Notebook: Charlo-Castano rematch for undisputed 154 crown set for March 19
Beterbiev-Smith light heavyweight unification deal close; Cuadras, Rodriguez have their say; update on Fury-Whyte; Kovalev-Meng details; Quick hits; Show and tell
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The expected rematch between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano for the undisputed junior middleweight title now has an official date and site.
It will take place March 19 at Crypto. com Arena in Los Angeles. It’s the first boxing event there since the name of the venue was changed from Staples Center at the end of 2021.
Premier Boxing Champions made the fight official on Friday in an alert announcing ticket details (available via AXS), although the match has been set for quite some time but was in need of a date and venue. The TV details were not announced, although Showtime televised their first fight.
Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs), 31, of Houston, the WBC/IBF/WBA titleholder, and Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs), 32, of Argentina, the WBO titlist, fought to a heavily disputed split draw — most thought Castano deserved the victory — for the undisputed title on July 17 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Neither has boxed since.
In the first fight, judge Steve Weisfeld scored it 114-113 for Castano, Tim Cheatham had it 114-114 and Nelson Vazquez had the outlier score that has been heavily criticized of 117-111 for Charlo. Charlo won the 10th, 11th and 12th rounds on all three scorecards to secure the draw.
There has never been an undisputed champion in the 154-pound division during the four-belt era. The last time there was an undisputed champion in the division, during the three-belt era, was when then-IBF titlist Winky Wright pulled the upset decision against WBC/WBA counterpart Shane Mosley in their first fight in 2004.
Assuming there is a winner in the rematch, he would become the sixth male boxer of the four-belt era to be an undisputed world champion, joining junior welterweight Josh Taylor (2021), cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk (2018), junior welterweight Terrence Crawford (2017) and middleweights Jermain Taylor (2005) and Bernard Hopkins (2004).
According to reports in Australian media, Tim Tszyu (20-0, 15, KOs), 27, of Australia, will make his United States debut against Cleveland native and 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KO), 34, on the undercard. Tszyu, who is the son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, is the WBO’s No. 1 contender at junior middleweight and in line for the main event winner.
Beterbiev-Smith deal close
A deal is being finalized for Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. to meet in a three-belt light heavyweight title unification fight, sources with direct knowledge of the discussions told Fight Freaks Unite.
The fight, which would headline a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card, is penciled in for a date to be determined in June at New York’s Madison Square Garden, although whether it would take place in the main arena or the smaller Hulu Theater has not been determined.
According to the sources, Beterbiev and promoter Top Rank are in agreement on a deal and Smith has a deal with his promoter, Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing. Top Rank and DeGuardia, who co-promote Smith, are hashing out some of the details between them.
Both titleholders are coming off recent victories.
WBO titlist Smith (28-3, 22 KOs), 32, of Mastic, New York, made his first defense by one-sided ninth-round knockout of late replacement Steve Geffrard on Jan. 15.
WBC/IBF champion Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs), 37, a Montreal-based Russia native, made his fifth defense by ninth-round knockout of mandatory challenger Marcus Browne on Dec. 17. Both fighters have called for a unification fight with the other man.
Cuadras, Rodriguez eager
Carlos Cuadras expected to be facing fellow former WBC junior bantamweight titlist Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in a rematch for the vacant WBC belt on Saturday night and blue chip flyweight prospect Jesse Rodriguez expected to be on the undercard.
Now they are facing each other for the vacant title in the new main put together earlier this week when Sor Rungvisai withdrew due to a non-Covid-19 illness and Rodriguez agreed to move up one division and face Cuadras.
The fight headlines a Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN (8 p.m. ET) at the Footprint Center in Phoenix as the streaming service kicks off its 2022 schedule with the first of at least 10 shows between this weekend and late April, including cards the next eight consecutive weekends.
Cuadras (39-4-1 27 KOs), 33, of Mexico, and Rodriguez (14-0, 10 KOs), a 22-year-old southpaw from San Antonio, came face to face at this week’s final news conference and reflected on their late pairing.
“This is what I desire the most in the world, to be a champion again,” said Cuadras, is aiming to regain the belt he first won from Sor Rungvisai via eight-round technical decision in May 2014. “Whoever is in my way. It was meant to be Rungvisai but he got sick, so we have Jesse and I am ready. As the fight progresses, you’ll see my experience show. I’ve seen Jesse fight and I know he’s a great fighter. I will be careful but more than anything, I will give him his medicine.”
Rodriguez was excited to get the late call for the title bout.
“No hesitation in taking this fight,” said the Robert Garcia-trained Rodriguez. “Robert and I believe, and we train so hard, we know we can beat anyone at 108 pounds, 112 pound and 115 pounds. And come Saturday night that training, and that confidence is going to show. San Antonio is going to have a new world champion.
“I am searching for big fights. My last fight was meant to be for a world title but that fell through. This opportunity came at 115 pounds for the WBC title, and who is going to pass that up? We’re ready for this. The size is not a problem. A lot of people are saying that I have to gain weight to go up to 115 pounds, but I walk around at 130 so I have had to lose weight and I’m a big 108-pounder, so at 115 pounds it’s just going to be another beautiful performance. This is my moment, I am born to perform and on Saturday night, a star will be born.”
