Notebook: 'Tank' Davis return could come against regional rival Roach
'Boots' and 'Bam' to defend on same card Nov. 9; Murtazaliev-Tszyu PBC on Prime Video undercard update; Quick hits; Show and tell
A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.
While there were discussions of WBA lightweight titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis returning to the ring to headline a Premier Boxing Champions Prime Video pay-per-view event on Nov. 2 that date was ruled out as time is short, so PBC’s attention turned to Nov. 23 or Dec. 14.
But another possibility has emerged — Dec.21 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., for a regional turf battle against free agent WBA junior lightweight titlist Lamont Roach, who would move up in weight, sources with knowledge of the scenario told Fight Freaks Unite.
IBF lightweight titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko was the preferred fall opponent for a unification fight with Davis, and PBC and Top Rank were nearing a deal. But then the Top Ran-promoted Lomachenko elected to take off the rest of the year, leaving Davis to find a new opponent.
There was some conversation about a rematch with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, but then he lost the WBA junior welterweight title to Jose Valenzuela in an upset on Aug. 3. Valenzuela then became a possibility but, according to the sources, there has not been much interest in that fight.
I am in my 25th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and also support independent journalism.
So now it is Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs), 29, as a possible foe for Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), 29, in a fight that would likely generate big interest in the Washington region as Roach is from D.C. and Davis, who is from nearby Baltimore, has a big fan base in Washington.
When Davis, who beat Roach via three-round decision in a 2011 amateur fight, defended his lightweight title against then-WBA junior lightweight titlist Hector Luis Garcia at the Capital One Arena in January 2023, there was a sell-out crowd of 19,731. It generated an arena gate record of $5.185 million, beating the previous record set by a Rolling Stones concert, and did around 215,000 pay-per-view buys. In Washington, Davis-Roach is a much bigger event than Davis-Garcia.
Another possible opponent mentioned by the sources is Edwin De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs), 24, a Dominican southpaw, but that likely would be a very hard sell considering De Los Santos is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Shakur Stevenson for the vacant WBC lightweight title in November in a desultory fight. De Los Santos was heavily criticized for a non-performance in a shoddy effort in which he landed a measly 40 punches and set the record for landing the fewest shots in a 12-round fight in CompuBox history. Regis Prograis later broke the record by landing 36 punches against Devin Haney in their junior welterweight title bout three weeks later.
Davis is coming off a spectacular title-retaining eighth-round knockout of then-unbeaten Frank Martin on June 15 in Las Vegas in a PPV headliner. Roach, who dethroned Garcia in November, made his first defense on June 28 in Washington and stopped then-unbeaten Feargal McCrory in the eighth round.
One negative about the prospect of PBC going with a pay-per-view on Dec. 21, which is when the arena is available, is that it would take place on the same day (although a few hours later) as the heavyweight championship rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, which is also going to be on pay-per-view.
‘Boots’ and ‘Bam’ show
IBF welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis and lineal/WBC junior bantamweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, two of the boxing’s elite American titleholders, will defend their titles on the same card Nov. 9 (DAZN) at the Wells Fargo Center in Ennis’ hometown of Philadelphia, Matchroom Boxing announced on Friday, confirming a Fight Freaks Unite from earlier in the week.
“What a night we have in store — two of boxing’s elite stars on the same card to thrill the fans,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said. “Boots’ return to Philly in July was a spectacular night. The fans and the city got right behind him, and I can’t wait to return there and keep building this superstar on his doorstep.
“And what can you say about Bam? His win over (Juan Francisco) Estrada will be one of the performances of the year when the awards are handed out, and he rightly landed in the top five of the pound-for-pound list after it. Jesse is a bona fide superstar in his own right, so to have him join Jaron on this card is a massive treat for Philly’s great fight fans.”
Ennis will make his second title defense against mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs), 28, of Ukraine, who he already shutout to win the vacant interim belt in a forgettable fight in January 2023. Chukhadzhian promoter P2M-Box Promotion out of Germany stunningly won a recent purse bid to gain control of the bout but Matchroom Boxing made a deal with the company to bring the fight to Philadelphia.
