The problem with a boxing card loaded with the amount of promise ventured by the Ring IV event this weekend is often the disappointment of reality that follows. Happily, while not wildly rewarding, the card did provide one entertaining masterclass and a contender for the fight of the year too.

2025 has been a year of frustration in many divisions and has left boxing fans without much of the hoped for progress in the narratives and rivalries that exist within them. There is a sense that the sport is entering another period of transition from an era dominated, financially at least, by Canelo Alvarez, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua with the brilliance of Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford - all of whom are not in their mid-late thirties and in the Autumn of their outstanding careers. 

In their place must come new stars, new attractions and this card offered opportunity for one or two younger fighters to stake a claim for those roles as the old Kings depart.

On the night, for this observer, the most compelling performance came from the 21-year-old Abdullah Mason. The Cleveland slugger has both hand speed, good dimensions for the Lightweight division, swift feet and an appetite for a punch up that some times belies all those attributes. Against England's Sam Noakes, himself an unbeaten contender with aspiration, Mason frustrated his cornermen by continuing to trade at close quarters when the tactic of box and move offered him greater space and less adversity.

But there is a lot of exuberance in Mason and a thirst for the heat of combat. It is, as advertised, a compelling mixture and the sight of him contorting his face as he threw hooks, straining every sinew, from the toes gripping the canvas to the knuckle of his glove, to maximise leverage will linger in the minds of those who tuned in. Sam Noakes lost the fight but should also deserve kudos for the effort submitted. He was excellent too.

Of greater artistry was Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez's sensational Super Flyweight destruction of fellow champion Fernando 'Puma' Martinez. The Argentinean, who has two high quality victories over both Jerwin Ancajas and Kazuto Ioka and was himself unbeaten going in to this fight lest we forget, was made to look pedestrian, predictable and ultimately impotent over the 10 rounds travelled before he was knocked out.

Rodriguez permitted Martinez some attacks in the opening round, avoiding clean shots but allowing his opponent to throw strong hooks. Head movement and outstanding footwork - always the foundation for truly world-class fighters - enabled Rodriguez to punish the older man with counters. From the second round on, Rodriguez became the aggressor off the front and back foot. Dipping out of reach, eyes always fixed on Martinez and punishing the gaps his attacks left.

A dominant star, still young himself at 25, was truly revealed. He will box beyond the division and there are mouthwatering possibilities ahead as he continues to climb through the weight classes.

A lot of the noisiest promotion of the weekend card surrounded the Welterweight clash between Devin Haney - best described as an acquired taste as a fighter, but an excellent one nevertheless - and Brian Norman Jnr., the big punching resident Welterweight Haney had to overcome to prove his validity at a new weight. Norman Jnr. proved a disappointment. Lacking the self-belief to gamble, following a heavy knockdown in the second,  seemed to subdue his intent. The knockdwn lifted the crowd and suggested Haney would prove uncharacteristically destructive at 147 pounds. 

Sadly, the knockdown proved fleeting excitement and the pattern of Haney accuracy and ring-generalship outwitting Norman's low output and caution settled in for the distance. It was a meaningful victory and pointed to potential for Haney rather than certainty. The proposed battle with Ryan Garcia, laden as it is with the furore over their first bout and the failed test for Garcia that followed, will prove a much sterner test of Haney's proposed strengths at Welterweight. 

Norman Jnr., drops a long way in the estimations of fight fans. It was a poor display from a fighter who had attracted a lot of support from recent knockouts and his edgy demeanour.

As the biggest loser on the night, Norman likely battles with Anthony Yarde for the unwanted award. For a fighter with such flimsy credentials outside some competitive rounds with the admittedly outstanding Sergey Kovalev and Artur Berterbiev in two title shots there was precious little qualification for, and two wins over domestic rival Lyndon Arthur, Yarde has accomplished disproportionate reward for his career.

Perhaps that makes him the big winner.  Now in his mid-thirties, the belated start to his career is a long closed chapter and superficiality of his corner's advice entirely useless in the heat of battle. The reality is, on Saturday night Yarde was bereft of ideas and offence and was summarily dismantled by a rampant David Benavidez who will prove a more telling test of Dimitry Bivol should they ever meet. Any belief he could still make the Super-Middleweight division in which he built his reputation is surely now redundant and should not distract from the fact he will be a live dog in the mooted Cruiserweight match up with Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez in May. 

In an Autumn which has been lean for high level action, the weekend was a welcome reminder of the beauty and brutality of boxing and confirmation that in Bam Rodriguez and Abdullah Mason it has two contrasting, but outstanding new heroes.