Big Dog Lukie Boxing Podcast

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Whittaker wins, but…

Ben Whittaker stays unbeaten, but questions remain unanswered.

Whittaker defeated Conor Wallace via a 12-round unanimous decision, which now makes him the mandatory challenger for light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol’s IBF title. Yet, the performance of Whittaker, a 2021 British silver medalist, was met with indifference (or fears of his world class potential)

Whittaker started the fight with confidence (and arrogance). As if an inevitable stoppage would come. The first rounds were fairly boring, with Whittaker’s talent carrying the fight. The first meaningful blow came from Whittaker, who landed a left hook on Wallace in round three.

Then, it felt like business would pick up, but it didn’t.

Whittaker fought a composed fight, winning most of the rounds, but it wasn’t notable. When Whittaker showboated, it almost prompted a “WTF” response rather than admiration of a great operator. The next notable action was Wallace rocking Whittaker in the 10th round, after Whittaker appeared content to coast to a victory. This sums up the frustration with Whittaker: a loud entrance, tons of showboating, and then a lack of care to finish the fight.

That almost cost Whittaker, as Wallace hurt him in the 12th round, as Whittaker looked mortal.

On the flip side: Whittaker will fight for a belt in some capacity next, and this felt like a good opportunity to go all 12 rounds, which could benefit him in the long run. In the end, Whittaker showed his talent and pedigree, but a performance like this mutes excitement. The next question: Is this what Whittaker becomes in future title fights?

On the undercard:

Junior middleweight Odel Kamara stopped Thodoris Ritzakis in the third round as the co-feature. It was the pro debut of Kamara.

Flyweight Hamza Uddin stopped Sean Bruce in the eighth round. A career-best win in my eyes, and it makes me wonder about Uddin’s potential after a good regional win. Sure, he is no Yabuki, but names like Galal Yafai and Ricardo Sandoval become very interesting.

Junior middleweight Bilal Fawaz stopped Eithan James in eight. Fawaz continues to be one of the feel-good stories in the sport. He turned pro in his 30s, and now has some marquee wins over Junaid Boston and Ishmael Davis. This marked his third win of the year. The logical next fight would be a bout against Ben Fail to see who the best British junior middleweight is, and it's not named Josh Kelly.

Junior lightweight Ibraheem Sulaimaan won a 10-round unanimous decision over Sonny Hardy. Sulaimaan lost a point for holding. Sulaimaan was lucky to win and lost the early rounds. Featherweight Adam Maca got a dubious stoppage over Rogger Rivera. Maca took some damage, but landed some big arm punches that forced the referee to step in rather quickly. Super middleweight Aaron Bowen won a 10-round unanimous decision over Klinton Baptiste.

Other notable results:

In the main event, fighting at a 150lbs catchweight, Omari Jones, a 2024 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist, stopped veteran Alan Sanchez in the second round. The stoppage was quick, but Sanchez was not having much success in the fight.

Bantamweight Jordon Orozco lost every minute of his fight against Yusniel Abrahante until he stopped him in the sixth round. Abrahante appeared to injure himself in the round, which allowed Orozco to let off a flurry and get the stoppage. Before that, Orozco lost every round soundly. Orozco continues his incredible record of 18-0 (18 KOs); that said, a lot of questions around his potential as he looks to be ready to be outboxed.

Super middleweight Donte Layne continues to garner enthusiasm as he won an eight-round unanimous decision over tough vet Keithland King. Layne is a serious prospect to follow.

In the TV opener, a battle of unbeaten featherweights saw Fidencio Hernandez win a majority decision over Diego Nieves. An exciting TV opener with the underdog pulling off the win.

Super middleweight Ronny Alvarez stopped a much smaller Narciso Carmona in three rounds. Alvarez looks undersized at middleweight, even when facing Carmona, who is a career welterweight. In the opener, junior welterweight Jusiyah Shirley won a six-round unanimous decision over Kevin Castillo. The takeaway: Shirley needs to sit on his punches more.

In the main event of a Red Owl Boxing Card, junior lightweight Deonte Brown won a 10-round unanimous decision over Leonard Padilla. Brown showed good body punching in the fight.

Junior flyweight Naomy Cardenas won an eight-round unanimous decision over Melanie Timko. Cardenas is a former world title challenger who aims for another crack at glory. Featherweight Jeremy Adorno won a six-round unanimous decision over Ever Moises Rodriguez. The bout was made after the two fighters’ previous bouts on the card fell through. At one time, Adorno was signed to Top Rank. Adorno has won four fights in a row after being stopped by Michael Angeletti in 2022. Rodriguez suffered his first professional loss.

In this livestream, Lukie asks four (ish) questions.Question #1: Thoughts on Gervonta Davis coming back? What does it mean.Question #2: The future of boxing media, with another potential Ring Magazine sale, and thoughts about stories shifting to executives, not fighters. Question #3: What is the hold up on Shakur Stevenson vs. Gary Antuanne RussellQuestion #4: How does Ben Whittaker silence the doubtTimestamps: 0:00 Intro0:28 Gervonta Davis9:22 Thoughts on the future of boxing media; and coverage of major events23:10 Shakur Stevenson vs. Gary Antuanne Russell31:27 Ben Whittaker35:30 Floyd Schofield vs. Lucas Bahdi

Thank you Davante Jennings, Fan, and many others for tuning into my live video with Shoe Shine Boxing! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Story of the Month: ‘Ryan Garcia, the Face of Boxing?’

Is he or isn’t he? That is the question.

One thing is for certain: “King Ry” has been the most notable fighter for two out of the 12 months of this year. The next question is simple: Does he get entrusted to be boxing’s next torchbearer? It is certain that it is being echoed a lot.

The reason might also be humorous; let me list them.

Could it be he has a fanbase outside of boxing, which is rare? An influencer-like following with boxing credibility. The issue is (at least to me), the face of boxing needs to exist in a capacity of growing the sport and taking on credible challenges. A win against Conor Benn doesn’t do it for me, especially when he has two one-sided losses in his career.

That said, Garcia’s rise to be talked about in this way was the story of the month.

Fighter of the Month: Ryan Garcia

Garcia did what he does against lesser foes who run at him. As much as people wanted the intangibles of Benn’s toughness or determination to win the fight, it simply wasn’t enough. Garcia is a brilliant counterpuncher and turned Benn into highlight-reel fodder.

Garcia isn’t in consideration to me as the Fight of the Year, but he has won this honor twice, which will probably be more than any other fight, which is notable. Garcia is building a legacy.

Honorable Mention: Damian Knyba, Daiya Kira

Fight of the Month: Sebastian Hernandez Reyes SD12 Kyonosuke Kameda

If a fight happened on a weekday in Japan, would anyone care?

The answer: Only the most hardcore.

Turnabout is fair play, and Hernandez, who some felt got jobbed out of a decision against Junto Nakatani (I, for one, am not; I thought Nakatani won a close fight), now has his own share of debate. In a back-and-forth bout, Kameda arguably bested Hernandez in a fight that, if it were major production, would have been a “Fight of the Year” contender, but will now be enshrined by those who know.

Honorable Mention: Sam Goodman-Ryosuke Nishida

Knockout of the Month: Henry Lebron KO8 Derlyn Hernandez

Lebron hasn’t been seen as a puncher. That was until his Salita Promotions debut against Hernandez. Fighting in Puerto Rico for the second time in a row, Lebron got a career-best win. He also got a clip that went viral. For a fighter that has struggled to stand out, Lebron finally made an impression; now can he capitalize on it?

Honorable Mention: Daiya Kira KO7 Carlos Canizales

Contender of the Month: Damian Knyba

Knyba dropped and nearly stopped Andy Ruiz Jr. The win vaults him up to the top of the heavyweight division. His lone loss is to Agit Kabayel, the best heavyweight not named Oleksandr Usyk.

Knyba went from a goofy tall fighter known for his long arms to being questioned as a legitimate dark horse to win a world title.

Prospect of the Month: Dominic Valle

Valle has been up-and-down in his career as of late. He barely won a fight against Eduardo Ramirez in March, but he returned this month to defeat Francois Scarboro Jr. Valle is a very promising fighter with a ton of size at the junior lightweight division. This notable win continues to vault him up the division rankings.

Honorable Mention:

Trainer of the Month: Shingo Inoue

Inoue helped train his son Takuma Inoue to defeat Tenshin Nasukawa. One of the best trainers of this era, and he keeps getting results at the highest level. Not much to say other than good work.

Honorable Mention:

Upset of the Month: Eridson Garcia UD10 Alan Chaves

Garcia entered as an opponent against the exciting up-and-coming puncher Chaves. Garcia had just been cut by Zuffa Boxing after losing to Andres Cortes. Then, he ended up beating Chaves badly, dropping him multiple times and probably changing the course of Chaves’ career. Garcia was a heavy underdog and pulled off a career-saving upset.

Honorable Mention: Ricardo Malajika SD12 Tomoya Tsuboi

Round of the Month: Bardley Goldsmith vs Amir Abubaker, round seven

It might not mean much to a U.S. audience, but the hidden gem tucked on a Liam Davies-Nathaniel Collins undercard had some back-and-forth action with thrilling moments, none more than the seventh round.

