Notebook: Lopez-Pedraza tops Heisman night card at Madison Square Garden

Top Rank working on Valdez-Navarrete showdown; 'Bam' Rodriguez vacates title; BBBofC upholds Benn misconduct charge; Dib reveals cancer diagnosis; Quick hits; Show and tell

Oct 27, 2022

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Former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez and Top Rank’s three most prized prospects — heavyweight Jared Anderson, junior middleweight Xander Zayas and lightweight Keyshawn Davis — will take center stage at Madison Square Garden in New York on Dec. 10.

Lopez, in his second fight since moving up to junior welterweight, will, as expected, face former lightweight and junior lightweight titlist Jose Pedraza in the 10-round main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN quadrupleheader (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET), Top Rank announced on Wednesday.

The telecast will begin immediately following the network’s broadcast of the presentation of college football’s Heisman Trophy, which also takes place in New York.

“It’s Heisman night at Madison Square Garden. I’m born for this stage,” Lopez said. “Once I beat Jose Pedraza in front of my hometown fans, I am coming for all the junior welterweight belts in 2023. ‘The Takeback’ is in full effect, and I am on a mission to become a champion again.”

It will be the third time that Brooklyn native Lopez will fight on the post-Heisman Trophy presentation card, but it will be his first as the headliner.

“Four of boxing’s mega talents, headlined by the great Teofimo Lopez, will be in action Dec. 10 at the iconic Madison Square Garden. This will be a special evening,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “Lopez is targeting a junior welterweight title shot in 2023, and Jose Pedraza is a Puerto Rican warrior hungry for another world title opportunity. With Jared Anderson, Xander Zayas, and Keyshawn Davis, this card features three additional fighters who will one day be headlining superstars.”

After losing the unified lightweight title by my major upset split decision in a slugfest with George Kambosos Jr. last November, Lopez (17-1, 13 KOs), 25, made his junior welterweight debut on Aug. 13 in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas and knocked out Pedro Campa in the seventh round.

Pedraza (29-4-1, 14 KOs), 33, of Puerto Rico, is 3-2-1 since moving up to 140 pounds in 2019. He is coming off a spirited 10-round split draw on Aug. 27 against Richard Commey, who Lopez knocked out in the second round in 2019 to win the IBF lightweight title before upsetting Vasiliy Lomachenko by decision in October 2020 to unify.

“I am here to face the elite fighters of the division, and to me, that is what Teofimo represents,” Pedraza said. “I have come to show that I am still one of the best fighters at 140 pounds. I’m still a threat to everyone in the division, and on Dec. 10, I’m going to prove it. For me, the goal doesn’t change. I want to be crowned world champion in a third division, and I know I'm going to achieve it.”

Anderson (12-0, 12 KOs), 22, of Toledo, Ohio, who is widely viewed as the best American heavyweight prospect, will step up in competition in a 10-rounder against Jerry Forrest (26-5-2, 20 KOs), 34, of Newport News, Virginia.

“I’m happy to finally be getting a step-up fight,” said Anderson, who has gained enormous experience as a sparring partner for heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. “Hopefully, this solidifies my place as a contender and confirms that I’m not a prospect anymore.”

Forrest, a southpaw, is 0-2-2 in his previous four bouts but they’ve all been against name opponents — decision losses to former title challengers Kubrat Pulev and Carlos Takam with controversial draws in between against Michael Hunter and Zhang Zhilei.

“I’m excited and motivated to make a big statement,” Forrest said. “Jared is the up-and-coming fighter, and all the pressure is on him. After my last performance (against Pulev), I feel everyone has forgotten how good I am. I’ve been in the ring against top fighters, and I know that I can compete at the top level.

“The question is what can he do against an experienced veteran like me? I am coming to send the ‘Big Baby’ home crying after his first loss.”

Zayas (14-0, 10 KOs), a 20-year-old Puerto Rican from Sunrise, Florida, will face Alexis Salazar (24-4, 9 KOs), 27, a Mexico native from Norwalk, California, in an eight-rounder.

“I am very happy to be part of another amazing card at the legendary Madison Square Garden, and as always, I’m grateful to Top Rank for giving me these opportunities to showcase my skills on such a big stage,” Zayas said. “Salazar is a strong Mexican veteran, and with this performance, I'm looking to close the year strong and set the tone for a big 2023.”

