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

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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. 

LAS VEGAS – January 25, 2023 – Undefeated former two-time WBC Super Middleweight Champion David “El Bandera Roja’’ Benavídez and former IBF Super Middleweight Champion Caleb Plant will meet in a high-stakes, 12-round showdown to settle their long-simmering feud live on SHOWTIME PPV on Saturday, March 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.

Benavídez and Plant will take their years-long war of words into the ring, as these assertive and hungry super middleweights look to cast their ballot as the division’s next kingpin. Both have had reigns as champions at 168 pounds and both are eager to once again ascend to the top of the division as they fight for Benavídez’s Interim WBC Super Middleweight title.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by TGB Promotions and Sampson Boxing, go on sale Friday, January 27 at 10 a.m. PT and can be purchased HERE through AXS.com.

Pre-sale tickets will be available TOMORROW, Thursday, January 26 from 10 a.m. PT until 10 p.m. PT and can be purchased HERE through AXS.com with the code: BOXING

“David Benavídez vs. Caleb Plant will see two fighters in the prime of their careers take on the biggest challenge they can as they look to leave no doubt about their legacy in the ring,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “While Benavídez is known for his power, and Plant for his supreme boxing acumen, both have shown their abilities as well-rounded fighters in recent action. All of this makes for a can’t-miss night on March 25 on SHOWTIME PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.”

“Sometimes in this business, to sell a fight, people say it’s bad blood,” said Sampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing. “For this one, I give my personal guarantee it is real bad blood, and it will be an unbelievable fight. Don’t miss it!”

“This is one of the biggest and potentially most explosive fights that can be made in boxing, not just in the super middleweight division,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “It pits two fighters at the peak of their athletic primes, both with prodigious skill-sets and contrasting styles, both of whom take great pride in the way they perform. It is an intriguing matchup and the outcome is impossible to predict. Add in their genuine and mutual dislike for one another and we have a volatile, 50-50 matchup and potential fight-of-the-year candidate. SHOWTIME is proud to deliver this event and mark yet another compelling and significant main event as we raise the curtain on our 2023 schedule.”

The 25-year-old undefeated Benavídez (26-0, 23 KOs) became the youngest-ever 168-pound world champion at just 20 years old when he defeated Ronald Gavril by split decision for the vacant WBC title on SHOWTIME in 2017. A Phoenix-native who now lives and trains in the Seattle area, Benavídez has stamped his place in the super middleweight division with knockout power in both hands and improving ring savvy with each fight.

When he was 15 years old, Benavídez went from weighing 250 pounds to a boxing prodigy under the watchful eye of his father and trainer, Jose, Sr., and his brother and veteran contender Jose Jr., as he famously held his own in sparring against middleweight champions Gennady Golovkin and Peter Quillin. Benavídez is riding a string of six straight knockout victories heading into the bout against Plant, having most recently scored a resounding third-round stoppage of former champion David Lemieux in his last fight in May.

“I can’t wait until they put me in the ring with him so I can beat his ass,” said Benavídez. “This is going to be a great night for boxing fans. I can’t wait to step in there and give everyone the beatdown they’re coming to see.”

Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) has used his sublime boxing skills to rise to the rank of world champion and, in his last fight, showed big-time power earning 2022’s Knockout of the Year (CBS Sports, BoxingScene) in a win over Anthony Dirrell. It was Plant’s debut performance with new trainer Stephen Edwards in October where he ended a heated rivalry with Dirrell with a single punch, knocking out the former two-time champion to deliver one of 2022’s most memorable finishes.

The 30-year-old Plant, who was born in Nashville, Tenn., and now lives in Las Vegas, won the IBF title in a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Jose Uzcategui in 2019. Plant dropped Uzcategui in the second and fourth rounds and cruised to victory for the championship. He made three successful title defenses, defeating Mike Lee and Vincent Feigenbutz by TKO in addition to a unanimous decision victory over former champion Caleb Truax. He lost the title in an undisputed championship match against Canelo Alvarez in November 2021, at times frustrating Alvarez with his smooth boxing acumen before defeating Dirrell to set up this highly anticipated clash with Benavidez. 

“After I knocked out Dirrell, I made it clear I wanted to go after the biggest fight that could be made in the division,” said Plant. “This is one of the most anticipated matchups and I’m here again, showing the world why I’m one of the biggest attractions in boxing. I feel sharp and on point. I’m looking forward to March 25, not only to give the fans what they’ve been waiting for, but to show who the better man is.”

#         #         #

For more information visit www.SHO.com/sports, www.PremierBoxingChampions.com, follow #BenavidezPlant, 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 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.

Liam Smith scored a fourth round stoppage over Chris Eubank Jr. in their scheduled 12-round middleweight fight at The AO Arena in Manchester, England.

In round four, Smith hurt Eubank with a hard right in the corner that set off a vicious six-punch barrage that featured a left uppercut and a left hook that put Eubank on the deck. Eubank was badly hurt and tried hold on, but Smith landed another flurry of punches that put Eubank down again, and the fight was stopped at 1:09.

