Notebook: Showtime to air four-part documentary 'The Kings' in June

Story of Leonard, Hagler, Duran, Hearns

Boxing in the 1980s was personified by the legendary rivalry between all-time greats Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns. They all faced each other in a total of nine fights between 1980 and 1989 in events that captivated the sports world.

More than 30 years later their fights are still watched over and over and discussed and debated among fight fans.

Showtime announced that it will air a four-part documentary “The Kings” that will offer and in-depth look at their rivalry and chronicle “the four fighters’ dramatic and divergent ascents to greatness and the legendary matches they produced.”

The series will air weekly beginning Sunday, June 6 (Showtime, 8 p.m.) but all the episodes will be “made available across the network’s on-demand and streaming platforms at premiere.”

“These four men defined an era in boxing,” said Stephen Espinoza, the president of Showtime Sports. “Their individual stories, forever linked by the spectacular battles they waged, reflect a tumultuous period in American culture and history. ‘The Kings’ takes the viewer beyond the glorious action of some of history’s most memorable prizefights to illuminate each man’s dramatic journey and the societal context that made them stars of sports and popular culture.”

“The Kings” is produced by Box To Box Film in association with Ingenious Media and executive produced by James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin (Diego Maradona, Drive To Survive) and directed by Mat Whitecross.

Roman returns

Former unified junior featherweight titlist Daniel Roman will be back in action on Showtime on the May 15 undercard.

“I am pleased to announce my return to the ring on Saturday, May 15th at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA,” Roman wrote on social media. “As always I plan to make it fight of the night and give the fans what they want. Hope to see you there.”

The 30-year-old Roman (28-3-1, 10 KOs), of Los Angeles, unified two 122-pound titles by hard-fought majority decision over TJ Doheny in April 2019 but lost the belts in his next fight split decision to Murodjon Akhmadaliev in January 2020.

That was Roman’s last fight Matchroom Boxing before moving to Premier Boxing Champions and scoring a win by unanimous decision over former bantamweight titlist Juan Carlos Payano in September.

Roman’s fight, which will be against an opponent to be named, will be on the undercard of the show headlined by junior featherweight world titlist Luis Nery’s defense against secondary titlist Brandon Figueroa, although neither bout has been formally announced yet.

Canelo’s nephew going pro

Junior lightweight Johansen Alvarez, who is the nephew of pound-for-pound king and four-division world champion Canelo Alvarez, will make his professional debut in June, according to the WBC.

Johansen Alvarez, 17, of Mexico, who had 24 wins as an amateur, is the son of Gonzalo Alvarez, who is one of Canelo’s older brothers.

“The last name adds a lot of weight, but I take it with responsibility,” Johansen said. “I am very excited, motivated and I have worked much harder than I did in amateur boxing because the professional ranks is something greater. As a child I liked soccer because of my mother, who played in the third division. I also practiced basketball and American football, but what caught my attention was boxing and it is what I want to do all my life.”

Jr. lightweight title bout set

Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov and Kenichi Ogawa avoided a purse bid scheduled for Tuesday and agreed to terms for their vacant IBF junior lightweight world title fight.

The bout is slated to take place on either July 10 or July 17 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and will be the second shot at the IBF title for both men.

For Rakhimov, he is right back in a title fight after the belt remained vacant following his draw with Joseph Diaz Jr. in a mandatory title challenge in February. Diaz had been stripped the day before for missing weight. I wrote a story about the Rakhimov-Ogawa fight coming together for BoxingScene. Please read it here: https://www.boxingscene.com/rakhimov-ogawa-make-deal-vacant-ibf-junior-lightweight-title-fight--156870

Quick hits

Junior welterweight contender Jose Zepeda, needs a new opponent for his May 22 ESPN co-feature. Zepeda (33-2, 26 KOs), who was last seen winning the epic 2020 consensus fight of the year by knockout of former titlist Ivan Baranchyk in October, was due to fight Mexico’s Pedro Campa (32-1-1, 21 KOs) in a 10-rounder under the Jose Ramirez-Josh Taylor undisputed junior welterweight championship fight in Las Vegas. However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission declined to approve Campa as Zepeda’s opponent, sources with knowledge of the situation told Fight Freaks Unite.

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Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced on Monday that he has signed top American amateur light heavyweight Khalil Coe, who will make his pro debut on May 29 (DAZN) on the Devin Haney-Jorge Linares undercard at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Coe, 24, of Jersey City, New Jersey, who is co-managed by two of the top managers in the sport, Keith Connolly and David McWater, gained notoriety when he knocked out 2016 Cuban Olympic gold medalist Julio Cesar La Cruz in June 2018 in his first international tournament. “This is what I’ve been working for and to be able to have Matchroom behind me makes it even better,” said Coe, who plans to eventually move down to super middleweight. “I cannot wait to put on a show and give the boxing world what they’ve been waiting for.”

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After welterweight up-and-comer Conor Benn (18-0, 12 KOs), 24, blitzed Samuel Vargas in a 90-second knockout on Saturday in London, the son of Nigel Benn called out British countryman Amir Khan to fight him. But Khan (34-5, 21 KOs), a former unified junior welterweight titlist, former welterweight title challenger and one of the biggest names in British boxing, who is near the end of his career, isn’t interested. “Great kid, wish him the best,” Khan wrote on social media. “At his age I was a world champ. Maybe if he had some belts that fight would make sense but he’s got a long way to go yet.”

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Brownsville, Texas , junior welterweight prospect Omar Juarez (10-0, 5 KOs), 21, will face Elias Araujo (21-2, 8 KOs), 33, of Argentina, in the PBC on Fox 10-round co-feature on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET) at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles in Los Angeles. Araujo replaces Jessie Roman, who withdrew due to an unspecified injury, PBC announced on Tuesday.

Show and tell

The debate over the greatest heavyweight champion of all time comes down to only two men: Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis. Can’t really go wrong with either. Louis reigned as champion — when there was only one champion per division — from 1937, when he knocked out “Cinderella Man” James Braddock in the eighth round, until he announced what became a brief retirement in March 1949. In all, Louis held the title longer than anyone, 11 years, 8 months, 8 days, and made a record 25 consecutive title defenses. That remains a record for any weight class. Louis died at age 66 on April 12, 1981, which was 40 years ago on Monday. I have collected many vintage Louis cards over the years. Here is the Louis rookie card in my collection from the 1935 J.A. Pattreiouex Sporting Events & Stars set.

Duran photo: Stephen Green-Armytage; Alvarez photo: WBC