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Ten rounds while wondering how many pay-per-view dollars boxing fans will be forced to fork over in March and April …
10. With Gervonta Davis’s win over Hector Luis Garcia in the books, is Davis-Ryan Garcia next? It was widely reported in November that Davis and Garcia had agreed to financial terms while the networks (Showtime and DAZN) had brokered a deal that would see Showtime produce the event—penciled in for April 15—with DAZN collecting a seven-figure fee. A contract for the fight was supposed to reach the Golden Boy offices on Monday. As of Thursday night, it had not arrived.
Privately, officials on both sides insist there are no issues. But a couple of things to remember. Errol Spence and Keith Thurman are reportedly set to fight in April on a PBC pay-per-view card. It would be highly unusual for a promoter to stage two pay per views in the same month. Or, more specifically, the same cable billing cycle.
And remember this: Davis is set to go on trial in mid-February for an alleged hit-and-run in 2021. The judge in that case has already rejected a plea deal that would have given Davis a suspended sentence and two months of home confinement. If Davis receives any jail sentence, that will likely mean a date change. Stay tuned.
9. No issue with Errol Spence Jr. and Keith Thurman fighting at junior middleweight, which ESPN reported this week. It’s a good fight, at any weight. My beef—as it often is—is with the sanctioning bodies. Spence holds three 147-pound titles, has not defended them since last April and clearly has no plans to put them on the line anytime soon. Where is the IBF? Jaron Ennis just won the interim version of its welterweight title. Why is Ennis not being immediately elevated? Or the WBA? Gilberto Mendoza told ESPN he gave Spence “special permission,” whatever that means, to fight outside the weight class without surrendering his belt. Why not elevate Eimantas Stanionis to full champion and use one of its favorite designations—champion in recess—for Spence? The short answer is all these sanctioning bodies are waiting to see if Spence can close a deal with Terence Crawford and none of these fee gobblers want to miss the boat if he does. Yet while they bend, twist and break their own rules, other fighters pay the price.
8. There’s an internal shakeup going on at Golden Boy, where longtime matchmaker Robert Diaz was among multiple staffers let go recently. Diaz was one of a handful of front-facing members of Golden Boy’s operation with a solid reputation as a matchmaker. He has played a key role in the development of William Zepeda and Alexis Rocha, two of Golden Boy’s most promising prospects.
7. Let me get this straight: Felix Alvarado lost a world title fight to Sunny Edwards in November and his next fight is an eliminator for the right to fight Edwards again?
6. Fighters need to fight. That’s my only takeaway from watching the Davis-Garcia undercard, where Demetrius Andrade and Jaron Ennis scored wide decision wins and Rashidi Ellis was upset by Roiman Villa. Andrade, was had not fought in 14 months, looked rusty in his 168-pound debut against Demond Nicholson. Ellis, with one official round in the last 26 months, faded down the stretch against Villa. After years of high activity, Ennis fought just once in 2022, which may have contributed to his inability to figure out the mobile Karen Chukhadzhian. Staying in the gym is great, but to stay sharp fighters need live action.
5. Paging Daniel Jacobs.
4. Happy retirement, Rocky Fielding. Fielding is best known stateside for being on the receiving end of a one-sided beating from Canelo Alvarez in 2018. But Fielding had a solid domestic career with wins over John Ryder, Tyron Zeuge and Brian Vera. Fielding walks away from boxing with nothing to be ashamed of.
3. Speaking of Canelo, I think it’s very likely we see the undisputed super middleweight champion back in May against Ryder, possibly in the Middle East. As for a matchup with Dmitry Bivol, we’ll see. Alvarez wants it, Bivol will take it—but who is going to pay for it? That’s a very expensive fight and not one that is guaranteed to do a big number on pay-per-view.
2. I really hope Anthony Joshua doesn’t face Gerald Washington in April, as some have suggested. Joshua deserves an easy fight after back-to-back tough defeats to Oleksandr Usyk but Washington is finished. He’s been knocked out in two straight fights and three of his last four. That’s an unsellable—and uncompetitive—fight.
1. So Oscar De La Hoya has fake abs? I didn’t even know that was a thing.
