Notebook: No Golden Boy for free agent lightweight titlist Stevenson
Ryan Garcia charged in vandalism case; Tim Tszyu cleared for ring return Sept. 22; Title Sports show; Helenius banned; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya has ruled his company out as a possible landing spot for free agent WBC lightweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson, whose contract with career-long promoter Top Rank expired at the conclusion of his decision win over Artem Harutyunyan on July 6 in Newark, New Jersey, Stevenson’s hometown.
Stevenson has talked to De La Hoya about a possible deal and met with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn last week at the Jaron Ennis-David Avanesyan card he promoted last week in Philadelphia as he makes the rounds in search of deal better than the five-fight, minimum $15 million offer he turned down from Top Rank.
“You’re a free agent, great fighter, great talent, but not for me,” De La Hoya said in a video he posted to social media. “I believe that when somebody says they're not fighting for the public, I cannot promote them.”
De La Hoya was being critical of comments Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs), 27, made about not fighting for the fans. Stevenson responded to De La Hoya’s video by posting to his social media, “He mad cause he found out I’m not signing with him. It's OK, Oscar De La Hoya, you'll get over it.”
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They could wind up working with each other for one fight, however. The WBC has ordered Stevenson to next make his mandatory defense against the Golden Boy-promoted Mexican William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs), who crushed Giovanni Cabrera with a third-round body shot on July 6 in Ontario, California.
The WBC set Aug. 20 as the deadline for there to be a Stevenson-Zepeda deal or it will hold a purse bid. If it goes to a bid, Stevenson would get the lion’s share of a 70-30 split.
Although Zepeda is Stevenson’s mandatory it’s not for sure of that will be their next fight. Zepeda is in the rare position of being ranked No. 1 by all four sanctioning bodies.
“William will make his decision very soon and has three other options,” De La Hoya said in the video.
Ryan Garcia charged
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced Thursday that Ryan Garcia has been charged with vandalizing the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on June 8.
Garcia, 25, is charged with one misdemeanor count of vandalism $400 or more in damage or destruction of property. He is accused of causing around $15,000 in damage to a hotel room and hallway in the incident, which he was led away from in handcuffs, shirtless, wearing a helmet and apparently intoxicated.
The DA’s office said Garcia is expected to be arraigned on Aug. 7. If convicted as charged, Garcia faces a maximum sentence of one year in county jail.
“While we are grateful no injuries were reported in this incident, reckless behavior that damages property shows a blatant and unacceptable disregard for the safety and peace of our community,” ”Gascón said in a statement. “Our office will work to ensure the responsible individual is held accountable.”
After the charges were made official, Garcia posted to social media, “No way I'm going to jail.”
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs), who has repeatedly claimed on social media he was going to go to rehab for his substance abuse problem, is in the midst of a one-year suspension imposed by the New York Athletic Commission in June after he failed multiple drug tests for the banned performance-enhancing drug Ostarine related to his majority decision over Devon Haney, which was overturned to a no contest due to the failed tests.
Garcia was also ineligible to win the WBC junior welterweight title from Haney because he was overweight for their highly anticipated April 20 bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Tszyu cleared for return
Former junior middleweight titlist Tim Tszyu has been medically cleared to fully resume training and will return to the ring for an IBF title eliminator in his hometown of Sydney, Australia, on Sep. 22, No Limit Boxing announced.
The opponent is not set yet but likely will be fellow Premier Boxing Champions fighter Erikson Lubin.
The card will air on Foxtel’s Main Event and Kayo Sports in Australia but in the United States, where it will be the evening of Sept. 21, it will stream on Prime Video as part of its deal with PBC, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.
Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs), 29, lost the WBO title and a chance to win the vacant WBC belt by split decision to Sebastian Fundora on March 30 in Las Vegas in a fight in which he was severely hampered when an accidental elbow from Fundora late in the second round tore open a horrendous cut on his scalp. Tszyu dominated the first two rounds but slowed considerably with blood pouring down his face and body for the rest of the fight.
He was due to return against Vergil Ortiz Jr. for the vacant WBA interim junior middleweight title on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on the first Riyadh Season-backed card outside of Saudi Arabia. However, Tszyu was forced to withdraw because the cut had not yet fully healed and his doctor ruled him out.
After Tszyu outpointed Brian Mendoza in a title defense in October, he said it would be his last fight in Australia for the foreseeable future as he planned to fight exclusively in the United States. But having suffered the loss, those plans changed and he will return home for the September bout.
Tszyu has been ordered to face Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs), 28, of Orlando, Florida, in the IBF eliminator but there is no deal yet. No Limit Boxing CEO Gorge Rose said he hopes to get one done otherwise the fight would go to a purse bid on July 30.
“Tim Tszyu is back and is coming for it all,” Rose said. “Having been cleared by his medical team, he is ready to remind everyone who the real king of the (154-pound) division is and he will be making a statement on his return to Australia. We hope to have a deal done with Lubin’s team before the end of the month, but if not we’ll head to purse bids.”
Tszyu said he is anxious to resume training and return to the ring.
“I can’t wait to get my hands on him,” Tszyu said of Lubin. “My body is perfect, my knuckles are itchy and I’m going to make a statement back on home soil. I’m not one to sit around and wait and I’m coming back to take over, mark my words.”
Tszyu will train for the fight in Las Vegas and was scheduled to fly there on Friday along with younger brother Nikita Tszyu (9-0, 7 KOs), 26, the reigning Australian junior middleweight champion, who will train for an Aug. 28 defense against amateur rival Koen Mazoudier (12-3-1, 5 KOs), 28, of Australia.
