In a quick two-step, Josh Warrington left Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
Josh Warrington didn’t waste time. Neither did Eddie Hearn.
In a quick two-step, Warrington left Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and signed with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
“It’s great to be back with Matchroom, Sky and now DAZN, and I’m very excited about the future,” Warrington (30-0, 7 KOs) said in a release Wednesday announcing his return to Matchroom. “I have enjoyed my time at BT [Sport], but now I’m looking forward to going on to achieve my dreams of both fighting in the USA and unifying the division.”
A news conference is scheduled for Thursday in Warrington’s hometown, Leeds, England.
Warrington has defended his 126-pound title three times, including a victory over Carl Frampton, since winning it by outpointing Lee Selby in May 2018.
Shakur Stevenson, who won a featherweight belt by beating Joet Gonzalez in October, has been calling out Warrington. However, Stevenson’s first title defense will be against Miguel Marriaga on March 14 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“I’m ecstatic to welcome Josh Warrington back to Matchroom,” said Hearn, who re-signed Warrington within hours after he split with Warren. “We had some amazing times helping to build Josh in Leeds, and now we re-unite at a time when he is the king of the division.
“Josh has some of the most loyal and passionate supporters in sport, and we look forward to delivering nights they will never forget. There is so much more for Josh to accomplish, and today starts a new chapter in the thrilling Josh Warrington story.”
Kell Brook wants to embark on a path toward an opportunity to fight for world titles, not talk about Amir Khan.
Kell Brook, a little bit like history, is back. Brook, looking on Saturday like the fighter he was a couple of years ago, resumes his pursuit of world titles.
He’s back in the mix, which means the long-proposed bout with Amir Khan is what it always was. A fantasy.
“He’s a waste of time,’’ Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) said when asked about Khan during a news conference after his seventh-round stoppage of American Mark DeLuca (24-2, 13 KOs) in Sheffield, England.
For years, Brook-Khan was a fight everyone in the U.K. wanted to see. It never happened. Then, Brook began working toward a comeback following successive losses to Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr.
The comeback reignited talk about Brook-Khan. However, Brook struggled through a couple of fights. There were doubts. There was a 14-month layoff. Then, there was DeLuca. Brook finished him and then went onto talk as though Khan possibility was finished, too.
“I’m after belts,’’ he said.
Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) doesn’t have a world title anymore. Instead, Brook talked about Liam Smith, who was at ringside in Sheffield. Smith might represent a quicker path to a ranking that would put him in line for a junior middleweight belt. Smith is ranked No. 2 by one of the acronyms
Nevertheless, promoter Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom Boxing, is not ready to dismiss the Brook-Khan possibility. Hope springs eternal.
“I’d jump at that fight this summer,’’ Hearn said. “It’s a huge fight. Just to be part of the build-up would be special, but we can’t waste our strategy and energy talking about it.”
“It was a close fight, and I take my hat off to Akhmadaliev for being a true warrior,’’ Roman said in a statement released Thursday by Thompson Boxing, his promoter. “I want a rematch because I think I won the fight.’’
Akhmadaliev (8-0, 6 KOs) won the fight on two cards, 115-113 each. On the third card, Roman (27-3-1, 10 KOs) got the nod, 115-113.
“There is no doubt in my mind that I’ll once again be a world champion when that opportunity presents itself,’’ said Roman (27-3-1, 10 KOs), a Los Angeles fighter who was making his fifth title defense a couple of days before Kansas City’s victory over San Francisco on Sunday in the Super Bowl, also in Miami. “My promoters and management team are the best. I know they will get it done. I’m going to do everything in my power to get my world titles back.”
Thompson Boxing, which co-promotes Roman with Matchroom, has filed formal requests for an immediate rematch with the two ruling bodies that sanctioned the two 122-pound belts.
“We hope that the WBA and IBF realize that Danny is a credit to the sport of boxing,” Thompson executive Alex Camponovo said. “The fight was razor close, and I personally think Danny edged it out. Now we need to wait and trust that Daniel Roman will be granted the rematch he is seeking and deserves.”
Scott Quigg will try to climb back into the championship mix as junior lightweight against Ireland’s Jono Carroll on March 7 in Manchester.
Scott Quigg, a former junior featherweight titleholder, will try to climb back into the championship mix as junior lightweight against Ireland’s Jono Carroll on March 7 at Manchester Arena on DAZN.
Quigg (35-2-2, 26 KOs) hasn’t fought in 16 months. He suffered an elbow injury that bumped him off the Dec. 7 card featuring heavyweight Anthony Joshua’s rematch victory over Andy Ruiz Jr. in Saudi Arabia.
“The arm is fully healed now, and I’m already in great shape,’’ Quigg said in a Matchroom Boxing release announcing the 130-pound-fight. “This is a fight I’m really excited about. I’m looking forward to getting in there and taking him apart and showing that despite being out the ring for over a year and the injury, there is still a lot left in the tank.’’
