CURRENT RING WORLD CHAMPIONS

 

All Current Ring Magazine World Champions:

🥊 Oleksandr Usyk

👑 Ring Heavyweight Champion

🥊 Jai Opetaia

👑 Ring Cruiserweight Champion

🥊 Dmitry Bivol

👑 Ring Light-Heavyweight Champion

🥊 Terence Crawford

👑 Ring Super-Middleweight Champion

🥊 Shadasia Green

👑 Ring Super-Middleweight Champion

🥊 Lauren Price

👑 Ring Welterweight Champion

🥊 Teofimo Lopez

👑 Ring Super-Lightweight Champion

🥊 Katie Taylor

👑 Ring Super-Lightweight Champion

🥊 Alycia Baumgardner

👑 Ring Super-Featherweight Champion

🥊 Amanda Serrano

👑 Ring Featherweight Champion

🥊 Naoya Inoue

👑 Ring Super-Bantamweight Champion

🥊 Ellie Scotney

👑 Ring Super-Bantamweight Champion

🥊 Dina Thorslund

👑 Ring Bantamweight Champion

🥊 Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez

👑 Ring Super-Flyweight Champion

🥊 Mizuki Hiruta

👑 Ring Super-Flyweight Champion

🥊 Gabriela Fundora

👑 Ring Flyweight Champion

🥊 Oscar Collazo

👑 Ring Strawweight Champion

RIYADH SEASON: ARTHUR BETERBIEV VS. DIMTRY BIVOL | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS

 

BIVOL TAKES BETERBIEV"S UNDISPUTED LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD TITLE

Dmitry Bivol defeats Artur Beterbiev in a split-points decision to claim light-heavyweight world title in Saudi Arabia.

Dmitry Bivol celebrates victory with the title belts and his team after the Undisputed IBF, IBO, WBC and WBO World Light Heavyweight Titles' fight with Artur Beterbiev [Richard Pelham/Getty Images]

Russian Dmitry Bivol avenged a previous defeat to take the undisputed light-heavyweight world title from Artur Beterbiev on a majority points decision in an epic rematch in Saudi Arabia.

The judges scored Sunday’s fight in Riyadh 114-114, 116-112 and 115-113.

The previous encounter last October, when both went toe-to-toe as unbeaten champions, ended with exactly the same score but to Russian-born Canadian Beterbiev who added the WBA belt to his WBC, WBO and IBF ones.

This time, Bivol, 34, was better on the night, moving up a gear and taking the fight to his bearded older opponent, now 40, with determination and classy combinations.

The 1-1 outcome opens the way to an inevitable third clash between the two.

“Actually, I didn’t want the second fight, it wasn’t my choice, but no problem. We’re going to do a third fight,” Beterbiev, who did not shake Bivol’s hand, said in the ring after the scores were announced.

Dmitry Bivol in action during his fight with Artur Beterbiev [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]

Bivol said he was up for any challenge but needed a rest after his exertions.

"I want to heal myself a little bit and come back,” said the Russian, who ended the fight with blood streaming from the top of his left eye.

“I didn’t have as much pressure like last time. I just wanted to work from the first round until the end of the 12th. I did enough and I won this.

“I was better, I was pushing myself more, I was more confident, I was lighter and I just wanted to win so much today.”

Bivol had the better of his opponent over the first three rounds, but the champion found his rhythm in the fourth in a livelier fight than the first one but still with little to separate the two.

Artur Beterbiev sustained a cut above his eye early in the fight [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]

At the final bell, neither boxer could be sure of the outcome, both waiting for the scores to be read without celebrating in advance.

“I don’t want to talk about the decision – it’s tough. Congratulations to Bivol’s team,” said Beterbiev, who could claim the final round.

“I thought this fight was better than the first fight, but we’ll see. Now is my time to come back.”

Earlier, three-times world champion Shakur Stevenson retained his WBC lightweight title after stopping stand-in Josh Padley, a British electrician who had three days to prepare for the fight, at the end of nine rounds.

Former WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker stopped another late replacement Martin Bakole in two rounds in their WBO Interim bout.

Joseph Parker knocks out Martin Bakole during the WBO Interim World Heavyweight title fight [Richard Pelham/Getty Images]

 -  AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

I KNOW I CAN BEAT HIM - WHAT DAVID AND DAVID MORRELL HAD TO SAY AFTER THEIR LAS VEGAS CLASSIC

David Benavidez is in pole position to challenge for a world title at 175lbs after a grueling points win over David Morrell in Las Vegas . 

The Arizona man had to climb off the canvas in round 11 to secure his win, but his superior work in the previous stages were enough to give him the nod on all three scorecards. 

Benavidez will now turn his attention to Feb 22 when Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol clash for a second time with Benavidez likely to declare his interest in facing the winner. 

Here’s what both fighters had to say after the bout.

David Benavidez 

"This is 'El Monstro's' world. Shout out to Morrell, I knew he'd be tough and that's why I prepared so hard for this. I'm happy we were able to give the fans a great show tonight.” 

"I wasn't surprised by anything he did because I knew he was a great fighter and that I had to prepare for everything. I knew my defense had to be good. I actually thought he'd hit harder once we were in here. He was easier to hit than I expected. Every opportunity that I saw, I went for it. 

"I just want to be the best of my era. Whoever I need to fight next, I'll be ready for them. I want to unify all four titles, so if that's next, then that's next.” 

David Morrell

"It was a good fight. This is boxing, some days you win and some days you lose. Tonight was my turn. I'm young and I'll keep pushing for another opportunity. 

"It was never bad blood for me. This moment feels great because we were able to give everyone a good show. I'm going to work my way back. We'll watch this fight and learn from what I didn't do well. We'll practice more and train harder and earn another fight against Benavidez. I know I can beat him.”

- Christopher Walker

ARTUR BETERBIEV VS DMITRY BIVOL JUDGES SCORECARD: EDDY HEARN SLAMS 'DISGUSTING' RESULTS

Artur Beterbiev defeated Dimitry Bivol (Image: Getty)

Artur Beterbiev secured victory over Dmitry Bivol in Saudi Arabia, but the result has not gone down well with boxing fans.

The scoring of Artur Beterbiev’s victory over Dmitry Bivol in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night has received a controversial response from boxing fans. The light-heavyweight clash lived up to its billing in Saudi Arabia, with Beterbiev and Bivol needing all 12 rounds to find a result.

And it was Beterbiev whose arm was lifted into the air by the referee in the aftermath, after the Russian-Canadian was crowned undisputed light-heavyweight champion via a split decision. The result of the closely-fought contest split opinion with those watching on though.

A large portion of boxing fans believe the result in favour of Beterbiev was unjust, opting to take to social media to vent their frustrations after the judges’ scorecard was revealed. Manuel Oliver Palamo scored the fight 114-114, but his two colleagues went in favour of the 39-year-old.

Glenn Feldman scored it 115-113 in favour of Beterbiev, whilst Pawel Kardyni’s result read 116-112, with the Russian-Canadian as the champion. Some boxing fans however were quick to disagree.

“Biggest robbery of the last ten years,” one tweeted, before a second went on to add: “Dude who gave it 116-112 needs checking. Could have gone either way, not grumbling at Beterbiev winning but 4 rounds [in his favour] is crazy.”

The complaints did not stop there, as a third fan posted: “Draw at best. No way Beterbiev won,” before a fourth went on to comment: “How can someone score this fight 116-112.”

Whilst those watching from the side were clearly unimpressed, Bivol showed his class by offering his congratulations to his rival. “I have to do everything perfect,” Bivol said post-fight. “And I don’t have any explanation because it could look like excuses. 

“I just... Congratulations to Artur and his team. He deserves it.” The fighter went on: “He’s powerful,” he says. “Very powerful. And you see, I have a bruise on my hand. [His punching] was so hard, even he reached my eye.”

Quizzed on whether he wanted a rematch, Bivol replied: “Why not? Of course. If I had this chance, yes. This is my dream to be undisputed.” One man who was less accepting of the result was his promoter Eddie Hearn,  who slammed the result in the aftermath.

"In one of the biggest fights of our generation and in the most important fight in Dmitry Bivol's life you give him Four rounds? It's absolutely disgusting,” Hearn claimed.

“I don't want to disrespect Artur Beterbiev but Dmitry Bivol should be the undisputed champion tonight and that judge should never work again. Four rounds in a fight of that magnitude is disgusting."

-  Joshua Lees

WHY BETERBIEV VS. BIVOL NEEDS A REMATCH TO DETERMINE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT SUPREMACY

Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol was a fight seven years in the making, one designed -- and delivered by Turki Alalshikh -- to once and for all crown an undisputed light heavyweight champion and determine supremacy at 175 pounds.

The fight was also slated to, perhaps, enter a new fighter into the pound-for-pound best conversation. And while Saturday's fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, certainly showed Beterbiev and Bivol are two of the sport's elite, 12 rounds weren't enough to truly separate them in a bout that lived up to the hype.

