A Virtuoso Performance
An edited version of this article was published on TheFightCity.com on July 29th, 2023: https://www.thefightcity.com/spence-vs-crawford-virtuoso-performance-boxing/
When the chips are down, great fighters step up and do great things. In the biggest fight of his life, in front of an electrified crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Terence Crawford showed up and produced a masterclass performance that will define his legacy. On paper, the Spence-Crawford superfight looked like a 50/50 contest. But in the event, Crawford proved to be a level above, completely dominating his rival and winning by ninth-round stoppage, to become the undisputed welterweight champion.
Fight Report: Naoya Inoue vs. Nonito Donaire II
An edited version of this article was published on TheFightCity.com on June 7th, 2022: https://www.thefightcity.com/fight-report-inoue-vs-donaire-ii-boxing/
Recent months have seen the debate over boxing’s pound-for-pound best blown wide open. Whatever your opinion on the value of such lists, the fact that a good case can be made for several fighters to occupy the top spot of the rankings is surely a testament to the current health of the sport. And one thing is for certain: any discussion of boxing’s elite that does not include Naoya Inoue should not be taken seriously.
Fury vs. Wilder III: Fight Report
An edited version of this article was published on TheFightCity.com on 10th October, 2021: https://www.thefightcity.com/fight-report-fury-vs-wilder-iii-boxing/
When a world heavyweight title fight delivers all it promises to be, the drama is unparalleled. There have been great heavyweight trilogies in the past: together, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier carved their names into history during the sport’s golden era, and more recently Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe fought three epic battles in the 1990s. It is no exaggeration to say that Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder’s trilogy, and the instant classic they delivered last night, will sit alongside these and so many other great rivalries of the past. You really couldn’t ask for more, or expect two men to give more of themselves, in a boxing match. Read more
Pacquiao vs. Ugas: Fight Report
An edited version of this article was published on TheFightCity.com on 22nd August, 2021: https://www.thefightcity.com/fight-report-pacquiao-vs-ugas-boxing/
The well had to run dry sooner or later. Finally, for Manny Pacquiao, it did. The Filipino great made all the right noises and looked the part in the gym in the lead up to his latest PPV headline event, but under the lights where it mattered the body could no longer go where the mind willed it to be.
Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano: Fight Report
An edited version of this article was originally published on TheFightCity.com on 18th July, 2021: https://www.thefightcity.com/fight-report-charlo-vs-castano-boxing/
Undisputed champions are a rarity in boxing, and the feat is only getting harder to accomplish with the proliferation of titles. After Bernard Hopkins became the first man to unify boxing’s “Big Four” sanctioning belts in 2004 and Jermain Taylor’s brief stint following Hopkins, we had to wait 12 long years before another fighter achieved the same status. Since 2017 we’ve been treated to a relative deluge of four-belt mega fights though, as first Terence Crawford, then Oleksandr Usyk, Teofimo Lopez (the WBC Franchise nonsense notwithstanding), and Josh Taylor were each crowned as undisputed kings of their division.
Matt O'Brien
Boxing Philosophy 