Notebook: Heavyweights Anderson, Bakole embrace collision
Andy Cruz looks to continue development; Top Rank announces Munguia-Bazinyan; Castro, Giyasov win on Santa Monica Pier card; Canelo-Berlanga media tour; BetUS show; Quick hits; Show and tell
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LOS ANGELES — Of all the fights on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov card the one that sort of came out of nowhere is the heavyweight clash between up-and-coming contender Jared Anderson and Martin Bakole.
It would not have been on anyone’s list of heavyweight fights to make but now that is made it is hard not see the intrigue in Anderson taking a major step up in competition against a more experienced and battle-tested puncher in Bakole, who has wanted a major fight just as much as the in-a-hurry Anderson has.
Initially, there were plans for Anderson, a Top Rank fighter, to face former titlist Deontay Wilder. But when Wilder suffered a fifth-round knockout loss to Zhilei Zhang on June 1, Bakole got the call and Anderson agreed without hesitation.
And now they will meet in a 10-rounder on the Riyadh Season-backed card on Saturday (DAZN PPV, PPV.com, ESPN+ PPV, Prime Video PPV, 6 p.m. ET, $79.99) at BMO Stadium.
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Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, who is spearheading the country’s lavish spending on boxing, has taken a shine to Anderson and wanted him on the show, and it was Alalshikh who mentioned Bakole to him.
“I’m going to show out and show why I’m here and why they say I’m the future,” Anderson said at Thursday’s final news conference outside in front of famed Chinese Theater. “They offered and I told them I would fight anybody (Alalshikh) was offering. It didn’t matter who he said, I was going to say yes regardless. They picked him and he’s who I have to go through.”
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs), 24, of Toledo, Ohio, will be in his first fight with SugarHill Steward as his head trainer. He will also be in action for the first time since a near-shutout of unwilling opponent Ryad Merhy in a forgettable fight on April 13.
With the way Bakole (20-1, 15 KOs), 32, a Congo native fighting out of Scotland, punches, it figures to be a far more interesting fight than Anderson had with Merhy.
“I think I’m the better fighter and this fight is going to end in a knockout,” said Bakole, whose brother is former WBC cruiserweight titlist Ilunga Makabu. “I came to America on business. I did not come here to joke. I did not come here to play. I will knock out Anderson.”
The 6-6 Bakole weighed 299½ pounds for his most recent fight, a fourth-round knockout of Carlos Takam in October on the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou card in Riyadh. It was his ninth straight win since a 10th-round knockout loss to Michael Hunter in 2018.
“I always wanted the big fights and Saturday night I’m going to face the best heavyweight in America in my American debut and I’m so excited. I don’t know if he’ll take my power. Let’s see what he brings. I can take everyone’s power. I’m a big man, machine.”
Cruz continuing development
Lightweight Andy Cruz, one of boxing’s elite prospects, will look to continue his fast rise on the Crawford-Madrimov card in a 10-rounder against veteran Antonio Moran.
Cruz (3-0, 1 KOs), 28, is being moved very aggressively by Matchroom Boxing given his massive amateur credentials and age. He was a 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist, three-time World Amateur champion (2017, 2019, 2021) and two-time Pan American Games champion (2015, 2019) as one of the most decorated amateurs ever.
Having defected from Cuba and based himself in Philadelphia to train with Bozy Ennis, the father of IBF welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis, Cruz has faced very solid opposition in all of his pro fights in Juan Carlos Burgos, Jovanni Straffon and Brayan Zammaripa. Next up is Moran (30-6-1, 21 KOs), 31, who has only been stopped once (by Devin Haney on his way to winning the lightweight title).
“I’m really happy with my journey. I think I’ve really learned a lot and I continue to keep learning,” Cruz said through an interpreter. “I think this is the beginning of a great career with Matchroom. I couldn’t be happier. These are the opportunities that I have been looking for and I really want to take advantage of them.
“In all my fights I feel that pressure to put on an explosive display but I think it’s a positive thing. It makes me sharper and it makes me more dangerous. I’m really going to put on a show. I don’t know much about Moran or his style but I’ve been working hard in camp and I know I’m going to put on a spectacular show.”
