By Norm Frauenheim-

TUCSON — One journey has ended and another has just begun for Oscar Valdez Jr., who returns Saturday to his boyhood roots with a world-title belt that fulfilled a school kid’s dreams and now represents options for an emerging champion in what has become boxing’s most competitive division.

Valdez, the WBO’s new featherweight champ, is back in Tucson to appear at a Top Rank-promoted card featuring former champion Juan Diaz (41-4, 20 KOs) on the comeback trail against junior-lightweight Cesar Vazquez (27-3, 16 KOs) in a UniMas-televised bout at Casino Del Sol.

Valdez’ appearance is no coincidence. Plans are for him to make his first title defense in the southern Arizona city where he first began to box. The timing also coincides with heightened drama and anticipation about the featherweights.

Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian whose mom still lives in Tucson, won the WBO’s 126-pound title two weeks ago in a definitive second-round stoppage of Argentina’s Matias Rueda at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. A lot has happened since then.

One week after Valdez’ eye-catching triumph, there was upheaval at the top of the division in Irishman Carl Frampton’s 126-pound debut, a majority decision over favored Leo Santa Cruz at Barclays Center in New York.

What’s next? Who’s next?

Hard to say, but Valdez manager Frank Espinoza says his unbeaten featherweight is prepared for whatever happens.

“Yes, Oscar is ready, ready to fight anyone,’’ Espinoza said when asked about Frampton or Santa Cruz.

There’s some confusion about whether there is a contract clause that could force an immediate Santa Cruz-Frampton rematch. The Santa Cruz management says yes. Meanwhile, Frampton’s Belfast management talks about Lee Selby in what could be a rich UK showdown.

No matter what happens, Frampton, Santa Cruz and Selby figure to be on Valdez’ horizon for awhile. So, too, do Gary Russell Jr. and Abner Mares. Valdez has even mentioned by Nonito Donaire, back at 122 pounds, yet still interested in regaining a 126-pound crown.

Mares, a former Espinoza-managed featherweight, looms as an intriguing possibility. But his future is unclear. A June fight against Jesus Cuellar in Brooklyn was canceled when Mares failed the New York eye exam.

Mares, who underwent surgery for a detached retina in 2008, told the Los Angeles Times that he is healthy and determined to continue his career, perhaps against Cuellar on Oct. 15 at Staples Center. If Mares gets his career back on track and beats Cuellar, the three-time champ will be looking for a shot at a fourth title. He probably won’t have to look for long

Valdez’ looked like he was just at the start of a longtime reign in his victory over Rueda, which followed a powerful performance against ex-champ Evgeny Gradovich. It’s still not clear whom Valdez might face in his first defense, perhaps on Nov. 26 at either Casino Del Sol or the Tucson Community Center. One possibility is the winner of Guy Robb-Miguel Marriaga in a WBO eliminator on Aug. 27 at Fallon, Nev., also on UniMas’ SoloBoxeo series.

Tonight’s telecast (11 pm ET/PT) is the featured bout on a card including Phoenix light-heavyweight Trevor McCumby (22-0, 17 KOs) against Dion Savage (12-9, 6 KOs) of Flint, Mich. First bell is scheduled for 6 p.m. (PT).

By Norm Frauenheim-

They are brothers who have sparred former champs, current champs, emerging champs and sometimes each other.

For David Benavidez and Jose Benavidez Jr., long rounds in gyms from Phoenix to Southern California have been about learning the craft and building the family business.

Business is good these days and it could get a little better Friday night when David Benavidez tries to improve on the family’s unbeaten record against veteran Denis Douglin in an ESPN-televised super-middleweight bout (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

A David Benavidez victory would put the family mark at 41-0. Going into a bout scheduled for 10 rounds against Douglin (20-4, 14 KOs), the 19-year-old has won all 15 of his bouts, 14 by stoppage.

His older brother, 22-year-old Jose Jr, went to 25-0, 16 by knockout, with a unanimous decision over Francisco Santana in a welterweight debut on the July 23 undercard of Terence Crawford’s one-sided decision over Viktor Postol.

Eight years ago, David was the other Benavidez while his older brother, a 16-year-old National Golden Gloves champion in 2009, began to get a lot of internet attention for holding his own in sparring against Amir Khan.

Since then, David Benavidez has emerged — steadily and stubbornly –in his own right, becoming his brother’s equal, at least in terms of media attention. If there’s a sibling rivalry, however, it’s not readily evident. In fact and in spirit, they’ve each been in the other’s corner. David was there for Jose Jr.’s decision over Santana.

In style and approach, however, they’re different. Jose Jr. is more athletic than David, who has gained muscle and shed upper-body baby fat over the last 18 months. David is more instinctive. He moves forward and toward the fight, unlike Jose, who has unmatched hand speed, yet often exasperates fans and father-trainer Jose Sr. by fighting off the ropes in what looks like a tactical, calculated move.

If you could fuse the best of the brothers into one Benavidez, you might have a pound-for-pound contender. Just imagine Jose Jr.’s precise jab and David’s instinctive aggressiveness, all in one feared fighter. Fantasy? Maybe.

Over time, however, the family business might wind up with two fighters who learn from each other. Remember, both are still young. Jose Jr. is probably five years from his prime. David’s prime is about a decade away. By then, he might be a heavyweight. David’s recent growth has taken him out of the sparring he used to do with his brother.

Over the last year, David sparred with Gilberto Ramirez before he won the WBO’s 168-pound belt against Arthur Abraham on April 9. He got ready for Douglin by sparring with Alexander Brand.

Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) faces Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) Saturday night in Oakland, Calif., in an HBO-televised bout that is considered a tune-up for Ward’s planned light-heavyweight showdown with Sergey Kovalev on Nov. 19.

Already, there’s talk from promoter Sampson Lewkowicz about David becoming the youngest champion in super-middleweight history. First, of course, he has to beat Douglin, a New Jersey fighter with world-class experience in losses to George Groves and Jermell Charlo.

This time, it is Jose Jr.’s turn to be in the corner. After all, David’s victory would also be his own in what could become business as usual for the Benavidez brothers.

By Norm Frauenheim-

A compelling clash between Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton Saturday in Brooklyn one week after Oscar Valdez Jr.’s ongoing emergence is a sure sign that the featherweights are a loaded division rich with reasons for optimism in a business otherwise clouded by doom and gloom.

In boxing’s boom-and-bust history, the featherweights have become a reliable way to predict better days.

To wit: Manny Pacquiao. His ascent from unknown Filipino kid to worldwide celebrity started with his 2003 upset of Marco Antonio Barrera for a featherweight title in his first bout at 126 pounds.

He caught the attention of hard-core fans with sensational victories at 122 pounds, called either super-bantam or junior-feather, depending on the acronym. It was at 126, however, that casual fans got familiar with his name and copy editors learned how to spell it.

There are some familiar circumstances unfolding in the division now. It begins – and perhaps ends — with Vasyl Lomachenko. He began his pro career already known. He’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist from the Ukraine. In just seven pro bouts, he’s already won two titles and is No. 7 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound ratings.

His promoter, Bob Arum predicts a Muhammad Ali-like impact from Lomachenko, who has already moved up the scale, beating Roman Martinez in a dramatic stoppage for his first title in his first fight at 130 pounds, called either super-lightweight or junior feather. Whatever it’s called, it’s also where Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. began their Hall of Fame careers.

Will Valdez, Santa Cruz, Frampton, Gary Russell Jr. and Lee Selby follow Lomachenko up the scale – in weight and pay – the way Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales followed Pacquiao?

Valdez’ convincing stoppage of Argentina’s Matias Rueda at Las Vegas MGM Grand for his first major title at 126 – the WBO version that Lomachenko held – was evidence that history is repeating itself. The guess here is that Santa Cruz and Frampton will provide further evidence Saturday at Barclays Center Showtime-televised bout (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).

Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian, figures to make his first title defense in Tucson, where he went to school and first began to box, maybe on Nov. 26.

It promises to be a bout that will further solidify his championship credentials and his place alongside the better-known Santa Cruz or Frampton. It’s also a bout that would allow Top Rank to continue marketing its new featherweight champion in a way that could lead to a major 126-pound bout against one of Al Haymon’s featherweights –Santa Cruz, Frampton, Russell, Selby, Jesus Cuellar and Abner Mares.

Mares had a fight scheduled for June 25 in Brooklyn against Cuellar canceled because he reportedly failed the New York eye exam. It’s not clear what’s next for the popular Mares, also a former Mexican Olympian. If California licenses him, however, a bout with Valdez is an intriguing option

It’s also possible. Arum settled his $100-million suit against Haymon a couple of months ago. By all accounts, they’re talking. Part of the discussion must include the featherweights. They’ve always been a good reason to get out of the courtroom and back to business.

LAS VEGAS – The gloves were gold. Maybe, Terence Crawford’s future is, too.

Crawford at least put himself in position to collect some with a one-sided decision over Viktor Postol Saturday night in a pay-per-view junior-welterweight fight at the MGM Grand.

By the sixth round, there was little doubt about the fight or Postol’s chances and, instead, plenty of talk about how Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) might do against Manny Pacquiao.

“Of course,’’ Crawford said when asked if would fight the Filipino Senator. “I’ll fight anybody, anywhere.’’

Crawford-versus-Pacquiao on Nov. 5 at Thomas & Mack Center, also in Las Vegas, appeared to be promoter Bob Arum’s plan all along during a week when he complained about criticism of his decision to offer the Postol bout on PPV television.

Crawford’s 118-107, 117-108, 118-107 wipeout of Postol (28-1, 12 KOs) might come to look like an investment in the future, if and when there’s an agreement with Pacquiao. The fight itself was forgettable.

Crawford’s advantage in speed baffled Postol, whose power was never a factor. In fact, Crawford’s speed appeared to the biggest reason for two knockdowns in the fifth. Postol stumbled to one knee in the opening seconds of the round. Still off-balance, he stumbled backwards later in the round, touching the canvas with a glove.

Increasingly, Postol looked baffled. Then, frustrated. In the end, Crawford mocked him. In the 12^th, Postol began swinging for the fences in the desperate attempt for a knockout.

All the while, Crawford ducked, weaved, stepped to one side then the other. He was having fun, so much so that he stuck his tongue out at Postol. He also smiled at him and talked at him before claiming ownership of three pieces – The Ring, WBO and WBC – pieces of the 140-pound title.

Postol trainer Freddie Roach, who bet $1,000 to win $9,000 on the Ukrainian to win by KO, said he was surprised by Crawford speed. In the immediate aftermath, Roach, who also trains Pacquiao, didn’t want to speculate on what might happen against the Filipino.

“We’ll see what happens,’’ said Roach, who got a good look at gloves that said Crawford is more of the real kind than the fool’s variety.

Oscar Valdez Jr. joked that promoter Bob Arum was exaggerating when he called him the featherweight division’s next legend.

Maybe. But there was no exaggerating what Valdez did within two rounds in claiming his first major title Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Valdez blew away Matias Rueda of Argentina scoring a second-round stoppage for WBO title vacated by Vasyl Lomachenko. Valdez (21-0, 18 KOs) finished Rueda (26-1, 23 KOs) with a left to the body for a TKO at 2:18 of the second round.

“A dream come true,’’ said Valdez (21-0, 18 KOs), a two time Mexican Olympian who went to school in Tucson.  “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was six years old.’’

Valdez celebrated by dancing across the canvas. He talked about family and the future. He dedicated the victory to a cousin who died on a motorcycle. He talked about waiting to fight the great champions.

Next stop: Tucson.

Arum plans for Valdez to make his first title defense in the southern Arizona city where he first began to box. Possible sites are the Tucson Community Center and Casino Del Sol, maybe on Nov. 26.

