Notebook: A look at the financial and title fallout from Joseph Diaz missing weight
New Ring City USA season; Warrington deals with defeat
Joseph Diaz Jr.’s failure to make weight for his first junior lightweight title defense against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov on Saturday night in the Golden Boy main event on DAZN cost him even more than being stripped of his 130-pound belt and the fine levied by the California State Athletic Commission.
After the commission fined Diaz the standard 20 percent of his purse for missing weight -- $100,000 of his $500,000 purse ($50,000 to the commission and the other $50,000 added to Rakhimov’s $100,000 purse) – Diaz paid even more money to Rakhimov in a side deal in order for the bout to go ahead.
According to the commission report, which was obtained by Fight Freaks Unite, besides the fine, a $50,000 fee was paid by Diaz (31-1-1, 15 KOs) to Rakhimov as additional “compensation for the weight violation. The transfer of funds was added to the bout contract prior to the event. Joseph Diaz Jr. paid in total $100k to his opponent and $50k to the state of California for his weight violation.”
That means Diaz saw a $500,000 purse slashed to $350,000 (and that was before another $76,000 was deducted as a management fee) because he was 133.6 pounds, 3.6 over the division limit, at Friday’s weigh-in. Rakhimov saw his money double from $100,000 to $200,000.
Rakhimov (15-0-1, 12 KOs), 26, a Tajikistan native fighting out of Russia, would have claimed the title had he won the fight but it was ruled a majority draw and the title remained vacant. But Rakhimov will get another chance to fight for the vacant belt as the IBF on Monday ordered him to face its next ranked contender, Kenichi Ogawa (25-1-1, 18 KOs), 33, of Japan.
“We’d like to have this fight,” Egis Klimas, Rakhimov’s manager, texted to Fight Freaks Unite.
The Rakhimov and Ogawa camps have 30 days to make a deal or a purse bid will be ordered. It will be Ogawa’s second shot at this belt. In December 2017, he faced Tevin Farmer in Las Vegas and on HBO for the vacant title and won a controversial unanimous decision, but it was later changed to a no contest when Ogawa tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug. Ogawa was suspended and did not fight for 14 months, but he is 3-0-1 since his return.
Ring City USA ready for new season
Junior middleweights Serhii Bohachuk (18-0,18 KOs) and Brandon Adams, (22-3, 13 KOs) were supposed to fight on Dec. 3 in the main event of the Ring City USA card but the fight was postponed after Bohachuk tested positive for Covid-19.
Adams instead faced late replacement Sammy Duversonne and knocked him out in the second round. But Bohachuk and Adams both wanted their fight to be rescheduled, so both were pleased when it was reset for March 4 as Ring City USA (NBC Sports Net, 9 p.m. ET) kicks off its 2021 schedule at the Felix Pagan Pintor Gym in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
“I’m very happy that we were able to reschedule this fight with Brandon Adams,” Bohachuk said during media day at the Churchill Boxing Club in Santa Monica, California, on Saturday. “He had a great knockout victory in December and he is the toughest opponent of my career. This is my second fight with (trainer) Manny Robles and we will be prepared for victory. I know that Brandon Adams is a good boxer, very hard to hit cleanly but my power will be the difference.
“I want to be the next world champion from Ukraine like the Klitschko brothers, Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko. A victory over Brandon Adams will bring me closer to that goal.”
Adams’ win in December was his first fight since losing a one-sided decision challenging Jermall Charlo for his middleweight world title in June 2019.
“I’m very excited to face him in the ring and glad that we could reschedule the fight. For me it’s about fine-tuning in training from the first training camp for him. Stay tuned because this will be fireworks from the opening bell.”
They will be joined on the card by middleweight Fernando Vargas Jr. (1-0, 1 KO), who is trained by his father, Fernando Vargas Sr., the former two-time junior middleweight titlist. Vargas Jr. will face an opponent to be determined in a four-rounder.
“It was definitely a big difference going from the amateurs to the pros,” said Vargas, 24, a southpaw from Oxnard, California, who won his pro debut by first-round knockout of Pablo Rosas on Dec. 18 in Mexico. “I’m learning a lot from my dad and from being in training camp with Manny Robles and Serhii Bohachuk. I like not having to wear headgear (like in the amateurs) and the light gloves allow me to sit on my shots more. Boxing has brought my dad and I closer together the last couple of years. With his experience it's a blessing to have him in my corner as well. Boxing and family time, it’s all the same to us.”