“I’m excited to be back headlining in my city again,” Ennis said. “I’m ready to continue dominating the division, making a big statement and showing everyone why I’m the best welterweight in the world. It’s time to have some fun, keep crushing whoever is in front of me, put on a beautiful, dominant, crushing performance in front of my family, friends and supporters, while defending and retaining my IBF world title in spectacular fashion.”
The fight will be the second in a row for Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs), 27, at the Wells Fargo Center, where he knocked out David Avanesyan in the fifth round on July 13 and drew 14,119, the largest attendance for a boxing event in Philadelphia since 14,930 turned out to the Spectrum in 1978 for Marvin Hagler’s decision win over Bennie Briscoe in a fight two years before Hagler won the undisputed middleweight championship.
“I will have enough time to prepare and show a beautiful and spectacular fight,” Chukhadzhian said. “Champ, get ready for the battle. It will be hot.”
Rodriguez will make the first defense of his second 115-pound title reign against interim titlist Pedro Guevara.
“Get your tickets and witness another exciting performance,” Rodriguez said. “My belts aren’t going anywhere! And still!”
Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs), 24, of San Antonio, looked fantastic demolishing future Hall of Famer Estrada by seventh-round knockout to claim the lineal title and Ring belt as well as reclaim the WBC title. He previously vacated the WBC title to move down to flyweight, where he unified two titles before moving back up in weight to face Estrada.
Estrada had the right to an immediate rematch and said after the fight he would exercise that right but he wound up passing and instead plans to move up to bantamweight to hunt for a title in his third division.
That paved the way for Guevara (42-4-1, 22 KOs), 35, of Mexico, the former WBC junior flyweight titlist, to get the fight with Rodriguez. In his previous bout, Guevara traveled to Perth, Australia, the home country of Jason Moloney, and won a split decision for the vacant interim belt on May 12 on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-George Kambosos Jr. undercard.
“I am telling you right away that I am going to prepare to put on a war and a great show and to win,” Guevara said. “I am going with everything and for everything.”
Murtazaliev-Tszyu undercard
Junior middleweight prospect Yoenis Tellez will face Johan Gonzalez on Oct. 19 (Prime Video) in 10-rounder at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.
The opening bout, the source said, will pit middleweight Cesar Mateo Tapia (17-0, 10 KOs), 26, a Mexico native fighting out of Australia, against Endry Saavedra (16-1, 13 KOs), 33, a Mexico native fighting out of Venezuela.
The bouts will be on the card headlined by IBF junior middleweight titlist Bakhram Murtazaliev in his first defense against former WBO titleholder Tim Tszyu.
It is the first non-pay-per-view card under the deal between Premier Boxing Champions and Amazon Prime Video.
The Ronnie Shields-trained Tellez (8-0, 6 KOs), 24, a Cuban defector fighting out of Stafford, Texas, will fight at the Caribe Royale for the third time in row. Tellez, who was on the Fight Freaks Unite top 15 prospects list at the end of 2023, made his first big impression when he knocked out Sergio Garcia in the third round on the Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford undercard in July 2023.
Gonzalez (35-3, 34 KOs), 33, of Venezuela, suffered s ninth-round knockout loss to contender Jesus Ramos in May but bounced back with a low-level knockout win in August.
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 three fights on the Riyadh Season PPV card that takes place Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London: Daniel Dubois’ IBF heavyweight title defense against Anthony Joshua; Tyler Denny’s European middleweight title defense against Hamzah Sheeraz; and Joshua Buatsi versus Willy Hutchinson for the vacant WBO interim light heavyweight title. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from London for the Riyadh Season card Saturday (DAZN PPV, PPV.com, 11 a.m. ET): Daniel Dubois 248.6 pounds, Anthony Joshua 252.5 (for Dubois’ IBF heavyweight title); Tyler Denny 159.9, Hamzah Sheeraz 159.6 (for Denny’s European middleweight title); Joshua Buatsi 174.7, Willy Hutchinson 174.9 (for vacant WBO interim light heavyweight title); Anthony Cacace 129.8, Josh Warrington 129.5; Josh Kelly 159.1; Ishmael Davis 159.3; Mark Chamberlain 139.4, Josh Padley 139.6.
