It's Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer's compilation of observations and random thoughts from the week that was in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including the rebuilding process of Adrien Broner, the announcement of Canelo Alvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo, the resignation of Keith Kizer, Robert Guerrero attempting to cut ties with Golden Boy Promotions, some heavyweight trash talk between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
The Adrien Broner makeover is underway. On December 14th, Marcos Maidana pulled off one of the upsets of 2013 when he shocked the world and defeated Adrien Broner by unanimous decision to win the WBA welterweight title. The way Maidana dominated the fight may have been more shocking than him actually winning the fight at all because he controlled the tempo and knocked Broner down twice in the victory. It had been a long time since boxing fans around the world rejoiced a fighter's loss as much as they did Broner. If you don't believe me, just go back and check out Twitter and Facebook feeds from around the world on the night of December 14th, 2013. In the lead-up to the fight, Broner had built himself up as the villain, constantly posting tasteless videos (there was even a sex tape leaked by someone). Broner even flushed money down the toilet on more than one occasion and posted it for the world to see. On top of that, videos surfaced of Broner at the strip club and partying, all while he was supposedly training for his fight with Maidana. Not many people gave Maidana a chance in the fight (including myself), and many people are attributing Broner's loss to his lack of preparation outside the ring. Broner lost even more credibility when he acted as if he was shot when headbutted by Maidana, and when he walked out of the ring without conducting a post-fight interview (he later did an interview, off the air, in the locker room with Barry Tompkins which aired on the replay of the telecast). Maybe that is all true, but one thing is absolutely certain: Adrien Broner deserves major kudos for not taking the easy road and taking a comeback fight against a hapless opponent. No matter what people think of his antics outside the ring (and I do believe, no matter how outrageous, a lot of what Broner does outside the ring are antics to help build his name and his brand. Right or wrong, he was successful at becoming a household name which, will lead to money-making opportunities in the future), Broner stepped up when it mattered most. Last week, he publicly stated he would exercise his rematch clause with Maidana, meaning he will face Maidana in his comeback fight. Broner was called all the names in the book and has already been written off as "overrated" and "over-hyped", but at least he accepted his defeat like a man and is doing something about it. Too many fighters lose a fight and take an easier road to get back. While that may work for some guys, Broner clearly doesn't believe that is the case for him. Win or lose in the rematch with Maidana (tentatively scheduled for April 19th or 26th), Broner has proven he is willing to take on the best in the world and makes no excuses when he loses. While Broner has still been a bit brash on social media, he has toned down his antics (at least publicly) now that he has been "humbled" as some people believe. The Adrien Broner makeover is in full effect, and whether or not he defeats Maidana in the rematch is irrelevant. Broner has shown he will do what it takes to become a billionaire.
The announcement of the Maidana-Broner rematch all but assures Amir Khan as the opponent for Floyd Mayweather on May 3rd. No people, it will not be Manny Pacquiao!
The Canelo Alvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo card will be worth the pay-per-view money. I have read numerous comments from boxing fans saying Canelo does not deserve to be on pay-per-view after losing his fight against Floyd Mayweather because he is not a big enough attraction. I would tend to disagree. Canelo is a star. Just ask the 40,000 fans who showed up to watch him fight Austin Trout in San Antonio. Ask the fans who sold out the MGM Grand in less than 24 hours for his fight with Mayweather because he was viewed as a legitimate threat to defeat Mayweather. Mexican fans alone come out in droves when Canelo fights because he is the biggest boxing star in the boxing crazed country. On top of that, the fight card Richard Schaefer is trying to put together could be epic. Canelo's older brother, Ricardo, is currently in negotiations to fight contender, and brawler, Omar Figueroa. Leo Santa Cruz is in discussions to take on Christian Mijares in another Fight of the Year candidate, and hopefully opening the card will be Nihito Arakawa, the man who lost a Fight of the Year clash with Figueroa in 2013, taking on former champion Jorge Linares in another war. If this card comes together, it could be one for the ages!