Smith of Liverpool, ENG is 33-3-1 with 20 knockouts. Eubank is 32-3.

Riakphore Stops Glowacki in 4

Richard Riakphore stopped former world champion Kryzystof Glowacki in round four of their scheduled 10-roud cruiserweight bout.

In round four, Riakphore hurt Glowacki with a hard right hand that drove him to the ropes. Four punches later the bout was stopped at 2:44.

Riakphore of England is 16-0 with 12 knockouts. Glowacki of Poland is 32-4.

Essuman Decisions Kongo

Ekow Essuman won a 12-round majority decision over Chris Knongo in a welterweight bout.

Essuman of England won by scores of 116-113, 115-114 and 114-114 and is now 19-0. Kongo is 14-2.

Parker Decisions Massey

Former world Heavyweight champion Joseph Parker won a 10-round unanimous decision over Jack Massey.

In round eight, Massey was deducted a point for holding. In round 10, Massey was cut over his left eye.

Parker of New Zealand won by scores of 97-97, 96-93 and 97-93 and is now 31-3. Massey is 20-2.

Clarke Stops Espindola in 4

Frazer Clarke remained undefeated with a stoppage after round four of his scheduled eight-round heavyweight bout with Kevin Espindola.

Clarke of England is now 5-0 with four knockouts. Espindola of Argentina is 7-7.

By Norm Frauenheim –

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

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

Finally, there’s a date.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beware.

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

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

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

Benavidez promises to execute a beatdown

“worse than Canelo.’’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Norm Frauenheim –

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don’t say he didn’t warn you.

Matchroom Boxing’s 2023 schedule in the UK is set to begin with a bang at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Saturday February 18 as hometown hero Leigh Wood puts his WBA Featherweight World Title on the line against big-punching Mexican Mauricio Lara, live worldwide on DAZN (excluding Australia and New Zealand).

‘Leigh-thal’ (26-2 KOs) memorably stopped Michael Conlan in the 12^th and final round of his epic first defence of the WBA 126lbs title back in March 2022, knocking the Irishman out of the ring in brutal fashion to end their Fight of the Year stunner.

The Forest-mad Featherweight was heavily dropped in the opening round and looked to be heading towards his third loss in the pros before brilliantly fighting back to earn a brilliant win that will be talked about for many years to come.

Wood is now recognised as the World Boxing Associations only Champion at Featherweight after former ‘Super Champion’ Leo Santa Cruz relinquished his title on Monday December 12, and the 34-year-old wants to waste no time in adding more World Titles to his collection in 2023.

‘Bronco’ (25-2-1, 18 KOs) has been waiting patiently for his shot at Wood after their eagerly anticipated September 24 fight was postponed following a torn bicep suffered by Wood in sparring, but the Featherweight KO artist finally gets his dream World Title opportunity next month. 

Lara is well-known on UK shores after he floored and ruthlessly finished Josh Warrington in a sensational upset behind closed doors at The SSE Arena, Wembley in February 2021, ending the IBF Featherweight World Champion’s unbeaten record.

He rematched Warrington in front of a sold-out Headingley Stadium in Leeds seven months later, but a nasty cut over the left eye of the Mexican in round two caused by an accidental clash of heads resulted in the contest ending in a technical draw.

The power-punching 24-year-old blitzed Emilio Sanchez in three rounds in March 2022 on the undercard of Roman Gonzalez vs. Julio Cesar Martinez before stopping Jose Sanmartin in three in another destructive show of brute force to put the 126lbs division on notice.

“Mauricio Lara has made things personal between us with the disrespect he showed me regarding my injury and my country,” said Wood. “I’m going to show him what I’m all about. See you on February 18 Nottingham – And Still!”

“I have been waiting for this opportunity for 2 years and I am not going to waste it,” said Lara. “In February 2021 I beat Warrington in England, now in 2023 I will do the same with Wood. The WBA 126lbs World Title goes to Mexico, that I promised to my daughter, my family, my team and to my whole country. Your time has come Leigh Wood, no “injury” can save you now from this.”

“Quite simply this is a fight that you have to watch through your fingers,” said Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn. “After the drama of the Conlan fight last March, Leigh Wood is about to bring another night of drama to the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham against the brutal, fearless and much avoided Mauricio Lara. This fight leads Leigh to the City Ground in the summer but first get ready for an epic main event and all action card as we gear up for another FOTY contender in Nottingham on February 18.”

“What a fight this is to kick off the Matchroom UK schedule in 2023,” said Joe Markowski, CEO DAZN North America. “Both Wood and Lara are incapable of being involved in anything other than brutal, toe to toe, edge of your seat fights and I for one cannot wait for February 18. Watch this barnstormer live and exclusive on DAZN.”

Tickets for Wood vs. Lara are priced at £40, £60, £80, £100, £150 and £300 (VIP)

Matchroom Fight Pass members will be able to purchase tickets from midday on Wednesday January 11. Priority ticket info will be emailed directly to eligible members ahead of the on-sale time. 

