Notebook: Parker-Wardley heavyweight showdown in works
Subriel Matias-Dalton Smith update; Joe Bugner, who fought Ali and Frazier, dies at 75; Taylor-Cameron III?; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, who promotes interim heavyweight titleholders Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley, is trying to finalize a fight between them for Oct. 25 on DAZN at The O2 in London, sources with knowledge of the discussions told Fight Freaks Unite on Monday.
Parker, who is the WBO interim titleholder, is the next due mandatory challenger for undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk and they have been ordered to meet.
However, Usyk, who for the second time unified the four belts to become the undisputed heavyweight champion via one-sided fifth-round destruction of Daniel Dubois on July 19, has requested a medical exception from the WBO due to what his team said are “back issues and the toll of grueling fights at the highest level, which have impacted the 38-year-old champion.” Therefore, no talks have taken place with regard to Usyk-Parker.
The WBO has granted Usyk’s request to delay the mandatory and will not force the issue right away, leaving Parker looking for another notable fight and hoping that Usyk eventually fights him.
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Parker (36-3, 24 KOs), 33 of New Zealand, who held the WBO title from 2016 to 2018 before losing it via decision to Anthony Joshua in a unification bout, last fought in February, when retained the interim belt by second-round knockout of late replacement Martin Bakole in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Since a split draw against Frazer Clarke in March 2024 in a fight of the year contender, Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs), 30, of England, has won both of his fights.
He blitzed Clarke in a first-round knockout in an immediate rematch last October in Riyadh, and then, desperately behind against Justis Huni — 89-82, 89-82 and 88-83 — rallied for a one-punch 10th-round knockout. Wardley flattened Huni with a right hand on June 7 to win the vacant WBA interim belt in Wardley’s hometown of Ipswich.
Although Parker and Wardley both hold interim belts, if the fight is finalized the winner will not claim the other’s title. The WBO expressly prohibits a so-called interim unification bout.
Matias-Smith purse bid set
After Subriel Matias outpointed Alberto Puello by majority decision to win the WBC junior welterweight title on July 12 in Queens, New York, on the undercard of the Ring magazine show headlined by Edgar Berlanga-Hamzah Sheeraz, card organizer Turki Alalshikh announced that Matias would next make his mandatory defense against Dalton Smith on Nov. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on a Ring card
With the announcement, two-time titleholder Matias (23-2, 22 KOs), 33, of Puerto Rico, and Smith (18-0, 13 KOs), 28, of England, who had watched from ringside knowing he was next up for the winner, faced off in the ring for photos.
However, six weeks later, no formal deal has been reached so the WBC has scheduled a purse bid for Tuesday in Mexico City to determine the promotional rights.
Matias is co-promoted by Fresh Productions and Salita Promotions and Smith is with Matchroom Boxing. But they have all done business with Alalshikh so it is still possible the fight will wind up on the loaded Nov. 22 card regardless of who wins the purse bid.
The card is headlined by WBC light heavyweight titlist David Benavidez against Anthony Yarde and also includes WBO welterweight titlist Brian Norman Jr. versus Devin Haney; a three-belt junior bantamweight title unification fight between Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Fernando Martinez; Abdullah Mason against Sam Noakes for the vacant WBO lightweight title; and former undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev against Deon Nicholson.
Joe Bugner dies
Longtime heavyweight contender Joe Bugner, who fought a who’s who during a 32-year career that spanned 1967 to 1999, including Muhammad Ali for the world title and Joe Frazier, died on Monday. He was 75.
The British Boxing Board of Control announced his passing.
“It is with great sadness that the former British, European, Commonwealth heavyweight champion and world championship contender Joe Bugner has passed away at his care home in Brisbane, Australia. The British Boxing Board of Control passes on its condolences to Joe’s family,” the BBBofC said in a statement.
In 1973, Bugner (69-13-1, 41 KOs) lost back-to-back 12-round decisions to Ali in Las Vegas and Frazier in London in nontitle bouts.
After the loss to Frazier, Bugner won eight fights in a row and landed a shot at Ali, who had regained the title from George Foreman. Ali won a wide 15-round decision over Bugner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in what was Bugner’s only world title fight.
Bugner, who did not fight between 1988 and 1994, faced many name opponents, among then Henry Cooper, Chuck Wepner, Jimmy Ellis, Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers, Marvis Frazier, Greg Page and Frank Bruno.
Born March 13, 1950 in Szoreg, Hungary, Bugner moved to England as a child in 1956 and notched his first big win in 1971, a 15-round decision against Cooper to claim the British, Commonwealth and European titles.
