Notebook: Shocker! Little-known MarvNation wins Zepeda-Prograis purse bid
Joyce-Parker now for interim title; DiBella gains Buatsi-Pascal rights; Alimkhanuly elevated to full titlist; Jake Paul vs. Anderson Siva?; Floyd exhibition; Quick hits; Show and tell
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In a shocker, Southern California club show promoter MarvNation Promotions easily won a purse bid on Tuesday to gain promotional rights to the vacant WBC junior welterweight title fight between Jose Zepeda and former titleholder Regis Prograis.
MarvNation bid a whopping $2,400,000 to easily top the second-place bid of $1,260,050 by TGB Promotions, which, like MarvNation, does not promote either boxer.
Probellum, which is Prograis’ promoter, bid $1,060,000 and Zepeda promoter Zanfer Promotions offered $1,004,500.
Under WBC rules, 10 percent of the winning bid — $240,000 — will go into a WBC escrow account and ultimately go to the winner of the fight as a bonus. The rest of the bid total, $2,160,000, will be split 50-50 between the fighters, which is $1,080,000 apiece.
“We can’t wait to host this fight between Jose Zepeda and Regis Prograis,” Marvin Rodriguez, the CEO of MarvNation Promotions, told Fight Freaks Unite. “MarvNation Promotions, alongside Legendz Entertainment, are prepared to make a huge statement in the sport of boxing, and this purse bid win is a sign of even better things to come.”
Rodriguez, who is required under the winning bid to stage the fight within 90 days (by the end of November), said he expects it to take place in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Rodriguez founded MarvNation Promotions 2014 and promoted concerts before also putting on boxing cards beginning in 2018, but the company has never promoted a fight as anywhere close to as significant as Zepeda-Prograis.
“They must have a (broadcast) platform which validates their bid, and if in fact this does happen, which I hope it will, then the winners are the fighters,” Probellum president Richard Schaefer told Fight Freaks Unite. “Regis Prograis in my opinion is the best 140-pounder in the world today, and Zepeda is a top contender also. This is a mouthwatering matchup between two of the most exciting fighters in the division and I wish MarvNation all the best in putting on this fight.”
Josh Taylor, who unified the four major belts to become the undisputed champion in May 2021, recently vacated the WBC title to pursue a rematch with Jack Catterall rather than face mandatory challenger Zepeda. So, the WBC ordered the vacant title bout between Zepeda and former unified titlist Jose Ramirez, who lost a decision to Taylor in the undisputed fight and had beaten Zepeda before that by debatable decision in a defense. But on the eve of a purse bid for Zepeda-Ramirez II, Ramirez bowed out, saying he would not be able to fight this fall because he is planning his wedding and getting married.
With Ramirez out, the WBC ordered Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs), 33, of La Puente, California, to face the next available contender in its rankings, which was Prograis (27-1, 23 KOs), 33, a southpaw from New Orleans.
Zepeda will be getting his third shot at a world title. Besides the disputed loss to Ramirez in February 2019, he suffered a dislocated left shoulder that caused a second-round stoppage loss to Terry Flanagan for the vacant WBO lightweight title in 2015.
Zepeda is riding a five-fight winning streak, including a highlight-reel fifth-round knockout of former titlist Ivan Baranchyk in the unforgettable 2020 fight of the year in which they were each knocked down four times and there were knockdowns in every round. In his most recent fight, Zepeda crushed Josue Vargas in the first round in October.
Prograis won the WBA 140-pound title by sixth-round knockout of Kiryl Relikh during the World Boxing Super Series tournament in April 2019 but lost it by majority decision to Taylor in his first defense, a unification fight in the October 2019 tournament final.
Since the loss, Prograis has won three fights in a row, all by knockout. Most recently, he stopped Tyrone McKenna in the sixth round on March 19 in Dubai.
Joyce-Parker for interim title
The WBO on Tuesday announced it has approved a request made last week by promoter Frank Warren, who represents heavyweight contender Joe Joyce, that his fight with Joseph Parker be sanctioned for the organization’s interim title.
