Notebook: Fury-Whyte saga to play out a bit longer as purse bid postponed for week
Podcast and video appearances; 'ShoBox' begins 21st year; undisputed title fight set; Truax elimination bout off; Quick hits; Show and tell
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While it remains to be seen if heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will next face WBC interim titlist and mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte the saga will take a little longer to play out.
The WBC announced on Sunday that the purse bid for the bout, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, has been postponed by one week with no specific reason for the delay announced.
“The WBC has extended the free negotiations period for the WBC mandatory heavyweight title fight between champion Tyson Fury and interim champion Dillian Whyte,” the WBC said in a statement. “If there is no agreement between the parties a purse bid will be held on Tuesday, January 18 at noon in Mexico City (at) WBC headquarters.”
Whyte is in arbitration with the WBC over the split of the purse bid, which the WBC has ruled will be 80-20 in Fury’s favor. Typically, a WBC purse split for a champion versus an interim titleholder is 55-45 in the champion’s favor although the organization has latitude to increase it, although 80-20 far from the norm.
The WBC decided on 80-20, as requested by Team Fury at the WBC convention in November, as a fair split based on the kind of money each fighter has been earning in recent fights. Fury has been making north of $20 million in recent fights while Whyte may have barely touched seven figures.
Whatever happens, Fury co-promoters Bob Arum of Top Rank and Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren have said all along that if they can’t make a deal with Whyte then Fury will fight somebody else around March, be it in a WBC defense or not.
Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs), 31, of England, is coming off an epic 11th-round knockout of Deontay Wilder in their third fight to retain the title on Oct. 9 in Las Vegas in the fight of the year that featured Wilder going down three times and Fury getting dropped twice.
Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs), 34, of England, is coming off a one-sided fourth-round destruction of Alexander Povetkin in their immediate rematch on March 27 to regain the interim title he lost to him by shocking upset fifth-round KO in their first fight in August 2020.
iFL TV appearance
I joined my friends at iFL TV to discuss a plethora of boxing topics. We chatted about the Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte situation, Anthony Joshua’s future, including his next broadcast deal, a possible Conor Benn-Adrien Broner fight and what might be in store next for Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. Check it out. The link is below.
Podcast appearance
I joined my pal Chris Mannix on the latest episode of his Volume Sports boxing podcast and we discussed numerous topics. We hashed over the options for the next fights for pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez, lightweight champion George Kambosos as well as options for Demetrius Andrade (be it at middleweight or super middleweight) and whether a showdown between Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis will happen. We also discussed the pathway to Errol Spence-Terence Crawford and why Keith Thurman might figure into that situation. And when we finished, Chris welcomed in the walkout interview (lol) with Jake Paul. Listen to the podcast here:
Tyson Fury vs. Mike Tyson?
Who doesn’t love a good discussion about fantasy fights? One that certainly falls into that category would be a fantasy bout between a prime heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and a prime heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who was named after Iron Mike. Of course, the fight will never happen but the renowned artist and my pal Richard Slone painted a scene of what that fight might have looked like and it became the cover the July 2020 issue of The Ring magazine. Noted art collector Ingo Wegerich purchased the original painting, has added it to his incredible collection of boxing art and asked me to write about it. Check out the tremendous painting and what I wrote about the prospect of a Tyson vs. Fury fight here: https://tinyurl.com/2p8afe6n
‘ShoBox’ kicks off new year
The Dominican Republic’s Luis “The Twist” Nunez (16-0, 12 KOs), 22, stopped Carlos Arrieta (14-1, 8 KOs), 27, of Puerto Rico, in the 10th round of their junior lightweight main event as Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” kicked off its 21st year on Friday night at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Nunez took it Arrieta throughout the fight before landing a destructive right hand that rocked him in the 10th round. Nunez then finished Arrieta with a flurry of punches as referee Frank Gentile stepped in at 1 minute, 41 seconds.
“The plan was to work the body and to break him down and that’s what we did,” Nunez said. “I saw the right hand was landing and I kept throwing it and trying to set him up for it and attacking until we got what we wanted in the final round. It was a great shot and great win for my career. It’s the way I wanted to close the fight.”
The two other bouts on the tripleheader also matched undefeated fighters.
