Notebook: Caleb Plant, Rolando Romero bouts added to Canelo PPV
Ryan-Mayer tops Top Rank card; Catterall-Prograis gets new date; 'Bam' Rodriguez update; Quick hits; Show and tells
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Former super middleweight titlist Caleb Plant and former junior welterweight titlist Rolando Romero will be featured in bouts on the pay-per-view undercard of unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez’s defense against Edgar Berlanga, Premier Boxing Champions announced on Monday.
Plant will face Trevor McCumby for the vacant WBA interim super middleweight belt and Romero will clash with Manuel Jaimes in a 10-round junior welterweight bout that will open the main card on Sept. 14 (Prime Video PPV, PPV.com, DAZN PPV, 8 p.m. ET) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The two bouts join the previously announced WBA middleweight title defense of Erislandy Lara against Danny Garcia in the co-feature.
Also, former unified junior featherweight titlist Stephen Fulton Jr. will move up to featherweight and take on Carlos Castro in a 10-rounder that will be the main bout on the free preliminary portion of the card before the PPV begins.
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Plant and Fulton were initially due to be in separate bouts on Aug. 17 on a non-PPV Prime Video card in Orlando, Florida, but when McCumby suffered a cut over his right eye in sparring recently the card was canceled.
Plant (22-2, 13 KOs), 32, of Las Vegas, has lost two of his last three and been inactive. He got knocked out in the 11th round by Alvarez in their unification fight for the undisputed title in November 2021 and rebounded with a ninth-round knockout of Anthony Dirrell in October 2022. Then he lost a clear decision to David Benavidez for the WBC interim belt in his last fight in March 2023, so he will be coming off an 18-month layoff.
“It feels good to be back. I’ve had some time away from the ring but I’ve used it wisely,” Plant said. “I’ve been in the gym since last June. I’ve sparred over 220 rounds in the past year and leading up to this fight, so I’m feeling sharper than ever. I’ve been smoothing the edges of my game and this is the best I’ve ever looked and the most complete my game has been and I think that speaks volumes to what I have left in me to prove.
“I guarantee that on Sept. 14 you guys will see the best Caleb Plant yet. All I can say is, he’s going to get his ass whooped.”
McCumby (28-0, 21 KOs), 31, of Glendale, Arizona, has won three fights in a row since dropping down to super middleweight after having fought at light heavyweight throughout his career, which began in 2010. Despite his glittering record, McCumby has never faced a notable opponent. He also did not fight at all from 2019 to 2022.
“Sports mirrors life and I see Caleb Plant as the symbol for those who are keeping so many down, and now it’s my job to fight back,” McCumby said. “No matter what resources you have to use against me, I won’t be kept down. I’m inspired by everyone who fights back, and that’s the mentality I’m bringing into this matchup.”
Romero (15-2, 13 KOs), 28, of Las Vegas, made his first WBA 140-pound title defense against Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz on March 30 but lost via one-sided eighth-round knockout.
Jaimes (16-1-1, 11 KOs), 24, of Stockton, California, who has won four fights in a row, has faced mostly very low-level opposition and this will be in his first fight scheduled for longer than eight rounds. He is coming off a decision over faded former junior featherweight titlist Jonathan Romero on July 13.
Fulton (21-1, 8 KOs), 30, of Philadelphia, will be fighting for the first time since an eighth-round knockout loss cost him his titles against Naoya Inoue last July. Castro (30-2, 14 KOs) 30, a Mexico native fighting out of Phoenix, has won three in a row since back-to-back losses to Luis Nery and Brandon Figueroa in 2022.
“It feels good to be back. I’m ready to get in there again. I see more titles for me at 126 pounds,” Fulton said. “I was ready to move up to 130-pounds, but I’m going to make a stop at 126 to win another world title and become a two-division champion. Then I’ll move up and do the same thing again. I can go as far as I want to go in this division; it’s just up to me.”
Ryan to defend vs. Mayer
Junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez’s decision not to fight next month paved the way for WBO women’s welterweight titlist Sandy Ryan to defend her title against former unified junior lightweight titlist Mikaela Mayer.
They will meet in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Sept.27 (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET) at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, Top Rank announced on Monday.