Warrington dealing with defeat
Former featherweight titlist Josh Warrington is trying to come to grips with his crushing ninth-round knockout loss to Mauricio Lara in a massive upset on Saturday at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London.
Warrington, who vacated his title last month but looked forward to fighting for another organization’s belt had he beaten Lara (22-2, 15 KOs), 22, of Mexico, suffered injuries to his shoulder and jaw as well as to his pride in the defeat. But thanked the many fans who have sent him well wishes.
“I am so thankful for the incredible support I have received since Saturday night,” Warrington said on Monday. “The support from the public in Leeds (England) has been overwhelming. Also, boxing fans from all over Britain have shown concern and sent lovely messages. It’s not been the best weekend, even Leeds United were beaten at Arsenal but I just wanted to take time to say how much these positive messages and social media posts are appreciated.”
Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) went from London back to his hometown of Leeds early Sunday with his wife, Natasha, to celebrate the third birthday of twin daughters Eliza and Olivia.
“Being around my wife and my girls on their third birthday was special. They will always make me smile. Their birthday and hearing from so many well-wishers has been a great boost. Obviously, I’m hurting inside. I’ve lost my unbeaten record. That’s something I have treasured and it is a dent. Anyone who knows me can tell you I stand proud.”
Warrington, 30, will see a shoulder specialist this week and said he will eventually meet with his father/trainer Sean O’Hagan, manager Steve Wood and promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing to plan his next move. Hearn said Warrington has a rematch clause if he wants to fight Lara again.
“It will not be long before I am ready to start the climb back to the top of the featherweight division,” Warrington said. “I may not have to prove myself to my fans, but I want to show them and my rivals that I still belong at the very highest level. Good luck to Mauricio Lara, who is a serious opponent for anybody. He is heavy-handed and holds power that will trouble any featherweight. Will we meet again in a boxing ring? Who knows. We only fought a couple of days ago. But, if the chance comes I will jump at it. It’s now about having a break after 15 months in the gym, recharging my batteries, letting the injuries heal and becoming a two-time world champion.”
Oubaali’s change of plans
WBC bantamweight world titlist Nordine Oubaali, who had a defense being planned against Nawaphon Kaikanha for March 13 in Paris, will forgo the bout and instead look to reschedule a mandatory defense against former four-division champion Nonito Donaire that had been postponed from Dec. 19, a source with knowledge of the plans told me. I wrote about the development for BoxingScene.com: https://www.boxingscene.com/source-oubaali-interim-defense-off-plans-works-reschedule-donaire-fight--155398
Quick hits
Middleweight John Vera (19-1, 11 KOs), 32, of Fort Worth, Texas, will take on Los Angeles native Cleotis “Mookie” Pandarvis (21-7-2, 9 KOs), 34, in the eight-round main event of a Roy Jones Jr. Boxing card on March 4 (UFC Fight Pass, 8 p.m. ET ) at the Biloxi Civic Center in Biloxi, Mississippi. Mainly because of the coronavirus pandemic, Vera, whose lone loss came in a junior middleweight title eliminator to Michel Soro in France in 2018, has not fought since August 2019.
Former heavyweight Mitchell Rose, whose career highlight came in when he upset then-undefeated Eric “Butterbean” Esch on the Oscar De La Hoya-James Leija card in December 1995 at Madison Square Garden in New York, died on Friday. He was 51. Although Brooklyn’s Rose (2-11-1, 2 KOs) did not have much of a boxing career, he did have that stunning win.
Show and tell
Seventy years ago on Sunday — Feb. 14, 1951 in Chicago — the all-time pound-for-pound king Sugar Ray Robinson stopped fellow legend Jake LaMotta in the 13th round of the famed “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” to win the middleweight championship in their sixth and final fight. Here’s something that has always amused me in this day and age where it’s normal for top fighters to fight twice a year, some even just once: After LaMotta handed Robinson his first career loss in their second fight they fought the third bout of the legendary series just three weeks later – and Robinson took a “tune-up” in between! I know we are in a different time today but this shows just how absurd it is that so many top fighters box just twice a year. Here is the iconic 1951 Topps Ringside Robinson card, which I consider one of the most significant boxing cards ever produced, in my collection.
Diaz photo: Tom Hogan/Golden Boy; Bohachuk-Adams photo: Lina Baker/Ring City USA; Warrington photo: Matchroom Boxing
Cheers..
Its now been realised that boxers' activity, and specifically the total amount of sparring done during a career - which increases with the number of fights, is connected to the brain maladies experienced by boxers during their retirement years.
It's a complex topic that's probably not as simple as it appears to us fans.