By Norm Frauenheim-

Their news conference Wednesday at the MGM Grand was something of a formality in the build-up to their middleweight fight Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. Everybody was polite. There were thanks instead of trash.

On one level, the relative silence was a relief.

Up and down The Strip, there are still echoes of insults Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor exchanged before they met in an August 26 event that included a boxer, a mixed-martial artist and a mixed message.

Mayweather, McGregor and everybody around them might still be talking, if not for all those awkward and yet unanswered questions about what the pay-per-view numbers really were. We don’t know. We may never know.

In Golovkin-Canelo, however, there doesn’t have to be talk – and only talk. Spectacles draw crowds like accidents. But who remembers them? They’re gone faster than a bag of chips and a mild heartburn.

Canelo-GGG is being sold as much more. Substance instead of empty spectacle is the sales pitch for the HBO pay-per-view bout (5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET).

“I know it’s going to be a tough fight,’’ said Canelo, the red-headed Mexican who again wore signs of his Irish roots with a full beard that McGregor would have envied. “I know that. I’m prepared for that.’’

Canelo is a man of more punches than words. He doesn’t indulge in overstatement. When he says he is prepared, be forewarned. To wit: Be prepared for a middleweight perhaps as good as any in weight class full of bouts, name and dates that could fill a history book.

There’s no myth in middleweight. No mixed, either. But that’s another story. But there’s always another story about to unfold. At least, Canelo-GGG has that potential. Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya says it might be the best since Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns.

“Your kids will be talking about Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez twenty years from now,’’ De La Hoya said.

Unlike his fighter, De La Hoya does indulge in overstatement. As a promoter, that’s part of the job. If Canelo-GGG comes even close to the drama attached to Hearns-Hagler, then the lack of words before opening bell won’t matter.

There will be plenty to say about for many years after.

By Norm Frauenheim-

David Benavidez wants to do what his older brother has already done. To wit: Make a little history. As a noteworthy accomplishment, being the youngest ever with a title is already in the family scrapbook.

Jose Benavidez Jr. pulled it off in 2009 when, at 16, he became the youngest to ever win a national Golden Gloves title.

Eight years later, younger brother David, less than a year removed from his teens, hopes to become the youngest super-middleweight champion Friday (Showtime 10:05 p.m. ET/PT) in a bid for a vacant World Boxing Council belt against Ronald Gavril at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock.

“This opportunity means the world to me,” the 20-year-old Benavidez (18-0, 17 KOs) said. “I’ve been working for this since I was a little kid.’’

Truth is, the younger Benavidez, of Phoenix, is out to prove he’s more of a prodigy than just a kid, especially against an unknown Gavril (18-1, 14 KOs), a 31-year-old Romanian.

There are questions about how Gavril even got into a position to fight for a title vacated by Badou Jack. He’s there because 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Andre Dirrell withdrew because of injury. The 34-year-old Dirrell is well-known, which might be another saying he’s shop-worn. Gavril is more unknown, which might make him a lot more dangerous.

Hard to say. What is known — and known in abundance, however, is that Benavidez has been beating up his elders since he went pro in Mexico at the same age his older brother won one of the biggest prizes of all in the amateur remarks. Sixteen, Sweet 16, if you’re a Benavidez.

Another display of David Benavidez’ power would further solidify his credentials as a mature player at 168 pounds and eventually at every other weight from light-heavy to heavy. He’s only going to get bigger, certainly on the scale and maybe in name recognition.

“Winning the championship would be enough on its own’’ David Benavidez said. “But the opportunity to be the youngest in the sport is a major accomplishment and the biggest of my life so far.’’

For now, David has a bigger name than brother Jose, a major prospect in 2010 and an interim junior-welterweight champion in 2014 with a controversial decision over Mauricio Herrera. But the older brother in the family’s youngest-ever tandem is hoping to work his way back into contention.

Jose Benavidez’ career was interrupted in August 2016 when he was shot in a knee while walking his dog in Phoenix, according to Phoenix police. In the spring, the knee had healed enough for Benavidez to begin running.

Now, he’s ready to resume his career, probably at welterweight. Jose Benavidez visited his promoters Thursday at their Top Rank offices in Las Vegas Thursday to discuss a comeback bout later in the year, possibly in November.

By Norm Frauenheim-

The canvas and ropes will be the same. So will the arena. Only a couple of ounces will separate the gloves. Two events within three weeks look an awful lot a like. But they aren’t.

In fact, they couldn’t be more different. Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s TKO of mixed-martial artist Conor McGregor on Aug. 26 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena and the looming Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez middleweight fight in the same building on Sept. 16 are separated by differing perceptions of the same concept.

Legacy.

It’s an overused word these days. Yet, it’s always there. But what exactly is a legacy? Turns out, it’s exactly in the eye of beholder.

For Mayweather-McGregor, legacy means money. The bigger the money, the bigger the legacy. Mayweather and McGregor made GDP-like sums.

For Golovkin-Canelo, the fight is more for their place in history. Mayweather has enough money to buy his piece of history, securing a predictable victory that allowed him to surpass Rocky Marciano with a 50-0 record against a novice boxer.

Golovkin and Canelo have different takes, even between themselves about legacy and what it means. For Canelo, it’s Mexican history and a chance to perhaps fight his way to a spot alongside Julio Cesar Chavez. For GGG, it’s about the middleweights and his fight to be recognized alongside the division’s iconic names.

They’ll make plenty of money, yet probably only a fraction of what Mayweather and McGregor did. But Mayweather-McGregor was, first and foremost, about money. Their event accented the Prize in prizefighting.

For Canelo-GGG, the accent is on the Fighting. Amid all the talk of pay-per-view records that could double or triple Mayweather’s $100-million guarantee, that sounds almost quaint. But it’s a welcome kind of quaint, comforting from at least this perspective.

“I want to win this fight because maybe for me this win will be like a history fight, like (Sugar Ray) Leonard vs. (Mavin) Hagler,’’ Golovkin said Wednesday during a conference call.

Golovkin went on to talk about the great names in the division and some of their own accomplishments. He is about to make a 19th successive defense of his middleweight title. He’s within one defense of matching the 20 straight by Bernard Hopkins, who is a Golden Boy executive in the company that promotes Canelo.

“Right off the top, the interest for me is it’s a huge fight,’’ GGG said. “The story — in the middleweight division, it’s a long story. I don’t know, I remember a lot of great champions, like Carlos Monzon, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Bernard Hopkins. Right now, I think new stories, new times for us. So many stories are huge in the middleweight division. To be a champion is huge.’’

There was a time when Mayweather would hear some of those names and argue that he was better than any of them. Out of that argument, he created TBE, The Best Ever, which became another commodity, another way to sell caps and T-shirts. From the man who calls himself Money, it is always about how much he made and less about whom he beat. On one level, he is TBE, as in The Biggest Earner ever.

For GGG, however, the sense is that he wants to be remembered for whom he beat in a career that will put him alongside a gallery of names all worthy of some TBE consideration

“I respect boxing,” GGG said. “If you respect boxing like me, watch my fight.’’

It sounds like a good investment in an old craft respected more for what the fighters did than what they earned.

LAS VEGAS – In the end, only the spectacle was memorable. The fight was forgettable. Yet in the end, it was indeed a fight instead of the mere farce predicted by so many.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. won it and with the stoppage he promised Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in a pay-per-view event expected to set records.

But there was also a victory wrapped in the defeat for Conor McGregor, who was still upright at the time of the 10round TKO and proud as ever after the MMA star’s first professional boxing match against this generation’s best at the more traditional sweet science.

McGregor surprised the boxing pursuits.

Seemed to surprise, Mayweather, too.

He threw jabs nobody had ever seen or even suspected he had. He had Mayweather in retreat fighting off his back foot. In the opening rounds, Mayweather looked exactly like the 40-year-old man who had not answered an opening bell in a couple of years. After six rounds, it looked like an even fight.

But McGregor’s unfamiliarity with boxing became increasingly evident. By the fourth round, there was awkward pawing with his jab. His hands began to drop. All the while, Mayweather’s muscle memory began to exert itself and take control of the junior-middleweight bout.

His found his timing. He rediscovered his sense of range. Then, his right hand began to land, land and land. Suddenly, there was swelling around McGregor’s eyes. In those Irish eyes, there were mounting signs of fatigue.

The end was near, a historical one for what Mayweather vowed was his last fight. In Nevada Athletic Commission-sanctioned bout, Mayweather went 50-0, supassing Rocky Marciano’s milestone.

“Boxing’s reputation was on the line,’’ Mayweather said.

Mayweather’s legacy was, too. He protected that and managed to add a reported $200,000 to his bank account.

“”Our game plan was to take our time, go to him, let him shoot his shots early and then take him out down the stretch,’’ said Mayweather, who ended with it fusillade of right hands that left McGregor holding on and finished at 1:05 of the 10^th. “We know in MMA he fights for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, he started to slow down. I guaranteed to everybody that this wouldn’t go the distance.’’

McGregor wished that it had. Referee Robert Byrd, he said, should have let it go on, all the way through the 12^th and final round and on to the scorecards.

“Where was the final two rounds?’’ said McGregor, who collected a $100 million guarantee. “Let me walk back to my corner and compose myself.”

He’ll have plenty of time to do that. His $100-million guarantee is worth a lot of composure.

Gervonta Davis gets only boos in victory

Gervonta Davis lost his title on the scale. He lost respect in the ring.

Things changed quickly for Badou Jack. He made sure of it.

Tabiti wins unanimous decision over Cunningham

Andrew Tabiti’s fast hands initiated a head-to-body attack that the Las Vegas cruiserweight sustained throughout 10 rounds for a unanimous decision over Steve Cunningham of Philadelphia for a minor title Saturday night at Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena.

Yordenis Ugas, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist from Cuba, scored two knockdowns and got up from one for unanimous decision over Puerto Rican Thomas Dulorme (24-3, 16 KOs) in a terrific, 10-round welterweight fight Saturday in the final bout before the pay-per-view portion of the Mayweather-McGregor card at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Everybody might be talking about Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor, but nobody was there when the hyped event began.

The show opened to an empty room Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

There were only a couple of fighters and lots of echoes about three hours before Showtime’s pay-per-view card was scheduled to begin.

London super-middleweight Savannah Marshall (1-0) and Sydney LeBlanc of Lafayette, LA, created the first echoes. Most of them came from Marshall’s punches. She landed one after another, scoring a unanimous decision over LeBlanc (4-4-1).

In the card’s second fight, Fresno super-middleweight Antonio Hernandez (10-1, 2 KOs) was stronger and busier, scoring often enough for unanimous decision over Kevin Newman (7-1-1, 3 KOs) of Las Vegas.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS –The beat went on — and on — Friday in the parade to an event that looks and sounds more like spectacle than sport.

Conor McGregor screamed. His Irish fans screamed. And Floyd Mayweather Jr. did what he has always done. He’s more than just unbeaten.

Mayweather’s ability to generate money is unmatched, if not unprecedented. Boos-for-bucks is a formula that has transformed him into perhaps the high-earning athlete ever.

The boos were there, off the scale, Friday for the ritual weigh-in at T-Mobile Arena where Mayweather is favored Saturday night to extend his 49-0 boxing record to 50-0 against a mixed-martial arts star with zero experience as a professional boxer.

Depending on who and what you believe, McGregor’s chances at derailing Mayweather’s bid at equaling Rocky Marciano’s historical record are the numerical equal of his boxing experience. We’re talking zero. So-called sharps – an oddsmakers’ term for smart bettors — have been descending on the Vegas books over the last 24 hours.

One wagered $1 million Thursday with the chance to win about $182,000 on Mayweather. A second bet of $1.2 million was also reported. More of the same was expected before Saturday’s pay-per-view card (Showtime/6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST).

But a zero chance is chance enough for fans who just want to see Mayweather lose, even if it could only happen in the event of an accident, say, an asteroid striking T-Mobile Arena’s roof so that it only collapses on where Mayweather is standing. Hey, bleep happens.

In addition to beating everybody he has ever faced, Mayweather has been generating bucks through boos at almost every turn. Reports are that he could earn $200 million for Saturday night’s event.

Before weighing at 149.5 pounds for the 154-pound show, he ensured some more enmity from the weigh-in crowd by stepping on the scale in Irish green shorts that said Paddy Power across the waist band. The crowd roared in anger and McGregor led the way.

After tipping the scale at 153 pounds, McGregor (21-3 in UFC bouts) pose for the traditional face-off with Mayweather with his mouth open in what looked like a perpetual stream of expletives. It was an Irish temper turned up as high it could go.

“I see a man afraid,’’ said McGregor, who is guaranteed a reported $100 million.

Maybe, but the odds makers are beginning to see something different in a man they think is closing in on some easy money. For him. And them

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – The Strip is kind of the ultimate fantasy camp. Only the hangovers are real. Everything else is about it is as believable as Donald Trump, whose name adorns one of the countless towers at the other end of a dizzy street from where another fantasy is about to unfold Saturday night.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.-versus-Conor McGregor is supposed to be a fight. Mayweather says it will be. McGregor says it will be. The Nevada State Athletic Commission sanctioned it, so it must be, right?

Yet, suspicions abound, despite all the trappings, including money, more money — did we mention money? – and a media tent almost big enough to hide an aircraft carrier.

I’m seated in that tent right now, across the street from the Luxor, a hotel named for an ancient Egyptian city with a front that includes the sculpted face of a Pharaoh with enigmatic blue eyes that seem to be asking:

What the hell am I doing here?

I can’t say I have an answer. After all, I’m a boxing guy who believes McGregor has about as much of a chance as the first three letters in his first name might suggest. From a UFC star with no reported experience as a pro boxer, it sounds like a Con.

“I’m going to out box this man at his own game,’’ McGregor said Wednesday at the MGM Grand during the final news conference for a 12-round event scheduled for T-Mobile Arena.

Really? That would be about as believable as Mayweather saying he would outkick or out grapple McGregor, whose 21-3 record seems to say that he isn’t quite as proficient at the mixed arts as the 49-0 Mayweather has been at his own.

It just doesn’t add up, although McGregor’s cocksure tone suggests that maybe he’s conned himself into believing he can win as much as he has conned his fans. The money on McGregor has been pouring in like Guinness from a busted tap. Late Thursday, Mayweather was a 4-1 favorite.

In other words, the odds give McGregor a better chance at beating Mayweather than Marcos Maidana, a world-class boxer. Maidana, who as far we know never had to kick anyone to win, was about a 7-1, 8-1 underdog in each of his losses to Mayweather.

Like I said, it just doesn’t add up. McGregor’s chances at beating Mayweather at a skill he has mastered like few ever have appears to be about as likely as the truth and nothing but the truth from that aforementioned guy whose name adorns that gold-trimmed tower at the other end of the Strip.

In a much larger sense, however, McGregor has already won. According to various reports, he could collect $100 million. For him, the task is not to do something stupid. There’s a clause in his contract that prohibits MMA tactics.

In effect, it’s a clause that could take away his instinct. Can he really fight that way? Can any fighter? I’ve always believed in Mike Tyson’s famous line about what happens to well-practiced plans when the first big punch lands. It’s then when a fighter becomes who he really is.

McGregor appears to be imminently hittable. Mayweather’s precise punches will land repeatedly and with power augmented by gloves lighter than usual for the 154-pound division. The Nevada Commission approved eight ounces, instead of the usual 10. McGregor celebrated the move, but the guess here is that he’ll regret it. Mayweather has promised a KO and the lighter gloves will help him accomplish exactly that.

The question is McGregor’s reaction when Mayweather’s punches put him into the dangerous daze between $100 million and instinct. Will he carefully protect the money or become the guy he really is with a kick as instinctive as it would be disqualifying?

The Pharaoh didn’t have an answer for that one either.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Unity and boxing are an unlikely complement. Link them in the same sentence and you’ve got something that looks, feels and sounds like an oxymoron. You know, jumbo and shrimp.

But unity is part of the story Saturday in an intriguing fight for all the pieces to the 140-pound title between unknown Julius Indongo and better-known Terence Crawford in Lincoln, Neb.

