Notebook: Heavyweight Jalolov to work toward goal on Zepeda-Prograis card

Crawford-Avanesyan PPV undercard set; Wood-Santa Cruz purse bid scheduled; Quick hits; Show and tell

Nov 24, 2022

Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov fights in the Zepeda-Prograis co-feature. Click photo to buy the PPV.

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Heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov, who was the 2020 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist, has aspirations of being undisputed heavyweight champion.

That should come as no surprise. What heavyweight doesn’t want that, especially the Olympic gold medalist?

But Jalolov (11-0, 11 KOs), 28, of Uzbekistan, is ready to pay his dues as he rises up the ladder, a journey that will continue when he faces Curtis Harper (14-8, 9 KOs), 34, of Jacksonville, Florida, in his first scheduled 10-rounder in the co-feature of the vacant WBC junior welterweight title bout between Jose Zepeda and Regis Prograis on Saturday (9 p.m. ET at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The card is available via traditional linear television pay-per-view as well as streaming outlets such as FITE and PPV. com.

Jalolov understands that he is not yet ready for lineal/WBC champion Tyson Fury or three-belt titlist Oleksandr Usyk. But he doesn’t think it will be too long until he is.

“I think the Tyson Fury is the best heavyweight in the world, and Oleksandr Usyk is very good, obviously, too,” Jalolov said. “Fury for his size, he moves unbelievably. He has unbelievable movement and once again, he is big and heavy. Usyk is a great boxer, but obviously he’s small for the weight class. For me, I’m not a hero in Uzbekistan for winning the Olympics. I’m not there yet. But once I become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world at that time, maybe they'll call me a hero. Maybe it’s not going to happen tomorrow, but maybe it’s going to be next year or in two years. But God bless, it is going to happen.”

The 6-foot-7, 250-pound Jalolov, a southpaw with big-time power, said he has more tools then just heavy hands.

“I’m not just a puncher,” said Jalolov, whose all-time favorite fighter is Hall of Fame former heavyweight champion and 1996 super heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Wladimir Klitschko. “Of course, I can punch, and I know that I have power because every time I land, people go down. But I have much more than that. I have a great footwork, feeling of distance and timing and speed. And my style is not to take nine shots to land 10. I'm not working like that. Instead of winning 10-9, I'll win 1-0. I'll land one, but I’m not going to get hit and that’s my goal. Boxing is about hit and don't get hit.”

Crawford-Avanesyan PPV undercard

BLK Prime, which is putting on welterweight titlist Terence Crawford’s defense against David Avanesyan on Dec. 10 at the CHI Health Center in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, announced the undercard for the $39.99 pay-per-view that will stream on the BLK Prime website and PPV. com.

Brazilian MMA star Cris Cyborg (1-0, 0 KOs), who made her professional boxing debut in September, will face Gabrielle Holloway (0-2) in the four-round women’s lightweight co-feature.

“This is a great opportunity for me to make a splash in the boxing world, especially on a card with Terence Crawford, the best boxer in the world,” Cyborg said. “Boxing has always been a big part of my training and I feel I can compete at the highest level. I’m expecting Holloway to be in great shape, and I know she’s coming to win. That said, I’m taking this fight very seriously. I feel confident, and I can’t wait to showcase my boxing skills to the world.”

Also on the PPV:

Ukrainian featherweight Arnold Khegai (18-1-1, 11 KOs) will face Mexico’s Eduardo Baez (21-3-2, 7 KOs) in a 10-rounder. In his last fight, Baez challenged WBO titlist Emanuel Navarrete in August and lost by sixth-round knockout.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, heavyweight Jeremiah Milton (7-0, 6 KOs) will face Dajuan Calloway (5-1, 5 KOs), of Warrensville, Ohio, in a six-rounder.
Omaha light heavyweight Steven Nelson (17-0, 14 KOs), who is part of Crawford’s camp, will face Detroit’s James Ballard (10-4, 3 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Nelson will be fighting for the first time since September 2020 due to injuries.
Buy the Zepeda-Prograis PPV

Santa Cruz-Wood ordered yet again

The WBA has once again ordered the long overdue mandatory fight between WBA featherweight titlist Leo Santa Cruz — who has not defended the belt since February 2019 and has not fought at all since this past February — and “regular” titlist Leigh Wood, who has not boxed since his epic 12th-round knockout of Michael Conlan in March.

Over the past year or so they have claimed to have a deal when the fight was ordered, sought interim bouts and failed to make a new deal. Finally, on Wednesday the WBA issued an order giving the sides 15 days to make a deal and send the contracts to the organization.

If they don’t, the fight will go to a purse bid on Dec. 2 in Orlando, Florida, during the annual WBA convention.

The fight was ordered as part of the WBA’s long slog to reduce its world titles to one per division, which it began in August 2021.

