July Ring Articles

I have two pieces in the upcoming July edition of Ring Magazine. The first is an interview with 2026 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Russ Anber. The second is a "How to Watch Boxing" article that focuses on fighters who play with their food. The magazine will be on newsstands at the end of the month and will also be available via digital subscription. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook  

Opinions and Observations: Wardley-Dubois

Where to even begin?

Wardley-Dubois will be remembered for generations. It was one of those epic heavyweight clashes that was a testament to the sport at its finest. This was two power punchers giving no quarter. 

Wardley drops Dubois two times in the first three rounds, but Dubois is undeterred. Dubois punishes and pulverizes Wardley throughout the rest of the bout, but Wardley doesn't go down swinging; no, he refuses to go down. When the referee mercifully stops the fight in the 11th, Dubois regains a portion of the heavyweight title but has to walk through fire to get there. Now, Dubois can finally silence his critics. There can be no more questions about his guts or makeup. 

By the start of the ninth round, Wardley's face was a mess. He had a cut over his left eye, his nose was busted and his right eye was almost completely closed. The ringside physician checked Wardley's eye and nose. Many fights had been stopped for far less. But the doctor let the match continue.

Dubois hit the canvas twice in the fight
Photo courtesy of Queensberry Promotions

Yet Wardley starts the ninth landing jabs, hard uppercuts and those piercing right hands that sent Dubois down in the first and third rounds. Here was Wardley's moment, why his trainer Ben Davison refused to pull the plug on the fight. His fighter had turned the tide in recent fights against Justis Huni and Jospeh Parker. Could he pull one more rabbit out of his hat? 

He could not. Dubois has faced criticism throughout his career for taking knees, not getting up from knockdowns, and not persevering past injuries, but in this fight he didn't let Wardley's big punches get the best of him. Similar to the end of the seventh when Wardley had an impressive power-punching sequence, Dubois took everything in the ninth yet was undaunted. He would continue to bludgeon Wardley with his sledgehammer right hands and thudding jabs. 

Ultimately, referee Howard Foster stopped the bout in the beginning of the 11th round. Davison has been taking a lot of criticism for failing to protect his fighter (after the fight he posted that he agreed with the stoppage), but from where I sit, his reluctance to stop the fight was understandable.  

In truth this was a hard decision to make. Although Wardley was running on fumes and taking an enormous beating, he continued to throw shots with real menace. He didn't just land in the seventh and ninth rounds, he connected with the types of knockout blows that had led to 19 stoppages in his previous 21 fights. It's just that Dubois was able to take them. No one will ever question Wardley's heart after Saturday's matchup; he refused to go down. But it was Dubois' engine, technique, and thunder that wound up being the ultimate separators.

Although Dubois did display other punches at points in the fight, he chiefly prevailed with his jab and straight right hand. After adjusting to Wardley's wide right hands, he was able to beat Wardley to the punch throughout the fight. Of all the things that impressed me the most with Dubois in the match, his counter jab was number one on my list. While Wardley would telegraph the looping right, Dubois would get there first with the counter jab, which landed like a power punch and is the main reason Wardley's right eye closed. 

And there were other points where Wardley would initiate with a right hand, but Dubois would beat him with his own right. Dubois' economy of movement and superior technique resulted in winning exchanges all fight. Dubois was also masterful as a lead. Again, mostly with two punches, he imposed significant damage on Wardley.  

In theory Wardley's wide punching, with rear hooks that can be unpredictable and tough to track, should have posed a big threat to Dubois, and they did. But to Dubois' credit, defensively he was good enough to avoid most of them. There were countless sequences where Wardley wound up swinging at air. Dubois will never be known for his defense, but it was a crucial factor in the fight. 

Dubois pasting Wardley with a power shot
Photo courtesy of Queensberry Promotions

As for Wardley, the man from white-collar boxing who somehow became a heavyweight titleholder, he finally met his match. The dream ride has now been derailed. On another night he could have won this. Maybe he should have pressed Dubois more in the third round for the stoppage. Perhaps he thought that he would have more opportunities later in the fight. 

