Beyond Boxing

Last night’s main event had all the ingredients of a defining moment—but instead, it left us debating the referee. As Rico Verhoeven pushed himself against the elite pedigree of Oleksandr Usyk, the fight was hanging in the balance. He was under pressure, no doubt, but still on his feet and within touching distance of the bell. And that’s where the controversy begins. Should the referee have stepped in when he did? Or should Verhoeven have been given the chance to make it back to his stool and reset? In combat sports, referees walk a tightrope between protecting fighters and allowing contests to reach a natural conclusion. Get it wrong, and the story shifts, from the athletes in the ring to the official in charge.

What are we just seen? Seriously? What have we just seen? We have seen the most dramatic world title fight we’ve seen in the UK for a long time. We saw two men put their bodies and literally their lives on the line, and you wonder if either Man will be the same again. In a perverse way, that is exactly why we love the sport of boxing.

Time to remove more frauds from the game.

Doping is a serious problem in boxing. Whether the sport is dirty, or people are sailing too close to the wind, something has to change. We also need to look at why VADA is catching everyone and UKAD is catching nobody. What of VADA did other sports, what would they find?

When we hit the milestone episodes, you know I have to go back to the essence - where it all started. So today, i am joined by martin and Andi, the legends that built the New Age Boxing podcast, father to much of what came after. Not sure what we did today, but we had fun writing a few wrongs and poking a few bears. Enjoy.

The fun and games of a boxing weigh-in.

Without doubt, Moses Itauma is a special talent and you sense his moment will arrive soon. The hope is that his career lasts a long time and that means he has the pressure of remaining hungry, dedicated and in love with the sport. What a good feeling it is to see big shows, in big arenas, in the UK. You cannot beat that atmoshere.

Geopolitics have really accelerated the boxing recession. Everyone is fighting for the last few dollars left on the table, but the fans aren't buying into all of it this time.

The fact that Mayweather-Pacquiao II is the biggest fight in boxing says everything about the mess boxing has become since they left the scene. Had we had the fights we deserved, maybe we wouldn't be watching this. But, respect to both men for never letting their standards drop and still being legitmate top 10 welterweights at their age.

Boxing is dog-eat-dog. Not many boxers get the opportunity to do the eating, but Conor Benn did. Watch the Matchroom Mujaheddin start attacking Conor, for their heroes and masters...

There’s clearly a lot more to this Conor Benn and Matchroom relationship than we are being led to believe because Conor would’ve made good money with Matchroom, and so for him to leave and move to Zuffa, and essentially relocate his whole career to the United States tells us that maybe the garden wasn’t as rosy as people made out. You never saw them being particularly close which is always a red flag. It’s the same with Anthony Joshua so you feel like Conor Benn moving to Zuffa Boxing has left Match very exposed and very devoid of star power in the UK.

It’s very hard if not impossible to to fight someone you’ve looked up to for a long time and Teofimo Lopez faced that challenge against Stevenson. He had to fight someone he knew was more skilled more experienced and an all-round better fighter. The sad part about it is he did nothing different to what he would’ve done had he fought anybody else a mistake that Stevenson prayed upon and that mistake made the fight very easy for Stevenson. People will now think less of Teofimo, but he remains a good fighter. It is just in the big moments, he’s not able to maximise his talent and that’s something he has to address.

The grass is rarely greener than where you are right now. Daniel Dubois has perhaps learned that lesson. In life, there is value in committing and building partnerships and legacies, which Daniel and Don Charles have a chance to do.

Dalton Smith has brought hope to Sheffield and this could be a new dawn for Yorkshire boxing. But... the big story is the fall-out from the movie Giant. Whichever side you go for just know that these relationships are more complex than we can ever learn from video interviews. What we can say is that both men will look at that period and know they could have handled the whole situation better.

The UK-Africa boxing experiment has been a disaster. It smells of colonialism, or at bet, a cynical cash-grab without having to invest in UK fighters. But, it points to the desperation these promoters have to make money at all costs, no matter how much damage it does to the brand.

When you carry on like Andrew Tate and you say the things that he says, the only way you should ever lose a fight is on your shield. You can never go out soft, the world will not allow you to go out soft after everything you have said. On Saturday night, we saw Andrew Tate go out soft he looked very hollow looked very weak, looked very human, very average and all he did in fighting Chase Demoor that way was give all of his opponents the ammunition they needed. Probably wasn’t the smartest decision.

