Tag: PBC

Angelo Leo uses vicious body attack to beat Tramaine Williams, win title

Angelo Leo used a vicious body attack to defeat Tramaine Williams by a unanimous decision and win a vacant 122-pound title Saturday.

Leo means Lion in Spanish. And Tramaine Williams was mauled.

Angelo Leo turned Williams’ stomach into his personal heavy bag, essentially winning a wide unanimous decision with a relentless body attack to capture the vacant WBO 122-pound title Saturday behind closed doors at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

And he did it even though Williams was a last-minute replacement for his original opponent, Stephen Fulton, who tested positive for COVID-19.

One big difference between Fulton and Williams: The former fights from an orthodox stance, the latter is left-handed. Some wondered whether it would be difficult for Leo to adjust. Well, the body is the same regardless of the opponent’s dominant hand.

“The key fact in the fight was the body work and the pressure, definitely,” Leo said afterward.

Leo (20-0, 9 KOs) seemed to have some difficulty in the first few rounds, as the quick, capable Williams (19-1, 6 KOs) was able to land jabs and stinging left hands fairly consistently from a relatively safe distance.

However, by the fourth round, Leo became comfortable, worked his way inside and began pounding Williams’ body in earnest.

“The first few rounds I was feeling him out,” Leo said, “getting [my] timing, getting a feel for him. I felt him kind of loosening up, kind of breaking down. That’s when I started putting the pressure on him a little more.”

Williams had success off and on in the fight when he fought from the outside but he couldn’t keep the lion off of him. The shorter man actually landed some decent shots inside but, as his trainer told him repeatedly, Leo fared much better in close quarters.

Leo maintained the pressure the entire fight. By the late rounds, he was landing vicious shots to both the body and head and Williams, evidently weakened by the punishment and unable to adjust, offered little in return.

Thus, when the scores were announced, no one was surprised: 117-111, 118-110 and 118-110, all for Leo, who won his first major title 26.

Leo, promoted by Floyd Mayweather, lives and trains in Las Vegas but grew up and began his boxing career in Albuquerque. He joins such fighters as Bob Foster, Johnny Tapia, Danny Romero and Holy Holm as a world champion from that town.

“Oh man, it feels good,” Leo said. “It still hasn’t sunken in yet. It feels surreal.”

Next up for Leo will be Fulton, as the WBO has ordered fight between the Leo-Williams winner and Fulton within 180 days, which should give Fulton plenty of time to recover and get back to training.

Leo was asked whether he has a message for his next opponent.

“Just be ready,” he said. “Just be ready. We’re going to make it a war. He says he’s going to bring it, I’m going to bring it. Why not bring it on?

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Lomachenko-Lopez ‘working date’ now Oct. 3, sites for PBC return revealed

Promoters are scrambling to find the best dates and sites to showcase their fighters.

Promoters are scrambling to find the best dates and sites to showcase their fighters.

The lightweight title-unification fight between Vasilily Lomachenko, Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound, and Teofimo Lopez has tentatively been moved from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3 in the hopes that the corornavirus will ease enough to allow some spectators, BoxingScene.com reported.

Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters, hopes to stage the fight in Las Vegas.

Lomachenko-Lopez was originally scheduled for May 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York but was canceled because of the pandemic.

“Loma-Lopez, we had scheduled it for Sept. 19 as the working date but now it will probably go on pay-per-view and that means the working date now is Oct. 3,” Arum said.

“Right now, with the [coronavirus] spike going on Nevada we couldn’t schedule it even with limited spectators. Hopefully, and we have some time, we’re looking to do that fight for 2,000 or maybe 2,500 people.”

Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) last fought in August, when he defeated Luke Campbell by a unanimous decision in London. He reportedly opened his training camp this week in Ukraine.

Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) is coming off a sensational second-round knockout of Richard Commey to win his 135-pound title.

Meanwhile, BoxingScene.com reported that the sites for Premier Boxing Champions’ first post-lockdown cards are set.

The PBC will stage a card on Aug. 1 in a secured bubble at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut on Showtime, according to the website. An MMA card reportedly will be held at the same site the week before.

Luis Nery (30-0, 24 KOs) could face Aaron Alameda (25-0, 13 KOs) in a junior featherweight bout in the main event Aug. 1, according to BoxingScene.com.

Also, an Aug. 8 card – reportedly featuring Jamal James vs. Thomas Dulorme in a welterweight bout, although that hasn’t be finalized – will take place at Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, from where Fox apparently will televise several cards.

