Boxing Real or Not: Pacquiao was better than Mayweather; Woodley will put an end to Jake Paul’s run
Manny Pacquiao has likely fought his last fight, and while it wasn’t viewed in this way heading into Saturday in Las Vegas, the bout against Yordenis Ugas may have been the passing-of-the-torch moment the welterweight division has desperately needed. Pacquiao will almost certainly step away from the sport to focus on his political career in the Philippines, but boxing fans will always be focused on the “what if,” especially involving Floyd Mayweather. Did Pacquiao do enough in his career to eclipse Floyd’s legacy? As for Ugas, he’s now set up to be a superstar at welterweight. Is he No. 1 in the division?
After a legitimate fight last weekend, the boxing world now turns to a bout between a social media star and a former UFC champion. Jake Paul hopes to keep his knockout streak alive when he faces Tyron Woodley on Sunday night in Cleveland. Woodley had a dominant reign at welterweight in the UFC, but his struggles of late shut the door on his MMA future. Will he be able to stop Paul’s endeavors in combat sports?
After that bout and the return of Oscar De La Hoya on Sept. 11, fans can once again look forward to another undisputed title fight, this time between Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant. Many are discounting Plant’s viability in this Nov. 6 bout, despite his being a talented super middleweight champion. Will Alvarez really get a quick knockout?
Marc Raimondi, Mike Coppinger, Nick Parkinson and Mike Rothstein separate what’s real and what is not.
Real or Not: Manny Pacquiao’s career was better than Floyd Mayweather’s
Coppinger: Not real. Had Pacquiao fought Spence as planned and come out on top, I probably have vaulted him ahead of Mayweather. That victory would’ve been an incredible achievement at 42, and in this sport, longevity matters. Their career accomplishments are tough to separate — both had long runs at the top of the pound-for-pound list, often switching places after their fights.
So it comes down to their 2015 clash, which shattered revenue records. Mayweather won that fight going away, outboxing Pacquiao for long stretches. The only drama came in Round 4, when Pacquiao appeared to stun Mayweather. And now that Pacquiao is likely to retire after the loss to Ugas, it’s a wrap on the debate: Mayweather had the better career.
These are not just the two greatest fighters of their generation, but two of the top 10 or 15 boxers to ever lace up the gloves. There’s no shame in being second to Mayweather, even if there are many who believe Pacquiao would have come out on top if they had fought five years earlier. We’ll never know.
Real or Not: Yordenis Ugas has a legitimate chance to establish himself as the best welterweight in boxing
Coppinger: Don’t let Ugas’ 27-4 record fool you — he can really fight. There aren’t too many noticeable flaws in Ugas’ game. He’s fundamentally sound, sporting a high guard that picked off Pacquiao’s incoming shots round after round. He’s big for 147 pounds, long and rangy, but also strong on the inside. And his punches are clearly powerful enough, the counter right hand constantly dissuading Pacquiao from fighting recklessly.
Most of all, perhaps, Ugas owns an excellent jab and impeccable composure. He never veered away from his game plan in the biggest fight of his career. The jab was piston-like, and he often doubled up on it to set up the right hand to the body. Ugas was cagey, too, able to fend off Pacquiao’s slower attacks.
I thought Ugas beat Shawn Porter, though he didn’t receive the nod on the judges’ scorecards, and combining that performance with his showing against Pacquiao, it’s clear that Ugas is one of the five best welterweights in the world. He certainly has a real shot to ascend to No. 1.
However, at this juncture, Ugas should be recognized as the third-best 147-pounder in all of boxing behind Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford. The Cuban would be installed as an underdog against either man, but not likely a big one after Saturday night. Now Ugas just needs the fights to prove he’s the best.
Real or Not: Tyron Woodley will put an end to Jake Paul’s run in combat sports
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Jake Paul is aware that many want to see him fail but still has high confidence that he can beat Tyron Woodley in their upcoming fight.
Raimondi: I’m going to give a resounding “not real” to this statement. And it’s not necessarily because I think Jake Paul will beat Tyron Woodley on Sunday. It’s just that even if Woodley wins — even if it’s in spectacular fashion — there will still be a market for Paul fights. Paul’s popularity, which comes originally from YouTube and his massive fandom on social media, is not necessarily based on wins and losses. Paul and his team are telling a story about his career trajectory, and a loss here would only lead to a big comeback fight in the future.
Look back at that list of potential opponents Paul called out in a social media video. Not all of them were the Canelo Alvarezes and Gervonta Davises of the world. Also on the list was KSI — the fellow YouTuber who beat Paul’s brother Logan in boxing. That’s the kind of fight Paul could do next if he loses to Woodley. Tommy Fury could also be Paul’s next foe, win or lose in Cleveland. Fury, the half-brother of heavyweight great Tyson Fury, is on the undercard for that very reason. He’s the most likely choice to fight Paul next. I think that could make sense whether Paul beats or even loses to Woodley. Of course, we’ll have to see what Fury looks like against MMA fighter and Paul sparring partner Anthony Taylor. And there’s always the possibility of igniting the Dillon Danis rivalry if the other options don’t make sense. Danis is an MMA fighter famously known for being Conor McGregor’s good friend and training partner.
