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Added to Calendar: 05-18-24

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Wilder Believes Fury Would Step Aside To Allow Unification

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder believes Tyson Fury would step aside and allow him to take part in a full division unification. Wilder is slated to face Luis Ortiz in a rematch, likely on a date in November. Should Wilder win, he would then go on to collided with Fury in a rematch on a...
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Wilder Believes Fury Would Step Aside To Allow Unification

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder believes Tyson Fury would step aside and allow him to take part in a full division unification.

Wilder is slated to face Luis Ortiz in a rematch, likely on a date in November.

Should Wilder win, he would then go on to collide with Fury in a rematch on a date in February of next year. Fury would still have to overcome his upcoming fight with Otto Wallin on September 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.


But Wilder has one eye firmly set on the upcoming rematch between IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz and challenger Anthony Joshua.

Ruiz captured the titles back in June when he dropped Joshua four times to secure a seventh round stoppage. The rematch takes place on December 7 in Saudi Arabia.

Wilder is not convinced that Fury actually wants the rematch and believes that he would walk away from the fight if given the opportunity.

If the opportunity is there, Wilder would prefer to unify with the Ruiz-Joshua winner, and then face Fury.

"I would want him to step aside, which I think he would do anyway," Wilder told 78 SPORTS TV, according to Metro.

"I think he would, but I would want him to do it as well, to give a unification. One champion, one face, one name. That has never left my mind. In my opinion, I don’t feel Fury wants to fight me again anyway… If this opportunity comes about, I think Fury will pass up his opportunity, he would want me to fight for the unification, and then come back and fight him. He ain’t really no king, he don’t have a title. I revived his career for him, you’re welcome. Now if that happens [the chance to unify with the Ruiz-Joshua winner], Fury, step aside."
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Lubin-Gausha, Castano-Omotoso To Land on Showtime, 10/26

Yesterday an article ran on BoxingScene.com stating that super welterweight contender Erickson Lubin (21-1) would return to the ring against 2012 US Olympian Terrell Gausha (21-1-1). Lubin was expected to face former title challenger Dennis Hogan, but Hogan will now move up to middleweight to...
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Lubin-Gausha, Castano-Omotoso To Land on Showtime, 10/26

Yesterday an article ran on BoxingScene.com stating that super welterweight contender Erickson Lubin (21-1) would return to the ring against 2012 US Olympian Terrell Gausha (21-1-1).

Lubin was expected to face former title challenger Dennis Hogan, but Hogan will now move up to middleweight to take on WBC middleweight champion JermallCharlo. The Athletic's Mike Coppinger first reported the news.

Sources have now told BoxingScene.com that the Lubin-Gausha showdown will headline a Showtime card on October 26th at a venue still to be determined. In the co-feature bout former WBA super welterweight champion Brian Castaño will battle the upset minded Wale Omotoso.

Lubin has picked up three wins since suffering his only loss which came against Jermell Charlo in 2017. He is 2-0 with 2 knockouts in 2019 and is looking to keep his moment going.

Gausha last fought in May when he battled Austin Trout to a disputed draw in Biloxi, Mississippi. Gausha also suffered his only loss in 2017 when he dropped a 12 round decision to Erislandy Lara.

Castaño held the WBA "regular" super welterweight title but relinquished it in June when he refused to travel to France to face Michel Soro, his mandatory challenger in a rematch. Soro's promoter had won the purse bid but Castaño refused to sign the contract after having a contractual dispute that stemmed from their first fight in 2017 that Castaño won by split decision. He was last in action in March when he fought Lara to a split draw.

Omotoso has campaigned at welterweight for most of his career but picked up the biggest win of his career in June when he upset former title challenger Curtis Stevens in Las Vegas. It was Omotoso's third fight at 154 pounds.
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WBO Prez Erupts Over WBC "Handing Out" Their "Palooka" Belts

World Boxing Organization (WBO) President, Paco Valcarcel, has erupted in the direction of the World Boxing Council (WBC). On Tuesday, the WBC announced that they were staking not one, but two, Mayan belts on September 14th.
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WBO Prez Erupts Over WBC "Handing Out" Their "Palooka" Belts


World Boxing Organization (WBO) President, Paco Valcarcel, has erupted in the direction of the World Boxing Council (WBC).

