Canelo Alvarez to Fight Jermell Charlo in Las Vegas This September

Posted on July 1, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Canelo Alvarez has lined up his next opponent, but it’s not the person most expected it to be.

The 32-year-old Mexican professional boxer, the sport’s top star at the moment, has announced on social media that he’ll fight Jermell Charlo rather than his twin brother, Jermall, on September 30 in Las Vegas, the first meeting of undisputed champions in the four-belt era.

Alvarez holds all four super middleweight titles while Charlo owns all four belts at 154 pounds. The bout, which is expected to be a Showtime PPV event, will be contested at 168 pounds for Alvarez’s undisputed championship, per ESPN sources.

Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) was lined up for a fight with Jermall Charlo, the WBC champion at 160 pounds, after he met with PBC founder Al Haymon in the Cleveland area earlier in June.

But earlier this week, Alvarez’s team was informed that Jermall wouldn’t be available to fight in September, sources said. The sides pivoted to Jermell, who sits just outside ESPN’s pound-for-pound list but has never competed above 154 pounds, and the matchup was finalized on Friday, sources said.

ESPN Deportes reported earlier Friday that Jermall needed more time to get in shape because he has not fought since June 2021, when he scored a unanimous decision win over Juan Macias Montiel. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said last month that Jermall’s inactivity is due to mental health.

Alvarez, a future Hall of Famer from Mexico, struck a three-fight deal with PBC earlier in June, with the other two fights expected to take place on Cinco De Mayo Weekend and Mexican Independence Day Weekend in 2024, sources said.

Alvarez’s preferred September 16 date wasn’t available in Las Vegas due to a UFC event on the same night at T-Mobile Arena.

Canelo is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over John Ryder in May in a Mexico homecoming in Guadalajara. The win was Alvarez’s first fight since he underwent left wrist surgery in October.

In May 2022, Canelo moved up to light heavyweight but was routed by Dmitry Bivol in his first loss since he faced Floyd Mayweather in 2013. He returned in September to defeat his rival, Gennaidy Golovkin, in a trilogy fight.

Alvarez is ESPN’s No. 5 pound-for-pound boxer and has captured titles in four weight classes.

Last month, Alvarez was No. 5 on Forbes’ Highest-Paid Athletes list at estimated earnings of $110 million in 2022.

Jermall Charlo was one of two finalists for the Alvarez bout when Canelo ultimately selected Bivol last May. He could land his shot next May if Alvarez defeats his brother.

Jermell Charlo, a 33-year-old who fights out of the Houston area, captured the undisputed 154-pound championship last May when he knocked out Brian Castano in the 10th round of a rematch. The two fighters had previously battled to a highly controversial draw in July 2021 after Castano appeared to do enough to earn the decision.

The only defeat of Jermell’s career came in December 2018, a disputed decision loss to Tony Harrison. Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) also avenged that blemish on his record, scoring an 11th-round knockout of Harrson one year later.

Jermell was set to defend his four titles against Tim Tszyu, the son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, in January before he suffered a broken left hand.

Canelo Alvarez Planning His Second Fight of 2023, Jermall Charlo & Badou Jack on Short List

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Canelo Alvarez is planning his second fight of the year…

The 32-year-old Mexican boxer, the sport’s top star, is looking to fight one of two contenders later this year, according to ESPN sources: Jermall Charlo and Badou Jack.

Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion, and his trainer/manager, Eddy Reynoso, met with PBC founder Al Haymon last week in the Cleveland area, where a fall fight with WBC middleweight titleholder Charlo was discussed, sources said.

Charlo, 33, hasn’t competed since June 2021, when he scored a unanimous decision win over Juan Macias Montiel. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said last month that Charlo’s inactivity is due to mental health.

Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) is a former 154-pound titleholder who has never competed above 160 pounds. His twin brother, Jermell Charlo, is the undisputed junior middleweight champion. Both Charlos are advised by Haymon.

Alvarez’s last three bouts were promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, while his victory over Caleb Plant in November 2021 was a Showtime PPV presented by PBC.

PBC didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Another option for Alvarez is Jack, the WBC cruiserweight titleholder. Jack’s longtime manager, Amer Abdallah, is the Head of Boxing for Saudi Arabia-based Skill Challenge Entertainment, a boxing promotion led by Prince Khalid bin Abdulaziz.

