Notebook: Haney to defend lightweight title in 'breakout fight' against Linares
'No mas' auction; Tszyu stops Hogan; DiBella-Foster lawsuit
As talented as WBC lightweight world titlist Devin Haney is, he has yet to fight a top lightweight but now he will have that chance against former titlist Jorge Linares.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn formally announced the expected fight on Wednesday, which will take place on May 29 (DAZN) with limited fan capacity at the Michelob ULTRA Arena — the newly renamed Mandalay Bay Events Center — at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Hearn believes a win over Linares will go a long way to bringing attention to Haney.
“This is the breakout fight that shows the world that Devin Haney is the best lightweight on the planet,” Hearn said in an overstatement given Teofimo Lopez Jr. defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko in October to win the unified world title. “Jorge Linares is a tremendous fighter, a three-weight king that has speed, power and plenty of experience.
“I’ve represented four fighters (Luke Campbell, Kevin Mitchell and Anthony Crolla twice), who have attempted to beat Jorge and failed, but this time I believe we have the future king of the division in Devin, and this is his moment.”
Haney (25-0, 15 KOs), 22, will be making his third title defense and fighting in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas — he is originally from San Francisco — for the first time since a six-rounder in 2016.
“I’m very excited to be making my third world title defense against a great fighter like Jorge Linares, who will be the best fighter I will have ever faced in my career,” Haney said. “He’s a three-division world champion who has fought at the championship level for the past 13 years.
“I grew up watching Linares and the fact that this fight is happening in Las Vegas is incredible. Boxing fans around the world are eager to see me step up in competition, which is great, and I know Linares is coming to fight. I’m ready to give the fans a spectacular performance.”
Linares (47-5, 29 KOs), 35, of Venezuela, has won titles at featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight, where he dominated at times. He has won two fights in a row since a disaster when he moved up to junior welterweight for one fight in January 2019 and got knocked out in the first round by Pablo Cesar Cano.
“This is my moment to show the world that I still have a lot more to give at 135 pounds,” said Linares, who has recovered from a bout with Covid-19 that had him hospitalized in Tokyo, where he lives. “Devin Haney is a talented and quick-handed young man, but when I was his age, I had already become a world champion by snatching the title away from a real world champion like Oscar Larios. And now you can imagine how much more experience I have now at an age where I feel stronger and better than ever. Without a doubt it will be a tremendous fight, but I will demonstrate that Haney made a big mistake by accepting a challenge that he is still not ready to overcome.”
Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya, Linares longtime promoter, believes Linares will rise to the occasion.
“We have worked with Jorge Linares for a long time and anytime the so-called experts count him out, he comes back with a vengeance,” De La Hoya said. “Haney has never confronted anyone even close to Jorge’s skill level, and at 135 pounds he is still a force to be reckoned with.”
‘No mas’ gloves auction
The gloves worn by Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran in their famed “no mas” rematch in which Leonard made Duran quit in the eighth round to regain the WBC welterweight title on Nov. 25, 1980 at the Superdome in New Orleans, are up for auction.
The gloves, in two lots (one for Leonard’s gloves and one for Duran’s) are among several boxing items being sold in the SCP Auctions Winter Premier Auction that closes on Saturday.
Leonard’s 8-ounce, red and white Cleto Reyes gloves were originally kept by Angelo Dundee, Leonard’s legendary late Hall of Fame trainer. After Dundee’s death, his family auctioned off most his vast collection of boxing memorabilia to assist in paying for a family member’s mounting medical bills. Each glove is signed in black marker by Leonard to Dundee’s wife: “To Helen, Love from the Champ, Sugar Ray Leonard.” Inside each glove are ballpoint pen notations from Dundee of “Ray-Duran” and the date notation. The gloves come with a letter of authenticity from Dundee on his personal letterhead and an LOA from Beckett Authentication Services.
The gloves were last sold by SCP in a 2012 auction for $34,243. As of Wednesday night, there were eight bids with the high one $19,489.
