Tag: Gervona Davis

Pound-for-pound: Top fighters starting to get busy

Pound-for-pound: More top fighters have fights scheduled or in works.

The pound-for-pounders are finding opponents.

Thirteen of the 20 fighters on the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list — the Top 15, plus five Honorable Mentions — have fights scheduled or in the works.

On Wednesday alone, No. 14 Jermell Charlo, No. 15 Gervonta Davis and HM Jermall Charlo had fights announced for the summer. And the announcement that No. 6 Teofimo Lopez will face George Kambosos reportedly will come Friday.

Now, if we could only find No. 1 Terence Crawford a dance partner and finalize the long-running soap opera that is No. 8 Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua …

Here is where the pound-for-pounders stand.

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford — No fight scheduled.
  2. Canelo Alvarez – Scheduled to face Billy Joe Saunders in a title-unification fight on May 8.
  3. Naoya Inoue — Reportedly scheduled to fight Michael Dasmarinas on June 19.
  4. Errol Spence Jr. – Reportedly in talks to face Yordenis Ugas in a 147-pound title-unification bout.
  5. Oleksandr Usyk – Reportedly in talks to face Joe Joyce for the WBO “interim” heavyweight title.
  6. Teofimo Lopez — Reportedly will defend his 135-pound titles against George Kambosos on June.
  7. Vasiliy Lomachenko — Reportedly in talks to face Masayoshi Nakatani this summer.
  8. Tyson Fury – In talks to face Anthony Joshua in a heavyweight title-unification bout.
  9. Gennadiy Golovkin — No fight scheduled.
  10. Juan Francisco Estrada — The WBC announced that Estrada will meet Roman Gonzalez in a third fight as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official.
  11. Mikey Garcia — No fight scheduled.
  12. Artur Beterbiev — No fight scheduled.
  13. Manny Pacquiao — No fight scheduled
  14. Jermell Charlo — Scheduled to face Brian Castano in a 154-pound title-unification fight on July 17.
  15. Gervonta Davis — Scheduled to face Mario Barrios in a 140-pound bout on June 26.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (no fight scheduled), Jermall Charlo (scheduled to face Juan Montiel on June 19), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (The WBC announced that Sor Rungvisai will meet Carlos Cuadras as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official), Josh Taylor (scheduled to fight Jose Ramirez on May 22) and Oscar Valdez (no fight scheduled).

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Pound-for-pound: Top fighters starting to get busy

Pound-for-pound: More top fighters have fights scheduled or in works.

The pound-for-pounders are finding opponents.

Thirteen of the 20 fighters on the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list — the Top 15, plus five Honorable Mentions — have fights scheduled or in the works.

On Wednesday alone, No. 14 Jermell Charlo, No. 15 Gervonta Davis and HM Jermall Charlo had fights announced for the summer. And the announcement that No. 6 Teofimo Lopez will face George Kambosos reportedly will come Friday.

Now, if we could only find No. 1 Terence Crawford a dance partner and finalize the long-running soap opera that is No. 8 Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua …

Here is where the pound-for-pounders stand.

