Richard Schaefer
Thank you very much. And thank you to all the media to be on today’s call. I’m really excited. My first boxing conference call after almost three years out of the sport. So, I’m really excited to be at it again.
And what better way to do it than with a double header like this? It’s rare enough to have a match up like Jesus Cuellar versus Abner Mares, which has fight of the year written all over it.
Adonis Stevenson says he needs “all the titles” at light-heavyweight and that “it’s time” to make a fight between himself and the winner of the upcoming, eagerly anticipated Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward showdown. Ward has said he believes the winner of the November 19th fight deserves to be placed at the very top of the pound-for-pound ratings, while Stevenson – who tells Premier Boxing Champions that he beats Ward and/or Kovalev – says the fans deserve to see who the best 175 pound champion is.
Go back a few months, and Cuban heavyweight Luis Ortiz could scarcely get himself an opponent, let alone a big name or a reigning champion. But, having signed with Matchroom, the big, powerful and previously avoided southpaw is closer than ever to the big, big fights his talents deserve. This doesn’t mean Ortiz will get all he wants – he must first get past Malik Scott tomorrow night in Monaco – but the likes of Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua are at least possibilities now.
Is Mexican star and former champion Julio Cesar Chavez Junior once again committed, fully dedicated and ready to stay as such as he tries to get his latest comeback off the ground? The 30 year-old says so and, in speaking with ESPN.com, Chavez Jnr said his aim is to engage in further world title fights down the road.
Chavez, 49-2-1(32) will return to action after well over a year out this December 10, against Germany’s Dominik Britsch in a ten-rounder to be fought at an agreed weight of 170 pounds. Chavez Jnr – again promoted with Zanfer with whom he has reunited after a split with Top Rank – says he is happy with the quality of his comeback opponent, but he is already looking at bigger fights. Much bigger fights. The former WBC middleweight ruler says he wants either Saul Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin.
Saturday’s Special Edition of Boxing After Dark begins live at 4:00 p.m. ET/PT from Monte Carlo. The special from Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo features a heavyweight showdown between knockout machine Luis Ortiz taking on Malik Scott.
*There will be an evening replay at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT).
Kell Brook says he won’t give up his IBF World Welterweight title and is plotting huge unification bouts for 2017.
The Sheffield star is back in the gym following a minor operation on the damaged eye socket he suffered in his epic showdown with Middleweight king Gennady Golovkin in London in September.
The 30 year old landed the IBF crown with a superb win over Shawn Porter in California in August 2014 before clinical stoppage wins in defences over Jo Jo Dan, Frankie Gavin and Kevin Bizier before stepping up two weights to take on ‘Triple G’.
Undefeated world champion Danny “Swift” Garcia and Colombia’s Samuel Vargas went face-to-face Thursday afternoon, one day before they weigh-in for their Premier Boxing Champions on Spike main event showdown taking place Saturday, November 12 from Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
Televised coverage on Spike begins at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT and features undefeated rising star Jarrett Hurd battling former title challenger Jo Jo Dan plus former world champion Javier Fortuna taking on unbeaten Omar Douglas.
As knockout artist Curtis “The Cerebral Assassin” Stevens (28-5, 21 KOs) prepares to face James “The King” De La Rosa (23-4, 13 KOs) on the live HBO Pay-Per-View undercard of Kovalev-Ward “Pound For Pound” he once again has teamed up with world-renowned trainer, John David Jackson.
Stevens, 31 of Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York is known for his one-punch knockout power. For years he climbed through the ranks of the middleweight division with ease. Then after a couple of setbacks he reassessed his entire strategy. For his most recent bout against Patrick Teixeira on the Canelo-Khan HBO Pay-Per-View undercard he worked with former two-division world champion John David Jackson. Stevens stopped Teixeira in the second round to secure the upset victory and the WBC Continental Americas Middleweight Title. The victory over Teixeira catapulted Curtis back into the rankings of all four major sanctioning bodies. On Nov. 19 Stevens and Jackson will team up again this time to face 28-year old Mexico native James “The King” De La Rosa on the Kovalev-Ward “Pound For Pound” HBO Pay-Per-View undercard.
IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua insists he is fully focused on his upcoming December 10 challenger Eric Molina, but the 17-0(17) star is also looking towards the future. Joshua makes the second defence of his belt against the dangerously determined Molina, and AJ is already planning his third and fourth defences.
As fans know, the word is that Joshua, if he’s victorious against Molina, will engage in his very first super-fight next spring against former king Wladimir Klitschko.
It seems Kell Brook will remain at welterweight, where he of course holds the IBF crown. It had been assumed by many that Brook would vacate his welterweight belt having bulked up to middleweight for his unsuccessful challenge of world champ Gennady Golovkin in September. Brook himself said many times how he felt so much stronger as a 160-pounder, having avoided “killing myself” to make 147.
But now, promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed how he has “reached out” to Top Rank head Bob Arum with regards to a possible Brook-Manny Pacquiao unification fight. Hearn, in speaking with The Daily Mail, also mentioned Brook’s mandatory challenger, Errol Spence Jnr.