Podcast: In-depth De La Hoya interview; end of Showtime boxing
Plus: Previewing Catterall-Linares and Rocha-Santillan; news of the week; Hearns and Holyfield discussion on their birthdays
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.
The two most notable fights on Saturday are both on DAZN: junior welterweight contender Jack Catterall’s fight with Jorge Linares on the Matchroom Boxing card in Liverpool, England, and the welterweight fight between contenders Alexis Rocha and Giovani Santillan that headlines the Golden Boy card in Inglewood, California. We previewed both of them. More notably, there is my in-depth interview with Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya on a variety of topics and a discussion of the now-official impending demise of boxing on Showtime. We also hit on several news items of the week and celebrated the birthdays of legends Thomas Hearns and Evander Holyfield with memories of their great careers.
Here is what’s on the show (in order):
The devastating but expected news that Paramount Global, the parent company of Showtime, will shutter Showtime Sports, including the boxing franchise at the end of the year. Plenty of discussion why it happened, where PBC may go and many thoughts on the rich history of boxing on Showtime.
Preview of Catterall-Linares, which Catterall is expected to win against Linares, who is well past his best days and lost three in a row as he shoots for an upset that would derail Catterall’s aspirations for another title shot.
Preview of the solid match between Rocha, who is risking his WBO mandatory status, and the undefeated contender Santillan.
My interview with De La Hoya. We talked about Rocha-Santillan; Ryan Garcia’s impeding fight with Oscar Duarte and working with Garcia while they are in a lawsuit and mediation; Oscar’s recent meeting with Top Rank’s Bob Arum and their discussion of possibly doing major fights together, including Teofimo Lopez-Garcia; the latest on Jaime Munguia and a possible fight next summer with Edgar Berlanga; Zurdo Ramirez’s impressive performance in his recent cruiserweight debut and what could be on the horizon; the latest with Vergil Ortiz Jr.; and Oscar’s reaction to the demise of Showtime, where Golden Boy put on numerous major fights during the course of a deal Golden Boy used to have with the network.
The Devin Haney-Regis Prograis kickoff press conference this week and the announcement of the undercard.
The announcement of the Boxxer-NBC deal and what it could mean in the long term.
The planned return of Jake Paul on Dec. 15.
Discussion of the great careers of Hearns and Holyfield, who both celebrated birthdays this week.
Please give it a listen! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!
De La Hoya photo: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy
Please upgrade your subscription here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
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
