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.

Follow all the action as Amanda Serrano takes on Erika Cruz for the Undisputed Featherweight title.  The action kicks off at 8 PM ET and will feature Alycia Baumgardner taking on Elham Mekhaled for the Undisputed Junior Lightweight crown.

THE PAGE WILL UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY.  NO BROWSER REFRESH NEEDED

Round 1: Left from Cruz..Left to body from Serrano…another…Left over top from Cruz..Left from Serrano…Left from Cruz

ROUND 2 2 Lefts from Cruz…2 more lefts…Left..uppercut on the inside

ROUND 3 Cruz lands a left…Right..Straight left from Serrano…Right..Cruz cut badly on her forehead (Headbutt)

ROUND 4 left from Cruz…Right hook..Left from Serrano…Rught Hook..Straight left

ROUND 5 Right from Cruz…Combination..Left backs up Cruz…Left,,

ROUND 6 Doctor checks Cruz Cut forehead,,,Right hook from Serrano..Lef from Cruz..Body shot from Serrano..Big left hurts Cruz…she stumbles to the ropes…Body shot from Serrano

ROUND 7  Furious action to start the round..Big left from Serrano,,,Big right hook…Tremendous action

ROUND 8 Left from Serrano

ROUND 9 Left from Serrano..Right hook…Hard left…

ROUND 10 Left from Cruz,…right…A war between the two,,,Serrano cut around the right eye

98-92 TWICE AND 97-93 FOR AMANDA SERRANO

ROUND 1 Right from Baumgarder..Right aver top from Mekhaled…

ROUND 2 Right from Baumgardner…Right from Mekhaled…2 shots…Right from Baumgardner..

ROUND 3 BIG RGHT AND DOWN GOES MEKHALED…HUGE FLURRY AND DOWN GOES MEKHALED AGAIN…2 Big Rights followed by a an assault of punches..

ROUND 4 Right from Mekhaled…Left from Baumgardner..

ROUND 5 Right to body from Baumgardner…Left hook shakes Mekhaled…Body shots…Counter left

ROUND 6 5 Punch combination from Baumgardner..right…Left,..

ROUND 7 Left hook from Baumgardmer…Vicious lefts and rights hurts Mekjaled on the ropes…ref looks close to stopping fight..Right from Mekhaled..

ROUND 8 Right drives Mekhaled to the corner

ROUND 9 Jab from Mekhaled…Counter right…Counter left…Good exchange..Mekhaled lands a left

ROUND 10 Right to body from Baumgardner…Right from Mekhaled…Right…Left to body from Baumgardner…Uppercut and left hook from Baumgardner..Right to body..3 Good shots from Baumgardner…

99-89 TWICE AND 98-90 FOR BAUMGARDNER

Round 1: Jab from Bauza..Left to body…Jab from Hitchins..Right to body…INSIDE LEFT AND BAUZA FALLS…RULED A KNOCKDOWN..Jab from Bauza..Replays showed that Bauza stepped on the foot of Hitchins
Round 2 Jab from Bauza…Left to body..Left…Hard right from Hitchins…3 jabs…Left from Bauza..
Round 3 Left from Bauza..Jab…
Round 4 Counter right from Hitchins…BIG RIGHT AND DOWN GOES BAUZA…Another big Right..Hard Body punch…
Round 5 Straight right from Hitchins…Bauza starting to swell around the right eye…Counter right from Hitchins..Left from Bauza…
Round 6 Counter right from Hitchins…2 more straight rights…Big straight right…Another..Counter right uppercut..Left hook..
Round 7 Doctor checking Bauza’s eye…Double jab from Hitchins…bauza trying to fire back and lands a left..Double jab from Hitchins…
Round 8 Right from Hitchins,..Good counter right to the body…Good straight right…Right to body from Bauza..Right from Hitchins…Left from Bauza..
Round 9 Right from Hitchins…Big left from Bauza..Bauza trying to rally with a good flurry…3 monsterous shots from Hitchins..Left…Bauza’s face a mess…Body shots…
Round 10 Right from Hitchins…Left from Bauza…Hard right rocks Bauza..

100-88 ON ALL CARDS FOR HITCHINS

Round 1 Left from Rivera….Straight left…
Round 2 Hard left from Rivera…Diaz lands a right off the ropes…Right to body from Rivera..
Round 3 Uppercut by Diaz…Right from Rivera…Left from Diaz..Uppercut ..
Round 4 Left from Rivera..Uppercut from Diaz…Left from Rivera…Left drives Diaz back…Right hook…Straight to the body…Left to body..Good left to the body
Round 5 Left hook from Diaz..counter left…Left to body by Rivera..Combination from Diaz…Good straight left from Rivera..Right from Diaz…
Round 6 Left from Rivera…Left to body
Round 7  Right inside from Rivera…
Round 8 Left from Rivera…Right from Diaz…Hard left from Rivera..

79-73 TWICE AND 78-74 FOR RIVERA

By David Galaviz-

GLENDALE, Ariz. — He has some of his father’s confidence. Some of his looks, too. It’s combo inherited from a famous dad, Fernando Vargas.

Like father, like son?

The story has begun to unfold with Emiliano Vargas, who calls himself “El General.” His father called himself “El Feroz.” Put the two together — a General’s leadership and his father’s — and it’s an ambitious beginning and perhaps an extension of the Vargas legacy.

Emiliano has already set the bar high. He’s bold about what he hopes to accomplish in this new year.

“I want to the Prospect of the Year in 2023,’’ he said.

The mission begins Friday against Francisco Duque on a ESPN card featuring Emanuel Navarrete against Liam Wilson at Desert Diamond Arena. His father will be there in his corner, a dad remembered for some of the most notable fights in the early 2000s.

