Daniel Dubois Survives Wardley War, Shane Mosley Jr Shocks Bohachuk And Nikita Tszyu Rolls On

The heavyweight division stole the headlines again this week, but it was far from the only thing going on. Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley somehow managed to turn Manchester into absolute chaos, while over in Australia, Nikita Tszyu quietly kept building momentum with another ruthless stoppage win.

Add in upset results in Las Vegas, unbeaten records disappearing, and a cancelled fight after a nasty weight miss, and boxing once again delivered one of those weekends where keeping up with everything felt like work.

The biggest fight by a mile was Dubois vs Wardley, and somehow it still ended up crazier than expected.

Dubois stopped Wardley in round 11 after surviving two early knockdowns in a ridiculous heavyweight war in Manchester. Wardley came flying out early and genuinely looked capable of overwhelming Dubois at points, especially after flooring him in rounds one and three.

But Dubois stayed calm when plenty of heavyweights would have folded. Once the pace settled, the bigger shots started landing from Dubois and the momentum slowly shifted. By the later rounds Wardley’s face was a mess, the pressure was piling up and Howard Foster finally stepped in during round 11 after another sustained attack.

Messy, violent, dramatic — exactly what heavyweight boxing is supposed to look like when two guys decide defence is optional. No shock people were throwing around “fight of the year” talk before the crowd had even left the arena.

The Manchester card had plenty going on underneath the main event too.

Jack Rafferty produced arguably the best win of his career by stopping Ekow Essuman via sixth-round RTD. Essuman was cut over the eye in round three and Rafferty never really let him breathe after that. Big step up passed in style.

Zak Chelli pulled off one of the weekend’s standout upsets by stopping David Morrell in round 10. Morrell was the bigger name coming in, but Chelli fought like the man who expected to win from the opening bell.

Newcastle, Australia – 6 May

Nikita Tszyu stayed unbeaten by stopping Oscar Diaz after six rounds and the scary thing is he still looked like he had another few gears left.

Tszyu gradually broke down Oscar Diaz before Diaz’s corner finally pulled their man out after round six. The scorecards were already 60-52 across the board and there was not much argument with that. Diaz kept trying, but Tszyu’s pressure and body work were just too sharp once he settled.

It was not a reckless performance either. Tszyu stayed patient early, picked his moments and slowly took control. Another unbeaten fighter gone and another solid step forward for one of Australia’s hottest prospects.

In the co-main event, Callum Peters outpointed Joeshon James over ten rounds by unanimous decision. Peters dropped James with a body shot early and looked dominant at first, but James battled his way back into things enough to make the fight more competitive than the wider scorecards suggested.

Meta Apex, Las Vegas – 10 May

Shane Mosley Jr pulled off one of the more surprising wins of the week by stopping Serhii Bohachuk in round six. Bohachuk was expected to grind his way through another win, but Mosley turned the fight late, dropped him and forced the stoppage at 2:38 of the sixth.

Julian Rodriguez handed previously unbeaten James Perella his first defeat with a wide unanimous decision over ten rounds. Perella hit the canvas in round four and spent the rest of the fight chasing the cards.

Andreas Katzourakis comfortably outpointed Misael Rodriguez over ten rounds to stay unbeaten.

Ivan Ortiz edged past Justin Viloria by unanimous decision over eight rounds, with a seventh-round knockdown helping separate them.

Suray Mahmutovic recovered from an early knockdown to take a split decision over Raphael Monny in a close light-heavyweight scrap.

Damazion Vanhouter blasted out Raphael Murphy in just over a minute of round one. About as quick a night’s work as you can ask for.

Alexis Alvarado took a majority decision win over Emiliano Cardenas after six competitive rounds.

Debutant Rakhmatullo Boymatov also made a strong first impression, stopping Caleb Hall in the opening round after scoring two knockdowns.

Fight Cancelled After Weight Miss

The scheduled return of Ra’eese Aleem never made it to fight night after Aleem badly missed weight and reports emerged of concerns around his condition during the cut. The bout was eventually cancelled altogether before the opening bell.

Dubois and Wardley gave everybody chaos, Tszyu kept marching forward, and a few unbeaten records quietly disappeared along the way. Standard boxing weekend really.