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Three Punch Combo: What PBC Must Do To Stay Relevant

WHAT PBC MUST DO TO STAY RELEVANT — It has been two years now since Al Haymon officially launched his Premier Boxing Champions series. There has been some good as well as some well documented bad to the series. As we enter year three of PBC, some simple adjustments can be made to make the series more successful as well as help grow the sport. In this week’s three punch combo, I will analyze three simple adjustments that would benefit PBC as well as boxing.
Start a Weekly Televised Series
With the advent of PBC, boxing lost its only weekly series in ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. The Friday Night Fights series may not have always produced the best fights or had the biggest names but was consistent in its weekly approach to show live boxing on television. As fans during the Friday Night Fight season, we knew we would have a weekly avenue to watch the sport we love. PBC needs to bring back a weekly boxing series on one of their many avenues.
A weekly series allows fighters to stay active. One of PBC’s many problems is the severe inactivity of many of its fighters. I am just not talking the big names. The lack of opportunities for younger fighters has stemmed their development. By introducing a weekly series, young fighters can stay more active while gaining badly needed exposure.
In regards to the bigger names, such a series could also allow them to stay active while continuing to market their own career. In the heyday of the old Tuesday Night Fights Series on USA, big names in the sport such as Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins appeared on the show after winning world title belts. They wisely stayed active while keeping their names at the forefront in the sport. Anyone heard from Lamont Peterson or Peter Quillin lately?
Frankly, PBC should have focused on developing such a series in its first year. Aside from making big fights, a series to keep fighters active and marketed should have been on top of the agenda. But it’s not too late. PBC and the sport of boxing need a weekly televised series to market and grow the sport.
Work With Other Promoters
Last week I touched upon the thawing relationship between Al Haymon and Top Rank. This is certainly a good sign for boxing as it potentially opens the door to make fights that beforehand could not be done. As we enter year three of PBC, it would be well served if Haymon began working more with other promoters to make better fights for the sport.
It goes without saying that the sport is much better off when rival promoters are willing to work together on a consistent basis. By working with other promoters and allowing their fighters to appear on PBC, the quality will get much better. One of the biggest complaints regarding PBC has been the lack of quality in its matchups (I will touch upon that in a moment). By providing better quality, the fights will get better and the fans will respond positively. This will only help grow the brand even if some PBC fighters suffer losses.
And this is not just with Top Rank. Haymon is a businessman and should put aside his differences with others such as Golden Boy, Main Events and Roc Nation. Boxing is never going to have the UFC model where one entity runs the gamut. Haymon needs to come to this realization.
It is clear that when PBC began, Haymon had the idea of running his rivals out of business. It has been two years and though some financial damage may have been done to some promoters it is evident that boxing will never become the UFC model Haymon appeared to have wanted. Rival promoters not working with PBC are still around and will be for the foreseeable future. By working with them and allowing their fighter’s access to PBC fighters, the sport will see better quality fights which will increase viewership. More viewership makes it more likely that the major networks will want to bring boxing back. If this happens, everyone wins.
Make Competitive Main Events
Any discussion regarding what PBC must do better will inevitably lead to making better fights. The quality and competiveness on paper of many televised bouts has been rightfully criticized. Why use such valuable network television time to broadcast bouts such as Peter Quillin vs. Michael Zerafa or Anthony Dirrell vs. Marco Antonio Rubio?
I understand that not every fight that is televised will be competitive. Fighters can’t be expected to fight dangerous opponents each and every time they step in the ring. That said, at the very least don’t put such fights as main events or in primetime televised slots. Fans will not respond kindly and neither will the networks as the quality of the product is severely diluted.
As a starter, PBC should focus at the very least on making sure all their main events are solid competitive fights on paper. Of course as I write this and look ahead on the PBC schedule, we see two cards with main events on the horizon that are once again severe mismatches. But PBC needs to make higher quality main events going forward or they will fail. It is that simple. Who really wants to tune in to see Erislandy Lara dominate Yuri Foreman next week? Or Deontay Wilder easily dispatch another overmatched foe? Fans will continue to lose interest and the product will become more difficult to sell.
PBC has the stable to make much better fights. The company needs to use its valuable television time, particularly with the main events, to make fights the fans want to see. If they do, the fans will tune in and buzz will grow around the sport. But if non-competitive main events are continuously forced down fans throats, eventually the fans will say enough is enough and begin turning their attention elsewhere. It is already happening in a way but PBC can stop the deflection by simply making the competitive high quality main events that attracted people to boxing in the first place.
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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.
The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.
But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.
Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.
Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.
As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.
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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.
What do they feed these guys?
Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.
From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.
It was savage.
Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.
Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.
Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.
But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.
Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.
Interim IBF Lightweight Title
The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.
Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.
Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.
Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.
There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.
Muratalla was brief.
“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”
Perla Wins
Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.
Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Late Bloomer Anthony Cacace TKOs Hometown Favorite Leigh Wood in Nottingham

Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, tonight with a card featuring hometown favorite Leigh Wood against Ireland’s Anthony “Apache” Cacace.
Wood, a former two-time WBA featherweight champion, known for dramatic comebacks in bouts he was losing, may have reached the end of the road at age 36. He had his moments tonight, rocking Cacace on several occasions and winning the eighth round, but he paid the price, returning to his corner after round eight with swelling around both of his eyes.
In the ninth, Cacace, an 11/5 favorite, hurt Wood twice with left hands, the second of which knocked Wood into the ropes, dictating a standing 8-count by referee John Latham. When the bout resumed, Cacace went for the kill and battered Wood around the ring, forcing Wood’s trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. The official time was 2:15 of round nine.
Akin to Wood, Northern Ireland’s Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) is also 36 years old and known as a late bloomer. This was his ninth straight win going back to 2017 (he missed all of 2018 and 2020). He formerly held the IBF 130-pound world title, a diadem he won with a stoppage of then-undefeated and heavily favored Joe Cordina, but that belt wasn’t at stake tonight as Cacace abandoned it rather than fulfill his less-lucrative mandatory. Wood falls to 28-4.
Semi-Wind-Up
Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor, fighting in his hometown for the first time since pro debut, delighted his fan base with a comprehensive 10-round decision over previously undefeated Troy Jones. Taylor, who improved to 12-0 (9) won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.
This was Taylor’s first fight with new trainer Malik Scott, best known for his work with Deontay Wilder. The victory may have earned him a match with Commonwealth title-holder Lewis Edmondson. Jones was 12-0 heading in.
Other Bouts of Note
In his first fight as a featherweight, Liam Davies rebounded from his first defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Northern Ireland’s previously undefeated Kurt Walker. Davies, who improved to 17-1 (8), staved off a late rally to prevail on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. It was the first pro loss for the 30-year-old Walker (12-1), a Tokyo Olympian.
In a mild upset, Owen Cooper, a saucy Worcestershire man, won a 10-round decision over former Josh Taylor stablemate Chris Kongo. The referee’s scorecard read 96-94.
Cooper improved to 11-1 (4). It was the third loss in 20 starts for Kongo.
A non-televised 8-rounder featured junior welterweight Sam Noakes in a stay-busy fight. A roofer by trade and the brother of British welterweight title-holder Sean Noakes, Sam improved to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of overmatched Czech import Patrik Balez (13-5-1).
Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry
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