The youngest of the Vargas brothers Emiliano “El General” Vargas following in his fathers footsteps, stepping in the ring. Often times children of pro athletes have unnecessary pressure to perform at the level or greater than their parents, in this case this young man dad happens to be.

Under the guidance of his father, two-time world light middleweight Emiliano became an eight-time amateur national champion.

He was busy as an amateur. and plans to stay busy as a pro

“I hope to fight five times this year” said Emiliano (2-0 2KOs), a lightweight who weighed in Thursday at 133.4 pounds. Duque (1-1), of Baytown Texas, weighed in at 136.5 pounds

Emiliano has been sparing with the likes of Jorge Linares and Shakur Stevenson. It’s an experience that can only put emiliano in a good position to accomplish one of the initial goals in a promising career. He had an exceptional amateur record, at astonishing 110 wins and only 10 loses. That record is a early sign of a young fighter who figures to be in the hunt to be the Prospect of the Year.

 Last May, he finished his opponent with a first round KO. Following his debut, “El General” picked up where he left off, scoring a second round knockout. He threw a left hook, for a sensational stoppage of Julio Cesar Martinez. It was a stunner. And more. It drew consideration for KO of the year 2022, a pretty good beginning on his goal for 2023.  

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.

Miguel Roman won a four-round unanimous decision over Jose Negrete in a battle of undefeated super bantamweights.

In round two, Negrete started to bleed from his nose. Roman scored a knockdown with his right hand.

Roman, 123.8 lbs of Philadelphia won by scores of 40-35 on all cards and is now3-0. Negrete, 122 lbs of Hanford, CA is 2-1.

Follow all the action as Artur Beterbiev defends tha IBF?WBC/WBO Light Heavyweight titles against Anthony Yarde in London.  The action kicks of at 2:30 with an undercard that will feature The WBA Flyweight Title between Artem Dalakian and David Jimenez

The PAGE WILL UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY.  NO BROWSER REFRESH NEEDED

Round 1: Left from Yarde..Left and right…1-2 from Beterbiev..Right..Left hook..
ROUND 2 Action heating up…Jab from Beterbiev..

ROUND 3 Right from Yarde..Right to body from Beterbiev..Hard left

ROUND 4 Right shakes Yarde..Another right..Hard right..Right from Yarde…Trading hard shots…

ROUND 5 Jab from Beterbiev..Right to body from Yarde..Jab from Beterbiev…Body shot from..Counter left from Yarde…Big Right..Looping left…Huge flurry from Beterbiev at the bell…Yarde cut under his right eye

ROUND 6 Right from Beterbiev..Jab from Yarde…Beterbiev cut over right eye

ROUND 7 Body shots from Yarde…left and right to the body…Right…Jab…Short left from Beterbiev…Right from Yardesends Beterbiev to the ropes..2 uppercuts, right and body from Beterbiev..Body shot from Yarde..Uppercut..body shot from Beterbiev..

ROUND 8 Right from Yarde…Jab from Beterbiev...HIGE RIGHT AND DOWN GOES YARDE…HE IS HURT BAD…BIG RIGHT AND THE CORNER OF YARDE STOPS THE FIGHT

Round 1 Right from Maderna..Left from Itauma...Right from Maderna...Redness on nose of Itauma..
Round 2 Nice left from Itauma…Right..Left from Maderna..Right..
Round 3 Looping left hook from Maderna,,,Short left..Nice left uppercut from Itauma,,left hook to body from Maderna,,Itauma working on the inside.
Round 4 Right from Maderna..Counter right and overhand left from Itauma..Right from Maderna…Right wobbles Itauma
Round 5…BIG RIGHT AND DOWN GOES ITAUMA AND HE DOES NOT GET UP

Round 1: Left hook from Dalakian…

ROUND 2: Right to body from Jimenez..

ROUND 3 Nice right from Dalakian

ROUND 4 Left hook from Dalakina…

ROUND 5   Jimenez Pressuring..Jimenez cut over his right eye

ROUND 6 Dalakian lands a right

ROUND 7 Over hand right from Jimenez..Nice right

ROUND 8 Nice left from Jimenez…Jab..

Round 9 Right hand and uppercut from Jimenez…

ROUND 10 Right from Dalakian…Jab from Jimenez…Good body shot from Dalakian..Right from Jimenez..Left hook…Body work..

ROUND 11 Jimenez lands a body shot,.

Round 12 Good right from Jimenez…Good uppercut from Dalakian..

115-113 TWICE AND 116-112 FOR DALAKIAN

Round 1  2 PunCHES AND DOWN GOES BODE…THER FIGHT IS OVER

Round 1: Jabs from Fletcher
Round 2 Left from Fletcher..Body shot from Fletcher…
Round 3 Hard left from Fletcher…Left to body…
Round 4 Left from Fletcher…
Round 5 2 Lefts

60-54 FLETCHER

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 Matthew Benoliel –

Six-foot two, 230-pound Lorenzo “The Giant Killer” Medina (4-0, 4 KOs) will become the youngest boxer yet to appear on ProBox TV’s Future Stars series on Wednesday, January 25th at the ProBox Center in Plant City, Florida. 

ProBox subscribers know that the Future Stars series is dedicated to showcasing top amateurs who have recently turned pro, and the eighteen-year old Medina has more than earned his shot in the spotlight.

Medina began boxing at the age of seven, taking advantage of the Police Athletic Leagues in Pembroke Pines and later in Davie, Florida. According to Medina, “I became serious about boxing at age thirteen.” Traveling the country to find opponents in the amateur ranks, Medina gained valuable experience that would transfer to his advantage. By age fifteen, Medina had placed second in National competition, and by age seventeen, had placed first in the Olympic Trials. 