His potential opponent is the winner of Miguel Marriaga-versus-Guy Robb on Aug. 27 in Fallon, Nev.  The Marriaga-Robb fight is a WBO eliminator. The winner earns a mandatory shot at Valdez, a first-time champion and – if Arum is right – maybe a many-time champ.

Jose Benavidez Jr. was hoping for something spectacular. Maybe next time.

But the unbeaten Phoenix fighter (25-0, 16 KOs) got what he had to have, a victory in his welterweight debut with a unanimous decision over tough Francisco Santana (24-5-1, 12 KOs) Saturday on a pay-per-view card featuring Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol at the MGM Grand.

“There is only one guy I want and it’s Jessie Vargas,’’ Benavidez (25-0, 16 KOs) said. “He wants Manny Pacquiao. But he has to deal with me next.’’

Vargas was sitting at ringside, working as a television analyst. When asked about Benavidez calling him out, he said:

“Fine, come and get it,’’ Vargas said. “Let’s get it set up.’’

There were some boos when one-side scores were announced. Adelaide Byrd scored it a shutout, 100-90. Judge Kermit Bayless had it 98-92. On Glenn Feldman’s card , it was a reasonable 96-94.

“I landed the cleaner shots,’’ said Benavidez, who landed quick combinations in the ninth and 10th rounds, yet appeared to tire in the middle rounds when he leaned on the ropes, an old habit.

With the victory, Benavidez next bout appears to be on in Tucson on card that expected to feature Oscar Valdez Jr. in the first defense of his WBO featherweight title.

Oleksandr Gvozdyk was down. But not done.

Gvozdyk (11-0, 9 KOs), the latest in a string of East European imports, hit the canvas in the first round, stunned by a Tommy Karpency right that he never saw in the first fight on the pay-per-view card featuring Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol at the MGM Grand Saturday night.

Five rounds later, Gvozdyk , a Ukrainian light-heavyweight, was looking down at Karpency (26-6-1, 15 KOs), on his knees and finished.

Karpency, bleeding badly from a cut on the bridge of his nose, went down from a body shot, a right hand to the chest. He also complained about getting thumbed in the eye.

It was clear, however, that he wasn’t getting up. He stayed on one knee until the referee counted 10 for a Gvozdyk victory, a KO at 2:21 of the sixth.

The curtain went down on the non pay-per-view part of the Postol-Crawford card quickly. Definitively, too.

Japanese middleweight Ryota Murata dropped (11-0, 8 KOs) dropped George Tahdooahnippah (34-3-3, 24 KOs), Oklahoma’s Comanche Boy, with a body shot. Then, he rocked him with a succession of rights, forcing the referee to stop it at 1:52 of the first round.

Lenny Zappavigna traveled from Australia. Lianhui Yang came from China. They met at an international crossroads. No interpretation necessary. In the ring, everybody speaks the same language.

Zappavigna (35-2, 25 KOs) spoke it with more power, stopping Yang (18-2, 13 KOs) in the sixth round of a junior-welterweight fight Saturday on the Crawford-Postol card..

Zappavigna nailed Yang with two right hands, then rocked him with successive shots when the refreee stopped at 43 seconds of the round.

Edward Williams’ fraternity brothers barked. He provided the bite.

Williams (12-1-1, 3 KOs), a Detroit welterweight, had just enough of it Saturday against Houston’s Christon Edwards (6-2, 3 KOs) for a six-round unanimous decision that sparked a small frat party after the third bout on the Postol-Crawford card at the MGM Grand.

Stanyilav Skorokhod scored two knockdowns in the opening round and gestured at a fallen Hakim Bryant after the first, waving at him to get up.

Bryant obliged the Ukrainian middleweight, scrambling to his feet and giving him more work than he might have expected in the early moments Saturday. Bryant (6-1, 4 KOs), of Asbury Park, N.J., stayed on his feet for the next five rounds, stubbornly moving forward and into shots thrown by Skorokhod (11-1, 8 KOs).

But Bryant’s evident toughness wasn’t enough against Skorokhod’s 70-inch reach. The Ukrainian appeared to tire, but he had enough to win a lopsided decision in the second fight on the Crawford-Postol card.

It began with a TKO. But there was nothing technical about it.

Omaha light-heavyweight Steve Nelson (3-0, KOs) left Tim Meek (5-3-1, 2 KOs) of Canutillo, Tex., bloodied, bruised and overwhelmed with a fourth-round stoppage in the first fight on a card featuring fellow Omaha fighter Terence Crawford against Viktor Postol in a junior-welterweight bout Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Nelson warmed up the ring for his fellow Nebraskan with a counter shot that dropped Meek with a thud that echoed throughout an empty building in a non-televised bout before the pay-per-view portion of the card. Nelson then bloodied Meek’s nose and opened up a nasty gash above one eye in the third.

Meek was tougher than his name suggests. But his corner had seen enough. Thirty-two seconds into the fourth, it threw in the towel.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – It’s a unification fight in a contentious game as divided as ever.

Terence Crawford or Viktor Postol will walk out of the MGM Grand’s ring Saturday night with three pieces of a 140-pound title and into a fractured business hit by declining revenues and unsure about how to proceed.

It’s a rare bout, matching The Ring’s No. 1 and No. 2–rated junior-welterweights and both unbeaten. It’s the kind of fight that media and fans always demand to see, yet rarely do. If interest is measured in dollars and praise, however, it’s not there.

Amid criticism, promoter Bob Arum is offering the fight on pay-per-view for $59.95. HBO is carrying it. Yet, Arum is on the hook for the purses, $1.3 million for Crawford (28-0 20 KOs) and $675,000 for Postol (28-0, 12 KOs). The money for the fighters isn’t in the HBO budget. The premium network reportedly cut its boxing budget for 2016.

Arum decided to go forward with the bout on PPV anyway, in part because he wants to keep Crawford busy. With a victory, Crawford, nearly a 7-1 favorite late Friday, could win a shot at Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 5 at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center. If Crawford gets past the dangerous Postol and upsets Pacquiao, he could solidify his credentials as boxing’s next superstar.

But would the money be there for him? Given today’s economics, could Pacquiao, a new Filipino Senator, expect his usual $20-million guarantee? Arum says Pacquiao understands that the business is in decline since the Filipino collected a reported $180 million for a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, a colossal dud, is seen as the beginning of the ongoing crash.

In some ways, Crawford-Postol represents the start of a different era with smaller expectations, at least in terms of purses. Getting used to it, however, might take some time. Arum is not happy about it. He’s expressed frustration at the criticism he’s getting for putting Crawford-Postol on PPV.

“I want to thank the press for telling the fans not to buy the fight,’’ Arum said to a few reporters as he left the media room after the weigh-in Friday. “I’ll remember.’’

Arum needs 80,000 pay-per-view customers to break even, according to several sources. It was hard to predict whether he’ll even get that number. An estimated crowd of fewer than 1,000 was at the weigh-in Friday. Crawford, of Omaha, tipped the scales at 140 pounds. Postol, of the Ukraine, was 139.5.

Despite the one-sided odds and media complaints about pay-per-view, the fight itself looks intriguing. Postol has developed a nasty, powerful uppercut since Freddie Roach became his trainer. Roach, also Pacquaio’s trainer, will be in Postol’s corner for the fourth time. He’s so confident that he came into the media room after the weigh-in Friday, showing off a betting slip. He wagered $1,000 on the chance to collect $9,000, picking Postol to win by knockout.

“In any round.’’ Roach said.

That might turn out to be better bet that big a pay-per-view audience.

By Norm Frauenheim-
LAS VEGAS – From Salvador Sanchez to Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, the history of Mexican featherweights reads like royalty. Is Oscar Valdez Jr. next in line? Bob Arum thinks so.

Arum anointed Valdez as a heir apparent Thursday during a news conference for the 25-year-old’s bid for his first major title against Argentina’s Matias Rueda on the undercard of the pay-per-view bout featuring junior-welterweights Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

“The great Mexican featherweights include Morales and Barrera,’’ said Arum. “Juan Manuel Marquez campaigned at featherweight for a while. We believe Oscar Valdez can surpass those legends.’’

Valdez smiled. Might have gulped a little bit, too. It’s great to be mentioned alongside all-time greats. But predicted potential can also be thorns on a burdensome crown.

“I think he exaggerated,’’ said Valdez, whose easy-going streak of humility includes a healthy sense of humor.

Valdez (20-0, 17 KOs) grew up in Tucson and Nogales on the Mexican side of the Arizona border as a kid who idolized Morales. The two-time Mexican Olympian has met Morales. He’s always wanted to be like him. But Valdez has taken his dad’s advice. Oscar Valdez Sr. said he told his son to forget about the comparisons.

“I don’t like to think that way, about Oscar becoming a Mexican idol like Barrera and Morales,’’ said Oscar Valdez Sr., who introduced his son to boxing in Tucson and then moved back to Nogales where he lives and works in real estate today. “I’d like him to go just step-by step.

“I don’t like to think that he’s a big star now, because he’s not. So, I tell him he needs to go, little-by-little. I told my son not to think he’s the big super-star, because he’s not.’’

Father knows best. Valdez has no illusions about the here-and-now, which is the immediate task of facing an unknown, unbeaten Argentine with 23 knockouts in 26 victories for a WBO title vacated by new junior-lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko.

“To be compared to Erik Morales means a lot to me, but I ‘ve got a long way to get to what he and Marco Antonio Barrera did,’’ Valdez said. “A long, long way.’’

Valdez said he was surprised to hear Arum say he would surpass his heroes.

“Yeah, it did surprise me,’’ he said. “Of course, it did.’’

Arum’s projection creates bigger expectations for the promising Valdez. But, as Charles Barkley once said, pressure is for tires. Valdez doesn’t seem to feel much, if any. Above all, he appears to enjoy the bigger stakes and heightened attention.

“It puts me on the spot, ‘’ said Valdez, the potential star on an Arizona-accented undercard that includes former junior-welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr. of Phoenix at welterweight against Francisco Santana (24-4-1, 12 KOs) “But it’s good. I never get pressured. I’m very focused on what I do in training. I’m aware of what I’m capable of.’’

Against Rueda, he plans to display some more of those emerging capabilities. Rueda is fighting for only the second time in the United States. He won a bout in Tampa in October, 2015. He’s unknown. Then again, so was fellow Argentine Marcos Maidana before he stunned Victor Ortiz in 2009.

“I’ve seen tapes of him,’’ Valdez said. “Sometimes, he barely hits guys and they fall. So you can tell he has a hard-hitting punch. But I’m ready for him. I’m ready.’’

Ready for Rueda and everything else that might be next, too.
Attachments area

By Norm Frauenheim-

Adam Lopez, a former Phoenix super-bantamweight now of San Antonio, hopes to celebrate 15 years of ShoBox with a victory of his own.

The unbeaten Lopez (15-0, 7 KOs) is in the main event for the 15th anniversary of “ShoBox: The New Generation” Friday night (Showtime 10 ET/PT) against Roman Ruben Reynoso (18-1-1, 7 KOs) of Argentina at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.

Lopez hopes his career unfolds the way other careers have during the long run of the Showtime series. Deontay Wilder and Andre Ward, to name just two, fought on ShoBox early in their careers.

Lopez is coming off a decision over Mario Munoz for a minor title on Feb. 19 in Atlantic City. Reynoso has won 10 straight.

By Norm Frauenheim

A Viktor Postol victory over Terence Crawford could lead to a Postol-Manny Pacquiao fight and force trainer Freddie Roach to choose between Postol and Pacquiao.

It sounds awkward. But Roach, trainer for both Postol and Pacquiao, says it wouldn’t be.

“It wouldn’t be the worst position in the world,’’ Roach said Thursday during a conference call nine days before the Postol-Crawford junior-welterweight bout July 23 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. “I feel like Viktor has done everything to get ready for this fight, to win this fight.’’

“If that does happen, I’ll have to deal with it.’’

