Notebook: Matchroom unveils three summer 'Fight Camp' cards

Morales-Barrera exhibition; Inoue prelims set; Quick hits

Last summer, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing boxing events to be held without spectators, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn put on a series of cards he called “Fight Camp,” which took place outside in the giant and quite picturesque garden area of the company’s sprawling headquarters — and the former Hearn family home — in Brentwood, England.

It was such a success that Hearn is bringing it back for a second summer, this time with a limited number of spectators allowed, for cards on three consecutive Saturday’s, July 31, Aug. 7 and Aug. 14.

The shows will all stream on DAZN worldwide and mark the beginning of Matchroom’s new five-year deal with DAZN to also show the company events in the United Kingdom and Ireland following the expiration of its deal with longtime U.K. broadcast partner Sky Sports.

The trio of upcoming cards will include world title bouts, European, British and Commonwealth title bouts and a number of prospects from the Matchroom stable.

Here’s a look at the three cards:

July 31

Welterweight up-and-comer Conor Benn (18-0, 12 KOs) the son of British legend Nigel Benn, will defend his regional belt against Chicago native Adrian Granados (21-8-3, 15 KOs),who has faced many top opponents, including Danny Garcia, Robert Easter Jr., Adrien Broner and Shawn Porter. Only Garcia has stopped him.

Benn’s team is aiming to get him rounds after he destroyed veteran Samuel Vargas in the first round in April.

Also on the card, women’s bantamweight world titlist Shannon Courtenay (7-1, 3 KOs) will defend her belt for the first time against an opponent to be named and European cruiserweight champion Tommy McCarthy (18-2, 9 KOs) will defend against Chris Billam-Smith (12-1, 10 KOs), whose Commonwealth title and the vacant British titles will also be a stake.

The card will also feature Avni Yildirim (21-3, 12 KOs) seeking to bounce back from a one-sided third-round destruction at the hands of unified super middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez on Feb. 27. Yildirim will face Jack Cullen (19-2-1, 9 KOs).

Also, junior middleweight Anthony Fowler (14-1, 11 KOs) will take on battle-tested Roberto Garcia (44-5, 27 KOs); lightweight Campbell Hatton (2-0, 0 KOs), the son of British legend Ricky Hatton, will face an opponent to be named; and junior welterweight and former amateur standout Sandy Ryan will make her professional debut.

Aug. 7

In an all-British clash, Kid Galahad (27-1, 16 KOs) and Jazza Dickens (30-3, 11 KOs) will meet for the vacant IBF featherweight title in an overdue bout that headlines the card.

Heavy-handed heavyweight Fabio Wardley (11-0, 10 KOs) will face an opponent to be determined; Florian Marku (8-0-1, 6 KOs) fights Maxim Prodan (19-0-1, 15 KOs) for a regional welterweight belt; exciting heavyweight slugger Alen Babic (7-0, 7 KOs) will face Mark Bennett (7-1, 1 KO) and female bantamweight Ebanie Bridges (5-1, 2 KOs) faces Bec Connolly (3-9) in an eight-rounder.

Other bouts include heavyweight Johnny Fisher (2-0, 2 KOs) versus Josh Sandland (5-3-1) and lightweight Aqib Fiaz (6-0, 0 KOs) against an opponent to be named.

Aug. 14

Emerging light heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi (14-0, 12 KOs), a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, will defend his regional belt against MTK Global Golden Contract tournament winner Richard Bolotniks (18-5-1, 8 KOs).

Savannah Marshall (10-0, 8 KOs) will make the second defense of her WBO women’s middleweight world title against a foe to be determined; American featherweight Raymond Ford (8-0-1, 4 KOs) will face Reece Bellotti (14-4, 12 KOs); welterweight Michael McKinson (20-0, 2 KOs) meets Przemyslaw Runowski (19-1, 5 KOs)  and Commonwealth middleweight champion Felix Cash (14-0, 10 KOs) defends against an opponent to be named.

Bantamweight Kash Farooq (15-1, 6 KOs), lightweight Tasha Jonas (9-2-1, 7 KOs), a two-time women’s world title challenger, and featherweight prospect talent Hopey Price (4-0, 1 KO) will also see action.

Barrera-Morales IV?

Hall of Famer and three-division world champion Marco Antonio Barrera, who retired in 2011, and Mexican countryman Jesus Soto Karass, who retired in 2018 after a career as a welterweight journeyman known for exciting fights, met in an exhibition match Saturday in Pico Rivera, California.

They boxed six two-minute rounds without headgear atop a card of sanctioned bouts.

When the expected action fight was over, Erik Morales, Barrera’s longtime rival in their legendary trilogy from junior featherweight to junior lightweight, stepped into the ring to face off with Barrera. They are tentatively slated to meet in an exhibition later this summer. Morales, a four-division titleholder, retired in 2012.

“It was amazing to hear the crowd once again from the ring,” said Barrera, who works as a boxing commentator on Mexican television. “It's definitely one of the things I miss the most after retirement. I love the crowds — all my friends, family, the fans that came out.

“I took this fight to prepare my body for a future fight with Erik Morales. I felt good overall and I know we will give fans a great fight as well. I thank Jesus Soto-Karass and (promoter) Marvin Rodriguez for this opportunity and can't wait to do it again.”

Inoue-Dasmarinas prelims set

Top Rank announced the bouts that will air stream exclusively on ESPN+ on Saturday (7:45 p.m. ET) on the undercard of unified bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue’s mandatory defense against Michael Dasmarinas at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

In the key bout, 2016 Mexican Olympian Lindolfo Delgado, 26, who recently signed with Top Rank, will have his first fight for the company against Salvador Briceno in an eight-round junior welterweight bout.

Due to promotional issues and the coronavirus pandemic, Delgado (11-0, 11 KOs) has not fought since September 2019 on the Errol Spence Jr.-Shawn Porter undercard. Briceno (17-6, 11 KOs), 26, of Mexico, is coming off a lopsided 10-round decision loss to Top Rank prospect Josue Vargas in June 2020.

Also added to the card: heavyweight Guido Vianello (7-0-1, 7 KOs), a 2016 Italian Olympian, will face Dante Stone (5-1, 3 KOs), of Chandler, Arizona, in a four- or six-rounder with Vianello aiming to rebound from a draw with Kingsley Ibeh in October; San Diego lightweight Eric Puente (5-0, 0 KOs), who is trained by Robert Garcia, against an opponent to be named in a six-rounder; and Puerto Rican junior welterweight Omar Rosario (3-0, 1 KO) versus JJ Mariano (3-0, 2 KOs), of Reno, Nevada, in a four-rounder.

The main card, which includes Inoue-Dasmarinas, WBO women’s junior lightweight titlist versus Erica Farias and Adam Lopez against Isaac Dogboe in a 10-round featherweight bout, will air on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

Quick hits

Canelo Alvarez two-sport star? The pound-for-pound king and unified super middleweight world champion won his first amateur golf tournament, the three-day BMW Charity Pro-Am, this past weekend in Greer, South Carolina. The tournament is part of the Korn Ferry Tour, a developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour. The BMW Charity Pro-Am is the only tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour where amateurs and celebrities are grouped with Korn Ferry Tour professionals in a three-day competition over two courses. Alvarez shared the greens with several other celebrities, including Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr. and Cedric the Entertainer.

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When junior middleweight titleholders Jermell Charlo (34-1, 18 KOs) and Brian Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs) meet for the undisputed championship in the main event of a Showtime card on July 17 they will do so at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite. The building is the home arena of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. Charlo, a Houston native, will be fighting in his home state. The source said that Premier Boxing Champions looked into having the fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but opted for Houston, which will allow 100 percent capacity.

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Light heavyweight contender Jesse Hart (26-3, 21 KOs), 31, of Philadelphia, announced that he is a free agent and no longer with career-long promoter Top Rank. “After a long, successful partnership, Top Rank and I have decided to part ways,” Hart wrote on social media. “This relationship has been important to building my career. However, I’m looking forward to working on forming new partnerships and continuing to take my career to the next level.” Hart, the son of 1970s middleweight contender Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, is coming off a January split decision loss to Joe Smith Jr., who went on to win a light heavyweight title. Hart’s other two defeats were both close decisions in super middleweight title fights against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in 2017 and 2018.

Show and tell

A heavyweight showdown between former champions Mike Tyson and George Foreman in the early 1990s would have been one of the biggest fights in history even without a world title at stake because they were both huge mainstream names and were both devastating punchers. There was a lot of talk about the fight being made and that hype reached a fever pitch when they appeared together on an HBO doubleheader that was co-promoted by rivals Don King, who had Tyson, and Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who handled Foreman, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Tyson was fighting for the first time since losing the undisputed championship to Buster Douglas four months earlier and blew away amateur rival Henry Tillman with an overhand right in the first round of the main event. In the co-feature, Foreman crushed Adilson Rodrigues with a left hook in the second round.

They were two of the most famous heavyweights ever fighting on the same card with King and Arum talking it up as a prelude to an eventual showdown. Alas, this was the closest they would ever come to fighting each other. Tyson fought once more on HBO before King took him to Showtime and, three fights later, Foreman unsuccessfully challenged Evander Holyfield for the undisputed title he had taken from Douglas. The Tyson/Foreman doubleheader was fun while it lasted. It was on June 16, 1990 — 31 years ago on Wednesday. Here’s the program from the show in my collection.

Morales-Barrera photo: Ray Navarrete/Marv Nation