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Angulo: Al Haymon Has Given Me Far More Than I've Given Back

Alfredo Angulo isn’t just falling in line with every other Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) athlete when he thanks Al Haymon before and after a fight; the proud Mexican warrior genuinely means it.

His latest form of gratitude for the high-powered, low-profile adviser came in the form of a 10-round win over former middleweight titlist Peter Quillin. Their thrilling slugfest took place Saturday evening at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, Calif., with Angulo landing the more telling blows over the course of their FS1-televised main event between faded contenders.

“This one was for all my fans who stuck with me through the years,” a humbled Angulo (26-7, 21KOs) stated afterward in scoring perhaps his biggest win of the decade.

The win was his second straight following a rough stretch where he’d lost five of seven starts. Through it all, Haymon and the PBC brass never abandoned the 2004 Mexican Olympian, who has a renewed desire in the sport since working with renowned trainer Abel Sanchez at The Summit facility in Big Bear, Calif.

Angulo has since rewarded them with two wins, both of which came with his putting his best foot forward.

“For the past 5-6 years (prior to 2019), I never felt complete,” Angulo told BoxingScene.com. “I was training for fights but I felt like I wasn’t getting any better and it showed in the ring. But I remain grateful to Al Haymon and all that he’s done for me and my family.

“He’s like a father figure to me and—I have to be honest—he has given me far more than I’ve ever given him back in the ring. It meant so much to be able to give a performance like this, to show that I’m still willing to give everything I have to reach my goal of winning a super middleweight title.”
 
Anyone that thinks spence is a more skillful fighter than porter has been sleeping under a rock for the past 5 years

Porter has the far better resume.
Without question his footwork is far ahead spence.
Porter has the best jab in that division.
Based on his resume amd precious fights his ring IQ is better.
More diverse.

Spence did not outbox mikey he out worked him.

If I could put you on ignore just for the boxing thread I would with how ridiculous these statements are.
 

Thurman Opens Up On Recent Surgery, Expects Mid-2020 Return

To his credit, Keith Thurman is keeping a promise he made prior to the start of 2019, where he guaranteed that 2020 will be the year he returns at full strength.

Of course, his belief of 2019 serving as a ‘get-back’ year didn’t quite pan out as expected.

“Obviously this hasn’t been my greatest year,” Thurman (29-1, 22KOs) quipped during a recent guest host appearance on Fox Sports’ Inside PBC Boxing. The special Sunday afternoon edition of the hit studio series was designed to promote the Sept. 28 Fox Sports Pay-Per-View headliner, a welterweight title unification clash between Errol Spence and Shawn Porter, but also addressed Thurman’s recent surgery to his left hand.

The procedure took place earlier this month, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole. The 30-year old Clearwater, Fl. native confessed that he went into both of his bouts in 2019—a narrow win over Josesito Lopez in January and a heartbreaking loss to legendary Manny Pacquiao this past July—still feeling the effects of injuries sustained years ago but which he hoped had healed well enough to finally return to the ring earlier this year.

“I’ve been through so much, with the elbow surgery the inflammation that was in my hand,” Thurman noted to Fox Sports host Kate Abdo. “As athletes, we suffer from time to time, but we endure it.

“The arthritic issue with the metacarpals in my left hand have been there for a year-and-a-half. I had it in the Mann Pacquiao fight, I had it in the Josesito Lopez fight.”

Thurman’s aforementioned win over Lopez marked his first piece of ring action since beating Danny Garcia in a March 2017 pairing between unbeaten welterweight titlists. Efforts to return at any point in 2018 were only offset by additional injuries, before returning earlier this year. The idea was to regain his bearings through a couple of mid-level wins before setting his sights on the division’s elite—Errol Spence, Terence Crawford, Pacquiao and even a rematch with Porter, whom he defeated in a memorable June 2016 clash.

The unexpected opportunity to face Pacquiao this summer obviously sped up that process. It was a chance Thurman had to take, as the 40-year old Filipino southpaw would’ve selected another had he not answered the call. Doing so, however, meant coming in with 100% of whatever he had.

“If I had to put a percentage on it… I’d say at least 50%,” Thurman admitted to how much his lingering injuries have affected each of his two performances in 2019.

Following what he hopes is successful surgery earlier this month, a mid-spring 2020 ring return is now in the works—this time, most certainly not any sooner than necessary.

“I had to have surgery about two weeks ago. What they’re trying to do is fuse my bones together,” Thurman explained of the efforts to restore him back to full health. “It’s a surgical process. It’s going to take about six months to heal. I plan to be back in the ring next May, early June. It’s just a lot of pain.”
 

Loeffler Explains Recent Decline In Golovkin's Media Visibility

There was a time when you couldn’t get out of the way of a story involving Gennadiy Golovkin, whether he was preparing for a fight or simply enjoying a leisurely jog.

It’s a brave new world in the career of the former middleweight titlist, whose last two scheduled fights have managed to fly well under the radar. Included in that lot is his Oct. 5 vacant title fight versus Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10KOs), which takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“Right now, these last two fights he’s focusing on his training,” Tom Loeffler of GGG Promotions explained during an intimate invitation-only media gathering on Monday in Los Angeles, Calif. “It’s a new TV deal with DAZN. Right now, he’s focused on that.”

The bout will mark Golovkin’s seventh career appearance on MSG grounds and fifth in the main room, although ticket sales continue to lag with the event less than two weeks away. The 2004 Olympic Silver medalist from Kazakhstan has been all business ahead of his latest ring adventure, the second of a lucrative nine-figure deal inked with the standalone sports streaming service, which will carry the event.