Puerto Rican junior middleweight Xander Zayas and Brooklyn, New York, featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, both popular ticket sellers, will appear in 10-rounders in the other televised bouts.
“Mikaela Mayer always wants to fight the best, and Sandy Ryan is an elite welterweight. These are the two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and the winner will stake her claim as the preeminent 147-pounder,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said.
Top Rank always planned to go on the date with or without Lopez but it hoped he would fight in that spot and there were discussions about him moving up to welterweight to challenge Brian Norman, the WBO interim titlist (soon to be full). However, Lopez elected not to fight because the card is on a Friday night and not the more traditional Saturday night, which he perceived as a bigger deal, a source with knowledge of the reason told Fight Freaks Unite.
So now it will be Ryan, a Matchroom Boxing fighter, who will face Top Rank’s Mayer after the company’s made a deal. Adding to the intrigue of the bout is that Kay Koroma, a longtime Mayer assistant trainer since her amateur days, will be in the other corner with Ryan.
There were talks for Mayer (19-2, 5 KOs), 34, a 2016 U.S. Olympian fighting out of Colorado Springs, to have an immediate rematch with IBF titlist Natasha Jonas, who won a disputed split decision over her in a January defense, but those talks stalled.
“After months of negotiations in every direction, I am thrilled that my team has pulled through for me and gotten me this fight,” Mayer said. “As several dates fell through in the U.K., the last thing I expected was for my manager to call with an offer that ticked every box. My team not only secured me another title fight against the opponent I asked for, but I’m coming back to the U.S. with my Top Rank and ESPN family. I loved fighting in the U.K. over the past two years, but I have genuinely missed fighting in America. I’m ready to take Sandy Ryan’s WBO belt.”
Ryan (7-1-1, 3 KOs), 30, of England, will be making her second title defense, having knocked out former two-division titlist Terri Harper in the fourth round in March.
“I’m excited to be returning to America and particularly fighting at MSG,” said Ryan, who will box in the U.S. for the second time. “It’s the Mecca of Boxing and a venue that every champion dreams of competing in. I feel privileged to have been given this opportunity, and I want to thank Matchroom and Top Rank for coming together to make the fight. It’s the perfect moment in my career, and I’m looking forward to successfully defending my world title. I can promise that on a level playing field, nobody is taking this belt from me.
“Mayer has had an awful lot to say about me and this fight, and I’m sure she will continue to do so, but I’m an athlete and a professional. I will let my boxing do my talking and I will shine in that ring.”
Zayas (19-0, 12 KOs), 21, of Sunrise, Florida, will face Damian Sosa (25-2, 12 KOs), 27, of Mexico, who has won three fights in a row, in the co-feature. Zayas notched his biggest win last time out when he routed former titlist Patrick Teixeira at The Theater on June 8.
“I dominated a former world champion from start to finish, and now I'm ready to put on an even better performance for my people in New York,” Zayas said. “I’m motivated by the challenge of facing a Mexican warrior.”
Carrington (12-0, 8 KOs), 27, will face Sulaiman Segawa (17-4-1, 6 KOs), 33, a Uganda native based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Carrington is 5-0 with each win by KO at The Theater.
“I’m ready for all the champions in my division,” Carrington said. “Segawa is a speed bump, and he’s about to get run over in my hometown. The ‘Shu Shu’ era is just getting started.”
Catterall-Prograis rescheduled
The junior welterweight fight between top contender Jack Catterall and former two-time titlist Regis Prograis, which was postponed last week, was rescheduled for Oct. 26 (DAZN) at Co-op Live in Manchester, England, Matchroom Boxing announced on Monday.
The 12-round bout was set to headline an Aug. 24, also at Co-op Live, which opened in May and will be hosting its first boxing event.
The fight was postponed because of an undisclosed Catterall injury, although sources told Fight Freaks Unite at the time of the postponement that he had suffered a rib injury.
“I’m delighted that a new date for my fight with Regis Prograis has been sorted so quickly,” Catterall said. “Big thanks to Matchroom, my team and Co-op Live for all of their hard work on this. To be the first boxer to headline at Co-op Live is going to be special and I'm really happy I’ll still get that opportunity.
“It was gutting having to pull out of a fight for the first time in my 30-fight career but I need to be fit and healthy going into one of the most important contests of my life.”
