Commissioner’s Corner
Above: Arslanbek Makhmudov (right) was heavier and taller, but Agit Kabayel chopped the fearsome Russian down in the Day of Reckoning’s most overshadowed upset. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The final week of 2023 left some pretty indelible marks on boxing, marks which will carry over into 2024 in a big way. Let’s take a look how:
First of all, the December 23 card from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was not the Saudis’ foray into the sport. They have been testing out their viability in combat sports for a while. They liked all the signs they saw. So, they moved ahead and jumped into boxing with a marathon card from their architectural marvel – Kingdom Arena. Kingdom Arena, which can seat 40,000+ fans for boxing, was erected in just 60 days.
On that December 23 card, there were six heavyweight bouts, a cruiserweight championship fight and a light heavyweight title fight. Those six heavyweight bouts featured six of The Ring’s Top 10 heavyweight contenders. There were knockouts, terrific performances, disappointing performances, a minor upset and a major upset.
Perhaps the most shocking upset on the card belonged to Germany’s Agit Kabayel, who was in against huge, power-punching Arslanbek Makhmudov, who came into the fight with a 18-0 (17 KOs) record. Kabayel showed why he was 23-0 as he darted in and out, scoring almost at will on the vaunted – but painfully slow – Makhmudov, who was being groomed for a title shot in 2024. The Russian was never in the fight. It was over in the fourth round, as Makmudov looked like anything but a contender.
Another shocker saw former heavyweight king Deontay Wilder lose nearly every round to Joseph Parker. For 12 rounds – from start to finish – all Wilder did was follow Parker in a circle. Wilder’s jab, which will never be put into discussions about the great heavyweight sticks of the present or past but is an effective weapon nonetheless, was non-existent. His legs looked weak and almost unsteady. As I watched – as WE watched – we wondered what, if anything, was wrong with the man we have come to know as “The Bronze Bomber,” one of the hardest-hitting heavyweight champions of all time. The loss dropped Wilder’s record in his last four fights to 1-3.
Joseph Parker’s fists easily found their way to Deontay Wilder’s face. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)
As much as Makhmudov lost in his stoppage defeat, he may be able to rebuild. Wilder, as a former WBC titleholder, lost much more. He didn’t drop a close, disputed decision. He lost every round – basically every second of every round. He was listless throughout the fight. His legs weren’t there. The fire, the drive, the urgency he has displayed in the past to come back and win were not there.
Take nothing away from Joseph Parker. He fought a brilliant fight. When the opening bell rang, he didn’t know he’d be facing a man who physically resembled Deontay Wilder but wasn’t the “Bronze Bomber” at all.
Had Wilder been the “Bronze Bomber” and delivered his 43rd knockout, he’d be in negotiations to face Anthony Joshua, who easily overpowered and blew away light-hitting Otto Wallin in five rounds in the main event in Riyadh.
Joining Parker and Johsua in the “Big Wins Department” was Daniel Dubois. The powerful Brit, coming off a loss to Oleksandr Usyk in August, couldn’t have looked much better. He toyed with talented, unbeaten, but dreadfully out-of-shape Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, breaking him down and stopping him in the 10th round. The victory was Dubois’ 20th in 22 fights, as well as his 19th knockout. A major bout – or two – in 2024 awaits him.
Daniel Dubois punches Jarrell Miller during their heavyweight fight on the Day of Reckoning undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Also on the December 23 Riyahd show, heavyweight contenders Frank Sanchez and Filip Hrgovic kept their 2024 title hopes alive, each scoring knockout victories, albeit against softer opposition than the other heavyweight contenders on the card. Hrgovic flattened 40+-year-old Mark De Mori in the first round; Sanchez took out Junior Fa in the seventh. Hrgovic is now 17-0; Sanchez is now 24-0.
Joining the others in victory was Ring Magazine cruiserweight champ Jai Opetaia, who stopped Ellis Zorro in the first round, while WBA light heavyweight king Dmitry Bivol tuned up for his June 1 unification against Artur Beterbiev with a 12-round shutout against once-beaten Lyndon Arthur.
All those fighters, with the rest of the boxing world, were set to turn their attention back to Riyadh on February 17, when the heavyweight unification between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury was set to take place. Then, with slightly more than two weeks to go before the fight, Fury was clipped with an elbow in sparring and stepped away with a nasty gash on his right eyelid. The cut, which caused a postponement of the fight, brought back memories of a heavyweight title clash 50 years earlier: “The Rumble in the Jungle.” That one, just like this one, saw the champion – then George Foreman – suffer a right-eyebrow cut in sparring. It caused a delay in his title defense against Muhammad Ali.