Golovkin (39-1-1, 35KOs) made his platform debut this past June, scoring a 4th round knockout of Canada’s Steve Rolls which also took place in MSG’s main room. In addition to his DAZN debut, it was also Golovkin’s first without longtime head trainer Abel Sanchez, with the two engaging in a very public split shortly after he inked his deal with the streaming platform.

Their separation generated far more headlines than did Golovkin’s return to MSG. His perceived showcase versus Rolls had the misfortune of coming one week after the biggest heavyweight title fight upset of the 21st century, when Andy Ruiz knocked out previously unbeaten titlist Anthony Joshua at the very same venue.

Also not helping matters was Golovkin’s decision to take full control of his own career after years of serving as a prominent figure for cable giant HBO, who closed its doors to boxing at the end of 2018. Golovkin made his HBO debut in Sept. 2012, with his popularity skyrocketing beginning with his next network appearance in Jan. 2013 all the way through his Pay-Per-View rematch with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez last September.

His decision to sign with DAZN also came with the revelation that Loeffler no longer serves as his lead promoter. The longtime boxing personality still enjoys a prominent role in Golovkin’s career, though one separate from running his own promotional company (360 Promotions). Among the other decisions made by the record-tying former middleweight titlist—who turned 37 in April—was to employ a new presence in his corner, hiring former cruiserweight title challenger Johnathon Banks as his head trainer with the two having only worked together for less than six months.

“The last situation was very short when he announced he was working with a new trainer,” Loeffler noted in further explaining the lack of media attention afforded his most prominent client. “For this one here, he’s just focused on Derevyanchenko.”

The bout will mark Golovkin’s first title fight since losing his slew of middleweight belts to Alvarez in their rematch last September in Las Vegas, Nev. The majority decision defeat ended his eight-year run of holding at least one middleweight title, with his 20 successful defenses tying Bernard Hopkins for the all-time mark.
 

Showtime's Espinoza: Wilder-Ortiz PPV 'Deal Didn’t Make Sense For Us'

Stephen Espinoza expects the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz rematch to be entertaining.

Ultimately, however, Showtime’s president of sports and event programming decided distributing it would’ve required a financial commitment he wasn’t comfortable making. FOX Sports will distribute the second bout between Wilder and Ortiz, who was knocked out in the 10th round of their fight for Wilder’s WBC heavyweight title in March 2018.

Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Miami’s Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) are scheduled to fight again November 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“We had the opportunity to distribute the pay-per-view, but the deal didn’t make sense for us,” Espinoza told BoxingScene.com on Tuesday. “Obviously, we love Deontay Wilder and we believe Wilder-Ortiz will be an exciting fight. But we’re not gonna take disproportionate risks in order to secure it. We know the boxing market has been undergoing significant change, but that’s not unprecedented. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of newcomers enter the sport and try to change the marketplace. But we were here before that, we will be here after that and continue to thrive by making smart, strategic choices at the right times.”

Espinoza referred to FOX Sports and DAZN becoming competition for Showtime over the past year. Like Showtime, FOX has a multi-year deal to televise fights for Al Haymon, the powerful adviser who runs Premier Boxing Champions.

FOX Sports Pay-Per-View will distribute the four-fight show headlined by welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter on Saturday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Showtime paid a substantial license fee to air Wilder’s last fight – a spectacular first-round knockout of mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale – live on that premium cable channel May 18 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Showtime also distributed Wilder’s previous pay-per-view fight – his controversial split draw with Tyson Fury last December 1 at Staples Center.

The Wilder-Fury fight generated more than 300,000 buys. Espinoza wouldn’t predict a buy rate, but industry insiders expect the Wilder-Ortiz rematch to produce fewer buys than Wilder-Fury.

“Whether it’s sports or entertainment, there are times when you have to pass on a certain deal – whether it’s a film or TV series or sports rights,” Espinoza said. “And sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make. That can be disappointing, when you have to let a fight go somewhere else, but that’s the nature of the beast. We’re disappointed, of course, because of our long relationship with Deontay. But we’ll continue to focus on delivering the best boxing on TV for subscribers and delivering, when the time is right, the sport’s biggest pay-per-views, like we’ve been doing.”

Wilder and Fury have signed contracts for a rematch tentatively scheduled for February 22. Wilder would have to defeat Ortiz again to make a second Fury fight a reality.

Espinoza declined to discuss the possibility of Showtime distributing the Wilder-Fury rematch along with ESPN, with which Fury has an exclusive deal. He did assure anyone predicting Showtime’s demise in the boxing business that the network remains firmly committed to televising the sport.

With money freed up that would’ve gone to marketing, production and other costs involved in distributing a Wilder-Ortiz rematch, Showtime will now offer an additional “Showtime Championship Boxing” broadcast before the end of what has been a challenging 2019 for the network.

The date for that third “Showtime Championship Boxing” telecast hasn’t been determined. Showtime already has such shows scheduled for October 26 and December 7.

Including “ShoBox: The New Generation” and “Showtime Special Edition” broadcasts, Showtime will air seven boxing shows within the final three months of this year.

“We’ve been in this sport a long time,” Espinoza said. “We understand this sport as well as anyone. We have the best production. We have the strongest announcer team. We know the business and we know how to make the biggest fights, and we’ve done more of the sport’s biggest fights than anyone else. And we didn’t become the industry leader and the sport’s longest-running platform by taking forced risks. We became the industry leader by making smart business decisions and smart strategic decisions. That’s what [the Wilder-Ortiz rematch] outcome was, a principled strategic decision for the long-term strategy of Showtime boxing.”
 
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