Abdallah told ESPN on Monday that “the big items are agreed upon, which is an approximate date” and “the financials” for a proposed fight for Jack’s 200-pound title in October in Saudi Arabia. Alvarez has expressed a desire to fight in Saudi Arabia and was ringside for Andy Ruiz’s rematch with Anthony Joshua in the nation’s capital, Riyadh, in December 2019.

Abdallah conceded the weight is an issue. Alvarez holds all four titles at 168 pounds and has twice competed for a light heavyweight title, but has never weighed more than 174.5 pounds — his weight when he scored a highlight-reel KO of Sergey Kovalev in November 2019.

Jack (28-3-3, 17 KOs) is a practicing Muslim whose last four fights took place in the Middle East. His most recent two fights were in Saudi Arabia, including his February victory over Ilunga Makabu to capture the WBC cruiserweight title.

The cruiserweight division limit is 200 pounds. Jack, a 39-year-old former super middleweight titleholder and light heavyweight contender, weighed 198.75 pounds for his last bout and hasn’t tipped the scales under 198.5 pounds since June 2021.

“It’s now just getting it over the finish line with the weight,” Abdallah said. “And mind you, that’s not a small hurdle, but it’s one we’re going back and forth on. So far, this has been the only situation and the only term that we’ve not fully agreed on. … But I’m hoping that if you fight for [a] cruiserweight [title], you’ve got to at least fight around the cruiserweight division [200 pounds] and not at light heavyweight [175 pounds].”

Alvarez outpointed John Ryder last month to retain his undisputed super middleweight championship in a Mexico homecoming. Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) was fighting for the first time since he underwent left wrist surgery in October and did so before 50,000-plus fans in Guadalajara.

In the lead-up to the bout and afterward, Alvarez said he was focused on a rematch with Russia’s Dmitry Bivol in September. Alvarez was soundly defeated by Bivol in May 2022, his first loss since his 2013 fight with Floyd Mayweather.

The Bivol fight — for which Jermall Charlo was one of two finalists to face Alvarez — was Alvarez’s second 175-pound bout. He returned to defeat Gennadiy Golovkin in September 2022 on Mexican Independence Day Weekend, one of two annual dates Alvarez routinely reserves (the other is Cinco de Mayo Weekend).

Bivol told ESPN on Friday that the rematch with Alvarez is not happening in September, saying, “If you want to fight only me, just connect with our team and ask us about the fight.” Instead, Bivol said he would stay busy with a fall fight and target Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.

Leading up to the Ryder fight, Alvarez insisted on a rematch with Bivol taking place at 175 pounds, while Bivol said he was only interested in a return bout at 168 pounds for Alvarez’s four titles.

“Canelo wants the rematch on all the same terms as the fight he lost,” Bivol’s manager, Vadim Kornilov, told ESPN on Friday. “Usually when a fighter really wants a rematch to happen, he doesn’t ask for all the same terms. If Canelo really wanted to avenge his loss as desperately as he portrays to the press, he would have been fighting GGG and Ryder first.

“And they would not be talking to the reps of Charlo, [David] Benavidez, [Edgar] Berlanga, etc. He is obviously avoiding Bivol and they know it would be tough for them to beat him.”

Benavidez, ESPN’s No. 2 super middleweight after Alvarez, has been calling for his shot at Alvarez in September. His promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, said Benavidez is moving on after he never received a response to an offer he made to Reynoso.

“We had a friendly meeting [after] which I promised to send a proposal,” Lewkowicz told ESPN on Monday. “And then [Reynoso] insults me by claiming he never received a proposal. I sent it by email, by text message and by WhatsApp. There’s no way he didn’t receive it. … The only thing he’s looking for is the legacy of Canelo so that he can retire in two or three fights without losing. This is boxing, nothing is written in stone. He can lose to somebody less than Benavidez.”

The package Alvarez was offered could have exceeded $60 million, per sources, when accounting for his international TV rights and upside of the gate and pay-per-view for the Benavidez fight, the matchup most highly anticipated by fans.

Forbes last month ranked Alvarez at No. 5 on its highest-paid athletes list, with $110 million in estimated earnings in 2022.