On April 6, the WBA sent an official letter ordering the fight but on July 11, TGB Promotions, representing Santa Cruz, requested special permission for Santa Cruz to face WBC titlist Rey Vargas in unification fight instead. That request was ultimately denied and Santa Cruz-Wood remained under order.

Then, on Aug. 12, TGB Promotions and Wood promoter Matchroom Boxing told the WBA that they had reached an agreement and the purse bid called off. On Aug. 22, they told the WBA they had reached an agreement for four-division titlist Santa Cruz (28-2-1, 19 KOs), 34, of Rosemead, California, to fight Vargas and Wood (26-2, 16 KOs), 34, of England, to fight Mauricio Lara with the two winners to fight within 120 days of the second bout.

The WBA broke its rules by allowing it but on Sept. 13 learned from the media that Wood suffered a left biceps injury that forced the Lara fight scheduled for Sept. 24 to be canceled. Santa Cruz-Vargas never came off either with Vargas deciding to move up to junior lightweight.

The WBA requested the medical report from Wood’s team. The WBA said it received the report on Oct. 20 and that Wood’s doctor said he should refrain from strenuous training with the arm for four to six weeks.

“That six-week period will expire Dec. 1, so the WBA championships committee carried out its analysis and considered that it is now time to restart the Santa Cruz-Wood negotiations,” the WBA wrote in Wednesday’s resolution. “The 15-day period will be extended until Dec. 7 and if there is no agreement by that time, the purse bid will be held at the Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlando, in the middle of the convention.”

WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. told Fight Freaks Unite later on Wednesday that if there is no deal for Santa Cruz-Wood or the results of a purse bid are not fulfilled both fighters will be stripped of their belts and the organization’s two leading available contenders will be ordered to fight for the vacant title.

Quick hits

Welterweight contender Jaron “Boots” Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs), 25, of Philadelphia, who is viewed by most as a lock to become a world champion, will box on the Showtime PPV undercard of Gervonta “Tank” Davis’ WBA “regular” lightweight title defense against WBA junior lightweight titlist Hector Luis Garcia on Jan. 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. a source involved in the event told Fight Freaks Unite on Wednesday. No opponent yet but getting a quality foe to face Ennis has been incredibly difficult.

Top Rank announced that the card headlined by the fight between Zach Parker and British countryman John Ryder for the vacant WBO interim super middleweight title will stream live in the United States on ESPN+ on Saturday from The O2 in London. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET. After Demetrius Andrade twice pulled out of facing Parker (22-0, 16 KOs), 28, Ryder (31-5, 17 KOs), a 34-year-old southpaw, was next in line. Because of Andrade’s withdrawals, Parker has not fought since a fourth-round knockout of Marcus Morrison last November. Since losing a decision to then-WBA titlist Callum Smith in November 2019, Ryder has won three fights in a row and is coming off a debatable split decision win over former middleweight titlist Daniel Jacobs on Feb. 12.

The Boxxer card headlined by junior welterweight phenom Adam Azim (6-0, 5 KOs), 20, one of England’s best prospects, against countryman Rylan Charlton (9-3-1, 4 KOs), 30, on Sunday at Alexandra Palace in London is available in the United States as a $9.99 pay-per-view stream on FITE beginning at 10 a.m. ET. The bout will be Azim’s first since his recently signed new four-year deal with Boxxer. The card airs on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.

The WBA has finally ordered the long overdue mandatory bout between strawweight titleholder Knockout CP Freshmart (24-0, 9 KOs), 32, of Thailand, and “regular” titlist Erik Rosa (5-0, 1 KO), 22, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, as part of its long trek to get down to one titleholder per division that began in August 2021. The WBA sent a letter to all of its registered promoters to let them know that with the fighter camps not making a deal that the bout will be auctioned off at a purse bid on Dec. 12 in Orlando, Florida, during the organization’s annual convention there. Minimum bid is $80,000. CP Freshmart is entitled to 75 percent of the winning bid and Rosa 25 percent.

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Show and tell

The late Hall of Fame two-division titleholder Arturo Gatti — my all-time favorite fighter, which you should know if you read this newsletter with any regularity — and Micky Ward produced one of the greatest trilogies in boxing history. They fought three consecutive action-packed junior welterweight 10-rounders in 13 months and by the end of fight No. 3 they had become best friends. The first fight was an all-time classic and one of the greatest fights in history. Ward won by debatable majority decision. Gatti slugged his way to a decision win in the third fight, which was also epic and, like fight No. 1, the fight of the year.

The second fight was also a good one but it was the least exciting of the trilogy — but still pretty damn good. It was also the most lopsided as Gatti dropped Ward in the third round and won 98-91, 98-91 and 98-90 to even the series 1-1. The rematch took place on Nov. 23, 2002 — 20 years ago on Wednesday. Where does the time go? Here is a rare cardboard site poster that was displayed at Caesars Atlantic City during fight week, my ringside media credential and a mint ticket to the HBO pre-fight party in my collection.

Jalolov photo: Tom Hogan

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