In the co-feature, lightweight Otar Eranosyan (11-0, 6 KOs), 28, a Republic of Georgia native fighting out of Hollywood, Florida, dominated Starling Castillo (16-1, 12 KOs), 26, of the Dominican Republic, en route to a lopsided decision win, 80-70, 80-70 and 79-71. Eranosyan scored two knockdowns in the first round and cruised the rest of the way.
In the opener, junior lightweight William Foster III (14-0, 9 KOs), 28, of New Haven, Connecticut, earned a split decision against Edwin De Los Santos (13-1, 12 KOs), 22 a southpaw from the Dominican Republic. Two judges scored the fight 77-74 for Foster and one judge had it 77-74 for De Los Santos.
Undisputed: Cruz-Dezurn vs. Cederroos
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced that he has signed Franchon Crews-Dezurn and Elin Cederroos to promotional deals and they will meet for the undisputed women’s super middleweight title on DAZN on a spring date to be determined.
Crews-Dezurn (7-1, 2 KOs), 34, of Baltimore, who holds the WBC and WBO belts, won the vacant WBC belt by decision over Maricela Cornejo in 2018 and then defeated Cornejo by decision in a 2019 rematch to retain the belt and also win the vacant WBO title. Crews-Dezurn’s only loss came to Claressa Shields by four-round decision in their pro debuts.
“I’ve worked and earned everything I have so if Elin or anybody else think they will take shit from me they truly have me mistaken,” said Crews-Dezurn, who became a free agent last year when he contract with Golden Boy expired. “I really don’t wanna talk. I’m just going to bring that action for the main attraction and get everything I deserve. It’s about legacy and survival, so I appreciate Eddie Hearn, Matchroom, DAZN and (manager) Peter Kahn for making this happen. It’s my time to live up to my own expectations I’m great!”
Cederroos (8-0 4 KOs), 36, of Sweden, who holds the IBF and WBA belts, hasn’t fought since January 2020 when he outpointed Alicia Napoleon-Espinosa in Atlantic City to retain the IBF belt and take the WBA title by unanimous decision.
“I have been ready for this fight for a long time now,” Cederroos said. “I am grateful that Matchroom and DAZN has given us the opportunity to make it real. It going to be a prestigious fight for the world of boxing and a big step for women’s boxing. Hopefully, I will be able to show my true power.”
Truax eliminator off
Former super middleweight world titlist Caleb Truax has withdrawn from an IBF final title eliminator against Russia’s Evgeny Shvedenko for the second time for Covid-19-related reasons.
The fight, which was meant to produce one of the mandatory challengers for undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez, was scheduled to take place on Jan. 22 on a Facher Sports-promoted card in Karlsruhe, Germany, but Truax withdrew on Wednesday.
Team Shvedenko told Fight Freaks Unite that Truax did not give a reason for pulling out. However, Truax told Fight Freaks Unite that it was due to Covid-19.
“Multiple team members and our families are sick, so we had to shut everything down. Disappointing,” said Truax, who himself had the virus in October.
The bout was initially scheduled for Oct. 15 in Pforzheim, Germany, but Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs), 38, of Saint Michael, Minnesota, said that between coming down with the virus then and the death from the virus in September of one of his coaches, David Simonson, he postponed the fight.
It is unclear whether the fight between Truax and Shvedenko (15-0, 6 KOs), 31, a Russia native fighting out of Germany, will be rescheduled.
“I haven’t heard what will happen next. Hope to get some clarity on it ASAP and move forward. I'm too old to be wasting time,” said Truax, whose last fight was last January in a shutout loss as the mandatory challenger to then-IBF titlist Caleb Plant.
Quick hits
Heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KOs), 29, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from Croatia, is having a hard time finding somebody to fight him for the mandatory position to challenge for the IBF title, which is held by three-belt unified titlist Oleksandr Usyk, who is due to face Anthony Joshua in a rematch this spring. After Luis “King Kong” Ortiz knocked out former titlist Charles Martin in the sixth round in a semifinal eliminator on New Year’s Day, he was ordered to face Hrgovic next. Both sides were given three days to accept participation in negotiations. Hrgovic immediately accepted but Ortiz, claiming a left hand injury against Martin, declined. The IBF then moved down its ratings to the next contender, former titlist Joseph Parker, who also turned down the fight. The IBF will continue down its ratings until somebody accepts.