Fury-Whyte update
Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions has taken time to reflect on the record-setting $41,025,000 purse bid he submitted in conjunction with Top Rank on Jan. 28 that secured the promotional rights to heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s mandatory defense against interim titlist Dillian Whyte.
Warren, who co-promotes Fury with Top Rank, put in the biggest in purse bid history, blowing away the only other bid of $32,222,222 — the second-biggest ever — made by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
“We did expect to post the winning bid and were confident of obtaining the right to stage this blockbuster heavyweight bash but, in this game, you do learn to expect the unexpected at times,” Warren said. “It wasn’t a close run thing in the end with our bid, in association with Top Rank, dwarfing that of Matchroom by some distance, which is good news for Dillian, who will bank the sort of figure he was hoping for. What’s more, there is a 10 percent bonus (taken off the top of the bid) for the winner to bolster the guaranteed earnings.
“Yes, we are talking about big numbers here but, for me, it is all about the fight and the occasion. Hopefully, we will also get a lively and entertaining build-up and this should certainly be the case when we put together two of the biggest characters in British sport.
“We will be making announcements this week regarding the date and venue and the following week we will bring the fighters together for an opening media event to officially set the ball rolling. Then it will be all systems go to get the word out on the biggest fight of the year, one which the world will be tuned in to and one that truly captures the imagination.”
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman announced that Top Rank has made the required 10 percent deposit of the winning bid for the fight, which is penciled in for April 23 in the United Kingdom.
Top Rank wired $4,102,500 to the WBC. That money will be held by WBC and the winner of the fight will get the money as a bonus. The next step is for both fighters to sign bout contracts and for them to be returned to the WBC.
Kovalev-Meng update
Triller Fight Club is moving the date of a fight it is working to finalize between former three-time light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev and Meng Fanlong.
Triller initially was planning for the fight to take place March 12 at a location to be determined in Southern California, but a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite that Triller wants to move the bout, which is not yet signed, to “early April.”
Also, the sides have agreed to a contract weight of 188 pounds with a both fighters agreeing to a rehydration clause of no more than 195 on fight day, the source said. Kovalev is seeking to eventually move up to cruiserweight and his side says he can no longer make the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds.
Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs), 38, a Russia native fighting out of Santa Monica, California, has not fought since Canelo Alvarez moved up from middleweight to light heavyweight and spectacularly knocked him out to take his world title in November 2019.
He was scheduled to fight Sullivan Barrera in April 2020 in the main event of a Golden Boy card on DAZN, but the event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Then he was due to fight then-unbeaten prospect Bektemir “Bek Bully” Melikuziev at 178 pounds in January 2021, in Indio, California, but the show was canceled when Kovalev tested positive for synthetic testosterone in a sample given to the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.
Golden Boy owed Kovalev a comeback fight per the terms of the contract for the Alvarez fight, but has not put on a fight for him yet. Golden Boy claims it is no longer obligated to do so because of the failed drug test, and the company is in arbitration with Kovalev and his promoter, Main Events, over the issue. While that is being sorted out, Kovalev-Meng is in the works.
Meng (17-0, 10 KOs), a 33-year-old Chinese southpaw, who trains in New Jersey, was the mandatory challenger for light heavyweight titlist Artur Beterbiev but due to the pandemic and visa issues he never got the fight.
FITE in Focus
FITE has United States streaming rights to both the Keith Thurman-Mario Barrios and Chris Eubank Jr.-Liam Williams/Claressa Shields-Ema Kozin cards on Saturday and I was part of an esteemed panel to preview both of the shows for an episode of FITE in Focus. You can watch that show here:
Quick hits
Weights from Las Vegas for Saturday’s PBC/Fox Sports PPV: Keith Thurman 145.4 pounds, Mario Barrios 146.2 (WBC semifinal welterweight eliminator); Leo Santa Cruz 128.75, Keenan Carbajal 129; Jesus Ramos 152.5, Vladimir Hernandez 153.4; Luis Nery 121.75, Carlos Castro 121.4; Anthony Cuba 133.4, Jose Gonzalez 132.6; Abel Ramos 145.6, Lucas Santamaria 145.4; Ryan Karl 145.6, Omar Juarez 141.8; Jesus Silveyra 142.4, Keith Hunter 137.4; Enriko Gogokhia 141.8, Kent Cruz 142.6; Fernando Vargas Jr. 156.4, Kody Koboski 155.6; John Rincon 145.2, Ramon Marquez 146.6.
Weights from Phoenix for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN: Carlos Cuadras 114.4 pounds, Jesse Rodriguez 114.1 (for vacant WBC junior bantamweight title); Jamie Mitchell 117.2, Carly Skelly 116.2 (for Mitchell’s WBA women’s bantamweight title); Raymond Ford 126, Edward Vazquez 125.9; Lorenzo Smith 111.5, Fernando Diaz 111; Khalil Coe 179.5, Dylan O’Sullivan 177.9; Elijah Garcia 163.5, Antonio Louis Hernandez 162.5; Adam Stewart 234, Alvin Davie 223.9; Aaron Aponte 139, Louis Jourdain 138.8.
Weights from Cardiff, Wales for Saturday’s Boxxer card (FITE in the U.S., Sky Sports in the U.K.): Chris Eubank Jr. 160 pounds, Liam Williams 159; Claressa Shields 159, Ema Kozin 159.5 (for Shields’ WBC/IBF/WBA women’s middleweight title); Otto Wallin 253.5, Kamil Sokolowski 234.5; Harlem Eubank 141.5, Viorel Simion 139.5; Caroline Dubois 138.4, Vaida Masiokaite 138; Steve Robinson 242.5, Shane Gill 252; Rhys Edwards 127, Ruslan Berchuk 125; Chris Jenkins 149, Julius Indongo 146.5; Samuel Antwi 146.5, Conah Walker 146.
Top Rank has acquired the United States rights to the fight between former three-division titlist Jorge Linares and Zaur Abdullaev and will stream it on ESPN+ when they meet Feb. 19 in a WBC semifinal lightweight title eliminator in Ekaterinburg, Russia, a source with knowledge of the deal told Fight Freaks Unite. Linares (47-6, 29 KOs), 36, of Venezuela, who is in the twilight of a 20-year carrier, is coming off a decision loss challenging WBC titlist Devin Haney in May but recently signed with Ekaterinburg-based RCC Promotions after parting ways with Golden Boy. Abdullaev (14-1, 8 KOs), 27, of Ekaterinburg, has won three fights in a row since his only fight outside of Russia, a one-sided fourth-round knockout loss to Haney for the vacant WBC interim title in 2019 in New York.
Australian junior middleweight Nikita Tszyu, the son of Hall of fame former undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu and the younger brother of junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu, will make his professional debut on March 2 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Brisbane, Australia. Nikita Tszyu, 24, a southpaw and four-time national amateur champion, who has been studying architecture in college but was bored, also felt the pull of the ring and will face countryman Aaron Stahl (2-0-1, 0 KOs) in a six-rounder.
Savannah Marshall (11-0, 9 KOs), 30, of England, will make her third WBO women’s middleweight title defense when she faces Femke Hermans (12-3, 5 KOs), 31, of Belgium, on March 12 (Sky Sports in the U.K.) in Newcastle, England, Boxxer announced. In 2018, Hermans went the distance in a challenge to unified middleweight champion Claressa Shields, who is on a collision course with amateur rival Marshall for later this year as long as Shields wins on Saturday and Marshall beats Hermans.
Top Rank acquired the rights to a card taking in place in Cancun, Mexico, that will stream live on ESPN+ on Sunday (8 p.m. ET). Junior bantamweight David Cuellar (20-0, 13 KOs) faces Ricardo Blandon (15-4, 9 KOs) in the 10-round main event. In the 10-round co-feature, junior featherweight Cristopher Lopez (14-0-1, 10 KOs) meets Dixon Flores (17-8-3, 6 KOs). There are three other bouts also slated for the stream: Junior lightweight Rosario Sanchez (16-0, 10 KOs) versus Francisco Lucero (10-3-4, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder; junior middleweight Oziel Santoyo (13-1-1, 8 KOs) versus Brandon Perez (6-1-1, 2 KOs) in an eight-rounder; and featherweight Celex Castro (11-0, 8 KOs) versus Julio Cesar Juarez (4-9, 1 KO) in a six-rounder.
Show and tell
In the early 2000s — still the three-belt era — all three of the junior welterweight titleholders, Kostya Tszyu, Sharmba Mitchell and Zab Judah, were aligned with Showtime, which wanted to crown an undisputed champion. Australia’s Tszyu, making his third WBC title defense, and Mitchell, of Washington, D.C., who was making his fifth WBA defense, were matched in a highly significant fight at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Tszyu, the favorite, lost a point for pushing in the fourth round but otherwise was in control before Mitchell suffered a knee injury and retired on his stool following the seventh round. Two fights later, Tszyu would knock out Judah to become the undisputed champion and eventually be elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. One of the biggest wins of Tszyu’s career was his first fight with Mitchell, which was on Feb. 3, 2001 — 21 years ago on Thursday. Here is the Australian television poster, which was issued folded, advertising the fight (which took place Feb. 4 Australian time) in my collection.
Charlo-Castano photo: Esther Lin/Showtime; Smith photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Cuadras-Rodriguez photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Thurman-Barrios photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC
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I like the Light Heavy Weight fight if it happens and happens soon like June would be great both fighters should bring out the best in each other after the past few fights they have had. Either has shown the intangables in the ring with Beter having to deal with the busted forehead, and Jr. having to deal with a broken jaw in the first round of one of his fights and all the Covid interuptions and replacement fighters shows character. Charlo - Casta II is needed to clear things up. Triller well they still have got what four more postponments before they can put the fight with Meng-Kov in the ring if ever. Thanks again for the info on the possible upcoming fights much appreciated. Yes Cuadras - BAM could be a blast........