Notebook: Usyk departs Ukraine to begin training camp for rematch with Joshua
Talks for Munguia-Jacobs this summer; podcast appearance; new Golden Boy series on DAZN?; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Unified heavyweight titleholder Oleksandr Usyk has left his home country of Ukraine to set up training camp to prepare for his rematch with former two-time titleholder Anthony Joshua this summer, Usyk promoter Alex Krassyuk told Fight Freaks Unite.
“We did leave Ukraine to start the training camp,” Krassyuk said, although he did not say where specifically they have gone. “We plan to stage the fight (in the) summertime.”
Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion and the 2012 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist for Ukraine, convincingly outpointed Joshua in an upset in London to take his three major titles last September.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs), 32, of England, invoked his contractual right to an immediate rematch and plans were in the works for the fight to take pace in May or June. But then Usyk joined a territorial defense battalion in Ukraine to fight the unprovoked invasion by neighboring Russia.
Although the government imposed a rule that all fit men ages 18 to 60 must serve in defense of the country, one of the caveats was that men with three or more minor children could leave. Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), a 35-year-old southpaw, has three children. He initially stayed after the invasion before making the decision to prepare for the eight-figure title defense.
There is also the thought by some that as a high-profile Ukrainian athlete Usyk would better serve his country by bringing continued positive attention to its war with Russia during the build up to the fight with Joshua than he would by serving in a defense battalion.
The date and site of Usyk-Joshua II is not set, but Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing has said he is working on it in consultation with Usyk’s team.
Joshua, who had been exploring an interim bout had Usyk delayed the fight further, will go into the rematch with a new head trainer in former assistant Angel Fernandez, who replaces Joshua’s career-long trainer Robert McCracken.
Munguia-Jacobs talks
Representatives for Jamie Munguia and Daniel Jacobs have begun discussing a fight between them that would headline a DAZN card this summer, sources with knowledge of the discussions told Fight Freaks Unite.
The sources said that Munguia co-promoter Golden Boy and Jacobs’ team of promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing and manager Keith Connolly are in talks for a fight that likely would take place slightly north of the 160-pound middleweight limit. Jacobs’ last three fights have been at super middleweight.
Munguia (39-0, 31 KOs), 25, of Mexico, a former junior middleweight world titlist, is coming off a one-sided third-round knockout of D’Mitrius Ballard on Feb. 19 but he has been widely criticized for not facing a top opponent in any of his five fights since moving up to middleweight in 2020, even though he has had opportunities to challenge Demetrius Andrade for the WBO world title or to participate in a WBC title elimination fight.
Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs), 35, of Brooklyn, New York, a former middleweight titleholder, would be a step up for Munguia. He has faced many quality opponents and is coming off a heavily disputed split decision loss to John Ryder on Ryder’s turf in London on Feb. 12.
Mannix podcast appearance
I joined my pal Chris Mannix on his Volume Sports boxing podcast this week and we covered many topics. We discussed the recent wins of Edgar Berlanga and Alexis Rocha, talk of a Daniel Jacobs-Jaime Munguia fight, where we are at with a George Kambosos-Devin Haney undisputed lightweight title fight, a preview of the Kiko Martinez-Josh Warrington featherweight title rematch, and thoughts on Tim Tszyu, who makes his U.S. debut on Showtime on Saturday night. Then Tszyu followed me on the podcast. Listen here:
New Golden Boy series?
Golden Boy Promotions announced a DAZN card for April 21 at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, that will be headlined by a 10-round junior welterweight bout between Joel Diaz Jr. (26-2, 22 KOs), of Palmdale, California, and former world title challenger Mercito Gesta (32-3-3, 17 KOs), a Philippines native fighting out of San Diego.
According to a source, the card is the first of what could be a series of shows in the vein of the old ESPN2 “Friday Nights Fights” cards in that they would focus on bouts that are not necessarily between top-rated fighters or championship bouts but that are evenly matched.
The series would also be used to develop younger fighters on the way to bigger events.
Also on the card, Glendora, California, lightweight Jousce Gonzalez (11-0-1, 10 KOs) will face Mexico’s Jairo Lopez (27-14, 17 KOs) in the eight-round co-feature.
San Diego junior lightweight Jorge Chavez, Coachella, California, junior featherweight Manuel Flores (11-0, 8 KOs) and Mexican flyweight Jan Salvatierra (7-1, 3 KOs) will also be in action against opponents to determined.
Quick hits
Weights from Minneapolis for Saturday’s Premier Boxing Champions card on Showtime: Tim Tszyu 153.5 pounds, Terrell Gausha 153.25; Michel Rivera 136.5, Joseph Adorno 136.75; Elvis Rodriguez 141.25, Juan Jose Velasco 141.5; Bakhram Murtazaliev 156.8, Ahmad Cheikho 158.6; Brian Mendoza 153.6, Benjamin Whitaker 152.4; Michael Angeletti 123.4, Angel Luna 124.2; Joey Spencer 155.4, Ravshan Hudaynazarov 155.8; Joseph Goodall 244.2, Matthew McKinney 251.4; Travon Marshall 150.2, Timothy Parks 150.6; Breeon Carothers 135.4, Deljerro Revello 135.2.
