The B -Side and Boxing. B -Side shit. B -Side.
B -Side. And the B -Side. You got a B -Side.
The B -Side. B -Side. B -Side. B -Side. The B
-Side thing. This is the B -Sides Boxing Podcast.
Oh shit. Here we go. Boxing fucking B -Sides.
We're back baby. Joined by the one and only Saul.
Welcome back, guys. Happy to be back. And Josh.
What up? Oh, shit. We're going to extend an olive
branch. It's been a minute since we've done this.
UFC 324. It's going to be on January 24th. The
shit is free on Paramount+. Well, free with a
subscription. So, if you want to see Justin Gaethje
vs. Patti Pimblitt, that's... Well, let me look
at the rest of this card really quick and see
what's up. Sean O'Malley versus Sonia Dong should
be fun. Arnold Allen finally coming back. Versus
John Silva. That's cool. Umar Nurmagomedov versus
Davison Figueredo. That should be a good one
too. But we'll be talking about that over on
Ultimate F and Casuals. Wherever you're listening
to this, you can find that as well. All right,
into some news. Tyson Fury is officially unretired.
He's targeting F .A. Ajagba, Tony Yoka, or Arslanbek
Makhmudov, the latter being the most likely opponent.
I don't know. Tony Yoka is the worst of the opponents.
Yeah, I would take F .A. Ajagba over Tony Yoka.
I never knew this was going to happen. Who could
have called this? Who could have seen this coming?
It's like when Floyd retired, guys. For the first
time. But it was already, like, in the cards.
Like, I think Turkey tipped it when he said he
was going to do Tyson Fury versus AJ. Yeah. With
having them fight one time before meeting each
other at the end of the year. Hey, get ready
for that doubleheader. Doubleheader where one
of them loses. Fucking Tyson Fury loses to Tony
Oka. Oh, my God. I would have to fly back to
England to fucking laugh. Go on, son. Go on,
my son. Go on, my son. AJ, we talked about the
really difficult circumstances he faced. Saul,
you and I did. His uncle says he's retired. Eddie
Hearn says, don't believe it if you don't hear
it from AJ himself. I'm not sure what to make
of this. Sounds like he's still holding out.
His uncle says a lot of things. All things considered,
AJ, dude, take as much time as you need. You
already got all the money in the world, man.
Just leave it behind if you can't do it. Yeah,
dude. That's a really horrific thing to experience.
Yeah, man. Do what you got to do. Daniel Dubois.
Yeah, of course. Daniel Dubois is trying to fight
Fabio Wardley. Yeah, that's a crazy fight. That's
going to be fun. I would love to watch that.
Shanada thinks Dubois has a good chance of winning.
I agree. Wardley's hella fragile. But he hits
the triple seven every time. Yes. That's why
we hate him. The house always wins. He's laying
up. The house always wins. Yeah, I think Fabio
Wardley, as much as I don't like it, I think
Fabio Wardley wins. I'll be on Team Dubois, but
I really think Fabio Wardley's going to take
it. The look of the draw? You never know with
three -time terms of charm. I don't know, man.
Fabio Wardley always gets it by the skin of his
teeth. Fuck. Someone's going to get knocked out
in that fight. It's not going to be a decision.
No, I don't think so. Wardley's fragile body.
I don't even think it goes five rounds. But that's
going to be on pay -per -view. I'm going to call
that Ring 7. Oh, God. If they put that on pay
-per -view, I'll... They put Parker versus Wardley
on pay -per -view. This is a Queensborough...
You're right. You're absolutely right. With a
Tyson Fury co -main, maybe. I don't fucking know.
Nah, that would... Dubois -Wardley would be on
the undercard of Tyson Fury versus whoever the
fuck. Makhmudov or some shit. Yeah, Makhmudov,
probably. In big news for Central Asian boxing
fans, Shojahan Ergachev will be fighting Baturzan
Zhukambaev this May in Uzbekistan. I know the
world's been clamoring for it. Oh, I've been
clamoring for that. Me too. Dimitri Bivol. Is
looking to come back. He will be facing his IBF
mandatory Michael Eifert. I think of Riyadh season
is going to be putting this on. Well. Someone
else thought Eifert. I forgot who it was. It
wasn't. Better be. It wasn't. I'm pretty sure
it was. Townsmith. Anthony. Better be a bottom
once. When he came back from a knee injury. Let
me see. I'm not seeing it. The better view of
not fighting? I don't think that's mandatory.
I don't remember. I swear. No, it was Adam Danes.
Never mind. John Pascal fought Eifert. Oh, Pascal.
In Canada? That might be right. I'm acting like
I remember that fight, which I don't even know.
Yeah, it's a tough shout. Yeah. Well, hey. I
for... You're going 12 rounds, buddy. Prepare
to get decisioned. Get your cardio up, buddy.
If you beat B -Bowl, you're great as of all time.
