Erislandy Lara to Defend WBA Middleweight Title Against Danny Garcia

Posted on July 25, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Erislandy Lara is going on the defensive…

The 41-year-old Cuban professional boxer will defend his WBA middleweight title against Danny Garcia on September 14 in Las Vegas, PBC has announced.

The fight will serve as the pay-per-view co-feature on the Canelo Alvarez–Edgar Berlanga card.

Lara-Garcia was originally slated for August 2023 and then was scheduled for the fall.

However, the bout never materialized as PBC network partner Showtime ceased sports programming at the end of the year.

When the fight was planned last year, it was set to take place at a 155-pound catchweight.

Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs) is coming off a second-round TKO victory over Michael Zerafa in March.

A former 154-pound champion, Lara’s résumé includes a controversial decision loss to Paul Williams, a split-decision defeat to Alvarez and a victory over Austin Trout.

Lara is ESPN’s No. 6 middleweight. His split-decision defeat by Jarrett Hurd in a 154-pound title unification was ESPN’s 2018 Fight of the Year. Lara’s draw with Brian Castano the following year was one of the best fights of 2019.

Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) is a former unified 140-pound champion and 147-pound titleholder. He rose to prominence with an upset fourth-round TKO victory over Amir Khan in 2012 and followed with a dominant victory over Lucas Matthysse the following year.

His lengthy résumé includes wins over Erik Morales, Zab Judah and Lamont Peterson, along with tight decision defeats to Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter.

The 36-year-old Philadelphian made his 154-pound debut in July 2022 with a majority decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr. He hasn’t competed since.

That was Garcia’s first fight since a December 2020 decision loss to Errol Spence Jr.

UFC’s Rising Featherweight Star Diego Lopes Defeats Dan Ige

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Diego Lopes continues his winning ways…

The 29-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and rising featherweight star defeated last-minute opponent Dan Ige by unanimous decision on Saturday (29-28, 29-28, 29-28), the culmination of a co-main event that had to be reworked four different times.

Lopes grabbed a decisive advantage with a strong first and second round, but Ige made a valiant effort in the third, catching the Brazilian with a number of hard blows and winning the round.

The fight was only made possible when Ige stepped in on the shortest of notices to replace Brian Ortega in the co-main.

Ortega, who himself wasn’t part of the card until June 13, was officially announced to be withdrawing during the preliminary card due to an illness that gave him a fever of 103 degrees, leaving the UFC to turn to Ige to face Lopes and save the card.

The fight, which was held as a 165-pound catchweight, was only possible because Ige was already scheduled to fight in Las Vegas in three weeks.

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Jeff Mullen told ESPN that Ige’s medicals being up to date in the system allowed the body to legally approve the bout.

It’s hard to think of a fight set up at a later minute in UFC history. Ige told ESPN he was getting a massage when he started getting calls from UFC executive Hunter Campbell, manager Ali Abdelaziz and more

“Eight weeks, six weeks, four weeks, four hours. It doesn’t matter. This is what I live for. This is my dream. I get to wake up and do what I love. I was literally getting a massage and I had a call from Hunter, Ali and a bunch of people. They say ‘Hey, do you want to fight tonight?’ I was like ‘Man, this is an opportunity to become a legend.’ This is a story that I want to tell my grandkids.

“I couldn’t be happier with my performance.”

The loss can hardly be held against Ige, who likely earned as many points with UFC president Dana White as you possibly can just by showing up to the arena. The gate for the event was $15.9 million, fourth-highest in UFC history.

The experience was no easy journey for Lopes either, who was initially supposed to face Ortega in a featherweight bout before the veteran requested it be moved up to lightweight. Then a new opponent stepped in and made it 165. Just like Ige, Lopes said the chaos didn’t matter through an interpreter:

“Whomever, whenever, however, it doesn’t matter. I’ll fight anybody. I thought ‘Hey, 145.’ Then I got the news at 4 o’clock in the morning ’It’s going to be 155.’ And then today, 4 p.m., I found out that this fight was changing. It doesn’t matter.”

Now, both fighters have maximum brownie points with the UFC, and both said they wanted to use them to join the UFC 306 card at The Sphere in September.

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez Looking to Make History in WBA Cruiserweight Title Fight Against Arsen Goulamirian

Posted on March 29, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez is looking to make history…

The 32-year-old Mexican professional boxer, who held the WBO super middleweight title from 2016 to 2019 and is the first boxer from Mexico to win a major world title in that weight class, will attempt to become the heaviest Mexican champion of all time when he challenges Armenia’s Arsen Goulamirian for the WBA cruiserweight title on Saturday in Inglewood, California.

