Notebook: Ukraine's Usyk happy to defend title vs. Dubois in 'brother country' Poland
WBO's Teofimo ruling; cruiserweight king Opetaia joins Matchroom; Savannah Marshall mandatory details; Mayer moving up; next for Luis Alberto Lopez; strawweight resolution; 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 the heavyweight fights that fans seem to be most interested in — Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title, Fury-Anthony Joshua and Joshua-Deontay Wilder among them — are not happening next (if at all), there has been a sudden spark of activity in the division with three fights being announced in two days.
On Tuesday, Fury’s fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who will cross over to boxing, was announced for Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
On Monday, two others were made official: Joshua’s rematch with Dillian White, which is Aug. 12 in London (with Joshua-Wilder apparently on deck for December if Joshua wins) and three-belt titleholder Usyk’s mandatory defense against WBA “regular” titlist Daniel Dubois on Aug. 26 at Tarczynski Arena Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland, which came about after negotiations for Fury-Usyk on April 29 fell apart.
While Joshua and Whyte met at a news conference in London, Usyk and Dubois had a kickoff news conference in Poland with a second one scheduled for Wednesday in London.
Usyk-Dubois, which will stream on ESPN+ in the U.S. and headline a TNT Sports Box Office pay-per-view in the U.K. (TNT Sports is the new name for BT Sport), is taking place around Ukraine Independence Day, which is Aug. 24. Usyk is from Ukraine, which borders Poland and has a large Ukrainian population.
Obviously, the fight cannot take place in Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion and its unprovoked war, but Usyk still wanted to fight close to home, where he has not boxed since 2015 and never as a word champion.
Alex Krassyuk of Usyk co-promoter K2 Promotions explained how the bout wound up in Poland.
“It was our mutual decision to stage this show here in Poland, our brother country that has become the home for millions of Ukrainians escaping from the war,” Krassyuk said at the news conference. “Sergiy Lapin (of Team Usyk) and myself had a meeting in Bulgaria in early spring where this issue came up and later it was supported by (manager) Egis Klimas and, of course, by the champ, who already had this idea in mind but was unable to share it due to the poor (phone) connection caused by another shelling of Kyiv.
“Then I gave a call to my friend and brother (Polish promoter) Andrzej Wasilewski, who I’ve known for more than 15 years, and mentioned this idea. His reaction was stunning. He said, ‘Alex this is a crazy, crazy but good idea!’ So, this is a very short summary. Here we are now.”
Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), 36, a southpaw and the former undisputed cruiserweight champion, who will make his second heavyweight defense following two wins in a row against Joshua, is pleased to return to box in Poland. The reason: It’s relatively close to home and it’s where he won his first cruiserweight belt by decision over WBO titlist Krzysztof Glowacki in Gdansk in 2016.
“I am very happy to be back in Poland, a country that greeted me so good and where I became the WBO cruiserweight champion,” Usyk said. “We had a very good clash with Krzysztof Glowacki. Now, after the next seven years, I have collected several belts and am back here to defend them.
“I appreciate people of Poland the support they give Ukraine. I’ve been traveling around the world fighting in the different backyards of my opponents, but this fight here in Wroclaw will be the closest one to my home. I want to thank the guys who are defending our Ukraine now, because only for the reason they are doing this, we have the opportunity to have the fights and defend our titles outside of Ukraine. I so want they could get some positive emotions, some happiness (from my fights) even for a (little) while.”
Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs), 25, of England, won the “regular” belt via fourth-round knockout of Trevor Bryan in June 2022 and has made one defense, a very shaky third-round stoppage of Kevin Lerena in December after Lerena dropped him three times in the first round and Dubois injured his knee.
He will be a considerable underdog against Usyk but Klimas vowed that Usyk is not overlooking him.
“Don’t say we’re thinking it’s gonna be like a walk in a park,” Klimas said. “We know he is big, he is strong, he can punch. So we are preparing 100 percent for it as this fight could bring us to one of the biggest clashes in the history of boxing (against Fury). But we are concentrated on Daniel Dubois. All we see is DD. We have breakfast, we think about Daniel Dubois. We go to be bed, we think of Daniel Dubois. Everything is just about him.”
Dubois said his knee is healed and that he is ready to go for the biggest fight of his career.
“The knee is fine. That’s all cleared up now,” Dubois said. “I’m grateful for this opportunity and I’m ready to take it with both hands. This has been a long time coming and I’m ready to take it on. Usyk has been a great champion, but everything with a beginning has an end.”
WBO 140 ruling
The WBO on Tuesday issued its ruling pertaining to the organization’s junior welterweight title won by Teofimo Lopez via unanimous decision from Josh Taylor on June 10.
Afterward, Lopez, who is going through a terrible divorce and custody battle, said he was retiring and texted WBO president Paco Valcarcel telling him he was vacating the title.
