Notebook: Tszyu to defend junior middleweight title vs. Mendoza
Jim Lampley back in boxing with PPV.com; Jalolov's Saturday fight no longer on Top Rank main card; Marshall following Shields into PFL; Camponovo Sports series on tap; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Tim Tszyu will make his first defense of the WBO junior middleweight title against Brian Mendoza at home in Australia, George Rose of No Limit Boxing announced on Thursday in Australia (Wednesday night United States time).
The fight will take place at a venue to be announced on Oct. 15 in Australia (Saturday night, Oct. 14 in the U.S.). It is likely to air on Showtime, which has televised Tszyu’s last three fights. The fight will air on Foxtel’s Main Event and Kayo Sports in Australia.
Tszyu is currently the WBO’s interim 154-pound titleholder but the organization has already ruled that once the bell rings for undisputed champion Jermell Charlo’s challenge to undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 30 in Las Vegas that he will be stripped of the title and Tszyu immediately elevated to the organization’s full titleholder. The WBO ruling said that even if Alvarez-Charlo does not take place as scheduled, it will strip Charlo and elevate Tszyu.
“I’m expecting a war and I’m expecting Mendoza to test me more than any other fighter,” Tszyu said. “He has power in both hands and has shown he thrives off being that underdog, so I doubt coming to Australia will bother him, but don’t expect a single person to be cheering for him.
“This was the fight to be made and the only fight that had me pumped up. Styles make fights and it has the potential to be a banger because we both go looking for the fight, have heavy hands and chase those killer knockouts everyone loves to replay over, and over, and over again.”
Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs), 28, was scheduled for a mandatory shot at Charlo in January in Las Vegas but the fight was called off when Charlo broke his hand in two places in training.
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Tszyu went on to score a ninth-round knockout of former titlist Tony Harrison in March to win the vacant interim title while waiting for Charlo. But when hopes to reschedule in June went by the wayside because Charlo would not be ready, Tszyu defended the interim belt by first-round knockout against Carlos Ocampo on June 18.
Soon thereafter, Charlo got the opportunity to fight Alvarez and opted for that instead of rescheduling with Tszyu, who is the son of Hall of Fame former undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu.
That opened the door for Mendoza, who is the reigning WBC interim titleholder thanks to a big upset win over Sebastian Fundora in his last fight, a Showtime main event on April 8 in Carson, California. Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs), 29, of Las Vegas, was way behind on the scorecards before scoring a dramatic knockout of the year candidate with a thunderous left hook in the seventh round to take the interim belt.
Fundora had the right to an immediate rematch and it was being planned for this fall, but Mendoza will instead be allowed to face Tszyu.
According to the No Limit fight announcement, should the WBC follow the WBO’s lead and strip Charlo, Mendoza would be elevated to WBC full titleholder and Tszyu-Mendoza would be a unification fight.
“Tim only wanted the toughest test in his division. Brian Mendoza is that guy,” Rose said. “We could’ve easily looked for a lesser opponent but Tim and his team made it clear to us that he needed a fight that was going to get him up and about and keep him zoned in 24/7.
“When you’re at the level Tim Tszyu is at and chasing undisputed, taking down a guy who can bring a belt to the table and unify is extremely appealing. It’s a high stakes gamble but this is boxing and it’s now up to Tim to prove it.”
Tszyu said if he wins and Charlo returns to the division after the Alvarez fight he still hopes they can meet for the undisputed title.
“The road to undisputed continues,” Tszyu said. “It’s just going to take a little longer. But trust me, the journey to get there will be way sweeter.”
Lampley back in boxing
Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Lampley, the legendary blow-by-blow announcer for HBO events for 30 years until the network ceased covering the sport at the end of 2018, will be involved in the Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo undisputed super middleweight championship fight on Sept. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
No, he won’t be calling the action on Showtime PPV but he will work on site during fight week with PPV.com, the iNDemand digital platform that will stream the card as it does most major pay-per-view events in the United States.
Lampley will co-host the service’s Canelo-Charlo live viewer chat on fight night and will provide on-site commentary and reports throughout fight week to generate original video content for PPV.com’s website and social media platforms.
“Jim Lampley is the most significant voice in boxing. We want to partner with the best people in the sport, and he’s universally respected and loved,” said Dale Hopkins, the president and CEO of iNDemand and PPV.com. “What makes this even more special is that our viewers will be able to directly interact with Jim throughout the entire PPV event via our live chat. We’ll be streaming the official broadcast, of course, with our high-quality stream, and on top of that fans can type their questions and comments to Jim in real time, and he’ll be able to respond immediately. And you never need a subscription to watch anything on PPV.com.”
Lampley, who called numerous Canelo fights on HBO and HBO PPV, has had limited involvement in boxing since HBO left the sport. He now is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, but excited to be involved in such a major fight once again.
