The upset of the year happened in Greenwich, London, denying the young emerging superstar southpaw the chance to be the second-youngest heavyweight champ of all time behind Mike Tyson.

Filip Hrgović (21-1, 15 KOs) made the 21 year-old Moses Itauma leave on a stretcher. He’s now the first Croatian heavyweight champ (IBF), and he had lost the first eight rounds, taking heavy artillery to the head and body. He then pounced on his young opponent in the ninth, leaving the overwhelming majority of spectators inside The O2 Arena stunned.

He had said that he’d send the younger man back to high school, and on Friday at the last face off, tensions boiled when Itauma pushed Hrgović in the back, causing him to drop off the stage. Hrgović turned around, stepped to him and slapped him with a swift right that further set the stage for Saturday. 

Itauma had even dropped him with a check right hook in the second round and nearly decapitated him with an uppercut in the sixth. Additionally, Hrgović’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, had instructed him that he needed to land one good shot earlier in the clash when nothing was going right for him. But Hrgović sensed him slowing down after the first, and went for it when Itauma looked like he downed 15 shots of Don Julio as he stumbled through the ring. 

Referee Howard Foster stopped the fight as Hrgović landed a piercing right to the body and a left hook upstairs as Itauma was gasping for air, using the ropes to stand.

Hrgović had suffered one previous loss — a stoppage in June 2024 against Daniel Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) as both sides of his face were badly cut up — but has now won four in a row and wants a unification next, which would mean step-aside money for Frank Sánchez (26-1, 19 KOs). Hrgović also said he wants another go at Dubois, the WBO champ who left humiliated and thinking about quitting boxing, if he defeats Fabio Warley in his rematch. He mentioned the undefeated Agit Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs) as well. 

He also gave props to Itauma (14-1) in his post-fight interview, calling him the best fighter he’s faced, but that his gas stank plus experience weren’t enough, as he had never been past five rounds. He didn’t fail to give credit to wife, Marinela, for her support, and dedicated the win to his daughter and the memory of his father, who died four years ago. 

“It was not me tonight, it was Jesus Christ in me,” the champion said. 

Queensberry Promotions founder, Frank Warren, claimed Itauma has a leg injury, and said the young contender needs to go back to the drawing board. He also said he would do his best to deliver a fight for Hrgović in Croatia.

Dubois stuck around for an interview with the DAZN broadcast. He said he would “100 percent” fight Hrgović again.

WBO super middleweight champ, Hamzah Sheeraz, is not thrilled about the undefeated Kazakh, Janibek Alimkhanuly being his mandatory challenger. The 27 year-old Englishman with Pakistani and Indian descent has fought twice in 2026, with a second-round knockout victory and a 12-round majority decision. He said on the Ariel Helwani Show that he wants one more before the year is up in November or December, but he doesn’t think those who have never fought at the division and have popped dirty for PEDs deserve the opportunity to face him. He accused the sanctioning body of corruption.

Helwani asked him about the corruption he mentioned. Sheeraz said, “What the WBO have done here. To me, it’s corrupt, and I’ll say it as it is. I feel like it’s all based off relationships… I’m talking from my moral perspective. I want to give a message to the youngsters out there that even though it’s being deemed OK, it’s ain’t.”

Alimkhanuly (17-0) is a southpaw who was last in the ring in April 2025 and is a former champ at a 160-pounds. His failed test on Nov. 15 got his middleweight (160 pounds) title fight with Erislandy Lara tossed. The IBF vacated his belt because of his failed drug test plus the suspension wouldn’t let him fulfill his mandatory defense, and the WBO never stripped him. Now he’s back, subtweeting Sheeraz and eager to prove that banned substances had nothing to do with his 12 KOs.

Notably, each of his posts has comments disabled. The last one that allowed public comment was on Dec. 2, 2025, in which he wrote, “I have always supported clean sport you know this well. I was surprised when I read the news. VADA took the first test and said everything was clean. I have not made any changes to my vitamins. I don’t know what happened with the second test, so l requested a retest.”

Sheeraz’s frustration is understandable. People die yearly in this business, so dirty fighters should be sanctioned more harshly when there is a failed test. But, Alimkhanuly has served his suspension, and in this world, that’s enough for much of the public and big decision-makers to put someone back in the mix.

In 2026, the best big-name fights have been Naoya Inoue v. Junto Nakatani, Jaron Boots Ennis v. Xander Zayas and Shakur Stevenson v. Teófimo López. On top of that, there have been other great ones such as Dalton Smith’s fifth-round technical knockout against Subriel Matias, Brandon Figueroa’s 12-roundth stoppage versus Nick Ball, and recently Mark Chamberlain’s 10th-round TKO against Pierce O’Leary. 

Still, too many of the best fights are not made and some of the top pugilists stay out of the ring too long. It hasn’t been a terrible year of boxing, but it has been a bit underwhelming. Yet stylistically, a Sheeraz v. Alimkhanuly matchup, if it gets made, has a high chance of producing lots of action and would be significant for each of their legacies. Additionally, if the distribution was handled correctly, putting it on TNT Sports along with DAZN (regular subscription), instead of making it a Pay-Per-View, it could be the type of match that starts turning more casual fans into dedicated ones. 