In the televised opener, Davis (6-0, 5 KOs), 23, a 2020 U.S. Olympic silver medalist from Norfolk, Virginia, will face Juan Carlos Burgos (35-6-3, 21 KOs), 34, of Mexico, in an eight-rounder. Burgos is 0-2-1 in world title fights (one at featherweight and two at junior lightweight).

“I will send another message to the lightweight division to end the year,” Davis said. “Burgos is a veteran who demands respect, and I can’t overlook the man in front of me. It’s an honor to fight on ESPN after the Heisman Trophy ceremony, and I plan on representing Norfolk while putting on a show.”

The ESPN+-only part of the undercard is highlighted by Brooklyn featherweight prospect Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (5-0, 3 KOs), 25, and welterweight prospect Jahi Tucker (9-0, 5 KOs), 19, of Deer Park, New York, who will both box in eight-rounders. Carrington will face Juan Tapia (12-4, 4 KOs), 29, of Brownsville, Texas, and Tucker will fight Ivan Pandzic (14-2-1, 8 KOs), 31, of Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Valdez-Navarrete in works

Top Rank is in the process of putting together an all-Mexican match between former featherweight and junior lightweight titleholder Oscar Valdez and reigning WBO featherweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete to headline an ESPN card targeted for Feb. 3 at a site to be determined, sources told Fight Freaks Unite. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum has also spoken publicly about doing the fight — a likely action-packed battle — that both boxers are interested in.

Navarrete (36-1, 30 KOs), 27, who struggled badly to make 126 pounds for his last fight and was losing to Eduardo Baez before rallying for a sixth-round knockout to retain his title, would move up in weight for the bout, which could be for the vacant WBO junior lightweight title.

The WBO and WBC belts became vacant when Shakur Stevenson failed to make weight for a Sept. 23 defense against Robson Conceicao and was stripped.

Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs), 31, lost the WBC title via one-sided decision to Stevenson in their WBC/WBO unification fight on April 30 in Las Vegas.

‘Bam’ Rodriguez vacates

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has vacated the WBC junior bantamweight world title in order to move down to the flyweight division, the organization announced on Wednesday.

“The WBC has been officially informed by our undefeated champion Jesse Rodriguez of his decision to vacate his green and gold belt in order to move down and compete in a lighter weight category,” the WBC said in an announcement. “Jessie thrilled us in 2022, conquering the WBC title by defeating former champion Carlos Cuadras, knocking out mandatory contender, also a former champion, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai; and making a voluntary defense, defeating durable Israel Gonzalez to make this one of the most wonderfully successful years.

“The WBC wishes Jessie great success in his immediate future and looks forward to him competing for WBC plaudits in the months and years to come.”

Rodriguez, however, is probably headed toward a WBO title fight before another WBC shot.

Rodriguez and Robert Garcia, his trainer and manager, are in San Juan, Puerto Rico this week attending the annual WBO convention hoping to position Rodriguez for a shot at the organization’s flyweight title, which is expected to soon become vacant.

Reigning WBO flyweight titleholder Junto Nakatani will make his junior bantamweight debut against Francisco Rodriguez on Nov. 1 in Saitama, Japan on the undercard of the Kenshiro Teraji-Hiroto Kyoguchi junior flyweight unification fight and it is unlikely he will return to 112 pounds.

“That’s the plan and one of the reasons we’re here,” Garcia told Fight Freaks Unite in a text message about going to San Juan in an effort to lobby for a shot at the WBO title.

Rodriguez (17-0, 11 KOs), a 22-year-old southpaw, has had a breakout year in which he became the youngest active world titleholder.

In February, he moved up two divisions to challenge Cuadras for the vacant WBC 115-pound title when Sor Rungvisai was forced to withdraw due to illness. Rodriguez took the fight on six days’ notice but dropped Cuadras and handily outpointed him.

In June, Rodriguez thrilled a San Antonio hometown crowd in his first title defense by knocking out former two-time champion Sor Rungvisai in the eighth round of an even more impressive performance than his victory over Cuadras.

Rodriguez made his second and final defense on Sept. 17 in Las Vegas in a hard-fought unanimous decision over Gonzalez in the Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin III co-feature.

