Now Jorge Masvidal calls out Floyd Mayweather

Jorge Masvidal would love to get in the ring with the retired Floyd Mayweather Jr., who recently declared he would fight again in 2020.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. continues to live free in the heads of MMA fighters.

The retired boxer recently declared on social media that he would return to the ring in 2020 in some kind of collaboration with UFC boss Dana White. That has no doubt perked up the ears of some of the UFC’s biggest stars, including Jorge Masvidal, who obviously smells a boatload of moolah.

“Me versus Mayweather. I want cash money,” Masvidal told TMZ Sports. “I got children, and those children got needs.”

Masvidal, who won a technical decision over Nate Diaz in November, recently called out Canelo Alvarez in an attempt to lure the Mexican superstar into a crossover bout. But with Mayweather seemingly an active fighter again and Alvarez expressing little interest, Masvidal has his eyes set on the undefeated boxer.

“I love to fight and one of my first loves growing up was boxing, and then I fell in love with wrestling and then UFC came about,” Masvidal said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I can do them both of them at the same damn time.’ I fell in love with the UFC, and that’s all I’ve done, the MMA. But I can box my ass off.”

White recently said that that should a collaboration with Mayweather become reality, the fight will most likely take place in the fall. Whatever form it may take, it is certain to be a financial bonanza. Masvidal’s colleague Conor McGregor had a reported guarantee of $30 million and might’ve taken home as much as $85 million in his boxing match with Mayweather in 2017. Even sniffing a fraction of that would presumably make Masvidal a happy camper.

“Not saying I’m a better boxer than Mayweather but man,” Masvidal said, “I’m gonna be in there with bad intentions, trying to hurt him. I’m a well-conditioned athlete who’s not going to fade. I’m not going to fade in the eighth of ninth round (as McGregor did). I’m going to be there for the whole night.

“I want to get into the biggest, toughest, roughest fights that I possibly can and make a paycheck for them as well, get compensated for my skills.”

Canelo Alvarez says he likes idea of fighting overseas

Canelo Alvarez told DAZN during Ruiz-Joshua II that he would be willing fight in Saudi Arabia, England or Japan in the near future.

Boxing’s biggest cash cow may be taking his show on the road.

Two-division titleholder Canelo Alvarez was in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia to support countryman Andy Ruiz Jr. in his highly anticipated heavyweight rematch against Anthony Joshua, who wound up winning a wide decision to regain his heavyweight titles.

Alvarez, who is coming off a 11^th round knockout of Sergey Kovalev to win a light heavyweight title, gave an interview during the DAZN broadcast discussing his plans. He, for one, is not opposed to staging his next fight in the Arabian desert.

“Of course, why not?” Alvarez said. “It’s an excellent opportunity. Of course, I can see myself fighting anywhere in the world.”

Alvarez has fought exclusively in North America, with the majority of his fights taking place in Las Vegas. He has also fought in San Antonio and New York City.

Alvarez continued: “I can see myself fighting here (Saudi Arabia), fighting in Japan, in England. Believe me, this is something. What a moment it would be for my career to fight anywhere in the world for the right opportunity.”

In Japan, Alvarez has a potentially lucrative matchup against domestic middleweight star Ryota Murata. Previously, there were talks about Alvarez’s arch-nemesis Gennadiy Golovkin facing Murata at the Tokyo Dome but nothing ever materialized. An Alvarez-Murata fight would be even bigger.

In England, there are options with super middleweights Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders, although the former is probably a more marketable fight. Smith’s brain trust have been vocal about facing Alvarez.

Jermall Charlo and his bleak future at middleweight

Titleholder Jermall Charlo may be the most talented fighter in the stacked middleweight division. The problem? He has yet to prove it.

OPINION

Titleholder Jermall Charlo may be the most talented fighter in the stacked middleweight division. The problem? He has yet to prove it. And when he takes on Dennis Hogan on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, he won’t be any closer to doing so.

Both fighters made weight today. Charlo weighed in at 159¾ pounds and Hogan, with plenty of room to spare, at 158½ pounds.

Of course, Hogan (28-2-1, 7 knockouts) is a career junior middleweight who is making his debut at the 160-pound limit. That, in a nutshell, should tell you how difficult it has been for Charlo to match up with the top fighters at middleweight; he needed to entice a junior middleweight to step up as an opponent.