Why should B -Bowl just be completely washed
because of all the surgeries? That's true. Hey,
you know what? What the fuck am I saying? You're
100 % right. That's the question about this one
is how has he recovered from his back surgery
or whatever it was. Hey, he's Russian, man. What's
up? And last bit, we'll be talking more about
him in a moment, but... Dalton Smith, most likely
to be facing Alberto Puello next. Yes. So that's
fun. Oh boy. Into the recaps. Not a lot. Fucking
Queensberry in Oberhausen, Germany. The interim
WBC lightweight title, Hadier. Herrera beats
Ricardo Nunez in eight. Stops him in eight. And
Agit Caballel stops Damian Neba in three. Was
this... I felt this was a little bit early. Neba
was definitely on his way out the door. Oh, definitely
early. Like, Neba was going to lose. Like, let's
not... Let's not pretend otherwise. We're not
kidding ourselves here. I agree. We're not saying
robbery, but yeah. This might be what we talked
about last week with Jack Reese. Talking about
taking guys out if it's no longer competitive.
Yeah, but the thing is that Javier was getting
his ass rocked in that first round. What's the...
What's the harm in letting it continue? Just
for a little bit. Just for a little, just for
a little, little bit. Not like, not like, let's
see him die, but like, let's see if he has recovery
powers or if he's actually just gone. I don't,
I don't know if that, I'm struggling for words
here because, Like, on the one hand, Damien Neva,
like, come on. Who really cares? Oh, I know,
but the fight was just so fun. Yeah, Caballel
just whooping on him? No, the first round was
also fun as hell, too. I don't know. It's heavyweight.
Like, do you pull Fabio Wardley out in, like,
the third round? Fuck no. By German standards,
Fabio Wardley would have been stopped against
Parker. Exactly. That's why I'm like, we should...
It's heavyweight. These guys recover and as much
as we... Again, that's why it's hard to have
a consistent standard for what that can be. For
what counts as a rightful stoppage per se. Caballel's
the interim WBC champion. His only option really
is Usyk. Who I don't expect. I really don't think
Usyk takes it. Just because he doesn't have to.
He really doesn't have to. Also consider he might
fight Walder. Is that too? That goodbye fight?
I don't know. Cabello could probably fight someone
else in the Queensbury stable. Absolutely. If
you wanted to, you could fight fucking Dubois.
But that's risky. He could unify interim titles
with Fabio Wardley. Yeah. Well. Oh, my God. Wait,
doesn't Fabio have the full title? Yeah. Does
he? Yeah, he got upgraded. It happened like a
week after my article it happened. It was really
funny. Yeah, we're all saying that Josh is right.
He didn't do it. He did it. Oh shit, you're right.
You didn't know that? I forgot because I'm just
looking at BoxRec and Fabio Wardley still has
interim on his. That was the funniest shit. Literally
the day after it was actually horrifying. Joseph
Parker was so close. Not much else going on on
this German card. There were stoppages and stuff
if you want to go check them out. Fresh promotions
at the Barclays Center. in Brooklyn, New York.
Let's get some stuff out of the way. Keith Colon
stops Alberto Guevara in seven. Nestor Bravo,
big knockout over Pedro Campa in two. And Javier
Cintron, crazy, crazy. I don't keep track of
round of the year or whatever. I don't keep track
of it. But if I did, Javier Centro versus Victor
Sandoval is an early contender. That was a wild,
wild round. A lot of fun fights in this card.
Yes. A lot of fun. A lot of action. The crowd
was crazy. Shout out to the crowd. All fucking
ten of them. Imagine a sold out crowd. Fuck.
Emmanuel Rodriguez. Spoils the party. Gets a
UD over Fernando Diaz. Congrats. Now, Subril
Matias. Oh, fuck. This fight is AI. It didn't
happen. Dalton Smith stops Subril Matias. It
happened. To claim the WBC super lightweight
title. Britain gained another champion. Yeah,
Lin is somewhere. In hell. Celebrating. So, did
we witness the end of Subaru Matias? Yes. Yes,
we did. He's not coming back to top position.
Because he got chin -checked there and he got
up. Or he continued. But then he got just, oh,
he got clobbered after that. It's like we watched
the last of his chin reserve. Just disintegrate.
Yeah. It was. He fought like an idiot, too. Like,
it's not. Yeah. Well, he's never had the best
defense, but. That was just pathetic. That was
a pathetic display of defense. Yesterday was
horrible. That was Puerto Rico. He got caught
with three right hands, like, for the knockout.
That was three straight right hands. That was
crazy. I'm still speechless after last night,
honestly. I was surprised. That is an early contender
for an upset. Yeah, it would have been nice if
it happened the week prior so I could put it
on my list. Yeah. It would have been fucking
nice, but whatever. Don Smith, he put on a great
performance. Slugged. Yeah, he fucking out -aggroed
Subaru Matias and knocked him out. You know?
Did not see that. Of all the things that I expected
Dalton Smith to do, that was not one of them.