All along, Rodriguez talked about his desire to eventually move down in weight, saying he was comfortable making 112 pounds — or even 108 — and that he wanted to win a world title in a lighter division.

Conor Benn update

The British Boxing Board of Control announced on Wednesday that welterweight Conor Benn has given up his boxing license and that the panel has upheld misconduct allegations against him related to his failed drug test.

Benn (21-14 KOs), 26, was scheduled for a heavily-hyped 157-pound catch weight showdown with Chris Eubank Jr. (32-3, 23 KOs), 33, in a rekindling of the legendary 1990s rivalry between their fathers, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr., on Oct. 8 at the sold-out O2 in London.

However, due to intense public pressure, the fight was called off four days beforehand after it was revealed by England’s Daily Mail that Benn had tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug Clomiphene — a drug used to treat infertility in women but one that produces increased testosterone in men — in a urine test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on Sept. 1 with the results being returned on Sept. 23.

After the test results became public, the BBBofC announced the fight had been “prohibited as it is not in the interests of boxing” and while promoters Matchroom Boxing and Wasserman Boxing looked into seeking an injunction to allow the fight, they ultimately canceled it.

The BBBofC announced it would open an investigation into the situation and made the result public on Wednesday.

“Conor Benn was called by the Board of the BBBofC to attend a hearing to deal with allegations of misconduct pursuant to Rule 25.1.1. The hearing took place on Oct. 21, 2022,” the BBBofC said in a statement. “On the morning of the hearing, Mr. Benn voluntarily relinquished his license with the BBBofC.

“In accordance with its Rules and Regulations, the Board determined the allegations following the hearing at which Mr. Benn was legally represented. The allegations of misconduct against Mr. Benn were upheld.”

Team Benn addressed the situation in a statement posted to the boxer’s Twitter account on Wednesday.

“Conor’s focus at this time is solely on clearing his name,” the statement said. “The Board, however, has made it extremely difficult for Conor to focus on doing that by its conduct of an unfair and biased procedure. In such circumstances, Conor decided not to renew his license (which had lapsed). Conor told the Board that if it did not accept that his license had lapsed, then he renounces it.

“He strongly refutes the allegation of misconduct (which for the avoidance of doubt is not in relation to the VADA issue) and firmly believes that an independent tribunal will reach a wholly different conclusion. At the appropriate time Conor will speak out on this and on the doping allegation, to the extent that he can whilst legal proceedings are ongoing. In the meantime, he reiterates, in no uncertain terms, that he is a clean athlete.”

Intu Boxing appearance

I joined my friends at Intu Boxing to discuss the Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford deal falling apart, what’s going on with a Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia possible fight and thoughts on the terrible Tyson Fury-Dereck Chisora III fight. The interview is broken into three parts. You can watch them here:

Dib undergoes cancer surgery

Former IBF featherweight titleholder Billy Dib announced on his Facebook page Monday that he has cancer and has undergone surgery.

Addressing his post to “my friends and supporters,” Dib, 37, of Australia, wrote, “The last 11 days have been a rollercoaster. Despite sharing the ring with some dangerous opponents in my career, this is one of the most frightening situations I have found myself in.

“11 days ago I had debilitating stomach pain that saw me admitted to my local hospital. I was subsequently sent home with ‘inflammation of the stomach’ and given pain killers to continue taking for a few days. The pain didn’t ease and after a sleepless painful night my wife drove me to parent’s house. At this same time my brother Mohammad was so concerned about the pain I was in he contacted his close friend Dr. Pran, who advised I go straight to Norwest Private Hospital for treatment. It was here that Dr. Bahin and his diligent team found a 5cm cancerous tumor in my colon which was operated on immediately. I am so grateful that they took my pain so seriously and together with my brother Mohammad and Dr. Pham I am grateful that they took action which saved my life.”

Dib went on to say it has been difficult recovering from the surgery.

“I have been unable to eat for the last 9 days and am contemplating a return to the featherweight division (jokes). … From the bottom of my heart thank you to those who have reached out with their kind words of support.”