But now his future looks a lot different in the sport. He took a hellacious beating on Saturday, the type that could change the trajectory of a life, let alone a career. Although his skill deficiency was well known prior to facing Dubois, his punching had always been able to carry the day. But he took too many hard shots on Saturday. His defense wasn't good enough. His movement was ponderous and often counterproductive for both offensive and defensive purposes. And he showed that when the chips were down that he didn't believe enough in his punch arsenal to rely on much beside his right-hand haymakers. 

If Wardley does decide to return, he will need to rethink several aspects of his ring style. He no longer can believe that boxing is essentially a tough man contest but with different rules. A referee can stop a fight, so can a physician or a corner. His defense will have to get better. He will need to learn more evasion tactics. He also must do more with his left hand. 

But if he does call it a day, or even if he never returns to the top end of the heavyweight division, he has already provided a career full of memories. In fact, his story is so unbelievable that Hollywood studio executives would toss a similar, made-up pitch. Whoever would believe that a random guy with little training, fighting in his spare time for a few bucks, would go on to beat Olympians and win a world title? 

Dubois now has a record of 23-3 with 22 knockouts. He's amassed stoppage wins over Wardley, Hrgovic, Joshua and Miller. He's also been stopped three times, twice by waving his own white flag. But the record doesn't tell the whole story. In this fight and against Kevin Lerena, he was hurt badly in the first round by temple shots, where he had to take a knee to recover. And yet there were other fights, like against Hrgovic and Joshua, where he took enormous right hands without ever hitting the canvas. Dubois lost to Joyce when his eye blew up from jabs and was also wiped out by Usyk's "Ivan" punch, that left hand which isn't exactly a straight shot or a hook. 

All of this is a roundabout way of saying it's still tough to figure out exactly what Dubois is and isn't. We know that he's one of the hardest punchers in the sport. We also know that he's susceptible to those with craft. Despite being on the world boxing stage for many years, he's still much of an enigma. We just don't know what we're going to get each fight. But it's been a riveting watch. 

Win or lose, Dubois has been terrific value in the sport. His attritional war against Miller opened eyes regarding his internal fortitude. He won the battle of concussive punchers against Joshua. He was getting beaten to a pulp in the first two rounds against Hrgovic yet turned the tide. He was wiped out by Usyk so conclusively in their rematch that it's amazing he was able to make it back to the world level and win another heavyweight title belt. This is an atypical fighter with reservoirs of internal strength that have been missed by much of the public. 

Dubois is still just 28 and he should have at least another half-a-decade of this thrill ride. His trajectory could wind up anywhere. He encapsulates the current heavyweight division outside of Usyk. He could beat almost anyone, but he's never far from peril. He's played a key role in a thrilling decade of heavyweight fights and somehow, he's only mid-journey. 

Dubois's career has been unusual, filled with setbacks, unexpected victories, moments of grandeur, and nothing short of drama. He's a fighter that has achieved so much and yet his future still seems so unsettled. But that gap, that unknown quality both in and out of the ring, reels us in. He's a puzzle. A puzzle we want to solve. And we are still far away from having all the pieces in place.

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook 

Opinions and Observations: Inoue, Benavidez

Two fights ago, Junto Nakatani faced fellow bantamweight champ Ryosuke Nishida. For that matchup, Nakatani and his trainer Rudy Hernandez employed a daring strategy: take Nishida out early. Nakatani went full throttle from the opening bell, attacking relentlessly and at times, even recklessly. The combat was ferocious, yet Nakatani's game plan worked. Nishida didn't make it to the second half of the fight. 

Flash forward a year later. Now Nakatani was fighting the great Naoya Inoue for undisputed status one division up at junior featherweight. And instead of attacking Inoue in the early rounds, Nakatani went the opposite route; he would attempt to neutralize the action. Using his long right arm, he would extend it, either to jab or to occupy the space between the two fighters. That simple maneuver was enough to keep Inoue on the outside. From that perspective, Nakatani did achieve a tactical victory.  