Duran’s gloves come with a detailed letter of provenance from a close Duran friend, who wrote: “In usual fashion I went up to Roberto Duran's hotel room after the fight. The room was on the 13th floor (if my memory is correct) of the Hyatt Regency. By the time I arrived to Duran's room it was crowded. I recall seeing the usual members of Duran's camp but also several reporters from the newspapers worldwide and also representatives of the WBC were in Duran's room, inquiring why Duran chose to stop the fight with the infamous words 'No mas.' Before Duran departed for the hospital, because of his complaints of stomach problems, a member of Duran's team came to me and said, ‘Negrito, take these gloves back to your room with you.’ So I carried the gloves with me to my room at the Best Western. They have remained in my possession ever since.”
As of Wednesday night, there were eight bids with the high one $9,746.
Tszyu stops Hogan
Junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu, the son of Hall of Fame former undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, looked superb as he easily handled former two-time world title challenger Dennis Hogan in a one-sided fifth-round knockout on Wednesday at Newcastle Entertainment Centre in Newcastle, Australia.
Australia’s Tszyu (18-0, 14 KOs), 26, had battered Hogan (28-4-1, 7 KOs), 36, an Ireland native based in Australia, throughout the fight before dropping him with a clean left uppercut early in the fifth round. As he continued to pummel Hogan, his corner threw in the towel and referee John Cauchi stopped the fight at 2:29.
Hogan lost his third fight in a row, having also lost a controversial decision challenging then-junior middleweight titlist Jaime Munguia in April 2019 and getting stopped by middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo in the seventh round in December 2019.
Tszyu took pleasure in stopping Hogan quicker than Charlo.
“We don’t have to rush but we’re at that stage where I do believe I can compete with the big boys,” Tszyu said during his post-fight news conference. “Charlo got rid of Hogan in seven. I did it in five. So, my pace was a bit quicker than Charlo’s. I want an international fight. I want to be recognized globally. I’m not satisfied. I want to be a global boxing star. That’s my goal. It’s always been my goal and I need those big guys.”
Munguia faces Sulecki
Mexican middleweight contender Jaime Munguia (36-0, 29 KOs), 24, a former junior middleweight titlist, and Poland’s Maciej Sulecki (29-2, 11 KOs), 31, will meet in the 12-round main event of a DAZN card on April 24 at the Don Haskins Center on the campus of the University Texas at El Paso, Golden Boy Promotions made official on Wednesday. Golden Boy said that the arena can have capacity under 40 percent with strict Covid-19 protocols in place.
The event’s 3:30 p.m. ET start time is to maximize DAZN’s streaming audience across North America and Europe.
“There is no more exciting a middleweight in the world today than Jaime Munguia, and every time he fights, he brings huge knockout power into the ring,” Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said in announcing the fight. “Sulecki is a tough customer who gave Danny Jacobs all he can handle, but if Munguia can pass this test, a world championship fight is right around the corner.”
Munguia vacated his 154-pound title and moved up to 160 in 2020 and has won both of his bouts in the division.
“I feel very happy to be returning on April 24 against Maciej Sulecki,” Munguia said. “It will be a great fight against great challenger. We promise to deliver an exciting battle.”
Sulecki’s only losses were by decision to Demetrius Andrade in a 2019 world title challenge and Jacobs in 2018.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to return to the United States and fight in the main event of such a big card,” Sulecki said. “Jaime Munguia is a strong, young warrior, but I have fought against some of the best of this division. On April 24, I will show the world that I am a top middleweight contender and that I deserve another world title shot.”
‘Zurdo’ on the hunt
Former super middleweight titlist and light heavyweight contender Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (41-0, 27 KOs), 29, of Mexico, who is due to make his debut under his new Golden Boy Promotions contract against an opponent to be determined in June, hopes to eventually challenge unified champion Artur Beterbiev or titleholder Dmitry Bivol.
Golden Boy has said it is talking to Bivol’s team about a fight later this year if each man wins his upcoming bout, but Ramirez is also interested in Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs), even if the prospect of that bout is far less than one with Bivol.
Nonetheless, Ramirez said he was not impressed with Beterbiev’s return to the ring after a 17-month layoff to retain his belts by 10th-round knockout of Adam Deines on March 20 in Moscow.
