Los Angeles (Aprily 3, 2025) – Toro Promotions, Inc. has built a powerhouse stable of heavyweights that is making noise all around the boxing world.  

“When I see the same old, tired heavyweight names being run up the flagpole, over and over again, I just laugh,” United States matchmaker Whit Haydon said. “This group of heavyweights not only fits in on the world scene and is more capable of filling obvious void in talent, but will also inject badly needed life into what is for the most part stale.”

Last week in Saudi Arabia, the one-two punch of Tostne “Mr. T” Rogava (11-0, 8 Kos) and Dante Stone (18-1, 12 Kos) both registered knockouts in the preliminary round of the inaugural Rydah Season/WBC Boxing Grand Prix.

Tostne, a Ukraine Olympian born in Georgia, used a devastating body attack to stop his Australian opponent, Lewis Clarke (6-2, 3 Kos), with a body shot at the 2:32 mark of the opening round, while Stone (18-1, 12), fighting out of Chandler, Arizona, extended his win streak to 18 with a second-round knockout of Indalesio Teran (3-1-1, 1 KO), ny Meksika.

Tostne and Stone advanced to the round of 16 tamin'ny volana Jona.

The single-elimination tournament is being streamed live exclusively onwww.dazn.com/wbc. It started with a total of 128 fighters in four weight classes – featherweight, faran'izay maivana, middleweight, ary ny sokajy mavesatra.

All fighters are subjected to random drug testing in compliance with the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program, as well as Riyadh Season’s commitment to VADA testing.

The opening round of 32 matches had scheduled six-round bouts, which will increase to eight for the final rounds in each division, and participating fighters represent more than 40 countries from around the world/ In addition to the $200,000 winner’s purse, the four divisional winners will receive the Jose Sulaimán Trophy, named after the late WBC President Jose Sulaimán, who first envisioned a prospect-based Boxing Grand Prix more than a decade ago.

There is open scoring after the second and fourth rounds, a buzzer sounds 30 seconds prior to the end of each round, instant replay may be implemented, and no draws are guaranteed.

Mandritra izany fotoana izany, the much-avoided Nigeria-born Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh (15-2-1, 13 Kos), fighting out of Phoenix, is riding a 10-fight win streak. The 6’ 4″, 285-pound former college (Washington University (Topeka, KS) and professional football player (Canadian Football League) is preparing to fight again in June.

Alexander “The Great” Flores (19-5-1, 17 Kos), of Rowland Heights, California, has lost only to three world champions — Joseph Parker, Charles Martin, and Luis Ortiz – in addition to Rogava and Stone. Flores returned earlier this month to the one-round Team Combat League as a member of the Nashville Smash, unloading a sensational left hook on the chin that put Alex Ajabor to sleep at the 1:18 Marka.

Although another undefeated heavyweight, Gurgen “Big Gug” Hovhannisyan (8-0, 7 Kos), isn’t promoted by Toro, he is managed by Vartan Torosyan, who also manages Rogava, and his brother is Toro’s promoter, Azat Torosyan. The 6’ 7”, 300-pound Armenian boxer knocked out Dajuan Calloway (11-3) in the fifth round this past weekend. Hall of Famer Joe Goossen trains Hovhannisyan and Rogava.

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