Notebook: Crawford believes Porter showdown 'will bring out the best in me'

Eubank Jr. returns; Zayas in a big spot; Arum on Pacquiao retirement; Quick hits

The much-anticipated fight between WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford and mandatory challenger (and former two-time world titleholder) Shawn Porter was finalized last week and this week Top Rank formally announced it.

The fight is set for Nov. 20 (ESPN+ PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas and will finally give Crawford the opportunity to face a top welterweight contender in Porter.

“This is a fight that reminds me of all the great welterweight battles of the 1980s and 90s — two prime fighters unafraid to tackle the biggest challenge available to them,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Terence has wanted a challenge like this for a very long time, and I am confident he will rise to the occasion. Shawn Porter, however, is not an easy night for any fighter.”

When the WBO ordered the fight, Top Rank and TGB Promotions, on behalf of Porter representative Premier Boxing Champions, avoided a purse bid and made a deal for a fight many had hoped would be made.

Crawford, who has won titles in three divisions, has been at welterweight since 2018 and made four title defenses but been forced to face lesser opposition because Top Rank had none of the elites of the division. He was forced to watch from the outside as PBC put on one big welterweight title fight after another involving Porter, Errol Spence Jr., Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman and Manny Pacquiao, who retired on Wednesday.

Now, thanks to the mandate from the WBO, Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), 33, of Omaha, Nebraska, gets his chance to fight one of them, and Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), 33, of Las Vegas, a friend of Crawford’s, gets another chance to win a world title.

“I’ve been calling out the top welterweights since I moved up to 147 in 2018, and I’m excited that Shawn stepped up,” Crawford said. “This fight will bring out the best in me and showcase parts of my game that the world hasn’t seen yet. On Nov. 20, I will silence my doubters and prove that I am the best welterweight in the world.”

Porter’s second title reign ended in a split decision loss to Spence in an outstanding title unification fight in September 2019. Porter bounced back with a shutout decision over Sebastian Formella in August 2020 and has not fought since.

“I’ve wanted this fight for a long time and now my patience has paid off,” Porter said. “Throughout my career, I’ve taken on the best and proven myself as a man who gives 100 percent in everything I do. Terence Crawford is a great, versatile fighter who is very athletic just like myself. We are the two best welterweights in the world, and on Nov. 20, we get a chance to prove who is the best. Fight fans can expect a great show that night and, with this victory, I will cement myself as the best welterweight of this era.”

Inside Boxing Live appearance

I joined my pal Dan Canobbio on his “Inside Boxing Live” show this week to discuss several topics. We discussed in detail Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight title win over Anthony Joshua, how a rematch could play out and what it means for the winner of next week’s Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder trilogy fight. We also talked about Manny Pacquiao’s retirement and the Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos/Triller mess. Please watch the episode here: https://throwdownsports.com/programs/inside-boxing-live-129

Eubank in action

British middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. was like many other fighters in 2020. He did not fight at all due to the coronavirus pandemic, derailing momentum he had from two notable wins in 2019.

He outpointed former super middleweight titlist James DeGale in a 168-pound fight and then dropped to middleweight and stopped Matt Korobov, who suffered a shoulder injury, in the second round to win a vacant interim title.

So, when he was able to get back into the ring this year, he was aiming for more activity as he punches his way toward to a 160-pound title opportunity. He cruised to a 10-round decision over Marcus Morrison on May 1 on the Joseph Parker-Dereck Chisora undercard.

Now he is co-promoted by Wasserman Boxing and Boxxer, and ready to headline Boxxer’s first card of its new deal with Sky Sports in England on Saturday at the SSE Arena Wembley in London, where he will take on late replacement opponent Anatoli Muratov.

Ultimately, Eubank hopes to land a shot with middleweight titlist Gennadiy Golovkin, but first things first.

“Activity, that was the main goal for this year,” Eubank said this week. “I wanted to fight at least three times. A good performance on Saturday and then right back in the ring in December on Sky Sports.

“Everything is going to plan. I really believe so. This is definitely the next chapter. I’ve had many chapters in my career so far and this is potentially going to be the most exciting one. We have the full backing of Sky Sports and there are so many huge fights to be made. I’m in the prime of my career. I’m 32 years old, I’ve got two, three, four years of solid prime fighting in me and we’re going to be displaying it on Sky Sports. I’ve got a helluva lot of good fights in me.”

Eubank (30-2, 22 KOs) is taking on Muratov (24-2-1, 17 KOs), 33, of Germany, because original opponent Sven Elbir (18-1, 14 KOs), of Germany, fell out this week after testing positive for Covid-19.

“This is a perfect fight for me where I’m at right now,” Eubank said. “After I get through this man we’re onto big names and world title. I’ve probably seen about five minutes of this guy box, so I actually don’t really even have a real game plan for this man as of right now, because of the late change. We’ll watch more of him as the days go by and I’ll deal with him on the night.”

Arum reflects on Pacquiao

Among the many people Manny Pacquiao thanked during a heartfelt video he released on Wednesday in which he announced his retirement from boxing after a legendary 26-year-year career was Top Rank chairman Bob Arum.

Arum was Pacquiao’s longtime promoter and they were close for many years. Arum promoted most of Pacquiao’s biggest fights beginning with the first of his four epic battles with Juan Manuel Marquez in 2004, when Arum was actually Marquez’s promoter while Pacquiao was still with Murad Muhammad. Soon after, Arum became Pacquiao’s official promoter and promoted or co-promoted 24 of his 25 fights from 2005 through 2017.