When it’s all said and done, moments like this Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua circus will be the moment Boxing lost it soul. For generations, we were able to tell the public that the sport was so hard you had to be a specialist in this thing we called Boxing. We told people it took years of mastery. It took a very tough human being. It took a very special individual to be able to compete in Boxing and I think in the space of seven years the influencer community is showing us that actually it doesn’t. Boxing is not that special and once Boxing lost that tag of being special, the commercial opportunity started to filter away because it just became a murky corrupt sport where people seem to want to launder money in and out of the sport…and now we’re here.

That Monaco show was disastrous for a few prospects who will clearly never be world champions now. It also gave Eddie Hearn a chance to clear some. Deadwood out the stable.

When someone like Jeami TKV upsets the odds, we should celebrate it because it is a chance for them to change their lives because that is what this sport is about. We need more warriors like him and Frazer Clarke to take the sport forward.

When you hear that theme music, you know it's serious. Boxxer blew threw an estimated £32m of our money to give us a worse stable than they started with. This BBC deal feels like the last days of Boxxer. Can anyone see them turning it around? You cant have a circus bear dancing around before a fight against a nail technician. It degrades the sport.

Anthony Yarde has to be the best managed boxer in recent British boxing history. The young man is a millionaire. He’s fought for world titles three times against three people who will definitely be on the ballot for the Boxing Hall of Fame and he’s been able to secure endorsement deals and hopefully secure future for himself and his family But none of that should mask over the fact that this weekend is revealed how poor the standard of British Boxing actually is we are in no position to call ourselves of global force when it comes to Boxing.

This fight is crazy, but I’m here for it…if it happens.

Conor Benn may not be the most talented, but he is determined and you can see the progress he has made in the last 5 years. Whatever people say, the kid is a contender in three weight classes.

BEYOND BOXING EP281 - EDDIE ASAMOAH HEARN by Highfield Boxing

It’s been a crazy year for Anthony Joshua and you have to suspect that there are problems for him in the ring and there are problems for him outside the ring. What those problems are, not many of us know but we know that there are problems, and it seems that is the reason he’s no longer in the UK. Now, what that means for his career very hard to say but it’s very strange that none of the media outlets are asking the right questions.

BEYOND BOXING EP279 - WHEN ZACH PARKED THE BUS by Highfield Boxing

When two men go to war like Fabio Wardley and Joseph Parker did, there are no losers. What a fight and what a story Fabio Wardley’s career is becoming. Rocky really lives amongst us. The man’s life is a movie.

A long time ago I said Turki and the Saudis saw boxing as a tool, not a passion project. Wardley-Parker is proof that they won't burn cashon fights that do not serve their aims. For those fights, the fans have to pay.

Dave Allen’s spirited effort just wasn’t enough to overcome the power and precision of Arslanbek Makhmudov. Despite coming off a huge knockout win over Johnny Fisher back in May, Allen fell short on the scorecards, with all three judges giving the fight to the Russian, even after Makhmudov had two points deducted for holding. Where does Dave go now, and is this down in the hole Matchroom are now?

There is no doubt that Crawford is the best of this era, but we have to stop with the Floyd comparisons because he was one of one. Crawford winning against Canelo has disrupted the boxing money train temporarily as he will not find an opponent to give him the payday he wants. Boers on OnlyFans....stop please.

Ricky Hatton, known as “The Hitman” and beloved by legions of fans, passed away on 14 September 2025 aged 46. Born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, Hatton turned professional in 1997, going on to carve out a storied career in the light‐welterweight and welterweight divisions. He captured world titles, most memorably defeating Kostya Tszyu in 2005, and amassed an outstanding record of 45 wins in 48 fights.  Hatton’s appeal transcended his ring achievements. His ferocious, all-action style won him dedicated fan support, tens of thousands followed him even across oceans.  Afterwards, he was open about life’s battles: depression, substance abuse and the challenge of life once gloves were off. His frankness on mental health made him a powerful figure of empathy in British sport.  Ricky Hatton’s legacy will endure, as a warrior in the ring; an everyman who made the extraordinary seem within reach; and a voice for those whose fights happen outside it.

Canelo Álvarez, dominant at super-middleweight, brings size, power, and championship pedigree into his defense against Terence Crawford, the undefeated tactician jumping two weight divisions. Canelo’s physicality, granite chin, and ring experience give him clear advantages, but Crawford’s timing, adaptability, and counterpunching make him a live threat. The fight represents a clash between natural strength and pure skill: can Crawford’s precision offset Canelo’s size? The bout could redefine pound-for-pound supremacy and boxing history.

The story is the story. No answers to any questions.

In today's news... Moses won - first round stoppage. Frank won - he got to see one of his enemies humbled by a 20 year old. Dillian won - He was paid handsomely at a time when he was on the outside of boxing looking in. However, this week, Don Charles lost. He paid a heavy price for trying to manage an unmanageable situation. A good man, done wrong.

