Elliot Worsell

When heavyweights Mahmoud Charr and Kubrat Pulev finally meet in Sofia, Bulgaria this Saturday (December 7), they will bring to the ring a combined 72 professional fights, 83 years, and almost as many years’ worth of inactivity, confusion, and frustration.

While the specifics of the ageing process differ from person to person, there are two irrefutable facts by which we are all bonded: one, that the process starts the moment we are born, and two, that it will eventually end.

They used to say the problem with Wladimir Klitschko was that he knew too much. He thought too much, he felt too much, and after suffering his first loss he expected the worst every time he set foot in a ring.

It didn’t take long for Murodjon Akhmadaliev to demonstrate his superiority over Ricardo Espinoza tonight in Monte Carlo, with several heavy left hands in round three doing the job and ultimately ending the fight

Leonardo Mosquea is the new European cruiserweight champion after knocking down and outpointing Britain's Cheavon Clarke

As pointless as any other “Grand Arrivals”, the only thing that made tonight’s spectacle in Saudi Arabia different from the rest was the fact that Saturday night’s fighters approached the stage having first exited an aircraft. ( Yes, only in Saudi Arabia.)

Tyson Fury has never been beaten in a rematch. Will Oleksandr Usyk become the first? (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

The role of a press conference has been distorted so much in recent years it is hard to even know what one’s purpose is anymore or indeed what one is supposed to actually represent.

While it would be wrong to say that news of a positive performance-enhancing drugs test in boxing is cause for celebration, there is a silver lining to be found whenever a fight is cancelled on account of one. As depressing as it is, the only thing worse than news of a failed drugs test is when we experience an extended period without one, during which silence can be interpreted as the sound of incompetence rather than the sound of either boxers behaving or the sport cleaning itself up.

Until news broke regarding plans to have an artificial intelligence-powered judge at “ringside” for the heavyweight rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, Elliot Worsell wasn’t sure which word to use to summarise boxing in 2024...