Notebook: Tszyu forced out of Ortiz fight because cut not fully healed
Hrgovic-Dubois for IBF interim heavyweight title; Title Sports Network show; Alimkhanuly 160 defense official; world title tripleheader set; Buatsi-Yarde update; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Tim Tszyu, still healing from a terrible cut on his scalp from his last fight, was forced to withdraw from his much-anticipated bout with Vergil Ortiz Jr. on Thursday night on advice of his doctor, No Limit promoter George Rose announced.
They were scheduled to fight for the vacant WBA interim junior middleweight title on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on the first Riyadh Season-backed card outside of Saudi Arabia. Terence Crawford, who is coming off his resounding knockout of Errol Spence Jr. in July to become the undisputed welterweight champion, is moving up to junior middleweight to challenge WBA titlist Israil Madrimov in the pay-per-view main event.
Tszyu had begun training for the fight at home in Australia, but it was a short turnaround from his last fight on March 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where he lost the WBO junior middleweight title and a shot at the vacant WBC belt via upset split decision to Sebastian Fundora.
Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs), 29, was severely hampered from the late stages of the second round through the end of the fight after an accidental elbow from Fundora tore open a horrendous cut on his scalp. Tszyu, who had dominated to that point, fought the remainder of the bout with blood pouring from the cut. It was getting in his eyes and covered his and Fundora’s body in one of the bloodiest fights in recent memory.
The cut has not fully healed and Tszyu’s doctor advised him not to fight until it does.
“We are bitterly disappointed with the setback and Tim is extremely frustrated after a great pre-camp with Kostya,” Rose said of Tszyu training with his Hall of Fame father Kostya Tszyu. “He showed everyone that he’ll fight through anything against Fundora but this decision was taken out of his hands to be honest. Ultimately, it was his body and medical professionals telling him he wasn’t ready yet.”
Tszyu-Ortiz came together very quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. It was made just days before Ortiz (20-1, 21 KOs), 26, of Grand Prairie, Texas, entered the ring against Thomas Dulorme on April 27 and was contingent on Ortiz emerging victorious and uninjured. He knocked out Dulorme in the first round.
According to Golden Boy, conversations are ongoing to keep Ortiz on the card against a replacement opponent. One option is for Ortiz to face Serhii Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs), 29, a Ukraine native based in Los Angeles, who outpointed Brian Mendoza to win the vacant WBC interim junior middleweight title on the Tszyu-Fundora undercard.
Even without Tszyu-Ortiz, the card is one of the deepest boxing has seen in decades. In addition to Crawford-Madrimov it also includes Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz defending the WBA junior welterweight title against Jose Valenzuela; former unified heavyweight titlist Andy Ruiz against Jarrell Miller; WBA “regular” super middleweight titlist David Morrell moving up to fight “Hot Rod” Radivoje Kalajdzic for the vacant WBA “regular” light heavyweight title; and lightweight Andy Cruz, a 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist and perhaps the best prospect in boxing, stepping up his pro competition against Antonio Moran in just his fourth fight.
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Hrgovic-Dubois for interim title
After plenty of back and forth behind the scenes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in recent days, the IBF agreed to sanction the fight between Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois for its interim heavyweight title, according to the letter the organization issued to the involved parties, a copy of which was obtained by Fight Freaks Unite.
Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs), 31, of Croatia, and Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs), 26, of England, who have logged several rounds of sparring with each other, meet in the co-feature of the “5 vs. 5” card on Saturday (DAZN PPV, 2 p.m. ET) at Kingdom Arena.
The decision will allow Oleksandr Usyk to remain the undisputed four-belt champion, at least for the time being. Following his split decision win over Tyson Fury on May 18, also in Riyadh, to become the division’s first four-belt undisputed champion and the first undisputed champion in the division in 25 years, he petitioned the IBF for an exception to his overdue mandatory defense against Hrgovic.
The IBF ultimately made the interim title compromise even though it had originally approved Fury-Usyk with the stipulation that the winner had until last Saturday to vacate to allow Hrgovic-Dubois to be for the full title.
What will happen with regard to the IBF title after Saturday remains to be seen because Usyk has no plans to fight the Hrgovic-Dubois winner next as would be the normal course of action because he is committed to a rematch with Fury.
