Notebook: Broner, Easter need new Feb. 13 foes

Herring-Frampton official for Feb. 27 in London; Cancio injured, off Feb. 20

Although Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions have not yet announced their Feb. 13 tripleheader it has already seen major changes.

Former four-division world titlist Adrien Broner, who has not boxed since a one-sided decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in a January 2019 secondary welterweight world title bout, is still due to return in the junior welterweight main event of a card likely to take place inside the bubble of the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

However, Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs), 31, of Cincinnati, will not face Pedro Campa (31-1-1, 21 KOs), 28, of Mexico, as originally planned. Campa is out of the bout because he has tested positive for Covid-19, a source with knowledge of the details told me.

That has left organizers in search of a new opponent to face Broner. They are in the same situation with former lightweight world titlist Robert Easter Jr., who is also scheduled to be on the card. The unidentified opponent that Easter he was slated to facehas also been forced off the show because he too tested positive for Covid-19, the source said.

The other bout on the card, the source said, will be a heavyweight match between former world title challengers Otto Wallin and Dominic Breazeale. Whether the heavyweights will open the telecast or will be in the co-feature slot has not been determined yet, according to the source.

Broner, who has been beset by legal and personal issues in recent years, has made no secret in his social media posts that he needs money to pay off an $830,000 judgment against him after he failed to show up in court to answer a lawsuit filed against him by a woman he sexually assaulted at a Cleveland nightclub in June 2018. Broner previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault and unlawful restraint charge in the criminal case related to the incident.

Broner, who has admitted to having an alcohol problem, is in Miami training for the bout with longtime trainer Mike Stafford alongside Easter as well as lightweight and junior lightweight world titlist Gervonta Davis, who was very complimentary of Broner’s training focus in a recent interview with me.

“Broner is looking forward to coming back,” Davis said. “He’s trimming down. He’s definitely focused. He’s running every day. He’s looking good in the gym when he spars. I’m looking forward to his comeback.”

Broner, who won belts at junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight, is 0-2-1 in his last three fights, decision losses to Pacquiao two years ago and Mikey Garcia in 2017 and a majority draw with Jessie Vargas in 2018.

Easter (22-1-1, 14 KOs), 29, of Toledo, Ohio, got knocked down and lost his 135-pound world title by lopsided decision to Mikey Garcia in their July 2018 title unification fight. Easter is 1-0-1 since. In a fight for a vacant secondary lightweight title, Easter fought to a draw in a virtually action-free bout against former world titlist Rances Barthelemy in April 2019. Easer followed that dreadful performance by moving up to the junior welterweight division and winning a one-sided 10-round decision over Adrian Granados in October 2019.

Wallin (21-1, 14 KOs), 30, of Sweden, who has a multi-fight deal with Showtime, lost a hard-fought decision to lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in September 2019 and rebounded with a fifth-round knockout of Travis Kauffman in his Showtime debut this past August.

Breazeale (20-2, 18 KOs), 35, of Eastvale, California, suffered both of his defeats challenging for world titles. He got knocked out in the seventh round by Anthony Joshua in 2017 in London and suffered a highlight-reel first-round knockout against Deontay Wilder in his most recent fight in May 2019 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Most of Showtime’s boxing cards during the coronavirus pandemic have taken place at the Mohegan Sun Arena but Premier Boxing Champions is “evaluating” other potential sites for the show, according to the source.

Jamel Herring-Carl Frampton fight date finally set

Junior lightweight world titlist Jamel Herring and former two-division titlist Carl Frampton will meet Feb. 27 in London without any spectators, promoter Frank Warren announced on Tuesday.

While the fight will be televised on BT Sport in the United Kingdom, an American broadcaster was not announced, although since Top Rank promotes Herring and co-promotes Frampton it is likely to land on ESPN+.

“I am thrilled we are able to deliver this huge opportunity for Carl to reinforce his position as the top Irish fighter of his or any other generation,” Warren said. “Carl has been and is a tremendous ambassador for the sport and his huge following is testament to the qualities he shows in and out of the ring. The only downside to this fight coming about now is that he will be going into battle without his legion of Belfast fans roaring him on. For Carl to become a three-weight world champion would really be something else and in many ways a fitting finale to a magnificent career, although it might not quite be the end of the story. Herring is a top fighter and a gentleman who we are looking forward to welcoming over.”

Herring (22-2, 10 KOs), 35, a southpaw from Coram, New York, will make his third defense and is coming off a shaky performance in an eighth-round disqualification win over Jonathan Oquendo on Sept. 9 in which he suffered a scratched cornea. Oquendo was disqualified for repeated head butts.

Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs), 33, is a former featherweight and unified junior featherweight world titlist looking to win a title in a third weight class, which would be a first for a fighter from Northern Ireland. He is coming off a seventh-round knockout of Darren Traynor on Aug. 15 in a tune-up fight.

Herring-Frampton was initially penciled in for mid-2020 but delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and then was eyed for Dec. 19 before being delayed again.

“I’m really excited that the fight is finally happening,” Herring said. “More importantly it’ll be an honor to share the ring with a true warrior, and class act such as Carl Frampton. It may be the biggest fight of my career to date, but I’ll be more than ready for the task ahead. There’s a lot on the line, and I know he’s aiming to make history, but he’ll have to wait another day, because I plan on returning home with my title in hand.”

Frampton also spoke highly of Herring.

“I'm delighted to finally get a date nailed down for this fight that has now been talked about for over a year,” Frampton said. “I have the upmost respect for Jamel as a fighter and as a man but there is nobody stopping me on becoming the island of Ireland’s only ever three-weight world champ, one of Britain's only ever three-weight world champions and potentially have one foot in the Hall of Fame.”

Andrew Cancio injured, off Feb. 20 ESPN card

Former junior lightweight world titlist Andrew Cancio has dropped out of his Feb. 20 fight against unbeaten prospect Gabriel Flores Jr., according to Top Rank.

Cancio and Flores were due to meet in a scheduled 10-round bout in the ESPN-televised co-feature of the bout between junior lightweight world titlist Miguel Berchelt and mandatory challenger and former featherweight world titlist Oscar Valdez inside the bubble of the conference center at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Top Ran is looking for a new opponent to face Flores (19-0, 6 KOs), 20, of Stockton, Calif., who signed with Top Rank at age 16, and due to take a major step up in competition against Cancio.

Cancio (21-5-2, 16 KOs), 32, of Blythe, California, will see his layoff extended as he has not boxed since losing his 130-pound title by seventh-round knockout to Rene Alvarado in November 2019, after which he was released by Golden Boy and later signed by Top Rank. They had issues finalizing his first bout with the company over his purse before finally locking in the fight with Flores.

‘Chocolatito’ in camp for Estrada rematch

Junior bantamweight world titlist Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez began training camp in his native Nicaragua on Dec. 27 for his much-anticipated rematch/unification fight with champion Juan Francisco Estrada and is headed to Coachella, California, this week for the remainder of his camp, Gonzalez manager Carlos Blandon told me.

The fight is scheduled for March 13 (DAZN) at a site to be determined. Four-division champion and former pound-for-pound No. 1 Gonzalez (50-2, 41 KOs), 33, outpointed Estrada (41-3, 28 KOs), 30, of Mexico, to retain a junior flyweight world title in a highly competitive slugfest in 2012 and a rematch has been talked about since.

Longtime promoter Mike Acri dies

Promoter Mike Acri, best known for his work with Hector Camacho Sr., Roberto Duran and Paul Spadafora, has died at age 63. I knew him for about 20 years and he was a cool guy and had a brilliant boxing mind. Here’s the obituary I wrote for BoxingScene.com: https://www.boxingscene.com/mike-acri-promoter-who-worked-with-camacho-duran-spadafora-dies-age-63--154679

British boxing to resume in Febraury

The British Boxing Board of Control has announced that it will allow boxing events to resume in mid-February.

Last week, the BBBofC forced all boxing events in the country scheduled to take place in January to be called off due to the significant rise in Covid-19 cases and another national lockdown beginning.

“The British Boxing Board of Control will be resuming Boxing tournaments under its jurisdiction in the middle of February, dates and venues to be confirmed in due course,” the board said in a statement.

January cards canceled included an MTK Global show on Jan. 22 in Wakefield, England, which was to be headlined by Karim Guerfi’s European bantamweight title defense against Lee McGregor, and the Matchroom Boxing card headlined by the once-again postponed fight between European welterweight champion David Avanesyan and Josh Kelly, which was scheduled for Jan. 30 at a U.K. site to be announced.

Matchroom Boxing is likely to reschedule Avanesyan-Kelly for February as well as have a show headlined by featherweight world titlist Josh Warrington.