Notebook: Joshua, Fury offer hints of hope undisputed title fight will be finalized

Matchroom signing; podcast appearance; Quick Hits; more

Time is running short if Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are going to meet for the undisputed heavyweight championship in late June or early July as the hope to.

But they both made comments on Friday that seemed hopeful that the fight would be finalized in the coming days.

“Quick update. Myself, 258 Management and Matchroom Boxing are working really hard to make the fight happen,” Joshua wrote on social media. “I want to give my fans what they want & you know I’ll do whatever I can to deliver. Hoping to share some positive news soon.”

A few hours later, Fury posted a video to his social media, also putting a positive spin on the prospect of the fight being finalized.

“Just got some big news,” Fury said. “There’s three or four big offers on the table. Interest from Saudi Arabia, my gypsy brothers in Qatar, Uzbekistan, Russia, America, England. There’s some big, big offers on the table. I’m gonna go over them on Sunday and hopefully we’ll get this big fight on and let me smash this big dosser. Big useless dosser, let me say, because when I get him I’m gonna give him (holds up right fist). Big dosser!”

The deadline is days away for the promoters — Bob Arum of Top Rank and Frank Warren for Fury and Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn for Joshua — to deliver a bona fide site deal that both boxers will sign off on to meet the obligations they agreed to when both sides signed contracts for a two-fight deal on March 15.

However, that deal is contingent on securing a date and a site deal that guarantees enough money that both fighters will go forward with the summer fight, which would be followed by a rematch before the end of the year. The terms for the first fight call for a 50-50 split with the rematch 60-40 in favor of the winner of the first fight, according to sources.

Once everybody signed the paperwork last month, the promoters had 30 days to deliver the site deal and the deadline is in a few days. Reports have the fighters and promoters seeking a site deal worth nine figures with Saudi Arabia, which put up around $40 million to host Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. in December 2019, long considered the favorite.

Finalizing the fight has been complicated by the coronavirus pandemic that has not allowed for them to draw a massive crowd such as 100,000 they could easily draw to Wembley Stadium in London for the biggest fight that can be made in boxing.

Recently, lineal and WBC champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), 32, has spoken out about being frustrated because he has not fought since February 2020, when he knocked out Deontay Wilder in the seventh round of their championship rematch of a previous draw. He had hoped to fight in December, but plans to face Agit Kabayel fell through. Based on the video he posted Friday, Fury seemed far more hopeful the fight with Joshua will be finalized than he has in recent weeks.

Three-belt titleholder Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs), 31, returned from a one-year layoff in December to knock out mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev in the ninth-round of a one-sided fight at Wembley Arena in London, where about 1,000 spectators were allowed.

Matchroom signs Soto

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced on Friday that he has signed junior flyweight world titlist Elwin Soto, who is co-promoted by Zanfer Promotions.

Soto (18-1, 12 KOs), 24, of Mexico, won the WBO’s 108-pound title by 12th-round knockout of Angel “Tito” Acosta in June 2019 and has since made two successful defenses and also won a nontitle bout. Soto’s two defenses both went the distance for unanimous decisions over Edward Heno in October 2019 and Carlos Buitrago this past October, both coming on Golden Boy cards.

“I am delighted to welcome another Mexican world champion to the roster in Elwin Soto,” Hearn said. “His world title win over Acosta was a dramatic fairytale moment, and this young man is really growing into being a world champion. We know that the smaller weight classes always guarantee exciting fights, and I can’t wait to see Elwin continue his journey to the biggest fights at light flyweight and above, starting very soon.”

Hearn added that Soto would “be back in action soon.”

“I’m very excited to (soon) announce my next defense and then going on to unify the division,” Soto said.

On Mannix podcast

As I’ve done often, I joined my pal Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated and DAZN on his boxing podcast this week.

We covered a multitude of topics. We looked back at Jamel Herring’s impressive junior lightweight title defense against Carl Frampton and what might be next for Herring. We also previewed the major cards on Saturday: the step-up fight for welterweight up-and-comer Jaron Ennis against Sergey Lipinets; the Joe Smith Jr.-Maxim Vlasov vacant light heavyweight title fight; and Conor Benn’s step-up fight against Samuel Vargas. We also discussed the situation with the Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua undisputed heavyweight title fight in the works and the prospect of a Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia lightweight world title fight later this year. Give it a listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-jaron-ennis-ready-for-prime-time/id1176276029?i=1000516397836

Colbert-Gamboa in works

Undefeated junior lightweight Chris Colbert is close to a deal to make the next defense of his interim title against former unified featherweight world titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa, multiple sources told me on Friday. The bout would air this summer as part of a Showtime-televised undercard, the sources said. I wrote a story about it for BoxingScene, so please read it here: https://www.boxingscene.com/chris-colbert-vs-yuriorkis-gamboa-play-showtime-clash-sources-say--156763