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford — No fight scheduled.
  2. Canelo Alvarez – Scheduled to face Billy Joe Saunders in a title-unification fight on May 8.
  3. Naoya Inoue — Reportedly scheduled to fight Michael Dasmarinas on June 19.
  4. Errol Spence Jr. – Reportedly in talks to face Yordenis Ugas in a 147-pound title-unification bout.
  5. Oleksandr Usyk – Reportedly in talks to face Joe Joyce for the WBO “interim” heavyweight title.
  6. Teofimo Lopez — Reportedly will defend his 135-pound titles against George Kambosos on June.
  7. Vasiliy Lomachenko — Reportedly in talks to face Masayoshi Nakatani this summer.
  8. Tyson Fury – In talks to face Anthony Joshua in a heavyweight title-unification bout.
  9. Gennadiy Golovkin — No fight scheduled.
  10. Juan Francisco Estrada — The WBC announced that Estrada will meet Roman Gonzalez in a third fight as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official.
  11. Mikey Garcia — No fight scheduled.
  12. Artur Beterbiev — No fight scheduled.
  13. Manny Pacquiao — No fight scheduled
  14. Jermell Charlo — Scheduled to face Brian Castano in a 154-pound title-unification fight on July 17.
  15. Gervonta Davis — Scheduled to face Mario Barrios in a 140-pound bout on June 26.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (no fight scheduled), Jermall Charlo (scheduled to face Juan Montiel on June 19), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (The WBC announced that Sor Rungvisai will meet Carlos Cuadras as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official), Josh Taylor (scheduled to fight Jose Ramirez on May 22) and Oscar Valdez (no fight scheduled).

[lawrence-related id=19460]

Ryan Garcia’s trainer says he’s talented but ‘still needs to learn more’

Eddy Reynoso, Ryan Garcia’s trainer, believes his protege has everything it takes to be a star but has more work to do.

Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso, believes the Mexican-American is a special fighter. And a young one.

For that reason, Reynoso, who also trains superstar Canelo Alvarez, believes there is no reason to rush his 21-year-old protégé into fights against the likes of Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney.

Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) has stopped his last three opponents — all second-tier fighters — in two, one and one rounds, respectively. In other words, he hasn’t had much work in actual fights over the past year-plus.

“I would like a couple more fights,” Reynoso told ESPN Knockout. “In the last three fights we have fought four rounds. He still needs to learn more, fight with boxers who give him a battle, boxers who are giving him training in the ring.

“We are missing two or three fights, not because he cannot beat them right now. He can beat anyone, in the ring he can beat a champion. But … he lacks a little more experience. And let’s see if this year [that] can be done.”

Reynoso appreciates Garcia’s many qualities and his early accomplishments but said he’s still building a world-class resume.

“As far as I am concerned as a coach, we have not really beaten anyone,” he said. “We have not defeated any world champion, we have not defeated any contender. We have a silver title. The boy is very talented. He also has talent for … writing and he is very charismatic. He has a lot of ability to learn in the ring. It is his way of being. He is a very good boy, he really wants to [learn].

“… But I think we still have a long way to go to become a great champion. He is in a very good moment. We need to learn more, but with discipline. And as he continues he will go a long way.”

Jean Pascal taking a cue from a familiar fictional underdog

Jean Pascal, who defends his title against Badou Jack on Saturday, is inspired by the “Rocky” character.

Every great movie has a sequel and Jean Pascal hopes to have one of his own against Badou Jack in a light heavyweight fight on the Gervonta Davis-Yuriorkis Gamboa card Saturday in Atlanta on Showtime.

Pascal has been taking inspiration, if not some training tips, from “Rocky” in the fight to get his career back on track.

Before upsetting Marcus Browne by a technical decision on Aug. 3 in Brooklyn, Pascal chased chickens.

“Obviously Browne was lefty so sparring was different, but for that fight, I trained like Rocky chasing the chicken because of Browne’s style,’’ Pascal (34-6-1, 20 KOs) said in a release from Premier Boxing Champions. “Everyone saw me catch that chicken, too, but for this fight, I’m training like Rocky in the freezer, ready to fight.’’

Both Pascal and Jack (22-2-3, 13 KOs) have faced Browne. A badly bloodied Jack lost to him, dropping a unanimous decision nearly a year ago in Las Vegas. Pascal floored Browne three times, getting a decision when the fight was stopped in the eighth round after Browne suffered a cut from a head butt.

“Badou is a great fighter,” Pascal said. “We both always look to fight the best. In my last fight, I knew that Marcus would be on his back foot, but Badou comes to fight, so I’m going to be war ready.

“I consider him a boxing friend, but on December 28th ,when that bell rings, he’s the enemy.”