DAMAGE REVIEW MESSY DIVORCE The book that boxing must pay attention to Joshua and Fury go their separate ways MAY 27 2021 THE WORLD’S BEST FIGHT MAGAZINE EST. 1909 ‘DOWN A BOTTLE OF WINE THEN WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET ONTO THE HARD STUFF’ Tales from the Boxing News office in the swinging sixties KING 21 NO. 77 VOL. £3.99 OF THE WORLD The brilliant Josh Taylor shows the sport how it should be done LERRONE RICHARDS MANNY PACQUIAO NONITO DONAIRE DANIEL DUBOIS SUBSCRIBE TO BOXING NEWS PRESENTS We’re delighted to bring you our bi-monthly 100-page bookazine series. The latest souvenir issue, an exhaustive review of Floyd Mayweather’s 50 fights, follows complete chronologies of Mike Tyson, the free Ali-Frazier rivalry and Fighting Talk. Coming next: A tribute to Marvin Hagler. cult t-shirt worth £24.99! GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE Receive all six issues straight to your door PLUS your FREE Ali-Frazier cult t-shirt worth £24.99! Pay just £40.94 by annual DD – saving 15% on the cover price. ORDER TODAY Call 01959 543 747 & quote: BXPTM for size medium, BXPTL for large or BXPTXL for x-large. Visit: shop.kelsey.co.uk/BXPTM Alternatively, to only order the Ali-Frazier bookazine for £7.99, visit shop.kelsey.co.uk/BXP1 *UK Direct Debit offer only. No cancellations within the first 12 months. Gifts are subject to availability and if the product goes out of stock an alternative product will be offered at a similar value. Colour of t-shirt may differ from photograph. Discounts are calculated on the full cover price. For overseas and UK credit/debit card offers, visit our website at shop.kelsey.co.uk. For digital subscriptions, visit shop.kelsey.co.uk/boxingnews. Calls charged at your local network rate. Order lines open 8.30am-5.30pm, Monday-Friday. Full T&Cs can be found at shop.kelsey.co.uk/terms. Kelsey Publishing takes your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the products and services you have requested from us. We will only contact you about our special offers via the preferences you will indicate when ordering and you can update these at any time by emailing us at [email protected] or by calling us on 01959 543 747. ContentsMay 27, 2021 JOSH TAYLOR 16 The Scottish star is crowned the undisputed super-lightweight king in Las Vegas UNMISSABLE HIGHLIGHTS >> 12 DANIEL DUBOIS 10 >> 4 EDITOR’S LETTER Reflecting on the Joe Joyce defeat and The precariousness of undisputed status explaining the changes he has made >> 8 STEVE BUNCE >> 22 BOOK REVIEW A long history of heavyweight chaos Why Tris Dixon’s Damage is a must-read >> 10 SPENCE vs PACQUIAO >> 24 HEROL GRAHAM A fascinating fight from out of left field A revealing excerpt from Damage >> 14 FURY vs JOSHUA >> 28 DR. NITIN K. SETHI The summer superfight breaks down How boxing can become a ‘safer’ sport >> 20 SAM EGGINGTON >> 36 NORMAN GILLER Carlos Molina is scalped by ‘The Savage’ The esteemed author’s days at BN >> 32 HANEY vs LINARES SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE 37% A rising star meets a decorated veteran >> 34 OUBAALI vs DONAIRE PAY JUST £9.99 A MONTH. SEE PAGE 48 FOR FULL DETAILS Can ‘The Filipino Flash’ pull this one off? Visit SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/BXN21 >> 44 BOXING CENTURIONS Celebrating the Brits in the ‘100 club’ >> 46 MIRIAM GUTIÉRREZ A woman who is fighting the good fight www.boxingnewsonline.net MAY 27, 2021 l BOXING NEWS l 3 EDITOR’S LETTER Photo: DAVID BECKER/GETTY IMAGES TRIUMPH: Taylor with his Time to title belts subscribe l THERE are numerous ways to subscribe, including special offers. l YOU can get a print and online Cover photography MIKEY WILLIAMS/TOP RANK subscription for £9.99 per month, or digital only for just £4.99 per month. l FOR more information on all the THERE CAN BE NO DISPUTE subscriptions plus our special Taylor has proved himself to be need the sanctioning bodies to tell us. We situation and recognise Teofimo Lopez bookazines, know that because the two best fighters as lightweight king – to be regarded an please visit the best on the planet, do not in the division had a fight that crowned ‘undisputed’ champion is nothing short of www.shop. let the sanctioning bodies tell a king. That was not because of the shameful. kelsey.co.uk sanctioning bodies, it was in spite of them. Again, Taylor deserves immense or call 01959- you otherwise in the future Imagine if Taylor fights Jack Catterall, credit for what he has achieved in 18 543-747. his WBO mandatory, in a homecoming fights. He has shirked no challenge and bonanza but one of the IBF, WBA or in his three biggest fights – against the l THE next issue OSH TAYLOR is the WBC decide to strip him because he’s