Boxing Picks 2025- Nick Ball vs TJ Doheny (Saturday 15th March)

Over the last couple of weeks, news broke through that Dana White would be leading TKO into the world of Boxing and they were going to be partnered by power-broker Turki Alalshikh.

While the promoters that had been working with the Saudi businessman were not openly speaking with any kind of concern, and the Boxing organisations were doing the same, most fans of the sport could have seen something like this developing from a mile away.

We have already seen with the LIV and PGA split in the world of Golf that a power grab of a sport is something that the Saudi authorities are keen on doing, no matter what anyone else thinks. They might be willing to share for a while, but ultimately they want to run things their own way and the likes of Eddie Hearn, Oscar De La Hoya and Frank Warren mean little, even if they helped usher in this new era.

There is still some time before TKO can really make the plays they want to make, but all signs point to Canelo vs Terence Crawford being under their promotional banner and this is not the best of news for the others.

Turki Alalshikh has made his feelings known by talking about 'crushing' others and it may be the time when the promoters working with him look to try and see if they can begin to get back to organising fights between themselves.

Of course the problem is that Alalshikh and the Saudis have shown how much money can be made by working with them and not going back to the way Boxing was before and the next couple of years are going to be very interesting to see how this sport looks and is being operated.

It is not Riyadh Season organising the cards this weekend, but Queensberry are in the final couple of shows under their old broadcasting contract before becoming the latest to move to DAZN.

There is also a Matchroom card headlined by a fighter looking to get back towards World honours having had a setback in 2024.

Nick Ball vs TJ Doheny

After impressing on a couple of shows in Saudi Arabia, Nick Ball has to be thinking that a 'monster' fight with Naoya Inoue is set to be in his future.

However, it would be a mistake to focus a career on a Super Fight that may or may not ever happen and any defeat now could make it very difficult for Nick Ball to be in a position to welcome Inoue to the Featherweight Division.

He doesn't look like someone who will look too far ahead and the WBA World Champion looks like he is only focused on doing a job on TJ Doheny.

Four losses in six fights looked to be seeing TJ Doheny's career wind down, but he decided to head to Japan and rejuvenated his career by upsetting three home fighters in a row.

This actually gave Doheny the opportunity to get in the ring with Naoya Inoue and a back injury forced a withdrawal in the Seventh Round, although the momentum of the fight was firmly in the direction of the unbeaten pound for pound superstar.

Moving up in weight and having another World Title shot is a huge bonus for TJ Doheny, but this does feel like a fight that has been made to have Nick Ball try and 'beat' Inoue by finishing off the veteran a little more quickly.

In saying that, it won't be easy to do that against a grizzled veteran who will use all of his know-how to get through the Rounds and patience may be the key to the night.

TJ Doheny has offered a back injury as the reason he was Stopped for the first time in that bout with Inoue at Super-Bantamweight, and so you have to think he can at least stay out of danger for a while.

Ultimately Nick Ball has shown his power carries and he may begin to break down and wear down this opponent and the likelihood is he can secure a 'proper' Stoppage in the second half of this contest.

Another home hope is looking to move past a veteran and just show off his potential on the undercard in Liverpool when Andrew Cain takes on Charlie Edwards.

An injury was blamed for Cain's only defeat, but he has bounced back with three wins in a row and all before the Sixth Round.

The hope is that Charlie Edwards will offer more resistance, although his career stalled after the No Contest against Julio Cesar Martinez back in 2019.

Charlie Edwards did win the European Bantamweight Title in his last outing, but Andrew Cain looks a considerable step up from Thomas Essomba and the feeling is that Liverpudlian can break down Edwards and force a second half Stoppage of his own.

There are a number of fighters looking to earn a spark in their careers fighting in Orlando and the majority are pretty happy to do that.

One who is perhaps less than impressed is Edgar Berlanga who feels he should have been headlining, but who is in his final fight under the Matchroom promotional banner.

Eddie Hearn has made it clear that his priority is not for a fighter who is not extending with him, even after arranging the Canelo Alvarez fight, and that is fair enough.

Edgar Berlanga came in over weight, which is not a good look, but he should have far too much for his compatriot Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz.

The latter is unbeaten and earned a couple of Stoppage wins in 2024, but he had not fought for ten years before that and was down in the First Round in his last bout in June.

Fighting at this kind of level feels a step too far for Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz as long as Edgar Berlanga is showing any kind of focus.