The possibility emerged this week amid reports that Pacquiao would fight later this year in his first bout since he was elected to the Filipino Senate a few weeks after his rematch decision over Timothy Bradley in a welterweight bout in April.

Danny Garcia appears to be the leading possibility when — and perhaps if — Pacquiao decides to resume his career. Longtime Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, who also promotes Crawford and Postol, also said the July 23rd winner could land a shot at the Senator with a spectacular performance.

Postol and Crawford will fight at 140 pounds, which many believe is Pacquiao’s ideal weight.

“If that fight will happen, we’ll then sit down with each team to see how it goes,’’ Top Rank vice-president Carl Moretti said.

Then, Moretti couldn’t resist the chance to deliver a good punch line.

“As far as Freddie goes, it would be great to see him run back-and forth, from corner-to-corner,’’ Moretti joked.

That wouldn’t happen, of course. Roach’s longtime role as Pacquiao’s friend, confidante and corner man dictates that he would be in the Filpino’s corner.

“Me and Manny have been together for 15 years,’’ Roach. “It would be very difficult to go against him, of course. But, you know, I know Viktor is a very good fighter also.’’

If the Postol-Pacquiao happens, Marvin Somodio, Roach’s longtime aide, would probably train Postol.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Sergey Kovalev returns to Russia on July 11 for his first fight in nearly five years with titles and an emerging celebrity he never had or perhaps could have ever envisioned.

Kovalev won his first championship, the WBO ‘s light- heavyweight version, in Wales with a 2013 stoppage of Nathan Cleverly. He defended it for the first time in the French-Canadian town of Quebec City with a knockout of Ismayl Sillah , also in 2013.

The Russian, a first-time champ in Wales with an initial title defense in Canada, gained his first chance at American-style stardom a 2014 upset of an enduring American legend, Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City.

Therae was a Robin Williams’ line in Moscow on The Hudson, a 1984 film about the defection of a musician in the old Soviet circus during a tour stop in New York.

“Yesterday, I bought my first pair of American shoes,’’ the Williams character wrote in a letter home. “They were made in Italy.’’

In true American fashion, Kovalev is made of a lot of things, many of which are still being discovered in an ongoing story that is moving toward what could be a defining chapter against Andre Ward on Nov. 19 in Las Vegas.

First, however, a few things have to happen and not happen. Kovalev (29-0-1, 19 KOs) has to beat Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2, 10 KOs) in Ekaterinburg, 137 miles from Kovalev’s hometown, Kopeysk, in a bout that HBO will televise, tape-delay (10:15 p.m., ET/PT).

“I must get my victory for my next possible fight,” Kovalev said. “You lose once, everything goes broke.’’

Broke comes with a double meaning. The much-anticipated Ward-Kovalev bout sets up the winner as one of the game’s potential big earners. In a poll featuring boxing’s top earners in 2016, for Fortune magazine this week, Ward is ranked No. 5 and Kovalev No. 6.

Given the decision by Canelo Alvarez–Fortune’s No. 1–to bypass No. 3 Gennady Golovkin until at least next year, Kovalev-Ward looms as the biggie in 2016.

Ward has to uphold his part in the deal on Aug. 6 against Alexander Brand in Oakland. The guess here is that neither Kovalev nor Ward is in much risk of a loss. The bigger threat is an injury that could delay the fight, using it into 2017.

Kovalev, often as bold before a fight as he is dangerous during one, is already promising to do what no one else has.

Chilemba, awkward and mostly unknown, has never been stopped.

“Nobody has ever knocked Chilemba out,’’ Kovalev said. “I want to be the first.’’

Fighting at home for the first time since 2011 might come with some unfamiliar pressure on Kovalev. A hometown crowd might want something spectacular from a newborn star, who has been deadly on the road. Who knows how he’ll react at home?

There’s another element in all the plot lines surrounding the geography. Kovalev will be back in the same arena where his opponent, Roman Sinkov, died after he won by a stoppage.

Since then, Kovalev has said little about the tragedy. The people around him talk about it more than he does. For Kovalev, the job is more about the here –now, the immediate task in front of him.

Nevertheless, the Sinkov death is an unmistakable part of the Kovalev story in each day and every step he takes toward opening bell on Monday. If he wins as expected, he ‘ll have a definitive answer.

Maybe that’s just one reason he has gone home. Unresolved questions are a little bit like unfinished fights. They have to be confronted and Kovalev has yet to back away from one in a lifetime full of traveling from one confrontation to the next.

By Norm Frauenheim

The birthday was a long shot. Few guessed it would ever happen. Mike Tyson is 50. Buster Douglas probably faced smaller odds when, as a 42-to-1 underdog, he beat Tyson more than a quarter of a century ago.

Tyson’s milestone, instead of an early headstone, came and went Thursday amid some headlines, but none of the deafening craziness that defined him for so long.

That’s an upset. Tyson’s biggest victory, too.

In doing a cover story on Tyson for The Ring in 2014, he told me: “Let’s be men about this. Be honest. You didn’t think we’d be talking to each other like we are right now. Did you? Come on now, be real. You thought I’d be dead, right? Hey, I thought I’d be dead.’’

Tyson survived — survived prison, drugs, booze, outrage from the infamous bite he took out of Evander Holyfield’s ear and all the rest – because he learned how to deal with the personal demons, who once outnumbered the crowd in his entourage. How did he do it? He grew up.

It sounds simple enough. But it wasn’t, especially for a kid from the streets of Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood who won the world heavyweight title faster than anyone in the fabled division’s history. He was 20, which is another way of saying he just wasn’t ready for worldwide attention and unprecedented money.

“There ain’t no future in my past,’’ he told me in 2014.
He began to figure to figure that out after the past landed him at rock bottom. He was virtually finished as a fighter when he arrived in Phoenix in the fall of 1998, searching for a way to resurrect his career after the infamous Bite Fight disqualification at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand in 1997. He was in Arizona for counseling and to train at an old gym that the city was about to demolish.

Central Boxing was scheduled for the wrecking ball when Tyson decided he wanted to train there in beat-up building without air-conditioning. There’s AC there, now. But Tyson liked it for the hot box it was. Within its old walls, temps could hit 130 degrees during summer days in the Arizona desert.

Tyson saved the gym. It’s still there, near the state capitol and with AC. But nothing could save his career, which Holyfield effectively ended by stripping him of the intimidation that defeated so many frightened opponents before opening bell. After moving to Phoenix, he fought 10 times, winning five, losing three and getting no-contest in two. But he scared no one any more, other than himself.

It was that period in Tyson’s life when he used talk, often ad nauseam, about what a waste it had been. Again and again, he said he was sick and tired of boxing. He knew he didn’t want to be in the ring anymore, but he was because of a tax bill and other financial responsibilities.

When I first met him as a reporter for The Arizona Republic newspaper, I was cautious, fearful perhaps that he’d go off on a rant and take a piece of my ear. I’d stop at Central and he’d look through me as if he had never seen me. Then, there were times he welcomed me like an old boyhood friend. He just wanted to talk and he would, almost non-stop.

After one workout, I told him I had to leave. He followed me out into the mid-summer heat and to my truck. I opened the door and Tyson dropped his heavy right hand on my left elbow. I felt a hint of the power that frightened the heavyweight division for so long.

With one quick yank, he could have pulled my arm right out of its shoulder socket. I froze. Tyson talked. I listened.

It was then I realized Tyson was mostly afraid of himself, especially when he knew he was finished as a fighter. What was next for somebody who knew nothing else? He talked then, and continued to talk for another couple of years, as though he was trying to exorcise the demons. I was skeptical that he ever could. But he did, confronting tragedy when a 4-year-old daughter, Exodus, died in an accident on treadmill in Phoenix in 2009.

The tragedy helped forge the man. He would be back in Phoenix to visit ailing Muhammad Ali before Ali’s death on June 3. A week later, Tyson was a pallbearer for Ali’s funeral in Louisville.

Tyson was there to honor Ali. It was a sad moment, a reason to grieve, yet also fitting in terms of a heavyweight history full of champions, each different and yet each linked by what they did and how they did it.

Happy Birthday, champ.

By Norm Frauenheim-

The news hasn’t been good. More like lousy.

On the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin front, nothing is happening. On Wednesday, there was news – more like non-news — that they have agreed not to agree, meaning the fight will probably happen in the fall of 2017. That’s when public demand is supposed to peak. At least, that’s the bet.

If television ratings in free fall are a trend, however, the source of that demand might not be there. PBC’s last primetime telecast, featured by Joe Smith Jr.’s quick stoppage of light-heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara last Saturday on NBC, approached the infinitesimal, dipping into the fractions at .8, barely a heart beat.

So, why am I feeling optimistic? Not sure, other than to say that the boxing is back at the perilous place where it always seems to be at its best. Beneath all the scars, there’s defiance.

It explains the resiliency, which within the ropes is personified by the fighter who gets up from a devastating knockdown to win. It explains how the business has survived the obits, of which there are many right now. Yet, that stubborn defiance, double-edged and chaotic, always pushes the game to the brink, too. Nothing is safe, not even – or perhaps especially — prosperity.

It’s back at that brink, all over again, for well-documented reasons, starting with the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao dud in May, 2015. The litany of bad news — an eroding fan base and falling revenue, sets the stage for another comeback.

One might already be underway with super-featherweight Orlando Salido’s dramatic draw on June 4 with Francisco Vargas at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

The next chapter might be played out Saturday night in the welterweight clash between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on CBS (9 pm ET/6 pm PT). Potentially, it’s a classic match of power (Thurman’s) against speed (Porter’s) between fighters just entering their primes.

Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) is 27; Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) is 28. There might be better welterweights. There’s the UK’s Kell Brook, who scored a majority decision over Porter at StubHub in 2014. There’s emerging Errol Spence, who a couple of years from now might be the best in the division.

In the here-and-now, however, there is Thurman-Porter on a big stage in a bout with enough elements for enough drama that for one night can make everybody forget about whether Canelo-GGG will ever happen.

“You got two young fighters in their prime, fighting on primetime,’’ said Thurman, who calls himself One Time. “I mean, this is the time. This is the primetime. Mayweather is gone. Pacquiao is gone. There is no better time than this time, you know, for this fight to go down and for each one of us to showcase our skills and our talent to the world and take it to that next level.

“So nothing – there should be not one ounce of hesitation from either fighter. It should be a great night of boxing. I’m definitely looking forward to it.’’

Stephen Espinoza, of CBS subsidiary Showtime, is hoping for what Thurman has promised.

“Boxing takes criticism for not making the right fights at the right time,’’ Espinoza said Thursday at a news conference. “One of the bad habits we have is that we spend time thinking about fights that might get made. But now we have the right fight, at the right time and at the right venue. It’s a disservice to not recognize that what is going on Saturday is very special.’’

Very necessary, too.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Legacy is for sale these days. Bottle it, slice it up into parcels, package it, label it with an acronym and sell, sell, sell it on caps and T-Shirts. Just dial 1-800-LEG-ENDS, and you can have one too.

It’s become a cliché, mouthed in locker rooms, gyms and studios so often as to become meaningless. But Muhammad Ali’s death re-defined it for what it really is. Legacy ain’t cheap.

In fact, it can’t be bought at all, at not least in the dollars that these days seem to serve as the final arbiter of what and who has value. Of what and who doesn’t.

It took Ali’s death on June 3 and an extraordinary funeral on June 10 in hometown Louisville to remind us of that. This is not meant to be another eulogy of who he was and what he means. How history looks at him will change and evolve from generation to generation.

In the here-and-now, however, Ali’s singular place as a heavyweight champion and a cultural icon serves as an example of what boxing has been, can still be, yet isn’t because of a business model gone awry.

The worldwide reaction to Ali’s passing is a sure sign that there is still a global fascination with boxing. I know, I know. Media and corporate elites uncomfortable with the sport’s inherent brutality say Ali was bigger than boxing. But he would have been just another gasbag if not for a ring that allowed him amplify his fearless nature.