Ramirez (27-0, 19 KOs) is a former 168-pound titleholder who will compete at the 200-pound limit for the first time as he looks to make history as the first Mexican champion above 175 pounds.

Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s top star, won a title at 175 in 2019 when he knocked out Sergey Kovalev.

But there has never been a Mexican-born champion at cruiserweight (200 pounds) or heavyweight (Andy Ruiz defeated Anthony Joshua for the unified heavyweight championship in 2019, but he’s a Mexican American boxer born and raised in Southern California).

“It’s something special because we never have [had] a Mexican [champion] that big,” Ramirez told ESPN. “… [A win] will be big for me, for all the fans in Mexico, for all the people. I think it’s history.”

Ramirez (45-1, 30 KOs) suffered his first career defeat when he challenged light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in November 2022. Afterward, Ramirez moved up to cruiserweight for a 193-pound catchweight decision win over Joe Smith in October.

The cruiserweight division has mostly been an afterthought in the U.S. since it was introduced in 1979. The legendary Evander Holyfield starred in the division as champion from 1986 to 1988 before he moved to heavyweight. And ever since, the cruiserweights have mostly been dormant stateside while being featured across Europe.

“We’ve never had a big, major rivalry or a big-name fighter at cruiserweight the way we’ve had with middleweights and heavyweights,” Ramirez’s promoter, Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De La Hoya, told ESPN. “So I think that weight class just kind of gets lost in the shuffle a bit. But I think Zurdo has an opportunity here … if he looks great.”

Ramirez, who is 6-foot-2½, said he walks around between 210 and 215 pounds and believes he will have more power in his new weight class. ESPN’s No. 6 cruiserweight, Ramirez is a -215 favorite to defeat Goulamirian, per ESPN BET.

Goulamirian (27-0, 19 KOs) hasn’t competed since November 2022 and is now being trained by Abel Sanchez, who built Gennadiy Golovkin into a star boxer.

Goulamirian has made three title defenses, and all but three of his bouts have taken place in France. “This is my first fight in [the] United States and I am planning to put on a show,” Goulamirian, 36, said through his new adviser, Sam Katkovski.

“Cruiserweight has not been a division [that’s] popular in [the] United States, but I plan on changing that on Saturday.”

Joel Iriarte, a 17-time national amateur champion, will make his professional debut on the DAZN undercard after he signed with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions earlier this month.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. Scores First-Round TKO Victory Over Frederick Lawson

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Vergil Ortiz Jr. has notched a convincing victory…

The 25-year-old Mexican American professional boxer scored a first-round TKO victory on Saturday in Las Vegas in a stoppage that was vehemently disputed by his opponent, Frederick Lawson.

Ortiz, in his first fight in 17 months, buckled Lawson with a jab that backed him up. With Lawson lying on the ropes, Ortiz (20-0, 20 KOs) threw a flurry of left hooks to the body and overhand rights until referee Tony Weeks halted the action at 2 minutes, 33 seconds of the opening round.

Weeks told DAZN‘s Beto Duran that he stopped the bout because he saw Lawson’s eyes roll into the back of his head. Lawson, a 34-year-old Ghanaian who entered the fight as a huge underdog, passionately protested.

“I think that he got saved,” said Ortiz, who was making his junior middleweight debut. “I was hurting him with all the jabs. I wasn’t really putting anything behind it. … I love to fight. I wish I could have kept going. I need the rounds.”

Since March 2022, Ortiz has withdrawn from three fights due to health issues related to rhabdomyolysis, a condition that occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood.

Ortiz was rated No. 3 by ESPN at 147 pounds when he was set to meet Eimantas Stanionis last year. That bout was postponed three times; first after Stanionis underwent an emergency appendectomy and then twice due to Ortiz’s rhabdomyolysis recurrence.

With his health restored, Ortiz returned Saturday at a 156-pound catchweight shake-off-the-rust bout. And he did so with renowned trainer Robert Garcia back in his corner following a split in 2021.

Ortiz, a Dallas-area native, maintained his perfect knockout record with the victory over Lawson (30-4, 22 KOs). Now he wants his first world title shot.

“I’m ready for anyone out there,” said Ortiz, whose breakout 2021 campaign featured inside-the-distance wins over Maurice Hooker and Egidijus Kavaliauskas. “It feels like I’m back to doing what I usually do. This is my calling; this is what I live for.”

Ortiz called out Tim Tszyu, the WBO junior middleweight champion.

