Notebook: Dec. 23 mega card with AJ, Wilder bouts on DAZN PPV
Garcia, Roach battle for WBA junior lightweight title; BetUS show; new Barboza date; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Riyadh Season’s massive “Day of Reckoning” card on Dec. 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which will include former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua against Otto Wallin and former heavyweight titleholders Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker fighting in the co-feature, will be on DAZN PPV in the United States and United Kingdom, DAZN announced on Friday.
There will be additional broadcast partners announced but it’s a good bet that it will also be available on ESPN+ PPV in the U.S. and TNT Sports Box Office in the U.K.
The card will be part of a regular DAZN subscription in some markets. In the U.S. and Canada the price is $39.99, a much lower cost than usual for major pay-per-views, which cost between $74.99 and $84.99. In the U.K., the cost of the PPV is 19.99 GBP. According to DAZN, the cost in the other PPV markets is equal to $21.99 in local currency.
The card also features heavyweight Daniel Dubois vs. Jarrell Miller; WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol vs. Lyndon Arthur; lineal/IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia vs. Ellis Zorro; IBF heavyweight mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic vs. Mark DeMori; heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Agit Kabayel; and heavyweight Frank Sanchez vs. Junior Fa.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Riyadh Season is a valued partner of DAZN. Their incredible ability and determination to deliver top sporting events for fans in Saudi and around the world is unparalleled,” DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev said in a statement. “It is nothing short of an honor to have been chosen as their global broadcast partner for this historic fight night. Putting the fan and their desire for quality entertainment above all else unites us. DAZN’s unmatched ability to stream content in over 200 markets made us the obvious choice for their ambitions.”
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Garcia, Roach confident
Hector Luis Garcia outpointed Roger Gutierrez to win the WBA junior lightweight title in August 2022, but has yet to defend the belt
That is because in his only bout since, he moved up to lightweight for a career payday to challenge Gervonta Davis for his WBA “regular” lightweight title in January and got knocked out in the ninth round of a mildly competitive fight.
Now, Garcia is back at his more natural 130 pounds for a mandatory defense against Lamont Roach in the opening bout of the David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade Showtime PPV card on Saturday (8 p.m. ET) at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Garcia (16-1, 10 KOs), 32, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, claims that despite losing to Davis it was a learning experience and that it will make him better against Roach.
“I’m a world champ at 130, but I learned a hell of a lot at 135,” Garcia said this week through an interpreter. “From fighting at a bigger weight class to learning from Gervonta Davis, himself, I learned valuable lessons, and you’ll see them applied on Saturday night.
“I feel equally well at 130 and 135, but I’m the world champion at 130. It’s where I belong. It’s where I feel right at home. I am ready to show that I am the best at 130, that there is nobody better than me. I’m going to prove to everybody that I’m here to stay and that I can beat absolutely anybody that’s in my way.
“More than anything, I’m going to prove that what happened against Gervonta Davis was a fluke and it’s never going to happen again.”
Roach (23-1-1, 9 KOs), 28, of Washington, D.C., is getting his second title shot after dropping a competitive decision as a mandatory challenger to then-WBO titlist Jamel Herring in 2019. He has won four fights in a row since.
“This means everything to me. I put my whole life into this sport. It’s been blood, sweat and tears during this four-year journey since my last title shot,” Roach said. “I worked my way back up to the No. 1 spot like I rightfully deserve.
“The key to my recent success has been putting my foot on the gas and taking control of everything; just knowing that nobody is going to give anything to me so I have to go take it. You’ve got to beat the champ and I’m going to take the belt from Hector and show why I deserve to be champion. Garcia is a great fighter, but that’s when I perform my best.”