Honorable Mention: Sebastian Hernandez vs. Kameda, round seven

The Obscure Fight of the Month: Dylan Arbuckle KO4 Frankie Storey

Arbuckle reminds me of Sam Eggington, and this fight was everything that is fun about fighters who are just a little bit below a world-class level, but have a ton of heart. If you can find it,

In this episode, I am joined by the most hardcore of hardcore, Tokkers, (http://www.x.com/ATokkers5), as we do an emergency podcast. Why might you ask? The sport is more dysfunctional than ever. So we get into it:- We talk about the Joshua vs. Fury press conference and how execs took center stage- Tris Dixon's Total Boxing reported that DAZN has a controlling interest in the Ring Magazine belt- Why isn't Zuffa Boxing fully working? - I put out a boxing czar story this week on The Good Fight; what would you do to change the sport?- Let's end with hope: how do we restore the sport? - Finally, buy or sell on certain fighters

In this episode, Lukie explains why he doesn’t like talking about the business of boxing. Plus, some thoughts on the fights in Japan.

Then, film study on the following:

* Ben Whittaker vs. Conor Wallace

* Bilal Fawaz vs. Eithan James

* Ricardo Sandoval vs. Oscar Collazo

* Ibraheem Sulaimaan vs. Sonny Hardy

* Wilkens Mathieu vs. Vladimir Shishkin

* Iman Khataev vs. Padraig McCrory

* Osleys Iglesias vs. Oliver Zaren

* Hamzah Uddin vs. Sean Bruce

* Mikie Tallon

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How To Watch: Saturday, 11 AM PST on DAZN

How good is Ben Whittaker? It is obvious he is good, but his arrogance will always make people want to see him humbled.

The 2020 British Olympian, Whittaker, will take his first step-up bout against Conor Wallace, a solid Australian fighter, with the IBF light heavyweight No. 1 contender spot on the line. Wallace has a loss from five years ago to Leti Leti via majority decision, and has rebuilt to this point.

It is, in theory, the most competitive fight Whittaker has been in since his two fights with Liam Cameron. For such a promising fighter, Whittaker’s career has moved very slowly. The hope is, if, he were to win, that sets up a big fight in the future.

On the undercard:

Junior middleweight Odel Kamara recently signed with Matchroom and will turn pro on the card.

Junior middleweight Bilal Fawaz will continue his good fortune as he faces Eithan James. Fawaz is one of the feel-good stories in boxing, but the question is: can he compete at a world level?

Junior lightweight Ibraheem Sulaimaan will face unbeaten Sonny Hardy, and junior lightweight Adam Maca is worth following.

Other notable bouts:

Omari Jones, the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, will face Northern California veteran Alan Sanchez. The bout will be on DAZN on Friday night. Jones is a very promising fighter who has faced some blowback for being more of a finesse fighter than a power puncher. Sanchez is a tricky vet who will face Jones in Jones’ hometown of Orlando, Florida. Also, on the card, middleweight Donte Layne will be featured in an eight-round fight, and Cuban super middleweight Ronny Alvarez returns for the third time this year.

Red Owl Boxing has a show on DAZN, also on Friday night. The notable fighters are junior lightweight Deonte Brown will be in an eight-round bout, women’s junior bantamweight Naomy Cardenas will face unbeaten Melanie Timko, Oakland, California super middleweight Kumar Prescod will be featured, featherweight Jeremy Adorno will face unbeaten Ever Moises Rodriguez and women’s junior middleweight Ariana Carrasco will fight for the fourth time as a pro.

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When you make good fights, good things happen.

Takuma Inoue repeated his victory over Tenshin Nasukawa a mere 10 months after their first meeting to defend his WBC bantamweight title.

Takuma, who is most often referred to as the younger brother of Naoya Inoue, has come into his own. He is not his brother; he is a speedster and trickster in the ring. He shows power at times, but is more of a traditional style we are accustomed to from Japanese boxers of years past.

The fight had some drama. Takuma got sat down in the seventh round. Intrigue followed as Nasukawa, who was questioned for arrogance for wanting the bout so quickly after losing to Takuma, looked to potentially be in the right. Yet, craft and experience prevailed.

Takuma was able to turn the tide and further his legacy. Though Takuma will probably spend the majority of his career in his brother’s shadow, he is forging a top-20 professional career currently and taking on the best of his era.

For Nasukawa, who debuted most notably as a kickboxer who got stopped by Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition bout. I thought he was more of a novelty act at first, but it is clear he has proven to be a world-class fighter; he just can’t solve the puzzle that is Takuma Inoue.

Undercard results:

Sam Goodman is a world champion (sort of).

Goodman defeated former beltholder Ryosuke Nishida via a unanimous decision to pick up the interim IBF junior featherweight title. Goodman is best known for being scheduled to fight Naoya Inoue, but it’s not happening. Then, he lost to Nick Ball, and for most fans in the U.S. they probably forgot about him. But, you know who didn’t The Good Fight’s Anthony Cocks, who wrote this great piece about Goodman prior.

Nishida is best known for being stopped by Junto Nakatani; the fight was a true gem that flew under the radar.

The shocker of the evening was Ricardo Malajika winning the vacant WBC junior bantamweight title against heavily hyped Tomoya Tsuboi via a split decision. Tsuboi was competing for a world title in his fifth pro fight, after having one of his fights ruled a no-contest. Tsuboi looked amazing against an old Carlos Cuadras 10 months ago, and appeared to be dominant against Pedro Guevara before the bout was halted. Many thought Tsuboi won, but Malajika came to win, and it was a close fight. If anything, it taught us another lesson: experience matters. I am sure this fight will be revisited at some point.

Ryusei Matsumoto won a 12-round unanimous decision over Russell Acosta Silveira. The bout was for the interim WBO strawweight title.

Johnny Fisher

Johnny Fisher won a majority decision against Michael Pirotton. Nothing about it was all that fun for a fighter whose career was built on a good story, charm, and exciting fights.

Fisher started slow; Pirotton’s use of a jab troubled him. A Fisher punch opened a cut on Pirotton, which seemed to be a godsend for Fisher. It is just hard to see where Fisher goes. He was a big signing for Zuffa Boxing, and viewed as a big ticket seller. This was just a strange fight that I scored as a draw.

Undercard results:

Radivoje Kalajdzic, better known as “Hot Rod,” is benefiting from Zuffa Boxing and shows what the entity gets right. Kalajdzic was probably fit to be a gatekeeper, and now he might be on the cusp of a big fight after defeating Craig Richards in the U.K. Richards is a beloved high-level British gatekeeper, who Kalajdzic defeated via a 10-round unanimous decision, exemplifying his point by dropping him in the 10th round. Kalajdzic now holds consecutive wins over former beltholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Richards. That is a good run.

Middleweight Lee Cutler won an uneventful 10-round unanimous decision over Louis Greene; featherweight Alexis De la Cerda won a 10-round unanimous decision over Cain Lewis; middleweight Leo Ruiz defeated Cesar Mateo Tapia via a unanimous decision. Ruiz-Tapia shocked me that it wasn’t more fun.

Other notables: women’s welterweight Kayla Allen stopped Edina Kiss in her pro debut, and cruiserweight Rogelio Romero stopped Aurel Ignat.

Other notable results:

In L.A., a women’s WBC junior bantamweight eliminator ended in a split draw between Mai Soliman and Maria Micheo. Soliman’s name might be familiar as she lost to WBO women’s champion Mizuki Hiruta in May, which was a competitive bout. Junior lightweight contender Otar Eranosyan won a 10-round unanimous decision over Duvan Zuleta, and also Justin Viloria rebounded from his first career loss, beating Bay Area veteran Willie Shaw.

Junior lightweight title contender Henry Lebron recorded a highlight-reel KO, as he stopped Derlyn “El Coyote” Hernandez in the eighth round. It was Lebron’s first fight with Salita Promotions, his new promoter. Women’s junior lightweight Kiria Tapia won a technical decision over Juliana Basualdo. An accidental head clash stopped the bout in the fifth round, as Tapia suffered a big gash in her forehead. Since it went past the fourth round, it went to the judges’ cards, who scored it for Tapia.

Welterweight Tyreem Haywood (A/K/A Moo Banga) stopped Abram Martinez in the second round. Haywood had won his first eight fights via first-round knockout; this is the first time he made it to the second round. Middleweight Kyrone Davis won a unanimous decision over Jeison Rosario; it was a demanding fight for both. Davis got dropped in the fight. It was a good win for Davis, but highly cautionary for the veteran’s chance for a level above this. Junior welterweight Thomas Blumenfield won a split decision against game spoiler Dante Ettore.

Former MMA champ Henry Cejudo won a split decision over Javon Walton.

Dakota is on assignment, so Lukie is joined today by boxing writer Craig Scott.We start with the big news of the week, which is “what the hell is going on with Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury. It is a good British fight that U.K. fans deserve to see, but by no means should it be the most consequential fight in the sport. Rather than being about the fighters, it is turning into something else: a battle of two influential figures: Dana White and Eddie Hearn (Joshua’s promoter). Then, we get to the boxing. This morning, Takuma Inoue defeated Tenshin Nasukawa again, Sam Goodman won the interim title defeating former champion Ryosuke Nishida, and the shocker of the evening: South Africa’s Ricardo Malajika defeated Tomoyo Tsuboi. Tsuboi was looking to win a world title in his third fight. Other results: Johnny Fisher looked average-at-best against Michael Pirotton in a sleepy Zuffa Boxing debut; light heavyweight Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic defeated Craig Richards, Leo Ruiz defeated Lee Cutler, and Alex “The Villain” MacMillan became a Lukie favorite.Timestamps0:00 Intro2:30 Joshua-Fury11:43 Johnny Fisher25:30 Ben Whittaker34:50 Japan card