Notebook: New foes for Ajagba, Vianello on Top Rank's Jan. 14 card

HOF judge Roth dies; Charlo reveals medical report; Ramirez declines Prograis title fight; Canelo gets hometown statue; 'ShoBox' card set; shows added to ESPN+ schedule; Quick hits; Show and tell

Dan Rafael

Dec 27, 2022

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Give a gift subscription

Bet on boxing at BetUS

The 2023 opening card of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN has undergone some changes.

The show on Jan. 14 (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, will still be headlined by heavyweight Efe Ajagba (16-1, 13 KOs), 28, a 2016 Nigerian Olympian based in Houston, but he will face Stephan Shaw (18-0, 13 KOs), 30, of St. Louis, in a 10-rounder, Top Rank announced on Tuesday, making official what Fight Freaks Unite reported on Friday.

Ajagba was initially slated to face WBC bridgerweight titlist Oscar Rivas (28-1, 19 KOs), who was going to return to heavyweight for the one-off nontitle fight, but he withdrew last Wednesday due to an eye injury suffered in a sparring session.

Shaw was initially supposed to face Guido Vianello (10-0-1, 9 KOs), 28, a 2016 Italian Olympian, in the 10-round opener. But with Shaw moving into the main event, Vianello will now face Jonnie Rice in the co-feature.

Since Rivas’ injury, rumors have swirled online that the Montreal-based Colombia native had retired, but Yvon Michel, Rivas’ promoter, shot them down.

“The injury didn’t require a surgery — yet. He is in Colombia now for the holiday season with his family and when he is back (in Montreal) he will meet his doctor again for evaluation,” Michel told Fight Freaks Unite. “Contrary to some rumors, he has not decided to retire. He is still hopeful to be able to fight again when the injury is healed.”

Give the boxing fan in your life the gift of a paid subscription to Fight Freaks Unite this holiday season and support independent journalism. Click here for details.

Rice (15-6-1, 10 KOs), 35, of Los Angeles, has faced several heavyweight hopefuls. He lost a six-round decision to Shaw in 2016, a six-rounder to 2016 French Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Tony Yoka in 2017 and a 10-round decision to Ajagba in 2020.

Rice has won two fights in a row, both upsets of then-undefeated prospect Michael Coffie, a fifth-round knockout in July 2021 and a 10-round decision in their January immediate rematch.

“Stephan Shaw stepped up and has a tough task against one of the division’s biggest punchers in Efe Ajagba,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “We’re pleased that Guido will remain on the card against a formidable opponent in Jonnie Rice.”

HOF judge Roth dies

Jerry Roth, the International Boxing Hall of Fame judge, died on Friday in his hometown of Las Vegas. He was 81.

Roth was a professional judge for 34 years, mainly in Las Vegas, before retiring in 2015. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 after a career in which he judged many of the biggest fights in the sport.

“For over 30 years, Jerry Roth was one of boxing’s most respected judges. He officiated over 200 title bouts from ringside, including many legendary bouts involving the biggest names in the sport,” Hall of Fame executive director Edward Brophy said in announcing Roth’s death. “The Hall of Fame offers our condolences to the Roth family and joins the boxing world in mourning his passing.”

Born May 12, 1941 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Roth began working as a judge for the Nevada State Athletic Commission in 1980. He judged 225 world title fights, according to the Hall of Fame. Besides judging fights, he worked as a commercial real estate broker.

Among his numerous high-profile assignments: Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield I and II, Larry Holmes-Gerry Cooney, Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor I, Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns II, Leonard-Roberto Duran III, Marvin Hagler-John Mugabi, Hearns-Iran Barkley I and II, Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather, De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad, De La Hoya-Pernell Whitaker, Johnny Tapia-Danny Romero, Holyfield-George Foreman, Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones Jr., Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley I (Roth was the judge who scored for Pacquiao in what was a massively controversial Bradley split decision win), Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II, Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales III, Lennox Lewis-Holyfield II, Mayweather-Zab Judah, Mayweather-Jose Luis Castillo I, Mayweather-Diego Corrales, Canelo Alvarez-Erislandy Lara and all three Riddick Bowe-Holyfield bouts.

Roth’s final bout was Vasiliy Lomachenko’s WBO featherweight title defense against Gamalier Rodriguez on the Mayweather-Pacquiao undercard in May 2015.

Roth is survived by wife Bunnie Roth and three children, daughters Michele Nimmo and Andrea Kaufman and son Mark Roth.

Charlo’s medical report

Undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo, who broke his left hand in two places during a recent training session, which caused his highly anticipated mandatory defense against Tim Tszyu, to be postponed this past Saturday, made public his medical report after some questioned the validity of his injury.

