Thanksgiving offers no rest for busy boxing folks Tuesday, November 24, 2009 | Print Entry Although many folks are taking it easy this week because of Thanksgiving, that's not the case in boxing as several fights are in the works. While Top Rank's Bob Arum and Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer continue negotiating the big one that we all want to see -- the mega-showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (target date: May 1) -- several other fights have just been finalized or are in the process of being put together. Here's a rundown of what I've been hearing the past few days: A deal is almost done for power puncher/trash-talker Edison Miranda to go to Magdeburg, Germany, to challenge super middleweight titlist Robert Stieglitz on Jan. 9. "We're pretty close to a deal," said Leon Margules, the Warriors Boxing chief and Miranda's co-promoter. Miranda is no stranger to Germany. That's where he lost a controversial decision to then-middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham in their first fight. Dangerous fight for Stieglitz, if you ask me. Although Glen Johnson lost a clear decision to Chad Dawson for an interim light heavyweight title Nov. 7, he can get a shot at another version of the 175-pound belt by beating Germany's undefeated Karo Murat in a title eliminator. The IBF ordered the bout and both sides have accepted, meaning Johnson co-promoters Margules and Lou DiBella will begin negotiations with Murat promoter Sauerland Event. If no deal is reached by Dec. 9, there will be a purse bid. The winner would become the mandatory challenger for titlist Tavoris Cloud. Believe it or not, 47-year-old Evander Holyfield is fighting on. The former four-time heavyweight champ, who is long past his best days, will face Francois Botha on Jan. 16 in Kampala, Uganda. Holyfield has dropped two in a row, including a controversial decision to then-titlist Nikolai Valuev in December 2008. Organizers announced that the contracts for the bout have been signed for the fight that is slated to take place at Nelson Mandela Memorial Stadium. "I am very much looking forward to going to Uganda, and I expect a tough fight against Francois Botha. I am going to win," Holyfield said in a statement. Would anyone be surprised if this fight were eventually canceled over some kind of financial dispute? In anticipation of junior featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez vacating his belt to move up in weight and challenge featherweight titlist Steven Luevano on Jan. 23 (on HBO), plans are in the works to fill the eventual vacant belt with the winner of a proposed fight between Marvin Sonsona and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Last week, Sonsona was stripped of a junior bantamweight title when he failed to make weight for a defense against Alejandro Hernandez and fought him to a draw. Sonsona, 19, has grown about 2 inches in the past few months and no longer can make 115 pounds, so he's moving up to 122. Vazquez, the son of the former three-division titlist with the same name, was very impressive in his seventh-round destruction of Genaro Garcia last week. Sonsona-Vazquez could take place as soon as February. For what it is worth, I think it's a very exciting matchup and worthy of a spot on HBO's "Boxing After Dark" or Showtime. It's a guaranteed action fight between two exciting young fighters. Golden Boy and DiBella are filling out the Dec. 12 undercard in Chicago on the HBO show headlined by the Juan Diaz-Paulie Malignaggi rematch. There is plenty of talent on the card. Golden Boy junior middleweight Erislandy Lara (8-0, 5 KOs), the Cuban defector and former amateur world champion, is scheduled for his first 10-rounder against Luciano Perez. Other Golden Boy prospects on the card include lightweight Hylon Williams and welterweight Jermell Charlo. DiBella is keeping his more advanced fighters busy, including top-10 super middleweight contender Yusaf Mack (although he's scheduled to fight the long-faded Ross Thompson); Randall Bailey, the power-punching former junior welterweight titlist who is moving up to welterweight; junior middleweight contender Deandre Latimore; and heavyweight Dominick Guinn. DiBella is also putting together the next installment of his regular "Broadway Boxing" series. What makes the Dec. 16 edition in New York notable is that it will be headlined by uber-junior featherweight prospect Guillermo Rigondeaux (3-0, 3 KOs), the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist who defected and is trained by Freddie Roach. Top Rank has finalized its Dec. 19 split-site pay-per-view card that will include two televised bouts from Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, followed by two bouts from Youngstown, Ohio. In Mexico, interim bantamweight titlist Nehomar Cermeño defends against Alejandro Valdez and junior lightweight titlist Humberto Soto moves up to lightweight to face former titleholder Jesus Chavez. Then the action shifts to Youngstown, the hometown of middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik. Junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, faces Willie Lee before Pavlik defends his title against Miguel Espino in the main event. Top Rank is also working on a Feb. 13 pay-per-view card, which will take place at the Hilton in Las Vegas. Nonito Donaire will make the first defense of his interim junior bantamweight title in the main event against Gerson Guerrero. The three other televised bouts under discussion include bantamweight titlist Fernando Montiel against Michael Domingo, a bantamweight fight between former titleholders Gerry Penalosa and Eric Morel, and featherweight contenders Mario Santiago and Bernabe Concepcion facing each other. I like the idea of Santiago-Concepcion. Good fight. The winner will deserve a title shot. Former cruiserweight titlist Enzo Maccarinelli, who contemplated retirement after suffering his third brutal knockout loss in his past four fights in July, wants to give it another shot, even if it's not the smartest decision he has ever made. Unfortunately, he'll fight Dec. 5 in Newcastle, England, on the undercard of junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan's defense against Dmitriy Salita. On another note, I was in touch Tuesday with Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and he reports that all the participants on the Nov. 14 Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto card passed their postfight drug tests.
had plenty of time. he's a great double-tasker, one hand on the typewriter(still uses a typewriter), the other in a bucket of chicken
Nice fight for Tavoris Cloud. I think he'll get past Glencoffe. I also think Luevano is going to shock Lopez. Lopez has been slipping lately.
