Notebook: Anderson to face Bakole following Wilder's loss
Canelo purse bid ppd.; Crowley out of Ennis bout; new foe for Carrington; Shields moving up for title shot in 4th division; Jacobs-Mosley set; promo deal for Brandun Lee; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Jared Anderson, the top American heavyweight, will face fellow contender Martin Bakole on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles as part of Riyadh Season’s first boxing event outside of Saudi Arabia.
It is a deep card headlined by unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford moving up to junior middleweight to challenge Israil Madrimov for his WBA title, but Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced a few weeks ago that he would add Anderson against former world titlist Deontay Wilder to the show as long as Wilder won his fight against Zhilei Zhang and came out uninjured this past Saturday on the “5 vs. 5” card in Riyadh.
Wilder got knocked out in the fifth round and Alalshikh announced on social media Wednesday that Bakole (20-1, 15 KOs), 31, a Congo native fighting out of Scotland, would instead face Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs), 24, of Toledo, Ohio.
Alalshikh also announced that the card would include a performance by rap star Eminem, who has become friendly with Crawford and walked him to the ring for his knockout win over Errol Spence Jr. last July to become the undisputed welterweight champion.
Anderson is with Top Rank, which told Fight Freaks Unite that their side has accepted the bout but it is not yet signed.
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Anderson, who will be taking a major step up in opposition, posted to his social media regarding the bout, “Blessed & Ready.”
Anderson is coming off a near-shutout of the unwilling and much smaller Ryad Merhy on April 13 in a fight in which Merhy gave virtually no effort and landed 34 of 144 punches, according to CompuBox statistics. It was the third-fewest punches thrown in a 10-round fight in the 39-year history of CompuBox.
The 6-6 Bakole weighed 299½ pounds for his most recent fight, a fourth-round knockout of Carlos Takam in October on the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou card in Riyadh.
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Canelo purse bid postponed
The questions swirling over whether undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will keep the four belts intact likely will continue for a bit longer.
Faced with an IBF purse bid on Thursday at 12 p.m. ET for a due mandatory defense against the unknown, untested William Scull, many figured Alvarez would vacate the title and seek a more notable foe for his September fight.
From his vacation in Italy, Alvarez told Fight Freaks Unite on Monday “no decision yet” on whether he planned to vacate, go through with the purse bid or perhaps arrange a step-aside deal with Scull (22-0, 9 KOs), 31, a Cuba native fighting out of Germany, whose last fight was a decision win on the undercard of Alvarez’s decision win over Jaime Munguia on May 4.
A decision still has not been made because on Wednesday the IBF notified its registered promoters — those eligible to participate in a purse bid — that the auction of promotional rights was postponed.
“Please be advised that the Saul Alvarez vs. William Scull purse bid scheduled for Thursday, June 6 has been postponed for one week. This purse bid is now scheduled for Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 12:00 EST,” the IBF wrote in the letter send to the promoters and obtained by Fight Freaks Unite.
Typically, a purse bid would not be postponed unless both sides asked for the postponement, which is usually indicative of a deal being close.
A fight between Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs), 33, of Mexico, who is a promotional and broadcast free agent, and Skull would likely not do significant business on pay-per-view, and finding an entity to put up the millions to finance it would be difficult.
One possibility, however, might be if Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, who has said repeatedly that he wants to make a mega fight between Alvarez and Terence Crawford, agreed to finance Alvarez-Scull with a deal for Alvarez-Crawford also set to follow it.
Alalshikh, through Riyadh Season, is putting on his first card outside of Saudi Arabia on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, where Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), 36, of Omaha, Nebraska, will move up from welterweight and challenge WBA junior middleweight titlist Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs), 29, an Uzbekistan native, who fights out of Indio, California, in the pay-per-view main event.
Crawford has said he is interested in a fight with Alvarez, who has so far not shown interest in the bout.
Crowley out of Ennis challenge
IBF welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis is in need of a new opponent for his first defense because mandatory challenger Cody Crowley was forced out of the bout this week.
Crowley had eye surgery in November and has not been cleared despite the fight being announced a month ago.
They were scheduled to headline a Matchroom Boxing card on July 13 (DAZN) at the Wells Fargo Center in Ennis’ hometown of Philadelphia in Ennis’ first bout since signing with the promotional company.
Matchroom officials told Fight Freaks Untie they are looking for a replacement opponent to face Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs), 26.
Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs), 31, a Canadian southpaw fighting out of Las Vegas, who was due to make a career-high $586,500, the 15 percent he was entitled to under Matchroom’s winning purse bid of $3,323,500, posted details of his situation on Instagram on Tuesday.