In matters of lesser consequence, Sheeraz responded to Edgar Berlanga’s easy work comment with a story about being physically affected the day he KOed him. According to Sheeraz, he had to go through medicals a second time because his paperwork was lost, so his eyes were dilated in the process at 1 PM. “It just goes to show, if anything, he was easy work.”

Rolando “Rolly” Romero will defend his WBA welterweight title on pay-per-view against his old pal Teófimo López on Aug. 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and in the meantime, he’s prepping and giving back to the community. 

Romero was at John S. Park Elementary in Las Vegas on Friday, where he once attended, and he was surprised that more kids showed up than he expected. He hung out with students, hooked them up with backpacks, signed photos and some got tickets for the fight against López. 

Still, the coolest part for those kids must have been doing the face-off with Romero, who became champion on May 2, 2025, after upsetting Ryan Garcia for the vacant strap. He will be making his first defense of the welterweight belt against López, who will be taking his initial fight at 147 pounds on Aug. 22, and is the more talented pugilist.

Yet, López’s power didn’t even go up with him to super lightweight (140 pounds), and Romero, the naturally bigger man, has developed extra skills and is the most dangerous version of himself. Romero’s record is 17-2, with knockout losses against Gervonta Davis (135 pounds) and Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (140 pounds). Despite only two wins in the 28 months that followed the Cruz defeat, Romero has come a long way on his spiritual journey and his confidence appears to be unshakable.

Making welterweight is not as taxing as being in shape for a lightweight or super lightweight contest, so having the added fuel suits Romero. On top of that, he was sharp in his last fight against Garcia, making him go into a shell after the knockdown in round two. If he is the same guy, López will have to do something impressive, perhaps tagging and slipping off the back foot, but he’ll need to land some combos to keep the pressure off.

López (22-2) is coming off his Jan. 31 loss against Shakur Stevenson and it shouldn’t be weighed too much against him because that’s what happens when facing off with a prodigy. Nonetheless, he is desperate to prove he’s still among the elite. His ultimate career achievement was defeating Vasiliy Lomachenko almost six years ago, but then his lowest moment came in his next fight — a split decision loss against George Kambosos Jr. — while dealing with severe breathing issues, according to a doctor who checked him out. 

Since his first loss, he’s 6-1, looking sensational on some nights and then just like a good fighter on others. 

A loss for Romero or López would only put their careers in danger if one suffers catastrophic damage or if somehow, their skills have fallen off a cliff. It’s going to sting bitterly for one of them to receive another blemish on their record, but they deserve respect for taking the risk because it’s not an easy one for either of them.

Since they are friends, and have taken verbal shots at Stevenson and his close friend Keyshawn Davis, the pressure is on Romero and López to deliver an entertaining fight. Goodness willing the public gets it because $79.99 through Amazon or DAZN is a pretty penny to watch boxing at home. 

Another great fight is on the horizon with Ryan Garcia defending his WBC welterweight championship against Conor Benn. The great Timothy Bradley said as a guest on Inside the Ring that any match in boxing can be made, and he’s right — it’s about how badly the fighters want it. 

Garcia’s title defense will be at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 12. Both guys have questionable reputations since failing two drug tests four years ago (Benn) and two over two years (Garcia). They still need redemption so observers don’t impeach the credibility of their other wins.

Garcia is a highly talented, quick and powerful pugilist. In his last five fights, he has won two, lost twice against Gervonta Davis and Rolly Romero, and had one no contest versus Devin Haney. Benn is a marauder who has won four of his last five, and was defeated by Chris Eubank Jr. in the first encounter in April 2025 before beating him in the rematch nearly seven months later. 

The initial press conference for Garcia- Benn was on Saturday and they didn’t want to wait eight weeks, having to be held back on the stage after hurling insults. For now, it’s possible that Benn has the mental edge because he’s touching on a delicate matter: Garcia being a Latino who can’t speak Spanish — while Benn can. 

The insults in Spanish, from the Brit, were vicious and loud, which included that Garcia has a smaller pair and the harsh, untrue claim that the champ is less of a Mexican than him. Then the champ awkwardly kept going on in English. Of course, many Latinos will be on Garcia’s side, but this will be the lasting image for many older ones who don’t have respect for members of their community unable to understand them. 

Part of the Latino experience growing up is many older people wanting to speak with you in the native tongue. The look of disappointment on them when they can’t speak to a youngster because the latter wasn’t taught how is indelible. 

Think of how Julio César Chávez’s implying Oscar De La Hoya wasn’t a real Mexican, when the latter spoke Spanish, was hurtful 31 years ago. No doubt, it motivated De La Hoya to wipe out Chávez twice, yet it remains to be seen if Garcia is as mentally strong as De La Hoya, his co-promoter, was. 

The last time Garcia fought, he took Mario Barrios’ title on Feb. 21, and it was a shutout. In the past, he has been known for his left hook being the kill shot, but his hard right was the best it ever looked and it was a comparable weapon that even dropped Barrios a minute into round one. 