The text was not good enough as the organization required a more formal letter abdicating the title. So it said in a letter to Lopez promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank that if the title is declared vacant former titlist Jose Ramirez and leading contender Arnold Barboza Jr., who are both also with Top Rank (with contracts expiring in August), would have 20 days to negotiate a fight for the vacant title or it would schedule a purse bid (minimum offer $150,000).
The WBO, however, gave Lopez 24 hours — until late in the day on Wednesday — to notify the organization if he plans to vacate or retain the title.
If Lopez indeed formally vacates in writing, he would have the right to fight as the mandatory challenger for the title if he returns within one year of a Barboza-Ramirez bout (or whatever fight ultimately fills the vacancy). If Lopez does not respond within 24 hours the WBO said it will take that to mean he has vacated.
If Lopez confirms in writing that he has decided to retain the title, the Ramirez-Barboza order terminates.
Also, the WBO gave undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney the same 24 hours to let the organization know in writing if he plans to move up in weight as he has the right to seek the mandatory challenger position. If he tells the WBO he is going to move up, he would be ordered to face Barboza and the Barboza-Ramirez order would also terminate.
Opetaia deal with Matchroom
IBF/Ring magazine cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, 28, an Australian southpaw, has signed a co-promotional deal to have Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn co-promote him along with Tasman Fighters.
The agreement, announced Tuesday, comes about three weeks after Opetaia (22-0, 17 KOs) was ordered by the IBF to make a mandatory defense against Richard Riakporhe (16-0, 12 KOs), 33, of England, and days after Tasman Fighters made a deal for its events to stream on DAZN, which is also the exclusive global home to all Matchroom events.
Opetaia has been idle since winning the 200-pound title via unanimous decision from Mairis Briedis last July in Australia in a fight of the year contender that left Opetaia with a broken jaw that caused his long layoff.
“This is something that Tasman Fighters and myself have always worked towards and now I just want to start taking these big fights and unify all the titles,” Opetaia said of the deal that figures to help open doors to bigger fights, not to mention Hearn’s recent activity promoting in Australia and signing Australian fighters such as Liam Paro, Stevie Spark, Ebanie Bridges and Skye Nicolson.
“Jai’s win over Briedis was an historic moment for Australian boxing and solidified him as the No. 1 in the cruiserweight division,” Hearn said. “There is no doubt that he can collect all the belts to become undisputed ruler and not just become a superstar at home, but all over the world.
“Australian boxing continues to rise and Matchroom want to be a major part of that growth and with Jai joining our other Aussie stars, we look to returning there soon.”
Marshall’s mandatory
The WBC has notified the promoters of new undisputed women’s super middleweight champion Savannah Marshall (Boxxer) and No. 1 contender Shadasia Green (MVP) that they are on the clock to make the mandatory fight.
“Please note that Shadasia Green will have a tune-up bout on August 5th, which has been approved by the WBC,” the WBC wrote in the letter, obtained by Fight Freaks Unite. “The order will be invalid in case Green loses that bout. We hereby kindly ask you to start free negotiations to find an agreement regarding the conditions (date, place, purses, etc.) for this important fight on August 6th, following Green’s tune-up bout.
“We are looking forward to hearing from you and receiving signed contracts on or before Friday, September 1st, 2023.”
If they don’t have an agreement by then the WBC will order a purse bid. The order would apparently rule out Marshall’s next fight being a rematch with Claressa Shields, at least with the WBC title at stake.
Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs), 32, of England, outpointed Franchon Crews-Dezurn to win the undisputed title on July 1 in Manchester, England with undisputed middleweight champion Shields (14-0, 2 KOs), 28, of Flint, Michigan, at ringside with an eye on a rematch with the winner. Shields took the WBO middleweight belt via decision from amateur nemesis Marshall to once again unify all four belts in October to become the undisputed middleweight champion for the second time.
Mayer moving up
Former unified women’s junior lightweight titleholder Mikaela Mayer, whose last fight was at lightweight, announced she is moving up in weight again.
“I’m going up in weight. Finally allowing my body to fill out and do its thang,” Mayer wrote on social media. “Time to let my body do what it wants. I’m a big girl coming for the big girls. I don’t have an update for y’all just yet but my next fight is at 140. And then some.”
Mayer (18-1, 5 KOs), 33, of Los Angeles, a 2016 U.S. Olympian, lost her two world title belts by split decision in a three-belt unification fight with Alycia Baumgardner in London in October 2022.
She moved up to lightweight for her next fight and outpointed Lucy Wildheart on March 15.
“To be clear — I would stay at 135 as I’m mandatory challenger for (undisputed champion) Katie Taylor BUT she has two rematch clauses in place, one (with Chantelle) Cameron and one (with (Amanda) Serrano. If anything changes I’ll gladly come back down but in the meantime I can’t wait around.”
WBA strawweight saga
The WBA issued a resolution dealing with its stagnant strawweight title on Tuesday, ordering another purse bid for the fight between titleholder Knockout CP Freshmart (24-0, 9 KOs), 32, of Thailand, and “regular” titlist Erick Rosa (5-0, 1 KO), 23, of the Dominican Republic, as it continues to rid itself of multiple world titles in the same division.