Catterall (29-1, 13 KOs), 31, of Chorley, England, which is just outside of Manchester, is coming off the biggest win of his career. It was a clear unanimous decision in a nontitle fight against former undisputed champion Josh Taylor on May 25 in a rematch of Catterall’s hugely controversial split decision loss for the undisputed crown in 2022.
With a title opportunity not available to him next, Catterall agreed to face fellow southpaw Prograis, a former two-time 140-pound titleholder.
Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs), 35, a southpaw, dropped a disputed majority decision to Taylor in a 2019 title unification fight in at The O2 in London, which ended Prograis WBA title reign.
In 2022, Prograis won the vacant WBC title via 11th-round knockout of Jose Zepeda and made one successful defense before running into Devin Haney in December. Haney had vacated the undisputed lightweight title and moved up to junior welterweight to challenge Prograis in December in San Francisco, where Haney was born, and outclassed him. Haney knocked him down in the third round and won a 120-107 shutout on all three scorecards.
Quick hits
Per the California State Athletic Commission, here are the official contract purses for the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov card that took place Saturday night (and keep in mind many of the fighters have much higher guarantees than what the contract says): Crawford $2.5 million, Madrimov $750,000; Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz $1.5 million, Jose Valenzuela $500,000; Andy Ruiz $900,000, Jarrell Miller $450,000; Jared Anderson $660,000, Martin Bakole $375,000; David Morrell $750,000, Radivoje Kalajdzic $350,000; Andy Cruz $200,000, Antonio Moran $37,500; Steven Nelson $50,000, Marcos Ramon Vazquez $12,500; Ziyad Almaayouf $40,000, Michal Bulik $10,000.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, who kicked off his second reign with the WBC junior bantamweight title by knocking out Juan Francisco Estrada in the seventh round of a tremendous fight on June 29 in Phoenix, was officially presented with his world title belt in a ceremony on Friday in Los Angeles in the media center for the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov fight. While he would love to have a unification fight next, Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs), 24, of San Antonio, told Fight Freaks Unite that Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs), 34, of Mexico, has formally invoked his contractual right to an immediate rematch, so that is up next for him. There is no set date yet but it is likely to take place in December.
WBC cruiserweight titlist Noel Mikaelian will make his first defense against mandatory challenger Ryan Rozicki on Sept. 14 at Casino Miami Jail-Alai in Miami, Florida, promoter Don King announced. Mikaelian (27-2, 12 KOs), 33, an Armenia native fighting out of Miami, and Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs), 29, a Canadian southpaw, were due to meet on June 7 on the Adrien Broner-Blair Cobbs undercard in Hollywood, Florida, but Mikaelian suffered a cut above his right eyelid in sparring and was forced to postpone the bout. He won the vacant title via third-round KO of former titlist Ilunga Makabu on Nov. 4, also at Casino Miami.
With WBO flyweight titlist Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs), 25, of Los Angeles, and mandatory challenger Jonathan Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KOs), 33, of Puerto Rico, a former junior flyweight titlist, who are both promoted by All Star Boxing’s Tuto Zabala, unable to reach a deal, the WBO on Monday scheduled a purse bid for Friday at 11 a.m. ET at the WBO offices in Puerto Rico. Gonzalez and Zabala are having difficulties working out the money. If it goes to a bid the split depends on where the fight takes places. WBO rules say if it’s in the country of origin, residence or nationality of the champion, or a neutral venue, the split of the winning bid is 75-25 in the titleholder’s favor. If it’s in the country of origin, residence or nationality of the challenger it’s 80-20 for the titlist. Olascuaga stopped Riku Kano in the third round to win the vacant title July 20 in Tokyo. Gonzalez made three junior flyweight defenses but vacated earlier this year to move up in weight.
With WBC/WBO women’s junior middleweight titlist Ema Kozin (24-1-1, 12 KOs), 25, of Slovenia, unable to get her visa in time, she won’t defend against former longtime pound-for-pound No. 1 woman and undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus (37-2-1, 9 KOs), 42, of Norway, on the Serhii Bohachuk-Vergil Ortiz undercard on Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. However, Golden Boy announced Braekhus will remain on the card and face former title challenger Maricela Cornejo (19-6, 7 KOs), 37, of Los Angeles, for the vacant WBC interim title. The bout is the main fight on the preliminary portion of the card. Cornejo has won three fights in a row since a shutout decision loss challenging undisputed middleweight champion Claressa Shields in June 2023.
