THE RING ROUNDUP By Tom Gray
MAN OF THE MOMENT: MARK CHAMBERLAIN There were expectations that Irish junior welterweight star Pierce O’Leary could follow in the footsteps of Barry McGuigan, Carl Frampton, Katie Taylor and many others by becoming a world champion from the island of Ireland.
even though he’d never competed in that division. Things looked positive and moved quickly. Davis was made the mandatory challenger. A purse bid was ordered. Top Rank won
it with a bid of $8.55 million. Davis was guaranteed the challenger rate of 25%, giving him a career-high payday of $2.14 million. The proposed date was October 3. Fans all over the world were excited for a matchup with legacy at stake. Curveball … Davis informed Top Rank that he wasn’t taking the fight. Wait! What? Davis is known as “The Businessman,” so
Those expectations were tempered by an incredible performance from English lefty Mark Chamberlain, who handed O’Leary a shuddering 10th- round TKO defeat in August. A former European champion who
was rated in the top 10 by three of the four alphabet organizations, O’Leary was the hot favorite to prevail in his home city of Dublin. However, there were serious early warning signs when Chamberlain scored two heavy knockdowns and busted the Irishman’s nose. Buoyed by his home support, O’Leary came blazing back in the middle rounds, applying educated pressure from bell to bell and draining Chamberlain’s tank. The script had flipped completely by Round 7, when O’Leary decked his foe with a well-placed right to the body. It looked like a fight-ending shot, but Chamberlain rose very late in the count. O’Leary was closing the gap both in the ring and numerically on the scoring when suddenly it all changed again. Chamberlain landed a sharp left that took the vast majority of his opponent’s energy bar. Exploding into action, the underdog trapped his man against the ropes and snapped his head back repeatedly with a sustained attack. The referee stopped the bout at 1:37 of the 10th round. This one is sure to be in the running for Fight of the Year. WTF? HANEY VS. DAVIS COLLAPSE When it comes to technical skills in the boxing ring, Keyshawn Davis is beyond reproach. The Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo 2020 transitioned well into the pro ranks, becoming the WBO lightweight titleholder last year with a fourth-round body shot knockout of Denys Berinchyk.
perhaps he knows something we don’t. It was reported that the former lightweight titleholder rejected a flat rate of $3 million from his promoter Top Rank, which ultimately forced the purse bid. Is he holding out for a Zuffa contract? Is there a more lucrative fight in the offing? Maybe we’ll know by the time this magazine hits the stands. But fight fans are a sensitive bunch, so Davis would do well not to make a habit of this. NEW ENTRY: KENSHIRO TERAJI (JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT) Following a year he’d rather forget, the great Kenshiro Teraji bounced back in style to claim the vacant WBO junior bantamweight title in his division debut by outscoring durable Mexican contender Israel Gonzalez at the Kokugikan Arena on July 20. One of the most decorated warriors in Japanese boxing history, “The Amazing Boy” is still overcoming adversity and adding to his legacy at the age of 34. After surrendering his unified flyweight crown to Ricardo Sandoval in July 2025, Teraji set his sights on becoming a three-weight world champion. The target was then-IBF 115-pound titleholder Willibaldo Garcia, but that December bout was nixed when the Mexican fighter was hospitalized following the weigh-in.
MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN: KRISTIAN PRENGA
Prenga came within a punch of scoring a heavyweight upset for the ages.
B efore Albanian heavyweight Kristian Prenga faced Anthony Joshua in Jeddah on July 25, too much attention was given to the fact that he was unknown and inexperienced. What was largely ignored was the underdog’s hitting power and the threat this could present. Prenga, 35, brought a record of 20-1 (20 KOs) to the ring against the oft-vulnerable AJ, which should have been a red flag the size of Albania. Despite being undistinguished, a 100% win-to-knockout ratio meant one thing – Prenga can punch… hard. Sometimes that’s all it takes in the heavyweight division.
Joshua was on the floor via right uppercut in 20 seconds, which is less than half the time it took legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer to introduce the Englishman to the crowd at the Jeddah Superdome. AJ got to his feet, embarrassed and shaken, and Prenga followed up. The former two-time unified titleholder was stunned and down again before those nightmare three minutes concluded. And then there was a full factory reset. When the bell rang for Round 2, you’d have been forgiven for thinking Prenga was on the precipice of defeat. He was reluctant to engage, gave up ground easily and surrendered all
momentum to his opponent. A classic AJ multi-punch combo, punctuated by the right hand, put Prenga down for the count at 2:43. Did Prenga punch himself out? Was he shocked by his own success? Did a heavy AJ left hand at the end of Round 1 spook him? In the days after the bout, Team Prenga revealed that the fighter had been ill during camp and that his preparation was seriously hampered. Whatever the case, a life- changing triumph had eluded him and might never be there again. Every soul connected to the pending Fury vs. Joshua superfight breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Through no fault of his own, Teraji was inactive for 12 months, leaving him in the boxing wilderness. The Gonzalez fight was a chance to prove himself once again, and he did just that, scoring two knockdowns en route to a clear decision triumph before his home fans. There was no obvious
However, as perfect as the 15-0 Davis can be inside the ring, he doesn’t have the best record outside of it. The quick-fisted star from Norfolk, Virginia, has had his issues but seemed to be back on track with consecutive victories over Jamaine Ortiz and Nahir Albright this year. And then things got weird. Before and after the Albright win at
sign of decline in Teraji’s game and, if anything, he seemed a bit tighter defensively. The majority of the Ring ratings
140 pounds, Davis had been trading verbal barbs on social media with reigning WBO welterweight titleholder Devin Haney. The pair seemed eager to settle matters in the ring, with Davis lobbying to be rated by the WBO at 147 pounds
panel felt that Teraji’s performance was good enough to see him enter at No. 3 at 115 pounds. Unification matchups
will be a top priority.
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