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Is Sergey Kovalev the next GGG?

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The boxing world was all aglow this week in the aftermath of WBA middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin’s three-round demolition of Daniel Geale. The undefeated crowd-pleaser received some of his biggest props from some of boxing’s biggest names. Calling the action from ringside, HBO’s Max Kellerman compared Golovkin to Joe Louis on Saturday night. Sportscaster and president of the Las Vegas Boxing Hall of Fame Rich Marotta said via Twitter he thought Golovkin was the “hardest punching” middleweight ever. Thomas Hauser opined that Golovkin was the “true middleweight champion” of the world. ESPN.com’s Brian Campbell said Golovkin was “the class of the middleweight division” and said the win “stamped his spot among the sport’s pound-for-pound best.” Frank Lotierzo said Golovkin was the “alpha fighter”’ at middleweight. Even Geale’s promoter, Gary Shaw, said Golovkin was the best 160-pound fighter he had ever seen.

GGG is a rare breed: a solid puncher who is superbly skilled at all facets of the game. He moves forward with precision and throws compact combinations with poise and power. If Golovkin isn’t the future of boxing, he most certainly is the most macabre mirage of it HBO has ever been able to produce.

Light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev might be the very same kind of fighter.

Golovkin, a 32-year-old, is a native of Khazakstan who now lives in Germany. Kovalev, a 31-year-old, is a native Russian who now lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Both men posses seemingly absurd power in both hands and fight in the aggressive style of a stalker. Golovkin has knocked out 27 of 30 opponents while Kovalev has done the same to 22 of 25. Each man has an impressive knockout streak going. Golovkin’s sits at 17 while Kovalev’s run is up to eight (though it might be up to 13 had a 2011 bout against Grover Young not been called a Technical Draw after Round 2 due to a foul).

Kovalev might very well be following in Golovkin’s footsteps. In fact, Main Events CEO Kathy Duva told me she believes Golovkin helped pave the way for Kovalev.

“Once Golovkin proved that an Eastern European can, in fact, be embraced by the whole world, then that prejudice, and that’s what it was, the wall came down. Thank heavens for that.”

Like Golovkin, Kovalev is the type of fighter who dares you to stand in front of him and trade punches. He is a sound boxer with expert technical ability. He’s forceful and aggressive, but doesn’t cross the line into being careless about his defense. Both fighters can knock their opponents into next week and usually do. In fact, both men seem to go into every minute of every round intent on exactly that.

Neither man is the lineal champion in his division but just might be the best there anyway. Miguel Cotto holds the lineal middleweight crown after knocking out Sergio Martinez in June at Madison Square Garden. Adonis Stevenson is the same at light heavyweight after a one-punch knockout win over Chad Dawson last year at Bell Centre in Quebec.

It’s a shame, but Golovkin and Kovalev don’t seem to be on their ways to shots at the lineal titles they lack anytime soon. Cotto appears to be content on taking the same road his predecessor did before him at middleweight, one that keeps him as far away from Golovkin as possible. Meanwhile, Stevenson had agreed to meet Kovalev earlier this year but thought better of it and headed over to Showtime for the likes of aging light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins instead.

Despite it, both Golovkin and Kovalev hold alphabet titles and have the power and money of HBO behind them. Golovkin has held some version of the WBA strap since 2010. Kovalev has worn his WBO belt since last year’s four-round destruction of Nathan Cleverly in Wales.

Yet, there comes a point in boxing when things like who is the true champion in the division doesn’t really matter. I mean, sure, it matters to historians and the like, but prizefighting is ultimately about who the fans want to see fight. In an age when fans seem to flat-out revolt against the likes of Cuban stylist Guillermo Rigondeaux, who is lineal champion of the junior featherweight division, Golovkin and Kovalev represent a stark contrast from the status quo.

Unlike Rigo, as well as boxing’s biggest superstar, Floyd Mayweather, Golovkin and Kovalev do not, as Frank Lotierzo borrows from Muhammad Ali, “only punch hard enough to win.” Instead, both Golovkin and Kovalev are the type of fighters who want to stand in the pocket and test their opponents’ wills. Where Rigo and Mayweather are content to duck and dive out of harm’s way, mitigating risk and only throwing punches when they feel safe enough to do so, Golovkin and Kovalev seem downright offended when an opponent would rather step away from them than come forward and fight.

Boxing needs all types of fighters. For every Rigo and Mayweather, guys who want to box and move, there has to be fighters like Golovkin and Kovalev to balance things out. More importantly, boxing needs a mixture of styles at the top of the sport. There are plenty of pugs who fight in the style of Golovkin and Kovalev, but few are able to do it at the highest level of the sport.

Fight fans crave action perhaps more than any other thing boxing has to offer. Both Golovkin and Kovalev are well positioned to bring exactly that for a long time to come. If Golovkin is the future of the sport, perhaps Kovalev is the very same, too.

Time will tell.

McCarson’s Blogtastic Notes

— Hard to imagine, but not so long ago, Kovalev was a free agent who couldn’t find a promoter in either the United States or Canada willing to give him a chance. Kovalev’s manager, Egis Klimas, met with Main Events’s CEO Kathy Duva and matchmaker Jolene Mizzone at a Manhattan restaurant in January 2012. Main Events matched Kovalev with Darnell Boone, a fighter who gave Kovalev trouble two years prior. This time, though, the improved Kovalev thrashed Boone in just two rounds. Duva remembers that moment fondly: “Then just after the fight was over… We ran over to Egis and I said, ‘we’ll have a contract over to you on Monday!’”

— Kovalev was in a rare mood last week when I talked to him on the phone for Bleacher Report. His first words to me were how hungry he was (not for titles but food) and his answers where short. Still, the experience only added to Kovalev’s mystique for me and provided readers, in my estimation, a fun read. The best moment of the interview was when I asked him about Bernard Hopkins, to which Kovalev replied: “…who is this ‘Bernard Hopkins’? I know that my next opponent is Blake Caparello.”

— Kovalev’s opponent, Caparello, is a 27-year-old from Australia with only has six knockouts in 20 professional fights. While Caparello believes he’ll be able to frustrate Kovalev early and take him into the later rounds, it’s difficult to imagine a fighter with as little pop as Caparello being able to keep Kovalev off for very long.

— Speaking of Australia, Golovkin’s opponent last weekend, Geale, also hails from Down Under. This will likely end up a rough week for Aussie boxing fans.

— Kovalev and Golovkin were gym mates for a short while and sparred each other on occasion. Can you imagine what that must have looked like? Kovalev said: “Golovkin hits like a sledgehammer.”

— I asked Kovalev if he had a prediction for Saturday’s fight with Caparello and he responded with a righteously awesome Michael Buffer impersonation: “Let’s get ready to rummmmmbbbbbblllllleeee!”

— Kovalev possesses serious power, but award-winning writer Bart Barry told me it wasn’t just that Kovalev was strong, but that he was able to run his opponents into his punches. Against Caparello, watch closely to see how Kovalev uses smart combinations to set his opponent up for the power shot.

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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

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Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

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Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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