Joe Joyce Returns with Lackluster KO Performance, Tszyu vs. Fundora RESTRICTED to North America, Matias-Paro Nearly Finalized!

Joe "The Juggernaut" Joyce has returned with a powerful knockout victory. In his last outing, Joyce was knocked out viciously by “Big Bang” Zhilei Zhang. This knockout loss made its rounds on social media, propelling Zhang to new heights of stardom within the division.

For Joyce, unfortunately, this loss meant the end of his time in the conversation of world title challengers. Joyce's name was in the hat of future heavyweight threats for a considerable period. The opinions of those at the top differed from the public, however.

Anthony Joshua believed that Joyce was not quite ready for the world championship level. It is safe to say that he was correct, seeing as how he lost twice at the world championship level against Zhang. Jared Anderson, Joyce, Zhang, and Otto Wallin were all considered favorable opposition against Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

Of all the names on that list, only Anderson has remained undefeated since his last outing. Joyce was a member of Great Britain's Olympic Boxing Team in 2016, taking home a silver medal to his country. Zhang, on the other hand, was a standout in the 2008 Olympics.

Zhang took home a silver medal as well but received considerably high marks for his performances in the 2012 edition of the Olympics, in which he placed fifth. Despite their similar accomplishments in the amateurs, Zhang was the better man on two occasions, swelling his eye to a finish in their first encounter, and knocking him out cold in their second.

After his second win against Joyce, Zhang was subject to a horrendous decision loss to Joseph Parker, who is now Oleksandr Usyk's mandatory challenger. Wallin was brutally finished against Anthony Joshua back in December on the Day of Reckoning card. Joyce, after his first doctor's stoppage loss against Zhang, was finished in the rematch.

Now several months on from his knockout loss, Joyce hoped to impress the boxing public and get back in the good graces of the UK fanbase. These efforts were relatively unimpressive, however. Kash Ali, Joyce's opponent, is ranked incredibly low for his intended level of opposition. Ali is currently ranked at #121, while Joyce is ranked #7.

As a top ten fighter, no one below the top 50 should even be mentioned on the same page as you. It is no surprise that the UK fans have once again brushed Joyce off. A knockout win against someone you were set up to win against is not impressive. If a fighter wants to convince his fanbase that he is still dangerous for the upper echelon of his division, he must fight competition that creates doubt.

A key reason why the Ryan Garcia vs. Gervonta "Tank" Davis matchup was so successful financially and socially was that both men had the potential to lose. The fight did more than just bridge the gap between the Black and Hispanic communities, it cast doubt on the careers of both men. It was a 50-50 fight, Garcia could have knocked out Tank, and Tank could have knocked out Garcia. In reality, the latter came to pass.

This dynamic of boxing could have kept Joyce above water with the UK fans. Had Joe Joyce fought someone like Justis Huni, currently ranked #14 by the WBA, the reaction would have been drastically different. Regardless of whether or not his opposition was lackluster, it does take a significant degree of skill to knock someone out at heavyweight. Joyce deserves credit for the feat, but not who he performed it against.

[Amazon Fumbles the Bag, Limits Tszyu vs. Fundora Streaming to North America and Australia!]

Shocking news this morning from the camp of Premier Boxing Champions. The Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora card is confirmed to only be streaming in North America through Amazon Prime Video. Amazon was able to put pen to paper for this deal with PBC back on December 7th of last year.

The multi-million dollar media rights deal between Amazon and Al Haymon’s PBC marks a significant milestone in the world of boxing and streaming services. However, the move announced by Amazon and PBC today poses significant problems.

The only other way to watch this card outside of America is through Australia’s Main Event Promotions streaming service or Australia’s Fox channel. This is crippling for the global reach of the Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora card. This card is the first of the 14 cards this year that are planned by Amazon and PBC.

Making a strong impression on the fans is important, and drastically limiting who can support the fight to just two continents is not how this is done. Many talented boxers from outside of the United States such as Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz are also missing out on massive opportunities to tap into the global market due to such a poor decision.

Cruz’s exposure will take a significant hit in places like Asia, where boxing is still a sport that is passionately followed by fans. There is no excuse for not giving Asia access to the fight.

Asia is receiving access to Naoya Inoue’s undisputed super bantamweight championship match against Luis Nery through Amazon Prime, so why are they restricted from watching the Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora card? Only Amazon and Al Haymon know the answer to this question, and the people are left to ponder as another opportunity is wasted by a corporation. The fans have lucked out again and this is an unfortunate example of the fans not being rewarded despite being eager to support boxing as a product. The broadcasters at PBC and Amazon are neglecting audiences worldwide, intent on watching top-level boxing matches featuring their favorite fighters.

These fans, whether PBC realizes it or not, are the lifeblood of the sport. Hopefully, fans within the bounds of the stream’s terrestrial reach will show up and support the fighters regardless of the situation that has befallen fans beyond PBC’s reach. 

