Notebook: Matchroom Boxing, DAZN add pair of heavyweight fights to fall schedule

Whyte-Wallin, Parker-Chisora rematch official; new Figueroa-Fulton date; Briedis defense set; purse bid updates; WBA orders 4-man 147 box-off; Holyfield-Belfort PPV numbers; Show and tell

On Thursday came the official announcement from Matchroom Boxing and DAZN that former four-division titlist Mikey Garcia would end a 19-month layoff and return and face Sandor Martin on Oct. 13 in Fresno, California.

But soon after, they also announced a pair of notable heavyweight bouts had been added to a fall schedule that already includes unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua defending against mandatory challenger and undefeated former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on Sept. 25 in London, a fight on DAZN in most regions in the world but the last fight of Joshua’s contract with Sky in the United Kingdom.

One of the fights made official is between WBC interim titlist Dillian Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs), 33, of England, and Otto Wallin (22-1, 14 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Sweden, who gave Tyson Fury all he could handle in a decision loss in 2019. They will fight Oct. 30 at the O2 Arena in London. I wrote about that fight here on Fight Freaks Unite just after it was signed on Wednesday.

The second bout will pit former heavyweight titleholder Joseph Parker in a rematch with Derek Chisora on Dec. 18 at the AO Arena in Manchester.

Parker (29-2, 21 KOs), 29, of New Zealand, and Chisora (32-11, 23 KOs), 37, of England, put on an entertaining fight when they first met on May 1, also in Manchester.

In that fight, Chisora dropped Parker in the opening moments of the fight but Parker went on to win a split decision, with two judges scoring it for him, 116-111 and 115-113, and one judge having it 115-113 for Chisora.

Parker has won five fights in a row since back-to-back losses in 2018 to Joshua in a title unification fight and then Whyte

Chisora has dropped two decisions in a row to Parker and Usyk, but both fights were highly competitive.

Figueroa-Fulton rescheduled

The junior featherweight unification fight between WBC titlist Brandon Figueroa and WBO counterpart Stephen Fulton Jr. has been rescheduled for Nov. 27, still at Park MGM in Las Vegas, Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions announced on Thursday.

The fight was originally scheduled for Sept. 18 but postponed when Figueroa came down with Covid-19.

The two televised 10-round undercard fights that were also postponed will be on the new date: junior featherweight Ra’eese Aleem (18-0, 12 KOs) against Eduardo Baez (19-1-2, 6 KOs) and bantamweight Gary Antonio Russell (18-0, 12 KOs) versus Alejandro Barrios (24-2-5, 13 KOs).

Fulton (19-0, 8 KOs), 27, of Philadelphia, will be making his first title defense after routing Angelo Leo in January to take his 122-pound belt. Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs), 24, of Weslaco, Texas, will also be making his initial defense, having knocked out Luis Nery in the seventh round to claim the WBC belt in May.

Tickets purchased for Sept. 18 will be honored for the rescheduled date with no action needed. Should a ticketholder be unable to attend on the new date, refunds are available through Oct. 17.

Briedis is back

Cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis, who has talked about moving up to heavyweight, will remain in his division for at least one more fight.

He will defend his WBO title against Artur Mann on Oct. 16 at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia, Briedis’ hometown, on Oct. 16, Wasserman Boxing announced on Thursday.

Three-time titlist Briedis (27-1, 19 KOs), 36, has won four fights in a row since Oleksandr Usyk outpointed him in 2018 to end his first title reign. In his last fight, Briedis outpointed Yunier Dorticos last September in Munich, Austria, to win the belt in the final of the second season of the World Boxing Super Series.

“It’s crazy to think it has been over two years since I last fought in Riga,” Briedis said. “I think I have already forgotten that fantastic feeling that Latvian boxing fans deliver each time and I can’t wait to step in the ring again in front of my home crowd. It will also be a special night for me as it will be my first IBF title defense and I’m happy I will be able to do it at the Arena Riga.

“My opponent, Artur Mann, is a very experienced boxer. He is a very technical boxer coming from the Kazakh boxing school that is considered by many to be one of the best in the world. Together with my team, we are taking this fight very seriously. Defending a world championship belt doesn’t allow you to do anything less. We have already started our preparations and will do everything to be ready for the fight.”