Title Sports Network show
In our latest show on Title Sports Network, I joined Seb Parkinson to discuss various topics. In the first video we talked about the future of free agent Shakur Stevenson and a possible William Zepeda mandatory fight; wins by “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, “Boots” Ennis and Raymond Muratalla and what might be next for each; Naoya Inoue’s announcement that he will next defend against TJ Doheny; if Terence Crawford beats Israil Madrimov is the Canelo Alvarez fight in the cards; and more! In the second video we previewed Saturday’s Jake Paul-Mike Perry and Amanda Serrano-Stevie Morgan bouts. Please subscribe to the YouTube channel and also check out the video here:
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked the weekend fights: Jake Paul against Mike Perry, the Amanda Serrano-Stevie Morgan co-feature, and WBC bantamweight titlist Junto Nakatani’s defense against Vincent Astrolabio. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
The first WBO junior bantamweight title defense of Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs), a four-division titlist from Japan, was canceled at the weigh-in Friday when Mexican challenger Jonathan “Titan” Rodriguez (25-2-1, 17 KOs) was dramatically overweight. Tanaka was 114.8 pounds, but Rodriguez was 121.25 — 6.25 over the 115-pound limit. He was in the junior featherweight division. The rest of the card on Saturday (ESPN+, 5 a.m. ET) at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo goes on as planned. WBC bantamweight titlist Junto Nakatani (27-0, 20 KOs) was 117.5 pounds for the main event against Vincent Astrolabio (19-4, 14 KOs), who was also 117.5. For the vacant WBO flyweight title bout, Riku Kano (22-4-2, 11 KOs) was 112 pounds and Anthony Olascuaga (6-1, 4 KOs) was 111.5. Also, Tenshin Nasukawa (3-0, 1 KO) was 120 and Jonathan “Torres” Rodriguez (17-2-1, 7 KOs) was 119.25.
Weights from Tampa for the MVP card on Saturday (DAZN PPV, 9 p.m., $64.99): Jake Paul 200 pounds, Mike Perry 196.6; Amanda Serrano 136, Stevie Morgan 136.6; Ashton Sylve 134.4, Lucas Bahdi 134; Tony Aguilar 134.6, Corey Marksman 134.2; Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. 197.8, Uriah Hall 199.6; Shadasia Green 167.4, Natasha Spence 166.4; Alexis Chaparro 159, Kevin Hill 159; Angel Barrientes 121.2, Edwin Rodriguez 122; Ariel Perez 175, Dane Guerrero.
Weights from Indio, California, for the Golden Boy card Friday on DAZN (9 p.m. ET): Alexis Rocha 146.4 pounds, Santiago Dominguez 146.8; Gregory Morales 127, Jayvon Garnett 126; Grant Flores 151.4, Juan Meza 151; Jorge Chavez 125.8, Riku Kitani 125.2; Bryan Lua 133, Diuhl Olguin 130; Fabian Guzman 158, Corey Cook 159; Juan Estrada Jr. 134, Dyllon Cervantes 133.8.
Former heavyweight contender Robert Helenius (32-5, 21 KOs), 40, of Finland, was hit with a two-year ban for testing positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug Clomiphene after his brutal seventh-round knockout loss to Anthony Joshua last August in London, UK Anti-Doping announced on Friday. UKAD did not buy Helenius’ excuse that the substance was in his system from eating contaminated eggs and chicken, for which he could offer no evidence. UKAD provisionally suspended Helenius on Sept. 18, so he has served 10 months. His ban expires Sept. 17, 2025.
Former WBC flyweight titlist Charlie Edwards (19-1, 7 KOs), 31, of England, will challenge Thomas Essomba (13-8-1, 4 KOs), 36, of England, for his European bantamweight title. The fight will headline a Wasserman Boxing card on Sept. 27 (DAZN in U.S., Channel 5 in U.K.) at York Hall in London. The fight will be something of a family feud because Essomba’s manager is former IBF flyweight titlist Sunny Edwards, who is Charlie’s older brother. Essomba will make his second defense. “My brother may think he knows me better than anyone, but there is nothing Sunny can do, or say, to stop me from devastatingly ripping the European title from Essomba by vicious knockout,” Charlie said.
Show and tell
Mike McCallum, the perennially underappreciated three-division champion, won his first world title at junior middleweight and defended the WBA belt six times before losing it and going on to win titles at middleweight and light heavyweight. After fellow Hall of Famer Donald Curry lost the undisputed welterweight title, he moved up to junior middleweight, notched two wins and got the opportunity to challenge McCallum for his title in an HBO main event at the famed Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas.
Curry was the favorite and ahead on all three scorecards — 40-36, 39-37 and 39-38 — going into the fifth round. But that is when McCallum, known as an all-time great body puncher, instead landed an out-of-nowhere left to Curry’s wide open chin to spectacularly flatten him as referee Richard Steele counted him out at 1 minute, 14 seconds for what was picked by the old KO Magazine as knockout of the year. McCallum would lose the title in his next fight and a year later Curry would win the WBC junior middleweight belt. But their memorable fight took place on July 18, 1987 — 37 years ago on Thursday. Here is a program and site poster, which are both pretty scarce, in my collection.
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Photos: Stevenson: Amanda Westcott/Matchroom Boxing; Garcia: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy; Tszyu: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images; Nakatani-Astrolabio: Naoki Fukuda
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Shakur I think, feels a prideful need to beat that Top Rank final contract offer. But that's a high minimum for either Golden Boy or Matchroom to even match. Forget about beat. One, Shakur has no real leverage or massive public demand. And two, it would blow up each promoters pay structure. Potentially causing hard feelings with some of their Top Fighters already under contract. Especially at Golden Boy. Shakur calling out Zepeda (his Mando), and not the other way around. Is a tell tale sign how vulnerable Shakur truly feels.
I bet shaker goes back to top rank and takes the offer on hand if it is still there no one wants him at his price,I have said it before he is the most boring fighter going around