford, matched up awkwardly, with each stepping on the other’s lead foot over the first few rounds. Plus there was a clash of heads in round two, with no cuts caused.

With Foster narrowly winning a slow first round, the defending champ pushed Ford into the ropes, face-first, and Ford ended up going all the way to the floor. A point could have been deducted, but Referee Jon Schorle chose instead to give both fighters a stern warning.

Foster had the advantage from the outside, darting in for some quick combinations and then moving away from Ford’s counters. The first have of the match was evenly fought but starting in round six, his gameplan remained effective while Ford was only able to get single shots in here and there.

Foster built a lead going into the later rounds. Ford landed a couple of big shots in the ninth and 10th but Foster had his best round in the 11th. A two-fisted attack put Ford on the ropes, bleeding from the nose. Ford went on the attack in the 12th but it wasn’t enough.

Ray Ford had a lot of venom for O’Shaquie Foster in the build-up to the fight and even shoved him at the weigh-in. On fight night, Foster’s skills did the talking. Ford didn’t attack as much as he should have and that was likely because of Foster’s shiftiness. “Shock” could have been more assertive himself, when he took the initiative he got good results. But over 12 rounds, Foster was the better fighter on this night. Neither fighter is known for knockout power, so this one was likely to be a chess match, despite all of the verbal heat being thrown around in the weeks leading up to the event. Foster made the better moves.

After the decision was announced, ringside observer Shakur Stevenson quickly found his way into the ring (of course he did) and engaged in some back-and-forth shouting with Foster.

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