Two Big Fights Across the Pond Go Head-to-Head: Better Get Used to It

Published

6 years ago

December 21, 2018

On Saturday, there are big fights in Manchester and London. The featured bout on the Manchester show, a Frank Warren production, sees Josh Warrington defend his IBF world featherweight title against former two-division world title holder Carl Frampton. The London show, an Eddie Hearn production, is topped by the rematch between Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora.

Both fights are PPV events in Great Britain. In the United States, Warrington-Frampton will air on ESPN+ and Whyte-Chisora on Showtime. They will go off simultaneously, a slap in the face to serious boxing fans but a development certain to become more common in the next few years. (For the record, Frank Warren’s show was locked in first, preceding news of Eddie Hearn’s show by seven weeks. And yes, you can bet that Warren, who has been promoting fights since 1980, is pissed off.)

The deals carved out in recent months between live-streaming platforms and the sport’s leading promoters obligate the promoters to create more content than has been their norm. DAZN, which is aligned with Hearn’s Matchroom operation and with Golden Boy, promises more than 100 shows a year between MMA and boxing in their ads for new subscribers. Top Rank’s deal with ESPN , announced in August, calls for 54 live boxing events annually, including fights outside the U.S. for which Top Rank will acquire the U.S. broadcast rights. Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, which partners with Showtime and Fox, just announced a new affiliation with British broadcaster ITV.

Boxing is bursting out all over and we haven’t yet seen the full extent of it.

The Warrington-Frampton fight in Manchester has a much stronger undercard, but the Whyte-Chisora fight in London will inevitably attract more eyeballs. Casual fans are enamored of heavyweights and the first meeting was a humdinger.

Whyte-Chisora I was contested two years ago in Manchester. It was bombs away as the two Londoners, one born in Jamaica (Whyte) and the other in Zimbabwe traded haymakers from start to finish. “Chisora or Whyte may never become world champions,” wrote Forbes contributor Brian Mazique, “but they could become the Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti of the heavyweight division. I’d pay to see them clash again.” Whyte emerged victorious by the narrowest of margins, winning a split decision.

The first Whyte-Chisora fight was preceded by an ugly press conference in which representatives of both camps scuffled after Chisora picked up a table and threw it at Whyte. Things were relatively subdued this time around until Friday’s weigh-in when another scuffle erupted.

Both fighters appeared on the same show on July 28 and scored mild upsets. Whyte (24-1, 17 KOs) overcame a big scare in the 12^th round to win a narrow decision over former WBO heavyweight title-holder Joseph Parker. Chisora (29-8, 21 KOs) stopped Carlos Takam in the eighth round.

The main undercard fight pits Cristofer Rosales (28-3, 19 KOs) against Charlie Edwards (13-1, 6 KOs). The oddsmakers opened this fight in the “pick-em” range, but the odds quickly shifted in favor of Nicaragua’s Rosales who will be making the second defense of his WBC world flyweight title.

Warrington-Frampton

Josh Warrington (27-0, 6 KOs) scored a big upset in his last start while shearing the IBF title from Lee Selby who came in riding an 18-fight winning streak and was making his fifth title defense. In the process, Warrington became the first fighter from Leeds to win a world title. He had the advantage of fighting on his home turf on the grounds of the Leeds soccer club, but he out-worked Selby across the 12 rounds and there was nothing tainted about the split decision that went in his favor.

Now he once again sees himself cast as the underdog. Lee Selby was generally regarded as a domestic level talent. Carl Frampton (26-1, 15 KOs) is a cut above. His lone defeat came in his second meeting with Leo Santa Cruz, a fighter whose name appears on a few pound-for-pound lists, and he’s won three straight since that setback including a wide decision over Nonito Donaire.

