Joshua – Ruiz II is headed to Saudi Arabia and many are Indignant

Published

5 years ago

August 12, 2019

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Several days ago, Gareth Davies, the boxing writer for the Telegraph, told his readers that the rematch between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. was headed to Saudi Arabia. We filed that story in the rumor bin, but today it was confirmed. In a press conference at London’s swanky Savoy Hotel, televised live throughout the U.K. on Sky Sports, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that Joshua-Ruiz II will transpire on Dec. 7 in a specially built stadium in Diriyah, a town on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capitol and largest city.

Joshua and Ruiz met on June 1 at Madison Square Garden. It was Joshua’s U.S. debut. The Englishman, whose family roots are in Nigeria, was undefeated (22-0, 21 KOs) and owned three of the four significant heavyweight belts. Andy Ruiz, who took the fight on four weeks notice, had lost only once in 33 starts but was a massive underdog. And he scored a massive upset, making history as the first boxer of Mexican extraction to win a world heavyweight title. Knocked down in the third round, the chubby Ruiz returned the favor twice before the round was over and knocked Joshua down twice more in the seventh before the bout was stopped.

Joshua-Ruiz II, billed as “Clash on the Dunes,” will be the third professional boxing event in Saudi Arabia. On Sept. 20 of last year, Callum Smith met George Groves in the finals of the World Boxing Super Series 168-pound tournament. This past July, Amir Khan fought Billy Dib.

Khan, who co-promoted the event and purportedly earned $7 million for what was little more than a glorified exhibition, predicted that the Arab nation would soon become a popular destination for big fights. “We intend to make Saudi Arabia a big fight capitol just like Las Vegas, New York, and London,” he said at a pre-fight meeting with reporters.

We commented that it wouldn’t surprise us at all if that came to pass. Boxing promoters follow the money and the Saudi royal family, which controls the purse strings for the Saudi General Sports Authority, which controls 24 sporting venues, is awash in it. Among his other hobbies, GSA chairman Prince Abdullah Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud owns a 50 percent stake in the Sheffield United soccer team and another 50 percent stake in a soccer club in Belgium. He has yet to acquire an interest in a U.S. sports franchise, but that may yet come. Prince Abdullah is said to be a big fan of the San Francisco 49ers.

Saudi Arabia, a nation of about 33.5 million, slightly more than a third of whom are immigrants, is one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. It paid a big site fee to land the Joshua-Ruiz rematch. Reports vary from $40 million to as high as $100 million.

At today’s press conference, Eddie Hearn skirted the subject of money but plugged his promotion as “an iconic moment that could change the sport of boxing forever.” This event, said Hearn, will go down in history with the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and the ‘Thrilla in Manila.’

To deflect concerns about the logistics of holding the fight in Saudi Arabia, Hearn noted that Riyadh is only six hours away from London by plane and that everyone who buys a ticket will automatically receive a 30-day visa. The time difference between the two countries is only two hours which means that the fight will likely air around 9:00 pm in the UK, five hours earlier in New York. A pay-per-event in the U.K., it will be live-streamed on DAZN in North America.

But Hearn has bigger concerns than logistics. The Saudi regime has come under attack for human rights abuses, for waging a war of attrition in neighboring Yemen, and even the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A United Nations-led inquiry concluded that the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October of last year was “planned and perpetrated” by Saudi officials.

Coining a new word, Felix Jakens, the head of the U.K. branch of Amnesty International, condemned Saudi Arabia for “using sports to ‘sportswash’ their severely tarnished image.” “Money over morals” was the headline or sub-headline in several British papers.

As Hearn noted, Saudi Arabia is becoming a major player in many sports, not just boxing.

The WWE was among the first to penetrate the Saudi market. The organization began a series of shows in April of 2014. The April 27, 2018 event, witnessed by an announced crowd of 60,000 at King Abdullah Stadium near Jeddah, included a 50-man battle royal and was rightly billed as the Greatest Royal Rumble.

The was the first WWE event in Saudi Arabia that women were allowed to attend, although they had to be accompanied by a male escort. Constraints against women have gradually loosened in recent years. In 2013, girls were allowed to take physical education classes in public schools. In 2015, Saudi women were granted the right to vote in local elections. Last year the King issued a decree allowing women the right to drive a car.

Hearn has said that women will be welcome at the Joshua-Ruiz rematch. Whether any will be allowed to enter the stadium unattached, if so inclined, remains to be seen.

Can Anthony Joshua accomplish what Lennox Lewis accomplished not once, but twice, namely avenging a shocking defeat? That’s a story for another day. For the record, the early line sees Joshua a consensus 16/5 (minus-320) favorite.

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Arne K. Lang

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

Published

17 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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