Ranked number one in the country at super-heavyweight, Medina decided to forgo the Olympic dream and turn pro. He was still just seventeen years old. Lorenzo scored two first round knockouts over older and more experienced opponents in Mexico before making his American debut on October 15th, 2022, on the eve of his eighteenth birthday.  Medina made an impression on the crowd at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, as well as the veteran ring announcers Michael Woods and Beto Duran when he forced his opponent to quit in the first round. 

In December of 2022, Medina advanced his record to 4-0 with a third round TKO victory over Dwight Gipson, an opponent who outweighed him by 110 pounds. The Giant Killer was living up to his alias. 

Now, Medina is excited for his opportunity to appear on the Future Stars series.  This is mainly due to the fact that since its inception, ProBox has earned a reputation for making fights against even competitors that boxing fans want to see. 

Medina stated, “50/50 fights. That’s what people need. That’s what boxing needs. The sport is being watered down with good guys who are scared to take the big fights. I want to be considered one of the greats.”  

And he has been studying the greats since age seven. “At seven, I was aware of Roy Jones Jr., James Toney, Manny Pacquaio, Oscar DeLaHoya…I wanted to be a world champion.” Now that he’s established himself as a heavyweight, Medina cites Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, David Tua, and George Benton, “the inventor of the shoulder roll,” as his favorites.

What makes Medina exceptional is that despite his age, he has a maturity beyond his years. For example, when a fight that was supposed to take place in front of his hometown crowd, in which he sold “around $13,000 in tickets,” was recently canceled. Lorenzo didn’t flinch. He returned the money he had collected, and set his sights on January 25th. He didn’t take to social media to complain or call people out. Hde simply moved on.

Likewise, Medina is a real student of the sport. He loves to talk about technique and abilities of fighters past and present. He has been privately training clients for years, and has sparred with the likes of Luis Ortiz, Lawrence Okolie, Filip Hrgovic, as well as ex-NFL stars Frank Gore and Greg Hardy, Jr. The Giant Killer has earned the respect of his sparring partners and is poised to make a statement. “85% of the heavyweight division doesn’t have fast feet. They don’t move like me.” 

On his upcoming bout, Medina wants the fans to know, ““People will see. They’re gonna see the footwork, the head movement.” On performing in front of commentators Paulie Malignaggi and Juan Manuel Marquez, Medina states, “it will make me perform even better, knowing that two great fighters will be watching me.” His 2023 goal is to reach 10-0 and possibly fight for a title. 

On January 25th, Medina will showcase his skills on the largest platform of his career thus far. Fans are in for a treat as they will witness a young man with exceptional foot and hand speed for a heavyweight, a fighter who is still developing physically, but has devoted his entire life to the sport. 

Medina trains with head coach Jeff Portiz and Kevin Gleason, and is managed by Ryan Rickey.

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.

MIAMI, FL (January 10, 2023)—Two championship fights are among the six undercard clashes that are part of “Let Freedom Ring!  Clash of the Champions!” boxing spectacular presented by Don King Promotions at Casino Miami Jai-Alai on Saturday, Jan. 21.

The world’s greatest boxing promoter has put together another super sensational card headlined by the WBA NABA Gold Heavyweight Championship as Jonathan Guidry (18-1-2, 10 KOs) of Dulac, LA set to defend his title against former WBC Heavyweight Champion Bermane Stiverne (25-5-1, 21 KOs) of Las Vegas, NV via Canada in a 10-round title fight.

Tickets for the championship card are priced at $25, $50 and floor ringside are $100.  VIP tables will be sold at $2,500.   Tickets are available and can be purchased online at https://playcasinomiami.com.   The card will also be presented streaming live on www.donking.com and www.Itube247.com for $19.99.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the action will begin at 7 p.m.

Guidry is coming off a sensational performance against tough Dacarree Scott.  Guidry won a tough battle with Scott and sent him to the canvas at 2:01 of the seventh round to claim the NABA Gold Heavyweight title on June 11, 2022 at Casino Miami Jai-Alai.

NABA Welterweight Champion Tre’Sean Wiggins (14-5-3, 8 KOs) of Newburgh, NY will defend his title against Nigel Fennel (13-1, 8 KOs) of San Diego in a 10-round bout.  Wiggins thrilled fans at his last defense of his title at the Casino Miami Jai-Alai as he knocked out Travis Castellon at 2:07 of the first round on June 11.

WBA Continental Americas Middleweight Champion Ian Green (16-2, 11 KOs) of Haledon, NJ will defend his title against undefeated Alexander Castro (11-0, 9 KOs) from Tulua, Columbia in a 10-round title fight.   Like Wiggins, Green was impressive on June 11 at Miami Casino Jai-Alai in winning a unanimous 10-round decision over Anthony Lenk.  This will be Castro’s first fight in the United States.

The first two bouts of the night will feature a super lightweight attraction between Raynel Mederos (7-0, 2 KOs) of Miami, Fl via Cuba against Nelson Morales (3-1) from Scranton, PA via the Dominican Republic for 6 rounds.  The other six-round bout is a light heavyweight attraction for six rounds featuring Kenmon Evans (9-0-1, 3 KOs) of New Smyrna Beach, FL against Cleotis Pendarvis (21-13-2, 9 KOs) of Lancaster, CA. 

Three Cuban fighters will also be featured on the undercard.  Alex Michael Perez (4-11) will fight in a six-round middleweight attraction against Carlos Crus (2-9, 1 KO) of Deerfield Beach via Nicaragua.  Brayan Leon Salgado (1-1) will enter the ring in a four-round light heavyweight attraction against Salome Flores Torres (1-7) from Hastings, MN and the final Cuban fighter, Darian Favier Castro (1-1) will be in a six-round junior welterweight attraction against Ryan Schwartzberg (1-8-2, 1 KO) of Dania, FL.

