Notebook: Adames motivated for Montiel by recent success of countrymen

Eubank Jr.-Benn fallout; Robeisy Ramirez needs new foe; Nov. 5 Showtime card in works; NFL vs. MMA fight on tap; Quick hits; Show and tell

Oct 08, 2022

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In the biggest fight of Carlos Adames’ career he got knocked down and lost a very close unanimous decision to Patrick Teixeira for the WBO interim junior middleweight title in 2019 in a fight that everyone knew was for the de facto full title because then-titlist Jaime Munguia had already announced he was moving up to middleweight.

Indeed, a week after the fight Munguia vacated and Teixeira was upgraded to full titleholder and it had been a lost opportunity for Adames.

Adames has won three fights in a row since, his last two of which came since moving up to middleweight, including a career-best 10-round decision over former three-time title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko in December.

Now, Adames has yet another golden opportunity in a meaningful fight as he squares off with Juan Macias Montiel for the vacant WBC interim middleweight belt in the co-feature of the Premier Boxing Champions card on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The winner will be in prime position to either challenge full titlist Jermall Charlo, whose inactivity (in part due to injury) is why the interim title was made available or be elevated to full titleholder should Charlo vacate or be stripped.

Although Adames (21-1, 16 KOs), 28, of the Dominican Republic, is the clear favorite, Montiel (23-5-2, 23 KOs), 28, of Mexico, is known for his toughness. After all, the last time Charlo boxed in June 2021 he defended his title against Montiel and had a tough night even though the scores were very wide.

“This is not an easy fight because I know Montiel is a proven veteran who has fought at the championship level,” Adames said. “He’s gone 12 rounds with Jermall Charlo, so I know he’s tough. I’m expecting Montiel to come into this fight very determined, so I must be ready for anything he brings. I’m the hungriest I’ve ever been going into a fight. My plan is to knock him out and leave no doubt who the winner is.

“A victory puts me in position to fight for the championship in my next fight. Everything is on the line in this fight and I’m not going to let this opportunity pass me by. I have one thing on my mind and that is to come out victorious by any means necessary. I will become the new king at middleweight soon.”

Macias, whose goal is to land a rematch with Charlo, said he learned a lot from their fight and hopes to implement those lessons against Adames.

“My fight against Jermall Charlo gave me a lot of experience and a lot of confidence,” Montiel said. “I learned a lot. I came out on my feet and showed that I could go toe-to-toe with the best fighter in the division.

“Every fighter has to be confident. I’m glad Adames is confident. But I have the utmost confidence in myself and I’m ready to be the very best version of myself on Saturday night. My record speaks for itself. I’ll be ready to knock him out. But if we go 12 rounds, I’m prepared for it. We worked hard so that I’ll be able to take on any challenge that comes my way.”

Adames, who trained for the fight in Las Vegas with head trainer Bob Santos, said he is motivated by the recent success of Dominican countrymen Alberto Puello and Hector Garcia.

Puello won a split decision over Batyr Akhmedov to claim the vacant WBA junior welterweight title in the co-feature on Aug. 20 in Hollywood, Florida. On the same card, Garcia won a unanimous decision over Roger Gutierrez to take his WBA junior lightweight title on a historic night for Dominican boxing.

“Hector Garcia and Alberto Puello are my brothers,” Adames said. “I love them very much and for the first time in the history of boxing, the Dominican Republic has more current world champions than Cuba and Puerto Rico. Them both winning world titles on the same night was a great moment for our country. My motivation to become a world champion is burning in my heart and is the reason I’ve taken my training to the next level. I’m going to follow in their footsteps and together we will make history.”

Also on the card:

In the main event, Sebastian Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs), 24, a southpaw from Coachella, California, will defend the WBC interim junior middleweight title for the first time when he faces Carlos Ocampo (34-1, 22 KOs), 26, of Mexico.
In the opener, Fernando Martinez (14-0, 8 KOs), 31, of Argentina, will defend the IBF junior bantamweight title in an immediate rematch against Jerwin Ancajas (33-2-2, 22 KOs), 30, a southpaw from the Philippines, from whom he won the belt by wide unanimous decision in an upset in February.