General Sale tickets can be purchased via Stage Front and Motorpoint Arena Nottingham from midday on Thursday January 12.

In a fight that started slow, Gervonta Davis needed just a a few seconds in round eight to land two hard shots to the jaw of Hector Luis Garcia and get a stoppage win after Garcia could not come out for round nine in front of a sold out crowd of 19, 731 Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

When the fight got going, Garcia fought well by mixing in body shots to offset Davis trying to land power shots from the outside. The fight was on even terms as it headed into the eighth round. Even in round eight, Garcia began the stanza well by working the body. Late in the round, Davis landed two flush lefts that hurt Garcia. When Garcia got to the corner, he did not come out for round nine and the fight was officially stopped at 13 seconds.

Davis, 134 lbs of Baltimore will now take on Ryan Garcia, presumably on April 15th with a record of 28-0 with 26 knockouts. Garcia, 134 lbs of the Dominican Republic is 16-1.

Gervonta Davis

“A little surprised (he didn’t come out). But I knew he was hurt bad but he’s a fighter and he didn’t want to show it. I knew he was hurt though.

“I feel as though – I have stuff to work on. Everything. I’m a fighter and I’m not retired so I’m always willing to learn.

“I wasn’t throwing a lot of shots (in the beginning) because I was trying to beat him mentally. I was trying to trick him with my hands and my eyes and things like that because he’s a tough fighter. I had to bait him.

“His southpaw style bothered me a little bit because I don’t fight a lot of southpaws but it’s okay; it’s a part of the game.

“God willing I’m ready for the fight (with Ryan Garcia). It’s scheduled for April. I’m here. He’s been training. He’s been talking. And let’s see who’s really about that.

“On my end I’m ready. I’ll be in the gym Monday. Well, not Monday. I’ll probably take a week off but I’ll be back for sure soon.

“I have to bring my people in close and listen to my close ones, listen to Al Haymon and just stay focused. There’s a lot of bumps in the road but if we stay focused together – that’s how I’ll (maintain) longevity in the sport.”

Hector Luis Garcia

“When I got the shot to my head in the final round, that’s when I couldn’t see from my eye. I didn’t know where I was when he hit me with that shot. My vision is back but my head still hurts. I couldn’t see from my right eye. It was going well up until that point. I was picking my shots.”

Ennis Decisions Chukhadzhian to Win IBF Interim Welterweight Title

Jaron Ennis went the distance for the first time in 20 fights, but won the IBF Interim Welterweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over slippery Karen Chukhadzhian.

Ennis pressed the action while Chukhadzhian danced around the outside, and only coming in sporadically. Ennis landed the majority of punches and won by scores of 120-108 on all cards. Ennis landed 203 of 592 punches; Chukhadzhian was 97 of 573

Ennis, 145.5 lbs of Philadelphia is 30-0. Chukhadhian, 146.25 lbs of Kiev, UKR is 21-2.

Jaron Ennis

“We come here to dominate. I feel like I could have thrown more punches. I should stop that guy and that’s on me. I wanted him to engage but we did what we could. 

“I learned to just take my time and to not rush anything. I’m glad I went 12 rounds. It felt great. I felt I was in the best shape. I just needed to throw a little more punches. I should have got him out of there.

“He ran a lot. Hats off to him since a lot of guys didn’t want to fight me. So shout out to him for coming here and taking this fight.

“Everyone knows that I want Errol Spence and the winner of Virgil Ortiz and (Eimantas) Stanionis. You know – all the top guys. Let’s get it, you know?

“I’ll wait until the time is right and (Spence) is ready.”

Roiman Villa Scores Two Late Knockdowns to win Majority Decision over Rashidi Ellis

Roiman Villa needed all 36 minutes to score a 12-round majority decision over previously undefeated Rashidi Ellis in an IBF Welterweight Elimination bout

It was a fight that Ellis controlled early with his jab. Villa was applying pressure. Villa was slowing gaining momentum in the fight when in round 12, Villa decked Ellis with a vicious left hook to the jaw. Villa continued landing hard shots to Ellis, who at this point was backtracking and trying to land shots while going backwards. In the final seconds, Villa dropped Ellis again with a hard right hand.

Ellis landed 268 of 604 punches. The knockdowns were the difference as Villa was just 114 of 631.

Villa, 146.75 of Venezuela won by scores of 114-112 twice and 113-113 to raise his mark to 26-1. Ellis, 146.25 of Lynn, MA is 24-1.

Roiman Villa

“First of all, thank God for this victory. Second of all, he was a tough fighter. He moved a lot. He does hit hard. The first couple rounds I was a little tight but then I got loose.

“I was on top of him from the first round. I know that fighters such as him who are quick sooner or later will get a little tired and that’s what I took advantage of.

“My corner told me to knock him down (in the 12^th round). I couldn’t do it on the first try but I kept going.

“I thought he just fell on the last knockdown so I wasn’t sure (if it was a knockdown) . But if they want the rematch we’ll give them the rematch.

“I like the Mexican fighters with balls and I like the way he fights so I would definitely give him the rematch.