Yeah, Matias getting iced was not one. Yeah,
that was crazy. I maybe expected a fucking decision
win, maybe. You know, I raised that, but there
was no way that... I was thinking Don Smith was
going to knock out Matias. Did not see that.
Holy shit. Holy shit. And again, Don Smith put
on a great performance. Honestly, I'm not going
to say he's fucking offensively the greatest
in the division, but he showed me talent. A little
bit of talent. You know? A decent amount of it.
Enough. Enough. Yeah, enough. To where I think
he'll beat someone like Oscar Duarte. He might
beat someone like... Yeah. If they put him against
Pitbull, maybe. Do I think he beats Teal? No.
Do I think he beats GAR? No. Hitchens? Not at
all. That's the easiest 10 -2 from Hitchens I've
seen in my life. Yeah, but that would be pretty
funny though, huh? If there was another of the
three other champions, if there was one that
I would want Dalton Smith to beat, it would be
Hitchens. But, yeah, I don't see that happening.
I mean, that's an easy unification fight for
that, for matchroom. Yes. No, because Hitchens
is having that whole drama about being a free
agent, and the zone executives are not having
it. Well. There's like a whole thing. That's
some bullshit because Hitchens is not fucking
popular enough to be a free agent. Oh, dude.
Not even his whole family shows up to his fights,
dude. Yeah. He's got a lot of moxie to be acting
like he can wave his dick around. Like, dude,
you stopped George Cambozos in front of 15 people
in the UK. Like, grow up. Yeah. Well, he's got
the mindset of Magnum Conum. But you don't got
the capability to wear a Magnum collar. Interesting
way to put it, but yeah. Very interesting. So
like we said, like I mentioned, Alberto Pueos
probably next, more likely than not. But looking
down his list of opponents or in the rankings.
Sandor Martin. Jesus. Arthur B. Yarslanov. Whoever
the fuck that is. Lindofo Delgado. Fuck no. Pierce
O 'Leary. I heard a bit about Pierce. Already
he's tough. Where is he from? He's Irish. So
that would be a good little scrap. UK versus
Ireland. Yeah. I mean, Donald can go back to
the country now and fucking sell it on Arena.
Yeah. That's for sure. He's from Sheffield. Sheffield
has, they put on good shows there. Yeah. I'm
thinking Adam Azeem is going to come calling.
I mean, that would be a great domestic fight.
Probably sell a whole bunch of tickets, but...
I don't know. I can't definitely say if Dolan
wins. I can't say if Adam Z wins. I mean, to
knock out Super Showman Matias, that's a statement.
Yes. As pathetic as it ended up being, yes. I
mean, come on. No, I know. It's definitely a
statement. I'm just like, oh, my God. You fought
like an idiot, dude. Yeah. No, he fought... He
was like what Muhammad Ali said, what George
Foreman was. Fucking like the mummy. Yeah, literally.
Fucking kept walking forward. Kept taking punishment
for no reason. And that's funny. Like right before
Donald Smith got knocked out, my dad was saying,
man, this white boy don't got no power. If he
had power, he would have had him out by now.
And then he rocked Matias. And my dad was going
nuts. It was funny. Just give him a little time.
Yeah, no, yeah. I mean, even I was surprised.
I mean, from the opening bell, I was like, damn,
Matias. It looked like Matias didn't really care.
You know, like he was just going to, like, walk
through Donald Smith just because. Honestly,
give it three more rounds if he doesn't, like,
fight that stupidly, and it does. I mean, yeah,
I mean, he could have. He was also hurting Donald
Smith. Yeah, he was landing really well. Yeah,
he was landing really well, and he was hurting
Don Smith. Yeah, you're 100 % right. You maybe
give it a couple rounds, he might have Don Smith
out. But holy shit, the way Don Smith got him
out first, he beat him to the punch. Simple as
that. You know, he beat him at his own game.
I gotta give him props for that. Does he beat
the other champions? I don't think so. No, not
even 140. He beats, I think he beats a good amount
of contenders at 140, though. Does he beat Puello?
Because Pueo is like the textbook outboxer. Yeah.
Depends on whose card it's under. If it's under
a PBC card, yeah, Pueo's going to get it. But
if it's under a bathroom card, yeah, they're
going to give it to Don Smith. You think it's
that close? Like that it comes down to judging?
Yeah, I don't think it's going to end my knockout.
I think Pueo's a little more... defensively minded.
And Donald Smith's never really been 100 % a
pressure fighter. I think he was just forced
to fight fire with fire with Matias. Yeah, Pueo's
not going to be a fucking moron and just leave
his chin hanging out there. Yeah, that's the
big one. Yeah, like Pueo was forced to be a pressure
fighter with Matias. Same thing with Donald Smith.
Except Donald Smith just did it better. You know,
so we'll see. If he's going to outbox Donald
Smith, he's going to win pretty easily. He'll
get that title back. He'll go back to the PPC
with that belt. And they might do unification.
Never know. They could do unification with Hitchens.