Although Nakatani was successful in turning down the temperature of the fight, he neglected a vital element of professional boxing: winning rounds. It's all good to reduce the number of landed blows from a noted knockout artist, but Nakatani offered so little in the early rounds besides his jab. While Inoue didn't dominate the first half of the fight, he would land two or three impressive power punches a round, usually right hands, which would be enough to take 10-9s on the scorecards. 

Inoue (left) and Nakatani (right) during and exchange
Photo courtesy of Lemino Boxing

After the sixth, Hernandez told Nakatani that he needed to let his hands go more. But Hernandez used more of a conversational tone instead of issuing a desperate plea. The one change that Nakatani made was to stop jabbing. Consequently, Inoue welcomed the additional room to operate and proceeded to win the seventh and eighth. 

Only in the ninth round did Nakatani start to show the offensive firepower that had excited so many about this matchup. During the next two rounds he blasted Inoue with straight lefts, right hooks and uppercuts. There were moments during these rounds where Inoue voluntarily backed up and disengaged. For a brief spell The Monster had been defanged. 

A clash of heads toward the end of the 10th did play a role in changing the trajectory of the fight; Nakatani received a sizeable cut from the headbutt near his right eye and it clearly bothered him throughout the rest of the bout. 

However, let's also acknowledge what separates the truly best from the merely excellent. Inoue found another gear. Similar to Usyk in the Joshua fights or Crawford after dropping a number of rounds against Shawn Porter. The elites essentially said, no more. They drew a line in the sand. They refused to give into the opponent's momentum. 

Right after having his worst round of the fight, the 10th, Inoue started the 11th in attack mode and went after Nakatani. He proceeded to have the best round that either fighter would have in the entire match. He crushed Nakatani with power punches, including blistering uppercuts with each hand. Now Nakatani was the one who was in retreat. 

Inoue's stand in the 11th carried over to the 12th and that was enough for him to take the fight. He won the bout with scores of 116-112 x 2 and 115-113 (I also had him winning 116-112). The final two rounds sealed the win for Inoue. 

Ultimately, the fight had two phases, a technical boxing display (the first six rounds) and a more open power punching period (the final six rounds). In each phase of the fight, I thought that Inoue had won four rounds of the six. Inoue, even at 33, showed that he had more to offer than his younger, undefeated opponent.  

Now it must be said that Inoue didn't dominate the action. He was a little bit better through most of the first half of the fight and his final stand won him the back half, but he also needed that stand because things were going poorly for him in rounds nine and ten. However, the great ones find a way. They have an extra level. 

I wonder if Hernandez and Nakatani will regret the overly cautious start. Clearly, they didn't want a firefight to break out too early in the fight, but what if Hernandez went to Nakatani after the third or fourth round instead? What if Hernandez showed a little more urgency in the corner? Before the seventh was too late to flip the switch in my opinion. Nakatani would have needed to take five of the final six rounds of the fight to ensure that he'd win it on the cards, and that's too tall of an order against a fighter of Inoue's talent.

For the second Nakatani fight in a row, I believe that Rudy Hernandez, who is often a spectacular cornerman, got outmaneuvered. In his last fight, Nakatani and Hernadez couldn't stop Sebastian Hernandez's relentless pressure and inside fighting in the second half of their bout. Nakatani ultimately escaped with a win in one of his least convincing performances. And on Saturday, I don't think that Hernandez had a good sense of how the fight was going vis-a-vis the judges' scorecards. He left Nakatani with too little margin for error. 

The truly best cornermen have an ability to understand the scoring of a fight in real time, with dispassion. Trading in their trainer's hat for a judge's one, they realize when their fighter is down (or could be down) and recalibrate accordingly. If Hernandez truly understood the optics of Saturday's fight, he would have junked Game Plan #1 sooner and been far more assertive in the corner. But like the previous Nakatani fight, the adjustments weren't there fast enough.  

Shingo Inoue, Naoya's father and trainer, won almost everyone's trainer of the year award in 2025. His other fighting son, Takuma, also retained his bantamweight title on Saturday's undercard. Against Nakatani, Shingo had a very good night. He made sure that Naoya wouldn't fall into traps or force the action. When the fight was slow, Naoya didn't get reckless, a major change from a few years ago. In addition, Naoya was switched on all fight and was able to deliver what was required during each phase of the fight.

