Notebook: Baumgardner seeks revenge in homecoming defense
Haney arrested on gun charge; Naseem Hamed's son going pro; Jared Anderson's next fight set; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Five years ago this month, the then unknown Alycia Baumgardner lost an eight-round split decision to Christina Linardatou on a small card in Louisville, Kentucky.
Since then, Baumgardner has won eight fights in a row, become the undisputed women’s junior lightweight world champion and one of the biggest names in female boxing.
She accomplished that feat on Feb. 4 in New York, where she scored a pair of third-round knockdowns against Elhem Mekhaled and cruised to a one-sided decision to retain her WBC, WBO and IBF 130-pound belts while also winning the vacant WBA title to become the undisputed champion.
Instead of seeking a victory-lap fight for her homecoming defense, Baumgardner instead will seek to avenge her only defeat in a rematch with former junior welterweight titlist Linardatou in the main event of a Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) at The Masonic Temple in Detroit.
Baumgardner (14-1, 7 KOs), 29, said she is proud of herself for bouncing back so well from the defeat, which she viewed as a learning experience.
“I’m writing a book on who I am,” Baumgardner said. “Winning on Saturday closes a chapter. People are saying, ‘Well, Christina was her only loss.’ There are only clips of the fight on YouTube. I’ve never seen the whole fight. I remember when I was in the ring that night and her hand was raised, I was like, ‘Damn, I’ve got my first loss.’ But then I was like, ‘I’m not done, who cares?’
“It was needed for growth, and I want people to recognize what growth looks like — it’s ugly, and it hurts. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel and it tells a story. I wanted to show people that a loss doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I got to see at that given time what it would have looked like had I won because I saw her career. She became a world champion after that. And I thought, wow, that could have been me but everything comes back full circle, and I am happy everything played out the way it was supposed to as now I’m undisputed and fighting her in my backyard.”
In 2021, Baumgardner traveled to Sheffield, England and knocked out then-undefeated Terri Harper in the fourth round to take her WBC title. Two fights later, in October 2022, Baumgardner won a split decision over Mikaela Mayer to taker her IBF and WBO titles in their three-belt unification bout.
The win for the undisputed title followed and now she is ready to turn the tables on Linardatou (14-2, 6 KOs), 35, of Greece.
“I want her to know that she is in with someone that isn’t the same fighter that she fought five years ago,” Baumgardner said. “I chose her. I could have fought anyone, but I chose her. She’s hungry and she should be. She has fought some great fighters, and she’s pumped that she’s beaten me before. That drives her, but she has no idea. After the first fight she came up to me and said you are the hardest fighter I’ve ever fought. If she thinks I hit hard then, just wait until she gets this work. You are in there with a dog, and I am going to punish you.”
If Baumgardner wins, she hopes to parlay that into fights against other elite women: undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor, undisputed junior welterweight champion Chantelle Cameron and undisputed featherweight champion Amanda Serrano.
“Those are huge fights,” Baumgardner said. “We have undisputed champions at (all of those) weight class and it builds to big fights. A rematch with Mikaela, even at 135 pounds, would be great. To beat her in the States in front of a sold-out crowd would be amazing. I want the Katie fight. I was there in Dublin (for Taylor’s loss to Cameron in May) and I saw something different. I want all the girls. I’m hungry, I’m a fighter and I like a challenge.”
Also on the card:
Lightweight Andy Cruz, 27, a 2020 Olympic gold medalist, will make his professional debut in the 10-round co-feature against former featherweight and junior lightweight title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos (35-7-3, 21 KOs), 35, of Mexico.
Heavyweight Jermaine Franklin (21-2, 14 KOs), 29, of Saginaw, Michigan, will face Isaac Munoz (17-0-1, 14 KOs), 31, of Mexico, in a 10-rounder. Franklin is looking to bounce back from back-to-back decision losses in London to Dillian Whyte in November and Anthony Joshua in April.
Haney arrested
Hours after trash talking back and forth on Wednesday night with junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez about a potential fight, undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney was arrested.
After leaving a Hollywood, California, night spot, he was arrested during a traffic stop when police say they found a semi-automatic handgun in his car, according to TMZ.
Police said, according to TMZ, that Haney was not driving when the SUV was pulled over due to an unsafe lane change and a failure to use a turn signal.
The driver informed police there was a weapon the car and the police asked Haney and his security to exit the car. When it was searched the gun was found under the driver’s seat.
How many people were in the car was not made clear but when nobody claimed ownership of the gun, Haney was arrested because it was his car, according to police.
Haney was booked for felony possession of a concealed weapon and released at 8:12 a.m. PT Thursday after posting $35,000 bail. He will have a hearing on the matter next month.
Haney (30-0, 15 KOs), 24, of Las Vegas, retained his titles via unanimous decision over Vasiliy Lomachenko on May 20 in Las Vegas in the main event of his first pay-per-view.
Hamed’s son going pro
Aadam Hamed, 23, of England, the son of Hall of Fame featherweight champion “Prince” Naseem Hamed, will make his professional debut on the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk-Daniel Dubois card on Aug. 26 in Wroclaw, Poland, it was announced Wednesday at a news conference at the London stop of the two-city media tour to promote the event.