revered Ramirez, Regis Prograis and will be in shops world’s best fighter not fighting their mandatory. Or he fights Ivan Baranchyk – his opponents came on June 3 and in his weight class. someone other than Catterall and the defending unbeaten records as well as available to Not many boxers WBO strip him. titles. To be clear, winning all four belts download on J in the current era Bernard Hopkins, after a gruelling is secondary to beating all of his closest June 1. have been able to road to gaining ‘undisputed’ status, rivals. Yet the fact we will almost certainly make such a claim. defended all four middleweight belts for see the championship fractured within the The For that reason the second time against Jermain Taylor in next 12 months, regardless of what Taylor Opening alone, what Taylor 2005. But after losing on points, in a very does next, is preposterous when you really Bell... has achieved must tight bout, only three of the four titles think about it and the work involved to be regarded as truly were on the line in the rematch. Taylor get here. l THE BN remarkable. would eventually lose to Kelly Pavlik There was a time when the words podcast has The word who in turn would be beaten by Sergio undisputed and champion were not been described ‘undisputed’ has Martinez. Taylor, Pavlik and Martinez as mutually exclusive in boxing as they as the ‘most Matt impartial and Christie been used a lot in were each exceptional challengers yet are today. And nor should they be. The recent days and the sanctioning bodies didn’t see it that Oxford definition of champion is ‘a person informative @MattCBoxingNews Taylor’s feat is indeed way: By the time Martinez was champ who has surpassed all rivals in a sporting podcast around.’ Editor a huge one. But the in 2010, five years after Hopkins fixed contest or other competition’ whereas There is at least precariousness of a title perceived to have been broken undisputed means ‘not disputed or one new episode that status in the modern boxing era was since Sugar Ray Leonard defeated called in question; accepted.’ Therefore, every week to highlighted on BBC 5 Live when Mike Marvin Hagler in 1987, his claim to the every champion, by definition, should enjoy. be undisputed. The WBA, IBF, WBC and Costello and Steve Bunce warned that throne was only recognised by the WBC. l IN the last WBA each serve a purpose but until Taylor may not be the ‘undisputed’ super- The other three bodies defied all logic two weeks the industry collectively realises those lightweight champion in his next fight. and sound thinking by creating extra we’ve produced purposes are rooted in greed and short- The reasons for that are two-fold: one, he ‘champions’ who did not merit that status. four podcasts term thinking, the sport will always be may decide to rise in weight in his next In turn, the industry blindly recognised with behind marginalised, at least to a degree. bout and two, the real sickener, retaining those other titlists too and only the scenes What we have in Josh Taylor, should ‘undisputed’ championships is even harder heightened the problem in the process. interviews and he stick around at 140lbs and invite than winning them. Yes, we absolutely must applaud Josh’s immediate big- challengers to face him, is an undisputed That sheer impossibility of keeping all victory over Jose Ramirez, previously fight analysis. four organisations happy for longer than number two at super-lightweight to his champion. A clean slate, if you will. And a fight or two should highlight why this number one, but to get too caught up there should be no dispute over his claim l Listen (& rate notion of ‘undisputed’ is not quite the with unifying all four titles only empowers until he leaves the division or loses a fight, & subscribe) via promised land it’s often made out to be. the sanctioning bodies when it’s their regardless of what the sanctioning bodies Apple, Spotify There is indeed something magical about policies that are the root of the problems may say. and all major a fighter proving they’re truly the best on at the very top. That Taylor is just the platforms. Follow us and keep up to date the planet but now Taylor has done that fifth male boxer since 1988 – or the sixth, (by beating his closest rivals), we don’t if we ignore the daft WBC Franchise @BoxingNewsED BoxingNewsOnline 4 l BOXING NEWS l MAY 27, 2021 www.boxingnewsonline.net GUEST COLUMN ‘DISRESPECTFUL TO REAL FIGHTERS’ I understand why Showtime have signed Jake Paul but it’s distasteful to the sport as we know it Photo: AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES/TRILLER EXPOSURE: Paul hogs the limelight again T is clear why of these people, who are sadly under as legitimate competition.