And that brings up another great separator between the greats and the very good. They understand what tools, techniques and strategies can work in a given context during the fight. You didn't see Inoue throw any uppercuts in the technical portion of the bout, because those opportunities weren't available, and he saw no reason to force it. But after Nakatani was softened up some, suddenly the shot could be deployed. And despite hardly throwing it for the first ten rounds of the fight, when Inoue went to his uppercuts, he was able to land them with maximum ferocity and devastating impact. 

With over a decade of championship-level experience spanning four weight classes, Inoue is no longer at his physical prime. His power isn't the same at 122 lbs. that it was at the smaller weights, and Saturday was the first time that he looked labored at points during a 12-round fight. Yet, he was still the one with his hand raised at the end of the fight, and doing so against a fellow pound-for-pound entrant. 

Despite his Monster moniker, it's worth remembering that even as the knockouts have stopped (and power is not the last thing to go in boxing; it goes), Inoue has still found a way. In his last three fights he has decisioned three top-ten contenders at 122 lbs., with his last one, Nakatani, an undefeated multi-divisional champ who had youth and size advantages. The clock may be ticking on Inoue's undefeated record, but let's not forget what a career it's been. On Saturday, Inoue didn't just beat Nakatani, but he beat back Father Time too. To both, he said, not yet.  

***

Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez's initial strategy against David Benavidez was understandable. After all, it was Ramirez who was the cruiserweight champion and Benavidez was the fighter coming up more than 20 pounds to challenge for his title. Ramirez thought that he could impose himself on Benevidez, that his physicality and body shots would wear the supposedly smaller man down. But by the end of the second round, it was clear that Benavidez had the clear edge in hand speed and, surprisingly, power. 

The pay per view broadcast was in Ramirez's corner after every round. And during each look-in, Ramirez's trainer, Julian Chua, emphasized that Ramirez needed to stay behind his jab, use angles and not engage in a mano-a-mano war. 

But Ramirez was determined to win an attritional battle on the inside. And to be fair to him, there were moments where he did well, landing right hooks up top, jabs and straight lefts downstairs, and three- and four-punch combinations. However, there were points in every round except the fifth, where he was getting lit up by Benavidez's own combinations. And these weren't four- or five-punch shoeshines; these combos included menacing power hooks thrown with maximum force. They dazzled the crowd and also blew up both of Ramirez's eyes.

Benavidez (left) catching Ramirez with a left hook
Photo courtesy of Cris Esquada/Golden Boy

Ramirez and Benavidez had been frequent sparring partners over the years and perhaps that familiarity led Zurdo to believe that he could take Benavidez's best shots. But it's worth remembering that fighters spar with much larger gloves, which can do a lot to take the sting out of punches. 

Benavidez dropped Ramirez twice in the fight, in the fourth and the sixth. In both cases Ramirez took a knee after being badly hurt by multi-punch combinations. He couldn't handle the onslaught of punches. In the sixth, after dropping to the canvas for the second time, he spit out his mouthpiece and indicated to the referee that he didn't want to continue. 

Benavidez's victory was a comprehensive beatdown and a display of his mastery at mid-range and in close quarters. There are few fighters who can match Benavidez in a pocket war, which Zurdo found out the hard way. 

Throughout most of his career, Benavidez has been masquerading as a smaller-weight fighter. I have no idea how he made 168 as many times as he did. And in truth, he lost a belt by missing weight. Even at light heavyweight I didn't think that his stamina looked great over 12 rounds against Gvozdyk and Morrell, despite winning comfortably on the scorecards. 

But at cruiserweight I think that we finally saw Benavidez in full flow, without worrying about gassing or punching himself out. He was throwing seven- or eight-punch combinations not just once or twice in the fight, but several times each round. This was a fighter who now fully believed in his conditioning. 

Picking the correct weight class in boxing is often more of an art than a science. And sometimes the answer can be more political than you think. A promoter might have better potential opponents or a path to a title at a given weight class, but not at a neighboring one. A fighter also may not understand his body or how to train properly. Maybe his team is also finding out by trial and error as it goes. 

