Notebook: GB yet to OK Ryan Garcia exhibition despite presser
Jarrell Miller rips former promoter for Chisora fight being canceled; Jalolov returning to pros after Olympic gold; Quick hits; Show and tell
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While Ryan Garcia and Japanese kickboxing star Rukiya Anpo appeared at a news conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday to announce their boxing exhibition bout, which is contracted at 153 pounds for eight two-minute rounds and scheduled to headline a Fanmio/RIZN pay-per-view card from Tokyo on Dec. 30 (Fanmio PPV, 9 p.m. ET), the event is not official quite yet, according to Golden Boy Promotions.
Oscar De La Hoya’s company, which is Garcia’s exclusive promoter worldwide for any combat endeavor, has been in discussions to get a deal done with event promoters but has not agreed to terms yet for Garcia to appear on the show.
“Golden Boy Promotions has exclusive rights to Ryan Garcia’s fights. The organizers of this event have acknowledged as such and have agreed in writing that our sign-off is needed for this event to occur,” Golden Boy said in a statement on Tuesday, hours after the news conference. “As no such sign-off has been given, as of today there is no event with Ryan Garcia.”
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Golden Boy officials believe it will eventually get done even though it is not yet finalized, adding just another chapter to the constant ups and downs in the Golden Boy-Garcia relationship.
Garcia agreed to the exhibition although he is suspended in the United States until at least April for multiple failed drug tests for performance-enhancing drugs related to a win that was changed to a no contest against Devin Haney this past April in New York. Golden Boy president Eric Gomez told Fight Freaks Unite the company has spoken to the New York commission and that the commission said Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs), 26, of Los Angeles, is clear to participate in an exhibition and that it would not impact his ability to be relicensed in the U.S. once his suspension is up.
Anpo, 29, became a kickboxing world champion in 2019 and has risen to stardom in Japan. He has not boxed in an official fight but in July he had an exhibition with Manny Pacquiao and although no scores were rendered it was clear that Anpo dominated the faded legend.
At the news conference, Garcia said his reasons for wanting to face Anpo were related to Pacquiao, at one point saying that he believed Anpo translated to English meant “Bozo.”
“He tried to knock out Manny Pacquiao and it pissed me off, so now I have to teach him a lesson and teach him how to box,” Garcia said. “He’s got some size and he’s real excited right now, but I’m gonna have to settle him down and knock him out. We’re gonna put a whupping on this boy.
“His energy is definitely waking me up. I was ready to enjoy the festivities but now he’s waking the dragon up. I’m definitely looking to knock him out now. He’s a young fighter who was trying to make a statement against a legend in Manny Pacquiao. That rubbed me the wrong way and now I’m here to show him someone in his prime with speed and power.”
Anpo took his verbal shots at Garcia.
“I have something I’d like to say directly to Ryan,” Anpo said. “We know that Ryan likes to make excuses, miss weight and lacks professionalism. He’s got no sportsmanship and no respect. Yet he dares to call himself ‘King.’ On fight day I will show him that we fight for honor and legacy. I bring the real Samurai spirit and will show him exactly where he belongs.
“I regret that I couldn’t finish Manny Pacquiao. That’s what we train to do in every fight. I have even more motivation this time and I will knock him out and finish Ryan Garcia as a professional. … He’s got a world-class left hook, I’ll give him that. I’ll be aware of it and I’ll be ready for it. He’s unpolished and gets sloppy and over the course of the fight I’ll take advantage of that. I feel he’s been very disrespectful to the sport. He’s a fake ‘King.’
Chisora vs. Miller off
Heavyweights Derek Chisora and Jarrell Miller, who were due to headline a Queensberry Promotions card on Feb. 8 in Manchester, England, although it had not been announced yet, now will not fight.
Miller placed the blame on his former promoter, Dmitriy Salita, whose contract with Miller ended after his last fight, although he retained a matching right for his next fight for six months. When the Chisora-Miller deal was made, Salita invoked his matching rights but, according to Team Miller, has not yet provided a date, a site, an opponent or placed money in escrow Miller’s team said is required.
The dispute has caused Queensberry to walk away from the fight, at lest for March, Miller’s team said.
Miller went off on the situation in a video he posted to Instagram.
“The fight with Chisora is off,” Miller said. “Chisora’s a good dude. He wants the fight. I want to fight. The fight is off because there’s this little piece of shit, Dmitriy Salita, the dirtiest human being I’ve ever met in my entire life and I’ve been around a lot of dirty motherfuckers. But Salita is the worst human being that’s ever walked the planet. Known the guy since I was 16 years old. Him and his … lawyer, John Wirt, are compulsive liars. Now my contract is up with (Salita) but they’re exercising his first and last (right to match) and blatantly made up an entire story to try to get more money out of me.”
Fight Freaks Unite reached out to Wirt for comment but had not received a response by the time this was posted.
Miller (26-1-2, 22 KOs), 36, of Brooklyn, New York, is winless in his past two fights, but made exciting and competitive bout. He suffered his lone loss in a hard-fought 10th-round knockout to Daniel Dubois in December and fought to a spirited draw with former titlist Andy Ruiz Jr. in August.
Since then-heavyweight champion Tyson Fury knocked out his pal Chisora (35-13, 23 KOs), 40, in their third bout in December 2022, the British fan favorite has won two 10-round decisions in a row against Gerald Washington in August 2023 and Joe Joyce in a big upset in July.
Quick hits
Heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov returns to pro boxing for the first time since taking a break from it to compete in this past summer’s Paris Olympics, where he won his second straight super heavyweight gold medal. The Top Rank-promoted Jalolov (14-0, 14 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Uzbekistan, will face David Spilmont (16-8-1, 11 KOs), 33, of France, who has won five in a row, in a 10-rounder on Feb. 6 (ESPN+) in Montreal in the co-feature of an Eye of the Tiger card. It will be Jalolov’s first pro fight since last November. “I am very excited for the next chapter of my professional career,” Jalolov said. “Now that I have represented my country at the 2024 Olympics, in 2025, I plan to push towards my quest to become heavyweight champion.” In the main event, junior welterweight Arthur Biyarslanov (17-0, 14 KOs), 29, a Russia native fighting out of Toronto, will face French southpaw Mohamed Mimoune (24-6, 5 KOs), 37, in a 10-rounder.
The WBO has ordered junior welterweights Arnold Barboza (via Golden Boy) and Jack Catterall (via Matchroom Boxing) to negotiate a title eliminator for the right to be mandatory for champion Teofimo Lopez. They have 20 days to make a deal, although either side can request an immediate purse bid. If there is one, minimum offer is $150,000. Barboza (31-0, 11 KOs), 32, of Los Angeles, outpointed former unified titlist Jose Ramirez on Nov, 16 but refused to make it a 12-round eliminator because he said he had already paid fees for previous eliminators and not gotten a title shot. After the win, he apologized and asked the WBO to give him a title shot, which it has not by ordering the bout. Former title challenger Catterall (30-1,13 KOs), 31, a southpaw from England, has scored two big wins in a row, decisions against former undisputed champion Josh Taylor in May to avenge a controversial loss and former two-time titlist Regis Prograis in October.
Show and tell
Wladimir Klitschko, then 39, was the lineal heavyweight champion and also held three of the major titles when he squared off with 27-year-old mandatory challenger Tyson Fury before some 50,000 in Düsseldorf, Germany, where Klitschko was the favorite and expected to continue his historic title reign. He had not lost for 11½ years, had held a title for 9½ years, was riding a 22-fight winning streak and had made 18 consecutive title defenses (third-most in division history) of his second title reign. But, in a fight in which both men turned in extremely lackluster performances in a terrible fight that lacked any semblance of action, the unbeaten Fury fought better than Klitschko, who looked as he had grown old in the ring.
Fury was busier, landed more punches and had the spring in his step Klitschko did not, and he was rightfully rewarded with a decision win, 116-111, 115-112 and 115-112. Although Fury would be stripped of the various sanctioning body titles and have a long layoff due to substance abuse and mental health issues — and he never gave Klitschko the rematch he contractually owed him — he returned as lineal champion and engaged in a memorable trilogy with Deontay Wilder. But his first crowning victory over Klitschko, as forgettable as the fight was, took place on Nov. 28, 2015 — nine years ago on Thursday. Here is a site poster in my collection.
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Photos: Garcia-Anpo: Esther Lin/Fanmio; Miller: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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