The bid is scheduled for July 21 via Zoom and comes with conditions aimed as assuring that the fight takes place.
Among the conditions: the fight has to take place in a neutral country “due to the inconveniences that have delayed the fight in previous occasions” and the winning bidder has to put on the fight on or before Oct. 19.
They were due to meet March 1 in Thailand after CP Freshmart promoter Panya Prachakorn won a purse bid. However, the fight was canceled when Rosa was detained upon his arrival because he lacked the proper visa. Another purse bid was scheduled but a deal was made for TGB Promotions to put the fight on a July 15 PBC card, but that deal fell apart.
Quick hits
Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez is due to make his second IBF featherweight title defense against a foe to be determined in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card Sept. 15, the night before Mexican Independence Day, sources with knowledge of the schedule told Fight Freaks Unite. The site isn’t set for the Friday night card. Lopez was the mandatory challenger when he went to Josh Warrington’s hometown of Leeds, England, and won a majority decision to take the title in December. For his first defense, Lopez (28-2, 16 KOs), 29, traveled to Michael Conlan’s hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland and knocked him out in the fifth round.
The WBA on Tuesday scheduled a purse bid for July 24 at the organization’s offices in Panama to determine the promotional rights to the fight between newly crowned junior welterweight titlist Rolando Romero (15-1, 13 KO), 27, of Las Vegas, and mandatory challenger Ohara Davies (25-2, 18 KOs), 31, of England, after their camps did not make a deal within the 30-day negotiation period. The sides could still make a deal before the purse bid but if the auction takes place the minimum bid is $110,000 with the split 75-25 in Romero’s favor. Romero controversially stopped Ismael Barroso in the ninth round to win the vacant title May 13 in Las Vegas. Davies has won seven fights in a row since a decision loss to Jack Catterall in 2018.
IBF junior lightweight titlist Joe Cordina will make the first title defense of his second reign on Sept. 30 (DAZN) against an opponent to be determined in his hometown of Cardiff, Wales, according to Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn. Cordina (16-0, 9 KOs), 31, drilled Kenichi Ogawa in the second round 13 months ago to win the title but was subsequently stripped because a hand injury prevented him from making a due mandatory defense against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov, who then won the vacant title by ninth-round knockout of Zelfa Barrett in November. When Cordina returned he got the first shot and won a split decision over Rakhimov in a sensational action fight on April 22, also in Cardiff.
Matchroom Boxing lightweight prospect Marc Castro (10-0, 7 KOs), 23, of Fresno, California, was due to face Chile’s Gonzalo Fuenzalida (12-2, 3 KOs) in his first 10-rounder on the undercard of undisputed women’s junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner’s rematch with Christina Linardatou on Saturday (DAZN) in Detroit but on Monday was forced to withdraw due to an unspecified injury.
Show and tell
After the late Vernon Forrest outpointed Shane Mosley for the second time in their immediate rematch and retained the WBC welterweight title he took from the then-pound-for-pound king in their first encounter, he signed a lucrative multi-fight contract with HBO — the first major boxing deal negotiated by Al Haymon (back when he and I often talked multiple times per week). Forrest wanted to unify titles and for the first fight of the deal he was matched with WBA titlist Ricardo Mayorga, who was relatively unknown and a big underdog. Stunningly, Mayorga knocked Forrest out in the third round of a brawl to unify belts. Forrest exercised his right to an immediate rematch and they met again on a card that also included Zab Judah’s split decision over DeMarcus Corley to take his WBO junior welterweight title and Vivian Harris’ unanimous decision over Souleymane M’baye to retain the WBA junior welterweight title. Most figured Forrest would not allow himself to get caught in a firefight again and that as the taller, longer, more skillful boxer he would outbox Mayorga.
While the rematch, which I covered at ringside for USA Today at The Orleans in Las Vegas (where the frozen margaritas were like $2 at the hotel bar!), was indeed far more of a boxing match than slugfest, Mayorga constantly went after Forrest. But Mayorga also boxed well in the best performance of his career and won a well-deserved majority decision (116-112, 115-114, 114-114) to retain the belts. My most vivid memory of that fight week came when the bout was over. As ring announcer Jimmy Lennon began to read the scorecards, Forrest climbed the ring ropes on the media side of the ring just above where I was seated and raised his arms in victory believing he had won. But I already knew that he had lost. I was seated next to one of the guys running CompuBox and he had heard the scores that were given to the folks in the HBO production truck over his headset before they were read aloud (so the truck could very quickly prepare a graphic) and told me the result. The fight was on July 12, 2003 — 20 years ago on Tuesday. Here is a rare site poster in my collection.
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 23 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: Usyk-Dubois: Piotr Duszczyk/boxingphotos.pl; Lopez: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Marshall: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer; Mayer: Queensberry Promotions
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
We are in good shape in boxing in Australia with tszyu and opetaia