On The Watch ”It’s All About The Ring Magazine Fatal Fury in Times Square”

Ring’s Fatal Fury “City of the Wolves”

Last night’s three-card Fatal Fury in Times Square Main Event brought to us by his Excellency Turki Alashikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment, sadly, did not live up to the “HYPE” created by the unknown and the expected excitement.

The closed-out location at Times Square, the production and the Ring, created a different scene and atmosphere that will forever be remembered but where things went left is with the performances that some of the chosen talent for the night who neglected to perform at their peak form on this historical night. Real talk!

First up on the Main Event night was WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Welterweight Champion Teofimo Lopez (22-1, 13 Kos) defending his Championship Belts against undefeated mandatory challenger Arnold Barboza Jr. (32-1, 11 Kos). Although Barboza earned his way to the mandatory position and talked a good game throughout the build-up, he quickly found out that there are levels to this boxing sh*t and on this night, Lopez produced a dominant performance that will forever haunt Barboza. Lopez outworked, outhustled, outboxed and outgunned Barboza who is a very good boxer but lacked the proper skill set and “game plan” to dethrone the Champ on the night. After 12 one-sided rounds of action, the Judges at hand scored it 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 unanimously for Teofimo Lopez. Well done!

Next up was Devin Haney (32-0, 15 Kos) and Jose Ramirez (29-3, 18 Kos) who met up at a catch weight of 144 Lbs. Haney, who talked a good game during the build-up of the bout failed miserably to capture the hearts of viewers at home and in attendance. Neither combatant pressed the action or threw enough leather to land anything significant. I expected Devin, who hadn’t fought in a year, to come out the gate pumped up and ready for some action but what we got was a shell-shocked safety-first reluctant fighter, who put the viewers and fans in attendance to sleep. Ramirez did himself no favours as well with his own lack of activity. It was a very disappointing performance by both combatants on such a big stage like this. Nevertheless, the Judges at hand called it 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110 unanimously for Devin Haney.

The final bout of the night belonged to Ryan Garcia (24-2, 20 Kos) and Rolando “Rolly” Romero (17-2, 13 Kos) who met up at the Welterweight Division. With “Rolly” being counted out and labeled the underdog, he wasted no time asserting himself and pressed the action to score an impressive second-round knockdown over Garcia that changed the flow of the bout as it progressed. Garcia looked flat and disengaged, unable to pull the trigger on “Rolly” who was calm and disciplined out-boxing Garcia round by round. “Rolly” stuck with the “game plan” and executed it to a “T” and gained mad confidence round by round while Garcia neglected his corner’s instructions and urgency to let his hands go. Although neither combatant threw an abundance of leather, “Rolly” made his presence felt more than none by landing the more telling punches.

After 12 rounds of action, the Judges at hand scored it 118-109, 115-112 and 115-112 unanimously for Rolando “Rolly” Romero. You were counted out and you prevailed and silenced all the naysayers. With this impressive win under your belt, you are now the proud owner of the vacant WBA “Regular” Welterweight Championship Title. Well done Champ and enjoy this well-earned victory

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn”

Middleweight Showdown

Last night’s highly anticipated domestic grudge match between the sons of legends Chris Eubank Sr. and Nigel Benn, IBO Middleweight Champion Chris Eubank Jr. (35-3, 25 Kos) and Conor Benn (23-1, 14 Kos) brought the house down at the sold out 65,000 plus fans who gathered in attendance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

These two warriors did not disappoint when they both stepped foot inside that squared circle. This was a shootout from start to finish where Conor held no punches and went in straight for the kill with his aggressive style looking to pressure Chris into early submission but to no avail. Chris withstood the early onslaught and kept his composure long enough to get his own “game plan” into action.

This was a tougher fight than expected as both combatants threw nuff leather at each other round by round but Chris’ experience prevailed and carried him through the tough challenges ahead.

Conor’s aggressive style was very impressive but could not be sustained for the entire bout as Chris was able to neutralize Conor with a hard and steady active jab. The action definitely picked up as both combatants fought toe-to-toe banging on one another making it that much more entertaining as the rounds progressed, but Chris’ experience with superior opposition showed up last night as he was able to control the later rounds.

Both combatants showed fatigue but fought through it as the adrenalin of being in a sold-out stadium carried them through. Chris’ style and strategy eventually overwhelmed Conor to the point where his own aggressive nonstop output visibly caught Conor off guard as fatigue was seriously settling in on both of them but was visibly more taxing on Conor.

That said, I gotta tip my “B” hat to Conor for bringing the “HEAT” to Chris. Conor came in this bout gunz blazing and went for the kill but after 12 full competitive rounds of action the Judges at hand scored it 116-112 unanimously for Chris Eubank Jr.

Real Talk! Love him or hate him Chris Eubank Jr. was the superior combatant on the night hands down. This was a tough bout but truth be told Chris’ effective punch output in the championship rounds sealed the deal in his favor in my opinion.

This was a glorified street fight inside a squared circle that definitely lived up to the “HYPE”. Congratulations are in order to both combatants for giving us a possible fight of the year candidate. Real Talk!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn”

Middleweight Showdown

The highly anticipated domestic grudge match between IBO Middleweight Champion Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 Kos) and Conor Benn (23-0, 14 Kos) has officially been announced and set to take place on Saturday night April 26, 2025, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Conor has agreed to move up to the middleweight Division where both combatants will meet up to settle their differences once and for all. However, judging by their two press conferences and with Chris cracking an egg on Conor’s face, it’s clear to say that this grudge match has just elevated to a 100% “heat check” at this point.