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.

Follow all the action as Gervonta Davis defends the WBA Lightweight title against WBA Junior Lightweight champion Hector Luis Garcia.  The card begins at 9 PM ET with former two-weight world champion Demetrius Andrade taking Demond Nicholson; Rashidi Ellis battles Roiman Villa and Jaron Ennis takes on Karen Chukhadzhian for the IBF Interim Welterweight title

THE PAGE WILL UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY..NO BROWSER REFRESH NEEDED

Round 1: Not much happening…
Round 2 Left from Garcia…Left from Davis at the bell
Round 3 Counter left from Garcia…Left..
Round 4 Counter left from Garcia…Left from Davis..Right hook…Another..Good straight lefftLeft from Garcia..
Round 5 Left from Garcia,,,Left from Davis
Round 6 Left to body from Garcia…Right hook..Jab..Left to body..Right hook from Davis..Left..Body shot from Garcia..
Round 7 Right to body from Garcia…2 body shots…left to body…Right hook from Davis,

Round 1 Ennis jabbing
Round 2
Round 3 Chukhadzhian lands a right,,Right hook from Ennis…Left at the bell
Round 4 Right hook from Ennis..Left to the body…Counter left from Chukadzhian..
Round 5 Hard right from Ennis..Right from Chukhadzhian..
Round 6 Left from Chukhadzhian..
Round 7
Round 8 Chukhadzhian lands a right
Round 9 Big right from Ennis…Uppercut…
Round 10 Ennis chasing Chukhadzhian down…
Round 11 Ennis Jabbing
Round 12 Southpaw Jab from Ennis..Body shot..Left on ropes..Left..

Round 1: Ellis jabbing…Right to the body…Right from Villa..Jab to body from Ellis…
Round 2 Right from Villa…Body shot from Ellis…Right..Right to the body..Left to body…
Round 3 Uppercut from Ellis…
Round 4 Left to body from Villa…Right from Ellis..Good action on the inside..
Round 5 Right from Villa..Left from Ellis…Villa trying to pressure…Right from Villa…
Round 6 Right over top from Villa…Trading lefts to the body..
Round 7
Round 8 Right from Ellis
Round 9 Left from Ellis
Round 10  Villa lands a hard uppercut…Hard right drives Ellis back..Big right to the jaw…Ellis fights back
Round 11 Left to body from Villa…Right…
Round 12 HUGE LEFT AND DOWN GOES ELLIS…Villa on top of Ellis…Ellis looks spent and falls to the canvas…Huge flurry from Villa…Huge uppercuts…BIG RIGHT AND DOWN GOES ELLIS JUST BEFOE THE BELL

114-112 TWICE FOR VILLA AND 113-113

Round 1 Andrade comes out firing…Straight left from Andrade…Right to body..Straight left
Round 2 Ripping left from Andrade…Left to body…Quick straight left…Left AND RIGHT HOOK AND DOWN GOES NICHOLSON…
Round 3 Straight left from Andrade…Good counter left to the body..Good lead left..
Round 4 Straight left drives Nicholson back…Left to the body..Right Hook…Left to the body…
Round 5 Andrade down but ruled a slip…Nicholson lands a right to the body…Good left from Andrade…Good 4 punch combination..
Round 6 4 Punch combo from Andrade…Andrade moving…Straight left…Left over the top..Right from Nicholson..Left to body from Andrade..Right to body
Round 7  3 punches to the head by Andrade…3 punch combo…Double left…Hard 3 punches puts Nicholson down but ruled a slip
Round 8 Right-left-right from Andrade…
Round 9 Andrade uncorks 8 shots in the corner…
Round 10 Left from Andrade…Right hook…LEFT HAND MAKES NICHOLSON’S GLOVE TOUCH CANVAS FOR A KNOCKDOWN…

100-88 ON ALL CARDS FOR ANDRADE

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.

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 –

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.

WBA Super Middleweight World Championship – 12 Rounds

David Morrell Jr. – 166 ½ lbs.

Aidos Yerbossynuly – 167 ¼ lbs.

Referee: Tony Weeks; Judges: Mike Fitzgerald (Wis.), Patrick Morley (Ill.) Don Trella (Conn.)

Middleweight Bout – 10 Rounds

Jeison Rosario – 160 lbs. 

Brian Mendoza – 159 ¼ lbs.

Referee: Mark Calo-Oy; Judges: Scott Erickson (Minn.), John Mariano (Minn.), Gary Ritter (Okla.)

Middleweight Bout – 10 Rounds

Fiodor Czerkaszyn – 158 ¾ lbs.

Nathaniel Gallimore – 158 ½ lbs.

Referee: Gary Ritter; Judges: Mark Calo-Oy (Texas), Brian Cosgrove (Minn.), Mike Fitzgerald (Wis.)

SHOWTIME BOXING COUNTDOWN

Stream Live at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT

on the SHOWTIME SPORTS^® YouTube Channel

Light Heavyweight Bout – 10 Rounds

Andre Dirrell – 174 lbs.

Yunieski Gonzalez – 174 lbs.

Referee: Dave Smith; Judges: Patrick Morley (Ill.), Kyle Shiely (Minn.), Don Trella (Conn.)

Middleweight Bout – Eight Rounds

Julian Williams – 159 ½ lbs.

Rolando Mansilla – 158 lbs.

Referee: Mark Calo-Oy; Judges: Brian Cosgrove (Minn.), John Mariano (Minn.), Gary Ritter (Okla.)

Super Lightweight Bout – Eight Rounds

Kent Cruz – 143 lbs.

Enriko Gogokhia – 141 ½ lbs.