Quick Hits

Uneaten cruiserweights Efe Apochi (10-0, 10 KOs), 32, a Houston-based Nigeria native trained by Ronnie Shields, and Deon Nicholson (14-0, 13 KOs), 30, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will meet in a WBA title elimination fight that will air as part of FS1’s coverage of preliminary bouts during the one hour preceding the PBC on Fox telecast on April 17 at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Center in Los Angeles. The preliminary part of the card begins at 7 p.m. ET followed by the main card topped by former junior middleweight titlist Tony Harrison against Bryant Perrella at 8 p.m. ET.

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After the IBF sent a letter to all of its registered promoters on Tuesday to notify them that the purse bid for the heavyweight title elimination fight between Michael Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs) and Filip Hrgovic (12-0, 10 KOs) had been postponed, the IBF on Friday sent another letter to inform them it has been rescheduled April 20 at 12 p.m. ET at the IBF offices in Springfield, New Jersey. The sides can still make a deal until 15 minutes before the bids are unsealed. If the fight happens the winner will be become one of unified titlist Anthony Joshua’s mandatory challengers.

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Golden Boy on Friday announced the undercard for its April 23 event on DAZN at the University of Texas at El Paso’s Don Haskins Center headlined by middleweight Jaime Munguia against D’Mitrius Ballard. In the co-feature, heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov (11-0, 11 KOs) will face long-faded Nagy Aguilera (21-10, 14 KOs) in a 10-rounder. Makhmudov was supposed to face similarly faded Alonzo Butler on March 20 in the Vergil Ortiz Jr.-Maurice Hooker co-feature, but Golden Boy took him off the show, supposedly because he would “return in April against a very big challenge.” Hardly the case. Also on the show, women’s flyweight titlist Ibeth Zamora (32-6, 12 KOs) will defend against Marlen Esparza (9-1, 1 KO) and welterweight Blair Cobbs (14-0-1, 9 KOs) will face James Bacon (26-4, 17 KOs) in a 10-rounder.

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Weights from Tulsa, Okla., for Saturday’s Top Rank card: Joe Smith Jr. 174.8 pounds, Maxim Vlasov 175 (for vacant WBO light heavyweight title); Efe Ajagba 239.6, Brian Howard 218; Jared Anderson 251.8, Jeremiah Karpency 226.6; Albert Bell 132.2, Manuel Rey Rojas 132; Robson Conceicao 128.4, Jesus Antonio Ahumada 129; Trey Lippe Morrison 225.8, Jason Bergman 256; Duke Ragan 125.8, Charles Clark 126.6; Jeremiah Milton 231.8, Jayvone Dafney 222.6; Sonny Conto 230.4, Waldo Cortes 262.

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Weights from Uncasville, Conn., for Saturday’s Showtime card: Jaron Ennis 146.4 pounds, Sergey Lipinets 146.8; Eimantas Stanionis 147, Thomas Dulorme 146.4 (WBA welterweight title eliminator); Jerwin Ancajas 114.8, Jonathan Rodriguez 115 (IBF for Ancajas’ junior bantamweight title); Mark Magsayo 126.8, Pablo Cruz 127; Evan Holyfield 154.2, Nicholas Compton 155.

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Weights from London for Saturday’s DAZN card: Conor Benn 146.8 pounds, Samuel Vargas 146.4; Shannon Courtenay 117.75, Ebanie Bridges 117 (for vacant WBA women’s bantamweight title); Savannah Marshall 159.25, Maria Lindberg 154.75 (for Marshall’s WBO women’s middleweight title); Kash Farooq 117, Alexander Espinoza 117.5; John Hedges 177, Stanko Jermelic 174.25; Nick Campbell 248.5, Petr Frohlich 226.5. You can sign up for DAZN here (promoted): https://tinyurl.com/p2r5sxwr

Show and tell

Long before Evander Holyfield became a legendary heavyweight champion, he ran roughshod over the cruiserweight division. He won a 15-round split decision over fellow future Hall of Famer Dwight Muhammad Qawi in an epic slugfest in July 1986 to win his first world title, the WBA junior heavyweight belt, which is what the organization called the cruiserweight title. Three fights later, Holyfield stopped Ricky Parkey to unify the WBA and IBF titles. And three fights after that he squared off with Carlos De Leon and knocked him out in the eighth round to retain his belts and also win the WBC title to become the first undisputed champion in division history. The historic fight with De Leon was on April 9, 1988, which was 33 years ago on Friday. Here is a mint program from the fight in my collection.

Joshua photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Colbert photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime