TUCSON, Ariz. – If Sadam Ali was searching for ways to get better, he found plenty of them.

Ali wasn’t happy with a unanimous decision over Johan Perez Saturday night at Casino Del Sol in an ESPN2-televised bout he had to win if he ever hoped to get back into the welterweight division’s champion conversation.

“I was just off,’’ Ali said following a third straight victory after Jessie Vargas stopped for a vacant WBO welterweight belt in his only title fight in March 2016. “I just have to look at it, get back in the gym and get back to work.’’

At best, Ali (25-1, 14 KOs) thought he was average. On scale of 1-to-10, he gave himself a 6.

“I’m disappointed, ‘’he said.

He was disappointed for at a couple of reasons.

“No excuses,’’ he said, “but I just didn’t feel right.’’

Then, there was Perez (20-4-2, 13 KOs), a 34-year-old Venezuelan who often had the right punches in his attempt at an upset that would dropped Ali’s into the forgotten end of the 147-pound ranks.

Again and again, rocked Ali with punches leveraged by a long, lanky reach. All the while, Ali’s agile footwork was offset by punches lacking power.

It didn’t take for Perez to figure out Ali couldn’t hurt him. After a Perez slip was mistakenly ruled as a knockdown in the third, the Venezuelan stubbornly pursued. In the eighth, he landed a left hook to the body that shook Ali.

After the decision was announced, Perez left the ring to applause from fans who thought he had won the bout, which included a strange moment. During the sixth, a man dressed in Ali gear was chased out of a seat adjacent to Perez corner. Perez’ assistant trainer got up off his stool and asked him to move. He did.

“A misunderstanding,’’ said the man, who would only identify himself as a member of Ali’s team. “I think he just thought that Perez couldn’t hear his corner’s instructions over my shouting.’’

For Ali, the next step in his career remained uncertain.

“Maybe a fight on Sept. 16,’’ Ali said of the Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvrez card in Las Vegas. “A lot more work, that’s for sure

In another welterweight bout on the ESPN2 telecast, Alejandro Barrera (27-3, 17 KOs) won a split decision overcoming a knockdown and a nasty cut near his right eye for a 10-round victory over Eddie Gomez (20-3, 11 KOs).

Gomez, of New York, appeared to be on his way to a win after scoring a knockdown with a head-to-body combination in the seventh round, leaving Barrera with a deep gash at the corner of his eye.

Ringside physicians ruled that at Barrera, of Mexico,, and ruled could continue. He did, tirelessly pursuing Gomez for the next three-plus rounds of a bout that ended with him favored, 96-93, on two cards. The third judge scored it 95-94 for Gomez.

Meanwhile, Golden Boy and Showdown, the card’s co-promoters, are planning to return to Casino Del Sol on Nov. 2. With who? Who knows? But Antonio Margarito was mentioned as a possibility Saturday by Showdown, which has long promoted him. First, however, Margarito would have to beat Carson Jones on Sept. 2 in Chihuahua, Mexico.

On The Undercard

The Best: Patrick Teixeira (27-1, 22 KOs), a Golden Boy prospect from Brazil, was back with an 80-72, 79-73, 80-72 decision over tough Phoenix middleweight Andrew Hernandez (19-6-1, 9 KOs). It was Teixeira’s first bout since his only loss, a second-round TKO to Curtis Stevens in May 2016.

The Rest: With former Timothy Bradley trainer Julio Diaz in his corner, Phoenix junior-welterweight Alfredo Escarcega (3-0) relied on quick hands and a busy style to score a majority decision over Tucson rival Rodolfo Gamez (1-4).

Florida middleweight Daquan Arnett (16-1, 9 KOs) did everything but score a knockout and instead settled on a unanimous decision over Mexican Jorge Silva (21-14-2, throughout eight rounds as dull as they were one-sided.

By Norm Frauenheim-

TUCSON, Ariz. — Brooklyn welterweight Sadam Ali hopes to fight his way back into title contention Saturday against well-traveled Johan Perez in an ESPN2-televised bout at Casino del Sol in the second Golden Boy Promotions card at the southern Arizona casino since Oscar De La Hoya’s signed a 43-fight deal in January with the cable sports network.

Ali (24-1, 14 KOs), a 2008 Olympian and the first boxer of Yemeni descent on a U.S. team, has won two straight since Jessie Vargas stopped in the ninth of his only world-title bout in 2015.

Perez, a 34-year-old Venezuelan who beat a then-unbeaten Yoshihiro Kamegai in 2013, also has won his last two, but he’s 3-2-1 over his last six.

Ali was at 147 pounds Friday at a weigh-in that included a mount when Perez jammed his nose into Ali’s nose during the ritual stare down for the photographers. Perez was at 146.6 pounds.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Adrien Broner looks at Mikey Garcia and says he see no hints of his past. There’s nothing in Garcia that looks, or fights, or wins like Marcos Maidana, says Broner, who has been trying to resurrect his career ever since a 2013 loss to Maidana.

“He ain’t no effin Maidana,’’ Broner said Thursday at the final news conference before the Showtime telecast of the crossroads confrontation with Garcia Saturday night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. “He’s nowhere near Maidana.

No, he’s not. He’s better.

The real question is whether Broner (33-2, 24 KOs) is any better than he was against Maidana on that December night in a stunner at San Antonio’s Alamodome. He’ll have to be against Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs), who appears to have all Maidana’s power and is more fundamentally sound than the Argentine ever was.

If anything, the Maidana-Garcia comparison seems to have annoyed, if not rattled, Broner. It’s in his head and probably for good reason. Been there, done that and he definitely doesn’t want to have to endure it all over again. That’s just one compelling stake among many in the junior-welterweight bout (6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET). Beat Garcia, and Broner can finally declare that he’s back, all the way back.

“I don’t think that he’s going to be desperate, but he knows that I’m not an easy opponent,’’ Garcia said during his turn at the speaker’s dais Thursday. “That’s why he’s taken camp so seriously. I expect him to be at his best and be ready. He knows if he beats me he can launch his career back to where it was.’’

On paper at least, Broner appears to have a key advantage. Broner, who lost to Maidana at 147 pounds, is back at 140, a weight at which he has never lost. Still, there are some questions about whether he’ll make weight Friday. If he doesn’t, he pays a $500,000 fine, according to his contract. That’s plenty of motivation, he said.

“I ain’t giving nothing back,’’ Broner said last week during a conference call.

The guess here is that Broner won’t eat any cake before he steps on the scale. His birthday is Friday. He’ll be 28 at opening bell, presumably smarter and better prepared for the tactical savvy possessed by the favored Garcia.

“I’m going to lo look to box effectively and show that I’m the better fighter,’’ said Garcia, whose brother and trainer, Robert Garcia, was in Maidana’s corner. “We’re both smart fighters but neither of us will run from the other. When you have styles like ours, with two guys who like to exchange punches, you’re in for a great battle.

“I think Adrien will be fine with the weight. He’s a pro and he knows that he really has to make weight. He’s learned from his mistakes. Sometimes he jokes around but that’s just part of his character. He takes things a lot more seriously because he’s facing me.’’

Broner is facing somebody who hopes to enhance his pound-for-pound credentials. There’s talk about Garcia in a fight against Terence Crawford and/or Vasyl Lomachenko. Garcia, who has a lightweight belt, has doubts about both. There are differences in weight. Crawford, a 140-pound champion, appears headed for 147. Lomachenko is still at 130. More problematic, both are Top Rank fighters. Garcia left Top Rank in a divorce that kept him out of the ring for more than two years.

For now, Garcia appears more interested in a lightweight unification bout against the Jorge Linares-Luke Campbell winner on Sept. 23 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

“I won’t let Adrien Broner stand in my way,’’ Garcia said. “This is my chance to show the best version of myself.”

A version that won’t look anything like Maidana.
Attachments area

By Norm Frauenheim-

They’re promising a new and improved Adrien Broner on July 29 against Mikey Garcia, but Broner is promising what he has always promised.

“I’m coming to eff him up,’’ Broner said Thursday during a conference call for his intriguing 140-pound bout with Garcia at Brooklyn’s Barclays’ Center.

First, full disclosure: Broner didn’t really say eff. But you get the idea. Broner says he is older and wiser, but he’s as profane as ever in a business punctuated by punches and profanity.

“The hurt business,’’ says Broner, who repeated Mike Tyson’s apt summation of a brutal craft once known as The Sweet Science.

Not so sweet anymore, at least not for Broner, whose ups and down in and of the ring are an inseparable part of his story, perhaps his temperament and probably his motivation.

Maybe, he’s more mature, but there’s no doubt about the anger. Besides, you just wouldn’t know him without the F-bombs.

Any doubt about that was eliminated in the way he opened his segment of the conference call.

“At this point, eff the press,’’ he said. “They’re all against me. I’m ready to fight. …So, I’m ready to to get the eff off this call.’’

He didn’t, of course. Too effing much to say. Broner loves to talk. That said – and plenty was, Broner said he has worked to get beyond a long list of problems, including jail time. He has talked about leaving the “ghetto stuff” behind.

By that, he says he means to take “boxing more seriously.’’

Against Garcia, he’ll have to. Garcia, unbeaten and an emerging pound-for-pound contender in a talked-about fight with Vasyl Lomachenko, is the favorite.

According to some betting sites, odds favoring Garcia are as high as 7-1, despite a couple of key advantages that Broner holds in his capable hands.

He’s younger. Broner will celebrate his 28th birthday next Friday, the day before opening bell in Brooklyn. Twice beaten at 147 pounds, he’s unbeaten at 140. Garcia, a 29-year-old lightweight champion, has never been more than 138 pounds at a weigh-in.

The theory, however, is that Garcia has a more varied skill set. He has said he will outbox Broner.

“That’s a damn lie,’’ Broner said. “…He knows he’s not a better boxer than me.’’

Throughout the call, Garcia did most of the listening and some of the talking. He says he wants to fight the best possible Broner and all of the profanity seemed to say that he would.

“That’s exactly the Broner I want to hear,’’ said Garcia, who figures to hear a lot effing more next week.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Other than to say it was hard to watch, it was hard to know what to make of the first three stops this week in the Floyd-Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor tour.

It was funny in Los Angeles. Kind of.

It was silly in Toronto. Sort of.

It was embarrassing in New York. Period.

It was impossible to think there can be any kind of an encore in London. More than a tour, the exhibition for their Aug. 26 event in Las Vegas has been a steep decline into a tired exchange of gestures and obscenities.

Not any role models here, not that any were expected. But I’m guessing it’s not something that Mayweather or McGregor would want their kids to ever see, much less emulate.

Both are going to make tons of money and then have to spend a lot of it just to make sure their kids don’t grow up to be like daddy.

All the profane posturing and over-the-top insults appear to be exactly the spectacle that some predicted would be more entertaining than the match itself. A classic boxer, the best of his generation, versus a mixed martial arts star in sanctioned boxing bout?

As an event, it is neither fish nor fowl, which means nobody will be surprised if the pay-per-view audience screams foul after paying the $99.95 price tag for high-def.

If anything, disappointment in the so-called fight seems to be baked into the expectation for fans more amped about a chance that McGregor might kick Mayweather in the face at the Vegas weigh-in.

After all, there’s just not a whole lot to say after Los Angeles, Toronto and New York. These fans want spectacle, not substance, and it’s spectacle they’re going to get. The guess from this corner is that the bout will be about as meaningful as Donald Trump’s “take down” of Vince McMahon at ringside of a WWE production in 2007.

Then again, that bit of lowbrow theater went from fake news to real news a couple of weeks ago when Trump re-tweeted a redone video of the staged moment with the CNN logo as McMahon’s head.

Serious journalists debated that one, right alongside health care. Seriously. Maybe, spectacle is today’s substance. I’ll leave that one up to people a lot smarter than an old boxing writer still not sure what to make of Mayweather-McGregor.

There are the betting odds, only 7-to-1 in favor of Mayweather. Really? The best in the business for about a decade against a novice boxer, and yet the odds give the novice a real chance?

Then, there are news reports this week about Mayweather’s tax liability. I’m not sure what to believe about the reported numbers or even if he in fact owes the IRS for back taxes. But I heard the crowds this week, chanting “Pay your taxes, pay your taxes.’’

The reports are troublesome on a couple of levels. If accurate, they might be symptomatic of a deeper financial problem. Consider this scenario: Instead of scoring a one–sided TKO of McGregor with a couple of precise counters midway through the event, let’s say that Mayweather wins a decision close enough to argue for a rematch.

That’s when those chants might get nasty. To wit: He needs the rematch to pay those taxes. The again, what’s a good spectacle without some suspicion?

By Norm Frauenheim-

A contentious blame game in the wake – and we do mean wake – of Manny Pacquiao’s controversial loss to Jeff Horn is almost as regrettable as it is predictable. Above all, it’s all too familiar.

It’s the acrimonious noise that always seems to be there at the end of a legendary career. It’s as if few could foresee the ride was headed for a crashing conclusion. In hindsight, I suspect Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum did. He issued a warning few days before last weekend’s opening bell Down Under, saying that Horn could really fight.

It sounded like a warning, Arum’s way of saying that Pacquiao might lose if he wasn’t ready for a real fight. By now, we know he wasn’t. Argue about the scorecards all you want. On this one, Pacquiao was a 115-113 winner.

But I didn’t see the robbery that was so loudly alleged at ringside. Neither did Arum. Turns out, neither did Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, who in the aftermath of Horn’s 115-113, 117-111, 115-113 decision hinted at a less than satisfactory training camp and a fighter with energies divided between the gym and the Filipino Senate.

“To me, they were so overconfident going in — [conditioning coach] Justin Fortune tells the press that the only way Horn can win is if Manny trips going into the ring,’’ Arum told the Los Angeles Times a couple of day after the welterweight bout in Brisbane. “I had seen the kid. I told everybody he was a big, tough kid who could take a punch. I didn’t think he’d beat Manny, but it wasn’t the same Manny.”

It wasn’t. Truth is, Pacquiao hasn’t been the same Manny since his last stoppage in 2009, a 12th-round TKO of Miguel Cotto. Eight years are a career for some fighters. For Pacquiao, the power drought represents a drip-drip-drip in an erosion of an identity created by astonishing stoppages of Erik Morales, Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya. We had waited for that defining characteristic to reappear. But it never did, not against Brandon Rios or even Chris Algieri.

A great fighter without a stoppage over nearly eight years is bound to lose a few on the fickle scorecards. It happened against Timothy Bradley in 2012. To a lesser degree, it happened again in Australia, where it appeared Pacquiao was poised to finish it after a ferocious beating of Horn in the ninth, yet didn’t in the 10th simply because it just isn’t in him and hasn’t been for a while.

From religion to politics – there were different interests. From partying to gambling, there was a different lifestyle. He had changed, changed for good and forever. Still generous and likeable, the old instinct was gone. Inevitably, the physical reflexes would begin to go, too.

I don’t need a rematch to see whether Pacquiao can still be Manny. There’ll be a sequel with Horn if he decides to exercise his contracted right to one. But are we really going to see something more from a fighter whose decline has been evident for so long?

Imagine if Pacquiao had escaped with a scorecard victory over Horn in Las Vegas instead of Australia. Even in victory, there would still be the same doubts about whether he should continue, especially if that meant a fight against Terence Crawford. But his performance the workman-like Horn is proof that a fight against the emerging Crawford would be a sad end to a Pacquiao career as dramatic and colorful as any.

As of Thursday, there was no word on whether Pacquiao would fight on. I take that as good news. But I fear he’ll be tempted by one more bite at the financial apple. He’ll never be able to make as much as he did in the ring. In the political business, he’ll never have as much money as he needs. That means he’ll always be tempted.

But I prefer to remember Pacquiao when he was the Manny with one punch that launched Hatton so high that I could see the bottom of the Brit’s shoes from my ringside seat. I’ll remember the Manny who made De La Hoya quit after eight rounds.

I can only hope Pacquiao recalls what De La Hoya said on that December 6th night in 2008. After the fight was stopped, De La Hoya crossed the ring and told Roach, his old trainer: “You’re right, Freddie. I don’t have it anymore.’’

De La Hoya was 35 then. Pacquiao is 38 today.

“My heart still wants to fight, that’s for sure,” De La Hoya said then. “But when your (body) doesn’t respond, what can you do?”

Retire.

By Norm Frauenheim-

From Pac Man to The Honorable, it’s been one wild, wonderful ride. Sometimes wacky, too, but that’s boxing, the only place Manny Pacquiao’s improbable story could have happened.

It continues, this time Down Under in Brisbane against a fighter nobody really knows – and if Pacquiao has his way – nobody will remember after this weekend.

Pacquiao is fighting somebody named Jeff Horn, who is as unknown as the Filipino Senator was a couple of decades ago. Horn has never answered an opening bell to a pro bout in the northern hemisphere.

At 16-0 with one draw and 11 knockouts, it’s hard to judge what kind of fighter Horn is. Video shows he’s aggressive and throws straight punches. I look at the Aussie school teacher and I think of Ricky Hatton without he post-fight pints or Brandon Rios without the craziness. But who knows?

Truth is, the same question applies to Pacquiao — the fighter — these days. His bout with Horn has the feel of one stop in a long, worldwide farewell to the sport that turned him into an international celebrity and even a possible Filipino presidential candidate.

The welterweight fight itself has some significant implications for the business. There’s no pay-per-view price tag attached to it. ESPN will televise the bout (6 p.m PT/9 p.m ET). In Australia, it will happen Sunday afternoon at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium in front of a potential crowd of 60,000.

It’s the first time Pacquaio will appear in a non-PPV fight since 2005. There has been lots of evidence over the last couple of years that the PPV model no longer works, either because of cost or all the ways the signal can be pirated.

Whatever the reason, if Pacquiao in a non-PPV bout works, it’s a sure sign the business has moved on from a model that some say has enriched a few, yet left other good fighters without access to a larger audience.

Pacquaio is not the inexhaustible maelstrom he was against Oscar De La Hoya in 2008, but he’s still as reliable indicator of the where the business has been and where it’s going. People watch because of the name. Without the PPV price, the best estimate for ESPN’s audience is 2 million.

If he looks good and scores his first stoppage since his stoppage of Miguel Cotto in 2009, tired talk about a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. is inevitable. Don’t believe it.

Mayweather is fighting UFC star Conor McGregor on Aug. 26 in a sanctioned boxing match because the Irishman is no threat. Pacquiao still is and chances are good that he’ll prove that against Horn, who has never encountered anybody with his speed.

“Yes, this is a great opportunity to show the fans of boxing that we are still here and not done in boxing,’’ Pacquiao said Tuesday in a conference call from Brisbane. “So, this is a good chance, and we believe that a lot of people will be watching.’’

Above all, it’s good chance to remind people of Pacquiao’s popularity. He’s not the fighter he once was. Few at 38 are.

“He probably doesn’t pull the trigger,’’ Horn said. “Look, he is still a super-fast fighter that has easily taken apart his last few opponents. I don’t know if he has a knockout in him But who knows?’’

That’s the bottom-line question. Could Horn be the Down Under version of Joe Smith Jr., the light-heavyweight who ended the Bernard Hopkins legend in December? Not likely. Smith had introduced himself as legit threat with a stoppage of Andrzej Fonfara last June.

But who knows?

For once, we can get an answer without the PPV.

PHOENIX – BJ Flores continued to test his heavyweight potential Saturday night with a victory that the television analyst then judged with the objectivity employed when he worked fights for NBC

“Solid,’’ Flores said.

So, it was.

Flores (34-3-1, 21 KOs) flashed his familiar hand speed in a bout that kept him busy and in the news with six thorough rounds for a scorecard shutout of Nick Guivas (13-6-2, 9 KOs) on an Iron Boy Promotions card at Celebrity Theatre.

Flores had hope for a stoppage and there might have been one of Guivas had the fight continued a few more rounds. But Guivas was clever enough to elude Flores throughout much of the bout.

Flores, who lives in nearby Chandler, was at his best with a body attack that led to complaints Guivas corner about low blows. There were signs in the fifth that the body punches were beginning to take a toll. Guivas, a Puerto Rican living in Topeka, repeatedly retreated to the ropes and Flores capitalized a couple of times with successive head shots.

“He’s been in with some pretty good guys,’’ said Flores, a 60-54 winner on all three cards. “He knew what he was doing.’’

Flores also used the moment to again call out Lucas Browne, who in 2016 became the first Australian to win a major (WBA) heavyweight title. The belt was subsequently stripped when Browne tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

“I’m ready to fight now,’’ said Flores, a former cruiserweight who emerged from his second straight heavyweight victory unmarked and uninjured. “Let’s do it. I’d be happy to go to Australia. This time I could go and not have to worry about making the cruiserweight limit. Let’s do it in September.’’

ON THE UNDERCARD

The Upset: Denver junior-middleweight Vladimir Hernandez (11-2, 6 KOs) landed head-rocking shots early, got rocked by a few big shots later and stayed aggressive throughout eight rounds for an upset – a 77-75, 78-74, 77-75 decision — of formerly unbeaten Daniel Valdiva (14-1, 10 KOs) of Tulare, Calif.

The Best: Chicago junior-middleweight Vernon Brown (4-0, 3 KOS) has The One stitched on to the belt line of trunks. He had The One, one huge right that struck like lightning in the final second of the second round for a stoppage of Brandon Trujillo (0-1) of Albuquerque.

The Rest: Phoenix junior-featherweight Edgar Ortiz (5-1, 3 KOs) landed a paralyzing liver shot for a first-round stoppage of Steven Lantry (0-2) of Portland; Mesa heavyweight Adam Stewart (4-0-1, 2 KOs) put some rock-and-roll back into the old music venue with a body shot for a second-round stoppage of Michael Smith (0-1) of Las Vegas; welterweight Daniel Payan (0-1-1) of Chandler, Ariz., and Carnizosa Segura (0-1-1) of Phoenix are still searching for a victory after fighting to a majority draw; Mesa featherweight Ryan Riddlell (5-0, 4 KOs) scored at second-round stoppage of Patrick Gutierrez (0-4), a Las Vegas fighter who appeared to injure his right arm.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Boxing loves freak shows. Always has. Always will. They get people talking. They fuel outrage, argument, insults and jokes. They also make money, which of course is the very reason for the talk, outrage, argument, insults and jokes over the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor circus.

Throughout the nine to 10 days since it was announced, Mayweather-McGregor has been the question – front and center – at the pre and post fight news conferences for Andre Ward’s victory over Sergey Kovalev last Saturday.

It was there, the shiny object in the room, for the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin press tour this week.

That, of course, is no coincidence. There’s been a lot of analysis about when the McGregor-Mayweather Vegas show will happen. August 26 is said to be good date because most people are on vacation or huddled around their overworked air conditioners. When it was announced, however, was calculated.

Doing it the day before the formal news conference for Ward-Kovalev meant easy headlines for McGregor-Mayweather on the day of the presser. Both promotional camps dismissed it. Turns out, that was about the only thing Main Events and Roc Nation agreed about throughout the contentious week.

This week, GGG called Mayweather-McGregor “a funny show.’’ Canelo said fans would know the difference between a sideshow and real fight.

