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Mismatches Need Not Apply; Fight Night Series Promises Competitive Bouts
Mismatches Need Not Apply; Fight Night Series Promises Competitive Bouts – The NBC Sports Network is starting a boxing series, which kicks off on Jan. 21, and I am rooting for the venture to succeed. Main Events, run by Kathy Duva, is the promoter in charge of putting together Fight Night Series, and I am hoping that the endeavor is a success for them as well.
This is not because I happen to think Kathy Duva is a decent soul who does business the right way, and is a promoter who actually promotes the sport and the fighters the old school (read: correct) way. I do think that, but that is beside the point. I root for NBCSN and Main Events to make a splash with the four shows which are slated to run in 2012 because I want the sport as a whole to succeed, and the more avenues boxers have to show their stuff, the better off the sport will be.
Ideally, boxing gets back where it belongs, on terrestrial TV. That issue came up on a Monday conference call, featuring Jon Miller, President of NBC Sports and Versus (Versus is the cable net which will be re-named NBC Sports Network on Jan. 2), Duva and Russell Peltz, the Philly promoter-matchmaker who will find the fights, along with Duva, which will run on Fight Night.
âIâm excited to be getting our team back on boxing,â Miller said, recalling that NBC used to put on 20-30 shows a year in the early 90s. He said that the sport has been a bit underground in the last decade, and that his crew recognized an opportunity to get some compelling live programming for his company.
I am always hoping that fights get back on âfree TVâ as I think itâs a no brainer that it is in the best interest of the growth of the sweet science to have as many eyeballs as we can get on the athletes and the superior drama a scintillating prizefight can deliver. Miller didnât promise that weâd be seeing fights or cards running on NBC on Saturday afternoon again, but I hold out hope. He did say that if things go well on Saturday night of Jan. 21, and March 24, the second pegged date, he would consider adding more shows to the mix. Shows will run in June and December of 2012, he said.
Miller said he was happy to be doing business with Duva, and he hooked up with her because he heard what he wanted from Main Events: that they will strive to show pick âem fights, and wonât be in the business of making showcase matches, to build up prospectsâ records or give stars stay-busy opportunities. He did make clear that it would make sense to branch out into more marquee matchups, since NBC Sports Network is owned by Comcast, which is the largest cable network in the US.
Duva said she didnât want to release monetary figures, reasoning that if she said that NBC paid her X amount, other promoters, who are encouraged to bring their fighters into the mix, and also manager, will be married to a set figure. She made it clear that the purses going to the fighters will exceed the fee paid by NBC. She also said they wouldnât be focusing and overpaying for one fight, at the expense of the whole card.
That Main Events is a lean and mean company, and doesnât have 30 or 60 fighters in their stable, she said, will allow them more leeway in searching for the best quality bouts.
Peltz said he was psyched to be putting on the first show away from a casino, and the frequently sterile atmosphere which can often be found there. The Jan. 21 show, pitting heayweight Eddie Chambers against Sergei Liakhovich and Gabriel Rosado against Jesus Soto-Karass, in a junior middleweight scrap will take place at Phillyâs Asylum Arena. Rosado and Chambers are Pennsylvania guys, so we can presume their people will be a loud presence and help generate electricity in Asylum.
Fight fans have been curious to know if we will see one, two or more bouts in the new series. Duva said probably three bouts will air from each show.
Apart from this series being a potential entry onto free TV (read: NBC), Iâm also hoping that it helps usher out the emphasis on the undefeated record in boxing. Rosado has five losses but is a fan fave, and Soto-Karass is coming off back-to-back losses to Mike Jones, but is a volume guy who comes to bang. Fans would rather see guys with losses in competitive bouts than coddled hitters with puffed up records staying busy against speedbumps, and it is time that UFC mentality, of not lionizing the loss-less, trickles down to us.
Peltz drew laughs when he recollected his involvement in fights on NBC in the early 80s. Every Frank âthe Animalâ Fletcher fight, he said, âwas like Armageddonâ and had Peltz popping Valium to stay sane.