In addition to all of that, sources tell me that Paul has a multifight agreement with Showtime. This is not just a one-off bout against Woodley. He’ll come back and fight again on Showtime in the future. A loss here does not send Paul packing. I’d be inclined to guarantee that. Even if it’s an undercard bout next against someone who represents a step back in competition, Paul is not going anywhere.
Real or Not: Canelo Alvarez will KO Caleb Plant within five rounds
Parkinson: Not real. Alvarez has been increasingly destructive in his reign at super middleweight and has stopped better fighters than Plant in the last few years, but he is still likely to be extended into the second half of their fight after meeting some gritty resistance from the Nashville-born fighter and IBF titleholder.
Plant has some good wins on his record — Caleb Truax (2021) and Jose Uzcategui (2019) — but he has not competed at anything like the level that Alvarez has operated at for nearly a decade, and this has perhaps persuaded some to suggest this will be an early win for Alvarez.
Alvarez is in frightening form. If Alvarez can beat a tricky customer and rival world super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in eight rounds (May 2021), Callum Smith by a wide and unanimous decision (December 2020) and fearsome puncher Sergey Kovalev by 11th-round KO (November 2019), then form suggests Plant will be uprooted from the canvas at some point. Canelo also dispatched Avni Yildirim in three rounds in February for the third win inside the distance in his last four outings.
But Plant is better than Yildirim and is going to make Alvarez work for his belt, just as Saunders did before an uppercut forced him to retire after eight rounds with an eye injury.
Plant has decent power (12 KOs in 21 fights) to make Canelo wary in the opening rounds. He throws a good volume as well, which suggests he will stick around beyond five rounds. In his last fight early this year, Plant landed a total of 179 punches in his dominant, unanimous-decision win over Truax, according to CompuBox stats, including 124 power shots to Truax’s 29. Plant also scored two knockdowns in a clear unanimous decision over Uzcategui to win the IBF belt, landing 217 of 707 (31%) punches in the process (CompuBox) when the Las Vegas-based boxer showed he can sustain a fast pace at elite level.
Plant has good movement, and Truax was able to land just 10 punches in the first three rounds. More importantly, Plant uses his left jab to good effect. He will have to put it to good use again to stay in the fight against Canelo. Plant is more elusive than Saunders, and an elite super middleweight, so an early win for Canelo is not likely.
What is likely is that Canelo will become undisputed champion on Nov. 6, with a late stoppage or decision win seemingly a safer bet.
Real or Not: Amanda Serrano deserves to be pound-for-pound No. 1 female fighter
Rothstein: Not real. Make no mistake, Amanda Serrano is a great fighter and the best knockout-deliverer in women’s boxing. She is one of the best fighters in the world. She fights for titles consistently, and it’s not her fault some of her opponents, while titleholders, aren’t exactly the best competition.
She wins. She has power other fighters don’t have. Serrano can make the case — and already has made the case — that she’s the most exciting woman fighter in the sport. Considering she’s fighting on the undercard of Jake Paul’s pay-per-view, knocking out Yamileth Mercado would put more eyes on her. And it would put her in position to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world if it means an eventual fight against Katie Taylor.
But best pound-for-pound? Taylor and Claressa Shields are still going to be ahead of her, no matter what happens in Cleveland.
Sports
Cal Raleigh hits home run No. 60! A monthly breakdown of the slugger’s historic 2025 campaign
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David Schoenfield
The list of MLB players who never hit 60 home runs in a single season includes many of the game’s all-time greatest sluggers: Willie Mays, Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome and Jimmie Foxx. Heck, Henry Aaron never hit 50. Neither did Frank Robinson or Reggie Jackson or Lou Gehrig or countless other inner-circle Hall of Famers.
But Cal Raleigh, the quiet, humble catcher for the Seattle Mariners, is now part of one of baseball’s most exclusive clubs: 60 home runs in one season. It is an unfathomable, improbable, astonishing performance. It is baseball at its most fun: the unexpected. He has given Mariners fans — all fans, really — something to root for on a nightly basis.
He joins a club that includes Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Aaron Judge, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth — three New York Yankees and three players with tainted legacies. Raleigh most obviously resembles Maris, the quiet, shy slugger from North Dakota who recoiled at all the attention he received from the press when he chased down Ruth’s record in 1961 and finished with 61 home runs.
