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The Hauser Report: Dueling Dates
Boxing is in the midst of a remarkable run that has seen major fights on HBO, Showtime, CBS, NBC, and/or Spike virtually every week. April 18 brought more of the same with HBO and Showtime competing directly against each other.
The HBO card featured two fights and four different promoters: Ruslan Provodnikov (Banner Promotions) vs. Lucas Matthysse (Golden Boy) and Terence Crawford (Top Rank) vs. Thomas Dulorme (Gary Shaw Productions).
Crawford had compiled a 25-0 (17 KOs) record and earned recognition as the best lightweight in the world with a ninth-round stoppage of Yuriorkis Gamboa last year. This was his first fight at 140 pounds.
Dulorme (22-1, 14 KOs) was considered a prospect until Luis Carlos Abregu exposed his deficiencies and knocked him out thirty months ago. Since then, Thomas had carefully picked his opponents.
Thirty seconds into round six of Crawford-Dulorme, Terence’s skills and Thomas‘s limitations coincided. A straight right wobbled Dulorme, who appeared to take a knee rather than be put down by two errant punches that followed. Thomas then went into survival mode, but failed to survive. Knockdowns #2 and #3 ended the bout at the 1:51 mark of the sixth stanza.
Crawford looks like a complete fighter. It wasn’t just that he beat Doulorme. The way he beat him was impressive. Some intriguing fights await at 140 and 147 pounds if Terence is willing to go in tough.
Provodnikov-Matthysse brought to mind the words of Jay Larkin (the architect of Showtime’s boxing program). Larkin had a simple way of describing his job. “It’s not rocket science,” he’d say. “It’s boxing on television.”
In other words, a fight that looks good on paper is more likely to look good in the ring than a fight that shapes up on paper as a dud.
Provodnikov-Matthysse didn’t look good on paper. It looked great.
Provodnikov (24-3, 17 KOs) had lost narrow decisions to Mauricio Herrera and Chris Algieri (a split verdict) as well as a one-point defeat at the hands of Tim Bradley. But the latter bout (honored as 2013’s “Fight of the Year”) saw Bradley out on his feet twice and on the canvas once. In his next outing, Provodnikov battered Mike Alvarado into submission.
Matthysse (34-3, 34 KOs) had suffered one-point split-decision losses to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander and a two-point defeat at the hands of Danny Garcia. But 32 of his 34 wins had come by knockout and, two years ago, he brutalized Lamont Peterson en route to a third-round stoppage.
Matthysse and Provodnikov can be outslicked. Neither of them outslicks opponents. They bludgeon their foes. One day before the bout, Jimmy Tobin summed up the anticipation when he wrote, “The ring in the Turning Stone Resort and Casino will have a diamond set in it on Saturday night when Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov reveal what beauty can be wrought from pressure and heat. It is impossible to imagine these men leaving the ring unchanged by the other’s mischief.”
Provodnikov-Matthysse lived up to expectations. Matthysse has better boxing skills than Provodnikov. And he can whack. Worse from Ruslan’s point of view, in the opening minute of round two, an accidental clash of heads opened an ugly gash on his left eyelid that bled throughout the fight.
There are fighters who crumble and fighters who don’t. Earlier in the evening, Doulorme had crumbled. Provodnikov didn’t.
Ruslan lost five of the first six rounds and took a pounding in most of them. But he came on strong at the end of each round and gathered steam as the fight wore on. Instead of calling him “the Siberian Rocky,” one might refer to him simply as “the Siberian Rock.” His face was a bruised, battered, bloody, swollen, mess. It must have been a shock for him to look into a mirror after the fight. But he showed incredible resolve and heart.
Matthysse had enough in his arsenal to emerge victorious by a 115-113, 115-113, 114-114 margin.
