Notebook: Anderson faces Merhy as Monday court date looms
Heavyweights Ajagba, Vianello meet in co-feature; 'Chocolatito' return set; update on Beterbiev-Bivol, '5 vs. 5'; Ramirez-Barthelemy undercard; Quick hits; Show and tell
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It’s probably not a good sign that heavyweight contender Jared Anderson has been arrested more times in the past five months (twice) than he has had fights (none).
But while Anderson, hailed by most as America’s most promising heavyweight, has had his issues outside the ring he has continued to dominate opponents inside it.
He will aim to do that again when he squares off with former WBA “regular” cruiserweight titlist Ryad Merhy in the 10-round main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, 10 p.m. ET) at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“Expect the best version of me. Expect to see me shine,” Anderson said at the fight-week news conference. “Expect to see me dominate and show why I belong here.”
Anderson has said often that he is boxing strictly for the money. If he hopes to get to the point where he can make really big purses he will need to stay out of trouble.
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In November, he was arrested in Oregon, Ohio, for driving under the influence with a gun in his car and eventually pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of improperly handling the Glock 17 pistol in a motor vehicle. He was fined $200 and given a 180-day suspended jail sentence after originally being charged with a felony.
Under the plea deal the felony was reduced to a misdemeanor and the other charges dismissed. However, a condition was that if he had a similar offense inside of a year it would result in being sent to jail.
In late February, Anderson was accused fleeing from police in Huron Township, Michigan, and allegedly led them on a six-mile high-speed chase in which he reached a speed of more than 130 mph before he crashed his Dodge Challenger into a median. He was apprehended and arrested.
Anderson was charged with third-degree felony fleeing police, posted a $10,000 bond and ordered not to drive other than to and from his court dates. His next court date is scheduled for Monday. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
The 6-foot-4 Anderson (16-0, 15 KOs), of Toledo, Ohio, who weighed in on Friday at a career heavy 250.9 pounds, has not spoken much on the ongoing case but he did recently tell ESPN, “I’m human. I’m 24. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s not gonna be my last mistake. I hope it’s my last mistake that involves me being arrested. I wouldn’t say I regret it, you know, (but) lesson learned. I try to live my life with no regrets. Nothing we can really do about it at the moment other than face it head on; take it on the chin.”
He referred to the police chase as an “impulse decision” and “a mistake” and said he was “beyond blessed” that he wasn’t injured.
If Anderson, the 2021 Fight Freaks Unite prospect of the year, can stay out of prison, obviously his career has tremendous upside. He won his three bouts in 2023 in dominant fashion, including overcoming brief trouble to easily outpoint former world titleholder Charles Martin, who he also dropped.
“I feel like my career is going in the right direction,” Anderson said. “The only way is up. But I’m still working like it’s my first day. We’re on the job, so make sure you all stay with the journey. Stay with me.”
Merhy (32-2, 26 KOs), 31, has fought most of his fights at home in Belgium and will be making his United States debut, which he is excited about.
“I’m very happy to be here. What a great opportunity,” Merhy said. “Who would have ever thought that from a small country like Belgium I would be able to show my talent in America? I hope to represent my country.
“I’m not looking for anything. They’re looking for me. I’m a cruiserweight who has moved up to the heavyweight division because I was called out. They keep calling me, and now I’m here. Jared is a very talented fighter. He is a great prospect. But I’m going to show that he still has a long way to go.”
The 5-11½, 235-pound Merhy never defended his cruiserweight belt and instead moved up to heavyweight in 2022. He is 2-1 in the division and coming off an upset 10-round split decision over 2016 French Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka in December. He suffered a 12-round decision loss to Kevin Lerena in the fight before beating Yoka.
“I have a better IQ than Merhy,” said Anderson, the heavy favorite, who has been lauded by heavyweight champion Tyson Fury for the outstanding work he has given him as a sparring partner. “You have to have a high IQ to do this. I have one of the best IQs in the heavyweight division. He’s got a beating coming.”
Anderson said he was not concerned with anything he has seen from Merhy.
“The challenge (with smaller fighters) is that you have to sometimes deal with their speed, which we trained for,” Anderson said. “But I don’t really see to many challenges with this.”
Anderson’s bigger challenge may very well come on Monday in a courtroom.
Ajagba-Vianello co-feature
The 10-round heavyweight co-feature matches a pair of 29-year-old 2016 Olympians in Stafford, Texas-based Nigerian Efe Ajagba (19-1, 14 KOs) and Guido Vianello (12-1-1, 10 KOs), of Italy, who are very familiar with each other from many rounds of sparring .
“We know each other well,” Ajagba said. “I want to see what he brings to the table. We sparred. But that’s sparring. That’s different from an actual fight. He thinks that I’m going to fight like I how sparred. But it’s not going to be like that. This fight means a lot because it is a stepping stone.”
Ajagba has won four fights in a row since a decision loss to unbeaten Frank Sanchez in 2021. He is coming off a fourth-round KO of Joe Goodall in November.
Vianello pummeled overmatched Moses Johnson for a first-round knockout on Feb. 16 to win his second in a row after a seventh-round cut-induced stoppage loss to Jonathan Rice in January 2023.
“We are two aggressive fighters. I can’t wait to see what happens in there,” Vianello said. “I expect a good fight. This is a great opportunity. I’m really happy. The happiness is the strongest power I have. So, let’s see who is the best and fight.
“I have zero pressure because I always just think about me. I’m happy because Top Rank has a lot of heavyweights. This is good for us because we can make a lot of good fights.”
In the eight-round opener of the main card, junior lightweight contender Robson Conceicao (17-2-1, 8 KOs), 35, Brazil’s first Olympic boxing gold medalist in 2016, will face Jose Guardado (15-1-1, 5 KOs), 25, of Mexico.
The fight will be the first for Conceicao since a November majority draw challenging WBO titlist Emanuel Navarrete, who dropped him twice. The draw dropped Conceicao to 0-2-1 in world title fights, having previously lost decisions to Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez.
“For sure it was a tough fight with Emanuel Navarrete,” Conceicao said through an interpreter. “It was a war and I learned a lot from it. I also prepared a lot for this fight and I think I will get another title shot soon.”
‘Chocolatito’ returns
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, the former pound-for-pound king, four-division champion and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer, will end a 19-month layoff during which he contemplated retirement.
Gonzalez will face an opponent to be determined in a 10-rounder on July 12 in a Managua, Nicaragua, homecoming bout, promoter Felix “Tuto” Zabala Jr. announced at a news conference flanked by Gonzalez and his manager, Carlos Blandon.
“We have been diligently working in the country for over 20 years developing boxing in the region and producing world title fights,” Zabala said. “Roman was always a dream to have and now we are making it reality. This will be a special one.”
Zabala told Fight Freaks Unite the fight would be at junior bantamweight or possibly a pound or two over the division limit.
The card will take place at the 15,000-seat Alexis Arguello Sports Center, the arena named after the late legendary Hall of Famer, who trained a young Gonzalez and was his mentor.
“I am super happy and excited to be fighting in front of all my family, the Nicaraguan people,” Gonzalez said through an interpreter at the news conference.”
The fight will be Gonzalez’s first since he lost a debatable majority decision to rival Juan Francisco Estrada in their trilogy fight for the lineal and vacant WBC junior bantamweight title in December 2022 in Glendale, Arizona.
Gonzalez (51-4, 41 KOs), 36, who has won world titles at strawweight, junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight, has not boxed in Nicaragua since a third-round knockout of Valentin Leon in a nontitle bout in February 2015.
He aspires to win a world title in a fifth division at bantamweight before he retires.
“It will be a dream come true if I can crown myself a six-time champion in five different divisions here in Nicaragua,” Gonzalez said.
The card will air on ESPN Knockout in Latin America but Zabala said he is working on securing a United States broadcaster.
Beterbiev-Bivol announcement
There is a news conference scheduled for Monday in London, where Queensberry Promotions, Matchroom Boxing and Top Rank will announce the long-expected undisputed light heavyweight championship fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Also scheduled to be announced are the “5 vs. 5” bouts matching Queensberry fighters against Matchroom boxers that will serve as the undercard. All of the fighters are expected to be in attendance.
The card will take place on June 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The “5 vs. 5” fights have not been announced but Fight Freaks Unite, according to sources involved, has previously reported all five of the bouts that will make up what is an extremely deep and stacked card. The bouts are:
Deontay Wilder-Zhilei Zhang in a significant heavyweight fight.
Filip Hrgovic-Daniel Dubois in a heavyweight bout that will be for the IBF title that will become vacant soon after Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk meet for the undisputed crown on May 18.
WBA featherweight titlist Raymond Ford making his first defense against former title challenger Nick Ball.
Austin Williams versus Hamzah Sheeraz in fight between unbeaten rising middleweights.
Light heavyweight Craig Richards against Willy Hutchinson.