BetUS Boxing Show

If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked the top two fights on the Showtime card Saturday: Sebastian Fundora vs. Carlos Ocampo for Fundora’a interim junior middleweight title and Carlos Adames vs. Juan Macias Montiel for a vacant interim middleweight belt. We also took questions and comments from the viewers and had a good time! Watch our show here:

Ramirez needs new foe

Top Rank is on the hunt for a new opponent for featherweight Robeisy Ramirez after former junior featherweight world titlist Jessie Magdaleno suffered a recent hand injury that forced him this week to pull out of the fight this week.

They were scheduled to meet in the 10-round co-feature on the card headlined by the lightweight bout between former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jamaine Ortiz on Oct. 29 (ESPN+) at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Magdaleno suffered a left hand injury preparing for the fight, Sam Katkovski, Magdaleno’s manager, told Fight Freaks Unite.

“It’s pretty bad, might require surgery,” Katkovski said. “We are waiting on the MR results.”

Magdaleno ended a two-year layoff on May 21 with an eight-round decision win against Edy Valencia and a win over Ramirez would have put him on the fast track to another title shot.

Ramirez (10-1, 6 KOs), 28, the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist, who fights out of Gulfport, Florida, would have been taking on his most notable opponent as a pro in fellow southpaw Magdaleno (29-1, 18 KOs), 30, of Las Vegas, following an impressive fifth-round knockout of Abraham Nova on June 18 at the Hulu Theater.

Despite a shocking four-round decision loss to Adan Gonzales in his pro debut — a loss he later avenged — Ramirez has rebounded well with 10 wins in a row and has settled into a more professional style. He gives a lot of credit for that to Ismael Salas, the trainer he is now with training in Las Vegas.

“He has drawn out a strategy and road map for success,” Ramirez said of Salas. “It is now up to me to execute it and make it clear to all that ‘El Tren’ is the true powerhouse of the featherweight division. I’m as fast, strong, and smart in the ring as anyone in the featherweight division. On Oct. 29, I will show the world that it is only a matter of time before I become a world champion.”

Boxing Social appearance

I joined my friends at Boxing Social for an in-depth discussion of the Conor Benn failed drug test and the fiasco of the fight with Chris Eubank Jr. being called off. We got deep into all things about this situation and I cleared many misconceptions a lot of people have about testing and many other things related to this mess. I believe it is definitely worth a watch if you want to know the real deal about this testing situation. Check it out here:

iD Boxing appearance

I also spoke with freiends at iD Boxing about the Eubank-Benn debacle. Please watch that video here:

Ask The Experts appearance

The Eubank-Benn situation was a popular one to discuss this week and I also joined my pal Curran Bhatia on his “Ask The Experts” boxing show. Watch that video here:

iFL TV appearance

I also spoke with iFL TV about Eubank-Benn mess as well as the next week’s return of Deontay Wilder. Watch that convesation here:

Morrell card in works

Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime are planning a card to be headlined by WBA “regular” super middleweight titlist Davis Morrell against mandatory challenger Aidos Yerbossynuly on Nov. 5 at The Armory in Minneapolis, Cuba native Morrell’s adopted hometown, sources told Fight Freaks Unite, confirming a BoxingScene report.

Morrell (7-0, 6 KOs), 24 a southpaw, will be making his fourth defense and fighting for the fourth straight fight at The Armory, where he has become an attraction. Yerbossynuly (16-0, 11 KOs), 30, of Kazakhstan, is coming off a 10th-round knockout of Lennox Allen in a September 2021 title elimination bout. Morrell went the 12-round distance with Allen in a 2020 interim title bout.

In another bout on the card, junior middleweight up-and-comer Yoelvis Gomez (6-0, 5 KOs), 25, a Cuban southpaw, is penciled in to face former unified titleholder Jeison Rosario (23-3-1, 17 KOs), 27, who has won three fights in a row by knockout against lesser opposition in his native Dominican Republic since consecutive knockout losses — to Jermell Charlo in the eighth round in a September 2020 three-belt unification fight followed by Erickson Lubin knocking him out in the sixth round in June 2021.

