Notebook: Ennis-Norman unification talks crater; they'll face lesser foes
Martinez, Ioka set for sequel of FOY candidate; Fundora-Crawford ordered; Madrimov looks to future; heavyweight Sirenko lands at Queensberry; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Who’s excited for a rematch between IBF welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis and mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian, who has no serious accomplishment and who Ennis already shut out 120-108 on all three scorecards for the vacant interim belt in January 2023?
And how about WBO titlist Brian Norman Jr. defending against Derrieck Cuevas?
Well, those bouts are seemingly next — one day apart in November — after talks for an Ennis-Norman unification bout cratered this week over money, although Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said Ennis would consider vacating the title given how disgusted they are about the IBF ordering him to fight Chukhadzhian again in a pointless rematch.
There was a window for Ennis to sign for a unification fight that would have trumped the rematch for his next bout under IBF rules, but that window has closed without a deal. The IBF deadline for the free negotiation period was Friday but even before that Chukhadzhian’s team told the IBF it no longer wanted to negotiate and asked for the purse bid to be scheduled, as is allowed under the rules.
Therefore, the IBF this week set the purse bid for Sept. 3 at IBF headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey, as well as by video conference. The split if the bid happens is 65-35 in Ennis’ favor.
Once the purse bid was scheduled, that ended Ennis’ ability to sign for a unification fight to go before the mandatory. That means Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs), 27, must face Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs), 28, of Ukraine, next in his second title defense if he wants to maintain the belt.
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Ennis and Chukhadzhian could make a deal until 15 minutes before the purse bids are unsealed but he has no other option for his next title defense.
Hearn said he worked hard to finalize a unification bout with Norman and that he also made an offer to WBA titlist Eimantas Stanionis that went nowhere. Hearn said WBC titlist Mario Barrios is working on another fight, presumably a much-discussed defense against faded legend Manny Pacquiao.
Hearn is planning for Ennis to next headline a Nov. 9 card on DAZN in his hometown of Philadelphia, where he made his first defense in a fifth-round knockout of David Avanesyan on July 13 at the Wells Fargo Center. Ennis drew a boisterous crowd of 14,119, the largest attendance for a boxing event in Philadelphia since 14,930 turned out to the Spectrum in 1978 for Marvin Hagler’s decision win over Bennie Briscoe in a fight two years before Hagler won the undisputed middleweight championship.
Hearn and Norman promoter Top Rank were in discussions for a unification fight but ultimately no deal was reached despite Hearn saying he made multiple seven-figure offers.
Instead, Georgia native Norman (26-0, 20 KOs), 23, will move on. He will make his first defense against Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs), 29, of Puerto Rico, who has won four fights in a row, each by knockout. They will meet Nov. 8 (ESPN) on the Keyshawn Davis-Gustavo Lemos undercard in Davis’ hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told Fight Freaks Unite.
Hearn lamented the turn of events in angry comments made to his Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel on Thursday.
“It’s frustrating because you hear everything Brian Norman Sr., his dad, is saying (about wanting the fight) and none of it really makes sense,” Hearn said. “This is a really simple situation. The first offer that was made to Brian Norman was nicely over a million dollars. They felt that was not insulting but nowhere near (what they wanted). We made two more offers, quarter of a million dollars (more) every time, to levels that Brian Norman will never see. And it’s like we keep getting told we’re close and we go back and make another offer and we’re told by his team that we’re actually not that close. And I start to think, Brian Norman do you want this fight or are you clout chasing?
“Who is Brian Norman? I know Brian Norman’s a good fighter, but no one knows who Brian Norman is. We’re giving you a bucket load of money and an opportunity for you to unify the division against in my opinion one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and you say ‘Boots’ is overrated. You say he’s not the boogie man. Then why wouldn’t you take this bucket load of money to prove you’re the best welterweight in the world? We’ve gone back three times now with more money to a point where, all due respect to Brian Norman, he shouldn’t be making this kind of money.”
That has left Hearn extremely frustrated that Ennis, Matchroom and DAZN are stuck with a Chukhadzhian rematch.
“Now we’re in a situation where the IBF, which is absolutely ridiculous, has ordered Chukhadzhian to fight the rematch,” Hearn said. “He’s a good fighter. ‘Boots’ has already beaten him. The IBF’s got to stop with this. They’re ruining boxing by ordering fights people don’t want to see, especially when he’s already beaten him. So, we may vacate the belt and we may do something different. We might fight Chukhadzhian and get it out of the way.
