Notebook: With no deal near, Crawford-Porter purse bid scheduled for Sept. 2
Joyce's new deal; 'Zurdo' running his mouth; Quick hits
When the WBO ordered welterweight titlist Terence Crawford and former two-time world titleholder Shawn Porter to meet in a mandatory fight last month the sides were given a month to make a deal or it would call a purse bid.
With no movement toward a deal, the sides not engaged in a serious negotiation and the deadline here, the WBO, as expected, scheduled a purse bid on Monday. It is set for Sept. 2 at 11 a.m. ET at the WBO offices in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The WBO announced it will stream the purse bid on its website.
Although it is possible that Crawford promoter Top Rank and Porter representative Tom Brown of TGB Promotions, on behalf of Premier Boxing Champions, could still make a deal, that is seemingly unlikely.
Minimum bid according to the WBO letter sent to both sides is $200,000, although it is a marquee fight and it likely will command bids in the high seven figures. Bidding is open to any promoter registered with the WBO. The split of the money is 60 percent of the winning bid to Crawford and 40 percent to Porter. Both fighters have said their interested in the fight.
Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), 33, of Omaha, is one of boxing’s elite pound-for-pound best and has won titles in three weight classes, but has yet to have the opportunity to face a top welterweight, which Porter is. Crawford, whose contract with Top Rank is up this fall, won the title from Jeff Horn in 2018 and has made four defenses against Jose Benavidez Jr., Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Amir Khan and Kell Brook.
Since Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), 33, of Las Vegas, lost his title by close decision to Errol Spence Jr. in a title unification fight in September 2019, he has won his only bout, a shutout 12-round decision over Sebastian Formella last August.
New Joyce deal
Heavyweight contender Joe Joyce has signed a multi-fight contract extension with promoter Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, they announced on Monday.
Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs), 35, of England, who was the 2016 Olympic silver medalist, is the next WBO mandatory challenger following Oleksandr Usyk’s shot at Anthony Joshua on Sept. 25.
Joyce is coming off a sixth-round knockout of former world title challenger Carlos Takam on July 24 and before that knocked out then-unbeaten Daniel Dubois in the 10th round in November. Joyce also owns wins against former title challengers Alexander Ustinov and Bryant Jennings and former titleholder Bermane Stiverne.
“I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be extending my promotional deal with Queensberry,” Joyce said. “I believe with my management S-Jam, Queensberry and (broadcaster) BT Sport I’m in the right place to achieve my dreams and become a world champion.”
Warren has worked with Joyce since 2019 and is happy to retain his services.
“I am delighted Joe has agreed to a long-term contract renewal with us at Queensberry for the period of time where we are confident he will be crowned WBO world champion,” Warren said. “He hasn't put a foot, or a fist, wrong since teaming up with us and he is now getting the exposure and attention his boxing exploits deserve. We worked very hard in lobbying the WBO to recognize Joe as No. 2 in the world rankings and the governing body will enforce the mandatory challenge to the winner of Joshua-Usyk in 2022.
“So there are exciting times ahead in the heavyweight division for Queensberry fighters, with Tyson Fury leading the way as WBC champion, Joe poised to challenge for the WBO title and Daniel Dubois now WBA interim champion. It means we will be all set for some massive fights and huge occasions across the rest of this year and next and Joe will play a big part in it all.”
FITE in Focus
FITE.tv is a digital partner that will stream the Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley pay-per-view event on Sunday night from Cleveland. I participated in the FITE In Focus show previewing the cruiserweight bout and the solid undercard. Check it out here:
‘Zurdo’ talking trash
Light heavyweight contender and former super middleweight titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, who is coming off a very impressive fourth-round destruction of longtime contender Sullivan Barrera on July 9, very much wants a title shot at 175 pounds.
The 30-year-old Ramirez (42-0, 28 KOs), a southpaw from Mexico, is waiting on promoter Golden Boy to line one up for him.
“I leave my opponents to my promoter, Golden Boy, and its matchmaker, Robert Diaz,” Ramirez said. “They’re aware of what I want, and I trust they are diligent and will do whatever is best for me. As a fighter, I’ve been clear that all the world light heavyweight champs are on my hit list; and I don’t retract my statement or shy away from the fights as most of them have. In this world, all I have are my word and balls, and I don’t break ‘em for anyone. I fight not just for myself, but for my pride and the spirit of Mexican people.
