Notebook: Jake Paul will face his first full-time boxer in Tommy Fury on Aug. 6
Serrano foe also named; Golden Boy announces Garcia-Fortuna undercard; Quick hits; Show and tell
A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: If you have upgraded to a paid subscription, thank you! If you have not, please consider doing so to receive the most content. A paid subscription is also your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism.
Two weeks after it was announced that Jake Paul and Amanda Serrano would co-headline a Showtime PPV card on Aug. 6 at New York’s Madison Square Garden their opponents were unveiled on Thursday.
Paul will face Tommy Fury, a half brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, in an eight-round cruiserweight fight that will top the card and Serrano will defend her unified women’s featherweight title against Brenda Carabajal, Paul’s MVP Promotions and Showtime announced.
Paul, a popular social media and YouTube personality, had his first professional fight in January 2020 but when he faces Fury it will be the first time he will be taking on somebody who is primarily a boxer.
Previously, Paul has faced a fellow social media influencer (Ali Eson Gib), a retired NBA player (Nate Robinson) and MMA fighters Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley twice.
Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), 25, of Cleveland, was supposed to fight Fury (8-0, 4 KOs), 23, of England, on Dec. 18 in Tampa, but Fury withdrew due to illness and Paul instead faced Woodley, who took the rematch on short notice and got badly knocked out in the sixth round after going the eight-round distance against Paul in their previous fight.
When Paul and Woodley met for the first time last August in Cleveland, Fury won a four-round decision against Anthony Taylor on the undercard with the expectation that he and Paul would fight next.
Now they finally will. They will meet face to face at a news conference on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, where they are likely to continue the war of words they’ve had over social media for months.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to say yes to another potential matchup against Tommy after he pulled out of our matchup last year,” Paul said. “But ultimately knocking out a Fury was too appealing to pass up. I’ve proven I am dedicated to boxing in and out of the ring, from promoting fights, championing fighters and fighter pay, to knocking out my opponents. The Furys cannot say the same. They are selfish tossers. On Aug. 6, at the mecca, Madison Square Garden, the world will see why I am on my way to being a world champion. I’m honored to fight under the same lights as some of the greatest professional boxers in history.”
Fury has fought just once since winning on the Paul-Woodley I undercard. He claimed a six-round decision over Daniel Bocianski on April 23 on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s title defense against Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in London.
“The Paul brothers’ boxing charade is about to come to an end once and for all,” Fury said of Jake and his brother Logan Paul. “I am a boxer. My opponent plays boxing. Jake Paul has been dressed up to look like a boxer against retirees from other sports. On Aug. 6, I will show the world that he does not belong in the ring. Thank you to my promoter Frank Warren, Most Valuable Promotions and Showtime for letting me permanently shut up Jake Paul. I look forward to headlining Madison Square Garden and knocking out this clown.”
Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs), 33, a Puerto Rican southpaw fighting out of Brooklyn, who is promoted by Paul and appeared on both of the Paul-Woodley undercards, 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 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. It drew a sellout crowd of 19,187, a seven-figure gate and was a fight of the year contender that Serrano lost via disputed split decision.
The sides talked about an immediate rematch before ultimately going in different directions, which led to Serrano taking on Carabajal (18-5-1, 9 KOs), 31, of Argentina.
“I’m still in shock that I’ll be headlining ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena’ twice in less than six months,” Serrano said. “Brenda is a very tough opponent and has never been knocked out, so I know I will need to be on my A game to change that. But I promise you, I am not leaving the outcome for the judges to decide. I am looking forward to fighting in front of my hometown crowd again on the biggest stage in the world and giving them the show they deserve.”
Serrano has won world titles in a women’s record seven weight classes from junior bantamweight to junior welterweight and 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.
Carabajal is a former interim WBO featherweight titlist who has had all of her bouts in Argentina except for a 2019 fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on a Claressa Shields undercard and a 2020 fight in Denmark.
“This is the most important bout of my career,” Carabajal said. “I know that my opponent is one of the best female boxers in the world but I want to face the best fighters. This chance finds me in my best physical and mental shape, so I’m going to take advantage of it. Nothing is impossible. I dare to dream of becoming world champion again, but this time in the majestic Madison Square Garden.”
Garcia-Fortuna undercard
Golden Boy announced the undercard for the Ryan Garcia-Javier Fortuna card on July 16 (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.
Welterweight Alexis Rocha (19-1, 13 KOs), of Santa Ana, California, will face Samuel Kotey (23-3, 16 KOs), of Baltimore, in the 10-round co-feature.
“At this point in my career, it doesn’t matter who my opponent is, all that matters is continuing to knock opponents out and my personal growth as a fighter,” Rocha said. “No opponent can dictate how my career moves. I carry the power to control my own destiny and career. July 16th is another opportunity for me to take control of my destiny and to continue climbing to the top of the sport. I can’t wait to share a card with Ryan in a place so close to home — Los Angeles. I’m ready to put on a show.”