“I told him after the fight to smile and he had nothing to say.

“I didn’t really feel like I needed the knockout in that last round, I just wanted to dominate.

“Ellis is a good fighter, but this was mostly about what I was able to do. All credit to God for allowing me to come out with my arm raised up high.

“I’m not thinking about the future right now, just soaking in the moment.”

Rashidi Ellis

“I want the rematch right away. I’m fine (physically).

“I thought I was dictating the fight. I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.

“I totally disagree with the decision. I was winning most of the rounds. Yeah, he had the knockdown but other than that I was winning most of the rounds.”

Andrade Decisions Nicholson in Super Middleweight Debut

Demetrius Andrade made his super middleweight debut and the former two-division was successful as he pounded out a 10-round unanimous decision over Demond Nicholson

In round two, Andrade landed a straight left that was followed by a right hook that sent Nicholson on his rear end. Each seemingly scored knockdowns that referee Malik Waleed missed.

In round 10, Andrade landed right hook to the head that made Nicholson’s glove touch the canvas that was ruled a knockdown.

Andrade landed 145 of 325 punches. Nicholson was just 28 of 231.

Andrade, 167 lbs of Providence, RI won by scores of 100-88 on all cards and is now 32-0. Nicholson, 167.25 lbs of Laurel, MD is 26-5-1.

Demetrius Andrade

“I felt good, I can definitely tell the weight difference but the speed and combinations and the IQ was the plan today and that’s what we did. The weight (was different).”

Charlos, Benavidez vs. Plant winner?

“The only way I can say I’m the best is by fighting the best. Everyone knows that Demond Nicholson is a dog. That’s why we took this fight. He took this fight because he knew I was coming up and he definitely has the animal in him. He showed it today and we’re just boxing – IQ.”

On the 10^th round knockdown:

“That was definitely clean. Nice left. Definitely a knockdown. That left hand. Boom. It was great to be here. I want to thank SHOWTIME for the opportunity and PBC and everyone that came out today. It’s me again baby!

“I thought I would be able to get him out of there in the deep waters, but he’s a tough guy. I think we both cut each other early in the fight, but at the end of the day we do what we have to do. 

“I threw some nice combinations and some nice hard shots, but he came in shape. People get up to fight me. 

“We’re going to look to see who’s available at 168 pounds. I’m just going to get stronger, sharper and faster too.”

Vito Mielnicki stopped Omar Rosales in round four of their eight-round junior middleweight bout.

Mielnicki landed power punches throughout the contest and then unloaded on Rosales on round four and the bout was stopped at 26 seconds.

Mielnicki, 153.2 lbs of Roseland, NJ is now 14-1 with nine knockouts. Rosales, 152.8 lbs of Houston, TX is 9-2-1.

Brandun Lee remained undefeated by stopping Diego Luque in round four of a scheduled eight-round super lightweight bout.

Lee dominated the action and then landed a bevvy of hard punches that forced the corner of Luque to throw in the towel at

Lee, 141.4 lbs of a Quinta, CA is 27-0 with 23 knockouts. Luque, 141.2 lbs of Cordoba, ARG is 21-11-2.

Travon Marshall needed just 48 seconds to obliterate Shawn West in a six-round welterweight bout.

Marshall landed flush and hard power shots from the opening bell until fight was stopped at 48 seconds.

Marshall, 149.8 lbs of Capitol Heights, MD is 7-0 with six knockouts. West, 151.2 lbs of San Antonio, TX is 7-3-1.

Keeshawn Williams won a six-round unanimous decision over Gustavo David Vittori in a welterweight bout.

Williams, 146,2 lbs of Lanham, MD won by scores of 60-54 on all cards and is now 11-1-1. Vittori, 145.6 lbs of Argentina is 26-12-1.

Former world champion Lamont Peterson tried to come back after a four-year retirement only to be stopped in round four of a six-round super lightweight bout to unheralded Michael Ogundo.

In round four, Peterson was dropped hard with a right hand. He was in serious trouble when Ogundo followed with a hard flurry that forced Peterson’s corner to wave the towel at 2:05.

Ogund0, 140.2 lbs of Quincy, MA is 17-16 with 14 knockouts. Peterson, 141.6 lbs of Washington, DC is 35-6-1,

Kyrone Davis took an eight-round unanimous decision over Cristian Fabian Rios in a super middleweight contest.

Davis, 163.8 lbs of Wilmington, DE won by scores of 80-72 twice and 79-73 and is now 17-3-1. Rios, 164.4 lbs of Buenos Aries, ARG is 23-16-3.

Jalil Hackett made quick work of Joel Guevara by scoring an opening round of their four-round super welterweight bout,

Hackett dropped Guevara in the opening round with a hard right hand. Hackett was all over Guevara and sent him to the canvas a with a left hook and the fight was stopped at 2:11.

Hackett, 156.2 lbs of Washington, DC is 5-0 with four knockouts. Guevara, 155.8 lbs of Charlston, WV is 4-9-1.

Mia Ellis stopped Karen Dulin in the opening round of their four-round lightweight bout.