Duarte returns vs. Diaz
Oscar Duarte and Joseph Diaz Jr., both looking to rebound from losses, will meet in a 10-rounder on April 27 (DAZN) at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, Golden Boy announced on Friday. The fight was announced as a lightweight bout but is contracted two pounds above the limit at 137, a source with knowledge of the agreement told Fight Freaks Unite.
The bout will be on the card headlined by hometown former unified junior welterweight titlist Jose Ramirez against Rances Barthelemy with junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz Jr. facing Thomas Dulorme in the co-feature.
In his last fight in December, Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KOs), 28, of Mexico, faced Ryan Garcia in a bout at 143 pounds and lost by eighth-round knockout. Former junior lightweight titlist Diaz (33-5-1, 15 KOs), 31, a southpaw from Downey, California, dropped 10-round split decision to Jesus Perez in February. Diaz has lost four of his last five fights and regularly had trouble making weight.
Also on the card: three-belt unified women’s flyweight champion Marlen Esparza will fight former WBO titlist Gabriela Alaniz in a rematch, which was initially scheduled for March 16 but postponed when Argentina’s Alaniz was unable to secure a visa in time. They first met last July and Esparza (14-1, 1 KO), 34, of Houston, won a majority decision over Alaniz (14-1, 6 KOs), 27 — 99-91, 97-93 and 95-95 — to claim the WBO belt in their three-belt unification fight.
In the 10-round opener of the main card, welterweight Raul Curiel (14-0, 12 KOs), 28, of Mexico, who has won his past nine fights by knockout, will face Jorge Marron Jr. (20-4-2, 7 KOs), 30, of Lakeside, California, in a 10-rounder.
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 three fights from Saturday’s cards: the two heavyweight bouts on Top Rank’s ESPN card — Jared Anderson vs. Ryad Merhy and Efe Ajagba vs. Guido Vianello — and the junior lightweight bout between Jordan Gill and Zelfa Barrett that headlines the Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from Corpus Christi, Texas, for Saturday’s Top Rank card on ESPN (10 p.m. ET): Jared Anderson 250.9 pounds, Ryad Merhy 235.6; Efe Ajagba 241.2, Guido Vianello 244.5; Robson Conceicao 131.6, Jose Guardado 131.5; Julian Delgado 159.3, Juan Tamez 159; Ruben Villa 125.6, Cristian Cruz 125.1; John Rincon 143, Yainel Alvarez 143.5; Abdullah Mason 134.6, Ronal Ron 134.7; Charly Suarez 131.8, Luis Coria 131.7; Jalen Walker 131.2, Alejandro Guerrero 131.8; Ali Feliz 219.1, Anthony Woodson 280.2.
Weights from Manchester, England, for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN (2 p.m. ET): Jordan Gill 129.5 pounds, Zelfa Barrett 129.6; Ellie Scotney 121.8, Segolene Lefebvre 119.3 (IBF/WBO women’s junior featherweight unification); Stephen Clarke 161.5, Jensen Irving 163.1; Rhiannon Dixon 134.5, Karen Elizabeth Carabajal 134.5 (for vacant WBO women’s lightweight title); Jordan Flynn 134.3, Tampela Maharusi 134.5; Michael Gomez Jr. 129.1, Kane Baker 129.4; Jack Turner 117.6, Abdul Kesi Ngaoma 116.1; William Crolla 154.1, Fabio Cascone 152.9; Jimmy Sains 162.3, Mateusz Kalecki 161.6; Brandon Scott 125, Rodrigo Matias Areco 125.8.
Now that IBF welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis has signed with Matchroom Boxing and no longer will appear on PBC cards, the deal that was recently made but not yet signed for his mandatory defense against PBC fighter Cody Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs), 31, a Canadian southpaw, is off and the bout is headed back to a purse bid scheduled for April 23, the IBF told Fight Freaks Unite. Previously, the camps notified the IBF they had made a deal and a purse bid was canceled. Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs), 26, of Philadelphia, will have his first Matchroom fight this summer and it is supposed to be the mandatory defense.