The report, issued by Dr. Vincent Chau Phan of Houston Methodist Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, backed up the announcement that Charlo had suffered two fractures and should not punch with his left hand for two months.

“37 fights in ain’t never had to postpone shit,” Charlo posted on social media with the photo of his medical report and of him in a cast. “I’ll never back out or down from any man. I’m King of 154. This ain’t no mental health issue, this ain’t no sling you can buy at a pharmacy like (Brian) Castano did. Imma bounce back & give my supporters 2 fights (in 2023). Stay tune.”

Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs), 32, of Houston, and Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs), 28, of Australia, the son of Hall of Fame for undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, were scheduled to headline a Showtime card on Jan. 28 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. There is no new date yet.

According to sources, there is a possibility that Tszyu may take an interim bout while waiting for Charlo to be ready to fight.

Ramirez passes on Prograis

Despite a desire to fight for a junior welterweight title again, former unified titlist Jose Ramirez has decided not to move forward with negotiating a highly anticipated fight with newly crowned WBC titlist Regis Prograis, nor will Ramirez participate in a purse bid because he is upset over the purse split had the bout gone to a purse bid.

WBC purse splits are pre-set at 70-30 in favor of the titleholder but the sanctioning body will amend the split on occasion and agreed to make this one 65-35 in the event the sides could not work out a deal and it went to a bid. That split was still not good enough for Ramirez and manager Rick Mirigian. Ramirez insisted on 40 percent but they never negotiated with Prograis’ team. Ramirez instead has opted for a much lesser fight.

Idle since a decision win over Jose Pedraza in this past March, Ramirez is slated to return to headline a March 25 Top Rank ESPN card in his hometown of Fresno, California, in a nontitle fight. He likely will face former lightweight titlist Richard Commey (30-4-1, 27 KOs), who is 0-1-1 in his last two fights, multiple sources told Fight Freaks Unite. The two sides are haggling over Commey’s purse, the sources said.

Ramirez had been tapped to face Jose Zepeda for the vacant title a few months ago for what would have been a 50-50 split in the event of a purse bid, given that the belt was vacant. But Ramirez opted to pass on a rematch with Zepeda, whom he had eked out a majority decision against in a 2019 title defense. Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) said he was going to take the rest of 2022 off and was getting married.

Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) was next up and he knocked out Zepeda in the 11th round on Nov. 26 to win the vacant belt and become a two-time titleholder. He was gung-ho to face Ramirez.

They had been ordered to fight for the vacant WBC title in early 2018 but their handlers maneuvered them away from each other. Prograis entered the World Boxing Super Series and stopped Kiryl Relikh to win the WBA title and Ramirez outpointed Amir Imam for the vacant WBC title.

With Ramirez electing to avoid Prograis, the WBC announced he is entitled to an optional defense next. Teofimo Lopez looms as his next mandatory challenger following his disputed decision win over Sandor Martin in their Dec. 10 title eliminator.

Statue of Canelo

Juanacatlan, Mexico, the hometown of four-division champion and reigning undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, dedicated a statue of Alvarez’s likeness to honor him for his career accomplishments.

Alvarez attended the unveiling ceremony with his family and spoke to the crowd.

“It's a great honor for me to be recognized in the place that watched me grow up and made me the person I am today,” Alvarez wrote on social media. “Thanks to the government of Juanacatlan for this recognition and to all the people who attended.”

At the ceremony Alvarez said, “I see many familiar faces. It makes me very proud that they witness my progress (from) that little freckled boy who was around here and now has achieved many things. One day I was like you here in Juanacatlan, but with many dreams to move forward, to be someone, and if I did, you can too.”

Click sponsor’s banner to sign up with promo code

The 1,000-pound statue, which is more than eight feel tall, is made of bronze with a base constructed from stone and silver weighing half a ton. It was sculpted by Sigifredo Islas.

Alvarez, who is coming off a dominating decision win over rival Gennadiy Golovkin in their third fight in September, is currently recovering from hand surgery and hopes to return in May.

‘ShoBox’ kicks off 2023

Showtime’s prospect-oriented series “ShoBox: The New Generation,” which is going into its 22nd year, will begin the 2023 schedule with a Kings Promotions tripleheader featuring six undefeated fighters on Jan. 20 (9 p.m. ET) at Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Headlining is the Buddy McGirt-trained super middleweight Sean Hemphill (14-0, 8 KOs), 27, of New Orleans, against the Ronnie Shields-trained David Stevens (11-0, 8 KOs), 22, of Reading, Pennsylvania, in an eight-rounder that was originally scheduled to take place on Oct. 21 before Hemphill had to postpone due to an injury.

