Notebook: Bivol undergoes back surgery, will be out rest of year
Nakatani to vacate 118 belts, move up; Boxxer lands BBC deal; Buatsi, Rea set for Queensberry debuts; Japan's Kotari dies from brain injury; Cuello crushes Rios; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Lineal and unified light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will be sidelined for the rest of the year after undergoing back surgery in his hometown of Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Friday.
“Following my doctor’s advice, I had to undergo surgery for a past back injury which I’ve been dealing with for over 10 years, but it kept getting worse with each training camp,” Bivol announced. “Everything went well, and I’m feeling much better already.”
Bivol added that he would need between six and eight weeks to recover before he would be able to resume training.
“Thank you all for your support,” Bivol said. “I look forward to new challenges in the next year.”
In his last fight, Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs), 34, scored the biggest win of his career when he claimed a majority decision over Artur Beterbiev in their immediate rematch to win the undisputed 175-pound championship on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bivol also avenged a majority decision loss to Beterbiev in their first fight in October, also in Riyadh. That was a four-belt unification fight that crowned Beterbiev as the first four-belt light heavyweight champion and the first undisputed champion in the division in 25 years, since Roy Jones Jr. accomplished it in 1999.
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Bivol’s undisputed status lasted just six weeks because in April he vacated the WBC title rather than commit to an ordered mandatory defense against Benavidez, who was subsequently elevated to from interim to full titleholder.
Bivol said he vacated to honor his commitment to a third fight with Russian-born Canadian Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs), who turns 41 in January.
The third fight was penciled in for October in Riyadh but in July it appeared the fight would be pushed into early 2026 after Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh, who backed the first two fights, gave the fighters permission to move ahead with the third bout in Russia on a card put on by another promoter (who was not identified) willing to pay up for the fight.
Beterbiev lashed out at Bivol last month, accusing him of delaying the bout. Days before Bivol’s surgery announcement, Alalshikh announced that Beterbiev would fight Deon Nicholson (22-1, 18 KOs), 34, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on his Nov. 22 card in Riyadh while awaiting confirmation of the third Bivol bout.
Bivol manager Vadim Kornilov told Fight Freaks Unite that Bivol’s intention is still to face Beterbiev for the third time once he has healed.
“Dmitry felt it was better to handle (the surgery) now (instead of possibly) having to cancel the fight during camp time in the future if things get even worse all of a sudden,” Kornilov said. “He has a lot of respect for his opponents and the obligations given to the organizing party.”
Before the surgery Bivol’s team was in talks with Michael Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs), 27, of Germany, who Bivol owes an overdue IBF mandatory defense. Eifert, who became the mandatory in March 2023, stepped aside to permit the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch to have all belts at stake.
Because of the surgery, Bivol has asked the IBF for a medical exception that would allow him to delay the Eifert bout but could also cause the IBF to sanction an interim title fight involving Eifert with Bivol ordered to face the winner.
Nakatani vacating
Junto Nakatani, the unified WBC/IBF bantamweight champion, announced the he will soon vacate his titles and move up to junior featherweight to pursue a world title in a fourth weight class.
Moving up in weight will put Nakatani in the same division as Naoya Inoue, the undisputed 122-pound champion, pound-for-pound star and Nakatani’s Japanese countryman.
Top Rank, which co-promotes Inoue and Nakatani, has long anticipated an eventual showdown between the two, which would be widely viewed as the biggest all-Japanese fight in history. It could happen as soon as this spring.
The southpaw Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs), 27, who has also won titles at flyweight and junior bantamweight, has made four bantamweight title defenses since winning the WBC title by sixth-round knockout of Alexandro Santiago in February 2024. He has scored knockouts in all five his bantamweight bouts, most recently in the sixth round of against countryman Ryosuke Nishida to retain the WBC title and win the IBF belt in their unification fight on June 8 in Tokyo.
“Will I move up to super bantamweight for my next fight? Yes,” Nakatani said in translated remarks. “Will I vacate my bantamweight title? Yes, I believe I will.”