Dib (48-6, 27 KOs) won the vacant IBF title by unanimous decision against Jorge Lacierva in 2011 and twice defended it before losing it via split decision to Evgeny Gradovich in 2013. Dib would lose to Gradovich by knockout in a rematch for the title later in 2013

He also twice challenged for junior lightweight world titles, losing to Takashi Miura for the WBC belt in 2015 and to Tevin Farmer in a vacant IBF title bout in 2018. Dib has won fights three in a row since a knockout loss to Amir Khan in 2019.

Quick hits

Las Vegas-based Cuban southpaw Yoelvis Gomez (6-0, 5 KOs) has suffered a wrist injury in training, forcing him to withdraw from a 10-round middleweight bout with former unified junior middleweight titleholder Jeison Rosario in the co-feature of the Nov. 5 Showtime card headlined by David Morrell’s WBA “regular” super middleweight mandatory defense against Aidos Yerbossynuly at The Armory in Minneapolis. Albuquerque, New Mexico native Brian Mendoza (20-2, 14 KOs), 28, who was scheduled to box on the untelevised portion of the card, will now face Rosario (23-3-1, 17 KOs), 27, of the Dominican Republic, Premier Boxing Champions announced.

Idle for two years, WBA cruiserweight titlist Arsen Goulamirian will return to face mandatory challenger Aleksei Egorov (11-0, 7 KOs), 31, of Russia, on Nov. 19 at La Palsestre in Le Cannet, France, Y12 Boxing Promotions announced on Wednesday. Goulamirian (26-0, 18 KOs), 35, an Armenian based in France, who is trained by Abel Sanchez in Big Bear Lake, California, will be making his second defense. They were scheduled to fight in December but Goulamirian came down with Covid-19 and the fight was postponed. There are two European title bouts on the undercard. Kevin Lele Sadjo (18-0, 16 KOs), 32, of France, makes his first super middleweight defense against Emre Cukur (19-1-1, 3 KOs), 29, a German southpaw, and Milan Prat (17-0, 14 KOs), 23, of France, faces Abass Baraou (12-1, 8 KOs), 27, of Germany, for the vacant junior middleweight title.

Junior welterweight Adam Azim (6-0, 5 KOs), 20, one of England’s best prospects, will headline on Nov. 27 (Sky Sports in the U.K.) — a rare Sunday show — at Alexandra Palace in London, Boxxer announced. Azim, who will be in his first main event, will face Rylan Charlton (9-3-1, 4 KOs), 30, of England.

The “Beltway Battles” card originally scheduled for Oct. 1 has been rescheduled for Nov. 19 at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C., and will still be headlined by Washington heavyweight Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (34-0-1, 20 KOs) in a 10-rounder. The card was postponed due to the shooting death of Buddy Harrison, Dusty’s father, trainer and a Washington boxing community fixture, a few days before the show. “I was ready to go on Oct. 1 and will be more than ready to go on Nov. 19,” said Hernandez-Harrison, who will be fighting for the first time since February 2020. “It’s been a very tough and challenging time the last few weeks, but getting back to work and inside the ring is where I want and need to be. I look forward to seeing everyone come out to support me, my family and the boxing community as we honor my dad with the show.”

Show and tell

Evander Holyfield had unified the cruiserweight division to become its first undisputed champion and then moved up to heavyweight, where he won six fights in a row and was the mandatory challenger in all three major sanctioning bodies of the era. He was scheduled to challenge then-undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a massively anticipated fight. However, Tyson was shockingly knocked out in a supposed stay-busy fight by Buster Douglas in February 1990 in the biggest upset in boxing history. That meant Holyfield’s title long-awaited heavyweight title shot would come against Douglas in Las Vegas at The Mirage, which won the purse bid for the fight for a then-record $32.1 million.

Douglas, who had been celebrating the Tyson, turned for the fight out of shape mentally and physically, which was driven home by stories of Douglas ordering room service from the hotel sauna. Then came the fight, which was on SET PPV (what was later renamed Showtime PPV). Holyfield dominated the first two rounds. In the third round, after Douglas threw and missed a lunging and wide uppercut, Holyfield countered with a clean right hand that nailed Douglas on the chin and dropped him. He had not interest in rising and was counted out, giving Holyfield the undisputed championship. The fight was on Oct. 25, 1990 — 32 years ago on Tuesday. Here is a poster (which I had shrunk wrapped years ago) in my collection.