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 

The Promise of Moses Itauma

Let's get a few things out of the way first. I'm not someone who often falls in love with prospects. I'm a skeptic who notices flaws, even in supposed "can't-miss" talents. I recognize that there's a long road between potential and actually achieving greatness in the ring. There are too many examples of phenoms flaming out or even achieving a certain level of success but falling short of the expectations placed upon them.  

Since I've been writing about boxing in 2011, there are two prospects who have stood out to me as being head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of young talent: Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez and Junto Nakatani. And I'm happy to report that both of these young fighters are now squarely in almost every credible pound-for-pound list in the sport; that's where they belong. 

So, on one hand I'll give myself credit for perceiving their elite talent level before many others did. But if we're keeping it real, in the decade prior, one of the absolute best prospects I saw was Juan Manuel Lopez. Now Lopez was in no way a bust. He was a long-time featherweight champion, but much more was expected of him. However good he may have looked at times in the ring, he couldn't outrun the damage that he was doing to his body outside of it, blowing up between fights sometimes 40 or 50 pounds. Hey, nobody bats 1,000. 

To reiterate, it's not good to fall in love with prospects. But we still have eyes. And it's hard, even as an experienced boxing enthusiast, to completely divorce emotion from observation. So, with this all said, I have realized, despite my better judgement, that it's time to make another bold declaration: 

Moses Itauma is the best heavyweight prospect I've seen in the past 20 years. 

Photo courtesy of Mikey Williams/Top Rank

As I'm typing this, Itauma, just 20 years old, is 12-0 with 10 knockouts. Later this month he faces his first real step up, against former title challenger Dillian Whyte. At 37, Whyte is certainly past his absolute best, but he still packs a heavy punch and despite Itauma's meteoric rise in the sport (this fight is headlining a Riyadh Season card with far more seasoned fighters lower on the bill), we still don't know if Itauma can take a good shot. So, it's certainly possible that within a month of my making such a pronouncement that I could wind up with egg on my face in short order. And I'm prepared for such a meal, as long as it's egg whites. 

In watching Itauma, I find myself in disbelief that he's only 20. He fights like he's 10 years older, not that he lacks a young man's athleticism but because he has a veteran's poise. He's not rushing his work. He doesn't lose his shape after he has a guy hurt. He takes it all in stride with a devastating destructiveness. 

A southpaw from Britain, he's already sparred with a who's who of heavyweights, including Daniel Dubois, Jospeh Parker, Joe Joyce and Lawrence Okolie. Now trained by Ben Davison, Itauma has also worked with Shane McGuigan and of course the vaunted Team GB amateur system, where he won world and European youth championships. 

At his tender age, he already possesses a variety of knockout weapons, including a straight left hand, a right hook and a left uppercut. As a well-rounded fighter, he goes to the body with regularity and can throw punches in combination. 

Another thing that really catches my eye is his movement. I wouldn't call him a speed demon by any means, but his footwork is terrific. It's purposeful. He gets in perfect position to throw or receive shots. He doesn't lean over his front foot when he punches. He's not swinging wildly. He isn't loading up on shots. He knows that if he hits a fighter squarely and with the right punches, that he has more than enough power to end things. 

Itauma making short order of another opponent
Photo courtesy of Mikey Williams/Top Rank

I also like his physical dimensions for the heavyweight division. At 6'4" and 240 or so lbs., he's big enough to compete with the giants in the division, but not too big to be at a disadvantage against the smaller guys who can really move. He seems to split the difference physically between a Fury and an Usyk. 

There is still a lot to learn about Itauma. I realize that greatness is not built on the backs of beating guys like Mike Balogun, Demsey McKean and Mariusz Wach. We need to see more. Maybe Whyte will provide some useful information about Itauma's defense or recuperative powers. But maybe he will also wind up as another inevitability on Itauma's march to the top. 

As we watch boxing week after week, year after year, we are always on the lookout for something different, something special, something that moves us. And I have seen such a fighter in Itauma. At 20 he already has so much figured out, and this is in a division where it's common for the top guy to be in his mid-30s. I'm along for the Moses Itauma ride. I'm a believer. I've gotten my first-class tickets. 

But ultimately, what matters is not about "thinking" something; it's about knowing it. It's about the whole boxing world knowing it. This is Moses Itauma's mission should he choose to accept it. Will he be the next great heavyweight? Will he be something even more than that? I'm riveted.  