On Tuesday, the WBC announced that they were staking not one, but two, Mayan belts on September 14th.

The WBC is going to sanction the heavyweight contest between Tyson Fury and Otto Wallin, which takes place in Las Vegas. And they are sanctioning the junior middleweight bout taking place on the same night, between Jaime Munguia and Patrick Allotey in Carson, California.

But the WBO Prez has taken exception to the fight with Munguia, who is the WBO's world champion at 154-pounds.

According to WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, they initially felt it was necessary to give the belt to one event - but there was a draw in their voting process - so now two events will have the Mayan belt involved.

“These belts are tremendous works of art which has Mexico`s heart in it. And whoever wins them will take them home and cherish them for the rest of their lives. It is a piece of history for Eternity. The Governors` choice was a draw, but no instant replay was needed in this one. And we feel it`s only fair to award two different belts to two different cards," Sulaiman said.

The WBC have made some very controversial moves in recent years, like ordering their champions to make mandatory defense against champions of rival organizations. And they recently took some heat after making Canelo Alvarez the first ever "Franchise champion" at middleweight, while elevating interim-champion Jermall Charlo to a full WBC champion.

But Valcarcel says enough is enough, and makes it clear that he wants the WBC to stop piggybacking on events that have nothing to do with their organization. Valcarcel has long claimed that Sulaiman and the WBC are creating titles to latch on to key fights that don't involve their organization.

"What the hell are these people from another sanctioning body doing handing out copper and silver, Mayan, pearl, studded aluminum, Aztec belts in bouts sponsored by other organizations, to contenders who don't really care about these palooka belts. This needs to stop, enough already," Valcarcel vented.
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DMorgan said:
I wonder if Hurd pulled out of the fight because of the drug testing or because he got a new trainer and doesn't want to go into such a high profile fight with a new trainer for the first time.
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I don't know about his reasoning but I don't have an issue with delaying a rematch especially a rough scrap those fights take alot out of people
 
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Ruiz: Did Joshua Quit? Let's Just Say He Didn't Want To Continue!

IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz is confident of achieving the same outcome in his upcoming rematch with Anthony Joshua. Ruiz shocked the crowd at New York's Madison Square Garden, when he dropped Joshua four times to secure a seventh round stoppage.
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Ruiz: Did Joshua Quit? Let's Just Say He Didn't Want To Continue!

IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz is confident of achieving the same outcome in his upcoming rematch with Anthony Joshua.

Ruiz shocked the crowd at New York's Madison Square Garden, when he dropped Joshua four times to secure a seventh round stoppage.

The rematch is scheduled to take place on December 7th in Saudi Arabia.


There are some critics who believe Joshua was mentally broken in the seventh, after getting dropped for the fourth time, and had no interest in fighting any further.

While Ruiz won't caller Joshua a quitter, he does believe the British star was physically and mentally spent.

"Did he quit in New York?," Ruiz said. "Well, let's just say I don't think he wanted to continue. Now that we've come face to face again I see in his eyes that he's more focused but are there doubts in his mind? I don't know yet. We all have doubts but I have no fear about boxing anyone."

"I respect Anthony as a boxer, as a man and for all he's achieved. But his problem is that his style is perfect for me. He doesn't have the movement to get away from me and my combinations."

During their first fight week, back in May, Joshua allowed Ruiz to hold his world titles for photos. Joshua would recently state that he made a mistake by allowing Ruiz to hold the titles in the pre-fight.

Ruiz refused to do the same, and did not allow Joshua to hold the belts when they came together last week during a three city media tour.