If I were handling Benavidez's career. I'd never have him drop below cruiserweight again. Why would I want to see a fighter who looked like one of the absolute best talents in boxing lose 20 pounds or more at this phase of his career? Benavidez has two cruiserweight belts, the PBC's full support, and a legitimate fan base. Why not demand that Beterbiev, who has been making 175 since Calvin Coolidge was President, fight him at cruiserweight? Why not do the same for Bivol? Why should Bivol's belts mean more than Benavidez's?  

Benevidez is now at the point of his career where he can be a shot-caller. If people want money fights, now they may look to him where in the past there were just enough convenient reasons to avoid him. 

Benavidez is a star and supremely talented. It's now his time in boxing, where he can become one of the faces of the sport. Let's see who will challenge him at 200 lbs. Who wants to cement a legacy? Will it be Opetaia? Bivol? Beterbiev? Who will be brave? Let's see who will stand up and be counted.   

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook 

Opinions and Observations: Chisora-Wilder

In a welcome surprise, the Derek Chisora-Deontay Wilder fight turned out to be full of thrilling action. Although both fighters could qualify for the old-timers’ heavyweight circuit, Saturday's bout wasn't about going through the motions to pick up a payday; both were there to crack. The fight featured heavy artillery, massive momentum swings, knockdowns, and enough dubious calls by referee Mark Bates to supply content for an entire weekend training seminar.

Ultimately, Wilder, the former heavyweight champion who traveled from the U.S. to the U.K. for the fight, won by split decision, and he was the deserving victor. He did have to survive a couple of rocky moments, and he was certainly hit hard at points in the fight. But he consistently landed better shots throughout the bout and had Chisora seriously hurt during multiple occasions. He was also credited with two knockdowns (in the eighth and the eleventh). I thought that he had a good case for winning eight or nine rounds.  

Before getting into the nuts and bolts of the fight, I want to focus on that unforgettable eighth round, which is a clear candidate for round of the year. During the round, both fighters may have been hurt multiple times, Wilder in the opening and closing seconds and Chisora throughout the rest of the frame. Wilder scored his first knockdown during the round and perhaps had Chisora ready to go, but then somehow he lost a point and then got rocked. It was riveting action! 

Wilder thrilled after the win
Photo courtesy of MF Pro

When Chisora was successful throughout Saturday's fight, it was primarily with two punches: his signature overhand right from distance, and a left hook to the body when in close. But even when he landed his best overhand rights, Wilder took them well. 

Unfortunately, Chisora also smothered himself too much on the inside. He was determined to go-for-broke in terms of getting in close but didn't offer enough variation in his attack. Even when he would get in through the front door, he didn't throw enough punches or offer any tricky lateral movement or shifting. As a result, Wilder would be able to clinch or grapple with relative ease (and this was when Chisora wasn't clinching or grappling himself).

As a surprise, Wilder, known for his straight right, featured an assortment of punches throughout the fight. He had success at times at spinning out from an onrushing Chisora with a short left hook to the temple. He landed a couple of impressive right uppercuts. Later in the fight he connected with solid jabs. He even landed a double left hook combination to the body!

Now it's no secret that Wilder made his career with his straight right hand, but his offensive variety on Saturday illustrated that he contained more tools in his toolbox than he often displayed. That double left hook to the body on Saturday certainly didn't look like it was the first time he had experimented with that combination. It seemed fluid. That he hadn't always featured it or other secondary punches throughout his career is on him. 

At a minimum what it suggests is that Wilder must be an intriguing gym fighter. The punch variety is there. In some instances throughout his career he has flashed a solid jab or a left hook, but it didn't occur enough. In most of his fights, his right hand was good enough to get the job done, but maybe against Tyson Fury or Joe Parker, it's possible that an expanded punch arsenal would have done him a world of good. And as we were reminded of on Saturday, he didn't lack other punches, but why he so seldom turned to them is another question.    

Saturday's fight was marred by referee Mark Bates, who now rivals Phil Edwards (who turned in the lone card for Chisora among the judges) as being the most offensively biased British fight official working today. Bates somehow let a cornerman get into the ring during the first round to help separate the fighters. That itself could have been grounds for a disqualification, but Bates couldn't even be bothered to take a point. 