Mayweather and McGregor? They loved every slight, every insult. They piggybacked on the news conferences, getting lots of free publicity off events staged and paid for by rival promoters. Main Events’ Kathy Duva, Roc Nation’s Michael Yormack and Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya used different words to express the same thing. They were annoyed, angry. But the circus doesn’t apologize. It just entertains.

The show figures to be as boring as just about anything pre-ordained can be. I’ve looked at all the various prop bets. One is missing. What are the odds that McGregor never lands a punch? I’m guessing maybe 15-1. Then again, Mayweather was about a 9-1 favorite to win when the fight was announced.

Since then, money has been pouring in on McGregor like Guinness out of a free-flowing tap. If you believe the tightening odds, McGregor has a chance. Other then the proverbial lucky punch, however, he doesn’t. There’s a better chance Mayweather fractures an ankle on his walk to the ring.

Put it this way: Buster Douglas had a much better chance as a 42-1 underdog at beating Mike Tyson in 1990 than McGregor will ever have against Mayweather in 2017. I know, I know. Mayweather is smaller. He is 40 years old. He hasn’t boxed in a couple of years.

Those facts will be trotted out and repeated ad nauseam in the weeks before this exhibition. But McGregor is reported to have never boxed. Never ever, yet somehow the Nevada State Athletic Commission sanctioned this show as a legitimate fight. That means it will count in Mayweather’s record. It means his official record is about to go to 50-0. Rocky Marciano finished 49-0 in 1955 with a victory over legendary Archie Moore.

I mean, Henry Aaron didn’t bypass Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list by hitting a baseball off a tee in 1974. Aaron faced real major-league pitching. But this is the circus. Only the money is real. Major league, too.

By Norm Fruenheim

BJ Flores will continue to test himself at heavyweight Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.

Flores (33-3-1, 21 KOs), a former cruiserweight and known for his work as a television analyst, faces Nick Guivas (13-5-2, 9 KOs) in a Flores second straight appearance at Celebrity when scored a dramatic stoppage of Jeremy Bates in his heavyweight debut.

Guivas, of Topeka, is 2-3 over his last five bouts, including a stoppage loss in May to Jerrell “Big Baby” Miller. Flores has talked about fighting Lucas Browne, who in 2016 became the first Australian to win a major (WBA) heavyweight title. The belt was subsequently stripped when Browne tested positive for performance-enhancing drug.

The Flores-featured card is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (PST).

LAS VEGAS – One righteous right was the beginning of an end to the fight. But there was no end to the controversy. It rages on.

It looked as if the Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev rivalry had finally reached a conclusion in the eighth round Saturday night in a HBO pay-per-view fight at Mandalay Bay.

Ward, who calls himself Son Of God, landed a lightning bolt of a right. He came out of a slight crouch with a strike that traveled up-up-up-and-over a drooping left onto the side of an exposed chin that sent Kovalev stumbling across the canvas, on to the ropes and into defeat Saturday night in a light-heavyweight rematch at Mandalay Bay.

Referee Tony Weeks ended it at 2:29 of the round with Kovalev bent over in pain. The Russian looked weary. Looked finished. But he, his manager Egis Klimas and promoter Kathy Duva weren’t. They promised to carry on the fight.

They alleged that Ward got away with low blows. Duva said Ward landed four of them in the eighth, one early in the round and three more in the corner in the seconds before Weeks waved if off.

At the post-fight news conference, Duva promised to file a protest with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. She said she asked the Commission for a video review. The regulatory agency said no, she said. A formal protest would be the next step, she said.

Ward didn’t want to talk much about the latest wave of controversy that has separated the two camps since he won a hotly debated decision over the Russian in November.

“Now, we have quieted all the whining,’’ Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) said before Ward and his camp ignited the low blow controversy during the post-fight news conference.

“If I rob a bank and get away it, I’m a lucky millionaire,’’ Klimas said. “He’s a lucky champion.’’

When asked if Ward is the world’s best light-heavyweight, Kovalev (30-2, 25 KOs) said: “As a dirty fighter, yes, he’s the best at 175.’’

Tension between the two fighters and camps grew and spilled over into interviews and a news conference during the days before Saturday’s opening bell. One insult followed another. It got ugly. It’s no surprise, perhaps, that fight did too. Ward was warned for throwing a low blow in the second round. Kovalev acted as if he had been hit low repeatedly during the next several rounds.

All the while, Ward kept his distance, moved away, then ducked in for a quick exchange and never allowed Kovalev to set his feet long enough for him to gain the kind of leverage he needed to unleash his power. Then, there was the cleanest shot of the night, a thing of beauty and the beginning of painful end for Kovalev, who at the time of the stoppage trailed on two scorecards, 4 rounds to 3. He led on the third, 5 to 3.

In the end, Ward’s big right hand was the fight’s decisive moment. It made him look prophetic. He promised a stoppage. He said cornerman Virgil Hunter had trained him to win by knockout. He promised. He practiced. He delivered.

“A third fight?’’ Ward said when asked the inevitable question. “Nah, I don’t think so.’’

For now, at least, it looks as if this rivalry will resume at a Commission hearing. That means more talk. Ward made it sound as if he has heard enough.

On The Undercard

Wait a Second: Guillermo Rigondeaux wasn’t dull this time. But he was controversial. Or, at least, the Nevada State Athletic Commission was.

It took the Commission 15 minutes to rule Rigondeaux’s knockout punch of Moises Flores (25-1, 17 KOs) landed before the fist round ended.

Rigondeaux (18-0, 12 KOs), the WBA’s 122-pound champion, threw a hook as referee Vic Drakulich stepped in between the super-bantamweights. HBO video shows the blow was thrown after the round ended. But, no, the Commission deliberated, presumably viewed its own video and said the shot landed before the bell, or at 2:59 of the first.

Wonder how long it will take Flores to file a protest?

The Noisiest: San Diego Christopher Martin (30-9-3 10 KOs) got rocked, dropped and beaten, but Trevaine Williams (11-0, 4 KOs) of New Haven couldn’t knock the wind out of him. Martin did plenty of huffing and puffing in profane at referee Kenny Bayless for his decision to stop it at 1:44 of the first round.

The Rest: Russian light-heavyweight prospect Dmitry Bivol (11-0, 8 KOs) pounded Cedric Agnew’s right eye into swollen mess for a fourth-round TKO over the Chicago fighter (29-3, 15 KOs); Cuba middleweight Luis Arias (18-0, 9 KOs) opened the PPV part of the card with a fifth-round TKO of Russian Arif Magamedov (18-2, 11 KOs); New Jersey junior welterweight John Bauza (7-0, 4 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a second round TKO of Mexican Brandon Sanudo (5-5, 2 KOs); welterweight Enriko Gogokia (5-0, 2 KOs) of Central Asia’s Georgia scored a unanimous decision over Johnathan Steele (7-1, 5KOs); Middleweight Bakhram Murtazaliev (9-0, 7 KOs), also of Goergia, blew out Brazilian Alex Sandro Duarte (6-1, 4 KOs) in first round stoppage; and unbeaten St. Louis middleweight Vaughn Alexander (10-0, 7 KOs) pushed his victory total into double digits with a fourth-round TKO of Mexican Fabiano Pena ( 17-8-1, 13 KOs).

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – A day after tension at a news conference was off the scale, Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev weighed in Friday amid a few words and gestures, yet without incident.

Kovalev smiled instead of scowled.

Ward talked at him during the ritual face-to-face pose after the weigh-in. It was probably the first time they were so close to each other since the fight was announced at a formal news conference ago on April 4.

It was the last time they’ll merely look into each other’s eyes before the hostilities commence Saturday night at Mandalay Bay in a light-heavyweight rematch in a HBO pay-per-view bout (6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST)

The biggest surprise was the sight of a relaxed Kovalev. He was an angry man Thursday when he walked out of a formal news conference after boycotting a scheduled session with reports.

“I didn’t want to waste my energy with words,’’ said the Russian, who wore a red cap covered with endorsements instead of the black hat that said WAR in white letters Thursday. “Tomorrow, you are going to see the true Krusher.’’

Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) and his corner have other ideas. They say that Ward’s hotly debated victory by unanimous decision in November is just the beginning of the end for Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs). Ward manager James Prince has called him Usher instead Krusher. No interpretation necessary. They intend to usher him out of light-heavyweight contention, if not out of his career altogether

In the face-off for photographers, Ward stared at Kovalev and said words he didn’t share with fans or media in the weigh-in’s immediate aftermath.

“As long as he understood me,’’ said Ward, who grew up in Oakland, Calif., and hopes to extend the hometown that started with the Golden State warriors NBA championship. “That’s all that matters.’’

Ward trainer Virgil Hunter said he has been training Ward to knock out Kovalev.

“Wow,’’ Kovalev joked. “Really? Okay. By the way, who is Virgil Hunter?’’

There’s been a lot of talk that Kovalev’s anger will make him too emotional at opening bell. But there was no hint of rage in the Russian Friday. He appeared to be poised and very much under control.

“I keep saying that Sergey is a happy man when he’s angry,’’ his promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events said. “He really enjoys his work when he’s angry. He’s in a perfect place right now.’’

Duva looks at Kovalev and recalls a story he told her. He was 18 years old. A gang of about 10 confronted him at store near his home in Chelysbinsk, Russia. They wanted whatever he just purchased and whatever else he had on him.

“I could’ve run or I could fight,’’ Duva said Kovalev told her. “If I run, I have to live with this.”

According to Duva, Kovalev said he knocked down five of the young men. Then, he went to his car and got a hammer. The other five others fled.

“Sergey’s life is fighting,’’ Duva said. “It started in the street. From early on, he knew not to let anger and rage prevent him from knocking out five guys.’’

Now, he faces a sixth, easily the toughest he has ever encountered.

The differences between the two are gigantic, so big that they help explain the mounting tension between them. They come from opposite side of the world, speak different languages and grew up in different cultures. Their very different perspectives of the world clash.

Only the weights were identical with both at 175 pounds Friday. At the sports book, Ward is a slight favorite. He’s a huge favorite in almost every other way.

According to a contract filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Ward is guaranteed $6.5 million by his promoter, Roc Nation.

Kovalev will collect 75 percent of Main Events net profit, according to Duva, who estimates that Kovalev will get a check for about $1 million.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – There’s not much left to say, so Sergey Kovalev probably said it best by not saying much at all.

One word across the front of Kovalev’s cap might have summed it up best Thursday at a contentious news conference when promoters, managers and trainers exchanged insults the way Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor will for the next couple of months. More on them later.

WAR in white letters stood out boldly on a Kovalev cap that, appropriately enough, was black. The Russian picked the right color for the role he has in his rematch Saturday against Andre Ward in an HBO pay-per-view bout at Mandalay Bay. He’s the bad guy, perhaps by choice or maybe because he remembered the red cap with the same word stitched in gold that Marvin Hagler wore for his legendary victory over Thomas Hearns more than 32 years ago.

Whatever the motivation, Kovalev declared his intent with silence both ominous and perhaps deadly. He skipped a session with a handful or reporters before the formal news conference. His promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events, and his manager, Egis Klimas spoke for him.

“He is stressed out,’’ Klimas said. “…He came here to fight, not talk.’’

Duva said Kovalev was like a tiger, pacing back and forth up in his hotel room. Klimas said Kovalev had grown restless at endless rounds of interviews conducted in English instead of his native Russian. It’s also no secret that he just doesn’t like Ward or anybody else around the light-heavyweight champion who took his titles in a hugely controversial decision last November. The tension between the two is evident and it adds an intriguing element to a rivalry as genuine as it unappreciated.

Kovalev appears to dislike Ward so much that he doesn’t even want to be in the same room with him for long. At least, the Russian didn’t hang around Thursday. He showed up for the news conference with a scowl that seemed to say that the message on his cap was dangerously real.