“I met with my eye surgeon, who performed double eye surgery on me in November 2023. While I am pleased that my eyes continue to improve and heal, it still does not meet the minimum requirements set forth by the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission,” Crowley wrote. “The repaired retina in my right eye is experiencing fluid accumulation, causing distortion in my vision. As a result, the surgeon has not medically cleared me to fight on July 13.
“While I am devastated by this news, I have peace in my heart. A situation not in my control. Everything in my control, I’ve given 100% of myself to in preparation for this fight. Over the next few days and weeks, my team and I are meeting with world class eye doctors and surgeons to explore my options, so I can have a more clear path to get back to world class boxing at a championship level. I first want to thank my family and team, who have been working tirelessly around the clock in preparation for this fight (you know who you are). … I want to thank Jaron Ennis. I was looking forward to an epic battle. I respect you and wish you the best in your title defense. Lastly, I want to thank you all. The journey is not over.”
New foe for ‘Shu Shu’
Blue-chip prospect Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington may be facing a last-minute replacement opponent but the Brooklyn, New York, featherweight is looking forward to wowing a hometown crowd — as he has done in other appearances.
Carrington will face Brayan De Gracia in the 10-round co-feature of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 11 p.m. ET) at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The card is headlined by Puerto Rican junior middleweight up-and-comer Xander Zayas taking on former WBO titleholder Patrick Teixeira on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York.
“This is a big step up for me,” Carrington said. “I will finally be in the co-main event of a big show. It’s the best thing for my career right now, so I can let everyone know who I am.
“This fight will help me grow and get comfortable with this type of atmosphere. This opportunity will allow me to show I’m made for this.”
Carrington (11-0, 7 KOs), 27, a 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials champion, was originally supposed to fight Jose Enrique Vivas (23-3, 12 KOs), 29, of Mexico, but Top Rank announced De Gracia as the new opponent on Wednesday because Vivas was forced to withdraw due to a delay in obtaining his visa.
Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told Fight Freaks that De Gracia has been on standby and training for the past six weeks in the event there were any issues with Vivas, so De Garcia should come into the fight fully prepared.
Carrington’s last fight was also at The Theater on the O’Shaquie Foster-Abraham Nova undercard on Feb. 16 and he electrified the crowd with a sensational fourth-round knockout of Bernard Torres.
Carrington, who is trained by Kay Koroma, plans to do more of the same on Saturday.
“I’m an old-school fighter. I go in there to hurt,” Carrington said. “I go in there to dominate in dramatic fashion. I have that mentality. And I feel that’s what separates the boys from the men. That’s what separates the champions from the greats.”
Gracia (29-3-1, 25 KOs), 30, of Panama, is coming off a close 10-round decision loss to former junior lightweight world title challenger Edward Vazquez last July. Gracia has only been stopped once, a ninth-round knockout to Eduardo Ramirez in an otherwise close fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2019.
Shields eyes another title
Pound-for-pound women’s No. 1 Claressa Shields, the undisputed middleweight champion, will seek a world title in her fourth division when she moves up in weight to challenge WBC heavyweight titleholder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse as well as for the vacant WBO light heavyweight title.
They will meet in the main event of a Salita Promotions “Big Time Boxing USA” card on July 27 (DAZN) at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, it was announced on Tuesday.
Shields, who has been the undisputed junior middleweight champion and a unified super middleweight champion, is moving up two weight classes. The fight is contracted at 175 pounds. For women, the WBC considers anything over 168 pounds to be heavyweight. The WBO uses the same weights for men and women, so 175 pounds is the light heavyweight limit.
“From the beginning of her career, Claressa has been on a quest to make her story a part of history,” promoter Dmitriy Salita said. “This fight is one of Claressa's hardest challenges, moving up two weight divisions to challenge the current Heavyweight world champion. It’s ‘Claressa vs. Vanessa’ for the unified world title in Detroit, one of boxing's historic homes.”
Shields (14-0, 2 KOs), 29, of Flint, Michigan, the only female boxer to be an undisputed champion in two divisions, headlined the first boxing event at Little Caesars Arena in her last fight, a shutout decision of Maricela Cornejo to retain the middleweight belts last June. Shields split her time between boxing and PFL MMA, which she competed in after the Cornejo bout but now she is returning to box again against Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs), 28, of Canada.
“The queen of boxing is back,” said Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist. “I’m so excited to return to the ring, especially after my MMA victory in February. I’m excited to bring another entertaining fight to Little Caesars Arena. Last time 12,000 fans filled the arena, and this time we’re going to lift the roof off the building.
“This is a significant and unique fight where I am moving up two weight classes against a very tough champion in my quest to become world champion in my fourth weight division. It’s an exciting time for women's sports.”
Lepage-Joanisse won the vacant WBC title in her last fight via split decision against Abril Argentina Vidal on March 7 in Montreal.
“It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s Claressa or someone else. My life is all about challenges,” Lepage-Joanisse said. “I’ve always faced them head-on, and I intend to keep it that way.”
Jacobs returns vs. Mosley Jr.
Former middleweight titlist Daniel Jacobs will end a 2½-year layoff by facing Shane Mosley Jr. in a 10-round super middleweight bout on July 6 (Fanmio PPV) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, organizers announced, confirming a previous Fight Freaks Unite report.
The fight will serve as the co-feature on the “Last Man Standing” pay-per-view card headlined by a 10-round light heavyweight boxing match between former UFC rivals Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.
“I can’t wait to get back in the ring and do what I love most,” Jacobs said. “I’ve been training and I feel rejuvenated and ready to make another run to the top. This is a great opportunity on a big platform as the co-main event to Diaz versus Masvidal, and I’m coming to make the most of it. I’ve got a great opponent, but don’t blink, because I’m preparing to end this fight in style.”
Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs), 37, a Brooklyn, New York, native living in Atlanta, who is a promotional free agent, has not fought since a disputed split decision loss to John Ryder in a super middleweight bout on Ryder’s turf in England in February 2022.
The Golden Boy-promoted Mosley Jr. (21-4, 12 KOs), 33, of Las Vegas, who is the son of Hall of Fame former three-division champion Shane Mosley, has won four fights in a row, most recently via sixth-round knockout of Joshua Conley in December on the Ryan Garcia-Oscar Duarte undercard.
“I am blessed and grateful for this opportunity,” Mosley said. “It means a lot to be fighting on such a big event and it’s even more motivating to be going up against a legend in the sport.”
Shane Sr. also gave his view: “My son is a very hard worker, he’s a student of the game, and I believe he’s going to win this fight. I’ll be working with him in training and he’s going to look spectacular.”
Fanmio CEO Solomon Engel said when constructing the card he wanted a fight that would be viewed as competitive and he believes he has that.
“When we were deciding on which fight to make for the co-main event, we wanted a fight like Daniel Jacobs versus Shane Mosley Jr. that’s evenly matched with fighters the fans want to see,” Engel said. “Daniel is refreshed to make another run at a world championship and Shane is at a new peak in his career.”
Lee to sign with Queensberry
Junior welterweight contender Brandun Lee (28-0, 23 KOs), 25, of La Quinta, California, is on the verge of signing with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, manager David McWater told Fight Freaks Unite.
McWater said they have agreed to terms and the paperwork is in the process of being finalized.
“It’s imminent that we get everything signed,” McWater said.
Warren has rarely signed American fighters but he is doing so with Lee, who has been viewed as a top up-and-comer for years. Another McWater client, super middleweight Nathan Lugo (1-0, 1 KOs), 19, of Marietta, Georgia, one of the top amateurs in the U.S. and the 2022 U.S. national champion at light heavyweight, is also signing with Queensberry.
Lee had been signed directly to Showtime but when the network exited boxing at the end of 2024 that left him without a broadcaster and he was also promotional free agent.
McWater said that Hall of Fame manager Shelly Finkel introduced him to George Warren, Frank’s son, who handles much of the day-to-day business for Queensberry, and they hit it off.
“We got to know George Warren and they’re moving and going places, so I had these two kids and I was underwhelmed by the offers we got from Top Rank and Matchroom, and George snapped them up.”
McWater said Lee’s first fight of the deal with Queensberry will be on the Joe Joyce-Derek Chisora undercard on July 27 at The O2 in London. Lugo’s fight date is not set.
Lee has not fought since a lopsided decision over Pedro Campa 14 months ago on the Sebastian Fundora-Brian Mendoza card in Carson, California.
Lugo made his pro debut on April 19 with a first-round knockout of Robert Lartique on an OTX card in Atlanta.
Quick hits
“The Monster” Naoya Inoue will be in attendance at the 99th Boxing Writers Association of American awards dinner on Thursday night in New York, where he will be among the honorees. Inoue will collect his 2023 Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year award. Inoue, the first Japanese fighter to earn the award, was voted the winner based on a big year in which he vacated the undisputed bantamweight title and moved up to become the undisputed junior featherweight champion. He knocked out Stephen Fulton to take his two belts in July and Marlon Tapales to take his two in December to become the first four-belt undisputed champion in 122-pound history. Inoue also became the second male boxer to become a four-belt undisputed champion in two divisions. In May, Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs), 31, of Japan, stopped Luis Nery to retain the title.
Julio Cesar Martinez (21-3, 15 KOs), 29, of Mexico, who recently relinquished the WBC flyweight title after making seven defenses since winning the vacant belt in December 2019, is excited to pursue a junior bantamweight belt. “At 112 pounds I was a champion who fought with the best,” Martinez said in translated comments. “I never gave up, but today I am looking for new challenges. I want to make history and to do so I must seek new horizons so that is what I am preparing for. I decided to vacate my title not only because I hope to gain more strength but also because in my division I no longer found great challenges. I gave what I had to give and now I am moving towards new goals. I am confident that I will have the opportunity to be crowned (WBC) champion once again.”
Top Rank announced it has signed the Robert Garcia-trained and managed welterweight prospect Art Barrera Jr. (5-0, 4 KOs), 18, of Lynwood, California, to “a long-term promotional contract.” Barrera, who has boxed on Top Rank cards without a contract, will have his first bout of the deal in a six-rounder against Javier Mayoral (6-5-1, 1 KO) on the Janibek Alimkhanuly-Andrei Mikhailovich undercard on July 13 (ESPN+) at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. “Art is an elite talent with an incredible team. He has all the makings of a superstar,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “He's shown his prodigious talent on three Top Rank cards this year, and I can't wait to see him back in action.” Barrera has gained experience sparring with pros such as Vergil Ortiz Jr., Brandun Lee, Lindolfo Delgado, Jose Ramirez and Jose Valenzuela.
The 10-round all-Montreal middleweight fight between Patrice Volny (18-1, 12 KOs), 34, and two-time title challenger Steven Butler (34-4-1, 28 KOs), 28, which tops an Eye of the Tiger card Thursday at the Cabaret du Casino de Montreal, will stream in the United States on ESPN+ (6:30 p.m. ET). Volny has won two fights since a sixth-round technical decision loss to Esquiva Falcao in a 2021 title eliminator. Butler has won two fights since a second-round KO loss challenging Janibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO title in May 2023. Four other bouts will also be on the stream, including the 12-round super middleweight co-feature of Osleys Iglesias (10-0, 9 KOs), 26, a Cuban southpaw fighting out of Germany, against Russia’s Evgeny Shvedenko (16-1-1, 7 KOs), 33.
Show and tell
Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto, one of the great action fighters of his time and one of the all-time best from Puerto Rico, is the only male fighter from the island to win world titles in four weight classes. The 2000 Olympian won six world titles in all at junior welterweight, welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight before retiring in 2017. After losing his welterweight title by 12th-round knockout to the prime Manny Pacquiao, Cotto moved up to junior middleweight and in his first bout in the division got a shot at undefeated WBA titlist Yuri Foreman. Cotto was a huge draw in New York because of its big Puerto Rican population and Top Rank put on the fight at Yankee Stadium, which had hosted 46 previous cards but none in the 34 years since Muhammad Ali’s undisputed heavyweight title defense in his trilogy fight with Ken Norton in 1976 in a fight Top Rank also promoted at the previous version of the stadium.
I covered Cotto-Foreman at ringside and it was one of the most memorable events I have ever covered because, besides being such a hardcore boxing fan, I am also a devoted lifelong Yankees fan. So to get the opportunity to sit on the field to cover the fight was a huge thrill. So was having the chance to wander into an empty Monument Park behind the outfield wall during a break in the undercard to see all of the statues and plaques of the team greats for the first time. I took a bunch of pictures. To this day there is still a rotting Yankees wrist band from that night wrapped around the handle of my laptop bag placed there after going through security. Cotto, who was in his first fight with trainer Emanuel Steward, dominated. He stopped Foreman, who had injured his right knee, in the ninth round to claim a title in his third division. The fight was on June 5, 2010 — 14 years ago on Wednesday. Here is a site poster in my collection.
More show and tell
Roy Jones Jr. was in his prime and considered the clear No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He had won titles at middleweight (by routing Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins) and super middleweight (by doing the same to HOFer James Toney). As a light heavyweight he routed the aging Mike McCallum (HOFer), knocked out Montell Griffin in the first round to avenge a disqualification loss, spectacularly knocked out Virgil Hill (HOFer) and routed Lou Del Valle to unify the WBC and WBA titles.
This was still the three-belt era and when, three fights later, Jones faced highly regarded IBF titlist Reggie Johnson it was for the undisputed crown. Jones, as he usually did, made it look easy. He shredded Johnson. He dropped him in the first and third rounds and won 120-106 across the board for a shutout to become the first undisputed 175-pound champion since the great Michael Spinks did it in the two-belt era in 1984. Jones-Johnson took place on June 5, 1999 — 25 years ago on Wednesday. Here’s a closed circuit television poster in my collection.
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Photos: Anderson and Carrington: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Alvarez: PBC; Crowley/Ryan Hafey/PBC; Lee: Esther Lin/Showtime; Inoue: Naoki Fukuda
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I understand the need for subscriptions but once a week or so it would be cool to get a full newsletter like the one today. Keep up the good work and share your knowledge
DTM Canelo vs Andre Ward who would u have??