Notebook: Jake Paul, Amanda Serrano to top Showtime PPV on Aug. 6 at MSG

BetUS Boxing Show; Kyoguchi retains junior flyweight title in slugfest; heavyweight Jalolov flattens Mulowayi on 'ShoBox'; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jun 11, 2022

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Jake Paul and Amanda Serrano will co-headline a Showtime PPV card on Aug. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York, the fighters and network announced on social media on Friday.

They will face opponents to be determined, Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), 25, of Cleveland, in a cruiserweight bout and Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs), 33, a Puerto Rican southpaw fighting out of Brooklyn, in a defense of her unified featherweight world title.

“We going back to back. New York. MSG. Two main events. Showtime PPV,” Paul wrote on Twitter. “It gets no bigger, it gets no (better).”

Paul, who through his MVP Promotions is also Serrano’s promoter, was a broadcast free agent following the end of a two-fight deal — his two wins over former UFC star Tyron Woodley last August and December — with Showtime and he had been talking to other outlets but will remain with Showtime for at least the August fight.

Serrano appeared on both of the Paul-Woodley undercards and will return to the Garden, which is where her last fight took place. It was an electrifying all-action and historic battle with undisputed women’s lightweight champion Katie Taylor on April 30 on DAZN that Paul co-promoted with Taylor promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing. The fight was the first women’s bout to headline at the iconic venue, drew a sellout crowd of 19,187, a seven-figure gate and was a fight of the year contender that Taylor won by disputed split decision.

Now, Serrano will return to featherweight.

“August 6th, 2 Main Events. I’m back at my natural weight, defending my belts,” Serrano wrote on Twitter. “This time I’m not letting the judges decide.”

Serrano, who has won world titles in a women’s record seven weight classes, has had her last two bouts at lightweight. She last fought at featherweight last August when she easily outpointed Yamileth Mercado to retain her WBC and WBO featherweight belts.

After Taylor-Serrano it appeared that were headed to an immediate rematch with both fighters and promoters saying they wanted it next. However, Hearn wanted to stage the bout in Taylor’s home country of Ireland and Serrano and Paul were apparently not anxious to go on the road and will instead fight on the same card together.

BetUS Boxing Show

On our new weekly BetUS boxing preview and picks show, TJ Rives and I were live on YouTube and the BetUS website on Friday afternoon breaking down and making picks and offering tips for the three most notable fights on Saturday: WBA “regular” heavyweight titlist Trevor Bryan’s defense against Daniel Dubois, super middleweight Edgar Berlanga’s fight with Roamer Alexis Angulo and super middleweight Jaime Munguia bout with Jimmy Kelly. We also took a few viewer questions and had a good time. If you missed it live, please check it out and make sure to subscribe to the show’s YouTube channel! Hope you enjoy.

Kyoguchi stops Bermudez in thriller

Junior flyweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi retained his WBA and Ring magazine title with a bloody eighth-round knockout of secondary titlist and mandatory challenger Esteban Bermudez in an all-action main event of the Matchroom Boxing and Canelo Promotions card on DAZN on Friday night at the Domo Alcade in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Fighting for the first time in 15 months, Kyoguchi (16-0, 11 KOs), 28, of Japan, made his fourth title defense, going on the road to face Bermudez (14-4-2, 10 KOs), 26, who was fighting for the first time in 13 months, in his home country.

Kyoguchi, who shares manager Eddy Reynoso with Canelo Alvarez, said before the fight that he was motivated to score an emphatic win after watching countryman Naoya Inoue’s stellar performance in a second-round knockout of Nonito Donaire to unify to three bantamweight titles on Tuesday in Japan, and he did just that.

“I have always wanted to fight in Mexico with the great fans here and I am so glad that I did,” Kyoguchi said through an interpreter. “It’s a great win and I am ready for the next step. There are many other champions in the division, and I want to fight them.”

Although he suffered two point deductions from referee Roberto Ramirez Jr., Kyoguchi, who was in his second fight outside of Asia, landed many uppercuts and imposed himself on the big-hearted Bermudez in a very fast-paced action fight.

Kyoguchi cut Bermudez over his left eye in the second round, was docked a point for head butting in the sixth round and lost another point in the seventh round for hitting Bermudez behind the head as he was hammering him to the mat with a flurry of punches. The knockdown was erased by the foul call.

Bermudez, who counts Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera as part of his corner, was bleeding from various cuts and fading in the eighth round and when Kyoguchi unloaded a barrage of punches with Bermudez on the ropes, causing Ramirez to halt the fight at 24 seconds.

“I thanked him for the great fight that we put on and was sorry for the point deductions,” Kyoguchi said of his post-fight interaction with Bermudez. “I thought that they were a bit strict, but they gave him damage, so I was sorry for that.”

Jalolov drills Mulowayi

Bakhodir Jalolov, the Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, scored a highlight-reel knockout of Jack Mulowayi in the eighth and final round of the main event of Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” card on Friday night at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, on Hall of Fame induction weekend in nearby Canastota.

The 6-foot-7, 251-pound Jalolov (11-0, 11 KOs), 27, a two-time Uzbekistan Olympian, went past the fifth round for the first time and dominated the 6-5, 242-pound Mulowayi (11-3-1, 7 KOs), 35, of Belgium, who was a step up in class compared to Jalolov’s other pro opponents.

Jalolov, a southpaw, laid Mulowayi (11-3-1, 7 KOs) out flat on his back with a clean left hand at 1 minute, 20 seconds.

“I’m feeling really good about the performance,” Jalolov said. “The opponent was at a really good level and a great fighter. He was a really tough, durable guy. I landed some big shots on him and he can take a punch.”

With numerous star fighters past and present in the arena because of the Hall of Fame festivities, including Andre Ward, Shane Mosley, Antonio Tarver and Terence Crawford, Jalolov dropped Mulowayi for the first time in the fight with a left hand just as the bell ended the sixth round.

“I thought I was going to stop him at the end of the sixth round when I dropped him, but the referee let him continue and the round was over,” said Jalolov, who lost a point in the fourth round for holding. “I thought that was the time. But I had to wait until the final round. I’m happy that I got the stoppage. I feel like I hurt him three or four times.”

Jalolov outlanded Mulowayi 99-17 in total punches, according to CompuBox, which saw Mulowayi land one punch in the first, second, third, fifth and eighth rounds.

Lou DiBella, Jalolov’s promoter and the promoter of the card, is among the inductees into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Also on the card:

Heavyweight George Arias (18-0, 7 KOs), 30, of Bronx, New York, won a split decision over Alante Green (10-1-1, 7 KOs), 29, of Cleveland. Arias won 78-74 and 77-75 and one judge had it 77-75 for Green.
Canadian lightweight Chann Thonson (11-0, 8 KOs), 30, battered, bloodied and broke down Tyler Tomlin (13-1, 9 KOs), 22, of Ashland City, Tennessee, stopping him in the fifth round of a mild upset. Referee Mark Nelson stopped it 1:01 into the round on advice of the ringside doctor.

Quick hits

Weights from Miami for the Don King PPV card Saturday (FITE, 4 p.m. ET): Trevor Bryan 259.6 pounds, Daniel Dubois 241.6 (for Bryan’s WBA “regular” heavyweight title); Luis Rodriguez 167.2, Ryan Adams 166.8; DaCarree Scott 253.2, Jonathan Guidry 257.8; Johnnie Langston 200, Isaiah Thompson 191.4; Ahmed Elbiali 174.4, Dervin Colina 174; Raynel Mederos 141.8, Ryan Wilson 142.2; Tre’Sean Wiggins 146.4, Travis Castellon 146.8; Ian Green 159, Anthony Lenk 159.