Maris, however, was at least the reigning AL MVP entering the 1961 season. Raleigh, on the other hand, had never been an All-Star before 2025. When he recently hit his 55th and 56th home runs in the same game to break Mickey Mantle’s single-season record for home runs by a switch-hitter and tie Griffey’s franchise record, he seemed almost embarrassed to discuss the achievement.
“I feel like my name shouldn’t be in the same sentence as those guys, Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr.,” Raleigh said. “I don’t really have words for it. I don’t really know what to say. I’m sure one day it will set in, but for now it’s just ‘keep it going.'”
He has kept it going — all the way to the 60-home-run mark (in another double-homer performance, naturally). With his 60th blast of the season now in the books, let’s look back at each month of his remarkable 2025 campaign.
March/April
Number of home runs: 10
Longest home run: 422 feet in Cincinnati off Emilio Pagan (April 17)
Most clutch home run: Two-run blast off the Texas Rangers‘ Chris Martin in the bottom of the eighth to give the Mariners a 5-3 victory (April 11)
Raleigh didn’t begin the season giving any indication he was about to embark upon a record-setting campaign. In his first 13 games, he hit .184 with two home runs and just three RBIs. Indeed, the biggest news surrounding Raleigh at this point was the Mariners’ announcement the day before the regular season began that they had signed him to a six-year, $105 million extension that began with the 2025 season and runs through 2030, with a player vesting option for 2031. Interestingly, Raleigh had switched agents in the offseason, changing from Scott Boras to Excel Sports Management. Boras, of course, has a reputation for pushing his clients to free agency — and, certainly now, Raleigh’s deal looks like a relative bargain for the Mariners.
But the home run off Martin on April 11 got Raleigh going on a hot streak. He homered six times in six games and eight times the rest of the month. The home run off Pagan was another big one: That led off the top of the ninth and Randy Arozarena followed with another home run to tie the game, which the Mariners won in 10 innings.
We didn’t know it at the time, but the chase for 60 was on.
May
Number of home runs: 12
Longest home run: 432 feet in Texas off Jack Leiter (May 2)
Most clutch home run: Two-out, two-run HR off the Houston Astros‘ Bryan Abreu in the seventh inning to turn a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 victory (May 23)
In the Mariners’ first game of May, Raleigh homered twice off Leiter: The first one was his longest blast of the month, off a first-pitch slider. The second was a grand slam, off a 2-2 curveball — the first of his three grand slams in 2025. Raleigh then hit a little lull, going homerless for eight games, but then really got hot, hitting .313 with 10 home runs over his final 18 games in May, including two more two-homer games, against the Washington Nationals on May 27 and the Minnesota Twins on May 30. The game against the Twins pushed his OPS over 1.000, and while it was still just a third of the way through the season, MVP talk began percolating.
June
Number of home runs: 11
Longest home run: 440 feet at Wrigley Field off Colin Rea (June 22)
Most clutch home run: Two-run shot off the Chicago Cubs‘ Caleb Thielbar with two outs in the seventh inning to give the Mariners a 6-4 lead (June 20)
Raleigh began June with a home run, homered again on June 5, homered twice on June 7, went seven games without a home run and then blasted six over another six-game stretch, including a two-homer game against the Cubs on June 20. From May 16 to June 23, Raleigh had his hottest stretch of the season, hitting .313/.401/.794 with 19 home runs and 40 RBIs in 34 games.
The key to his success:
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He improved dramatically against left-handers this season: He has 22 home runs and a 1.030 OPS from the right side of the plate compared to 13 and a .696 OPS in 2024.
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He’s really good at pulling fly balls.
The latter skill has allowed Raleigh to punch his ticket to 60, even if he doesn’t hit his home runs quite as far as the season’s other big sluggers — Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber and Judge. Here’s a breakdown of each player’s home runs in 2025, with Raleigh lagging behind the others in home runs of both 400-plus feet and 425-plus feet:
As you can see, however, Raleigh’s ability to pull the ball more often means his rate of home runs to fly balls remains extraordinarily high, just like the other three.
July
Number of home runs: 9
Longest home run: 440 feet in Seattle off the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ Bailey Falter (July 4)
Most clutch home run: A solo homer off the Milwaukee Brewers‘ Nick Mears in the sixth inning — the only run in a 1-0 victory (July 22)
The season of Cal continued in July. He hit a second homer off Falter on July 4 and added another two-homer game against the Tigers just before the All-Star break, which he entered hitting .259/.377/.634 with 38 home runs in 94 games. The Mariners had played 96 games at the break, so that put Raleigh on a 64-homer pace and made him the talk of baseball at the Home Run Derby.
Which, of course, he won, becoming the first catcher to win the Derby and doing it with his dad Todd Sr. pitching and his 15-year-old brother Todd Jr. doing the catching. In one of the season’s most charming moments, a video of an 8-year-old Cal singing, “I’m the Home Run Derby champ! I’m the man, I’m the man, oh yeah, oh yeah” went viral leading up to the contest.