Who knows? Eddie Ayer knows. That's it. Hitchens
has... He has a mandatory due. Right now in the
rankings, it's Delgado. But... He's trying to
get him to step aside to fight someone else.
I think Oscar Duarte? I don't know. Am I misremembering?
I think you're right. I know Hitchens is having
some shit trying to get his mandatory to step
aside. One thing I do know is that he's not going
to fight fucking Keyshawn. Who, Dalton? Or Hitchens.
No, Hitchens. Dawn won't either. I don't think.
I don't see Keyshawn in there. Oh, yeah, he's
not in the rankings yet. Yeah. No, but I gotta
give Dawn my flowers. Yeah, no, that was... What
a way to win your world title, at least. Yeah.
Spoil the... Even his promoters. All 25 people
that were there? No, the promoter. I grayscaled
the promoter. Oh, yeah. He blew, like, many,
many millions on the vast card that I don't think
it's ever bombed. I think both ticket sales and
pay -per -view sales. Although, it's going to
be like, this guy's done. His career is over.
Fresh Promotions is done. It's going to be rotten.
It's gone. It's gone. It's never been more over.
I'm sorry, man. I understand how it feels. Isaac
Cruz is the interim champ. Dalton Smith versus
Cruz. I mean, Is that really going to be the
WBC interim? It's not happening, dude. Dalton
beats Cruz. Most people beat Cruz. Yeah, I would
agree. Yeah. Would be a high profile for Dalton,
though. I think what people could be is. Well,
anything more for fresh promotions? I'm sorry,
Josh. You had to go through my film. I like Matias,
but also I can now say he was never good. Something
funny that Isaac said was never send a Puerto
Rican to do a Mexican's job. That's true, actually.
That was pretty funny. Alright. Let me put in
some housekeeping shit. If you want to join us
on Patreon, lvx .be slash Patreon. And if you
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slash flakes. Into the previews. Drumroll, please.
Friday, January 23rd, the premiere of Zufa Boxing
on Paramount+. At the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Who the fuck is Zufa? Yeah. As of right now,
the card has not been announced. The only fight
I know of is Callum Walsh versus Carlos Ocampo.
Which, decent fight for a guy like Callum Walsh.
But, like, who really gives a shit about Callum
Walsh? Callum Walsh's family? Yeah, I guess.
Nah, not really. Does he even have a family?
I don't know. Hey, go white boy, go white boy,
go. That's more time than Zufa deserves. We're
not protesting it, but we are protesting it at
the same time. Saturday, January 24th. Matchroom
at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas. Who is on
this? Omari Jones. So that's cool. He's facing
Jerome Baxter. Interesting. I like the Khalil
Coe fight in the co -main. Israel Madrimov is
back versus Luis Salazar. It's a fight. Yeah.
Finally, he's fighting. He's got a lot of...
He's talented, so he should be... A little bit
more busy. And yeah, Khalil Cobb versus Jesse
Hart. That's one I'm actually happy to see. IBF
lightweight champion Ray Morataya versus Andy
Cruz. Does Ray have any hope here? No, I'm going
to give him some hope. I'm going to give him
some hope. Because you know what? I was thinking
about it. If someone like Antonio Moran had,
not Cruz on skates, but he hit him a couple times.
He was landing on him. Huh? He was landing on
him. Yeah, he was landing on him. And one thing
about Morita is, I mean, he's got decent speed.
He just doesn't throw much. But you never know.
With Cruz, he might have to. He might show up.
You never know. He's a champion now. You know
how it changes after someone becomes a champion.
But if it goes to decision, you guys already
know what's going to happen. You know? Oh, yeah.
Moritaya's a top -ranked guy. Yeah. Andy Cruz
is the house fighter. House fighter. Cuban. Fucking
amateur darling. You know? I don't think they're
going to fucking give a decision to Moritaya.
Well, come on. Let's go. Let's go. Let's... I'm
going to hope that Moritaya wins because you
know what? Andy Cruz, he's a cool guy, but...
I want Andy Cruz to do good. It makes me feel...
It's good. It's good when a guy like Andy Cruz
does good. As much... I got to root for him.
I think Andy Cruz is going to win, obviously.
But that's why I'm rooting for Moritaya because
to me, he's the underdog. He's a champion, but
he is the underdog. He's also a Robert Garcia
guy. Yeah, I mean, he's a Robert Garcia guy,
so you never know. I mean, he might show out.
I doubt it. But, I mean, you never know when
strange things happen. Donald Smith could knock
out Matias. You know? And then flex his EBU title
afterwards. I mean, come on. I will be riding
with Ray. I'm going to ride with Ray as well.
I don't have a lot of hope, but I'm riding with
him anyway. Exactly. Like I said last time we
talked about this fight, Cruz is going to win,
and if he doesn't win, he's a fraud. Simple as
that. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, that's it for that
card. Anything more for our previews? Not really.
That's what I thought. What if Khalil loses?
I don't know. He might. He's already lost once,
I think. Yeah, he lost to Gallegos. He's fun
to watch, but he's not special. Yeah. If that
makes sense. 100%. It's weird, because as you
guys were saying that, I'm thinking, Jesse Hart
is a banana peel. Or he can be. He has been before.
And Jesse Hart is pretty well past his best days.
What was his best by Jesse Hart? Probably when
he scored zero. Yes. I was there when that happened.
It was pretty cool. Jesse Hart. It was Joe Smith
that had a close one. And I was thinking Michael
Seals was the guy who got destroyed by Leader
Alvarez. Well, are you guys ready to do best
of 2025? Yes, sir. All right. Let me do this.
Let's fucking do it. Best of 2025. Where is my
thing? Here we go. Okay. Starting off. Stoppage
of the year. Saul, hit us with what you got here.
I got two. I got two. I got Ryan Norman Jr. versus
Sasaki. And then I got Justice Hooney versus
Fabio Wardman. What? Oh, yeah, yeah, Fabio Wardley
and Justice, I'm sorry. Yeah, I just said it
the opposite way. Fabio Wardley. Yeah, I was
going to say, like, when did Wardley get stopped?
I would have been so happy. No, yeah. Add a teaser
there. No, no, Fabio Wardley versus Justice Hooney.
Just... Brian Norman Jr. had the better knockout,
but Wardley versus Hooney set up him getting
a title shot. And honestly, I thought it was
funnier than fucking Wardley knocking out Parker.
Did he actually knock that one out? Yeah, he
actually knocked it the fuck out. Oh, shit. Mine,
I had... For the first half of the year, I had
Norman Sasaki as well. The second half of the
year, I was stuck between two. Boots Ennis knocking
out Uisma Lima and Usyk knocking out Dubois.
My final pick... of the year for 2025 is Usyk
knocking out Dubois. My pick... Actually, Usyk
-Dubois was such a good one. That was just an
ass -kicking. That one brought me joy. I had
Norman Sasaki for most of the year. And then
Frank Martin KO4 Rancis Barthelony ended up being
my pick. That's up there. That's just so clean.
Is that your overall? That was my final choice.
It was so clean. Oh, my God. Seeing Rance's Barthelome
get lain out like that. That was my favorite
knockout of the year. Norman Sasaki is probably
still the best. Favorite? Favorite's different.
I gotta respect it. Josh, carry us into Masterclass.
Masterclass of the year. Terrence Bud Crawford,
UD12, Canelo. Just a very beautiful, well -fought
fight against probably the best possible opponent
in boxing today. Very, very easy pick on my end.
What about you guys? Saul, where are you at?
I got the same one. Exact same one for the exact
same reason. Probably one of the most beautiful
displays of skill in boxing history. Wasn't boring
either. He put it on him. Oh, yeah. He beat Canelo
at his own game. Fought him in the pocket. Beat
the fuck out of him. Fought him at range. Beat
the fuck out of him. For the first half of the
year, I had Benavidez over Morel. Second half
of the year, Bud over Canelo. And that's my final
pick as well. Can't not be that. Yeah. Villain
of the year. I'll start us off here. This non
-fighting stuff. First half of the year, Tank.
Second half is Howard Foster. That's a good one.
But overall, my pick is Tank. I guess after reading
the shit from the National Summit, I guess it's
not that villainous. But still took a knee. He
didn't know that shit. Yeah, I didn't know it
at the time. I was saying Tank probably didn't
know it either. Hell no, he didn't. Yeah. Josh,
carry us here. Villain of the Year is Dana White
for how he continues to attempt to destroy our
sport for literally no reason. Yep. Like, the
Ali Act, sorry, the Ali Reform Act and shit is
just abhorrent and he should die. Saul, what
do you have? Well, I got something similar. I
was going to say Dana White's mom's uterus. Dana
White's mom. My other one was California State
Athletic Commission. Why? Why? It's because they
legitimized the fucking... Oh, the Ali Act reform
act. Yeah. That's right. That is... I mean, you
could bring up the most bullshit stuff and they
could just say no to it, but... Obviously, they
see the money. They don't see what's going to
happen to the fighters. They don't care about
what's going to happen to the fighters. I take
that back. They know what's going to happen to
the fighters, but they don't care. Yeah, so fuck
the California State Athletic Commission. Saul,
carry us on. New face. Who do you got? I got
Abdullah Mason. Still? He's been a face for a
long time, but he's a champion now. He took up
the mantle. for the WBO champion when Keyshawn
lost that title. And I think he's carried himself
well. He's made a lot of buzz. He's now the youngest
champion in the sport, I believe, right now.
Yes. So I think that he has a bright future ahead
of him. And I think his fight with Noakes, fantastic.
It was a, we're going to talk about it right
now, but it is a contender for fight of the year.
So I got to give it to Mason. He was also very
active, so I think he's going to be headlining
from now on. Josh, what do you got? Mason isn't
a new face to me, I guess, but that's because
I'm a hardcore. But I did pick Lester Martinez
as my new, new face of the year. Broke onto the
scene. Literally, he was supposed to get ran
over by... By Mbili? Yeah, by Mbili, and just
completely turned it around. And he's, like,
he went from, ah, he's that guy off ProBox, to
this is a serious guy. Very serious contender
at 168. And that's, I think that lands him as
the new face. Wait, was new face regarding, like...
Someone with new popularity or like a new champion.
Can be either. I presumed. Yeah, it could be
a prospect. It could be somebody breaking out.
Breaking out of the mold. If Norman won, I would
have put Norman. But I can't ride that long.
The first half of the year, I had Terra Moana.
Yeah. Second half, I had Tomoya Tsuboi. I love
that name. And I ended up the final pick being
Terra Moana. Another year with four knockouts.
He's doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing.
Fighter of the year, I'll start. In the first
half, I had Brian Norman and Abdullah Mason.
Brian Norman aged like milk. And in the second
half, I had Naoya Inoue and Bam. And my final
pick is Bam Rodriguez. Saul, who do you got?
I got Terrence Crawford. Yep. That's what I was
going to say. He's a fighter of the past five
years, maybe. I didn't pick him because he only
fought once in the year. Yeah, but the one win
is so... It's a generational win, I fear. Yeah,
you're probably right. Like, I had Crawford,
and it's just so, like, the win itself, just
on paper, not, like, coping or making excuses
or whatever. It's just, that is the monumental
win over the face of the sport. I have, I know,
in a way, as an honorable mention, just because
he beat Larry Holmes' record, or he may not be,
but he matched it for defending his Ring Magazine
title. Yeah, I don't believe in the Ring Magazine
titles. I don't either. Especially not since
fucking the Saudis bought it. I don't know when
it was less legitimate, when Oscar owned it or
when Turkey owned it. I still consider him defending,
not just his Ring Magazine title, but his Undisputed
titles four times. That's fair. I just fear it's
woke nonsense. I just wanted to say Ring Magazine
titles. I just fear the Ring Magazine is woke
nonsense. Next category, ass -whooping of the
year. Saul, start us off. Ass -whooping, a .k
.a. beatdown, right? Yes. Beatdown to Pabamba
versus Puma. Good one. One was a champion. One
is a fucking generational talent. That was...
It wasn't just a... He got him knocked out. He
tore him apart in that fight. Bit by bit. So,
yeah, I mean... These other guys have had better
knockouts. Others, like Terrence Crawford, had
a better masterclass, but this was a better beatdown,
in my opinion. Also, it was more satisfying to
see since, I mean, Puma was literally fucking
acting up a bam. Who does that, you know? So
it was pretty satisfying to see as well. Josh,
who do you got? I had Boots, Danny Onus. That
was like... That was, like, the big, like, I've
been vindicated about boots. Like, making him
quit in six rounds after just, like, pillar to
post, that was the one for me. In the first half,
I had boots standing on us as well. For the second
half of the year, I landed on Usyk Dubois and
also Bampuma. But my overall pick for the year
is Usyk Dubois. I'm going to be honest. I forgot
Boots Daniels was last year. Yeah, I had to check
when I was making my list. It feels so long ago.
No, it was April. But damn, that fight was the
moment for Boots fans. Yeah. Your guy has finally
come to fruition, and he's won a world title
before Virgil Ortiz, which is a rite of passage
for any good fighter. We're not talking about
that. Literally stole Virgil's chain after Virgil
couldn't make weight for Stanionis. No, no, no.
We ain't talking about that right now. Comeback
of the year. This could be career comeback or,
like, in -fight comeback. Sol, start us off.
As much as it pains me to say this, career comeback
of the year has got to be Devin Haney. Yeah.
Oh, fuck. We have the same picks, dude. Should
not have picked that one, too. We all know why.
Yeah, of course. I'm pretty sure, Leo, what's
yours? I have a few. You have a few? Yeah. I'll
tell you this about Devin. Devin Haney, that.
He fought Jose Ramirez. Looked to be that he
was coming out worse. I think most people saw
that he had something missing, you know? Brian
Norman Jr. was arguably his toughest fight of
his career on paper. Makes it look fucking easy.
Turns out Brian Norman Jr. wasn't good, but that's
my joke take. That's my joke take. Either way,
either way. People thought, including myself,
that Haney was going to... Fucking get knocked
out. He was fried. Yeah. And you know what? I
got to give to Devin Haney. I got to give him
his flowers. He made it look easy. He knocked.