“For me, this is a fun opportunity to see my many friends and colleagues in the boxing world, while adding my two cents’ worth to all the action throughout fight week and on fight night itself,” Lampley said. “What makes it different is that I’ll get to interact directly with fans via an engaging and respectful forum. I’m impressed by what PPV.com has been able to do in a relatively short period of time since launching less than two years ago.”
Lampley will co-host the Canelo-Charlo live chat with longtime boxing journalist Lance Pugmire, the winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America’s 2022 Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism, who has been serving as PPV.com’s senior writer, hosting chats and contributing on-site video content.
Top Rank card change
The Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, 10:30 p.m. ET) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was initially announced as a heavyweight tripleheader but the main card now will be just two bouts.
The eight-rounder between 2020 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov (12-0, 12 KOs), 28, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound southpaw from Uzbekistan, who recently signed with Top Rank, and Onoriode Ehwarieme (20-2, 19 KOs), 35, of Nigeria, was supposed to open the broadcast. Now it won’t even appear as part of the ESPN+ coverage of the preliminary bouts.
Instead, Top Rank will stream it on its YouTube channel. The reason, according to sources, is due to a legal dispute between Top Rank and Disrupt Promotions, which apparently claims it still has rights to Jalolov, who was co-promoted by now-defunct Probellum and Lou DiBella before Disrupt bought many of the Probellum fighter contracts when it shuttered. DiBella and Jalolov also subsequently parted ways.
On the main card, Jared Anderson (15-0, 14 KOs), 23, of Toledo, Ohio, headlines against Andriy Rudenko (35-6, 21 KOs), 39, of Ukraine, and Efe Ajagba (17-1, 13 KOs), 29, a 2016 Nigerian Olympian fighting out of Stafford, Texas, faces Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs), 34, a southpaw from Kazakhstan, in the co-feature.
Marshall joins PFL
Savannah Marshall, the undisputed women’s super middleweight champion, is venturing into MMA and has signed a multi-year deal with the Professional Fighters League, the company announced.
The move puts Marshall under the same promotional umbrella as her biggest boxing rival, undisputed middleweight champion Claressa Shields, who recently extended her deal with PFL to continue competing in both sports.
“I am thrilled to begin my journey in MMA with the Professional Fighters League,” Marshall said. “I am proud to join the most talented female combat sports athletes in the world and continue to raise the profile of women in sports.”
Marshall’s first PFL bout will take place in 2024.
“I want to welcome two-time boxing world champion Savannah Marshall to the Professional Fighters League,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “It’s an exciting time for PFL as we officially launch PFLW, and the addition of Savannah Marshall strengthens the best global roster of women in combat sports.”
Marshall’s signing coincided with PFL’s announcement that it has created PFL Women, which also includes Amanda Serrano, the undisputed featherweight boxing champion, who has some MMA experience but recently signed with PFL.
Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs), 32, of England, lost the WBO women’s middleweight title to Shields in their showdown for the undisputed 160-pound crown in October. Marshall had previously handed Shields her lone defeat when they were amateurs.
Marshall rebounded from the loss by moving up to super middleweight and outpointing Franchon Crews-Dezurn by majority decision to take her undisputed 168-pound title on July 1.
Camponovo Sports series
Camponovo Sports CEO Alex Camponovo announced the re-launching of the “New Blood” series, which will kick off Sept. 9 at the Infinite Reality Studios in Long Beach, California, and air live on Fox Deportes (10 p.m. ET). The series will also air via tape delay on Estrella TV and beIN SPORTS.
The eight-round main event features Los Angeles featherweight Rigoberto Hermosillo (13-4-1, 9 KOs) against Bakersfield, California’s Alexis De Luna (10-1, 5 KOs). Long Beach junior welterweight Emiliano Moreno (6-0, 4 KOs) will face Mexico’s Levy Garcia Benitez (3-0-1, 2 KOs) in the eight-round co-feature.
The series could be viewed as a replacement for the recently shuttered long-running Southern California club show series put on by Thompson Boxing Promotions for which Camponovo served as the general manager. But founder Ken Thompson died at age 85 in February and, after 23 years in business, the company put on its final show on July 21.
“We are excited to unveil the restart of ‘New Blood,’ a series that for over two decades aligned perfectly with our commitment to promoting and nurturing emerging talents in the boxing world,” Camponovo said. “We built something special during our time with Thompson Boxing that was equally beneficial for both boxers and fans. Using that tremendous track record and thanks to our new partnership with Infinite Reality Studios, we will be able to create a dynamic atmosphere that will resonate with everyone involved. Thanks to our success in the past, we now look into the future by creating a media distribution strategy that will give our fighters tremendous exposure.”
