Iran Barkley 25–4 (16 KO) vs. Roberto Durán 84–7 (62 KO), billed as Steel vs. Stone, was a professional boxing match contested on February 24, 1989, for the WBC middleweight title.

The fight was The Ring magazine’s fight of the year for 1989.

In his previous fight on June 6, 1988, Iran Barkley had upset the reigning WBC middleweight champion Thomas Hearns to claim Hearns’ title. For his first defense, Barkley reached an agreement with Roberto Durán that was contingent on Durán first defeating unheralded journeyman Jeff Lanas in October that same year.

Though Durán barely eked out a split decision win against Lanas, the Barkley-Durán fight was made official in December with it taking place February the following year.

The now-37-year old Durán, who had not had a title fight since being knocked out inside of two rounds by Thomas Hearns in 1984 and had fought mostly unknowns since returning to boxing in 1986, was thought to be washed up and came into the fight as underdog.

Durán’s last title win had come against Barkley’s childhood friend Davey Moore in 1983. Moore had been killed in a freak accident only six months prior and Barkley had hoped to dedicate a victory to his fallen friend stating “This is personal because I remember Duran not so long ago against my friend Davey Moore. This is for Davey, this is really for Davey. I want (Duran) to know from the bottom of my heart, no one can take this title.” Barkley also vowed that the fight would be Durán’s “last hurrah.” Durán was unbothered by Barkley’s trash talk, retorting “Barkley is saying what he’s going to do and not going to do. Come Feb. 24, he’s the one who’s got to worry. I’m going to demonstrate I’m not finished like a lot of people say. I’m going to prove it.”

On the day of the fight, there was some minor controversy at the pre-fight weigh-in which took place to ensure both fighters were at the 160 pound middleweight limit. While Durán weighed in at 156 pounds, Barkley’s initial reading came in at over 164 pounds, which if correct would have led to him being immediately stripped of the title and the fight called off.
After protests from Barkley’s camp, he was allowed to be re-weighed and came in at 159 pounds with the 5 pound discrepancy being explained as Barkley standing on the back edge of the scale.

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The ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed (24-0) takes on long-time IBF Featherweight champion, Tom ‘BOOM BOOM’ Johnson (44-2-2), in a …

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The ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed (24-0) takes on long-time IBF Featherweight champion, Tom ‘BOOM BOOM’ Johnson (44-2-2), in a unification for the Sheffield man’s WBO title.

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In October 2022, Dubois was in talks to made his first defence of the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title against 43-year-old Australian heavyweight Lucas Browne. However, due to his age, the BBBofC immediately refused to sanction the contest. Within a couple of days, ESPN reported #13 ranked Kevin Lerena had been offered the fight and accepted. A deal was being finalised to take place in December 2022.

On 20 October, a press release was put out which announced Dubois would make the first defence of his WBA (Regular) heavyweight title against Kevin Lerena (28–1, 14 KOs) on 3 December, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Derek Chisora III. Lerena had not lost since November 2014 and was coming into this bout on a 17-fight win streak.

Dubois weighed 240.25 pounds and Lerena came in at a lean 231 pounds.

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Vassiliy Jirov vs. James Toney was a professional boxing match contested on April 26, 2003, for the IBF cruiserweight title.

A fight between reigning IBF cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov and former 2-division champion James Toney had been in the works for nearly two years. Jirov and Toney had a tentative agreement to face each other on September 8, 2001.

Jirov, despite being a former Olympic gold medalist (having beaten the co featured Antonio Tarver in the semi final) and in the midst of a 2-year reign as cruiserweight champion, had yet to headline a boxing card and was hoping a fight with Toney, once one of boxings biggest stars, would give him the chance to do so. He had however appeared in the first cruiserweight title bout to be broadcast on HBO, when he won the title against Arthur Williams. However, a deal did not get done and Jirov’s next defense turned out to be against 34-year old Jorge Castro, the IBF’s number-one ranked cruiserweight contender and Jirov’s mandatory challenger. After his defeat of Castro, Jirov hoped to either meet Roy Jones Jr., the then-undisputed light heavyweight champion or Toney, who was in attendance for the Jirov–Castro fight.[3]

Toney would fight Jason Robinson in an IBF title eliminator bout, earning the victory via seventh-round knockout, making him the number-one contender to Jirov’s title and officially setting in motion his first major title fight since his 1994 loss to Roy Jones Jr.[4][5]

The Jirov–Toney fight was originally set for November 2002, but a long and acrimonious split with his longtime manager, Ivalyo Gotzev, caused a 14-month layoff for Jirov and the fight was pushed back to April 26, 2003.[6]A fight between reigning IBF cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov and former 2-division champion James Toney had been in the works for nearly two years. Jirov and Toney had a tentative agreement to face each other on September 8, 2001.

Jirov, despite being a former Olympic gold medalist (having beaten the co featured Antonio Tarver in the semi final) and in the midst of a 2-year reign as cruiserweight champion, had yet to headline a boxing card and was hoping a fight with Toney, once one of boxings biggest stars, would give him the chance to do so.[2] He had however appeared in the first cruiserweight title bout to be broadcast on HBO, when he won the title against Arthur Williams. However, a deal did not get done and Jirov’s next defense turned out to be against 34-year old Jorge Castro, the IBF’s number-one ranked cruiserweight contender and Jirov’s mandatory challenger. After his defeat of Castro, Jirov hoped to either meet Roy Jones Jr., the then-undisputed light heavyweight champion or Toney, who was in attendance for the Jirov–Castro fight.[3]

Toney would fight Jason Robinson in an IBF title eliminator bout, earning the victory via seventh-round knockout, making him the number-one contender to Jirov’s title and officially setting in motion his first major title fight since his 1994 loss to Roy Jones Jr.[4][5]

The Jirov–Toney fight was originally set for November 2002, but a long and acrimonious split with his longtime manager, Ivalyo Gotzev, caused a 14-month layoff for Jirov and the fight was pushed back to April 26, 2003.[6]

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