NFL vs. MMA

Former NFL star running back Le’Veon Bell and Uriah Hall, known for his MMA exploits, will fight in their professional boxing debuts on Oct. 29 (Showtime PPV) on the undercard of the Jake Paul-Anderson Silva fight at Desert Diamond Arena (formerly Gila River Arena) in Glendale, Arizona, Paul’s MVP Promotions announced.

They will meet in a scheduled four-round cruiserweight bout contracted at 195 pounds.

Bell, 30, of Columbus, Ohio, played for five NFL teams but is best known for his 2013 to 2017 stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers, for whom he had three seasons in which he rushed for more than 1,200 yards.

Last month, Bell, who trains in Los Angeles with Justin Fortune, had an exhibition bout with fellow former NFL star running back Adrian Peterson and scored a highlight-reel one-punch knockout with a right hand in the fifth round.

“As soon as Most Valuable Promotions approached me about joining the Paul-Silva pay-per-view, I told them, ‘I want in,’ and didn’t care who the opponent was,” Bell said. “Uriah Hall is going to feel my punching power and tap out like he’s getting submitted. He is not built like me.”

Hall (17-11, 14 KOs MMA record), 38, a New York-based Jamaica native, was known as a striker during his MMA career, in he fought for the UFC and Bellator.

“Le’Veon Bell, I hope you bring your best,” Hall said. “I know I will.”

Quick hits

Weights from Carson, Calif., for the Premier Boxing Champions card on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET): Sebastian Fundora 153.5 pounds, Carlos Ocampo 153.5 (for Fundora’s WBC interim junior middleweight title); Carlos Adames 159.25, Juan Macias Montiel 160 (for vacant WBC interim middleweight title); Fernando Martinez 114.75, Jerwin Ancajas 114.75 (rematch for Martinez’s IBF junior bantamweight title); Egidijus Kavaliauskas 147, Mykal Fox 145.75; Victor Slavinksyi 126.5, Edward Vazquez 129.5 (contracted at 127, Vazquez fined, fight goes on); Gabriela Fundora 111.25, Naomi Reyes 111.5.

Showtime announced that three preliminary bouts on the Fundora-Ocampo card will stream on the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Showtime Boxing Facebook page beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. The bouts: former welterweight title challenger and two-time Lithuanian Olympian “Mean Machine” Egidijus Kavaliauskas (22-2-1, 18 KOs), 34, against Mykal Fox (22-3, 5 KOs), 26, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, who returns fights for the first time since his massively controversial decision loss to Gabriel Maestre in August 2021, in a 10-rounder; Los Angeles-based Ukrainian featherweight Victor Slavinksyi (13-1-1, 6 KOs), 32, versus Edward Vazquez (12-1, 3 KOs), 27, of Fort Worth, Texas, in an eight-rounder; and flyweight Gabriela Fundora (8-0, 4 KOs), 20, of Coachella, California, the younger sister of headliner Sebastian Fundora, versus Mexico’s Naomi Reyes (9-1, 5 KOs), 28, in a 10-rounder.

Featherweight Brandon Benitez (19-2, 7 KOs), 24, of Mexico, won a split decision over former titlist Xu Can (18-4, 3 KOs), 28, of China, in an upset Friday night in the ProBox TV main event in Plant City, Florida. Benitez won 96-94 on two scorecards and one judge had it 97-93 for Xu, who dropped his second fight in a row, having also lost the WBA “regular” title by 12th-round knockout to Leigh Wood in July 2021.

Junior welterweight contender Jose Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs), 33, of La Puente, California, and former titlist Regis Prograis (27-1, 23 KOs), 33, of New Orleans, will meet face-to-face at a news conference on Wednesday in Los Angeles to formally announce their vacant WBC junior welterweight title bout. They will meet Nov. 26 on pay-per-view at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, in a fight promoted by MarvNation Promotions, which doesn’t promote either fighter but won a purse bid for $2.4 million to secure rights to the bout.