"No, no. He let me hold the belts before we fought in New York but sorry, I'm not letting him do the same here," Ruiz said.
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Andy Ruiz: I Knew Anthony Joshua's Style Was Perfect For Me

Andy Ruiz Jr says the scariest thing for Anthony Joshua to contemplate as he prepares for their rematch will not be the idea that Ruiz could knock him out, but the thought that he could takes his best shots and still come back firing. Prior to facing Ruiz on June 1 in New York, Joshua had...
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Andy Ruiz: I Knew Anthony Joshua's Style Was Perfect For Me
Andy Ruiz Jr says the scariest thing for Anthony Joshua to contemplate as he prepares for their rematch will not be the idea that Ruiz could knock him out, but the thought that he could takes his best shots and still come back firing.

Prior to facing Ruiz on June 1 in New York, Joshua had stopped every opponent he had put on the canvas. But that run finished there, as Joshua knocked down Ruiz, but ended up getting stopped himself.

“He did get me,” Ruiz said. “That was my first time getting dropped but I got up. It didn’t really hurt. He got me with a strong right hand and was trying to finish me off. But I ate that.

“I remember when he hit me and was trying to win it and I was just trying to stay in the pocket, to stay in the fight. I’m the type of fighter who is going to go in there and give it everything. There’s nothing to lose in that moment.

“It should be scary for him to know that. I’m a warrior, I take shots, I give shots back. On December 7 there is going to be a lot of action in this, a lot of action.”

Joshua has been installed as a strong favourite with bookmakers to regain the WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF heavyweight titles that he lost to Ruiz when they meet in a purpose-built arena in Diriyah, on the outskirts of the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh. But Ruiz will not be taking anything lightly.

“I don’t underestimate any fighter,” Ruiz said. “I know AJ’s going to come stronger and more focused but inside the gym, like Mike Tyson says, everyone has a plan until they get hit.

“I’m sure everybody was trying to look for an excuse and reason why he didn’t perform and why he lost. I think it was down to the style. Styles make fights and I’ve been calling AJ out for a while. I knew his style was perfect for me and that’s why I plan to do the same thing.”

Ruiz has been showing off some of his many purchases since becoming world champion, including a new home, but he insists that is not a sign that he has lost focus on his career.

“This is all material stuff,” Ruiz said. “Yes, material stuff I always wanted. But what I really want is a legacy, not just 15 minutes of fame. The main thing is that I remain humble, stay disciplined, stay training and continue to be champion.

“Ever since I won the world title I’ve been having so much love from my people. I understood that because I don’t want to let my people down, my fans down. This is something new for me but I don’t want to give it away. I want to train hard. I know Joshua is going to come hard so I have to train even harder.

“He’s going to be prepared, I’m going to be prepared. As long as we stay disciplined we’re going to have the same result.”

The highlight for Ruiz since his win in June, as well as not having to worry about bills any more, was meeting the Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, having previously stated that he had no interest in meeting Donald Trump, the US President.

He has watched his victory back numerous times as well.

“Not daily, but I have seen it a lot of times,” he said. “I was pinching myself to see if it was real. I was watching it and watching it, to see the number of mistakes I made so that I can improve as well.”

But, as he showed in June, people should not be fooled by his friendly personality.

“That’s just how I am,” he said. “Until today I’m still a nice guy. I still respect Anthony Joshua. I’m still a fan of what he has done in boxing. He’s been a champion.

“But inside the ring, as I told him, inside the ring, there’s no friends, there’s no respect, it’s just me and you, trying to rip each other’s face off. In my eyes, when I’m in the ring I feel he’s there trying to take my kids’ Cheerios, their fruit juice. That’s what gives me the extra motivation.”
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Hearn: Fury Event is Stinker, Nobody Knows He's Even Fighting!

Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport is not convinced that Tyson Fury will collide with WBC world champion Deontay Wilder in a rematch next year. Wilder is slated to face Luis Ortiz in a rematch in the coming months, while Fury returns on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas...
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Hearn: Fury Event is Stinker, Nobody Knows He's Even Fighting!

Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport is not convinced that Tyson Fury will collide with WBC world champion Deontay Wilder in a rematch next year.

Wilder is slated to face Luis Ortiz in a rematch in the coming months, while Fury returns on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Fury will face heavy underdog Otto Wallin.

Hearn promotes numerous heavyweight contenders, including former unified world champion Anthony Joshua.

Fury made his Las Vegas debut a few months ago, when he dominated and stopped overmatched opponent Tom Schwarz in the second round.

Wallin is viewed by some expects as being just as big of an underdog.

Based on Fury's opposition and the delay in finalizing Wilder-Ortiz, Hearn is not sure that a Wilder-Fury rematch comes off.

"God knows if that will even happen. One, [Wilder] hasn’t announced his Luis Ortiz fight yet. I understand that’s going to happen soon, the announcement. But look at Fury’s fight this Saturday. No one even knows he’s fighting," Hearn told IFL TV.

"ESPN and Bob Arum are having an absolute stinker because this fight is non-existent. Non-existent. There will be no one in the arena, other than complimentary tickets. I mean, Fury’s a genius, because he’s done this big deal where he’s just having all these easy fights. But his profile is going like that [downhill] because no one even knows he’s fighting. After beating Tom Schwarz last time out, Fury now fights Otto Wallin.

"So all this big stuff about ESPN, the exposure, no one knows he’s fighting. No one is going to the venue. Who is talking about him? This is Fury, he’s supposed to be the best heavyweight in the world. He’s fighting on Saturday, no one knows. It’s on Box Office in the UK – are you mad? The whole thing [Fury v Wilder rematch] just seems weird. I don’t know what’s happening."
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Deontay Wilder: I Would Knock Ruiz's Ass Out, Just Like The Rest

Deontay Wilder respects Andy Ruiz Jr. for producing one of the biggest upsets in boxing history three months ago. If Ruiz defeats Joshua again in their immediate rematch, Wilder would want to face Ruiz late in 2020 to determine complete supremacy within the heavyweight division. That’d also...
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Deontay Wilder: I Would Knock Ruiz's Ass Out, Just Like The Rest

Deontay Wilder respects Andy Ruiz Jr. for producing one of the biggest upsets in boxing history three months ago.

If Ruiz defeats Joshua again in their immediate rematch, Wilder would want to face Ruiz late in 2020 to determine complete supremacy within the heavyweight division. That’d also require Wilder to win challenging, back-to-back rematches against Luis Ortiz and Tyson Fury.

But if Ruiz and Wilder continue winning and find their way to a full title unification fight, Wilder is convinced he would defeat Ruiz the same way he has won all but two of his 42 professional fights.

“It’ll be a good fight in the beginning, until we feel each other out,” Wilder told BoxingScene.com. “And once I feel him out, sh*t, he’s gonna go down just like the rest of them. I’m gonna knock his ass out – point blank, period. I don’t know no other way to put it. And I don’t expect nobody else to expect me to have a different answer than what I said. If we fight, I’ll knock Ruiz out as well.”

Ruiz, 29, has displayed a tremendous chin throughout his 10-year pro career. Joshua became the first fighter to knock him down during the third round of their fight June 1 at Madison Square Garden, but Ruiz quickly got to his feet, took the fight to Joshua, dropped him four times and stopped the previously unbeaten Brit in the seventh round.

Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs), of Imperial, California, and Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs), of Watford, England, will meet again December 7 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. If Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, beats Cuba’s Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) in their rematch, he and Fury are expected to square off again, maybe as soon as February 22.

England’s Fury (28-0-1, 20 KOs) must get past Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin (20-0, 13 KOs, 1 NC) on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to advance to the Wilder rematch.

“Within nine months, I’ll have the opportunity to be the unified, undisputed, undefeated heavyweight champion of the world,” Wilder said. “If things go as planned, no matter what, we’ll have that opportunity. Forget mandatories and all that. The rules is – from what I’ve always read and what I’ve always heard – that unification overrules mandatories. That’s what the fans want. That’s what the people wanna see. Whoever’s involved should give us that. Forget these mandatories. Put that aside. When I win, bring ‘em on. You can bring ‘em on the next month. I’ll get right back in camp to finish a mandatory. That’s nothing, to demolish him and finish him.