Weights from New York for the Top Rank card Saturday (ESPN, 11 p.m. ET): Edgar Berlanga 167.6 pounds, Roamer Alexis Angulo 169.6. Angulo was 1.6 pounds over the 168 limit. He agreed to pay an undisclosed portion of his roughly $125,000 purse to Berlanga and the fight will go on but Angulo must submit to a Saturday morning weight check at which he cannot be more than 178 pounds and he is not eligible to win the regional title Berlanga holds. Henry Lebron 129.8, Luis Lebron 130; Carlos Caraballo 120.4, Victor Santillan 119.6; Josue Vargas 142.6, Dakota Linger 142.6; Armani Almestica 134.2, Eliseo Villalobos 134.4; Orlando Gonzalez 128, Pablo Cruz 127.8; Omar Rosario 140.6, Julio Rosa 139.6; Frevian Gonzalez 134.6, Rufugio Montellano 134.8; Christina Cruz 111.8, Maryguenn Vellinga 110.6.

Weights from Anaheim, California, for the Golden Boy card Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET): Jaime Munguia 165 pounds, Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly 164; Oscar Duarte 136.4, Mark Bernaldez 135.6; Yokasta Valle 104.6, Lorraine Villalobos 104.8 (for Valle’s IBF women’s strawweight title); Evan Sanchez 152.4, Carlos Ortiz 151; Carlos Ocampo 156, Vincent Rodriguez 154.2; Alejandro Reyes 139.8, Moises Flores 147; Japhethlee Llamido 128.4, Saul Hernandez 132; Jorge Estrada 153.6, Hassan Coleman 153.

All-action Brooklyn, New York, junior welterweight Cletus Seldin (26-1, 22 KOs) had his fight with France’s Rachid Jkitou (28-0, 20 KOs), which was scheduled to headline Star Boxing promoter Joe DeGuardia’s card on Saturday night at the Paramount in Huntington, New York, canceled. The bout was scrapped when the New York State Athletic Commission ruled out Jkitou for a medical issue and then declined to approve a replacement opponent Star secured. The rest of the show will go forward.

Show and tell

After Mike Tyson was pummeled and knocked out by Lennox Lewis in their heavyweight title fight, he returned for a 49-second knockout of Clifford Etienne but then suffered a stunning fourth-round knockout loss to journeyman Danny Williams. It was clear Tyson was nearing the end of his career. But he pushed forward, mainly because he was in bankruptcy and needed the money, and was matched with the unknown Kevin McBride at what was then called the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.

Because I live in the Virginia suburbs outside of Washington, I spent a good amount of time with Tyson and Jeff Fenech, who trained him for the bout, before the crush of media hit town. I had two extensive pre-fight interviews with Tyson and was the only media member allowed to watch his final sparring session. He was in good spirits and appeared to be in good shape physically and excited for the fight. But on fight night it was clear he was a spent bullet and really didn’t want to be in the ring. He resorted to dirty tactics in the sixth round, when he tried to break McBride’s arm during a clinch and then he opened a cut over McBride’s left eye with an intentional head butt. Referee Joe Cortez docked Tyson two points for the foul. McBride said after the fight that Tyson also bit one of his nipples.

Just before the bell ended the sixth round, McBride bulled Tyson to the ropes and he went down to his rear end. Cortez ruled it a slip but Tyson obviously didn’t want to get up. He eventually did. The round ended and he returned to his corner, where he meekly quit on his stool. It was Tyson’s third loss in four fights and at the post-fight news conference the once great heavyweight champion announced his retirement. The fight was on June 11, 2005 — 17 years ago on Saturday. Here is an extremely scarce thin cardboard site poster in my collection. Below the poster is a photo somebody — I have no recollection of who — took and emailed me of Tyson and I (when my hair was still brown) at a media event during fight week.

Serrano/Paul and Kyoguchi-Bermudez photos: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Bryan-Dubois photo: David Martin-Warr /Don King Productions; Berlanga-Angulo photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Munguia-Kelly photo: Tom Hogan/Golden Boy

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