Notebook: Anderson hopes to continue heavyweight ascent
Opetaia's 1st defense set; Ugas-Barrios fight on Canelo-Charlo PPV; Collazo excited to defend at home; one Martinez retires, one announces bout; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Whatever issues heavyweight up-and-comer Jared Anderson had in his last fight, he returns to action in short order against vastly experienced Andriy Rudenko in the 10-round main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, 10:30 p.m. ET) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“It was easy to get back into things after my last fight,” Anderson said at Thursday’s fight-week news conference. “We never stop, really. We might have taken a week off, but then we went right back to it. We took our time by sharpening our skills before sparring. But everything was great. We’re ready to go to work.”
Anderson (15-0, 14 KOs), 23, is coming off a career-biggest win in which he scored a knockdown but also had to overcome some adversity in a lopsided decision over former world titlist Charles Martin in a Toledo, Ohio, homecoming fight on July 1.
Against Martin, Anderson was visibly hurt in the fifth round — the first he lost as a professional — but he persevered to win 99-90, 99-90 and 98-91 as he went past the sixth round for the first time.
Some viewed it as a negative because of the problems Anderson had, mainly in the fifth round. Others looked at it as though he showed he could overcome adversity against an experienced, late-replacement opponent with good power.
Anderson said he plans to keep on doing what he’s been doing when he faces Rudenko and just wants to stay active.
“This Saturday you will see me sticking to my plan. I’ll be using my jab, my speed,” Anderson said. “I’m always willing to do whatever I need to do in order to win. And I will continue being who I am because I am great.”
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Rudenko (35-6, 21 KOs), 39, of Ukraine, has been a pro for 16 years and been stopped just once, so if Anderson could get the knockout it would be notable. His other losses by decision were all against notable opponents: Zhilei Zhang, Agit Kabayel, Alexander Povetkin, Hughie Fury and Lucas Browne.
“I know that my opponent is one of the best heavyweight prospects right now,” Rudenko said. “I will show you what my plans are for stopping him this Saturday in the ring.”
Rudenko also paid tribute to his countrymen on Ukrainian Independence Day.
“We are here thanks to our Ukrainian army, thanks to our Ukrainian soldiers who defend our country,” he said. “It fills us with glory to represent the bravest country in the world.”
In the co-feature, heavyweight Efe Ajagba (17-1, 13 KOs), 29, a 2016 Nigerian Olympian fighting out of Stafford, Texas, will face Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs), 34, a southpaw from Kazakhstan.
The preliminary bouts will stream on ESPN+ beginning at 6:50 p.m. ET.
An eight-rounder between 2020 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov (12-0, 12 KOs), 28, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound southpaw from Uzbekistan, who recently signed with Top Rank, and Onoriode Ehwarieme (20-2, 19 KOs), 35, of Nigeria, will stream on the Top Rank YouTube channel at 6:15 p.m. ET. The fight was initially slated to open the ESPN telecast but due a legal dispute between Top Rank and Disrupt Promotions, which apparently claims it still has rights to Jalolov, the decision was made not to air it on ESPN and put the network in the middle of the legal issue.
Ali Walsh record update
In one of the preliminary bouts on ESPN+, middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (8-0, 5 KOs), 23, of Las Vegas, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, will fight Sona Akale (7-1, 4 KOs), 35, of Minneapolis, in a six-rounder.
At Thursday’s monthly Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting, the panel voted unanimously to change the result of Ali Walsh’s eight-round split draw against Danny Rosenberger in his last fight on May 20 in Las Vegas to a no contest because Rosenberger tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone in a random drug test. Rosenberger was also suspended for nine months from the date of the bout, fined $1,500 and ordered to comply with random drug testing.
Opetaia defense set
Jai Opetaia will make the first defense of the lineal/IBF cruiserweight title against Jordan Thompson in the main event of a Matchroom Boxing card on Sept. 30 (DAZN) at the OVO Arena Wembley in London, Matchroom Boxing announced on Thursday.
Opetaia was ordered to face former champion Mairis Briedis in a rematch and a purse bid was scheduled for Aug. 22 but postponed. The IBF thought they were close to a deal but in the end, the IBF allowed Opetaia an optional defense via special permit, which Briedis did not object to. He gets first shot at the Opetaia-Thompson winner.