Ellis scored two knockdowns and the fight was called after the second knockdown at 1:53.

Ellis, 128.2 lbs of Baltimore is 6-1 with five knockouts. Dulin, 129.8 lbs of Portsmouth, NH is 5-26-1.

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

LAS VEGAS – December 24, 2022 – Undisputed Super Welterweight World Champion Jermell Charlo suffered a broken left hand in training and his much-anticipated, high-stakes defense against No. 1 contender Tim Tszyu, which was scheduled for January 28, has been postponed.

Charlo broke his left hand in two places – between the pinkie and ring finger and at the base of the thumb – after landing a punch in sparring at his gym in Houston on Tuesday. After visiting two doctors and a hand specialist in Houston, his hand has been placed in a cast. It will remain in a cast for two months and after it is removed, he will begin rehabilitation before resuming his training.

“I was sparring, and I threw this nice punch and as soon as it landed, I knew something was wrong. I felt my hand throbbing right away,’’ said Charlo. “I had two X-rays and an MRI to see what was wrong. It showed it was broken in two places. I hate this feeling. My hand will be in a cast for two months. I’m as disappointed as the fans, maybe more, because this was my first chance to defend the undisputed title.

“The way I am, I would have beaten Tim Tszyu with one hand, but the doctors and the boxing commission won’t allow that. It’s even more dangerous when a lion faces adversity and has to come back to defend the pride. I’ve been training since July, and I’ve been hitting harder than ever, and these are the things that happen when you push yourself to the limits. After my hand heals, I’m coming back stronger than ever to defend my legacy.’’

“This is not the news that anyone wants to hear because we’ve been anticipating this fight. But these things happen,’’ said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “Jermell didn’t take the easy route to become the undisputed super welterweight champion, so he knows that nothing comes easy. Tszyu better be ready, because Jermell will be stronger and hungrier than ever when he comes back.’’

“Charlo vs. Tszyu for the undisputed super welterweight title is one of the biggest and most anticipated fights on the 2023 boxing schedule, so we, like boxing fans around the world, are obviously disappointed to hear of Jermell’s injury and the resulting postponement,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “We wish Jermell a speedy recovery, and we look forward to adding this important fight back to the SHOWTIME schedule as soon as reasonably possible. We know both Jermell and Tim are anxious to give boxing fans the all-action fight that we have all been anticipating.’’

“I’m very disappointed,” said Tszyu. “I felt like the stars aligned for undisputed…but we move on. I’m ready to take on the next mandatory challenger. I’ll be back for Charlo once he is ready and healed.”

Charlo vs. Tszyu remains one of the best matches of 2023, as it pairs two hard-hitting boxer-punchers in a high-stakes bout with Tszyu attempting to dethrone the best 154-pounder in the sport. Charlo earned his position as undisputed champion by stopping Brian Castaño in May and unifying all four titles. He will look to add another big name to his pound-for-pound resume against the Australian star Tszyu, who hopes to join his father Kostya Tszyu as an undisputed world champion.

There is currently no new date for the rescheduled match. A new date will be announced soon.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (Dec. 20, 2022) — A new junior lightweight king will be crowned in the desert.

Mexican star Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and Australian contender Liam Wilson will fight for the vacant WBO junior lightweight world title Friday, Feb. 3, at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Navarrete, the reigning WBO featherweight world champion, hopes to become the 10th Mexican-born boxer to win world titles in three weight divisions.

Junior welterweight contenders collide in the 10-round co-feature as Arnold Barboza Jr. hopes to earn a career-best victory against Jose “Sniper” Pedraza, a former two-weight world champion from Cidra, Puerto Rico. 

Navarrete-Wilson, Pedraza-Barboza, and the return of U.S. Olympic silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr. in a six-round heavyweight special feature will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST.

Promoted by Top Rank, tickets starting at $25 go on sale Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 11 a.m. PST / 12 p.m. MST and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.com.

Navarrete (36-1, 30 KOs), from San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico, won the WBO junior featherweight crown from Isaac Dogboe in December 2018 and made five defenses of that title in a nine-month span. He out-hustled Ruben Villa to win the vacant WBO featherweight strap in October 2020 and has since defended that title three times. Navarrete is one of the sport’s premier offensive fighters, an aggressor who wings punches from all angles. In his October 2021 title defense over Joet Gonzalez, he threw 979 punches over 12 rounds, including 104 in the 12th round. He returned to the ring in August, rebounding from a slow start to knock out countryman Eduardo Baez with a body shot in the sixth round. The Baez victory marked Navarrete’s 31st consecutive victory dating back to 2012.

“This is my opportunity to become a three-division world champion. I am going for that crown,” Navarrete said. “Liam Wilson is a good fighter, but this is my moment, and everyone will see a much more complete ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete that has a lot of thirst for victory. My ideal weight is 130 pounds, and that will be demonstrated on February 3rd when I become world champion for Mexico and San Juan Zitlaltepec. Wilson will not get in the way of my dream.”