In the third round Chisora was hurt and froze in the corner. Yet Bates stopped an oncoming Wilder and allowed Chisora to have more time to recover. 

In the eighth, Chisora went through the ropes and not only did his team help him get back in the ring (also grounds for disqualification), but then Bates decided to take a point from Wilder, who didn't do anything particularly egregious during the sequence. It should be noted that Wilder had scored a knockdown earlier in the round, so Bates essentially negated the extra point that Chisora had lost. 

So yes, the fight did feature its fair share of sloppy moments, with wrestling, fighters falling to the canvas, punches missing by a few feet, and enough shenanigans to remind viewers that boxing remains a quasi-legitimate sport. 

But let's not lose the forest through the trees here. What we got on Sunday was two veterans who were giving it their all, firing whatever they could, and refusing to buckle after being hurt. It was great prizefighting. Both realized the importance of this moment in their career. They refused to yield and pushed forward. It wasn't about style points or looking pretty. They came to land big punches and did just that.    

Finally, there was far too much snootiness from certain corners on social media regarding the quality of the fight. The bout was ridiculed by some as a drunken bar fight, a train wreck, a horror show...whatever. 

Actually, it was anything but that. It was two guys giving what they had left. And they gave it. Yes, it was not a fight that personified the sweet science. But you know what it was: PRIZEFIGHTING! The fight delighted the crowd. It was exciting! There were big punches, peril, danger. And I'd take this a million times over two cuties refusing to hurt the other guy in the ring. 

I love a great technical fight, but I love danger as well. Chisora-Wilder was not a mere hug-a-thon or a fight that featured a silent agreement of non-aggression. Both were going for the win. Both envisioned a future of making one last big run in the heavyweight division. I think that they should be applauded for their efforts. I'd tune out those who are more interested in ice capades in a ring instead of menace. There's a reason why the big boys have always carried the sport and power punchers have captured imaginations and hard-earned cash over generations.

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook  

The Decline of the U.S. Heavyweight -- The Athletic

I was interviewed for a piece that ran today in the Athletic (subscription required) about the decline of the U.S. heavyweight. The article was written by Chris McKenna and Sarah Shephard. Others also quoted in the piece were Bruce Trampler and Teddy Atlas. Both writers are from England and the piece tries to get to the bottom of what happened to the prominence of the U.S. heavyweight from an outsider's perspective. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook 

Inoue-Nakatani Head-to-Head in Ring Magazine

I have a new piece in the April edition of Ring Magazine on the Naoya Inoue-Junto Nakatani superfight where I break down the matchup comparing each fighter's skills, advantages and disadvantages. This much-anticipated fight will take place on May 2nd at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The magazine will hit bookshelves later this month and will also available via digital subscription.

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook 

Promoter Snapshot -- Salita Promotions in Ring Magazine

For the next entry in my Promoter Snapshot series for Ring Magazine, I highlighted Salita Promotions. In the piece I talked with Founder and CEO Dmitriy Salita, who articulates his company's values and vision for success. Salita has been very active in both Michigan and Puerto Rico, and their events are streamed by DAZN. You can find the article in the March edition of the magazine, available on news stands now and via digital subscription. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook 

Opinions and Observations: Barrios-Garcia

In the opening seconds of Saturday's Mario Barrios-Ryan Garcia welterweight title fight, Garcia, the noted left-hooker, uncorked two menacing lead right hands to drop Barrios. Throughout his career, Garcia had often been so left-hand dominant that he had fights where his right hand was just an unnecessary appendage to his body. But there he was on Saturday, not just throwing rights, but delivering them with spite and confidence. 

While many of us might have been shocked by how Garcia started the fight, Barrios’ trainer, Joe Goossen, who used to work with Garcia, wasn't one of them. During the DAZN broadcast, Chris Mannix asked Goossen about Garcia's lead rights and Goossen said that he had expected Garcia to come out leading with them, that Garcia would think that he was springing the element of surprise. Furthermore, Goossen stated that he had prepared Barrios for such a scenario. 