Yes, Beterbiev earned the majority decision -- 115-113, 116-112 and 114-114 -- but it was Bivol whom the public seemed to favor. And while boxing's top star, Canelo Alvarez, seeks revenge against Bivol, who defeated him in May 2022, now it's Bivol who searches for the same against Beterbiev.

"I'm aware I have to do everything perfect, and I don't have any explanation because it could look like excuses," said Bivol, who entered the ring as ESPN's No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer. "... If I have this chance [for a rematch], yes. This is my dream: to be undisputed."

Bivol, 33, seemed well on his way to achieving his dream. He was outboxing Beterbiev from the outside and frustrating him with his excellent jab and footwork. Bivol caught many of Beterbiev's vaunted power shots on his high guard.

But that accumulation of shots, even blocked, made their impact. After all, Beterbiev, 39, entered the ring as boxing's only champion with a 100% KO percentage. Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) won the final three rounds on all three judges' scorecards to pull out the decision and left Bivol with a badly damaged left eye.

"He is powerful, very powerful," said Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs). "And you see I have a bruise from my hand [blocking punches]. He always beat it, and it was so hard. Even he reached my eye."

- Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider

ARTUR BETERBIEV EDGES OUT DIMITRY BIVIL FOR UNDISPUTED CROWN

Artur Beterbiev captured the undisputed light heavyweight championship with a majority decision victory over Dmitry Bivol on Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Beterbiev closed the battle of Russian boxers strongly and prevailed via scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 114-114 in an entertaining fight contested at the highest skill level.

With the victory in the long-awaited summit meeting, Beterbiev became boxing's first undisputed 175-pound champion in the four-belt era. Bivol entered the bout rated No. 1 by ESPN at light heavyweight and No. 4 pound for pound. Beterbiev was No. 2 in the division and No. 6 pound for pound.

"Of course it's a tough fight because Dmitri is a champion, too," Beterbiev said. "He has good skills, maybe better than me. But today, Allah chose me."

Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) entered the bout as boxing's only champion with a 100% KO ratio, a streak that ended Saturday with the biggest victory of his storied career.

Beterbiev turns 40 in January and was coming off knee surgery to repair a ruptured meniscus, a procedure that postponed the fight from June. But he was still able to rally over the second half of the bout to cement himself as a Hall of Fame fighter.

Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) controlled the action over the first half, especially early on as he unleashed his excellent jab and footwork to keep the power puncher at bay.

Bivol was the cleaner, sharper puncher and did well to counter Beterbiev with a left hook over his vaunted power jab. But Beterbiev never stopped coming. Even when his punches were blocked -- and most of them were -- they seemed to still have an impact on Bivol's high guard.

Artur Beterbiev, left, evades a punch from Dmitry Bivol. Photograph: Richard Pelham/Getty Images

Bivol, 33, entered the bout with the edge in big-fight experience following his career-best win over boxing's top star, Canelo Alvarez, in May 2022. But it was Beterbiev who swept the final three rounds to pull out the victory.

"I did my job," Bivol said. "I felt that I could do better. ... He is powerful, very powerful.

"And you see I have a bruise from my hand," he said, holding his hand up by his eye. "He always beat it and it was so hard, even he reached my eye."

Bivol emerged with his left eye badly bruised and swollen, and he also had marks around his right eye.

"I'm aware I have to do everything perfect, and I don't have any explanation because it could look like excuses," Bivol said. "I just [give] congratulations to Artur and his team. He deserves it, no problem. I just have time to make another decision for my future."

The fight clearly called for a rematch, with many observers and fans scoring it for Bivol. There should be plenty of demand, too, considering the drama of the contest and the lack of a clear winner.

Bivol's promoter, Eddie Hearn, expressed anger over the fight's result, particularly the 116-112 score in favor of Beterbiev.

"Listen, I don't want to disrespect Beterbiev," Hearn said. "But you saw the body language, they knew they'd lost the fight. 116-112 Beterbiev? You gave Bivol four rounds? This is a joke. Of course [we want a rematch], he was robbed of the undisputed championship tonight. I cannot believe you could give Bivol four rounds. ... It's absolutely disgusting. I'm absolutely baffled and disgusted at 116-112."

Bivol said he "of course" wants another shot at Beterbiev: "Why not? ... If I have this chance, yes. This is my dream to be undisputed."

But it was Beterbiev who achieved his dream of collecting all four belts when he added Bivol's WBA title to go along with the IBF, WBC and WBO titles.

"I wanted to box today with more quality," Beterbiev said. "I don't know why, but I didn't like this fight. But I'll be better one day. ... If His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] wants [the rematch], then we can do it."

- Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider

CARLOS ALCARAZ MAKES MAJOR U-TURN TERENCE CRAWFORD FIGHT AS BENAVIDEZ DECIDES TO STAY AT 175

 Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez has seemingly had a change of heart about a possible fight against Terence Crawford.

Crawford set his sights on the super-middleweight champion after he dominated Errol Spence Jr last year to become undisputed champion at welterweight.

In reaction, Canelo, when speaking with Box Azteca, completely ruled out facing the naturally smaller man,

“No [I will never fight Crawford].

People criticised me fighting Charlo because he was coming up in weight so now imagine Crawford going from welterweight to 168lbs, I have everything to lose and nothing to gain because if I win, they’ll say, ‘Oh, he was too small, and everything!”

However, in a more recent interview with Supreme Boxing, the Mexican said he is now willing to fight ‘Bud’ if the money is right.

“It depends on the money but why not?

“In the end, he is a great fighter, Crawford, obviously 3 divisions lower, but as I have said to you, I have fought with people bigger than me, the same categories as me, shorter than me, older than me, younger than me. In the end, I was born to fight, I am here to fight with whoever, obviously with the terms that most suit me, at this point in my career I am always going to do the best fights and those that suit me.”

If money is the main determining factor in making it happen then fans might just get their wish, as the man behind boxing in Saudi Arabia Turki Alalshikh has told ESPN he intends to make the clash and will be offering Canelo a ‘fair price’ very soon.

“I will give Canelo what I think is a fair price. If he accepts it, he deals directly with me to finish the deal. I don’t want anyone in the middle. I guaranteed Crawford a big fight, I want Canelo for Crawford and Crawford wants Canelo. But if Canelo is crazy [with his financial demands] I will still guarantee Crawford any fight he wants.”

With David Benavidez deciding to stay at at light-heavyweight to face the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol rather than continue to chase a Canelo showdown, the four weight world champions options for the huge payday he’s looking for are starting to look slim without Crawford.

- Toby Morgan 

BETERBIEV VS. BIVOL | JUNE 1

 

TOP 100 MEN BOXERS: CANELO, WILDER AND OTHER TOP FIGHTERS

Terence Crawford, Canelo Alvarez, Deontay Wilder and Naoya Inoue are some of the top 100 fighters in boxing. Illustration by ESPN

Five of ESPN's top 10 heavyweights -- three of them former champions -- compete Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on one of the most stacked cards in years (ESPN+ PPV, 11 a.m. ET).

Anthony Joshua meets Otto Wallin in the main event while Deontay Wilder faces Joseph Parker in the co-feature. If both Joshua and Wilder win -- no foregone conclusion -- they have a deal in place to finally meet on March 9 in Riyadh, sources told ESPN.

Also on the undercard: ESPN's No. 1 light heavyweight, Dmitry Bivol, and No. 1 cruiserweight, Jai Opetaia.

No. 8 heavyweight Filip Hrgovic will compete as well on Saturday. There are also talented heavyweight boxers on this eight-fight card that sit just outside ESPN's rankings, like Frank Sanchez, Arslanbek Makhmudov and Daniel Dubois, who meets Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller.

The following week, Naoya "The Monster" Inoue attempts to become an undisputed champion in a second weight class in 12 months with a fight against Marlon Tapales on Tuesday in Tokyo (ESPN+, 3 a.m. ET).

But where do they all rank among the top 100 boxers in the world?

The age-old pound-for-pound debate rages on year after year. Just who is the baddest man on the planet?

Fighters jockey for position in their respective weight classes, but they're also measured against each other time and again. Those who can rack up titles in multiple weight classes sometimes are pushed ahead of others during these water-cooler arguments across the world, and really, it's impossible to have a consensus No. 1 no matter who's competing at the time.

This is all subjective. After all, most of the fighters on this list will never face each other, sometimes even when they're competing in the same weight class. That's the reality of today's fractured boxing landscape.

But we can still try to determine who deserves to stand above the rest across global boxing, taking into account accomplishments, current form, talent level, potential, and most of all, the vaunted eye test. Some fighters just look the part.

EDDIE HEARN DETAILS HOW TO MAKE CANELO VS. BIVOL 2

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BIVOL VS. RAMIREZ | FIGHT TIMES | DAZN | ABU DHABI | ETIHAD ARENA

DMITRY BIVOL VS.GILBERTO RAMIREZ | TALE OF THE TAPE

 

BIVOL VS. RAMIREZ | CHAMPION SERIES

JAKE PAUL ON CANELO’S LOSS TO DMITRY BIVOL

 

DMITRY BIVOL BEATS CANELO ALVAREZ BY UNANIMOUS DECISION | COMPUBOX STATS