Matchroom Boxing prospect Marc Castro (13-0, 8 KOs), 24, of Fresno, California, is leaving the junior lightweight division and moving back up to lightweight, manager Keith Connolly told Fight Freaks Unite. Castro won a shutout seventh-round technical decision over George Acosta, who could not continue following an accidental head butt, last Wednesday on the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California, following the public workouts for the fighters on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov card. Connolly said that even though Castro won, his weight cut was extremely difficult to the point where he considered pulling him out of the fight. “He’s always looked much stronger at 135 pounds than 130 anyway,” Connolly said.
Show and tell
When Roy Jones Jr., then the undefeated pound-for-pound king, made his first light heavyweight title defense he faced tricky southpaw Montell Griffin, who gave him a few problems in a competitive fight until Jones took over and seemingly knocked him out in the ninth round. However, after Griffin had gone to a knee, Jones struck him twice more and was disqualified, losing his title and undefeated record in a stunning result. Jones immediately exercised his right to a rematch and they met again five months later. Jones, still fuming over the loss, was not there to play around. He stormed to Griffin and pummeled him in a sensational first-round knockout victory to avenge the defeat and regain the title in one of the greatest performances of his legendary career. That memorable destruction took place on Aug. 7, 1997 — 27 years ago on Wednesday. Here is the poster (which I have had shrink wrapped) in my collection.
More show and tell
One thing you learn early on as a boxing writer is not to root for fight outcomes and to not really care who wins and loses. I love the sport but long ago dispensed with cheering for one fighter or another. My mantra before every single fight is simple: I hope it’s a good one, that there are no serious injuries and whoever wins so be it. But, of course, I have my favorite fighters. I’m human. Anyone who has read me for any length of time knows my all-time favorite fighter is the late Hall of Famer Arturo Gatti. But right behind him is the former junior lightweight and lightweight titleholder Acelino “Popo” Freitas. He was an explosive puncher, charismatic and as nice a guy as you could meet. But I was also a big fan of the late Diego “Chico” Corrales, also a massive puncher who won titles at junior lightweight and lightweight — and won perhaps the greatest fight of all time when he rallied to knock out Jose Luis Castillo in their legendary first fight in 2005.
When Brazilian national hero Freitas (35-0 with 31 KOs at the time) and Corrales (38-2, 31 KOs) were matched, I was really pumped for the fight. Admittedly, I hoped Freitas would win but if Corrales were to win I’d be happy for him also. Freitas was making his first WBO lightweight title defense when he faced Corrales, the reigning WBO junior lightweight titlist moving up in weight, in a Showtime main event at the Foxwoods resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
Freitas surprisingly dominated the first seven rounds of a very good fight as he boxed and moved, which confounded Corrales. But Corrales never backed down and finally broke through in the eighth round by landing a heavy combination to drop the tiring Freitas, who had expended tremendous energy with the fast pace he set. I was ringside covering the fight for USA Today and when he dropped Freitas with a huge right hand in the ninth round I thought Freitas was done and felt the fight could have been stopped. But Freitas showed enormous heart to get up and carry on until Corrales nailed him again for a third knockdown in the 10th round. Again, Freitas beat the count but this time he walked away and waved his hand at referee Mike Ortega in resignation. Just like that the fight, which Corrales led 85-84 and 85-83 while Freitas led 85-83 on the third card going into the 10th, was over in shocking fashion as Corrales celebrated his lightweight title victory. The fight was on Aug. 7, 2004 — 20 years ago on Wednesday. Here is a supremely rare glossy site poster that was signed by Freitas and Corrales in my collection.
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Photo: Plant: Premier Boxing Champion
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I like Caleb Plant and Canelo. But let’s be honest. This PPV card is just one Big Azz Tune Up, from Top to Bottom 👨🏻🔧🚗🔧
Inactivity is just hurting our sport and to be honest to me its very baffling. Every article about a upcoming card, u can bet ur ass there will b more then 3-4 fighters on that card that havent fought in over 12 months. Lot of fighters today r living in the moment and fighting paycheck to paycheck. Ur stepping over 100$ bills to pick up pennies.