Neither Opetaia (22-0, 17 KOs), 28, nor Breidis (28-2, 20 KOs), 38, of Latvia, have boxed since Opetaia fought much of their bout with a broken jaw in a grueling fight to win a unanimous decision and the title from Breidis in July 2022 in Opetaia’s home country of Australia.
Instead of returning to the ring in a rematch, Opetaia, a southpaw, will face England’s Thompson (15-0, 12 KOs), 30, who lives in London.
“I have been waiting too long for someone to challenge me and now we finally have a fight,” said Opetaia, who recently joined Matchroom Boxing under a co-promotional deal with Tasman Fighters. “Thank you Jordan for stepping up but I hope you are ready.”
Thompson will be taking an enormous step up in opposition.
“Opetaia is the recognized No. 1 in the division and the best guy out there and that’s why he’s the one I want,” Thompson said. “This is my time now and the world will see that. I ain’t never been one to just take part. I’m a winner. I’m going to win.”
Also on the card, IBF women’s junior featherweight titlist Ellie Scotney (7-0, 0 KOs), 25, of England, will make her first defense against Laura Soledad Griffa (20-8, 1 KO), 37, of Argentina.
Scotney outpointed Cherneka Johnson to win the title in June, also at Wembley Arena. Griffa is getting her second title shot, having lost a decision to Marcela Eliana Acuna for the same belt in 2018.
Ugas-Barrios on Canelo PPV
Yordenis Ugas and Mario Barrios will square off for the vacant WBC interim welterweight title on the Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo undercard on Sept. 30 (Showtime PPV and PPV.com, 8 p.m. ET) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, sources with knowledge of the bout, first reported by BoxingScene, told Fight Freaks Unite.
The WBC ordered Ugas-Barrios for the interim belt in March when then-unified titlist Errol Spence Jr. was linked to a fight with Keith Thurman at junior middleweight. However, Spence remained at welterweight and waited to face Terence Crawford for the undisputed welterweight title on July 29.
With Crawford-Spence II possible for early 2024, and likely at junior middleweight, Ugas and Barrios will fight for the interim belt with there being a good chance the winner will be elevated to full titleholder since it is unlikely Crawford or Spence would return to 147 pounds.
Miami-based Cuban Ugas (27-5, 12 KOs), 37, has been idle since Spence stopped him in the 10th round in April 2022 to take his WBA belt in a three-belt unification fight. Ugas suffered broken right orbital bone and has been out since, mainly because of the injury.
San Antonio’s Barrios (27-2, 18 KOs), 28, stopped Jovanie Santiago in the eighth round on Feb. 11 to end a two-fight losing streak to Thurman, who outpointed him in February 2022, and an 11th-round knockout to Gervonta Davis, who took his secondary 140-pound belt in June 2021.
Fight Freaks Unite has previously reported on the two other bouts slated for the pay-per-view undercard, which have not been formally announced: Jesus Ramos (20-0, 16 KOs) versus Erickson Lubin (24-2, 17 KOs) in a fight between junior middleweight contenders in the co-feature and middleweights Elijah Garcia (15-0, 12 KOs) and Armando Resendiz (14-1, 10 KOs) fighting in the opener.
Collazo defends strawweight title
Oscar Collazo took great pride when, as the mandatory challenger, he stopped Melvin Jerusalem in the seventh round to win the WBO strawweight title on May 27 in Indio, California.
Collazo (7-0, 5 KOs), 26, set the record for fewest fights needed by a Puerto Rican boxer to win a world title.
Now, Collazo also is taking great pride that he will be making his first defense at home in front of his Puerto Rican fans when he takes on fellow southpaw Garen Diagan (10-3, 5 KOs), 27, of the Philippines, in the Golden Boy/Miguel Cotto Promotions main event on Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan.
“I’m very excited and happy (to) make our first title defense in front of my people,” Collazo said at Thursday’s news conference. “I am very grateful that Golden Boy and DAZN together with Miguel Cotto Promotions made my dream come true. I know that Diagan is ready to fight and will come in hungry, but I am ready for him and the world championship belt will stay in my island of Puerto Rico.”
Diagan has won two fights in a row but has yet to face a notable opponent. He also was more than willing to go on the road for his chance to fight for a world title.
“I am very happy to be in Puerto Rico for the opportunity,” Diagan said. “I give a lot of respect to Collazo. He is a great fighter. I have done my job in my training camp to become a champion. I am ready to give my all this Saturday night for my family and the Philippines.”
Quick hits
Former IBF junior featherweight and featherweight titlist Kiko Martinez (44-12-2, 31 KOs), 37, of Spain, has announced his retirement. He boxed from 2004 until what apparently was his final fight, a 12-round decision loss to Reiya Abe in Japan on April 8. “I want to announce that it is time to say goodbye to boxing and leave healthy from this beautiful sport that I love so much,” Martinez said in translated comments from a video he posted to social media. In 2013, he stopped Jonathan Romero in the sixth round in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in a major upset to take his 122-pound title and made two defenses. In a bigger upset, Martinez stopped Kid Galahad in the sixth round to take his 126-pound title in Galahad’s hometown of Sheffield, England, in November 2021 but lost it to Josh Warrington four months later. Martinez also faced top foes such as Leo Santa Cruz, Scott Quigg, Carl Frampton and Gary Russell Jr. and Hozumi Hasegawa.
Super middleweight contender Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs), 26, of Mexico, a former junior middleweight titlist, has amicably parted ways with trainer Erik Morales, the Hall of Fame former four-division titleholder. According to Munguia promoter Golden Boy, Munguia will now be trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach. Munguia worked with Morales for the past four years but with Morales becoming busier with his involvement in politics he had less time to train fighters. Munguia is coming off an action-packed fight of the year contender against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, whom he outpointed in June. There have been discussions with DAZN and Matchroom Boxing for a fight between Mungia and Edgar Berlanga in November.
Former middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (57-3-2, 32 KOs), 48, of Argentina, announced via Instagram Thursday that he will next fight Etinosa Oliha (18-0, 8 KOs), 25, of Italy, on Nov. 25 in Rietbergm Germany, on an Agon Sports card. After losing the middleweight title in 2014 by 10th-round knockout to Miguel Cotto, in part due to a knee injury, Martinez retired for six years. He returned in 2020 and has won all six of his fights, most recently a first-round KO of Jhon Teheran in Argentina on March 21. Oliha has yet to face a notable opponent but has won both of his fights so far in 2023.
Show and tell
Juan Manuel Marquez, who was part of the International Boxing Hall of Fame Class of 2020, won world titles in four divisions — featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight — and is one of the greatest Mexican fighters in history. He was involved in some of the most memorable fights of the 2000s and early 2010s, including four legendary battles with Manny Pacquiao, officially going 1-2-1 in the series, though a strong argument can be made that he should be 4-0. He ended the rivalry with one of the most memorable knockouts in boxing history, planting Pacquiao face first at the end of the sixth round in the 2012 fight and KO of the year. Marquez also faced Floyd Mayweather, Marco Antonio Barrera, Timothy Bradley, Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz (twice), Michael Katsidis and Mike Alvarado. He injured his knee before beating Alvarado in 2014 and while he wanted to return to the ring he was unable to overcome the injury and eventually retired with a record of 56-7-1 with 40 KOs in a 21-year career. I had the great privilege of covering 14 Marquez fights at ringside, including all four against Pacquiao. Happy birthday to Juan Manuel, who turned 50 on Wednesday. Here is a Marquez rookie card (an autograph card) from the 2008 Topps Co-signers multi-sport set in my collection.
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Photos: Anderson-Rudenko: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Ugas: Ryan Hafey/PBC; Collazo-Diagan: Miguel Cotto Promotions
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You ain't mentioned Popo tho?
Loaded Notebook. Like that Canelo/Jermell undercard. I'm no fan of Stephen Espinoza. Smug Obstructionist. But you have to wonder if HBO Boxing would still be here if he was in charge. Showtime Boxing is surviving and possibly thriving, through Corporate Management and Budgetary challenges. Some folks predicting it's imminent demise. Clutch. Contrast that to whomever was running HBO Boxing at the end, kind of just waving a White Flag that final year.