Nakatani made the announcement on Japanese network WOWOW during an interview for its replay coverage of his win over Nishida that is set to air Monday.
Boxxer, BBC deal
After Sky Sports declined to renew its broadcast deal with Boxxer, one of the United Kingdom’s leading promoters, it has struck a deal with the BBC, which has not shown boxing in 21 years.
The two announced a deal this week that will see live boxing return to one of the BBC’s over-the-air channels for free in primetime on Saturday nights.
“The new deal opens boxing up to all audiences, making the sport more accessible than ever,” they said in the announcement.
The length of the deal, number of events and the level of financial commitment were not announced. Details of the first event and the broadcast team will be “announced in the coming weeks.”
However, according to U.K.-based Pro Boxing Fans, citing sources, the first event will air on BBC Two and take place on Sept. 27 in Birmingham, England, with heavyweights Frazer Clarke (9-1-1, 7 KOs) and Jeamie “TKV” Tshikeva (8-2, 5 KOs) meeting for the vacant British title.
Also, according to the announcement, “selected undercard fights, features and behind-the-scenes content will also be available across (the on-demand streaming service) BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport social channels.”
“Bringing professional boxing back to primetime BBC television, free-to-air, and to our extensive digital platforms is an exciting moment for us and for boxing fans,” Alex Kay-Jelski, the director of BBC Sport, said. “Boxing is a sport that we know deeply resonates with younger audiences and this deal with Boxxer enables us to showcase the next generation of British fighters, delivering top-tier national boxing moments to all audiences, wherever and however they want it.”
The last time boxing aired on BBC throughout the U.K. was the Clinton Woods-Rico Hoye IBF light heavyweight title fight in 2004.
“Partnering with the BBC to deliver big-time British boxing on Saturday night TV is a historic moment,” Boxxer CEO Ben Shalom said. “We’re proud to bring the most entertaining British fighters to the biggest possible audience. This huge platform will give our fights the exposure they deserve and helps us take the sport to huge new audiences.”
Boxxer’s roster includes fighters such as Chris Eubank Jr., Chris Billam-Smith, Adam Azim, Ben Whittaker, Viddal Riley, Caroline Dubois, Lauren Price, Natasha Jonas, Clarke and Tshikeva.
Buatsi, Rea Queensberry debuts
Light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi, a former WBO interim titlist, and European champion Bradley Rea, both of whom signed with Queensberry Promotions last week, had the first bouts of their deals announced on Friday. They will fight on the same card on Nov. 1 (DAZN) at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Buatsi will take on British countryman Zach Parker in the main event and Rea will defend the European title against fellow Manchester fighter Lyndon Arthur in the co-feature.
Buatsi (19-1, 13 KOs), 32, who recently split from Boxxer, is coming off his lone defeat, a decision to Callum Smith that cost him the interim belt in their February fight of the year contender. Parker (26-1, 18 KOs), 31, of England, has won four fights in a row since a fourth-round knockout loss due to a broken right hand against John Ryder in a WBO interim super middleweight title bout in November 2022.
Rea (21-1, 10 KOs), 27, narrowly outpointed Shakan Pitters to win the vacant European title on June 6. Arthur (24-3, 16 KOs), 34, is 1-2 in his last three, having been outpointed challenging Dmitry Bivol for the WBA title in December 2023, winning a 10-round split decision over Liam Cameron in June 2024, and dropping a 12-round decision to Anthony Yarde in April.
In a third light heavyweight fight on the show, Daniel Lapin (12-0, 4 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Ukraine, will fight Troy Jones (12-1, 6 KOs), 27, of England, in defense of his regional belts.
“Our 175-pound contingent is so strong now that it made perfect sense to put a number of them on a major platform at the biggest and best arena in Europe,” Queensberry’s Frank Warren said. “Joshua Buatsi is probably only a fight or two away from challenging for a world title so it is important that he is tested, and he will be against Zach Parker, who is looking to make it big himself at light heavyweight and will see this as his opportunity to plant himself high in the rankings.
