By Norm Frauenheim-

The headlines said HBO is leaving boxing. Truth is, the premium network has been leaving for the last few years.

The long goodbye was official Thursday with news first reported by the New York Times. Yeah, it’s sad. HBO’s 45 years enriched fighters, promoters and advertisers throughout a run that will probably be remembered as a golden era for the unprecedented money it generated.

HBO also sustained and created generations of fight fans, many of whom expressed shock at a move rumored for a while and probably made inevitable with AT&T’s acquisition of the network in mid-June.

But 45 years are a long time to be in the ring. For fighters. And networks. HBO’s exit after one more fight in late October took on a sense of inevitability. It was like watching a great fighter grow old.

In the end, HBO was still around to pick off a few big events, the last one being Canelo Alvarez’ majority decision over Gennady Golovkin in a Sept.15 middleweight rematch in a pay-per-telecast that did a reported 1.1 million buys. It was clear then that HBO’s days were numbered. At least, it was clear to Top Rank’s Bob Arum.

“HBO doesn’t belong in boxing,’’ Arum was quoted as saying before GGG-Canelo 2. “Showtime doesn’t belong in boxing.”

“They’re entertainment networks. I think they’re beginning to realize that.”

Translation: For HBO executives, boxing is just another show. Like Sex And The City and The Sopranos, it has run its course. Time to move on. Boxing has begun to do exactly that. It has begun to stake its future on streaming with ESPN+ and DAZN.

From this aging perspective, streaming video is a media platform that feels like a couple of centuries beyond the black-and-white Friday Night Fights, the most memorable part of the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports. Those days are mostly forgotten. In the wake of the HBO news, however, it’s important to mention them. The Friday Night Fights lasted for about 10 years. Boxing moved on from that, too. A historical footnote, the end of that boxing foothold on 1950s’ television represents a moment in a business defined by resiliency. Like it’s best fighters, the business is always getting up from knockdowns.

It has always moved on to other technology and venues. I watched a closed-circuit telecast in 1964 of Muhammad Ali (then, still named Cassius Clay) against Sonny Liston in their first fight at a movie theater. From the Ali era to Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, it followed technology, mostly because it had to. From pay-per-view to streaming video, boxing has always been something of a sports-industry pioneer. That hasn’t changed. Nobody could ever silence opening bell, not even HBO, which left open the door for further boxing telecasts after the Daniel Jacobs-Sergiy Derevyanchenko middleweight bout on Oct. 27. According to news reports and a prepared statement, HBO would still be interested in the right fight. But the biggest attractions have to be cultivated, in much the way Roy Jones Jr. was.

Jones, who shares the all-time lead for HBO bouts with De La Hoya at 32, was a beautifully-skilled athlete. Without HBO, I’m not sure Jones would be the acknowledged star he was and still is. HBO took a chance and invested in the fighter from small-town Pensacola. I think of Jones when I watch welterweight Terence Crawford, another wonderfully-skilled welterweight from Omaha, another small market.

If Crawford – perhaps the most instinctive switch-hitter in boxing history – isn’t underrated, he is under-appreciated. But he is a victim of bad timing, at least in terms of how fighters are marketed. HBO elevated Jones, Pacquiao, De La Hoya and others to worldwide celebrity and wealth. In a changing era, Crawford might have to follow a different path to the same fame and money.

It won’t be as easy. The path has changed. It’s uncertain, but it is still there, a new opportunity for a business that has a history of always finding new ways to sell a very old game.

By Norm Frauenheim-

The heavyweights were supposed to be back. That, at least, was the overdrawn conclusion on that memorable day about 21 months ago when Anthony Joshua got up and stopped Wladimir Klitschko in a fight that was notable for what happened on both sides of the ropes.

To wit:

The fight was terrific.

The crowd, a reported 90,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium, was epic.

But a heavyweight resurrection was – still is – an illusion.

The momentum vanished about as quickly as Klitschko retired amid Joshua’s subsequent performances, both forgettable. Anybody remember his stoppage of Carlos Takam and his decision over Joseph Parker? Didn’t think so. Meanwhile, off-and-on talks for Joshua-Deontay Wilder are a tiresome reminder that business-as-usual means no business-at-all.

The good news, perhaps, is that there’s a renewed chance – there is always another one, of course – to at least revive the heavyweight division.

It begins with Joshua’s return to Wembley Saturday against Alexander Povetkin in front of a projected crowd of 80,000 in a bout that will also introduce UK promoter Eddie Hearn’s DAZN streaming service to the U.S.

Three months from now, Wilder is expected to fight the wildly unpredictable Tyson Fury. An announcement is reported to be imminent for a date sometime in December, perhaps in Los Angeles.

On the blueprint, both bouts look to be penultimate steps toward the only heavyweight fight that matters: Joshua-Wilder. Late last year, it was near the top of every wish-list for 2018. But it didn’t happen for all of the usual reasons. Whatever — whoever — is to be believed, the best hope now is sometime next year. Trouble is, Joshua-Povetkin and the projected Fury-Wilder is a dangerous combination. Both – either – has a real chance to knock Joshua-Wilder off those wish lists altogether.

Guess here, Joshua beats Povetkin, wears him out and down with his powerful upper body. At 39, Povetkin is down to his last chance. There’s motivation in that.

The Russian, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist, also knows his way around the ring. For Joshua, that’s the problem.

Povetkin knows just enough to survive in what could be an ugly 12 rounds against Joshua, who has said he hopes to stop the Russian in the eight. He’ll clinch. He’ll grab. He’ll hold on, beaten on the scorecards yet still standing. Joshua then will find himself having to answer questions about another forgettable performance.

Povetkin is physically limited, but smart enough to threaten a Joshua career that needs a dramatic encore of the dynamic resiliency and power displayed in the Klitschko classic.

If Joshua wins, yet wins ugly, it’ll be up to Wilder to provide the kind of drama that fires up a worldwide appetite for a showdown with Joshua, who is an huge hit in the UK, yet has generated mediocre television numbers in the U.S. Wilder is the kind of trash talker who can win over American fans and offend the UK audience.

But can he beat Fury?

More to the point, perhaps, which Fury?

His litany of problems brought on by a crazy lifestyle and substance abuse are no secret on either side of the Atlantic or any other ocean, for that matter. When Fury is right, however, he is as clever a boxer as any among today’s heavyweights. He looks to be exactly the kind of skilled fighter who can give Wilder fits.

Wilder has been written off as one-dimensional for just about as long as he has been a pro. But that one dimension has proven to be unbeatable. His right hand is the biggest punch in boxing, and it might explain why we still haven’t seen him fight Joshua. Joshua got floored by a Klitschko right. Had Wilder landed that right, he’d still be on the canvas.

Nobody has figured out how to elude the Wilder right, or counter it. Fury might be that boxer, if – and precedent suggests it is very big if – he is conditioned and committed to remembering using everything in his versatile skillset.

Best scenario: Joshua gets his eight-round stoppage of Povetkin and Wilder’s right does what it has always done.

Fury-Povetkin isn’t on anybody’s wish list.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – It was more fracas than Face-off and perhaps it was a hint at the sort of violence some have promised and many more expect.

After months of avoiding even eye contact, Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin finally stood in front of each, forehead onto forehead, while their respective cornermen pushed, shoved and circled like the outer bands of an incoming storm.

Finally, there were tangible signs that all of the insults really were motivated by mutual contempt. Golovkin and Canelo, GGG trainer Abel Sanchez and Canelo’s father-and-son corner of Eddy and Chepo Reynoso really don’t like each other. A crowd of about 9,000 at T-Mobile Arena Friday for the formal weigh-in before the middleweight rematch Saturday night almost saw a choreographed ritual turn into an off-the-scale brawl.

Sanchez stepped between the fighters. Then, Eddy Reynoso appeared to put a hand on Sanchez’ shoulder. Sanchez was pulled away from Eddy, who then began to scream at a rival trainer who has been mocking Canelo ever since his positive test in February for a steroid Canelo says came from eating tainted Mexican beef. Triple G’s trainer is calling Canelo “Triple C, “Canelo Con Carne.’’

Eddy started waving his arms at Sanchez. Then, Chepo started shouting. Finally, cooler heads prevailed. The scrum ended, even if the shouting didn’t. Perhaps, there was enough wisdom amid all of the hostile emotions to know that only the fighters can settle this with controlled violence scheduled to begin on an HBO pay-per-view telecast at about 8 p.m. PT (11 p.m. ET).

When asked what he saw when he looked into Canelo’s eyes, Golovkin said he saw a clown.

The clown, GGG (38-0-1, 34 KOs) said, will “see real war. Not regular fight. Special war. I want knockout.”

There was no clowning around in the rhetorical counter from Canelo.

“I defeated the weight’’ Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs) said. “Now, it’s time to defeat him.’’

The trip to the scales was almost an afterthought. Both fighters were right under the 160-pound limit – GGG at 159.6 and Canelo at 159.4.

GGG, who looked weary at a news conference Wednesday, entered the arena with a familiar smile that always seems to say: What, me worry? On the scale, he looked a fighter who had trained to withstand big combinations and throw many of his own, including some of the body punches that were missing in his controversial draw with Canelo a year ago. In their first fight last September, GGG was credited with landing only eight body shots.

In Canelo’s trip the scale, he looked lean, leaner than he was a year ago. That raises inevitable suspicions about whether clenbuterol had been a factor in what appeared to be a more heavily-muscled upper body. Whatever the reason, a leaner Canelo is a sign that he hopes to augment his speed. Neither fighter is quick. But Canelo’s hand speed appears to be an advantage over GGG.

“Speed is important, especially against a fighter as slow as Golovkin,’’ said Canelo, who has hinted he would not be lured into risky brawl by Sanchez long-running commentary.

Sanchez has repeatedly said that he hopes Canelo fights “Mexican-style.’’ Sanchez suggests that he ran away from GGG last September. Since then, Canelo has undergone surgery on his right knee. A cyst was reportedly removed. The procedure was called cosmetic, which is one thing this rematch won’t be. It started to look very real Friday.

The pay-per-view portion of the card is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET) with former pound-for-pound champ Roman Gonzalez (46-2, 37 KOs) in a comeback at super-flyweight against Mexican Moises Fuentes (25-5-1, 14 KOs)

There are to other PPV bouts – middleweight David Lemieux (39-4, 33 KOs) against Spike O’Sullivan (28-2, 20 KOs) in a heated rivalry and emerging junior-middleweight Jamie Munguia (30-0, 25 KOs) of Mexico against Canadian Brandon Cook (20-1, 13 KOs).

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The fighters have yet to look each other in the eye, promoter Oscar De La Hoya says he is running for president and the talk continues.

It’s been an unusual week for a middleweight rematch that figures to be anything but ordinary at T-Mobile Arena when Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez finally exchange punches Saturday instead of insults. But the rest is just a guessing game. Who wins and how are questions in an ongoing mystery.