[Subriel Matias vs. Liam Paro Negotiations Nearing End Stages!]

Subriel Matias is rising fast in the 140 lb division. Matias signed a major contract with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing on Valentine's Day 2024, complete with a press conference that he used to call out competition such as Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and others.

Matias' contract is a partnership between Juan Orengo's Fresh Productions and Matchroom, which is unique because of how many Afro-Latino fighters have fallen off the wayside due to money-hungry promoters back home.

135-lb standout Andy Cruz fell headfirst into this situation, beginning a legal battle with New Champions Promotions, who co-promote him along with Matchroom. Cruz cited the CEO Jesse Rodriguez as violating the Ali Act, breaching his contract, and violating the California Business and Professions Code §§18628.

This court case began in December but Cruz was still able to make a ringwalk two days shy of my birthday, taking on Brayan Rodriguez in a 10-round unanimous decision victory on February 24th. Matias has avoided this by maintaining strong ties with his people, who have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the fact that Puerto Rico has not had a major world title fight in many years.

The goal is to get a homecoming fight, and Matias believes that Matchroom will be able to honor this request. As reported on the DQ w/ Damani Podcast several weeks ago, Matchroom's planned for a major spring card between Liam Paro, currently ranked 17th worldwide, and Matias.

Paro (24-0, 15 KOs) initially agreed to all terms in the contract. The fight seemed to advance once Matias agreed to sign with Matchroom, as discussed earlier. However, Paro’s team opted out of the matchup over a compensation discrepancy. After Paro financially ducked the fight, Matias and his team went down the list of names at super-lightweight, which included Teofimo Lopez.

He also declined. Before circling back to Paro for negotiations, Matias and his team attempted to make a fight happen with Elvis Rodriguez, a Dominican gaining significant traction. Rodriguez was linked to Rolly Romero's WBA World Super-Lightweight Title after he and his team confronted Rolly in a friendly confrontation in Spanish. The fight didn't materialize, and Romero moved on.

Paro was able to get in the ring on December 9th, featured in a big match against Montana Love. Montana Love has been a controversial fighter for some time, which made Paro's performance key to him advancing further in the division.

Paro knocked out Love in the sixth round on the Devin Haney-Regis Prograis DAZN Pay-Per-View undercard from San Francisco. The win was his first since an October 1st, 2022 first-round knockout of undefeated countryman Brock Jarvis in South Brisbane. Matias has not fought on his native island since a November 2019 knockout win over Jonathan Jose Eniz in his Fajardo hometown.

Matias has taken every opportunity possible to make it known that he wants the highest level of competition against him in the ring. The difficulty is matching him up with opponents who are able to give him a real challenge.

Matias has stepped into the “untouchable” phase of his career. He is a high-risk, low-reward fight that many people don't want to take. For people searching for a world title opportunity, avoiding Matias is the smartest route. Unfortunately for Matias, this means that he has significant waiting periods in between matches.

The inactivity has crippled his stock outside of his Puerto Rican fanbase, although he is now gaining more traction due to the new Matchroom deal. Keeping the potential magnitude of this fight with Liam Paro in mind, it will be impossible to ignore Matias if he lands one more big win.

Devin Haney announced yesterday evening that he has plans to undispute at 140 lbs. If he wants to have all four belts within arm's reach, he must walk through the fury of Subriel Matias. This seems like a promising fight in the future, but with Haney facing off against Ryan Garcia for his WBC Super-Lightweight World Championship, there is a high likelihood that Haney and Matias will cross paths.

[Raymond Ford Wins First World Title in Buzzer Beater KO!]

The newest addition to the featherweight championship ranks is Raymond Ford. The New Jersey native put the world on notice with his tearful last-round victory over Otabek Kholmatov.

The fight was something out of a movie plot. Kholmatov and Ford went back and forth across every single round. Both men had to bite down on the gumshield and show their chin. The impressive part about this is that the fight didn’t experience any knockdowns until the final round.

Neither man was willing to back down. Ford hit Kholmatov with everything that he had in his energy reserves, and Kholmatov was forced to raise a high guard several times. Kholmatov resorted to taking a punch to give a punch, which eventually led to him being finished brutally in the 12th round. It was a slow deterioration of form, his guard, and speed.

Kholmatov crumbled under the weight of Ford’s punches, despite the fact that he was trying his best to swing back accurately. As the referee waved the fight off, Ford collapsed to the ground, allowing his emotions to flood him. When the camera focused on Ford as he rose to his knees, he was crying, pointing upward to thank God.

After a difficult weight cut, crossing promotional lines, and battling doubt from the boxing media, Raymond Ford proved to the world that he is more than capable of outstriking his peers. Ford became the WBA Featherweight World Champion with his family, promoter, and coaches surrounding him in a beautiful display of hard work.