Notebook: De La Hoya wanted real fight with Belfort, not 'circus' exhibition
TR's loaded fall schedule; Fury's Covid camp; Quick hits
Oscar De La Hoya finally decided that if he was going to return to the boxing ring he wanted it to be for real, not an exhibition. Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort, who is coming over to boxing from MMA to face him, felt the same way.
So what was conceived of as an eight-round exhibition bout is going instead going to be an officially sanctioned boxing match, albeit with two-minute rounds instead of the standard three-minute rounds, when they meet on Sept. 11 in the main event of a Triller Fight Club pay-per-view card at Staples Center in Los Angles.
De La Hoya and Belfort, who will meet at a contract weight of 180 pounds — 20 heavier than De La Hoya has ever fought at — kicked off the promotion of their fight with a news conference on Tuesday in front of Staples Center, the building De La Hoya opened for boxing 21 years ago.
“These exhibitions that we’re seeing are becoming a circus,” De La Hoya said about the recent rash of exhibition matches from Mike Tyson-Roy Jones to Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul and others. “I want no part of that and that’s why this fight is a real, sanctioned fight and not an exhibition.
“Everybody who knows me, I’ve never been in a boring fight. I go out there and fight. An exhibition isn’t us, Vitor and I have too much at stake. When I see Belfort I can see in his eyes how proud he is of his legacy and I feel the same way too and I respect that.”
De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs), 48, who won world titles in six weight classes from junior lightweight to middleweight and was the biggest boxing star of his time, is ending a nearly 13-year retirement. The 1992 Olympic gold medal and International Boxing Hall of Famer has been out of the ring since he was savaged in a one-sided, upset eighth-round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao in a major upset in 2008.
De La Hoya, who is also the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, has been training on and off for a comeback for quite some time and said he is ready to get back into the heat of battle.
“While I respect you brother. I can tell you one thing, we are going to kick the shit out of each other, that’s one thing for sure,” De La Hoya said to Belfort. “This is not a game. I literally said if we’re going to do this, let’s do this for real. Let’s not do a song and dance or these exhibitions that we’re tired of.
“I’ve been in top challenges all my life. I’ve basically been fighting since I was five years old. I’ve had every challenge in the book and I’ve fought the very best, from Pacquiao to Mayweather to (Bernard) Hopkins to Julio Cesar Chavez. I wanted a different challenge and that’s what Vitor Belfort presents. A challenge that’s going to take my training and my mentality to a whole new level.”
The 44-year-old Belfort, a southpaw from Brazil, is a former UFC light heavyweight champion who has faced many top MMA opponents. He has had one previous boxing match, a first-round knockout win in Brazil in 2006, and will be facing a legend in De La Hoya, even if he has been out of action for so many years.
“When you step in the ring you want the wars,” Belfort said. “I’m coming into the sport that Oscar has mastered and I’ve learned in training boxing at a different level. My style is to come as a lion and that’s what I’m going to do, no changes now.
“There’s a lot of mutual respect between the both of us but once the bell rings it’s war. My heart, not my size, will make the difference in this fight. In my mind I can beat any man and that’s how I feel about Oscar.”
Top Rank’s busy fall
I had a long talk the other day with Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who outlined much of what he and his staff are working on for what will be a busy fall for the company.
Among the events he detailed for me were light heavyweight titleholder Joe Smith Jr.’s first defense in October as well as two November cards, one to be headlined by junior lightweight world titlist Jamel Herring against interim titleholder Shakur Stevenson and the other in Scotland to be headlined by undisputed junior welterweight world champion Josh Taylor against mandatory challenger Jack Catterall.
Arum also discussed the possible Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter fight, Jose Ramirez’s return, a December card that could be a Vasiliy Lomachenko/Edgar Berlanga doubleheader, further plans for Berlanga and he offered an update on lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez’s postponed defense against George Kambosos and what could happen with that fight. I wrote about all of it for World Boxing News. Please read that detailed story here: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2021/07/28/bob-arum-teofimo-lomachenko-fall/
Crawford-Porter
With the WBO pulling a surprise last week by ordering welterweight titlist Terence Crawford to make a mandatory defense next against former two-time world titleholder Shawn Porter it appears as though Crawford will finally get a chance to fight a top opponent in the division and that Porter will get another high profile fight he has wanted. Both sides sound as if they want to make the fight.
