Notebook: Joyce aims for April return after wrist injury sidelines heavyweight contender

Smith's first defense at last; Berlanga return set; heavyweight Frazer Clarke's pro debut scheduled; Showtime's February event; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jan 12, 2022

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Heavyweight contender Joe Joyce will be sidelined for the early part of the year due to a recent wrist injury that scuttled plans for a ring return in February and will keep him from punching for about six weeks.

Joyce suffered the injury during a training stint in Las Vegas with trainer Ismael Salas, who was unable to be with Joyce for his victory over Carlos Takam in London in July due to Covid-19-related travel restrictions.

Joyce scored his biggest win when he knocked out British countryman Daniel Dubois in the 10th round in November 2020 to win the vacant European title he has since vacated. Joyce followed that win with a sixth-round knockout of former world title challenger Takam in which he risked his position as the WBO’s No. 1 contender.

Even though Joyce won by knockout he was not as sharp as he was against Dubois and attributed that in part to Salas’ absence.

“It is just the way it turned out really, but I think it was a case of not having worked with Salas. This is why I had to reconnect with him and go back to Vegas to start learning some more stuff from him,” Joyce said. “For the Dubois fight he came over for two weeks to set the game plan and polish up my technique, which resulted in me going in and doing the job.

“I am in a better place after doing a training camp with him, for sure. He brings me a lot and from the start of my professional career he installed in me the fundamentals and biomechanics of boxing.”

Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs), 36, who was the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist, is one of the mandatory challengers for the winner of the expected rematch in May between unified titlist Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua.

Frank Warren, Joyce’s promoter, said he is hopeful Joyce’s recovery will go well and that he be back in the ring in April.

“I am looking to fight some time in April and there are some great potential fights for me for this one, which is something to look forward to,” said Joyce, who signed a contract extension with Warren in August. “I will be back punching soon in about six weeks and this will still be a huge year for me.”

Rough road to Smith defense

At this point, WBO light heavyweight titleholder Joe Smith Jr. figures him and his opponent might as well be placed in bubble wrap to make sure nothing happens between now and fight night.

Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on Smith’s first title defense, which is scheduled to be against late replacement Steve Geffrard in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.

Because of the coronavirus, Smith has not fought since April 10, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he eked out a majority decision in an action-packed battle against Maxim Vlasov to claim the vacant 175-pound that Canelo Alvarez relinquished. The fight had been delayed from Feb. 13 to April because Vlasov tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the weigh-in. That was far from Smith’s last issue with Covid-19.

After Smith won the title, his first defense was scheduled to be against mandatory challenger Umar Salamov on Oct. 30 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. But that fight was also postponed when Smith became ill with Covid-19.

The fight was rescheduled for Saturday, but Salamov’s visa issues kept him fighting in the United States. So, Smith was lined up to face British banger Callum Johnson, a former world title challenger. But last Thursday Johnson was ruled out when he tested positive for Covid-19 — the third time Smith has had a fight impacted by the coronavirus. Johnson’s diagnosis paved the way for Geffrard.

I spoke to Smith at length about the trek to his first defense, his difficult bout with Covid-19 and the big fights he has his eyes on if he wins Saturday, and I wrote about for The Ring magazine website. Please read that story here: https://www.ringtv.com/633191-joe-smith-jr-finally-set-for-maiden-world-title-defense-against-geffrard-eyes-bivol-beterbiev-and-canelo/

Berlanga back in action

Big-hitting super middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga will return from late October surgery to repair his torn left biceps to face Steve Rolls in a 10-rounder that will headline a Top Rank card on an ESPN platform on March 19 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, multiple sources told Fight Freaks Unite, confirming a BoxingScene report.

Berlanga (18-0, 16 KOs), 24, a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, New York, suffered the tear during the third round of a 10-round decision victory over former world title challenger Marcelo Esteban Coceres on the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder III undercard on Oct. 9 in Las Vegas. Berlanga overcame the injury and the first knockdown of his career in the ninth round to win 96-93 on all three scorecards.

The surgery scuttled a planned bout for the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Richard Commey card on Dec. 11 at Madison Square Garden.

Rolls (21-1, 12 KOs), 37, of Toronto, suffered his only loss by fourth-round knockout to Gennadiy Golovkin at Madison Square Garden in June 2019.

Rolls has won both of his fights since, most recently a ninth-round knockout of Christopher Brooker on the undercard of unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev’s defense against Marcus Browne on Dec. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

A Berlanga win likely would set him up for another fight at Madison Square Garden on June 11, the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York.

Clarke pro debut set

Frazer Clarke, the captain of the 2020 Great Britain Olympic boxing team and super heavyweight bronze medalist this past summer in Tokyo, will make his professional debut in a six-rounder on the Amir Khan-Kell Brook undercard on Feb. 5 at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, Boxxer announced. The card will stream on ESPN+ in the U.S. and air on Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K.

Clarke, 30, who recently signed with Boxxer and has been a regular sparring partner of Anthony Joshua’s, is getting a late start on his pro career after a standout amateur career that also included gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2014 and 2018 European Union Championships.

