Notebook: Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, 18, dies from brain injury suffered in fight

Valdez bout to proceed; Figueroa-Fulton undercard set; Crawford-Porter update

Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, an 18-year-old Mexican welterweight, died on Thursday, five days after suffering a brain injury in a fourth-round knockout loss to Canada’s Marie-Pier Houle on the Kim Clavel-Maria Soledad Vargas undercard at IGA Stadium in Montreal on Saturday night.

Zapata, who lost her third fight in a row by knockout, took several hard shots from Houle (4-0-1, 2 KOs), who rocked her with an uppercut late in the fourth round. Houle landed several punches follow-up punches, including a right hand that connected and sent Zapata’s mouthpiece flying out. At that point the referee stopped the fight, but Zapata was unable to walk back to her corner and appeared to be convulsing while still standing.

Jovanni Martinez, Zapata’s partner, also a boxer, who lost a four-round decision on the card, rushed to her side. Zapata (2-4, 0 KOs) was laid down in the ring and attended to by medical personnel before being taken to the hospital, where she was placed in a medically induced coma, which is used to allow the brain a chance for swelling to decrease. However, she was unable to recover.

“It is with great sadness and torment that we learned, from a representative of her family that Jeanette Zacarias Zapata passed away this afternoon at 3:45 p.m.,” promoter Yvon Michel said in a statement. “The entire team at Groupe Yvon Michel team is extremely distressed by this painful announcement. We would like to offer our most sincere condolences to her family, loved ones, friends and especially her husband Jovanni Martinez, who was at her bedside until her last moments.

“Jovanni is devastated and extremely upset. Under the circumstances he does not wish to comment, therefore we ask that you respect his decision and allow the family to have their privacy. In this painful period, you will understand that Groupe Yvon Michel does not intend to comment further. Thank you for your understanding.”

Valdez allowed to fight

The Oscar Valdez-Robson Conceicao fight will move forward as planned despite Valdez’s recent positive test for the stimulant Phentermine in a random test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on Aug. 13, with the positive test result being returned on Monday, according to multiple sources.

WBC junior lightweight titlist Valdez and amateur nemesis Conceicao will meet as scheduled in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on Sept. 10 at the AVA Amphitheater at Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona, where Mexico’s Valdez grew up.

Despite the positive test, the WBC, which makes decisions about the status of the title, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Athletic Commission, which regulates combat sports on Casino Del Sol’s tribal land, determined on Thursday that Valdez did not gain a competitive advantage by having a trace amount of the substance in his system.

I wrote about the decision of the commission for The Ring magazine website here: https://www.ringtv.com/626546-oscar-valdez-robson-conceicao-fight-to-proceed-despite-positive-test/

Figueroa-Fulton card finalized

Showtime and TGB Promotions on Thursday officially added a pair of 10-round bouts to the televised undercard of the Stephen Fulton Jr.-Brandon Figueroa junior featherweight title unification bout on Sept. 18 (9 p.m. ET) at Park Theater at the Park MGM in Las Vegas.

In the co-feature, junior featherweight Ra’eese Aleem, who was recently stripped of WBA interim title when the organization terminated all interim belts, will face Eduardo Baez and bantamweight Gary Antonio Russell will face Alejandro Barrios in the opener.

As for the main event, Philadelphia’s Fulton (19-0, 8 KOs), 27, will make his first WBO title defense after routing Angelo Leo in January to take the title.

“We will have a new king of the division on a historic day,” Fulton said. “Training camp has been great, rough and dirty. I know where I need to be for this fight and I’m right there not running away from it.”

Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs), 24, of Weslaco, Texas, will make his first WBC title defense after knocking out Luis Nery in the seventh round to claim the 122-pound belt in May.

“I expect Fulton to be flashy and slick with his movements, and perhaps he'll want to mix it up a little as well, so we’re ready for anything,” Figueroa said. “People know I always come to fight and with this being my second back-to-back fight against another undefeated world champion it makes this an exciting fight on paper and it should be even more exciting to see it live.”

Aleem (18-0, 12 KOs), 31, of Las Vegas, was initially supposed to face former titlist Daniel Roman but the deal was never finalized, so he will face Baez instead

“Eduardo Baez is a good fighter, who is trying to make a name for himself, but he’s standing in my way of becoming world champion, and I’m going to take him out,” said Aleem, who has stopped seven opponents in a row. “I’m on a mission to prove I’m the king of the division, and the journey continues on Sept. 18.”

Baez (19-1-2, 6 KOs), 26, a Mexico native fighting out of Calexico, California, has won eight fights in a row since a draw in 2018. He is facing the most notable opponent of his career.

“I can’t wait for this opportunity against Ra’eese Aleem,” Baez said. “Success is the most precious treasure, the more you are willing to pay, the more valuable the prize will be. I will win this fight and we will all scream, ‘Viva Mexico!’”