They have a two-fight deal and earlier this week Turki Alalshikh of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority announced that the rematch would be Dec. 21 rather than Oct. 12 to allow both fighters time to recover after being banged up in the first fight.
Usyk needed stitches over his right eye and his face was bruised and Fury nearly got knocked out in the ninth round and also was bruised.
It is possible that Usyk will be stripped in the coming months and that Saturday’s winner will be upgraded to the full titleholder and defend the belt against former two-time unified titleholder Anthony Joshua in September at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Title Sports Network show
In our latest show on Title Sports Network, Michelle Phelps and I had plenty to discuss: The latest on the title status of the Filip Hrgovic-Daniel Dubois heavyweight fight; an Anthony Joshua update; fight-by-fight breakdown of the “5 vs. 5” DAZN PPV card on Saturday and an explanation of the scoring of the team aspect of the event; and WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol’s defense against Malik Zinad on the card. Subscribe to the YouTube channel and also check out the video here:
Janibek defense set
Janibek Alimkhanuly will defend his WBO/IBF middleweight titles against Andrei Mikhailovich in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on July 13 at the Palms in Las Vegas, Top Rank announced on Thursday, confirming a previous Fight Freaks Unite report.
Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KOs), 31, a southpaw who fights out of Oxnard, California, will make his fourth overall defense and first of the unified title against Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KOs), 26, a Russia native fighting out of New Zealand, who is the IBF’s mandatory challenger.
Lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla will face former junior lightweight titleholder Tevin Farmer in the 10-round co-feature.
“Janibek is the best middleweight in the world and willing to fight anyone in that division,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “Mikhailovich is a hungry, undefeated contender, and he is coming from New Zealand to shake up the title picture. Muratalla can compete with any lightweight in the world, and I expect Tevin Farmer to give him a stiff test. Tevin is a decorated former champion who understands that a win puts him right back in the title picture.”
Alimkhanuly, a 2016 Olympian, unified the 160-pound belts by knocking out IBF titlist Vincenzo Gualtieri in the sixth round of an utterly one-sided fight in October.
“I look forward to defending my world titles, and I must give Andrei Mikhailovich a lot of credit,” Alimkhanuly said. “The other world middleweight champions (Erislandy Lara and Carlos Adames) refused the challenge, and he stepped up to the plate. The road to undisputed continues, and Mikhailovich is in my way.”
Mikhailovich will be taking an enormous step up in competition and fighting outside of New Zealand for the first time.
“Janibek is just another guy, another test on my way to greatness,” Mikhailovich said. “Others will say this is a big deal, but to me, this is fate. I was born for this. Since day one, I have planned to dominate, take over, and control my destiny. I train relentlessly, eat right, and always maintain a warrior's mindset, so I don’t need any extra motivation because the two belts are on the line.”
Muratalla (20-0, 16 KOs), 27, of Fontana, California, has been seeking a title fight but hasn’t been able to get one yet so he will face Farmer, his most notable opponent so far.
“I’m ready for the lightweight champions, but I can’t take Tevin Farmer lightly,” Muratalla said. “He is a former world champion who wants another shot. I have a great training team with Robert Garcia and all the fighters at Robert Garcia Boxing Academy, and they push me to get better every fight. On July 13, you will see the best version of Raymond Muratalla.”
After losing the IBF 130-pound belt via controversial decision to Joseph Diaz Jr. in January 2020, Farmer (33-5-1, 8 KOs), 33, a southpaw from Philadelphia, did not fight for 3½ years. Since returning in June 2023, Farmer has won three fights in a row at lightweight, most recently a first-round knockout of Allan Castillo on March 2.
“I’m finally in a healthy state. It’s time to show my level,” Farmer said. “The fans haven’t seen me at my best yet. I’m happy they’ll finally witness greatness from me.”
In preliminary bouts:
Gustavo Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs), 28, of Argentina, who will fight at either lightweight or junior welterweight, will make his Top Rank debut in a 10-rounder against an opponent to be determined. (See the quick hits for more).
Junior lightweight William Foster III (17-1, 11 KOs), 30, of New Haven, Connecticut, will face Eridson Garcia (18-1, 12 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Houston, over 10.
Featherweight contender Ruben Villa (22-1, 7 KOs), 27, of Salinas, California, will fight fellow southpaw Sulaiman Segawa (16-4-1, 6 KOs), 33, of Silver Spring, Maryland, over 10. Villa has won four straight since a close decision loss to Emanuel Navarrete for the vacant WBO title in 2020.
Featherweight Jonathan Lopez (15-0, 11 KOs), 21, of Orlando, who is trained by Eddy Reynoso, will face an opponent to be named in an eight-rounder.
San Francisco native Charlie Sheehy (9-0, 5 KOs), 25, will face Ricardo Quiroz (13-4, 7 KOs), 26, of Oxnard, California, in an eight-rounder at junior welterweight.
If you missed my interview with former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on our recent full podcast episode we have broken it out as a stand-alone segment you can listen to right here ahead of his fight with Zhilei Zhang in the “5 vs. 5” main event on Saturday. Give it a listen, a review, and also subscribe to get an alert when the next episode is available. New shows every Thursday and Sunday night.
Japanese world title tripleheader
A world tripleheader will take place on July 20 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and it will stream in the early morning hours on ESPN+ in the United States, Top Rank announced.
In the main event of the Teiken Boxing card will be the previously reported fight between WBC bantamweight titlist Junto Nakatani making his first defense against mandatory challenger Vincent Astrolabio.
Nakatani (27-0, 20 KOs), 26, a Japanese southpaw, who has won titles in three divisions, moved up to bantamweight in February and knocked out Nonito Donaire-conqueror Alexandro Santiago to win the WBC belt in one-sided fashion. The Manny Pacquiao-promoted Astrolabio (19-4, 14 KOs), 27, of the Philippines, lost a majority decision challenging Jason Moloney for the vacant WBO title last May but rebounded with an 11th-round KO of Navapon Khaikanha in August on the road in Thailand in a WBC final eliminator to earn the title shot.
Japan’s Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs), 28, who has won titles in four divisions from strawweight to junior bantamweight, will make his first defense against Jonathan “Titan” Rodriguez (25-2-1, 17 KOs), 28, of Mexico.
Tanaka won the vacant belt by unanimous decision over Christian Bacasegua in February. Rodriguez is 3-0-1 since a decision loss challenging then-IBF junior bantamweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas in 2021.
Riku Kano (22-4-2, 11 KOs), 26, a Japanese southpaw, and Anthony Olascuaga (6-1, 4 KOs), 25, of Los Angeles, will vie for the vacant WBO flyweight title given up earlier this year by Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
Kano will be fighting for a world title for the second time, having lost a sixth-round technical decision to Katsunari Takayama for the WBO strawweight belt in 2016. Olascuaga is also getting a second title shot. He won his only fight since a ninth-round KO loss to unified junior flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji in April 2023.
The card will also feature bantamweight Tenshin Nasukawa (3-0, 1 KO), 25, a Japanese southpaw and former kickboxing star, in a 10-rounder against Puerto Rican Jonathan “Torres” Rodriguez (17-2-1, 7 KOs), 25, who notched his biggest win by first-round KO of former world titlist Kal Yafai to send him into retirement in November.
Buatsi-Yarde for interim title?
On Wednesday, the WBO notified light heavyweight contenders Joshua Buatsi and Anthony Yarde via letters to their promoters, Ben Shalom of Boxxer for Buatsi and Queensberry’s Frank Warren for Yarde, that it has scheduled a purse bid for the interim title fight it ordered three weeks ago since no deal has been made.
The WBO scheduled the purse bid for June 7 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, where officials will be gathered for Golden Boy’s boxing event that includes a WBO strawweight title fight that it part of International Boxing Hall of Fame weekend. Minimum bid is $300,000.
However, it remains to be seen if two-time world title challenger Yarde (25-3, 24 KOs), 32, of England, will participate. The WBO noted in its resolution ordering the purse bid that it was informed by Yarde’s attorney that he is involved in a contract dispute with Warren and that he is unavailable for the fight or to participate in the purse bid.
The WBO’s response was that it has no jurisdiction over contractual disputes between the parties and that “per our records, Queensberry Promotions is a licensed WBO promoter and was authorized to represent Anthony Yarde. Therefore, such promotional outlet was duly notified.”