“That video is crazy,” the always understated Raleigh said from Truist Park in Atlanta. “I mean, I don’t know where they found that thing in the archives. Yeah, just kind of surreal. You don’t think you’re going to win it. You don’t think you’ll ever get invited. Then you get invited. The fact that you win it with your family, super special. Just what a night.”
August
Number of home runs: 8
Longest home run: 448 feet in Seattle off the Athletics’ Jacob Lopez (Aug. 24)
Most clutch home run: Three-run HR off the Tampa Bay Rays‘ Griffin Jax with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win (Aug. 8)
Raleigh continued a slump at the plate this month. After hitting .304 in May and .300 in June, he hit .194 in July and .173 in August, although the home runs kept coming at a steady pace. His most clutch home run of the season came at home against the Rays. Facing tough right-handed reliever Jax with runners at first and second, Raleigh got ahead in the count with two balls. Jax could have just pitched around him with two outs but threw a sweeper at the bottom of the strike zone — not a terrible pitch but not quite on the outside corner where Jax wanted it — and Raleigh crushed it 417 feet over the center-field wall.
Along the way, he hit his 49th home run to break Salvador Perez‘s record set in 2021 for most home runs by a primary catcher. That was part of a two-homer game in which he hit Nos. 48 and 49, and the next day he hit No. 50. He finished the month with a five-game homerless stretch, however, so entered September with 50 home runs in the 137 games the Mariners had played up to that point, which left him on a 59-homer pace.
September
Number of home runs: 10
Longest home run: 426 feet in Atlanta off Rolddy Munoz (Sept. 7)
Most clutch home run: First-inning two-run shot off the Los Angeles Angels‘ Kyle Hendricks (Sept. 14)
Raleigh hit just one home in the first four games of September, which meant he’d hit just one home run in a nine-game stretch — a period in which the Mariners had gone 2-7 and were barely hanging on to the third wild-card spot by a half-game over the Texas Rangers with three other teams within 2½ games. Raleigh would hit two garbage-time home runs against the Atlanta Braves on the road: a ninth-inning shot in a 10-2 win and then the ninth-inning three-run blast off Munoz in an 18-2 victory.
Suddenly, Raleigh’s chase for 60 and the Mariners’ pursuit of a division title were back on. Starting Sept. 7, the Mariners won 14 of 15 games heading into Tuesday’s series against the Colorado Rockies, as Raleigh hit .286/.437/.714 with seven home runs. He had his 10th two-homer game of the season against the Kansas City Royals to pass Mantle’s switch-hitting record and tie Griffey’s club record (he broke Griffey’s record with a blast against the Astros on Saturday). With his 11th — which came Wednesday night, sending Raleigh to the 60-mark, he tied Hank Greenberg (1938), Sosa (1998) and Judge (2022) for the record for two-homer games in one season.
I don’t know if 8-year-old Cal Raleigh ever envisioned something like this happening, but here’s the thing that has endeared Raleigh to Mariners fans and made him one of the most popular players in franchise history: He’ll be much happier about the Mariners winning their first division title since 2001 on Wednesday than hitting his 60th home run.
CLEVELAND — George Valera hit a two-run homer in the third inning, Jose Ramírez had a two-run double in the seventh and the Cleveland Guardians became the first major league team to overcome a deficit of 15½ games and take the lead in either division or league play, beating the Detroit Tigers 5-1 on Wednesday night.
Cleveland (86-72) has a one-game lead over Detroit (85-73) with four games to play. The Guardians also have the tiebreaker by taking the season series.
The 1914 Boston Braves were 15 games back in the National League on July 4 and rallied to win by 10½ games according to Elias Sports Bureau. Since baseball went to division play in 1969, the biggest deficit overcome was 14 games by the 1978 New York Yankees to win the AL East.
Tanner Bibee (12-11) won his third straight start and allowed only one run in six innings, extending the streak of Guardians starters allowing two or fewer runs to 19 games. They are the first since the 2019 Tampa Bay Rays to go at least 19 games.
Detroit has dropped eight straight and is out of first place for the first time since April 22, when the Guardians led by a half-game. Jack Flaherty (8-15) took the loss.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the third when Parker Meadows‘ sacrifice fly drove in Dillon Dingler.
Brayan Rocchio led off the Cleveland third with a double and then scored when Valera’s drive appeared short of the wall in center before it was deflected off the glove of Meadows.
Ramírez broke it open in the eighth with a two-run double to right field that deflected off the glove of Detroit second baseman Gleyber Torres. He became the second player in Cleveland franchise history to reach 3,000 total bases. The other was Earl Averill with 3,201 from 1929 through ’41.
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