Fight Between Ryan Garcia & Gervonta Davis Officially Confirmed

Posted on February 25, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

It’s official… Ryan Garcia will battle Gervonta Davis.

The 136-pound catchweight fight between 24-year-old Mexican American boxer and Davis is now finalized.

Both boxers announced on social media that they’ll meet April 22 in Las Vegas.

Finalizing the broadcast agreement between Showtime and DAZN was all that was left, and that’s now been done. The fight will be broadcast on Showtime PPV.

The fight had been planned for April 15, but was pushed back one week to allow more time for promotion as negotiations dragged out, sources said.

The fight between the two stars is perhaps the biggest commercial event boxing can deliver. A dispute over the rematch clause had threatened to derail the fight, but that issue was resolved earlier this month after PBC agreed that Golden Boy would serve as the lead promoter for a second bout if Garcia wins.

Only Davis can exercise the rematch clause in the event he loses, per sources.

Typically, boxers have 30 days to activate their right to an immediate return bout.

Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) will earn slightly more for the first fight, according to sources, and is the betting favorite. Davis defeated Hector Luis Garcia last month via ninth-round TKO to keep the Ryan Garcia matchup intact.

Earlier this month, Davis pleaded guilty to four counts stemming from a hit-and-run crash in November 2020 in Baltimore that left four people injured, including a pregnant woman. Davis’ sentencing is set for May 5, which means any potential punishment won’t interfere with his ability to compete in April.

Davis was arraigned Thursday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in connection with a Dec. 27 misdemeanor domestic violence charge of battery causing bodily harm. His next hearing is set for March 31, per Broward County court records. Davis pleaded not guilty after allegedly hitting the mother of his 1-year-old daughter with a “closed-hand type slap,” according to police, who said she suffered a small abrasion on the inside of her upper lip. She asked the court to dismiss charges in an affidavit filed Jan. 24.

Both Davis and Garcia announced on Instagram in mid-November that they would meet in a long-awaited fight in 2023, but it took months to reach an agreement on terms.

Davis, a 28-year-old from Baltimore, is one of the biggest needle-movers in boxing. “Tank” has 4.2 million Instagram followers and routinely fights before a host of celebrities. ESPN’s No. 3 lightweight, Davis won a junior lightweight title with a seventh-round KO of Jose Pedraza in 2017.

Before he defeated Hector Luis Garcia, Davis scored wins over Isaac Cruz and Rolly Romero in 135-pound bouts.

Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) is a star, too, with over 9 million followers on Instagram.

Regarded for his lightning-quick hands, he scored a career-best win in January 2021 after he survived a knockdown to stop Luke Campbell in the seventh round. He didn’t fight for the rest of 2021 after he withdrew from a bout with Javier Fortuna to address his mental health followed by wrist surgery that scrapped a match with Joseph Diaz Jr. Garcia, who fights out of Southern California, returned last year with wins over Emmanuel Tagoe and Fortuna at 140 pounds. Garcia, who formerly campaigned at 135 pounds, vowed to remain at 140 but will drop four pounds for the catchweight bout.

Garcia had been set to fight Mercito Gesta in January, but bypassed the planned tuneup bout to head directly into the high-stakes showdown with Davis.

Isaac Cruz Set to Fight Yuriorkis Gamboa in Lightweight Bout This April

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Isaac Cruz has lined up his next opponent…

The 23-year-old Mexican professional boxer has reportedly agreed to a lightweight fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa on April 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, according to ESPN.

The bout will serve as chief support to the April 16 Showtime PPV headlined by the Errol Spence Jr.–Yordenis Ugas welterweight title unification, sources said.

The 147-pound bout between Radzhab Butaev and Eimantas Stanionis also will appear on the undercard, leaving one more slot.

Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs) stunned the boxing world by pushing star fighter Gervonta Davis to the brink in a December decision loss. Cruz accepted the fight on a month’s notice after Rolando Romero withdrew from the bout, and Cruz established himself as a player in the stacked 135-pound division with the spirited effort.

Despite being a major underdog, Cruz lost by just two rounds on two cards and four on the third.

Now, Cruz will receive another night in the spotlight on the undercard of the anticipated Spence-Ugas fight at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

He meets Gamboa, a former two-division champion and Olympic gold medalist. At 40, Gamboa hasn’t shown much in recent bouts, but he has proved durable.