Junior middleweight Brandon Adams (23-3, 15 KOs), 34, of Whittier, California, will box for the first time in three years against Ismael Villareal (13-2, 9 KOs), 26, of Bronx, New York, in a 10-round quarterfinal of a 154-pound OTX tournament on April 19 (DAZN, OTX social media) at the OTX Arena in Atlanta. In another tournament bout on the card, Mexico’s Angel Ruiz (18-2-1, 13 KOs), 26, faces Francisco Veron (13-0-1, 10 KOs), 25, of Argentina, in a 10-rounder. Adams, a former contestant on “The Contender” reality series, owns a 2018 win over Shane Mosley Jr. and lost a decision challenging Jermall Charlo for the WBC middleweight title in 2019. But he’s been idle since stopping Serhii Bohachuk (his only loss) in March 2021. Bohachuk won the vacant WBC interim belt March 30. The tournament winner will win a cash bonus and an OTX contract. The other quarterfinals will be on another card: Andreas Katzourakis-Kudratillo Abdukakhorov and Robert Terry-Vladimir Hernandez.
Former WBC flyweight titlist Charlie Edwards (19-1, 7 KOs), 31, of England, who is the older brother of former IBF flyweight titlist Sunny Edwards, ended a 10-month layoff for his second fight since 2021 and outpointed French southpaw Georges Ory (17-4-1, 2 KOs), 32, in a bantamweight fight atop a Wasserman Boxing card Friday night at London’s York Hall. Edwards cruised to a 98-92 victory on all three scorecards.
In an all-Montreal middleweight showdown, Patrice Volny (18-1, 12 KOs), 34, and Steven Butler (34-4-1, 28 KOs), 28, will meet in a 10-rounder for province bragging rights in the main event of an Eye of the Tiger card on June 6 (ESPN+) at the Cabaret du Casino de Montreal. “We're talking about a local fight, an international-scale fight, and above all, a fight our fans have been clamoring for for some time, so we are more than happy to finally offer it to them,” EOTT promoter Camille Estephan said. Volny has won both of his fights since a sixth-round technical decision loss to Esquiva Falcao in a 2021 title eliminator. Butler has won both of his fights since a second-round KO loss challenging Janibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO title in May 2023.
Alex Winwood (4-0, 2 KOs), 26, of Australia, and Joey Canoy (20-5-2, 12 KOs), 30, a Filipino southpaw, will meet in a WBC strawweight title eliminator on June 12 at Hordern Pavillion in Sydney, Australia, organizers, including longtime Australian light heavyweight contender turned promoter Danny Green, announced. Winwood has been on the fast track since turning pro in November 2022 in a six-rounder before jumping to 10-rounders for his next three bouts. The winner becomes the mandatory challenger for Melvin Jerusalem (22-3, 12 KOs), 30, of the Philippines, who became a two-time titlist when he won an upset split decision over Yudai Shigeoka to win the WBC 105-pound belt on March 31 in Japan.
Show and tell
Three months after Oscar De La Hoya made his only junior welterweight title defense, a great performance in a rout of then-undefeated Miguel Angel Gonzalez, the Golden Boy moved up to welterweight for a huge fight with WBC welterweight titleholder Pernell Whitaker, the brilliant four-division champion and a longtime entrant at or near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings. De La Hoya, 23-0 at the time, was the favorite given that Whitaker was getting on in years and looked bad in his previous fight, which he was losing before rescuing the De La Hoya showdown with a rare 11th-round knockout against Diosbelys Hurtado one week after De La Hoya-Gonzalez. Whitaker came into the fight 40-1-1 with the lone blemishes being the notoriously controversial draw with Julio Cesar Chavez in a welterweight title defense that was one of the worse decisions in boxing history and an extremely controversial split decision loss to Jose Luis Ramirez in a lightweight title fight.
They met at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on HBO PPV and put on a very close fight, which generated 720,000 buys. Whitaker was deducted a point in the third round when De La Hoya was cut by an accidental head butt, triggering a WBC rule (which is no longer used in the U.S.) that costs the uncut fighter a point. In the ninth round, De La Hoya suffered flash knockdown when a Whitaker left hand caused him to touch his glove to the mat. In the end, De La Hoya won unanimous decision (116-110, 116-110 and 115-111) that many fumed over. I always thought De La Hoya deserved a close win over Whitaker, who spent far more time darting around the ring and showboating than actually fighting — and I have always been a huge fan of the late, great Whitaker. The fight took place on April 12, 1997 — 27 years ago on Friday. Here is a mint site poster, which I had shrink wrapped, in my collection.
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Photos: Anderson-Merhy and Ajagba-Vianello: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Gonzalez: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing; Gill-Barrett: Dave Thompson/Matchroom Boxing
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I reluctantly bought tix to that Fresno card. But I just wanted to see Vergil Ortiz live. And if he can make a divisional weight limit for the first time in years. Interesting that Team Ortiz is keeping his contracted weight close to the vest.