England’s Joyce (14-0, 13 KOs), 36, and former WBO titlist Parker (30-2, 21 KOs), 30, of New Zealand, the two top rated heavyweights in the WBO ratings, are scheduled to meet Sept. 24 (ESPN+ in the U.S., BT Sport Box Office in the U.K., 2 p.m. ET) at AO Arena in Manchester, England, in what was supposed to be a final elimination fight to become one of the mandatory challengers for three-belt titleholder Oleksandr Usyk, who retained the belts by decision over Anthony Joshua in their rematch two weeks ago.
Warren agued in his request for the sanction that he, as the promoter for WBC and lineal champion Tyson Fury, is in talks with Usyk’s team about an undisputed championship fight they hope will take place in early 2023 and that “by virtue of the interim championship being contested, the rights and interests of the rest of the heavyweight contenders in the division would be duly protected.”
The WBO said in its ruling “we must stress that the WBO sanctions interim championships only under exceptional circumstances” and cited the prospect of the Joyce-Parker winner possibly having to wait an extended period while the potential Fury-Usyk plays out and there being the possibility of a rematch. It also made the point that the WBO title has only been contested twice in the last two years — both Usyk-Joshua fights — and that the activity of the title has been less than usual.
“Consequently, we believe that affirmative action towards keeping the division active is warranted,” the WBO said. “Now, this committee will take all necessary steps to ensure the fans and the general public that no impediment arises that would jeopardize the Usyk/Fury bout(s). In other words, by enforcing the provisions set forth herein or any others hereinafter, we believe that the best interests in the heavyweight division are best served for the fighters themselves and their worldwide fans, and the WBO.”
DiBella wins Buatsi-Pascal bid
Promoter Lou DiBella on Tuesday won the IBF purse bid for the light heavyweight title elimination fight between Joshua Buatsi and former champion Jean Pascal.
DiBella, now representing Pascal, bid $975,000 to easily outpace an offer of $875,000 made by Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, Buatsi’s promoter.
Buatsi is entitled to the lion’s share of a 60-40 purse split, meaning he would receive $585,000 for the fight and Pascal would get $390,000.
DiBella has 90 days to put on the fight, meaning it would likely take place by the end of November. The winner of the fight will become one of the mandatory challenger’s for three-belt world champion Artur Beterbiev.
There’s a strong possibility that DiBella will make a deal with British promoter Frank Warren to put the fight on in England with BT Sport, Warren’s broadcaster, but DiBella said there is also interest from Sky Sports, which is also heavily involved in boxing in the United Kingdom. Buatsi, as a Matchroom Boxing fighter, used to fight on Sky Sports and now fights on DAZN but would have to leave his broadcaster for one fight.
“I have a long relationship with (Pascal manager) Greg Leon and with Pascal and they came to me and asked for assistance on this purse bid and to work with them,” DiBella told Fight Freaks Unite. “So, I agreed and I bid a number I felt was fair market value. The interesting thing to me is you’d think this was a more valuable fight to Matchroom and DAZN because they have Buatsi, the young guy who’s supposed to have the big future. I didn’t necessarily believe I’d win the bid. I just believed at this number ($975,000) I’m happy to have it.”
DiBella said he planned to talk to Top Rank, which promotes Beterbiev, to gauge its interest in obtaining United States rights to the fight for ESPN+ and that it likely would go on pay-per-view in Pascal’s native Canada.
Buatsi (16-0, 13 KOs), 29, who was 2016 Olympic bronze medalist for Great Britain, is coming off a competitive decision win over former world title challenger Craig Richards on May 21.
On May 20, Pascal (36-6-1, 20 KOs), 39, of Montreal, returned from a 17-month layoff due to a suspension for multiple failed tests for performance-enhancing drugs and outpointed then-unbeaten Meng Fanlong.
“Pascal had a bump in the road that was his own fault and he’s over it,” DiBella said of Pascal’s failed drug tests. “And Pascal’s fight with Meng was terrific to watch. We know he’s one of biggest warriors out there. His mistakes are behind him and he looks forward to fighting Buatsi for a chance to become a champion again.”