The first show on Fox was scheduled for July 25 but was moved because of the scheduled start of the Major League Baseball season.

 

 

Shawn Porter believes Terence Crawford would beat Errol Spence Jr.

Shawn Porter believes Terence Crawford would beat Errol Spence Jr. because he has “more in his arsenal.”

Shawn Porter has as good an idea as anyone how a fight between Errol Spence Jr. and Terrence Crawford would go.

Porter fought Spence in September, losing a split decision to his Premier Boxing Champions stablemate. And he is a friend of Crawford, who fights for rival Top Rank. Plus, as a PBC on Fox analyst, it’s his job part time to discuss such things.

So who does he believe would win? Crawford.

“I’ve got Crawford,” Porter said during a PBC Facebook Live session. “I think Crawford’s the better boxer. I think Crawford’s got more in his arsenal. Of course, it’s a biased opinion as well, because I am friends with Crawford. But even taking that out of the equation, I just think that Crawford can do a lot.

“I think he’s a problem for anyone out there, fighting him, getting in the ring with him. But, you know, talking about the fight with Errol Spence and Terence Crawford, I think Terence Crawford wins that fight.”

A fan during the session reacted to Porter’s comment by calling him a hater. He dismissed that notion.

“Got no reason to hate,” Porter said. “I’m on here, just doing me. I answered the question. The question is who wins, Terence Crawford or Errol Spence? I said who I thought would win the fight, and then I supported my answer. That’s not being a hater. That’s giving my opinion.”

Porter gave Spence hell in their fight, which took place in Los Angeles. Spence, who put Porter down in Round 11, won 116-111, 116-111 and 112-115.

Porter also wants to fight Crawford but his friend doesn’t seem to be interested in the matchup.

Fox Sports, PBC personalities thank coronavirus warriors

Fox Sports and Premier Boxing Champions put together a video featuring their biggest personalities to thank the coronavirus warriors.

Our health care workers and first responders have emerged as heroes in the ongoing fight against the coronavirus.

And that fact isn’t lost on those in the boxing world.

Fox Sports and Premier Boxing Champions took the time to put together a video (see below) featuring many of their biggest stars and personalities to thank those risking their lives.

Here are those who took part:

PBC Fighters

Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence, Deontay Wilder, Leo Santa Cruz, Andy Ruiz Jr, Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, Abner Mares, Erislandy Lara, Julian Williams, Tony Harrison, Anthony Dirrell, Andre Dirrell, Chris Eubank Jr, Andre Berto and Adam Kownacki.

PBC on FOX Personalities

Brian Kenny, Chris Myers, Joe Goossen, Kate Abdo, Jimmy Lennon Jr, Marcos Villegas, Heidi Androl, Jordan Plant, Steve Cunningham and Ray Flores.

Abner Mares proud to have become American citizen

Abner Mares said he’s happy to have become an American citizen given how much his adopted country has given him.

Abner Mares has had an eventful past year or so.

The former three-division titleholder, now 34, has recovered from a detached retina that cost him a fight with Gervonta Davis in February of last year. He has a new trainer, Manny Robles. And, oh yeah, he’s an American now.

Mares, who was born in Mexico but has lived in the U.S. for many years, recently received his U.S. citizenship.

“It means a lot,” he said on The PBC Podcast. “I take a lot of pride becoming a United States citizen because this country has given me everything, everything, despite me being born in Mexico.

“And, yes, I’m 100 percent Mexicano, Raza (race) and, you know, I am. But you gotta give respect where respect is due. Now my country, the United States, has given me everything. My kids were born here, it gave me a better life for my wife and I.

“So I take pride in that. I want to say I’m proud to be an American citizen now. I want to say it because there are a lot of people out there [saying] I’m still raza. That never changes. You gotta be thankful for a country that has given you a lot. I’m that. I’m thankful for this country,  I’m blessed.

“I just became a United States citizen not too long ago and I’m really happy for that.”

Abner Mares said he plans to fight once or twice more and then call it a career. David Becker / Getty Images

The newly minted American will be working with Robles for his next fight, whenever the coronavirus pandemic allows it to happen.

Mares (31-3-1, 15 KOs) was asked on the podcast why he made the move from Robert Garcia to Robles and he said it had nothing to do with the job Garcia was doing. It was primarily about geography.

“It’s really simple, it’s nothing personal, nothing that had to do with me needing an adjustment in my craft. It was more, basically, a comfort move,” he said. “I was making a drive of about an hour, hour and a half, two hours from where I live [to Garcia’s training compound].

