Daniel “Jungleman” Cates isn’t any stranger to heads-up contests having participated within the notorious “durrrr” problem years in the past and extra just lately reserving a $15 million revenue in a collection of one-on-one matches versus Ossi “Monarch” Ketola in August 2025. But, it wasn’t poker that was the main focus of Jungleman’s newest heads-up duel however relatively “the candy science”: pugilism, fisticuffs – that is proper, boxing. On Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, Cates squared off within the ring towards sports activities betting persona Ryan “Elf” Noel, and the consequence was something however simple.
In regards to the Contenders
Earlier than going into the main points of the combat and what occurred, maybe it could be a good suggestion to offer a quick overview of the combatants.
Dan “Jungleman” Cates
Daniel Cates, 36, from Bowie, Maryland, began enjoying poker on the age of 17 and even dropped out of school to turn into a full-time poker professional. Within the late 2000s, he took on very powerful rivals at Full Tilt Poker to hone his recreation and finally was thought-about the most effective heads-up No Restrict Texas Maintain’em gamers on the earth. He has received two back-to-back World Sequence of Poker gold bracelets within the Poker Gamers Championship occasion in 2021 and 2022.
Dan “Jungleman” CatesRyan “Elf” Noel
Ryan Noel is a former actuary from the Boston space. He is 25 years previous and has a preferred X account with the username “Elf”. He claims to have made $200,000 betting sports activities in 2024. Elf hosts a sports activities betting present on X referred to as “The Elf Present.” Though Noel isn’t an expert poker participant, he has appeared a few occasions on Hustler On line casino Stay.
Ryan “Elf” NoelBackground to the Battle
Phrase of the combat started to unfold round Jan. 7. It was introduced that the 2 contestants would take to the ring Jan. 22 on the Maybourne Beverly Hills as one in every of 5 matches on the cardboard that night. The bout was sanctioned by the Worldwide Kickboxing Federation (IKF) and was held underneath the auspices of the Beverly Hills Battle Membership.
Though preliminary experiences stated that “solely these invited by the hosts are permitted to attend,” we later noticed data that acknowledged {that a} nook desk on the bout, seating between 8 and 10 spectators, would price $5,000. There was no prize cash up for grabs, however the two adversaries had a large wager with one another on the result.
Neither combatant had any former expertise within the ring. Taller and youthful than his opponent, Ryan “Elf” Noel was the favourite to trounce the older and presumably slower Jungleman. Professional poker participant Rob Kuhn felt that Elf was “the stone lock of the century” to win the combat.
Bookmakers appeared to agree with this opinion. BetOnline listed Elf as a -280 favourite with Jungleman the +220 underdog.
What Occurred within the Ring
The combat began as scheduled with the viewers enthused and cheering for his or her favorites. Each fighters weren’t shy about stepping into the fray and aggressively making an attempt to greatest their opponent. The primary spherical ended with out both being knocked down, however Elf was the clear winner of the spherical.
Jungleman and Elf Preventing within the RingIt was through the second spherical that the bout ended, and the denouement of the match was most uncommon. Following a quick scuffle that noticed the fighters clasp onto one another and fall to the mat collectively, they each regained their footing. The ref separated the 2.
The official then dropped his arm and yelled, “combat!” Nonetheless, Jungleman appeared dazed and disoriented, and it appeared that he didn’t hear the directions of the referee. Elf shortly ran towards his adversary and threw a haymaker that caught Dan full within the face. Cates went down immediately although he surprisingly climbed again to his toes in a short time.
Jungleman’s face was bloody, and the referee determined to finish the combat then and there. It was dominated no contest, that means that neither participant was granted the victory: an anti-climactic consequence to make sure. After the combat was over, it got here to gentle that Dan had suffered a concussion though there would not appear to be any lasting harm.
Some consider that Ryan acted in an unsportsmanlike method by launching an assault on the clearly unprepared Dan. Nonetheless, others famous that the ref had indicated for the combat to proceed, and it was Cates’ duty to make sure that he heard and adopted these directions.
Elf posted a video of the punch in query on X. You possibly can check out it right here and decide for your self.
Choice Modified Upon Attraction
Noel was sad with the choice, and he appealed to the IKF. They performed a “thorough evaluate of the footage” and, on or round Jan. 31, decided that Elf was the victor by technical knockout.
Nonetheless, the story would not finish there. Daniel Cates obtained a 30-day suspension from coaching and a 45-day suspension from competitors. The IKF famous that “It stays the duty of all fighters to guard themselves always.” Ryan Noel drew a 120-day suspension as a result of he allegedly “directed verbal abuse at officers,” ”refused to cooperate with the ringside doctor,” and demonstrated “basic disregard for fee guidelines.”
Dan Cates paid off his wager to Ryan Noel. Nonetheless, nearly all sportsbooks and prediction markets that accepted motion on the combat abided by the unique no-contest determination and voided all wagers.
Subsequent Steps
After the bout, each rivals headed to X to offer their closing remarks and point out their future plans with boxing:
It appears like Jungleman has no instant plans to don his boxing gear once more although he would not rule it out sooner or later if circumstances are proper. Elf, nonetheless, has been busy organising his subsequent match with $100,000 on the road!
Poker Is Safer Than Boxing
We will not assist e-book you into sanctioned boxing matches if that is what you are excited about. However if you wish to play some poker, you then’ve come to the best place. We work with quite a few on-line poker websites which might be glad to simply accept clients from the US. With poker, you may get the identical thrill of competitors you could from boxing however with out the specter of bodily hurt.
We predict that one of the best on-line poker web site for many readers is Ignition On line casino Poker. Once you make a primary deposit utilizing crypto-currency, you will qualify for a 150% as much as $1,500 poker bonus. You will additionally get a second bonus to make use of with on line casino video games. Click on the button under to create an Ignition account:
If you wish to learn extra about Ignition first, then take a look at this thorough Ignition Poker evaluate. For different web cardrooms to play at, head over to this USA on-line poker information.
Feb. 3, 2026 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief
