LAS VEGAS –  It was contentious. It was surprising. It was ugly. It wasn’t everything David Benavidez thought it would be. Or promised it would be.

But it was a victory, a big one that enhanced his chances at climbing to the top of boxing’s marquee and into its pound-for-pound argument.

He beat Caleb Plant Saturday night, scoring a unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Showtime pay-per-view bout. But it was neither the beat-down he vowed nor the blood-letting he threatened. Plant survived. His jaw stayed intact. He was still upright after six rounds. He didn’t go to the hospital.

Benavidez had promised to shatter that jaw. He said he would knock him out within six rounds. He promised him a trip to the emergency room. 

But, in the end, he hugged Plant. He praised him. Instead of contempt, there were congratulations.

“I would talk shit,” said Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOS), who had talked enough of it to fill a couple of metropolitan sewers. “But I like this guy now.”

It was an astonishing comment. Maybe,  peace-on-earth is possible, after all.. Benavidez and Plant had behaved as though they would be enemies until the bitter end. And that’s how the super-middleweight bout — a so-called title eliminator for a shot at undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez — began.

Just seconds before the opening bell echoed throughout a sold out arena, Referee Kenny Bayless ordered them to touch gloves, a gesture of respect. They didn’t.

For the next 12 rounds, however, they were forced to respect each other. Benavidez moved forward, stubbornly and seemingly sure that one of his promises would become reality. But Plant had other ideas and perhaps more resilience than the Phoenix-born fighter expected 

.

Plant ( 22-2, 13 KOs) threw body shots and moved around the ring, trying to take advantage of every inch in its 22-by-22 feet of real estate. Benavidez stalked and often mocked. He followed Plant to his corner after the ninth, talking to the back of Plant’s head as if to say the end was near. It wasn’t. 

Plant came roaring out of his corner for the 10th, throwing a low blow as a warning shot.

He wasn’t finished. But he was behind on the cards. Tim Ceathham scored it, 115-113. David Moretti had it 116-112. On Steve Weisfeld’s card, it was 117-111. All for Benavidez, whose size and strength were dominant factors over the five six rounds.

“I feel good, my mind’s right,” Plant said. “David is a helluva fighter. It’s a big rivalry but that’s what boxing is all about. We came here and settled it like men. I take nothing from David. We haven’t been the best of friends but we got into the ring and we settled it like men.”

In the super-middleweight division, there’s much more to settle, of course. For the 26-year Benavidez, the victory might represent the beginning of a new stage, especially if Canelo agrees to fight him.

“I just want to tell everyone that I have a lot of respect for Canelo Alvarez but he has to give me that shot now,” he said. “That’s what everyone wants to see. Let’s make it happen.

“I don’t think Canelo is trying to avoid me. I just feel like he has a lot of options. But now the fans are calling for this fight, the legends are calling for this fight, so let’s make it happen.”

Even Caleb Plant would agree.

Cheers welcomed Benvidez, the first to enter the jammed arena. There were boos for Plant, who He wasn;t far from his hometown. He grew up on on the westside of Phoenix. It sounded if a lot.

Third Benevidez beging to cuut off the ring during the round’s finl minute. In the opening    

Jesus Ramos wins dominant stoppage

Jesus Ramos moved up the scale, hoping to be a good fit.

For one night, at least, the fit looked to be perfect. 

For Ramos (20-0, 16 KOs), the prospects look promising at junior-middleweight.

Ramos, of Casa Grande AZ, dominated Joseph Spencer, forcing his corner to surrender at 1:25 of the seventh round in the final fight Saturday before Showtime’s Pay-Per-View biggie, David Benavidez-versus-Caleb Plant at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

It didn’t take long for Ramos, a former welterweight and Abel Ramos’ nephew, to show that he’s very comfortable at junior-middleweight. Very dangerous, too

Late in the first round, Ramos threw a short left that landed like the hammer on a  pulled trigger. It crashed off Spencer’s chin and sent him crashing onto the canvas. A resilient Spencer (16-1, 10 KOs) , of Fenton Mich., got up. But it also set up the inevitable. Ramos continued to walk down, push around Spencer before his corner told referee Tony Weeks “no mas.”

Chris Colbert gets ups from knockdown to win controversial decision 

Jose Valenzuela’s first impression rocked and rolled.

But Chris Colbert survived. Make that thrived.

Colbert got up from a first-round knockdown to win a controversial decision — 95-94 on all three cards — over Valenzuela Saturday night on the Showtime pay-per-view card featuring David Benavidez-versus-Caleb Plant.

A roaring crowd expressed its outrage over the decision from judges Glenn Feldman, Lias Giampa and Don Trella. Colbert stuck his tongue out at the booing fans and Valenzuela, junior-middleweight and Benavidez stablemate.

“You called me a loser,” Colbert screamed at Valenzuela.

An angry Valenzuela then looked at broadcaster Jim Gray as he prepared for an interview in the middle of the ring.

“Who do you think won,?” Valenzuela asked.

“I ask the questions,” Gray said..

There was no question about what happened during the fight’s first few seconds. The opening bell still echoed through the arena when Valenzuela landed a thunderbolt-like left. 

Colbert and Valenzuela heard the ref’s instructions.

They touched gloves.

Valenzuela dropped Colbert.

One-two-three,  all in one quick sequence.

Looking like the best leftie since Fernando, Valenzuela (12-2, 8 KOs) ducked and came up with a left that Colbert (16-1, 6 KOs) never saw. It was astonishing that Colbert got up. He calls himself Prime Time. He knew there was still some left in the hour glass and prove it repeatedly by coming back with solid shots from the second through the 10th rounds.

 He was up and on his feet, fighting back at about the same time former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder walked into the arena and toward his ringside seat.

Cody Crowley win emotional decision in punishing fight with Abel Ramos

Abel Ramos wanted to make a statement. 

Instead, he got one.

Cody Crowley delivered it repeatedly with stubborn  pressure and wicked uppercuts in a punishing majority decision over Ramos Saturday in the first televised bout on the Showtime pay-per-view card featuring David Benavidez-versus-Caleb Plant  at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

The bout, a WBC title eliminator, was close and somewhat controversial. Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs) was the winner on judge Chris Migliore’s card, 116-112. He he won on Steven Wiesfeld’s card, 11-113. However, judge Tim Cheatham scored it a draw, 115-115.

In the eleventh, it looked as if Ramos (27-6-2, 21 KOs) might have a chance. Ramos, of Casa Grande AZ, landed a short right that buckled Crowley’s knees. Referee Robert Hoyle ruled that Ramos had scored a knockdown. It looked as if  the Canadian touched the canvas with a glove as he tried to stay on his feet. But video replay showed that he had not.

The knockdown was overturned from ringside before the 12th and final round. . A punishing victory belonged to Crowley.

An emotional Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs) came into the welterweight title eliminator determined to win one for his late dad, who committed suicide in June. Crowley cried during news conferences when asked about him during news conferences before the welterweight bout.

Crowley was fighting for a lost dad. Fighting for his dad’s memory. And fighting to make a statement against the mental illness that led to his father’s tragic death.

Consider it delivered.

Kevin Gonzalez remained undefeated with a 10-round unanimous decision over Jose Sanmartin in a super bantamweight fight.

Scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 for Gonzalez, 121.4 lbs of Culican, MEX is 26-0-1. Sanmartin, 121.8 lbs of Barranquilla, COL is 34-7-1.

Orestes Velazquez, a Cuban living in Miami, had advantages in reach, power and energy. 

That and more proved to be too much for Argentine Marcelino Lopez (37-3-1, 22 KOs) throughout 10-rounds of junior-welterweight bout, the first on card featuring David Benavidez-Caleb Plant Saturday at the MGM Grand’s Grand Garden Arena.

Velazquez’ long jab dictated the pace as it landed repeatedly, sending echoes throughout a mostly empty arena hours before the main event. Velazquez (7-0, 6 KOs) won easily on all three scorecards –99-91, 97-93, 99-91. 

By Norm Frauenheim –

LAS VEGAS — On the scale, David Benavidez and Caleb Plant did what they had to. They made weight. 

Off the scale, they did what they’ve been doing for years. They exchanged profanities, threats and taunts in a noisy feud that will finally escalate Saturday into a real exchange of punches in a fight motivated by a potent mix of anger and mutual contempt. It’s a potent cocktail, a shot glass full of tension, 180-proof.

That tension continued to spill out into the open in a second face-off in as many days Friday after Benavidez and Plant were comfortably within the super-middleweight limit, 168 pounds. Then, they walked around to face each other in front of the scale. What followed was off-the-scale, over-the-top and thoroughly predictable.

Plant stuck out  his left hand, which was cocked like a loaded weapon, and pressed his index finger into Benavidez’ neck. Benavidez stepped forward, ready to retaliate. But that’s where it ended.

Wary security quickly intervened, stepping between the and pushing each to opposite ends of the stage at the KA Theatre, a short walk from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, site of Saturday’s night’s simmering grudge match.

“Just exchanging pleasantries,” said Plant, who was at 167.25 pounds.’

For Benavidez, there was nothing pleasant about it.

“He tried to put his finger in my face,” Benavidez (26–0, 23 KOs) said. “I tried to push him back and onto his expletive.”

Benavidez didn’t exactly say expletive. But you get the idea. The Benavidez-Plant feud has been nothing if not for the expletives. On and on, it goes. Finally, the two are expected to mix in a few punches in a bout with enormous stakes. 

The winner takes a step toward further stardom and into the pound-for-pound debate. There’s also a possible shot at undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and the big money that could come with it. The possibilities are life-changing. There’s no other expletive way to describe it.

That accounts for a lot of the tension. But there’s some personal history, too. A long and jagged path precedes their date Saturday in Showtime’s pay-per-view bout (6 p.m. PT/9 pm ET, $74.99). Plant and Benavidez have attacked each other’s families, demeanor, courage and ethics. There’s nothing that one likes about the other..

Perhaps, only a fight can calm the storm — alleviate the personal contempt one has for the other. But don’t count on it.

After the face-off furor, Benavidez was asked if the fight will end the rivalry.

“Effing no,” Benavidez said.

He didn’t say effing. But, by now, you know that.

Benavidez, a Phoenix-born fighter nicknamed “The Mexican Monster” by Mike Tyson, goess iot the fight as the favorite. He’s at least a 3-to-1 favorite. His energy and lanky leverage gives him an edge, especially with his raw power. The consensus is that he’ll walk down Plant (22-1, 13 KOs), scoring a late-round stoppage.

However, it’s not as if Plant hasn’t watched and studied a Benavidez career. He’s demolished almost everyone in front of him. Plant’s chances might rest with his ability to slow him down. A possible tactic:  Make Benavidez chase him across a bigger than average ring. It’s 22-feet by 22-feet, a Plant demand met in negotiations.

For Pant, the task is to interrupt Benavidez’ focus and momentum. That might lead to a frustrating fight,  both for Benavidez and his fans, many of whom made the trip up from Phoenix.

“In the end, you’ll see my hand raised,” Plant said in a comment that suggests a decision.

Benavidez envisions another kind of ending. In one breath, he promises to send Plant to the hospital. In another, he vows to break his jaw.

He’s not kidding.

You choose the expletive.

By Norm Frauenheim –

LAS VEGAS — Nobody blinked, but David Benavidez got the face-off he wanted Thursday with Caleb Plant after the final news conference for their super-middleweight grudge match Saturday at the MGM Grand .

“I’m real happy we were able to get that face-off,” Benavidez said after he and Plant exchanged threats and profanities during a few tense moments on a stage at the casino’s KA Theater.

Benavidez and father/trainer Jose Benavidez Sr, expressed doubts Wednesday that the face-off would happen.

“I was very surprised that it did,” Benavidez Sr. said. “There was never any chance that anything bad was going to happen. It wasn’t like I going to throw a punch.”

But his son did throw some verbal shots during what was just another extension of a long-running feud.

“I’m going to send you to the hospital,” he said to Plant as they stood eyeball-to-eyeball, each flanked by security guards.

Security finally stepped in between them, breaking off the face-off. As they were led to opposite ends of the stage, Plant pointed at Benavidez with a hand cocked like a loaded weapon.

“He said what I thought he would, what he’s supposed to say,” Plant told reporters and a small crowd of fans, including ex-heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

Tyson is the first to call Benavidez “The Mexican Monster”, a nickname that is beginning to supplaint his first nickname, “The Red Flag.” 

When the Showtime pay-per-view card (6 pm PT/9 pm ET) was formally announced at a newser in Los Angeles on February 2, the two had to be separated twice.

It’s not clear whether the two will do another face-off Friday after the official weigh-in. During the formal part of the newser Thursday, each was asked what the fans could expect in a fight that could lead to a shot at undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alavrez..

“You’re going to see my hand get raised,” Plant said.

Then, Benavidez delivered a chilling counter:

“You’re going to see me break his jaw, that ‘s what the fans are going to see,” he said.

Photo by Esther Lin / SHOWTIME

By Norm Frauenheim –

LAS VEGAS — In terms of trash talk, it’s all been said.

Maybe that’s why David Benavidez and Caleb Plant didn’t have much else to say Wednesday at media workouts for their super-middleweight clash Saturday at the MGM Grand in a pay-per-view bout.

That’s not to say threats weren’t there. Benavidez climbed through the ropes and into a  ring near the MGM Sportsbook. He looked at the crowd and made what has become a familiar, throat-slashing gesture. It was his way of saying he intends to do more than just knock out Plant.

“Everybody I hit, gets hurt,” Benavidez said.

The hurt will be there early, Benavidez promises , in what he says will be a quick finish. He intends to knock out Plant within six rounds in a bout that could lead to a shot at big money against pay-per-view star Canelo Alvarez, who last week agreed to a May 6 bout with John Ryder at home in the Mexican state of Jalisco.

“This is the most focused I’ve ever been for a fight,” Benavidez said. “I know Caleb Plant is going to be a hard fighter, moving around a lot. But whatever he brings to the table, I’m going to be ready for it. I’m looking for that knockout and I’m going to get it.’

If there was a surprise, it was the way Benavidez looked. The Phoenix fighter has long had a soft-looking upper-body. He was a chubby kid, he says. Plant had another word for it. He called him fat. Whatever the description, he entered the ring Wednesday, looking every bit like the maturing fighter who turned 26 in December  

“This is the best I’ve ever felt mentally, physically and emotionally,” Benavidez said. “I was already a monster before, but Caleb Plant brought the ‘Mexican Monster’ out of me.”

On Wednesday at least, there were no taunts from Plant.

“I’ve been here before,” said Plant, a Tennessean who grew up near Nashville. “I’ve been in big fights before. I know what this is all about and I know what it takes. Me and my team are fully prepared to get my hand raised on Saturday night.”

Both fighters were understated, wary perhaps of a confrontation that could lead to a scuffle. Opening bell is just a couple of days away. Years of trash-talk has left evident tension. As a result, there are doubts the fighters will engage in the ritual face-off both at the final formal news conference Thursday and at the weigh-in Friday. But Benavidez was hopeful.

“I’m hoping we can still do a face-off, give the fans what they want,” Benavidez said. “I’m not going to do something, something stupid, that might jeopardize this event. Not after all the work I’ve done.

“There’s a lot at stake here. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long, long time.”

By Norm Frauenheim –

The proof has been unfolding for years. First, David Benavidez had to prove it to himself. Now, he has to prove it to everybody else.

The journey from fat kid to feared fighter, from anonymity to stardom has been a process that almost looks inevitable just days before it undergoes its most significant test yet against Caleb Plant on March 25 in a Showtime pay-per-view bout at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

But it hasn’t been easy, much less predictable. Growing-up never is, especially when the lesson plans are subjected to all of the twisted dynamics and drama that rule boxing. Within those ropes, there’s no playground. Just chaos.

At 26, however, Benavidez looks as if he was born for it. Beneath the baby fat, he discovered his identity. A fighter’s instincts were always there, part of his DNA. He’s a natural, comfortable with the craziness and more confident than ever that he can control the violence.

“I’m at the beginning stages of my prime,’’ Benavidez said during a media workout Tuesday in Burien WA, a Seattle suburb and home far from the streets where he grew up in west Phoenix. “After this fight, the sky is the limit.’’

Plant has other ideas, of course. He’s about four years older. At 30, he’s squarely in his prime. He’s also been on boxing’s biggest stage in a stoppage loss to PPV star Canelo Alvarez in November 2021. That’s a place Benavidez has yet to see, yet to experience. Plant says he’s had to learn and adjust in ways that Benavidez has not. He calls it an advantage.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

It’s a key question in a super-middleweight fight that has been brewing for a long time. In the promotional media, it’s been dubbed Bad Blood. The Bad is genuine. The Blood is likely.

“I’ve been training for this fight for three-and-a-half months,’’ said Benavidez, who has vowed to knock out Plant in what he promises will be a painful stoppage to a long-running trash-talk exchange that has been over-the top, even by boxing standards.

Truth is, Benavidez has been training for Plant for longer than mere months. More like years.

Besides all of the noisy trash, Benavidez’ volatile career has been unusual. He’s unbeaten, yet he lost the World Boxing Council title twice, first because of a positive test for cocaine and then a failure to make the 168-pound weight.

If not for that, he might have already experienced what Plant says Benavidez has not. He might have already fought Canelo. He might already be a long-reigning champ.

“If not for issues losing his titles, he’d be on the pound-for-pound list,’’ Plant trainer Stephen “Breadman’’ Edwards told Sean Zittel in a compelling interview for FightHype.

From Terence Crawford to Naoya Inoue, Artur Beterbiev and newcomer Shakur Stevenson, Benavidez’ 26-0 record and knockout rate – 23 KOs – compares favorably to any other on the various pound-for-pound lists.

A place in the pound-for-debate is among the stakes against Plant. So, too, is a possible shot at Canelo, who is coming off wrist surgery against Brit John Ryder in a tune-up on May 6 at home in Jalisco, Mexico. Canelo-Ryder was formally announced Tuesday, the same day Benavidez in Washington and Plant in Vegas did their media workouts. 

Coincidence? Probably. Still, the Benavidez-Plant showdown has been designated as a bout that will lead to a so-called mandatory shot at Canelo, the undisputed champion at 168.

“The winner gets Canelo, or so they say,’’ said Benavidez, who has been calling out Canelo for just about as long as he’s been trash-talking Plant.

If anything, Benavidez has taken the edge off his talk about Canelo. He complimented him for agreeing to fight at home, his first in Mexico in more than a decade. A possible date and a big paycheck against Canelo are part of the motivation, both for Benavidez and Plant.

Before opening bell, however, Canelo is almost secondary to the bitter rivalry and all that it means. For both Benavidez and Plant, the bout carries a burden of proof. Edwards called it a test of character in his FightHype interview.

The maturing Benavidez knows that. He’s using it as just one more source of motivation. In saying that Benavidez lacks big-fight experience, Plant left questions that are being asked by fans and media. Benavidez has heard them. Can he deal with adversity? Can he adjust?

Benavidez repeatedly counters with facts and figures that he says the doubters ignore.

“I throw punches in bunches and I land them at a 46-percent rate,’’ he said. “Nobody ever mentions that. I’ve never lost two rounds in a row. Every man I’ve fought, I’ve hurt.

“If you guys don’t think I know what I’m doing, you’re stupid.’’

Next task:

Prove it. 

Oscar Valdez Update

15 Rounds has confirmed that former two-time champion Oscar Valdez Jr. expects to be back on a Top Rank card featuring Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko planned for May 20 at Vegas’ MGM Grand.

An injury suffered in training forced Valdez to withdraw from a bout for a vacant junior-lightweight title against fellow Mexican Emanuel Navarrete at Desert Diamond Arena on Feb. 3 in Glendale AZ, a Phoenix suburb.

Navarrete, a former featherweight champion, went on to win the WBO ‘s 130-pound title in a wild ninth-round stoppage of late stand-in Liam Wilson of Australia.

Valdez, who was at ringside and joined Navarrete in the ring after his controversial stoppage of Wilson, said he hurt his ribs in a freak accident — a fall down some stairs.

After the planned May 20 bout, Valdez and Navarrete are expected to fight later in the year on ESPN, which reported Friday that Valdez is expected to face Adam Lopez in a rematch.

By Norm Frauenheim –

They went coast-to-coast. They trash-talked, face-to-face, at midday in New York on Wednesday and after lunch on Thursday in Los Angeles. They postured, preached and promised.

But, mostly, Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia kept us waiting. The NY version of the coast-to-coast newser was about two hours late. Something about Davis getting caught in traffic.

The sequel, an LA matinee, started about an hour after it was scheduled to begin. On BST – Boxing Standard Time, late starts are like low blows. Count on them.

In any time zone, however, boxing news conferences are all about theater. The bigger the fight, the bigger the stage. And Davis-Garcia is a biggie, at least it is in a market that has left its eroding fan base starving for something relevant – something real – in the wake of collapsed negotiations for Terence Crawford-Errol Spence.

Enter Davis-Garcia, which has moved into the vacuum with a fight loaded with dynamic potential. But, like the news conferences, we’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out on April 22, the scheduled opening bell for their 136-pound bout at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Showtime pay-per-view.

For now, it’s a show like full of familiar hyperbole, stunts and proclamations. Believe at your own risk. The common theme has been that Davis-Garcia represents another new beginning for a sport that always seems to be starting over. Davis is 28; Garcia 24.

“You all keep saying boxing is dead,’’ Davis trainer Bob Ford said Thursday “Naaah, the young-ins is coming.’’

The Youngblood plot line is compelling. I hope it’s right. I wrote a New Year’s column for 15 Rounds in January, saying it was time for a new generation. Depending on who’s doing the talking, it’s already here.

“Whoever wins this is on top, the face of boxing,’’ Garcia said Thursday. “I truly believe that.’’

Davis, never shy or short on confidence, believes he’s already that face. Move over, Canelo Alvarez. Hand over that pound-for pound crown, Terence Crawford

 “I’m already in that position,’’ Davis said matter-of-factly Thursday. “Canelo, he’s already out the door. I’m the face of the sport.’’

As I heard Davis declare his supremacy, I kept hearing that automated message you get after pushing the button for the crosswalk signal at a busy intersection. Wait, wait, wait.

If Davis-Garcia lives up to the hype, it will herald that the new is moving in and the old is moving out. The 26-year-old David Benavidez has a chance to kick in the door a few weeks earlier in a super-middleweight bout against Caleb Plant on March 25 at Vegas’ MGM Grand.

At best, Davis and Garcia could motivate Crawford and Spence to do what they wouldn’t late last year. Rights to pound-for-pound supremacy are won and retained only in the ring, a piece of real estate they have been unwilling to share thus far.

Davis and Garcia have agreed to do what they won’t. Maybe that changes their minds.

Maybe.

The waiting game continues, however, until we see Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) walk down the aisle, up the steps and through the ropes. Only the sound of an opening bell ends the waiting.

There’s nothing new about late arrivals for news conferences. They are a well-rehearsed part of the show. In New York, however, Davis sent off some alarm bells that have been there before and after the date with Garcia was a done deal.

Davis is often compared to Mike Tyson because of his dramatic punching power. But another Tyson parallel is trouble outside of the ring. Like Tyson, you get the sense you’re watching an accident about to happen.

The Davis-Garcia fight is happening on April 22, because Davis won’t be sentenced on a Baltimore hit-and-run until May 5. He also was arrested on Dec. 27 on a domestic-abuse charge in Broward County, Fla. His accuser later retracted the allegation.

When he’s nearly two hours late for a newser, you wonder. Fans wonder.

But they wait, too.

There’s evident enthusiasm for Davis-Garcia  

In terms of experience, power and proven skillset, Davis figures to beat Garcia. Yet, Garcia’s abundant poise and smarts suggest he’ll be more of a threat to Davis than the odds might suggest. Davis is a narrow favorite.

After the staged part of the New York newser, Garcia talked to a group of reporters and questioned Davis’ ability to fight through adversity.

“When Tank gets into trouble, he takes the easy way out,’’ Garcia said in a comment captured on video.

Whether Garcia has enough in his skillset to prevail, however, is there. He’s known for his speed and a huge left hook.

But, Davis wonders, is that all there is?

“He’s going to hit me with that hook, because that’s all he’s got,’’ Davis said as he looked over at Garcia Thursday. “A left hook. What else? That’s all you got. You’re not a complete fighter.

“What happens when that one punch don’t work?’’

We’ll have to wait for an answer to that question. And a few more.

By Norm Frauenheim –

Elijah Garcia wears 602 on his waistband. It’s his hometown. It’s also a busy area code, a fight town that is beginning to live up to the name of the city it represents.

Phoenix is named for a mythic bird rising from the ashes. it’s the city crest. It’s on the side of busses and on the patch police wear on their uniforms.

But it’s more than myth these days. There’s Kevin Durant, who has the town buzzing about whether the Suns can finally soar to their first NBA title. And there’s boxing, a market that is climbing off the deck the way that proverbial bird is coming out of those ashes.

Phoenix and most of Arizona are becoming a go-to area for matchmakers looking for fighters and promoters searching for an audience.

From A to Z, fighters and fans are drawing the boxing business back to a market that had gone dormant in the years after Michael Carbajal’s Hall of Fame run in the 1990s.

Increasingly, AZ’s place in the boxing universe is evident.

It was a month ago in Emanuel Navarrete’s stoppage of Australian Liam Wilson in an entertaining, controversial junior-lightweight bout in front of an ESPN audience and a lively crowd at Desert Diamond Arena in suburban Glendale.

AZ will be there again Saturday, this time on the road when the 19-year-old Garcia (13-0, 11 KOs) gets a true test of his middleweight credentials in Ontario CA against Amilcar Vidal (16-0, 12 KOs)) on a Showtime Championship Boxing card (6 pm PT/9 pm ET) featuring featherweights Brandon Figueroa and Mark Magsayo.

Vidal, of Uruguay, is 27. He had 59 amateur fights, reportedly losing only once. Vidal has his own AZ connection. His manager/promoter is Sampson Lewkowicz, who promotes former super-middleweight champion David Benavidez, today’s best-known AZ fighter.

Lewkowicz has been at ringside for two Garcia fights, first when Benavidez beat Kyrone Davis at the Suns home area and then last year when Benavidez blew out former middleweight champion David Lemieux in Glendale.

In terms of physical maturity, Vidal is a tough fight for Garcia, who is still nearly two months from turning 20. His birthday is April 26.

“Yeah, it’s my toughest,’’ Garcia said.

But, Garcia says, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He has watched video of Vidal.

“He’s a tough guy who likes to come forward,’’ Garcia said. “I like to fight on the inside.’’

The idea is that Vidal will step forward and into Garcia’s wheelhouse. It’s not clear whether Vidal can fight in retreat, off his back foot.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen, to be honest,’’ Garcia said.

But it’s an answer Garcia will pursue. It’s what he’s been doing since he was a kid. A son of former Arizona heavyweight George Garcia, Elijah says he never envisioned a prizefighting career.

“I hated boxing as a kid,’’ he said. “But when I was about 11, I was in the gym, working out and suddenly I just knew. I loved it.’’

Boxing was there, in his DNA and his geography. On the same night as his bout with Vidal, there will be a card in the 602 at Phoenix’s Celebrity Theatre (7 p.m.) promoted by Iron Boy’s Robert Vargas. It is Vargas’ first boxing card in the New Year.

Garcia is an emerging face in a AZ generation that includes David Benavidez and his brother, Jose Jr., a former 140-pound champion who has a film role in the current sequel, Creed III.

There’s also welterweight Abel Ramos and his nephew, junior-middleweight Jesus Ramos, both of Casa Grande, 50 miles from Phoenix. Both will fight on the Showtime pay-per-view card featuring David Benavidez versus Caleb Plant at Las Vegas MGM Grand on March 25.

Then, there’s Oscar Valdez, Jr., a former featherweight and junior-lightweight champion who calls himself a Son of Sonora, the name of the desert that stretches from northern Mexico to Phoenix. Valdez grew up in Nogales in the Sonoran state of Mexico, south of Tucson. He went to school in Tucson.

After Navarrete got up from a knockdown to beat Wilson in Glendale, Valdez joined him in the ring. He and Navarrete are expected to fight later in the year for the 130-pound title.

“Maybe, here in Arizona,’’ Valdez said.

The crowd roared, as if to say:

Where else.

By Norm Frauenheim –

For an emerging 22-year-old nephew, he’s a wise uncle. Uncle Abel. But don’t be misled. This uncle isn’t retired. And most of his wisdom is still evolving.

Abel Ramos is still seeking, fighting on in a stubborn quest for an elusive piece to his career.

At 31, the welterweight uncle to junior-middleweight prospect Jesus Ramos sounds more motivated than ever to gain a 147-pound title.

A bout against Cody Crowley March 25 on the Showtime pay-per-view card featuring fellow Arizona fighter David Benavidez against Caleb Plant at Las  Vegas’ MGM Grand is an opportunity, another one, to move closer to a second chance at a belt.

Abel Ramos (27-5-2, 21 KOs) is still in his prime. But 30 isn’t 20. He’s at an age when the horizon begins to include fewer chances. That focuses the mind. Puts an edge on the motivation.

“I want to make a statement,’’ he said this week during a stop at Central Boxing in downtown Phoenix, about 50 miles from the Ramos home in Casa Grande.

Ramos said it with an easy smile and a quiet poise that includes no hint at the ever-present danger that defines his two-fisted, relentless ring style.

Translation: It’s unwise to ignore him.

For a while, he has been.

He’s been mostly forgotten since a split decision loss to Yordenis Ugas in September 2020 in Los Angeles for the World Boxing Association’s welterweight belt.

Against Crowley (21-0, 9 KOs), a Canadian, he has a chance to remind the division that he’s still there, still a force at 147-pounds.

In part, the narrow scorecard loss to Ugas drives Ramos. It represents an endless source of motivation.

“I thought I did enough to win,’’ said Ramos, who struggled to find a way to negate Ugas’ long, precise jab. “I watch it, and I can see that I could have done more. But I still thought I won.’’

A split decision often sets the stage for a rematch. Ramos lost 115-113 in two cards. He was a big winner on the third, 117-110, a surprising card that must have reflected moments when his power had Ugas in trouble. It’s that third card that said – says – there’s reason for a rematch.

So far, however there’s been no interest from Ugas.

“Not yet,’’ said Abel’s brother and trainer Jesus Sr, Jesus Jr.’s father.

Ugas is back in training in Las Vegas after suffering a fractured eye socket in a stoppage loss to Errol Spence last April.

Ugas wants to make a comeback. Perhaps in April, he says. But, Ugas says, he wants to fight only contenders. He mentioned Terence Crawford, Spence, Jaron Ennis and Virgil Ortiz during a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) podcast interview with Michael Rosenthal and Kenneth Bouharie in late January.

“I want the top contenders,’’ the Cuban said in comments translated into English. “I believe I’m one of the best. I want to fight the best. Why hold back?”

For Abel Ramos, that means delivering proof that he still belongs. Proof positive would mean a big knockout, one that could force dominoes to fall in the balkanized business.

A sensational KO could lead to a ranking that might set up a so-called eliminator for a title shot.

It’s part politics and part crap-shoot, which is another of saying it’s boxing. Anything can happen, and it did in Ugas’ first fight after Ramos

In a stunner, Ugas went on to score a huge upset over fading legend Manny Pacquiao in May 2021. Ugas was a late stand-in for an injured Spence. He got the fight because Pacquiao wanted the WBA title that went to Ugas on a night when the cards fell his way.

That won’t happen again. History probably won’t get rewritten. If Ramos gets a big win and some bigger luck, however, it might get a rematch for a shot at a title and a real reason for a wise uncle to one day think it could have been him.   

By Norm Frauenheim –

It’s a main event, pay-per-view, between fighters with a combined 14-0 record compiled against YouTubers, a 3-time NBA Slam Dunk champion, a 47-year-old mixed-martial-arts legend and a guy – who at last count — is 0-47.

A pound for-pound list, it’s not. More like butchers, bakers and tomato can makers.

Step right up. For just $49.99, you can get ripped off, too. Plenty of customers will, of course. But there’s a market for it, proven repeatedly by Jake Paul, who is expected to deliver some more of the evidence against Tommy Fury on Feb 26 in Saudi Arabia

The Paul-Fury promoter, Skill Challenge Entertainment, knows that. So, too, do the networks. That’s why the bout will be staged on ESPN+, which from this corner gets more of a minus than a plus for selling this one.

But only the numbers matter. Paul has been generating big ones. He draws crowds. He gets PPV buys that Terence Crawford never has. And never will. But can he fight? That’s a stupid question.

He’ll say he can. Ever the provocateur, he calls out Canelo Alvarez. He rips UFC czar Dana White. He accuses UK promoter Eddie Hearn of a fix. Hearn sues, then says he’d still do business with him.

At the bully pulpit, there’s never been a bigger bully. There, Paul knows what he’s doing. Within the ropes, who knows?

But it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the show, and — in the here-and-now – Paul is the undisputed showman.

I’ve only been to one Paul fight. He scored a boxing decision over 47-year-old Anderson Silva, a former UFC star, at a jammed Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale AZ early last December. On my scorecard, it was a draw. But a knockdown of Silva was enough to give it to Paul. No argument there.

Still, it looked as if Paul was just too easy to hit. He looked to be a long way from a main event, much less a chance at a champion or even a contender. He left himself wide-open for repeated shots from Silva. Maybe Fury, Tyson Fury’s brother, can take advantage. Maybe not. In Saudi Arabia, it might not matter in a bout that figures to go Paul’s way. Translation: Expect controversy.

That, however, would set the stage for what Paul does best. He’s the master of post-fight controversy.

The post-fight newser is an irreplaceable part of the show.

So, too, is the pre-fight newser.

That’s when I asked a question after welcoming Paul to former super-middleweight champion David Benavidez’ hometown.

Paul had been saying he wanted to promote Benavidez. I asked: Why not fight Benavidez instead? Paul looked back at me as though I was a nutcase.

Then in a sober, measured tone, he said he wasn’t ready for a fight at Benavidez’ level. No bullyboy response. It was the right answer.

A couple of days later, he called out Canelo. The Canelo challenge got the attention. The reasonable answer to the Benavidez question got little.

It was an instructive sequence, a plot line in a well-rehearsed show that must go on.

About four months later, Paul arrives in Saudi Arabia with assurances from the World Boxing Council (WBC) that he will be ranked at cruiserweight if he wins.

At first, I was confused. Did the WBC say ranked? Or rank? The Paul-Fury fight is more of the latter than deserving of the former.

Paul, a 26-year-old novice, has yet to face a full-fledged boxer. He beat Silva, who had some boxing experience. Silva beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Before Silva, he beat Nate Robinson, an ex-NBA point guard and slam-dunk champ. Then, there’s Fury, whose record is arguably even more problematic than Paul’s.  

His 8-0 record came against opponents with a cumulative record of 24-176-5. One, Genadij Krajevskij, went into a November 2020 loss to Fury at 0-11. After a TKO loss to Fury, Krajevskij lost 35 more bouts.

At 0-47, it’s a wonder that Krajevskij, a Lithuanian living in the UK, can get licensed.

To drive or fight.

But that’s another story.

It’s the promised WBC ranking that has generated most of the controversy. Presumably, Fury will get the ranking if he wins. But would there be any ranking at all if the fight didn’t include Paul? Sorry, that’s another stupid question.

It’s been pointed out that WBC rankings include 40 fighters in each division. Most other rankings only include the top 15. It was a revelation that there were 40 cruiserweights in the world. Who knew? But Oleksandr Usyk, now a heavyweight champ hoping to fight the other Fury, took the snoozer out of cruiser. He made it relevant.

But a Paul ranking threatens to return it to irrelevancy, even if he moves into the bottom half of the 40. But those aren’t the kind of numbers that matter.

To the WBC

Or ESPN.

By Norm Frauenheim –

It looks as if boxing is moving up and on, beyond dashed hopes for a definitive date at welterweight and onto light-heavy.

Don’t call the move upscale. There’s no new real estate in a battered place where nothing much gets made anymore.

For now, however, more opportunities are beginning to appear at 175 pounds, soon to be one of boxing’s busiest neighborhoods.

That much has become evident in comments from David Benavidez, who still has some career-defining work to do at super-middle in a risky Showtime pay-per-view date with Caleb Plant on March 25 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

Benavidez is signaling that a jump to light-heavy looms. At a formal news conference announcing his bout with Plant a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles, he said he would probably fight three more times at 168.

He foresees a victory over Plant in a bout that is supposed to lead to a so-called mandatory shot at Canelo Alvarez, who holds all the 168-pound belts and the key to boxing’s pay-per-view vault.

Post-Plant, he said, he plans to fight David Morrell, Demetrius Andrade and Jermall Charlo.

Notably absent: Canelo, the prize that is supposed to be there for the Benavidez-Plant winner.

Why?

Best guess: Benavidez doesn’t believe Canelo will fight hm. There are too many indications that he just won’t. Canelo has dismissed Benavidez’ worthiness, saying his record is lacking.

He has said he doesn’t want to fight fellow Mexicans, which presumably means Mexican-Americans, including the Phoenix-born Benavidez, whose father is Mexican and mother Ecuadorian.

Now, there are increasing signs that Canelo will test a surgically-repaired wrist in a reported tune-up against UK pushover John Ryder and then go directly to light-heavy for a rematch later this year with Dmitry Bivol, the 2022 Fighter of the Year who upset Canelo in a stunner last May.

Maybe, Benavidez is just following Canelo in the next step of what has been a futile chase. But a move up-the-scale is already on-the-clock. Benavidez is simply out-growing super-middleweight. The social-media mob is already accusing him of overlooking Plant. Of course. But the real surprise is that he’s still at super-middle.

After all, he lost the WBC title in August 2020 when he failed to make the 168 pounds. He turned 26 on December 17. Maturity means gaining experience and weight. Making super-middle is about go from difficult to impossible. Benavidez is simply acknowledging reality.

In subsequent interviews after the LA news conference, Benavidez even talked about a move beyond light-heavy.

“Right now, my sights are 168,’’ he told Fight Hub TV. “I want to be unified champion at 168 and go up to 175, and it definitely could be a possibility at cruiserweight and then we’ll see from there.’’

Benavidez adds that he believes he’d beat Bivol. They sparred.

“I know I can win a belt at 175,’’ Benavidez said. (Insert more twitter trash here). “I know a lot of people saw the video of me saying I’d knock Bivol out.

“I mean, I would. I’m not going to lie.

“Every professional boxer should have that much confidence. I’m not lying about anything. I sparred him at Churchill Boxing (in Santa Monica CA). There were a lot of people there. They seen what happened. I’m not going to lie to anybody.’’

Above all, it’s what lies ahead. Light-heavy is inevitable, not just for Benavidez but for much of boxing. Talk about Terence Crawford-versus-Errol Spence is beginning to subside.

The business is moving on from news of their failed negotiations for a bout that would have been a 147-pound battle for pound-for-pound supremacy. But that could still happen at 175.

Bivol-versus-Artur Beterbiev is supplanting Crawford-Spence as a definitive fight, one fans want to see. The balkanized business might prevent it. Eddie Hearn promotes Bivol; Bob Arum has Beterbiev. Peace-on-earth has a better chance.

Yet at 175, there’s still a chance at legacy and good money. It’s a division where there are still some possibilities.

And, for Benavidez, maybe still a chance at Canelo.

But first, there’s still a challenge. There’s Caleb Plant. There’s no other way to upscale.

Liam Wilson-Emanuel Navarrete Update: Navarrete’s ninth-round stoppage of the tough Australian on Feb. 3 in Glendale AZ was entertaining, yet controversial.

Wilson and his promotional/management team protested loudly, first at the weigh-in and then a “long-count” late in the fourth round of a 130-pound title fight at Desert Diamond Arena.

As of Wednesday, however, no formal protest had been filed with the Arizona State Boxing & MMA Commission.

There was no protest from Wilson or anybody representing him on the Commission agenda for its monthly meeting on Feb. 15

Wilson’s promotional team threatened to protest, first the weigh-in for a scale that it alleged was rigged. Wilson came in light, 126.3 pounds for a 130-pound title fight. Wilson’s promoters said they suspected Navarrete was in fact overweight. He was at 129.2.

Then, Wilson’s corner threatened to “launch” a protest of a wild fourth round. Wilson knocked down Navarrete, hurting the Mexican, who spit out his mouthpiece. About 27 seconds passed before the referee retrieved the mouthpiece and put it back in Navarrete’s mouth.

Wilson’s corner charged “a long count” that allowed Navarrete to recover from a knockdown that could have resulted in a TKO win for Wilson, a huge betting underdog. A review of the video also appears to show that Wilson landed an illegal punch, a left, after he had knocked down Navarrete.

If nothing else, the controversy generated a lot of headlines and might have “launched” a solid campaign for an All-Aussie fight between Wilson and George Kambosos, who is coming off a couple of losses to American lightweight champion Devin Haney. 

By Norm Frauenheim –

For now, it’s a fight known for its rancor. David Benavidez and Caleb Plant have been insulting each other for at least a couple of years.

The four-letter festival continued, ad nauseam, at a news conference in Los Angeles last week. Between now and opening bell on March 25 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, there’ll be no end to the trash.

Trash in, trash out. In boxing, that’s a business plan. But there’s more to this bout than just another effing expletive.

It’s a multi-dimensional date, edgy for the bad blood and the threat that some real blood will be spilled. Above all, it’s a genuine fight during an era when there just aren’t many.

Who wins? Who knows?

Benavidez appears to have the momentum and most of the energy. Narrow odds suggest he’ll win and move closer to a so-called mandatory date with undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

Even Canelo, who has beaten Plant and dismissed Benavidez as unworthy of a shot, picks Benavidez in an interview with ESNEWS. Still, it’s not clear whether Canelo would fight him or resume his career at light-heavyweight.

Nevertheless, he’s interested. Canelo and other fighters are talking about Benavidez-Plant. There’s a buzz building for the first significant fight in 2023.

Plant knows the odds, yet believes he has an edge because of his experience. He’s been where Benavidez has not, he says. It’s a comment that has echoes of what Canelo said during a news conference after his trilogy-ending victory over Gennadiy Golovkin in September. That’s when he angrily shut the door on any immediate prospect of a date with Benavidez.

“This is [Benavidez’s] first big fight,’’ Plant told reporters after a rancorous news conference in downtown LA on Feb. 2.  “This ain’t my first big fight. I’ve been here before. I’ve been on the big stage more than once.”

He has, exactly once.

In his lone loss, Canelo delivered a punishing beatdown, scoring an 11^th-round TKO on Nov. 6, 2021, also at Vegas’ MGM Grand. Plant’s comment suggests that he doesn’t believe Benavidez has had to deal with the kind of adversity that comes with a defeat under boxing’s brightest lights. It appears Plant learned from the loss. He has a new trainer in Stephen “Breadman” Edwards and some newfound power, which he flashed in a stoppage of Anthony Dirrell in one of last year’s most sensational knockouts.

“A lot of the people that [Benavidez has] fought have been one dimensional,’’ Plant said. “IQ has been decent, but not even the same universe as what I am able to do on fight night.

 “I can do a lot of things.”

But Dirrell is the reference point that says Benavidez-Plant is a pick ‘em fight. Both beat Dirrell — Plant in the ninth round of a bout last October in Brooklyn and Benavidez, also in the ninth of a September 2019 bout in Los Angeles.

Plant ended it with a big left hand. Benavidez simply wore down Dirrell, beating him into submission with relentless pressure and forcing his corner to throw in the towel. At the time of each stoppage, each led on the cards by similar scores. It was Plant, 79-73, 80-72, 79-73. It was Benavidez, 78-74, 79-73, 78-74.

A possible key to a Benavidez’ advantage might be what’s not on the Phoenix-born fighter’s record. He sparred with Dmitry Bivol, the 2022 Fighter of the Year, before Bivol’s masterful upset of Canelo in a light-heavyweight bout last May. Bivol’s stunning performance put him alongside today’s very best in terms of boxing skill. Plant talked about IQ. Bivol’s IQ ranks at the top of the scale. For Benavidez, those rounds of sparring might have been an education, an invaluable lesson plan.

It’s evident that Benavidez and Bivol emerged from the sparring with mutual respect. Benavidez said he was not surprised by Bivol’s upset of Canelo. He saw what he could do in the gym.

Before Bivol’s decision over Canelo, he was asked about Benavidez and whether he deserves a shot at the Mexican star, boxing’s biggest pay-per-view draw.

“He has enough to get the fight and win the fight,’’ Bivol said last year at a news conference announcing his date with Canelo. “Why not? He has good skill. Good combinations, good defense and lots of conditioning.’’

Just enough, perhaps, to beat Plant.

GLENDALE, AZ – Some Mexican history was the plan. The plan survived.

So did Emanuel  Navarrete.

Navarrete was forced to come back from the edge of losing Friday night to an unlikely Australian, LIam Wilson, a determined young fighter from Brisbane who was given no chance on either side of the equator.

Wilson arrived in Arizona after a training camp that included stops in Washington DC and London. He had punched his passport, all in an attempt to punch out the favored and feared Navarette. Wilson promised to win. He wasn’t kidding, but he couldn’t hold off Navarette, who regained his focus and ferocity just in time to win a vacant junior-lightweight title.

Navarrete (37-1, 31 KOs) did it in a wild ninth round. He moved forward, threw punches as if he was motivated  by a mix of desperation and determination. For Wilson, a big right hand from Navarrete was the beginning of the end. It dropped Wilson, who collapsed onto the canvas in a thud that echoed throughout Desert Diamond Arena.

Wilson got to his feet. But his eyes were dazed and his defenses were down. Referee Chris Flores stopped it at 1:57 of the ninth. Flores ended it just as Wilson’s corner man was climbing up the steps. He was about to throw in the towel.

The crowd went wild. It was a celebration. It was also an expression of relief. Five rounds earlier, it looked as if Navarrete was about to lose. He was on the canvas in the fourth looking tired and beaten.

“But it was that Mexican spirit that never lets me down,” said Navarrete, who stormed back and fulfilled his goal of putting his name in Mexican history as the country’s 10th boxer to win a world title at a third weight.  “The satisfaction of winning like this is enormous. I think that I needed this test in order to be able to say my career is more complete. 

“Now that I know that I can hit the canvas and get back up and keep fighting, I’m more than happy because I know that I can continue forward.”

 The crowd went silent in the fourth when the long-armed Navarette fell to the canvas and tumbled, head over heels, like a bowl full of cooked spaghetti. He was clearly hurt after Wilson (11-2, 7 KOs) landed two rights and a huge left.

“I just wanted to be [patient,” said Wilson, who also thanked Arizona after his gutsy performance.

Navarrete could also thank his good fortune. He was lucky. Had Wilson’s punches landed earlier the round, he might have been finished, then and there. He also was helped by Flores, who took several seconds to pick his mouth piece off the canvas and put it back in his mouth. Navarrete’s trip to the canvas happened with about 42 seconds left in the fourth. There wasn’t enough time left for Wilson to finish the job. Thanks in part to Flores, there also was just enough time for Navarrete to escape

To survive. 

Arnold Barboza moves closer to title shot with solid decision

Arnold Barboza Jr. has been searching for a fight that would finally secure him a shot at a world title.

The search has been frustrating. Often futile.

But Barboza )28-0, 10 KOs) appeared to take a significant step toward completing the mission. The junior-welterweight from Southern California scored a solid victory over the decorated Jose Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs), a former two-time champ, in the final fight before ESPN’s main event between Emanuel Navarrete and Liam Wilson Friday night at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale AZ.

The win — by unanimous decision – allowed Barboza to state his case.  He was asked  if he was closer to a world title.

“Of course,” he said, after winning 96-94, 97-93, 96-94 on the cards. 

A possibility is Regis Prograis, the WBC champion.

“We’ll see what happens,” Barboza said. “But I feel like I’ve paid my dues.”

In beating Pedraza, the unbeaten Barboza becomes a lot harder to ignore. Or duck. Barboza controlled most of the 10 rounds against the skilled Pedraza, a Puerto Rican who returned to an arena where he upset Raymundo Beltran in August 2018. Pedraza had his moments, but he never could completely elude a sharp right hand that landed again. And again. 

Punching Power: Richard Torrez Jr. delvers it for quick stoppage

He reads Plato. He punches with power.

The puncher-philosopher, Richrd Torrez Jr., delivered the power suddenly and definitively on the Navarrete-Wilson undercard Friday at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, AZ.

Torrez (5-0 5KOs), a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, flashed heavyweight credentials, driving James Bryant (6-3, 4 KOs) into the ropes with an uppercut-right hand combo in the closing seconds of the first round

“From the knuckles through the hand, it was a solid shot,” said Torrez, who reads the great philosophers when he isn’t in the gym.

Bryant, of Reading PA, never recovered. He walked to his corner on unsteady feet. His trainer took one look at him and ended it before the bell for the second round ever sounded

Unbeaten Andre Cortes wins shutout

There were boos from restless fans. They wanted more.

Las Vegas junior-lightweight Andres Cortes heard them. And delivered.

Cortes (19-0, 10 KOs) injected some energy into an otherwise dull bout with aggressiveness that woke up the crowd and stunned Luis Melendez (17-3, 13 KOs) in the last fight before the main ESPN telecast of Navarrete-Wilson featured card at Desert Diamond Arena.

The sudden intensity from Cortes was enough for him to score a runaway decision over the Puerto Rican. He won it in a shutout, 100-90 on all three scorecards

Unknown Phoenix fighter gets up from knockdown, tests Ali Walsh late in loss 

It’s one of boxing’s majestic names. It comes with crushing expectations. It can intimidate, both the man who has it and the man who faces it. But it didn’t scare or stop Eduardo Ayala, an unknown Phoenix middleweight who got up from a knockdown and went on to engage in a hard-fought battle with Nico Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali’s grandson.

Ayala told a couple of Phoenix sportswriters before the bout Friday that he wasn’t fighting a name. He was just another guy, another fighter, Ayala said. Ali Walsh looked as if he might have been a little bit more than just that in the second round. A thundering left hook put Ayala flat on the canvas.. 

But he recovered, then endured a succession of shots from the Las Vegas middleweight who inherited the greatest expectations. Ayala would not go away. He wouldn’t win either. Ali Walsh (8-0, 5 KOs) won a unanimous decision (59-54, 60-53, 59-54), one that was all but assured with the early knockdown.

But Ayala (9-3-1, 3 KOs) won over the crowd in the third fight on the Navarrete-Wilson card at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale AZ. As both fighters hugged after the sixth and final round, fans who had chanted the familiar “Ali.Ali” were chanting “Ayala, Ayala.”  

Lindolfo Delgado stays unbeaten, dominates in decision win

Mexican junior-welterweight Lindolfo Delgado employed defense, careful footwork and power in the second bout on an an ESPN-televised card featuring Emanuel Navarrete-Liam Wilson Friday night at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz.,

 It was a triple-edged attack that proved to be  too much for Clarence Booth of Saint Petersburg, Fla.

Delgado (17-0, 13 KOs), who had trainer Robert Garcia in his corner, repeatedly landed crisp counters that echoed through the arena and backed Booth (21-7, 13 KOs) into the ropes, onto the canvas for an eighth-round knockdown and – in the end — into defeat. Delgado won on all three cards, a decision, one-sided and unanimous.

By Norm Frauenheim –

Sweet Science Boxing Promotions of Phoenix lost its bid for a license renewal by a 2-0 vote at a meeting of the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission this week.

The Commission denied the Sweet Science’s application Wednesday after a review of its promotional business practices in 2022 according to Commission Chairman Scott Fletcher

Part of the denial was based on what happened on a chaotic August 12 in Prescott Valley, north of Phoenix, on a card that was supposed to feature ex-champions Tevin Farmer and Mickey Bey in a pay-per-view bout. 

Sweet Science also canceled a card that it had advertised for December 18 at Sky Event Center in west Phoenix.

“The promoter, through both words and actions, appeared to not have the best interests of fighters and ticket holders in mind,’’ Fletcher said. “During their last event, the final six fights were canceled. These fighters had endured weeks of preparation, traveled to the venue and made weight.

“Ticket holders purchased tickets to see specific fights, which were canceled without notice.

“When questioned, the promoter could not name the co-promoters with which she had worked on this event.

“The Arizona Commission requires licensed promoters to be in complete control of fighters and ticket holders. It is for this reason that I believe the renewal application was denied.’’

The Bey-Farmer fight, which was scheduled to show on RedemptionPPV.com, never happened. Bey, a former lightweight champion, and Farmer, an ex-junior lightweight champ, refused to fight. The fight’s cancellation was never announced within the arena, the Toyota Center. News of it came through social posts from Farmer and Bey as they sat aboard a flight ready to depart SkyHarbor in Phoenix.

Both Bey and Farmer said the promoters didn’t have the money they were promised. At the time, the event was described as a Sweet Science promotion in collaboration with Bigger Than Life Sports.

Farmer-Bey was advertised as the main event. Bey-Farmer co-promoted with Bigger Than Life, which was represented by EJ Matthews. Bey-Farmer was shopped around. First it was scheduled to happen in Ghana and then Dubai, before it wound up in central Arizona.

The undercard bouts featured fighters promoted by the Sweet Science, including Keenan Carbajal, whose uncle is Hall of Fame junior-flyweight Michael Carbajal.

At Wednesday’s commission meeting, Sweet Science was represented by Lucinda Morrow. She is listed as the Sweet Science manager in the company’s LLC filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission.

The company also included Josephine Carbajal, who was listed as an officer until August 5 2021. Josephine is Keenan Carbajal’s mom. Keenan is trained by Danny Carbajal, Michael’s older brother and his former trainer/manager.

Danny Carbajal was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison in February 2008 on charges he robbed Michael, who at the time had earned more than any fighter in boxing’s lightest weight classes.

Danny Carbajal pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent schemes and two counts of theft.

He was accused of unlawfully transferring land and property that was jointly held by himself and his late wife, Sally, who was shot to death in 2005.

By Norm Frauenheim –

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Everybody made weight. Still, there was controversy.

Call it scalegate.

At least, that’s how Liam Wilson and his Australian corner seemed to describe it Thursday after the official scale produced some surprising results at the official weigh-in for his junior-lightweight title fight with Mexican Emanuel Navarrete at Desert Diamond Arena Friday night on ESPN (10 pm ET/7 pm PT.)

The scale was all over the place. At least, it was for Wilson.

After 12 undercard fighters stepped on and off the scale with no complaints, the flap began. 

When Wilson first stepped on the scale, he looked down and saw 126.3 pounds. He was closer to featherweight, 126, than a junior-lightweight, 130. He looked once. Looked again. 

What he saw might have made a Jenny Craig-customer happy. But it prompted only suspicion in Wilson.

Navarrete, a two-time champion seeking to be only the 10^th Mexican fighter to win a world title at a third weight, tipped the scale at 129.2. No surprise there. But some heavy allegations soon followed.

Wilson alleged that the scale had somehow been manipulated.

“I believe they have realized he hasn’t made weight and they have tampered with the scales,” said Wilson (11-1, 7 KOs), a big underdog to Navarrete, (36-1, 30 KOs) who still holds a featherweight title. “I was shocked because I haven’t been that light in the last 10 years.’’

His corner went on to say that there was no way the scale was accurate.

Wilson’s promoter, Matt Rose of No Limits, said there’s no way Wilson could have lost so much weight. Rose said Wilson tested the scale about an hour before the weigh-in.

“He weighed 129.5 (pounds),” Rose said. “Then he jumps on the scale for the official weigh in and he’s 126. So, they’ve changed the scale or done something. You can’t lose that much weight within an hour, sitting in a room.’’

As the ballroom cleared about an hour later, Wilson returned to the scale a couple of times. With a sweat shirt on, he said he was at 135. With the shirt off, he said he was at about 132.3.

Rose said Wilson didn’t drink a lot of water after the official weigh-in. He said he didn’t sit in a sauna before it.

Maybe not, but the noisy allegations have cooked up some noisy conspiracies.

“We believe Liam’s came in at 129 and Navarrete is over,’’ Rose said.

Scalegate, Wilson said, should eliminate Navarrete’s chance at winning the World Boxing Organization’s vacant belt. That, of course, would mean only he could win it.

“He shouldn’t be challenging for the title, Wilson said. “Something happened on those scales.”

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum had his own word for what happened.

“Bullshit,’’ Arum said. “No-one effed with the scales. He (Navarrete) made the weight, for Christ’s sake. Everyone else made weight and there weren’t any aberrations with the other fighters on the card.“It’s going to be a great fight. The Aussie is a talented fighter, but he has a handful in Navarrete, who I believe is something special.”

Photo Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank via Getty Images

By Norm Frauenheim –

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Fighters often talk about their journey. Liam Wilson does, too, but his journey has been more than a metaphor. It’s about the miles.

Wilson has crossed the Pacific once and Atlantic twice. His training camp started at home in Australia, then moved to Washington DC, then to London, back to DC and then finally to a Phoenix suburb at an arena next door to where the Super Bowl will be staged in about 10 days.

“A ring is the same everywhere,’’ Wilson said Wednesday without a hint of jet lag.

It is.

But Wilson’s path to this one at Desert Diamond Arena crisscrossed time zones and continents, all in an attempt to upset Emanuel Navarrete, who hasn’t been beaten anywhere in more than a decade.

It started with a training camp at home in Brisbane. It continued in Washington DC for five weeks. Then, there were about 10 days in London, followed by a couple of more weeks in DC and now Arizona.

Let’s just say Liam Wilson does the road work. London wasn’t on the original itinerary. But a visa issue, he said, forced him across the pond. The issue was resolved, he says. He’s got the visa and now he intends to get a belt, the World Boxing Organization’s vacant junior-lightweight version in an ESPN fight this Friday (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. PT).  

Oddsmakers don’t like his chances. Even at Aussie books, he’s down and under at about 8 1/2-to-1. In the US and UK, the odds are even more one-sided, mostly because few have seen him fight. He’s fighting for the first time in the US. Navarrete was asked Wednesday what he knew about the Aussie.

“Not much,’’ said Navarrete (36-1, 30 KOs), still a featherweight champion who had initially planned to fight Oscar Valdez Jr. in his first bout at 130 pounds.

But Valdez, a former Mexican Olympian who went to school in Tucson, withdrew because of an undisclosed injury. Enter Wilson (11-1, 7 KOs), who already had his bags packed in anticipation of an American debut against Archie Sharp on the Tim Tszyu-Jermell Charlo card on Jan 28 in Las Vegas. But that date was scuttled when Charlo announced he had broken his left hand.

It all added up to opportunity for Wilson, who has shown he’s willing to go an extra mile. The odds might suggest he’s nothing more than lost baggage against Navarrete, already well-known in a boxing market dominated by Mexican-American and Mexican fans. They know who he is. Navarrete has already appeared in Arizona, blowing away Isaac Dogboe in Tucson in a May 2019 rematch.

It’s the unknown, however, that can often turn into an advantage. Navarrete concedes he won’t know much about Wilson at opening bell. But Dogboe didn’t know much about Navarrete when the Mexico City fighter surprised him, taking his junior-featherweight title in a unanimous decision in December 2019 in New York in their first fight.

Wilson, perhaps, has traveled too far not to learn everything he can about his feared foe, who still hopes for a bout against Valdez.

In part, he went to Washington DC to train because of Dogboe. The entertaining Dogboe, who calls himself The Royal Storm, has been training in a DC gym. Wilson decided to train there just to pick his brain about what to expect from Navarrete. Dogboe’s only two loses are to Navarrete, a two-division champion who hopes to become only the 10^th Mexican to win a world title at a  third weight

“Dogboe told me he’s dangerous,’’ said Wilson, who told his late dad that he would one day win a world title. “He told me to watch out for his lead hand and upper cut. He’s unorthodox. That’s what makes him dangerous.

