Notebook: Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney resume talks for April 20
Usyk won't face sub, Feb. 17 card entirely postponed; WBC orders heavyweight eliminator; Japanese boxer dies from fight injuries; date, site set for Charr-Pulev; Quick hits; Show and tell
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WBC junior welterweight titlist Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are back at the bargaining table trying to make a DAZN PPV fight for April 20.
Initially, Garcia asked his promoter, Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya, to pursue a fight with Haney, and De La Hoya did just that, getting in touch with Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn to talk about the high-profile fight between amateur rivals who were 3-3 against each other in the unpaid ranks.
Then, after getting some advice from Floyd Mayweather, Garcia suddenly changed course and asked his team to instead get him a fight with WBA junior welterweight titlist Rolando Romero, who is with Mayweather Promotions.
The Garcia camp thought they were close to a deal but was blindsided when Romero instead signed last month to make his first title defense against Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, a lightweight contender moving up in weight, on March 30 in Las Vegas in the pay-per-view co-feature of the first Premier Boxing Champions event under its new deal with Amazon Prime Video.
That left Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs), 25, of Los Angeles, without an opponent for his planned April 20 date and sent his team back into ongoing talks with Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), 25, of Las Vegas, the former undisputed lightweight champion, who moved up and routed Regis Prograis to take his 140-pound title on Dec. 9 but has no big-name opponent interested in fighting him next other than Garcia.
However, making the fight certainly won’t be easy.
“Oscar, come with a real offer or quit wasting my time,” Haney posted to social media on Friday. “Ryan Garcia, talk to your boy Oscar De La Hoya.”
Garcia responded to Haney first with “Let me see what’s going on,” and then with a follow-up post that read, “Things are moving forward, Devin Haney. Just hit Oscar. He will talk to Bill (Haney, Devin’s father, trainer and manager) later on (Friday). We will get this done.”
Garcia bounced back from an April knockout loss to Gervonta Davis in their blockbuster Showtime PPV event to stop Oscar Duarte in the eighth round on Dec. 2.
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Feb. 17 Saudi card now off
When lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury suffered a terrible cut over his right eye during a Friday morning sparring session and needed more than a dozen stitches to close the deep wound, the long-awaited unification fight against Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title, which was scheduled for Feb. 17 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was postponed. It likely won’t be rescheduled for at least a few months.
In the immediate aftermath of Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs), 35, of England, being forced to postpone, there was serious discussion among fight organizers about the prospect of keeping the card in place with three-belt titleholder Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), 37, of Ukraine, defending against IBF mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs), 31, of Croatia, who is due the next IBF heavyweight title fight regardless of what would have happened between Fury and Usyk on that date even though they have a rematch clause.
The IBF mandated that the winner would have to face Hrgovic next or would be stripped of the title and he would fight somebody else for the vacant belt.
While Hrgovic’s team was contacted about it and was interested, depending on the money, it never got as far as a formal offer to Hrgovic, who has a multi-fight deal with the Saudis and was coming off a first-round knockout of Mark De Mori on the Dec. 23 “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view in Riyadh.
In the end, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, which is responsible for bankrolling the major sports and entertainment events that now regularly take place there, announced that the entire card would be postponed.
“Riyadh Season announced today that the much-anticipated boxing match between WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury and unified Champion Oleksandr Usyk, named ‘Ring of Fire.’ has been postponed,” Alalshikh said in a statement. “The decision comes after Fury suffered an unfortunate cut above his right eye during a training session in Riyadh.
“Originally scheduled for February 17 as part of Riyadh Season activities, the fight will be rescheduled at a later date and tickets will be refunded to the public. … Once the medical team has evaluated Fury's eye, a clearer understanding of the recovery timeframe will emerge. At that point, all stakeholders, including Riyadh Season, will collaborate diligently to promptly reschedule the fight. Regular updates will be provided to keep everyone informed of the latest developments.”
Postponed with the main event was the undercard, which included fights such as a rematch between lineal cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia and Mairis Breidis, also for the vacant IBF title; IBF junior lightweight titlist Joe Cordina against Anthony Cacace; and former unified light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev versus Robin Safar in a cruiserweight bout.
WBC orders Sanchez-Kabayel
The WBC on Wednesday ordered a heavyweight title eliminator between uneaten contenders Frank Sanchez and Agit Kabayel, both of whom are coming off knockout victories on the undercard of the Dec. 23 “Day of Reckoning” card headlined by Anthony Joshua’s knockout of Otto Wallin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman notified both camps via email that they should begin negotiating the fight, which would also have their regional WBC belts at stake.
“We wish you success in the process for this very important fight,” Sulaiman wrote.
How long they have to negotiate a deal before a purse bid would be ordered and what the split would be in the event of a purse bid was not established in the correspondence, nor whether the fight would serve as a final eliminator that would put the winner in the WBC mandatory position.
On Dec. 23, Sanchez (24-0, 17 KOs), 31, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, who is ranked No. 2 by the WBC, knocked Junior Fa down three times en route to a seventh-round knockout victory.
Also on the card, Kabayel (24-0, 16 KOs), 31, of Germany, who is No. 4 in the WBC rankings, scored three knockdowns against Canada-based Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov (18-1, 17 KOs), 34, en route to a fourth-round upset knockout victory.
Anaguchi dies from injuries
Japanese bantamweight Kazuki Anaguchi died on Friday as a result of a brain injury he suffered against countryman Seiya Tsutsynu on Dec. 26 in Tokyo, the Japanese Boxing Commission announced. Anaguchi was 23.
Anaguchi challenged Tsutsynu for the Japanese 118-pound national title in the co-feature of Naoya Inoue’s 10th-round knockout of Marlon Tapales to become the undisputed junior featherweight world champion. Anaguchi, who got knocked down four times, lost a unanimous decision, 95-91, 94-92 and 94-92.
After the fight, Anaguchi (6-1, 2 KOs), who turned pro in July 2021, was hospitalized soon after the fight and diagnosed with a subdural hematoma — bleeding on the brain.
He underwent emergency surgery, was in a coma and never regained consciousness before his death.
Charr vs. Pulev set
WBA “regular” heavyweight titlist Mahmoud Charr and former two-time title challenger Kubrat Pulev, who have both signed, have a date and site for their fight. It will take place on March 30 at Arena Sofia in Sofia, Bulgaria, Pulev’s home country, sources with knowledge of the deal told Fight Freaks Unite.
Charr previously was stripped of the belt but reinstated in September as part of a settlement of a lawsuit against the WBA.
He won the vacant “regular” title by decision against Alexander Ustinov in November 2017 and never defended it. He was idle for 3½ years during which time was made “champion in recess” and eventually stripped of that status in December 2021 after a planned bout with interim titlist Trevor Bryan did not come off despite two purse bids and the fight being scheduled but canceled for various reasons related to Bryan promoter Don King, visa issues and the WBA.
As part of the settlement, the WBA announced that Charr had to face Jarrell Miller on or before Oct. 14, 2023. However, that fight did not come off when financing fell through and Miller eventually lost to Daniel Dubois on Dec. 23. As a result, Charr was permitted an optional defense.
Charr (34-4, 20 KOs), 39, a Syria native fighting out of Germany, last boxed in December 2022 and knocked out journeyman Nuri Seferi in the second round in Hamburg, Germany.
Pulev (30-3, 14 KOs), 42, rebounded from a hard-fought split decision loss to Chisora in July 2022 to outpoint Andrzej Wawrzyk on Dec. 14.
Boxing Social, iFL TV appearances
I joined my friends at Boxing Social and iFL TV to discuss the postponement of the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undisputed heavyweight title fight, what happened and what’s next. Check out the videos 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 three fights, the Joshua Buatsi-Dan Azeez WBA light heavyweight title eliminator and Conor Benn’s junior middleweight fight against Peter Dobson, both on Saturday, and lineal/WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez’s defense against Jamaine Ortiz on Thursday. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from Las Vegas for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing card (DAZN, 3 p.m. ET): Conor Benn 150.6 pounds, Peter Dobson 150.6; Austin Williams 159.8, Armel Mbumba-Yassa 159.8; Johnny Fisher 242.8, Dmytro Bezus 270; Khalil Coe 175.8, Gerardo Osuna 175.2; George Liddard 162.4, Andrew Buchanan 164.4; Jimmy Sains 165.4, Alejandro Avalos 161.6.