Showtime’s card was an Al Haymon venture. In the opening bout, 24-year-old super-lightweight Amir Imam (18-0, 14 KOs) fought Walter Castillo (25-2, 18 KOs), who’d been imported from Nicaragua as a measuring stick. Iman won a clear-cut 100-90, 99-91, 98-92 decision. That set the stage for Showtime’s main event: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (48-1, 32 KOs) vs Andrzej Fonfara (26-3, 15 KOs).
Chavez (marketed as “son of the legend”) has his father’s DNA in his chin. He turned pro in 2003 and amassed a 48-1 (32 KOs) record while frustrating fans with an often-slovenly work ethic and inattention to such matters as making weight. Indeed, there were times (particularly prior to fighting Brian Vera in 2013) when Chavez seemed to be rewriting weight clauses in contracts to fit his eating and exercise habits rather than the other way around.
But Chavez is a ratings magnet. Also, over time, he became a legitimate contender, beating opponents like John Duddy, Andy Lee, and Marco Antonio Rubio, in large measure because of his superior physical gifts.
In theory, Chavez also briefly held the WBC middleweight championship after the sanctioning body shamelessly lifted Sergio Martinez’s crown to accommodate Julio. But Martinez ended that fiction by winning eleven of twelve rounds en route to a unanimous-decision triumph over “son of the legend” three years ago.
Fonfara (a natural light-heavyweight) had been chosen as Chavez’s opponent on the theory that Andrzej is there to be hit, doesn’t hit too hard, and would make Chavez look good. Also, Julio hoped that the 172-pound contract weight would add to Fonfara’s limitations by depleting Andrzej’s strength.
Chavez didn’t look to be in particularly good shape when Chavez-Fonfara began; a suspicion that was confirmed as the bout wore on. His technique (which has never been particularly good) fell apart. And his body work didn’t have the same effect on Fonfara that it has had on smaller men in the past.
By round six, there was bruising and swelling beneath both of Julio’s eyes, and he was only fighting in spurts. Fifty-five seconds into round nine, Fonfara (an orthodox fighter) shifted position and threw what in effect was a straight left that put Chavez on the canvas for the first time in Julio’s career. At the end of the round, Chavez went back to his corner, where trainer Joe Goossen asked, “How do you feel?”
“Stop it,” Chavez told him. “Stop the fight. I’m done. Stop it. I want it stopped.”
Fonfara had an 89-80, 88-81, 88-81 lead on the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage and outlanded Chavez by a 285-to-118 margin.
After the bout, Chavez put the blame for his defeat on fighting at a contract weight of 172 pounds. “The guy is too heavy for me,” he said. “172 is too much for me.”
Question: Whose fault was that?
Answer: Julio’s.
That said; Chavez is still marketable. He’s a good fighter with an aggressive ring style and defensive deficiencies that make for entertaining fights. He also still has his name, although Saturday night tarnished it a bit.
When Chavez lost to Sergio Martinez, he was treated in some circles as though he’d won because of a dramatic last-round effort that saw him floor Martinez twice. After losing to Fonfara in abysmal fashion, Julio will be treated as though he lost.
* * *
Earlier this year, Andre Ward signed a promotional contract with Roc Nation, which tried unsuccessfully to land a date for him on HBO or Showtime. The problem is that Ward wants big-fight money for a tune-up bout. His excuse is that he hasn’t fought since November, 19, 2013, and needs a soft-touch opponent to work off the ring rust.
Ward has fought twice since 2011. His inactivity is largely is consequence of his own making. And while Andre is a very good fighter, he doesn’t engender strong ratings.
It now appears as though Ward will get his soft touch. He’s tentatively scheduled to fight on June 20 in his hometown of Oakland against TBA in a bout that most likely will be televised by BET. That means Ward will get a smaller purse than anticipated, Roc Nation will take a bath, or both.
Sugar Ray Leonard had been out of the ring for three years when he returned to action in 1987, went up two weight classes, and fought Marvin Hagler. Vitali Klitschko came back after four years of inactivity and faced WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter in his comeback fight.