“Brian Norman has missed the boat and now he’s got to go fight somebody for peanuts that nobody has ever heard of. ‘Boots’ is alright. He’s earning a fortune. Brian Norman had a chance to prove himself as a superstar and they dropped the ball.”
The Norman side said they were interested in the Ennis fight but the money simply was not enough to make it worth their while to fight on another promoter’s platform and in Philadelphia as a decided underdog.
“(Matchroom Boxing has) made millions and millions and millions in Saudi Arabia. We’re $500,000 apart,” Moretti said. “If you really want to invest in ‘Boots’ like you say, because he’s the second coming of Sugar Ray Robinson, and you want Norman’s title and unification, and us to fight him in Philly, add a little to that bucket load and we’ll be on the first plane there. Show him some real brotherly love.”
Martinez-Ioka rematch set
Unified junior bantamweight titlist Fernando Martinez and former titleholder Kazuto Ioka will meet in an immediate rematch on Dec. 31, and once again in Tokyo, Martinez and his promoter, former two-division world titlist Marcos Maidana of Chino Promotions, announced on Friday.
New Year’s Eve is a traditional date in Japan for championship boxing and it will be the 13th time in his 15-year career (and seventh year in a row) that Ioka will fight on that date.
The fight will be a sequel to a bona fide fight of the year contender in which Martinez, who was making his third IBF title defense, outpointed Ioka, who was making his second WBA defense, on July 7 to unify the 115-pound belts in a sensational all-action battle that Martinez won 117-111, 116-112 and an outlandish 120-108.
They combined to land nearly 650 punches of the more than 2,000 they combined to throw, but in the end if it was the younger, fresher Martinez who notched the big-time road victory. Ioka (31-3-1, 16 KOs), 35, a four-division titleholder from Japan, put forth a big effort but he could not keep pace with the more aggressive Martinez (17-0, 9 KOs), 33, of Argentina, who took control out of the gate and maintained his lead all the way with nonstop pressure.
WBO orders Fundora-Crawford
When Terence Crawford narrowly outpointed Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3 the headline was that he won the WBA junior middleweight title and claimed a belt in a fourth division in the main event of the Riyadh Season card in Los Angeles.
The subhead, if you will, was that he also claimed the vacant WBO interim belt that he requested a sanction for while unified WBC/WBO titlist Sebastian Fundora is out until at least November recovering from injuries in his title victory over Tim Tszyu in March.
But by virtue of Crawford claiming the WBO interim title it also meant that soon after the win the organization would formally order Fundora and Crawford to meet in a mandatory fight and, as expected, that is what happened this week.
It sent a letter to their representatives giving the camps 30 days to negotiate a deal or the fight will go to a purse bid to determine promotional rights. Minimum bid is $200,000, but if it actually does go to a purse bid any offer would figure to be worth many millions.
While Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) and his team have shown interest in fighting Crawford when he returns late this year (at the earliest), it remains to be seen what Crawford will do.
Crawford has been outspoken about his desire to move up two more weight classes to challenge unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, but he has no serious interest in the bout.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is now aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh, who has a massive budget to go after any fight he wants. So even if Alvarez wins his Sept. 14 bout against Edgar Berlanga, as expected, and still shows no interest in facing Crawford, Alalshikh can go after any opponent Crawford is interested in facing, be it Fundora for what would be a three-belt unification fight or other top names in the division, including Vergil Ortiz Jr. or Tszyu if he wins his return in an IBF title challenge against Bakhram Murtazaliev on Oct. 19.
Madrimov’s hopes
Israil Madrimov, who lost the WBA junior middleweight title in his first defense by close unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in the main event of a Riyadh Season card on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, is anxious for another chance to win a world title.
“I said after the fight that I thought I did enough to keep my world championship belt,” Madrimov said. “Right now, I’m ready for a rematch with Crawford to regain my title or to challenge any of the other junior middleweight champions.”
Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs), 29, an Uzbekistan native fighting out of Indio, California, has virtually no chance of getting a rematch with Crawford but the 154-pound division is strong with fighters such as WBC/WBO titlist Sebastian Fundora, IBF titlist Bakhram Murtazaliev, WBC interim titlist Vergil Ortiz Jr., and contenders such as Tim Tszyu and Serheii Bohachuk.