“But I’m here to win. I haven’ done it yet. But I’m here, on my own journey.’’

A journey he promises to win.

BY Norn Frauenheim –

Some might call it perfection. But Artur Beterbiev won’t. His record, like his personal style, is simply reliable. No losses. No decisions. Eighteen fights, eighteen knockouts and no bravado.

Let Jake Paul and Ryan Garcia brag about their YouTube followers. Leave the laughs and lyrics to Tyson Fury. Let Terence Crawford argue about his right to pound-for-pound supremacy.

Beterbiev just fights, a quiet craftsman with a big punch and no pretensions. It’s hard to say whether he’s better at what he does than anybody else in a business dominated by a bully pulpit amplified by social media.

Perhaps, eighteen pro fights over nearly a decade aren’t enough to deliver a true judgement on just how good he is. That might be Beterbiev’s only imperfection. A business in peril might be better off if it had seen more of him.

Yet, he’s always worth watching, a light-heavyweight who has turned craft into art in a fashion that figures to continue Saturday at London’s Wembley Arena (ESPN+, 3:30 pm ET/12:30 PT) against Anthony Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs).

Beterbiev’s understated – and underestimated – impact on boxing might be impossible to ignore in a new year.

Betting odds suggest his unblemished record will continue. He’s a 7-to-1 favorite over Yarde, whose only advantage might be a hometown crowd. He was born in London.

Then, what?

A truer test of Beterbiev’s pound-for-pound credentials might be there in a light-heavyweight showdown against Dmitry Bivol, 2022’s consensus Fighter of the Year after his upset of Canelo Alvarez and subsequent one-sided decision over Gilberto Ramirez.

It’s hard to say, mostly because it’s not certain what Canelo does next. The undisputed super-middleweight champion is expected to come off wrist surgery in May, perhaps in a tune-up against John Ryder.

Then, there’s talk – and only talk – about a rematch with Bivol. But at what weight? Light-heavyweight or super-middle? 175 pounds or 168?

By then, the winner of David Benavidez-versus Caleb Plant on March 25 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand will have to watch, wait and wonder. Benavidez and Plant are facing each other in a so-called mandatory. The winner is supposed to move on to a shot at the World Boxing Council belt held by Canelo.

But Canelo’s documented drawing power comes with some perks. Let’s say boxing’s biggest – perhaps only – pay-per-view star gets a chance to fight the rematch at 168 instead of 175, the weight class in his May loss to Bivol.

Bivol-Canelo 2 at either weight is a bigger fight than a bout against the emerging Benavidez or rematch with Plant. Nothing is more mandatory than money in prizefighting. The bigger money would be in Bivol-Canelo.

But the proud Bivol, who is about as unassuming as Beterbiev, has also expressed an interest in a career-defining date with Beterbiev, who holds three of the significant belts. Bivol has the fourth.  

For now, of course, Beterbiev isn’t saying much about Bivol. Sure, he’s interested, he said a couple of weeks ago. At a news conference in London Thursday, however, he talked about the immediate task at hand.

“I’m not dreaming about anyone to fight,’’ he told Gareth Davies in a Top Rank-produced video.

A consummate craftsman doesn’t have time for dreams. He might not be perfect if he did. 

By Norm Frauenheim –

David Benavidez and Caleb Plant have run out of expletives. There’s not much left to say, although it’s certain they’ll still find new ways to insult each other.

But, at least, there’s finally a chance to deliver the last word — and perhaps punch — to their long-running exchange of trash-talk.

Finally, there’s a date.

Finally, we’ll hear an opening bell instead of some other four-letter word.

They’ll fight March 25 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand in a Showtime pay-per-view bout, according to Boxing Scene and ESPN in news confirmed by 15 Rounds.

The date is not a surprise. Both Benavidez and Plant have known for weeks that they would fight on the last Saturday in March. Not even an ESPN bout on the same night featuring ex-junior-welterweight champion Jose Ramirez in hometown Fresno against Richard Commey would change those plans.  Their training camps have moved forward with March 25 built into the process.

The site, however, was uncertain. The super-middleweight bout had been shopped around. Dallas and Los Angeles were mentioned as possibilities. But Vegas was always there, the only place for the best 168-pound fight not involving Canelo Alvarez. More on him later.

Plant, a native Tennessean from Ashland City near Nashville, lives and trains in Vegas these days. But there’s no hometown edge there. Ask any gambler. Benavidez would probably have agreed to fight Plant at the Grand Ole Opry. He’s been waiting on Plant for years.

“For me, it’s personal, 100-percent personal,’’ said Benavidez, a Phoenix-born fighter who has been living and training in Seattle. “I’m really looking to beat the bleep out of him.’’

Expect a lot more bleep from both between now and the moment they walk down the aisle, up the steps and through the ropes.

For now, Benavidez is narrowly favored. Across multiple betting sites, he has been for weeks, a sure sign that the date has been a sure thing.

Within the ropes, interest in Benavidez and Plant has grown mostly because of Plant’s stunning stoppage of Anthony Dirrell in October. It was among the best KOs in 2022 Plant’s sudden flash of power – a left hook set up by a body punch — was a warning shot. His nickname is Sweet Hands, which had been another way of saying he could score but not stop.

But the flash of power against Dirrell might have sent a message to Benavidez.

Beware.

Benavidez is nothing if not aggressive. He moves forward, ever forward. That’s what makes him popular. But it’s also risky. It’s what could make him vulnerable to the very kind of shot that left Dirrell down and done.

The question is whether Plant can withstand Benavidez’ relentless power. It’s like one of those Pacific storms. It never stops. Perhaps, that’s why Plant demanded a 22-foot ring. A bigger piece of canvas might offer a few more escape routes.

Plant never could elude Canelo’s power, which proved to be lethal in the overall accumulation of punches that the reigning super-middleweight champion landed. He punished Plant, knocking him down twice and forcing a stoppage early in the eleventh round of a November 2021 fight.

Benavidez promises to execute a beatdown

“worse than Canelo.’’

Canelo, of course, represents a key comparison point.  Plant has faced him, Benavidez has not. Plant has been there; Benavidez has not. That experience could be a tipping point in favor of Plant.

Canelo might also be there for the winner. The fight is supposed to lead to a shot to the World Boxing Council belt held by Canelo, undisputed at 168 pounds.

But the only sure thing is that Canelo will be a fundamental part of the sales pitch.

It’s not clear what Canelo will do. He’s coming off wrist surgery. He’s expected to fight a tune-up, perhaps against UK super-middleweight John Ryder, in May. But then?

Promoter Eddie Hearn continues to suggest that Canelo might get a rematch against Dmitry Bivol at super-middleweight instead of light-heavy. Bivol, the consensus Fighter of the Year, upset Canelo, winning a decision in May at light heavy.

“I’m gonna put my neck on the line and say that Canelo Alvarez will fight Bivol for the undisputed championship at 168,’’ Hearn told IFL TV this week.  “There’s a lot of work to be done, but Dmitry Bivol is up for the challenge.’’

That would set up another long-running argument. At least, Benavidez and Plant are going to settle one.

By Norm Frauenheim –

It’s been called a fantasy by Sampson Lewkowicz, who has been hearing talk about David Benavidez-versus-Canelo Alvarez for a couple of years.

Lewkowicz, who called the Benavidez-Canelo possibility a fantasy after Benavidez’ blowout of David Lemieux last May, is still hearing the talk.

It’s been there, loud and repetitious on all of social media’s many platforms, for nearly as long as there’s been speculation about Terence Crawford-versus-Errol Spence Jr.

Crawford-Spence is still on boxing’s crowded fantasy island, seemingly in permanent residence since negotiations collapsed in October. Yet, the talk is still the buzz among exasperated fans hoping against hope that it’ll happen, maybe later in 2023.

Crawford-Spence is just the latest example of how fans never quit dreaming. Fighters fade away, but fantasies never do.

Chances of Benavidez-Canelo are still viable. But excuse Lewkowicz, Benavidez’ promoter/manager, if he remains skeptical. He’s forced to be, mostly because chances of a Benavidez-Canelo fight in 2023 appear to be somewhere between nil and zero.

“Canelo Alvarez’ legacy will be stained for the rest of his life,’’ Lewkowicz told the El Nuevo Herald, the Miami Herald’s Spanish-speaking newspaper. “They will ask him why he didn’t fight with Benavidez.”

Canelo enters the New Year in rehab from wrist surgery. At the earliest, his next fight – his first since a decision over Gennadiy Golovkin in September – is expected in May. Expect a tune-up, maybe against UK super-middleweight John Ryder.

If the wrist holds up, there are plans for a rematch against Dmitry Bivol, who upset Canelo in May and went on to win Fighter of the Year in a vote announced this week by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

If all goes well, Canelo-Bivol 2 could happen in September. But there’s a question: At what weight? Bivol beat Canelo at light-heavy. Canelo has reportedly said he wants the rematch to be fought at the same weight, 175 pounds.

But promoter Eddie Hearn has suggested that the sequel could be at super-middleweight. Canelo holds all the relevant belts at 168, including the World Boxing Council’s version.

Benavidez, a former two-time WBC champion, has agreed to fight Caleb Plant in a bout that puts the winner in line for a shot at the WBC belt.

Benavidez is currently training in Seattle for Plant in a bout projected for late March. As of Thursday, however, no site or date had been announced

Let’s say Benavidez beats Plant. The unbeaten fighter from Phoenix is favored. FanDuel favors him this week at minus-195. He has about a 65-percent shot at beating Plant, who lost to Canelo in November 2021 and then displayed some eye-opening power in a KO of Anthony Dirrell in his last outing.

But here’s the question: Bivol has said he’d consider a rematch at super-middle instead of light-heavy. What if Bivol agrees to 168 and then beats Canelo for a second time? Move over Crawford-Spence. Make room on fantasy island for Benavidez-Canelo.

Benavidez-Bivol would be interesting. But it would leave fans demanding Benavidez-Canelo – a potential classic between a Mexican-American and Mexican — feeling unfulfilled all over again.

Lewkowicz was also asked about emerging super-middleweight David Morrell, a Cuban living and training in Minneapolis.

“Morrell also beats Canelo, 100 percent, just like Benavidez,’’ Lewkowicz said. “That’s why there is no such fight. Canelo is never going to fight with Morrell or Benavidez. Canelo is an underdog against Benavidez. On the other hand, there is no favorite against Morrell.

“Benavidez-versus-Morrell, that’s a tougher fight than Plant, including Canelo.’’

Don’t say he didn’t warn you.

By Norm Frauenheim –

Two faces represent more than a couple of possibilities as a New Year begins to unfold Saturday night in the first significant card of 2023.

There’s Gervonta Davis.

And there’s Jaron Ennis.

In Davis, there’s power, more than enough to dominate and destroy. He’s dangerous, a many-edged dynamic that imperils challengers and often himself.

In Ennis, there’s potential that’s been evident for years, yet is just now beginning to unfold in a way that suggests he could be a game changer, an emerging force with talent enough to reinvigorate a stalled, stale game. Ennis is boxing’s shiny new model. He’s suffered no losses, no scars and — so far – no adversity.

Hints at their possible impact on 2023 are very much part of a Showtime pay-per-view card (6 pm ET/9 p pm PT), first with Ennis against unknown Ukrainian welterweight Karen Chukhadzhian and then Davis in a lightweight title defense against Hector Luis Garcia at Washington D.C.’s Capital One Arena.

Both said the same thing Thursday at a live-streamed news conference. They wanted to send a message, make a statement. But their motivation differs.

For Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) and his trainer Calvin Ford, the card’s main event against Garcia (16-0, 10 KOs) represents a chance to answer the skeptics. There are many, especially since Davis’ arrest for alleged domestic violence in Florida on Dec. 27.

The alleged victim, the mother of Davis’ daughter, recanted the allegations on social media. But Twitter accounts, which have never been confused with accountability, continue to buzz with trolls and taunts.

“Gasoline,’’ Ford called them in an apparent reference to the anger that Davis will take into the ring, a platform more violent than social.

Davis’ smoldering anger is a reason people watch. It is Mike Tyson-like. He always seems to be at the edge of some kind of explosion, fueled by emotion or punching power But Thursday he smiled and joked, symptoms perhaps to a proverbial calm before the storm. He was asked about distractions.

“This is my job,’’ said Davis, who has been projected to fight Ryan Garcia later in 2023 in what looms to be one of the year’s biggest bouts. “I’ve been doing this since I was seven years old. Just a hump in my road. I just got to get through this fight and then go to the next fight. It’s just humps in the road that we all go through in life.’’

It was an answer meant for the questions about whether Davis can keep his mind on the business at hand, despite the personal turmoil. He’s expected to beat Garcia. Odds, ranging from 12-1 to 14-1, favor Davis.

But Hector Garcia’s experience indicates he has a chance. He’s a former Olympian from the Dominican Republic. He stunned previously unbeaten Chris Colbert in February at 130-pounds. At 135, however, he could encounter problems with Davis’ documented power. But don’t underestimate him, he said. And don’t confuse him with that other Garcia, the one named Ryan.

“The real Garcia is right here,’’ Hector said Wednesday. “I’m the real Garcia.’’

For Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs), the question is a different one. His unmarked face is a face for the future. It’s unlined and unlimited He’s also unburdened by the sort of turmoil that follows Davis, who faces a Feb. 16 court appearance on hit-and-run charges in Baltimore, his hometown.

“I’m looking to make a statement to the world,’’ Ennis said, whose streak of 19 successive knockouts has been interrupted only by a no-contest forced by a head butt.

For now, at least, that world has been frustrated by the failure of talks that would have led to a 147-pound showdown between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

No Crawford-Spence was the story, perhaps the epitaph, of last year. But this is a New Year, maybe Ennis’ year.

“I know Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford are holding up the division right now,’’ Ennis said Wednesday at a public workout. “But whatever way I can get my hands on the belts, I’ll be ready. I just want to fight. I’m young, hungry and I’m going to keep shining and demolishing these guys they put in front of me.

“Getting knockouts gives the fans what they want and makes them keep gravitating toward me. As long as I keep doing what I’m doing, my fan base is just going to grow.

“I know Spence says he’s the ‘big fish,’ but we like to go fishing. If I have to sit on the side and ride a jet ski for a while, that’s okay for now. You know what happens when they bring a fish to land.

“They squirm.”

The lingering question is whether Spence might squirm his way out of a date with Ennis by moving up in weight, from 147-pounds to 154.

In acronym-speak, an expected Ennis victory over Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs) would put him in line for the IBF belt held by Spence. Ennis would become the so-called mandatory challenger. But mandatory sometimes means mess in boxing’s Balkans.

Still, an Ennis victory might help exasperated fans begin to move beyond the failed Crawford-Spence talks. Translation: Everybody can quit squirming.