A fight for a unified title happens about as often as a solar eclipse, which coincidently – or maybe not – is supposed to happen Monday.
But if heavenly bodies can align once in a while, so can the acronyms in a business that practices chaos as if there were no other way.

There is a way, of course, and Top Rank will attempt to make it work for itself, ESPN (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m ET) and couple of junior-welterweights who are a lot more skilled than they are known.

“It was very difficult,’’ said Top Rank President Todd DuBoef, Crawford’s promoter who worked like a diplomat with all the various organizations for a rare bout with Indongo, a Namibian promoted by Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn of the UK. “We had to work hand in hand with Matchroom, because obviously Matchroom and Indongo had two belts and Top Rank and Crawford had two belts and there were mandatories and everything that was coming into play.

“There were people that we had to appeal to and we said, ‘Hey, this is a rare opportunity that we are able to do this. Let’s try and work together and have a positive solution for the sport.’

“I think we delicately managed it.’’

The winner will be the first champion with four belts – WBC, IBF, IBO and WBO – since middleweight Jermain Taylor 12 years ago. It’s symbolic. But it’s also practical for fighters who have proven themselves within in the ropes, yet are still fighting for name recognition.
For Crawford, that means a chance to strengthen his claim on No. 1 in the pound-for-pound debate.
“Of course,” said Crawford, who holds the WBC and WBO belts. I think I have been doing a lot in the sport of boxing and I have had my name mentioned in the top three.

“I will be looking forward to being the top one, or maybe two after this fight. It just depends on how people look at it. In my eyes I think I am top two already.’’

For Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs), ESPN’s role in the bout also represents a source of motivation, perhaps on a couple of level. For one thing, it’s chance to break out of pay-per-view anonymity.

Crawford, who says he’d vote Andre Ward No. 1 if he couldn’t vote for himself, hopes to introduce himself and pay-per-view claim to larger cable audience. Then, Crawford has a chance to prove ESPN wrong. In the network’s latest pound-for-pound ranking, he’s No. 6.

For Indongo (22-0, 11 KOs), a unified title is about country and even continent.

“Wherever I travel, I will be representing all of Namibia,’’ said Indongo, the IBF and WBA belts holder who is fighting for the first time in the U.S. after attention-grabbing victories over Eduard Troyanovsky in Moscow and Ricky Burns in Scotland. “It’s like I have the whole country of Namibia on my shoulders issued by my president. So I have to rely on the game plan and that is the confidence that I rely on.

“I know that my country and Africa is on my shoulders and when the team travels from Namibia to the fight, I can only focus on the fight. It motivated me a lot.’’

Motivation, perhaps, for a new business model, too.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – Memories, laughs and even a few tears were there. But there was no bitterness. No punches either. The fifth annual Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame dinner was many things, including friendships hard to imagine decades ago.

Sugar Ray Leonard was there to introduce the rival who almost beat him in a defining fight 36 years ago.

But this time Leonard came to praise, not punch Thomas Hearns.

“He’s a guy who has been my dear friend for a long time now,’’ said Leonard, who stopped Hearns in an epic welterweight fight in 1981 on back lot not far from the Caesars Place ballroom where he spoke Saturday night. “”I won that fight.’’

But, Leonard then conceded, his friend paid him back in a forgettable rematch at super-middleweight in 1989.

“He beat my ass,’’ Leonard said.
Hearns smiled at the memory. Smiled at Leonard, too.

“My roughest fight, but now my best friend,’’ said Hearns, the last inductee in a 2017 class that also included Michael Carbajal, Richie Sandoval, the late Ken Norton, Lucia Rijker, the late Salvador Sanchez, Erik Morales, Michael Spinks and his brother Leon.

Then, there was Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. They are are buddies long after a rivalry as contentious and bitter as any in boxing’s modern history.

But there they were about 15 years later, old enemies in an alliance once as unlikely as ever. Barrera introduced Morales.

“I want to congratulate a great champion and my dear, dear friend,’’ said Barrera, who lost a wild split decision at super-bantamweight to Morales in 2000 and went on to win rematches at featherweight in 2002 and super-featherweight in 2004.