“But this unification is very important for the heavyweight division. We’re closer than ever before to having it, and I just want them to have everybody put they feelings to the side and let’s have this unification bout. It’d be amazing for the heavyweight division because we’ll know who’s the ultimate champion. Not all these different names. One champion, one face, one name, and he go by the name of Deontay Wilder.”
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Wilder's Manager To Hearn: Worry About Resurrecting Joshua

Shelly Finkel, the co-manager of WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, has responded to some of the recent statements from Eddie Hearn, promoter for Anthony Joshua. A few days ago, Hearn questioned the validity of Wilder's interest in facing the winner of Joshua's rematch with Andy Ruiz...
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Wilder's Manager To Hearn: Worry About Resurrecting Joshua

Shelly Finkel, the co-manager of WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, has responded to some of the recent statements from Eddie Hearn, promoter for Anthony Joshua.

A few days ago, Hearn questioned the validity of Wilder's interest in facing the winner of Joshua's rematch with Andy Ruiz. Wilder stated in an interview that he was willing to bypass a February rematch with Tyson Fury in order to fight the Ruiz-Joshua winner.

"Isn't it interesting that when on fight week Joshua-Ruiz, at the end of May, Deontay Wilder announced that he was fighting Luis Ortiz on Joshua fight week? We are now at the beginning of September, there is no fight, there is no venue, there is no date. He hasn't talked about Anthony Joshua probably since that moment. Joshua-Ruiz II media week what happens? Deontay Wilder pops up and says: ‘Oh, I want to fight Anthony Joshua and unify instead of Tyson Fury.' Why didn't you want to do it when Joshua had the belts?," Hearn said.

Finkel responded back, stating that Hearn should focus his energy on rebuilding Joshua.

Joshua was dropped four times and stopped in the seventh round by Ruiz, back on June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The rematch has been scheduled for December 7th in Saudi Arabia.

"After reading Eddie's quotes today I think he shouldn't be worrying about Deontay and should put all his energy into resurrecting Joshua, because that is what is really needed,” Finkel told Sky Sports.

"Deontay's fight against Luis Ortiz will be officially announced later this month, as has always been planned."

Wilder vs. Ortiz is being targeted for a date in November, with a rematch against Fury on the tentative date of February 22.
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De La Hoya: GGG Has To 'Earn His Spot' To Get Canelo Trilogy!

Golden Boy Promotions might be putting the final touches on Canelo Alvarez’s next contract, widely believed to be a light heavyweight showdown against Sergey Kovalev. But one Canelo counterpart who’ll always be looming in the near distance as a palatable opponent is Gennadiy Golovkin.
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De La Hoya: GGG Has To 'Earn His Spot' To Get Canelo Trilogy!


Golden Boy Promotions might be putting the final touches on Canelo Alvarez’s next contract, widely believed to be a light heavyweight showdown against Sergey Kovalev.

But one Canelo counterpart who’ll always be looming in the near distance as a palatable opponent is Gennadiy Golovkin.

Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya is not shying away from making a much-desired trilogy a reality one day even though his star fighter has his sights set on becoming a four-division champion.

“A Golovkin fight is bound to happen, but obviously on Canelo’s terms,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com. “The middleweight division is the hottest division out there right now. We’re excited to be steering and directing the Mack Truck that is Canelo.”

One of the previous terms that’s been called to question from Golovkin is staging a fight outside of Nevada. Golovkin believes he cannot win a decision in the state, and has been vocal about having a fight in New York at Madison Square Garden or Dallas at AT&T Stadium instead of Sin City.

Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs), meanwhile, has turned his attention to other opponents after a back-to-back affair with Golovkin in 2017 (split draw) and 2018 (majority decision) that was hotly contested—and disputed. Both bouts took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, a location Golovkin wants to stay away from due to controversial judging by officials appointed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Only one out of six judges scored a fight for Golovkin in the pair of matches that many can argue he both won.