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: Usyk-Dubois 2

I have a theory about Oleksandr Usyk's heavyweight campaign: he's as good as he needs to be. Most of his fights have been competitive on the scorecards. Chisora ran him close. The Fury fights featured intense two-way combat. Even Anthony Joshua had stretches of good rounds in the middle parts of both fights. To my eyes, Usyk deserved to win all of those fights, but I never had a feeling of outright domination, or that he absolutely needed a stoppage to win. 

Usyk first fought Daniel Dubois almost two years ago. And with the exception of Dubois landing a crushing body punch that may or may not have been low, the fight was uneventful. Usyk eventually made Dubois take a knee in the ninth round to end the fight. Dubois didn't absorb a life-changing beating in that fight, but he couldn't handle Usyk's pressure and cerebral approach. Dubois spent so much of the fight staring at Usyk, waiting, unable to act. 

But Dubois came roaring back with stoppage wins over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, picking up a share of the heavyweight title in the process (Usyk had relinquished that particular belt). Entering Saturday's rematch with Usyk, a fight for undisputed status at heavyweight, Dubois had every reason to feel more confident in the ring. 

Usyk posing after victory
Photo courtesy of Queensberry Promotions

Almost immediately it was clear that the rematch would be far different than their first fight. Where Dubois was practically paralyzed by Usyk's mesmeric footwork in their first outing, on Saturday, he went hunting for him. He was going to lead with power shots. He wanted to flush Usyk out of the center of the ring and let his big hands do the talking. 

And while Saturday's fight only lasted five rounds, the reason that Usyk had to sit down more on his power shots is because Dubois forced him to. Dubois was landing hard right hands, Usyk needed to return the favor with left hand counters, notably at the end of the second round and in the last minute of the third. 

In the final sequences of the fight on Saturday, Dubois had Usyk close to the ropes and was charging forward behind right hands. Usyk then uncorked a menacing counter right hook to the top of Dubois' head for the first knockdown of the fight. Upon beating the count, Dubois wasn't interested in taking a step back to regroup. Within seconds, a wild exchange ensued with both guys throwing big shots. Usyk evaded a right hand and with Dubois out of position, he unfurled a vicious rear left hook. Fight over. 

Over two fights, Usyk has proven that he has mastered Dubois in the ring. However, he really needed to dig into his bag of trick to get there on Saturday. For instance, in many of Usyk's heavyweight fights, he rarely featured his right hook. Yet on Saturday, this punch was required. And it wasn't because he was just having fun in the ring; he had to neutralize a charging, confident Dubois. 

Usyk so often has won at heavyweight by hunting and pecking, a jab here, a touch left hand there. His punches weren't always thrown with spite or malice. But on Saturday, Usyk dispensed with pleasantries. He understood this wouldn't be a fight won by cute ring generalship, angles, and feints. No, here he needed thunder. And he produced it. 

I think that Usyk answered any final lingering questions about him as a heavyweight on Saturday. He has more than enough power to get the job done. And more specifically, he's not afraid of using that power, of going for it. Saturday's victory was not one of guile. He won a mano-a-mano battle with one of the biggest punchers in the heavyweight division. He had the better accuracy and the larger punch variety when it counted. The final punch was also a perfect encapsulation of Usyk's skill in the ring. He made Dubois miss by evasive maneuvers and then ended things with a rear hook. He didn't doubt if that was the right punch at the right time; he threw it with maximum ferocity. 

Usyk's journey through cruiserweight and heavyweight has been a thrilling ride of triumph over different styles. He's beaten huge punchers (Gassiev, Joshua, Dubois), technical boxers (Hunter, Briedis, Fury), and awkward guys with power (Glowacki, Huck). He's had fights where he's led wire-to-wire, where he was down and needed to come on strong in the second half, and where he needed to change the direction of the fight after ceding control. What remains is 24-0 with 15 knockouts, and more importantly, 13-0 in world championship fights. 