“A rematch with Terence Crawford is my goal, but I’m not sure he is interested right now,” said Madrimov, who gave Crawford perhaps his toughest fight in a 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 loss. “Our fight still has left many questions unanswered. I am sure that one day if he is willing, we will fight again.
“Fundora is a unified world champion; Murtazaliev holds a title. I want to fight the best and prove again that I deserve to be a champion. I was a world champion and I deserved to be a world champion after Aug. 3. Now my main goal is to regain that status.”
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 two fights: the Diego Pacheco-Maciej Sulecki super middleweight bout that headlines the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday night (DAZN) in Carson, California, and undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue’s defense against TJ Doheny on Tuesday (ESPN+) in Tokyo. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Warren signs heavyweight hopeful
Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren announced the signing of 6-foot-4, 250-pound Ukrainian heavyweight Vladyslav Sirenko (21-0, 18 KOs).
Sirenko, 29, a pro since 2017, who signed with manager Keith Connolly in October 2022, did not fight in 2022 or 2023 due to the war in his country and a biceps injury. But he has boxed twice so far in this year, scoring knockout wins on small shows in Nashville. He is scheduled to fight there again on Oct. 1 and then likely will box on a Queensberry card in December. In 2021, he notched back-to-back knockouts against his most notable opponents in Aleksandr Ustinov and Andrii Rudenko.
“I’m excited for the future and working with Queensberry Promotions,” Sirenko said. “I’m looking forward to being involved in some of the biggest fights in the heavyweight division over the next few years and I feel like Frank and George Warren, alongside my manager Keith Connolly, can make that happen for me.
“My goal is to put my name in the history books of boxing and the only way I achieve that is being involved in and winning the big fights. The heavyweight division is back to being the focus of the boxing world and I plan on making a name for myself over the next few years.”
Warren, who has been signing more and more fighters from outside the United Kingdom, feels this signing adds depth to his heavyweight roster.
“He knows he is in very good company with the number and quality of top heavyweights we have here at Queensberry,” said Warren, who also promotes Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois, Zhilei Zhang, Joe Joyce, Moses Itauma and others. “Vladyslav is clearly an emerging talent who will quickly make himself very well known in the division, especially given his exceptional KO ratio. He is at the point now where he wants to be challenged further and put in the biggest fights, which is what we are able to deliver for him.”
Diego Pacheco interview
If you missed the newest podcast episode that includes my interview with rising super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco, we broke it out separately and you can listen to it here before he fights Maciej Sulecki in the Matchroom Boxing headliner on DAZN on Saturday. Give it a listen, a review, and also subscribe to get an alert when the next episode is available. New shows every Thursday and Sunday night.
Quick hits
Weights from Carson, California, for the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday (DAZN, 7:30 p.m. ET): Diego Pacheco 168, Maciej Sulecki 167.4; Eduardo Nunez 133, Miguel Marriaga 131.8; Arturo Cardenas 121.2, Jesus Arechiga 122; Cheavon Clarke 199.8, Efetobor Apochi 199.2; Adelaida Ruiz 113.6, Ginny Fuchs 114.4 (for Ruiz’s WBC interim women’s junior bantamweight title); Fabian Rojo 145.8, Alejandro Frias 146.4; Criztec Bazaldua 140, Kyle Erwin 140.8; Alexander Gueche 115.6, David Vargas 116.
Featherweight contender Ruben Villa (22-2, 7 KOs), 27, a southpaw from Salinas, California, was recently released from his promotional deal with Top Rank, a source with knowledge of the move told Fight Freaks Unite. Top Rank cut him in the wake of his 10-round upset decision loss to unheralded Sulaiman Segawa on July 13. The loss ended Villa’s four-fight winning streak following a highly competitive decision loss to Emanuel Navarrete for the vacant WBO featherweight belt in 2020. Villa’s biggest win was when a decision over Luis Alberto Lopez in 2019 before Lopez went on to have a lengthy title reign.