“We are proud of our heritage and have been the best fighters. Russians know I will take out both (WBA titlist Dmitry) Bivol and (WBC/IBF champion Artur) Beterbiev; (WBO titlist) Joe Smith, Jr. is just an appetizer.
“I think they’re all reluctant to fight a Mexican light heavyweight like me. There’s a reason why Bivol is retracting his statement (about wanting to fight Ramirez) and staying quiet after all his social media antics. If he was serious, it’s an easy fight to make, and he knows it.”
Ramirez and Bivol both fight on DAZN, which makes it relatively easy to put together.
“I’m also hearing (Joshua) Buatsi’s name in the mix, but I would absolutely destroy him,” Ramirez said. “All these guys talk the talk but rarely walk the walk. I am a Mexican warrior. Everybody knows the way we are built.”
Quick hits
Former junior featherweight world titlist Julio Ceja, who was brutally knocked out cold in the 10th round by Mark Magsayo in a WBC featherweight title elimination fight on the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugas undercard on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and taken to the hospital, stayed overnight as a precaution. Ceja (32-5-1, 28 KOs), 28, was released on Sunday and flew home to Mexico on Monday.
Gervonta Davis (25-0, 24 KOs), who holds belts at junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight, is OK after a private plane he and a handful of people were on headed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Las Vegas for the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugas fight on Saturday, had to abort its takeoff and crashed on Saturday afternoon. The plane’s nose gear failed as it was about to take off, which caused the pilot to lose control of the plane. The nose gear eventually collapsed and the plane crashed. “I'm good,” Davis posted on his Instagram page, later adding, “For everybody that want to fly private, I think it's over with. I'm driving or catching a train.”
Russian promoter World of Boxing on Monday won the purse bid for the fight between WBA cruiserweight titlist Arsen Goulamirian (26-0, 18 KOs), 33, of France, and mandatory challenger Aleksei Egorov (11-0, 7 KOs), 29, of Russia. It won with a bid of $210,000. Goulamirian is entitled to 65 percent of the winning bid ($136,500) and Egorov gets 35 percent ($73,500). World of Boxing said it plans to scheduled the fight on Nov. 6 in Moscow, Nov. 6 in Paris or Nov. 20 in Monte Carlo. Goulamirian will be making his second title defense.
Show and tell
Juan Manuel Marquez struggled for years to get top opponents to face him but he finally did and became one of the all-time greatest fighters from Mexico. He won world titles in four weight classes (featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight) and was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He is most famous for his legendary four-fight series against Manny Pacquiao, which Pacquiao won 2-1-1 but every fight was great and many thought Marquez won all four of them. Of course, his one official win in the series came by massive one-punch knockout in the sixth round of the fourth fight, which was the 2012 fight of the year and knockout of the year. Marquez also beat top opponents such as Mike Alvarado, Michael Katsidis, Juan Diaz (twice), Joel Casamayor, Rocky Juarez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Orlando Salido and Derrick Gainer. He lost to Floyd Mayweather, Timothy Bradley Jr. (a split decision) and Chris John. His last fight was in 2014, a win over Alvarado, because of a knee injury he could not overcome. On Monday, Marquez turned 48. Here is his rookie card in my collection from the 2008 Topps Co-signers autograph set that includes numerous boxers.
Crawford photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Ramirez photo: Team Ramirez
Shawn Porter is a nightmare. He wins with athleticism and grapples like demon. It will be interesting to see if Crawford can keep him off of him.
The Joyce contract is interesting. His manager Sam Jones is close to Hearn, so presumably Warren/BT are paying a decent wedge for Joyce.
Ramirez vs Buatsi would be great. Hearn thinks Buatsi could do well with Beterbiev, so should be an easy fight to make! But of course it won't happen anytime soon.
Marquez possibly the most underrated Mexican World Champion. His fights with Pac alone would guarantee lifetime legendary status in pretty much any other country.