I've probably run out of superlatives regarding Usyk. I've written at length about his intestinal fortitude, his self-belief, his technical skills, his supreme ring IQ, and other factors. But it was nice to see him slug it out on Saturday, to remind everyone that he's much more than technical wizardry. Along with his superior set of skills, he can get nasty. And it was a great lesson to those who think bull rushing Usyk is the way to go. If he is threatened, his self-preservation will kick in, and that's not going to wind up well for the opponent. There's a reason why Fury and Joshua didn't want to stir this beast with frenetic action. They saw what could happen, even if they chose not to articulate it in interviews. They were more measured. They made it 12. Dubois ignored the warnings. He got splattered.

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: Joshua-Dubois

Daniel Dubois entered the ring on Saturday determined to put Anthony Joshua on the defensive. In a bold strategic shift from his past notable fights, Dubois immediately pressed the action. He didn't just dip his toe in the water; there was no feeling out process. He marched forward behind his jab and power punches.  

Dubois and his trainer Don Charles prepared a game plan that sought to exploit Joshua's potential weaknesses and minimize Dubois' own shortcomings. Joshua had often started fights cautiously; that could be taken advantage of. In addition, Dubois hadn't fared well when he had started with caution. Before aligning with Charles, Dubois had been dropped by Kevin Lerena in the first round, picked apart by Oleksandr Usyk early in their fight and struggled at mid-range with Joe Joyce's jab. Even in recent victories with Charles in the corner, he had been outhustled by Jarrell Miller in the early rounds and he had absorbed dozens of big right hands by Filip Hrgovic. 

Dubois (standing) knocking down Joshua
Photo courtesy of Mark Robinson (Matchroom)

Thus, Charles and Dubois selected a bold strategy on Saturday: they would go right at Anthony Joshua, despite AJ's considerable heavyweight power. They were determined for Dubois to make his own luck; there was no use waiting around for something bad to happen. And the gambit was immediately effective. By the end of the first round, Dubois had knocked down Joshua with a whipping right hand. Joshua was hurt badly and was never the same during the rest of the fight.  

Ultimately Dubois would stop Joshua in the fifth round, scoring four knockdowns in the fight, including a pulverizing left during a combination in the third round and a counter right hook in the fifth that ended the match.  

That Dubois won as a sizable underdog was shocking enough, but how he went about it – bludgeoning Joshua over five rounds, a comprehensive beating – was something more; it was startling and thrilling. Joshua had been beaten before, but no one had wiped the floor with him like this. Even the great Usyk couldn't get him on the canvas. Remember, in Joshua's prior knockout loss to Andy Ruiz, it was Joshua who had scored the first knockdown in the fight.  

And for whatever criticisms that one could levy on Joshua during the fight, it was Dubois who forced those shortcomings to manifest. If Dubois hadn't been determined to counter Joshua's jab with hard right hands, then Joshua may have gotten away with throwing a lazy jab early in the fight. If Dubois didn't insist on pushing the pace in the fight, then Joshua's ponderous movement may have been far less of a problem. 

Furthermore, by the end of the first, Joshua was already a diminished fighter. The hard right hand that had dropped him had caused serious damage. And his body started to give out by the third round after the right uppercut/left hand combination just before the knockdown.  

It's certainly possible that if Joshua was given time to establish his preferred work rate and distance that the fight could have worked out in his favor. But Dubois never allowed him to have any comfort in the fight. Even during Joshua's best moments in the fight, the hard right hands in the fifth round, it took only one more big shot for Dubois to end the match. That's how damaged Joshua was. He could not beat the count in the fifth; he had taken too much punishment.  

There are lots of other notable aspects about Dubois' performance: the crispness of his jab; his varied punch arsenal that included left hooks, right uppercuts, and straight and looping right hands; his ability to defend himself against Joshua's jab. But ultimately, what won him the fight for me was the boldness of his gameplan and his execution of it. Yes, he was much sharper defensively than in previous fights. Yes, his countering ability has improved tremendously under Charles (this was their fourth fight together). And all of that is fine and dandy. But it was the belief that was most important to me. This was a young fighter who had finally overcome his losses, who now had the confidence to perform at his highest level.  

Through Dubois' defeats and comeback fights, he had learned a lot about himself. He realized that he could take big punches. Against Miller and Hrgovic, he now grasped that he had the chin and the power to win firefights. And even more importantly, he now knew that he could reverse the tide in a fight. Even if he was losing or getting hit with big shots, that didn't mean the fight was forever lost.  

