Notebook: Pacquiao announces his retirement from boxing in heartfelt video
TR wins Beterbiev-Browne bid; Jennings bails on Rivas fight; Gutierrez-Colbert headed to Showtime; Zepeda-Vargas official; Quick hits; much more
Manny Pacquiao, one of boxing’s all-time greats and a global icon, officially announced his retirement from boxing in a 14-minute, 20-second video titled “Good bye boxing” that was posted to his social media accounts early Wednesday.
“To the greatest fans and the greatest sport in the world, thank you! Thank you for all the wonderful memories,” Pacquiao posted along with a link to his video. “This is the hardest decision I’ve ever made, but I’m at peace with it. Chase your dreams, work hard, and watch what happens. Good bye, boxing.”
Pacquiao’s retirement, which was not unexpected, came nine days after the legend announced that he would run for president of the Philippines, where he is a national hero and sitting senator.
The retirement announcement also came a little over a month after Pacquiao, 42, suffered an upset unanimous decision loss challenging Yordenis Ugas for his welterweight world title on Aug. 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where he left a clear impression it was the final fight of his 26-year career during an emotional post-fight news conference, where he talked about how important public service is to him.
“Boxing has always been my passion. I was given the opportunity of representing the Philippines, bringing fame and honor to my country every time I entered the ring,” Pacquiao said as he opened the video, in which he spoke in both English and his native Tagalog. “I am grateful for all of my accomplishments and the opportunity to inspire the fans.”
The video included many highlights from Pacquiao’s 26-year-year career with a musical backdrop and thank yous to many of the people involved in his career through the years, including longtime trainer Freddie Roach.
“Freddie Roach was not only my trainer but also my family, a brother and a friend,” Pacquiao said of the Hall of Famer he was with since June 2001, when Pacquiao was on vacation in San Francisco, decided to take a bus to Los Angeles in search of a gym and showed up at Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. They hit if off immediately and won a junior featherweight world title together a few weeks later.
“To boxing fans all over the world, thank you very much.” — Manny Pacquiao
Pacquiao thanked many others in his life and career, including wife Jinkee and their five children; lifelong best friend and assistant trainer Buyboy Fernandez; Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who promoted most of Pacquiao’s biggest fights; longtime right-hand man Sean Gibbons; adviser Al Haymon of Premier Boxing Champions; TGB Promotions president Tom Brown, promoter of Pacquiao’s final three fights; longtime publicist Fred Sternburg; and the media “for telling my story.”
“My deepest appreciation. I truly value your hard work,” Pacquiao said, getting choked up.
“To boxing fans all over the world, thank you very much,” Pacquiao continued. “I deeply appreciate your love and support.”
Pacquiao said he never thought he would be able to accomplish the many records he set during his career. They included:
World titles in a record eight divisions (flyweight and junior featherweight to junior middleweight).
World titles in a record four decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s).
The only fighter to be the lineal champion in five weight classes (flyweight, featherweight, junior lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight).
Three-time Ring magazine and Boxing Writers Association of America fighter of the year (2006, 2008, 2009) and 2000s fighter of the decade from both.
Participated in the highest grossing boxing event ever, some $650 million, in his long-awaited 2015 mega welterweight unification fight with Floyd Mayweather, which broke every conceivable revenue record, including biggest gate and best-selling pay-per-view.
Oldest fighter to win a welterweight title when he beat Keith Thurman at age 40 in 2019.
“Amazing accomplishments I never thought I would accomplish. … The Lord gave me overflowing blessings, I could never thank Him enough,” the deeply religious Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) — with 72 fights and 498 rounds in all — beat a litany of elite fighters and Hall of Famers: Oscar De La Hoya in his biggest victory, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito to win a title in his eighth weight class at junior middleweight, Shane Mosley and Thurman.
Pacquiao also beat Marco Antonio Barrera twice; went 2-1 against Erik Morales in a memorable trilogy; went 2-1-1 in all-time great four-fight series with Juan Manuel Marquez; won a trilogy 2-1 over Timothy Bradley Jr., with the loss in the first fight one of the most controversial decisions ever.