Granted, Hogan, an Irishman who resides in Australia, is coming off a controversial loss to Jaime Munguia in a match he appeared to have done enough to win. Hogan’s team immediately pursued a rematch, but Munguia’s brain trust had other ideas. Still, putting forth a convincing effort against a defensively porous fighter like Munguia (perhaps one of the most overrated titleholders in recent memory) is one thing; doing it against a fighter of Charlo’s caliber is an altogether different proposition.

Kevin Hogan (right) probably isn’t the type of opponent who will take Jermall Charlo to the next level. Stephanie Trapp / Showtime

Indeed, a Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) victory is hardly in doubt, but it’s not clear what it will do for the Houston native’s career. To wit, Charlo’s middleweight run has consisted of Jorge Sebastian Heiland, Hugo Centeno Jr., Matvey Korobov and Brandon Adams. Hardly breathtaking. Aside from the Korobov fight – one in which many observers had Korobov winning – many of Charlo’s fights at middleweight are little more than showcases.

In many ways, Charlo’s predicament bears some comparison to that of Terence Crawford, the welterweight titleholder who currently faces a dearth of quality opponents on his end of the stratified boxing landscape, over at Top Rank/ESPN. Most of the best welterweights fight under the Premier Boxing Champions banner, which does business exclusively with Showtime and Fox. Likewise, the other middleweight titleholders all fight exclusively on DAZN, including Canelo Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin and Demetrius Andrade, and it’s not clear whether Charlo can ever get those fights. That’s a shame considering Charlo built his name off of one of the most impressive knockouts in the past few years, his fifth round stoppage of Julian Williams, in what was his last fight at junior middleweight.

Surely, though, if the unification matchups are out of reach, there should be better options for Charlo than the likes of Hogan, Adams and Centeno. To that end, hard-hitting British contender Chris Eubank Jr., who fights Korobov on the same card Saturday night, may prove to be an attractive possibility. That fight would be intriguing and it would certainly sell, especially in Eubank’s native England. Moreover, Eubank would offer a far sterner test for Charlo than his recent opponents did. But there is no guarantee that Eubank even gets passed Korobov, a skilled, if somewhat shopworn southpaw who landed a surprising number of left hand leads against Charlo. Eubank has struggled with dexterous boxers in the past, namely Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves.

For Charlo, a Eubank win, at least in the interim, may represent the only meaningful step forward in his career.

Chris Eubank Jr and Matvey Korobov also made weight for their middleweight bout that will top the undercard. Eubank weighed in at 159 1/2 pounds, Korobov at 159.

Also, Marlon Tapales and Ryosuke Iwasa both weighed in at 121 1/2 pounds for their 12-round junior featherweight bout.

Canelo Alvarez trainer Eddy Reynoso floats four possible foes for May

Eddy Reynoso, the trainer of Canelo Alvarez, said we’ll learn soon who his fighter will face in May.

Eddy Reynoso, the trainer of Canelo Alvarez, said his fighter’s opponent for May will be announced on Jan. 15, according to BoxingNews24.com. And it won’t be at 175 pounds.

At least four possible opponents are being considered, the website reported. In his last fight, Alvarez moved up to 175 pounds and stopped Sergey Kovalev to win a light heavyweight title on Nov. 2.

“There are a lot of names,” Reynoso said. “The (Gennadiy) Golovkin trilogy, Callum Smith, John Ryder, Billy Joe Saunders. “We have five months until the date we have in May for when Canelo always fights in.

“There’s plenty of time for Canelo to go back down to 160 or 168. That’s not a problem for us. Right now, we’re going to give it to DAZN to see what’s available to us out there. We plan on making an announcement for the fight in May for Canelo on January 15, after the New Year.”

Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 knockouts) has said repeatedly that he’s not excited about the prospect of facing Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) a third time, saying in effect “that’s finished business” after they drew in 2017 and Alvarez won the rematch on points last year.

However, it’s a fight the fans would embrace. And Alvarez also has said, “if it represents (good) business, why not?”

Golovkin, who won a vacant middleweight title by outpointing tough Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October, is tentatively scheduled to face mandatory challenger Kamil Szeremeta in February.

That means a January announcement might be too late for Golovkin, who presumably would jump at the chance to fight Alvarez one more time but might not wait around for the opportunity.

Smith, a 168-pound titleholder, is coming off a so-so performance against a surprisingly tough Ryder but won by a unanimous decision on Nov. 23. The Englishman is an attractive opponent because he holds the WBA super middleweight title.

Reynoso told BoxingNews24.com that Alvarez has not given up his WBA “regular” 168-pound title, contrary to some reports. Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize that belt.