Whereas Dubois was unwilling to sell out for the win after hurting Usyk (low blow or not), against Joshua, Dubois would not be denied. This was his moment. He was going to step on the gas and not let the opportunity fall through his fingers. And even when Joshua had success in the fifth, Dubois was still thinking about offense, how to place that one final blow. He wasn't spooked by Joshua's big punches. Ultimately, he realized that they presented him with an opportunity, and he took it! 

Dubois after the victory
Photo courtesy of Mark Robinson (Matchroom)

The unlikely story of Dubois' rise in boxing is a reminder that fighters can make significant improvements after losses, even knockouts. Dubois made wholesale changes after his second defeat. He improved technically with his punching form and his defense. But most importantly, he had matured in the ring psychologically. He could now deal with duress. He wasn't afraid of a big shot. He had the confidence to overcome scary moments. He believed in his power and ability.  

Dubois ultimately emerged from those dark places as a better version of himself in the ring. But he had been willing to do the work. He had reflected on what had caused him to fall short and he let this evaluation process lead him to new paths in his career.  

The effect of these changes was evident on Saturday He would no longer be intimidated by who was across the ring from him. He would not allow his opponents too much respect. He would keep his poise. Finally...he belonged.

And in the see-saw of Anthony Joshua's career (and let's not dismiss the chance of another comeback from him), AJ was once again on Saturday at the bottom. It was one of those fights where it all went wrong for him. He never had a chance to establish a rhythm or work his way into the fight. His opponent had outthought and outfought him.  

Although Joshua had looked good in his recent fights with trainer Ben Davison, he had predictable patterns in his career when facing punchers. He didn't like to be pressed early in fights and he didn't want to be in firefights. He liked control. And he had not been ready to assert his control in round one against Dubois. He had expected Dubois to be more cautious, that they would both see their way into the fight. And his whole team was unprepared for what followed. 

I keep going back to the "making your own luck" concept. This was the key to the fight for me. By being assertive from the opening bell, Dubois never allowed Joshua to gain a foothold. But Dubois had laid the groundwork for his success years earlier. He assessed his problems objectively. He found solutions. As a result, he was able to ascend to a new level physically, technically, and emotionally in the ring. He had manifested these changes. Against Joshua, he was now ready for anyone in the heavyweight division. And he proved it.  

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

He's a contributing writer for Ring Magazine, 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  

Notes from the 5x5 Card

Daniel Dubois faced significant adversity in Saturday's fight against Filip Hrgovic. In the early rounds of the match, he repeatedly was rocked by Hrgovic's right hand. And these were not love taps; Hrgovic was launching missiles at Dubois' head. But unlike his performance against Oleksandr Usyk, Dubois refused to yield on Saturday. He kept firing. As the fight progressed, it was Dubois' right hand that caused the real damage. He opened cuts over both of Hrgovic's eyes. And the fight was eventually stopped due to the cuts in the eighth round, giving Dubois an impressive come-from-behind stoppage.  

Perhaps no fighter elevated his stock in the Riyadh Season cards more than Dubois. He scored stoppage wins against the durable Jarrell Miller in a firefight and now against Hrgovic. Not long ago Dubois was thought to be pretty close to a never-was. Although he had always possessed heavyweight power and had an ideal physical build for the division, he was missing self-belief and the ability to handle adversity. 

Dubois (right) taking the fight to Hrgovic
Photo courtesy of Mark Robinson/Matchroom Sport

Dubois now knows that he has the tools and power to turn around a fight. This self-belief has been a welcome development in his career. His defense is still so poor that one wonders how long his chin will hold up, but as long as it does, he will be a legitimate threat in the heavyweight division, and a possible titleholder depending on future matchups.  

As for Hrgovic, he turned in a poor performance on multiple levels. In his 2022 shootout with Zhilei Zhang, Hrgovic moved all around the ring to stave off Zhang's threat. But against Dubois, Hrgovic felt no need to use his legs. He was hitting Dubois so easily and with such thunder that he fought like he expected Dubois to drop at any minute. As a result, Hrgovic stayed in range and saw no reason to use any evasive tactics against Dubois. Consequently, he took several huge bombs that led to the cuts.  