Former WBA interim lightweight titlist Chris Colbert (17-2, 6 KOs), 27, of Brooklyn, New York, will face Omar Salcido (19-1, 13 KOs), 24, of Mexico, in the 10-round lightweight main event of the ProBox TV card on Oct. 9 at the ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida, it was announced this week. Colbert will fight for the first time since December, when he suffered a sixth-round knockout loss in a rematch with Jose Valenzuela, who went on to win the WBA junior welterweight title in August. Colbert had been slated to return in August but the bout was called off due Colbert being ill.
The WBC announced the purse bid for the fight between WBC bridgerweight titlist Lawrence Okolie and interim titlist Kevin Lerena will take place Oct. 1 in Mexico City. They made a deal in July and a purse bid was canceled, but the deal fell through, causing the WBC to schedule another auction of the promotional rights. Okolie (20-1, 15 KOs), 31, of England, a former cruiserweight titlist, moved up to the 224-pound division and on May 24 blew away Lukasz Rozanski in the first round to win the belt on Rozanski’s turf in Poland. Lerena (30-3, 14 KOs), 32, a South African southpaw, is coming off a 10-round decision loss to Justis Huni at heavyweight in March but in his previous bout he outpointed Senad Gashi in November in South Africa for the vacant interim belt.
Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions will have its “MVP Prospects 9” card on Oct. 9 (DAZN) at Coliseo Roger Mendoza in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican featherweight Jan Paul Rivera (10-0, 7 KOs), 21, a former amateur standout and new MVP signee, will headline in an eight-rounder against Andy Beltran (8-0, 5 KOs), 22, of Las Vegas. Also on the main card will be two other Puerto Rican MVP fighters: female bantamweight Krystal Rosado (4-0, 2 KOs), 21, who is managed by women’s star featherweight champion Amanda Serrano, and middleweight Alexis “Chop Chop” Chapparo (2-0, 2 KOs), 24. They will face opponents to be named.
Show and tell
Wladimir Klitschko was left for dead by most after his second stoppage loss in four fights when Lamon Brewster shockingly knocked him out in the fifth round for the vacant WBO heavyweight title. Klitschko won his next two fights but against lesser opponents, but in his third fight post the Brewster disaster, he was paired with undefeated knockout artist Samuel Peter in a title eliminator in an HBO main event at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Peter showed his power by knocking Klitschko down three times, but Klitschko kept himself together. He got up each time and won every round other than the knockdown rounds to claim a unanimous decision. He would dispose of Chris Byrd in his next fight to win a world title and go on to a decade-long run of championship dominance.
In the co-feature, was an even more memorable fight as a young Miguel Cotto walked through fire to retain his junior welterweight world title against late replacement Ricardo Torres in a wild shootout in which both were down and badly hurt. Cotto finally stopped him in the seventh round of a fight of the year contender. That memorable card, which I was ringside to cover, took place on Sept. 24, 2005 — 19 years ago this Tuesday. Here is an extremely rare cardboard site poster in my collection that was on display at host casino Caesars Atlantic City during fight week.
A note to subscribers
I sincerely appreciate your readership. If you’re reading, it means you love boxing just like I do. If you’ve been reading you also know the quality and quantity of what I produce. It’s one-stop shopping. Read the newsletters and there is no need to search multiple websites or click a multitude of links to get the latest news, opinion and detailed fight schedule. Everything you need is in one spot and delivered directly to your inbox (or via phone alert if you download for free the superb Substack app). You don’t have to hunt for the news; it comes to you.
I believe that is worth something, so while I will continue providing stories, notes and the schedule for free, I encourage you to upgrade to a paid subscription for the most content. A paid subscription is your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism. I am beholden to no network, promoter, manager, sanctioning body or fighter. If you have read my work at all during the past 24 years I’ve covered professional boxing you know that I keep it real and that will not change.
To upgrade your subscription please go here:
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
Photos: Davis: Esther Lin/PBC; Denny-Sheeraz: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrafael1/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRafael1
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRafaelBoxing
I appreciate Dan for providing background to the Tank/Roach fight and it's significance to the DMV population. Fans tend to forget that this is prize fighting, and while many may not like the fight, from a promotional standpoint this fight will put asses in seats and is relevant in terms of location, due to the fighters' ties to that area.
Dan
Connor Coyle undefeated middleweight at 21W-0L
Ranked #2 in WBA deserves title fight vs Lara not multiple loss Mosley Jr.Connor will fight Mosely for title eliminatior.
Let’s get this done!