Eric Gomez of Golden Boy said there’s a ‘very good chance’ Canelo Alvarez will fight either Callum Smith or John Ryder in September.
Will it be either Callum Smith or John Ryder?
Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions, told Sky Sports that there’s a “very good chance” Canelo Alvarez will face a British fighter when he returns to the ring in September, meaning either Smith or Ryder.
However, Gomez also said, “We are not discarding any of the top guys.” And he added that it would be easier for Alvarez to face an American opponent because of coronavirus-related visa restrictions.
In other words, the search goes on.
Sky Sports asked Gomez specifically whether he could face Smith or Ryder. He responded by saying, “There is a very good chance. There are a couple of guys we are looking at as a possibility.”
Then he got into the visa issues, saying the selection of an American opponent would be less complicated.
“We don’t have to deal with any visa restrictions that have been imposed by the government,” he said. “If there is someone already here in the U.S.? That helps. It is more difficult now because of the restrictions.
“The borders are not all open so it isn’t easy to bring some fighters to the U.S. It all depends on the negotiations. We are not living in the world that we lived in last year. Canelo will be taking a significant pay cut. It depends on the negotiations.
“Anybody willing to come to the table and be reasonable, he will fight. We are not discarding any of the top guys.”
Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) of Ukraine, David Lemieux (41-4, 34 KOs) of Canada and Anthony Dirrell (33-2-1, 24 KOs) of Flint, Michigan, also have been mentioned as potential opponents for Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs).
Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) is a super middleweight titleholder who would afford Alvarez an opportunity to win a major belt in a fourth weight class. Ryder (28-5, 16 KOs) lost to Smith in a competitive fight in November, the last time both fighters were in the ring.
Alvarez was scheduled to face 168-pound titleholder Billy Joe Saunders in May but that fight was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic and the two couldn’t come to terms for a meeting in September.
That news prompted Smith’s trainer, Joe Gallagher, to say, “It’s supposed to have been a two-horse race, wasn’t it? Now he’s pulling himself out of it, Canelo has got no excuse now, but to fight Callum Smith.
“If that date and opportunity is put to Callum Smith, he’s ready to go.”
Ryder told Sky Sports: “There’s a few names in the hat. Hopefully my name is at the top and it gets picked out. Listen, he’s looking for an opponent, and I know the money is not there for these big shows. It’s a chance in a lifetime, I’m up for it.”
Boxing promotional companies received loans from a federal program established to help small business through the coronavirus pandemic.
The powers that be in boxing received a boost from the government.
Boxing promotional companies were among those that received loans from a federal program established to help small business through the economic challenges of coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press reported.
Top Rank, Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions were approved for loans from the Paycheck Protection Program for between $350,000 and $1 million to compensate for a lack of boxing shows during the COVID-19-related lockdown, which began in March.
Data released Monday revealed that a variety of industries – including sports-related companies – received help. The AP reported that none of the major North American sports leagues – the Major League Baseball, NBA, NFL and NHL – submitted applications.
The loan amounts were broken down into ranges so it’s impossible to determine specifically how much the boxing companies received. Bigger sports organizations received a lot more. For example, two Major League Soccer teams received between $2 million and $5 million each.
Congress approved $659 million in low-interest loans under the PPP. The loans will be forgiven if the money is used on payroll, rent and other essential expenses.
Boxing in the U.S. shut down in mid-March and returned early last month, meaning no income was generated for almost three months. And some companies – including Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy – have yet to get rolling again.
Forbes has reported that Floyd Mayweather earned more than $1 billion in his career. Oscar De La Hoya, CEO of Golden Boy, earned $510 million, according to Forbes.
Premier Boxing Champions, one of the biggest promotional firms in the sport, was not listed as a company that applied for assistance.
Knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr. believes he’s ready to face the top welterweights now but will remain patient.
Some might be surprised to learn that Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s favorite sport isn’t boxing. It’s cross country.
Ortiz ran three-mile courses all four years at Grand Prairie High School outside Dallas. He embraced the grit and focus required to compete in long-distance races. And he loved the team aspect of the sport. The problem was that he was only pretty good in cross country, not great.