Cruz said he made a great decision to train with Ennis and he has also learned from Jaron.
“I’ve adapted really well. I’ve really learned a lot,’ Cruz said. “Jaron is one of the best boxers I’ve seen. I’ve seen a lot of boxers with different styles and he’s really something special. We’ve sometimes have sparring sessions when other boxers don’t come to the gym. We spar each other and we interchange our abilities and our skills. It's great gym experience. I try to incorporate some of his skills into my style.”
Crawford vs. Madrimov PPV lineup
Junior middleweights: Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) vs. Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), for Madrimov’s WBA and vacant WBO interim junior middleweight title
Heavyweights: Andy Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) vs. Jarrell Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs), 12 rounds
Junior welterweights: Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) vs. Jose Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs), for Cruz’s WBA junior welterweight title
Heavyweights: Jared Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) vs. Martin Bakole (20-1, 15 KOs), 10 rounds
Light heavyweights: David Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) vs. “Hot Rod” Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs), for vacant WBA “regular” light heavyweight title
Lightweights: Andy Cruz (3-0, 1 KO) vs. Antonio Moran (30-6-1, 21 KOs), 10 rounds
Munguia-Bazinyan official
Super middleweight contender Jaime Munguia will debut under Top Rank with a 12-rounder against Erik Bazinyan on Sept. 20 (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET) at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, confirming a Fight Freaks Unite report.
“Jaime Munguia has emerged as one of Mexico’s elite fighters. We are thrilled to showcase his telegenic, action-packed style to sports fans around the world,” Top Rank president Todd duBoef said. “Erik Bazinyan has been on Jaime’s radar for several years, and Jaime knows he must be at the top of his game.”
Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs), 27, who is a former WBO junior middleweight titleholder, is coming off his first defeat, an entertaining decision loss challenging then-undisputed 168-pound champion and countryman Canelo Alvarez on May 4.
That bout, according to sources, was the last fight of his deals with co-promoters Zanfer Promotions and Golden Boy. Munguia and his representative and Top Rank struck a multi-fight deal, according to sources, but that was not announced and this goes forward as a one-fight agreement in association with Zanfer and Golden Boy.
Unsettled promotional situation aside, Munguia is looking forward to fighting again and being on ESPN after years on lower-profile DAZN.
“I can’t wait to return to Arizona against an undefeated and motivated Erik Bazinyan and for the fight to be shown on the world’s biggest networks,” Munguia said. “I fight for the fans and look forward to giving them a great show.”
Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs), 29, an Armenia native based in Montreal promoted by Eye of the Tiger, is coming off a 10-round split draw with Shakeel Phinn on May 2.
“It's the perfect timing to shock the world,” Bazinyan said. “I've worked my entire career for this moment, and I know I've got everything it takes to beat Jaime Munguia.”
Castro dominates Acosta
Junior lightweight prospect Marc Castro dominated George Acosta en route to a seventh-round technical decision in the main event of a mini three-fight Matchroom Boxing card on Wednesday night on DAZN.
The bouts, offered with no admission charge, took place on the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California, immediately following the public workouts for the fighters on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov card on Saturday about a half hour away near downtown Los Angeles.
Castro (13-0, 8 KOs), 24, of Fresno, California, took it to Acosta (17-3, 3 KOs), 27, of Whittier, California, throughout the bout, but it was cut short when an accidental head butt in the seventh round caused Acosta’s right eye to swell closed, forcing the fight to be stopped at 1 minute, 10 seconds and sent to the scorecards. Castro win by 70-63 on all three cards.
Also on the card, welterweight Shakhram Giyasov (16-0, 9 KOs), 31, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist from Uzbekistan, won a split decision over versus Miguel Parra (22-5-1, 14 KOs), 30, of Mexico. Two judges had the action fight for Giyasov, 96-93 and 95-94, while one judge had it 95-94 for Parra, who took a lot of punishment but showed a tremendous chin.
Referee David Solivan deducted a point from Giyasov for a low blow in the sixth round, which replays showed was clearly a legal punch. When the replay was shown on the large screen between rounds the crowd jeered, but Solivan never looked at the replay even out of curiosity.