Fifty years from now, I’m willing to bet he won’t be remembered for pictures alongside Malcolm X or of him being escorted out of a federal building in Houston after saying no to the Army’s draft at the height of the Viet Nam war. It’ll be that Neil Leifer photo of him posing over a fallen Sonny Liston.

That was Ali in a snapshot.

It sums up the fighter and personality who didn’t calculate his career and life in terms of the risk-to-reward ratio, an equation built to enhance the money while eliminating the chance of defeat.

He took the risk. Paid for it too, in a brutal 1975 victory over Joe Frazier in a second rematch and a 1974 victory over George Foreman in a fight famous for the rope-a-dope. Ali exhausted Foreman by absorbing punches that make you wonder whether one night’s tactic led to the Parkinson’s discovered a decade later.

Parkinson’s terrible symptoms were what subsequent generations of fighters would see and many would avoid.

At the same, time, the best of those generations would always strive to achieve what Ali had in his legacy-defining career. The unusual twist is that Ali never talked about legacy during his battles with Liston, Frazier and Foreman. Who did? It could have been a brand of cologne for all he or anybody else knew.

It became a part of every fighter’s vocabulary because of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who has said he surpassed Ali. TBE – The Best Ever, Mayweather calls himself, mostly because he is unbeaten (49-0) and Ali wasn’t (56-5). The TBE acronym is on shirts and caps in every size. Just try one on. No legacy is too small or too big.

But this off-the-rack legacy cheapens what Ali did and, in turn, has turned off most of those in the global congregation that mourned his passing.

Mayweather’s real legacy is money. Nobody in any sport has ever earned as much. Maybe, TBE means The Biggest Earner, because that’s what Mayweather is and will be for awhile, if reports of his $240 million for a victory over Manny Pacquiao in May, 2015 are accurate.

In today’s dollars, Ali’s $6 million for his ‘75 victory over Frazier would be about $27 million. Very big money, but just a few more Bugatis in Mayweather’s garage.

Mayweather, a terrific boxer and a better businessman, turned Ali’s legacy into a calculation that enriched him, yet left the rest of the business scrambling in the wake of his victory over Pacquiao.

On-and-off negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao inflamed the public’s imagination for years. It’s no coincidence that the global appetite for boxing, dormant for so long, suddenly came alive in anticipation of a bout some thought would be the second coming of Ali-Frazier.

That didn’t happen. Not much of anything happened, other than the consequences. That’s no secret in an ongoing decline reflected in crashing PPV numbers – a reported 400,000 to 500,000 for Pacquiao’s rematch victory over Timothy Bradley in April and 450,000 to 600,000 for Canelo Alvarez’ knockout of Amir Khan in May.

That’s not a legacy anybody would want

In the weeks after Ali’s death, boxing starts over. It’s no coincidence that he will be mentioned often. That will begin June 25 for Keith Thurman-versus-Shawn-Porter in a CBS-televised welterweight bout at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

It will be the first time CBS has televised boxing in primetime since Leon Spinks upset Ali on Feb 2, 1978. Appropriately enough perhaps, it set the stage for another of Ali’s trademark comebacks – a decision over Spinks – the following September for his third heavyweight title.

“With the return of boxing to CBS Primetime, we’ve got big shoes to fill,’’ Stephen Espinoza of Showtime, a CBS subsidiary, said during a conference call this week. “It took something very special for CBS to step back in, and that’s exactly what we have.’’

Call it a moment, a chance, to remind a lost generation of fans that legacy is more than a T-shirt.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Muhammad Ali’s journey, 74 years long, ends Friday where it started. The world that worshipped him will gather in the city where he was born. Heads of state, old rivals, actors, rappers, preachers, priests, promoters, poets and punchers are in Louisville for the Funeral of the Century.

Ali, who lost to Joe Frazier in the Fight of the Century 45 years ago, planned it. He’d give the eulogy if he could, but not even The Greatest could manage that. He’ll have to let former President Bill Clinton speak for him. He’ll have to let the crowd cry, cheer and chant his name.

Ali Bomaye! Ali Bomaye!

That was the African chant before, during and after his 1974 stoppage of George Foreman in what was then Zaire. Listen for that and for the butterfly, the bee and everything else on the sound track that helped define the young Ali, who once said he was so mean he’d make medicine sick.

He’ll be remembered for all the crazy words. For Foreman, Frazier and Sonny Liston, too. For Malcolm X. For refusing to serve in the U.S. Army because of his opposition to the Viet Nam War. For changing his own name, too. Born Jan 17, 1942 as Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, he returns to the Kentucky city with the Muslim name that will never be forgotten.

He might not have been history’s greatest fighter, a spot that belongs to Sugar Ray Robinson. He might not even have been the greatest heavyweight. Joe Louis probably hit a little harder and didn’t let his hands drop in a way that left Ali perilously open, leaving only his durable chin as a defense.

Only Ali would take punches from the powerful Foreman and label the tactic as rope-a-dope. It was risky and unexpected. But Ali did it, exhausting Foreman in a bout that makes you wonder whether it was factor in the terrible disease that would befall him a decade later. Ali couldn’t exhaust Parkinson’s, but he fought it – day-to-day, hour-to-hour – with quiet dignity for 32 years before he died in Scottsdale, Ariz., last Friday at 9:10 p.m. (PST).

I’m not sure how I’ll remember him. As an Army beat living in faraway bases, I had my ear pressed against my dad’s radio to hear what ever I could above the static of the blow-by blow accounts of his victories over Liston.

As a young sportswriter in Florida, I watched the back-and-white telecasts of his 1971 loss to Frazier at a closed circuit venue. I went to a crowded movie theater to see him beat Frazier in their first rematch. Then, I saw him beat Foreman and Frazier again in Manila, all in grainy-and-gritty black-and-white.

It wasn’t long before I moved to Phoenix. My interest in boxing was still there and had peaked with eventual Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal, whom I began to cover at the 1988 Olympics.

Then one day in 2005, I looked up and saw Ali standing in front of me at halftime of a Phoenix Suns game. We shook hands, yet said very little. I wasn’t sure whether Parkinson’s had yet robbed Ali of his speech. I soon found out that it had not. He grabbed me from behind and whispered in my ear.

“You sure are uglyyyyyy,’’ he said.

Surprised, I turned and looked into dancing eyes full of playful mischief. On other encounters, there were the familiar magic tricks.

Then, there was an afternoon in downtown Phoenix about eight years ago. I sat next to him at a Diamondbacks game. He grabbed my notebook and pen. Fifteen minutes later, he gave them back.

On a page in the notebook, there’s a sketch, a stick figure walking toward a leafless tree that seems to be on the edge of a faraway canyon. I wasn’t sure what to think of it then. But I looked at it again this week while thinking of Ali’s death and his funeral Friday. Ali was looking at the uncertainty of the end he knew was coming.

He did the only thing he could do. He got ready.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Olympic boxing’s long slide into irrelevancy continued this week with an acronym’s decision to let pros fight amateurs for medals.

The outrage was predictable because, of course, it’s dangerous. Men shouldn’t be allowed to fight boys, although that’s been going on ever since the Cubans began their dominance of the medal stand’s top pedestal generations ago.

Olympic boxing has been an unfolding accident ever since Roy Jones Jr. got robbed of gold in a documented fix at the 1988 Seoul Games. In the wake of a scandal at an Olympics also marred by 100-meter dash winner Ben Johnson’s positive test for steroids, there were some cosmetic moves.

Olympic bureaucrats altered the scoring, replacing the cards with computers. But software is as corruptible as pen and paper. Since Seoul, the whiff of corruption has hung over Olympic boxing. There has even been speculation that Olympic movers-and shakers have thought about eliminating the sport altogether.

That would be tough to do, mostly because countries without the money for swimming pools and equestrian can always produce a boxer or two. Nevertheless, the sport has moved from the midway to the fringe, from prominence to obscurity. Sugar Ray Leonard won his gold at a Montreal venue near the gymnastics arena where Nadia Comaneci won her 1976 gold.

Twenty-eight years later, you had to leave the main Olympic park to find the boxing venue, a rundown building in rundown part of Athens, to see Andre Ward win in 2004, America’s last gold.

Four years later, the city was different, but boxing was as hard to find in Beijing as it was in Athens. It was if the Olympic establishment and the sponsoring networks wanted to keep it out of sight, if not out of mind. In 2008, a scandal erupted over how judges were assigned. There were allegations that some shadowy figure in an Eastern European country was offering money in an attempt to influence the assignment of favorable judges.

A news conference was called and held late at night, somewhere in between Michael Phelps’ eighth gold medal at the pool and Usain Bolt’s first at the track.

A couple of reporters, including this one, showed up. Stories were written, filed and ignored. Point is, nobody cares about Olympic boxing anymore. There’s outrage at AIBA’s decision to allow pros into the ring, starting this summer with the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the Zika Games.

But it will subside, a little bit like the Olympic sport itself. AIBA’s decision pushes boxing closer to tragedy – a serious injury or fatality – than it has ever been. Then, it really will vanish. But will anybody really care?

By Norm Frauenheim-

Roberto Duran has been everywhere lately. He was in France, at the Cannes film festival, a few days ago, hanging out with Robert DeNiro, for the first look at the big screen portrayal of his life, Hands Of Stone.

He was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago for the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan bout, marketing the movie and mostly doing what he does best:

Being himself.

This weekend he’s in Arizona, where he has some roots. His father used to work and live in Flagstaff in the mountains a couple of hours north of Glendale, a Phoenix suburb where on Saturday night he’ll be working a corner for Shane Mosley in the 44-year-old’s ongoing comeback against David Avanesyan at Gila River Arena in a CBS Sports Network-televised bout (10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 pm PT) on a seven-fight card scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. (PT).

There’s an ongoing fascination with Duran that doesn’t need twitter or Facebook or some other modern manifestation of social media to further it. The film, starring DeNiro as trainer Ray Arcel, is just the latest expression of how there’s no end in the interest the public has for Duran, who ironically was once known for uttering no mas.

The growing Latin influence in American media and culture helps explain some of it. The current generation of Latino fight fans all had dads who told their sons about Duran. But there’s more to it than just that.

From this corner, Duran has become the face of what boxing once was. Through the days before Canelo’s crushing stoppage of Khan on May 7, I ran into Duran hugging fans, kissing babies and telling stories. History is full of the so-called People’s Champ. But, I suspect, a true measure of one is what happens long after the final bell. So many just vanish from our collective memory. They show up at staged events and autograph shows. They’re there for a few sound bites and then are gone all over again.

But Duran is still in the crowd, stirring up emotions and imaginations if he had never left. One of those weathered hands of stone will grab you and leave an indelible mark.

Every time I see him, I go back to a memorable 40 minutes that Bart Barry, my longtime colleague and wordsmith extraordinaire, and I had with him. He was in Phoenix. We were a couple of reporters, alone in big ballroom for a press conference otherwise ignored by local media. Had it been just about anybody other than Duran, he’d been gone, angry and embarrassed at the lack of attention.

But for the people-centric Duran, two reporters were an audience he couldn’t resist. He talked to Bart and me as if the New York Times and Wall Street Journal were in the room. He talked about punching out a horse for the chance to win a fifth of Chivas Regal, which was worth more than the purse he got for winning an earlier bout in Panama City.

He talked about injuries he suffered in auto accident in Argentina. Barry, bi-lingual, was the designated translator. Through Bart, he said he had been in a coma for two months. In English, I immediately interrupted by saying “Two months?’’

Here came that hand of stone. It grabbed my forearm. Suddenly, Bart’s able translation was not necessary.

“Two months, two weeks, two days, two hours, two minutes,’’ Duran said in English. “A coma, OK?’’

OK.