“I wasn’t slow,” he told Boxing Junkie. “I just wasn’t nationally ranked or anything like that. I was just happy to be there.”
Boxing? Well, his opponents probably wish he’d been better at cross country.
The moment Ortiz first sparred one day after kindergarten he was hooked. And he was good. A few years later he discovered something else: He had an unusual ability to knock out his opponents, a marketable talent he retains to this day.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. (right) celebrates another knockout, this one against Mauricio Herrera in May of last year. Al Bello / Getty Images
Ortiz has caused a stir since turning professional in 2016, stopping all 15 of his opponents – six in the first round – to become one of the hottest welterweight prospects on the planet.
He returns to the ring after a seven-month hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic against veteran Samuel Vargas on July 24 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif., on DAZN.
“I’ve been putting people down since I was 9 years old,” Ortiz said. “It’s not because I had power. I always had the right punch placement. I remember the first time I dropped someone to the body. It wasn’t like Mike Tyson power. I was only 9.
“It was just a perfect shot to the body. Ever since then I’ve been hurting people in different ways.”
Ortiz said he doesn’t look for knockouts, although he used to. He went into the first few bouts of his pro career – which he described as his “worst fights” – with one goal in mind: “Knock the dude’s head off.”
That almost came back to bite him in his fifth fight, a scheduled four-rounder against Angel Sarinana in a scheduled four-rounder in May 2017. He went for the kill from the opening bell, as usual, but was unable to score a first-round knockout for the first time.
By the second round, Ortiz was in trouble before regrouping and stopping Sarinana in Round 3.
Ortiz said he’s learned not to try for knockouts. They just come. Ethan Miller / Getty Images
“I gassed myself out,” he said. “By the second round, I was completely winded. At that point, I knew something had to change. I can’t keep doing this. Eventually you find a guy who can take a punch, like this guy.
“That’s when I started using my head more, making every punch count.”
He went on: “I want to look good winning. I used to stop people in the amateurs and my dad would tell me, ‘You didn’t do good, you didn’t do what you were supposed to do.’ At first, I was like, “Really?” I see it now, though. I understand when you look good and don’t look good. I have to do what I’m supposed to do and I have to look good doing it.
“If one day I don’t knock some guy out … as long as I look good in the fight, as long as I did what I was supposed to do and learned something from it, that’s win-win for me.”
Ortiz has done what he was supposed to do since that fifth fight. The knockouts have come. And with them has come adulation and excitement, both from fans and those around him.
That includes his handlers at Golden Boy Promotions.
Said Golden Boy President Eric Gomez: “There’s other good prospects out there but the skills this kid has … I haven’t seen in a long time and I’ve been promoting boxing for 20 years. He’s incredible, he can do it all.”
Of course, he recognizes and appreciates the reaction to his success. At the same time, he recognizes reality. He’s 22. This is only the beginning of his boxing journey, meaning he hasn’t accomplished much yet.
That’s his attitude. Confident, but humble. He seems to have common sense.
“It’s not something I expected, especially so early in my career,” he said, referring to the adulation. “I try to block it out. I’m only in this position because I trained hard in the gym. To keep that going, I have to be training like nobody else.
“Technically, I’m not anybody. I’m not a world champion, I haven’t done anything special in the sport yet.”
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That will come, he believes. All he has to do is continue to win and the opportunities to face the biggest names in the sport – welterweights like Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford – will present themselves eventually.
He understands that politics could be a problem. He fights for Golden Boy, Spence for Premier Boxing Champions and Crawford for Top Rank, to mention just three prominent 147-pounders. Those are divides that are sometimes difficult to overcome.
Still, he is convinced it’ll happen.
“I think if it weren’t for the other-side-of-the-street thing the fights would happy pretty soon,” he said. “I’ve learned that it’s a lot more complicated than I thought it was going to be. I have to really prove myself. I have to force the fight to happen.
“I don’t know how. Maybe I’ll become a mandatory [challenger]. They’ll want to pay me off and I’ll say no. I don’t know. When the time comes I’ll figure it out.”
When it does happen, Ortiz is certain he’ll be ready.