In the opener, super middleweight Nathan Lugo (2-0, 2 KO), 20, of Marietta, Georgia, who recently signed with Queensberry Promotions, stopped Ray Corona (4-2, 0 KOs), 31, of Provo, Utah, at 54 seconds of the second round.
Canelo-Berlanga media tour
Unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and challenger Edgar Berlanga, whose Sep. 14 fight was announced last week, will set out on a two-city media tour to promote the bout next week.
Joining them on the tour will be WBA middleweight titlist Erislandy Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs), 41, a Cuban southpaw fighting out of Houston, and two-division titleholder Danny Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs), 36, a Puerto Rican from Philadelphia, who is moving up in weight to challenge Lara on the card, which will headline a Prime Video PPV event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The first stop will be on Monday afternoon at the Palladium Times Square in New York. Then they’ will jet to California and meet again on Tuesday afternoon at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Unlike some past tours, the stops are not open to the public.
After the fight was announced Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs), 34, of Mexico, who had been the undisputed champion, was stripped of the IBF title for facing Berlanga instead of that organization’s mandatory challenger William Scull. Alvarez will make his eighth 168-pound title defense.
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), 27, a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, New York, is the WBA mandatory challenger, although the fight was not due.
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday (we will be back on our usual day on Friday next week) on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked four of the fights on the big PPV on Saturday: Terence Crawford-Israel Madrimov, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz-Jose Valenzuela, Andy Ruiz Jr.-Jarrell Miller, and Jared Anderson-Martin Bakole. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
The IBF has ordered William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs), 32, a Cuban native fighting out of Germany, and Vladimir Shishkin (16-0, 10 KOs), a Russia native fighting out of Detroit, to fight for its vacant super middleweight title, which was stripped from Canelo Alvarez last week when he finalized a bout with Edgar Berlanga for Sept. 14 rather than defend against the unknown, unaccomplished mandatory challenger Scull. The IBF gave Scull promoter Agon Sports and Salita Promotions, which represents Shishkin, until Aug. 27 to make a deal or it will order a purse bid.
Former unified junior middleweight titleholders and PBC fighters Jarrett Hurd and Jeison Rosario will meet in a 10-round middleweight main event on the ProBox TV card Aug. 21 at its base in Plant City, Florida. Both are well past their best days — Rosario even retired at one point — but they were in the heyday at the same times several years ago but never met. Hurd (25-3, 17 KOs), 33, of Accokeek, Maryland, has lost three of his last five bouts but is coming off a fourth-round knockout of Tyi Edmonds in December. Rosario (24-4-1, 18 KOs), 29, of the Dominican Republic, got knocked out in the fifth round by Brian Mendoza in November 2022 and has won his only fight since, a second-round KO of Israel Valerio in November.
Golden Boy announced it has signed junior featherweight Jordan Fuentes, 18, of Fresno, California, a seven-time national amateur champion, four-time state champion and Olympic trials gold medalist. He will make his pro debut in a four-rounder against James Mulder (0-2) on the Serhii Bohachuk-Vergil Ortiz Jr. undercard on Aug. 10 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Fuentes’ bout will be streamed with other preliminary bouts on Golden Boy’s YouTube channel. “For me to get signed with Golden Boy and get the deal I did, there are simply no words other than that I am eternally grateful and blessed to be in this position,” said Fuentes, who began boxing at age 8 and is managed by Rick Mirigian.
Show and tell
A prime Mike Tyson was storming his way through the heavyweight division. He had smoked Trevor Berbick to win the WBC title and become the youngest heavyweight champion. In his next fight Tyson took the WBA belt by near-shutout decision over James “Bonecrusher” Smith and then defended the two straps in a dominating sixth-round knockout of Pinklon Thomas. That set the stage for the undisputed title fight with IBF titlist Tony Tucker, against whom Tyson cruised to a lopsided decision to unify the three major titles. It was historic but it was also a somewhat forgettable fight but it took place on Aug. 1, 1987 — 37 years ago on Thursday. Here’s a very scarce Lite Beer poster from the fight in my collection.
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Photos: Cruz: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Anderson-Bakole and Castro: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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