The 29-year-old Mexican superstar leveraged his showcases into a 10-fight, $365-million deal with DAZN last year, and Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) promptly followed to DAZN to pave a clear path in making a third fight possible. However, Alvarez and Golden Boy have maintained their position in the driver’s seat, declaring that the only person that would benefit from a third fight is Golovkin, and that Alvarez has nothing to gain from another meeting with his Kazakh contemporary.

“Back in the day when I would fight, you’d have to earn your spot once again. Canelo has so many choices and GGG has to earn his spot again, and climb up the ladder,” said De La Hoya. “I strongly feel that if he does that, than a Canelo-GGG is bound to happen.”

De La Hoya said Canelo’s career is not tied to the hip of Golovkin. Demetrius Andrade and Billy Joe Saunders “are worthy fighters as well” that Golden Boy is considering as future foes, he noted

“Nowadays when you throw a fighter's name out there, it makes it impossible to negotiate. That fighter then thinks that his stock climbed like there’s no tomorrow. There’s so much money now in boxing being thrown around to fighters that you have to be careful who you mention,” said De La Hoya. “It’s like playing poker while showing your hand. It makes it impossible. Canelo is the cash cow, and everyone knows of the deal I got him with DAZN, the richest sports deal in history. It makes it a little more difficult. That’s why we don’t go after one opponent, but several at the same time. Whoever wants to take the deal and make history to fight Canelo, then we have fighters to choose from.”

Golovkin kicked off his three-year, six-fight deal with DAZN and promptly ran through Steve Rolls in June.

Next, he’ll fight Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1-0, 10 KOs) in October for the IBF middleweight title that Alvarez was forced to vacate after a deal with Derevyanchenko could not be reached.

Should Golovkin win and climb up that ladder like De La Hoya desires, a date with Alvarez on Cinco De Mayo in 2020—he’ll be 38-years-old by then—for the middleweight title that was Alvarez’s to begin with would likely be the last ideal time to settle the score once and for all.
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Canelo-Kovalev Announcement Expected Soon For 11/2

It took two weeks they seemingly didn’t have to waste, but BoxingScene.com confirmed that promoters for Canelo Alvarez and Sergey Kovalev were in the process Wednesday of finalizing a deal for their November 2 fight in Las Vegas.
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Canelo-Kovalev Announcement Expected Soon For 11/2



It took two weeks they seemingly didn’t have to waste, but BoxingScene.com confirmed that promoters for Canelo Alvarez and Sergey Kovalev were in the process Wednesday of finalizing a deal for their November 2 fight in Las Vegas.

Kovalev became the clear frontrunner to become Alvarez’s next opponent as soon as he knocked out Anthony Yarde in the 11th round August 24 in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Kovalev’s hometown. Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions (Alvarez), and Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events (Kovalev), have spent the past two weeks slowly but surely completing their deal.

They worked out the most significant remaining contractual issue Wednesday, a fact first reported by Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix. An official announcement will be made soon to confirm a 12-round, 175-pound title fight DAZN will stream live in the United States.

The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger first reported Sunday that the deal was nearing completion. The aforementioned lingering issue required three more days of negotiations to settle, but there’s nothing now expected to prevent them from moving forward with the Alvarez-Kovalev fight.

An agreement was considered almost a foregone conclusion throughout their negotiations because Alvarez wants to fight Kovalev next, Kovalev will make a career-high, eight-figure purse and Kovalev is one of the few available boxers that DAZN executive chairman John Skipper placed on his list of acceptable opponents for Alvarez.

Skipper wanted Alvarez to fight Gennadiy Golovkin a third time after signing the middleweight rivals to multi-fight contracts worth nine figures apiece over the past 11 months. Alvarez has refused to accept another fight against Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs), who’ll fight Ukraine’s Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) on October 5 at Madison Square Garden.

