Last big boxing card in Riyadh is well and truly in the rearview mirror, with stellar performances from David Benavidez, Devin Haney, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Abdullah Mason lighting up the skies of the Middle East and painting a pearlescent smile on the face of their Saudi backer Turki Al-Alshih.
These four world champions once again competed on one of the biggest stages in world boxing. But such is the fast pace of the sport that we now find ourselves zipping along like voracious readers, trying to skim past their next written chapters.
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There's a lot to digest, so let's take a look at five key takeaways from our latest boxing success.
1. Devin Haney holds the key at 147 pounds.
Devin Haney didn't just tiptoe into the welterweight division on Saturday – he walked into it. took Brian Norman Jr.'s titleAnd hoisted his flag as the new face of the division. Now, with the WBO belt slung over his shoulder and the new year approaching, the opportunities are starting to pile up again.
One path leads straight to the winner Newly announced fight between Ryan Garcia and WBC king Mario Barrios in February. It's a familiar story. Haney patiently held the door open for a rematch with Garcia earlier this year – only for Garcia to stumble through the door in pain. This is a shocking loss to Rolando Romero that same night Haney eluded Jose Ramirez.
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Suddenly the rematch evaporated. But maybe, just maybe, their timelines are finally in sync this time. Haney is a champion again, Garcia has found another path to the title, and boxing may just roll the dice in their favor.
But Haney's opportunities don't begin and end with Ryan Garcia. Once a member of Haney's backing team, Matchroom's Eddie Hearn has now made a 180-degree shift in his assessment of Haney's talent, calling him “boring” and “uninteresting to watch.” Hearn sat ringside last Saturday with his current hero of the month Conor Benn, who pretended to fall asleep during Haney's dominant performance.
Could Haney be lured to a UK stadium show against Benn? The bigger question is whether Haney vs. Benn will sell out the stadium in the UK. But even more The question is whether these two fighters are on the same level. At this point, the feeling is “no” to both questions – and that won't be helped by Benn implying that Haney is a boring fighter.
Romero, Lewis Crocker and Barrios hold the other welterweight titles, but an in-form Haney is the key to the division's superfights.
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2. Benavidez is taking a big risk when he fights “Zurdo” Ramirez.
David Benavidez might well watch as good as he's ever looked light heavyweight champion defeated the brave Briton Anthony Yarde on Saturday night and knocked him out by technical knockout in the seventh round.
The Mexican's time, power, volume and work rate converged in frightening unison to overwhelm the strong but vulnerable Yarde and defend his WBC 175-pound title. Yarde may not be as big a name in the division, but it was a big performance from “The Monster” nonetheless.
It was all the more surprising to hear that Benavidez's next fight would be at heavyweight against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in a unique battle of Mexican big boys.
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Now Benavidez isn't the Calvin Klein model on the scale. The 28-year-old's curvy physique often raises eyebrows among those who don't. By the way with his exploits in the ring, and that feeling will only grow stronger when he adds another 25 pounds to his blockbuster fight with Ramirez on May 2nd.
And with Benavidez having big-money options in the land of light heavyweights (Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez?), it's a risky move to make weight at this point in his career, especially on the back of last weekend's stunning win.
3. There's no turning back for Abdullah Mason now.
They say you can't put the genie back in the bottle, and Abdullah Mason will no doubt learn that after become the youngest men's world boxing champion on Saturday evening.
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Mason, 21, stunned with his instant classic win over Sam Noakes, winning 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 on three judges' scorecards to claim the WBO lightweight title in the process.
“We got the win, but it was a tough fight. We move on to the next one,” Mason said after the fight. next This will be a hot topic of conversation in boxing circles for the next few months.
A victory like this will pay serious dividends in Mason's development. There are still chinks in his armor—moments where opponents can slip through his defenses because he leans too heavily on his offensive instincts. But these nights smooth out the rough edges.
Mason may no longer be able to afford to learn on the job. Such is the pressure that comes with a world title belt – it is now the hunted rather than the hunter. The names of Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis will be floating around Mason's head as he gets a crash course in boxing-loving politics.
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“Boxing will define it and I've just come to terms with it,” Mason said. “The world title opens the door for everything else and unifications, fighting for other titles, big fights.”
4. “Bam” Rodriguez may be the best ever.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez stopped by complete control throughout his world title unification bout heavyweight title on Saturday night. Fernando 'Puma' Martinez was baffled by the pound-for-pound superstar's skill, footwork and punching power, highlighting the difference in skill between the 25-year-old and his peers.
Before the stoppage in the 10th round, “Bam” was caught by a left hand from the Argentine, bringing a smile to his boyish face and a reason to close the show. Seconds later, the southpaw unleashed a sensational left-handed shot that demolished the Cougars in the blink of an eye and extended his undefeated record to 23-0.
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The pound for pound debate is a soup with a hundred spices. You add records, longevity, resumes, weight jumps – stir it up and hope it makes sense. But if boxing was still based on the old-fashioned eye test, it would be almost impossible to argue with “Bam” sitting at the very top of the table.
He's the walking definition of a box-office fighter – a kid who hunts for knockouts, who manipulates distance, pace and chaos as if he had cheat codes hidden under his gloves. Bam doesn't just win fights – he fights them.
5. Brian Norman Jr. has a lot of time on his side.
Brian Norman Jr. may still have one of the heaviest pairs of hands in the welterweight division, but on Saturday night he learned – brutally and unmistakably – that there are levels to this sport, and he may have tried to scale them too early.
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This doesn't mean The Killer is finished – far from it.
At 23 years old, Norman has plenty of time to return to the lab, re-evaluate and patch up the holes that Devin Haney so clinically exposed during the 36-minute masterclass. But what he decides to do at that time—attitude, humility, adjustments—will determine whether this failure becomes a springboard or a ceiling.
And then there is the eternal tightrope of the father-son partnership in boxing. They can be powerful, intimate, indestructible, but they can also be blinding. Brian Norman Sr. misread the situation in the room on fight night, and it showed when he told his son, “He doesn't hit hard” early in the second round, before Haney landed a shot that put Norman Jr. on the canvas.
A painful reminder that in elite boxing, mistakes are punished in real time.