The WBO gave Yarde 72 hours to “personally manifest in writing to the WBO” whether he will participate in the interim title fight. If he doesn’t respond he will be dropped from the WBO rankings. If Yarde does participate the bout must take place within 90 days.
It also added that a “lack of a television and/or streaming network date shall not constitute a just cause to delay the conduct of the bout in question.”
The interim title was made available due to the knee injury suffered by three-belt champion Artur Beterbiev that forced him to postpone an undisputed title fight with WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol that was set to take place Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The injury will keep Beterbiev sidelined until at least September and his return fight is supposed to be the rescheduled bout with Bivol for the undisputed title, provided Bivol defeat replacement Malik Zinad on Saturday.
Buatsi (18-0, 13 KOs), 31, of England, is already the WBA mandatory challenger thanks to his decision win over good buddy Dan Azeez in February. Yarde has won two in a row since Beterbiev knocked him out in a mandatory fight in January 2023.
Quick hits
Top Rank announced that it has signed Gustavo Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs), 28, of Argentina, to a co-promotional deal with OR Promotions. “Gustavo Lemos is a talented, fan-friendly fighter, and we look forward to giving him the platform and fights he deserves,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “He is a handful for any fighter at 135 or 140 pounds.” Lemos, who has fought at junior welterweight and lightweight, is coming off his first defeat, a competitive decision to Richardson Hitchins in an IBF junior welterweight eliminator on April 6 in Las Vegas. “When my promoters from OR Promotions told me that they had begun talks with Top Rank, I was thankful,” Lemos said. “The wait and hard work have paid off, and I will make the most of this opportunity. I am finally entering the big leagues, fulfilling a lifelong dream, and getting closer and closer to the possibility of becoming a world champion.”
The WBA announced that the purse bid for the fight between strawweight titlist Thammanoon Niyomtrong (24-0, 9 KOs), 33, of Thailand, and mandatory challenger Hasanboy Dusmatov, which was scheduled to take place on Monday, has been canceled after Dusmatov (6-0, 5 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Uzbekistan, who won an Olympic gold medal in 2016, said he is taking a leave of absence to participate in the Paris Olympics this summer. The WBA said that given the importance of his commitment to the Olympics he would retain his position when he returns to the pros. In light of that, Niyomtrong, who has not fought since July 2022, requested approval for an interim defense, which was granted.
Show and tell
Undefeated Kostya Tszyu was making the sixth defense of his IBF junior welterweight title with potential really big business in front of him: a big-money fight with Oscar De La Hoya if he could defeat hard puncher “Cool” Vince Phillips, who had a drug problem and was coming off a split decision loss to Romallis Ellis four months earlier. Tszyu was the clear favorite in their HBO “Boxing After Dark” headliner at the now-defunct Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but Phillips put it all together against Tszyu and pulled an enormous upset. He pasted Tszyu with right hands throughout the fight and dropped him with a left-right combination in the seventh round. As they headed for the 10th round the fight was very close: 85-85 on one card, Tszyu up 86-85 on one and Phillips leading 87-85 on the third. The scoring became irrelevant, however, when Phillips, who was bleeding from a bad cut over his right eye, hammered Tszyu with a right hand that rocked him in the 10th round and then quickly jumped on him. He unleashed about a dozen unanswered punches that rendered Tszyu out on his feet and falling into the corner post as referee Benjy Esteves waved it off.
Tszyu would rebound and go on to become the undisputed junior welterweight champion and get elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, but Phillips’ knockout was his crowning moment and selected as upset of the year by The Ring magazine. The fight took place on May 31, 1997 — 27 years ago on Friday. Here is a rare site poster from in my collection.
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Photos: Tszyu: Esther Lin/PBC; Hrgovic-Dubois: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Nakatani: Sumio Yamada/WBC; Buatsi: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer
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No mention of the massive Garcia? It’s looking like he will be vindicated. I said in the comments here before, supplements are an unregulated industry and contamination is a common issue, specifically with SARMs as well. The timeline didn’t really add up if he was using Ostarine to cheat, because he was clean all fight camp and it takes weeks to take effect.
I think we were all surprised Tsyzu would be back so quick after that cut. It was nasty.
Janibek defending his belts against B and C level guys and getting knockouts, following the GGG path to the hall of fame.