Benavidez-Andrade PPV lineup
Super middleweights: David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) vs. Demetrius Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs), 12 rounds, for Benavidez’s WBC interim title
Super middleweights: Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) vs. Jose Benavidez Jr. (28-2-1, 19 KOs), 10 rounds
Junior welterweights: Subriel Matias (19-1, 19 KOs) vs. Shohjahon Ergashev (23-0, 20 KOs), 12 rounds, for Matias’ IBF title
Junior lightweights: Hector Garcia (16-1, 10 KOs) vs. Lamont Roach (23-1-1, 9 KOs), 12 rounds, for Garcia’s WBA junior lightweight title
Preliminaries on the Showtime Sports YouTube channel/Showtime Boxing Facebook page (6 p.m. ET):
Junior welterweights: Sergey Lipinets (17-2-1, 13 KOs) vs. Michel Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs), 10 rounds
Junior middleweights: Vito Mielnicki Jr. (15-1, 10 KOs) vs. Alexis Salazar (25-5, 10 KOs), 10 rounds
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked four Saturday bouts: three from PBC’s Showtime PPV event in Las Vegas — David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade, Jermall Charlo-Jose Benavidez Jr. and Subriel Matias-Shohjahon Ergashev — and the Chantelle Cameron-Katie Taylor rematch from Dublin, Ireland. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from Las Vegas for Saturday’s PBC card on Showtime PPV (8 p.m. ET, $74.99): David Benavidez 167 pounds, Demetrius Andrade 167.6 (for Benavidez’s WBC interim super middleweight title); Jermall Charlo 166.5, Jose Benavidez Jr. 161.2 (Charlo was 3.4 pounds over the 163 contract limit and the camps worked out a financial deal for the fight to go forward); Subriel Matias 139.8, Shohjahon Ergashev 139.8 (for Matias’ IBF junior welterweight title); Hector Luis Garcia 129.4, Lamont Roach 129.6 (for Garcia’s WBA junior lightweight title); Sergey Lipinets 139.4, Michel Rivera 138.8; Vito Mielnicki Jr. 153.2, Alexis Salazar 152.8; Pablo Vicente 129.8, Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov 129.8 (WBC junior lightweight eliminator); Curmel Moton 128.6, Hunter Turbyfill 128; Alex Holley 146.2, Allen Medina 145; Israel Mercado 142.8, Wesley Rivers 139; Jabin Chollet 137, Jorge Perez 136.4; Daniel Blancas 167.2, Raiko Santana 166.4.
Weights from Dublin, Ireland, for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN (2 p.m. ET): Chantelle Cameron 139.5 pounds, Katie Taylor 139.6 (for Cameron’s women’s undisputed junior welterweight title); Gary Cully 134.5, Reece Mould 134.1; Paddy Donovan 146.6, Danny Ball 146.7; Thomas Carty 254.3, Dan Garber 220.5; Skye Nicolson 125.2, Lucy Wildheart 125.4; Zelfa Barrett 132.3, Costin Ion 132.3; Emmet Brennan 170.3, Jamie Morrissey, 169.7; John Cooney 129.6, Liam Gaynor 128.8; Giorgio Visioli 134.9, Lee Anthony Sibley 133.5.
Junior welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr., who signed with Golden Boy Promotions earlier this month, was due to have the first fight of his deal on the undercard of the return of junior welterweight star Ryan Garcia against Oscar Duarte on Dec. 2 (DAZN) at the Toyota Center in Houston. However, Barboza was recently ill and missed a week of training, so he has been moved to the undercard of Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s return at junior middleweight against Fredrick Lawson on Jan. 6 (DAZN) at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Golden Boy president Eric Gomez told Fight Freaks Unite. Barboza (28-0, 10 KOs), 31, of Los Angeles, will face an opponent to be determined in a 10-rounder.
Show and tell
Hall of Famers and all-time rivals Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales are among the greatest boxers ever from Mexico. They won titles in multiple weight classes and engaged in many thrilling fights, but they are best remembered for their legendary trilogy. Their first fight, which was to unify junior featherweight world titles, is one of the greatest fights in boxing history, an all-out slugfest of the highest order that resulted in a controversial split decision victory for Morales. A little over two years later they met in a hugely hyped rematch, this time for Morales’ WBC featherweight crown, and Barrera exacted revenge via close unanimous decision.
A trilogy battle was inevitable and they met for the third time 2½ years later in another much-anticipated HBO PPV fight, this time for Morales’ WBC junior lightweight title. I was ringside to cover the event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and it was another fantastic fight filled with skill and action. It delivered everything fans could have possibly wanted as Barrera won yet another extremely close fight, this one via majority decision (115-114, 115-113 and 114-114). How good was it? Round 11 was the round of the year and the unforgettable bout was the fight of the year. To many it is just as good as their first classic fight even though it doesn’t get that level of love from most. Fight No. 3 took place on Nov. 27, 2004 — 19 years ago on Monday. Here is an extraordinarily rare site duratran in my collection that originally hung in an MGM Grand light box during fight week.
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Photos: Garcia-Roach: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Cameron-Taylor: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Charlo-Benavidez Jr.: Ryan Hafey/PBC
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is this PPV gonna be an afternoon card in the US?
Boxing in 2023. Three mediocre heavyweight fights available on PPV!