Not only did he beat Brian Norman Jr., he knocked
him down on the ground. Big time. And then hugged
him for the rest of the fight. But at the end
of the day, that don't matter. That was a career
-defining win for Devin Haney. And I got to give
it to him. So there you go. All I'm going to
say about that. All right. My first half of the
year, I had Jesus Ramos. In the first half, he
had two big knockouts after coming off of the
Erickson -Lubin robbery. For the second half
of the year, I picked Jack Catterall. True, Jaron
Catterall. Yeah, Bozy really did some magic with
Catterall. So that was good to see. My final
pick, I stuck with Jesus Ramos. Comeback of the
in -fight comeback was Wardley knocking out Justice
Huni. Because he was getting his ass pieced apart
for 11 rounds. Oh yeah, that was crazy. We were
almost rid of Wardley, dude. Twice. Don't remind
me of the second time. Josh, you had Devin Haney?
I had Devin Haney. That was just like, he went
literally from like... this guy is on his way
out to like, oh, oh, he's still around. Yeah,
it was mostly disappointment, but respect to
A &E for just turning it all the way around.
Upset of the year, I'll start. For the first
half of the year, I had Roach beating Tank. I
don't give a shit what the hell, that they didn't
count the knee. I refuse to accept that as not
being a knockdown. Roach won the fight. Second
half. Abbas Baru beating Yohannes Taez. He went
into MVP territory and he beat their fighter
to claim a title. But I'm landing on Roach beating
Tank. That's my... I will stand by that. That's
the hill I'm going to die on. Josh, who do you
got? I have Roley Romero, UD12, Ryan Garcia.
For obvious reasons. Jesus Christ. While it was
a huge choke by Ryan, like, Roley's actually
terrible. So, that was an upset that upset me
as well. Oh, yeah. Like, Ryan's off, like, literally
beating Devin Haney pillar to post for 12 rounds
and generally looking pretty competent. And,
like, Roley just got stopped by Isak Cruz, got
put on his ass, basically, by Barroso and bailed
out. Tank annihilated him. And he comes in and,
oh, my God, why did he look competent with Ryan?
It was an upsetting upset. I think Roach Tank
also qualifies as me being upset. Yes. Different
reasons. And wrapping up upset, Saul, who do
you got? I got Wardley versus Parker as my...
Entire honorable mention being Roley Romero versus
Ryan Garcia. Joseph Parker versus Fabio Wardley.
That should not have happened. I think Joseph
Parker, if he won that fight, he would be champion.
That made me kind of sad, but at the end of the
day, that sadness only lasted for a second because
I was filled with laughter. Because how the fuck
is Wardley champion again? Well, not again. How
the fuck is Wardley champion? That's crazy. So
I got to give it to Joseph Parker versus Valkyrie.
Hero of the year. Josh, kick us off. Hero of
the year. What did I put in? Pro box. Just generally
pro box. High quality fight programming year
in, year out. Never, never a bad pro box card.
And it's free. And they still equitably pay their
fighters too. Nothing bad to say about them.
Saul, who do you got? I got Oscar Lila Hoya for
Clapback Thursday. That's crazy. I got Anthony
Joshua. We're not going to pick Paul. That's
in -fight, though. Yeah. Did you read the prompt?
It said non -fight stuff. Non -fighting behaviors
or actions. Yeah, you're right, huh? This fucking
guy, dude. Embarrassing. I made this like immediately
after that fight, though. I'm just like, you
know. So I ignored that part. Clapback Thursday
is not a bad pick. Clapback Thursday is a good
one. No, here's going to be Terrence Carver for
letting free the slavery that was 168 pounds.
That's true. Well, that's still in fight for
beating well no because the alcoholic yeah true
by retiring yeah you could just held on to those
titles you didn't so that's that's pretty fucking
awesome yeah that was my pick too for the exact
same reason he could have just sat on it and
i don't know what i want to do maybe i'll fight
again who knows i don't know who are the who
are the contenders right now but nope he just
said i i beat canelo i did it i'm done You guys
have fun. Peace. Yeah. Fair enough. My first
half of the year, I had Al Heyman for taking
care of Pritchard Colon and his family. That's
a good show. Yeah. That broke at the end of 2024.
When I looked into it, it happened just at the
end of the year. We found out about it. Okay.
I guess you could say... Since he's continuing
to take care of them. But, yeah. Fight of the
year. I'll start. First half, I had Bivel better
be of two. For the second half, I had... I was
torn between Lester Martinez versus Christian
Mbili. And Subrail Matias versus Alberto Pueyo.
My final pick. Overall for the year, Bevo better
be of two. Bigger stage, more at stake, more
gravity to the situation. Fair. Saul, who do
you got? I got Will Matias, and then I got Morel
Katiev, and then I got Mason Noakes. Mason Noakes
is a great shout. I sounded for a while, I was
like, you know what, that is fighter leader worthy.
At the start of the year, I had Benavidez Morel.
But I ended up settling with Lester Martinez,
Christian Beely. Is that your overall pick for
the year? That was my overall. Like, all you
guys had, like, Noakes, Mason was a good shout,
too. But just, like, I had fun during Mbili Martinez
for the full, full 12 rounds. It was an excellent
fight. Like, just, like, there wasn't, like,
ebbs and flows that fights usually come with.