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However, Foreman’s cut was nowhere near as severe as Fury’s cut. Foreman’s cut required a few butterfly stitches. Fury’s cut needed the work of a plastic surgeon. Foreman’s cut postponed the fight for three weeks. Fury’s cut postponed his bout against Usyk by three months.
Quickly – perhaps too quickly – the fight was rescheduled. May 18 is the new date. The undercard will remain the same. So will the site – Riyadh.
Fury suffered a grotesque cut on the same eyebrow during his fight against Otto Wallin. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
It’s too bad the fight had to be postponed. I believe we were going to see the best of both heavyweight champions that night. We still may see the best of both on May 18. My only question is, “Will Fury’s cut be healed in time? Completely healed!”
When Fury suffered two deep cuts around the same eye in a bout against Otto Wallin in September 2019, the cuts took over 50 stitches. Yet, he returned to the ring just five months later to face Wilder. It was thought then that Wilder’s long left jab would re-open those cuts early.
As mentioned before, we’ve come to learn that Wilder’s jab is not one we could place in the upper echelon of heavyweights. A Larry Holmes jab, a Muhammad Ali jab, a Joe Louis jab, a Sonny Liston jab – all probably would have turned Fury’s face into a crimson mask that night. Wilder’s jab is not in the same league. It’s not even in the league of a Joseph Parker jab. Or a Zhilei Zhang jab. Or an Oleksandr Usyk jab.
Yes, Oleksandr Usyk.
Every fighter will do their best to exploit an opponent’s weakness(es). Usyk is a master boxer. He’s not the biggest heavyweight out there. Or the strongest. Or the hardest-hitting. Yet, he’s the best. He knows how to exploit every weakness. He’s the smartest. The most calculating. His jab is one of the best in the heavyweight division. Wilder couldn’t find Fury’s five-months-old scar tissue. You can bet Usyk’s jab will find the most-likely-still-raw three-months-old wound, as well as the Wallin-caused scar tissue.
Had the fight taken place on February 17, the victory might have gone to Fury in the biggest victory of his career. He was for sure not going to be in the shape he was in last Fall against Francis Ngannou.
This cut, the postponement and the little-over three-month turnaround time, may just be the difference in who wins the fight!
***
Speaking of Ngannou, on March 8, Ngannou will be back in a boxing ring, pitting his 0-1 record against two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. It is very likely that the winner of the May 18 Usyk-Fury fight will face the winner of Joshua-Ngannou. This year!! No matter what any of the sanctioning bodies say!
I am so thrilled that Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank were able to convince IBF/WBO female 105-pound titleholder Yokasta Valle to come to the United States and face Ring/WBC/WBA 105-pound champion Seniesa Estrada. Their unification bout will take place on March 29 in Glendale, Arizona, and be shown live on ESPN. Valle is 30-2 (9 KOs). Estrada is 25-0 (9 KOs), and the No. 1 pound-for-pound female in my “RANDY’S RATINGS.”
Ring Magazine strawweight champion Seniesa Estrada, seen here overwhelming Leonela Yudica in her most recent fight, will face Yokasta Valle for “undisputed” status on March 29. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Tom Loeffler of “360 Promotions” is one red-hot promoter. Teamed with the UFC’s Dana White, they have already put on one card in Commerce, California, on January 27, and have a show on February 23 in Santa Ynez, California, followed by a headliner for junior middleweight prospect Callum Walsh (9-0, 7 KOs) in New York’s Madison Square Garden Theater for St. Paddy’s Day. Earlier that week, Loeffler and Walsh will pay a visit to our magnificent SiriusXM studios in midtown Manhattan to join us on the air. We are on every Monday and Friday from noon-2pm (ET), on SiriusXM channel 156. The name of the show is “At the Fights.”
Ever hear of “Team Combat League”? I will tell you more about it next month. Season 2 begins on March 28. I have a heavyweight on the DC Destroyers. Stay tuned!
Three days after the Riyadh card came a 122-pound title unification in Japan. It matched “The Monster,” Naoya Inoue, holder of the WBC/WBO junior featherweight titles, against IBF/WBA champion Marlon Tapales. In a terrific battle, Inoue’s pinpoint punching and vicious body shots wore Tapales down, and he finally stopped the tough Filipino in the 10th round to win the vacant Ring belt and crown an undisputed champion. Inoue will now most likely face 35-1 Luis Nery in May.
AT THE BELL: As I was ready to wrap up this month’s column, I received a call from Ray McCline, the president of the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame. He was calling to tell me that I, along with my SiriusXM radio partner “Gentleman” Gerry Cooney, have been selected for induction into the ACBHOF’s Class of 2024. The induction class also includes such outstanding fighters as Buddy McGirt, James “Buster” Douglas and Sharmba Mitchell.
More on this in next month’s column. What an honor!
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