Then, Morales countered with gratitude instead of a hook. Among other things, each inductee was awarded a ring. Morales turned to Barrera and said he wanted to give his ring to his dear friend. In the spontaneous exchange, the ring tumbled out of the box through their hands and onto the floor.

Quickly, they both reached down to recover it. Then, they smiled, this time laughing like old friends instead of sworn enemies.

The dinner also included a few surprises. Rapper Flavor Flav introduced an ailing Leon Spinks, who is best remembered for his 1978 upset of Muhammad Ali.

For Sandoval and Carbajal, the ceremony was a fitting moment. Their careers were linked in 1988. Twenty-nine years later, they were together again, linked by their inductions to the same Hall on the same night.

It was Sandoval who talked Top Rank promoter Bob Arum into signing Carbajal, who had won a silver medal at the Seoul Olympics. Arum was reluctant.

Carbajal, a junior-flyweight from Phoenix, fought in a division that in those days was hard to sell. But Sandoval, a bantamweight, told Arum there might be a big future at a weight as forgotten as it was diminutive.

Turned out, there were also some heavy money at the light end of the scale, too.

Carbajal became the first fighter at 108 pounds to collect $1 million for a 1994 rematch with rival Humberto Gonzalez, who won a controversial decision and went on to collect $1 million in the third step of a trilogy that began with Carbajal getting up from two knockdowns for a dramatic stoppage in The Ring’s 1993 Fight of the Year at the then Las Vegas Hilton.

Their purses still stand as the record for the sport’s little guys. No fighter at 108 pounds, or 112 for that matter, has ever collected $1 million since then.

Top Rank publicist Lee Samuels told the story about how Sandoval persuaded a skeptical Arum to sign Carbajal.

“Michael turned out to be one of the great, great fighters in Top Rank history,’’ Samuels said in his introduction of Sandoval to the dinner crowd. “Thank you, Ritchie Sandoval.’’

In the end, it was that kind of night. There were thanks all around for a fifth Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame class, which also includes publicist Debbie Munch, cutman Rafael Garcia, late matchmaker Mel Greb, late referee Davey Pearly and Dr. Elias Ghanem, a 14-year member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission who died in 2001.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Oscar De La Hoya isn’t losing any sleep worrying about whether the potential pay-per-view audience for Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin on Sept. 16 will suffer some erosion because of Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor on Aug. 26.

Fans know the difference between what is real and what isn’t, De La Hoya, Canelo’s promoter, said during a conference call this week.

“We’re concentrating on our fight,” De La Hoya said Tuesday on a call that included Canelo. “We’re concentrating on our event, our fight. Obviously we have the real fight. We have a serious fight. This is a serious fight, a serious event. Two of the best fighters, fighting each other. And I think that the fans have recognized that.

“…So have the sponsors and a lot of the media people. They’ve recognized that this is the real fight. This is the fight that they want to be at. This is the fight that they want to see. A clear indication is we sold out in ten days.’’

If the quick sellout is a reliable indicator of pay-per-view expectations, Golden Boy Promotions is way ahead of the game with Canelo-GGG, which De La Hoya believes can be the biggest fight in middleweight history, bigger than even Marvin Hagler’s legendary victory over Thomas Hearns in 1985.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times last week, thousands of tickets remained unsold for Mayweather-McGregor at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, also the site for Canelo-GGG.

For now, the best explanation for the slow sale rests in exorbitant ticket prices. Ringside seats are $10,000. The cheapest seats were $500. They sold out. According to reports about three weeks before opening bell, as many as 7,000 tickets could still be available. Mayweather didn’t toss that many dollar bills into the air during his international press tour with McGregor.

Lower the prices and a sellout will quickly follow, according to rival promoters. But what if De La Hoya is right? What if fans have decided that the long-awaited Canelo-GGG clash is the only true contest. It’s quickly becoming a pick-em fight, one that could easily lead to a rematch. Or two

Despite betting odds – anywhere from 7-1 to 5-1 – that appear to give McGregor a real chance, the consensus is that Mayweather, the best boxer of his generation, wins easily. McGregor, a UFC star, has never boxed professionally.

