As per a news piece by Dan Rafael of Espn.com, talks had begun a weeks or so ago for a lightweight unification clash between Mikey Garcia and Jorge Linares, to have taken place early next year some time. Well, it ain’t gonna happen after all.
Eric Gomez of Golden Boy met with Garcia himself and, surprisingly, Garcia turned the fight, or the fight offer down.
The six fighters that will appear Live on HBO World Championship Boxing on Saturday night at NYCB LIVE Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum worked out today in New York for the media.
DANIEL JACOBS
Having Chris Algieri in camp is great – it’s the second time around and it makes for a great family atmosphere. But at the same time, i am a loner. I like to be alone. I like to isolate myself because on fight night I am in that ring all by myself so I like to get used to being the only person leading up to the fight. On Saturday night, I just want to win impressively so i can have another fight. That is my only goal. I want to be champion again and go after the heavy hitters. Not excluding anyone, but I feel I am the best middleweight in the world and i want to prove that and Saturday night is going to be the first stepping stone.
Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events: Welcome everyone to the Kovalev-Shabranskyy International Media Conference Call. Thank you to all the media who have dialed in to this call today to discuss the upcoming fight for the vacant WBO Light Heavyweight Title. This tasty Thanksgiving weekend boxing event is sure to thrill fans and will air on HBO World Championship Boxing® live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Sat., Nov. 25 at 10:00 PM Eastern and Pacific Time. The fight is presented by Main Events and Krusher Promotions in association with Golden Boy Promotions. Tickets range from $50 to $350 and are available online at ticketmaster.com, the Madison Square Garden box office or Main Events’ Office by calling 973-200-7050 or emailing boxing@mainevents.com.
The WBC’s March 2, 2017 ruling (the “Ruling”): (1) suspended Mr. Alexander Povetkin from participating in any WBC-sanctioned bouts indefinitely; (2) imposed a $250,000 USD fine; and (3) designed a testing protocol for Mr. Povetkin to commence as soon as feasible after the Ruling, which would continue for one year thereafter.
It seems former WBA heavyweight champ Alexander Povetkin is right back in business. Though the Russian star was “indefinitely suspended” by the WBC after testing positive for an illegal substance (Ostarine) ahead of his December 2016 fight with Bermane Stiverne, he has now seen his suspension lifted.
It’s all down to the money side of things now. This is certainly how it looks, anyway. Deontay Wilder, as relentless as ever with his calling out of rival heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua – now telling BBC Sport he will come to England to fight “little girl” Joshua if he has to do so – wants to fight, as he puts it “ASAP.”
Joshua too says he wants the fight, but Wilder is not so sure AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants it: “I think Eddie is ducking more so than Joshua,” the WBC ruler said. So, as the two sides argue over the cash split (Hearn is, as we know, extremely reluctant to give Wilder anything close to a 50-50 split) WBO boss Joseph Parker enters the scene in a major way.
During his legendary, and very long career, the simply incomparable Sugar Ray Robinson fought many hard-hitters – fellow greats like the recently departed Jake La Motta, Rocky Graziano, Gene Fullmer and many, many more.
Despite his willingness to face the most dangerous, heavily-equipped sluggers of his day, however, Robinson was stopped just once: this by light-heavyweight Joey Maxim, when the torturous heat got the better of Robinson, forcing him to remain on his stool after the 13th-round of a fight he was winning handily on points.
There have been three prominent latter day heavyweights to come out of Brooklyn; one of which achieved true greatness. Now, unbeaten Brooklyn heavyweight Jarrell Miller has vowed to become “next in line” and join Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe and Shannon Briggs.
With the recent departure via retirement of Andre Ward and with Adonis Stevenson coming towards the end at age 40, the light-heavyweight division needs a new star to come along to light up the weight class. Fortunately, there are two 175 pounders who are, between them, either already holding a major belt or set to challenge for one very soon.
And both of these unbeaten and hard-hitting light-heavyweights come from Russia. Dmitry Bivol (born in Krygyzstan and relocating to Russia at the young age of 11) is the WBA champ, and he showed again on Saturday night in Monaco – with his first-round icing of Trent Broadhurst – how hard he hits and how ruthless he is.
Joseph Parker, like just about every other active heavyweight on the planet, wants a big fight with Anthony Joshua, but the reigning WBO champion is looking at other options in case a deal cannot be made for a unification clash.
And according to Australia’s Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne, Parker cold face him next, in March, in what would be a big deal over in that part of the world. Browne, who has suffered the ignominy of being labelled a drugs cheat not once but twice, has boxed once since returning from suspension, and he is now happy with the offer Parker has presented him with for the fight that would see Browne engage in his second world title fight.