Four former Olympians, including gold medalist Billy Joe Saunders, will appear on the undercard. Saunders, unbeaten as a pro, has been out of action since outclassing David Lemieux in December of last year. In the interim, he was fined $100,000 by the British Boxing Board of Control for actions that “brought the sport into disrepute” and was stripped of his WBO world middleweight title after testing positive for a banned stimulant. Saunders is matched against a 41-year-old man from Ghana in a bout slated for eight rounds,

Rising heavyweight contender Nathan Gorman is also on the Manchester undercard, as is Tommy Fury, younger brother of Tyson, who will be making his professional debut. Fury’s opponent, a Latvian, has lost 24 straight and 110 overall.

Dueling fight cards televised on rival networks with fight fans forced to choose which one to watch live. It’s an irksome situation, but we had better get used to it. It’s the downside to the sudden efflorescence of boxing.

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Arne K. Lang

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Najee Lopez Steps up in Class and Wins Impressively at Plant City

Published

20 hours ago

January 24, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Garry Jonas’ ProBox series returned to its regular home in Plant City, Florida, tonight with a card topped by a 10-round light heavyweight match between fast-rising Najee Lopez and former world title challenger Lenin Castillo. This was considered a step-up fight for the 25-year-old Lopez, an Atlanta-born-fighter of Puerto Rican heritage. Although the 36-year-old Castillo had lost two of his last three heading in, he had gone the distance with Dimitry Bivol and Marcus Browne and been stopped only once (by Callum Smith).

Lopez landed the cleaner punches throughout. Although Castillo seemed unfazed during the first half of the fight, he returned to his corner at the end of round five exhibiting signs of a fractured jaw.

In the next round, Lopez cornered him against the ropes and knocked him through the ropes with a left-right combination. Referee Emil Lombardo could have stopped the fight right there, but he allowed the courageous Castillo to carry on for a bit longer, finally stopping the fight as Castillo’s corner and a Florida commissioner were signaling that it was over.

The official time was 2:36 of round six. Bigger fights await the talented Lopez who improved to 13-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Castillo declined to 25-7-1.

Co-Feature

In a stinker of a heavyweight fight, Stanley Wright, a paunchy, 34-year-old North Carolina journeyman, scored a big upset with a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jeremiah Milton.

Wright carried 280 pounds, 100 pounds more than in his pro debut 11 years ago. Although he was undefeated (13-0, 11 KOs), he had never defeated an opponent with a winning record and his last four opponents were a miserable 19-48-2. Moreover, he took the fight on short notice.

What Wright had going for him was fast hands and, in the opening round, he put Milton on the canvas with a straight right hand. From that point, Milton fought tentatively and Wright, looking fatigued as early as the fourth round, fought only in spurts. It seemed doubtful that he could last the distance, but Milton, the subject of a 2021 profile in these pages, was wary of Wright’s power and unable to capitalize. “It’s almost as if Milton is afraid to win,” said ringside commentator Chris Algieri during the ninth stanza when the bout had devolved into a hugfest.

The judges had it 96-93 and 97-92 twice for the victorious Wright who boosted his record to 14-0 without improving his stature.

Also

In the TV opener, a 10-round contest in the junior middleweight division, Najee Lopez stablemate Darrelle Valsaint (12-0, 10 KOs) scored his career-best win with a second-round knockout of 35-year-old Dutch globetrotter Stephen Danyo (23-7-3).

A native Floridian of Haitian descent, the 22-year-old Valsaint was making his eighth start in Plant City. He rocked Danyo with a chopping right hand high on the temple and then, as Danyo slumped forward, applied the exclamation point, a short left uppercut. The official time was 2:17 of round two.

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Japanese Superstar Naoya Inoue is Headed to Vegas after KOing Ye Joon Kim

Published

1 day ago

January 24, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Japan’s magnificent Naoya Inoue, appearing in his twenty-fourth title fight, scored his 11^th straight stoppage tonight while successfully defending his unified super bantamweight title, advancing his record to 29-0 (26 KOs) at the expense of Ye Joon Kim. The match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena came to an end at the 2:25 mark of round four when U.S. referee Mark Nelson tolled “10” over the brave but overmatched Korean.