If McGregor somehow lands a lucky punch for a stoppage, it might go down as an upset bigger than even Buster Douglas’ 1990 KO of Mike Tyson in Tokyo. Douglas, who had a lot more experience as a boxer than McGregor ever had, was a 42-to-1 underdog.

Nevertheless, Mayweather-McGregor continues to generate a lot of talk on the internet and at water coolers. Not even Canelo could escape it Tuesday. He was asked if would fight McGregor if the Irishman some how won.

“If that miracle was to happen, then it’s a different conversation,’’ Canelo said. “You know, if that miracle was to happen. But I doubt it very much.’’

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – Michael Carbajal is back in the city where his fame began.

Carbajal, who got up from two knockdowns for a seventh-round stoppage of rival Humberto Gonzalez in 1993 at the then-Las Vegas Hilton, will be inducted to the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame at Caesars Palace.

“This means everything to me,’’ said Carbajal, a Phoenix junior-flyweight and one of history’s best little guys. “People know me for that fight.’’

In the non-Nevada resident boxer category, Carbajal joins Thomas Hearns, Michael and Leon Spinks, former four-division titleholder Erik Morales, women’s star Lucia Rijker and the late featherweight champion Salvador Sanchez.

Elected to the Nevada resident boxer category was late former heavyweight champion Ken Norton and former bantamweight champ Richie Sandoval.

Late referee and judge Davey Pearl, public relations specialist Debbie Munch, late Las Vegas promoter Mel Greb, trainer/cut man Rafael Garcia and Dr. Elias Ghanem, the late Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman will also be inducted.

The fifth annual dinner is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. (PT) at The Roman Ballroom.

By Norm Frauenheim-

It’s time for a change and he knew it. As always, Wladmir Klitschko did the right thing.

That’s how he’ll be remembered in the writing and rewriting of heavyweight history. Klitschko, who retired Thursday, was neither dramatic nor sensational. He was just righteous in a reliable sort of way at a time when the old flagship division had begun to look like a sunken relic beneath the waves of some bygone battle.

When it appeared as if the heavyweights were vanishing, there was always Klitschko winning, setting records, or staging a comeback. He was a pillar, a significant caretaker of a division that maybe can now move back on to a relevant stage with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. We’ll see.

Whatever happens, Klitschko gave them and the sport that chance with his long, predictable reign at the top of the division.

Will he go down as an all-time heavyweight? Tough to say. We know the numbers, all record-book quality, yet also compiled against collection of nobodies in a division that was at the bottom of a historical decline. We’ll never really know how good he was, mostly because of the business itself.

Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis were the best in the division when Klitschko won his belt, yet he never fought either. Blame the business. It suffered for that. So will Klitschko’s ring legacy.

Think of it this way: Put Klitschko into a fantasy tournament with some of history’s greatest heavyweights. Here’s just one Sweet 16: Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Jack Johnson, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Jersey Joe Walcott, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, Larry Holmes, Ezzard Charles, a young Mike Tyson, Holyfield and Lewis. Add Klitschko and you’ve got 16. Put them in brackets. Match them any way you like. Would Klitschko get out of the first round? I’m skeptical. Had he fought Holyfield and/or Lewis, we’d have a better guess.

His nine-year run as the champ, including 18 successive title defenses, is an amazing stat. But boxing isn’t baseball. It’s measured by more intangibles. One punch can knock out all of the analytics. In judging Klitschko, intangibles matter. They did – they do – with Ali.

Foreman has his own take on the classic, cross-generational argument about whom was the greatest: Louis or Ali? Foreman, who lost to Ali in the legendary Rumble in the Jungle, argues that Louis was a greater fighter than Ali. But, he says, Ali was a greater man.

It’s impossible to separate Ali’s stand against the Viet Nam War and his fight for civil rights from his heavyweight era. They are one and the same. Apply the same standard to Klitschko. He has stood up for the Ukraine against Russia alongside his brother and ex-heavyweight champ, Vitali. In retirement, the guess is that he will take on more political fights en behalf his country and what he thinks is right, which is what will always keep him among history’s greats.

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.