Keith Kizer, Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, is resigning from his position. Kizer may be the most well-known official in the world of combat sports. Las Vegas is the mecca of boxing and MMA, and Kizer is the man who has approved every fight in the state of Nevada for the past 8 years. Under Kizer's watch, boxing has seen the two largest events in the history of the sport (Mayweather vs. De La Hoya in 2007 and Mayweather vs. Alvarez in 2013). While there have been plenty of negative things that have happened under Kizer's watch, Kizer has been successful in helping take the sport of boxing to heights never before seen while helping establish MMA as a mainstream sport. Whoever takes Kizer's place will have big shoes to fill.
Robert Guerrero is trying to pull a Timothy Bradley. A few years ago, Bradley attempted to break his promotional contract with Gary Shaw in the hopes of landing a fight with Manny Pacquiao. Even though Bradley was out of the ring for 11 months, the move paid off handsomely as Bradley has not taken anything less than $1 million for a fight (November 12, 2011 against Joel Casamayor) since. Shocking news broke last week that Guerrero was trying to break his contract with Golden Boy, citing the Muhammad Ali Act (a promoter cannot require a fighter to provide promotional rights in exchange for the right to fight a mandatory title fight). The rumor mill is buzzing that Guerrero has secretly been offered a fight with Manny Pacquiao, but only if Guerrero can cut ties with Golden Boy since Pacquiao fights with Top Rank. If this rumor is true, it seems that Bob Arum is doing everything in his power to build his stable of potential contenders to face his cash cow, Pacquiao, since Juan Manuel Marquez has no interest in facing Pacquiao for a 5th time and fans are only interested in seeing Pacquiao face Bradley one more time. If Guerrero is successful in his attempt to break away from Golden Boy, it could lead to major money-making opportunities in the future.
Antonio Demarco looks much more comfortable in a bigger body. Since his lost to Adrien Broner in 2012, Demarco has changed trainers and weight classes. Now, under the tutelage of Freddie Roach and fighting at junior welterweight, Demarco looks to be fresher than ever, as evidenced by his 2 knockout wins, including his 2nd-round TKO over Jesus Gurrola on Saturday night. Granted, Demarco hasn't faced the stiffest competition since his loss to Broner, but he looks extremely strong and should carry his power very well going forward. Demarco is going to be a tough outing for anyone in the 140 lb division.
Even if Argenis Mendez gets another crack at Rances Barthelemy, it isn't going to matter. Mendez's camp went out and hired Pat English, one of boxing's most note-worthy lawyers, for his appeal of Mendez's knockout loss to Barthelemy. The referee, Pete Podgorski, did not step in on time and Mendez was hit with punches that knocked him out well after the bell sounded at the end of the 2nd round. As reported by ESPN on Friday Night Fights, if Mendez wins the appeal, the fight would be ruled a no-contest according to the rules of the ABC (Association of Boxing Commissions). In that case, the belt would be returned to Mendez. If this happens, the ABC should make a ruling that an immediate rematch should take place because Barthelemy deserves to be world champion, and to have him stripped would be unfair. Either way, the only fair solution would be for these two to get back in the ring for a rematch as soon as possible to settle things where the belong, in the ring.
I would love to see a fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder! If you haven't been following boxing news, or following Twitter feeds, Fury has been all over Wilder, trying to bait him into responding. Apparently, Wilder had enough because he responded this week on social media with the following: "Tyson Fury, stick another tampon in your a**. Your period is mighty heavy with a strong flow. All you got to do is get Hennessy Sports to send the contract. Stop talking all this nonsense already, it's getting very old. I dare you to send that contract fat momma b****. Oh and by the way - tell Hennessy Sports to answer the phone this time. All this talk needs to end now." It sounds like we might get heavyweight giants in the ring very soon. Rest assured, if this fight happens, it will end by knockout, and the winner should be considered the frontrunner to face Wladimir Klitschko.
