Notebook: Despite pressure, WBA will sanction fight between Russia's Bivol, Canelo

154 division stays in spotlight with Lubin-Fundora card; Warrington has jaw surgery; Quick hits; Show and tell

Mar 28, 2022

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Despite pressure, most notably from former unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, of Ukraine, the WBA announced on Monday that it will indeed sanction WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol’s fight with Canelo Alvarez on May 7 (DAZN PPV) at T-Mobile in Las Vegas.

Klitschko has called for the WBA to refuse to sanction it because Bivol is from Russia and he, like many, believes all elements of Russian society should be ostracized due to the unprovoked Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

The WBA rejected that position, and president Gilberto Mendoza issued a statement on the situation addressed to “friends, colleagues and boxing fans worldwide.”

“Like all compassionate people who believe in democracy and living peacefully, we at the WBA are heartbroken by the senseless loss of life in Ukraine,” Mendoza wrote. “Seeing innocent Ukrainians, particularly women and children, murdered makes us sad and leaves us feeling somewhat helpless. We’re still beyond proud to watch several of boxing’s bravest current and former champions — Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko, Oleksandr Usyk, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Viktor Postol — fight for their lives and the future of their families and their country.

“We also understand and respect the position of Wladimir Klitschko, one of our longtime champions, who has asked that we at the WBA, along with the entire boxing world, avoid sanctioning title fights involving Russian boxers while this brutal war continues. Mr. Klitschko specifically called for us to not sanction the upcoming light heavyweight bout between Russia’s Dmitry Bivol and Mexico’s Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. After careful consideration, we have decided that it would be unfair to both Mr. Bivol and Mr. Alvarez to not sanction their 12-round bout as a WBA title fight. We feel we would unfairly punish Mr. Bivol and Mr. Alvarez by boycotting their fight.

“Mr. Bivol does not support the invasion and has been an exemplary champion throughout his long run as a WBA light heavyweight champion, both in and out of the ring. As for Mr. Alvarez, he made a significant career decision before the war began, believing that if he returned to the light heavyweight division for their May 7th bout, he would be afforded the opportunity to win the WBA light heavyweight belt. We feel that denying Mr. Alvarez that opportunity due to a war that has nothing to do with him would be the wrong thing to do.

“Lastly, we will continue to stand with all the bodies by not sanctioning WBA bouts in Russia for the duration of the war in Ukraine, which we hope and pray ends as soon as possible.”

Warrington update

Although Josh Warrington dominated his rematch with Kiko Martinez on Saturday and knocked him out in the seventh round to reclaim the IBF featherweight title he vacated last year, he did not escape unscathed.

Warrington (31-1-1, 8 KOs), 31, suffered a broken jaw and a broken left hand in front of a boisterous hometown crowd at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England.

“I had planned on eating a cheeseburger and bread & butter pudding on Sunday after the fight. Not happening for a few weeks now with me broken jaw,” Warrington posted on social media, along with a photo of him in the hospital. “Only a jaw though. That wasn’t going to stop me winning last night! My operation was a success (Sunday) morning and I’m overwhelmed with the support last night. You really are the best fans in the world.”

Warrington went on to thank the doctors who treated him.

Martinez (43-11-2, 30 KOs), 36, of Spain, who showed enormous heart in his own right in his first defense before the referee halted the fight with Warrington unloading on him, needed a numerous stitches to close cuts around his eyes.

Lubin-Fundora highlights 154-pound card

Showtime featured Australian junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu’s dominating American debut against Terrell Gausha in a decision win on Saturday night and it also will air the rematch for the undisputed 154-pound title between three-belt titlist Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano on May 14.

In between, Showtime has another helping of junior middleweight action on April 9 (10 p.m. ET) at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

It will serve up a junior middleweight tripleheader headlined by Erickson Lubin and Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora squaring off for the vacant WBC interim belt.

Lubin (24-1, 17 KOs), 26, of Orlando, Florida, has won six fights in a row since a first-round knockout loss challenging Charlo for his title in 2017. During the stretch Lubin has knocked out former unified titlist Jeison Rosario in the sixth round in his most recent bout in June and also outpointed Gausha in the fight before that.