Quigg has fought only once since he lost a decision to then-featherweight champion Oscar Valdez Jr. in March 2018 on a rainy night in an outdoor ring at Carson, California. Seven months later, he scored a TKO of Mario Briones in Boston.
“It’s great to be back fighting and headlining at Manchester Arena again and for my supporters to be able to see me back fighting on U.K. soil,’’ said Quigg, who defended a 122-pound belt five times before losing it to Carl Frampton by a split decision Feb 27, 2016, also in Manchester. “It’s a great platform for me to launch my career forward again and get my name back in the mix for a world title shot.”
Carroll (17-1-1, 3 KOs), of Dublin, lost a unanimous decision to junior featherweight champion Tevin Farmer on March 15 in Philadelphia. He came back with a unanimous decision over Eleazar Valenzuela on Aug. 24 in Mexico.
Eddie Hearn is willing to give Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. another chance on an undercard, but he will have to fight for a lot less money.
Eddie Hearn is willing to give Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. another chance on an undercard, but the Matchroom promoter says he will have to fight for a lot less money.
Undercard appearances and smaller purses are just part of a long, difficult challenge facing Chavez Jr., if he in fact tries to come back from a controversial TKO loss last Friday to Danny Jacobs.
The fight ended with a Phoenix crowd tossing debris in anger over Chavez’s decision not to continue after the fifth round.
“It’s gotten to a stage where the only thing he can do is come back on an undercard somewhere,’’ Hearn said on “The Last Round” podcast. “I would probably put him on, but he can’t get the money he’s been getting, and he has to come back at a lower level and try and get a good win.’’
After undergoing surgery for a broken nose and getting 10 stitches for a cut above an eye, Chavez Jr, said he intends to fight again. He even asked Jacobs for a rematch
Promoter Eddie Hearn would give Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. another chance but he’d have to fight on an undercard for less money. Melina Pizano / Matchroom Boxing USA
But Hearn said he needs a string of bouts to repair a reputation as fractured as that nose. It’ll be awhile before he’ll be back in a main event for big money. According to contracts filed with the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission, Chavez Jr. was guaranteed $2 million for the Jacobs fight. An additional $1 million form Mexican media and advertisers was believed to be in his final paycheck.
However, he paid Jacobs $1 million when he knew he couldn’t make 168 pounds. That was the price to renegotiate the deal, making it a 173-pound fight instead of a super middleweight bout. Chavez, who was 172.7 at the weigh-in and looked to be at least 190 at opening bell, wound up with maybe $2 million.
Hearn said he would pay him $100,000 for a comeback bout on a Matchroom-promoted undercard. He also said Chavez Jr. should fight at light heavyweight (175-pound limit).
Hearn said he still likes Chavez Jr.’s potential. He also likes his drawing power, which is linked to his iconic father, Julio Cesar Chavez. The fight was uncertain four days before opening bell. That’s when a Nevada judge granted Chavez Jr. an injunction lifting his suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He was under suspension for allegedly refusing a drug test in early October. The day before the judge’s ruling, about 5,000 tickets had been sold. At opening bell, an estimated crowd of 12,000 was at Talking Stick Arena in downtown Phoenix.
“The numbers are great,’’ Hearn said.
But the question remains: Will Chavez Jr. accept smaller purses on any undercard?
“Do you want to fight for $100,000 in a 10-rounder at 7 (p.m.)?’’ Hearn said. “He may think he’s above that. ‘I’m Chavez Jr.’
“If he truly loves the sport, he might do it. If not, he won’t bother.’’
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. suffered his final two losses in Phoenix. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has a chance to change the family fortune there.
PHOENIX – A father and son, Julio Cesar Chavez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., stood in front of an arena Thursday in the center of a city named for a mythical bird rising from the ashes. They’ve been here before, in different eras, yet both for the same reason.
Father fought to relaunch his career, save it from those ashes, two decades ago against Kostya Tszyu.
Now, it’s his son’s turn Friday night against Danny Jacobs at Talking Stick Arena on DAZN in a fight that was uncertain until Tuesday when a Nevada judge issued an injunction, lifting a suspension that allowed Chavez to retain his license in Arizona.
The fight is on, or at least it was late Thursday. But controversy continued to swirl at an early morning weigh-in. Chavez Jr. stepped on the scale to test his weight for a bout contracted to be at super middleweight. He realized there was no way he would make 168 pounds. He was nearly five pounds too heavy. He was due to step on the scale officially within about an hour. Those five pounds might as well have been 500. There was no magic way to shed them. Forget the sauna or some hasty road work on Phoenix streets still clogged by rush-hour traffic.