When it was his turn to speak, he thanked his promoters and Mandalay Bay. Then, he looked to his right and at Ward, who was appropriately dressed in good-guy white.

“I’ve already said enough,’’ Kovalev said as he then pointed at Ward. “And, you, be prepared.’’

Ward didn’t like what he heard. Or saw. His rhetorical counter was immediate.

“Don’t point your finger at me,’’ said Ward, who showed up for his session with reporters before the news conference.

Kovalev turned his back on him, walked off the stage and out of a room adjacent to the Mandalay Bay Events Center, site for Saturday night’s fight.
What happened next was predictable. The news conference turned into a Kovalev roast.

Kovalev calls himself Krusher. Ward manager James Prince had fun with that.

“Usher,’’ Prince said.

Prince also suggested Kovalev was rude.

“I don’t know how they act in Russia, but we don’t act that way in the USA,” he said.

Without Kovalev at the end of the news conference, there was no ritual, nose-to-nose pose for the cameras. With the mounting tension, you can only wonder what might happen when the two are asked to face each other in a pose for the photographers after Friday’s weigh-in.

The bumpy news conference was just another chapter in in the overall tension between the Ward and Kovalev camps. Duva and Klimas say that Kovalev has been doing the lion’s share of promotional work.

“On this, Sergey does not think Ward is doing enough,’’ Klimas said. “Ward has a sugar daddy who pays him $7 million for this fight. Sergey is earning every single penny. He is promoting this fight as much as he can.’’

But Roc Nation, Ward’s promoter, argues that Main Events hasn’t done its share.

“I find it is odd that they comment about it,’’ Roc Nation’s Michael Yormark said. “They haven’t done anything to promote this fight.’’

The build-up this week for the rematch has also been lost amid all of the hype over the announcement Wednesday that Mayweather will fight Conor McGregor, a UFC star, in a Nevada-sanctioned boxing match on August 26 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena in a Showtime PPV spectacle.

“It is also a kick in the teeth, at least to me personally, in terms of the circus they announced yesterday. That’s been on the front page of
everything. That’s a little discouraging.’’

Meanwhile, Yormark opened the news conference by saying that Kovalev-Ward is “not the money-grabbing spectacle that will play out later this year.’’

No, it’s not. Ward-Kovalev 2 includes heightening tension and mounting stakes. It’s real as a fight can be. About that – and perhaps only that, there’s no disagreement.

By Norm Frauenheim–

One is portrayed as scary and angry, yet Sergey Kovalev has a keen sense of humor with an engaging ability to deliver one-liners as though they were jabs.

The other is seen as stubborn and aloof, yet Andre Ward talks about home, controversy and maturity like a philosopher willing and ready to adjust his thoughts as though they were tactics.

Contradictions abound in a rivalry as fascinating as it is unappreciated. There is mutual respect for the dangerous skills that each possesses. There is mutual contempt for what one thinks he has heard and seen from the other.

All of that and so much more were abundantly evident in back-to-back conference calls this week, first with Kovalev on Tuesday and then Ward on Wednesday in the buildup for their light-heavyweight rematch on June 17 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay.

They are picking up where they left off after Ward’s victory over Kovalev in November. The decision was unanimous in name only. It angered Kovalev.

Yet in one of the surprising twists to the rivalry, it also won the Russian some fans he might not have had if not for the outrage expressed by so many after scores — 115-113 on all three cards — were announced.

Mention Russia in the United States these days and a lot of people think collusion. Mention Kovalev and lot of people think People’s Champ.

“Even in America, boxing fans of Ward text me by Facebook, by Instagram, by social media that I won the fight,’’ Kovalev (31-1, 26 KOs) said Tuesday during a call when he cracked wise, saying Adonis Stevenson fights only Uber drivers and other guys he can beat. “They right now are going to support me in (the) next fight.’’

In the immediate wake of the November bout at Vegas T-Mobile Arena, social media became a noisy megaphone for those fans who thought the judges had colluded. It was surprising, even suspicious enough to wonder if both fighters got robbed.

Only 160,000 were reported to have bought HBO’s pay-per-view telecast. But the social-media reaction was huge, seemingly much bigger than the PPV number. It was as if everybody had watched. In a hackers’ world, there are many ways not to pay anymore. But that’s a story for another day, perhaps the day when HBO’s PVV results for the June 17 rematch are reported.

For now, the lingering outrage from November’s bout is a source of motivation for Ward, who might find himself in a curious position before opening bell next week. Ward is the last American to win an Olympic gold medal —at the 2004 Athens Games. Yet, he might not be the fans’ favorite in his home country in the rematch because of controversial scorecards in the first one.

“I enjoyed my victory just like I would any other victory,’’ said Ward, whose unbeaten record (31-0, 15 KOs) matches the playoff mark of his hometown Golden State Warriors as they go into Friday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals against Cleveland. “People have to understand that anytime there’s a close decision, you’re going to have opinions either way. I’ve never refuted the fact that it was a close decision. But all those out there that say that it’s some home cooking, they’ve got to remember that I’m not, you know, from Las Vegas, Nevada.

“You can’t just highlight that side of it. You got to highlight the people that also felt I deserved the victory and (that it) was a tremendous comeback. It doesn’t take a close decision to get criticism. I’ve shut guys out for 12 rounds and got criticism. So you become immune to it after a certain period of time.’’

Philosophical about it, too

By Norm Frauenheim-

They are dangerous men moving in opposite directions. It was inevitable perhaps that their paths would cross in a fight with no title at stake, yet everything else at risk.

“This was a very easy fight to make,’’ Showtime executive vice-president Stephen Espinoza said Thursday in announcing Mikey Garcia-versus-Adrien Broner on July 29 at a venue still undetermined.

It was easy for all kinds of reasons. In a bid to enhance his pound-for-pound credentials, Garcia was looking to unify his lightweight title, maybe against Jorge Linares or Terry Flanagan. But they had other ideas. There were no options. But there was Broner.

“I haven’t fought anybody else who has been champion in four divisions,” Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) said during a conference call after the junior-welterweight bout was announced. “That’s a big accomplishment in itself there. That’s what I mean. There is no one else available who has that resume.’’

Broner was — is – at a point of no return in a quest to regain relevance. He has won titles at super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight and welterweight, but his recent record includes criminal charges and jail time.

“I’ve gotten older and I’m getting more wise,” Broner said. “I’m more mature. This next half of my career, I’m just focusing more on doing everything the correct way. The first half, I tried to do everything my way. It worked, but I could have been better.

“So, I want to try to do everything correctly.”

That Broner will attempt to do that in the ring instead of the Department of Corrections is an acknowledgement that his career – his life — is at a crossroads.

Against Garcia, however, he has taken on a steep challenge. Broner’s identity as the self-proclaimed “Problem’’ began to come apart in the wake of a crushing loss to Marcos Maidana in 2013. Maidana’s relentless aggression and power fractured the noisy confidence in a fighter who liked to say that his initials, AB, meant About Billions. About Bail, too.

The bragging and insults are gone. At least, they were Thursday. A quiet Broner was quick to praise Garcia, whose star has been ascending ever since his scary knockout of Dejan Zlaticanin on Jan. 28 in Las Vegas.

“Everybody is a puncher,’’ Broner said. “It all hurts. I don’t want to be hit, and I don’t care if it’s Paulie Malignaggi or Marcos Maidana.’’

At his best, Broner figures to be a lot harder to hit than a Zlaticanin ever was. What’s more, Broner is bigger. He fought as a welterweight. Broner’s size and athleticism promise to be a challenge for Garcia, who will be fighting at 140 for the first time. Yet, there are questions about whether Broner can in fact make the weight.

Broner lost his junior-welterweight belt on the scale before facing Ashley Theophane 14 months ago. He failed to make weight and went on to win by TKO.

In his last fight, Broner a split-decision winner at welterweight against Adrian Granados on Feb. 18. The weight was increased to 147 pounds a couple of weeks before opening bell because Broner was having trouble cutting weight.

Espinoza said Thursday that the deal included penalties for not making weight. But he would not divulge details. Don’t worry, said Broner, who promised to make the contracted weight.

“This fight gives me a reason to make 140 pounds,’’ he said. “I’ll make the weight no problem, just like when I fought for the title. I’ll make the weight easy.”

Making weight, however, might be his only victory, said Garcia, whose chances at facing Vasyl Lomachenko in an eventual pound-for-pound showdown might be determined by how he does against Broner (33-2, 24 KOs).

“He loses,’’ the unbeaten Garcia said. “He has lost. I don’t lose. I don’t believe anyone around my division can beat me. I believe I’m the better fighter.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

Then, there were two. Options for the Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez fight appear to be Las Vegas or Dallas. Sounds simple enough. Just follow the money.

But that old formula might get a little complicated because of politics. Like so much else during this polarized era, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ bid to stage the Sept. 16 fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., coincides with an increasingly contentious debate over immigration.

The day after the long-awaited fight was announced in the wake of Canelo’s beat-down of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at Vegas T-Mobile Arena on May 6, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 4 into law in a ceremony on Facebook Live.

Media reports refer to the bill as a “sanctuary cities ban.” Increasingly, however, it is being compared to another law, Arizona’s SB 1070, the 2010 legislation that required police to stop, question and, if necessary, detain people of being in the country illegally.

It was condemned for encouraging racial profiling. It was called the “Show Me Your Papers Law.’’ The same label has been applied to the Texas version, which mandates criminal and civil penalties for a failure to enforce SB 4, which goes into effect on Sept. 1.

It’s hard to know how the mounting controversy might affect negotiations for the fight. But the SB 1070 precedent indicates it will. Anger at the Arizona legislation resulted in direct hit on boxing in the state, where the sport has a long history. When the Arizona legislature passed the bill, the World Boxing Council’s (WBC) reaction was immediate.

The Mexico City-based WBC, then under late President Jose Sulaiman’s leadership, immediately condemned SB 1070. There were headlines in websites and newspapers that the WBC would ban boxing in Arizona for a law it compared to apartheid. For a while, Mexican fighters continued to cross the border and fight in the state, mostly at small casinos on Native American land near Tucson. No ban could really be enforced.

But damning publicity did real damage. It scared Mexican advertisers and television networks. At the height of the Arizona controversy, they stayed away from Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal’s home state. Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bernard Hopkins, Salvador Sanchez, Julio Cesar Chavez, George Foreman and Sonny Liston fought in Arizona, but the ring lights went dark for a couple of years because of SB 1070.

A month after Arizona passed the bill, Top Rank moved a card featuring then Phoenix prospect Jose Benavidez Jr., a former 140-pound champion, from Chandler, Ariz., to Chicago because Tecate and Azteca TV didn’t want to do business in the state.

For the next several months, boxers, media and promoters condemned SB 1070. Canelo promoter De La Hoya, of Golden Boy Promotions, called it racism.

“When that Arizona law went into effect, they weren’t really thinking about ‘This is meant for the European immigrants or this is meant for the Asian immigrants,'” De La Hoya told 15 Rounds before a Juan Manuel Marquez victory over Juan Diaz on July 31, 2010 at Vegas’ Mandalay Bay. “You know? And so, to a certain extent, I call it racism. I really do.”

De La Hoya, whose parents also came to the U.S. from Mexico, said he couldn’t do business in Arizona unless the law’s controversial elements were repealed.

In the seven years since its passage, the law has been amended. Arizona’s political climate has changed. Controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County (Phoenix) was voted out of office in a landslide. Just this week, they began tearing down Arpaio’s notorious jail, Tent City.

Meanwhile, boxing has returned to the state. Golden Boy staged an ESPN-televised card in Tucson on May 18. It plans to promote another one at Casino Del Sol on July 29. Top Rank featured Oscar Valdez Jr. in Tucson in 2015 and has talked about bringing him back for a defense of his WBO featherweight title. Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian, went to school in Tucson.

Arizona’s dormant boxing market is beginning to get beyond SB 1070. But the controversy is still there, loud and clear and perhaps magnified by the state that seems to make everything bigger. Dallas, the city that calls itself the Metroplex, is a finalist to stage GGG-Canelo. In a video bid for the bout, Jones said: “The idea of Canelo and GGG fighting before 100,000 screaming Hispanic Mexican fans is exciting.’’

A fight just 15 days after SB 4 goes into effect, however, makes it problematic. There are bound to be calls for a boycott of Texas by Latino leaders. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) will meet in Dallas for three days next month, June 22-24. If the fight isn’t already on the agenda, it probably will be.

De La Hoya could make a statement and just decide to take his business to Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. But there might be a statement in bringing Canelo-GGG to Dallas, too.

De La Hoya has already addressed opposition to President Donald Trump’s plans for a border wall with advertising for Canelo-Chavez Jr. that included video of both fighters crashing through an imaginary wall.

GGG-Canelo is more than just a big fight. It’s a big platform. If a crowd of 100,000 shows up for the bout, AT&T would be a city in its own right for one night. Maybe, a sanctuary city.

By Norm Frauenheim-

TUCSON – He has a famous name. He has fast feet. And faster hands. Patience isn’t the first thing anybody sees in Diego De La Hoya.

Erik Ruiz never saw it at all. Ruiz only saw incoming hands and agile feet, all traveling at an inexhaustible rate that De La Hoya sustained for 10 rounds Thursday night in winning a one-sided decision at Casino Del Sol in an ESPN televised bout.

It was the kind performance that seemed to eliminate the need for much talk about what might await De La Hoya (18-0, 9 KOs). A 122-pound title fight involving one of boxing’s best-known names would be easy to put together. Easy to sell. But Diego De La Hoya is in no rush.

“I’m 22,’’ he said after scoring a near shutout of Ruiz on a card staged by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Showdown. “I’m having fun.’’

While Diego De La Hoya had fun, Ruiz only got dizzy.

With cousin Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy watching from ringside, Diego darted in, darted out. His jabs flowed, one after another, like water out of a high-pressure hose. He circled tirelessly in an orbit that kept him out of range from Ruiz’ power.

Only midway through the fight did Ruiz strike with a big right that rocked De La Hoya. His reaction was a smile. Yeah, he was having fun. Lots of it.

“I also was smiling because I felt confident,’’ said the fighter who lives in Mexicali. “I knew I had done the work. I had sparred with bigger guys, guys with more power.’’

If there’s a question about Diego De La Hoya, it’s his power. At 22, however, he figures to get stronger, strong enough perhaps to have a lot more fun for a very long time.

In a co-main event, super-middleweight D’Mitrius Ballard avoided upset, but not controversy.

Ballard, a Golden Boy prospect from Temple Hills, MD, scored a second-round knockdown and then survived one right hand after another to escape with a close decision over a relentless Adrian Luna.

Luna, a late stand-in, was as surprising as he was unknown. In the end, a capacity crowd of 2,000 chanted his name as if the Mexican fighter was from Tucson. After it was over, those same fans booed the scorecards – 95-94 on two and 97-92 on the third.

In the end, however, the judges decided that Ballard (17-0, 12 KOs) had done enough – just enough – by flooring Luna (18-5-1, 11 KOs) with a counter left midway through the second.

Meanwhile, Luna might have done enough to ear a ticket back to Tucson. Golden Boy and Showdown announced that they would promote another ESPN card at Casino del Sol on July 29

BEST OF THE UNDERCARD

The card got an early start with a quick finish. Julio Franco (10-, 6 KOs), a Robert Garcia-trained super-flyweight from San Antonio, opened the show. It took him 40 seconds to end it with a left hook for a stoppage of Marco Sanchez (9-5-2, 4 KOs) of Mexico.

THE REST

Roberto Manzanarez (35-1, 28 KOs), a lanky lightweight born in Phoenix and now living in Mexico, used his reach and agile feet to score a unanimous decision over Erick Martinez (13-7-1, 7 KOs), also of Mexico.

Los Angeles junior-welterweight Jonathan Navarro (9-0, 5 KOs), another Garcia-trained fighter, had power that echoed through the Casino Del Sol ballroom and overwhelmed Ricardo Fernandez (3-5-4) of Mexico throughout a six-round decision as punishing as it was one-sided.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Gennady Golovkin is landing endorsements at the rate he scores knockouts. Everything from the Apple Watch to Nike’s Jordan Brand is on a lengthening blue-chip list that says a lot more about his potential crossover appeal than a spot in any of the pound-for-pound rankings.

He is becoming an international brand. His familiar acronym identifies him, quickly and simply. But it could also say something about where he’s going. That’s GGG, Gennady Going Global.

His emergence has been marked by diligence, patience and some frustration. But now this son of a Kazakhstan coal miner is at the doorstep of his biggest moment on Sept. 16 fight against Canelo Alvarez.

He talked about it at Mandalay Bay, in a suite high above the runaways at Las Vegas McCarron Airport, to me and the Los Angeles Times Sunday on the morning after he joined Canelo in the ring to announce the bout in the wake – and we do mean wake – of Canelo’s blowout of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at T-Mobile Arena.

Golovkin looked out at the horizon. The view was unlimited, a little bit like what GGG could suddenly see in his own future.

“Wow,’’ he said. “This is my dream.’’

Boxing has a way of turning dreams into nightmares, of course. But Golovkin projects a quiet – call it understated – charisma that seems to say no moment is too big.

“This is boxing and business,’’ he said in a matter of fact tone.

The deal for the Canelo bout had been foremost on Golovkin’s mind for years. But there were always delays, loopholes, explanations and excuses. There were so many that GGG said, yeah, he was beginning to give up hope it would ever happen.

About 10 days ago, however, the deal was done.

“Finally — and I say that with an exclamation point,’’ said Tom Loeffler of K2, which promotes Golovkin.

The long, often exasperating trail to a deal might have been met with a couple of days of celebration in some corners. But not in Golovkin’s quiet corner. About 12 hours after the announcement, GGG was happy and impressed with Canelo’s dominance of Chavez Jr.

In a sport so known for trash talk, Golovkin is the polite kid next door. He’s 35 with the smile of a 10-year-old. The difference, of course, is that he can knock out just about any other kid in any other neighborhood in the world.

He spent much of last Sunday talking about Canelo and their similar styles, so alike that there is already talk about a rematch or two. It’s a little early to speculate on that. But it is an element, one of many, that makes the September bout so intriguing.

“I know his style, he knows my style,’’ Golovkin said. “I think he brings something new in September and I bring something new. It will be war. We both respect boxing.’’

There are already signs that the bout will do good business. According to media reports Thursday, HBO’s pay-per-view sales for Canelo-Chavez Jr. will do at least as well as Canelo’s victory over Miguel Cotto in November 2015. That one did 983,000 buys. HBO and Golden Boy Promotions are still counting. They are hopeful it hits the one million, a milestone.

Whatever the final tally, it’s a promising sign that GGG-Canelo will exceed one million and perhaps approach 1.5 million. Amid rampant theft of pay-per view telecasts and public exasperation with the PPV model, that’s big.

Expect a summer full of promises, rumors, changing odds and everything else that goes along with a hyperbolic sales pitch. Until then, however, Golovkin will be at home in Los Angeles, following his 8-year-old son in a youth hockey league.

He’ll begin training in July in Big Bear, the mountaintop camp east of Los Angeles. But, first, there’s a trip back to Kazakhstan in June for the 2017 World Expo in the city of Astana. He will be Kazakhstan’s spokesman.

“He’s become the most famous citizen of Kazakhstan, erasing the image of Borat,’’ Loeffler said in a reference to a 2006 film, a so-called mockumentary.

Borat was a laugher. But nobody is laughing much about Kazakhstan anymore, at least not since GGG became a well-known trademark and a feared fighter.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – There were no upsets on the scale. No penalties, either.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. lost the pounds and saved himself a lot of money Friday on the eve of his 164.5-pound fight against Canelo Alvarez Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

The fighter known for his failures on the scale made it with half-a-pound to spare. Both were at 164 even.

“I’m happy he made weight,’’ Canelo said.

Probably not as happy as Chavez Jr. He would have been $1 million lighter if he had even come in at 164.51 pounds, according to a penalty clause in the contract. That’s a lot of dough for a fraction of excess flesh. But this is boxing, prize fighting. The idea is to keep the wallet fat.

According to purses filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Canelo is guaranteed $5 million. Chavez Jr.’s guarantee is $3 million. But the guess is that both will collect much more by the time undisclosed percentages of the pay-per-view television money. There are also deals with Mexican TV that were not included in the numbers filed with the Commission. According to a variety of sources with camps, Canelo could wind up with $20 million. For Chavez Jr., the final take could be as much as $8 million.

It depends on the number of paying customers for HBO’s pay-per-view telecast (6p.m. PT/9 pm ET).

It’s hard to guess, especially amid today’s technology and all the ways there are to steal a telecast. But within the MGM Grand, the bout’s host casino, there was a growing buzz for a fight between the redheaded Canelo (48-1-1, 34 KOs) and the son of a fighter with a name as iconic as any in Mexico.

Odds favoring Canelo have stayed at about 5-to-1 throughout the last week at books up and down the Vegas Strip.

They are based in part on Canelo’s stubborn consistency and record, which includes bouts against some of the elites in the game. Canelo appears to be getting better. When the fight with Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) was announced, it was seen as a way for Canelo to finally make the jump from junior-middleweight to middleweight (160) for an anticipated showdown with Gennady Golovkin.

That’s still the Golden Boy Promotions’ plan, perhaps for September, although there’s some talk that Canelo might fight Canadian David Lemieux before he takes on GGG. It’s no coincidence, perhaps, that Lemieux is on the undercard against Mexican Marco Reyes.

With the stakes as big as they are and a Mexican fan base divided just about down the middle between Canelo and Chavez Jr., every word and move has been analyzed and over-analyzed, interpreted and misinterpreted. At Friday’s weigh-in, it was all about body language.

Chavez Jr.’s thin upper body looked like it could be a very big target for Canelo punishing array of combinations. Then again, there was some talk that Canelo came into the weigh-in too heavy. He has been most effective in his career when he tips the scale at 155. He was heavier at this weigh-in than ever. The guess is that he will be heavier, anywhere from 170 to 180, at opening bell. Will the added weight make him slower? Could the extra pounds result in fatigue if the bout goes into the later rounds?

Meanwhile, Chavez Jr. wouldn’t say how much heavier he expects to be at opening bell. The best guess was that he would be between 175 and 180 pounds.

“I want to push him, impose my size on him,’’ said the 6-foot-1 Chavez Jr., who is four inches taller than the 5-9 Canelo. “That’s my strategy.’’

Maybe, it’ll work. On one scale of expectations, he’s already ahead of the game.

LAS VEGAS – The end was abrupt and unceremonious. Yuriorkis Gamboa quit on his stool after seven rounds. His comeback was over. Maybe, a once promising career was too.

Gamboa (26-2, 17 KOs), a former IBF and WBA featherweight champion, looked all of his 35 years, suffering knockdowns in the third and fourth rounds in a stunning loss to Mexican lightweight Robinson Castellanos (24-12,14 KOs) Friday night at the MGM Grand.

Gamboa, who recently signed with Golden Boy Promotions, flashed some familiar footwork and counter-punching power in the first two rounds. In the third, however, he dropped his hands and Castellanos capitalized in the round’s closing second, dropping the Cuban with a straight right hand.

During the first minute of the fourth, Castlellanos again dropped his hands and Castellano’s again took advantage of the moment, this time dropping him with long right.

Gamboa, a gold-medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, appeared to regain his composure and mobility late in the fifth and again in the sixth. After the seventh however, he went to his corner and seemed to almost collapse on his stool in exhaustion.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – A Mexican Boxing Hall of Fame should be named after Nacho Beristain. If Julio Cesar Chavez is the national face of the game, Beristain is its architect.

From Ricardo Lopez to Juan Manuel Marquez, Beristain has been in a Mexican corner for about half a century. He’s strategist and tactician, disciplinarian and father figure.

But can he make a difference for the son of a father whose scarred face and intense eyes are a defining part of the Mexican legend?

In the build-up for the son’s 164.5-pound bout against Canelo Alvarez Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, here’s been a lot of talk about a different, more mature Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He’s taken on more responsibility. He’s a dad with a 3-year-old daughter. He’s given up the slacker ways that so exasperated anyone who thought he would have some of dad’s trademark toughness.

The story about Chavez Jr., the changed man, inescapably leads to Beristain. The trainer’s stubborn adherence to a Spartan regimen was thought to be a true test of whether Chavez Jr., would finally rise to a role he presumably inherited from his famous father. With Beristain, the world and Mexico would finally learn whether Junior was born to be a fighter.

“Beristain has the character to train me,’’ Chavez Jr. said after arriving in Las Vegas for the HBO pay-per-view bout.

The suggestion is that Freddie Roach was the wrong trainer for Chavez Jr., who came and went on his own accord in a regimen with roadwork that might have included a few late-night laps around a couch in a Vegas condo before a loss to Sergio Martinez.

But there’s more to it than that. Beristain’s name, international reputation and fierce pride were also a way to prevent his father from interfering. It was Bersitain’s camp, high in the mountains near Mexico City.

Midway through training, Chavez Jr. told Beristain that he wanted to leave the mountains a little earlier than planned and move his training to Vegas. Beristain reportedly looked at him and said: Go ahead, but you’ll go without me.

Chavez stayed on the mountaintop, far from curious media and a meddling dad.

“I’ve learned a lot from my father, but he’s not the trainer,’’ Chavez Jr. said.

The best guess is that Chavez Sr. won’t be anywhere near his son’s corner Saturday night. Instead, Chavez Sr. said this week, he’ll be working as a television commentator. That could prove to be a tough gig if the 5.5-to-1 odds favoring Canelo are accurate.

Then again, Chavez Jr. might have a better shot without his father’s demanding voice in his ear between rounds. But even one of the most respected voices in the world might not be enough. Beristain is a great trainer, but that doesn’t make him a miracle worker.

“Beristain will not make any difference,’’ said Rafael Mendoza, a former Mexican journalist and Hall of Fame manager who was Canelo’s first pro advisor.

In the end, Mendoza, of Guadalajara, said it’s all up to how hard Chavez trained and how hard he is willing to fight.

At 31, it’s hard to break old habits. Chavez Jr. has 53 bouts on his pro resume. But Canelo has a big advantage in world-class experience, including a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. What more, Canelo had a long and varied amateur career. Chavez Jr. fought as an amateur only twice, bout against Jorge Paez Jr.

There’s an argument that Beristain’s smarts and world class experience in the corner can make up for what Chavez never learned as a teenager.

“This is very different,’’ Beristain said Thursday. “I’m training a fighter for the first time against the guy everybody says is Mexico’s best fighter.

“But, yes, I’m confident we can win.’’

Then, Beristain went on to say: “For us, this is going to be the night of the witches.’’

He didn’t explain what he meant. But there were plenty of interpretations up and down press row. To wit: Chavez Jr. is cursed, or else he’ll need a witch to beat Canelo.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – The sunglasses could have used a couple windshield wipers. They were that big. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. hid behind them, a little bit like a guy trying to shield himself from the sight of an imminent collision.

Chavez Jr., foresees something else, of course. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here talking about how and why he expects to upset Canelo Alvarez Saturday in a HBO pay-per-view fight about Mexico, history, tradition, a father and a son.

“I came here to win, not just fight,’’ Chavez Jr. said before a formal news conference Wednesday.

The betting odds suggest there might be some rose-colored lenses in those glasses. Canelo was a 5-to-1 favorite late Wednesday to win the 164.5-pound bout at T-Mobile Arena

It’s impossible not to see how big a role the father and the son have in the event. This fight might not have happened at all without their name. Chavez Sr. stirs up memories and passions of a nation that identifies with his stubborn toughness. They see the son and remember the father against Meldrick Taylor, Hector Camacho and Edwin Rosario. He was a hard man, an undisputed tough guy. Next to Hugo Sanchez, a soccer star in the 1980s, there is no bigger sports name in Mexican history.

Canelo recalls meeting the famous dad when he was a 16-year-old kid in Guadalajara. Julio Sr. encouraged him to work hard. Did Canelo get his autograph?

“No,’’ Canelo said with a smile Wednesday.

Ten years later, the 26-year-old Canelo intends to get something a lot more significant. He intends to claim the Chavez legacy as a Mexican icon. He intends to put it in his name. Make it his own.

Only the son can stop him.

There’s huge pressure in that, especially for a son who exasperated his father’s fans with haphazard training, an inability to make weight and disappointing performances. For the son, the Canelo bout represents a last stand of sorts. He doesn’t think so. At least, he doesn’t during the final days before opening bell. After all, there’s pressure enough in trying to deal with Canelo’s punishing combinations.

“Both of us have a lot of pressure,’’ said Chavez Jr., who said he was at 168 pounds Wednesday.

His dad’s legacy, he said, would stand alone, no matter what happens Saturday. But it’s hard to separate the legacy from this fight. Subtract it, and you lose the drama that is inherent to a bout that has become an event. The bout at catch-weight doesn’t need a title belt. It’s got a legacy that is almost like a family heirloom for the father who created it and passed it on to his son.

“His fans, I think, are his father’s fans,’’ Canelo said during a conference call 10 days ago.

The fans were there Wednesday, chanting “Julio, Julio.’’ It was hard to tell whether the chants were for Junior or Senior. Still, there were moments at the news conference when it looked as if the father was feeling more pressure than the son.

“A very, very tough fight,’’ Julio Sr. said with unblinking eyes that flashed like flint off coal.

Maybe, he was just acting like a nervous little-league parent. But some of that old edginess was evident in the father. Throughout the formal news conference, he chewed on his lower lip. He pulled on his eyebrows as if he were about to pull them off. He looked as if he wanted to fight. Almost as if he were ready to fight.

After all, it’s his legacy, one with a fate that now rests in his son’s unproven hands.

By Norm Frauenheim-

The looming spectacle of 90,000 people at London’s Wembley Stadium Saturday for Anthony Joshua against Wladimir Klitschko is a sure sign that heavyweight boxing hasn’t gone the way of Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Heavyweight power frightens and fascinates. Always has. Always will. Yet, I still wonder whether it will ever capture worldwide attention the way it did for so long. From Jack Johnson to Joe Louis to Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson, there was always a heavyweight who dominated an era with power or personality or controversy or all of the above.

In part, Joshua-Klitschko is being sold as the genesis of a new era, The Joshua Era. Maybe. I’m a little skeptical on that one. It’s still hard to judge the 2012 Olympic gold medalist. He’s powerful, but has yet to display the fluid delivery of punches and the agile footwork that identified so many of the great names in heavyweight history.

Klitschko has done enough to have his signature on his own era. The numbers are astonishing. He held a world heavyweight title for nine years, seven months and seven days, second only to the aforementioned Louis.

But mention the Klitschko era to just about anybody and – fair or not — they’ll tell you it was forgettable. It was, I think, because Klitschko simply couldn’t find an American rival. He tried, but that business partner just wasn’t there. No rival simply meant there was no reason to watch. Klitschko couldn’t draw in the U.S. He began to fight primarily in Europe. In the U.S., he became a footnote. The American focus was on Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

The closer we get to Saturday’s opening bell, the less certain I am that Joshua wins. He’s favored. I’m still picking him, picking youth to prevail over age. Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) is 27 and Klitschko (64-4, 54 KOs) is 41. Enough said.

But I’ve seen old heavyweights rediscover a younger self in big fights. In terms of the Wembley crowd and worldwide attention, none is bigger than Saturday. Klitschko, who looked finished in losing to Tyson Fury 17 months ago, has never lost successive fights. He’s very capable of springing a surprise over the untested Joshua

Even if Joshua loses, however, he wins a rematch – and there are 90,000 reasons to do one. If not Saturday, Joshua will be the face of the heavyweight division sometime in 2017. Then what?

In a conference call Wednesday, Joshua talked about fighting in the U.S.

“I’ve made sure I fought some Americans on my way up, so we could get a buzz out there,’’ he said from London. “But I think I have to come out there for a fight for sure. That’s important.

“America is the mecca of boxing. If we can cross over into the States and keep the fan base in the UK, I think we’ve cracked it. That’s mega stuff. That’s global boxing. You’ve got a big guy, heavyweight with a name that’s easy to pronounce and speaks English well.

“I can relate to the U.S. market. All I have to do is get out there, show them what my trade is and hopefully they’ll appreciate it and hopefully we can start talking about setting up major fights and bringing the same attention in the UK to the U.S. That would be phenomenal.”

Deontay Wilder is the big guy he mentioned. It’s no coincidence that Wilder will be at ringside, doing Sky Sports commentary for a fight that can been seen live on Showtime (4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT). Wilder has a title (WBC). He’s a good talker. He has great power. He’s likable. But there are persistent doubts about his overall skill. Maybe, he gets better. If he doesn’t, however, there just aren’t many other American heavyweights in line behind him. Name one.

As I write this, I’m listening to the first day of the NFL Draft. It occurs to me that if Joshua had been born in the U.S. instead of the UK, he would have gone in Thursday’s first round, probably as a defensive end. All of America’s potential great heavyweights are in the NFL these days. Wilder had dreams about playing for his hometown Alabama Crimson Tide before he turned to boxing because he just didn’t have the athletic skill to play for college football’s perennial powerhouse.

I’m not sure the heavyweight division can ever be what it once was without a viable American in the business equation. Maybe, I’m wrong. Maybe, Joshua will prove me wrong. But he needs an American to help him do that. There’s only one and that’s Deontay Wilder. Otherwise, The Joshua Era could be about as forgettable as the Klitschko era.

CARSON, Calif. – It was tactical. It was punishing. It was exhilarating. And exhausting.

In the end, Oscar Valdez Jr., did it all and endured it all, relying on wits, stubborn poise and educated footwork in the beginning and inexhaustible guts in the end for a signature victory over tough and powerful Miguel Marriaga Saturday night at StubHub Center.

Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs) tested himself repeatedly and perhaps in ways he didn’t have to in retaining his WBO featherweight title with a 119-108, 116-111, 118-109 decision.

“Oscar made it a little harder on himself than he needed to, but he’s fighter at heart,’’ his trainer, Manny Robles, said.

It’s that heart that delivered a statement Valdez wanted to make. Before opening bell, Valdez said he was as good as Leo Santa Cruz, Carl Frampton, Gary Russell Jr., Abner Mares and the other elites at the top of the featherweight division. After his stirring triumph over Marriaga (25-2, 21 KOs), they’ll have to make room him at the head table.

For most of nine rounds, Valdez’ sustained a tactical brilliance that kept Marriaga chasing, yet mostly missing with a powerful right hand. It was in the 10th that Valdez began to walk straight into harm’s way. Marriaga landed that right. Off-balance, Valdez countered with quick left that knocked down Marriaga.

The round ended with one wild exchange after another. Both fighters walked back their corners, looking dazed and exhausted. But it continued in the 11th. When the bell sounded for the 12th, Valdez walked out to meet Marriaga. He said something before the first punch was thrown.