“I am delighted to be making my debut on such a big night for British boxing. Both Amir and Kell are legends so to be on their undercard is amazing,” Clarke said. “Burton is my hometown and a place I love but Manchester holds a special place in my heart, so to start my journey in front of their fans is special. I am 100 percent focused on putting on a spectacular and entertaining show for everyone in the pros.”

Quick hits

In late September, Golden Boy Promotions and Premier Boxing Champions made a deal and avoided a purse bid for the fight between Golden Boy-promoted WBA junior lightweight titlist Roger Gutierrez and PBC’s Chris Colbert, the mandatory challenger. Finally, the fight is now scheduled. They are due to meet on Feb. 26 on Showtime, multiple sources told Fight Freaks Unite. The site has not been finalized but two locations that have been discussed are The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs), 26, of Venezuela, will be making his second defense. Colbert (16-0, 6 KOs), 25, of Brooklyn, New York, was made mandatory challenger when the WBA terminated all of its interim titles last August as part of its title reduction plan.

Heavyweight Filip Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KOs), 29, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from Croatia, and 2016 gold medalist Tony Yoka (11-0, 9 KOs), 29, of France, who is 2-1 against Hrgovic in the amateurs (including a controversial decision over him in the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight semifinals), have been ordered to meet in a final IBF eliminator to become a mandatory challenger for three-belt unified titlist Oleksandr Usyk. Hrgovic has accepted the fight and Yoka has until 5 p.m. ET Thursday to notify the IBF in writing if he is willing to participate. If not, the IBF will continue to move down its ratings to find somebody willing to fight Hrgovic, who has already had Luis Ortiz and former world titlist Joseph Parker turn down the fight.

Former super middleweight titlist Caleb Plant (21-1, 12 KOs), 29, of Las Vegas, who lost by 11th-round knockout to Canelo Alvarez in their undisputed title fight on Nov. 6, wants to fight fellow Premier Boxing Champions fighter and WBC middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), 31, of Houston, who has talked about moving up in weight and could be in line for a fight with Alvarez in the spring. “You have been indirect Charlo, so I'll be straight forward. We can figure it out before the end of the year. UR EZ WORK,” Plant tweeted to Charlo.

Lightweight prospect Charlie Sheehy (1-0, 1 KO), 23, a former amateur standout from Brisbane, California, has signed a multi-year contract with Top Rank, the company announced. Sheehy, who is trained by Miguel Rios and managed by Peter Kahn, won 17 national amateur titles. He will have his first Top Rank fight in a four-rounder against an opponent to be determined on March 4 (ESPN+) on the Jose Ramirez-Jose Pedraza undercard in Fresno, California. “We’ve had our eyes on Charlie since his amateur days, and we believe he is a young man with the potential to bring championship boxing back to the Bay Area,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. Sheehy, who was third at the 2020 U.S. Olympic trials and owns amateur wins over Ryan Garcia and Vergil Ortiz Jr., debuted in October in Fresno on the Mikey Garcia-Sandor Martin undercard.

Forget about the supposed deal made for a fight between junior flyweight titlist Hiroto Kyoguchi (15-0, 10 KOs), 28, of Japan, and secondary titlist Esteban Bermudez (14-3-2 10 KOs), 26, of Mexico, who are slated to meet as part of the WBA’s plan to reduce titles. Their teams told the WBA weeks ago that they had made a deal and a purse bid was canceled with the fight planned for Jan. 15 in Mexico. But those plans were canceled and their teams missed a recent WBA deadline to submit signed contracts. Because of that, the WBA has again scheduled a purse bid via video conference on Jan. 28.

Show and tell

Other than the late Hall of Famer Arturo Gatti, my all-time favorite fighter is former junior lightweight and lightweight world titlist Acelino “Popo” Freitas. I even named one of my cats “Popo” after him. “Popo” the cat died a couple of years ago, but Freitas knew I had named him after him and loved it. Freitas was a Brazilian national hero, a huge puncher, had a ton of charisma and made exciting fights with his wild style. I still remember the exact fight I saw him in for the first time, and it made me a fan. He was 14-0 with 14 KOs when he faced Rafael Olvera (13-4 at the time) in an eight-rounder on a Forum Boxing undercard at the Pond in Anaheim, California, that I caught late one night on cable. Freitas was awesome and just destroyed the guy. This was in June 1998, a year-and-a-half before I was hired to cover boxing at USA Today. From the Olvera fight on I followed Freitas’ career closely, had the opportunity to cover some of his fights and got to know him a bit. You could not meet a nicer guy, friendlier guy.

By 2000 he held the WBO junior lightweight title and had attracted attention from HBO and Showtime, which both had put him on. And then in 2002, my pal Artie Pelullo of Banner Promotions, who had negotiated a deal for Popo with Showtime, put him in the big fight Showtime wanted — a much-anticipated unification bout with WBA titlist Joel Casamayor. It was the pure puncher Popo (30-0) against the slick boxer Casamayor (26-0) when they met at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. It turned out to be the biggest win of Popo’s career as he dropped Casamayor in the third round and claimed a close, but well-deserved unanimous decision, 114-112 on all three scorecards. The fight was on Jan. 12, 2002 — 20 years ago on Wednesday. Here is a super rare site poster in my collection.

Joyce photo: Queensberry Promotions; Smith photo: Getty Images; Berlanga photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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