“I feel I’m ready now,” he said. “And even if I weren’t, I would still take the fight because you can’t pass up an opportunity like that. I feel I can give any welterweight a hard fight right now. To be honest, I think they’re making a mistake not fighting me right now.
“I’m only getting stronger, getting smarter, gaining experience.”
Oscar De La Hoya said Vergil Ortiz will be featured in Golden Boy’s return instead of Ryan Garcia, who complained about his purse.
Ryan Garcia and Golden Boy Promotions are at it again. And one wonders whether they can remain together long term.
Garcia, the hard-punching lightweight contender with a huge social media following, was supposed to have fought on July 4 in Indio, California, but he expressed his dissatisfcation with the purse offered by DAZN, $200,000. So Golden Boy is going a different direction.
It will now showcase another rising star, Vergil Ortiz, in late July, Oscar De La Hoya said in a pointed Tweet.
“Due to Team @KingRyanG decision not to accept a July 4th bout, we will now return in late July with the future of boxing, @vergilortiz,” De La Hoya Tweeted. “[M]ore exciting details to follow @GoldenBoyBoxing.”
Due to Team @KingRyanG decision not to accept a July 4th bout, we will now return in late July with the future of boxing 🥊 @vergilortiz , more exciting details to follow @GoldenBoyBoxing
Garcia responded quickly on Twitter. He said: “You do realize you’re supposed to be my promoter not hater right?” He later took the Tweet down.
Then Jermell Charlo, the junior middleweight titleholder, got in his two cents. He Tweeted: “Bruh [n]obody better than [adviser Al H]aymon. I left GBP making 100k got with Haymon made 10x more.. bruh you to[o] popular to be with them..DONT BE USED OR PUT ON THE SHELF.. [YOU’RE] YOUNG BE SMART.”
Garcia was critical of DAZN after receiving the $200,000 offer.
“That’s bulls—,” Garcia told DAZN commentator and Sports Illustrated writer Chris Mannix. “Why am I being held back financially? What is the problem here? Why is DAZN giving out big numbers to guys fighting nobodies? It’s f—ed up how I’m being treated. I’m not asking for $100 million. Just give me the check I deserve. How am I one of the biggest fighters in the world and I get bigger paychecks outside of boxing?
“I’m not saying anything about Golden Boy. I’m not going to worry about what Golden Boy is doing right now. I just want my direct line. I’m tired of going through middle men. DAZN needs to call me. I need to hear from them why stuff can’t happen. You have Shakur Stevenson going [last Tuesday] night. Why is ESPN going and not me?”
Garcia and Golden Boy had a public spat last year but ultimately reconciled and Garcia signed a multiyear deal to remain with the company.
Adrien Broner indicated he might be willing to face Vergil Ortiz Jr. in spite of his retirement talk.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on DAZN.com.
***
Although Adrien Broner has said that he won’t return to a boxing ring for anything less than $10 million, he might be willing to come out of “retirement” for a fight against one of Golden Boy Promotions’ fastest-rising stars in Vergil Ortiz Jr.
And all it took was a post on Instagram to begin drumming up interest.
The image in the post is from six years ago, according to Ortiz. In his post, he says that he has always had a lot of respect for Broner since the former champion took a photo with him when Mike Tyson wouldn’t. Back then, Ortiz was a 16-year-old who was fresh off of winning his division in the 2013 Junior Olympics. Ortiz’s professional career has taken off since then. The now-22-year-old has amassed a 15-0 record, with all of his wins coming by way of knockout.
A showdown between Ortiz and Samuel Vargas in March was scrapped because COVID-19 shuttered the entire sports industry. As the boxing world begins to slowly inch its way back to a semblance of normalcy, Ortiz decided to take the time to pay Broner respect while also calling him out.
At the time this article was published, the post had more than 7,000 likes and plenty of comments, with fans mostly offering favorable responses. Among them was Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya, who offered a simple comment in support of his fighter:
“Easy dinero.”
The reply caught the eye of Broner, who bristled in his response.
“Hell of a pic bro and I f–k with you too @vergilortiz. [B]ut @oscardelahoya I will come out of retirement and smoke yo boy since you co-signing pics and after the fight I got a ounce of soft for you. #StillAdjustingToFame,” he posted.
Broner, 30, is 0-2-1 in his last three fights dating to 2017. He remains a draw because of his antics outside the ring rather than his performance inside the squared circle. Despite his lack of success, Broner has given Premier Boxing Champions an ultimatum of paying him $10 million to get back into the ring or he’ll retire.
A fight between Broner and Ortiz is attractive but would be met with promotional politics. It’s not impossible, but it seems like nothing more than a pipe dream at the moment.
Canelo Alvarez reportedly is considering Anthony Dirrell and Sergey Derevyanchenko for September.
Canelo Alvarez’s handlers are getting creative in their search for his next opponent.
Alvarez had been tentatively set to face Billy Joe Saunders on May 2 before the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Now, faced with the prospect of fighting once without spectators, Alvarez and Co. might be looking for a less-expensive option than Saunders for a fight in September.
Enter Sergey Derevyanchenko and Anthony Dirrell, according to reports.
Alvarez and Derevyanchenko are “in talks,” according to The Athletic. BoxingScene.com is reporting that Dirrell is under consideration. The reports indicate that both fights would take place at 168 pounds, although Derevyanchenko – a middleweight – and Alvarez could conceivably fight at a catch weight.
One interesting aspect of these reports is that both Derevyanchenko, 34, and Dirrell, 35, are affiliated with Premier Boxing Champions while Alvarez is handled by Golden Boy Promotions, meaning the rival entities are working together.
Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) is a 2008 Olympian from Ukraine who has lost only close decisions to Daniel Jacobs and Gennadiy Golovkin, the latter fight a memorable brawl in October that raised Derevyanchenko’s stock even in defeat.
Derevyanchenko also is considered a potential opponent for 160-pound titleholder Jermall Charlo.
Dirrell (33-2-1, 24 KOs) is a two-time super middleweight titleholder who is coming off a ninth-round knockout loss to David Benavidez in September, which cost Dirrell his belt. Dirrell was hampered by a cut from the sixth round on.
Alvarez is coming off an 11th-round knockout of Sergey Kovalev in November to win a light heavyweight title, which he vacated. He has come around on fighting Golovkin a third time but that won’t be next. Triple-G has committed to defending his 160-pound title against mandatory challenger Kamil Szeremeta first.
The California State Athletic Commission on Friday passed emergency regulations that would allow cards to be staged this summer.
California is a step closer to hosting post-lock down combat sports shows.
The California State Athletic Commission on Friday passed emergency regulations that would allow cards to be staged this summer, according to ESPN. The guidelines were forwarded to the California Office of Administrative Law for its review, after which combat sports could resume.
Andy Foster, the CSAC executive director, laid out the regulations for ESPN.
“The fighters will be tested between two and three weeks before their event for the COVID-19 virus,” he said. “If they’re clear, we’ll accept them on the bout card and we’ll approve the fights if they meet the other criteria.
“Then two days before they travel, they’ll fill out a questionnaire. And when they get to the hotel, they’ll be isolated and tested again with their fight camps. Everybody involved in the promotion will be tested on that day.
“Anybody that the promoter deems ‘essential’ to their promotion — and we approve them to be there, and that could be media — anybody that is in that building [who is] part of the promotion is going to need to be tested.”
Foster said California officials will use information gleaned from UFC 249, which took place on May 9. That included the fate of Jacare Souza, who tested positive for COVID-19 the day before the event.
“We learned from that event, and I want to be clear, that’s not to put down the UFC one bit, they had a great plan and everything,” he said. “We learned by watching that, just how contagious this virus could be. So we want to mitigate that risk.”
Golden Boy President Eric Gomez has said that his company hopes to stage a card as soon as July 4.
Promoter Bob Arum confirmed plans to stage a five-fight show behind closed doors on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on ESPN.
June 9. Mark it in your calendar.
Promoter Bob Arum confirmed to The Associated Press plans to stage a five-fight show behind closed doors on that date — a Tuesday — at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on ESPN, the first boxing card in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March.
And that would be only the first show to come in quick succession. Another card is set for June 11, also on ESPN. Arum plans to stage two shows a week through July.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has yet to approve the cards but Arum has worked closely with state officials in his planning. The regulatory body is scheduled to meet next week to rule the Top Rank shows and two UFC cards scheduled for Las Vegas.
Arum’s plans also are contingent on the opening of the MGM Grand and other hotels in Las Vegas, which is expected to take place the week of June, according to The Associated Press.
“Once we get those fights in and UFC gets its initial fights in, both of us will ask for additional dates,” Arum said. “The key was getting enough testing, and we’ve got plenty of testing in Nevada to hold our events.”
Who will be fighting on the cards? Featherweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson, who was scheduled to fight on a Top Rank card in March that was later canceled because of the pandemic, is expected to fight on the first show. No opponent has been selected.
“These will be the same guys we were going to have before to the extent possible,” Arum said. “Guys like Shakur Stevenson and others who would have been fighting on our cards.”
Arum said fighters and cornermen will be tested for COVID-19 twice a day and will stay on what he called a “bubble” floor at the MGM Grand. They will be allowed to leave only to eat at specified restaurants in the hotel and train at the Top Rank gym.
The goal of the twice-a-day testing is to avoid a positive test the night before the event, which occurred with UFC 249 on May 9 in Jacksonville, Florida.
“Our protocols will be much more stringent than UFC had in Florida,” Arum said. “In ours you would’ve have fighter testing positive the day of the fight or the day before.”
Golden Boy Promotions officials have mentioned a possible restart date of July 4 but they haven’t worked out the details. Promoter Eddie Hearn is shooting for a July restart in the U.K.
The powers that be continue to gear up for the return of live boxing – without spectators – amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The powers that be continue to gear up for the return of live boxing – without spectators – amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Stephen Espinoza of Showtime said he expects live boxing to return to the premium network in July, although no date has been set as safety precautions are finalized. Golden Boy Promotions has set July 4 – with young lightweight star Ryan Garcia as the featured fighter – as its tentative restart date.
And Bob Arum of Top Rank, who had already said he would begin staging four-fight shows early next month on ESPN’s platforms, said UFC 249 on Saturday was a decent first step back but his shows “will be a lot better” in terms of how precautions are handled.
Showtime’s last show was on March 13.
“We’re targeting sometime in July to return,” Espinoza told BoxingScene.com. “And, obviously, we’re spending a tremendous amount of time right now trying to make the environment as safe as possible. Keep in mind, that involves working with PBC as they set up protocols for the fighters and promoters. And it’s also working with our parent company (ViacomCBS) as we set up protocols for our employees and contractors. I think there’s a perception that young, healthy people are not affected. Number one, that’s not true for this particular virus.
“But more importantly, the vast majority of individuals probably have someone very close to them who is high risk. Whether it’s a grandparent they take care of, or a spouse or child who might have immune conditions. For someone in my position and the other senior people at Showtime, there’s a heavy responsibility toward asking employees and freelancers to come to an event and wanting to make sure they’re as safe as possible when they return to their families.”
Espinoza said a July restart will allow fighters more time to prepare.
“Practically speaking, we want the fighters to have a full camp,” Espinoza said. “For example, California is just starting to re-open. Texas is just starting to re-open within the last week, along with a lot of other states. That means that a lot of the fighters in California, Texas and elsewhere haven’t had regular access to a gym or to sparring. So, could we rush back in June? Sure. But that wouldn’t give the fighters the best opportunities to succeed.
“We want the fighters to have full camps. And for us, as we re-open now in mid-May, that means coming back in July. We’re not gonna come back just for the sake of coming back. There’s not particular value in saying, ‘We’re the first,’ or, ‘We’re the second.’ The value is coming back with fights that matter, with fighters who have had a fair opportunity to prepare. That’s the key. Nobody wants to see fights with unprepared fighters in meaningless tune-up fights. So, coming back in July is our target.”
Golden Boy President Eric Gomez said safety is his company’s first priority.