Furthermore, Hrgovic was so content to land the right hand that he felt little need to incorporate other aspects of his offensive arsenal. He didn't realize that Dubois was taking the shots without too many problems and had adjusted to their power. Hrgovic threw few combinations and there were scant left hooks or uppercuts at any time. There is a school of thought that says don't change if something is working, but Dubois was increasingly gaining confidence and having his own success. By the time the seventh round had ended, Hrgovic looked like a truck had hit him. He fought like he didn't respect Dubois' abilities in the ring, but the last laugh was on him.  

*** 

Years from now, it's possible that Hamzah Sheeraz's 11th-round TKO victory over Austin Williams will be a mere footnote in an illustrious career. Sheeraz certainly looks like he has the ability to do great things in the sport. But make no mistake; Sheeraz faced a lot of challenges in this fight, and he overcame them with aplomb. Williams tried to bomb Sheeraz from distance early in the fight and landed a terrific straight left hand in the first round that shook Sheeraz. Later in the fight, Williams tried to rough up Sheeraz on the inside and had periods of success with this approach.   

Despite Williams having several good moments in the fight, Sheeraz ultimately picked him apart at every range. Using his sledgehammer jab and his massive reach, Sheeraz controlled Williams from the outside. On the inside, Sheeraz landed blistering uppercuts that made Williams reconsider his decision to come forward. On numerous occasions, Sheeraz tagged Williams with hard right-hand counters as Williams was trying to get out of the pocket. Sheeraz also displayed a nasty straight right hand that had pinpoint accuracy.  

Sheeraz looks to be a good bet to win a title at middleweight. And with his 6'3" frame, he might have success in multiple weight classes before his career is done. I still think that there are some holes in his defense, especially in tracking shots from long range, but if he uses his height and reach well, he can minimize that issue as he progresses in the sport. I think that a fighter like Wladimir Klitschko had a similar issue. But Wlad would also become one of the longest-reigning champions in the division's history. Sheeraz is an offensive juggernaut. And if he sticks to his strengths and continues to master fighting tall, he could have a wonderful future in the sport. But be aware of long-range bombers. There aren't many out there, but they lurk.   

*** 

In a fight where little happened in the first four rounds, the fifth round between Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang was certainly consequential. Wilder started to unleash menacing right hands, the types of punches that have knocked out dozens of opponents.  

But in a matter of seconds all of that ended. As Wilder threw a right, Zhang countered with a lightning-quick right hook that spun Wilder around. Seizing the moment, Zhang delivered a Howitzer of a right hook as Wilder was defenseless, sending him down for a hard knockdown. Although Wilder beat the count, referee Kieran McCann saw how damaged Wilder was and waved off the fight. 

Zhang dropping Wilder with his right hook
Photo courtesy of Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

As Riyadh Season has been great for Dubois, it's been terrible for Wilder, who in his previous fight lost a wide decision against Joseph Parker. His performance was so poor in that fight that many boxing observers (and Wilder himself!) questioned if he still had the fire and drive needed to compete at the highest levels of the sport. Saturday showed further signs of aging for Wilder. There were so many moments where he pawed Zhang with his jab and had him perfectly lined up for a right hand, but he wouldn't pull the trigger. When he finally did in the fifth round, he was beaten to the punch by a 41-year-old opponent.  

Riyadh Season was a mixed bag for Zhang. Although he knocked down Parker in his last fight twice, he threw few punches throughout large stretches of the bout. He wouldn't let his hands go with regularity and was simply outworked. Against Wilder, he was marginally busier. And when he did have his moment, he pounced on it, which hasn't always been the case in his career. 

Zhang remains a huge threat to any heavyweight who wants to stand in front of him. However, the blueprint to beating him is out there. He lacks the foot speed and stamina to go hard for 12 rounds. But if a fighter wants to slug it out, he'd like his chances against anyone. 

*** 

Coming off a memorable 12th-round stoppage victory over Otabek Kholmatov in a Fight of the Year contender, featherweight champion Raymond Ford started Saturday's fight with little of the fire he displayed in his previous bout. He was repeatedly beaten to the punch by Nick Ball early in the fight. And although Ford seemingly possessed an advantage in athleticism, he declined to use it. Instead, he decided to trade with Ball in the pocket.  