It’s about as close to a pick-em fight as there is. GGG was still a slight favorite at the MGM Grand’s sports book late Thursday. By opening bell, that could shift, especially when the Canelo fans arrive in time for a bout that coincides with Mexico’s Independence Day.

For now, there’s even a question as to whether Canelo and GGG will pose for the cameras in the ritual face-off after Friday’s formal weigh-in. No betting odds on that. But there is precedent to think it might not happen. They avoided the nose-to-nose tradition after the final formal news conference Wednesday at the MGM Grad’s KA Theater.

Canelo, reportedly angry at insults from GGG trainer Abel Sanchez, said no the face-off. Apparently, he wanted to reserve all of his energy and rage for opening bell, expected to be at 8 p.m. PST (11 p.m. ET). If Canelo was mad Thursday, his anger might be even more intense at Friday weigh-in.

In a news release Thursday, Sanchez is quoted as saying “Triple G versus Triple C is finally here.” Triple C means “Canelo Con Carne”, according to the release. That, of course, is mocking reference to Canelo postive drug test in Feburary. He blamed the clenbuterol on tainted Mexican beef. It might be anther reason not to look GGG in the eye until the referee gives them direction in the ring Saturday night.

Meanwhile, middleweights David Lemieux and Spike O’Sullivan filled the face-off void Thursday with one of their own. O’Sullivan took off his sunglasses, appeared to head butt Sullivan, who countered by pushing O’Sullivan. The two were quickly separated.

“I don’t why they won’t do it,” O’Sullivan when asked about Canelo and GGG.

O’Sullivan initiated the contentious face-off by calling Lemieux a greasy piece of bleep during his trip to the podium during the news conference. Maybe, the pushing-and-shoving was a reason Canelo said no to Wednesday’s face-offs. But will he change his mind at Friday’s weigh-in? It’s just one of many questions in fight week full of them.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – They were in the same room for the first time in months. They sat at the same long table, separated by a pulpit that on this day was missing a bully. They could hear each other. But they didn’t look at each other. Not once.

Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin avoided eye contact on an occasion usually set aside for the first of at least two ritual stare downs staged for cameras and often measured as an early sign of who might have an edge in the hostility that awaits. To blink or look away first is said to be symptomatic of intimidation.

But Alvarez and Golovkin weren’t giving away much of anything Wednesday throughout a formal news conference at MGM Grand’s KA Theatre. Golovkin entered first. Then, Canelo. But they stayed on their side of the room, one predator seemingly wary of the other just days before their middleweight rematch Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in an HBO pay-per-view bout. In the end, there was no stare down, a rare departure from a story line as old as worn canvas and sagging ropes.

Depending on the source, there was no stare down Wednesday – and there might be one Friday at the weigh-in — because Canelo is still angry at insults hurled at him from a GGG corner led by trainer Abel Sanchez, who mocked him for a positive drug test in February and his safety-first style in a controversial draw last year.

There’s all kind of garden-variety psychology about who Sanchez is trying to provoke and why. There’s one theory that he wants to enrage Canelo enough to lure him into firefight of an exchange in the early rounds. But there’s no real sign that Canelo will take the bait

“I’m a fighter who thinks in the ring,’’ Canelo said without any edge in his voice during media round table before the formal news conference. “I know I can win fighting in any style.’’

Sanchez, however, argues that the fans expected more aggressiveness from Canelo last September. There were scattered boos a year ago because Canelo didn’t fight in the so-called Mexican-style. Since then, there have been signs of ambivalence among some of Canelo’s Mexican fans. There’s one way to win back their undivided loyalty, says Sanchez, and that’s to fight with the go-for-broke aggressiveness that has identified so many of Mexico’s greatest fighters.

But Canelo has own answer for that one.

“Anyone can support who they want, but authentic Mexicans will support the Mexican,’’ said Canelo, who is confident he will still be the favorite against the reigning champion, GGG, a Kazakh.

Yet, on the betting board late Wednesday GGG was a slight favorite at about 9-5 odds. There are still unanswered questions about how Canelo will react to a controversial suspension for clenbuterol, a steroid he says he ingested from eating tainted Mexican beef. Not everybody believes him, hence there are inevitable questions about a Canelo who appears to be slimmer than he was last September. Canelo addressed that one by suggesting that a slimmer body is quicker one.

“Speed is always important, especially when you are in there against a slow fighter like Golovkin,’’ Canelo said in what could be viewed as a comment intended to defy Sanchez’ attempt to lure him into a brawl.

All of it has made the rematch a guessing game between a couple of corners that evidently don’t like each other. At the news conference, Canelo, trainer Eddy Reynoso and manager Chepo Reynoso sat stone faced when GGG and Sanchez were introduced. The crowd applauded; they didn’t.

“Much has been said,’’ Chepo Reynoso said. “But in the ring, the truth will come out.’’

Only then, perhaps, Canelo and GGG can look safely into each other eyes.

By Norm Frauenheim-

For now, twice looks as if it is more than enough for two dangerous men who these days have only a craft and contempt in common.

From late winter, throughout spring and through most of summer, their Sept. 15 rematch at Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena has been preceded by talk that says they don’t even want to be in the same ballroom, much less on the same stage, any more.

They will have to be – or at least they are scheduled to be – next week in a news conference Wednesday at the MGM Grand and weigh-in next Friday at T-Mobile that are suddenly a lot more interesting than the usual dates on a Fight Week’s traditional calendar. On the stage, at the podium and on the scale, there will be heightened attention – perhaps anticipation – at how the middleweights react when they see each other and maybe look each other in the eye.

This is no ordinary fight, because of all of the circumstances, reasons and insults that have been reported and repeated over the many months since Canelo’s positive test last February for clenbuterol resulted in a suspension and postponement of a bout, initially scheduled for May 5, that by now might have been long forgotten. The subsequent controversy and evident tension might make the September date memorable, even historical. It’s hard to predict, other than to say it won’t include too many of the traditional niceties.

In an almost deadpan tone, Golovkin, who has grown weary of all the talk, summed it up best this week in a conference call. First, GGG said he wanted to “punish” Canelo, “to size him down and to put him and his team in their place.”

Then, he said he didn’t know how it would end.

But, GGG said, “nobody is going to congratulate anybody, that’s for sure.’’

That might be the only thing on which he and Canelo agree. Both middleweights promise a victory decisive enough to end any reason for a third fight.

“It’s definitely more personal now,’’ Canelo said a couple of weeks ago “I really don’t like him. It’s personal, and I take it that way. It will make me train harder and give it the extra push to knock him out.’’

Translation: They’re sick of each other.

Yet, money, circumstances, time and more money – did we say money? – can change everything all over again. GGG and Canelo might forget their mutual contempt, especially if the September sequel’s HBO pay-per-view telecast goes the same way as last year’s bout, which ended in a controversial draw. Despite all of the hostility from both camps, neither fighter is a Mike Tyson-like hot head. Both are poised and smart, especially at opening bell. Incautious rhetoric won’t necessarily lead to reckless aggression.

“No, he’s not angry,’’ GGG trainer Abel Sanchez said during this week’s call when asked if anger had changed Golovkin’s approach. “He’s not angry. He’s got a purpose in the gym and he’s got a purpose for what he wants to do inside the ring.

“Canelo has done some things that Gennady feels he needs to pay for and he’ll do that. In the gym, it’s just another day of training. He’s the same guy that he was before. He trains hard. Just his mentality to this fight seems to be very, very focused on trying to punish Canelo — as he was when he fought Curtis Stevens.’’

But the Stevens fight in 2013 came and went in the matter of a few weeks. The GGG-Canelo hostilities have lasted as long as an NFL season.

“The reason it’s going on is because they keep accusing us of insulting them, and all we’re doing is telling the truth,’’ Sanchez said. “All we’re doing is telling you what is happening as we see it, as it’s being reported. He’s the one that tested positive, he’s the one (responsible for) the consequences for what happened on May the 5th and who we had to fight and what was done. He’s the one that created that. It wasn’t us. To continue to sweep it under the rug and to continue to not acknowledge the fact that you have screwed up is why this keeps going.’’

Don’t blink. It isn’t over yet.

By Norm Frauenheim-

PHOENIX, Ariz. – They stood in 103-degree temperatures on both sides of Central Avenue Thursday just to see the hearse. They stood in line for three hours in the desert’s relentless, late-summer heat Wednesday just to see his flag-draped casket above Arizona state’s seal at the Capitol Rotunda.

John McCain, the People’s Champ.

I’m not sure McCain would have called himself that. A great sports fan, the longtime Arizona Senator was first and foremost a boxing fan. In my days as a sportswriter who covered everything from the Phoenix Suns to the Olympics, my conversations with him would always wind up with talk about the legends who had captured the public imagination, no matter what the scorecards or promoters or writers thought of them.

McCain — called “the Boxing Senator” by Bob Arum in a story I wrote for The Ring Saturday https://www.ringtv.com/542243-bob-arum-on-the-passing-of-the-boxing-senator-john-mccain-he-was-a-great-american/ — was fascinated by Manny Pacquiao, the last true People’s Champ throughout his astonishing rise from Filipino street kid to four titles in four weight classes. He named his federal boxing bill the Muhammad Ali Act. He led the fight for the pardon of Jack Johnson, the historical icon who became a People’s Champ for later generations who never saw him fight but knew about his role in the civil rights’ fight.

I don’t know exactly why McCain liked boxing. At times, I’m not so sure why I do either. On the politically-correct scale, it ranks somewhere near the bottom for all the cliched reasons. I’m sure many of McCain’s colleagues looked at him and wondered why. I’ve seen it myself from fellow sportswriters who look at boxing as though it’s something that should be scraped off the bottom of a dirty shoe.

But where there’s dirt, there’s drama. In boxing, it’s all there. Better writers have called it life in a shot glass and I think that’s what appealed to McCain. There are sports that are safer. And sports with greater public appeal. But none is as 100-proof genuine as boxing.

For all his flaws, McCain was genuine. In part, that explains why all of those people waited on hot Phoenix streets just for a glimpse of his hearse and his casket. Populism is a dirty word these days. It’s been muddied up, trampled and misused in a daily tweet storm from Washington D.C. Little is believable. Few are accountable. If Donald Trump were a boxer, he’d blame Google for a loss.

But McCain has blamed himself for lots of mistakes, including a failed marriage and his role in the Keating Five in 1989.

Acknowledging mistakes, I think, is fundamental to success in the boxing ring. I’m not sure what kind of a boxer McCain was at the Naval Academy. My guess he was physically limited, yet always there in the end.

To use a cliché, he always found a way, mostly because he was honest with himself, first and foremost. Perhaps, that’s something he learned in that Hanoi Hell Hole, no Hilton, during his five-plus years as a Viet Nam POW. Only he could figure out to survive and do so with his life and honor intact.