“The Manchester public are in for a treat with the Brad Rea versus Lyndon Arthur matchup, with them both being local boys wanting to put on a show. Brad is now with us here at Queensberry and going up against a former world title challenger gives him the opportunity to make a perfect statement of intent.”
Kotari dies from brain injury
Japanese junior lightweight Shigetoshi Kotari died on Friday due to a traumatic brain injury suffered against countryman Yamato Hata on Aug. 2 on a Teiken Promotions card at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Kotari was 28.
Kotari (8-2-2, 5 KOs) and Hata (17-2-1, 16 KOs), 28, fought to a 12-round split draw as Hata retained the regional Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation 130-pound title.
After the scores of 115-113 Hata, 115-113 Kotari and 114-114 were announced Kotari fell unconscious and was taken to the hospital, where he underwent emergency brain surgery for bleeding on his brain.
“Rest in peace, Shigetoshi Kotari,” the WBO posted to social media. “The boxing world mourns the tragic passing of Japanese fighter Shigetoshi Kotari, who succumbed to injuries sustained during his August 2nd title fight. A warrior in the ring. A fighter in spirit. Gone too soon.”
Cuello crushes Rios
Mirco Cuello dropped Sergio Rios three times en route to a blowout second-round knockout victory to win the vacant WBA interim featherweight title in the main event of a government-backed card filled with WBA-sanctioned bouts on Friday on DAZN at Martyrs of Benina Stadium in Benghazi, Libya.
With Mike Tyson watching at ringside, Cuello (16-0, 13 KOs), 24, of Argentina, a Premier Boxing Champions fighter, dropped Rios (19-1, 7 KOs), 24, of Mexico, with a right hand late in the first round.
With a little over 30 seconds left in the second round, Cuello dropped Rios to a knee with a hard left hand to the head. Rios rose immediately, but the next punch Cuello threw, a left hand to the body, dropped Rios again to a knee and referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. counted him out at 2 minutes, 53 seconds.
“No one can ignore what Mirco Cuello just did to an undefeated top contender like Rios,” Cuello promoter Sampson Lewkowicz said. “Mirco Cuello is the next Argentinean superstar. No one in the division can take his power for 12 rounds. No one.”
Cuello is now also the mandatory challenger for full titleholder Nick Ball, who defends against Sam Goodman next Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Also on the card, Albert Ramirez (22-0, 19 KOs), 33, a Venezuelan southpaw, who has been fighting out of Montreal, scored three knockdowns in a seventh-round knockout of Jerome Pampellone (19-3, 12 KOs), 29, of New Zealand, to win the vacant WBA interim light heavyweight title.
The fight was upgraded from an elimination bout at the last minute with word that unified champion Dmitry Bivol will be out the rest of the year due to back surgery.
Ramirez dropped Pampellone in the sixth round and twice more in the seventh round. Pampellone’s corner threw in the towel after the third knockdown and referee Janny Guzman waved off the bout at 1 minute, 19 seconds.
David Benavidez holds the WBA “regular” belt, meaning the WBA now has three titleholders in the same division. That is a practice WBA president Gilberto Mendoza vowed to end but he went back on his word.
In another bout, junior lightweight Francisco Fonseca scored a third-round knockdown and notched a major upset with a decision win over Sofiane Oumiha (6-1, 3 KO), 30, a two-time French Olympic silver medalist and three-time world amateur champion.
Fonseca (37-4-2, 29 KOs), 31, a former two-time junior lightweight title challenger from Nicaragua, won 97-92, 95-94 and 95-94. The knockdown was the difference between a Fonseca win and a majority draw.