“This will separate me from all of the contenders I’ve been beating,” Lubin said of a win over Fundora. “I’ve been doing the champion’s job taking out all the contenders, so there’s no doubt in my mind that I will be running the division really soon.

“I have a really tall fighter in front of me in Sebastian Fundora, but I know how to make adjustments. We’ve brought in the right sparring and have prepared exactly how we’re supposed to.”

The 6-foot-5 Fundora (18-0-1, 12 KOs), 24, of Coachella, California, has not beaten the level of opposition as Lubin but he outpointed Sergio Garcia in his last fight in December and has beaten other fringe contenders.

“We've been working extremely hard during this camp to be 100 percent coming into battle,” Fundora said. “We’re prepared for any circumstances that should arise and we’re expecting a very professional and well prepared Lubin on April 9, nothing less. Our hard work and laser focus will lead us to victory in this fight. This is my chance to show everyone the first steps of what it means to be a champion.”

The other bouts on the card, both 10-rounders, are former junior middleweight world titlist Tony Harrison (28-3-1, 21 KOs), 31, of Detroit, against Garcia (33-1, 14 KOs), 29, of Spain, in the co-feature and Kevin Salgado (14-0, 9 KOs), 24, of Mexico, versus Bryant Perrella (17-3-1, 14 KOs), 32, of Fort Myers, Florida, in the opener.

Quick hits

Showtime announced it will air a three-part “All Access: Spence vs. Ugas” series as it goes behind the scenes for the build up to the three-belt welterweight unification bout between Errol Spence Jr. and Yordenis Ugas, who meet on Showtime PPV on April 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The first episode debuts on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. The second episode debuts April 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET. Episode 3, the post-fight epilogue show, debuts April 23. Showtime said that “filming is underway in Dallas, revealing a surprising lifestyle change Spence has made as he prepares for the fight with longtime trainer Derrick James. Filming in Las Vegas has also begun, where Ugas is in training camp under renowned coach Ismael Salas.”

WBC strawweight titlist Panya Pradabsri (37-1, 23 KOs), 30, weighed the division limit 105 pounds at Monday’s weigh-in and former titlist Wanheng Menayothin (55-1, 19 KOs), 36, was 104.5 pounds ahead of their rematch on Tuesday at city hall in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand, the home country of both fighters. Pradabsri narrowly outpointed Menayothin in November 2020 to end his long title reign. He held the 105-pound belt from 2014 to 2021 and made 14 successful defenses before Pradabsri notched the upset.

Argentina’s Gustavo Lemos (28-0, 18 KOs), 26, crushed former featherweight titlist Lee Selby (28-4, 9 KOs), 35, of Wales, in a fifth-round knockout win on Saturday at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina in an IBF lightweight title eliminator. Lemos dropped Selby in the fourth round and twice more in the fifth round for his biggest win, which made him one of the mandatory challengers for unified champion George Kambosos Jr. Selby lost his second fight in a row, having dropped an eliminator by split decision to Kambosos in October 2020.

Istvan Szili (26-2-2, 14 KOs), 39, of Hungary, won a majority decision over former middleweight and super middleweight titlist Felix Sturm (42-6-3, 18 KOs), 43, of Germany, on Saturday in Dortmund, Germany, in an upset. Szili won 115-113 and 116-111 and one judge had it 114-114. Sturm dropped to 2-1 in his comeback since coming out of retirement in 2020.

Show and tell

After a prime Sugar Ray Leonard made fellow legend Roberto Duran quit during the eighth round of their famed “no mas” rematch to regain the WBC welterweight title, Leonard returned to action four months later to defend the title against Larry Bonds in an HBO-televised main event before about 21,000 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Leonard took on Bonds, a southpaw, having already signed to move up one weight class to challenge Ayub Kalule, also a southpaw, for his junior middleweight title a few months later. Leonard dominated, dropping Bonds in the fourth round and in the 10th round before stopping him later in the 10th. The fight was on March 28, 1981 — 41 years ago on Monday. Here is a mint thin cardboard site poster in my collection.

Alvarez-Bivol photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Warrington photo: Josh Warrington Instagram

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