Matchroom Boxing announced a new site for a re-worked card on Sept. 28 (DAZN) that will now be headlined by a 10-rounder between heavyweight up-and-comer Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs), 25, of England, and Andrii Rudenko (36-7, 22 KOs), 40, of Ukraine, and take place at the Copper Box Arena in London. Dalton Smith and Jon Fernandez were due to fight for the vacant European junior welterweight title in the main event on that date in Smith’s hometown of Sheffield, England, with Fisher-Rudenko on the undercard. But when Smith got hurt, Matchroom changed sites and elevated Fisher-Rudenko. The card will also include WBO women’s lightweight titlist Rhiannon Dixon (10-0, 1 KOs), 29, of England, making her first defense against two-division titlist Terri Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs), 27, of England. They were also initially on the Smith-Fernandez undercard.
Two-time WBC junior bantamweight titlist Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (57-6-1, 46 KOs), 37, a Thai southpaw, who owns two wins over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and has split two fights with Juan Francisco Estrada, scored two knockdowns in the second round en route to a six-round decision over novice countryman Wuttichai Yurachai (1-2, 0 KOs), 30, in bantamweight bout Friday in Bangkok, Thailand. Sor Rungvisai won 59-54 on all three scorecards to notch his seventh win in a row over a low-level opponent since Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez stopped him in the eighth round to retain the WBC junior bantamweight title in June 2022.
Former bantamweight and unified junior featherweight titlist Marlon Tapales (38-4, 20 KOs), 32, a southpaw from the Philippines, will seek his second win in a row since Naoya Inoue knocked him out in the 10th-round of a one-sided fight to unify the four junior featherweight titles and become the undisputed champion in December. Tapales, who returned for a first-round KO win over Nattapong Jankaew in the Philippines in May, will next face Saurabh Kumar (11-1-1, 6 KOs), 28, of India, who is taking a huge step up in opposition, in a 10-rounder on Sept. 7 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Former unified junior flyweight titlist Hiroto Kyoguchi (18-2, 12 KOs), 30, of Japan, and Vince Paras (21-2-1, 15 KOs), 25, of the Philippines, will meet for the third time to break their 1-1 tie in a 10-round flyweight bout on Oct. 13 at the Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Japan. Paras upset Kyoguchi via 10-round decision in their rematch in May in South Korea. They met for the first time in 2018 and Kyoguchi rose from a knockdown to win a lopsided decision in an IBF strawweight title defense. Kyoguchi is 2-1 since Kenshiro Teraji stopped him in the seventh round of a junior flyweight unification fight in November 2022.
Show and tell
If there was a Mount Rushmore of boxing trainers Angelo Dundee would be on it. The legendary Hall of Fame corner man with a brilliant boxing mind worked with numerous world champions, most notably Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard for most of their careers. There were plenty more too, including Carmen Basilio (his first champion), George Foreman (when he regained the heavyweight title), Jimmy Ellis, Luis Rodriguez, Sugar Ramos, Ralph Dupas and Willie Pastrano. When I first started covering boxing in 2000, Angelo could not have been nicer to me. First, he wrote me a letter at USA Today (which I still have, obviously) basically welcoming me to the boxing beat. He was still working with fighters here and there but more or less in retirement, but he included his phone number and address and said to call him if I ever needed anything. I took him up on that a few times.
Eventually, I met him several times because either he was working with a fighter I was covering or because he had been hired to help spread the word about a pay-per-view. He was a pleasure to be around and talk boxing with. One time he kissed me in the media center in the MGM Grand. I think it was because he liked an article he had read that I had written about one of the fighters he was working with. He was born on Aug. 30, 1921 and would have turned 103 on Friday. Here is a very limited autograph card in my collection from the 2010 Ringside Round 1 set for which he signed pieces of a fight-worn corner jacket from one of the Ali-Henry Cooper bouts.
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Photos: Ennis-Chukhadzhian: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Martinez-Ioka: Naoki Fukuda; Crawford and Madrimov: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Pacheco-Sulecki: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing
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Yo Dan, I’m seein Coppinger takin a few questions on his site and I remember when you went independent you said maybe a chat format could be constructed…any chance that’s still a possibility. Those Friday chats were 🔥…if so it’d be worthy of a Pay The Man Shirley!!🥊🥊🥊
Don’t forget the chat going into overtime!
I once didn’t get Freak status in the chat. About two weeks later Dan and SRL were having dinner at the same hotel I was staying at for the Froch Bute fight outside of Nottingham England when they were calling the fight. Got pics with both. He did then give me Freak status.