“I expected a lot more from him,” Ramirez said. “I thought he looked flat and dull for the majority of the fight. It’s nice of him to temporarily hold my belts, but he should know that I’m coming for all the hardware and will bring the titles back to my people in Mexico.”
As for Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs), he defends his title against Craig Richards (16-1-1, 9 KOs) on May 1 in London in Bivol’s first fight in 19 months.
“I’ve always said Dmitry Bivol was the toughest challenge out there, which is why I want to make this fight happen,” Ramirez said. “I know he’s got a fight coming up and hopefully he stays undefeated so we can make the mega-fight this summer.”
DiBella vs. Foster lawsuit
Promoter Lou DiBella has sued junior lightweight contender O’Shaquie Foster for breach of contract, is seeking “in excess of” $500,000 in damages and asking a court to uphold the validity of his promotional contract while barring Foster from fighting for another promoter.
Attorney John Wirt filed the 11-page lawsuit on Tuesday in United States federal court for the Southern District of New York. In the lawsuit, DiBella accused Foster and his manager, Keith Mills, of trying to get out of a valid contract in which he invoked a “force majeure” clause due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down the boxing industry for several months and making it impossible to put on any fights.
I obtained a copy of the lawsuit and wrote about the details of it for BoxingScene. Please read the article here: https://www.boxingscene.com/promoter-lou-dibella-sues-contender-oshaquie-foster-citing-breach-contract--156559
Quick hits
Junior middleweight Charles Conwell (14-0 ,11 KOs), a 2016 U.S. Olympian and one of boxing’s top up-and-comers, has suffered a hand injury and withdrawn from a 10-round fight with Ivan Golub (19-1,15 KOs) that was due to headline the April 8 edition of NBC Sports Net’s Ring City USA. Because of that, the card was canceled just a few days after it was announced. Ring City will now just have one card in April topped by undefeated American heavyweight hopefuls Jermaine Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs) and Stephan Shaw (14-0, 10 KOs) meeting in the April 22 main event, which has not yet been formally announced. However, sources told Fight Freaks Unite the fight is on and will take place at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, which also would have hosted the April 8 card.
Word out of Puerto Rico is that plans are in the works for retired four-division champions Miguel Cotto and Juan Manuel Marquez to meet in an exhibition bout on June 12 in Miami. Puerto Rico’s Cotto and Mexico’s Marquez both won world titles at junior welterweight and faced Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, but never each other in what would have been a classic addition to the famed Puerto Rico vs. Mexico rivalry. Hall of Famer Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KOs), 47, last fought in May 2014, when outpointed Mike Alvarado. Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs), 40, retired after an upset decision loss to Sadam Ali cost him a junior middleweight title in 2017.
Former bantamweight titlist Tomoki Kameda, who hasn’t fought since losing a decision challenging then-junior featherweight titlist Rey Vargas in July 2019 in Carson, California, is returning on May 5 at EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan, organizers announced at a news conference this week. Kameda will face Hironori Miyake (9-10-2, 1) in an eight-rounder. In 2013, Kameda and brothers Koki and Daiki all held world titles, marking the first time in boxing history three brothers simultaneously held world titles.
Show and tell
There are certainly some very famous all-action fights whose prize was a heavyweight world title. Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier I and III come to mind as do Larry Holmes-Ken Norton, Riddick Bowe-Evander Holyfield I and II, Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas, Tyson-Holyfield I, Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko and Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko. But perhaps the single most underrated heavyweight world title bout of recent decades was when Sergei Liakhovich and Lamon Brewster slugged it out for 12 brutal rounds in a Showtime main event that took place in Cleveland. Although Brewster knocked Liakhovich down in the seventh round, Liakhovich inflicted much damage and won a unanimous decision to take the WBO belt from him in a fight that left Brewster with detached retina in his left eye from a first-round punch. The injury ultimately ended Brewster’s career and still hampers him to this day. That memorable battle took place on April 1, 2006 — 15 years ago on Thursday. Here’s a program from the fight in my collection.
Tszyu-Hogan photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Thanks for the updates Mr. Rafael.
So, you're waiting till the last minute Dan, to bid on the gloves?