“I told him this is a great fight and let’s finish it with great round,’’ said Valdez, the –two-time Mexican Olympian who was born in Nogales and went to school in Tucson.

That’s what they did with punching exchanges that brought a StubHub crowd of more 5,000 to its feet. After it was all over Marriaga walked over to Valdez as he wearily stood in the middle of the ring doing interviews.

“You are a great champion,’’ Marriaga said as he also said thanks. “You’re a great fighter.’’

An elite one, too.

Gilberto Ramirez wins dull decision in comeback

Gilberto Ramirez needed test drive. It wasn;t exciting. Then again, a test drive isn’t supposed to be. In his first fight in a year, he just wanted to test his healed right hand and put himself back in the mix.

Mission accomplished.

Ramirez (350-, 24 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over Max Bursak (33-5-1, 15 KOs) , retaining his WBO super-middleweight title in his first defense.

“Who’s next? Ramirez said after a dull 12 rounds.

Jessie Hart said he should be. Hart approached press row and yelling:

“It’s got to happen now! We can’t wait. We’re both in our prime. Jesse Hart wants Gilberto Ramirez now.”

Ramirez says he’d like a fight Gennady Golovkin.

“I want to prove myself as a pound-for-pound fighter,’’ he said.

Technically, Stevenson does what he has to in debut decision

There were boos. There was blood. There might have been an injury. Welcome to the pros, Shakur Stevenson.

Within just five rounds, Stevenson got an introduction to what every professional sees throughout a career. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist from Newark emerged with the victory everybody expected. But it wasn’t exactly pretty. It goes into the book as a technical unanimous decision over Edgar Brito (3-3-1, 2 KO)

There wasn’t anything technical about Stevenson’s superior hand speed or Brito’s edgy toughness. Both were there, obvious from the beginning and jarring midway through the fight. In the third round, Stevenson had his back on the ropes. Brito , a Phoenix featherweight, lunged, leading with his head. It was intentional and – karma-like — it only bloodied Brito, who was left with a long gash above one eye.

Before the scheduled sixth and final round, it was suddenly over. Ring physician Dr. Eddie Hernandez looked at the blood poring into Brito’s right eye and ended it amid grumbling from a surprised StubHub crowd. There was no doubt on the scorecards. Stevenson won every round.

“It was great work,’’ said Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who signed Stevenson a few months ago in what was hailed as promotional coup. “He did what he had to. He’ll get better.’’

On Stevenson manager Andre Ward’s report card, the debut rated an A.

What was unclear, however, was whether Stevenson hurt his left hand. He shook it over the last rounds as if the hand was hurting. He danced around questions about whether he had in fact sustained an injury during a night that will probably be remembered as a learning experience.

Magdaleno impressive in first defense

First, there was the evidence. Then, there was the promise.

Jessie Magdaleno delivered both, including a right and left, in scoring a second-round stoppage of Adeilson Dos Santos on the pay-per-view opener of a Top Rank produced card.

“I’m going to be a champion for a very long time,’’ Magdaleno (25-0, 18 KOs) said after retaining the WBO’s 122-pount belt in his first defense.

There were no arguments, especially from Dos Santos (18-3, 14 KOs), a Brazilian who went down midway through the second from long right hook and for the last time from a left uppercut to the chin at 51 seconds of the round.

Who’s next? Anybody with a belt, Magdaleno said.

Magdaleno’s most-wanted list appears to be topped by Guillermo Rigondeaux, the Cuban who has bored everybody who has watched him and beaten everybody who has faced him.

Best of the Undercard

Junior-welterweight Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist from Uzbekistan, had never fought as a pro. Never won as a pro. Gaibnazarov, who signed with Manager of the Year Egis Klimas, also says he had never been knocked down. Let’s just say he made a quadruple debut Saturday.

Gaibnazarov answered his first pro bell, hit the canvas for the first time seconds later, got up for the first time and went on to claim his debut victory with a crushing knockout of Puerto Rican Victor Vazquez (7-3, 3 KOs) at 1:28 of the second round.

The Rest

Russian welterweight Alexander Besputin (7-0, 5 KOs) won every round, for a one-sided scorecard victory over Colombian Breidis Prescott (30-10, 20 KOs), known as the “Khanqueror” in better days. Since he exposed Amir Khan’s chin with stunning stoppage in 2008, Prescott is 10-10.

Russian junior welterweight Maxim Dadashev (7-0, 6 KOs), another prospect on Klimas’ deep roster, threw a left-handed shot that echoed through a still-empty StubHub Center, knocking Bilal Mahasin (9-4-1, 1 KO) onto his back and out of consciousness at 2:09 of the third round.

Mexican Mahonri Montes (31-6-1, 20 KOs) scored fifth-round knockdown that proved to be the pirvotal difference in a wild, split decision over Francisco Santana (24-6-1, 12 KOs) of Santa Barbara, Calif., in the final bout on the non-televised part of the card.

By Norm Frauenehim-

CARSON, Calif. – Oscar Valdez Jr. has a belt, but that’s just a fraction of what he is seeking. He wants to be acknowledged as the best, both by rivals and fans.

A second defense of the WBO’s featherweight title Saturday night on a Top Rank pay-per-view card (6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET) against Miguel Marriaga at StubHub Center represents a timely chance for Valdez to prove a point.

Despite his title, Valdez has yet to win the kind of respect given Leo Santa Cruz, Carl Frampton, Gary Russell Jr. and Abner Mares.

“I want to make it clear that I’m the best featherweight in the world,’’ said Valdez (21-0, 19 KOs), who made weight at 125.6 pounds Friday. “I want that belt to mean something. Other featherweights call themselves world champions. That bugs me.”

Valdez, a Mexican Olympian who went to school in Tucson, faces perhaps his toughest test against Marriaga (25-1, 21 KOs), a Colombian who was at 125.4 pounds Friday. Marriaga’s lone loss was to Nicholas Walters. Among featherweights without belts, Marriaga is the best contender, says Valdez trainer Manny Robles.

“He’s the consensus No. 1,’’ said Robles, who worked Marriaga’s corner in a TKO victory over Chris Martin in Santa Monica three years ago. “But Oscar is too quick for him. Oscar wants to unify the titles. He’s ready for the big fights.’’

The Top Rank card also includes 122-pound champion Jessie Maldonado (24-0, 17 KOs) against Adeilson Dos Santos (18-2, 14 KOs) of Brazil and super-middleweight champ Gilberto Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) against Maxim Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs) of the Ukraine in title fights. Maldonado tipped the scales at 121.8 pounds; Dos Santos was at 121.2. Ramirez weighed in at 167.8 pounds; Bursak was at 167.4.

Shakur Stevenson, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist, will also make his pro debut at featherweight. He weighed in at 124.8 pounds. Opponent, Edgar Brito (3-2-1, 2 KOs) of Phoenix, was at 125.0.

By Norm Frauenheim

CARSON, Calif. – An old union card is little bit like a driver’s license for Manny Robles. It’s how he identifies himself.

Robles is a carpenter, Local 409.

These days, he’s busy, building champions like Oscar Valdez Jr. and Jessie Magdaleno in a southern California gym not far from where they will defend their respective titles Saturday night at StubHub Center.

For now, Robles has put down the hammer. But like that union card, it’s always there if Robles needs it. It represents an enduring fundamental, a timeless skill he learned from a late dad who gave his son a trainer’s know how as though it were an old tool.

Robles watched his dad, Manny Sr. as he worked with junior-featherweight great Israel Vazquez, super-flyweight champion Martin Castillo and middleweight champ Reggie Johnson. He also fought a little, or at least until his dad told him he might be better off in some other line of work.

Robles listened, then learned carpentry. He liked working with his hands. But he also thought that maybe he could teach fighters how to use theirs.

He remembered something he heard from the late Chuck Bodak, a legendary cut man who hung out at his dad’s gym.

“You’re a teacher, not a coach,’’ Robles said Bodak told him repeatedly.

Robles, a student too, never forgot the refrain.

He has applied it to Valdez (21-0, 19 KOs), who faces a dangerous challenge from Colombian Miguel Marriaga (25-1, 21 KOs) in the main event of a Top Rank-produced pay-per-view card (6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, $44.95) in a second defense of his WBO featherweight title.

He used it to re-energize Magdaleno ((24-0, 17 KOs), who will defend the WBO’s 122-pound title against Brazilian Adeilson Dos Santos (18-2, 14 KOs) after taking it from Nonito Donaire in a stunner last November.

For Robles, the task has been a holistic one. Discipline, diet and routine are all part of it, of course. But there’s family, too. He says he has worked to be the father that his own dad was.

“It’s more than just trainer and boxer,’’ Robles said. “It has to be.’’

It’s an approach that has begun to win over like-minded fighters in a business so often known for fierce independence. Super-middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez and his trainer Hector Zapari joined Valdez and Magdaleno for workouts at The Rock gym in Carson.

On a loaded card that also includes 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson in his pro debut, Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) faces Max Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs) for the WBO title he won in a decision over Arthur Abraham a year ago.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum calls them Three Amigos. It’s a reference to a 1986 film, a comedy.

For Robles, it’s probably more like My Three Sons, a television golden oldie. For him, boxing and family have always been inseparable.

The two have guided him through tough times. There was a period after his dad died in 2007, he said, when life was a struggle.

“I lost my dad, I lost my mom, I lost my job,’’ he said. “I was leaving in a one-room place. It was tough, real tough.’’

But there was boxing, including another fundamental about what to do when you get knocked down. Get back up. Robles has done that. Repeatedly he says.

“You start over, start over all over again,’’ he said.

He did, working with amateurs. He even coached Sri Lanka. Yeah, Sri Lanka has a boxing team. Surprised me, too.

Along the way, Robles saw a young Mexican who shares some of his roots. Robles immigrated to the US with his dad from Mexico when he was a kid.

So did Oscar Valdez Jr. He was born in Nogales, Mexico, just on the other side of the border, south of Tucson. As a kid, he moved to Tucson where he went to school and began to box. He returned to his birthplace in his early to mid teens.

Robles recalls seeing him for the first time in fighting for Mexico at tournaments from Milan to Brazil.

“Because of my background, I’ve always been split, cheering for the Americans and the Mexicans,’’ Robles said. “I was in the crowd for the 2009 World Championships, cheering for Oscar. I think that was the first time he saw me. He waved at me. Gave me a thumbs-up. That was also the year he lost to Vasyl Lomachenko.

“Then I was even in the opposite corner from him at a 2012 Olympic qualifier in Brazil, coaching Joe Diaz for the American team. Diaz beat Oscar that day. Today, he jokes with me about that one.’’

For years, they had been circling one another, exchanging greetings from afar in 2009 and competing against each other three years later. Nearly three years ago, the circle was joined.

Top Rank asked Robles to work Valdez’ corner for his 12th pro bout for a minor title in Phoenix on an Iron Boy Promotions card in July 2014.

“I said sure, but I didn’t expect it to be more than that,’’ Robles said. “I was subbing for a coach who couldn’t be there because he was sick or injured. I said sure, and I really didn’t expect anything more than that.’’

Valdez won a decision, one of only two on his record and the first after beginning his pro career with 11 straight KOs.

“Then I got a call,’’ Robles said. “It was Oscar. He said he wanted me to be his trainer. He told me he thought I was the perfect fit.’’

The decision was simple. Perfect, too.

By Norm Frauenheim

“No,’’ Canelo Alvarez said Tuesday when asked if his bet still stood for his May 6 bout at Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. “His dad didn’t let him.’’

Father knows best.

Increasingly, it is beginning to look as if all bets are off for a fight that in the beginning appeared to be a tune-up for Canelo’s possible showdown with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin later this year.