Pascal has won three fights in a row against Marcus Browne, former titlist Badou Jack and Meng since a one-sided decision loss challenging WBA titlist Dmitry Bivol in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in November 2018.
Ruiz-Ortiz FITE in Focus
I joined my friends at FITE this week for an episode of FITE in Focus to preview the pay-per-view card headlined by the heavyweight title eliminator between former unified titleholder Andy Ruiz Jr. and former two-time title challenger Luis “King Kong” Ortiz on Saturday (9 p.m. ET, Fox PPV, FITE, PPV.com) in Los Angeles. Check out the show here:
Alimkhanuly elevated to full titlist
In the wake of Demetrius Andrade vacating the WBO middleweight title to move up to super middleweight, Janibek Alimkhanuly has formally been elevated from interim titleholder to the organization’s full 160-pound titlist.
“I am honored to be the first WBO world champion from Kazakhstan. As middleweight champion, I will represent my nation with great pride,” Alimkhanuly said.
Andrade showed no interest in facing Alimkhanuly, who was allowed to fight for the vacant interim title while Andrade was pursuing a super middleweight bout and then was sidelined by a shoulder injury.
Alimkhanuly (12-0, 8 KOs), 29, a 2016 Olympian for Kazakhstan, knocked out Danny Dignum in the second-round of a massively one-sided fight on May 21 in Las Vegas to claim the interim belt. When a now-healthy Andrade was again ordered to face Alimkhanuly, he elected not to take the fight and vacated to again seek a super middleweight opportunity.
“Demetrius Andrade had no interest in fighting me. I wanted to fight him because I know I would knock him out,” Alimkhanuly said. “He ran away to super middleweight to avoid fighting me. But don’t worry, Demetrius. After I unify the belts at middleweight, we can fight.
“The middleweight nightmare is here to stay. Now that I am a world champion, I will continue to show that ‘Qazaq Style’ is the best style.”
Alimkhanuly said he would love to unify titles.
“I’d have no issue fighting Jermall Charlo for his WBC title. We are both champions, so let’s unify the belts,” Alimkhanuly said. “Charlo would be easy work for me, and he knows that. Champions should fight other champions. It’s too bad the other so-called champions do not feel that way.”
Top Rank, which has promoted Alimkhanuly since he was 2-0, said he will make his first defense later this year.
“I would pick Janibek over any middleweight in the world,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who has promoted middleweight champions such as Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzon and Kelly Pavlik. “He is a southpaw with tremendous power and will reign over the division for a very long time.”
Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva?
Social media influencer and novice cruiserweight Jake Paul and MMA legend Anderson Silva are working toward finalizing an official boxing match for Oct. 29 that would headline a Showtime PPV card in Phoenix, a source with knowledge of the discussions told Fight Freaks Unite on Tuesday.
Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), 25, of Cleveland, whose last fight was a ruthless sixth-round knockout of former MMA star Tyron Woodley in their December Showtime PPV rematch, canceled an Aug. 6 Showtime PPV event in New York a week beforehand after Hasim Rahman Jr.’s team told Paul’s team he would not come close to the already amended contract weight of 205 pounds.
Paul has hoped to fight a full-time boxer after having had his five fights against non-boxers. He has tried to face Tommy Fury, but he twice pulled out, and Rahman.
Silva (3-1, 2 KOs), 47, of Brazil, does have pro boxing experience, including an eight-round upset decision over former middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June 2021 followed by a first-round knockout of fellow former UFC champion Tito Ortiz last September.
Mayweather exhibition
International Boxing Hall of Fame former five-division champion and longtime pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, along with trainer Gerald Tucker, and Japanese two-division MMA champion Mikuru Asakura met face to face at an outdoor news conference by the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii on Tuesday to promote their exhibition bout that was announced in June.