Referee: Gary Ritter; Judges: Scott Erickson (Minn.), Kyle Shiely (Minn.), Don Trella (Conn.)

Note: Contracted weight is 143 pounds.

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins at 9:10 p.m. ET/6:10 p.m. PT immediately following the Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva replay. Veteran sportscaster Brian Custer will host the telecast while versatile combat sports voice Mauro Ranallo will handle blow-by-blow action alongside Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein and three-division world champion Abner Mares. Three Hall of Famers round out the telecast team – Emmy^® award winning reporter Jim Gray, world-renowned ring announcer Jimmy Lennon, Jr. and boxing historian Steve Farhood as unofficial scorer. The executive producer is four-time Emmy award winner David Dinkins, Jr. The producer is Ray Smaltz III and the director is Chuck McKean. Sportscaster Alejandro Luna will call the action with former junior middleweight world champion and SHOBOX^® analyst Raúl “El Diamante” Marquez serving as expert analyst in Spanish on Secondary Audio Programming (SAP). SHOBOX announcer and combat sports expert Brian Campbell and his MORNING KOMBAT co-host Luke Thomas will call the action during the live-stream bouts.  

#          #         #

ABOUT MORRELL JR. VS. YERBOSSYNULY

Morrell Jr. vs. Yerbossynuly will see unbeaten WBA Super Middleweight Champion and Minneapolis fan-favorite David Morrell Jr. return to action against undefeated mandatory challenger Aidos Yerbossynuly in a 12-round duel that headlines live on SHOWTIME Saturday, November 5 in a Premier Boxing Champions event from The Armory in Minneapolis.

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will begin at 9:10 p.m. ET/6:10 p.m. PT and features former unified champion Jeison Rosario taking on veteran contender Brian Mendoza in a 10-round middleweight attraction in the co-main event, plus unbeaten middleweight Fiodor Czerkaszyn battles the hard-hitting Nathaniel Gallimore in the 10-round telecast opener.

For more information visit www.SHO.com/sports, www.PremierBoxingChampions.com, follow #MorrellYerbossynuly, follow on Twitter @ShowtimeBoxing, @PremierBoxing and @TGBPromotions, on Instagram @ShowtimeBoxing, @PremierBoxing and @TGBPromotionss or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ShowtimeBoxing.

By Norm Frauenheim –

David Benavidez waited for weeks. He heard Canelo Alvarez say no, no and no all over again. He heard David Morrell say maybe later.

From Caleb Plant, he heard nothing.

Until Thursday.

Suddenly, the waiting game and all of its frustration ended. Plant announced on Twitter that he signed to fight Benavidez. It was a surprise, if only because Plant had quit talking about Benavidez.

For years, Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) and Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) exchanged trash talk. Then nothing, no mention at all of Benavidez from Plant after Plant’s stoppage of Anthony Dirrell on Oct. 15

The silence was almost newsworthy. It was as if Plant had joined the crowd that was running from Benavidez, boxing’s most avoided fighter since Antonio Margarito.

Turns out, however, the silence was simply business. Negotiations had been underway for at least a couple of weeks, in part because neither Benavidez nor his promoter-manager Sampson Lewkowicz wanted to fight Jose Uzcategui, who had already fallen out of a 2021 date because of a positive test for the potent steroid EPO.

Benavidez-Uzcategui talks had been reported. And perhaps that fight would have been an alternative if a deal couldn’t be made with Plant.

But it was also clear that Uzcategui was a fight that would have done nothing for Benavidez reputation. Nobody wanted to see it. Plus, there’s a risk in a stay-busy fight, especially against an opponent with a documented PED history.

The real talks were with Plant, the only fight that made any real sense for Benavidez and his emerging fan base. Benavidez quickly signed, according to his father and trainer Jose Benavidez Sr.

“David signed a few week ago,’’ Jose Sr. told 15 Rounds from Seattle where he and his sons have been living and training for the last few years.

Still, however, the unbeaten super-middleweight from Phoenix had to wait, wait on Plant. Finally, he signed Thursday.

“Plant wanted this, wanted that,’’ Benavidez Sr. said. “He wanted to use Rival gloves. He wanted the blue corner. He wanted to be the second guy to enter the ring. He wanted a 22-foot ring. I told him, look, we’ll fight you in a ring as big as the Dallas Cowboys stadium. Then, you’ll have plenty of room to run around.’’

Benavidez’ dad took the list of demands to his son.

“David just looked at me and said ‘Give him whatever he wants. I just want to fight him,’ ‘’ Jose Sr said.

Done deal.

It’s still not clear exactly when the fight will happen. Jose Sr. said a date within the first quarter of next year – January, February or March — looks likely. A neutral site is also likely. Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Dallas are possibilities, he said.

Phoenix is not on the list. After a hometown crowd erupted in a collective roar at Benavidez’ scary blowout of David Lemieux in suburban Glendale last May, it’s clear that the heartbeat of Benavidez’ fan-base is Phoenix. It would be tough for Plant to win a decision there.

It’s also a fan base that’s likely to follow Benavidez to where ever, whenever he fights Plant. The Benavidez family – David, former junior-welterweight champion Jose Jr. and Jose Sr. – are planning to move back to Phoenix.

“It’s time, time to come home,’’ Jose Sr. said.

Time, time to fight Plant, too.

By Norm Frauenheim –

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jake Paul jumped off the scale, flexed, screamed and then did what he does best.

He weighed in.

He’s been weighing in all week with an unvarnished rip of a business known for what it doesn’t do any more. It fails to deliver fights that matter. It stumbles, from week-to-week, from one round of exasperating news to another.