“With all respect, I would love to fight you,” Ortiz said in his call out. “I think you’re a hell of a fighter and let’s make this happen. … I want to fight the best.”

Ortiz’s promoter, Hall of Fame fighter Oscar De La Hoya, said Ortiz “will even go to Australia to fight Tim Tszyu.”

Tszyu, the son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, issued a response to Ortiz in a post on X, welcoming him to the 154-pound division and saying, “I’m always keen for a modern day classic.

Ryan Garcia to Fight Oscar Duarte in December Junior Welterweight Bout

Posted on October 3, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Ryan Garcia is heading back to the mat…

The 25-year-old Mexican American boxing star will return to the ring in a junior welterweight fight against Oscar Duarte on December 2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya has announced.

The fight will be streamed on DAZN, and it comes one week before Devin Haney challenges Regis Prograis for the WBC junior welterweight title on DAZN PPV.

Garcia will be competing for the first time since he was TKO‘d by Gervonta Davis — the first loss of Garcia’s pro career — in the seventh round of their April fight.

That bout took place at a 136-pound catchweight, but Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) now will campaign at 140 pounds, the same category as his last two fights before the “Tank” Davis bout took place.

The matchup with Duarte will also be Garcia’s first with Derrick James, who was ESPN‘s 2022 Trainer of the Year, leading his corner.

“Here you have a guy [Duarte] who’s coming off 11 KOs in a row,” De Le Hoya said. “There’s a guy who’s a power puncher who’s going to come forward and make Ryan fight. It’s the proper fight after a knockout loss to Gervonta.”

Garcia, who fights out of Southern California, is still seeking his first world title.

Later this month, he’ll enter mediation with Golden Boy Promotions as the sides attempt to resolve a dispute. Among the issues: Garcia claims his promotional deal to compete on pay-per-view platforms besides DAZN wasn’t honored.

According to Garcia’s demand letter sent to Golden Boy in June, the fighter was advised that his April superfight against Davis “could not happen unless it was broadcast on DAZN because of an exclusive agreement Golden Boy had separately negotiated with DAZN.”

The PPV fight against Davis was broadcast by Showtime — a broadcast partner of PBC (Davis’ promoter). DAZN also carried the fight on its streaming service and was paid a $1.25 million fee to step aside as the exclusive broadcaster, of which $120,000 Garcia personally paid to DAZN, per the letter.

Despite the disagreement and pending mediation, Garcia and De La Hoya were able to finalize this fight against Duarte to keep Garcia’s career moving.

“It’s business as usual,” De La Hoya told ESPN last month. “We have a couple of pending issues that should not impede any type of progress moving forward. I truly feel that we’re going to get this behind us and then move on with his career.”

Duarte, meanwhile, presents a chance for Garcia to bounce back from his first career loss and build some momentum heading into a pivotal 2024. Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) has won 11 fights since his only career loss, all by KO.

The 27-year-old Mexican fighter, who competes at 135 pounds, will make a major jump in class for the Garcia bout.

Garcia’s career-best win remains a seventh-round TKO of Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell in January 2021, when Garcia survived a knockdown.

With an impressive showing over Duarte, Garcia appears poised for more marquee fights after the big business he delivered with Davis in April. Garcia said on social media that he earned $30 million for that fight.

“We’re looking to do a major, major fight with Ryan, possibly around Super Bowl weekend,” De La Hoya said. “I would love to talk to Bob [Arum] to see what’s going on with him and Teofimo [Lopez], but there’s other options as well.”

Ryan Garcia Training with Derrick James Ahead of 140-Pound Title Campaign

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Ryan Garcia has a new trainer…

The 24-year-old Mexican American star boxer will train with Derrick James in Dallas ahead of his campaign for a 140-pound title, Garcia announced on social media.

Garcia presented James as his trainer on Instagram, where he boasts 10.4 million followers. Garcia had parted ways with trainer Joe Goossen following a seventh-round KO loss to Gervonta Davis last month in Las Vegas.

That superfight, which netted $22.8 million in ticket sales, was contested at a 136-pound catchweight, but Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs), ESPN’s No. 6 boxer at 140 pounds, will compete at junior welterweight going forward.

“I’m searching for greatness,” Garcia told ESPN. “I’m looking to improve. I’m looking to be a champion with Derrick James. I feel he can guide me and mentor me.”

James is ESPN’s reigning Trainer of the Year. In 2022, the former boxer guided Errol Spence Jr. and Jermell Charlo to unification title wins, as Spence added a third welterweight title while Charlo became the undisputed junior middleweight champion.