“We envision shows without fans and, at some point, with fans, but what the specifications are for a return to shows with fans I don’t know,” Gomez told BoxingScene.com. “We don’t know if that will be this year or not, but we’ll have to follow whatever the guidelines are from federal government, state government. They might say no shows with fans until there’s a vaccine. I don’t know.”
He went on: “We’ll be ready to jump into action as soon as the restrictions are lifted, as soon as there is some sort of path to do shows again. We want to do [July 4] in California. That’s where we are, that’s where Ryan is from. But if they’re not ready yet, we’ll look into Nevada, we’ll look into Texas, we’ll look everywhere. But most important is the safety of the fighters, the safety of the staff, that’s the most important thing. We would have to find an arena that everybody’s comfortable with and where we have safety guidelines, and they know it’s going to be a sterile place. It’s going to have to be an arena possibly next to a hotel, where the hotel is going to be safe as well. There’s a lot to it.”
One additional bit of news from Gomez: It’s possible that Canelo Alvarez will fight without spectators.
“We’re going to discuss it and start having talks about it with DAZN, with Canelo, with everybody involved,” Gomez said. “If it’s something Canelo would approve and he’s up for it, and we can make it work for everyone involved, we’re going to do it. What matters is if Canelo is in agreement with it and is willing to do it, and then we’ll go from there.”
Arum had suggested that UFC’s Dana White jumped the gun by staging his first show this month but, after the fact, he wasn’t as critical. However, he did mention the fact that one participant — Jacare Souza — and two of his cornermen tested positive for COVID-19 the day before the event.
UFC 249 took place behind closed doors at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
“As a first step, it wasn’t bad,” Arum said. “They were the first ones to come back [with a major sporting event in the United States], and with that will come certain mistakes. It wouldn’t be fair to criticize with it being the first one out the box, nor am I here to criticize them. As they do more shows, especially once they come back to Las Vegas, they will adhere to their policies and it will be a lot better. It will look more like ours.
He went on: “We knew all along what UFC’s plans were for these shows. Ours is better, and there’s was never going to determine how we handle our shows. There’s will be as good as ours once they start doing shows in Las Vegas. The Nevada officials have come up with a very good plan, and we’ve been working with a coronavirus task force in state along with [Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director] Bob Bennett and the MGM hotels, which will make a facility available for us.
“What happened on Saturday [with Souza] will never happen at our shows. It will be detected before they even get in the facility. That has to be done and will be done. We’re talking about four fights to start out — the fewer fights you have, the better you can control things.”
Bernard Hopkins prefers a Canelo Alvarez-Jermall Charlo title-unification bout to a third Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin fight.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennadiy Golovkin III isn’t the middleweight title unification clash that Bernard Hopkins wants to see the most.
During a recent Instagram Live chat, the boxing legend loved a fan’s suggestion about Alvarez — a title-unification bout with Jermall Charlo, instead.
“That’s what I want to see,” said Hopkins, a partner at Golden Boy Promotions, which handles Alvarez. “Whoever is not on their game, they will experience an ‘L’ or a knockdown, knockout drag-out type of ending.”
Not only that, but Hopkins believes that the fight can present itself sooner than fans might think.
“That fight there is a buildup less than a year and a half [away] or sooner,” he said. “That’s the fight that I believe is going to materialize as a fight that everybody is going to be asking for. That fight there is … both of those guys have weapons in their arsenal that is danger, deadly for anybody in that weight division.”
Indeed, Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) and Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) have a combined record of 83-1-2, 58 KOs. So, one could see its potential on paper alone.
Hopkins downplayed Alvarez-GGG III during the same chat, as he believes that Alvarez has learned enough from their first two battles to end a third fight “early.”
“You really want to see that?” he shot back to a fan clamoring about it. “Listen, I don’t think anything is going to happen any different [from their second fight].
“Eh, yes it is,” he added in a quick change of heart. “I think that Canelo has the blueprint — definitely [from] the second fight — to end it early. OK, you beat him twice, now you knocked him out the third time.”
After the two rivals fought to a controversial split draw in September 2017, Alvarez scored a majority-decision win in their rematch the following September.