But the Canelo-GGG possibility has been shoved into the background amid emotions unleashed by a match-up that unlocks Mexico’s fierce pride in a long and rich boxing tradition. No major title is at stake. It’s being fought at a catch-weight, 164.5 pounds. It shouldn’t matter. But it does. Does it ever.

“Titles are very important to me, but this is above that,’’ Canelo said during an international conference call. “This goes above a title, any title. It’s for honor, for pride.’’

It’s also for money, which is the reason father and Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez pulled that bet off the table. The Nevada State Athletic Commission probably would have declared it illegal anyway. But Chavez’ dad acted quickly to ensure his son gets something for all his work in a bout that many believe his son can’t win.

But perceptions are changing about a pay-per-view event battling to become a fight, the reverse perhaps of the Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward rematch on June 17. Kovalev-Ward II looks to be a fight struggling to become an event. More on that at a later date.

The surprise in this corner — and a few others — is how Canelo-Chavez has captured so much attention on so many different levels. It has even taken on a political edge in an ad that takes on President Donald Trump and his controversial plan for a wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/exclusive-boxing-promo-features-mexican-fighters-busting-through-trumps-wall/

In terms of place, Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium would be more appropriate. Imagine a crowd that would rival the record 132,274 fans for the senior Chavez’ second-round stoppage of Greg Haugen in 1993. But dollars still rule and never more so during a time when the Cinco de Mayo celebration has become a big winner for the Vegas economy.

The fight at Vegas’ T-Mobile is a business decision, yet also an opportunity for advertisers, marketers and opinion makers. It’s a chance to make a big statement on a stage that seems to be getting bigger all the time. Even Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya is surprised.

“In terms of the event, of how big it is, I cannot remember a fight against two Mexicans that has created so much interest, anticipation,’’ said De La Hoya, who predicts the bout itself will prove to be as dramatic as Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera. “So this is probably the biggest boxing event with two Mexican fighters.’’

It will, perhaps, because it’s been simmering, off and on, for most of the last decade. Over the last couple of years, however, it was virtually forgotten by fans weary of Chavez Jr. He failed to make weight. He failed drug tests. He looked like a failure in quitting after nine rounds against light-heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara in 2015.

“Everything’s possible in boxing,’’ Canelo said when asked if he could make Chavez Jr. quit too. “And as the great Bernard Hopkins once said: ‘Once a quitter, always a quitter.’ So anything’s possible.’’

Oh yeah, Canelo doesn’t like Chavez Jr. Feigned dislike is part of any promotion, but this time it is intense, genuine and mutual.

It is as simple as Canelo’s dismissive remark about Junior’s dad canceling the bet. From this corner, it was Canelo’s way of saying there’d be no fight if it weren’t for the legendary dad and his unshakable hold on the loyalty of so many Mexican fans.

“As a person, you know, I don’t know him well, but just from what I hear from his actions and all, it’s like a guy that just doesn’t sustain what he says,’’ Canelo said. “You know, he just says a lot of things. It’s almost like he’s a little kid.

“Look, my fans are there. My fans know that I started from nothing, from the bottom up, from zero, and have worked my way up with a lot of sweat and sacrifices.

“He has his fans, as well. But I think a lot of his fans are more his father’s fans than his. His fans follow his father, what his father says, because he’s shown a lot of ups and downs in his career. He, himself, has not had a real disciplined career. He is not a role model for the young children and the young fighters.’’

But boxing has never been about role models. It’s often about the underdog, battling back from impossible odds and adversity. Chavez Jr. is that underdog, although he put himself there by squandering all of his inherited advantages. Nevertheless, there’s an appeal in that, especially among Mexican fans who identify with the underdog.

There’s also a sense that he inherited some of the lightning his father had in his hands. That kind of power is hard to squander. There’s an astonishing moment in 2012 when Chavez Jr. overcame a listless 11 rounds and nearly knocked out then-middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in a final round as wild as any in boxing’s crazy history. Martinez survived for a one-sided decision, but he was finished as a fighter. He fought two more times and after a loss to Miguel Cotto, he retired in 2014.

It’s a reason, perhaps, to think Chavez Jr. has a chance, a puncher’s chance and just another compelling reason for the unexpected buzz.

By Norm Frauenheim

There are more great anniversaries than great fights these days.

The latest is the 30-year anniversary of Sugar Ray Leonard’s controversial decision over Marvin Hagler.

The debate rages on and on over the three decades since the legendary middleweight clash in an outdoor ring on a back lot behind Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace on April 6, 1987.

Generations of young fighters hear it and probably wonder what in the hell these old guys are talking about. For the record, I’m one of those old guys. Yet, I sympathize with those younger fighters. On a day when Don Rickles – another legend from the 1980s — died, we must sound like a bunch of hockey pucks.

I confess, there are moments when boxing resembles an old man with only memories to sustain him. It was only a few weeks ago that Leonard’s welterweight stoppage of Thomas Hearns in 1981 was recalled in the promotional build-up to Keith Thurman’s decision over Danny Garcia on March 18.

It was unfair to Thurman and Garcia to suggest that their fight could ever be the second coming of Leonard-Hearns. It wasn’t, of course. Only a fool would have thought it might be.

That said, legends remembered are one way of keeping a troubled sport alive. A legend forgotten is just an eroding antiquity, an ancient ruin from a bygone time.

If not exactly healthy, boxing is hardly bygone. Fact is, it’s thriving in some places. To wit: The UK.

A crowd of 90,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium is expected for heavyweights Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua on April 29.

Please-please-please, hold all the parallels to Joe Louis-Max Schmeling, Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier and Ali-Foreman. Within the ring, Klitschko-Joshua won’t be that. Not even close. But that anticipated crowd at Wembley adds up to interest still lively as ever. Done right, there’s still nothing like a good fight.

Bob Arum knows that better than anyone. That’s why I applaud him for remembering Leonard-Hagler the way he has over the last week. Sure, there’s self-interest in the scheduling. He’s a businessman, after all.

He talked about his Hagler-Leonard memories last week during a conference call that helped promote an April 22 card at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. It features emerging featherweight champion Oscar Valdez Jr., super-middleweight champ Gilbert Ramirez, junior-featherweight champ Jessie Magdaleno and Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson in a pro debut.

Then, there was a news conference for Vasyl Lomachenko’s next title defense on Thursday, the same day as the Hagler-Leonard anniversary.

In Lomachenko, Arum has a fighter whom he says has Ali-like skills. Translation: Lomachenko, who faces Jason Sosa Saturday night (HBO 10 pm ET/PT) in Oxon Hill, MD, could be a key to restoring the business. On a historical day, Arum introduced a fighter who he thinks can make history, maybe even repeat some.

On the call with Valdez, Ramirez, Magdaleno and Stevenson, there was a different tactic. Arum was both boxing promoter and history professor. Hagler-Leonard happened before the four twenty-something fighters were born.

Arum asked each to watch and score the fight. The exercise was intriguing, mostly because it brought to life a debate lively then and lively now. Valdez scored it 115-113 for Hagler, favoring Hagler’s aggression. Ramirez and Stevenson scored it 115-113 for Leonard, both favoring Leonard’s quickness. Magdaleno had it for Leonard, 116-112, also favoring Leonard’s overall skill and speed.

“Hagler-Leonard,’’ Stevenson said, “that was a great era but now it’s our turn to begin our own legacy and create our own era where we have fights like that down the line. I can’t wait for that to happen.’’

Throughout the call, Arum never predicted that Valdez, or Ramirez, or Magdaleno, or Stevenson would lead boxing back to a future defined by late journalist and author George Kimball’s Four Kings – Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Roberto Duran. That would have been unfair to the young fighters. It would foolhardy for the promoter.

At the end of the call, I asked if Ramirez thought he could hang with them. Ramirez, nicknamed Zurdo, was no longer on the line. But Arum was. He immediately jumped in, calling out Gennady Golovkin.

“He doesn’t have to worry about hanging with those guys,’’ Arum said. “The fight Gilberto wants, if he is successful on April 22, is GGG and I would agree to take that fight winner-take-all. I think Zurdo destroys Golovkin the same way that he destroyed Arthur Abraham.”

I asked if Arum agreed with those who argue that the years have begun to catch up with GGG, who turns 35 on Saturday.

“Yes we all do, even me,’’ Arum said. “I’m 85 and showing my age. But, yeah, sure he is. There’s no question. There’s a great A.E. Housman poem, To An Athlete Dying Young. An athlete’s life is relatively short.’’

But the memory of him can be very long if the business reminds the athletes after him of everything he made possible.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Pound-for-pound, it might be the most overrated argument in the debate business. Who is No. 1? Who’s No. 2? Who cares? Most of these guys won’t fight each other any way. But it’s still a way to fill the dead time and there’s been plenty of that since the top of the argument, Roman Gonzalez, lost a controversial decision.

In a subsequent rush, ratings have been re-evaluated and redone. Everybody seems to have a new No. 1 and it’s not Gonzalez. No surprise there, although it seems unfair to end Gonzalez’ unprecedented reign after a decision roundly ripped by the same people who run the various rankings.

To rip Gonzalez’ loss to Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai as a scorecard robbery and then to yank him from the top spot only seems to compound the crime. It’s as if Nicaraguan – the smallest fighter to ever occupy No. 1 — was only there for as long as it took to sort out a noisy version of musical chairs.

Gennady Golovkin is No. 1 in some. Andre Ward is favored in others. Prodigy Vasyl Lomachenko gets the nod in a few. But, come on, shouldn’t No. 1 just be left vacant? That’s the choice here. Nobody has really made a decisive claim on the spot that Floyd Mayweather Jr. once owned.

I understand why Gonzalez is no longer atop the debate. For him, the trend has been problematic. The flyweight great has struggled at junior-bantamweight. But there’d be no argument here or anywhere else if the decision March 18 had gone his way at Madison Square Garden a couple of weeks ago when he got up from a first-round knockdown. Gonzales was the Lord of the Flies when he ascended to No. 1 when Mayweather retired. Yet with one lousy loss, his pound-for-pound run suddenly has a fly’s life span??? In fairness to him and his still-dynamic skillset, it’s reasonable to vacate the spot and give him a chance to regain it in a Rungvisai rematch that would be judged alongside performances delivered by GGG, Ward, Lomachenko and few others.

GGG remains unbeaten, yet his recent performances against Kell Brook and then Danny Jacobs, also at Madison Square Garden a couple of weeks ago, left questions, not unlike those asked about Gonzalez.

GGG is considered a small middleweight. He looked as if he often struggled in winning a decision against a bigger Jacobs. Can he adjust? He might have to against a bigger Canelo Alvarez. If – if, if, if — there is a GGG-Canelo fight in September, it’ll be one piece in the pound-for-pound puzzle.

Another one would be Ward-versus-Sergey Kovalev in a rematch, possibly on June 17. Ward won a decision over Kovalev in November. It was unanimous on the scorecards and unanimously controversial among fans. It was 114-113 on all three cards. Had two of the judges scored it for Kovalev instead, the Russian would be the undisputed No. 1. Instead, there’s Ward, the pick in some ratings despite suffering a second-round knockdown. Like Gonzalez, Kovalev deserves a rematch in a sequel with more pound-for-pound implications now than there were in November.

Then, there’s Lomachenko. He’s the provocative pick for No. 1. Publicists and writers, alike, portray the two time Olympic gold medalist from the Ukraine like a magician, Houdini in boxing gloves. Maybe, but Houdini’s pro resume is hard to judge. He only has eight bouts, including a loss to Orlando Salido.

Lomachenko is intriguing. But his pound-for-pound credentials are still to be tested, perhaps by Mikey Garcia, who has 28 more fights and no losses on a record that represents just another compelling reason for a vacancy at the top of this pound-for-pound debate.