Notebook: Munguia-Sulecki back on as headliner of June 19 card on DAZN
Pacquiao-Crawford lowdown; Eubank wants GGG; more
Middleweight contender Jaime Munguia now has an opponent for his June 19 fight and it’s the same one he was originally supposed to face earlier this month: Maciej Sulecki.
Munguia (36-0, 29 KOs), 24, of Mexico, a former junior middleweight world titleholder, and Sulecki (29-2, 11 KOs), 31, of Poland, a former junior middleweight title challenger, were scheduled to meet in the 12-round main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN on April 23 at the Don Haskins Center on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso.
However, Sulecki (29-2, 11 KOs) suffered a back injury, withdrew from the fight and was replaced by D’Mitrius Ballard (20-0-1, 13 KOs). Then Ballard suffered an elbow injury and the show was postponed until June 19. Since Sulecki’s back is better he is back in the fight, Golden Boy and DAZN announced on Wednesday.
The card will still be at the Don Haskins Center with some spectators permitted under strict Covid-19 safety protocols.
“I feel very excited to be returning on June 19,” Munguia said. “I know it will be a tremendous fight against Maciej Sulecki. I think he is a great fighter, and I will make sure to deliver a great fight to all the fans in El Paso, Texas, and to everyone who will be watching from home.”
Sulecki’s lone losses came by decision to former middleweight titlist Daniel Jacobs and challenging junior middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade.
“I am happy that things will take place as planned,” Sulecki said. “I know that a victory against Jaime Munguia will put me on the path to challenge for a world title. That’s why securing this fight was very important to me. I feel great, and I am totally ready to show the world that I can compete against the best in the division.”
In the 12-round super middleweight co-feature, rising prospect Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev (7-0, 6 KOs), 25, an Uzbekistan native fighting out Indio, California, will face the most notable opponent of his career in former world title challenger Gabriel Rosado (25-13-1, 14 KOs), 35, of Philadelphia, who is coming off a split decision loss to Jacobs in a November super middleweight fight.
“Although there have been several changes, we are happy because things are back on track for Jaime Munguia’s return on June 19,” Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said. “I’m confident that he will deliver a tremendous performance against Maciej Sulecki and show everyone why he deserves an opportunity to become a two-division world champion. At the same time, we’re very excited to have Bektemir Melikuziev face a real tough test against Gabriel Rosado. If he can look impressive against Rosado, then a world title shot will be just around the corner.”
The DAZN stream will also include Ibeth Zamora (32-6, 12 KOs), 32, of Mexico, defending her WBC women’s flyweight title against Marlen Esparza (9-1, 1 KO), 31, an Olympic bronze medalist from Houston, and welterweight Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (14-0-1, 9 KOs), 31, of Las Vegas, against Brad Solomon (29-3, 9 KOs), 37, of Lafayette, Louisiana, in a 10-rounder.
Additional undercard fights will be streamed live on Facebook Watch.
Pacquiao-Crawford is dead
The prospect of a Manny Pacquiao-Terence Crawford was always considered a long shot, but a deal was close to being set for them to fight for Crawford’s welterweight world title on June 5 in the main event of an ESPN PPV event from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
However, it is not going to happen for reasons that normally torpedo fights involving overseas investors: They didn’t come through with the money they promised, at least so says Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Crawford’s promoter.
I spoke to Arum and he detailed how close the fight was to coming to fruition, what went down that caused it go down the drain and what he is looking to do with Crawford next. I wrote a story about it for BoxingScene, which you can read here: https://www.boxingscene.com/arum-pacquiao-crawford-dead-over-money-woes--157248
Eubank Jr.’s goal: Fight GGG
Chris Eubank Jr., who fights a 10-round middleweight bout against British countryman Marcus Morrison on the Joseph Parker-Dereck Chisora undercard on Saturday (DAZN in the U.S., Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K.) at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, is aiming to land a shot at titleholder Gennadiy Golovkin.
“Getting past Marcus Morrison sets me up for some big fights in the summer and winter of this year,” said Eubank, who is trained by Roy Jones Jr. “There’s a lot of interesting fights out there and a lot of big names in the middleweight division, a lot of world champions that fans want to see me go up against. There’s even fighters that aren’t world champions that could happen for me. You’ve got Kell Brook talking it up a lot and I know Eddie Hearn wants to make that fight, so that’s something that could possibly happen in the summer.
“The end goal is to get Golovkin. The other world champions in the middleweight division, Ryota Murata, is definitely up on my list. He has the full WBA world title; I’m the interim world champion right now. There are some big names out there and some big fights.
“I’ve wanted to fight Golovkin for years. I believe this is the year that I’m going to get him. I’m coming for all of the belts. That’s what I’m in the sport to do. It’s not that I have to look good in this fight to get to that stage. You’ve got to look good in every fight, and I do look good in every fight.”
England’s Eubank (29-2, 22 KOs), 31, the son of former two-division titlist and British legend Chris Eubank Sr., will be in his second fight since returning 160 pounds after spending the past few years fighting at 168 pounds. Morrison (23-3, 16 KOs), 28, has won seven fights in a row but has faced woeful opposition; only two opponents during his recent winning streak had winning records.
Quick hits
It’s been common knowledge for weeks but on Wednesday Premier Boxing Champions formally announced that the rescheduled fight between WBC bantamweight titlist Nordine Oubaali and former four-division titleholder Nonito Donaire, who meet May 29 in a Showtime main event, will take place at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Tickets go on sale via AXS on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. Subriel Matias faces Batyrzhan Jukembayev in an IBF junior welterweight title eliminator in the co-feature.
Former middleweight titlist David Lemieux (42-4, 35 KOs), 32, of Montreal, will have his third fight since moving up to super middleweight when he meets David Zegarra (34-4, 21 KOs), 36, of Peru, in a 10-rounder that will headline a June 4 card in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Eye of the Tiger Management announced on Wednesday. Lemieux had been scheduled to fight April 17 in Quebec City but the card was called off due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Former middleweight and super middleweight titlist Felix Sturm (41-5-3, 18 KOs), 42, of Germany, will fight the second fight of his comeback on June 19 in Hamburg, Germany. He will face James Kraft (19-0-1, 10 KOs), 24, of Germany, in a 10-rounder at light heavyweight. In the first fight of his comeback, Sturm outpointed Timo Rost in December in Sturm’s first fight in nearly five years. He hadn’t fought since early 2016 after failing a drug test for performance enhancing drugs and legal issues.
Promoter Lou DiBella announced that he has signed former women’s featherweight titlist Heather Hardy (22-1, 4 KOs), 39, of Brooklyn, New York, to a new multi-year promotional contract. Hardy has been with DiBella for her entire nine year career. “Heather Hardy made her pro debut with DiBella Entertainment and is the first female fighter we ever signed,” DiBella said. “She has cemented her place as the Micky Ward of women’s boxing, a blood-and-guts warrior. Heather is family and we look forward to the rest of her journey, starting with her comeback on May 14 (when she headlines a UFC Fight Pass card in Murfreesboro, Tennessee).” Said Hardy: “I’m excited to be back with Lou boxing again. Boxing is a dangerous business and I wouldn’t want to be a part of it without someone there who I know has my back like Lou.”
Show and tell
You want significance? Atmosphere? And a great fight? Welcome to the epic heavyweight collision between unified world titlist Anthony Joshua and all-time great former unified world champion Wladimir Klitschko. They put on an absolute spectacle for the ages in one of the greatest events I have ever covered. The entire fight week was fantastic and the fight more than lived up to the expectations as they delivered a thrilling battle before some 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London. Klitschko, a Hall of Famer, who retired after the fight rather than exercise his right to a rematch, left boxing fans wanting more. He got knocked down in the fifth round, dropped Joshua and nearly finished him in the sixth round but eventually succumbed to the much younger man, getting knocked down twice more and stopped in the 11th round.
It was an absolute privilege to cover the 2017 fight of the year at ringside. The entire fight week was something I will never forget. Joshua and Klitschko, who are friends, met on April 29, 2017, four years ago on Thursday. I have different posters from the fight in my collection, including the ones produced by HBO and Showtime, who both aired it. But this is the truly prized one. It’s an extremely rare site poster. There was no poster for sale at the fight but there was this limited edition site poster with a print run of 100 that was given to VIPs attending the bout. I was not a VIP, but I am poster degenerate and resourceful.
Crawford photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Eubank photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Nonito fight is back on good match up glad to see it coming up soon. Mug/Suliki means nothing, Rosado at 35 after his last fight should not go long 4-5 rounds at best. Jacobs / Rosado had to be the ugliest fight and to think those guys talked it up before as if something would happen in the ring but be sure they are both done. It happens. I can say that bc I sat thru it. Some you never forget just for dif reasons.
Media Darling GGG only wants Easy Paydays. Modus Operandi since Day 1.