Weights from Leeds, England for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN: Kiko Martinez 125.4 pounds, Josh Warrington 125.7 (rematch for Martinez’s IBF featherweight title); Maria Cecilia Roman 116.7, Ebanie Bridges 117.5 (for Roman’s IBF women’s bantamweight title); Maxi Hughes 133.8, Ryan Walsh 134.6; Dalton Smith 139.4, Roy Moylette 139.3; Sky Nicolson 127.3, Bec Connolly 127; Cory O’Regan 137.7, Jakub Laskowski 137.6; Mali Wright 186.4, Luis Palmer 186; Calum French 137.8. Angelo Turco 140.2.
Weights from Las Vegas for Saturday’s Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card: Miguel Berchelt 135 pounds, Jeremiah Nakathila 133.6; Jose Enrique Vivas 126.2, Enrique Baez 126.6; Carlos Caraballo 120, Luis Fernando Saavedra 120; Tiger Johnson 142, Seabstian Gabriel Chaves 143.2; Josue Vargas 142, Nicolas Pablo Demario 141.6; Haven Brady Jr. 127, Jose Argel 126.6; Dante Benjamin Jr. 173.6, Kevin Johnson 174.4; Arturo Cardenas 122.4, Juan Hernandez Martinez 123.6.
Heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson, who has served as champion Tyson Fury’s main sparring partner in recent camps and was supposed to box on the undercard of his title defense against Dillian Whyte on April 23 (ESPN PPV) at Wembley Stadium in London, is off the card after suffering a broken finger. “To all my fans and supporters, I would like to personally apologize because I will no longer be able to fight on the Fury vs. Whyte undercard due to an injury,” Anderson posted on social media. “I rushed this camp and now I have to go into hiding and will be back 10x stronger.”
Manny Pacquiao-promoted middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial (1-0, 0 KOs), 26, a southpaw from the Philippines, who won a bronze medal at this past summer’s Tokyo Olympics, will return to the professional ranks on April 9 on the Erickson Lubin-Sebastian Fundora undercard at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Marcial, who now lives and trains in Las Vegas, will face Isiah Hart (6-2-1, 4 KOs), 30, of Mays Landing, New Jersey, in a six-rounder. “I am really excited to have Eumir back in the professional ranks after a tremendous showing in Tokyo at the Olympics and winning the Bronze medal for the Philippines,” MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons said. “I have worked with a lot of top fighters over the years, but Eumir is the best I have been with coming out of the amateur ranks, and the sky is the limit.”
Wasserman Boxing announced that the first card of its new deal with the United Kingdom over-the-air network Channel 5 will take place May 13 at the Indigo at The O2 in London and will be headlined by welterweight Josh Kelly (10-1-1, 6 KOs) against an opponent to be named. Kelly, a 2016 Great Britain Olympian, is looking rebound from a sixth-round knockout loss to David Avanesyan for the vacant European title in February 2021. Also on the card: Linus Udofia (17-0, 9 KOs) and Denzel Bentley (15-1-1, 13 KOs) will meet for the vacant British middleweight title; junior welterweight Harlem Eubank (13-0, 5 KOs) will face Sean Dodd (17-6-1, 3 KOs) and middleweight Brad Pauls (15-0, 9 KOs) fights Ryan Kelly (16-3, 8 KOs).
Last month Legacy Sports Management announced that former junior welterweight and welterweight titlist Marco Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs), 38, of Argentina, who retired after a 2014 decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in a welterweight title rematch, was returning to face pro debuting YouTube personality Yao Cabrera, of Uruguay, in a six-round middleweight fight on Saturday at in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. However, for reasons not announced, Maidana is no longer on the card, which is headlined by Cuban cruiserweight Mike Perez (26-3-1, 17 KOs) taking on the Czech Republic’s Vasil Ducar (10-4-1, 9 KOs) in a regional title bout.
With Nicaragua’s Felix Alvarado vacating the IBF junior flyweight title this week to move up in weight after two defenses, the IBF said it would order Sive Nontshinga (10-0, 9 KOs), 23, of South Africa, who is the organization’s No. 1 contender at 108 pounds, to face No. 3 Hector Flores (19-0-4, 10 KOs), 29, of Mexico, for the vacant belt.
Show and tell
Lennox Lewis was coming off a sensational first-round knockout of Andrew Golota to retain the WBC heavyweight title when he was matched with Shannon Briggs, who had been given an extremely controversial majority decision over George Foreman in his previous fight to claim the lineal title. Briggs was a considerable underdog against Lewis, especially since so few thought he had deserved the decision over Big George, but he gave his all in a fight with Lewis far more entertaining than many expected. Lewis, however, dominated. He dropped Briggs twice in the fourth round and then again in getting the knockout victory in the fifth round to take over the lineal championship to go with his WBC belt.
I have vivid memories of the fight. I was working at the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, New York, as the beat reporter covering the Double-A Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League. Each season my editor would send me to spring training in Port St. Lucie, Florida, for about 10 days to get to know the team, write daily, do a few features from Mets big league camp and to gather material for our preview special section that would come out on Opening Day. I loved going to spring training. I was staying in a residence hotel that had a million cable channels but no HBO and I really wanted to watch the fight. I asked one of the Mets coaches if they had HBO at the team hotel and they did. So that Saturday night, I drove over to the team hotel and explained my plight to one of the doormen. Turned out, he was also a big boxing fan. He led me to an empty conference room that had a big TV in it and he put on HBO. He let me hang out there and came back a little while later on his break and watched the fight with me and then I drove back to my HBO-less hotel. The fight was on March 28, 1998 — 24 years ago on Monday. Here is a mint site poster in my collection.
Usyk photo: Ian Walton Matchroom Boxing; Jacobs photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Tszyu-Gausha photo: Esther Lin/Showtime
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