Liam Davies (12-0, 5 KOs), 26, and Romanian Ionut Baluta (15-3, 3 KOs), 28, will meet for the vacant European junior featherweight title Nov. 19 at the Telford International Centre in Telford, England, Davies’ hometown, in the main event of a BT Sport-televised card in the United Kingdom, promoter Frank Warren announced. Also on the card: England-based Russian David Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17 KOs), 34, defends the European welterweight title for the sixth time when he faces mandatory challenger Jon Miguez (17-0, 8 KOs), 25, of Spain, and light heavyweight contender Anthony Yarde (22-2, 21 KOs), 31, of England, will face an opponent to be named as he stays busy ahead of what is supposed to be a mandatory world title shot against three-belt champion Artur Beterbiev in early 2023.

With light heavyweight Ali Izmailov having Covid-19 and withdrawing from a fight with former title challenger Radivoje Kalajdzic, Showtime announced a new main event for the “ShoBox” tripleheader Oct. 21 (9:30 p.m. ET/PT) at Bally’s in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Super middleweight Isaiah Steen (16-0, 12 KOs), 24, of Cleveland, who was slated to face Elvis Figueroa in the eight-round co-feature, has been moved into 10-round main event against Sena Agbeko (26-2, 21 KOs), 30, a Ghana native fighting out of Nashville. Sean Hemphill (14-0, 8 KOs), 26, of New Orleans, faces David Stevens (11-0, 8 KOs), 22, of Reading, Pennsylvania, in the eight-round co-feature and the new opener is junior middleweight Marquis Taylor (12-1-2, 1 KO) versus Marlon Harrington (8-0, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder originally scheduled to have only highlights shown.

The WBA has ordered a final featherweight title eliminator fight between Thomas Patrick Ward (3-0-1, 5 KOs), 28, of England, and Otabek Kholmatov (10-0, 9 KOs), 24, of Uzbekistan, for the right to become the mandatory challenger for whoever winds up as the organization’s singular titlist, “super” titlist Leo Santa Cruz or “regular” titlist Leigh Wood, who have been ordered to meet. They have until Nov. 4 to make a deal or a purse bid will be scheduled. The split of a purse bid is 50-50.

In the wake Saturday’s Chris Eubank Jr.-Conor Benn fight being called off on Wednesday due to Benn’s failed drug, Matchroom Boxing quickly rescheduled three of the undercard bouts for other DAZN cards. It moved the women’s junior featherweight bout between Mary Romero and Ellie Scotney to the Oct. 29 card headlined by undisputed women’s lightweight champion Katie Taylor’s defense against Karen Elizabeth Carabajal in London. Flyweight Galal Yafai versus Gohan Rodriguez Garcia was shifted to the undercard of the show topped by the Dmitry Bivol-Gilberto Ramirez light heavyweight title fight Nov. 5 in Abu Dhabi. Female bantamweight Shannon Courtenay was moved to Dec. 10 in Leeds, England, to box on the undercard of featherweight titlist Josh Warrington’s defense versus Luis Lopez.

Show and tell

When Diego “Chico” Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo met to unify lightweight world titles most expected an all-action fight. What they did went well beyond that as they produced perhaps the greatest fight in boxing history that reached its crescendo in the dramatic 10th round when Castillo dropped Corrales twice only to see him rise both times and stop Castillo later in the round. It is by far the greatest fight I’ve ever been ringside for.

Both fighters took enormous punishment but they were rushed into a rematch five months later for a Showtime PPV fight. Of course, there was high anticipation for the bout but it took a big hit when Castillo badly missed weight the day before, weighing in at 138½ pounds – 3½ over the division limit. To make matters worse, one of the Castillo team members was caught trying to stick his foot under the scale to try to help Castillo make weight, which didn’t work because he was caught.

The fight, which I was ringside to cover at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, went on as a nontitle bout and while it was another hard-hitting and exciting fight, Castillo dominated and finished Corrales with a huge left hook in the fourth round. Corrales went down hard and although he managed to beat the count he was unsteady and in no position to continue and referee Joe Cortez waved it off. The fight took place on Oct. 8, 2005 — 17 years ago on Saturday. Here is a poster from the fight in my collection.