The IBF has ordered unified junior featherweight titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev to make a mandatory defense against fellow southpaw Marlon Tapales. They sides were given until Feb. 2 to reach an agreement or a purse bid would be ordered, but the Tapales side declined to negotiate and requested an immediate purse bid, which is scheduled for Jan. 18, Tapales representative Sean Gibbons told Fight Freaks Unite. The split 65-35 in Akhmadaliev’s favor. Akhmadaliev (10-0, 7KOs), 27, of Uzbekistan, who also holds the WBA 122-pound belt, won both titles by decision over Daniel Roman in January 2020 and has made two defenses, most recently a near-shutout of Jose Velasquez on Nov. 19. Tapales, 29, of the Philippines, has won two straight since an 11th-round knockout loss challenging then-IBF titlist Ryosuke Iwasa in December 2019. Tapales earned the shot at Akhmadaliev by knocking out Hiroaki Teshigawara in the second round of a Dec. 11 title eliminator.
Top Rank announced that junior lightweights Rene Tellez Giron (16-1, 10 KOs), 22, of Mexico, and Puerto Rico’s Luis Melendez (17-1, 13 KOs), 23, will clash in the 10-round co-feature of the Robson Conceicao-Xavier Martinez junior lightweight bout on Jan. 29 (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Also, on the ESPN+ streamed portion of the card, middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (3-0, 2 KOs), the grandson of Muhammad Ali, will box in a four-rounder and Tulsa-born heavyweight prospect Jeremiah Milton (3-0, 3 KOs) will fight in a six-rounder.
Florida junior welterweight prospect Aaron Aponte (4-0, 2 KOs), 20, who shares manager Peter Kahn with unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr., has signed with promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who put him on shows for his second and third fights but had not yet signed him. “We’ve had the pleasure of having Aaron on two cards in Florida and even in his infancy in the paid ranks, this young man has shown that he has both the in-ring talent and growing fan base to become a real force in the sport,” Hearn said. “We look forward to his journey continuing in 2022 and beyond, and Aaron rising to all challenges we put in front of him.”
Split-T Management announced it has signed Hialeah, Florida’s Abel Gonzalez, 24, who was 65-8 as an amateur and a two-time National Golden Gloves champion. When he won the 2021 tournament at 178 pounds, he was named Most Outstanding Fighter. As a pro, he will box as a super middleweight. “Abel is a very strong young man with a devastating right hand that he gets off quickly and an equally powerful left hook. We expect him to make a seamless transition to the pros and become a major force at 168 pounds and beyond," said Brendan Segalas of Split-T Management.
Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions announced that its deal to have its shows stream on UFC Fight Pass has been extended through 2022. Over the past three years, the company has had 29 cards on UFC Fight Pass from four different countries (United States, Mexico, Russia, Japan) despite dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The first card of 2022 is slated for Feb. 24 in Mexico.
Spanish-language network EstrellaTV announced that it has renewed its monthly boxing series, Boxeo EstrellaTV, for 2022. Cards take place on the last Friday of each month in Mexico City and begin at 10 p.m. ET. The new season kicks off Jan. 28, although the bouts have not been announced yet.
Show and tell
Because of the coronavirus pandemic the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction ceremonies have been canceled for the past two years. That means that in June the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 will all be inducted in the most star-studded ceremony ever at the museum in Canastota, New York. But the Hall of Fame still produced programs for all three classes individually. For many years, I have contributed stories to the programs and a few days ago the HOF sent me the fresh-off-the-presses 2021 program with fantastic cover art painted by Richard Slone that includes Wladimir Klitschko, Floyd Mayweather and Andre Ward from the modern men’s category. I wrote the piece in the program on Klitschko, the all-time great former heavyweight champion. Here is the program.
Fury photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC; Nunez-Arrieta photo: Ryan Loco/Showtime; Truax photo: Sean Michael Ham/TGB Promotions
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Yay!! Ecstatic that Jonathon Guidry looks to be the front runner to mix with Trevor Bryan....and you thought Joe Smith Jr was the only Champ scheduled to mix with an unknown, undeserving opponent. Jonathon Who?
I'm not a fan of Whyte but I think the 80:20 split is pretty harsh.
As the WBC champion gets the first 10% this means that the 80:20 split (of the remaining 90%) really works out to be only 18% (of the winning purse bid) to Whyte and 82% to Fury.
I don't think Fury would accept this if it were the other way around.