He talked about being in the hospital, although it didn’t appear to be a hospital when he first awoke. He said he looked up and saw a white circle above him. He explained through Bart that he took that as a heavenly sign. He had made it, he said. And, he said, he started chanting exactly that, loudly and often.

Suddenly, he said, an arm reached out and grabbed the wrist on one of those hands of stone. Then, there’s a voice from the occupant of a nearby bed, an old man, who told him to shut up, because he was only in a hospital room.

I didn’t know how much was true, or embellished. At that point, however, it didn’t mater. Bart and I didn’t care. We didn’t know whether to believe the story, but we just wanted to hear him tell it. There was a generosity in Duran’s spirit and energy in just telling a story. It was more than a sign that Duran liked to perform. It was a moment – one of 40 – that said Duran genuinely liked people, no matter how many there were or who they represented.

This is the same fighter who agreed to a rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard within six months after winning a unanimous decision over him in Montreal on June 20, 1980. On November 25 of that year, Duran lost the rematch by uttering the then- infamous no mas during the final seconds of the eighth round.

In explaining the circumstances leading up to that fight, Duran said he had been living in New York, celebrating non-stop.

“Women-women-women, drink-drink drink, eat-eat-eat,’’ he said through Bart.

Somewhere between the women, the booze and the food, Leonard’s management offered the rematch. The money, Duran said, was too good to pass up. But I also suspect that Duran knew he owed something to fans. He loved them as much as the women, the booze and the food.

He owed them a rematch –a bout — that they wanted as soon as possible. Would that happen these days? Could it? It took years for Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao to happen. The same scenario appears to be unfolding amid all the talk about Canelo-Gennady Golovkin.

Duran said yes to the Leonard rematch despite the fact there really wasn’t enough time to get ready. Duran took the risk, suffered for what he did and said, yet re-emerged nearly 36 years loved as much, if not more, than ever.

It was genuine then and looks to be more genuine now in when compared to today’s way of throwing up artificial delays that only wind hurting the people.

Duran’s people.

By Norm Frauenheim

TUCSON – There was no main event. There was only a reunion.

Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney stole the show — their own show — Friday night, as co-promoters of a card at Casino Del Sol that lost its main event when junior featherweight Hanzel Martinez was hurt Wednesday night in an auto accident.

Jones and Toney, once sworn enemies in a 1994 super- middleweight out called Uncivil War, re-emerged as business partners in what they say is just the beginning.

“We’re going to take over the world, man,’’ said Toney, who made his old rival laugh at his dance steps, jokes and gestures as they stood in the ring, almost arm-in-arm, before each bout televised by the CBS Sports Network. “We’re just starting.’’

More like starting over.

Twenty years ago, the guess was that the two would only meet again in a bitter rematch or an old-fashioned duel. There could only be sequel of the hostility that lingered after Jones’ unanimous decision over Toney in a clash at Las Vegas MGM Grand.

“Nah, nah, nah’’ Toney said. “You gotta get past all of that. Time to grow up.’’

John “Pops” Arthur — Toney’s CEO, advisor, mentor and confidante — said Toney and Jones ran into each other last year at a boxing meet-and-greet.

“James had always wanted a rematch, yeah,’’ Arthur said. “I told him to move on and put his anger aside. I told him to approach Roy like a businessman. When people saw them together, I think they probably thought they’d only agree to rematch.’’

Given their pasts, it would have been a reach to think anything else. Both fighters have continued to fight far beyond their primes, despite calls from fans and media for them to retire.

This time, Arthur said, they shook hands. But not for a remake of some old hostility. This time, it’s all about business, Arthur said.

Arthur foresees a long-term partnership, which would be a lot better for their financials and their brain cells than a rematch ever could be.

“We’ll do a lot more of these, no doubt,’’ Toney said.

With the Martinez-Prosper Ankrah bout off the card because of a concussion and back injury suffered by Martinez during an accident in Tijuana, the show went on with Emmanuel Robles in an eight-rounder against Pipino Cuevas in a junior welterweight bout.

In his first bout since signing with Roy Jones Jr. in early March, Robles (15-0, 4 KOs) made it look easy against an out of-shape Cuevas

Robles floored Cuevas (17-16-1, 15 KOs), winless over his last seven bouts, with a crushing left in the third round. Cuevas got up, but blood poured from his nose. He looked beaten. in the fourth, he would be.

At 25 second of the round, referee Tony Zaino stopped it when Robles landed a series of blows against a defenseless Cuevas.

On The Undercard

Keenan Carbajal (11-2, 6 KOs) wore red-and-white trunks cut in the style of his Hall of Fame relative, junior-flyweight legend Michael Carbajal. Flashed a little bit of his power, too.

Keenan Carbajal, bigger and more confident than ever, delivered a lethal succession of combinations, overwhelming an overmatched Lorenzo Trejo in the second round.

The featherweight bout was scheduled for eight rounds. Carbajal, of Phoenix, could have put Trejo (35-31, 22 KOs), of Mexico, onto the canvas that many times or more, if not for referee Rocky Burke, who ended it at 2:21 of the second and Trejo on the canvas for the third time in the round.

An introduction of Randy Moreno’s power was warning enough for Christopher Turton. Moreno (3-0, 2 KOs), of Las Vegas, rocked him, sending Turton stumbling across the canvas midway through the first round of a lightweight bout scheduled for four. A dazed Turton (2-3, 1 KO), of Colony, Tex., took a seat after the first and quit before the second ever began.

Tucson cruiserweight Jesus Santamario’s debut was a knockout, but not exactly the kind of knockout a young fighter envisions for his first pro bout. Edgar Ramirez (3-0, 1 KO), of Mexico City, crushed him with power he had never encountered, bouncing him off the ropes and onto the canvas for a quick knockdown, then finishing him with short right to the back of the head at 1:13 of the first.

Before the CBS telecast, Phoenix super-flyweight Elihu Soto (5-0, 3 KOs) employed precise and painful body blows to score a four-round unanimous decision over Yezber Romero (2-2, 1 KO) of Eugene, Ore.

By Norm Frauenheim

A disappointment, yeah. But a surprise? Not these days, not in the wake of a fan base eroding faster than political civility in the year since the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao dud.

The best that can be said of Wednesday’s move is that it was an empty gesture.

In boxing speak, Canelo “vacated” the title about a week before a deal was mandated for bout with Gennady Golovkin In a prepared statement, he said he did so because he didn’t want reported negotiations with GGG to be subjected to “artificial deadlines.”

Vacated and artificial are just a couple of ways of saying empty, empty.

Put it this way: Canelo gave up a 160-pound title that he won and defended at 155 pounds. GGG was awarded a title he has long pursued without ever having to throw a punch.

Meanwhile, Canelo is still the division’s lineal champ, meaning he beat the man who beat the man. Think of a flow chart, lines of succession. I’m not sure where any of the lines really lead, other than nowhere in boxing’s current climate.

At best, it was a subtle way of saying that Canelo-GGG won’t happen until next year. But didn’t we suspect that anyway? In so many ways and words during the days before Canelo’s dramatic knockout of Amir Khan on May 7, that was the message.

During trainer’s roundtable a couple of days before opening bell at Las Vegas new T-Mobile Arena, Canelo’s corner man Eddy Reynoso essentially told everybody they’d have to wait until at least next year.

He said that Canelo would not fight a true middleweight in his first bout after Khan, who jumped from welterweight to sacrificial lamb in a bold, yet futile bid to upset the maturing Mexican.

“No, not at all,’’ Reynoso said through an interpreter.

When asked when Canelo would face a fighter with a proven record at 160, Reynoso said: “Maybe in two or three fights. But now, not at all.’’

In giving up the WBC title, Canelo might be getting out from under mounting pressure for him to defend a time-honored title at a catch-weight while forcing the 34-year-old GGG to wait until after still another birthday.

The move also could weaken whatever leverage GGG had in negotiations, which both sides say are still ongoing. He’s no longer the mandatory challenger.

But does any of this matter to fans? Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya has said that the GGG-Canelo fight is the antidote for a lingering hangover from Mayweather-Pacquiao. No argument, there.

But De La Hoya is caught in a dilemma. What’s best for boxing might not be best for Canelo and De La Hoy’s business. He’s trying to maximize the money he and his star client can make in a long-awaited confrontation against GGG.

Okay, but the timing is risky. Crashing pay-per-view numbers since the Mayweather-Pacquiao turnoff are evidence that GGG-Canelo has to happen ASAP.

De La Hoya likes to refer to promoter Bob Arum’s old term about how to market a major bout. Marinate, says Arum, who likes to let public demand stoke the fires for a while.

But while Canelo vacates, the public marinates in familiar exasperation and further impatience. An empty gesture this week threatens to create more empty seats everywhere. That’s a lousy recipe in any book.

By Norm Frauenheim-
Hanzel Martinez suffered undisclosed injuries in a reported auto accident Wednesday night, forcing him to withdraw from a main event Friday night at Tucson’s Casino Del Sol on a card televised by the CBS Sports Network.

Martinez, 23-2 with 18 KOs as a junior featherweight, was reported to have been involved in the accident while leaving Tijuana, Mexico, on his way to Tucson.

Martinez, a former brother-in-law to Antonio Margarito, was scheduled to face Posper Ankrah (24-7, 15 KOs) of Ghana.

With Martinez-Ankrah off the Roy Jones Jr.-promoted card (11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT), the main event will feature junior welterweight Emmanuel Robles (14-0-1, 4 KOs) against Gerardo Cuevas (17-15-1, 15 KOs).

In another Arizona card Friday night, Phoenix super-bantamweight Panchito De Vaca (14-0 4 KOs) faces Gustavo Molina (22-11, 9 KOs) for a NABF junior title at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. The Iron Boy Promotions card is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Deontay Wilder, an emerging champion and a compelling personality, wants to make history. Maybe, he should just make a statement, instead.

Wilder is about to leave for Moscow and become the first American heavyweight champion to defend his title there on May 21 against Alexander Povetkin in a risky venture complicated by ongoing disclosures of Russia’s systematic doping.

Depending on the source and based on a very big assumption that all will be on the up-and-up, the fight is a toss-up. Wilder might win. Might lose. But he would score a victory for everybody – boxers, skaters, skiers, sprinters and swimmers – if he just said, hell no, he won’t go until the Russians clean up their act.

What would he have to lose? Plenty, at first. He’d lose a paycheck. He’d risk lawsuits and his title. The World Boxing Council probably would have no choice but to strip him of the belt. Then, there are crazies in the boxing crowd who would question his guts and his promise to knock out Povetkin.

A Wilder victory on Russian scorecards would have to go down as a contender for Upset of the Year. After all, this is a country that, according to the New York Times, conducted a urine exchange – dirty for clean — though a hole in the wall at the Sochi Olympics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/sports/russia-doping-sochi-olympics-2014.html?_r=0

Yet despite Russia’s Hole In The Wall Gang, there have been no criminal charges while the country continues to move forward on plans for the 2018 World Cup.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/apr/08/russian-doping-scandal-no-criminal-charges-sports-minister

http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/russian-doping-scandals-won-t-impact-2018-world-cup-preparations-116051200324_1.html

The fight will happen two weeks after the WBC announced its Clean Boxing Program, year-round testing that will be administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association President Dr. Margaret Goodman.

Wilder Promoter Lou DiBella said Wednesday during a conference call that testing has been underway for seven to eight weeks. However, DiBella also said he would have preferred to have had the testing begin earlier.

The unfolding scandal probably means the Russians will be very careful not to exchange urine samples like shots of vodka before opening bell next week. The world is watching. But that’s not the point.

Thus far, we’ve heard from bureaucrats representing all of the world’s sporting acronyms. We’ve heard threats to ban Russia’s track-and-field athletes from this summer’s Brazil Olympics. Blah, blah, blah. It’s bupkis, or business as usual after the fight. We’ve yet to hear from an athlete in a substantive way. Enter Wilder, who has a chance to say and do something that – long term – would stand as a courageous triumph.

It wouldn’t be the equivalent of the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics for Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. Over time, the boycott, ordered by then-President Jimmy Carter, has been judged to be a mistake. Athletes were caught in the middle, forced to pay a price for an international confrontation they didn’t create.

But state-run doping is all about the athletes. It puts their integrity, livelihood and health in jeopardy.

The heavyweights have a rich history of making a real difference. Jack Johnson broke the color line before Jackie Robinson, becoming the first African-American to win the heavyweight title during an era that spawned The Great White Hope. Joe Louis knocked out Germany’s Max Schmeling in a 1938 rematch that came to symbolize the coming world war between democracy and fascism. Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title and license when he refused to be drafted because of his opposition to Viet Nam.

They are remembered for how they responded when confronted by events, each in their own time. It’s Wilder’s time.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Andrew Tabiti, a Floyd Mayweather Sr, trained fighter, hopes to take some of the snoozer out of cruiser against Keith Tapia Friday night in the 200-pound division tonight at Las Vegas Sam’s Hotel and Gambling Hotel in a bout televised by ShoBox: The New Generation.

Tabiti (12-0, 11 KOs), of Las Vegas, is looking for victory over Tapia (15-0, 6 KOs), of of Puerto Rico, that would put him into the championship mix of a Euro-dominated division.

It’s no coincidence that the card (10 p.m. ET/PT) features another cruiserweight bout between 2012 U.S. Olympian Michael Hunter (11-0, 8 KOs) against Isiah Thomas (15-0, 6 KOs) of Detroit.

The undercard includes Tucson welterweight Alfonso Olvera (7-2, 3 KOs) against Sanjarbek Rakhmanov (4-0, 3 KOs) of Uzbekistan.

LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez had none of the speed. None of the footwork. But he had one punch. It was enough and now he has it all.

Canelo’s power was summed up Saturday night in one mighty strike that sent Amir Khan bouncing off the canvas like a flat board off a concrete floor midway through a bout that re-asserted the Mexican’s ability to dictate what’s next. Who’s next.

As a statement, it was as definitive as it was dramatic. It showed just how quickly Canelo (47-1-1, 33 KOs) can turn things, everything and anything, in his favor. For weeks, there was a debate about a 155-pound catch weight for a bout that was his first defense of the WBC’s 160-pound title.

Five pounds here, five pounds there. The power is heavy on any scale. It landed, lightning bolt-like, just when it looked as if a major upset was brewing. Khan’s hand speed and agile feet were giving Canelo fits throughout the first five rounds. In the second round, a knot appeared on Canelo’s right cheek bone. But it was there long enough to become a critical target for Khan’s long and accurate jab.

“I was getting in the ring with a big guy,’’ said Khan, who was taken to a nearby emergency room for observation after the bout. “Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the end.’’

In one momentary lapse, Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) ducked and Canelo threw a right hand counter that landed like a bomb on a chin that has long been a target. At 2:37 of the sixth round, it was over in knockout in an HBO pay-per-view bout, the first at the new T-Mobile Arena.

The crowd went wild. For a few scary moments, Khan never heard the roar. He was out. The back of his head had bounced off the canvas at least once. A crowd of Nevada officials and corner men surrounded him like paramedics. They waved a white towel in what looked to be desperate attempt at getting him to regain consciousness. It looked like an accident scene.

All the while, Canelo paraded from one side of the ring to the other, celebrating his victory. He waved at Gennady Golovkin, who was in a ringside seat.

“i invited him into the ring,’’ Canelo said. “Like we say in Mexico: ‘We don’t f— around.’

“I don’t fear anyone. We don’t come to play in this sport. I fear no one in this sport.’’

When asked if he would fight GGG this year in a title defense mandated by the WBC, Canelo said he was ready.

“Right now,’’ he said. “Right now, I’ll put on the gloves.’’

That didn’t happen, of course. And there’s still doubt about whether it will happen later this year. Canelo has all the leverage, which means he could continue to demand a 155-pound catch-weight, even at the risk of having the WBC title stripped from his thick waist.

“Gennady, Gennady where are you?’’ Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya said from the ring after the bout. “We want to talk to you, talk to and your representatives tomorrow.’’

According to the WBC, Canelo has 15 days to negotiate a deal with GGG.

“I am old school,’’ Golovkin said before opening bell. “Middleweight is 160. I respect the sport of boxing.”

But Canelo holds the upper hand at the negotiating table, especially if the pay-per-view audience is anywhere near the one million mark.

For now, all of boxing’s respect and its perks are on Canelo’s side of the table. That’s power, too.
Attachments area

David Lemieux says it’s a beginning.

Frankie Gomez finally passed a test that will allow him to graduate from prospect to contender.

Curtis Stevens changed his nickname.

Diego De La Hoya has more than a legend’s last name. He has some speed and sting in his hands too.

Jason Quigley waved an Irish flag. Danced to Irish music.

Rashidi Ellis walked out of T-Mobile Arena the way he walked in.

It was a double debut.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez stood on a stage, beneath threatening skies and surrounded by weathered, scarred and aging faces of fighters who have been what he hopes to be.

He looked to his right and saw Roberto Duran. To his left, he saw Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins. Each has been where Canelo wants to go.

“The thing is, I want to be legend,’’ he said during a conference call a couple of weeks before his fight Saturday night against Amir Khan in a defense of his WBC middleweight title at the new T-Mobile Arena.

There is no map, no well-traveled path, on how to get there. For every great fighter on the stage Friday for a weigh-in in front of the T-Mobile Arena, there were different challenges and controversies. They are legends, in part, because of skill, durability, style and guts.

There’s also luck. Legend making can be as unpredictable as the approaching weather. But there was no downpour Friday despite dark clouds that promised a desert storm. It was just coincidence, but legends can’t be made without good timing. For Canelo, the timing has been almost perfect throughout his career.

De La Hoya, his promoter, calls him the game’s new face. He might not be quite there yet. But Canelo is in the right place and precisely at the right time to put a face on a game that has begun to search for one.

Maybe Floyd Mayweather Jr. is coming back. Maybe not. Crazy stories about him fighting UFC star Conor McGregor are just a sure sign that the comeback talk will be with us at least until we know whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is moving into the White House next year.

Early next week, we’ll know whether Manny Pacquiao is a new Filipino Senator. Elections are scheduled for May 9. After beating Timothy Bradley on April 9, Pacquiao said he’s “50-50” on retirement. If he wins a seat in the Filipino Senate, it will get a lot harder for him to move back into the ring.

Opportunity is in the forecast.

Years from now, Canelo’s date with Khan might not be considered critical. It’ll only be critical if he loses, and few expect that in a 155-pound bout against a skilled, yet undersized Khan, who has been at more than 140 pounds only four times before a two-division jump for a spot on Saturday HBO’s pay-per-view card (6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET).

For Canelo (46-1-1, 32 KOs), the key is not so much in if he wins. It’s in how.
If Canelo is a legend in the making, he has to look good – very good — against Khan (31-3, 19 KOs). Five-to-one odds in favor of Canelo suggest that the Mexican will dominate in a style that will only further speculation about a showdown with Gennady Golovkin, who plans to be at the fight.

At the sports book and on the scale, he has key advantages. He is expected to be 17 to 18 pounds heavier than he was Friday. That means Khan, who is not expected to heavier than 165 at opening bell, could be facing a fighter who is a couple of pounds short of being a light-heavyweight. Khan’s quick feet might not be fast enough to keep Canelo off him throughout the scheduled 12 rounds.

“I’m confident that this is my time,’’ Khan said at the weigh-in.

If Khan stays disciplined and resists the temptation to trade punches, maybe it will be his time. Slick defense and agile footwork are supposed to keep him out of range, and away from Canelo’s dangerous combinations.

From start to finish, however, Canelo’s stubborn pursuit and upper-body strength figure to keep the pressure on. The betting odds are one-sided because few think Khan can stick to his game plan. One moment of fatigue, physical and/or mental, could leave Khan’s vulnerable chin open for the KO combo that many believe is inevitable, perhaps in the later rounds of just one chapter in a bigger story.

Notes From The Scale: David Lemieux has been mentioned as a possible foe for Canelo. However, Lemieux has had trouble making 160, much less 155. Lemieux (34-3, 31 KOs) was right at 160 Friday for his middleweight bout Saturday against Glen Tapia (23-2, 15 KOs), who was at 159.5. …Curtis Stevens (27-5, 20 KOs) was at 160 and Patrick Teixeira (26-0, 22 KOs) was at a 159. …Mauricio Herrera (22-5, 7 KOs was at 145.5 and Frankie Gomez (20-0, 13 KOs) at 146 for their welterweight bout.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez is not a middleweight now and probably won’t be one until sometime next year.

That, at least, was trainer Eddy Reynoso’s likely timetable when asked Thursday whether Canelo’s next fight would be against a true middleweight if he beats Amir Khan Saturday at a catch-weight in his first defense of the WBC’s 160-pound title.

“No, not at all,’’ Reynoso said during a trainer’s roundtable at the MGM Grand. “Maybe in two or three fights. But now, not at all.’’

The plan is for Canelo to fight two more times this year, once in September and again in December. He intends to fight both times at 155-pounds, the contracted weight for the HBO pay-per-view bout against Khan at the new T Mobile Arena.

The question, however, is whether Canelo still will have the WBC title if the 5-to-1 betting favorite beats Khan.

According to an agreement with the WBC for an interim fight after his victory for the belt over Miguel Cotto in November, Canelo has 15 days after the Khan bout to reach an agreement with Gennady Golovkin, the mandatory challenger and presumptive middleweight champion.

Without an agreement with GGG or another deal for an interim bout in the wake of a predicted Canelo victory, the WBC’s next step would be to strip the popular Mexican of the title.

“We will follow the rules,’’ WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said.

Canelo’s stubborn demand for a catch weight has generated controversy over whether the 25-year-old is ready for thunbeaten and feared Golovkin.

“We’re ready to fight anyone,’’ Reynoso said. “It’s not a difficult fight. It’s a hard fight to make and we’re going to have to sit down with Oscar De La Hoya to do that.

“But as a fight, it is not difficult, because he (GGG) is a fighter who comes forward.’’

Bernard Hopkins, De La Hoya’s promotional partner, defends Canelo’s right to demand a catch weight.

“Who’s the star?’’ said Hopkins, a longtime middleweight champ in 2004 when he agreed to a 158-pound catch weight for a bout against De La Hoya.

Hopkins came in at 156 and won a ninth-round stoppage in a career-defining bout. De La Hoya was fighting at middleweight for only the second time, but his celebrity propelled Hopkins to more money and media attention than he would have received against any other fighter.

“The guy fighting on Cinco de Mayo weekend is the guy generating the numbers,’’ Hopkins said. “He’s the star. Why does everyone want to give GGG a free pass?’’

Canelo has said that GGG has fought a collection of nobodies. A couple of those nobodies are on Saturday’s undercard. There’s David Lemieux, who lost to GGG in October. There’s Curtis Stevens, who lost to GGG in November, 2013.

“Triple-G not being ready for Canelo?,’’ said Lemieux, who faces Glen Tapia Saturday night. “I don’t think that’s the case. Sometimes, people have got to say whatever they want to say.

“But we all know Triple-G has a long amateur history. He’s a very good fighter. And it’d be a very interesting fight if he fought Canelo. Canelo has fought a lot of tough opponents, but so has Triple-G.”

Canelo, Stevens said, has the leverage because of his pay-per-view numbers, including 900,000 for his victory over Cotto.

“Canelo, he’s the man, the pay-per-view superstar, and he is a junior-middleweight, not a true middleweight,” said Stevens, who fights unbeaten Patrick Teixeira Saturday. “Canelo makes the rules in this case. It’ll be a good fight if it happens.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Amir Khan might be a big underdog against Canelo Alvarez Saturday, but he won the news conference Wednesday.

Khan scored a knockout with a punch line.

“You never know, but this could be the last fight for me and Canelo here,’’ Khan said at the MGM Grand. “That’s it, if Donald Trump becomes president.’’

Khan is Muslim, a UK fighter of Pakistani descent. Canelo is Mexican. Trump’s call to make America great again doesn’t exactly include either.

Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, has campaigned by saying he would bar Muslims. He’s also promising to build a wall, 10 feet high, along the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Oh yeah, Trump also might be at the Khan-Canelo fight Saturday night in the T-Mobile Arena’s boxing debut.

After Khan’s line, promoter Oscar De La Hoya announced that Trump would be attending the middleweight bout for Canelo’s World Boxing Council title.

“I just received confirmation that Trump will be here Saturday night,’’ De La Hoya said.

De La Hoya re-confirmed to a handful of reporters after the news conference that he had been told Trump had accepted his offer.

De La Hoya offered Trump two tickets last week during an appearance on Cavuto Coast to Coast on Fox Business News.

Tickets are still available for the fight, an HBO pay-per-view bout. The billionaire politician, who got Mike Tyson’s endorsement last weekend and was at ringside for Gennady Golovkin’s victory over David Lemieux at Madison Square Garden in October, could probably afford to spring for a couple of tickets on his own dime.

But De La Hoya wants Trump to witness a unique, international event between two accomplished athletes from backgrounds he has targeted with comments that have angered Mexicans and immigrants.

“”I have Amir Khan, a Muslim fighter from the U.K., fighting against the most popular boxer in Mexico, Canelo Alvarez, opening up the new T-Mobile Arena,” De La Hoya said when he first made an offer that he figured Trump could only refuse. “We have an opportunity to show Mr. Trump just what Mexicans and Muslims can achieve — and in a city that screams America: Las Vegas. Trump, let me invite you so that you can see what a Mexican and a Muslim can generate.”

It’s not exactly clear where Trump, a former business associate of Don King and Bob Arum, would be seated if he shows up, presumably with somebody other than Ted Cruz. At recent campaign stops in California, violence erupted among demonstrators opposed to Trump, whose name has been booed loudly by fight crowds ever since the ex-promoter became a politician.

“Not in ringside seat,’’ De La Hoya said during the news conference. “But we’ll make sure he sees the fight.’’

By Norm Frauenheim

By now, all the arguments have been stated and re-stated. We’ll hear them again, ad nauseam, next week in the final days before Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan fight at Las Vegas’ new T-Mobile Arena.

Catchweight or middleweight? Should Canelo surrender the WBC’s 160-pound title or move forward with a mandatory defense against Gennady Golovkin? Those questions will be heard about as often as Donald Trump’s name.

Fair or not, Khan figures to become a footnote, at least in the pre-fight proceedings. That might become a very big piece of motivation for him and he’ll need every bit of it against the bigger, stronger Canelo.

Nevertheless, the GGG question isn’t going to go away. For Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya, it’s a classic dilemma.

The young promoter, a Hall of Fame fighter who wanted to fight the best and still does, faces controversy no matter what path he chooses in the wake of a likely Canelo victory.

On the one hand, there’s growing public pressure on him to do the deal for Canelo-GGG in September. On the other, there’s the risk of losing income that Canelo, the game’s current pay-per-view leader, figures to generate if he isn’t ready and suffers a one-sided knockout.

What would you do? For vocal fans armed with the various forms of the social-media megaphone, it’s easy to demand that the bout happens ASAP. They don’t have any skin in the game. It’s not their money. If it was, what would they do? If it was your money, what would you do?

The guess here is that a big percentage would delay the inevitable, especially after watching GGG’s powerful blowout of Dominic Wade last Saturday.

Wade won’t be remembered for anything other than being GGG’s 22nd straight knockout victim. He didn’t look as if he could beat any known middleweight, or good junior middleweight for that matter. Nevertheless, GGG’s dominance was evident in his power, style and body language. He’s in his prime and fought as if he wanted everybody to know exactly that.

With all due respect to unbeaten flyweight Roman Gonzalez and his one-sided decision over McWilliams Arroyo Saturday, Golovkin trainer Abel Sanchez said GGG was pound-for-pound No. 1. No argument here. I didn’t hear much of an argument from anywhere else either.

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: Khan’s skill set – fast hands and faster feet – could make Canelo look bad. But Khan’s instinct is to brawl after he gets tagged. At some point, that will do him in, say, after the eighth round. Canelo wins a stoppage, but not in a dominant enough fashion to suggest he’ll have any chance against GGG four months from now. He’s 25, yet still another fight or two away from the kind of maturity he’ll need for a legitimate shot against GGG.

“Many things have changed,’’ Canelo said of how he has grown since his lone loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. “I’m more experienced now. I’m more of a complete fighter. I’ve learned so much in that fight. So many things have changed. I think I have more confidence around the ring, so there’s many things that have changed.’’

But the suggestion is that more still has to change in an ongoing process for the young Mexican who is about nine years younger than GGG. Canelo’s demand for a 155-pound catchweight is just a dodge. Truth is, it’s his corner’s way of saying he still needs to mature. It would be refreshing if they just said that. But pride and business won’t allow them to. Instead, we get euphemistic talk, all rhetorical feints and all very annoying.

For De La Hoya, the question looks to be simple enough. Canelo is the key to his financial war chest, which will be critical for a while.

The boxing business is down, predictably so amid the continuing hangover from Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao, a turn-off for all of the causal fans who bought the hype and the fight last year. HBO has cut it boxing dates. That’s why Bob Arum will stage Terence Crawford-versus Viktor Postol on pay-per-view on July 23.

There’s a further red flag in a $925-million lawsuit that investors have filed against Waddell & Reed, which bankrolled Al Haymon’s ambitious PBC venture. http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/04/28/investors-furious-at-money-put-into-boxing.htm

It’s hard to know where the suit is headed. But it is enough to know that a big risk in September just wouldn’t be wise.

By Norm Frauenheim–

If boxing mimics politics – as it so often does, Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez are still in the primary season.

It moves onto another stage Saturday (HBO 10 pm ET/ 7 p.m. PT) with Golovkin expected to make another statement about his middleweight dominance against Dominic Wade at The Forum in Los Angeles just two weeks before Canelo faces Amir Khan on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It’s only a guess as to whether the two fights can push GGG and Canelo closer to fighting each other. If it had been up to GGG, he would have been looking into Canelo’s unblinking eyes during the nose-to-nose stare-down for the cameras in a news-conference ritual Thursday in Los Angeles.

But it was the unknown Wade instead of Canelo staring back at GGG because of an agreement that allowed Canelo one defense of the WBC’s 160-pound title he took from Miguel Cotto in November.

It’s a deal that has generated inevitable criticism from fans weary of waiting. The last time they waited, they got Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s dud of a decision over Manny Pacquiao. Anybody want to do that again? Didn’t think so.

But the question of when remains as unclear now as it was months ago. Perhaps, more so, especially in the wake of Canelo’s continuing insistence that the fight be at a catch weight, 155 pounds.
“I really haven’t discussed the topic of Canelo, or regarding Canelo, with Golden Boy,’’ said Tom Loeffler, CEO of K2, GGG’s promoter. “We had the meeting with the WBC when Canelo was obligated to fight Gennady by winning the WBC title.

“But since then, since we had the agreement that he could have one voluntary defense and then would have to fight the winner, Gennady, or Dominic Wade, since then we haven’t had any discussions. We figure we’d focus on April 23, they would focus on May 7 and then after those two fights, we’d figure out the situation.’’

There’s little, if any, doubt abut the outcome in either fight. Golovkin is an overwhelming favorite to continue his string of knockouts, now at 21 and counting. Odds in his favor are anywhere from 70-to-1 to infinity-to-1.

Two weeks later in T-Mobile Arena’s first opening bell, Canelo is nearly a 5-to-1 favorite. That’s one-sided, yet close enough to think Khan has a better chance at making Canelo look bad than he does at beating him.

Khan has the right skill-set – quick feet and hands – to make it difficult for Canelo. In evaluating Khan, there’s been a lot of talk about Canelo’s loss to Mayweather, who in 2013 schooled the popular Mexican, then 22.

But Mayweather has taken just about everybody he’s faced to school. That’s why he’s 49-0. A more telling moment in Canelo’s career, perhaps, was Erislandy Lara in July 2014.

Lara never kept his distance, circling Canelo like a spinning top. An aggressive Canelo moved forward throughout the 12 rounds, an aggressive pursuit which was enough for a split decision.

But Lara made him look bad. Since then, Canelo, now 25, scored a sensational stoppage of James Kirkland and followed up against Cotto with a performance that included some newfound signs of maturity.

Against Cotto, he showed more upper-body movement. He was a more complete fighter, but perhaps not complete enough to contend with GGG, who at 34 is in his prime.

The guess in this corner is that he beats Khan, but his performance will determine whether he goes straight from Khan to GGG or back to the WBC for another agreement on another voluntary title defense.

Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya would not eliminate any option during a conference call this week. Even a Cotto rematch is a possibility.

“Might be,’’ De La Hoya said.

A move to further delay a mandatory with GGG could also put the WBC in an awkward spot. The WBC will have to decide whether to strip Canelo of the title if he doesn’t face GGG next. The ruling body is based in Mexico City. Canelo is, far and away, Mexico’s most popular fighter. Remember, boxing mimics politics.

“I’m not even thinking about that,’’ Canelo said this week. “I’m preparing for this fight on May 7. I’m not even thinking about that.

“After the fight, we’ll see. We’ll decide and see what’s the best course of action. But right now, it’s not even in my mind. Hasn’t even crossed my mind. I don’t know.”

By Norm Fraunheim-

Nonito Donaire remembers 2012 as though it is history about to repeat itself.

Donaire fights for the first time in 2016 Saturday at home in the Philippines at Cebu City against Hungarian Zsolt Bedak in defense of a title he won in December and at a weight, 122 pounds, he dominated four years ago when he was Fighter of the Year.

“I have a second opportunity,’’ Donaire said in a conference call Thursday for a bout that will be televised in the U.S. by InDemand Pay-Per-View. “Not everybody gets that. I want to re-write everything that I did in 2012.’’

Re-live it too, yet this time with a deeper appreciation for what it all means.

In the first defense of a WBO super-bantamweight title he won in a decision over Cesar Juarez in December in Puerto Rico, Donaire returns to his Filipino roots in a fight the has dedicated to his father, Nonito Sr, who will be in his corner.

“My dad never left me through all my ups and downs,’’ said Donaire, who is 3-0 since Nicholas Walters knocked him out in a 126-pound bout in October, 2014. “I just want to thank him.’’

Donaire (36-3, 23 KOs) also intends to thank his Filipino fans with a victory over Bedak (25-1, 8 KOs), who beat Abner Mares at the 2004 Olympics.

In a sure sign that Filpino boxing is still thriving in the post-Manny Pacquiao era, about 18,000 tickets have already been sold, according to Donaire and promoters. There’s talk that the walk-up sale could put the crowd at 30,000, he said.

“Boxing will always thrive here,’’ Donaire said. “Filipinos want somebody to represent them, somebody to look up to. For me, it’s an honor and I’m going to show that in my performance.’’

By Norm Frauenheim

Bob Arum ripped Donald Trump. Mocked him, too, from a bully pulpit on a stage for what the promoter called the No Trump Undercard. It was clever advertising and might have generated as many pay-per-view sales as Manny Pacquiao’s decision over Timothy Bradley in the main event.

Part show and part substance, part satire and part serious, it was mostly words, another political debate during a political season as silly and tiresome as any boxing news conference ever could be.

But it had a face, too.

Oscar Valdez’ face.

In one promising featherweight, Valdez personifies two cultures that Trump wants to divide with a wall. Valdez’ roots are on both sides of the border between Arizona and Mexico. He went to grade school in Tucson. He began to box there. Then, he moved to Nogales on the Mexican side of the border where he became a two-time Mexican Olympian. He speaks like an American kid. He speaks like a Mexican kid. There’s no wall big enough to separate the American from the Mexican in Valdez.

“I’m not really into political end of things in the USA,’’ Valdez said before delivering the card’s best performance, a fourth-round stoppage of Evgeny Gradovich, the self-proclaimed Mexican-Russian and the IBF’s former 126-pound champion, at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. “But what I do know is that I that I wouldn’t want Trump to be president of the United States. It would affect other countries.

“Mostly, I’m just focused on this fight. But I’m also excited to be on this card. Knowing that we have Bob Arum’s support on what he’s calling the No Trump Card, it just brings a little more flavor to it.’’

More edge to it, too.

In addition to Valdez, the April 9 card included Gilberto Ramirez, who won a WBO title became the first Mexican to win a major super-middleweight belt with a decision over Arthur Abraham, a German of Armenian descent. There was also junior-welterweight Jose Ramirez, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, faces Manny Perez of Denver in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds. Ramirez, the son of farm workers in central California, is an activist in water conservation.

Valdez, Gilberto Ramirez and Jose Ramirez were the collective face of what Trump’s proposed wall opposes, Arum said. Trump loves to talk about winners. On Arum’s card, however, he was the loser. Mexico 3, Trump 0.

“Without a wall, they just show that, back and forth, great things happen across the border between the two countries,’’ Arum said.

There is already a wall along much of the border between Mexico and Arizona, where there was a heated immigration controversy about six years ago with the state legislature’s passage of SB 1070.

Valdez, who fought in Tucson in December, has traveled through that wall’s checkpoints often, visiting his mom and grandmother in Tucson and his family in Nogales.

“I’m blessed to have grown up on both sides,’’ said Valdez, who now lives in Hermosillo when he’s not training in Southern California. “Having grown up in Mexico means so much to me. My culture, my family, is everything. Having grown up in the United States means so much. It’s so important to know English. It’s meant so much to have gone to school in Tucson and still have friends and family there. It will always be my second home.’’

In part, Valdez’ emergence as a featherweight contender is a symbol of Arizona’s resilience as a boxing market. It’s always been a good one, yet it all but disappeared for a couple of years in the wake of SB 1070.

Mexican advertisers stayed away, forcing Arum to move a Jose Benavidez Jr.-featured card in 2010 out of the state and to Chicago early in his career. The controversy even prompted Jose Sulaiman, the late president of the World Boxing Council, to issue an edict, asking Mexican fighters to boycott the state. Some did, some didn’t. But the impact knocked Arizona out of the ring of viable markets long enough to wonder if it would ever come back.

It has, it is, because of the gyms that dot the state’s Sonoran desert like cactus. From Phoenix to Tucson, from Michael Carbajal to Oscar Valdez, there’s always another one. Good fighters are part of the landscape. Part of the culture.

At some point, Valdez, who stopped Gradovich with the best left hand from a fighter with Arizona roots since Carbajal, hopes to fight again in Tucson, although his rapid ascent might keep him in bigger markets. In the immediate aftermath of his victory over Gradovich, there was talk he would wind up on the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol card on July 23, also in Vegas at the MGM Crawford.

“I do know people – cousins, friends, family — who have been deported, especially in the state of Arizona. There was a time there when it got really crazy. You know, it was sad. Just sad. I know my friends. They’re not terrorists. They just come to work, come to make a better life.’’

Fight for one, too.

LAS VEGAS – If it was a farewell fight, it will be remembered for how Manny Pacquiao kept the good in bye.

Pacquiao flashed some moments of his best days as a fighter, knocking down Timothy Bradley twice and scoring a unanimous decision in a one-sided fight Saturday night that left no questions, other than perhaps why these welterweights ever had to fight three times.

Pacquiao’s speed and power began to assert their superiority in the fourth and left Bradley looking resigned and even somewhat demoralized after knockdowns in the seventh and again in the ninth. The second knockdown, the result of wicked left hand from Pacquiao, nearly set Bradley head over heels.

Above all, Pacquiao’s victory provided further evidence of just how wrong those scorecards were when Bradley won a split decision in 2012.

In the immediate aftermath of hearing the scores 116-110 on all three cards, there wasn’t much celebration from Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs), who won a clear-cut decision in a 2014 rematch. If anything, he was subdued, uncertain perhaps about what he’ll do next.

He’s a Filipino Congressman. He faces an election for his country’s Senate on May 9. It looks as if he is moving into his life after boxing.

“Yes, I am retired,’’ he said in the middle of the ring. “I want to go home and spend time with my family and serve the people.’’

If the crowd of 14,665 at the MGM Grand represented his people, they want him to serve by continuing his ring career. They cahnted “Manny, Manny”” from round to round. They stood and applauded through the final minute of the bout. Their roaring affection for him could make it very hard for him to stay retired.

Meanwhile, Bradley (33-2-1, 13 KOs) seemed to have as much affection for him as anyone. Pacquiao invited him to payer meeting Sunday morning and, according to a publicist, Bradley was planning to go.

They smiled and embraced like old buddies after the final bell. The loss leaves uncertainty about his career. He said he would discuss what to do next with wife and manager Monica.

“I can still fight,’’ Bradley said.

He can, but not against Pacquiao anymore.

Mexico 3, Trump 0

The No Trump Undercard was Bob Arum’s way of expressing his opposition to presidential candidate Donald Trump’s controversial comments about Mexicans and the Republican front-runner’s promise to build a wall along the United States’ southern border.

It was a message that needed a follow-up.

The follow-up was delivered, a three-punch combo, before the Pacquiao-Bradley main event.

Three bouts featured fighters of Mexican descent. All three won with power and precision that could have knocked down just about any old wall.

Gilberto Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) became the first Mexican to win a super-middleweight title by scoring a shutout, 120-108 on all three scorecards, over Germany’s Arthur Abraham (44-5, 29 KOs) for the WBO’s version of the 168-pound title.

Two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KOs), who began boxing in Tucson, put himself in line for a shot at a world featherweight title by throwing the best left from a fighter with Arizona roots since Michael Carbajal for a fourth-round TKO of Evgeny Gradovich, who calls himself the Mexican Russian. After Valdez dropped him, Gradovich (21-2-1, 9 KOs) looked like neither. He only looked finished

Super-lightweight Jose Ramirez (17-0, 12 KOs) , a 2012 U.S. Olympian who fights for water conservation in central California when he isn’t fighting in the ring, punished Manny Perez (25-12-1, 6 KOs) of Denver in a sustained beating throughout 10 rounds for a 97-93, 98-92, 99-1 decision.
Best of the Undercard

Oleksandr Gvozdyk calls himself The Nail. Nadjib Mohammedi knows why.

Gvozdyk (9-0, 7 KOs), a Ukrainian light-heavyweight and a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, nailed him with straight right that dropped Mohammedi (39-5, 24 KOs), face-first and unconscious, onto the canvas at 2:06 of the second round.

Mohammedi speaks French. Jay Nady gave the 10-count in English. Didn’t matter. Mohammedi never heard it.

The Rest

Welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas (13-0, 11 KOs), a Lithuanian training at Robert Garcia’s gym in Oxnard, Calif., was better in every way, scoring a unanimous decision over Deniz Ibay (15-1, 9 KOs) of Germany

Youth was served with German teenager Leon Bauer’s unanimous decision over Russian super-middleweight Hshat Khusnulgatin (12-2, 6 KOs) in a bout that set one record. The 17-year-old Bauer (8-0, 6 KOs) was 10 days younger than Jose Benavidez Jr. was in his in 2010 debut.

There was a second helping of youth with another 17-year-old, Las Vegas super-featherweight Devin Haney (4-0, 2 KOs) winning a unanimous decision over Puerto Rican Rafael Vazquez (2-5)

Russian welterweight Konstantin Ponomarev (30-0, 13 KOs) stayed unbeaten, but keeping that 0 intact was tough and controversial in a 10-round split decision over Brad Solomon, a Lafayette, LA fighter who left the ring once beaten.

By Norm Fraueheim-

LAS VEGAS – Timothy Bradley stepped onto the scale and gestured as if to say there wouldn’t be any surprises

There weren’t.

At a weigh-in without an ounce of the unexpected, Bradley and Manny Pacquiao both came in under the welterweight limit of 147 pounds for their third fight Saturday in an HBO pay-per-view bout at the MGM Grand.

Bradley, his face a serene mask of confidence and his upper body sculpted like an ancient statue, came in at 146.5 pounds. Pacquiao, a little less sculpted yet smiling as he always has, was one pound lighter at 145.5.

There was no trash talk. No threats. History stood between them and perhaps in front of them. Roberto Duran was there, holding a WBO belt specially made for the occasion.

Pacquiao was to his right, Bradley to his left. After posing for the requisite photographs, they turned and left Duran, standing alone with the belt and alone in his undisputed place among history’s all-time greats.

For Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) and Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs), history isn’t the issue. Only Saturday night is. For them, it’s one last chance to settle some of the questions that have been there since Bradley’s controversial victory by split decision in their first meeting in 2012.

It’s a chance for Bradley to prove that maybe it wasn’t quite as controversial as everybody thought it was four years ago. For Pacquiao, it’s a chance to put a final punctuation point on what is perceived to be a rivalry, despite his clearcut decision in their first rematch. The Filipino can prove, once and for all, that he has always been the better fight.

“I have a lot to prove,’’ Pacquiao, a slight favorite, said Friday in what has become a refrain throughout the last few weeks.

Enough proof might be a definitive reason for him to walk away, say farewell, to a career that has already made its own share of history in the ring and for the Philippines. He’s a Congressman and candidate for his country’s Senate. There’s talk he might be president one day.

On Saturday, however, the current Congressman, would-be Senator and wanna-be President only hopes to be the winner.

Bradley, who has endorsed him as politician, is confident that the canvas-covered district between the ropes will belong to him this time around

“Got to get ready for tomorrow, baby,’’ Bradley said. “I think there are going to be a lot of disappointed fans out there.’’

Bradley was talking to Pacquiao’s constituency, a deeply loyal crowd whose faith in him as a Filipino icon remains unshaken by his controversial comments about gays in February.

Questions linger, of course. At opening bell, the biggest one will be about Pacquiao’s right shoulder.

He underwent surgery for a reported muscle tear after a disappointing loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May. How strong is the shoulder? Pacquiao’s promoters say he has fought with the tear since his 2008 victory over Oscar De La Hoya. There are questions about why he didn’t undergo surgery then.

If he had undergone surgery earlier, would he have avoided his long knockout drought? He hasn’t scored stoppage since 2009.

“I don’t know,’’ Pacquiao said.

The guess is that Bradley will test the surgically-repaired shoulder often and early. But the other guess is that Bradley could encounter twice as much power and from more angles from Pacquiao now than he did before surgery.

There are a lot of guesses now. In the end, maybe there’s a surprise.

HBO’s pay-per-view telecast is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. with junior-welterweight Jose Ramirez (16-012 KOs of Avenal, Calif., against Manny Perez (25-11-1, 6 KOs) of Denver. Ramirez was 138 pounds and Perez was 137.5 Friday.

The telecast’s second bout features Mexican featherweight Oscar Valdez (19-0, 16 KOs) of Nogales against ex-IBF champion Evgeny Gradovich (21-1-1, (KOs) of Russia. Valdez was 125 ½ pounds, Gradovich 126.

The third televised bout features WBO super-middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (44-4, 29 KOs) of Berlin against Mexican Gilberto Ramirez (33-0, 24 KOs). Both were at 168 pounds Friday.