Terence Crawford won’t be fighting Errol Spence. Canelo Alvarez won’t fight David Benavidez. Anthony Joshua won’t fight Tyson Fury. Who knows about Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis?  Never-Never Land isn’t fiction. It’s boxing.

But the oft-criticized Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), dismissed as a YouTuber, is about to do what so many others in the waiting game won’t. He’ll fight Saturday at Desert Diamond Arena, facing 47-year-old mixed-martial arts legend Anderson Silva (3-1, 2 KOs as a boxer) in a Showtime Pay-Per View bout (6 pm PT, 9 pm ET/ $59.95) that’s another easy target for old-school critics.

It’s a gimmick, they say. It’s also a fight that doesn’t matter, they say, arguing that it doesn’t belong on a decent undercard. Maybe, it doesn’t. But there aren’t many decent undercards anywhere these days.

Paul thinks he knows why. And he’s not shy about saying why. He counters the criticism with plenty of his own. His featured fight against Silva on a hybrid card that includes boxers, MMA fighters, a former NFL running back and a practicing physician is a lot of things. Mostly, it’s a forum, another platform, for Paul. He’s using it to say what a lot of frustrated fans are thinking. He has turned it into his bully pulpit.

“Get these fights done,” Paul said at a news conference before making the contracted weight Friday morning at 186.5, a fraction of a pound heavier than Silva, who came in at 186.1 “Stop shooting yourself in the foot. Stop being greedy. Give people what they want. Don’t look at every term in the contract and try to change it.

“Just effing fight. You spar every day. Why not get paid effing tens of millions of dollars to do it in front of people? They’re very scared to risk their undefeated records, but boxing needs these big fights. Don’t let your manager stop you. Don’t let your promoter stop you.

“You gotta be in control.”

Today’s state of the boxing business is the flip side of control. It’s chaos. Paul also knows that movers-and-shakers, both in boxing and the UFC, don’t like what he’s saying. In effect, he’s telling the fighters to do more than take punches. He’s telling them to take control.

“It sucks for the fans,” Paul said exactly one week after the business was pushed to another breaking point with news that Crawford-Spence would not happen in 2022. 

“The fans are the ones that get hurt. And it’s bad. This is why the sport has gone to bad places before.

“It’s gone to scary moments where you think the sport’s going to wind up dying out, because big fights like this aren’t happening. Why didn’t we get Fury-Joshua? There’s so many instances where big fights could be made, and they’re just not.

“I don’t know what it is. No one will ever know, and that’s what’s frustrating.’’

The fighters staged a weigh-in for fans Friday afternoon. Here are the officlal weights from Friday morning for fighters on the PPV part of the card:

Lightweights Ashton Sylve (7-0, 7 KOs), Long Beach, California, 132.4 pounds versus Braulio Rodriguez (20-4, 17 KOs), Dominican Republic, 132.5 pounds.

Cruiserweight debuts: Uriah Hall, New York, 198.6 pounds versus former NFL running back Le’Veon Bell, Columbus, Ohio, 197.6 pounds.

Cruiserweight debut of Dr. Mike Varshavski (pro debut), New York,182.6 pounds, versus Chris Avila (1-1), Stockton, California, 183.3 pounds.

The non-televised part of the card is scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm (PT). It includes three Arizona fighters – Glendale junior featherweight Danny Barrios Flores (10-0, 2 KOs) against Edgar Ortiz Jr. (8-3-2, 4 KOs) of Phoenix and Glendale featherweight Adrian Rodriguez (2-0, 2 KOs) against Dominique Griffin (4-2-1, 2 KOs) of Irving, Texas.

By Norm Frauenheim –

GLENDALE, Ariz. – His reputation precedes him. So, too, does his nickname. Trouble is expected from anybody who calls himself The Problem Child.

Jake Paul’s reputation includes just about everything. He’s a promoter, puncher and a provocateur. Sometimes, he’s a potential union organizer. More on that later. Bet on it.

What he’s not, however, is a fool. Before he arrived in my home state, I wondered about that.

That prompted me to ask a question Thursday during the final formal news conference before his Showtime pay-per-view fight Saturday against mixed-martial arts legend Anderson Silva at Desert Diamond Casino.

As an old — very old — boxing writer, I’m new to the Paul story , which is full of inflammatory challenges and over-the-top bragging. Paul did some of that Thursday.

The pressure, he said, was all on him in his bid to beat the 47-year-old Silva.

“For sure I have more pressure on my shoulders,’’ Paul said. “Just being the ‘A’ side, and the amount of (bleep) I talk. I think the entire MMA community is waiting for me to lose. They want me to lose.

“I just have so many more big ideas and plans in this sport and I just plan on being here forever. This is the start of that, and the pressure is on.’’

That’s when I decided to ask a dumb question, one intended to be stupid. I was expecting a stupid, over-the-top answer. So much for expectations and reputations. Paul knocked it down, smartly and with a parting shot delivered like a punch line.

Paul had mentioned David Benavidez this week in one his many interviews, this one with DAZN. He is in Benavidez’ old neighborhood, after all. He is about to fight in the arena where Benavidez last appeared in a scary beat-down of David Lemieux last May.

Anyway, Paul said he wanted to promote Benavidez and then he explained how he would do it.

It was fanciful, of course. Benavidez already has a manager/promoter in Sampson Lewkowicz, who fought and won a battle with Top Rank to retain his rights.

It’s hard to foresee a time when Paul might promote Benavidez. But it’s no secret that the feared super-middleweight from Phoenix is having trouble finding anyone willing to face him. So, I decided to test Paul with a question, one as obvious as it was stupid.

If you can’t promote Benavidez, would you fight him?

Paul looked at me like I was Dana White.

“I’m not ready for that,’’ he said.

Then, I reminded him how hard it is for Benavidez to find opposition.