The Cuban boxer’s previous two fights came against Davis and Devin Haney.

Gamboa (30-4, 18 KOs) tore his Achilles tendon in the defeat to Davis but made it to Round 12 before he was stopped. Eleven months later, Gamboa was shut out on two scorecards in a unanimous decision loss to Haney.

Joseph Diaz Jr. Agrees to WBC Lightweight Title Fight Against Devin Haney

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Joseph Diaz Jr. is thisclose to a title fight…

The 28-year-old Mexican American boxer and Devin Haney have agreed to terms for a WBC lightweight title fight on December 3 or December 4 in Las Vegas on DAZN, according to ESPN.

Contracts haven’t been signed yet but details are in the process of being finalized, sources said. The framework of the deal includes a rematch clause in the event Haney loses.

The fight is part of an intriguing three-week stretch for the lightweight division. Teofimo Lopez, who holds four lightweight titles, fights George Kambosos on November 27 on DAZN.

One week later, Eddie Hearn will promote another important lightweight fight with the Haney-Diaz clash. That same weekend, on December 5, Gervonta Davis fights Rolando Romero on Showtime PPV.

And then on December 11 on ESPN, Vasiliy Lomachenko meets Richard Commey.

The Haney-Diaz agreement caps months of back-and-forth insults traded between the boxers. When Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KOs) agreed to fight Ryan Garcia on November 27, Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) accused Diaz of ducking a chance at him.

But that fight fell through when Garcia suffered a hand injury in training and underwent surgery on Monday. With Haney and Diaz both in need of an end-of-year fight, the matchup made too much sense for all parties.

Haney, ESPN’s No. 3 lightweight, is coming off the biggest win of his career, a May decision victory over former champion Jorge Linares. Diaz, too, is coming off a strong performance, a July points win over Javier Fortuna that earned him the No. 7 spot in ESPN’s lightweight rankings.

That was the Olympian’s first fight at 135 pounds. He defeated Tevin Farmer in 2020 to win a 130-pound title and in his other title bid, lost to Gary Russell Jr. at 126 pounds in 2018.

Haney, No. 3 on ESPN’s list of the top 25 boxers under 25, is one of the sport’s fastest-rising stars. The Las Vegas-based fighter boasts over 1 million followers on Instagram, and with his abundant charisma, surely has a chance to break through to the mainstream. What’s stopped him thus far is lack of opposition.

The 22-year-old Haney often calls himself the most-avoided fighter in the sport. That can no longer be said with a stern challenger in Diaz lined up for December.

Leo Santa Cruz to Defend WBA Junior Lightweight Title Against Gervonta Davis on Halloween

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Leo Santa Cruz is ready for a Halloween rumble….

The title fight between the 32-year-old Mexican professional boxer and Gervonta “Tank” Davis, one of the biggest events of 2020, has been moved to October 31 at San Antonio’s Alamodome, the two junior lightweight fighters have announced.

The bout, which will be broadcast on Showtime PPV, is tentatively scheduled to be the first American combat sports event to allow fans since COVID-19 became a pandemic. The number of fans who’ll be in attendance has not been announced.

Santa Cruz (37-1, 19 KOs), ranked eighth among junior lightweights, will be defending the primary WBA junior lightweight belt.

Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) is the No. 4 lightweight in ESPN‘s divisional rankings.

Santa Cruz is coming off a unanimous decision against Miguel Flores last November. Davis most recently fought in December, when he stopped veteran Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Davis, 25, needed two attempts to make the 135-pound weight limit for the Gamboa bout. The October 31 fight against Santa Cruz will be at the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds.

Under current state guidelines, Texas allows 50% of a stadium’s capacity for sporting events. The indoor venue has a listed capacity of 32,000 for boxing events but seats 64,000 for football. Last weekend, the announced attendance for UTSA‘s football win over Middle Tennessee was 6,182.

Smaller cards around the country have hosted fans in attendance since the pandemic forced restrictions nationwide. But every major bout has been conducted in a closed environment with no paid spectators.

Premier Boxing Champions, which unofficially promotes Davis and Santa Cruz, held a Showtime PPV event last weekend at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut featuring Jermall Charlo and Jermell Charlo. It was PBC‘s first major event since the COVID-19 shutdown.

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