The latest version of Garcia wasn’t just clobbering him from all angles, but he arrived in excellent shape and his gas tank never went low, which was different from when he fought in spurts against Haney. The fight against Haney was originally ruled a win for Garcia on April 20, 2024, but he popped dirty for PEDs. 

Benn’s last outing was not sharp, failing to take out a banged up Regis Prograis on April 11. Some might speculate that he didn’t have the same motivation for Prograis as he did for Eubank, a sworn enemy, because it wasn’t the same level of opponent, but if that’s true, they wouldn’t say good things about his professionalism, even if many others have done this, too.  

Yet, judging by the hostility between him and Garcia, one would wager that the version of Benn going into this fight is more similar to the one that saw Eubank. If there’s one thing he does like his father, Nigel Benn, the two-weight world champ, it’s exhibit his ferocity. On top of that, the younger Benn, who is coming back down to welterweight after fighting last at middleweight and at a 150-pound catchweight, is so tough that he chews on rocks.

Additionally, one potential motivating factor for the challenger is that he is a black man, and Garcia feigned accountability for his racist trash by citing substance abuse problems two years ago. His parents said it was a mental health concern, and Garcia later checked into rehab. Still, this will be his first time stepping into the ring with a black man since.

Benn’s job is now exponentially harder, since he’ll be trying to evade left hooks and a crushing right that Barrios couldn’t escape. He won’t be the favorite, but if he can get out of the way with his upper body movement from the worst of it, to make Garcia back up, then things could get interesting. 

Garcia last showed against Barrios that he can land at will as if he were in target practice if someone is going to chase him without cutting off the ring. Still, as would be true against many fighters, getting him to go backward is preferable to being walked down. 

A few months ago, Garcia- Benn may not have been appealing, but the tension that’s risen to the surface has made this a must-watch fade. Benn has never been the champion, and he finally got his chance to seize the crown, and Garcia is out to further prove his talent plus skills match his popularity.

The shockwaves of Jaron “Boots’ Ennis’ victory over Xander Zayas to become unified, super welterweight champion, are still being felt across the boxing world. Boots is a man in high demand for interviews and for opponents looking to get a shot at a title with a big payday.

He spoke on The Ariel Helwani Show and refused to say Zayas quit. Instead, he saw it as him beating the fight out of Zayas, his highest-rated opponent who has the same reach (74 inches). Previously, three of Ennis’ top wins came against Sergey Lipinets, Eimantas Stanionis and David Avanesyan — fighters with a seven, six and five-inch reach disadvantage. His speed against Zayas was the equalizer as he evaded most of his big shots, save for the third round, which was a glorious firefight. 

In the interview, Helwani speculated that comments about Zayas quitting were about not wanting to give Ennis credit. He may be right, and Ennis said that it’s normal for fighters to look at the corner after a knockdown for instructions, which it appears is what Zayas did in round seven before the match was called off. 

The new unified champ doesn’t think he’ll get credit until he’s retired, but hopefully, he’s wrong about that. He might be Terence Crawford’s real successor, and it would be a shame if he was just a heralded name in the boxing world until the end of his career in which he goes mainstream, like Crawford did.

Just imagine how much more weight Crawford’s name would carry if his prime was in the ‘70s and ‘80s. And unfortunately, for Ennis, it’s harder for a top-level guy to distinguish himself if the best aren’t always fighting each other. This era isn’t close to past generations, but maybe some pugilists out there will dare to be great like Zayas and Ennis did.  

Before the big fight at Barclays Center, Ennis didn’t have the favorable side of the purse split, but now with two of the four belts at the division, he calls the shots(WBA and WBO). The other champs are Sebastian Fundora (WBC) and Josh Kelly (IBF), yet, Vergil Ortiz, who he was supposed to fight before Zayas, is the interim champ for the WBC. The fight with Ennis and Ortiz was never made because of an internal business mess with Ortiz and his representatives, which ended up in court. 

While Ortiz has been on the sidelines, his reputation has stayed neutral after wiping out Erickson Lubin in two rounds on Nov. 8, while Ennis’ has sky-rocketed to the most exciting boxer in the sport.  There’s a good clash with either of the three guys against him, but the best one is arguable between Ortiz and Fundora.

Ortiz is the hardest hitter of the three, and one wonders how Ennis would react to his punches if it turned into a brawl like round three against Zayas. Yet, maybe Ennis is skilled enough to keep it surgical off the back foot until he wounds him.

Fundora is a wicked puzzle, standing at 6’ 5, and with a six-inch reach advantage over Enis. Fundora has been less of a brawler as of late, and if he attacks, loading up on his jab, it’s a nightmarish fight for anyone because of the mismatch. The only way to beat Towering Inferno is by getting inside on him and landing something cruel, like Brian Mendoza did.

At his post-fight presser in Brooklyn in the early morning hours of June 28, Ennis was asked about fighting Fundora. He said, “Bring ‘em all,” regarding all the names at 154 pounds. If that doesn’t happen, then the public loses.