By Norm Frauenheim –

Finally, it’s time to trash the calendar for a year that will be remembered for what didn’t happen. It belongs in the spit bucket, alongside all of those futile stories about failed negotiations.

A new page offers relief and perhaps some optimism as 2022 gives way to 2023. But beware of the optimism. It might be a feint, another false hope.

Boxing begins a New Year that looms as critical. It still has a pulse, but it’s faint, fading because of the usual suspects.  2022 came and went without Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr., yet hope lingers that it still might happen.

Forget about it. A new year is about predictions. Here’s one: Spence-Crawford won’t happen within the next twelve months.  Maybe, it does in 2024, or 2025, or 2026. By then, however, both fighters would be a year or two beyond prime time.

it would prove to be about as memorable as Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin 3 last September. Fans have already forgotten about that one. Some have also left the building, disenchanted, first by the disappointing conclusion to a much-hyped trilogy on September 17 and then by the Spence-Crawford a few weeks later.

That was a combo that generated the usual Twitter tantrums. In the long-term, however, there’s silence. Both Crawford and Spence said they were moving on. They are, but both with a smaller following that might have been there had the two fulfilled expectations – from them and the media – that their long-awaited welterweight showdown was a done deal.

Here’s another prediction: A lot of the disenchanted fans aren’t coming back, not in 2023 or any other year. But there is a younger generation, which has already attached itself to the fighters of their time.

There’s Philadelphia welterweight Jaron Ennis, Phoenix super-middleweight David Benavidez, lightweight Devin Haney, soon-to-be lightweight Shakur Stevenson and San Antonio flyweight/junior-bantamweight Jesse “Bam” Rodriquez.

Ennis is 25; Benavidez is 26; Haney is 24; Stevenson 25 and Rodriguez 22.

Collective record: 120-0.

They are five names, five young faces for the future of a game that sometimes looks as if it doesn’t have one.

They are poised to resurrect the business. But there’s a caveat. The balkanized business has to let them, but the last year is full reasons to fear that it won’t. Business-as-usual will only mean more futility in a sport that chases away fans with a flawed model. Floyd Mayweather’s Jr.’s risk-to-reward ratio doesn’t work anymore. It’s been knocked out of balance by the 30-something generation of fighters who followed Mayweather and his model.

Too much reward and not enough risk will only guarantee a shrinking audience.

Ennis kicks off the New Year on Jan. 7 against an unknown, Ukrainian Karen Chukhadzhian, in Washington DC on a card that is supposed to feature Gervonta Davis against Hector Luis Garcia. Davis, talented and troubled, was arrested in Broward County, Fla., Tuesday on a domestic violence charge. He was released Wednesday. He denies the allegations. It’s not clear whether his arrest will affect his spot on top of the Showtime-televised card.

Ennis is still scheduled to fight. He might have been the card’s most interesting fighter anyway. His expected victory – he’s been listed a 45-to-1 favorite by FanDuel – sets the stage for a year that could end with him as a dangerous challenger to the Spence/Crawford supremacy. First, he hopes for a shot at Spence.

Even if Spence and Crawford sidestep the emerging welterweight, Ennis figures to be there with a pretty powerful argument of his own. He’ll launch it on Jan 7.

Benavidez, who has long pursued a date with Canelo, might get closer to one with the Mexican pay-per-view star. He and Caleb Plant have agreed to fight. Plant announced the agreement on social media in early November. But, as of Thursday, there was still no date for the proposed fight. It’s designated a title eliminator for a shot at the World Boxing Council belt held by Canelo. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said before Christmas that he expects the bout happen during the New Year’s first quarter.

Meanwhile, Haney is also pursuing a bout against Ukrainian great Vasiliy Lomachenko, now 34 and still a more of a featherweight than a lightweight.  

Stevenson is also interested in a date with Lomachenko. Stevenson, already a two-division champion, is expected to make his 135-pound debut against Jamaine Ortiz. A chance at Haney Stevenson in a lightweight classic could be on the agenda in late 2023.

Then, there’s Rodriguez. He’s the best American in boxing’s lightest weight classes since Michael Carbajal, a Hall of Famer from Phoenix. Rodriguez vacated a junior-bantamweight title and plans to pursue a vacant flyweight title against Mexican Cristian Gonzalez.

All five are there, unbeaten, unscarred and poised for a New Year with enough talent and will to achieve their ambitions. Now, it’s up to the business. There’s an old line from Muhammad Ali that applies to a New Generation’s first five.

Rumble young man rumble.

In 2023, it might be the only way to launch and sustain a successful comeback.

By Norm Frauenheim –

Olympic boxing, an unruly stepchild for more than three decades, moves ever closer to expulsion.

The Olympics ruling acronym, the IOC, issued another warning this week, saying it “could include the cancellation of boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”

It’s political, which these days means it involves the Russians. Their ongoing and unprovoked war on the Ukraine represents an even bigger peril to the Paris Games.

For now, however, the issue is boxing, which has failed to clean up its act throughout all the years and lousy decisions that have transpired since Roy Jones Jr. got robbed of gold at the 1988 Fixed Games in Seoul.

It’s beginning to look as if Michael Conlan’s middle-finger at the 2016 Rio Games will become the enduring symbol of boxing’s long and messy goodbye.

On one level, it’s sad. The Olympics produced Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Oleksandr Usyk, Sugar Ray Leonard, Andre Ward, Gennadiy Golovkin, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Lennox Lewis, Michael Carbajal, Jones and so many others. Boxing’s roots are there.

On another level, no Olympic boxing imperils the pro game. Even in its current eroded version, it’s a place to find and develop new talent. The success in women’s boxing over the last year would not have happened without Ireland’s Katie Taylor and American Claressa Shields, especially at the London Games in 2012.

That said, I’m not sure anybody really cares about Olympic boxing anymore. Fans have already done what Conlan did. They’ve turned it off.  Flipped it off.

The latest episode in its inherent corruption involves a Russian, Umar Kremlev, the current leader of the latest iteration of boxing’s amateur acronym. It was known as AIBA. Now, it’s IBA. Let’s just say it’s just about EXTINCT. That, at least, looks more likely than ever.

The IOC is exasperated at a decision that allows Kremlev to remain as the president of amateur boxing. Kremlev was re-elected, but the IOC said in a statement published by The Associated Press and Washington Post Thursday that a candidate from the Netherlands was not allowed to run against him. Like those Jones’ scorecards in 1988, this one was fixed.

The IOC statement also suggests that the amateur boxing acronym is in fact a subsidiary of a Russian gas company called Gazprom.

“This announcement confirms that IBA will continue to depend on a company which is largely controlled by the Russian government,’’ the IOC said.

The next step appears to be inevitable. From boxers to oil, the Western world is trying to ban all things Russian. Canelo Alvarez couldn’t ban Dmitry Bivol from beating him last May in a stunner. But that’s another story.

The WBC has stopped rating Russian fighters. Western Europe promises not to buy Russian oil and gas. Olympic boxing is next.

A couple of weeks ago, Kremlev was very Russian-like in defending the IBA. At a forum in Abu Dhabi, he said the amateur acronym had implemented IOC recommendations.

“But,’’ Kremlev also said, “they have no right to dictate to us how to live.’’

Maybe not, but they do have a right to do what the Jones’ theft started and Conlan’s gesture punctuated.

Goodbye.

Emanuel Navarrete Update: It’s official. Top Rank announced this week that Australian Liam Wilson will step in for injured Oscar Valdez Jr. against Navarrete on Feb. 3 for a vacant junior-lightweight title at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale AZ.

Navarrete hopes to become the 10th Mexican to win world titles at three weights. The ESPN-televised bout will be Navarrete’s first appearance in Phoenix and second in Arizona. He stopped Isaac Dogboe in Tucson in a rematch in 2019.

Tickets, priced at $25 and $125, went on sale Wednesday

By Norm Frauenheim –

From New York to Omaha to Tokyo, a mixed message was delivered over a few days that summed up a year.

Let’s start where it ended. Naoya Inoue stamped himself as the world’s most entertaining fighter, if not its best.

He’s just a lot of fun to watch He’s also relentless. Paul Butler never had a chance, an expectation before opening bell. Actually, it was more than that. It was a sure thing, a certainty predicted in betting odds not seen since Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson in 1990, also in Tokyo

Inoue was a 60-to-1 favorite, more one-sided than the 42-to-1 number that favored Tyson. Butler wouldn’t – couldn’t — pull off a Douglas-like miracle.

For now, at least, it looks as if nobody in the lighter divisions can beat Inoue, who mocked and rocked Butler while unifying the bantamweight title Tuesday with an 11^th-round stoppage. 

Next move: Up the scale, to junior-featherweight in a quest to be a four-division champion.

Now, on to Omaha. That’s where Terence Crawford, more controversial than ever in the wake of collapsed negotiations for a welterweight date with Errol Spence, showed he’s still as dangerous as ever.

Crawford has been called cold-blooded, and that’s what he delivered with a chilling left-uppercut, right-hook combo that left David Avanesyan flat on his back in the sixth round.

Just like that, it was over. But the controversy was not. It follows Crawford these days.

This time, it involves his gloves. On a night when Everlast became Neverlast, they came apart at the seams.

Everlast took the blame. In a statement posted to Twitter, it said the gloves were made with defective leather. It also said Crawford was blameless.

But the controversy rages on. And on. Remember, this is boxing. In a story first reported by BoxingScene, Avanesyan’s management filed a complaint with the Nebraska Athletic Commission this week.

It takes issue with a decision that allowed the 147-pound title fight to proceed when it was evident that padding was coming through the seams on the right thumb and along the sides of each glove.

At the start of the sixth, the referee called time-out, asking ringside officials to examine Crawford’s gloves. The decision was to continue. Moments later, at 2:14 of the sixth, it was over, Avanesyan finished with a defense as defective as Crawford’s gloves.  

Last stop: New York, where this crazy video journey began. Teofimo Lopez was at home, fighting at Madison Square Garden, in a junior-welterweight bout that many believed would make everybody finally forget about his meltdown after a loss to George Kambosos. It didn’t.

Lopez escaped with a spit decision – controversial by definition – over Sandor Martin, an awkward Spaniard unknown until his upset of Mikey Garcia in October 2021. Lopez looked listless and often uncertain. He got knocked down in the second. It appeared he was down again in the seventh, but the referee ruled it a slip.

Lopez, who drops his hands in the ring and his emotional defenses out of it, questioned himself after the bout. The camera catches him looking at his corner, asking questions full of self-doubt.

“Do I still have it?’’ he says. “Do I still got it?’’

Good questions, all asked by an ESPN audience that watched and wondered. It didn’t take long for Lopez to walk back the inescapable implications.

“I know I got it,” Lopez said on social media. “Remember, I give you all something to talk about now.”

The talking continues, despite Lopez’ efforts to silence it.

“I know I got it,’’ he posted. “Are you dumb or dumber?”

It’s dumb, and dumber, to not at least question whether it’s time for Lopez to find a new trainer. His father, Teofimo Lopez Sr., has always been his trainer. Yet, some tension was evident against Martin.

Before the 10^th and final round, dad ordered his son to sit down. He didn’t.

It was as if Lopez Jr.  already was wondering whether he still “had it.’’

He might. He’s likeable. His speed and power are still evident. But it’s going to take change and a lot of work. 

Same can be said for all of boxing after an up-and-down year that will probably be remembered for what didn’t happen.

That’s unfair to Dimitry Bivol, an underrated light-heavyweight who proved to be a revelation in May with his upset of Canelo Alvarez.

It’s unfair to Juan Franciso Estrada and Ramon “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, who staged a magnificent battle throughout the conclusion to a SuperFly trilogy won by Estrada in a narrow decision on Dec. 3. A crowd of about 10,000 in Glendale AZ knew it had witnessed a high-level exhibition of skill.

It’s unfair to Inoue, who on this pound-for-pound rating goes into 2023 tied at No. 1 with Crawford.

Nevertheless, 2022 will be remembered for the failed Crawford-Spence negotiations. The talks are little bit like Crawford’s gloves, a fitting symbol for a futile year. They fell apart.

Oscar Valdez Update: It’s not clear what’s next for the Phoenix boxing market, which has been busy over the last few months. Oscar Valdez Jr., a former featherweight and junior-lightweight champion, was projected for an intriguing, ESPN-televised fight against Emanuel Navarrete on Feb. 3.

The 130-pound bout was supposed to be the next biggie in Glendale AZ at Desert Diamond Arena, the site for the compelling Estrada-Chocolatito 3 a couple of weeks ago.

But Valdez was forced to withdraw because of an injury suffered while training, according to a story first reported by Boxing Scene and confirmed by 15 Rounds. Valdez, a former Mexican Olympian who went to school in Tucson, had been training in Hermosillo, according to his father, Oscar Valdez Sr.

Australian Liam Wilson has agreed to step in for Valdez, according to an ESPN report. But there is still no official announcement from Top Rank.

As of Thursday, there was still nothing listed on the Desert Diamond Arena’s calendar. It never listed the projected Valdez-Navarrete bout either.

By Norm Frauenheim –

Oscar Valdez Jr., another Son of Sonora, is planning to return to the desert he calls home in a fight to regain a title after a one-sided loss to Shakur Stevenson.

Valdez is expected to face Emanuel Navarrete on Feb. 3 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale AZ where another Son of Sonora, Juan Francisco Estrada, won a majority decision over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in a compelling SuperFly trilogy last Saturday.

As of Thursday, the fight’s site and date were not official, despite media reports, including one from ESPN, which will televise the junior lightweight bout. It was not listed on the Desert Diamond’s event calendar.

However, it was no secret throughout events surrounding Estrada-Chocolatito 3 that Valdez-Navarrete was probably headed to the former National Hockey League arena on the west-side of Phoenix.

Valdez father, Oscar Valdez Sr., said his son was in Hermosillo training in anticipation of a February fight with Navarrete. Valdez’ father was in Glendale to work as a second in the corner for flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez’ majority decision over Samuel Carmona on the Estrada-Chocolatito 3 undercard.  

It looks as if boxing is moving in since the NHL’s Coyotes moved out.

Unbeaten You-Tuber Jake Paul beat mixed-martial arts legend-turned-boxer Anderson Silva there on Oct. 29.

Super-middleweight contender David Benavidez, another Son of Sonora, blew out David Lemieux there on May 21.

Emerging flyweight/SuperFly star Jesse “Bam” Rodriquez, of San Antonio, won his first world title there, taking the World Boxing Council’s 115-pound belt last Feb. 5 with a unanimous decision over Carlos Cuadras.

Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs), who was born in Nogales in the Mexican state of Sonora and went to school in Tucson, has fought in Phoenix twice. The former featherweight champion is wildly popular in southern Arizona. 

Valdez, knocked down in a unanimous decision loss to Stevenson in April, scored a debatable decision over Brazilian Robson Conceicao on Sept. 10, 2021 at Casino del Sol, south of Tucson. 

Fans jammed an outdoor arena on a hot Sonoran night in late summer.

They were there, cheering Valdez’ every move, despite a noisy PED controversy. The bout was preceded by news that Valdez had tested positive weeks before the bout.