Crawford interview
I had a one-on-one interview with four-division champion and pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford from his training camp, where he is preparing for the Sept. 13 mega fight against Canelo Alvarez. We covered all sorts of topics related to the fight. Check out the interview here and also subscribe to the YouTube channel:
Pro Boxing Fans appearance
In part 2 of my chat with my friends at Pro Boxing Fans, we discussed more boxing topics, including the Moses Itauma-Dillian Whyte heavyweight fight, the potential of Itauma facing Oleksandr Usyk if he wins, Manny Pacquiao's draw with Mario Barrios and the talk of Anthony Joshua possibly facing Jake Paul. Check out the video here:
Quick hits
Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya called a showdown between WBC interim junior middleweight titlist Vergil Ortiz Jr., who he promotes, and Jaron “Boots” Ennis “inevitable” now that Ennis has vacated his welterweight titles to move up. In an interview on DAZN during the Oscar Duarte-Kenneth Sims Jr. card he promoted on Saturday, De La Hoya said Ortiz would fight in October and then he hopes to make the fight with Ennis, who Ortiz was slated to meet in February before Ennis backed out and instead beat Eimantas Stanionis in an April unification bout. De La Hoya said this coming February would be ideal. “That fight is inevitable,” he said. “‘Boots’ and Vergil is going to happen and I cannot wait. I believe ‘Boots’ is a tremendous boxer and puncher. He's got the ring IQ and confidence. He’s a star. But when Vergil Ortiz is in front (of him), there is nowhere to hide. It’s going to happen soon.”
Although Top Rank is done on ESPN platforms with the expiration of its contract on July 31, the network has picked up the rights to a second event from the “ESPN Knock Out” series that airs in Mexico and Latin American. It will show the IBF junior bantamweight final eliminator between Argi Cortes (27-4-2, 11 KOs), 30, of Mexico, and Andrew Maloney (27-4, 17 KOs), 34, of Australia, on Aug. 16 at Gimnasio Auditorio Centenario in Gomez Palacio, Mexico. ESPN+ coverage will begin at 9 p.m. ET and ESPN Deportes joins coverage at 10 p.m. ET. The winner will become the mandatory challenger for Mexico’s Willibaldo Garcia (23-5-2, 13 KOs).
Former WBC cruiserweight titlist Ilunga Makabu (30-4, 26 KOs), 37, and Charles Manyuchi (30-5-1, 19 KOs), 36, of Zimbabwe, will meet in a 10-rounder headlining a card on Sept. 5 at the Stade Des Martyrs in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Makabu’s home country. Makabu will seek a second win in a row since back-to-back knockout losses in 2023, when he lost his title to Badou Jack by 12th-round stoppage and then suffered a third-round TKO to Noel Mikaelian for the vacant belt nine months later.
Show and tell
Brazilian star Acelino “Popo” Freitas is my second all-time favorite fighter behind the late Hall of Famer Arturo Gatti. I named two of my dearly departed cats after them (Popo and Thunder). Freitas was charismatic, exciting and for pure one-punch power one of the biggest hitters of the early 2000s. Having covered some of his fights and having also gotten to know him a bit, he is a very nice and humble guy. He was at his peak when he defended his unified junior lightweight world title against Jorge Barrios in Miami in a Showtime main event that was also a major nationalistic rivalry bout pitting Brazil against Argentina, Barrios’ home country.
They put on a mesmerizing battle, during which Freitas badly cut Barrios, who at one point used the referee’s shirt to wipe away the blood pouring from his cuts in an unforgettable moment. Freitas, who was 33-0 going into the fight, got knocked down in the eighth and 11th rounds but he also dropped Barrios in the 11th and 12th rounds, securing the knockout victory at 50 seconds of the final round of a classic battle. It is one of the great fights of the 2000s and one of my personal favorites. When Showtime ended its boxing coverage at the end of 2023, I ranked it as the fifth-best fight in the network’s 37 years of televising fights. The fight took place in Miami on Aug. 9, 2003 — 22 years ago on Saturday. Here is a gorgeous and scarce glossy site poster and a mint full ticket in my collection.
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Photo: Bivol: Bivol Instagram; Nakatani and Kotari: Naoki Fukuda
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I like Junto Nakatani. But he very recently turned down the biggest fight of his career, with Bam Rodríguez for later this year. Meanwhile Naoya Inoue just putting in work, while Team Nakatani out here marinating. BTW, Bam Rodríguez a Real One too.