Notebook: Fulton defends belts vs. Roman, but dreams of undisputed title fight

Davis-Romero PPV a success; Robert Garcia to train Joshua; Cordina gets title shot vs. Ogawa; Broner and Danny Garcia comebacks; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jun 03, 2022

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: If you have upgraded to a paid subscription, thank you! If you have not, please consider doing so to receive the most content. A paid subscription is also your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism.

Like every professional fighter, Stephen Fulton Jr. dreamed of winning a world title, but it did not stop there. He also harbors goals of becoming an undisputed champion and then moving up in weight to try to do it again.

So, after Fulton handily outpointed Angelo Leo to take his WBO junior featherweight title in January 2021, he was hardly satisfied, and he did not want a soft touch for his first defense or a victory lap kind of fight.

Fulton wanted to unify 122-pound titles immediately, and he got his wish in November. That is when he edged Brandon Figueroa by majority decision in a fight of the year candidate to take his WBC 122-pound title.

“To become a world champion, sometimes that be it for certain guys. That wasn’t my ultimate goal,” Fulton told Fight Freaks Unite on Thursday. “My ultimate goal was to become undisputed and then go on up (to featherweight) and do the same thing.”

Before he can press the issue on an undisputed title fight, however, he will face former unified titlist Danny Roman in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader on Saturday (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at The Armory in Minneapolis.

Again, Fulton did not want an easy opponent, and Roman is anything but. Since losing an eight-round decision in 2013, Roman has lost only once, and that was a disputed split decision that cost him his WBA and IBF title belts against Murodjon Akhmadaliev in January 2020. Roman has won two fights in a row since and is universally considered one of the top contenders in the division.

As long as Fulton (20-0, 8 KOs), 27, of Philadelphia, was not able to get an undisputed fight with Akhmadaliev right away, Roman fit the bill as the sort of quality challenger he wanted to face.

“His accolades, his style, his record, everything,” Fulton said of the reasons he wanted to fight Roman. “He’s a durable fighter. He’s a great fighter.”

Of course, Fulton’s performance against Roman will be measured against the one Akhmadaliev had against him. If Fulton beats Roman, he said he will press for that undisputed title fight.

“I know it’s not easy to make,” said Fulton, who is with PBC and fights on Showtime while Akhmadaliev is with Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn and fights on DAZN. “But I feel like we can make that happen. I feel like everybody can put their pride and whatever else aside to make an undisputed (championship) fight happen.”

Fulton said he has already told his team that is what he wants next, assuming all goes well against Roman (29-3-1, 10 KOs), 31, of Los Angeles. Fulton and Akhmadaliev (10-0, 7 KOs), 27, a southpaw from Uzbekistan, will be on the same schedule as he is set to make a mandatory defense against Ronny Rios on June 25 in San Antonio.

“I feel like that’s the fight I want next,” said Fulton, whose previous four opponents were all undefeated. “I don’t know if he wants it, but that’s the fight I will want next once I get past (Roman).”

Roman said Fulton should not look ahead and that he is ready to start a second title reign.

“When I lost my titles to MJ there were politics involved,” Roman said without elaborating. “But that’s boxing and now I’m focused on who’s in front of me now and that’s Stephen Fulton. I’m not overlooking my opponent.

“It’s been a year since I last fought, and I’m paying attention to that. This opportunity doesn’t come around twice so I know what I have to do to get that W. I’ve been in his position before and you don’t want to lose those belts. I was a unified champion too. So I know what it takes. He’s going to try and look his best, and I’m going to go in there and give everything I have to get him.

“This fight will be like a chess game and whoever can make the right adjustments will win the fight. We’re going to have fun. I expect a great fight. He’s giving his best, I’m giving my best.”

In the co-feature, Cuban southpaw David Morrell (6-0, 5 KOs), 24, who fights out of Minneapolis, defends his WBA “regular” super middleweight belt for the third time against Kalvin Henderson (15-1-1, 11 KOs), 31, of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Opening the broadcast will be a replay of WBA “regular” lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis’ sixth-round knockout of Rolando Romero, which headlined a Showtime PPV last Saturday.

Davis-Romero PPV numbers

Gervonta “Tank” Davis’ one-punch sixth-round knockout of Rolando Romero to retain his secondary lightweight belt last Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,970 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, generated more than 250,000 buys with a projected total of about 275,000 for the Showtime PPV card, a source involved with the event and with knowledge of the numbers told Fight Freaks Unite.

That means the gross domestic pay-per-view revenue for the $79.99 card is around $22 million, although cable and satellite providers get a large chunk of the PPV money.

It was the best-selling of Davis’ four Showtime PPV events. Here are the numbers for his four PPVs, according to sources:

1. Romero, 275,000
2. Leo Santa Cruz, between 200,000 and 225,000
3. Mario Barrios, between 210,000 and 215,000
4. Isaac Cruz, slightly over 200,000

Showtime will replay the fight as the opening bout of a three-fight telecast on Saturday (9 p.m. ET). Immediately following “Showtime Championship Boxing,” the network will premier the epilogue episode of the Davis-Romero “All Access” series.