“I never thought this day would come,” Pacquiao said. “As I hang up my boxing gloves I would like to thank the whole world, especially the Filipino people for supporting Manny Pacquiao.
“Good bye, boxing. Thank you for changing my life. When my family was desperate, you gave us hope. You give me the chance to fight our way out of poverty. Because of you, I was able to inspire people all over the world. Because of you, I have been given the courage to change more lives. I will never forget what I have done and accomplished in my life. I can’t imagine. I just heard the final bell.”
TR wins Beterbiev-Browne bid
Top Rank on Tuesday won the promotional rights to the fight between unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and mandatory challenger Marcus Browne at a WBC purse bid.
Top Rank, Beterbiev’s promoter, bid $1,105,000 to beat the only other offer of $1,001,000 from TGB Promotions, the promoter that handles most of the events for Browne representative Premier Boxing Champions.
Under WBC rules, 10 percent of the winning bid — $110,500 — will be held by the WBC and paid out as a bonus to the winner of the fight.
Of the remaining 90 percent ($994,500), Beterbiev is entitled to 70 percent ($696,150) and Browne gets 30 percent ($298,350). Top Rank has until Oct. 8 to deposit the $110,500, has until Oct. 13 to inform the WBC of the site and until Oct. 18 to return signed contracts from the fighters.
Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told Fight Freaks Unite that the likely site for the fight would be either Canada — Beterbiev’s adopted hometown is Montreal — or his native country of Russia, where he had his last fight on March 20.
The purse bid had been scheduled two weeks ago, but Top Rank and TGB were granted an extension but were still unable to make a deal.
Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs), 36, will be making his fifth title defense. Browne (24-1, 16 KOs), 30, of Staten Island, New York, is a former interim titleholder, who lost that belt two fights ago by eighth-round technical decision to Jean Pascal in August 2019. Pascal dropped him three times but the fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards when Browne was unable to continue to due a cut from an accidental head butt in the eighth round.
“I think there are bigger and better things that lie ahead for Beterbiev when it comes to opponents with name recognition an unification fights, be it Dmitry Bivol or Joe Smith, but this mandatory has to be dealt with, and the lingering possibility is always there of Canelo (Alvarez) moving to up 175,” Moretti said.”
Rivas getting new foe
Longtime heavyweight contenders Oscar Rivas and Bryant Jennings were due to meet for the inaugural WBC bridgerweight world title on Oct. 22 (ESPN+) at L’Olympia de Montreal in Montreal, but Rivas will instead face a new opponent to be named.
According to promoter Yvon Michel, Jennings pulled out of the fight.
“Team Jennings informed us this weekend that Bryant refused to get vaccinated (for Covid-19) as well as refused Canada’s rule of admission for non-vaccinated travelers, even though it was clear in the contract it was necessary,” Michel said. “We already found a replacement, a ranked fighter from WBC’s bridgerweight division. Oscar Rivas will fight for the vacant WBC bridgerweight title on Oct. 22 at Olympia de Montreal. More details will come this week.”
The fight is for the vacant belt in a division the WBC created between cruiserweight and heavyweight with a weight limit of 224 pounds.
Rivas (27-1, 19 KOs), 34, a Colombia native fighting out of Montreal, and Jennings (24-4, 14 KOs), 36, of Philadelphia, were supposed to meet for the vacant belt on June 18 in Montreal but the fight was postponed due to the pandemic. Rivas already beat Jennings once, stopping him in the 12th round of a nontitle fight in January 2019.
Pacquiao-Spence
I am sure I was not the only disappointed when Errol Spence Jr. was diagnosed with a torn retina less than two weeks before he was supposed to defend his welterweight world title against Manny Pacquiao on Aug. 21 in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao, of course, faced welterweight titlist Yordenis Ugas instead and lost a unanimous decision in an upset. It appears unlikely at this point we will ever see Pacquiao-Spence now, especially with Spence’s return uncertain and Pacquiao announcing his retirement and running for president of the Philippines.
But there will always be at least once thing to commemorate the Pacquiao-Spence fight that never was. Renowned artist Richard Slone did a painting depicting what the clash might look like. It was meant to be the official artwork for the fight and would have appeared on the program cover and a poster.
Slone sold the original painting to Germany’s Ingo Wegerich, a big boxing fan and art collector. He has a website that displays his collection and it now includes photos of the beautiful Pacquiao-Spence painting. I was happy to contribute the text on his website that goes along with the photos of the painting. Please take a look here: https://wegerich-fineart.com/en/portfolio/pacquiao-vs-spence/
Gutierrez-Colbert deal
Golden Boy Promotions and Premier Boxing Champions, via TGB Promotions, made a deal and avoided a Monday purse bid for the fight between Golden Boy-promoted WBA junior lightweight titlist Roger Gutierrez and PBC’s Chris Colbert, multiple sources told Fight Freaks Unite.
The fight has no set date yet but it will take place on a PBC card on Showtime before the end of the year, sources said.
Golden Boy and PBC rarely do business with each other but they were able to work this one out. Had it gone to purse bid, where the minimum offer was $120,000, Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs), 26, of Venezuela, would have gotten 55 percent of the winning bid and Colbert (16-0, 6 KOs), 24, of Brooklyn, New York, 45 percent.
The fight was ordered after Colbert was made mandatory challenger when he 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.
Zepeda-Vargas official
Top Rank on Tuesday formally announced that junior welterweight contender Jose Zepeda will face fellow southpaw Josue Vargas in a 10-rounder that will headline an ESPN+ card on Oct. 30 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The fight replaces the original main event of WBO light heavyweight titlist Joe Smith Jr. making his first defense against mandatory challenger Umar Salamov. That bout was postponed because Smith came down with Covid-19.
Puerto Rican bantamweight Carlos Caraballo (14-0, 14 KOs), 25, and former world title challenger Jonas Sultan (17-5, 11 KOs), 29, of the Philippines, will meet in the 10-round co-feature.
“It’s been a long time, and Top Rank and ESPN are thrilled to be back at Madison Square Garden with an intriguing battle between a sensational young southpaw in Vargas and a world-level contender in Zepeda,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “The winner is squarely in the title picture.”
Zepeda (34-2, 26 KOs), 32, of La Puente, California, has won four fights in a row, including knocking out former titlist Ivan Baranchyk in the fifth round of the knockdown-filled 2020 fight of the year last October.
“I am pushing hard to earn another world title opportunity, but I understand the task at hand against a young, talented fighter like Josue Vargas,” said Zepeda, who is 0-2 in world title bouts. “There is mutual respect, but when we enter the Madison Square Garden ring, that all goes out the window.”
Vargas (19-1, 9 KOs), 23, a Bronx, New York-based Puerto Rican, who has won 13 fights in a row, is taking a major step up in opposition.
“I’m ready for this opportunity,” Vargas said. “Being the main event in my hometown, Madison Square Garden, is a dream true. The Bronx and Puerto Rico will be in the building to show their support. This is Puerto Rico versus Mexico, so you know it’s going to be a heck of a fight. Once I got the call, I started pushing even harder. I‘ve been through a lot in my professional career, so why not step up to the plate? I have the skills to beat Zepeda, and I’m going to do just that. Zepeda has a lot of experience against the top names in the junior welterweight division. We both have the talent and the skills to put on a show.”
The undercard will include former junior featherweight world titlist Jonathan Guzman (24-1, 23 KOs), of the Dominican Republic, in an eight-rounder; Long Island welterweight Jahi Tucker (4-0, 2 KOs) in a six-rounder; junior welterweight Kasir Goldston (3-0, 1 KO), of Albany, New York, in a six-rounder; New York junior welterweight Mathew Gonzalez (12-0, 8 KOs) in a six-rounder; New York junior lightweight Ray Cuadrado (1-0, 1 KO) in a four-rounder; and Ireland’s Paddy Donovan (7-0, 5 KOs) making his American debut in a six-round welterweight bout. All opponents are to be determined.