Russell (18-0, 12 KOs), 28, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, who is the brother of featherweight titlist Gary Russell Jr., is getting right back in the ring after a disappointing first-round no decision against former world titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez on Aug. 14. The fight ended in just 16 seconds after an accidental head butt injured Rodriguez and he was unable to continue.

“I’m excited to be back after I trained so hard for my last fight before it ended early,” Russell said. “Now, I’m just taking that same fight energy that I had for Emmanuel Rodriguez and bringing it on Sept. 18 for my new opponent.”

Barrios (24-2-5, 13 KOs), 25, of Mexico, fought to a split draw challenging junior bantamweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas in September 2018. He has won eight straight bouts since.

“It has been a long road for me. I’ve been looking for another title fight or a rematch with Ancajas ever since our draw,” Barrios said. “We decided to move up to 118 pounds and I’ve just remained focused and worked hard for the next opportunity. Now, I get to share the ring with a great and talented fighter in Gary Antonio Russell. On Sept. 18, I will leave everything in that ring, put on a great fight for all boxing fans and leave victorious.”

Crawford-Porter update

There was no purse bid drama on Thursday, which is when the WBO had scheduled a one to determine the promotional rights to a much-anticipated fight between welterweight titlist Terence Crawford and former two-time titleholder — and good Crawford friend — Shawn Porter.

However, the WBO announced that the purse bid “has been moved to September 14th, following a request from the promoters of both fighters, Top Rank (Crawford) and Tom Brown's TGB Promotions (Porter). Both companies requested additional time to continue ongoing negotiations.”

While the sides had discussed a deal there had been no serious negotiations to this point. However, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said that it now appears as though they will get serious about trying to make a deal rather than going to a purse bid.

Arum said Top Rank and TGB Promotions/Premier Boxing Champions could work together on a joint ESPN/Fox Sports pay-per-view event under a similar structure that they put on the heavyweight title rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in February 2020 and how they are also handling the third fight, which is scheduled for Oct. 9. Arum also said Top Rank or TGB/PBC could do the fight on their own depending on what they negotiate.

If Top Rank is the lead promoter Arum said he already has a date and site lined up for what would be an ESPN PPV event: Nov. 20 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

I wrote about situation for World Boxing News. Please read that story here: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2021/09/02/bob-arum-crawford-vs-porter-date/amp

Holyfield, McBride ticked off at Triller

Former four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield filed a demand for arbitration against Triller Fight Club on Wednesday, claiming breach of contract over an exhibition bout he is under contract for with fellow Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride, but which Triller has refused to reschedule, according to sources with knowledge of the filing.

Holyfield has been training for around four months for the fight only to see it postponed multiple times without a clear idea of when or if it will be rescheduled. He is seeking what is believed to be more than $5 million he is owed for the fight, for which Triller has already missed multiple deadlines to put on, according to a source.

Holyfield and McBride were originally scheduled to in an exhibition in June before it was postponed until August and then called off again with no set date.

McBride’s team is also angry about the situation since McBride has a deal for $500,000, life-changing money for a laborer with kids in private school.

I wrote about the mess with Triller for World Boxing News. Please read that story here: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2021/09/02/evander-holyfield-triller-arbitration/

Quick hits

There will be a “ShoBox: The New Generation” tripleheader on Sept. 24 (Showtime, 10:35 p.m. ET/PT) from Main Street in Broken Arrow, Okla. In the main event of the Salita Promotions event, bantamweights Ja’Rico O’Quinn (14-0-1, 8 KOs), 26, of Detroit, and Saul Sanchez (16-1, 9 KOs), 24, of Pacoima, California, will meet in a 10-rounder. In the co-feature, featherweight Jayvon Garnett (10-0, 5 KOs), 26, of Cincinnati, faces the Dominican Republic’s Luis Reynaldo Nunez (11-0, 8 KOs), 21, in a 10-rounder. Junior lightweight Alejandro Guerrero (12-1, 9 KOs), 23, of Houston, will face Miami-based Otar Eranosyan (9-0, 6 KOs), 27, of the Republic of Georgia, in the eight-round opener.

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With England’s Joe Joyce vacating the European heavyweight title, up-and-comer Agit Kabayel (21-0, 13 KOs), 28, and veteran brawler Marco Huck (42-5-1, 28 KOs), 36, the former longtime cruiserweight titlist, were ordered to meet for the vacant belt in all-Germany clash. SES Promotions said Thursday that negotiations have begun for the mandated bout.

Show and tell

During his fighting days, former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis was rarely appreciated, at least not by American fans. His stature has grown enormously since his retirement in 2003. The three-time world champion finished his career 41-2-1, avenging both losses by knockout against Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. The draw was one of the worst decisions in boxing history when he was outright robbed in his first fight with Evander Holyfield. On Thursday, Lewis, my old pal and broadcast partner from our days calling fights on Epix, turned 56. Here’s a sweet site poster in my collection from his legacy-sealing eighth-round knockout of Mike Tyson to retain the championship in their 2002 mega fight, which I covered at ringside in Memphis for USA Today. At the time, Lewis-Tyson was the highest-grossing fight in history.

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