Hamed, whose division was not announced, will go pro under the guidance of promoter Frank Warren, Dubois’ promoter, who also promoted most of Naseem’s career and helped build him into a mega star in the late 1990s.
“It is a great pleasure to be here, and I can see my old promoter, who is not old to me, Frank Warren. Frank is not old to me,” Naseem Hamed said. “It was amazing going through my career with Frank Warren, and I believe that he is the best promoter. This is a big, big opportunity to showcase my son’s skills. He is going to do that. He is very confident and he has been training for a long time.
“I know for you (media) guys it must have been a big surprise to see us come through and appear on a huge card very early in his career. I’m a very, very proud father. I have always been very confident in myself and in the abilities of my son.”
Then, in a nod to his flamboyant ring entrances, Hamed added, “I’m looking forward to Aadam climbing through the ropes and not flipping himself over them ropes and just basically showing how good he is. He is a future star in boxing, and I truly believe that, God willing. For me, it will be like a breath of fresh air. I’m looking forward to it, and I am very thankful for this opportunity for my son.”
Aadam Hamed said he has trained for years and is looking to carve his own path in the sport and not rely on his famous last name.
“I have said it before, and I will say it again — I’m trying to fill my own boots and be the best version of me,” he said. “I will be able to do that for sure, and I am very confident in myself to show my skills and be able to do big things in the sport.”
Anderson back in action
It will be a quick turnaround for rising heavyweight Jared Anderson.
Anderson will face Andriy Rudenko in a 10-rounder that will headline a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card (ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Top Rank announced Thursday.
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 homecoming fight on July 1 in a Toledo, Ohio,
“This is another great test for Jared. When you watch him fight, you are seeing a future heavyweight champion of the world,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “Rudenko is a crafty veteran who has been in there with some top guys.”
Anderson is staying active, which is something he said he wants to do. It will be his third fight of the year.
“I want to stay active and make my case that I am the present and future of the heavyweight division,” Anderson said. “Rudenko is a tough, durable veteran. I respect what he’s accomplished in the game, but on Aug. 26 at Hard Rock Tulsa, he’s going to regret accepting this challenge.”
Rudenko (35-6, 21 KOs), 39, of Ukraine, has been a pro for 16 years and been stopped just once, in the sixth round by undefeated Vladyslav Sireno in 2021. His five other losses were by decision to notable opponents: Zhilei Zhang, Agit Kabayel, Alexander Povetkin, Hughie Fury and Lucas Browne.
“This is a tremendous opportunity, and I am coming to Tulsa to score the big upset,” Rudenko said. “I dedicate this fight to the people of Ukraine, and I can’t wait to show everyone that I still have what it takes to perform at the highest level.”
While the co-feature was not announced it is likely to be the Top Rank debut of 2020 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov (12-0, 12 KOs), 28, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound southpaw from Uzbekistan, who recently became a free agent and signed with Top Rank.
Quick hits
Former WBO junior middleweight titlist Patrick Teixeira (32-4, 23 KOs), 32, a Brazilian southpaw, will be back in action against Venezuela’s Carlos Rivero (22-1-1, 12 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight bout for a regional belt on Aug. 27 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Teixeira still is interested in competing at junior middleweight and said he wants to take on rising 20-year-old Top Rank prospect Xander Zayas (16-0, 10 KOs).
Junior middleweight prospect Callum Walsh (7-0, 6 KOs), a 22-year-old southpaw from Ireland, who trains under Hall of Famer Freddie Roach in Hollywood, California, will defend his regional belt against Livan Navarro (13-1, 7 KOs), 32, a Cuba native fighting out of Miami, in the 10-rounder main event of card being put on by Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions on Aug. 26 (UFC Fight Pass) at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California.
Show and tell
Before Antonio Margarito became a boxing pariah for getting caught trying to fight Shane Mosley with loaded hand wraps he was a feared fighter few top opponents were interesting in facing. But unbeaten Paul Williams, who would take over that mantle as boxing’s most avoided fighter and eventually become a pound-for-pound stalwart, was Margarito’s WBO welterweight mandatory challenger. He wanted the fight and he got it. Making his eighth title defense, Margarito faced Williams in Carson, California, at what was then called the Home Depot Center in the main event of an HBO split-site broadcast that also included what turned out to be Arturo Gatti’s final fight in a knockout loss to Alfonso Gomez in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Margarito-Williams was a highly anticipated fight most everybody figured would produce action and it did just that. They put on a heck of a show in one of the most underrated fights of its time. In the end, Williams, with his massive punch output, won a highly competitive decision — 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 — to claim the belt and move to 33-0. I was ringside covering Gatti-Gomez but was able to watch Margarito-Williams from the media room at Boardwalk Hall with a bunch other reporters. The fight was on July 14, 2007 — 16 years ago on Friday. Here is a scarce site poster in my collection.
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Photos: Baumgardner: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Haney: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Hameds: Aadam Hamed Instagram
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Mr. Rafael, can boxing organizations strip their champions of their belts if they go to jail? How does that work?