Mann (17-1, 9 KOs), 30, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Germany, has won two fights in a row since his lone defeat, a fourth-round knockout to Kevin Lerena in Lerena’s home country of South Africa in March 2019.

“I’m very happy to fight for the IBF title against Mairis Briedis, the No. 1 cruiserweight in the world,” Mann said. “I’m pumped and ready for Riga. I have a lot of respect for Mairis Briedis and his achievements but I don’t feel any pressure. I’m super relaxed. All the pressure is on Mairis because he’s the world champ and he’s fighting at home in front of his people, which doesn’t always turn out to be an advantage. He’s got everything to lose and I’ve got everything to win.”

WBC purse bid updates

The purse bid for the fight between unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and mandatory challenger Marcus Browne was scheduled for Friday, but the WBC has granted a joint request from Beterbiev promoter Top Rank and Browne promoter TGB Promotions seeking a postponement.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told Fight Freaks Unite that the new date for the purse bid is Sept. 28 — unless the camps make a deal before then.

Top Rank and TGB/Premier Boxing Champions were so tied up in recent days hammering out a deal for the fight between WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford and mandatory challenger and former two-time titlist Shawn Porter, which is now set for Nov. 20, that they were unable to get to the discussions on Beterbiev-Browne, which necessitated the postponement request.

If the purse bid is needed, the split is 70 percent for Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs), 36, a Russia native fighting out of Montreal, and 30 percent for Browne (24-1, 16 KOs), 30, of Staten Island, New York.

Sulaiman also clarified the situation on another purse bid that was due to take place on Friday but canceled. It was for a middleweight title eliminator between former junior middleweight titlist Jaime Munguia (37-0, 30 KOs), 24, of Mexico, and former three-time title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KOs), 35, a Brooklyn, New York-based Ukraine native. However, Munguia co-promoter Zanfer informed the WBC it would not participate because Munguia is nearing a deal to face Gabe Rosado this fall on DAZN.

“Munguia sent a letter detailing he is absolutely happy to fight the final eliminator and asked the WBC to allow him to fight his already committed fight of October vs. Rosado,” Sulaiman said in an email to Fight Freaks Unite.

So, if Munguia defeats Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs), 35, of Philadelphia, in a fight that has not been signed yet, he would then participate in the eliminator negotiations with Derevyanchenko. The winner of that bout would become the mandatory challenger for Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), who defeated Derevyanchenko last September.

Welterweight box-off ordered

As it continues to fulfill its promise to reduce the number of titles it recognizes, the WBA has ordered a four-man welterweight box-off that will result in there being one world titleholder from the organization.

Yordenis Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), 35, a Cuba native fighting out of Miami, who is coming off a decision win in his first title defense against legend Manny Pacquiao last month, was ordered to face Eimantas Stanionis in one bout. Secondary titlist Jamal James was ordered to face Radzhab Butaev in the other fight. The winners would then be ordered to face each other by March to determine the sole WBA welterweight titleholder.

Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs), 27, a 2016 Olympian from Lithuania, defeated fringe contender Thomas Dulorme by decision in April and is coming off a fourth-round no decision against former titleholder Luis Collazo on Aug. 7 in a fight that ended after Collazo suffered a cut from an accidental head butt and was unable to continue. Ugas-Stanionis must take place by Jan. 15.

James (27-1, 12 KOs), 33, of Minneapolis, outpointed Dulorme 13 months ago to claim the vacant interim title and then was elevated. He has not boxed since.

New York-based Russia native Butaev (13-0, 10 KOs), 27, outpointed Alexander Besputin for the then-vacant secondary title in November 2019, but the result was changed to a no contest and Besputin was stripped for testing positive for a banned substance. Butaev was named mandatory challenger after the Besputin fight result was overturned. Butaev has won his only fight since in December. James-Butaev must take place before November.

The WBA said in its resolution that it “contemplates possible injuries or situations that may occur along the way, which could alter the deadlines, which will be resolved according to the WBA regulations.”

WBA schedules two purse bids

The WBA on Wednesday notified its registered promoters that it has scheduled two purse bids for Sept. 27 via Zoom video conference.