He reiterated that this series wonât be the place where weâll see a future star inch his way up the ladder, taking on progressively better foes, but each time entering a fight in which he is the far and away favorite. âWe donât want to sacrifice the integrity of the series to have a guy 9, 10-0 and give them a free pass,â he said. âThere are more undefeated folks parading around than in the history of boxing.â
Mismatches Need Not Apply; Fight Night Series Promises Competitive Bouts / Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 278: Clashes of Spring in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and LA
PHOENIX-It happens every Spring.
Promoters worldwide gather their forces and produce their best fight cards from Europe to the Americas and in Asia.
Beginning Friday, it starts with Top Rank staging a heavy-duty fight card featuring Arizonaâs Oscar Valdez and Australiaâs Liam Wilson along with a female battle for the undisputed minimumweight championship. ESPN+ will stream the card.
Valdez (31-2, 23 KOs) meets Wilson (13-2, 7 KOs) at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on Friday, March 29. Both have a common foe and lost to champion Emanuel Navarrete. Both want a rematch or world title fight.
âI know Liam Wilson. Heâs a tough fighter,â said Valdez. I was there when he fought Emanuel Navarrete and he sent him to the canvas.â
Wilson almost defeated the champion and now must face two-division world titlist Valdez in his Arizona backyard.
âThe whole world saw what happened. I should have already become world champion,â said Wilson of his fight with Navarrete. âI won the belt that night.â
Itâs not to be missed.
In the co-main WBA and WBC titlist Seniesa Estrada (25-0, 9 KOs) and WBO and IBF titlist Yokasta Valle (30-2, 9 KOs) battle for the undisputed minimumweight world championship.
Costa Ricaâs Valle has super speed and the ability to change tactics if things donât go her way as she showed against Argentinaâs Evelin Bermudez. She is also one of the most athletically gifted fighters in female boxing with incredible stamina.
âThis isnât personal. I respect her as the champion that she is,â Valle said. âAnd in the ring, we will see who is the real champion.â
East L.Aâs Estrada is perhaps one of the most skilled fighters in the world. She also packs power in her small frame. So far, no one has been able to figure out her fighting style or overcome her quickness. The left hook is her best weapon but she has floored opponents with her right cross as well.
âThe talk is over. Its time for us to get in there,â said Estrada. âItâs about showing the world that womenâs boxing is here, itâs on the rise, and we are great.â
Las Vegas
Aussie slugger Tim Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) can add the WBC to his WBO super welterweight title but must pass through giant Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) to accomplish unification. Tszyu was supposed to fight Keith Thurman but injury forced him out of Saturdayâs TGB Promotions fight card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Last-minute replacements can be a problem.
Fundora is already a problem with his six-inch height advantage. Plus, heâs a southpaw with pop. Itâs like pouring sugar into a gas tank for Tszyu.
But heâs a very confident fellow.
âHeâs got height but we all bleed the same blood,â Tszyu said at the press conference.
Another world title fight pits WBA super lightweight titlist Rolly Romero (15-1) versus Isaac Cruz (25-2-1) in the semi-main event.
A third world title matches WBA middleweight titlist Erislandy Lara (29-3-3) against Michael Zerafa (31-4).
A fourth world title fight consists of WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Martinez (20-3) fighting Angelino Cordova (18-0-1).
In an eliminator for the WBC super welterweight belt, Serhii Bohachuk (23-1) is now matched against Brian Mendoza (22-3) who replaces Fundora.
Itâs a solid fight card that will be shown on PPV.COM with Jim Lampley broadcasting and assisted by Lance Pugmire. They will also be texting the results and interacting with fans. Itâs their third boxing show.
Inglewood
Former super middleweight world titlist Gilberto âZurdoâ Ramirez (45-1) is moving up two weight divisions to challenge WBA cruiserweight champion Arsen Goulamirian (27-0, 19 Kos) on Saturday March 30, at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, Calif. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card.
Goulamirian will be making the fifth defense of his title and recently added famed trainer Abel Sanchez to his corner. The former trainer of Gennady Golovkin and Serhii Bohachuk had retired for a few years but returned for the champ.
Itâs an interesting match.
Even more interesting was the announcement that Hollywood Park and Golden Boy Promotions signed an agreement beginning this Saturday to work together in bringing boxing events.