Garcia to train Joshua

Robert Garcia, long regarded as one of boxing’s best trainers, told Fight Freaks Unite that he indeed will train former unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua for his summer rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, confirming British media reports.

Usyk outpointed Joshua to take the belts in a September upset. After the loss, Joshua parted ways with career-long trainer Robert McCracken but retained assistant Angel Fernandez, who will work alongside Garcia.

Joshua traveled to the U.S. late last year and worked out with trainers such as Eddy Reynoso, Ronny Shields and Virgil Hunter in addition to Garcia as he looked for a new trainer. He liked Garcia’s work and flew him to London for two weeks in April to work out with him again before offering him the job.

Garcia will leave his Riverside, California, gym and train Joshua in England for the Usyk fight, although part of his arrangement is the ability to leave camp for a few days to be with his other top fighters for their bouts, such as junior bantamweight titlist Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, who defends his title on June 25 in San Antonio.

Garcia, 47, who was the 2012 Boxing Writers Association of America trainer of the year, has worked with numerous world titleholders, including brother Mikey Garcia, Rodriguez, Joshua Franco, Jose Ramirez, Antonio Margarito, Abner Mares, Brandon Rios and Marcos Maidana.

Cordina title shot

Joe Cordina didn’t start boxing professionally until 2017 and he is now 30, so he has a sense or urgency when it comes to his first world title opportunity, which will be against IBF titlist Kenichi Ogawa in the Matchroom Boxing main event on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET) at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales, Cordina’s hometown.

“I believe in my ability. I know I’m at world level. I’ve said it time and time again — I’m not bothered about any other title in between a world title. All I want is a world title,” Cordina said at Thursday’s final news conference. “If I lose, which I don’t plan on doing, I’m 30 now and it’s a long way to build back up. For me this is my opportunity and I’m going to grab it with both hands. I can touch it. I’ve just got to grab it off him. This is my time and it’s an opportunity for me to showcase my talent in front of the world and announce myself on the big stage.”

Watch Ogawa-Cordina on DAZN

Ogawa (26-1-1, 18 KOs), 29, of Japan, won the vacant 130-pound belt by clear decision over Azinga Fuzile, whom he knocked down twice, on Nov. 27 on the Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos Jr. undercard in New York.

“He says he’s going to knock me out in our fight,” Ogawa said through a translator. “We will find out on Saturday. It will be interesting to see what happens. I plan to be very aggressive in the ring and have an exciting match but at the end of the day it’s up to Joe and how he wants to come out.”

Cordina (14-0, 8 KOs) may have gotten a late start in the pros but he was a decorated amateur and was a 2016 Olympian. As a pro, he has won the British and Commonwealth lightweight titles and dropped down to junior lightweight for his last fight December. He respects Ogawa’s accomplishments.

“When you look at Ogawa’s record, don’t get me wrong, he’s had a lot of knockouts. On paper he’s a level above but I’m going to have to step up and show I’m at that world level,” Cordina said. “I’ve sparred plenty of world champions and I’ve been in with some tough guys. We’ve got Conor Benn, who’s arguably one of the most explosive punchers and fighters on the planet right now. I’ve done numerous rounds with him, and he can tell you I’m technically good and I’m tough. I’ve also got a great boxing brain and that’s one of my strengths. I can think my way around the fight and get that win on Saturday night.”

Elvis Garcia mea culpa

Heavyweight Elvis Garcia (12-0, 9 KOs), 32, of Mexico, who tested positive for a banned substance in a random test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, withdrew from an eight-rounder against Alante Green (10-0-1, 7 KOs) that was supposed to be the co-feature of Showtime’s “ShoBox” tripleheader June 10 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, as part of the International Boxing Hall of Fame weekend.

Garcia did not wait to be dropped from the fight.

Instead, Garcia, who was notified of the positive test on Tuesday, withdrew and sent an apologetic letter to promoter Lou DiBella and WBC officials, including president Mauricio Sulaiman, on Wednesday.

Garcia wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided to Fight Freaks Unite, that he knows his B sample likely will also be positive. He said he takes various vitamins and supplements that he discloses when being tested. He said he regrets recently buying apparently tainted supplements at “sobre ruedas” — a street vendor — in his hometown of Tijuana.

“I’m a new father and although I get paid to fight, I don’t have a lot of money and I’m always looking to save money be it for equipment, food or vitamins,” Garcia wrote. “In retrospect and where I am at this moment, I have realized that was the wrong thing to do and has jeopardized not only my career, my name but also the ability to feed my family and my newborn daughter. Taking tainted supplements or anything else is not an excuse. I am responsible and take full responsibility for what I put in my body.

“Besides the birth of my firstborn two months ago, winning the (WBC) bridgerweight Continental Americas belt has been the most important achievement of my life. I am a proud Mexican and the history of the WBC has had a great impact on my life. With that said, I respectfully withdraw from my title defense on June 10. On such a momentous occasion (Hall of Fame weekend) I certainly don’t want any negative attention towards our sport for my carelessness and ignorance and certainly not to any of you and the important work that you do.

“Moving forward, I promise to not only abide by the rules and regulations, but to ask questions and ask for permission from VADA with whatever training regimen I begin and anything I put into my body. I also would like to volunteer and speak to young kids about the dangers of supplements and steroids. I want to be a role model and a good father. I am losing my biggest opportunity on June 10th but I promise to work harder and regain the trust and respect from all of you.”

Quick hits

Welterweight Adrien Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs), 32, of Cincinnati, posted on social media that he will fight Omar Figueroa Jr. on July 23 at an identified site in Chicago. “This shit was (supposed) to happen years ago,” Broner wrote of a fight with Figueroa. “But I ain’t complaining. See y’all in (Chicago).” Broner, who has won world titles in four divisions but had numerous personal and legal issues outside the ring, had two fights in 2017 but has only boxed three times since — a draw with Jessie Vargas in 2018, a decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2019 and disputed 12-round decision over unknown Jovanie Santiago in February 2021. Former lightweight titlist Figueroa (28-2-1, 19 KOs), 32, of Weslaco, Texas, has also had just three fights since 2017 and lost two in a row, including a one-sided sixth-round battering by Abel Ramos in his last fight 13 months ago.

Danny Garcia, who has won titles at junior welterweight and welterweight, is — as expected — moving up to junior middleweight. He’ll return from a career-long layoff against Jose Benavidez Jr. on July 30 (Showtime) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, sources with knowledge of the fight told Fight Freaks Unite. It will be Garcia’s ninth fight at Barclays Center. Garcia (36-3, 21 KOs), 34, of Philadelphia, has been idle since a decision loss to unified welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr. in December 2020. Benavidez (27-1-1, 18 KOs), 30, of Phoenix, who is the older brother of interim super middleweight titlist David Benavidez, is 0-1-1 in his last two in a career marred by a serious leg injury from a gunshot wound. In 2018, Terence Crawford knocked him out in a welterweight title fight. Benavidez didn’t fight again until a majority draw with Francisco Emanuel Torres in November.

Following the story this reporter wrote on Wednesday night about Triller failing to pay fighters and promoters related to its May 14 pay-per-view event headlined by the cruiserweight debut of Sergey Kovalev against Tervel Pulev, promoter Lou DiBella, the promoter of co-featured heavyweight Jerry Forrest, told Fight Freaks Unite that Triller on Thursday finally paid him the remainder of what he was owed from a low six-figure package. DiBella said he paid Forrest a few days after the fight because Triller failed to, but that he has now been fully reimbursed for Forrest’s purse and also received what Triller owed him.

Lightweight contender Rolando “Rolly” Romero (14-1, 12 KOs), 26, of Las Vegas, aims to get back in the ring as soon as possible following a sixth-round KO loss to Gervonta “Tank” Davis last Saturday. “I will work hard to get back to the top with the goal to become a champion,” Romero said Thursday. “Much respect to Tank and I wish him well. The Rolly show must go on. I’ll be ready to get back in the ring as soon as my name is called. I know I got what it takes to be a world champion, and sooner then later, I will accomplish that goal. I made a name for myself and now I can get those big fights with all the top fighters in the division. (Devin) Haney, (Ryan) Garcia, (George) Kambosos, I want to fight them all. At some point, I will want my rematch with Tank, but I know I’ll have to work my back to that position.”

Show and tell

Francisco Vargas won the WBC junior lightweight title in massively dramatic fashion by ninth-round knockout of Takashi Miura in a tremendous battle in his previous fight that I picked as the 2015 ESPN fight of the year. Mexican countryman and former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist Orlando Salido was also known for being in wildly exciting action fights. So, when they were matched for Vargas’ first defense it was not rocket science to expect an all-out slugfest and a fight of the year contender. I was so convinced this would be an epic fight that I traveled to the then-StubHub Center in Carson, California, to cover it and, oh, my, was it worth the trip. The HBO main event was everything I expected it to be and more. Fighting less than 24 hours after Muhammad Ali died, Vargas and Salido paid tribute with a spectacular fight. They both predicted it.

“I know that it definitely could be a candidate for fight of the year,” Vargas said beforehand. Salido agreed: “I just want to let everyone know (they should) cancel everything: no weddings, no business, no quinceanera, no nothing. Just go watch this fight. You're going to enjoy it. We’re going to give you a great, great fight, something you’re going to remember for a long, long time.”

Indeed, it was an incredibly savage and bloody battle. They began trading in the final minute of the opening round and never let up. For 12 hellacious rounds, they fought at an insane pace as they relentlessly hammered and staggered each other, combining to throw a CompuBox junior lightweight record 1,593 power punches. In the end, Vargas retained his title by majority draw (115-113 and 114-114 twice) in an unforgettable fight that I picked as the seventh-best fight of the 2010s. But it was also a fight that took a lot out of both men. Vargas lost the title in his next fight and was never the same. Salido fought twice more, going 1-1, and retired. The fight was on June 4, 2016 — six years ago on Saturday. Here is a site poster in my collection.

Fulton-Roman photo: Esther Lin/Showtime; Davis-Romero photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Joshua/Garcia photo: Anthony Joshua social media; Ogawa-Cordina photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

To upgrade your subscription please go here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe

Fight Freaks Unite