Ryder (28-5, 16 KOs) presumably is in the picture because of his inspired performance against Smith (27-0, 19 KOs). Some believe the relatively unknown Londoner did enough to win the fight.

And Billy Joe Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs), another 168-pound titleholder from England, also is coming off a mediocre performance. He stopped Marcelo Coceres in the 11^th round but struggled up until that point on Nov. 9.

5 things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving holiday

There is a lot to be grateful for in boxing. Here are five things that make me feel fortunate on Thanksgiving.

We all have a lot to be grateful for on this Thanksgiving. Here are five things in the boxing world that make me feel fortunate.

A heavyweight who can knock out a Tyrannosaurus rex. I can understand where the purists are coming from. Deontay Wilder doesn’t have the sublime skill set that normally separates the great fighters from the rest. All I know is how I feel when Wilder lands those bombs to end his fights instantly. There is nothing like it in sports. I’m going to enjoy him as long as he’s around.
The spirit of the underdog. The oddsmakers generally know what they’re doing when they make one fighter a favorite – sometimes a prohibitive favorite – over another fighter. Thank goodness not every underdog buys into the prevailing wisdom. I think we’re all inspired by the fighters who overcome the odds, the “Rockys,” if you will. I’m thinking of you Andy Ruiz Jr. and Julian Williams.
The talent at the top: Non-fans ask me occasionally, “What happened to boxing? Where are the great fighters?” They’re there. Uber-talents like Vassiliy Lomachenko, Terence Crawford, Canelo Alvarez, Naoya Inoue, Oleksandr Usyk, Gennadiy Golovkin, Errol Spence, et al would’ve been successful in any era and are a joy to watch. I just wish more sports fans were aware of that.
An abundance of dates. The dying sport certainly produces a lot of shows, both on television and streaming services. ESPN, ESPN+, Fox, Showtime, DAZN and others have made major investments in the sport. And the quality of the cards has generally been very good. If we could only keep MMA fighters and YouTubers out of the picture.
The fighters themselves. They will always be what I’m most grateful for. These young (sometimes not-so-young) men and women risk their very well being to pursue their dreams and entertain us every time they step through the ropes. From the superstars to the journeymen, they need to know that we appreciate them and what they do. I’ll always admire them.

Canelo Alvarez: Jorge Masvidal matchup ‘attractive, but not a challenge’

Canelo Alvarez said a fight with MMA’s Jorge Masvidal makes sense from a business standpoint but wouldn’t be competitive.

Canelo Alvarez doesn’t seem all that interested in a potential crossover fight with the UFC star Jorge Masvidal.

The multiple-weight boxing champion recently responded to Masvidal’s comments showing interest in a boxing bout between the two. Alvarez believes Masvidal (35–13 MMA, 12-6 UFC), a top contender in the UFC’s welterweight division, has no business competing in the sport of boxing.

“I say this with all respect: If I go into his sport, I have nothing to do there. And I think the same about boxing: If (MMA fighters) come into boxing, they have nothing to do here,” Alvarez told Little Giant Boxing. “But looking at it from a business standpoint, it is attractive, but it’s not a challenge for me, so it’s not my priority.”

The biggest crossover bout between boxing and MMA fighters, and one of the biggest fights in combat sports history was in 2017, when the undefeated Floyd Mayweather beat former UFC featherweight and lightweight champ Conor McGregor in a boxing match.

Since then, the number of call outs involving MMA and boxing fighters has grown. Alvarez believes there is a simple answer to that: money.

“Because of money – because of the business and nothing else,” Alvarez said. “That’s the reality, because what else? They would’ve started boxing from the beginning if they really liked boxing. And I say this will all due respect, each to their own: I respect what they do and their sport, and they’re great fighters in what they do. But in boxing, well, it’s just something else.”

Pound-for-pound: Should Deontay Wilder be on the list?

Is it time to give Deontay Wilder pound-for-pound consideration? The short answer is “no.” That’s not a knock on Wilder, who deserves respect for what he has accomplished over the past five years. It simply means that he isn’t among the 15 best …

Is it time to give Deontay Wilder pound-for-pound consideration? The short answer is “no.”

That’s not a knock on Wilder, who deserves respect for what he has accomplished over the past five years. It simply means that he isn’t among the 15 best fighters in the world regardless of weight, which is what pound-for-pound is.

First of all, Wilder isn’t even the top heavyweight. The vast majority of those who saw his draw with Tyson Fury last December thought Fury, who is included in “Honorable Mention” here, deserved the decision even though he went down twice.

Honest observers have to be able to see through poor judging when assessing fighters.

And we have to stick with the definition of pound-for-pound. Consider this question: If Vassily Lomachenko and Terence Crawford were 6-foot-4 and around 220 pounds yet retained their skills and speed, how would they fare against Wilder?

Wilder’s punching power can be the deciding factor against anyone. At the same time, the heavyweight titleholder has never faced boxers with anywhere near the ability of Lomachenko and Crawford. The closest we could come to them in terms of skill set throughout history is Muhammad Ali, who was a once-in-a-century talent.

Deontay Wilder should be admired for his string of knockouts but he’s not a pound-for-pounder yet. Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions

We imagine that Lomachenko and Crawford would drive Wilder mad with their mobility, their quickness, their overall ability. Luis Ortiz, who Wilder stopped with one punch in the seventh round Saturday in Las Vegas, is a good boxer but he’s light years behind our Nos. 1 and 2 pound-for-pound.

The only fighter better than Ortiz on Wilder’s resume is Fury and we know what happened there. Who else has he beaten? His next toughest opponent might’ve been Bermane Stiverne, who isn’t exactly the type of fight against whom you demonstrate your pound-for-pound credentials.

To be fair to Wilder, we should mention that heavyweights are at a disadvantage against smaller fighters in this discussion. A man 6-foot-7, like Wilder, just can’t be expected to move like a smaller fighter. And smaller fighters can move up in weight in pursuit of more opportunities to prove their mettle.

Wilder understands that.

“When you’re dealing with the pound-for-pound list, I really don’t think it belongs in the heavyweight division,” Wilder said the news conference following the Ortiz fight. “We can only be in one division. We can’t go up and down like all of the smaller fighters, so it doesn’t really apply to us.”

We don’t agree completely. Again, Fury is an “honorable mention” here. And, certainly, Ali, Larry Holmes and perhaps other big men had the unusual ability to crack the pound-for-pound list during their eras.

For now, though, we believe it’s best to appreciate Wilder’s chilling knockouts and refrain from comparing him to the best all-around fighters in other divisions. And we can have this discussion again if he knocks out Fury.

Check out our Top 15 list below. And let us know what you think.

BOXING JUNKIE

POUND-FOR-POUND

Vasiliy Lomachenko
Terence Crawford
Canelo Alvarez
Naoya Inoue
Oleksandr Usyk
Gennadiy Golovkin
Errol Spence
Juan Francisco Estrada
Mikey Garcia
Artur Beterbiev
Josh Taylor
Manny Pacquiao
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
Leo Santa Cruz
Kosei Tanaka

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Miguel Berchelt, Mairis Briedis, Tyson Fury, Shawn Porter, Julian Williams

Callum Smith defeats John Ryder by an iffy unanimous decision

Callum Smith outpointed John Ryder over 12 rounds in their super middleweight fight, but questions about boxing’s integrity have flared up.

Boxing’s gutter of bad decisions just got a bit more crowded.

It didn’t matter that super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith was bleeding from cuts, breathing heavily and getting battered on the ropes late in a 12-round fight. In the end, he still won a unanimous decision over mandatory challenger John Ryder at Echo Park Arena in Liverpool.

The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112, which added up to yet another controversial result. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-112 in favor of Ryder.

It was supposed to be a showcase of sorts for the Liverpudlian Smith (27-0, 19 knockouts), who had not fought at home in nearly two years. It was anything but. The much shorter Ryder, a big underdog, consistently beat the 6-foot-3 Smith to the punch, outworking him on the inside, where he wailed away with convincing body shots. Later on, Ryder began mixing in hooks to the head. It was a breakout performance from Ryder (28-5, 16 KOs), who had previously lost to Billy Joe Saunders and Rocky Fielding and had mulled retirement at various times in his career.

Callum Smith (left) did enough to impress the judges but many viewers weren’t as convinced about his performance against John Ryder. Alex Livesey / Getty Images

“You know what, I got in there with the world No. 1 and I thought i just edged it,” a disappointed Ryder said afterward. “I didn’t do it tonight, but I thought I proved myself on the world stag. … I thought I forced the fight a lot. I thought he was just nicking rounds. I feel I did enough to win that.”

Smith looked sluggish. Though he was able to keep Ryder at bay with his jab early on, by the second half of the fight, Smith was drowning on the ropes as Ryder pressed harder and landed the cleaner shots. In Round 4, an inadvertent headbutt opened a cut above Smith’s right eye, but it hardly instilled a sense of urgency in Smith, who seemed to fight in one gear throughout the fight. Smith admitted as much in the post-fight interview.