It was time to make a deal or toss the advertised fight into that ash can. Talks quickly began with Chavez leaving and re-entering the ballroom for the weigh-in repeatedly. Finally, he smiled. They had a deal, a re-negotiated contract. The fight would be at 173 pounds. Chavez made that weight, no problem. In his official trip to the scale he was at 172.7 pounds. Jacobs, a former middleweight champion moving up in weight, was at 167.9.
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. (right) ran into an old friend at his son’s weigh-in Thursday in Phoenix, local hero Michael Carbajal. Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing USA
But the deal didn’t happen without a price. According to multiple sources at the weigh-in, Chavez Jr. agreed to pay Jacobs $1 million. According to contracts filed with the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission, the purses for Chavez Jr. and Jacobs are $2 million each. But the redone agreement means Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) walks away from the 173-pound bout with $3 million and Chavez (51-3-1, 33 KOs) with $1 million.
It’s expensive, but it’s an investment in a future that still looks uncertain for Chavez. In effect, he is fighting to put some air under his wings and some distance from those ashes. It’s risky, at least it appears to be, according to the bookmakers who have made Jacobs an 18-1 favorite. But Chavez Jr. is always dangerous. He lost a one-sided decision to Sergio Martinez, yet he staged an astonishing 12th-round, nearly knocking out Martinez in wild three minutes that effectively ended Martinez’s career.
He has father’s heavy hands, which means he has a chance. His father was there Thursday at a ceremonial weigh-in outside of the arena where his career ended against an Omaha car salesman, Grover Wiley. Chavez failed to get off the stool after the fourth round in bout that had been advertised as one stop on a goodbye tour of cities. As it turned out, it was a final goodbye.
The senior Chavez had been there once before, just a few miles away at the old Veterans Memorial Coliseum on July 29, 2000. He had come to Arizona because he had been told he would not be licensed in Nevada. At the time, everybody from leading media personalities to late Senator John McCain openly questioned whether Chavez could still fight. Rather than risk a license denial in Nevada, he applied for one in Arizona. It was granted.
Chavez Jr. was in good spirits only after salvaging his fight with Daniel Jacobs by renegotiating their deal after Chavez was unable to make weight. Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing USA
The card drew a capacity crowd. Tzyu overwhelmed Chavez, stopping him in the sixth round. Chavez left the arena, refusing to submit to a drug test. There were reports in The Arizona Republic that 100 DEA agents were in the crowd, looking for suspects alleged to be in the drug trade. It was a wild night. Controversial, from start to finish.
If it sounds familiar, it is. The Nevada Commission suspended Chavez Jr. for allegedly refusing a drug test in late October. That’s when Matchroom Promotions moved the card to Arizona and Chavez Jr. filed a suit, winning an injunction.
Meanwhile, controversy still sells. Promoter Eddie Hearn says ticket sales have been brisk in the couple of days since the injunction. He expects a crowd of 10,000. But more wouldn’t be a surprise to anybody who knows the Phoenix market. It’s a walk-up town. A couple of thousand showed up at Veterans Memorial Coliseum a few hours before Chavez-Tszyu nearly 20 years ago.
It could happen all over again. The geography, some of the circumstances and last name are the same. But only the son can change the result and make that bird fly.
Mikey Garcia has agreed to a deal with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN, and is expected to return to the ring on Feb. 29.
Mikey Garcia celebrated a birthday Sunday with an announcement that he has a deal with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN that will include his return to the ring on Feb. 29.
Garcia, now 32, did not disclose the terms of the deal or who he will fight, although multiple media reports indicate that former junior welterweight and welterweight titleholder Jessie Vargas is a leading candidate.
“I am happy to announce my return to the ring for February 29,” Garcia said in a statement. “I am eager to make my return and grow my legacy. I look forward to working with Matchroom Boxing USA and DAZN, and I want to thank all my fans for the continued support. Fight details will be announced soon, and I can’t wait to be back in the ring.”
Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) hasn’t fought since he jumped up to welterweight and lost a one-sided decision to Errol Spence Jr. on March 16 at AT&T Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys’ home field in Arlington, Tex.
Garcia has held belts in four divisions – featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight. He was leading pound-for-pound contender before the Spence loss.
“I am happy to announce my return to the ring February 29. I look forward to working with DAZN and Matchroom Boxing for my upcoming fight. pic.twitter.com/W2JMMeNuxT
The younger brother of veteran trainer Robert Garcia had been a free agent since he and former promoter Top Rank agreed to split in April 2016.
Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Garcia are expected to talk about the deal at a news conference Wednesday in Los Angeles.
“I’ve been talking to Mikey for over a year now, and I’m so happy to welcome him to the team,” Hearn said. “Mikey is a standout star, and I’m looking forward to working with him on big fights moving forward. He will return to the ring on Feb. 29, and we will be announcing the opponent and venue shortly.”
