Boxing real or not: Next UFC fighter in boxing, FOY candidate, Taylor’s revenge?

In the latest installment of Boxing vs. MMA, heavyweight champion boxer Tyson Fury scored a split decision victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. But it was Ngannou who received praise after a strong performance that included a third-round knockdown of Fury.

After Ngannou’s success, the money question is clear: who is the next MMA fighter to give a top boxer a run for his money? And which boxer will take the fight?

In early December, flyweight champions Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Sunny Edwards will meet to unify the titles in a battle between two of the sport’s most interesting fighters. Rodriguez has seven knockouts in his last 10 fights, while Edwards is a defensive-minded fighter. Could the styles collide and make this fight a Fight of the Year candidate?

Another small division champion, junior featherweight Naoya Inoue, will meet Marlon Tapales to unify the four 122-pound belts. Can Inoue become the undisputed champion in two different divisions?

Mike Coppinger, Nick Parkinson and Marc Raimondi answer these questions and more, trying to separate what’s real from what’s not.

Real or not: Sean O’Malley has a chance to give Ryan Garcia a hard time

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How Sean O’Malley plans to achieve Conor McGregor’s popularity in the UFC

Sean O’Malley joins ‘First Take’ after winning the bantamweight title at UFC 292 and talks about reaching the peak of Conor McGregor’s popularity.

Raimondi: Real, although there are some caveats that come with it. O’Malley, the UFC bantamweight champion, is an excellent MMA boxer. Just ask Aljamain Sterling, who ran into a trap set by O’Malley in August and found himself under a sniper-like right hand. I’ve seen O’Malley fight with people who know boxing and they came away impressed with his skills. ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas picked O’Malley to beat Sterling when very few did because of his hands.

MMA boxing is different from actual boxing, however. And Garcia is knowledgeable and extremely fast. He would beat O’Malley in the ring. But it wouldn’t be as simple as some imagine. O’Malley fights at 135 pounds, but he’s big for that weight class — especially in height and reach. He has an advantage over Garcia in both cases. The intrigue of the fight, as in most such crossover matchups, is in the preparation — and both appeal to Gen Z, younger fans they reach through social media. It would be good for boxing.

While it’s a fun conversation to have, I think Ngannou was able to prove that the transition from MMA to boxing might better translate to bigger athletes. The smaller guys in boxing are incredibly technical and athletic, it’s a tougher learning curve for an MMA fighter coming up. For me, that was perhaps the biggest lesson learned last weekend.

Real or not: Bam Rodriguez-Sunny Edwards has a chance to win the 2023 fight of the year

Coppinger: Real. The club’s two leaders for Fight of the Year were both promoted by Golden Boy: Jaime Munguia-Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Luis Nery-Azat Hovhannisyan.

Munguia scored a knockdown in the 12th round to avoid a draw and was victorious in an all-out super middleweight brawl. Nery stopped Hovhannisyan in the penultimate round of a hellish back-and-forth at 122 pounds.

With just two months left in 2023, boxers will have a tough time winning these two fights. Who has the best chance of toppling them for the prestigious Fight of the Year honor? Perhaps, the unification of the 112-pound title on December 16 between Rodriguez and Edwards.

Yes, Edwards is known for his defensive wizardry and hasn’t been in many action fights. But this meeting at the top of the flyweight ranks has the clash of style to deliver a classic.

The pressure fighter versus boxer often makes for high-level entertainment, and it couldn’t be any other way here. While Edwards will look to box on the back foot, Bam will aggressively pursue him, cutting across the ring. This is how the Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin rematch played out, with Alvarez as the defensive boxer.

Of course, smaller weight classes are no stranger to Fight of the Year, and I think they can continue that success despite Edwards’ lack of power.

Another fight that will have a similar style clash coming up: the November 25 fight between David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade. For the same reasons listed above, this match could also make for some high-stakes drama if Andrade is still near his best.

Real or not: Naoya Inoue will become the second undisputed two-division men’s boxing champion

Coppinger: Real. It would be a major upset if “The Monster” was denied in this attempt. After all, Naoya Inoue is arguably the best fighter in the world and currently sits behind Terence Crawford in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Tapales upset the odds when he scored a split decision victory over Murodjon Akhmadaliev in April to become a unified 122-pound champion. The boxing industry was waiting for Inoue-Akhmadaliev at the end of the year for supremacy in the junior featherweight category.

Inoue took care of business when he knocked out Stephen Fulton in July via eight-round TKO. Inoue should do the same with Tapales but more quickly.

Inoue will hold all the advantages over Tapales and is a generational talent. Tapales, a 31-year-old Filipino, is a solid fighter who also won a title at 118 pounds, but he won’t be a match for Inoue’s blend of intelligence, power and blazing speed.

Real or not: Anthony Joshua will face Deontay Wilder in December

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Joshua eyes Wilder fight after knocking out Helenius

Anthony Joshua talks about focusing on a possible fight with Deontay Wilder after knocking out Robert Helenius at London’s O2 Arena.

Parkinson: Not real. There isn’t enough time to market this fight before the Dec. 23 date that promoter Matchroom has mentioned as a possibility for Joshua’s next outing.

It seems likely that Joshua will face another opponent, either on December 23 or in January, in the United Kingdom or Abu Dhabi, and then face Wilder next spring in Saudi Arabia. The undisputed world heavyweight title clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is also set to take place in Saudi Arabia, and there were reports earlier this year that the two fights could even take place on the same project. But after Fury’s performance last weekend, that date is highly unlikely.

Joshua vs. Wilder is a big fight and the most lucrative available for the two former heavyweight world champions until the end of next year, along with current titleholders Fury (WBC) and Usyk (WBA, IBF, WBO) lined up to face each other next.

The best in the division (and of this era) will face off, but don’t expect it to happen before Christmas. It’s simply too early for everything from venue to broadcast deals to who will enter the ring first to be sorted out for a fight of this magnitude.

Joshua has been linked to appearing on the undercard of Conor Benn against Chris Eubank Jr., but the main event presents complications that could push the event back to January at the earliest. If a deal is reached to face Wilder next month, Joshua could skip the chance to fight in December or January and jump straight into fighting Wilder next year.

“Anthony, you heard it from the horse himself, I’m ready to go,” Wilder recently said on Instagram. “I hope you’re ready, I think you’re ready, let’s make this happen.”

Expect this to happen, but in the second quarter of 2024… at the earliest.

Parkinson: Real. Taylor has experienced some epic encounters over the past few years as women’s boxing underwent a monumental transformation.

But beyond Cameron and a rematch with Amanda Serrano, the options are limited for the Irishwoman in the final chapter of her career. At 37, Taylor only wants big fights and big experiences at this stage of his career, and a trilogy fight with Cameron gives him that opportunity, possibly in an outdoor stadium in Dublin in the spring or summer of ‘next year.

Croke Park (capacity 82,300) and Aviva Stadium (capacity 51,700) would be dream venues with huge crowds for Taylor in 2024. This month’s rematch with Cameron will take place at the indoor 3Arena Dublin, where a smaller crowd will be present, as will the first fight in May, which England’s Cameron won by majority decision.

Whatever the outcome on November 25, a trilogy fight with undisputed welterweight champion Cameron or a rematch with American Serrano will be the main contenders for what could be Taylor’s final fight next year, and an outdoor stadium in Dublin will be explored by promoter Matchroom. .