Earlier this year, James began working with former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, and now the trainer has added a fourth marquee fighter to the mix. James is known for perfecting power punchers, so it’s a natural fit with the heavy-handed Garcia.

Garcia first teamed with Goossen as an amateur boxer in Southern California. Garcia was trained by his father, Henry, for many of his pro fights, but Eddy Reynoso took control of the corner in 2018.

Reynoso, Canelo Alvarez‘s longtime trainer, guided Garcia to five wins in five bouts, including his seventh-round TKO of Luke Campbell in January 2021. Following that career-best victory, Garcia was out of the ring for 15 months while he addressed his mental health and recovered from wrist surgery.

When Garcia returned in April 2022, there was a familiar face in his corner alongside his father: Goossen. Goossen, 69, trained Garcia for three fights: a decision win over Emmanuel Tagoe in April 2022, a sixth-round KO of Javier Fortuna in July and, finally, the loss to Davis.

Erislandy Lara to Defend Middleweight Title vs. Danny Garcia in August

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Erislandy Lara is preparing to defend his title…

The 40-year-old Cuban professional boxer will defend his middleweight title versus Danny Garcia on August 5, according to the WBA.

The Showtime main event is expected to take place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, sources said, at a 155-pound catchweight.

PBC has been planning a fight between Lara and Garcia for months, but Michael Zerafa stood in the way. The 31-year-old Australian was the mandatory challenger to Lara’s title, but he agreed to step aside after he was offered an undercard slot, Zerafa’s manager, Elvis Grant, told ESPN.

“PBC were more than fair in reasonably working this out with Team Zerafa,” Grant said.

Zerafa (30-4, 19 KOs) is ESPN’s No. 10 middleweight.

The WBA stipulated that the winner must face Zerafa by December or face being stripped.

Lara, 40, was elevated as champion after Gennadiy Golovkin relinquished his title. A former 154-pound champion, Lara’s impressive résumé includes a controversial decision loss to Paul Williams, a split decision defeat to Canelo Alvarez and a victory over Austin Trout.

The Cuban’s split decision defeat to Jarrett Hurd in a 154-pound title unification was ESPN‘s 2018 Fight of the Year. Lara’s draw with Brian Castano the following year was one of the best fights of 2019.

Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs) has competed four times since the Castano bout, all of them against domestic-level competition. Three of those four wins came inside the distance.

Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) is a former unified 140-pound champion and 147-pound titleholder. He rose to prominence with an upset fourth-round TKO victory over Amir Khan in 2012 and followed up with an impressive victory over Lucas Matthysse the following year.

His lengthy résumé includes wins over Erik Morales, Zab Judah and Lamont Peterson, along with tight decision defeats to Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. The 35-year-old Philadelphian made his 154-pound debut in July with a majority decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr.

That was Garcia’s first fight since a December 2020 decision loss to Errol Spence Jr.

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.

Renato Moicano Replacing Rafael Fiziev for This Weekend’s Bout Against Rafael dos Anjos

Posted on March 2, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Renato Moicano is stepping up for a battle royale…

The 32-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist will step in on just four days’ notice to battle Rafael dos Anjos in the co-main event of UFC 272 on Saturday, according to ESPN sources.

The fight has been reportedly verbally agreed to and both sides are awaiting contracts.

dos Anjos, the former UFC lightweight champion, originally was scheduled to fight Rafael Fiziev this weekend, but Fiziev withdrew Monday due to being sick with COVID-19. dos Anjos wanted to remain on the card and UFC was able to come to an agreement with Moicano.

The new fight will be contested at a catchweight of 160 pounds over five rounds.

A few other names, including top lightweight contender Islam Makhachev, were in discussions to replace Fiziev but Moicano won out.

dos Anjos tweeted that he called Makhachev’s bluff and Makhachev “folded.” Makhachev beat Bobby Green in the UFC Fight Night main event just three days ago.

Moicano is in Brazil and still waiting to find out when he’ll be able to travel to Las Vegas, per his manager, Oren Hodak of KO Reps. Fighters traditionally arrive Tuesday of fight week if the card is on Saturday.

dos Anjos (30-13) has not fought since a split-decision win over Paul Felder in November 2020. That was the Brazil-born fighter’s return to the lightweight division from welterweight. dos Anjos was the UFC lightweight champion in 2015 and 2016 and has one of the toughest strengths of schedule in the promotion’s history.

Moicano (16-4-1) has won two straight and three of his past four, with the lone loss during that span coming to Fiziev. Training out of American Top Team in Florida, he is coming off an impressive, second-round submission win over Alexander Hernandez at UFC 271 on February 12 in Houston.

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