Quick hits
The WBO has scheduled a purse bid on Oct. 7 at the organization’s offices in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the fight between bantamweight titlist John Riel Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs), 32, of the Philippines, and mandatory challenger and former world titleholder Paul Butler (33-2, 15 KOs), 32, of England. The WBO sent TGB Promotions president Tom Brown, who represents Casimero, and Lee Eaton of MTK Global, which represents Butler, an email on Sept. 22 notifying them they had 20 to make a deal or there would be a purse bid. But either side could ask for a purse bid at any time before the 20 days were up, and that is what Eaton did. Minimum bid is $100,000.
On its “ShoBox” card on Friday night, Showtime showed a graphic indicating that it will indeed televise secondary welterweight titlist Jamal James (27-1, 12 KOs), 33, of Minneapolis, against mandatory challenger and New York-based Russia native Radzhab Butaev (13-0, 10 KOs), 27, in the main event on Oct. 30, with fast-rising welterweight Jaron Ennis (27-0, 25 KOs), 24, of Philadelphia, the 2020 prospect of the year, against Thomas Dulorme (25-5-1, 16 KOs), 31, of Puerto Rico, in the co-feature. However, the card will take place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas after originally being slated for the Virgil Hotels Las Vegas, a Showtime spokesperson told Fight Freaks Unite. Also, Showtime said it will add a third televised bout to the card as the opener.
French heavyweight Tony Yoka (11-0, 9 KOs), 29, the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist, will be back in action against an opponent to be determined in the main event of a card in Paris that will stream on ESPN+ in the United States, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Yoka’s co-promoter, told Fight Freaks Unite. Before Yoka stopped Petar Milas in the seventh round on Sept. 10 in Paris, Arum said the plan was to bring Yoka to New York to make his U.S. debut on Dec. 11 on the Vasiliy Lomachenko event at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, but plans have changed.
Union Boxing Promotion on Monday won the WBA purse bid for the fight between flyweight world titlist Artem Dalakian (20-0, 14 KOs), 34, of Ukraine, and Panama’s Luis Concepcion (39-8, 28 KOs), 35, who was made mandatory after being one of the 11 interim titlists the WBA recently stripped in an effort to reduce the number of belts it sanctions. UBP, Dalakian’s promoter, bid $301,000 to beat D&G Promotions’ bid of $171,000. UBP said it will stage the fight in November in Kyiv, Ukraine. Dalakian gets 55 percent of winning bid ($165,550) and Concepcion gets 45 percent ($135,450). UBP has 20 days from the bid to get signed contracts to the WBA.
Late weekend result: Former middleweight champion and longtime pound-for-pound entrant Sergio Martinez won a unanimous decision over England’s Brian Rose (32-7-1, 8 KO), 36, of England, a former junior middleweight world title challenger, on Saturday in Madrid, Spain, which is a second home to Argentina’s Martinez. The judges had it 97-94, 96-94 and 96-94 for Martinez (54-3-2, 30 KOs), 46, who won his third fight in a row since coming out of a six-year retirement in 2020.
Show and tell
Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton met in a pair of close fights for a regional heavyweight title in 1973. Norton broke Ali’s jaw and won a 12-round split decision in the first encounter. Six months later they met again and Ali avenged the loss in a 12-round split decision win. Three fights later, Ali knocked out George Foreman in an upset in the “Rumble in the Jungle” to reclaim the world title. In his eighth defense of that title reign, Ali gave Norton a title shot and they met in the rubber match at Yankee Stadium, where Ali won a very close and disputed 15-round unanimous decision. That fight was on Sept. 28, 1976 — 45 years ago on Tuesday. Here is one of the various site posters from the fight I have in my collection.
Pacquiao photo: Scott Kirkland/Fox Sports; Beterbiev photo: Top Rank; Rivas photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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