“Josh Taylor will be on his phone a lot in the coming days, but he won’t use facial-recognition technology to unlock it. Regis Prograis will draw double-takes from strangers for a while, though if you think his face is bad, Prograis might suggest you “see the other guy.” Except he would never do that. That isn’t how prizefighters, people who normalize such grotesqueries, regard their wounds. And it is very often not how they regard their opponents, not after they do to one another what Taylor and Prograis did.”

Read Men of Will: Josh Taylor Grinds Past Regis Prograis on Hannibal Boxing.

“Relieved of his title and undefeated record, Gvozdyk remains one of the best light-heavyweights in the world. A knockout loss to Beterbiev puts you in growing company and does nothing to belittle your accomplishments. Gvozdyk showed world-class skills in being ground down. He moved well in the early rounds, circling right (away from Beterbiev’s right hand) and cracking the code of Beterbiev’s guard with sharp combinations. Indeed, Gvozdyk was ahead on two cards at the fight’s end. But how many fighters are better at rendering such tallies moot than Beterbiev?”

Read Rough Treatment: Artur Beterbiev Stops Oleksandr Gvozdyk on Hannibal Boxing.

“Might Gvozdyk—by some distance the best fighter he’s faced as a professional—fold Beterbiev early? Certainly. We don’t yet know whether Beterbiev can take the kind of power Gvozdyk did against Stevenson. He’s also hit the canvas early against fighters nowhere near Gvozdyk’s level. A momentary carelessness in the first round of his 2014 fight against Jeff Page Jr. left Beterbiev on his trunks. He explained away the knockdown, saying, “I felt a bit sleepy before the fight. I think I just lost my concentration for a fraction of a second.” If Beterbiev loses his concentration against Gvozdyk, further sleepiness awaits. A year ago, Callum Johnson dropped Beterbiev hard with a counter hook. Beterbiev’s fighting arrogance, his belief that he needn’t land clean to hurt his opponent, played a role in both knockdowns and, it should be noted, the stoppages he scored when he regained his feet. It will be interesting to see how that arrogance factors Friday, should Gvozdyk not only withstand Beterbiev’s assault but reciprocate.”

Read The Imminent: Oleksandr Gvozdyk-Artur Beterbiev Preview on Hannibal Boxing.