Exceed Boxing News

It’s official. Ryan Garcia will defend his WBC welterweight title against Conor Benn on September 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Getting here wasn’t pretty. Oscar De La Hoya called Dana White a “neanderthal,” mocked the Zuffa belt as “the unicorn belt,” and Golden Boy literally fired off a cease-and-desist letter over this exact fight. Two promotional empires that can’t stand each other somehow ended up on the same poster.

Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) is riding a wide win over Mario Barrios. Benn (25-1, 14 KOs) finally gets his first world title shot, and he’s got a personal score to settle too, this whole thing kicked off with Garcia calling him out for grabbing him at an awards show two years back.

Two promoters who hate each other. Two fighters with actual bad blood. But boxing found a way to happen again.

Who’s got the pick for September 12?

Boxing might be getting weight class number 18. The British Boxing Board of Control is eyeing a new 185lb division called light cruiserweight, wedged between light heavyweight (175lb / 79.4kg) and cruiserweight (200lb / 90.7kg). New limit lands at 83.9kg for anyone doing the math in kilos.

Their case: the jump from light heavyweight to cruiserweight is the biggest gap in the sport, and today’s fighters are just built bigger than those divisions were designed for. Filed under fighter safety. Still early days, just feedback gathering for now.

Except boxing’s run a similar play not too long ago. The WBC rolled out bridgerweight in 2020 at 224lb (101.6kg), same “bridging a gap” pitch. The WBA jumped on board in 2023. Fast forward to June 2026, and the WBA quietly killed it off because almost nobody actually lived there. Fighters used it as a rest stop on the way to heavyweight, not a real home.
So, real talk. Let’s give them feedback of the fans. Is this genuinely about keeping fighters safer, or is it that boxing governing bodies are just very good at finding new ways to get more sanctioning for another belt?

Does 185lb actually fix something, or are we just adding more clutter to a sport already drowning in belts?

Matchroom has been offering Australian heavyweights five times their career-high purse to fight Teremoana. Eddie Hearn says he put the fight to Australia’s reigning heavyweight champion, plus several other unbeaten domestic big men. Every one of them turned it down. Real money on the table, and still no takers.

“The reality is that everybody is afraid to step in the ring with Teremoana,” Hearn admitted.

Quick background for anyone catching up: Teremoana is the 28-year-old Cook Islands-Australian out of Brisbane who KO’d his way to the 2024 Paris Olympics, only for his run to end on points against the double Olympic champ Jalolov. As a pro, he’s seen past the first round just twice. Eleven fights, eleven knockouts, most of them over inside a minute.

Hearn didn’t name names, but a few candidates stand out. The reigning Australian heavyweight champion is Stevan Ivic, unbeaten at 9-0-1 and, like Teremoana, out of Brisbane. Justis Huni is the country’s No. 1 heavyweight, but he still has his eyes on a world title shot, so this fight is even less likely to happen now. Demsey McKean is another potentially great local matchup as has the size and the résumé.

DeAndre Savage, an American with 11 knockouts in his own 11 wins, is the one who finally said yes. He meets Teremoana on August 12 in Gold Coast.

If 5x your biggest payday can’t get Australia’s best into the ring, is that fear, or just smart career development tactics?

🏴 ENGLAND vs ARGENTINA 🇦🇷
2026 World Cup – Semi-finals. Atlanta Stadium. July 15.

England and Argentina in a World Cup semi-final. No need to overcook this one.

England arrive after ending Norway’s historic run 2-1, and now bring a squad built around one question: can Fury and Kane help bring it home?
🥊 Tyson Fury — Heavyweight — 35-2-1, 24 KOs
The headline name, the biggest personality, and the obvious man to lead England into a semi-final with this much edge.
🥊 Dalton Smith — Super Lightweight — 18-0-0, 13 KOs
Unbeaten, sharp and called in for a reason — England need a proper super lightweight answer to Argentina’s depth.
⚽️🥊 Harry Kane — Wildcard — England captain
His boxing form may still be a debate, but Kane is doing the real work on the pitch. If England are going to bring it home, he has to be central to it.

Argentina reach the semis after beating Switzerland 3-1, and the Fury problem demands a serious answer: Yamil Alberto Peralta Jara, a two-time Olympian and proper cruiserweight operator.

🥊 Yamil Alberto Peralta Jara — Cruiserweight — 17-1-0, 7 KOs
Argentina’s big-man answer: experienced, technical and a much more credible test for Fury than a simple size match-up.
🥊 Alan Chaves — Lightweight — 17-0-0, 15 KOs
Unbeaten, dangerous and fully authentic — Argentina did not need a celebrity wildcard when they had this kind of boxing option ready.
🥊 Jeremias Ponce — Super Lightweight — 32-1-0, 22 KOs
A world-title contender who brings pressure, toughness and the kind of engine that can make this uncomfortable fast.

Fury vs Peralta gives the poster size.
Smith vs Ponce/Chaves gives it boxing balance.
Kane gives England the football heartbeat.

Who reaches the final tomorrow?
🏴🥊🇦🇷