Weights from London for Saturday’s Boxxer card (Peacock in U.S., 2 p.m. ET; Sky Sports in U.K.): Joshua Buatsi 174 pounds, Dan Azeez 172.3 (WBA light heavyweight eliminator); Adam Azim 140, Enoch Poulsen 139.5 (for Azim’s European junior welterweight title); Ben Whittaker 175.5, Khalid Graidia 176; Caroline Dubois 134.5, Miranda Reyes 134; Jeamie “TKV” Tshikeva 263, Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko 255; Francesca Hennessy 125.5, Laura Belen Valdebenito 125.
Prospect Ashton Sylve (11-0, 9 KOs), of Long Beach, California, routed Estivan Falcao (13-3, 7 KOs), 27, of Brazil, in the main event of a Most Valuable Promotions card on DAZN on Friday night at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. Sylve, who turned 20 last Sunday, won 100-89, 99-90 and 99-90 in his first scheduled 10-rounder, although he came into the fight at 140 pounds, five over the lightweight limit it was supposed to be at. In the co-feature, junior welterweight Julian Smith (7-2, 4 KOs), 33, of Country Club Hills, Illinois, who is legally deaf, dominated Miami-based Cuban Orestes Velazquez (8-1, 7 KOs), 30, dropping him four times en route to a ninth-round knockout in a major upset.
Junior welterweight prospect Reshat Mati (14-0, 8 KOs), 25, of Staten Island, New York, has been added to the undercard of the 360 Promotions show headlined by up-and-coming Irish junior middleweight Callum Walsh against Dauren Yeleussinov on March 15 (UFC Fight Pass) at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. There is a news conference scheduled for Monday to announce the card. Mati, who will face Irving Macias (15-4, 10 KOs), 23, of Mexico, in an eight-rounder, will be in his first fight since parting ways with career-long promoter Matchroom Boxing.
Promoter Felix “Tuto” Zabala Jr. of All Star Boxing announced a two-card deal to resume the “Seneca Fight Night” series at the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino in Niagara Falls, New York. He promoted three previous cards there but none since October 2022. The first event of the two planned for this year will take place on May 10 and air on ESPN Knockout in Latin America. “We are delighted to be back in Seneca Niagara Falls, a region with rich boxing history,” Zabala said. “We will continue to build momentum off previous events and feature the best fighters from Western New York.”
Show and tell
If there was a boxing Mount Rushmore of trainers the legendary Hall of Famer Angelo Dundee surely would be on it. He worked with numerous greats, including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman (after he came out of retirement), Jose Napoles, Carmen Basilio, Willie Pastrano and many others. I got a chance to meet Angelo a few times early in my career and would talk to him on the phone. He was one of my all-time favorite people I have ever met in my time covering boxing. A few weeks after I started working at USA Today, I received a hand-written and signed letter from him in the mail at the office introducing himself. He welcomed me to covering boxing, told me he had seen my articles in the paper, and included his phone number and said if I ever needed anything to please give him a call. I still have that letter. Angelo was 90 when he died on Feb. 1, 2012 — 12 years ago on Thursday. Here is a very limited 2010 Ringside Boxing Round 1 autograph card with his signature on a piece of his fight-used corner jacket from one of the Ali-Henry Cooper fights in my collection.
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Photos: Garcia: Golden Boy; Haney: Matchroom Boxing; Fury-Usyk: Top Rank; Buatsi-Azeez: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer; Sanchez: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing; Benn-Dobson: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
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Haney Garcia they need to pull their finger out if they are going to make it to apirl20th,good fight if it happens
Shame about Fury Usyk, Hrgovic waiting in the wings too. Gotta give it up to the Saudis pumping all this money in to get these fights going, really giving boxing what it needs.