Porter made it clear on social media he wants the fight and I spoke to Crawford promoter Bob Arum and manager/trainer Brian McIntyre, who also are gung ho to make the match. I wrote about what they had to say about putting that big fight together for World Boxing News. Read that article here: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2021/07/25/exclusive-terence-crawford-shawn-porter/
Fury’s Covid camp
Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury received one vaccination shot against Covid-19 but decided not to get the second dose that was needed to complete the course because he was worried about having a reaction that would force him to miss training camp time in preparation for his third fight with former titleholder Deontay Wilder. He wound up coming down with it and had to postpone the fight until October.
There were few precautions taken in his training camp to prevent the spread of the virus, which infected several people in the camp. I wrote about the situation, what was going on at the gym, how sick Fury got and what the plans are for protecting his camp when it starts again for World Boxing News. Read that piece here please: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2021/07/27/exclusive-bob-arum-tyson-fury-covid/
New Coffie opponent
Heavyweight Michael Coffie (12-0, 9 KOs) will now face late replacement Jonathan Rice (13-6-1, 9 KOs) in the main even of the PBC on Fox card on Saturday (8 p.m. ET) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Coffie was originally scheduled to face former world title challenger Gerald Washington (20-4-1, 13 KOs), but he was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19, Premier Boxing Champions announced.
The two other network fights remain intact: welterweight James Martin (7-2, 0 KOs) against Vito Mielnicki Jr. (8-1, 5 KOs) in an eight-round rematch of Martin’s upset majority decision win on April 14 and junior middleweight Joey Spencer (12-0, 9 KOs) against Dan Karpency (9-3-1, 4 KOs) in an eight-rounder.
PBC also announced three scheduled 10-round bouts that will air live on FS1 at 10 p.m. ET, following the conclusion of the main card:
Former super middleweight world title challenger Andre Dirrell (27-3, 17 KOs), who has not boxed since December 2019, will fight for the second time at light heavyweight when he faces Christopher Brooker (16-7, 6 KOs).
Featherweight Maliek Montgomery (10-0, 10 KOs) faces Angel Contreras (10-4-2, 6 KOs).
Welterweight Paul Kroll (8-0, 6 KOs) takes a step up in competition against Justin DeLoach (19-5, 10 KOs).
Quick hits
Promoter Lou DiBella announced a card that will feature two women’s world title fight on Aug. 20 (UFC Fight Pass, 11 p.m. ET) at the Sycuan Casino Resort in El Cajon, California. In the main event, Philadelphia’s Kali Reis (17-7-1, 5 KOs) will make the first defense of her WBA junior welterweight title against Los Angeles-based Australian and former world titlist Diana Prazak (14-3, 9 KOs). In the co-feature, IBF junior welterweight titlist Mary McGee (27-3, 15 KOs), of Gary, Indiana, will make her second defense, against Victoria Bustos (21-6, 0 KOs), a former world titlist and the mandatory challenger from Argentina. The vacant WBO belt will also be at stake.
Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions announced that its card scheduled for Thursday in Los Mochis, Mexico, which was to stream on UFC Fight Pass, has been canceled due to Covid-19 issues. “Covid-19 is on the rise, and we needed to protect our fighters, as well as respect the local boxing commission’s restrictions,” RJJ Boxing CEO Keith Veltre said. “We fully expect to continue promoting shows again in Mexico after conditions there improve.”