Wilson (11-1, 7 KOs), from Caboolture, Australia, is the WBO No. 3 junior contender. He has never fought away from his home country, but he will take the nearly 8,000-mile journey hoping to spring a major upset. Wilson stepped up to fight Navarrete after Oscar Valdez suffered a training injury and enters the fight with momentum on his side. After a stunning fifth-round TKO loss to Filipino contender Joe Noynay in July 2021, Wilson gained revenge in March with a second-round knockout courtesy of his “left hook from hell.” He kept the momentum going in June with a 10-round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Matias Rueda.

Wilson said, “He’s a champion, a warrior, and a household name around the world, but now it’s my time. I’m coming to upset the parade. I’ve waited my entire life for this moment, and I won’t let it slip because it means more to me. I swore an oath to my father on his deathbed that I would one day win a world title for him. I’m looking forward to fulfilling this promise on February 3^rd.”

Barboza (27-0, 10 KOs), from South El Monte, California, is ranked in the top 10 by the WBC and WBO. The longtime contender turned pro in 2013 and has steadily climbed up the rankings with victories over Mike Alvarado, Alex Saucedo, and Antonio Moran. In July, Barboza returned from an 11-month layoff to snatch the ‘0’ from Danielito Zorrilla in a crowd-pleasing 10-round main event.

Barboza said, “It’s a big card, and there will be a lot of eyes on us. Pedraza is a formidable opponent. He’s my toughest to date and has only lost to the very best. I’m looking forward to the challenge. At this point, anyone I face is standing in the way of my goal, which is to win a world title. I am going to make a big statement on February 3rd.”

Pedraza (29-4-1, 14 KOs) ruled the junior lightweight and lightweight divisions before moving up to the junior welterweight ranks in 2019. He is 3-2-1 as a junior welterweight, having shared the ring with many of the division’s most notable names. In March, he pushed former unified champion Jose Ramirez 12 rounds before dropping a tight unanimous decision. Less than six months later, he battled former lightweight champion Richard Commey to a draw in a fight most observers believe Pedraza did enough to edge out. Pedraza had a Madison Square Garden main event against Teofimo Lopez scheduled for December 10th, but Pedraza withdrew with a non-COVID viral infection. The 33-year-old understands a victory over Barboza moves him closer to a world title opportunity.

Pedraza said, “I have recovered completely from the illness that obligated me to pull out of my fight with Teofimo Lopez. Right now, I feel 100 percent, and I know Arnold Barboza Jr. is one of the best fighters in the division. I’m sure this will be a great fight where I will reaffirm my level as an elite fighter at 140 pounds.”

Torrez (4-0, 4 KOs), from Tulare, California, captured an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo and turned pro under the Top Rank banner in March. A 6’2, 230-pound southpaw, Torrez has never been extended past the third round in his young career. In October, he shined at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, thrilling the New York City fans with a third-round stoppage over Ahmed Hefny. 

Undercard bouts — streaming live and exclusively on ESPN+ — include many of Top Rank’s burgeoning young talents.

Las Vegas product Andres “Savage” Cortes (18-0, 10 KOs) takes on Puerto Rican knockout puncher Luis Melendez (17-2, 13 KOs) in a crossroads junior lightweight tilt scheduled for 10 rounds. Cortes, a former U.S. amateur standout, notched a near-shutout over Abraham Montoya in his last outing.

Middleweight prospect Nico Ali Walsh (7-0, 5 KOs), grandson of “The Greatest,” looks to make it 8-0 against Phoenix-based spoiler Eduardo Ayala (9-2-1, 3 KOs) in a six-rounder. This is the 2023 debut for Ali Walsh, who went 4-0 with three knockouts in 2022.

Lightweight sensation Emiliano Fernando Vargas (2-0, 2 KOs), son of former junior middleweight world champion Fernando Vargas, returns in a four-rounder against an opponent to be named. Vargas made his Top Rank debut in November and knocked out Julio Martinez in the second round with a highlight-reel left hook.

Sacramento native Xavier Martinez (18-1, 12 KOs) seeks his second straight ‘W’ in a 10-rounder at junior lightweight against an opponent to be named.

Junior welterweight Lindolfo Delgado (16-0, 13 KOs), a 2016 Mexican Olympian, steps up against Clarence Booth (21-6, 13 KOs) in an eight-rounder. In August, Delgado authored a career-best victory over then-unbeaten prospect Omar Aguilar. The eight-round shootout ranked among the year’s best action fights.

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.

Former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez took a 10-round split decision over Sandor Martin at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

In round two, Martin was cut in the bridge of the nose from a headbutt. Later in the round, Martin was able to score a knockdown when Lopez charged in and Martin landed a little right hook to the side of the head. In round four, Martin began to bleed from the nostrils. Martin was awkward, but Lopez had a better workrate and landed more punches as the punch stat statistics read 97 of 391 for Lopez, while Marin was 77 of 244.

The scorecards read 97-92 and 96-93 for Lopez. Martin won a card 95-94.

Lopez is now 18-1. Martin is 40-3.

Jared Anderson Takes Out Forrest in 2

Jared Anderson remained perfect with a second round destruction of Jerry Forrest in their 10-round heavyweight bout.

After Forrest landed a couple of power punches in round one, Anderson unleashed a blitz of vicious power shots that landed on the head of Forrest. Forrest did not go down, but that meant he ate more destructive punches in the second frame and finally referee David Fields mercifully ended the fight at 1:34 of round two.

Anderson of Toledo, OH is 13-0 with 13 knockouts. Forrest is 26-6-2.

Zayas Decisions Salazar

Xander Zayas remained undefeated with an eight-round unanimous decision over Alexis Salazar in a junior middleweight bout.

Zayas won by scores of 80-72 and 79-73 twice and is now 15-0. Salazar is 25-5.

Davis Decisions Burgos

Hot-prospect Keyshawn Davis won a eight-round unanimous decision over former three-time world title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos in a lightweight bout.

Davis won by scores of 80-72 on all cards and is now 7-0. Burgos of Tijuana, MEX is 35-7-3.

Joe Ward won an eight-round unanimous decision over Frederick Julan in a light heavyweight bout.

Ward of Moate, IRE won by scores of 79-73 twice and 78-74 and is now 8-1. Julan of Brooklyn, NY is 12-2.

Damian Knyba stopped Emilio Salas in round two of their six-round heavyweight bout.

The bout was stopped at 1:50 for Knyba who is now 10-0 with six knockouts. Salas is 10-4-1.

Tiger Johnson stopped Mike Ohan in round five of their eight-round junior welterweight bout.

Johnson hurt Ohan with a hard right hand and then unleashed 20 unanswered shots that forced referee Steve Willis to stop the bout at 1:29.

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.

LAS VEGAS – December 8, 2022 – Undisputed Super Welterweight World Champion Jermell Charlo will defend his four titles against unbeaten No. 1 contender and aggressive puncher Tim Tszyu live on SHOWTIME on Saturday, January 28 from Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in a Premier Boxing Champions Event.

One of the most anticipated matches of 2023, Charlo vs. Tszyu pairs two hard-hitting boxer-punchers in a high-stakes bout with Tszyu attempting to dethrone the best 154-pounder in the sport. Charlo earned his position as undisputed champion by stopping Brian Castaño in May and unifying all four titles. He will look to add another big name to his pound-for-pound resume against the Australian star Tszyu, who hopes to join his father Kostya Tszyu as an undisputed world champion.

Pre-sale tickets will be available Monday, December 12 from 10 a.m. PT to 10 p.m. PT through AXS.com with the code: BOXING

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by Lions Only Promotions and TGB Promotions, in association with No Limit Boxing, go on sale Tuesday, December 13 at 10 a.m. PT and can be purchased through AXS.com.

“The super welterweight division has delivered memorable fight after memorable fight in recent years, and the division’s king, Jermell Charlo, will be back to defend his crown and add another chapter to that history on January 28 in Las Vegas,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “This is a battle of contrasting styles as Jermell Charlo brings his special blend of power and sublime ring skills against unbeaten Tim Tszyu, who will bring an aggressive style and championship pedigree into a matchup boxing fans around the world are looking forward to. Make sure you’re at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas or watching live on SHOWTIME, because this is a fight you won’t want to miss.”

“This marks Jermell’s 16^th appearance on SHOWTIME, and it’s been a privilege watching him develop into the consensus No. 1 fighter in the division and one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the sport,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “Stylistically, Charlo vs. Tszyu is one of the most attractive fights that can be made in boxing, given Jermell and Tim’s aggressive temperaments in the ring. Kudos to them both, and everyone involved, for putting this fight on SHOWTIME. After hosting Tim’s U.S. debut in March, we’re thrilled to see him challenge Jermell and dare to be great like his father Kostya, who fought on the network 10 times. Both Jermell and Tim have never shied away from a challenge, and this stacks up to be a real Fight of the Year type match-up.” 

Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) propelled himself to undisputed champion by fighting and beating the best in the division including Castaño, Jeison Rosario, Tony Harrison, Austin Trout and Erickson Lubin. The 32-year-old from Houston won his first title with a stunning knockout of John Jackson for the vacant WBC championship in 2016 and successfully defended the title three times, knocking out Charles Hatley and Lubin, and scoring a unanimous decision over Trout. He suffered his first loss via unanimous decision to Harrison on a card that he shared with his twin brother, WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo, in 2018.

After rebounding with a KO victory over Jorge Cota, Charlo stepped into the rematch with Harrison and avenged the loss in resounding fashion with a knockout victory in round 11. He then challenged WBA/IBF champion Jeison Rosario in an electrifying unification bout and made a statement with an eighth-round knockout in 2020. With the undisputed championship on the line, Charlo faced Castaño and fought to an exciting draw before once again prevailing in a rematch with a 10^th-round stoppage. Charlo will ride that victory and a groundswell of confidence into his match against the unbeaten Tszyu.

“I’m excited to be back in the ring to defend my undisputed crown,” said Charlo. “I’m thankful for everything I’ve accomplished, but the battle isn’t over. Tim Tszyu is a young, hungry, aggressive fighter but I’m a pound-for-pound great. I reign as the undisputed champion and if anyone wants a shot at the crown, they gotta see me. I’m not going anywhere. I want all my fans to tune in because once again, it’s Lions Only time and I plan to light up Las Vegas and show the world that I’m the most dangerous fighter in the sport, regardless of division.”  

The 28-year-old Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) has quickly climbed the rankings in the 154-pound division with an all-action, aggressive style. The notable names on his resume include former welterweight champion Jeff Horn, whom Tszyu stopped in round eight, and Terrell Gausha, a top contender and  member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. A native of Sydney, Australia, Tszyu made his U.S. and SHOWTIME debut against Gausha and showed his poise and toughness by rallying back from a first-round knockdown to defeat Gausha via unanimous decision.

Tszyu grew up playing soccer, but soon gravitated toward boxing. The decision led to him following in the legendary footsteps of his father, Kostya, who was an undisputed 140-pound champion and who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011. The match against Charlo will represent an opportunity for Tszyu to blaze his own trail in boxing, joining his father in the club of undisputed world champions. 

“Jermell is a great, smart fighter and has been for many years – becoming undisputed is an incredible achievement. But his time is over now, because I’m about to shock the world and take over,” said Tszyu. “It’s going to be a great fight as neither of us know how to take a backward step and are going to be swinging from the start with very bad intentions. I’m preparing for a bloody war as I know he is too. I’ve already been grinding for months and I’m in the best shape of my career. The groundwork was laid in Australia and Thailand but I’m here now in the U.S. to take it to the next level, which is exactly what’s needed when you’re fighting for the undisputed championship of the world.”

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

Newly crowned WBA Bantamweight Champion of the World Nina Hughes has signed a long-term promotional deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
 
The 40-year-old from Billericay in Essex, who is trained by Kevin Lilley and managed by Lee Eaton, ripped the WBA crown from the USA’s Jamie Mitchell at the Hilton Palm Jumeirah in Dubai last month to become Britain’s latest World Champion. 
 
A four-time ABA National Champion, the mother of two only turned professional in December 2021 at the age of 39. She landed the vacant Commonwealth and WBO International Titles in her third fight against Tysie Gallagher in July before making history against Mitchell in just her fifth fight in the paid ranks.  
 
“It was an amazing feeling being crowned World Champion,” said Hughes. “It made all of the hard work and sacrifices over the years worthwhile. My dreams had finally become a reality. 
 
“Hopefully it inspires girls around the world to follow their dreams and take up boxing no matter what obstacles get in the way. Not many people believed I could do it because of my age apart from my team and the people around me that know me well, so I was glad to prove everyone wrong.
 
“I’m really excited to be teaming up with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom. I’m looking forward to boxing on the big stage in some big exciting fights. The aim will be to win more World Titles and unify in the Bantamweight division. I want the big fights that people want to see.”
 
“I’m delighted to welcome another World Champion to the Matchroom stable in WBA Bantamweight champion Nina Hughes,” said Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn. “This is quite a remarkable story, after an impressive amateur career, Nina waited until she was 39 years old to turn professional and within 12 months captured the World Title against highly regarded Jamie Mitchell on away soil. She has now put herself in the frame for huge domestic and unification fights and we look forward to delivering what she deserves in 2023.”
 
“I am over the moon for Nina,” said Eaton. “Nina came into the game very late turning pro at 39 and within 12 months she’s had five pro fights, won the WBO International and Commonwealth Titles, and then gone over to Dubai and beat the current WBA World Champion very comfortably.
 
“When I signed Nina we always had the aim of becoming World Champion but to do it this quick is incredible. We want the big fights straight away – Shannon Courtenay or Ebanie Bridges next would be ideal. With Matchroom’s backing I believe she can go on to unify the division and even become undisputed.
 
“I’ve known Nina a long time as we are both from same area – it’s a mad situation! I messaged Nina about turning over in 2017 and she said she couldn’t be bothered with selling tickets! Now five years later she’s World Champion within 12 months which is a very proud moment for me as her manager and friend.”
 
You can follow Nina’s journey on Twitter: @NinaSmith888 and Instagram: _ninahughes

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

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

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

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

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

When asked about a  third sequel he joked:

“As long as they pay well.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Julio Cesar Martinez retains WBC title

It was more of a chase than a fight.

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

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

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

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

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

Diego Pacheco blows out Luna

Diego Pacheco didn’t need much time.

He only needed power.

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

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

Rosales scores unanimous decision in a unanimous thriller

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

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

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

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

It wasn’t. 

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

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

The Flies created a buzz.

Austin Williams wins one-sided decision

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

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

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

Marc Castro wins lopsided decision

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

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

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

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

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

First Bell: Brazilian Olympic medalist Beatriz Ferriera scores powerful TKO 

 It began early. Ended early, too.

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

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

By Norm Frauenheim –

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He fights for Mexico, he says

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Norm Frauenheim –

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.

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.