“Tell him he’s going to have to keep looking,’’ Paul said.

Smart, funny and not what might have been expected if you believed Paul’s portrayal in the media. He knows his career is still in the prospect stage. There’s frustration at the money and attention he generates. But he’s simply been smart enough to create his own celebrity through social media.

He has a profile and a punch in a business with many who have neither. Where will it all lead? Who knows? He has only five pro fights, all victories and four by KO. Silva is a risk, at least the oddsmakers think so. Some have favored the Brazilian, whose boxing record includes a victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Meanwhile, expect the unconventional Paul to move forward with more trash talk and ideas. One of them includes a bet with Silva. Paul said Thursday he’d do an MMA fight or kickboxing bout with Silva if Silva won Saturday.

If Paul wins, however, he said he wants Silva to help him create a union in a bid to get fighters more money and health care. At first, Paul said it would be a union for UFC and MMA fighters.

Then, he said “All fighters.’’

Silva reached across the podium and shook hands on a bet and an ambitious goal. He talks big. Thinks big, too.

By Norm Frauenheim-

GLENDALE, Ariz. – He rode in on a horse.

Maybe, it was a nod toward Arizona’s wild-west past. Or, maybe, it was his way of saying he was the cavalry, riding to the rescue in an attempt to save a battered game from a head-long gallop to its own demise. Or, maybe, an elephant wasn’t available.

Whatever it was, Jake Paul, an unconventional boxer, enlivened a traditional media event Wednesday with an unconventional entrance for a public workout a few days before his cruiserweight bout with UFC icon Anderson Silva Saturday night on Showtime pay-per-view.

Paul had fun and a crowd of fans on a pavilion outside of the renamed Desert Diamond Arena west of Phoenix had some fun with him.

That’s not to say that Paul also didn’t do some business. He doesn’t just ride horses. He also has some horse sense. If his entrance was an acknowledgement of AZ history, his presence at the Glendale arena was also an acknowledgment of the state’s best-known fighter.

Paul mentioned David Benavidez, telling the DAZN Boxing Show he’d like to be his promoter. Why not? He’s in the neighborhood after all, talking, training and talking at an arena where Benavidez blew out David Lemieux in his last bout on May 21.

Benavidez grew up a few miles east of the arena, formerly known as Gila River. Metro Phoenix is the heart-beat of Benavidez’ emerging fan base. You could hear it, loud and clear, in his three-round demolition of Lemieux.

“David Benavidez,’’ said Paul, who promotes Amanda Serrano. “I think he’s big in the boxing world and he’s a superstar, he’s my favorite boxer, but he needs that push just like Amanda did into the mainstream.

“The kid needs to be on billboards, he needs to be on podcasts, he needs to be collaborating with influencers. He needs help making some content and getting some big sponsorships to get his name out there even more.”

Benavidez already has a promoter/manager in Sampson Lewkowicz. He’s also aligned with PBC. But that doesn’t stop Paul, whose opinions are part of the fun. Both are inexhaustible, always part of the show.

Paul’s tireless self-promotional skill has created a huge virtual universe. Not even Canelo Alvarez can ignore the reported social-media number – 20 million-plus You Tube subscribers. That’s enough to add a zero to even Canelo’s paycheck.

Thus far, however, Canelo has ignored, or at least eluded Benavidez, who is reportedly close to a deal for a fight with Jose Uzcategui in January,

Canelo said after his super-middleweight decision over Gennadiy Golovkin in a third fight in September that Benavidez’ resume doesn’t measure up.

“What has he done?’’ Canelo asked angrily.

He’s done more than Paul, at least he has in boxing terms narrowly defined by an unbeaten record, including a World Boxing Council title that was lost twice — first for a positive drug test and then on the scale.

Yet, Paul has an answer. He proposes to promote Benavidez  the way he promotes himself.

Put it his way: It’d be a wild ride. 

By Norm Frauenheim-

The outrage is predictable. Inevitable. Boxing loves its misery and more was delivered Thursday with news that Terence Crawford won’t be fighting Errol Spence Jr.

Not in November.

Not in December.

Not in February.

Sorry, if I don’t join the chorus of angry cries. I don’t care. Not anymore, and I suspect that feeling is more widespread than social media’s noisy outburst might suggest.

There was a desperate, last-chance hope attached to the prospect that Crawford-Spence would finally happen. The welterweight showdown was seen as a way to resurrect, if not save, the business.

But that dwindling light at the end of a long, futile tunnel was extinguished with ESPN’s report that Crawford will fight David Avanesyan on Dec. 10 in hometown Omaha.

“I don’t even know who (he) is,’’ Spence told the Dallas Morning News.

About that – and only that, there’s no debate. No outrage. Avanesyan is unknown. Then again, Crawford and Spence aren’t much better known among a crowd that hasn’t paid attention or a pay-per-view price-tag since Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao in 2015.

An eroding, hair-on-fire fan base can scream and yell, but the rest of the world isn’t listening.

It just doesn’t care anymore.

Indifference is the problem, or perhaps the epitaph.

Dylan Hernandez, the Los Angeles Times’ forthright and fearless columnist, generated some of the battered game’s familiar outrage in 2016 with last rites.

Boxing Is Dead, he wrote then.

Hard to argue with him today.

I’m not prepared to throw another shovel of dirt onto its remains. The game will continue, always in some form. After all, it’s already outlived most newspapers, a dying game if there ever was one.

Long after the newspaper industry prints its final edition, boxing will still be there, surviving on some forgotten street corner. Its inherent defiance is inextinguishable. But defiance isn’t a business model. The money is going, going, gone.

There’s a generation of boxers who grew up expecting Mayweather money. They have practiced Mayweather’s risk-to-reward formula. Mayweather left a model. Dollar-for-dollar, there’s never been anybody better. But the door to the vault began to close when he left the game.

