The year so far in boxing
BT Sport’s boxing coverage this year has provided explosive fights, some chilling knockouts and the emergence of a potential heavyweight star of the future.There is plenty more to look forward to in what looks like being a jam packed second half to the year. For all the latest fight odds, visit our sportsbook.
Daniel Dubois gets a shot at unified heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk sometime in August. And Liam Davies and Jason Cunningham will fight for the British and European super bantamweight titles in a good old fashioned grudge match at the end of July.
Joe Joyce has his rematch with Zhilei Zhang booked in for later this year. Denzel Bentley will continue to demonstrate why he has become one of the middleweight division’s most dangerous operators. Dennis McCann jumps up a number of levels when he faces Ionut Baluta, and Anthony Yarde will be back in action. There is also the small matter of Tyson Fury’s latest world title defence lurking just over the horizon.
We are already halfway through 2023 so now is the ideal time to look back at a few highlights of a busy few months for BT Sport boxing.
Fight of the year so far – Andrew Cain v Ionut Baluta
Madness. That is the only word that sums up the ridiculous super bantamweight battle between Liverpool’s Andrew Cain and Ionut Baluta.
The fight looked like being a barnstormer from the moment it was announced but nobody could have expected the treat the pair served up in March.
Heavy handed Cain seemed to be on the verge of a real statement victory when he dropped Baluta twice in the opening round but the Romanian is a hard, resilient man. What followed was nine rounds of carnage between two fighters who possessed the power to hurt each other and the determination not to give in. Both men unleashed every single weapon in their arsenal. Cain battling away with a damaged hand and Baluta soaking up one fight ending shot after another before rallying to drop Cain in the ninth round. Baluta won a split decision
The fight will be in contention for global honours when the prizes are handed out at the end of the year so if you haven’t already seen it, make sure you treat yourself to 40 minutes of mayhem.
Prospect of the year so far – Moses Itauma
Youngsters have been given the opportunity to thrive on BT Sports this year and on the whole, they have taken their chances.
Henry Turner has scored two stoppages – the second a very impressive of the talented Tom Farrell – to move to 10-0. Tommy Fletcher added another knockout to his brief but explosive CV, Sam Noakes still has a 100% finishing ratio after stopping Karthik Kumar in April while boxing fans around the country were delighted to see Ryan ‘The Piranha’ Garner remind everybody just how talented he is with a dismantling of Eduardo Valverde back in May. Dennis ‘The Menace’ McCann gets the chance to make a big statement when he takes on Cain’s conqueror – Baluta – next month.
Everybody loves a heavyweight though so Moses Itauma is the most exciting prospect to appear on the BT Sports platform in 2023. Itauma is still only 19 years old but rumours of his sparring exploits have been circulating for a few years already. The southpaw has looked every bit as talented and dangerous as insiders claimed. Two extremely quick fire knockouts were followed by six invaluable rounds in April.
Itauma boxes again in July and will be kept busy for the remainder of the year. Don’t expect Itauma to be pitched into a 50:50 fight for a good while and if the bandwagon derails any time soon then something has gone drastically wrong but wasn’t it good to see a heavily hyped heavyweight prospect burst onto the scene and immediately justify the big talk around him?
Moment of the year so far – Artur Beterbiev v Anthony Yarde
The year got off to a flyer when Wembley Arena played host to the unified light heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde back in January.
The vast majority might have expected no more than a showcase for Beterbiev’s brutal brand of boxing but the event captured the imagination of British fight fans. The whole event had a decidedly old school feel to it with both boxers letting the fight speak for itself during the build up and fans buying into the clash of style versus substance. It was a welcome reminder that not every event needs months of incessant manufactured trash talk.
Yarde rose to the occasion, willing to risk standing in range with Beterbiev in order to maximise the effectiveness of his own weapons and showing his underrated toughness. The Canadian-based Russian trusted his own chin to hold up to Yarde’s attacks long enough for him to unleash his own thudding power shots. It was a bruising, thrilling spectacle until Yarde finally sagged under Beterbiev’s relentless onslaught in the eighth round.
British boxing has been through something of a halcyon period over the past decade but it is still an all too rare occasion for one of the greatest fighters on earth to bring their show to these shores. It is a privilege to see the world’s best perform in the flesh and for a talented British fighter to match him blow for blow for a few rounds elevated the night. The tense but raucous atmosphere, the talent and ability on show and the realisation that we had indeed been lucky enough to witness one of this era’s most devastating forces first hand made Beterbiev – Yarde a truly special event.
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