The latest big boxing card in Riyadh is well and truly in the rear-view mirror, with sparkling performances from David Benavidez, Devin Haney, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Abdullah Mason lighting up the Middle Eastern skies and painting a pearly grin across the face of their Saudi paymaster Turki Al-Alshikh.
These four world champions delivered once again on one of the biggest stages in world boxing. But such is the fast-moving pace of the sport, we’re now flicking ahead like the voracious readers we are, trying to sneak a peak at their next written chapters.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThere’s plenty to digest, so let’s have a look at the five key takeaways from our latest boxing bonanza.
1. Devin Haney holds the key at 147
Devin Haney didn’t just tiptoe into welterweight on Saturday — he marched in, took Brian Norman Jr.’s title, and planted his flag as the new face of the division. Now, with the WBO belt slung over his shoulder and the new year creeping into view, the options begin to stack up again.
One path leads straight toward the winner of Ryan Garcia’s freshly announced shot at WBC king Mario Barrios in February. It’s a familiar tale. Haney had been patiently holding the door open for a Garcia rematch earlier this year — only for Garcia to trip over the threshold, suffering that shock defeat to Rolando Romero on the very same night Haney eluded Jose Ramirez.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSuddenly the rematch evaporated. But maybe, just maybe, this time their timelines finally sync. Haney is a champion once more, Garcia has found himself another title route, and boxing might just roll the dice in their favor.
But Haney’s options don’t start and end with Ryan Garcia. Once a cheerleader of Haney, Matchroom's Eddie Hearn, has now changed his tune 180 degrees in his appraisal of Haney’s talent, calling him “boring” and “not good to watch.” Hearn sat ringside this past Saturday with his current flavor-of-the-month, Conor Benn, who pretended to fall asleep during Haney’s dominant performance.
Could Haney be lured into a stadium show in the United Kingdom against Benn? The bigger question is whether Haney vs. Benn sells out a stadium in the UK. But the even bigger question is whether these two fighters are at the same level. The feeling at the moment is no — to both questions — and that’s not going to be helped by Benn insinuating that Haney is a boring fighter.
Romero, Lewis Crocker and Barrios hold the other titles at welterweight, but an in-form Haney holds the key to the division’s superfights.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement2. Benavidez is taking a big risk in jumping to fight “Zurdo” Ramirez
David Benavidez may well have looked as good as he's ever looked as a light heavyweight on Saturday night, bludgeoning brave Briton Anthony Yarde to a seventh-round TKO stoppage.
The Mexican’s timing, power, volume and work rate all came together in scary unison, breaking down the strong but vulnerable Yarde to defend his WBC title at 175 pounds. Yarde may not be that statement name in the division, but it was a statement performance by “The Monster” nonetheless.
This made it all the more surprising to hear that Benavidez’s next fight will be up a division at cruiserweight against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, in a unique battle of Mexican big boys.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNow, Benavidez is no Calvin Klein model on the scales. The 28-year-old’s fluffy physique often raises eyebrows to those who aren’t au fait with his exploits in the ring, and this feeling is only going to strengthen as he adds another 25 pounds to his frame for his May 2 blockbuster with Ramirez.
And considering the big-money options Benavidez has in the land of the light heavyweights (Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez?) then it’s a big risk jumping up in weight at this stage of his career — especially off the back of a dial-shifting win this past weekend.
3. There’s no turning back now for Abdullah Mason
They say that you can’t put the genie back into the bottle, and Abdullah Mason will no doubt find this out after becoming boxing's youngest male world champion on Saturday night.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMason, 21, was electric in his instant-classic victory over Sam Noakes, taking the argument 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 on the three judges’ scorecards, and in doing so claiming the WBO lightweight championship.
“We got the win, but it was a tough fight. We’re on to the next,” Mason said post-fight, and who that next is will be a hot topic of conversation within boxing circles over the next few months.
A win like this will pay serious dividends in Mason’s development. He still has gaps in his armor — moments where opponents can slip through his guard because he leans a touch too heavily into his offensive instincts. But these are the nights that sand down the rough edges.
Mason, arguably, can’t afford to learn on the job anymore. Such is the pressure to perform that comes with a world championship belt — he’s now the hunted instead of the hunter. Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis’ names will be two circling over the head of Mason as he is given a crash-course in the politicking boxing adores.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Boxing will determine it and I'm just rolling with it," Mason said. "The world title opens up the door for everything else and unifications, fighting for other titles, big fights."
4. “Bam” Rodriguez might be the best there is
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez looked in total control throughout his unification world title fight at super flyweight on Saturday night. Fernando “Puma” Martinez was bamboozled by the skills, footwork and punch-power of the pound-for-pound superstar, underlining the gulf in quality between the 25-year-old and his peers.
Prior to the 10th-round stoppage, “Bam” was caught by a flush left hand from the Argentinean, forcing a smile across his boyish face and a reason to close the show. Seconds later, the southpaw uncorked a sensational left hand that flattened “Puma” in an instant, and moved his unbeaten record to 23-0.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe pound-for-pound debate is a soup with a hundred seasonings. You throw in records, longevity, résumés, weight jumps — give it a stir and hope it makes sense. But if boxing still ran on the old-fashioned eye-test, then it’d be near impossible to argue against “Bam” sitting at the very top of the pile.
He’s the walking definition of a box-office fighter — a kid who hunts knockouts, who manipulates distance, tempo and chaos as if he has the cheat codes tucked under his gloves. Bam doesn’t just win fights — he conducts them.
5. Brian Norman Jr. has plenty of time on his side
Brian Norman Jr. may still possess one of the heaviest pairs of hands in the welterweight division, but on Saturday night he learned — brutally, unmistakably — that there are levels to this sport, and he may have tried to scale them a little too soon.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat’s not to say "The Assassin” is finished — far from it.
At just age 23, Norman has time in abundance to return to the lab, reassess, and patch the holes that Devin Haney so clinically illuminated across a 36-minute masterclass. But what he chooses to do with that time — the attitude, the humility, the adjustments — will determine whether this setback becomes a springboard or a ceiling.
And then there’s the eternal tightrope of father-son partnerships in boxing. They can be powerful, intimate, unbreakable — but they can also be blinding. Brian Norman Sr. misread the room on fight night, and it showed when he told his son, “He doesn’t hit hard,” at the start of the second round, before Haney loaded up the shot that would put Norman Jr. on the canvas.
A painful reminder that in elite boxing, miscalculations are punished in real time.
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