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Joshua-Helenius may be a Dud, but Heavyweight Boxing is in a Very Perky Phase

Anthony Joshua vs Robert Helenius isn’t the sort of match-up that gets the juices flowing, but it sets the table for a deep run of interesting heavyweight fights over the next six weeks.
When Saturday arrives, Oleksandr Usyk’s defense against Daniel Dubois will be only two weeks away. Usyk and Dubois will be locking horns at a soccer stadium in Wroclaw, a city of about 675,000 in the Silesia region of Poland.
As a pro, Usyk has answered the bell for 168 rounds spread across 20 fights. Remarkably considering his relatively brief career, the Ukrainian southpaw has already captured seven of the eight meaningful belts in boxing’s two highest weight classes. His IBF, WBA, and WBO heavyweight belts will be at risk against Dubois. Tyson Fury owns the missing piece.
The odds suggest that Usyk will have little difficulty retaining his diadems. A quick glance at the prevailing prices informs us that he is anywhere from a 9/1 to a 16/1 favorite.
Believe it or not, however, if this match had been made four years ago, Daniel Dubois would have been installed the favorite. In those days, the six-foot-five Brit was spoken of in the same hushed tones that people talk about Jared Anderson today. He was the Next Big Thing. At this juncture, Usyk had just ripened into a heavyweight.
Dubois has lost only once since bombing out countryman Nathan Gorman in a fascinating crossroads match-up between two unbeaten boxers with contrasting styles. But that defeat, at the hands of Joe Joyce in November of 2020, eroded his stature enormously. Dubois was counted out on his knees in the tenth frame after taking yet another stiff jab on his damaged left eye.
Dubois went on to score a fourth-round stoppage of Don King’s heavyweight hopeful Trevor Bryan in Miami, Florida. Although Bryan wasn’t highly regarded, he held a version of a WBA world title (don’t we all?) and came in undefeated. In his most recent bout, he rallied from the brink of defeat to score a third-round stoppage of South Africa’s Kevin Lerena who punched himself out after putting Dubois on the deck three times in the opening round.
In that bout, Dubois, now 19-1 (18 KOs), was befuddled by Lerena’s southpaw-ness. The fact that Usyk is also a lefty factored large in setting the odds for this fight. The venue also favors Usyk. Wroclaw is home to many transplanted Ukrainians, it’s no coincidence that this fight is being staged two days after Ukrainian Independence Day, and it’s worth noting that Usyk won his first title in this country, snatching the WBO cruiserweight belt from Krzyzstof Glowacki in Gdansk.
Nevertheless, Dubois, who will have a two-inch height advantage and in the vicinity of a 20-pound weight advantage, may have more than a puncher’s chance.
Interestingly, a Ukrainian was the “villain” in the lone previous heavyweight title fight held at this venue. WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko and Tomasz Adamek baptized this stadium in the icebreaker event in 2011. Adamek, a native Pole and a national hero, was making his seventh start as a heavyweight after winning world titles at 175 and 200. To the great dismay of the crowd (purportedly 42,000), Klitschko stopped him in the tenth round.
Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce.
Four weeks after Usyk-Dubois, on Sept. 23, Zhilei Zhang and Joe Joyce will renew acquaintances at London’s Wembley Stadium. In the first meeting of these former Olympic silver medalists, Zhang scored a sixth-round stoppage. When the bout was called off at the behest of the ringside physician, the towering Chinaman was ahead on the cards and Joyce’s right eye was nearly closed. This was a big upset. Although Zhang had lost only once in 26 starts, and was competitive in defeat against a daunting foe in Filip Hrgovic, Joyce was a 6/1 favorite in man-to-man betting.
Since that encounter, Zhang turned 40, but “The Juggernaut,” at age 37, is no spring chicken himself. The rematch has already attracted heavy betting action with most of it on Zhang and if the odds hold up, he will go to post a small favorite. It’s a very intriguing fight.
Up-and-Comers
For fans of heavyweight boxing, the last Saturday of this month will be a real treat. In addition to Usyk-Dubois, some of the division’s top up-and-comers will be in action on a Top Rank show in Tulsa. The events will not overlap. Both cards will air in the U.S. on ESPN platforms.
Headlining the Top Rank card will be the aforementioned Jared Anderson (15-0, 14 KOs), who is matched against 39-year-old Ukrainian veteran Andrei Rudenko (35-6, 21 KOs). Rudenko has gone the distance with the likes of Alexander Povetkin and Zhilei Zhang, but is 4-4 in his last eight with those four wins coming against opponents who were collectively 21-34-4 at the time that he fought them.
In his last outing, Anderson was forced to go the distance for the first time in his career by late sub “Prince” Charles Martin. Rudenko brings less to the table than Martin and we would be surprised if he is still standing at the final bell.
Two other heavyweight fights are far more intriguing. In the co-feature, a 10-rounder, Efe Ajagba (17-1, 13 KOs) touches gloves with Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs). The six-foot-six, 29-year-old Ajagba has won two straight since getting out-boxed by Cuba’s Frank Sanchez on the undercard of Fury-Wilder III. Kazakhstan’s Kossobutskiy, 34, is making his North American debut. One doesn’t know what to expect from him, but he comes highly recommended.
The card also includes Olympic gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov, a recent Top Rank signee.

Bahhodir Jalolov
Jalolov, a 29-year-old Uzbek southpaw with a 12-0 (12 KOs) record in the paid ranks, is arguably the best of the up-and-coming heavyweights not named Jared Anderson. He’s matched against Nigeria’s Onoriode Ehwarieme (20-2, 19 KOs), a Kossobutskiy victim. The bout between these six-foot-seven Goliaths, slated for eight, figures to be over in a hurry, so don’t blink.
Jalolov’s most talked-about triumph came in his amateur days, a frightening one-punch knockout of Richard Torrez Jr in Ekaterinburg, Russia. They met again in the gold medal round of the Tokyo Olympiad. Jalolov won a unanimous decision.
And speaking of Torrez Jr, the pride of Tulare, California, he returns to the ring this weekend (Saturday, Aug. 12) in Glendale, Arizona on a Top Rank show topped by Emanuel Navarrete’s defense of his WBO world featherweight title against former two-division title-holder Oscar Valdez. Torrez Jr opposes 40-year-old Indianapolis southpaw Willie Jake Jr. They were slated to meet on March 25 in Fresno, but Torrez Jr suffered an undisclosed injury in training and was forced to withdraw.
Torrez Jr has looked sensational in his brief pro career. None of his five opponents lasted beyond the third round. He will be part of the main card which airs at 7 pm PT on ESPN with the undercard streaming exclusively on ESPN+ beginning at 3:45 PT.
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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.
It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.
Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.
Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.
Bustillo Wins Rematch
In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.
Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.
Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.
After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.
Other Bouts
In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.
A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.
SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.
It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.
Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.
Co-Feature
In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.
Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.
Other Bouts of Note
The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.
The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.
In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.
Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing
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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.
In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.
In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.
Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”
He meant it as a rhetorical question.
Semi-Windup
Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.
A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.
Also
Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.
In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.
The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.
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