Trump has derided his POW experience, saying that he only likes people who weren’t captured. Trump doesn’t know, or conveniently forgets, that McCain was targeted by the North Vietnamese because his father was a prominent admiral, who was given the CINCPAC post – Commander-In-Chief Pacific – not long after McCain’s fighter jet was shot down. They offered him early release. McCain turned it down, knowing North Viet Nam would use it as propaganda that would stain him as a collaborator forever.

Put Trump in the same situation and I’m guessing you’d have seen a Trump Tower in Hanoi a few years later. He’d have been out of Hanoi and back home, saying ad nauseam there was “no collusion, no collusion” with his North Vietnamese captors.

In McCain, there has never been much guessing about how he would fight. Often, there was disagreement with his reasons. With the why. But rarely the how. McCain was about the good fight in a life that ended with crowds who will remember him as their champion, a People’s Champ.

GLENDALE, Ariz. –Ray Beltran is known for going the distance. Any distance. But this time it was too long. Two rounds too long.

Jose Pedraza ended Beltran’s short reign as the World Boxing Organization’s lightweight champion, scoring a knockdown Saturday night with a left uppercut in the 11^th round and a blitz of undefended punches in an emphatic finish to the bout in the 12^th.

On the scorecards, there was never a doubt. Pedraza was 117-110, 115-112, 117-110 winner over Beltran, the favorite of a lively Gila River Arena crowd of nearly 5,000.

“We did everything that we needed to do to win this fight,’’ said Pedraza (25-2, 12 KOs), a switch-hitting Puerto Rican who cut Beltran (35-8-1, 21 KOs) above the left eye in an early round and endured his brawling power in the later round. “We followed the game plan perfectly. I knew how tough this fight was going to be and at moments it got very difficult, but thanks to the focus and the guidance from my corner, we were able to win round by round and get the win.”

For Pedraza, the victory means a probable date on December 1 against pound-for-pound contender Vasiliy Lomachenko, who has been on the mend from shoulder surgery.

“Now I can talk about the future,’’ Pedraza said.  “I want to unify the division. I want to battle against all the champions. I want the big names. Bring Lomachenko! I have the perfect style to beat him.”

He might, he just might, said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.

“He beat a very, very tough guy with a very, very cerebral fight,’’ Arum said. “He believes he has the style to beat Lomachenko.’’

For the 37-year-old Beltran, the future was not so certain. However, Arum said the Phoenix lightweight intends to keep on fighting. Anything else would have been surprise. Beltran, a Mexican, has never been the retiring type, not in his career or his ongoing quest of green card.

“As far as the future, it’s too early to tell,’’ said Beltran, who entered the ring with Phoenix Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal. “This fight, I think was tough and very close.

“The knockdown was the difference.’’

Dogboe delivers royal statement, scores first-round stoppage

There’s royalty in the blood and power in the hands.

Phoenix super-bantamweight Carlos Castro has a new deal and the same record. He was unbeaten when he signed with Top Rank. Castro (21-0, 9 KOs) is still unbeaten, winning the deal’s debut — a unanimous decision Mexican Diuhl Olguin (12-12-2, ( KOS) in front of a hometown crowd at Gila River on a card featuring Beltran-Pedraza.

Lozado struggles to a dull draw

Mexican lightweight Antonio Lozada Jr (40-2-1, 34 KOs) couldn’t sustain much of anything long enough over eight rounds in and-up down bout fight with Hector Ambriz (12-7-2, also of Mexico. It was dull. It was also a draw. It’s not clear what’s next for Lozada. Top Ranks hopes to put him in against Teofimo Lopez.

Phoenix featherweight De Vaca wins gutsy decision

Phoenix featherweight Francisco De Vaca (19-0, 6 KOs) had less power, but more resiliency than Mexican Jesus Serrano (17-7-2, 12 KOs) in crowd-pleasing featherweight brawl. De Vaca, who had ex-Oscar De La Hoya trainer Pedro Alcazar in his corner, prevailed, winning a decision that was gritty as it was unanimous.

AZ bantamweight Macias strikes with huge KO punch

It didn’t take long for some Arizona punch to be added to the mix. Breenan Macias (3-0, 2 KOs), a Goodyear, AZ, bantamweight trained by Robert Garcia, delivered it, a right hand that landed, 10 proof, in the final second of the third round.. Philip Adyaka (7-12, 4 KOs), of St Paul, Minn, never recovered. He was dazed and done, officially stopped at 3:00 of the third.

Trevor McCumby wins TKO
Phoenix light-heavyweight Trevor McCumby (24-0-0-1, 18 KOs)continued the AZ theme, overwhelming Jessie Nicklow with punches that fell like rain out of micro-burst storm. With a defenseless NIcklow (27-9-3, 9 KOs), Baltimore, slumping in a neutral corner, the referee stopped it at 40 seconds of the third round.

Beltran-Pedraza card heats up AZ with first bell

An empty, cool arena was a refuge from the desert’s soaring temperatures, but it was no escape for junior-welterweight Sagadat Rakhmankul and Christian Aquirre, who began to heat things up at Gila River Saturday afternoon in the first fight on a card featuring Ray Beltran and Jose Pedraza.

Rakhmankul (3-0, 1 KO), a Kazak managed by Vasiliy Lomachenko manager Egis Klimas, landed repeated uppercuts against the wild swinging Aguirre (7-3, 3 KOs) of West, Valley, Utah. In the Rakhmankul got bloodied and a unanimous decision over Aquirre, who somehow remained upright in spite of a swing-for-the-fences style that left him spinning like a top.

By Norm Frauenheim-

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Jose Pedraza looks at Ray Beltran and sees something he recognizes. Call it opportunity. There aren’t many. After nearly two decades, Beltran finally gets his chance to hear himself introduced as the defending champion.

Pedraza has experienced that moment. But it was fleeting. The belt was gone, almost faster than the celebration. But the lesson remains. This time, Pedraza hopes to take a title that will stick around for a while, too.

“I feel very fortunate,” said Pedraza (24-1, 12 KOs), who will attempt to take the World Boxing Organization’s lightweight title from Beltran (35-7-1, 21 KOs) tonight on ESPN at Gila River Arena. “This is a great opportunity and I am going to take full advantage of it. Everything happens at the right time.”

Both fighters made weight Friday. Pedraza was ta 134.4 pounds; Beltran at 134.6

Pedraza, a former junior-lightweight champion, created a mild buzz this week with an impressive public workout at Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal’s 9th Street Gym in downtown Phoenix. He looked agile, athletic and mobile enough to give the 37-year-old Beltran some trouble, especially if the bout goes into the later rounds. Above all, Pedraza has the advantage of youth. He’s 29.

“Another world title would mean a lot to me because not everybody gets the opportunity to be a two-time champion,” said Pedraza, a Puerto Rican who won’t be the favorite of Mexican and Mexican-American fans expected to be in the crowd for Beltran.

Pedraza has won two fights since his lone loss by stoppage to Gervonta Davis in January, 2017. Since then, he’s won two fights and watched his home island struggle to come back from Hurricane Maria.

“For the island, a victory would mean a lot too because we need happiness and positive vibes,’’ he said. “After the first loss, I kept training but the opportunities didn’t come and then Hurricane Maria happened, so that stalled things even more. So, we had to wait to get back in the ring.”

Early signs indicate he can’t wait to step back through those ropes. For the experienced Beltran, that probably means aggressiveness early in an attempt at stoppage before perhaps the eighth. If the bout goes into the final four rounds, Pedraza’s younger legs might carry him to a scorecard victory.

The ESPN telecast includes WBO super-bantamweight champion Isaac Dogboe (19-0, 12 KOs) against Hidenori Otake (31-2-3, 14 KOs) of Japan. At Friday’s weigh-in Dogboe was 121.0 pounds; Otake 121.4. The ESPN telecast is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET).

The undercard will begin at 3:30 p.m. PT. It can be seen on ESPN+.

By Norm Frauenheim-

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Isaac Dogboe has royalty in his blood and a warrior in his heart. He’s also got quick wit. It’s an intriguing combination, a mix of charisma and danger. The royalty is said to be in his personal history.

He can trace his ancestry to a ruling family of kings and warlords in a central state of his native Ghana. It’s a good story and better nickname, Royal Storm. But it’s Dogboe’s hands and feet, both of which are as quick as the evident wit, that are creating a buzz about the sudden emergence of a potential star in a sport always in need of another one.

Dogboe (19-0, 13 KOs) is a super-bantamweight with global ambitions, or at least another world crown or two. First, he has to defend his first belt, the World Boxing Organization’s 122-pound title against Hidenori Otake (31-2-3, 14 KOs) Saturday at Gila River Arena on an ESPN card (7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET) featuring WBO lightweight champion Ray Beltran against Jose Pedraza.

In Otake, Dogboe faces a 37-year-old Japanese fighter, who has some wisdom to go along with scars collected over a long career. During a news conference Thursday, Otake was asked how he would fight, and perhaps what he would fight for.

“I’m going to fight for my soul,’’ Otake said through an interpreter.

He’ll have to fight for more than that, Dogboe suggested when it was his turn at the microphone.

“He says he’s going to be fighting for his soul,’’ said Dogboe, who moved to London when he was a kid. “I have no need for his soul. I didn’t create him. I’m only going to knock him out.’’

Otake is still pursuing his first title. He lost a shot at the World Boxing Association version in 2014, falling to Scott Quigg in a unanimous decision in the UK in 2014.

“My opponent is physically strong,’’ Dogboe said. “I’ve been in that same position to fight for a world title. He’s been at his best for a long time and has a good record, so you can’t take him lightly.

“But one thing I say is, 37 years old – I know he’s very strong and in great condition, a man. But if by 37 you’re not a world champion and you think you’re coming to beat me and take a title God has assigned to me, there’s no way that is happening.”

The 23-year-old Dogboe’s swagger and high-voltage energy were on display last April when he got up from a knockdown and scored an 11th-round stoppage of Jessie Magdaleno for his first major title.

It was then that his promoter, Top Rank’s Bob Arum, saw the qualities that could be the latest in the great tradition of Ghana boxing. Arum sees Dogboe and sees another Azumah Nelson, a great featherweight throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s.

“They called Azumah The Professor,’’ Arum said as he turned and looked at Dogboe. “You are following the footsteps of the great Azumah Nelson.’’

Dogboe, already a royal, bowed in thanks.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Featherweight champion Oscar Valdez Jr., is expected to undergo a physical exam next week to determine if his jaw is strong enough for a comeback fight in December or January, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said Thursday.

Valdez, the World Boxing Organization’s 126-pound champion, suffered a fracture to the jaw in a bloody decision over Scott Quigg on March 10 in the rain at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

“We’re very optimistic,’’ Arum said after a news conference for Saturday night’s ESP-televised card featuring WBO lightweight champion Ray Beltran-versus-Jose Pedraza at Gila River Arena. “We just want to make sure that Oscar is at 100 percent.’’

Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs), a two-time Mexico Olympian who went to school in Tucson, underwent surgery for the fracture he sustained midway through the brutal 12-round fight.

Ten days ago, Valdez announced that he was leaving trainer Manny Robles for Eddy Reynoso, who trains Canelo Alvarez.

If Valdez is cleared to fight in December or January, he is expected to test the jaw a tune-up. If the jaw holds up, Arum then hopes to have him fight Carl Frampton of Belfast later next year.

By Norm Frauenheim-

PHOENIX – Going the distance is more than another cliché for Ray Beltran. It’s life. He’s fought 12 rounds for a title. He’s endured another 12 against feared Terence Crawford. He’s gone 12 and wound up with nothing more than frustration at feeling as though he had been robbed. Within the ropes, there’s always been one more. Bouts start. Bouts end.

Outside those ropes, however, there’s one fight that continues. Beltran is winning that one, too. His U.S. immigration process is further along than it has ever been. His manager, Steven Feder, said Beltran has qualified for his work permit and his travel permit. He’s waiting to receive those documents.

His application includes an important addition for an outstanding accomplishment, the World Boxing Organization’s lightweight title. Now, he’s waiting on a date for an interview with an immigration official, probably in Phoenix where he’ll defend that title Saturday night against Puerto Rican challenger Jose Pedraza at Gila River Arena in suburban Glendale in an ESPN-televised bout.

After the expected interview, Feder says he’s one step from acquiring a green card, a legal title that represents some security in a thoroughly unpredictable world. The long, winding labyrinth through process and bureaucracy appears to be as close to finished as it can be. But don’t tell that to Beltran. For him, it’s an ongoing quest and still a powerful source of motivation.

“I won’t feel like I’m fully free until I’m fully legal,’’ Beltran said Wednesday in 100-degree temperatures at Michael Carbajal’s 9th Street Gym.

Beltran’s first defense of a title he won in February is about a lot of things, of course. At one level, it’s about home. He arrived in Phoenix from his native Mexico in the late 1990s, but left to live in Detroit with late Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward and then to Los Angeles for a long gig as Manny Pacquiao’s primary sparring partner. But he liked life in the desert, even summer those temperatures that had everyone searching futilely for a breeze Wednesday. The heat and the city suit him. He wears a logo with the town’s symbol, a mythic bird, on his shorts and T-shirts.

The message is clear: Phoenix is where Beltran (35-7-1 21 KOs) intends to make a stand for himself and his family against the skilled Pedraza (24-1, 12 KOs). Along the way, he could get a shot at a good payday. Beat Pedraza and it looks as if he might get a career-high check against Vasiliy Lomachenko, Crawford’s main challenger in the pound-for-pound debate.

But turning that dream into reality is still a fight for the 37-year-old, who found himself back in the gym where he sparred with Carbajal before Carbajal finished his Hall of Fame career with an 11th-round stoppage of Jorge Arce in 1999.

Beltran made a vacant title his own in his last outing against Paulus Moses in Reno by going that familiar distance despite an injury to his left hand. The bout was difficult, yet the motivation was never absent. Beltran could hear it from his cornermen, who shouted ‘’Green card, Green card” in the later rounds. A victory over Pedraza, he says, will put him that much closer to a legal title worth more than an acronym-sponsored belt ever could.

“It’s there, right there, but I still have to fight for that green card,’’ said Beltran, who says his next step is to acquire citizenship. “Winning Saturday would be like some insurance on what I’ve been fighting for, fighting for a long time.’’

By Norm Frauenheim-PHOENIX, Ariz. — If life is a logo, Ray Beltran has one that hints at where he’s been, where he’s going and mostly who he is. It’s the Phoenix bird, a symbol of inexhaustible resiliency, with his initials at its heart.

The R is reversed, the young Ray facing left and perhaps looking back on who he was. It backs up to the B, the mature Beltran facing right and looking forward to a career that continues to unfold. In some ways, it represents nearly two decades that have come full circle, a round trip bringing Beltran back to a city he has never really left. The desert town and its mythic symbol are his identity.

He’ll stage a formal homecoming a week from Saturday, August 25, at Gila River Arena in suburban Glendale in his first Arizona bout in more than a decade. It’s no coincidence, perhaps, that it will be his first fight — here or anywhere else — as a defending champion. The title dreams he brought with him to Phoenix in 1999 were finally fulfilled with a unanimous decision over Paulus Moses in Reno for the World Boxing Organization’s belt last February in Reno.

“People know me, know who I am,’’ said Beltran, who faces a tricky challenge against switch-hitting Jose Pedraza of Puerto Rico in an ESPN-televised bout. “They know what’s real, what’s not.’’

If time is any measure, few have been as real as Beltran. At 37, he’s something of a late bloomer. That’s a perilous place to be in an unforgiving craft. But Beltran is there, sure of who he is as a fighter. There have been times when he wasn’t certain. In part, his career has been about figuring out just who he was within the ropes.

It wasn’t exactly an identity crisis. But it was a learning process. When he arrived in Phoenix in 199 with late Hall of Fame trainer and mentor Emanuel Steward, he was called Brown Sugar. That suggested he would be an elusive fighter, finesse first and power second. But he was never really that guy. Instead, he discovered through time, trial and error that his instinctive aggressiveness was his real strength.

That time included about 10 years as Manny Pacquiao’s primary sparring partner. Beltran guesses that he sparred about 3,000 rounds with Pacquiao. To a degree, that meant a lot of role playing. For a while, he’d be Miguel Cotto. Then, Antonio Margarito. Then, Shane Mosley, Then, Juan Manuel Marquez. Then, Timothy Bradley. Then, Floyd Mayweather. A little bit from each can add up to a lot in one. It gives Beltran experience for which there is in match.

There’s also time with Steward, who brought Beltran up from his native Mexico and put him on Phoenix cards he promoted in 2001. Then, Beltran followed Steward to Detroit and the famed Kronk Gym.

“I had nowhere to live, so I lived with Emanuel at his house in Detroit for a year,’’ Beltran says.

Dinner with the Hall of Fame trainer was a lesson plan, Then, there all those rounds with Pacquiao before some of the biggest fights in a new millennium. There’s not much that Beltran hasn’t heard, hasn’t seen. His is a comprehensive resume, one that could get an intriguing addition if he beats Pedraza. A win on Aug 25 probably sets up a title defense against Vasiliy Lomachenko, perhaps in December. That would mean Beltran would be the only fighter to face two of the leading contenders in the pound-for-pound debate. Lomachenko and Terence Crawford are either No. 1 or No. 2 in several of the subjective ratings. Beltran lost a unanimous decision to Crawford in 2014.

His unique experience puts him line to be in a singular position. But he is also there because of the resiliency, the rising-from-the-ashes quality symbolized in the personal logo he designed. Beltran’s 44-fight record includes seven defeats and a controversial draw in 2013 with then WBO champion Ricky Burns in Scotland.

In an era defined by protection of an unbeaten record through optimization of the risk-to-reward equation, a fighter with seven losses is a retired fighter. But there is no modern equation that explains Beltran. Only a logo can.

PHOENIX – Forgettable belt. Forgettable fight.

On a night when Don King’s arrival was the most memorable moment, Trevor Bryan and BJ Flores stumbled through an abbreviated heavyweight bout Saturday that they won’t want to remember. It was for a throwaway title. Interim is supposed to be temporary. At least, that’s what Webster’s says. Not sure that the World Boxing Association understands that part of the definition.

But whatever the Bryan-Flores bout at Celebrity Theatre was, it wasn’t temporary enough. Four rounds felt like forever.

Flores (34-4-1, 21 KOs) who looked every bit of his 39 years, appeared to be fatigued after the second. Truth is, he was finished. But that would not become official until after the former cruiserweight contender was knocked down six times over the next two rounds. Actually, there could have been a seventh, but it was ruled to have happened within a split second after the bell sounded an end to third. Six? Seven? It could have been 17 for all that it mattered.

Fortunately, it ended in a TKO at 2:56 of the fourth round.

Unfortunately, the show still had way to go.

King got s lively crowd buzzing when he arrived at ringside clutching countless flags, wearing a fading denim jacket with sequins the color of his gray hair and an interim belt for the winner.

King, who sat through one undercard fight, signing autographs and posing for photos with anybody who asked, climbed through the ropes with WBA officials and gave the interim piece of plastic-and-tin to Bryan (20-0, 14 KOs), who is now one of three heavyweights with a WBA title.

For Bryan, interim means stepping stone. He hopes to fight the winner of Fres Oqendo’s challenge of secondary WBA belt holder Manuel Charr on Sept. 29.

“Then, it’s across the pond for AJ,’’ Bryan said of the UK’s Anthony Joshua, the only WBA champion anybody really knows.

For King, the interim belt represented just another move among the many he has made throughout his years among so many of boxing’s greatest names. It’s believed this maneuver cost him $10,000. That’s the guesstimate for the fee he paid the WBA to sanction another made-up belt.

“I love Phoenix,’’ said King, who will turn 87 on August 20. “I’m the people’s promoter. We have a new heavyweight champion.’’

King also said something about a Freedom Foundation and he mentioned the President, presumably Donald Trump, his friend and former business partner.

It was hard to know what he was talking about. Then again, it was hard to know what to make of what had happened within the ropes. Let’s just hope it is as temporary as interim is supposed to be.

Best of the Undercard

They were big, show-biz big with enough power to do it again. In fact, heavyweights Dante Stone (1-1) of Chandler, Ariz., and Waldo Cortez Acosta (2-2, 1 KO) of Phoenix agreed to do it a third time after a slam-bang brawl and some comic-POW in a rematch.

Stone, who might have been the best heavyweight on the card Saturday night, won the sequel, avenging a defeat in the first bout with a couple of knockdowns in the third round. Acosta roared back in the fourth, but the knockdowns were too much to overcome. Stone won a split decision and then celebrated by telling promoter Robert Vargas that he wants trilogy. No argument from Acosta.

The Rest

Trini Ochoa (3-0-1, 1 KO), a junior-welterweight and a crowd favorite from Mesa, withstood some rocky moments while landing rib-rocking body shots for a unanimous decision over Mexican Arturo Izaguirre (1-1).

Super-middleweight Roberto Yong (6-14-2, 4 KOs)survived some late fury from Fidel Hernandez (19-5, 10 KOs), winning majority decision in a battle of Phoenix rivals.

Mesa flyweight Luis Espinoza (9-1, 3 KOs) scored two first-round knockdowns and then held on from a decision – unanimous, yet close — over Mexican Christian Raudry (3-6-1, 3 KOs).

Mesa junior-welterweight Jesus Ibarra (5-0, 3 KOs) calls himself Monsoon. Don’t blink. The Ibarra storm swamped Mexican Enrique Almada (0-2) within second after the opening bell for a quick KO.