Quick hits
TGB Promotions on Tuesday won the purse bid for the fight between IBF junior welterweight titlist Subriel Matias (19-1, 19 KOs), 31, of Puerto Rico, who it works with, and mandatory challenger Shohjahon Ergashev (23-0, 20 KOs), 31, a southpaw from Uzbekistan fighting out of Detroit, with a bid of $510,000. Ergashev promoter Salita Promotions was the only other bidder at $225,000. The split is 70-30 in favor of Matias, who is entitled to $357,000 to Ergashev’s $153,000. TGB has 90 days to put on the fight, which will take place on a PBC card. The IBF gave the sides a one-week delay from the original purse bid date because they were close to a deal but did not wind up making one. Matias won the vacant title by fifth-round knockout in a shootout with Jeremias Ponce in February. Ergashev has not boxed since last August.
A second IBF purse bid scheduled for Tuesday was canceled when the sides told the organization they made a deal for the middleweight title eliminator between Denis Radovan (17-0-1, 8 KOs), 30, of Germany, and Andrei Mikhailovich (20-0, 12 KOs), 25, a Russia native fighting out of New Zealand. There was no date or site specified yet for the bout but the winner will become the mandatory challenger for Germany’s Vincenzo Gualtieri (21-0-1, 7 KOs), who won the vacant title by decision over Esquiva Falcao on July 1.
Junior middleweight Nikita Tszyu (7-0, 6 KOs), 25, the son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu and brother of WBO interim junior middleweight titlist Tim Tszyu, notched a sixth-round knockout of Jack Brubaker (17-5-2, 8 KOs), 31, of Australia, in the main event of the No Limit card Wednesday at Hordern Pavilion in Tszyu’s hometown of Sydney, Australia. Brubaker was credited with a third-round knockdown despite it coming on a head butt. Tszyu took it to Brubaker, whose corner threw in the towel at 2:40 of the sixth round of a scheduled eight. Also, Australian junior lightweight Liam Wilson (12-2, 7 KOs), 27, dropped Argentina’s Carlos Maria Alanis (12-1, 4 KOs), 25, in the seventh round of a 100-89, 100-89 and 98-91 win. Wilson was boxing for the first time since giving Emanuel Navarrete a great battle as a replacement foe in a ninth-round KO loss for the vacant WBO 130-pound title on Feb. 3 in Glendale, Arizona.
Blue-chip junior featherweight prospect Peter McGrail (7-0, 5 KOs), 27, will have the second fight of his promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing on Oct. 21 (DAZN) in a 10-rounder against Fran Mendoza (17-0, 7 KOs), 26, a Colombia native based in Spain, on the Jack Catterall-Jorge Linares undercard at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, McGrail’s hometown, Matchroom announced. Also on the undercard, junior featherweight Shabaz Masoud (11-0, 4 KOs), 27, of England, will have his first fight since signing with Matchroom in June. He will face Jose Sanmartin (34-7-1, 21 KOs), 30, of Colombia, in a 10-rounder. Also, junior lightweight Aqib Fiaz (12-0, 1 KO), 23, of England, will face countryman Reece Bellotti (16-5, 13 KOs), 32, for the vacant Commonwealth title.
Middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial (4-0, 2 KOs), 27, a Filipino southpaw and Manny Pacquiao protégé, who claimed a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will put his pro career on hold, having announced he will re-join the Philippines’ national team and aim to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, where pros are permitted to compete. He plans to compete in the Hangzhou Asian Games, an Olympic qualifier that runs from Sept. 23 through Oct. 8. He will compete at light heavyweight because the middleweight division was eliminated from the qualifier.
Show and tell
The long-awaited mega fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to unify welterweight titles in 2015 shattered every combat sports revenue record, including overall revenue (more than $600 million), domestic pay-per-view subscriptions (4.6 million) and live gate ($72,198,500). Two fights following Mayweather’s win over Pacquiao, he ended a two-year retirement to face UFC superstar Conor McGregor, who crossed over to boxing for the mega event that Mayweather said would be his final fight. It was a monster and settled in second place behind Mayweather-Pacquiao for those records. It grossed more than $600 million in total revenue (but less than Mayweather-Pacquiao), sold 4.3 million domestic PPV buys and did $55,414,865.79 in ticket sales. Mayweather registered a dominating 10th-round knockout in the junior middleweight bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and walked away 50-0 on his way to being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. I was ringside to cover the fight, which was on Aug. 26, 2017 — six years ago on Saturday. Here is one of the various site posters in my collection.
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Photos: Tszyu: No Limit Boxing; Jalolov: Stephanie Trapp/Showtime
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Subriel Matias fighting next on Showtime? Regis Prograis has replaced GGG as the Kaiser Soze of Boxing. "Bogeyman" & "Most Avoided" figment. Meanwhile he's giggling to himself, all the way to the bank. There's still no legitimate competition at 140 officially with DAZN/Matchroom. And don't think for one minute Regis Prograis wasn't keenly aware of that, when he chose Eddie Hearn over Top Rank. Crazy like a Fox.
Yet again tim tszyu is taking a risky fight he is a throwback to fighters of the past