I spoke at length with Arum about Pacquiao, including his retirement, his two greatest performances in the ring, why he thinks he will make a great president of the Philippines, and why he compares him to Muhammad Ali, whom he also promoted for many years. I wrote a piece about it for World Boxing News, which you can read here: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2021/10/01/arum-manny-pacquiao-muhammad-ali/

Zayas in the spotlight

Blue chip junior middleweight prospect Xander Zayas will get his biggest exposure so far as Top Rank has announced he will fight in the co-feature of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Oct. 23 (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The three-fight main card begins at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Zayas (10-0, 7 KOs), a 19-year-old Puerto Rican phenom from Sunrise, Florida, will face Dan Karpency in a six-round bout on the card headlined by junior lightweight titlist Jamel Herring’s mandatory defense against interim titlist Shakur Stevenson.

In the opening bout, middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (1-0, 1 KO), the grandson of Muhammad Ali, now has an opponent for his four-rounder: James Westley II (1-0), of Toledo, Ohio.

“Fighting underneath a main event like Herring-Stevenson, in front of the great Atlanta fans, is an honor,” said Zayas, who is coming off a shutout six-round decision over Jose Luis Sanchez on Sept. 10. “It will also be my first time fighting on ESPN as a co-feature, and I will not disappoint. My goal is to win prospect of the year, and I’m coming to Atlanta to put on a spectacular show.”

In preliminary bouts, which will also stream on ESPN+, Atlanta’s Evan Holyfield (7-0, 5 KOs), the son of heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield, will face Charles Stanford (6-3, 3 KOs) in a six-round junior middleweight bout; Atlanta native Roddricus Livsey (8-0-1, 5 KOs) will fight Eric Palmer (12-14-5, 1 KO) in a six-rounder at junior welterweight; Albany, Georgia, featherweight Haven Brady Jr. (3-0, 3 KOs) will face Roberto Negrete (3-0, 1 KO) in a four-rounder; Chicago junior welterweight Antoine Cobb will make his pro debut in four-rounder; lightweight Harley Mederos (1-0, 1 KO), of Brooklyn, New York, will be in a four-rounder; and 2020 U.S. Olympian Troy Isley (2-0, 1 KO) will make his professional return in a six-rounder at middleweight after competing in at the Tokyo Games this past summer.

Quick hits

Emerging middleweight contender Janibek Alimkhanuly (10-0, 6 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Kazakhstan, will face former middleweight titlist Hassan N’Dam (38-5, 21 KOs), 37, of France, in a 10-rounder Nov. 5 at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told Fight Freaks Unite, confirming a report from BoxingScene. The fight will be the co-feature of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card headlined the Mikaela Mayer-Maiva Hamadouche women’s junior lightweight title unification fight. Alimkhanuly, who lives in Oxnard, California, will be facing his second consecutive former WBA middleweight titlist. On June 26, he stopped Robert Brant in the eighth round of a one-sided fight.

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Golden Boy announced that its DAZN card on Nov. 13 (9 p.m. ET) headlined by the 12-round middleweight fight between Jaime Munguia (37-0, 30 KOs) and Gabriel Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs) will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

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Former junior middleweight titlist Patrick Teixeira, who lost the WBO belt in his last fight by lopsided decision to Brian Castano in February, is set for his first fight since. Teixeira (31-2, 22 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Brazil, will take on rising contender Magomed Kurbanov (22-0, 13 KOs), 26, in a 12-rounder on Dec. 11 in his hometown of Ekaterinburg, Russia, Teixeira manager Patrick Nascimento told Fight Freaks Unite. Teixeira is training in Las Vegas. Kurbanov is coming off his most notable victory, a unanimous decision over former world titlist Liam Smith on May 7, also in Ekaterinburg.

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Three-division boxing champion Claressa Shields, the reigning undisputed women’s junior middleweight world champion, is scheduled for her second MMA fight on a Professional Fighters League card on Oct. 27 (ESPN2/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, PFL has announced. Shields, who was initially slated for her second MMA bout on Aug. 19, will face Abigail Montes. Shields, 26, of Flint, Michigan, won her MMA debut with a comeback third-round knockout of Brittney Elkin in their 155-pound main event June 10. After her Oct. 30 MMA bout, Shields is due back in the boxing ring in England in December or January.

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Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced he has signed WBA women’s featherweight titlist Erika Hernandez (13-1, 3 KOs), 31, of Mexico, who won title from Jelena Mrdjenovich via seventh-round technical decision due to an accidental head butt that prevented Mrdjenovich from continuing on a Ring City USA card in April. “I believe I am the first residing Mexican woman to sign with Matchroom, and this is a proud moment for me to play my part in flying the flag for women's boxing in my country and around the world,” Hernandez said.

Show and tell

Of all the experiences I have had covering fights, there has been nothing quite like covering a Felix Trinidad fight at Madison Square Garden in New York, where his Puerto Rican fans would turn out in force. They idolized Trinidad and he fought for them. Those fights were some of the best atmospheres I’ve ever been in for a fight and it was no different when Trinidad came out of 2½-year retirement and returned to face fellow former welterweight and junior middleweight titlist Ricardo Mayorga in a middleweight bout. The crowd was absolutely joyous to have their hero back. I have vivid memories of most of the crowd rising to their feet at the opening bell and sending a surge of electricity through the arena. Trinidad and Mayorga proceeded to put on an all-action slugfest until Trinidad decisively ended it with an eighth-round knockout that sent the crowd into absolute ecstasy. Tito was back and all was right with the boxing world. That unforgettable night was on Oct. 2, 2004 — 17 years ago on Saturday. Here’s a somewhat scarce oversized program from the fight in my collection.

Eubank-Muratov photo: Courtesy of Boxxer

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