The crowd didn’t care, and that crowd is expected to follow him to Glendale in an intriguing bout for a vacant title against fellow Mexican Navarrete (36-1, 30 KOs), a former 122-pound and 126-pound champion who will fight at 130 for the first time.

GLENDALE, Ariz. —  A Trilogy ended. But the rivalry continues.

Juan Francisco Estrada-Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez 3 was a bout that promised a definitive conclusion. But it didn’t happen. Once again, they proved to be more than rivals. They’re equals  

The third bout was much like the second. Estrada won a majority decision Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena. He won on two scorecards, 116-112 and 115-113. On the third card, it was a draw, 114-114. On the 15 Rounds card, it was also a draw. Anybody for a fourth?

“If he wants the fourth fight, I think we can do it,” Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs) said after winning the World Boxing Council’s vacant 115-pound title.

It sounded as if Chocolatito (51-4, 41 KOs) didn’t know what to think.

When asked about a  third sequel he joked:

“As long as they pay well.”

For now, however, his future  remains uncertain. A 35-year-old fighter coming off a difficult loss is always confronted with one question: What’s next?

“I have to talk to my family,” Chocolatito said.

His legacy is already in place. Among history’s little guys, the skillful Nicaraguan was the first to be ranked No. 1 in the pound-for-pound debate. His spot in the Hall of Fame is already waiting. Even in the wake of Saturday’s defeat, he left the ring with only respect. There will be plenty of debate about the scorecards. But the bout was a critical success. It was a sustained battle between fighters as skillful as any in any weight class.

 Caution prevailed throughout most of the first two rounds. Estrada stayed out of range, capitalizing on his superior reach with an effective jab. All the while, Chocolatito maintained a careful, almost deliberate presence. His defense was primary. His gloves were up, protecting his face and head like a fortress. Yet behind that impenetrable mask, there were the calculating eyes of man on a scouting mission. He was searching — hunting — for opportunities to attack.

He began to find them in the third. Suddenly the pace changed. It accelerated. Chocolatito became the aggressor, tirelessly moving forward, shrinking the distance between him and his  old rival. Me-hi-co, Me-hi-co, the crowd roared. It was an Estrada crowd, mostly Mexican partisans there in full-throated support of a native son, a fisherman’s son who was born about 215 miles south of Glendale in the Mexican fishing village of Puerto Penasco.

Estrada came into the ring wearing a shirt that said Sonora, his home state in Mexico. But it’s also the name of the desert that stretches from Mexico to the urban sprawl that surrounds Phoenix. For one night at least, this Son of Sonora reigned over the desert and Chocolatito. 

They were moments when it looked as if Chocolatito would prevail. He backed Estrada onto the ropes, landing quick, precise shots. At times, Estrada looked off-balance. But he answered every assault with energy in his feet and power shots thrown from a distance. The crowd could see his punches. The judges could score them.

In the end, they were just enough to make a difference, one that would probably be there all over again in a fourth or fifth or sixth fight.

“All fights are difficult and all fights are different,” said Chocolatito, now 1-2 against Estrada over 36 rounds.

Maybe so. But in a third meeting, not a whole lot had changed between two fighters, equal in almost every way.

Julio Cesar Martinez retains WBC title

It was more of a chase than a fight.

Julio Cesar Martinez did all the chasing, pursuing a circling, backpedaling  Samuel Carmona. 

Round-and-round, they went, a not-so-merry-go-round that ended in boos and probably left Martinez (19-2, 14 KOs) a little dizzy, yet still in possession of the World Boxing Council’s 112-pound belt in the final bout before the Estrada-Chocolatito showdown Saturday night. 

Still, the result was a head-scratcher. Martinez won. But only by majority decision. Two judges had it about right, 117-111 and 116-112, both for Martinez. But on Kevin Scott’s card, it was 114-114. A draw. Dizzy. 

Carmona would have got a draw only if it had been a footrace. It wasn’t. It was a fight, and Martinez most of that. 

Carmona (8-1, 4 KOs), a former Spanish Olympian, never showed a willingness to engage in many punching exchanges, perhaps because of a hand injury. He rarely threw his right hand. The Spaniard had a tattoo of Sugar Ray Leonard’s face on the outside of his left calf. He had some of Leonard’s footwork. But none of his punches. 

Diego Pacheco blows out Luna

Diego Pacheco didn’t need much time.

He only needed power.

Pacheco (17-0, 14 KOs), of Los Angeles, had plenty of the latter, wiping out Adrian Luna within two rounds in a super-middleweight bout on the DAZN portion of the Estrada-Chocolatito card.

His long right hand is precise and punishing. It landed quickly and often enough to put Luna (24-9-2, 16 KOs) on the canvas three times. At 2:08 of the round, referee Tony Zaino ended it.

Rosales scores unanimous decision in a unanimous thriller

Forget all those assumptions about flyweights. There’s nothing diminutive about them.

The proof of that began to unfold in a terrific exhibition of little guys with gigantic hearts in the DAZN opener of a card featuring the Lords of the Flies, Juan Francisco Estrada versus Ramon “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, at Desert Diamond Arena.Saturday night.

Cristofer Rosales, a former flyweight champion from Nicaragua, and Joselito Velazquez, of Mexico, delivered some very big surprises in a give-and-take battle in DAZN’s initial bout on the live-stream schedule.

Rosales (35-6, 21 KOs) won it, scoring a unanimous decision. It was 97-93 on all three cards. It was also a unanimous crowd pleaser. Velazquez (15-1-1, 10 KOs) started fast moving forward and firing lightning fast hands at a backpedaling Rosales. After two rounds, it looked as if it would be a rout. 

It wasn’t. 

Rosales made sure of it, first coming off the ropes like a freight train with heavy handed blows that stopped Velazquez dead in his tracks  Rosales would repeat the sequence again in the eighth, all the while landing blows that turned Velazquez’ left eye into a swollen bruise.

In the end, the crowd roared, Velazquez applauded and Rosales celebrated.

The Flies created a buzz.

Austin Williams wins one-sided decision

Austin Williams threw lefts, rights, head-rocking blows and a few questionable ones He screamed. He mocked  He taunted. 

Translation: Williams (13-0, 9 KOs), of Houston, did whatever he wanted to. Almost. What he didn’t do, however, was bring an early end to a messy 10-round middleweight fight against Simon Madsen (13-1, 10 KOs), a Dane living and training in Cancun

There was no knockout. But it was a rout, a Williams’ victory on cards that were unanimous in his favor and stacked in every way against a Dane whose trunks said Viking. Williams cruised.  

Marc Castro wins lopsided decision

Marc Castro’s many dimensions include agile feet, a long jab and sneaky ability to switch from right to left, left to right. It all added up to a few too many dimensions for Mexican lightweight Maikol Lopez in a lopsided decision on Estrada-Chocolatito undercard.

Castro (9-0, 6 KOs), a former national amateur champion from Fresno, confused Lopez (16-4, 8 KOs) early and then began to exhaust him with hooks to the body and rocking rights to the head. By the seventh round, he took a knee. It looked as if he was finished. He wasn’t. He soldiered on through an eighth and final round. But it didn’t matter on the scorecards, unanimous for Castro.    

Los Angeles SuperFly Herrera dominates, scoring a third-round TKO

Anthony Herrera calls himself Super-Foo. Forget the Foo. But the Super was there with an overwhelming third-round stoppage Christian Sullivan, a super-flyweight from Casa Grande, Ariz., who had no counter for what Herrera threw at him.

Herrera (4-0-1), of Los Angeles, knocked down Sullivan with a short right early in the third. Suddenly stunned, Sullivan (8-1) dropped his hands. He was defenseless as Herrera stepped up his assault. At 1:44 of the third, his corner ended it.

First Bell: Brazilian Olympic medalist Beatriz Ferriera scores powerful TKO 

 It began early. Ended early, too.

Beatriz Ferriera, an Olympic silver medalist from Brazil, kicked the Juan Francisco Estrada-Roman Gonzalez show into gear with a powerful start Saturday, stopping Carisse Brown (7-3, 4 KOs) within two rounds at Desert Diamond Arena.

Ferriera (2-0, 1 KO) flashed power in both hands. She drove Brown into the ropes in the first, forcing a stand eight count. She dropped Brown to one knee early in the second. Seconds later, referee Joey Chavez had seen enough. He ended it at 1:20 of the round.  

By Norm Frauenheim –

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Juan Francisco Estrada will enter the ring for perhaps the greatest moment in his long career closer to home than he ever might have imagined.

Estrada, who faces Ramon Gonzalez in the third fight of a compelling SuperFly trilogy at Desert Diamond Arena Saturday (DAZN), is the son of a fisherman who lived and worked in the Mexican town of Puerto Penasco at the top of the Sea of Cortez.

The village is about 215 miles down the road from the urban sprawl that surrounds Phoenix. For years, it’s been Arizona’s beach, a place the Gringos call Rocky Point.

They go to eat the shrimp. They go to party on a unique shoreline where the desert meets the sea. It’s a beautiful place, full of stark contrasts. Deep blue water alongside sand dunes.

Estrada was born there 32 years ago. He grew up there. Learned how to fight there. He also learned about grief. He lost his parents there. First, his mom to leukemia. Then, his dad.

“Like so many, he fished for a living,’’ Estrada said. “He died fishing.’’

His dad, Estrada said, drowned while diving during a long day of working the rich waters off Puerto Penasco. His scuba tanks failed.

Estrada moved on, living with uncles, aunts and others in his family. Mostly, he fought, fought off the grief and fought for a chance to make a living by fighting instead of fishing. He moved to Las Mochis and then Hermosillo, where today he has own family, a wife and three kids

He fights for Mexico, he says

“For all of Mexico,’’ said Estrada, who faces a Nicaraguan in Gonzalez, who grew up in in a Managua neighborhood called Esperanza – Hope.

Mexicans are expected to fill the arena Saturday for Estrada in his bid to beat Gonzalez for a second time at 115 pounds. Gonzalez won the first bout at 108, junior-flyweight.

It figures to be an Estrada crowd, in part because the defending World Boxing Council champion is close enough to his birthplace to be the hometown fighter.

“I still have family there, yes,’’ he said. “But I don’t know how many can come.’’

This time, the traffic figures to be traveling north, up the road away from the water, shrimp, beaches and into the arena

“I was 15 when I went to Hermosillo,’’ Estrada said. “I would see family and siblings there and would say: ‘Well, I have no parents. I have to give it everything to become someone in life.’ ‘’

For one night, they’ll be there to see him, a 32-year man who has arrived at the moment when only everything will achieve the someone he envisions.

By Norm Frauenheim-

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Not much has ever separated them. They are equal in skill. They have split two bouts, each winning a decision.

So, it came as no surprise Friday morning when very little again separated Juan Francisco Estrada and Ramon Gonzalez at the official weigh-in at a hotel ballroom next door to the Desert Diamond Arena.

Estrada was at the SuperFly limit, 115-pounds even. Gonzalez was at 114.7. Three ounces, a perfect number for perhaps a perfect Trilogy.

There has been a certain symmetry throughout their rivalry, now a decade long. Hours after the official weigh-in, two of history’s best little-big men performed for a small crowd at a staged weigh-in. Step onto the scale. Step off. Pose, face-to-face, for the cameras

“Outside of the ring, we are colleagues,” Estrada (43-3, 28 KOs) said before another scheduled 12 rounds.

But make no mistake, these colleagues are well-practiced at the art of chaos, which is why an expected crowd of 10,000 and a DAZN audience will be watching at opening bell. The DAZN part of the card is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Arizona time (5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET).

They understand why they are here for a third time. Trilogies are built on the expectation that the tension and drama will build from fight to fight.

“The third fight will be even better because we are prepared better than ever before,’’ said Gonzalez (51-3, 41 KOs) a Nicaraguan known worldwide as Chocolatito.  “I’m in the best shape of my life.’’

But each fighter’s fitness doesn’t change their birth certificates. Little guys don’t last as long as fighters in the heavier divisions. The flyweight classes are little bit like their namesake. Their life span is shorter.

Estrada and Chocolatito are old. They fought for the first time at 107 3/4 pounds in November 2012. Chocolattito won that one by unanimous decision. A decade later, they are little heavier and a lot older. Estrada is 32, Chocolatito 35.

This third fight might be decided by the fighter whose reflexes and skillset have best resisted time’s inevitability. Time could also continue to make any bout between them hard to judge and harder to pick. It could keep them as even as they’ve ever been.

They know each other like few ever do. Some fighters shadow box. Estrada and Chocolatito box each other.

“That’s why this is going to be the best fight out of all three of them,’’ Estrada said. “The best one will win.’’

By Norm Frauenheim –

PHOENIX – Trilogies are supposed to be about more than just a couple of mere sequels. They’re supposed to make history. Maybe leave a legacy, too.

That’s why Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez are here, west of downtown Phoenix in Glendale.

Each talked quietly, almost solemnly, during a news conference Thursday about their third, defining confrontation (DAZN)

Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena.

On the scale, they are junior-bantamweights. But, please, forget the junior. It sounds dismissive, an insult to what Estrada and Gonzalez are about to do. For one night, only Super Fly fits the heavyweight expectations awaiting these fighters, small only in height and weight. Go ahead, hum a few lyrics from Curtis Mayfield’s memorable theme to a 1972 film with the same name.

…Lotta things going’ on

The man of the hour

Has an air of great power…

…You’re gonna make your fortune by and by…

…Oh, superfly

After the newser, I jumped into my truck and listened to those and more Mayfield lyrics as I headed east, back on the crowded freeway and on to a stop at the home of America’s last Super Fly. Michael Carbajal is 55 today. There’s gray in his hair. There’s a smile in eyes that used to flash anger like sparks off flint.

He’s a man with memories and admiration for Estrada and Gonzalez. There’s also an understanding of what both are thinking. And enduring.

Nearly three decades ago, Carbajal was there in what was then the most significant trilogy in the history of weight classes at 115-pounds-and-less

Carbajal fought Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez three times, all at 108-pounds. He knocked him out in a Fight of the Year in 1993 in Las Vegas and then lost two narrow, debatable decisions in 1995, first on the Los Angeles Lakers’ old floor at The Forum in Inglewood and then in an aging Mexico City bullring in front of wild crowd of more than 30,000.

“By the third fight, I thought that I knew everything I could about Chiquita,’’ Carbajal said Thursday afternoon in his old Ninth Street Gym, once a church and just a short walk down the street from the house where he was born in a downtown neighborhood about 16 miles from Desert Diamond. “But he surprised me. It was kind of ironic. Before our first fight, he told me not to run away. I didn’t and I knocked him out.

“Then, he boxed. He had that discipline over two fights, over 24 rounds. I never thought he could do that, especially in front of his fans in Mexico City. They knew him for his knockouts. But he did it. He stayed away from me. And I give him credit. If I was him, I’d have done the same thing. No other way he could have beat me.’’

There’s a possible message in that memory for Estrada, Gonzalez and an expected crowd of 10,000.  We’ve seemingly seen it all from Gonzalez’ unanimous decision in the first fight at 108 pounds and Estrada’s debatable split-decision at 115 in March 2021.

But there’s intrigue in what nobody has seen or expects. The resilience and versatile skillsets displayed by both suggest that there is more in each.

“This fight is hard to pick,’’ Carbajal said. “I mean each guy can win if he executes what he does best. But you just never know. Maybe the age will be the key. Gonzalez is 35. Estrada is 32.

“I like how both guys fight. In my day, I’d fight Gonzalez the way Estrada has. I’d put on the pressure. I’d keep that pressure on him. I’d fight Estrada the way Gonzalez has. He doesn’t have huge power. But it’s good enough, because he’s so precise, especially with his counter.’’

In both, Carbajal sees the inexhaustible will that drove him. Defined him.

More than money, he said, led to his decision to fight Chiquita a third time.

“There’s pride,’’ Carbajal said. “It’s wanting to prove who you really are. Me and Chiquita are friends today. We always will be. Back then, we were just sick of each other. He won two of three. But he couldn’t knock me out and he knew that. I knocked him out. I have that over him.’’

Carbajal-Chiquita 3 almost didn’t happen, he recalls. There was turmoil in Carbajal’s life and career. He had left Bob Arum’s Top Rank for Don King, who decided to stage the third fight in Mexico City, Chiquita’s home town because of a chance at a bigger live gate.

Danny Carbajal, Michael’s estranged older brother and then his trainer/manager, didn’t want to go to Mexico City.

“He told me he didn’t want the fight in Mexico City, but I do think he wanted the money,’’ said Michael, whose brother served three-and-half years in prison on charges of robbing Michael after a 53-fight career that included a reported $1-million payday – then the biggest ever for a fighter in the lightest weights — for his first rematch with Chiquita. “But I told Danny that the money didn’t matter as much as everything else.

“I wanted to prove I was better than Chiquita. Period.’’

The discussion in Carbajal’s kitchen got heated. Michael remembers jumping up on to his chair and screaming “I’ll knock him the f— out in Mexico City or anyplace else.’ ‘’

Danny Carbajal didn’t argue.

Today, it’s fair to wonder whether the fight should have happened somewhere else. Phoenix was mentioned. After all, Carbajal   went to The Forum – then Chiquita’s second home – for the first rematch, even though he had decisively won the first bout, getting off the deck twice for a seventh-round KO in neutral Las Vegas. Nothing neutral about Mexico City. Retired featherweight and Carbajal friend Ruben Castillo described it this way: “Michael went from fighting in Chiquita’s backyard to fighting in his kitchen.’’

What it did show, however, is a willingness to fight anytime and mostly anywhere. That is missing these days, Carbajal says. Instead, there’s a risk-to-reward ratio that takes a lot of the courage and even more of the drama out of the game. For proof of that you need go no further than the failed negotiations for a major welterweight fight between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

“Early in my career, I told Danny to find some ranked guys, real fighters,’’ Carbajal said. “I told him to quit throwing these effing patsies at me. I’d beat up those guys, finishing them off in three or four rounds. Then, I’d leave the ring and wondered what I had accomplished.

“I told Danny I wasn’t learning anything. Yeah, you want to make money. But you want to learn. I wanted to be the best fighter out there, better than anybody. I really loved to fight and I wanted real fights.’’

Nearly three decades later, Carbajal is confident he sees two fighters who love the craft the way he did. In their trilogy, he sees his own.

…The game he plays he plays for keeps…

…Gambling with the odds of fate…

…Woo, superfly

Estrada-Gonzalez 3, the right fight in the right place. 

By Norm Frauenheim-

Thanksgiving gives way to Black Friday. After dashed hopes and some of the usual suspects, it’s hard to know which day best sums up the state of the game as it enters the last month of a troubled year.

First, a few thanks:

Thanks to the Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko. For a world watching the Ukraine’s desperate war against Russia’s unprovoked assault, they help define a heroic country with an inexhaustible will to fight. Throughout Usyk’s smart, poised split-decision over Anthony Joshua in August, countrymen and comrades were never far away.

Thanks to the women. For one night in April, there was a fight not complicated by contentious negotiations. It also wasn’t another overpriced exhibition from wannabes or retirees. Katie Taylor’s split decision over Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden was real, the Event of the Year if not the Fight of the Year.

To Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr., thanks for nothing. Their failed negotiations after weeks of a rumored done-deal is the Upset of the Year. It upset everyone.

It’s time to move on, time to shop for some solutions. On the remaining calendar, there are still some promising dates:

·     Saturday, entertaining Regis Prograis returns to the world stage in a bid for another 140-pound belt Saturday against Jose Zepeda in Carson, Calif.

·      A week later (December 3) in Glendale Arizona, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada complete their compelling trilogy at 115-pounds, Super Fly in class and legacy.

·     On December 13, undisputed bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue continues his bid for pound-pound supremacy against Paul Butler in Japan.

In each, there’s a chance to move on — if not beyond — and into a New Year. Still, the last year includes lessons worth remembering. The biggest comes from an unlikely source. Within the ropes, Dmitry Bivol scored the Upset of the Year with his decision over Canelo Alvarez in May.

Alvarez moved up in weight, from 168 to 175 pounds, to fight Bivol. It was a risk. Yet, Canelo underestimated the risk.

Underestimated Bivol, too.

That’s easy to do. Bivol is as understated as he is unknown. He’s also a Russian. That meant there was a reasonable argument that he should not have been allowed to fight Canelo in Las Vegas or any other place. Kyiv Mayor and ex-heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko and his brother, retired heavyweight champion, Wladimir, voiced their opposition to the fight for weeks on social media.

It’s hard to imagine that Bivol could ignore it. He has family in Saint Petersburg. But he didn’t talk much about it. He referred to himself as simply a boxer, a prize fighter. He adhered only to what he could do within his craft. Not much else he could do. Turns out, he did so brilliantly, out-boxing Canelo in every way.

Then, he moved on without a word or gesture that included bravado. He didn’t brag. He didn’t posture. He said he only did what a bigger man is expected to do. Then, he went on, stamping himself as a leading contender for Fighter of the Year, with  another masterful decision over Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in November.

Now, there’s plenty of talk about a rematch, most of it coming from Canelo, who is reportedly anxious to wipe away the tarnish on his pursuit of legacy. It would be big money for Bivol, although it’s safe say that the lion’s share of the total purse would still go to Canelo, boxing’s top draw.

Yet during an interview with the DAZN Boxing Show, Bivol suggested that money is not the biggest factor in his thinking. He also concedes that boxing’s balkanized politics are a factor. Eddie Hearn promotes him.  Hearn rival Bob Arum promotes Artur Beterbiev, who holds more belts and most of the cards in the light-heavyweight division.

Still, Bivol makes it sound as if legacy is priceless. That’s a quaint notion in a business eroding because of its adherence to the risk-reward ratio.

A fight with Beterbiev for the undisputed claim on light-heavyweight, he suggests, looms larger in his mind than a career-high payday.

“Of course, for my legacy, it’s better to fight for another belt,’’ Bivol said. “I’ve made 10 defenses. Of course, I want more. I want to feel that I fight for something else, not just defend my title.’’

It sounds like a plea for a new beginning, a resurrected way of doing business. The fans want more, too. Thanks, Dmitry Bivol.

By Norm Frauenheim –

Reports of a Ryan Garcia-Gervonta Davis agreement Thursday is a sign that boxing still has a pulse.

It’s faint. But it’s there, a sign of life after boxing’s obituary was written all over again in the wake of any chance that Terence Crawford-versus-Errol Spence Jr. happens before they’re eligible for senior-citizen discounts.

But don’t set aside some grocery money for the pay-per-view just yet. The misleading speculation and reports about the Crawford-Spence negotiations are a reminder not to count on any bout until the fighters are gloved up, in the ring and you hear the opening bell.

There are still some loose ends. Davis has to win and emerge without injury from a reported tune-up on Jan. 7.  He also faces 14 traffic charges in Baltimore for an alleged hit-and-run two years ago in a trial now scheduled for Feb. 16.

There’s still no date, although mid-April is said to be the target for a bout expected to be at a catch-weight, 136 pounds.

It’s not Crawford-Spence, but it’s a good one against a couple of compelling fighters, both unbeaten and each in their prime. Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) is 28; Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) is 24. What could go wrong? Stupid question. This is boxing.

If it happens, it sets up what could be a good couple of months, a welcome stretch with real fights instead of more social-media trash from Crawford and Spence.

David Benavidez and Caleb Plant have an agreement for a 168-pound fight. The WBC (World Boxing Council) has designated it as a title eliminator, meaning that the winner is supposed to get a so-called mandatory shot at the belt held by Canelo Alvarez.

But It’s not clear what Canelo will do. He just underwent wrist surgery. It’ll be awhile before he hits a tee-shot or a heavy bag. Promoter Eddie Hearn said he might be healthy enough to fight in May. But that date figures to be a tune-up.

If the wrist holds up, would Canelo move on to a rematch with Dmitry Bivol, the light-heavyweight champion?  Bivol beat him easily last May. There’s a prevailing opinion that Canelo simply can’t beat Bivol at 175 pounds, 168 or any other weight.

Would he then turn to Benavidez instead? Canelo is dismissive of Benavidez, the Phoenix-born fighter whose father-and-trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. is planning to return to his son’s hometown. They’ve been living and training in Seattle.

Canelo and Hearn have repeatedly mocked Benavidez’ resume, deeming it less than worthy of a shot at boxing’s biggest star. Still, Canelo will be watching.

“It’s a very competitive fight and I see Benavidez winning, but my focus is on the Dmitry Bivol rematch.” Canelo told Bet365.mx this week.

The Canelo angle is a good bet to add some intrigue to a long-awaited fight between Benavidez and Plant, who suffered an 11^th-round TKO loss to the Mexican champion a year ago.

Like Davis-Garcia, however, no date or site has been announced. The Benavidez-Plant agreement was reported two weeks ago. A day in March was mentioned last at the WBC convention in Acapulco. Vegas, Los Angeles and a Texas city are possible destinations.

Until then, Caveat Emptor, the Buyer Beware tag and boxing’s only real mandatory. 

By Norm Frauenheim –

The World Boxing Council is trying to make some history at its annual convention. It’s also trying to rewrite some.

In the here-and-now, the acronym announced it will ban Russian and Belarusian boxers from its rankings until the unprovoked assault on Ukraine ends.

Kudos for that, although it’s a conditional tip of the historical cap. In boxing-speak, that’s just another way of saying it’s interim. This is prize-fighting, emphasis on the prize. That’s what dictates the business model. No way to rewrite that bit of history. A good sanctioning fee is a down payment on compromise.

That said, the WBC has decided to rewrite some other parts of boxing’s notorious past. This one is fun. More important, it’s free. The game is littered with lousy decisions.

The WBC got started on its rewrite during its annual meeting, this one in Acapulco, with Jeff Fenech’s 1991 draw with Azumah Nelson, then the WBC’s junior-lightweight champion.

The furor over that one has faded, but the WBC tried to right the wrong, awarding Fenech one belt robbed from him more than three decades ago. Fenech celebrated, mostly because it makes him a four-belt champion.

“It’s crazy, brother,’’ Fenech, an Aussie, told Australian media. “It would’ve meant more to me back when I really won the fight. But for them, the WBC, to do this is so special. Far out, it means so much to me.’’

Far out, indeed.

It’s not exactly clear how far the WBC intends to go with its rewrite. It looks to be a bridge too far. Boxing has been called the world’s second oldest profession, which means there’s an old and new testament full of questionable decisions.

For now, at least, it appears decisions judged to be bad beyond dispute will have to involve a WBC belt. Still, the WBC has already shown a willingness to wade into geo-political issues.

The ratings ban on Russian and Belarusian boxers is just the latest example. Hence, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the WBC award a belt to any fighter who got robbed, no matter what titles or medals were involved at the time.

Here a few:

At the top of the list, the infamous 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

It’s at the amateur level, a good place to start. Also, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has long talked about the importance of Olympic boxing. It’s never been the same since Roy Jones Jr. and Michael Carbajal, both Hall of Famers, were robbed of gold. Both Americans wound up with silver that included only controversy and no consolation.

After winning every round before the light-middleweight gold medal bout, Jones lost, 3-2, to South Korean Park Si-hun, who never fought again.

Carbajal, known for power and precision, lost by a shutout, an astonishing 5-0, to an unknown Bulgarian. It was a bout in the lightest weight class, yet it served as a warning to what was coming in the Jones bout.

In a dispute later documented by the Los Angeles Times, the official in charge of assigning refs and judges — an agent for Stasi (the old East German police force) in his day job — got into an argument with the Americans before assignments were made the night before the gold-medal round. He stormed out of a meeting, telling American officials that they would see what was about to happen in the next day’s opening gold-medal bout, Carbajal’s bout.

The thefts, infamous and remembered because they happened on a worldwide stage, also impacted the pro game. Early in his career, Jones would not fight anywhere outside of the US. That reluctance robbed him and the business of an opportunity to sell his singular talent worldwide  

Yet, another acronym, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) has never corrected the record. The WBC could. Give Jones and Carbajal its own version of a gold medal.

Next on the lousy list: Pernell Whitaker’s draw with Julio Cesar Chavez in San Antonio at the Alamodome in September 1993. It was called The Fight. It should be remembered as The Felony.

During an era when establishment media still paid attention to boxing, Sports Illustrated featured the welterweight fight for the WBC belt, putting Whitaker on the magazine’s cover with the headline “ROBBED!”

SI scored it 117-110 for Whitaker. So did I. I was there. But the judges scored it a majority draw. Whitaker was known for elusive defense, yet he landed more punches, 311-220, than the Don King-promoted Chavez. It was 115-115 on two cards and 115-112 for Whitaker on the third.

A personal memory: A roaring crowd of 65,000 walked out of the Alamodome quietly. It was a Chavez crowd, predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American. They know boxing, better than anybody in the world. The silence said plenty. They knew what they had just witnessed.

This list could start and end with the Seoul Olympics and Whitaker-Chavez. They define the rest. Still, no lousy list is ever complete. And none is ever wrong. Only the scorecards are. There are just too, too many bad decisions.

Since the WBC opened the door, correcting one and probably more, here are two:

First, Timothy Bradley’s split-decision over Manny Pacquiao, June 2012, in Las Vegas for the WBO’s welterweight title. On the list of lousy decisions in the 21^st Century, this one figures to always be a contender. Put it this way: If Bradley had been at ringside commentating in his current role as an ESPN boxing analyst, he’d have been outraged.

Second, Evander Holyfield’s draw with Lennox Lewis, March 1999, Madison Square Garden, New York. The fight between heavyweight belt-holders was called Undisputed. It has been in dispute ever since. It looked as if Lewis would win. He appeared dominant over at least eight rounds. On the scorecards, however, it was three different fights. It was Holyfield, 115-113, on one. It was Lewis, 116-113, on another. On the third, it was 115-115, resulting in a draw, a majority mess.

Nobody agreed, not even then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who got something right for maybe the last time.

Giuliani called it “a travesty.’’

There’ll be more of that. No correction necessary.