He continues to collect bigger money than most in today’s generation in so-called exhibitions in Asia and the Middle East. His skills are eroded, but his name recognition is not.

Only Canelo Alvarez and Tyson Fury can rival his earning power. But Crawford and Spence, pound-for-pound contenders, have none of his notoriety. They’re skilled fighters. But skills don’t exactly pay the bills any more.

Crawford reportedly has signed a deal worth as much as $10-million to fight Avanesyan on a pay-per-view venture produced by BLK Prime, which is part of Endavo Media & Communications Inc., an Atlanta-based business.

Crawford’s deal in terms of percentages isn’t clear, yet. How much is guaranteed? How much is tied to the pay-per-view numbers? The bout’s price tag is $39.95.

Initial reports make it look as though it’s an investment in a future Crawford-Spence fight. Crawford was quoted as saying that Spence was still there, possibly in 2023.

“Once I’m successful against Avanesyan, my plan is still the same: Whoop Errol Spence’s ass,” Crawford told ESPN.

Trouble is, this fight is way past its due date. It should have happened five years ago. Crawford turned 35 on Sept. 28. His prime time is beginning to fall through the hour glass. More significant, perhaps, is Spence, who is already a big welterweight. He’s talking about moving up the scale.

“I got to talk to my manager but I already told them I’m at this weight too long,’’ the 32-year-old Spence told the Morning News.

Spence also tweeted that he had been fighting at welterweight for more than a decade.

“this sh!t ain’t easy or fun,” he tweeted.

Futile negotiations ain’t much fun, either.

BLK Prime, however, can only make its apparent investment in Crawford work if it can bring disaffected customers back into the PPV tent. The idea, perhaps, is to stage a bout or two against a couple of unknowns as a way to sell a possible past-due fight. The task is to introduce Crawford to the so-called crossover fans, who probably know a lot more about Jake Paul than they do Crawford.

But it’s a little late in the game to do that. It’s no secret that Top Rank grew frustrated with Crawford, still a free agent after he split and subsequently sued the promotional entity after his definitive stoppage of Shawn Porter last November.

Crawford’s versatile skillset hasn’t included much in the way of self-promotion. Maybe that changes. Maybe not. The question is how to awaken some interest, which wasn’t there for Crawford-Porter, a welterweight fight that would have sold itself in another era.

It did about 135,000 pay-per-view buys at $69.99, according to multiple media reports. That means it fell about 15,000 buys short of the 150,000 break-even point. despite a reported $2-million in ticket sales from a soldout crowd of 11,568 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay.

In other words, it was a bust, a financial loser. Crawford won an entertaining fight, stopping Porter in the 10th-round. But everybody else took a bath. Indifference is costly.

But the PPV model is still there. The question is whether anything has been learned from the Crawford-Porter lesson. Will it result in any substantive changes? Prompt any real moves?

“I might be moving up, I don’t know,’’ Spence said of a jump to junior-middleweight. “I might be moving up.’

Fans might have already moved.

Moved on.

By Norm Frauenheim –

It’s a comeback connected to a birthday.

Deontay Wilder turns 37 a week after his comeback Saturday night against former sparring partner Robert Helenius at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

The birthday on Oct. 22 will be a reason for Wilder to celebrate a second coming.

Or a cause to reconsider.

On the heavyweight calendar, 37 is still primetime. On the scale, heavyweights are bigger. On the clock, their careers last longer. But traditional measurements don’t take into account Wilder’s last fight.

It was brutal, violent in almost every way. At opening bell Saturday night (FOX PPV, 6 p.m. PT/9 pm ET) it’ll be 377 days since Wilder suffered three knockdowns in a loss to Tyson Fury in the third fight of a trilogy. It’s been called a classic, maybe because it was crazy. 

Surely, it was concussive.

Fury, who was on the canvas twice, has been in and out of retirement, ad nauseam, since he came back with a sixth-round TKO of Dillian Whyte on April 23 in London. He’s offered all kinds of explanations. 

The only believable one, however, is a concussion he said he sustained against Wilder. Both heavyweights suffered damage in a wild exchange of punishment that ended in the 11^th round.

Question is:

How much?

The last we saw of Wilder in the ring, his eyes were vacant as he fell face first onto the canvas. It’s a dramatic image that says Wilder suffered the most.

Then, he was an ex-champion. But not an ex-fighter, although he has since said he was “85-percent’ certain he would not be back until he saw a larger-than-life statue of himself last spring in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, his hometown. That’s when he decided to come back. But statues don’t get concussed. They don’t sustain enduring damage.

Against Helenius (31-3, 20 KOs), there figures to be an answer or at least an indication as to whether Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) did.

Or didn’t.

The fight is being portrayed as a triumphant return by a likable personality, known both for his right-handed power and fearless energy. He’s unpredictable and often controversial.

He says Saturday’s bout will mark the beginning of a comeback that he foresees lasting three years. He says he’ll retire at 40. He envisions a fight with Oleksandr Usyk, the compelling Ukrainian who beat Anthony Joshua for a second time in August. 

He even talks about a fourth fight with Fury. Guess here: His Hall of Fame resume is incomplete without a victory over Fury. To get in, he needs to beat Fury, who is 2-0-1 against Wilder.

A fourth fight isn’t impossible. Fury, recently frustrated at futile negotiations for an all-UK fight with Joshua, expressed his respect for Wilder this week.

But will he be the same guy? Some fights take a dangerous toll, aging a fighter beyond the number of his  birthdays. The brutality of the third fight with Fury might have eroded Wilder’s willingness to walk into harm’s way. 

But that won’t be evident until after he answers another opening bell. An imminent one.