El Paso welterweight Isaac Luna (2-0) patiently and deliberately landed most of the punches in. workman-like decision over Erick Montoya of Chandler.

By Norm Frauenheim-

PHOENIX – An interim title blew into this desert city like debris in a dust storm Thursday with a World Boxing Association version of that heavyweight belt suddenly available to the winner of the BJ Flores-Trevor Bryan bout Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre.

Trevor promoter Don King announced that the interim – aren’t they all? – piece of plastic and tin would be at stake because of litigation involving Manuel Charr and Fres Qquendo.

“These two warriors are both very hungry and they both dream of becoming a heavyweight champion,” King said in a statement from his office in Deerfield Beach, Fla. “This should be a classic battle on Saturday night with the title on the line. We’ll decide the title in the ring, while the courts decide on what they will do with Charr and Oquendo.”

Charr is one of the WBA’s heavyweight champs. If you didn’t know that, please take a bow. There’s only one WBA heavyweight champion worth knowing. He’s Anthony Joshua, the real champ.

Anyway, Charr was expected to defend the WBA’s secondary version of the title against Oquendo on Sept. 29. But if that never comes off, the WBA has a backup belt and another way to charge a sanctioning fee. This is the same organization that had announced a plan to eliminate belts. Make that an interim plan, at least that’s what it looks like in the wake of Thursday’s news.

Both Flores and Bryan enter Saturday’s night’s non-televised card (5 p.m. PT) ranked among the WBA’s top five heavyweights, according to ratings released on Aug. 1. Bryan (19-0, 13 KOs) is at No 4; Flores (34-3-1, 21 KOs) is at No. 5.

Flores, who is as well-known for his work as a television analyst as he is for ring skill, has a hometown advantage. He is from Chandler, a Phoenix suburb. He has been living and training in Las Vegas for the last few years. The 39-year-old former cruiserweight contender will be making his third straight appearance at Celebrity.

The unbeaten Bryan, of Schenectady, NY, has the advantage of youth. He’ll turn 29 on August 23.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Mikey Garcia’s pursuit of Errol Spence Jr. in a daunting, two-division jump from lightweight to welter is a welcome counter to Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s business model.

Mayweather mastered risk-to-reward like the ratio was a shoulder roll. He made it look easy. TBE, The Biggest Earner, got the most money out of the smallest risk in history. Mayweather did it so well that now there’s a whole generation of fighters who think they can pull it off, too.

They can’t, of course, no more so than the last generation could fight with the hands -down ring style that made Roy Jones Jr. so unique. The model generated unprecedented millions for Mayweather. But I’m not sure it did much for anybody else in a business defined by risk.

Nearly a year after Mayweather seemingly exhausted the business model with a pay-for-predictable show against MMA star and novice boxer Conor McGregor, Garcia comes along and puts some risk back into a game that lost it in the pursuit of easy money for over-the-top spectacle.

He’s willing to take a chance. Imagine that. Sadly, that’s news in boxing these days.

But Garcia, a promotional free agent since his split with Top Rank, has shown evident independence in a career that he seems determined to shape in his own way. After he re-affirmed his decision to face Spence in his next fight following his one-sided decision over Robert Easter Jr. last Saturday at Los Angeles’ Staples Center for a second piece of the lightweight title, there was skepticism.

Sure, said some the critics, who argued that Garcia has nothing to lose. If Spence wins, he could simply say he lost to a bigger man. True enough, but somehow that argument misses the point. If Spence, a big welterweight, is everything he is supposed to be, the unbeaten Garcia is risking more than his first loss. He’s risking his physical well-being. Life and limb. That’s the real chance here and people will watch because of it.

The guess in this corner is that Garcia has all of the tactical skill and smarts to avoid punches that leave long-term damage. But there’s always a chance that one will land. In part, that’s why people watched Mayweather. They hoped that one punch, unseen and unexpected, would land and shut him up. It never did, of course.

That possibility will be there for Garcia, ever present and more dangerous than it ever was for Mayweather. In effect, Garcia, who started his career at featherweight, is willing to do what Mayweather never was. He’s stepping up, saying he wants to fight one of the most feared fighters of the day. Throughout his welterweight reign, nobody ever heard Mayweather say he was willing to fight middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.

There’s been plenty of talk that Garcia would – should — exercise the risk-to-reward ratio more effectively against a lighter fighter. For the last couple of years, there was speculation about Garcia versus Vasiliy Lomachenko at either 135 pounds or 140. But lingering issues between Garcia and Top Rank, which promotes Lomachenko, could prevent that one. Besides, Lomachenko is coming off shoulder surgery and probably will work his way through a comeback later this year, perhaps December. Garcia and Spence hope to fight in November.

The other idea was Pacquiao at 140. Garcia family patriarch Eduardo told Mikey’s brother and trainer Robert that they should go after Pacquiao after the aging Filipino’s stoppage of a shot Lucas Matthysse a few weeks ago. A fight against Pacquiao makes sense, fiscally and physically, for Garcia. The Pacquiao name is still a draw.

But Robert said no his father. Robert seemed to know that Mikey understood that a victory over Pacquiao would just be criticized as a win over a legend who is faded is every way but his name.

There would be no risk in that. No legacy as a reward, either.

LOS ANGELES –The future hasn’t arrived for Mikey Garcia. Not just yet. After all, the pound-for-pound contender has already been looking at all of its possibilities for several years.

 But a way to the mythical scale’s top pedestal appears to be one step closer today after his thorough victory over Robert Easter Jr. Saturday night in front of a roaring crowd of more than 12,500 at Staples Center.

 Garcia scored a knockdown, scored most of the points and then scored an intriguing look at what his future might be.

 It looked a lot like Errol Spence Jr.

 “I’m here for the biggest challenge,’’ Garcia said after the 1117-111, 117-110, 118-1110 scorecards confirmed what everybody in the arena and Showtime saw.

 Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) overwhelmed Easter (21-1, 14 KOs), who was knocked down by a perfectly executed right-left combination in the third round and was never able to consistently employ his advantages in reach and height. But Garcia, a lightweight with two belts (WBC and IBF), did it against a 135-pound fighter. Spence is two divisions heavier at 147. He might have more power than anybody at welterweight.

 “I don’t know if there is anyone that is a bigger challenge than Errol Spence,’’ Garcia said.  “I know he’s up to fight everyone so let’s make it happen.

 “I think it can be made.  I think that’s the next big fight coming up.

 “I feel I have the power and the skillset to compete in any division up to welterweight.  He’s the toughest guy at welterweight, so I want to face him.”

 Garcia said all of that while standing in the middle of the ring and looking up at Spence, whose face filled a video screen

 Minutes later, Spence left his ringside side and came to ringside to talk to the media.

 “Let’s make it happen,’’ Spence said. “It’s an easy fight to make. Showtime wants it.’’

 Everybody wants it. The sooner, the better.

 “This year,’’ Spence said. “Let’s do it in November.’’

 Sounds like the future.

Luis Ortiz says he is 39. Put an asterisk next to that age. Late comedian Jack Benny used to say he was 39. Benny was joking, too. But there’s no joke about Ortiz’ power. It has a young man’s edge.

That enduring Ortiz’ power finished Razvan Cojanu ruthlessly in a fast finish to a heavyweight fight, the last bout before Mikey Garcia-Robert Easter Jr. at Staples Center.

A right, then left from Ortiz (29-1, 35 KOs) dropped Cojanu flat onto the canvas late in the second round. Cojanu (16-4, 9 KOs) tried to get up. But he stumbled around, like a toddler trying crawl across a water bed, finished at 2:13 of the second

San Antonio welterweight Mario Barrios (22-0, 14 KOs) opened the Showtime telecast with a lightning-fast right hand, a dimension that journeyman Jose Roman of Garden Grove, Calif., could neither elude nor withstand.

Roman (24-3-1, 16 KOs), down in the fourth and on his knees in the eighth, was out of options, energy and chances after eight rounds. That’s when his corner waved the white towel, signaling a timely end.

“I’m ready now,’’ the 23-year-old Barrios said of one more victory toward contending for a major title. “I feel good. Strong.’’

Argentine super-lightweight Fabian Maidana (16-0, 12 KOs), who has more classic boxing skill than Marcos Maidana, displayed some fight-stopping power, dropping Russian Audrey Klimov (19-5, 9 KOs) with a quick combo for a seventh-round stoppage.

Super-featherweight Karlos Baldera (6-0, 5 KOs), a former Olympian from Santa Maria, Calif., fulfilled his credentials as a prospect, overwhelming Mexican Giovanni Caro (27-24-4, 21 KOs) of Mexico City in a fourth-round stoppage.

Lightweight Jerry Perez (8-0, 6 KOs) was a whirlwind of punches and power, leaving Aaron Hollis exhausted and finished in a second-round stoppage.

Southern California junior-flyweight  Lina Licona (2-0, 1 KO) scored four-round decision over Judith Hachbold (4-5) of Hungary.

Bantamweight Jose Balderas (4-0) followed brother Karlos’ victory with one of his own, scoring a first-round knockdown en route to a unanimous decision over Alfredo Chanez (6-6, 3 KOs) of Tijuana.

Atlanta light heavyweight Brandon Ganton (7-2, 6 KOs) was the Gracia-Easter card’s second winner and the first to score a stoppage, finishing Daniel Najera (7-3-1, 3 KOs) with a succession of punches at 1:35 of the third round.

Luis Coria (7-1, 4 KOs), a Robert Garcia-trained featherweight from Moreno Valley, Calif., did it all, landing punches and scoring a knockdown over six one-sided rounds for a unanimous decision over Guadalupe Arroyo, a Mexican who had a 13^th reason to retire added to his 3-13 record.

One big punch from Filipino lightweight Ray Perez (23-11, 7 KOs) landed like an exclamation point and woke up a gathering crowd from the slumber of having to sit through seven dull, slogging rounds. Perez landed it — a long looping hook — for a stoppage of Robert Marroquin (27-5-1, 20 KOs) of Dallas at 1:03 of the eighth.

Empty seats, more echoes than cheers and more fighters on a 13-bout card than fans were there for first bell Saturday at show that would end hours later in the Mikey Garcia-Robert Easter lightweight title fight.

Junior-welterweight Wesley Diana (6-0, 5 KOs), a Fernando Vargas-trained Puerto Rican living Forida, scored first and often, claiming the card’s first win – a unanimous decision over Envicil Dixon (7-21-1, 2 KOs) of Lancaster, PA.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LOS ANGELES – Add words to the advantages that a taller, longer Robert Easter Jr. has over Mikey Garcia.

At least, Easter had them all Friday at the formal weigh-in for the lightweight title unification fight against the favored Garcia Saturday in at Staples Center.

Easter (21-0, 14 KOs) was quick to step up to the microphone and even quicker with talk that suggested an upset was on the horizon after each fighter made weight in front of lively crowd at Staples.