Now there are two possible explanations for Ford's sluggish start. He had previously talked about moving up to 130 lbs., yet he stayed at 126 for this fight because of the opportunity. And he certainly fought like a guy who didn't have a great training camp. But I also believe that there is another explanation for his early-round performance: he fell in love with his power. Ford didn't jab much early in the fight. Instead, he tried to bomb Ball out of the fight with left hands. Now Ford is many things in the ring, but he's not really a knockout puncher (just 8 knockouts in 16 fights). Unfortunately for Ford, Ball has a terrific chin AND he wanted to work much more than Ford did. With Ford tethered to the pocket, Ball landed all sorts of eye-catching power shots. 

Ball's (left) aggression gave Ford problems
Photo courtesy of Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

In the second half of the fight, Ford found a perfect synthesis for success. Using his legs more to create angles but continuing to focus on power shots, he pasted Ball frequently with crushing single shots and combinations. Ford demonstrated how advanced he is with his left hand, pulverizing Ball with straight lefts to the head and body and lighting him up with several breathtaking uppercuts.  

The 12th round was one to savor as both went at it with full fire. Although Ball had dropped most of the latter rounds of the fight, he gave everything he had in the final frame and scored with some terrific sequences of power punches. And yet Ford had his own spectacular moments in the round, landing crushing uppercuts and straight lefts. 

Ultimately, Ball won a split decision with two of the judges giving him seven rounds while Ford won seven rounds on the other card. It was a tale of two halves, with a couple of swing rounds that made the judges' scorecards defensible. Ball is now a world champion and although Ford left a lot to be desired in the first half of the fight, he demonstrated his world-class ability in the latter rounds. He has a real chance to win a title at 130 lbs.  

*** 

It's unusual to see a 33-year-old undefeated champion add a lot to his repertoire at such a late stage of his career. Yet Dmitry Bivol took the opportunity of a tune-up fight with Malik Zinad to feature several new additions in his toolbox. We are so used to seeing Bivol use lateral movement and quick feet to be evasive, but Bivol fought Zinad as a walk-down pressure fighter. 

Bivol almost never stopped coming forward. When Zinad unloaded with power punches, Bivol didn't take a quick step back as has usually been his custom throughout his career. No, he held his ground and took most of the punches off his arms or gloves. This was not Bivol's traditional defense, and yet he was having a lot of success with it. At one point, Zinad had landed only 14% of his punches, a very low percentage, and in line with most of Bivol's opponents.  

I kept thinking when watching Bivol fight on Saturday that he had been studying an opponent whom he had recently beaten: Canelo, who may be among the best in the sport in taking shots on his arms while refusing to give up ground on his way in. I wouldn't put it past Bivol. He's a student of the sport. What's even more interesting is that it's unlikely that Bivol would want to fight in this style against his next opponent, unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, who is one of the best come-forward fighters in the sport. So, let's just chalk up Saturday's performance to Bivol working on new things, and somehow also showing a mastery of them. Oh, by the way, he won by sixth round stoppage (also not a traditional Bivol thing!).  

*** 

Saturday's card began with an English light heavyweight showdown between Willy Hutchinson and Craig Richards, who performed well in a loss to Bivol in 2021. Hutchinson didn't have Richards' resume, but he had self-belief, youth, and an aggressive style. Throughout the first half of the fight, Hutchinson dominated with power and craft. Switching stances frequently, Hutchinson hit Richards with everything in his arsenal.  

It wasn't truly a fight until the last half. Hutchinson started to tire and Richards, as often his custom, belatedly let his hands go. Although Richards wound up not winning many rounds in the fight, he did land several bombs in the late rounds. Hutchinson, who had never been past seven as a pro prior to Saturday, had to deal with fatigue, an opponent who could take his punches, and navigating through some scary moments in the ring.  

But he did. By the 12th Hutchinson had steadied the ship and he wound up winning a wide unanimous decision. Hutchinson doesn't yet look like a 12-round fighter to me, but he's still just 25 and this experience should do him a world of good. Like many power punchers, he never really had to learn to pace himself because he was blowing opponents out in the early rounds. But if he wants to complete his matriculation in boxing, that will be his crucial final step in being a serious contender at light heavyweight. Despite his gas tank issue, it was a solid performance. He took advantage of the global stage and announced that he's a player in the division. He has fire in both hands and he's ready to go!  

And now we are as well.  

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

He's a contributing writer for Ring Magazine, 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