The Mexican superstar instead will move up two weight classes to challenge Kovalev for his WBO light heavyweight title.

Their fight will take place seven weeks from Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Four of Alvarez’s past five fights have been held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but that building isn’t available November 2 because the NHL’s Golden Knights are scheduled to play a home game that night against Winnipeg.

The 29-year-old Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) hasn’t fought at MGM Grand Garden Arena since he scored a controversial, split-decision win over Erislandy Lara in July 2014. His fight versus Kovalev will mark this third appearance on DAZN since he signed an 11-fight deal with that fledgling streaming service last October that could become worth $365 million.

The 36-year-old Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) received a three-fight contract to fight on DAZN as part of his deal to battle Alvarez. Kovalev’s partnership with DAZN could conclude with a fight against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, but Bivol (16-0, 11 KOs) has been working with DAZN on a bout-by-bout basis.

Gomez and Duva first discussed an Alvarez-Kovalev fight for September 14, and later for October 26. That was when Kovalev was considering paying England’s Yarde (18-1, 17 KOs), who was Kovalev’s mandatory challenger, a seven-figure sum to step aside and allow him to fight Alvarez next.

Kovalev eventually decided he couldn’t withdraw from a fight in his hometown, which had already been announced.

Yarde hurt Kovalev badly late in the eighth round of their bout. A resilient Kovalev recovered by the start of the ninth round, however, immediately regained control of their fight and knocked out an exhausted Yarde with a jarring jab in the 11th round.

Alvarez convincingly defeated Daniel Jacobs in his last fight. He defended the WBA and WBC middleweight titles and won the IBF belt by beating Brooklyn’s Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-round, 160-pound championship unification match May 4 at T-Mobile Arena.

Alvarez since has been elevated to “franchise champion” by the WBC. He also was stripped by the IBF for failing to make a deal to fight Derevyanchenko, who was his mandatory challenger.
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Arum: Wilder-Ortiz Dangerous, But Haymon Had To Do It

By Keith Idec - LAS VEGAS – If it were up to Bob Arum, he wouldn’t have come to MGM Grand this week to promote Tyson Fury’s fight against Otto Wallin. “I need this fight like a hole in the head,” Arum told BoxingScene.com on Thursday. “That’s the truth.” The 87-year-old Arum has nothing against...
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Arum: Wilder-Ortiz Dangerous, But Haymon Had To Do It
By Keith Idec

LAS VEGAS – If it were up to Bob Arum, he wouldn’t have come to MGM Grand this week to promote Tyson Fury’s fight against Otto Wallin.

“I need this fight like a hole in the head,” Arum told BoxingScene.com on Thursday. “That’s the truth.”

The 87-year-old Arum has nothing against Wallin, who at least looks the part of a credible contender and has been nothing but perfectly polite since this fight was made last month. And the ever-entertaining Fury makes Arum’s job easier, even against an unproven opponent completely unknown among American boxing fans.

It’s just that Arum much would’ve preferred Tyson Fury’s next fight to be a rematch with Deontay Wilder, who fought Fury to a split draw December 1 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Moving directly to Wilder-Fury II would’ve prevented Wilder from fighting Luis Ortiz in their own rematch November 23 at MGM Grand. Arum is much more confident in Fury defeating Wallin than he is about Wilder winning his second fight versus Ortiz.

Whereas Fury is a 25-1 favorite versus Wallin, Wilder willingly has decided to engage in a seemingly more troublesome rematch against Ortiz.

The Cuban-born Ortiz is 40 and Wilder knocked him out in the 10th round of their first fight 18 months ago at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Assuming Fury (28-0-1, 20 KOs) gets past Sweden’s Wallin (20-0, 13 KOs, 1 NC) on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, Arum still won’t breathe a sigh of relief until Wilder withstands Ortiz’s second shot at his WBC heavyweight title in two months.