Kim, raised in a Seoul orphanage, had a few good moments, but the “Monster” found his rhythm in the third round, leaving Kim with a purplish welt under his left eye. In the next frame, he brought the match to a conclusion, staggering the Korean with a left and then finishing matters with an overhand right that put Kim on the seat of his pants, dazed and wincing in pain.

Kim, who brought a 21-2-2 record, took the fight on 10 days’ notice, replacing Australia’s Sam Goodman who suffered an eye injury in sparring that never healed properly, forcing him to withdraw twice.

Co-promoter Bob Arum, who was in the building, announced that Inoue’s next fight would happen in Las Vegas in the Spring. Speculation centers on Mexico City’s Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) who is ranked #1 by the WBC. However, there’s also speculation that the 31-year-old Inoue may move up to featherweight and seek to win a title in a fifth weight class, in which case a potential opponent is Brandon Figueroa should he defeat former Inoue foe Stephen Fulton next weekend. In “olden days,” this notion would have been dismissed as the Japanese superstar and Figueroa have different promoters, but the arrival of Turki Alalshikh, the sport’s Daddy Warbucks, has changed the dynamic. Tonight, Naoya Inoue made his first start as a brand ambassador for Riyadh Season.

Simmering on the backburner is a megafight with countryman Junto Nakatani, an easy fight to make as Arum has ties to both. However, the powers-that-be would prefer more “marination.”

Inoue has appeared twice in Las Vegas, scoring a seventh-round stoppage of Jason Moloney in October of 2020 at the MGM Bubble and a third-round stoppage of Michael Dasmarinas at the Virgin Hotels in June of 2021.

Semi-wind-up

In a 12-round bout for a regional welterweight title, Jin Sasaki improved to 19-1-1 (17) with a unanimous decision over Shoki Sakai (29-15-3). The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.

Also

In a bout in which both contestants were on the canvas, Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3) edged out Misaki Hirano (11-2), winning a majority decision. A 28-year-old Osaka southpaw with a fan-friendly style, the lanky Shimomachi, unbeaten in his last 22 starts, competes as a super bantamweight. A match with Inoue may be in his future.

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Eric Priest Wins Handily on Thursday’s Golden Boy card at the Commerce Casino

Published

1 day ago

January 24, 2025

David A. Avila

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Model turned fighter Eric Priest jabbed and jolted his way into the super middleweight rankings with a shutout decision win over veteran Tyler Howard on Thursday.

In his first main event Priest (15-0, 8 KOs) proved ready for contender status by defusing every attack Tennessee’s Howard (20-3, 11 KOs) could muster at Commerce Casino, the second fight in six days at the LA County venue.

All ticket monies collected on the Folden Boy Promotions card were contributed to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation as they battle wildfires sprouting all over Los Angeles County due to high winds.

Priest, 26, had never fought anyone near Howard’s caliber but used a ramrod jab to keep the veteran off-balance and unable to muster a forceful counter-attack. Round after round the Korean-American fighter pumped left jabs while circling his opposition.

Though hit with power shots, none seemed to faze Howard but his own blows were unable to put a dent in Priest. After 10 rounds of the same repetitive action all three judges scored the fight 100-90 for Priest who now wins a regional super middleweight title.

Priest also joins the top 15 rankings of the WBA organization.

In a fight between evenly matched middleweights, Jordan Panthen (11-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated after 10 rounds versus DeAundre Pettus (12-4, 7 KOs). Though equally skilled, Panthen simply out-worked the South Caroliina fighter to win by unanimous decision. No knockdowns were scored.

Other Bouts

Grant Flores (8-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Costa Rica’s David Lobo Ramirez (17-4, 12 KOs) with two successive right uppercuts at 2:59 of the second round of the super welterweight fight.

Cayden Griffith (3-0, 3 KOs) used a left hook to the body to stop Mark Misiura at 1:43 of the second round in a super welterweight bout.

Jordan Fuentes (3-0) floored Brandon Badillo (0-3-1) in the third round and proceeded to win by decision after four rounds in a super bantamweight fight.

A super featherweight match saw Leonardo Sanchez (8-0) win by decision over Joseph Cruz Brown (10-12) after six rounds.

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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