Mayweather, 45, and Asakura, 29, will meet in a boxing exhibition scheduled for three rounds at 155 pounds on Sept. 24 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The card, promoted by Japanese MMA company Rizin Fighting Federation, will be available in the United States as a $29.99 pay-per-view via Integrated Sports on linear television and via live stream at PPV.com and FITE. The broadcast begins at 11 p.m. ET
“I know it’s just an exhibition match but with my single punch I could guarantee that his stomach will flair up like an eggplant,” Mayweather said, drawing laughter. “Comparing both of us, it’s like a jet and a fly, so I look forward to having a match against him. It’s always good to go out and test your skills even when you get older.”
Asakura, whose MMA titles came at 143 and 154 pounds, later said to Mayweather through a translator: “You talk a lot so try to keep it more compact and concise.”
It will be Mayweather’s fourth exhibition bout since retiring 50-0 with 27 knockouts following a knockout of UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017. His first one, on Dec. 31, 2018, was also at Saitama Super Arena, where he scored three knockdowns in a brutal destruction of smaller Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa on a Rizin card.
Mayweather’s two other exhibitions were eight-rounders that went the distance, against YouTube personality Logan Paul in June 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida, and former sparring partner Don Moore, whom he knocked down in the final round, on May 21 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
Quick hits
The gloves worn by heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield against Mike Tyson in their infamous “bite fight” world title rematch in 1997 — when Tyson was disqualified in the third round for biting off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear — are in the current Lelands Summer Classic Auction. As of Tuesday night, the highest of four bids for the gloves was $11,576. The auction ends Sept. 17. The gloves sold for $35,200 in a 2012 Julien’s Auction of material from Holyfield’s career that he consigned.
Heavyweight Hasim Rahman Jr. (12-1, 6 KOs), 31, of Las Vegas, whose weight issues caused an Aug. 6 Showtime PPV event against Jake Paul, to be canceled last month, has his next gig lined up. He’ll face former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort in an official boxing match that will headline X Series 002 on Oct. 15 (DAZN) at Utilita Arena in Sheffield, England, KSI’s Misfits Boxing and the streaming service announced. The particulars of the bout were not announced but Rahman promoter Greg Cohen told Fight Freaks Unite it is a four-rounder at a contract weight of 215 pounds. Belfort is 1-0 as a boxer, having scored a first-round KO in his native Brazil in 2006. More recently, he stopped long-faded former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield in the first round of an exhibition bout last Sept. 11 in Hollywood, Florida.
Show and tell
Future Hall of Famer Gennadiy Golovkin is 40 now and while still an outstanding fighter in his 16th years as a pro and a unified middleweight titleholder, he has not been nearly as active as he was a few years ago and is in the twilight of a great and historic career. 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, making 22 so far during his two title 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.
As GGG prepares to move up to super middleweight to challenge undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez in their long-awaited trilogy fight Sept. 17, it might be hard to recall his introduction to an American audience. That was when he had his first fight in the United States in his HBO debut and absolutely shredded solid contender Grzegorz Proksa in a middleweight title defense. It was extraordinarily impressive to watch GGG violently dismantle him with three knockdowns in a one-sided fifth-round knockout at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. It remains the only U.S. fight of GGG’s that I haven’t been ringside for other than a December 2020 fight with Kamil Szeremeta that was inside a bubble due to Covid-19. The sensational performance against Proksa, which kick-started the GGG legend, was on Sept. 1, 2012 — 10 years ago Thursday. Here is a site poster in my collection.
Joyce-Parker photo: Queensberry Promotions; Buatsi photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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MarvNation wants to make a name for themselves OK - Fine --- just hope they dont start acting like Triller did when they got a major fight and made a mess of it....with the high bid looks to be going to PPV ? Hope not not another over priced fight like we need one of those.
Hopefully the Fall line up of fights will hold along with a few more announced good fights to be added and we can get to watching fights or a regular basis and fights that matter - you know matter to fight fans as much or more then they matter to the pockets of false PPV events. Anyhow good info on bids and upcoming fights the in's the out's the what abouts of it all in the ring outta the ring...
Its not GGG's fault everyone ducked him til he was well past his best.