Fury’s promoter remembers Ortiz rocking Wilder late in the seventh round of their initial battle, before Wilder recovered, dropped Ortiz twice and stopped him in the 10th round. Arum also was stunned to see another fighter he once promoted, Andy Ruiz Jr., produce one of the biggest upsets in boxing history when he stopped previously unbeaten heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua three months ago.

If Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) can hurt Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) again and finishes the job this time, the lucrative Wilder-Fury rematch clearly wouldn’t happen next. The thought of that transpiring will make Arum uneasy until the Wilder-Ortiz rematch ends.

“It’s very dangerous,” Arum said. “It’s stupid, but Al was boxed in. He had to do it. We talked about getting out of that fight, and doing Fury and Wilder here, now, in the fall. And Al couldn’t get out of that fight because Ortiz had been offered the Joshua fight, and so he promised him this [rematch with Wilder].”

The notoriously reclusive Haymon, who advises Wilder and many other prominent boxers, and Arum met a few months ago to discuss putting together the Wilder-Fury rematch and the welterweight showdown between WBO champion Terence Crawford and IBF champ Errol Spence Jr. Arum made some inflammatory comments about Haymon that made working together appear unlikely, but Arum says their meeting went well and that he is confident they’ll be able to make at least some of the fights fans most want to watch.

Arum also understood why Haymon couldn’t help him make the Wilder-Fury rematch next.

Haymon promised Ortiz a rematch with Wilder if Ortiz turned down a $7 million purse to replace Jarrell Miller as Joshua’s opponent June 1 at Madison Square Garden. It isn’t clear how much money Ortiz has been guaranteed for his second fight with Wilder, but he’ll also receive a percentage of pay-per-view revenue from a fight Showtime is expected to distribute.

Their first fight was televised live on Showtime.

Most Internet sports books have installed Wilder as a 5-1 favorite over Ortiz, but “there is concern” about Wilder losing, according to Arum.

“And there’s concern about this Wallin,” Arum said. “He’s a 6-foot-6 Swede that can punch. I mean, any time heavyweights go in there, it’s not like the lighter weight classes, where people can absorb punches easier because they’re not really [dangerous]. All the heavyweight fights are dangerous. He gets hit on the beard and that it’s.”

Ben Davison, Fury’s trainer, commended Wilder on Thursday for taking a difficult fight he’ll have to win to advance to a second Fury fight.

“Listen, I’ve gotta give credit to Deontay Wilder,” Davison said, “because he fought Ortiz, he signed up to fight Tyson, took a massive risk. He signed up to fight Tyson again, taking a massive risk. And he’s taking a risk in boxing Ortiz, so I’ve got to give him credit where credit’s due. I think he will have learned a lot from the last fight with Ortiz. I think it’ll be tough for Ortiz to have improved from the last fight, physically. Just, you know, another hard fight, another hard training camp, at his age, it’s not exactly ideal. But Ortiz is a very good fighter as well, so it’ll be interesting to see.

“And that’s what I’m saying – listen, [Fury and Wilder] both, in principle, agreed to fight. But they’ve both got fights to get through first. So, it’s a long way off because, as I said before, Andy Ruiz, going into the Joshua fight, wasn’t looked at – it was like, ‘Ah, he’s boxing Andy Ruiz.’ A step-in. That’s what he was, a step-in. I’m not saying that’s what he is, but that’s what he was, a step-in. He was looked at as a step-in, anyway. And you know what happened, so don’t overlook anything or anybody in the heavyweight division.”

Wilder explained during an interview with BoxingScene.com last week why he feels it’s necessary for him to oppose Ortiz again before facing Fury a second time.

“It was very important to me to set my legacy, to stake my claim in this heavyweight division,” Wilder said. “I’m not in the business of having low opposition. I’m the heavyweight champion of the world, man. And that means a lot to me. That says a lot for me. I’m just looking to have big fights. You know what I mean? I ain’t got time for these low-opposition guys. You know what I mean? Good luck on their opportunities, coming up, but right now, I’m at the top and I’m trying to unify the division. With that said, I must continue to fight the best of the best.”
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