“I keep telling people that I’m on my last one or two fights. I want to make as much use of my time as I can. You know, I would train at noon with Robert … and come back at 2, 3 in the afternoon. A whole day would go by. I feel like I could’ve used that time to be with my kids, do something else.

“… I’m not saying that Robles isn’t a good coach to consider him for training and to learn. It’s a combination of both. I think Manny Robles is a great coach. And I’m happy to be working with Manny Robles.”

The question is: Working toward what?

Mares would still like to fight Davis, although he’s no longer first in line. And he mentioned Gary Russell Jr. and Oscar Valdez as possible opponents.

He didn’t mention a tune-up fight even though it will be two years in June since he last fought. As he said, he plans to fight only once to twice more and he wants to make the most of those opportunities.

“Honestly, accomplishments are not what I’m looking for,” he said. “… I’m not worried about titles, like becoming a four-time, five-time, six-time [titleholder]. Honestly, it’s on the personal side, being able to come back, being able to say I did it. I beat adversity, I beat doubters.

“You know, I came back and I fought and I won and that’s it. Even if I do one last fight. I’ll be comfortable with that.”

Mikey Garcia, citing money and politics, has no plans to return to 140

Mikey Garcia is staying put at the welterweight limit, he said in a recent interview on the Chris Mannix podcast.

Mikey Garcia is a boxer first and businessman-cum-pragmatist a close, close second.

The four-division titleholder has his eyes dead set on winning a world title at the 147-pound welterweight limit even though there are some, such as his father Eduardo and brother/trainer Robert, who believe that he would be better served dropping back down to 140, where the fights ostensibly would be more winnable.

Given the way Garcia, a former featherweight, struggled against welterweight titleholder Errol Spence Jr. last year, the elder Garcias are concerned that Mikey simply gives up too much size to be truly competitive against the likes of Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Terence Crawford.

Mikey Garcia demonstrated against Jessie Vargas last month that he can handle a good welterweight. Tom Pennington / Getty Images

Garcia’s recent points win over fringe welterweight contender Jesse Vargas in February arguably produced as many questions as answers.

“[My father and brother] still tell me, ‘You know, now that I did it (win a fight at welterweight) maybe I should consider coming back down to 140,'” Garcia said on the Chris Mannix Boxing Podcast. “They still feel like I’m a small fighter at 147, I’m too small. My dad especially. He feels like 140 pounds should be a better weight for me to be fighting at.

“Men at 140 are more comparable to my size. He still reminds me all the time. I was a featherweight, so size-wise, I’m not [that big].” 

Garcia gets his family’s concerns. But the realist in him also knows 147 is where the big paydays are. A Manny Pacquiao fight could materialize later this year or whenever the coronavirus pandemic subsides. And nobody, at least as the welterweight division is concerned, brings in as much dough as Pacquiao.

Moreover, negotiations aren’t hampered by political divisions that routinely prevent some of the best fights from being made. Both are aligned with Premier Boxing Champions, as are most of the other top welterweights.

“I still feel that my abilities, my skills allow me to compete at 147, and I feel like I can win a title at 147, and that’s part of the challenge,” Garcia said. “I want to challenge myself. Not to say that at 140 there’s no challenges. Of course there are. But when you look at the politics and business, it’s going to be a bit more complicated to secure a world-title fight at 140, being that both champions are with different promotional companies.”

Garcia (right) was overwhelmed by Errol Spence in March of last year but was determined to stay at 147 pounds. AP Photo / Richard W. Rodriguez

At 140, the four recognized titles are split evenly between Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor. Of course, the kicker is that they’re both promoted (read: controlled) by Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Garcia’s former promoter.

Garcia and Arum went through an ugly, protracted legal battle a few years ago. As a result, they don’t do business together these days. The bad blood apparently is still there. The irascible Arum went so far as to claim recently that he has no desire to work with Garcia ever again. Add to that the fact that Ramirez is trained by Robert Garcia, and it’s easy to see why Garcia has little faith that big fights at 140 can happen for him.

 “I just don’t feel like I’m going to be able to secure a world title shot at 140 anytime soon,” Garcia said. “So I think my chances are good at 147.”

It’s a no-brainer for Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs). At 147, there’s more money, more challenges and most of all, no Arum.

“[My family] understand[s] that it’s my call to make the decision,” Garcia said. “I do consider their opinions very much and I do see their reasoning behind why 140 is a better weight class for me, but, like I said, when I look at politics, when I look at business, it’s going to be almost impossible to get one of those world title fights at 140.

“I just don’t want to be fighting contenders and waiting and waiting and waiting. 147 is a bigger challenge, but I still feel confident that I can accomplish what I want. I want to win a world title at welterweight.”

Lightweight titleholder Vasiliy Lomachemko, Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound, would be another intriguing matchup for Garcia. Two problems, though. One, moving back down to 135 would be difficult. And, two, Lomachenko is an Arum fighter.

“Look, you need to ask Bob,” Garcia said when asked about the Lomachenko matchup. “He controls them. He’s their promoter. I just saw a recent interview with him where he didn’t have much interest in a fight with me. I’m not waiting for anybody.” 

Garcia is chasing both top risk and reward. Any criticism is just more fuel for the fire.

“That’s part of the risk, but that’s also part of the reward,” Garcia said. “You win a title in a fifth division when nobody thought you could do it, and that’s in the history books.

“Just because everybody thinks I can’t [win a title at 147], that just motivates me even more.” 

Follow Sean Nam on Twitter @seanpasbon

Dana White expresses doubts about boxing venture

Dana White expressed some reservations and doubts about the boxing business in a recent interview…

Dana White has long teased that he was going to dive headlong into the deep waters of the boxing business. The UFC head promised a press conference last October to unveil his boxing operation. Yet October came and went. Then November, December, January … still nothing.

Now it appears he has cold feet.

In a video interview with Yahoo! Sports posted Tuesday, White was asked to comment on how he viewed the economic structure of boxing. He wasn’t so enthused.

“I hate speaking negatively about the sport of boxing,” White said, “other than the fact that it’s a mess – we all knows it’s a mess – and that it needs to be fixed, if it can be fixed.”

White continued: “I told you guys that I would have a press conference last October and announce all these things, but as I dove into this thing and started to look into the sport of boxing, the economics of boxing, that sport’s a mess. It’s a mess and it’s in big trouble. I don’t know. I don’t know if it can be fixed.”

What does White mean by “mess”? He didn’t say during the Yahoo! interview, but it doesn’t take a genius to grasp at least one of his objections.

As the largest mixed martial arts promotional group in the world, with nearly 600 fighters under exclusive contract, the UFC has considerable leverage when it comes to fighter compensation. The outfit signed a $1.5 billion broadcasting deal with ESPN in 2018. A few MMA experts, using publicly available financial documents, have estimated that UFC fighters take home anywhere from 13.6-16.3% of UFC’s total revenue in a given year.

The general consensus is that boxers do much better than that, which might be the reason for White’s reticence to wade in boxing waters. Promoter Bob Arum has been quoted in a recent UFC anti-trust suit as saying that his company Top Rank “pay[s] out 80%” of the revenue to fighters. According to Golden Boy’s financial documents that were brought to light during their anti-trust litigation against Premier Boxing Champions  (which was eventually rejected by the court), their fighter payout was 64% and 62% of total revenue in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

And it’s not a pattern that is likely to change anytime soon. In recent years, new players like the streaming platform DAZN have been doling out mind-numbing purses to fighters from all levels of the talent spectrum in an effort to bolster their presence in the market.

For White, who is accustomed to claiming the biggest piece of the pie, that’s a mess.

Premier Boxing Champions postpones all cards in May

Premier Boxing Champions announced today that it has postponed all events scheduled for May.

Premier Boxing Champions announced today that it has postponed all events scheduled for May.
The management company, which handles many of the best boxers, is following the recommendations of government and health organizations in the worldwide battle against the coronavirus.
“We will reschedule the postponed events at a later date once it becomes safe to do so,” said TGB Promotions President Tom Brown, who handles the promotion for most PBC events.
“Now is the time for everyone to do everything they can to stop the spread of the pandemic and take care of your loved ones and your neighbors.”
Most sports have come to a grinding halt in effort to prevent the virus from spreading.
That reportedly includes the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Dick Pound, a key member of the International Olympic Committee, told USA Today Sports that the Games will be postponed.

PBC fighters ‘ducking’ Terence Crawford? Shawn Porter says it’s possible

Shawn Porter believes there’s credence to the claim that PBC welterweights are actively avoiding Top Rank-promoted Terence Crawford.

Last December, during an ESPN/Top Rank broadcast, analyst Tim Bradley fired a broadside toward the elite welterweights aligned with rival outfit Premier Boxing Champions: Stop ducking Top Rank fighter Terence Crawford.

Bradley believes that Crawford can’t land a significant fight because top PBC fighters are avoiding him. That group includes Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia. Of course, one could accuse Bradley, once a Top Rank fighter, of simply supporting company interests, given both he and Crawford receive paychecks from ESPN.

But it doesn’t appear to be an entirely partisan opinion.

On Friday, Shawn Porter, a top PBC welterweight and Fox analyst, was asked whether he had a chance to speak to Bradley about his comments given that both were on the commentating team for Saturday’s Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury card.

Porter’s response? He smiled and said “no,” that he had no such plans. In fact, he agreed wholeheartedly with Bradley. But he wanted to make one thing clear: Bradley wasn’t talking about him.

“When Tim called out the PBC stable, he knew who he was talking about and he knew who he wasn’t talking about,” Porter told FightHubTV. “He wasn’t talking about Shawn Porter.

“Tim knows. We’re from the same place. We do whatever it takes, whenever it takes. He knows that about me. He knows that I’m a fighter and that I’ll fight everybody whenever the time is right.”

Why is Porter so confident that Bradley wasn’t talking about him? The proof is on his list of opponents: virtually all of the top welterweight contenders and titleholders of the past half decade can be found there.

Asked whether he felt that Bradley had a legitimate case, Porter replied, “Absolutely, absolutely.”

Then Porter doubled down.

“Even within PBC there’s fighters avoiding fighters within PBC, OK?” he said. “Guys are not fighting with their hearts, they’re fighting with their brains, and what I mean by that is that they’re trying to figure out how much money they can make and who’s the easiest one out there for me to take on.

“And that’s not fair to you guys (the fans). We’re getting to a point now where you can’t duck anybody, even on the PBC side.”

There’s no ducking with the 32-year-old Porter, who doesn’t plan to change his pattern of taking on the top contenders anytime soon.

“You just saw me get it on with Errol Spence and you’ll see me get it on with somebody else big,” Porter continued. “If it isn’t Terence Crawford, it’ll be somebody else on the PBC side. But I’m not here to fight a No. 6 guy, a No. 10 guy. That’s why you haven’t seen me announce who I’m going to fight, because No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 won’t fight me.”

So who’s next? Porter ruled out Garcia as a possibility because he “fights almost once a year. He’ll probably get back in the ring in December. I don’t have time for that. June is the latest. I’m gonna force somebody to fight me by June. … By the time you see me in the ring, Showtime Shawn Porter will be mad.”

As for a potential fight with Crawford, Porter says only time will tell.

“I haven’t been able to catch up with Terence Crawford yet,” he said. “We’ve been texting. I know he’s here (at the Wilder-Fury fight) today. We’ll catch up. And you guys will find out something after that.

“But don’t ever say Shawn Porter is ducking anyone, don’t say Shawn Porter is ducking Terence Crawford, and don’t dare say Terence Crawford is ducking Shawn Porter. Until we talk, until we have a conversation that we agreed upon, we’re not going to say nothing about one another … because we owe that respect to one another.”

Promoter confident Wilder-Fury II could generate 2 million PPV buys

Bob Arum is more confident than ever at the chances of 2 million pay-per-view buys for the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch Saturday.

LAS VEGAS – Bob Arum is more confident than ever at the chances of 2 million pay-per-view buys for the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch Saturday night on ESPN/Fox at the MGM Grand.

A buzz was evident Friday from a capacity crowd for the weigh-in. Five thousand fans jammed the available seats at the Grand Garden Arena. People had to be turned away by security when the last seat was filled.

“People are talking about this fight all over the country,” Arum said of a heavyweight fight that has been marketed with ads on several platforms, including the Super Bowl.

When Arum first predicted 2 million for the PPV telecast, it sounded like another exaggeration. It’s still bold. But the signs are promising. Arum, who co-promotes Fury with Frank Warren, believes the 2 million buys could be split evenly between the U.S. and the U.K.

“Frank thinks it could hit 1 million in the U.K., even at 4 a.m. (Sunday),’’ Arum said.

If it hits 2 million, Fury and Wilder are expected to collect more than $40 million each.

“It all depends on the pay-per-view in the U.S. and the U.K.,” Arum said.

Contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission include a purse number of $5 million for each. However, the guarantees are about five times more than that. Fury and Wilder are guaranteed between $25 and $28 million, according to sources tied to the promoters for each heavyweight. Wilder is represented by Premier Boxing Champions (PBC).