âWe were the first to host an inaugural combat sports event at YouTube Theater in January 2023, and we couldnât be more pleased to make history again by being the first to solidify a partnership deal of this magnitude with Hollywood Park,â said Oscar De La Hoya the CEO for Golden Boy Promotions.
Itâs an interesting partnership.
One thing the promotion company needs is to add more female fighters to their company to break up the monotony of slow fight cards. It makes sense to add women to the boxing cards. They fight harder and Iâve never seen women fights fail to excite the crowd, whereas Iâve seen plenty of boring men fights on many a promotion.
Bring in female fighters.
When Zurdo fought at the Banc of California two years he brought very few fans compared to the two female fights that same night. The women draw a different crowd and surprise most fans with their energy.
Fights to Watch (all times Pacific Time)
Fri. ESPN+ 3:10 p.m. Oscar Valdez (31-2) vs Liam Wilson (13-2); Seniesa Estrada (25-0) vs Yokasta Valle (30-2).
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Gilberto Ramirez (45-1) vs Arsen Goulamirian (27-0).
Sat. PPV.COM 5 p.m. Tim Tszyu (24-0) vs Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1); Rolly Romero (15-1) vs Isaac Cruz (25-2-1); Erislandy Lara (29-3-3) vs Michael Zerafa (31-4); Serhii Bohachuk (23-1) vs Brian Mendoza (22-3).
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images
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Results from Detroit where Carrillo, Ergashev and Shishkin Scored KOs
Results from Detroit where Carrillo, Ergashev and Shishkin Scored KOs
Dmitriy Salita, who began promoting small club fights In Brooklyn at the former U.S. Navy airfield where he had his final pro fight, has found a welcome home in Detroit where he is working hard to resurrect the Motor City as an important fight destination. Although his shows are still low-budget (save for the money he spends on marketing; he uses heavyweight PR firm Swanson Communications), his new arrangement with DAZN can only move him another step up the pecking order.
Tonight, two of the most valuable pieces in his stable â junior lightweight Shohjahon Ergashev and super middleweight Vladimir Shishkin — were in action on Salitaâs second show at Detroitâs Watne State University Fieldhouse. However, Salita reserved the main event for one of his newest signees, Juan Carrillo, a light heavyweight who represented Colombia in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In a battle of southpaws, Carrillo (12-0, 9 KOs) had no difficulty putting away Quinton Randall (21-9-2), a 37-year-old North Carolinian who had scored only five of his 21 wins against opponents with winning records. In the third frame, a big left uppercut put Randall on the canvas. He managed to get to his feet at the count of nine, but was on queer street and the fight was waived off. The official time was 0.27 of round three.
Ergashev
Shohjahon Ergashev, a southpaw from Uzbekistan who purportedly has 2.7 million Instagram followers in his home country, was making his first start since a failed bid to win the IBF 140-pound world title. Ergashev was stopped in the fifth round by Subriel Matias, his first defeat as a pro after opening his career 23-0 with 20 KOs.
Tonight, he got back on the winning track without breaking a sweat. A left hook to the body ended the fight in the opening round. His victim, Juan Antonio Huertas, a 31-year-old Panamanian, entered the fight with a 17-4 record, but was 0-2 on American soil and had been stopped both times.
Shishkin
A 32-year-old Russian who trains at the new Kronk Gym where SugarHill Steward holds forth when he is in town, Vladimir Shishkin entered the contest undefeated (15-0, 9 KOs) and ranked #2 by the IBF. How odd that his fight opened the telecast. Perhaps promoter Salita thought that the fight would be too one-sided and wanted to get it out of the way in a hurry. His opponent Mike Guy, 12-7-1 (5) heading in, had been in with some rough customers but was 43 years old, was inactive in all of 2022 and 2023, and had fought most of his career as a super middleweight.
The fight was one-sided in favor of Shishkin and rather dull until the Russian cracked up the juice in round seven and forced the stoppage.
In the future, we would encourage Dmitriy Salita to take some of that money he has been spending on marketing to find a higher caliber of âB-Sideâ opponents. The best thing about this show was that it was over in a hurry.
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R.I.P. IBF founder Bob Lee who was Banished from Boxing by the FBI
âThe image some people have of me is disappointing,â said Bob Lee in a 2006 interview, âbut I also feel I had a positive impact on the sportâŠâ
Lee, the founder of the International Boxing Federation who died yesterday (Sunday, March 24) at age 91, spoke those words to Philadelphia Daily News boxing writer Bernard Fernandez who was the first person to interview him when he emerged from a federal prison in 2006. Lee served 22 months on charges that included racketeering, money laundering, and tax evasion.
Born and raised in northern New Jersey and a lifelong resident of the Garden State, Lee, a former police detective, founded the International Boxing Federation (henceforth IBF) in 1983 after a failed bid to win the presidency of the World Boxing Association. At the time, there were only two relevant sanctioning bodies, the WBA, then headquartered in Venezuela, and the WBC, headquartered in Mexico. Both organizations were charged with favoring boxers from Spanish-speaking countries in their ratings at the expense of boxers from the United States.
Bob Leeâs brainchild, whose stated mission was to rectify that injustice, achieved instant credibility when Marvin Hagler and Larry Holmes turned their back on the established organizations. Haglerâs 1983 bout with Wilford Scypion and Holmesâ 1984 match with Bonecrusher Smith were world title fights sanctioned exclusively by the IBF, the last of the three extant organizations to do away with 15-round title fights.
Leeâs world was rocked in November of 1999 when a federal grand jury handed down an indictment that accused him and three IBF officials, including his son Robert W. âRobbyâ Lee Jr., of taking bribes from promoters and managers in return for higher rankings. The FBI, after a two-year investigation, concluded that $338,000 was paid over a 13-year period by individuals representing 23 boxers.
The governmentâs key witness was C. Douglas Beavers, the longtime chairman of the IBF ratings committee who wore a wire as a government informant in return for immunity and provided video-tape evidence of a $5000 payout in a seedy Virginia motel room. Promoters Bob Arum and Cedric Kushner both testified that they gave the IBF $100,000 to get the organizationâs seal of approval for a match between heavyweight champion George Foreman and Axel Schulz (Arum asserted that he paid the money through a middleman, Stan Hoffman). In return, the IBF gave Schulz a âspecial exemptionâ to its rules, allowing the German to bypass Michael Moorer who had a rematch clause that would never be honored. (In a sworn deposition, Big George testified that he had no knowledge of any kickback).
After a long-drawn-out trial that consumed four months including 15 days of jury deliberations, Bob Lee was acquitted on all but six of 32 counts. His son, charged with nine counts, was acquitted on all nine. The jury simply did not trust the veracity of many that testified for the prosecution. (No surprise there; after all, they were boxing people.) But neither did the jury buy into the argument that whatever money Lee received was in the form of gifts and gratuities, a common business practice.
The IBF was run by a court-appointed overseer from January of 2000 until the fall of 2003. Under its current head, Daryl Peoples, who came up from the ranks, assuming the presidency in 2010, the IBF has stayed out of the crosshairs of federal prosecutors.
As part of his sentence, Bob Lee was prohibited from having any further dealings with boxing and that would have included buying a ticket to sit in the cheap seats at a boxing card. This was adding insult to injury as Leeâs passion for boxing ran deep. As a boy working as a caddy at a New Jersey golf course, he had met Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, two of the proudest moments of his life.
As for his contributions to the sport, Lee had this to say in his post-prison talk with Bernard Fernandez: âWe instituted the 168-pound [super middleweight] weight class. We took measures to reduce the incidence of eye injuries in boxing. We changed the weigh-in from the day of the fight to the day before, which prevented fighters from entering the ring so dehydrated that they were putting themselves at risk. All these things, and more, were tremendously beneficial to boxing. Iâm very proud of all that we accomplished.â
Bob Lee was a tough old bird. Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1986, he was insulin-dependent for much of his adult life and yet he lived into his nineties. Although his coloration as a shakedown artist is a stain that will never go away, many people will tell you that, on balance, he was a good man whose lapses ought not define him.
Thatâs not for us to judge. We send our condolences to his loved ones. May he rest in peace.
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