Like, no. These guys just went balls to the wall
for 12 rounds. Mbili was himself, and Martinez
showed everyone why he's a serious player. Yeah,
so I'm happy with that. Oh, man. That's all we
got, though. One thing about learning about Lester
Martinez, of course he's Guatemalan. Of course
he's going to have Guatemalan fans. But I learned
that that fight was really popular in Guatemala.
More popular than Kendall LaCroft. I don't know
why. I obviously don't know why. It's because
he's Guatemalan. Obviously, Kendall is a worldwide
name. That fight was more known in Guatemala
than Canelo Crawford. Yeah. At least from the
people I talked to. I was at a card here in Phoenix,
and it was a matchroom card, and they had this
Somali chick, something Ali. I didn't realize
that there was such a large contingent of Somalians
here in Phoenix, but they all came out for her
fight. They were all waving flags and cheering
and everything, and then once her fight ended,
they pretty much left. I don't know. It might
be a national identity thing. Hmm? I don't know.
Thinking on it, I don't keep track of it, but...
Do you have any events that stood out? Yeah,
I actually included this in my picks. I just
didn't. I was going to ask if you wanted to include
this. I have Benavidez Morel. And then I have
Benavidez Yard, that ring four. And then I got
ring three. That's Edgar Berlanga versus Hamza
Shabazz. Shakur versus Cepeda as well. I know
it's not last year. I was so impressed by the
crowd at the Caballel event this past weekend.
Oh, yeah. Jesus Christ. Like, the crowd was basically,
like, the noise was basically pouring out through
my speakers. I love that. That was a crazy crowd.
I hope, like, as much as I hate the German commission
because the judges are terrible, the refs are
terrible, the fighters are usually not great.
fuck they come out like the presentation is always
great and the fight and the fights are fun and
the fans are just fantastic yeah similar situation
to why lester martinez was was a bigger deal
in guatemala than the main event my event the
the event that stood out to me was eubank ben
too just because i was there but it was really
cool seeing like the The sound, the volume that
the fans put up is, it's, I don't know, it's
electrifying. Doing Sweet Caroline and hearing,
there's only one such a soldier. It's fucking
excellent. It was so much fun. There's only one
Dave Allen, bro. It was so much fun. If you ever
get the chance to go to a fight in the UK, I
recommend it. Oh, shit. That's all the categories,
though. Do we want to keep track of Round of
the Year for 2026? Oh. Like, adding another category?
Yeah, maybe, maybe. I'll keep track. Yeah, I
might. What was I going to say? Actually, my
2025 Round of the Year is that Lawrence Cole
classic. The Disaster Class. Oh, that MVP one,
yeah. That was good. One round, like, knock down,
knock call, but then there were point deductions,
and then he stopped the guy anyways. Just crazy.
Yeah, that was madness. It was funny, though.
Alright, so, wrapping up our 2025 picks, parting
words, if you got any. Robots good. Pro box is
always good. I hope this year turns out to be
great. I hope it's better than last year. Last
year seemed like it was going to be the best
year of boxing we've had in obviously decades.
I think it was pretty good. I think it was decent,
but I think it was kind of a letdown in a sense.
Is there anything specific that made you feel
like it was a letdown? no not really honestly
it was mainly because at the beginning of the
year in from january to february it was that
string that long string of fights that we had
which it was you remember it was uh ray it went
from pacheco versus uh fucking nelson and then
benavides morel and then uh kishan the valentine's
day massacre with kishan where he got his title
and then um they had a fucking uh Cattrall versus
Barboza. Better BB Bowl rematch. And then it
ends in March with Tank versus Roach. You know?
That was a long stream of fights that was like,
damn. Good ass fucking months of boxing. And
then for like the next, what, until July, June,
July, it was dead. I mean, yeah, we had, you
know, ring. Yeah, we had Eubank Ben, but, you
know, it was more of a British, you know, more
of a British fight in the middle of April. We
had Boots Danny on us in April. That's it. Then
in March or May, we had fucking the biggest letdown
and one of the biggest letdowns in Cinco de Mayo
history. And then, yeah, July was when it kind
of started picking up again. Do you think DB3
qualifies as a villain for beating up Nahir Albright?
Yeah. Or trying to jump Nahir Albright? Yeah.
Keyshawn definitely, yeah. But that's to involve
in -fight stuff because that happened because
of the fight. Yeah. I think what Dana White's
doing to the sport is still more disruptive in
regards to my pick. Yeah. I think it's more destructive
on an individual level, but on a fucking systematic
level, Dana White's fucking creaming on the sport.
Yep. All right, well, there you go. That's 2025.
We're all wrapped up. Nice and neat. We'll fucking
see you on the other side of this, the premiere
of Zufa Boxing. Nah, really. Raymour's high versus
Andy Cruz. That's the real one. We'll see who
takes that. Alright, that's it for this edition
of Boxing B -Sides. See you on the other side.
See you on the other side.