Now that Lateef Kayode is a full-blown heavyweight, maybe we'll see a rematch between he and Antonio Tarver. Since Tarver wants to win a heavyweight belt, as does Kayode, it's only right that these two settle the question of who is the better man since they fought to a draw as cruiserweights. This time though, let's have Olympic-style drug testing to make sure nobody (cough, Tarver, cough) tests positive for a banned substance.
The Robert Garcia Boxing Academy stable of fighters continues to grow with the addition of Thomas Dulorme.
Is Nobuhiro Ishida serious about a move to heavyweight? Who does he think he is, James Toney?
The first major fight card of the year takes place this weekend! An all-Canadian main event takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Saturday night, as Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute battle it out in a fight featuring two former light heavyweight champions looking to win and move forward for a showdown with the current Canadian light heavyweight world champion, Adonis Stevenson. This should be a very entertaining fight, and I expect Pascal to come out on top due to the inactivity of Bute (he hasn't fought since November 2012). The co-feature brings about another interesting match-up, but not necessarily because of the in-ring action. Mike Perez, the man who put Magomed Abdusalamov in the hospital where he remains in poor condition, returns to face Carlos Takam in a heavyweight showdown. It will be interesting to see if Perez can put the aftermath of the Abdusalamov fight behind him. Some fighters, after seriously injuring another fighter and causing permanent damage, cannot mentally bounce back from that type of weight on their shoulders. Let's hope Perez is able to overcome the tough circumstances he will be fighting on Saturday night.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week's email comes to us from Francis C. on a variety of topics I have written about in the past, namely Mayweather vs. Pacquiao...
"Yes we all cannot wait for all the great fights in 2014. My boys 22 &19 yrs old & I watch as many as possible, however with my youngest having joined the Marine Corp 6 months ago, sometimes it's just through email. LOL. You bring up some great points in your report. We all would love to see PAC- Floyd, but just don't see it happening. With that being said, there are still some great fights yet to be paired. Hopefully boxing one day can come together so we all can see the best fights. You are straight on with Bradley. He is as tough as they come, and look forward to seeing more of him as well as Ruslan Provodnikof & , Keith "One Time"Thurman. Both I think are going to have big years & bring lots of excitement to boxing. I'm really interested in seeing who Danny Garcia will fight next , & if he moves up to 147."
First of all, Francis, I would like to say "Thank You" on behalf of everyone at FightHype. That goes out to your son in the Marine Corps who is fighting in the Armed Forces. Secondly, those people who still think Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is going to happen in 2014, they clearly have not been reading any boxing news on our website, or any other credible website, who have actual quotes from Mayweather AND Pacquiao stating the fight isn't happening. Anyone who claims to have "sources" who are not Mayweather, Pacquiao, Richard Schaefer, Leonard Ellerbe, AL Haymon (who doesn't speak to the media), or in some cases, Bob Arum and Michael Koncz, are full of crap. Finally, as far as Bradley, Thurman, and Garcia, it will be very interesting to see where they go in 2014. Bradley is the leading candidate to land a rematch with Manny Pacquiao in April. Keith Thurman has so many options right now, and Richard Schaefer says he will be back on April 19th or 26th. Whichever card Thurman winds up fighting on will have major implications because he could face the winner of the Maidana vs. Broner rematch. I wouldn't necessarily think Thurman would fight Broner, should Broner win the rematch, but rest assured that if Maidana wins again, I would be willing to bet we'll see a Thurman vs. Maidana fight in the Fall. Danny Garcia is interesting right now. He was probably the leading candidate to face Mayweather in May until he stated he is not chasing that fight right now (which could be a fantastic career move when all is said and done). All indications are pointing to Garcia moving up to welterweight, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him fighting at a catch-weight of about 143-144 lbs. in his next fight. I think Garcia wants to test out the new weight class before becoming a full blown welterweight. It's not a bad plan and could lead to a Mayweather fight in 2015 when Garcia has legitimized himself as a 147 lb fighter.
That's all I've got for this week. Email any questions or comments to dkassel@fighthype.com and I will answer them throughout the week. Your email may be featured in the next "Observe and Fight." Follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver, and be sure to "Like" The Boxing Observer on Facebook.
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