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DeGale vs. Eubank Marks PBC’s Inaugural Promotion on British Soil

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DeGale vs Eubank

At a London news conference on Dec. 11, 2018, representatives of Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) and UK broadcaster ITV announced that they had consummated a three-year deal whereby PBC would create a minimum of 15 events per year for airing on the network’s various platforms. It was speculated at that time that the first PBC event staged in England would pit James DeGale against Chris Eubank Jr, a match that had been bandied about for a long time.

Today (Jan. 3) that rumor was confirmed. The super middleweights will meet at the O2 Arena in London on Feb. 23. Sources say that this will be a pay-per-view event, much to the obvious dissatisfaction of British boxing fans who were anticipating that it would air on free terrestrial television.

James “Chunky” DeGale (25-2-1, 15 KOs) won the gold medal as a middleweight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He subsequently became the first British boxer to win both an Olympic gold medal and a professional world title, a feat later matched by Billy Joe Saunders and Anthony Joshua.

DeGale won the British super middleweight title in his ninth pro fight but lost it in his first defense, succumbing to George Groves by the narrowest of margins. In 2015 he won the vacant IBF 168-pound world title with a unanimous decision over Andre Dirrrell. In his third title defense, he retained the belt when his bout with Badou Jack in Brooklyn was scored a draw. DeGale faded late in that entertaining skirmish and many thought that Jack had pulled it out with his late surge.

DeGale then took 11 months off to rehab a chronic shoulder injury. He returned on Dec. 9, 2017, in London for a match with Caleb Truax.

A Minnesota man, Truax had a nice record but was thought to be little more than a journeyman. It figured to be an easy test for DeGale, but he fought as if he had grown old overnight. Truax, the aggressor throughout, wrested away DeGale’s title with a majority decision that should have been unanimous. It was a massive upset, an easy call as the TSS 2017 Upset of the Year.

DeGale exercised the rematch clause in the contract and won the sequel, outpointing Truax in Las Vegas. However, his performance left much to be desired (albeit it isn’t easy to look good against Truax because of his awkward style).

Three months after regaining the title, DeGale relinquished it, spurning a match with mandatory challenger Jose Uzcategui. This was seen as a savvy business move. More lucrative matches awaited him in England with fellow Brits such as Groves, Eubank, and Callum Smith. Moreover, DeGale has never been one to attach himself too strongly to one promoter. He signed with Queensberry (Frank Warren) coming out of the amateurs, later linked up with Matchroom (Eddie Hearn) and is now associated with Haymon whose role, for legal purposes, is defined as that of an advisor.

DeGale had one more fight after the Truax rematch to close out 2018, a stay-busy affair against a hapless opponent buried on the undercard of a small show in Ontario, California. DeGale knocked out his foil in the third round with an uppercut.

Chris Eubank Jr. (27-2, 21 KOs) is the son of a British boxing legend. The elder Eubank, a 13-year pro, won world titles in two weight classes.

Chris Eubank Jr. won his first 18 pro fights before meeting fellow unbeaten Billy Joe Saunders in a 12-round contest with three regional title belts on the line. Eubank started slow and it cost him. He lost a split decision.

He rebounded with six wins as a middleweight before moving up to compete at 168 and stretched that winning streak to nine before locking horns with the aforementioned Groves. Their fight in February of 2018 at Manchester, a WBSS semifinal with Groves’ WBA belt at stake, was a big event in England. It reportedly sold out in seven minutes.

Groves was a small underdog, notwithstanding the fact that he had fought much stiffer competition and he upset the odds, winning a unanimous decision. Working the jab effectively, “Saint George” proved to have the higher ring IQ. As in the Saunders fight, Eubank had his best moments late but to no avail.

Eubank has had one more fight since that mishap. Last September, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Eubank stopped overmatched JJ McDonagh who quit on his stool after three frames claiming a shoulder injury. McDonagh was picked to be the sacrificial lamb because he is a southpaw, as is James DeGale.

With no title at stake (unless one is contrived), the promoters are casting this event as a grudge fight to goose the gate. This is no stretch. In the past, long before this fight was sealed, both fighters used social media to denigrate the skills of the other.

ITV, which operates along the lines of a franchiser, is not an all-sports network like ESPN. The London-based broadcaster, the oldest commercial network in Great Britain, has diverse programming in common with America’s Big Four. But sports are a key component of their menu. They cover soccer, cricket, rugby, horseracing, and motor sports, and felt a need to catch the wave and add boxing to the mix.

Before DeGale-Eubank is a go, ITV will pick up the feed of two PBC promotions, the Uzcategui-Plant fight (on Sunday, Jan. 13 from Los Angeles) and Pacquiao-Broner plus the attractive co-feature between Badou Jack and Marcus Browne (on Saturday, Jan. 19 from Las Vegas). Those telecasts will be free for ITV viewers.

What we have now in boxing is a full-blown war between various broadcasting outlets. There are some serious downsides (fodder for future columns) but boxing on a global scale has never been as widely exposed and for that fight fans can be thankful.

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

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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

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Japan’s magnificent Naoya Inoue, appearing in his twenty-fourth title fight, scored his 11th 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

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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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