There are also two other eight-rounders:

In the co-feature, light heavyweight Atif Oberlton (7-0, 6 KOs), 24, of Philadelphia, will fight Artem Brusov (12-0, 11 KOs), 31, a Russia native fighting out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Junior lightweight Julian Gonzalez (8-0-1, 8 KOs), 21, of Reading, Pennsylvania, squares off with Rosalindo Morales (9-0, 2 KOs), 29, a southpaw from Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, in the opener.

“I am excited for the opportunity to fight on a big platform like Showtime,” said Hemphill, who is managed by Adam Glenn, the son of the late longtime trainer and cutman Jimmy Glenn. “I have envisioned this for a long time, and it’s unfortunate I wasn’t able to make my ‘ShoBox’ debut in 2022. I have been hungrier than ever to display my skills and talent. I don't know much about Stevens, but I am focused on what I have to do and handling business. A win will elevate me in every way possible. It is going to open people's eyes and open the door for bigger fights and opportunities.”

While Stevens had just one fight in 2022, Stevens had three and won two by knockout.

“I am excited and anxious and ready to fight and show my talent to the world,” Stevens said. “When the fight was cancelled (in October), I was disappointed because we could not get another opponent on short notice. I think Hemphill is decent. He is not better than me. A win will elevate me and open more doors for other opportunities. Fighting on ‘ShoBox’ is very motivating and it makes me push harder in camp.”

Quick hits

WBO cruiserweight titlist Lawrence Okolie (18-0, 14 KOs), 30, of England, and mandatory challenger David Light (20-0, 12 KOs), 31, of New Zealand, made a deal and avoided a purse bid for which they had received an extension. Their representatives informed the WBO that they will meet March 11 in London on a card promoted by Boxxer. The WBO canceled the Dec. 22 purse bid. The deal seems to bring to an end Okolie’s affiliation with Matchroom Boxing, which had objected to the purse bid order. Okolie and Matchroom have been at odds for months, the key reason Okolie has not fought since making his second defense in February.

The card headline by the women’s junior flyweight unification bout between WBC titleholder Kim Clavel (16-0, 3 KOs), 32, of Montreal, and WBA counterpart Jessica Nery Plata (28-2, 3 KOs), 28, of Mexico, which will take place on Jan. 13 at Place Bell in Laval, Canada — just outside of Montreal — will stream live in the United States on ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET) after Top Rank obtained rights from promoter Yvon Michel. Clavel-Plata was originally scheduled for Dec. 1 but postponed a few days beforehand because Clavel came down with the flu.

Top Rank, though its deal with Eye of the Tiger Management, has acquired the United States rights to its Feb. 2 card at the Montreal Casino in Montreal and will stream it live on ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET), a source with knowledge of the deal told Fight Freaks Unite. Super middleweight Erik Bazinyan (28-0, 21 KOs), 27, of Laval, Canada, will headline against Alantez Fox (28-3-1, 13 KOs), 30, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in a 10-rounder. Fox has not boxed since a fourth-round knockout loss challenging WBA secondary titlist David Morrell in December 2021. Junior welterweight Yves Ulysse Jr. (22-2, 12 KOs), 34, of Montreal, will face former Top Rank fighter and U.S. Olympian Javier Molina (22-5, 9 KOs), 32, of Norwalk, California, in the 10-round co-feature.

Prospect Dalton Smith (13-0,10 KOs), 25, the British junior welterweight champion, has signed a contract extension with Matchroom Boxing. “I’m delighted to sign a multi-fight extension with Matchroom Boxing,” said Smith, who was 4-0 this year. “2022 was a huge success. I was nice and active, added the British title to the collection and headlined at Sheffield Arena. 2023 I need to build on that by staying busy, winning the British title for keeps and adding more titles.”

Show and tell

As we hit the end of the year it’s time for a 2023 calendar, right? Well, back in its heyday, HBO Sports would produce a boxing calendar and send it out to media members at the end of every year. I have a bunch of them in my collection. The covers were usually generic, with an HBO Sports logo and the year, but not this awesome one. It’s from 2005 and featured a slew of stars that were with HBO at the time. Of the 10 fighters pictured, each was in multiple major fights and nine have been elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Those pictured, in case you’re new around these here parts, are (from top left) Antonio Tarver (the only one not in the HOF), Floyd Mayweather, Erik Morales, Arturo Gatti, Vitali Klitschko, Winky Wright, Bernard Hopkins, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Marco Antonio Barrera. I was very fortunate to cover all of these greats in many of their fights. Happy New Year!

Ramirez photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Alvarez photo: WBC; Roth photo: International Boxing Hall of Fame

Please upgrade your subscription here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe

Fight Freaks Unite