One is for the fight between junior lightweight titlist Roger Gutierrez and Chris Colbert, who was one of the 11 interim titleholders the WBA stripped last month as it vowed to reduce the number of titles it sanctions in each division. Those interim titleholders were either made mandatory challengers, such as Colbert, or ordered to fight title eliminators.

The minimum bid is $120,000 and the split of the winning bid will be 55 percent for Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs), 26, of Venezuela, and 45 percent for Colbert (16-0, 16 KOs), 24, of Brooklyn, New York. Promoters who intend to bid must pay a $5,000 participation fee.

Also headed to a purse bid, unless a deal is made before the bids are unsealed, is a mandated bout between flyweight titlist Artem Dalakian and Luis Concepcion, another of the interim titleholders the WBA stripped. Minimum bid is $80,000 with the split 55 percent for Dalakian (20-0, 14 KOs), 34, of Ukraine, and 45 percent for Concepcion (39-8, 28 KOs), 35, of Panama. Promoters who intend to bid must pay a $5,000 participation fee.

Quick hits

The Triller Fight Club pay-per-view headlined by the Evander Holyfield-Vitor Belfort exhibition debacle on Sept. 11 was a massive bust. Besides being critically panned as the 58-year-old Holyfield got knocked out in the first round, the event generated only about 150,000 buys (linear television and digital combined), sources told Fight Freaks Unite. That would make it a tremendous money loser. At 150,000 buys, it would gross about $7.5 million, which is not remotely close to covering the purses and the rest of the expenses. By comparison, Triller’s PPV topped by the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. exhibition last November did 1.6 million buys. Holyfield-Belfort also included Anderson Silva’s 81-second destruction of fellow MMA legend Tito Ortiz and Triller also hired former President Donald Trump for a “no holds barred alternative commentary” feed.

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In late March, Triller announced it had hired boxing manager Peter Kahn, who has worked in the sport in various capacities for 25 years, as the company’s chief boxing officer. Six months later, they have parted ways with Kahn leaving the company in recent days. He will continue to manage fighters such as lightweight contender George Kambosos Jr., who will headline a Triller PPV on Oct. 4 when he challenges unified champion Teofimo Lopez Jr., and junior middleweight prospect Xander Zayas.

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Frank Warren announced an Oct. 9 card (BT Sports in the U.K.) that will take place at Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England, that will be headlined by European junior featherweight champion Jason Cunningham (29-6, 6 KOs), a 31-year-old southpaw, taking on British and Commonwealth champion Brad Foster (14-0-2, 5 KOs), 23, will all of their belts at stake. The fight, a hometown affair for Foster, was scheduled to take place last month but postponed because Foster suffered an injury. Also on the card, former light heavyweight title challenger Callum Johnson (19-1, 14 KOs), 36, of England, will face an opponent to be determined. Johnson was due to fight Sept. 11 on the undercard of flyweight titlist Sunny Edwards' first defense against Jayson Mama but the card was called off when Edwards suffered an injury.

Show and tell

Simply put, Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns were two of the best, most popular and exciting fighters in boxing history. Along with fellow all-time greats Roberto Duran and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, they formed the “Four Kings,” who all fought each other in a memorable series of nine mega fights that I have obsessed over for decades and that carried boxing in the 1980s. The first fight between Leonard and Hearns, to unify welterweight titles and produce the undisputed champion, was one of the most anticipated and significant fights ever. It is also one of the best fights ever and more than lived up to the hype.

In the first major fight put on by Main Event, which would become one of boxing’s most significant promoters, Leonard, then 25, was seemingly in trouble and fading, but rallied to famously stop the 22-year-old Hearns in the 14th round at a sold-out outdoor arena at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The legendary fight was 40 years ago on Thursday. It is one of my all-time favorite fights. Here are some items from the fight in my collection: A poster (the closed circuit version), the site program, the closed circuit program and five full tickets (one of each color that was produced). Yes, I am obsessive, but if you’ve been reading the “Show and tell” section of the notebooks you know this!

Closed circuit poster

Site program

Closed circuit program

Rainbow of full tickets

Beterbiev photo: Top Rank; Ugas photo: Sean Michael Ham/TGB Promotions

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