“Early on I found it a little bit too easy,” Smith said. “I was in first gear for a little bit too long. Everything thing I was throwing was landing. When he was closing the distant I probably have dealt with it better. He’s very, very short and he got very close to me. He smothered me, and I allowed him to.”

Smith, the titleholder, emerged with a unanimous decision victory over a game John Ryder on Saturday in Liverpool. Alex Livesey /Getty Images

By Round 5, a noticeable mark appeared below Smith’s right eye. Though Smith had a very good Round 6, in which he landed several straight rights, Ryder began to pull away in the second half. The left hook that Smith is known for sailed over Ryder’s head all fight long. Round 8 saw Ryder tag Smith with a blistering combination to end the round.

“I knew (Ryder) was a tough fighter,” Smith said. “I knew it was going to be that kind of fight. He’s good at getting really close. He stopped me from doing what I’m good at. It wasn’t the best performance. But I thought I won most of the early rounds. I thought I only lost one or only two out of the first eight. He worked hard — I give him his due — at the end. … I think I was due for a bad one. It was the first time I got cut in a fight. … I’ll be better fighter because of it.”

Smith seemed to hint that his poor performance was a result of not facing one of the elite fighters in the division.

“There was no fear tonight,” he said. “I didn’t believe John Ryder was good enough to beat me. The fights that bring the best out of me are the top four (in the division). That’s what I want now. I want the big names. … I just want a big name where that fear brings out the better in me.”

Callum Smith, John Ryder make weight for their fight in England

Super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith and challenger John Ryder both made weight for Saturday’s fight in Liverpool.

Super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith and mandatory challenger John Ryder made weight Friday for their fight Saturday at Echo Arena in Smith’s hometown of Liverpool, England on DAZN.

Both Smith and Ryder weighed in at 167.4, .6 under the 168-pound limit.

Smith (26-0, 19 knockouts) won his title by a seventh-round knockout of countryman George Groves in the World Boxing Super series final in September of last year. He has only had one fight since then, a third-round stoppage of Hassan N’Dam in June on the undercard of Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. in New York City.

Ryder (28-4, 16 KOs) has won four consecutive fights since his split-decision loss to Rocky Fielding in 2017. In his last fight, he stopped Bilal Akkawy inside three rounds in May on the Canelo Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs undercard.

Jaime Munguia vs. Gary O’Sullivan set for Jan. 11 in San Antonio

Jaime Munguia will move up a division to face middleweight Gary O’Sullivan in a 12-round bout at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Jan. 11.

After five successful defenses of his junior middleweight title, Mexican slugger Jaime Munguia is moving up a division.

The 23-year-old makes his middleweight debut against Irish veteran Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan in a 12-rounder on Jan. 11 at the Alamodome in San Antonio on DAZN, Golden Boy Promotions has announced.

“I feel very happy to be starting the year 2020 with a great fight at a great place like San Antonio, Texas,” Munguia said.”I have fought in Houston, Texas before, where the people there treated me very well. I think that San Antonio won’t be any different.”

Munguia burst onto the scene last year when he appeared from nowhere to poleaxe Sadam Ali to win the WBO junior middleweight belt. He went on to defend it successfully against Liam Smith, Brandon Cook, Takeshi Inoue, Dennis Hogan and most recently Patrick Allotey. With each subsequent fight, however, Munguia, who sports a hulkish build, found it increasingly onerous to make the 154-pound limit.

“We’re going to deliver a great fight against a tough fighter in Gary O’Sullivan,” Munguia said. “He’s great and he’s strong, but we’re going to come very well prepared. We plan to do an excellent job and make it very clear who is the best in the ring.”

Munguia (34-0, 27 knockouts) joins a packed middleweight crew, which includes stablemate and countryman Canelo Alvarez (who may or may not return to that division after moving up to light heavyweight recently), as well as titleholders Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, and Demetrius Andrade.

The 35-year-old O’Sullivan ( 30-3, 21 KOs) reeled off consecutive wins since getting starched by David Lemieux last year. O’Sullivan made a name for himself when he wiped out once highly regarded prospect Antoine Douglas back in 2017.

“For me it’s a dream come true to fight the undefeated champion of the world and the No. 1-ranked fighter in the world,” O’Sullivan said. “It makes it even better that he’s Mexican. I grew up watching the great Mexican champions, and to get the opportunity to fight Jaime is an honor.”

The undercard bouts have not been announced.