There’s no reason for HBO or anyone else to pay big money for an Andre Ward tune-up fight.
* * *
To their credit, both Ruslan Provodnikov and Lucas Matthysse agreed to be tested for performance enhancing drugs by VADA during the lead-in to their fight. Vadim Komilov (Provodnikov’s manager) explained how that came about.
“When we fought Tim Bradley,” Kornilov said at a fight-week press conference in New York, “Bradley’s people insisted on VADA testing, and we agreed to it. I liked the way VADA conducted the testing. So this time, we asked for VADA. Matthysse didn’t want to pay for it, so we agreed to pay for all of the testing. The important thing is that VADA is good. They are known for doing things the right way.”
* * *
Boxing fans have been reading for weeks that Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao will generate a live gate of $74,000,000 with tickets priced as follows: $10,000 (1,100 tickets), $7,500 (2,500 tix), $5,000 (2,500 tix), $3,500 (4,000 tix), $2,500 (2,500 tix), and $1,500 (2,500 tix).
I might be old-fashioned. But the way I was taught math, that comes to a live gate of $66,250,000.
Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His most recent book – Thomas Hauser on Boxing – was published by the University of Arkansas Press.
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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.
The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.
Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.
The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.
That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.
The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)
Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)
Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.
Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).
Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.
The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.
Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.
Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.
We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”
The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.
Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.
Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.
Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.
There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.
It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.
Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.
At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Steven Navarro is the TSS 2024 Prospect of the Year
“I get ‘Bam’ vibes when I watch this kid,” said ESPN ringside commentator Tim Bradley during the opening round of Steven Navarro’s most recent match. Bradley was referencing WBC super flyweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, a precociously brilliant technician whose name now appears on most pound-for-pound lists.
There are some common threads between Steven Navarro, the latest fighter to adopt the nickname “Kid Dynamite,” and Bam Rodriguez. Both are southpaws currently competing in the junior bantamweight division. But, of course, Bradley was alluding to something more when he made the comparison. And Navarro’s showing bore witness that Bradley was on to something.
It was the fifth pro fight for Navarro who was matched against a Puerto Rican with a 7-1 ledger. He ended the contest in the second frame, scoring three knockdowns, each the result of a different combination of punches, forcing the referee to stop it. It was the fourth win inside the distance for the 20-year-old phenom.
Isaias Estevan “Steven” Navarro turned pro after coming up short in last December’s U.S. Olympic Trials in Lafayette, Louisiana. The #1 seed in the 57 kg (featherweight) division, he was upset in the finals, losing a controversial split decision. Heading in, Navarro had won 13 national tournaments beginning at age 12.
A graduate of LA’s historic Fairfax High School, Steven made his pro debut this past April on a Matchroom Promotions card at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas and then inked a long-term deal with Top Rank. He comes from a boxing family. His father Refugio had 10 pro fights and three of Refugio’s cousins were boxers, most notably Jose Navarro who represented the USA at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was a four-time world title challenger as a super flyweight. Jose was managed by Oscar De La Hoya for much of his pro career.
Nowadays, the line between a prospect and a rising contender has been blurred. Three years ago, in an effort to make matters less muddled, we operationally defined a prospect thusly: “A boxer with no more than a dozen fights, none yet of the 10-round variety.” To our way of thinking, a prospect by nature is still in the preliminary-bout phase of his career.
We may loosen these parameters in the future. For one thing, it eliminates a lot of talented female boxers who, like their Japanese male counterparts in the smallest weight classes, are often pushed into title fights when, from a historical perspective, they are just getting started.
But for the time being, we will adhere to our operational definition. And within the window that we have created, Steven Navarro stood out. In his first year as a pro, “Kid Dynamite” left us yearning to see more of him.
Honorable mention: Australian heavyweight Teremoana Junior (5-0, 5 KOs)
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