Promoter Frank Warren, who put on some of Bugner bouts, paid tribute to him via social media.
“Sad news to hear of the passing of Joe Bugner, former British, European and Commonwealth Champion, and a man who went the distance with both Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,” Warren wrote. “He also participated in the first fight I did on ITV — a great man who will be missed. I’m sending my regards to his family. May he rest in peace.”
Anniversary memories
We added some videos to our Big Fight Weekend YouTube channel, including my ringside memories on the eighth anniversary in August of when Terence Crawford drilled Julius Indongo to become the undisputed junior welterweight champion in an electrifying atmosphere. And then I shared my ringside memories of the fight I was ringside for one week later, a true mega event, when Floyd Mayweather exited a two-year retirement for a massive buildup to a crossover fight with UFC star McGregor that ended with Mayweather scoring a 10th-round knockout in the final official fight of his career. Check out the videos and subscribe to the channel:
Quick hits
The WBC has ordered undisputed women’s junior welterweight champion Katie Taylor (25-1, 6 KOs), 39, to face interim titlist and former undisputed champion Chantelle Cameron (21-1, 8 KOs), 34, of England, in what would be a trilogy fight. They split majority decisions in epic battles in 2023 on Taylor’s turf in Ireland, with Cameron retaining the title and handing Taylor her first loss in the first fight and Taylor winning the crown in the rematch. Taylor has yet to say if she will continue boxing after beating Amanda Serrano for the third time July 11. Taylor received an extension from the WBC until Sept. 18 to either make a deal with Cameron or go to a purse bid. “(Thursday) was the deadline for Katie and her team to come to some kind of agreement with my team to either fight me or vacate the (WBC title) which I thought was reasonable considering I’ve spent the last 2 years getting back in position to fight for it,” Cameron posted on Instagram. “Hopefully, (this) is the final extension/deadline and the belt is vacated as I don’t think Katie and her team want the fight, which is fair enough. But the 140 division should crack on.”
Former welterweight title challenger Karen Chukhadzhian (25-3, 13 KOs), 29, of Ukraine, will face Joel Marcos Mafuad (13-1, 5 KOs), 28, who will box outside of his native Argentina for the first time, in a regional title bout on Oct. 11 (DAZN) at Xiaomi Arena in Riga, Latvia organizers announced. The fight will be the second for Chukhadzhian since, as the mandatory challenger, he lost a wide decision challenging Jaron “Boots” Ennis for the IBF title in November in Ennis’ hometown of Philadelphia. It was Chukhadzhian’s second loss to Ennis, who shut him out in a 2023 vacant interim title bout. In May, in Germany, Chukhadzhian won 10-round decision over Cristian Javier Ayala, who handed Mafuad his only loss via 10-round decision in 2023.
Show and tell
Future Hall of Famer Gennadiy Golovkin has not announced his retirement but he is 43; vacated his middleweight belts; has not boxed since dropping a passive unanimous decision in his third fight with Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight title; and there has been no chatter about the prospect of a ring return. Later this month it will have been three years since that third fight with Canelo.
But in his heyday, Golovkin was a devastating knockout machine, one of the pound-for-pound best, and fought frequently. He tied Bernard Hopkins for the all-time consecutive middleweight defense record at 20 and holds the record for most overall successful middleweight title defenses at 22 over two reigns. He is one of the great KO punchers of recent decades, reeling off 23 consecutive knockouts from 2008 until Daniel Jacobs took him the distance in a 2017 unified middleweight title defense, the first time GGG had ever gone 12 rounds. The loss in the trilogy fight with Alvarez took place almost exactly 10 years to the day from when Golovkin made his spectacular United States and HBO debut by destroying solid contender Grzegorz Proksa in a middleweight title defense.
It was extraordinarily impressive to watch GGG violently dismantle Proksa with three knockdowns in a one-sided fifth-round knockout at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. That’s the fight that began his rise to stardom. I was fortunate to have covered 16 of GGG’s fights at ringside, including in England, but I unfortunately was not at his destruction of Proksa, which kick-started the GGG legend. That memorable performance fight took place on Sept. 1, 2012 — 13 years ago Monday. Here is a site poster in my collection.
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Photos: Matias-Smith: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy Promotions; Bugner: Getty Images
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GGG was sort of the poster child for what a boogeyman is supposed to be. Heavily avoided throughout his career, and thus, vastly underappreciated by mainstream media/historians. Nobody wanted the smoke.
Golovkin is the exact same age as Kelly Pavlik. Nearly to the day. Food for thought.