As for further confirmation, when Mannix asked Barrios after the fight, which Garcia won by a wide decision, if Garcia's right hands surprised him, Barrios reiterated that he had prepared for those shots in camp. 

Garcia (left) in a dominant position
Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

These telling exchanges illustrate Garcia's skillset. Despite an opponent preparing for what's coming, Garcia could still land, and with devastating consequences. 

A similar scenario occurred during Garcia's win over Devin Haney, which was changed to a no-contest after Garcia failed a post-fight drug test. In that fight, Haney was well-aware of Garcia's prowess with his left hook. Just like the Barrios bout, within the first round Haney was hurt badly by the punch; he was subsequently dropped by left hooks several times in the fight. 

Garcia has demonstrated throughout his career that when he's on, it may not matter what an opponent can do defensively; Garcia's speed, power and delivery system can be that impressive. 

But there is also another factor in play. An early knockdown can spook an opponent, leading to inaction or forcing him to make subsequent mistakes. This same dynamic played out in Garcia's previous fight, a loss against Rolly Romero. In that bout, Garcia was dropped early by a left hook and for the rest of the fight he was unable to let his hands go. He was so bothered by Rolly's left hook that he kept his best weapon, his own left hook, holstered. 

On Saturday, Garcia's knockdown led to a deer-in-the-headlights performance from Barrios. Instead of being aggressive or using angles to attack, he stood, compliantly, at mid-range, waiting for Garcia to do something. Barrios isn't a natural counterpuncher and yet he was so concerned with what might come back at him that he was reluctant to initiate. 

There were other issues with Barrios as well. A telling sequence during the ninth round highlighted a major weakness in his game. At that point in the fight, Barrios already needed a knockout to win, and this had been explicitly relayed to him by Goossen in his corner. During the round, Barrios had one of his rare successful forays on the inside, where he landed several body shots. But instead of staying in close and continuing to fire off power punches, he decided to leave the pocket, go back to mid-range, and reset. 

That sequence would have been perfectly acceptable in the first round of a fight, where he got some work done and then got out of range to take a breather. But in the ninth round, after being way down on the cards, this is where he needed to pounce on Garcia. But Barrios refused to engage in that type of fight. 

Even when the mid-range wasn't working, Barrios still retreated to that distance. Essentially, he didn't have enough in his toolbox to try to win a fight another way. The situation called for Barrios to rough Garcia up, to riddle his body, to try to make it a dogfight. That would have been his only chance at that point of the fight, but Barrios couldn't or wouldn't do it. 

Garcia celebrates the victory
Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

With the win, Garcia earned his first world title. And it's worth noting that this performance was far more than just an early-round surprise: it was a comprehensive victory. He looked as good as he ever has at the world-level, with significant improvements in punch variety, defense and conditioning. 

Garcia's career has been anything but a linear progression. Despite a 25-2 record as a pro, he's had several poor performances, a knockout loss, fights where he was left hook-or-bust, bouts where his work rate was abominable, instances where his defensive mistakes and poor footwork would make even novices cringe. So often his occasional flashes of power and hand speed have saved him in fights. But Saturday was something different; he had almost everything working. 

For the first time in what seemed like ages, Garcia unleashed his full punch arsenal, which included lead right hands, right uppercuts, hooks to the head and body, and jabs. Garcia's defense was also not a liability. He didn't get hit with too many naked shots and one would have to strain very hard to think of a signature punch that Barrios landed in the fight. 

For this fight Ryan reunited with his father, Henry, to be his lead trainer. And Henry made a lasting impact. He had Ryan working throughout the match. Garcia contested every round and didn't take any of those prolonged breaks that have plagued him in the past. He was switched on all fight and wasn't lazy with his offense. 

Although it's true that Barrios didn't offer much on Saturday, it's also true that Garcia demonstrated that he was levels above a reigning beltholder. There will be tougher matches to come for Garcia, but for now he has reminded the boxing world, and himself, that when he's right, both physically and mentally, he's a real threat in the upper reaches of the sport. Saturday was a great step forward for Garcia's career and earned him millions more for his upcoming fights against his pick of opponents. A comprehensive victory indeed!  

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

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