It might not be the fight he wanted or expected, but it is an opportunity for Edgar Berlanga to impress and earn a second Stoppage in eight fights. There have been times when Berlanga feels like he is going through the motions and he is not nearly as good as he thinks he is, but Gonzalez-Ortiz is there to be beaten and beaten well and that is what the outcome should be.

MY PICKS: Nick Ball to Win Between 7-12 @ 2.75 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

Andrew Cain to Win Between 7-12 @ 3.10 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Edgar Berlanga to Win Between 1-5 @ 1.80 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Boxing 2025: 9-29, - 18.61 Units (46 Units Staked, - 40.46% Yield)

Boxing Picks 2022- Trevor Bryan vs Daniel Dubois (June 11th)

There are moments in any sporting event you may watch where you feel you are seeing something truly special.

Naoya Inoue's crushing victory over Nonito Donaire was one of those moments and The Monster has moved to the top of many pound for pound lists released in the last few days.

It is a win that will hopefully give UK fans the chance to see Inoue in the flesh again with the final Belt between him and Undisputed in the Bantamweight Division being held by Paul Butler from Liverpool. Naoya Inoue would be a monster favourite to win that fight, pardon the pun, and it should be a fight that can be put together pretty easily with promoters in Great Britain likely to be falling over one another to get this one over the line.

However, Japanese and Middle East venues may also step forward to host the Undisputed fight and I do think there is every chance we could see that in September or October before Naoya Inoue looks to move up a Division and challenge himself further.

The Tuesday showing was a weird one, but it did give Naoya Inoue the sole platform to earn the boxing headlines.

On Saturday multiple fighters will be looking to do the same with a number of cards in the United Kingdom and the United States that will be of interest. Some big names are in action, while we could see the continued development of a couple of solid prospects that will be pushing to get into World Title bids within the next twelve to eighteen months.

It will be a busy day of Boxing over several hours and you can read my thoughts below.

Richard Riakporhe vs Fabio Turchi

You have to credit the kind of development the Richard Riakporhe backers have put together for their man and he continues to step up and impress.

He may only have fourteen professional fights under his belt, but Richard Riakporhe has some solid wins in that time and I expect he will have too much for Italian Fabio Turchi who looked to have been exposed in an upset loss to Tommy McCarthy.

The sole defeat suffered by Turchi may have come on a Split Decision, but anyone who watched the fight will have felt that Tommy McCarthy should have been a clear winner. Fabio Turchi looked a little one-paced and he has had three relatively low level wins since that defeat to McCarthy as he looks to rebuild.

Now he has to take on the power of Richard Riakporhe who is just putting some momentum behind a career that had been stalled by injury. At 32 years old, Riakporhe may feel his time is now to make a statement in the Cruiserweight Division and a win in a bout like this one should only improve his Ranking as he gets closer to the top names.

He may have to show some patience in this one against a hardened opponent, but I do think Richard Riakporhe has shown his power can carry in a fight.

I can see him just breaking down Fabio Turchi and wearing him down and Richard Riakporhe may have the power to get him out of there. On the comeback trail, Riakporhe has gone at least Eight Rounds in two of the three fights he has had and I think the British fighter will need to use his boxing to set up the power shots.

This may mean looking for openings as the Rounds tick on and Fabio Turchi tires and I do think Richard Riakporhe is going to be able to land something very big after halfway and that will be the beginning of the end of the Italian fighter. A Stoppage in and around the Championship Rounds would make the statement Richard Riakporhe will be looking for before taking on another step up in class in a few months time.

There are plenty of fights on the undercard of this televised card, but the focus is on Zak Chelli who takes on unbeaten Germaine Brown for the English Super Middleweight Title.

The Londoner has been a touch unfortunate to not have an even stronger record than his 11-1-1 resume and Zak Chelli impressed in his win over Jack Kilgannon in early April. He wants to be more active and I do think Chelli has the toughness and the experience to beat an opponent who is stepping up a level.

Germaine Brown will be confident as an unbeaten fighter would be, while he does have a couple of solid wins behind him. I am just not sure he has the pop to keep Chelli from pressing forward and this is a big opportunity for Zak Chelli to try and get his career moving in a direction he believes he deserves.

We also have another card in the United Kingdom on the same night and that one in Telford is headed by the main event of Marc Leach versus Liam Davies.

That should be a good one, but the sole selection I have from that card is backing a returning Willy Hutchinson to record an early win.

An upset loss to Lennox Clarke in March 2021 was a major setback for the Scot and he has not fought since then, but returns on the undercard in Telford and I expect him to make short work of Karel Horejsek.

This is a fighter that hits hard very early on and Karek Horejsek may not have the durability at 40 years old as he once did. He has only been stopped twice in thirteen losses, but Willy Hutchinson will want to remove any negative memories of his last appearance in the ring as soon as possible and could close the show before we reach halfway in a scheduled Eight Rounder.

Trevor Bryan vs Daniel Dubois

Forget the WBA 'World Title' that these two are fighting for and instead focus on the fact that the winner could be in line to be the first contender to face either Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk depending on the outcome of the rematch that is rumoured to be taking place in August.

I have been pretty high on Daniel Dubois and I am not going to be too harsh on him for the loss to Joe Joyce. He looked like he could have won that fight on the cards if not for a devastating orbital bone injury, but Dubois has bounced back pretty effectively since then.

Daniel Dubois has needed a total of Three Rounds to win his last two fights since the defeat to Joe Joyce and he is a huge favourite to beat Trevor Bryan on his home soil.

Trevor Bryan picked up this WBA 'Title' by beating Bermane Stiverne after Manuel Charr had been stripped of the Belt. He needed Eleven Rounds to beat Stiverne and then won a Split Decision over Jonathan Guidry, but this feels another step up and I do think Trevor Bryan has the same kind of feeling as Charles Martin did before his fight with Anthony Joshua.

The American is saying all the right things, but he has largely been inactive in recent years and Trevor Bryan will have to deal with a power he has simply not had to face before.

I don't think Bryan will have the movement to get away from Daniel Dubois and one of the more vicious punchers coming up has regularly blown through opponents very early. This feels like it could go the same way and I will back Daniel Dubois to bring this Belt back to Britain before chasing bigger fights.

He could potentially get this done very early too and I will back Dubois to make this a good nights work.

We have a couple of other cards in the United States that will be starting a little while after the Daniel Dubois bid to win a Title has concluded.

It isn't that long ago that Jaime Munguia would have been the star name of any night, but recent bouts have been underwhelming. The continued decisions to avoid taking an Eliminator for a World Title fight is confusing to say the least, while he has now decided to take this fight at Super Middleweight.

His power continues to be a factor even when moving up in weight, but it is hard to really judge Munguia when he continues to face overmatched opponents.

Next up is Jimmy Kelly who has lost his biggest fights against Liam Smith and Dennis Hogan, two opponents that Jaime Munguia did beat.

Jimmy Kelly showed enough resistance to believe he can give Jaime Munguia some Rounds, but the power of the latter should break that resistance at some point in the middle of this bout.

Getting through the early Rounds will be challenging, but I think Kelly can just about hang on before it all gets a bit too much and Jaime Munguia is able to stop another overmatched opponent.

On the undercard, Oscar Jurado can continue his streak of stoppages since his sole defeat.

He is facing an opponent who was stopped in Three Rounds and who has lost three of his five defeats inside the distance. Another early night could be on the cards for Jurado.

Finally we have Edgar Berlanga back in the ring as he main events again.

There have been some serious criticisms of Berlanga since his Knock Out streak ended and his last three fights have all gone the distance. The power is real, but Edgar Berlanga has struggled when opponents have offered up some resistance and I expect that from Alexis Angulo.

The Colombian completed Ten Rounds against David Benavidez before being pulled out, and Angulo also went the full Twelve Rounds with Gilberto Ramirez.

He should be able to show enough veteran experience to get to the cards in this one, which is scheduled for Ten Rounds, and I do think Angulo will stand in front of Edgar Berlanga to at least give the younger fighter a chance to at least flash some talent in a clear win.

Edgar Berlanga has been more active than Alexis Angulo and that can also help, but he may have to wait a little longer before he can get back to winning fights the early way.

MY PICKS: Richard Riakporhe to Win Between 7-12 @ 3.25 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Zak Chelli to Win @ 1.91 William Hill (2 Units)

Willy Hutchinson to Win Between 1-4 @ 2.50 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Daniel Dubois to Win Between 1-3 @ 2.40 Bet365 (2 Units)

Jaime Munguia to Win Between 4-6 @ 2.62 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Oscar Jurado to Win Between 1-5 @ 2.10 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Edgar Berlanga to Win by Decision/Technical Decision @ 2.50 Bet365 (2 Units)

Boxing 2022 Update: 20-33, + 15.80 Units (95 Units Staked, + 16.63% Yield)