Dillian Whyte stands in the last chance saloon if he wants one last run at glory. Blocking his other is Moses Itauma, a young man in a rush towards greatness. Can Dillian upset the odds and add one more chapter to his storied career?

Ben Shalom has faced a rough start to 2025. But, it looks like life is a bit more stable for him with the announcement of a deal with the BBC. The real question is whether Ben can bring the glamour back to boxing on mainstream TV.

Who doesn't love a party? Definitely not boxing fans. They had done it before and it worked, but they confused luck with destiny and paid a heavy price. Whatever we say about partygate, there wasn't a version of Daniel Dubois that would have beaten Oleksandr Usyk.

You can't promise history and then expect us to praise effort. This whole Usyk-Dubois experience has felt like a massive ponzi scheme, with only the boing fans losing out again... My sense is that Usyk learned from the first fight, make adjustments based on what he saw and felt, delivering a completely different performance. We saw the Same DDD two years later, maybe at a lower level. We have to ask why.

Usyk is the greatest heavyweight of this generation and maybe the greatest boxer of this generation. That’s the headline.

Boxing is a cruel game, made even worse when you. Arty the burden of the family name on your back. But, we are now seeing that you cannot escape the fundamentals of boxing - sacrifice, skill, strength and grit - no matter who your dad is. For My two oence, I think Campbell Hatton had the hardest job, replacing a man that many still remember fighting and the first Brit to have their career enshrined on social media. It was always going to be hard.

Benn-Eubank II and Canelo-Crawford are cartoon fights. These are fights that are just there to keep revenue ticking over. These are not fights the fans really care about - maybe the hardcores at a push, but that's about it. Boxing will struggle until boxing fans demand real fights over action movies.

You can’t say you’re a free agent on your promoter’s show. It was a poor decision by Richardaon Hitchins and maybe it reflect the overall lowering of standards in boxing.

The Fabio Wardley fairytale continues. The Callum Simpson trim nearly detailed Boxxer are set for a full reboot. …Only in boxing

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing The main question this pod is…WHO IS RUNNING BOXING?

Boxing is such a cruel sport. By winning. Dave Allen has increased his earning potential significantly and in losing Johnny Fisher has very tough career choices to make. It is a reminder that as much as Boxing is something that we has fans look at as fun, to those in the ring it is deadly serious and because it is deadly serious it is very important to have the right team around you. That includes your trainer and in many cases, and it’s not just Johnny Fisher, boxers have been trained by people who will never be good enough to help them fulfil their potential and maybe that is the biggest danger we face in boxing right now.

Did the pandemic of 2020 do more to hurt boxing than simply deprive boxing fans of fights that they wanted to see? As time goes on it’s clear that there’s a lost generation within Boxing a group of amateurs who missed 2.5 years of vital development that would’ve helped their career immeasurably. As a result what we’re seeing amongst this generation is many of these boxes trying to play catch-up without being given the opportunities to catch up.

Make sure you listen to EP258 first. There is only so much money you can throw at boxing before you get diminishing returns. At the moment, it looks like boxers are just boxing to get paid, and have no desire to entertain the fans. The contrast between Eubank-Benn and the boxing in New York, Vegas and Saudi Arabia couldn't be more obvious. I think we will see the Saudi's focus on the fighters that entertain and not the ones with the names. They are determined to maximise their value from boxing.

Eubank-Benn gave boxing one of its truly great moment. But, as is the case with boxing, we end up with drive-thru boxing at Times Square. It feels like Turki Alalshaikh is realising how challenging boxing can be at times. It is a lesson, we cannot always chase our wins in boxing.We have to let the sport ebb and flow naturally, without too much interruption.

There’s nothing a son treasures more than the bond with his father, the love, the validation, and that bond can drive a man to extraordinary heights. On Saturday night, we witnessed Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn do exactly that. Driven not just by their own ambitions, but by the legacy of their fathers, and by the love and validation of the British public, they gave us one of the great nights in British boxing. Two men, laying everything on the line. Two men, fighting for more than just victory. And in doing so, both earned something far greater, the admiration and love of the public, after years of chasing it. The shame is, nights like this are rare. Boxing can deliver stories like these again and again… but too often, the sport takes the easy road, chasing quick money rather than building the deep, powerful narratives that make nights like this so special. Tonight, we dive into why Saturday mattered, and what boxing needs to learn from it.

Sunday night was a defining moment for Ben Whittaker, his career was on the line, and he delivered. In what was his first big test under real pressure, he showed composure, skill, and raw emotion. The post-fight antics? That’s just the relief and passion boiling over. Cut the kid some slack, he’s a huge talent, and this is only the beginning. Let’s break it all down.