The respect is clearly out the window for this one. The trash talking between the two combatants has been going on for quite some time and the time is now here for them two warriors to end all talks inside that squared circle.

Chris has a lot at stake for this bout aside from a great payout. At 35 years old, a loss here could see the end of his career in a detrimental way unlike Chris, at 28 years old, and fighting out of his usual welterweight Division, who could always bounce back from a loss and rebuild his career at his natural weight.

That being said, Conor is very strong minded and determined to upset Chris for the sake of his family where his father, Nigel Benn fought Chris Eubank Sr. twice in memorable bouts but failed to secure a victory.

All falls on Conor’s shoulders now and standing in his way is Chris Eubank Jr. who is naturally bigger and in his natural weight Division, will fight his heart out to maintain superiority over the Eubank/Benn saga.

Conor is labelling Chris as a shot fighter at this point in his career while Chris will be out to prove Conor and the naysayers wrong by showing the British fans in attendance and around the world that he’s still got enough in the tank to give Conor his first loss.

This will be very intriguing bout where these two born enemies are guaranteed to shake up that squared circle so tune in live on DAZN Saturday night April 26, 2025, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All about Katie Taylor vs Miriam Gutierrez”

Lightweight Title Defence

In tonight’s Main Event at the SSE Arena, Wembley, London between Undisputed Lightweight IBF/WBC/WBA/WBO Champion Katie Taylor (17-0, 6 Kos) and WBA mandatory challenger Miriam Gutierrez (13-1, 5 Kos) was nothing short of a clinical display of exceptional boxing by the Champion.

Katie asserted herself from round one and never took her foot off the gas. Katie made it clear tonight that she was not in the mood to play around with her opponent. Katie punished Gutierrez with flurries of punches that stung so hard that at times Gutierrez looked puzzled and overwhelmed by Katie’s none-stop pressure.

It was clear as the rounds wore on that Gutierrez was absolutely no match for Katie. However, I got to give it up to Gutierrez for taking her punishment and not giving up on the fight even after hitting the canvas in the fourth round for a quick 8 count, Gutierrez showed a lot of heart and still managed to make it through the end.

Katie showed us tonight why she is the Queen of the Lightweight Division. Her boxing IQ is something serious and not easily matched. After 10 rounds of action the Judges scored it 100-90, 100-89 and 99-91 in favor of Taylor.

Another dominant performance by the Undisputed IBF/WBC/WBA/WBO and Ring Magazine Champion Katie Taylor.

Job well done Katie. I can’t wait to see who will step up and challenge the Queen in your next outing.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Oleksandr Usyk vs Tony Bellew”

Undisputed Cruiserweight Championship Challenge

Tonight, at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, Oleksandr Usyk (16-0, 12 Kos) still remained unbeaten and Undisputed Cruiserweight King after demolishing a very worthy opponent in Tony Bellew (30-3-1, 20Kos).

Tony came out of the gate aggressive and was looking to land heavy punches to the body every chance he got, but the crafty Champion Usyk kept it real cool and level headed round by round. In the early rounds Tony was establishing himself as the stronger fighter between the two but as the rounds wore on, Usyk started to raise his punch output and started landing some effective jabs that bothered Bellew’s offence.

Tony was doing a good job trying to box with the better boxer but by the eighth round Bellew was visibly looking tired on his feet and Usyk simply jumped on him and battered him with two heavy left-hand shots that connected perfectly to knock him out for the count.

Tonight, Tony stepped his game up and gave it a good run but as the saying goes there are levels to this boxing sh*t and Usyk proved it once again that he’s one notch above Bellew in that category and rightfully Undisputed Cruiserweight King because of it.

That being said, Usyk will now be eyeing the Heavyweight Division as his next big challenge. The year 2019 will be a new chapter for one of the fastest rising stars in the “Boxing Game” to date but until then, enjoy all your great achievements, you deserve it Champ.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Oleksandr Usyk vs Tony Bellew”

Undisputed Cruiserweight Championship Challenge

Tony Bellew (30-2-1, 20 Kos) has officially accepted Oleksandr Usyk’s (15-0, 11Kos) challenge and is now set to meet the unbeaten Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion on Saturday November 10, 2018 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, for the right to claim the Ring Magazine, IBF/WBA Super/WBC/WBO Titles.

Bellew , who’s been enjoying himself as of late, is coming off of two consecutive knockout wins over former two-Division World Champion David Haye. These are two wins against a proven warrior and I personally did not expect Bellew to come out on top but to my surprise he convincingly battered and conquered David Haye, who by the way was the favorite to win.

If there is one thing I learned from Bellew’s last two outings is to never underestimate him again. He has a way of defying the odds stacked against him and always finds a way to steal the win right from under your eyes. Real Talk!

Once again, Bellew is seen here as the underdog who will be facing his stiffest challenge to date in Usyk the first Boxer in History to hold all 4 major World Championships in the Cruiserweight Division.

I personally think that Bellew might be reaching a little too far with this one. To me Usyk is the total package with exceptional boxing skills that has troubled all 15 previous challengers into submission one way or another. What he may lack in the power department he well makes up in ring generalship while taking you apart for as long as the rounds continue.

That being said, Bellew is not a walk in the park opponent. I would not underestimate this man come fight night. He may not be able to outbox Usyk but he certainly carries his own proven power and has a high Boxing IQ inside that squared circle. He moves fairly well and has a very good counter punch that does demand respect.

The Undisputed Cruiserweight King will be in a tough fight cause if there’s one thing I’ve noticed about Bellew is that he’s tough as hell and will not bow down easily.

Tune in Saturday November 10, 2018 on DAZN/Sky Sports Box Office and see who will walk away with all the Crown Jewels?

Blaze