Easter was at 134 pounds, one pound less than Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs), who was right at the limit, 135, for the Showtime-televised bout (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. EST). A single pound appeared to be the only thing Easter gave up. He was an inch-and-a-half taller, six inches longer in reach and decibels noisier.

Throughout the ritual nose-to-nose pose after they stepped off the scale, Easter looked at — and down – at Garcia, talking all the time.

“I just told him that the time has come to fight,’’ said Easter, a Toledo lightweight who holds the International Boxing Federation’s version of the title. “This is a fight to determine who is the best, the best for real.’’

Throughout the long and somewhat tense pose, an unblinking Garcia, a consensus top five pound-for-pound pick, looked up and into Easter’s flashing eyes.

By the time Easter was done talking, Garcia was off the stage and gone without uttering a single word. He let his fans do his talking.

“Mikey, Mikey,’’ they chanted, leaving echoes in what was sure to be heard throughout Staples Saturday night.

The non-televised portion of the card is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Including the Showtime telecast, the card is scheduled for 15 bouts

By Norm Frauenheim-

LOS ANGELES – Mikey Garcia has gone to school in law enforcement. He’s gone to school to learn how to drive race cars. He’s always a student of one pursuit

or another. The learning never ceases, not even in in the craft he has mastered with a fundamental proficiency few ever attention.

A pound-for-pound contender is the equivalent of a boxing PhD. Garcia, a consensus top five in the pound-for-pound debate, is a master of the brutal art, yet he’s still the student seeking to learn more. Do more.

In part, it’s that student in Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs) that helps explain his lightweight unification fight against Robert Easter Jr Saturday night in a Showtime-televised bout (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) at Staples Center. It’s the next lesson plan in a career — a life — full of them.

“I’m looking for answers,’’ said Garcia, the World Boxing Council champion who hopes to add Easter’s International Boxing Federation version of the title to his collection.

Another belt is like another degree for the decorated Garcia, a already a multi-division champion. Only an undisputed claim on the mythical pound-for-pound crown appears to be missing on Garcia’s resume. The question is how to get it. It’s about politics and punches, timing and tactics. It’s also about finding the right fit, the right weight and the right opponent in a three-way race to the top with Terence Crawford and Vasiliy Lomachenko.

In considering options that might pave Garcia’s way to the top of the pound-for-pound debate, Garcia has looked up and down the scale. Of late, his search has taken him to a challenge of emerging welterweight Errol Spence Jr That might be a pound or several too far for Garcia, who appears to be at his very best at junior-welterweight.

Still, it’s a question and a very good reason for Garcia to fight Easter, whose lanky dimensions are an unusual for his 135-pound weight class. He’s both taller and has a longer reach than Spence. Translation: This is a bout that should provide a few answers and challenges for Garcia.

There’s’ more to Easter than an unbeaten record (21-0, 14 KOs). There unusual height and reach. He’s a lightweight with a welterweight’s tale of the tape. Easter is 1 ½ inches taller than Spence. More important, Easter’s reach, 76 inches, is four inches longer than Spence’s.

“We’ve prepared for it,’’ Garcia said. “Easter’s reach is the key.’’

Key to a fight. And maybe a career.

A couple of friends, both sons of a southern Arizona city with a long and lively boxing history, lived up to their hometown’s ring tradition and left a capacity crowd at Casino Del Sol wanting to see more.

Wilberth Lopez and Alfonzo Olvera left all the ingredients for junior-welterweight rematch. They also left some of their blood and lot of their hearts. It ended Saturday night with plenty of reasons for a sequel, including a split decision.

Lopez (23-9, 15 KOs) won, getting the advantage on two scorecards, 77-74 and 76-75. Olvera (10-5-1, 4 KOs) had a 76-75 edge on the third card. By definition, split decisions are controversial and there was plenty of debate about this one among everybody in the 1,700 seats in a casino ballroom.

Lopez scored the bout’s only knockdown, a counter right in the second round. But a suddenly energized Olvera came roaring back in the third and was the aggressor throughout the next three to four rounds.

The lanky Olvera stubbornly pursued, landing shots with both hands. In the eighth and final round, however, Lopez staged a late and critical assault, rocking Olvera at least twice with a quick left hook, his most effective weapon.

After it as all over, the two embraced in the center of the ring. For them, there was no debate.

“We wanted to come home and put on a good show for the people who know us best,’’ Olvera said. “I think we did that.’’

Did it well enough to do it again.

“I would love to,’’ said Raging Babe promoter Michelle Rosado, who staged the entertaining show in association with Russell Peltz.

A lot of Tucson would love it, too.

In a good co-main bout, Tucson lightweight Jensen Ramirez (6-2-3, 1 KO), a popular tattoo artist when he isn’t tattooing opponents with punches, scored a majority decision over Jose Arevalo (2-4) of Sierra Vista, Ariz.

Best of the Undercard

Tucson bantamweight Mike Martinez got it right this time.

Two years after losing his pro debut, Martinez, (1-1, 1 KO), a decorated Arizona amateur, re-started his pro career, employing fast hands to blow away Bryan Ramirez (0-3) of Kansas City with three knockdowns in the first round.

Martinez stayed away from boxing after his debut loss. It was time to re-think what had been a boyhood dream. It looks as if he made the right decision.

The Rest

Tucson junior-middleweight Nicholas Rhoads (4-0, 2 KOs) had all the power and Hamilton Ash (0-1) had all of the slick defense. Power prevailed. Rhodes won a unanimous decision.

Phoenix junior welterweight Jose Barrera (1-0) won his debut, scoring a split decision over Tucson rival Judas Estrada (1-1) in a result that left some southern Arizona fans howling as if they had just seen Arizona State beat the University of Arizona in the state’s football rivalry.

Tucson welterweight Christopher Gonzalez (3-0) scored a majority decision over Sergio Lopez (0-1) of Phoenix.

Tucson middleweight Emmanuel Guajardo (3-0) scored a unanimous decision over Jordan Gregory (0-3-2) of Albuquerque.

TUCSON – It will sound like the good old days in this southern Arizona city. An opening bell will be back Saturday night at Casino Del Sol.

After a busy couple of years with Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, this traditional boxing stop has had a quiet 2018.

Until now.

Thanks to Michelle Rosado of Raging Babe Promotions, the fight game will ride back into town with fighters whose roots are in the Arizona. Eight of the fighters in five bouts on the scheduled card (7 p.m. PT) are from Tucson, including a main event featuring junior-welterweights Alfonso Olvera (10-4-1, 4 KOs) against Wilberth Lopez (21-9, 15 KOs).

Both have world-class experience, Olvera going the distance with Ivan Baranchyk and Lopez going to the scorecards in a 2014 loss to Isaac Dogboe.

The undercard includes Tucson lightweight Jensen Ramirez (5-2-3, 1 KO) versus Jesus Arevalo (0-1) of Sierra Vista, Goodyear flyweight Breenan Macias (2-0, 1 KOs) versus Mike Martinez (0-1) of Tucson, Tucson junior-middleweight Nicholas Rhoads (2-0, 2 KOs) versus Judas Estrada (1-0, 1 KO) of Tucson and Tucson junior-welterweight Christopher Gonzalez (2-0) versus Manny Guajardo (2-0) of Tucson.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Terence Crawford’s pound-for-pound campaign got a strong endorsement Wednesday night in downtown Los Angeles with an ESPY for best fighter.

Mikey Garcia was there for the annual awards dinner across the street from Staples Center where he will continue his own campaign on July 28 against Robert Easter Jr.

Garcia had to wonder how he could get off the red carpet and on to the main stage. He’s where Crawford was a couple of years ago. He’s a consensus pound-for-pound contender. From list to mythical list, he’s in the top five. He’s third on this one, behind Crawford, Vasiliy Lomachenko at No. 2 and ahead of Gennady Golovkin at No. 4.

Garcia’s resume puts him there. He’s unbeaten at 38-0. Thirty stoppages keep him there. He’s won titles in four weight classes. He’s got everything except the victory or two that could put where Crawford was Wednesday night.

Getting there, in large part, is as political as it is pugilistic. There’s a sense that Garcia would already be No. 1 if had fought the right guy. For a while, internet imaginations were inflamed by the possibility of Garcia versus Lomachenko, No. 1 in many pound-for-pound debates and also a lightweight champion currently in rehab for shoulder surgery.

It made sense then. Still does. But Garcia’s divorce from Top Rank a few years ago makes it problematic at best. Lomachenko is a Top Rank fighter. So, too, is Crawford, who once was mentioned as a Garcia possibility when Crawford, a newly-minted welterweight champion was still at 140.

The best way, the only way perhaps, to eventually force a Lomachenko-Garcia is to turn Garcia into a star. That means big numbers at the box office and on television. For now, that brings Garcia to an arena just a few blocks of red carpet from that ESPY dinner the other night.

Garcia is back at home, fighting in Southern California for the first time in more than seven years. Garcia had fought in New York, Texas and Las Vegas.

Along the way, however, his identity as a Los Angeles fighter had been lost. Restoring it is one path toward reawakening and regaining his fan base in southern California.

“He will be the king of LA, then the king of boxing, all of those things,’’ said Richard Schaefer, who is promoting the July 28 Showtime card, which is scheduled for 15 fights. “You will see.’’

Lomachenko has repeatedly said he wants to fight Garcia. But numbers, personality and lingering tensions between Garcia and Top Rank could always get in the way.

Then what? Former welterweight great Manny Pacquiao, back in the headlines after his stoppage last week of Lucas Matthysse in his first KO since 2009, might be a possibility, especially at 140.

Garcia, also a 140-pound champion, says he is mostly comfortable at 135 these days.

“I’m comfortable in both divisions,’’ Garcia, 30, said during a conference call Thursday after Schaefer introduced him as the pound—for-pound best. “There is a little disadvantage at 140 against bigger guys. But I feel good at either.’’

Seemingly, that would eliminate 147. Then again, that might eliminate an option in the quest for the big prize at the end of that red carpet. Garcia hasn’t mentioned Crawford, perhaps because of his issues with Top Rank and/or simply because Crawford’s dramatic emergence is beginning to scare the hell out of just about everybody in the business.

But Garcia has mentioned Errol Spence Jr, another emerging welterweight who appears to be on a collision course with Crawford sometime during the next couple of years.

It’s hard to judge how Garcia, who is as fundamentally as sound as anybody in the current game, would fare against the bigger Spence.

But maybe an early indication of that will be there against Easter (21-0, 14 KOs), also a lightweight champion, yet with a couple of physical dimensions bigger than even Spence. Easter has huge advantages in height and reach over Garcia. The unbeaten Toledo welterweight is 5-foot-11, five inches taller than the 5-6 Garcia. More significant, Easter has a listed reach of 76 inches, eight more than Garcia’s 68.

Compare that to Spence. At 5-9 ½, he’s an inch-and-a-half shorter than Easter. Spence’s reach is listed as 72 inches, four less than Easter.