Also, junior lightweight Lamont Roach Jr. (22-1-1, 9 KOs), of Washington, D.C., will face Colombia’s Angel Rodriguez (20-1, 10 KOs) in a WBA junior lightweight title eliminator. Roach is seeking a second title shot. He has won three fights in a row since losing a decision to then-titlist Jamel Herring in November 2019.
“Just in case the division forgot about me I'm putting them on notice on July 16,” Roach said. “This is my opportunity to get closer to a world title shot and I am going to win and put on an impressive performance.”
Opening the main card will be Ricardo Sandoval (20-1, 15 KOs), of Rialto, California, against Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (11-0, 9 KOs) in a WBA flyweight title eliminator.
Quick hits
Weights from Kissimmee, Florida, for Friday night’s ProBox TV card: Jonathan Gonzalez 107.6 pounds, Mark Anthony Barriga 106.4 (for Gonzalez’s WBO junior flyweight title); Axel Vega 107.8, Angelino Cordova 107.8; Hakim Lopez 170, Cruse Stewart 172.4.
Top Rank announced that three of its prospects from Ireland will box on the Michael Conlan-Miguel Marriaga undercard on Aug. 6 (ESPN+) at SSE Arena in Conlan’s hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Welterweight Paddy Donovan (8-0, 6 KOs), who is trained by former middleweight titlist Andy Lee, featherweight Kurt Walker (2-0, 1 KO) and junior middleweight Kieran Molloy (1-0, 1 KO) will face foes to be determined. Donovan will appear in his first eight-rounder and Walker and Molloy will be in six-rounders. The stream will also include Belfast’s Padraig McCrory (13-0, 7 KOs) defending his regional super middleweight belt against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Periban (26-5-1, 17 KOs), a former world title challenger.
Junior welterweight Anthony Peterson will continue his comeback against a foe to be named in the main event of the “Beltway Battles: Round Three” card Aug. 6 at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in his hometown of Washington, D.C. On May 28 at the same venue, Peterson (39-1-1, 25 KOs), 37, the younger brother of retired former junior welterweight and welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson (who serves as his trainer) stopped journeyman Saul Corral in the sixth round. The upcoming bout will be Peterson’s fifth fight since mid-2016. In the co-feature, D.C. native and former junior welterweight titlist DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley (52-33-1, 28 KOs) will face Baltimore’s Mack Allison IV (14-3-1, 10 KOs) in an eight-rounder.
Heavyweight Jarrell Miller (24-0-1, 20 KOs), 33, of Brooklyn, New York, idle since November 2018 because of several positive tests for performance enhancing drugs that caused multiple bouts to be canceled (including a shot at then-unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua in December 2019) and eventually got him suspended for two years by the Nevada commission, returned to the ring on Thursday night. He won a unanimous decision over Ariel Esteban Bracamonte (11-8, 6 KOs), 29, of Argentina, on the WBA KO Drugs Festival card at Casino Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Miller, who was a career-heavy (by far) 341.75 pounds, beat the 305.5-pound Bracamonte 97-92 on all three scorecards.
Show and tell
After Arturo Gatti, my all-time favorite fighter, completed his legendary trilogy with Micky Ward he wanted the opportunity to win a second world title and his team delivered it for him in his next fight in which he outpointed Gianluca Branco to claim the vacant WBC junior welterweight title. After scoring easy knockouts in defenses against former titleholders Leonard Dorin and James Leija, Gatti took a career-high payday of $3.5 million for a mandatory defense (and his first pay-per-view main event) against Floyd Mayweather, who had vacated his lightweight title and was going into his third fight at 140 pounds. To many, it was a terrible mismatch and an unwinnable fight for Gatti. As much as I hated to say it I didn’t give him a serious chance to beat Mayweather, who had the kind of speed, skills and precision punching that I thought would be a disaster for Gatti. But the fight was made and it was also the first pay-per-view main event for Mayweather, who would go on to become the biggest PPV attraction in history.
I was ringside as Mayweather met fellow future Hall of Famer Gatti on his turf at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the sold-out pro-Gatti crowd of 12,675 watched in horror as Mayweather delivered a one-sided annihilation. He dropped Gatti in the first round, battered him at will and had easily won every round on all three scorecards before Buddy McGirt, Gatti’s trainer, mercifully stopped the fight with Gatti on his stool after the sixth round. Mayweather won a world title in his third division en route to winning titles in five divisions overall. The fight sold 340,000 pay-per-views, a number Mayweather would eventually dwarf time and again over the next decade-plus in his record-shattering career. Gatti would fight just three more times, going 1-2. Gatti-Mayweather took place on June 25, 2005 — 17 years ago on Saturday. Here is an extraordinarily rare cardboard site poster in my collection that was on display at Bally’s Atlantic City, one of the host hotels, during fight week.
Paul/Serrano photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Gonzalez-Barriga photo: Damon Gonzalez/ProBox TV
To upgrade your subscription please go here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrafael1/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRafael1
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRafaelBoxing
