Espinoza Talks HBO-GB Divorce, Floyd on CBS; Ghost Says He’s The Chosen One

Published

12 years ago

March 27, 2013

I confess I enjoy talking to Showtime boxing boss Stephen Espinoza when I see him. He’s a lawyer, yes. But I don’t hold that against him. He’s not from the Judd Burstein school of lawyers-in-boxing, in-your-face, confrontational.

While he sometimes can’t or won’t give me the total truth, because he doesn’t want to jeopardize a negotiation or throw someone who arguably deserves it under a bus. He’ll tell me, or maybe wrinkle his nose, if he thinks a fight stinks, occasionally, and that’s refreshing. Also, he doesn’t run for a corner and huddle with other execs, giving off the vibe that he’d rather be emptying a cat litter bin than be talking to the press.

I chatted with Espinoza on Tuesday afternoon in NYC, during a media gathering to spread the word on Robert Guerrero (pictured above, with wife Casey in background, in Tom Casino-Showtime photo), the Christian warrior who’s promising to go all David on Goliath Mayweather May 4 in Las Vegas, on Showtime PPV. He didn’t want to get into a pissing match with HBO, or with Bob Arum, while HBO was divorcing Golden Boy a few weeks ago, but some time has passed, and plus, I had him cornered in the Vanderbilt Suite at the MetLife Building at 200 Park Ave.

I asked him how he thinks the sport will be affected by the drawing of the line in the sand, with HBO and Top Rank over here, Golden Boy and Showtime over there.

“I’m not sure how it affects things,” he said. He admitted that he found HBO’s announcement “strange,” using the same term that Richard Schaefer did. “If you say you’re looking for the most competitive fights, but categorically won’t do business with the largest supplier of fights….”

I replied that maybe it’s just best that the terms of the divorce are on the table. Maybe it’s best to be transparent, and because relationships are clarified, people can proceed with a new level of comprehension. He nodded that that take might have some merit.

So, was it tit for tat, did HBO make the move in response to the Mayweather ship jumping to Showtime?

“I’m not sure of the rationale,” Espinoza said. “You get the sense it was maybe them closing the barn door.” He quickly realized he didn’t want to compare boxers to cattle, but the implication was clear. “Let’s substitute a better metaphor.”

As for Mr. Arum’s charge that he hadn’t heard from Espinoza since November, the Showtime exec said that last fall, they wanted to make a Mikey Garcia-Orlando Salido fight. “We haven’t spoken since then, but it’s been pretty clear what his intention was,” he said. “If Arum calls me, I’d be happy to take the call. I’ve been on this job for 16 months, and Bob hasn’t called me once.”

Me, I’d like to see all these guys get along well enough to put together a few of those fights that it would be a shame to never see because they hate each other, and can’t swallow the bile long enough to put the fans first. Would Espinoza try to act as a mediator, bring warring parties together so we could see a Donaire-Mares fight, for example? (And there actually aren’t that many must see fights that aren’t being made, today, because Top Rank and Golden Boy are Israel and Palestine). “Somewhat,” he said. “We’d like to make Donaire-Mares. But when a large offer was made (to Donaire), and it was turned down, it became clear other things were in play. Three million dollars for the fight would have been a record. I think there is a perception that the networks can force the promoters to make fights, we can’t. But, we have an open door, it’s open to everybody.”

He also tossed me an interesting tidbit when I asked if he’d maybe do more business with Euro promoters, to widen the talent base available what with Top Rank being exclusive to HBO, basically. Not really, Espinoza said. In so many words, he said that’s because he is purposefully looking to rebrand, re-position Showtime, and he wants to steer clear of fights and relationships that remind people of the “old” Showtime.

I touched on my desire, as a fan of the sport, to get more and better fights on “free” TV, to grow the hardcore fanbase from its present 1.2 million Americans. He agreed that is important, and also said he’s put into effect more local radio ads, and street team ads and marketing to a younger set, in nightclubs and such, to try and draw more fresh eyeballs to the sport. I get the sense we could see a couple more cards on CBS this year, and he said that Floyd fighting on CBS isn’t a mere pipe dream. That would have to be “alternative business model,” Espinoza noted, agreeing that ads alone don’t equal the revenue generated from PPV.

After that talk, Guerrero appeared. He was presented by Golden Boy’s Dave Itskowitch with a birthday cake–he turned 30 on Wednesday–and then had me convinced that he was more of a threat to Mayweather than he was before I saw him in person. “I look at this fight as a modern day David and Goliath,” he said. He said Floyd used to act respectably, but since the fight against Oscar De La Hoya, he “spun out of control.” The Gilroy, CA boxer said when someone like a Mayweather gets too big for their britches, “the Lord will humble you.” He made it quite clear that he believed he’d been tasked by that Lord to hasten the process. “I know the Lord is using me to do that,” he said.

Guerrero said during their first face to face promo event, Floyd whispered to him that they say prayers to the same God. He implied that God would pick no favorite, that it would be up to each man to get it done on May 4. “But God has favors over people,” Guerrero said. “God uses people.” Mayweather’s problem is he worships money over everything else, Guerrero said he told the fighter, and Floyd “froze up.”

Reader, could Guerrero’s faith in fact elevate him to a level of proficiency on fight night that could propel him past Mayweather? Or do you believe he is using the best method he can decipher to psych himself up, the “chosen one” angle? Weigh in, in our Forum!

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Michael Woods

Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2025

David A. Avila

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Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.

Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.

“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.

After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.

Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.

One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”

Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.

“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”

Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.

A real fight was happening.

Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.

Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.

In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.

“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”

Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.

In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.

“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”

Espinoza Wins

WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.

“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.

Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.

Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.

It was Espinoza’s third title defense.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.

The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.

The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.

Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.

Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.

A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.

In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.

Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.

Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.

In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.

Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.

Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.

In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.

Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.

Semi-wind-up

In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.

A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.

The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.

Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.

Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.

Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.

Heavyweights

In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.

Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.

The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.

In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions

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