The IBF held a purse bid on Tuesday for a junior bantamweight title eliminator between Mohammed Obbadi (22-1, 13 KOs), 27, a Morocco native fighting out of Italy, and former unified strawweight titlist Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (34-4-1, 24 KOs), 28, of Mexico, but nobody showed up to bid. The fight was meant to produce a mandatory challenger for titlist Jerwin Ancajas. The IBF likely will schedule a second purse bid. Rodriguez promoter Promociones del Pueblo had announced recently that he was headed to Japan to challenge WBO junior bantamweight titlist Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15 KOs) on Sept. 1 in Tokyo, but that apparently has fallen apart over travel restrictions due to Covid-19.
Main Events-promoted heavyweight Cassius Chaney (20-0, 14 KOs), 34, of New London, Connecticut, will take on Shawndell Winters in a fight slated to headline a card on Aug. 14 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The fight, a step up for Chaney, who turned pro in 2015, is his first scheduled 10-rounder. Chaney will be in his first fight with trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, who is best known for his work with former junior middleweight titlist Julian Williams. Winters (13-5, 12 KOs), 40, of Harvey, Illinois, has lost three in a row, a rut that began with a fifth-round knockout loss to former world titlist Joseph Parker in February 2020.
Manager Tim VanNewhouse announced he has signed amateur standout Thomas Wu, 21, of Arcadia, California. Wu, a welterweight, who is of Chinese and Vietnamese heritage, is a four-time amateur national champion with an 85-11 record and large social media presence. In 2018, he created the floating ball challenge on social media that garnered over 100 million impressions. He is trained by his father, Tommy Wu. “Aside from his incredible talent, he brings an outside ring presence that most fighters are striving for,” VanNewhouse said. “In the fight game we tend to get excited about the next big prospect and most of the time it’s too early to tell how far someone will go. However, I can’t help but to be enthusiastic about this kid. He has star-power looks, is charismatic and has all the ability I look for in a young aspiring champion. I’m thrilled to be working with his team.”
South Africa’s Andre Thysse, who challenged for a super middleweight world title and faced several name opponents, died on July 22 due to Covid-19. He was 52. In 2004, he traveled to Germany and lost a unanimous decision challenging then-WBC titlist Markus Beyer. Thysse (20-8, 12 KOs), who boxed professionally from 1999 to 2009, won the South African and Commonwealth super middleweight titles. Besides the title shot against Beyer, Thysse also lost to the other biggest name opponents he faced, each of whom won world titles: Mikkel Kessler, Lucian Bute, Sakio Bika and Juergen Braehmer.
Junior welterweight Yomar Alamo (19-0-1, 12 KOs), of Puerto Rico, will take on Mexico’s Adrian Yung (28-6-2, 22 KOs) in a 10-rounder that will headline the launch of the summer season of “Boxeo Telemundo” on Aug. 13 (Telemundo, 12 a.m. ET) at the Osceola Heritage Park Events Center in Kissimmee, Florida, All Star Boxing announced.
Show and tell
Roy Jones Jr. was in the midst of his fantastic run as light heavyweight champion when he defended against undefeated contender Julio Gonzalez at Staples Center in Los Angeles on an HBO PPV card Top Rank promoted. Top Rank put then-featherweight titlist Erik Morales in the co-feature against Korean challenger Injin Chi. As expected, Jones rolled to a one-sided decision over the game Gonzalez, who just could not deal with Jones’ speed. Morales and Chi went to war in a dramatically underrated slugfest that Morales won by unanimous decision.
I went to Los Angeles to cover the show for USA Today and came home with one of my all-time favorite posters in my vast collection. I love it because it’s so unusual. Top Rank did a version of the poster featuring Chi in the champion’s position next to Morales on the top of the poster in the main event slot with Jones-Gonzalez getting second billing. The poster is also in Korean. Why? It was used specifically to market Chi’s appearance on the show in Los Angeles’ Korean neighborhoods. Here’s the poster for the card that was 20 years ago on Wednesday. By the way, the Derrick Gainer-Juan Manuel Marquez bout advertised on the poster didn’t happen but the first welterweight title fight between Ricardo Mayorga and Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis did.
De La Hoya-Belfort photo: Chris Farina/Triller Fight Club
Joke fights for sure.
Eh if it’s on Triller it’s still a circus let’s be completely clear about this