Notebook: Eubank Jr. and Shields prominent as Sky Sports, Boxxer unveil plans
Valdez update; Whyte return scheduled; Fury back in training
When Matchroom Boxing, which promoted boxing events on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom for decades, left at the end of its contract in June to go exclusively with DAZN in the U.K. and Ireland, Sky quickly filled the void.
It made four-year deals with Top Rank and U.K. promoter Ben Shalom’s lesser-known Boxxer to provide boxing content. The Top Rank deal kicked off with fanfare right away with Sky televising all of Top Rank’s ESPN cards live, albeit in the middle of the night U.K. time since the events were taking place in the United States.
But on Wednesday, Sky and Boxxer unveiled part of their upcoming schedule that will compliment Top Rank’s busy fall.
Sky did make one Top Rank event that has been set for weeks official: undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) will have a homecoming defense on Dec. 18 at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, where he will face British mandatory challenger Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs) in a fight that will take place in prime time there and stream live on ESPN+ in the United States in the early evening.
The first Boxxer card of the new deal will take place Oct. 2 at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London, where the Wasserman Boxing-promoted British middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. (30-2, 22 KOs) will face Germany’s Sven Elbir (18-1, 14 KOs) in the main event in the first fight of a multi-fight deal Wasserman Boxing and Eubank have with Boxxer.
“It feels good to be back on Sky Sports and headlining another big show at the SSE Arena, Wembley,” Eubank said. “My opponent, Sven Elbir, is a good fighter but if he thinks he can stand in my way he’s wrong, and he will learn that the hard way. 2022 is going to be a massive year for me. The middleweight division is on notice. The takeover begins on Oct. 2.”
England-based Russian David Avanesyan (27-3-1, 15 KOs) will defend the European welterweight title for the fourth time against England’s Liam Taylor (23-1-1, 11 KOs) in the co-feature.
“A new era for Sky Sports Boxing starts on Oct. 2 and to kick things off properly we’ve put together a card that has everything,” Shalom said of the deal that calls for 14 events per year plus pay-per-view shows and one-night Boxxer Series tournaments. “Chris Eubank Jr. is on the verge of huge opportunities, but this is only his second fight under (trainer) Roy Jones Jr. Elbir could upset him here and steal those opportunities away for himself. Liam Taylor hasn’t lost a fight since 2015, he’s on career-best form and he knows he’s going to have to go to war with Avanesyan to take that European title off him.”
The second Boxxer event will be Oct. 16 at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England, where British heavyweight Hughie Fury (25-3, 14 KOs), a cousin of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, will face Germany’s Christian Hammer (26-7, 16 KOs). The card will also feature WBO women’s middleweight titlist Savannah Marshall (10-0, 8 KOs), of England, defending against Zambia’s Lolita Muzeya (16-0, 8 KOs) and popular Newcastle junior welterweight Lewis Ritson (21-2, 12 KOs) looking to bounce back from a June 12 knockout loss on Matchroom’s final Sky card.
Marshall’s appearance is part of a larger picture that will see her eventually face undisputed junior middleweight champion (and former undisputed middleweight champion) Claressa Shields, who with promoter Salita Promotions, has done a two-fight deal with Boxxer and Sky.
Mark Taffet, Shields’ manager, told Fight Freaks Unite that Shields (11-0, 2 KOs), of Flint, Michigan, will have the first fight of the deal in the U.K. on a date to be determined in December or January.
First, Shields will have her second MMA fight for the PFL against Abigail Montes on Oct. 27 at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Then Shields will her turn attention back to boxing for the fight on Sky. And as long as Marshall and Shields win their upcoming bouts, Taffet said they will meet in a grudge match.
Shields went 77-1 as an amateur and won two Olympic gold medals. Her lone loss was to Marshall in 2012.
“We made a deal in principle with Sky and Boxxer late (Tuesday) night for Claressa to fight in the U.K. in December, maybe January, and then hopefully in the spring have a fight with Savannah Marshall as long as they both win,” Taffet said. “There are some details to be worked out but we’re in agreement. That’s the plan for two fights.
“A fight with Savannah Marshall is right at the top of the list of priorities for Claressa. This deal will allow us to make the Marshall fight a reality and we’re thrilled to be working with Sky and Boxxer.”
Taffet said Salita Promotions would negotiate a U.S. TV rights deal for Shields’ upcoming bouts.
Also coming to Sky on a date to be determined will be the pro debut of 2020 British Olympian Caroline Dubois, the lightweight sister of heavyweight up-and-comer Daniel Dubois, in her professional debut.
Oscar Valdez update
Two days after WBC junior titlist Oscar Valdez had a Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency random drug test come back positive for the stimulant Phentermine, Valdez, manager Frank Espinoza, Valdez attorney Pat English, Top Rank attorney Jeremy Koegel, representatives from the WBC and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Athletic Commission and others spent approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes on a video conference call Wednesday discussing the fallout from the positive test.
Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs), a former featherweight titleholder, is due to make his first 130-pound defense against Brazil’s Robson Conceicao (16-0, 8 KOs) on Sept. 10 at the AVA Amphitheater at Casino Del Sol — whose combat sports events are overseen by the tribal commission — in Tucson, Arizona, where Mexico’s Valdez grew up. The fight is scheduled to be the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card.
A decision on whether Valdez will be allowed to fight and/or keep his world title will be made in the next couple of days, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and others at the company told Fight Freaks Unite.
Arum, who was not on the call but received a report on the details of it, said he was confident the fight will be allowed to take place.
“The commission will be OK because they signed off 10 years ago on the fact that they would follow (World Anti-Doping Association rules),” Arum said.
Valdez’s team argues that he had trace amounts in his system due to drinking herbal tea and that because Phentermine is an allowable substance out of competition, per WADA rules, Valdez did not commit a doping violation. Phentermine is only banned by WADA in competition, which is defined by WADA as being from 11:59 p.m. the day before competition through the post-fight sample collection.
VADA, however, which was contacted to conduct testing but does not adjudicate positive results, does not distinguish between whether a substance was found in or out of competition. So, per VADA, Valdez having Phentermine in his system is considered a violation.
Whyte returns
England’s Dillian Whyte has his next date. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced on Wednesday that the WBC interim heavyweight titlist will return on Oct. 30 to headline a DAZN card at the O2 Arena in London.
“Save the date,” Hearn wrote on social media. “He’s back!!! After more than two years away from U.K. fans on home soil, Dillian Whyte is back at The O2 October 30. Get ready for a huge show in London.”
No opponent was announced, but the leading candidate is Jermaine Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs), of Saginaw, Michigan, who has been idle since October 2019, mainly because he came down with Covid-19, which forced a fight with fellow unbeaten American Stephan Shaw scheduled to headline a Ring City USA card on April 22 to be canceled.
In his last fight, Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) knocked out Alexander Povetkin in the fourth round of a one-sided fight in March to avenge a fifth-round upset KO loss to him in his previous bout in August 2020.
Quick hits
The unification fight between WBO women’s junior lightweight titlist Mikaela Mayer (15-0, 5 KOs), 30, of Los Angeles and IBF counterpart Maiva Hamadouche (22-1, 18 KOs), 31, of France, will headline an ESPN+ card this fall, probably the first week of November, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told Fight Freaks Unite. “We’re looking for a date and place, but that will probably be in that first week in November, on a Friday or a Saturday.” Arum said the fight will be the main event. “Of course, it will be the main event. We don’t discriminate because of gender. She will be the main event,” Arum said.
Arum also said that heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is back in training at home in England and will soon return to Las Vegas to finish his camp as he prepares for his rescheduled third fight with former titlist Deontay Wilder on Oct. 9 (ESPN-Fox PPV) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight was postponed from July 24 after Fury came down with Covid-19. “I talked to Tyson and he’s training well,” Arum said. “His (newborn) baby (daughter) is doing well (after some medial issues following her birth), thank God. He sounded great. He’ll be back in the States to train on Sept. 18.”
Kazuto Ioka outpointed Francisco Rodriguez Jr. to retain his WBO junior bantamweight title on Wednesday at the Ota-City Gymnasium in Tokyo, where no spectators were permitted because of the coronavirus pandemic. All three judges scored the fight 116-112 as Ioka (27-2, 15 KOs), 32, of Japan, who has won titles in four divisions from strawweight to junior bantamweight, retained his 115-pound title for the third time. There was plenty of back and forth in the competitive fight with mandatory challenger and former unified strawweight titlist Rodriguez Jr. (34-5-1, 24 KOs), 29, of Mexico, getting off to a strong start in the first several rounds before his pace slowed and the quicker Ioka gained control, including cutting Rodriguez over the left eye in the late rounds. After the fight, Ioka called out IBF titlist Jerwin Ancajas for a unification bout.
Show and tell
Wednesday’s was the great Erik Morales’ 45th birthday, so I’m celebrating one of his generation’s best and most exciting fighters. “El Terrible” won world titles in four divisions — junior featherweight, featherweight, junior lightweight and junior welterweight — and defeated many top fighters: Marco Antonio Barrera in their first epic battle, a prime Manny Pacquiao in the first of three memorable fights, Carlos Hernandez, Jesus Chavez, Guty Espadas Jr. (twice), Paulie Ayala, In Jin Chi, Kevin Kelley, Wayne McCullough, Junior Jones and Daniel Zaragoza. On Sept. 6, 1997 — 24 years ago next week — Morales knocked out fellow Hall of Famer Zaragoza in the 11th round to win his first world title at junior featherweight and sent him into retirement. Here is a rare program from that card in my collection. A young Floyd Mayweather is also featured in the program as he fought his 10th pro bout on the undercard and knocked out Louie Leija in the second round.
Jones and Eubank photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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I'm not an athlete and still don't expect banned substances to be in the regulated food and drink i intake. Whenever anyone gets caught with trace amounts of drugs they give an excuse and say they are sorry but they are really just sorry they got caught. The Fury vs Wilder fight has to get done and finally resolved asap.
Valdez being caught with Phentermine in his system is very similar to Billy Joe Saunders being caught with Oxilofrine in his system a couple of years ago.
The amount of Oxilofrine in Saunders' system was okay with WADA levels but not with VADA levels. As a result the WBO cancelled his fight with Andrade and stripped Saunders of his WBO 160lb title.
Similarly WADA would allow Valdez to use Phentermine before a fight whereas VADA does not.
As far as I'm concerned VADA are in the right here, as it was with Saunders, especially as Valdez and Saunders signed VADA contracts - Valdez was under WBC CBP regulations.
Assuming that the B-sample confirms the A-sample (if Valdez asks for it to be analysed) then imo the WBC should be punishing Valdez in-line with how the WBO punished Saunders.
Some may say Valdez was only caught with a stimulant - however when a fighter is caught taking a drug he shouldn't be using it is most likely not the first time they have used the drug and it says something about their attitude to taking drugs and the connections they have in that regard. Which means the fighter may be taking other drugs at other times that are also banned. The WBC, and Bob Arum, will be well aware of this and so imo boxing fans should be watching what the WBC do, or don't do, in this case closely as it says a lot about the WBC's real attitude towards drug cheats in boxing.