If – just if – Garcia can find a way over, under and through Easter’s key advantages, then maybe he can deal with Spence, who is ranked among the second five in most pound-for-pound debates.

“I’m willing to talk about fighting anybody,’’ said Garcia, who knows the issues and understands he needs the options.

By Norm Faruenheim-

Manny Pacquiao is just the latest example of how boxing makes fools out of everybody who sticks around too long. Inevitably, the pro ring collects sad clichés like debris around a clogged drain.

I’m not sure how Pacquiao became just another one. Maybe, he needs the money. Maybe, he’s nostalgic for the good old days, although he might have a tough time recalling them if he continues to fight.

Nearly eight years ago, it was hard to imagine that Pacquiao would be poised for still another fight, this time against Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia on ESPN+ Saturday (9 pm. ET/6 p.m. PT) in the Filipino Senator’s 69th pro bout.

He’ll be 40-years-old later this year, Dec. 17. He’s been fighting for nearly a quarter century. His first recorded bout was Jan. 11, 1995, but that formal record doesn’t include all those other unregulated fights on Filipino back streets for a few pesos, or a meal, or just for the hell of it.

Pacquiao had come so far, so fast, that it was easy to think he would be different. His ascendancy from Filipino street kid, to international celebrity, to national hero was like spontaneous combustion. From karaoke to pro basketball, he’s done it all.

For a few years, much of the world stopped and watched on a night when Pacquiao fought.

He could even stop a war.

I recall his victory in a second rematch with Erik Morales on Nov 18, 2006 at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center. I was seated next to a Filipino journalist who pointed to his computer and showed me reports from Manila on how a civil conflict on one of the nation’s many islands would cease for as long as the bout lasted. Opposing soldiers wanted to see Pacquiao fight before they resumed their own fight.

The truce lasted only three rounds. The soldiers resumed their fight after he finished his. But it occurred to me that Pacquiao’s dangerous hands were rare weapons. They could knock out opponents and wars. Then, the boxing ring looked to be just a stepping stone for a Fighter of the Year on his way to a Nobel Peace Prize. There was no reason to think he would stick around. There was so much more to do. There was too much ambition. But I was wrong, just another one of those aforementioned fools.

Like so many for so long, another opening bell has become an irresistible siren song for Pacquiao. Guess here is that he needs the money. He always needs the money.

Top Rank’s Bob Arum once said he was the only social welfare system in the Philippines. He bought homes and fishing boats for poor Filipinos who asked. Depending on the source, Pacquiao collected between $120 million and $180 million for his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015. That’s huge money, but not a national budget.

Now, however, Pacquiao is not the attraction he was a decade ago. The beginning of his decline can be traced to one punch in one of his greatest fights. Midway through the sixth round of a November, 2010 fight in front of more 41,000 at Cowboys Stadium in the Dallas Metroplex, Antonio Margarito left him doubled over in pain with a vicious body shot to his left side. Pacquiao went on to win the fight for his eighth world title, scoring a courageous unanimous decision, despite 17-pound disadvantage. But he was never the same, never again the smiling warrior, always as happy as he was fearless.

In the rearview mirror, that would have been the time to think about retirement. But Pacquiao continued, despite that first sign of real vulnerability.

He’s made money, spent money.

He’s won fights and lost a few notable ones – Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Mayweather and – in his last outing – Jeff Horn.

In the controversial loss to Horn in Brisbane, Pacquiao (59-7-2, 35 KOs) looked like a shrunken version of his former self. He still showed some speed and perhaps enough quickness to win on the scorecards. Matthysse (39-4, 36 KOs) looked shot in his last outing, yet the Argentine had a big punch and power is always the last thing to go Pacquiao’s footspeed might be critical.

The troublesome aspect to the Matthysse bout is talk about Pacquiao’s next move if he wins. There’s already speculation about a bout with lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, the pound-for pound favorite who is recovering from shoulder surgery. The good news is that there is less talk about Pacquiao against newly-minted welterweight Terence Crawford, whose one-sided stoppage of Horn on June 9 showed just how much Pacquiao has declined. Lomachenko is very good, but Crawford is dangerous, perhaps more dangerous than anybody in the ring today.

Crawford could leave Pacquiao with long-term damage. Lomachenko beats him bad. Those aren’t options. They are a fool’s choice.

By Norm Frauenehim-

About 1,500 miles and an international border separated two fighters who only have a weight class and mutual contempt in common.

Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin were in opposite virtual corners – Canelo in Guadalajara and GGG in Big Bear, Calif. — at an unusual news conference last week that could only happen in today’s social-media world. It was social in name only, of course. But that gave it an edge. It was effective, because it was new.

But it’s effectiveness was also rooted in drama as genuine as it is timeless. GGG and Canelo don’t like each other.

They staged their satellite newser Tuesday on the Golden Boy Promotions Facebook page for a big audience that watched because it’s clear they want to unfriend each other in their Sept. 15 rematch (HBO PPPV/8 pm. ET) at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena with more than a key stroke.

The middleweights never smiled. They had a tough time even looking into the cameras throughout the hour-long session. It was awkward enough to almost be painful. Almost.

Real pain, of course, is the inherent promise in the controversial build-up for a rematch postponed by Canelo’s two positive PED tests in February and then testy negotiations that only heightened dislike the rival camps have for each other.

A clipped tone spoke volumes Tuesday. At one point, moderator Mauricio Pedroza asked Canelo for what he had to say to GGG.

“Nothing, we’ll see September 15,’’ Canelo said.

Then, there were moments when Canelo and his corner expressed their anger at GGG trainer Abel Sanchez, whose consistent wit and criticism of Canelo’s tactics in last September’s draw represent some rhetorical jabs in the early rounds of the psychological gamesmanship. Sanchez questions Canelo’s courage.

“I think that on the 15th when Oscar and Canelo are having breakfast, Oscar needs to remind him, he needs to bring his courage to the venue that night because he’s going to need it,’’ Sanchez said Tuesday. “If he intends to knock out Golovkin, he’s going to have to fight him. And if he fights him, he’s going to get knocked out. I said that before. He would have gotten knocked out the first time, but he decided to make it a track meet that night.

“But if he comes to fight and if he comes to knock out Golovkin as he said he’s going to; if he doesn’t defraud the fans again, then he’s going to get knocked out. I’ve said it and I’ll say it again.’’

During the course of the news conference, GGG suggested the fight itself is a path for both sides to regain respect for each other.

“I do have respect to all the fighters, all the athletes, all the champions who fight at this level,” he said. “And I think at the very end, we will find a way to shake each other’s hand, regardless of the outcome, regardless what we think before the fight. As two men, we should be able to stand against each other and shake each other’s hand at the end.’’

But it sounds as if Canelo has other ideas, especially when it comes to Sanchez.

When it was time for questions from the media, there was a reference to what GGG had said about eventually shaking hands.

Question: “This is for Canelo. As a Mexican, do you believe Abel Sanchez deserves a handshake? Can you actually shake Abel Sanchez’s hands?’

Canelo: “He deserves that and much more.”

The chance at much more is selling this one.

PHOENIX, AZ – They are two super-middleweights from the same town with equal amounts of power and similar skillsets. Only a right hand seemed to separate Andrew Hernandez and Roberto Yong.

Hernandez had more of them.

From round to round, Hernandez (20-7-1, 9 KOs) landed them in a back-and-forth bout for a 79-73, 80-72, 79-73 decision over Yong Saturday night on an Iron Boy Promotions card.

Hernandez’ right hand set the tone, dictated the pace and – in the end — ruled what was a closer bout than margins on the scorecards might indicate. Just when it looked as if Yong were finished, the Phoenix fighter adjusted with quick feet and resiliency that indicated he might be able to spring an upset despite his record (5-15-2, 4 KOs).

Yong took the fight to Hernandez in the fifth and again in the seventh. He adjusted, yet never enough to elude that difference-making right in front of a lively crowd on a night that included a heartfelt tribute for late boxing journalist Don Smith from ring announcer Ralph Velez Jr.

Smith became a beloved figure in the Phoenix boxing community, which had come to rely on consistent internet reports he provided on Arizona boxing over the last decade. Smith was killed when he was run over by an automobile in a west Phoenix neighborhood in May.

Best of the Undercard

Lightweight Trini Ochoa (2-0, 1 KOs) got a crowd filled with his fans from nearby Mesa rocking with a head-rocking first-round stoppage of Marcus Rodriguez (0-2), an El Paso fighter who two minutes after opening bell appeared to be exhausted by Ochoa’s ferocious pursuit.

The Rest

It was a return and a rematch. Phoenix bantamweight Alexis Zazueta (10-0, 5 KOs) was back for his first fight since a knockout of Mexican Leonardo Reyes in March, 2016. This time, Zazueta scored a unanimous decision over Reyes (7-17, 3 KOs)

Chicago welterweight Vernon Brown had more punches, but lacked enough power for stoppage of a bout begging for one. Instead, Brown 18-0 5 KOs) settled for a majority decision over Greg Jackson (18-7) of Philadelphia.

Abdul Ibrahim, a UK middleweight, got his first victory after a loss in his debut, getting up from two first-round knockdowns for a second-round TKO of Brandon Trujillo (0-4) of Albuquerque, NM.

Frank Sanchez (8-0, 7 KOs), a Cuban heavyweight living in Las Vegas, was flat on his face in the first round after wildly missing a punch that knocked him off balance and onto the canvas. It was scored a knockdown. It wasn’t. In the second, Sanchez finished Francois Russell, a Chicago fighter whose only introduction was his 30-fight record. Twenty-seven were losses. Nothing to advertise there. Nothing to advertise about his 28th loss — a second-round TKO – either.

Phoenix middleweight Eduardo Ayala 1-2, 1 KO) celebrated a pro victory for the first time, a first TKO of Derrick Beroit (-4) of Houston.

Heavyweight Andrey Fedosov (30-3, 25 KOs) was looking to get in a little work in his first fight in more than two years. A little was what he got. Very little. Mexican Francisco Mireles (19-15, 8 KOs) surrendered, going down quickly and almost willingly in a first-round embarrassment.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Boxing is still a heavyweight fight short of completing a comeback that had buoyed a forever-battered business always hoping for a rebound.

But Anthony Joshua-Deontay Wilder proved that not a whole lot has really changed.

Joshua-Wilder remained buried in never, never land amid reports this week that negotiations had failed. For a whole lot of reasons hard to explain and harder to understand, Joshua and Wilder have decided to go their separate ways until at least next April. That’s pretty much the same way they’ve been going for at least the last year.

Welcome to the HoHum division.

It looked as if it might be changing with that lightning bolt of drama on April 29, 2017 when Joshua got off the deck for an 11th-round TKO over Wladimir Klitschko in front of a World Cup-like crowd of 90,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium.

There was promise in watching a historical standard re-surface, looking like the flagship division it once was. There was talk of Joshua fighting in the U.S. in the biggest British invasion since the Beatles.

Instead, there’s just the same old, same old. Plans are for Joshua to fight Russian Alexander Povetkin in a mandatory title defense in September. There’s also talk of Wilder-versus-Dominic Breazeale in the fall.

Both are yawners. Yet, both are dangerous. That’s the trouble with mediocrity. A promising date can always be completely undone by the forgettable. For the casual fans, however, there are only two heavyweights. There’s Joshua. And there’s Wilder.

For the fans who want them –and only them – to fight, Povetkin might as well be a brand of Vodka. He’s not, of course. Povetkin a potential spoiler. In the UK, the guess here is that Joshua prevails.

Like Joshua, however, Povetkin has an Olympic gold medal. He won gold in Athens at a 2004 Games that included Gennady Golovkin’s silver medal at middleweight. Translation: Povetkin knows his way around the ring.

Povetin also has a history of PED use. A positive test led to the cancellation of a May, 2016 bout with Wilder in Moscow. Wilder was willing and able to face Povetkin in Russia. But it’s reasonable to say that the positive test saved the American from a defeat.

Wilder is lots of fun. Wilder, often dismissed one-dimensional, also has the biggest right hand in boxing. The right, an equalizer, has repeatedly saved him from losing on the cards.

It’s a weapon only fool would not fear. Put it this way: Joshua, no fool, got knocked down by a Klitschko right in the fifth. He got up. If Wilder had landed that right, Joshua might have stayed down, flat and finished on Wembley canvas.

Against Povetkin in Moscow, however, Wilder might have had trouble throwing a long punch powered by the leverage he gets from a lanky body.

Unlike Wilder, Povetkin isn’t fun to watch. The Russian’s resume includes a scorecard loss to Klitschko in 2012, also in Moscow. Povetkin tried to smother Klitschko with clinches.

It was hard to watch then. It’ll be hard to watch again. But the tactic will return against Joshua in bout that could smother a chance to watch the only heavyweight fight anybody wants to see.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Half-empty, half-full is the best way to sum up a year stumbling toward the midpoint of a 12-month run that began amid lots of expectations.

The empty is for what didn’t happen. By now, we should be talking about the chances of the third step a Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez trilogy.

The full is for Terence Crawford, brilliant in his first welterweight appearance against Jeff Horn and yet seemingly still underrated.

Crawford was No. 1 in this corner’s pound-for-pound ratings last January 1. He still is, of course, especially after saying he wanted to take over the 147-pound division and then began to do just that with a June 9 debut that looked a lot like a take-off.

Crawford will have challengers. Lots of them. Vasiliy Lomachenko, still No. 1 on a lot of lists, is No. 2 on this one. Lomachenko is recovering from shoulder surgery after a surprisingly tough victory over Jorge Linares in a 135-pound title defense. Lomachenko was clever and tough, but the May 12 bout suggested that a move to 140 pounds might be unwise.

To wit: Mikey Garcia, No. 3 on this pound-for-pound list and awaiting an intriguing date against Robert Easter on July 28, hits a lot harder than Linares There’s already some talk about Garcia against powerful welterweight Errol Spence, No. 4 on this list and maybe Crawford’s greatest threat in a bout next year. More on that later and at a later date.

It’s hard to settle on who should be at No. 5. The guess here is that he will emerge from what didn’t happen during the first six months of 2018.

May came, went and left only more unsettling controversy in the wake of a Cinco De Mayo rematch scuttled by Canelo’s positive PED tests in February.

To use a word that has been overused for the last several months, it’s been tainted. I’m not talking about contaminated Mexican meat, or whether it had anything to do with Canelo’s testing positive for Clenbuterol. Anticipation for the rematch, postponed until Sept. 15, has been tainted by inevitable PED suspicions and mounting tension between the two fighters.

There are reports that GGG and Canelo dislike each so much that they won’t appear together on the same stage, or even perhaps in the same studio or ballroom, for a news conference.

That will sell the fight more than anything else can. Mutual contempt is more marketable these days than a high knockout ratio. There will be lots of dollars for just the chance to see lots of promised, over-the-top violence in this one.

Canelo was slow to enroll in voluntary drug testing. A stubborn GGG was slow to sign a deal until he apparently got the terms he wanted in negotiations that grew contentious once the two returned to the table. The fight was on, the fight was off, the fight was on. The roller coaster ride from now until opening bell on Sept. 15 still has a long way to go.

We’ll get there, hopefully with a decisive result instead of another draw in a bout that will allow GGG and Canelo to move on without ever having to share a room or a ring again. The year will make both of them wealthy, but the bet here is that Crawford will still own 2018.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – There’s a long-held theory that negotiations are part of any fight. It’s a little early to pick a winner or loser in the agreement for Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez rematch.

Let’s just say the business picked up a badly-needed win. Meanwhile, there are plenty of reasons to anticipate many more twists and turns to what will finally be an opening bell in a sequel to last year’s controversial draw.

If there are hints in Wednesday’s succession of no deal to an agreement within about the time it takes to eat lunch, we can expect just about anything. Don’t miss the rules meeting. Brace for noisy debates about judges, the referee, or whether the gloves’ padding is made of horse hair or foam.

Everything will be contested, mostly because the only thing each of these corners really like about each other is the money they can generate.

There’s plenty of that and it’s why the rematch was always inevitable. Timing was really the key here. If there ever was urgency attached to doing a rematch, GGG-Canelo II was it.

If they waited until, say next year, after struggling against an emerging Billy Joe Saunders or against no-name Spike O’Sullivan, the potential money would have dwindled to a fraction of what it is now.

GGG and his promotional rep, Tom Loeffler, acted as if they knew that from the moment the rematch was in apparent jeopardy after news of Canelo’s two failed PED tests in February.

GGG, Loeffler and trainer Abel Sanchez acted proactively, carefully, and yet with an unwavering focus on securing a deal for a bout on the first good date, September 15.

In the wake of Canelo’s withdrawal from their initial date on May 5, there was controversy about GGG’s decision to fight anyway on Cinco de Mayo against overmatched Vanes Martirosyan at StubHub Center. The fight – a GGG victory in an overwhelming second round stoppage – was forgettable. In terms of his career and what it meant to his chances at more favorable terms in a Canelo rematch, however, it is huge.

The Martirosyan fight provided a forum for GGG to further question Canelo, who was not enrolled in VADA, the voluntary drug testing program attached to the WBC. It also provided GGG a forum to say he wanted more equitable terms.

A few days after Martirosyan, Canelo announced he had agreed to resume voluntary testing. Would that have happened without the criticism from GGG and fans that were amplified by the Martirosyan fight? No way.

Canelo was in a defensive posture, telling a skeptical public to trust that the positive tests were simply the result of eating tainted Mexican beef. But there’s no trust without verification. Overwhelming doubt expressed by fans before and after Martirosyan left Canelo and Golden Boy with no choice.

They were back in VADA.

Then, they were back at the table.

However, GGG also had let it be known he would not agree to the original terms, 70 percent for Canelo and 30 for GGG. He came to the table asking for 50-50. That was a good starting point, but that’s all it was. Canelo still ranks as the draw.

According to reports Wednesday, GGG first said no to a 42.5 percent in a deal that gave Canelo 57.5. GGG demanded 45 percent, take it or leave it.

Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya initially said no. About an hour later, however, they had a deal, although terms weren’t disclosed.

Not sure exactly what happened, but a guess is that HBO somehow got involved and saved what figures to be a pay-per-view moneymaker. Floyd Mayweather Jr.-versus- Manny Pacquiao in 2015, a record revenue setter, would probably not have happened without late involvement from Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS, Showtime’s parent company.

Whatever happened, GGG is getting a big raise from a likely bigger total revenue pool than what he collected a year ago. In the process, he also appeared to grab the high ground in a contentious give-and-take that will continue to sell the rematch until Sept. 15.

But will that represent a GGG advantage at opening bell? Not sure about that one. Canelo has been mostly quiet. Not sure whether his relative silence represents anger or some self-doubt. Before the positive PED tests, I would have picked him to win the rematch. He’s younger and has shown he learns from adversity. He emerged from his one-sided-loss to Mayweather as a much better fighter.

Can he emerge once more? He’ll have to against a fighter and management team that has proven it can wage a patient, well-coordinated fight on both sides of the ropes.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – Surprises came early for Jeff Horn. There was one on the scale Friday, more than 24 hours before the opening bell Saturday against pound-for-pound contender Terence Crawford.

Horn stepped on the scale once, then twice. First, he was a pound heavier than the welterweight limit at 148.

Off came the shorts and up came a long black curtain. Naked, Horn was back on the scale, but still a half-pound too heavy at 147.5 to defend the World Boxing Organization’s version of the welterweight title at the MGM Grand in an ESPN+ televised bout (6:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. ET).

One more chance awaited. If he missed the weight a third time, however, he was out, an ex-champ before the heavily-favored Crawford would ever have a chance to turn him into one.

But after a warm shower and a trip to the bathroom, Horn was back 45 minutes later. No problem. No penalty. He even kept his shorts, along with his belt, this time, making weight without a digit to spare. The Australian was at 147-even. Crawford was at 146.5 in his first and only trip to the scale for his welterweight debut.

What exactly happened, however, wasn’t clear. The Queenslander from Brisbane didn’t blame the extra weight on a bit too much Vegemite on his morning muffin. He questioned the scale.

`We tested on the official set from Top Rank and my weight was fine,’’ Horn told Australian media moments after making the weight. “I think there was something up their sleeve because Crawford was just under the weight and I was just over. We thought we’d calibrated our scales to the correct weight, but they’ve tricked us. There was a bit of play with the scales.’’

Three fighters on the undercard also missed weight by small margins. The weigh-in drama, intentional or not, didn’t appear to rattle Horn, however. If anything, it emboldened him.

“I could see, face-to-face with Terence, he was a bit rattled,’’ said Horn, who will make a second defense of the belt he took from Manny Pacquiao Down Under in a controversial stunner last July. “He’s shaking. I’m calm. I’m fine. I think they think I’m a bit mentally weaker than I actually am. This stuff’s all part of it, I know it.”

Horn believes there’s a bit of play with the betting odds, too. Horn says he is surprised that Crawford is so heavily favored at minus-950.

“I’m the bigger fighter,’’ said Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs), whose contract filed with the Nevada Athletic Commission includes a $500,000 purse. Horn’s final check is expected to be $1.25 million.

Crawford’s contract with the Commission lists a $1.75 million check. He’s expected to wind up with $3 million.

The difference in size is said to be Horn’s biggest, perhaps only advantage against the multi-dimensional Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), a former lightweight and junior-welterweight champion. The weigh-in left a question about whether Horn would try to maximize his advantage in size by adding as much weight as possible in the hours before opening bell.

“I expect to him to be about 70 kilos,’’ Horn trainer Glenn Rushton said.

That’s 154.3 pounds, if you believe the scale.