Tag Archives: Golden Boy

The Battle for Sept. 14 for Timothy Bradley, Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez

Posted: May 6th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Boxing, Sports Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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After Floyd Mayweather’s clinical victory over Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero on Saturday night, the focus now turns to when Mayweather’s next fight will be. Mayweather said he intends to fight on Sept. 14. With the close turn-around time, that’s a stretch for Mayweather, who fights infrequently. Also making it unlikely he’ll fight on Sept. 14 is a hand injury. Mayweather got X-rays, but there’s no word on the extent of the injury.

Already scheduled for Sept. 14 is Cathedral City’s Timothy Bradley defending his WBO welterweight title against Juan Manuel Marquez, who is trying to become the first boxer from Mexico to win world titles in five different weight classes. It will be a good pay-per-view fight. But promoter Bob Arum saidin online reports that  if Mayweather really does fight on Sept. 14, he would move Bradley-Marquez.

But after Saturday’s fight, should Bradley-Marquez move off that date? Mayweather earned a lopsided victory, and there’s not many boxers in the Golden Boy stables who figure to give Mayweather a challenge. There’s only one that people want to see and that’s Mayweather-Alvarez. Unlikely Mayweather would take on the big fighter. After that, there’s not many boxers who can make a Mayweather fight more intriguing than Bradley-Marquez. Amir Khan, who is fresh off his narrow victory over Coachella’s Julio Diaz, could a good fight to market, but it seems like a waste of the Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Things should shake out in the coming days to see where Floyd goes, and if Bradley-Marquez will stay on Sept. 14 or go.

Did Timothy Bradley make a mistake signing with Top Rank?

Posted: February 11th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Boxing, Sports Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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With this long break and struggles to find a suitable opponent, people are suggesting that Timothy Bradley might have made a mistake signing with Top Rank. Working with Top Rank, there are flaws, a lot of them. But if you look at the bottom line, Bradley did make the right decision.

The main one is the shallow pool of talent in the 140- and 147-pound weight classes. If Bradley was with Golden Boy, he would have big, big fights against Amir Khan, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, current light welterweight king Danny Garcia, the dangerous Argentine duo of Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthysse, Victor Ortiz, and of course, the Money man Floyd Mayweather.

But boxing is a business and in business, the important thing is the bottom line. Top Rank wanted to pay a premium for Bradley. Golden Boy didn’t. So Bradley made the financially sound move.

While Mayweather will go down as the best fighter in this era, he only offers $2.5 million to his opponents, and I don’t think the pay-per-view share is that much. To fight Pacquiao, Bradley earned $5 million and got a small piece of the pay-per-view.

And Golden Boy didn’t covet Bradley like Top Rank did. The move was to get Bradley to fight Pacquiao. Golden Boy still had a grudge against Bradley for turning down the Amir Khan fight. As accomplished as Bradley was, there was no guarantee Golden Boy would put him on the fast track to Mayweather for half the money he would get for Pacquiao.

Now we’re in the back end. Bradley doesn’t have a lot of attractive fighters to face post-Pacquiao. Brandon Rios would be a great fight, but Cameron Dunkin manages both fighters and I’m sure he would want to avoid that. Mike Alvarado is a rugged fighter, but he has never been a world champion or defeated an elite fighter. There was talk that Bradley could have fought Yorkis Gamboa, but Gamboa had to go up three weight classes (17 pounds) from his last fight to take on Bradley.

Dunkin said the best thing for Bradley to do is stay busy, thank the best available fights and continue to move on. It might be a little disappointing after beating Pacquiao, But as Dunkin pointed out, the Pacquiao rematch is not out of the question. If Pacquiao can’t make a fifth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, he will be looking for an opponent. Why not Bradley? Dunkin said that fight could be Shanghai or Macao. And that could result in another $5 million payday, bringing his total to $10 million in two fights.

For the fans, it will be disappointing if Bradley never fights the guys at Golden Boy. But the reality is, the fued between Top Rank and Golden Boy, which is tearing this sport apart, shows no sign of changing. Unless something happens between Top Rank and Golden Boy, this is the reality of the situation.

 

 

Tough year for Golden Boy and Freddie Roach

Posted: July 14th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Boxing, Sports Blog | Tags: , , , , , ,
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Arguably the best trainer in boxing might be having his worst year to date after Amir Khan repeatedly dropped in his loss to Danny Garcia on Saturday night. Khan is supposed to be one of the rising stars in the Golden Boy stables. Although reports indicate that Khan hasn’t sold as well as he says he does, certainly Golden Boy has invested a lot of time and money into the British star.

But Khan lost his second consecutive fight. In December, Khan lost to Lamont Peterson in a controversial decision. But Khan needed to make a statement against Peterson, and needed a win against Garcia to bounce back. There’s reason to believe that with a victory, Khan could have positioned himself for a fight against Floyd Mayweather. But with his slump, Khan could have a long ways to go if he ever wants to fight in a big-money fight.

For Roach, he’s seen two of his biggest fighters lose in a matter of weeks. Remember, Manny Pacquiao lost a controversial decision to Timothy Bradley. A saving grace for Roach is that he also trains Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who will fight on Sept. 15 against Sergio Martinez. It is one of the most anticipated fights in a while and should be a strong seller on pay per view. However, Martinez will be the heavy favorite, and Roach could have a painful trifecta of losses.

But Golden Boy took another tough loss by a fighter it has been trying to groom as a star. The other one was Victor Ortiz, who suffered a bad, bad loss against Josesito Lopez. Both guys were supposed to be the next generation, and gave Golden Boy a depth advantage over Top Rank. Maybe not so anymore. Ortiz broke his jaw in two places, so he couldn’t continue. But when Ortiz also quit in his first professional loss to Marcos Maidana, he has hurt his credibility with the fans. With Khan getting knocked down repeatedly, the questions about his chin will begin to dog him once again. That might not be as bad as trying to recover from two losses. Golden Boy does have a big, big thing going for them and that’s Mexican sensation Canelo Alvarez. But Alvarez is fighting Lopez, and it’s unlikely that can be a competitive fight. And Alvarez might not have one until next year. But at least he is undefeated.

It looks grim for both Golden Boy and Freddie Roach, but you can’t count out either one. It will be interesting to see how things go for both from here.

Amir Khan will fight for Timothy Bradley’s title against Danny Garcia

Posted: July 13th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Boxing, Sports Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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It was a year ago when Timothy Bradley passed on a fight against Amir Khan that drew heavy criticism, much of it generated by the British champion. Khan said Bradley was ducking him and scared of him. Well Bradley passed on the fight, let his contract run out with Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson, and then signed with Top Rank. Bradley went on to fight Manny Pacquiao for much more money. Khan went on to lose a controversial decision in December to Lamont Peterson, a guy Bradley dominated.

So now Khan needs to win to regain some of the tarnish partly because of the loss and partly because of the long layoff. The reason Khan hasn’t fought for so long was that a rematch with Peterson fell through because Peterson tested positive for a synthetic testosterone that had been perscribed to him for medical reasons. Khan is working to regain the two belts he lost to Peterson, who admitted he was using the same treatment prior to their fight in December. But in the loss, Khan was exposed for his struggles against pressure and fighting inside, where he tends to take more punishment than he should.

Now Khan will fight Danny Garcia, who holds the WBC belt. If you don’t remember, the WBC belt was the title Bradley has won twice, only to relinquish it the first time and then was stripped for bogus reasons the second time that the WBC tried to window dress by saying Bradley was a champion in recess.

Khan said Garcia is a similar fighter to Peterson and he is prepared for his style. But Khan can’t afford a second consecutive loss so he really needs to stay disciplined and not take unneccessary punishment. The carrot dangling in front of him is a possible fight against Floyd Mayweather. Because Khan works out with Manny Pacquiao and they share trainer Freddie Roach, it’s unlikely Khan will secure that lucrative fight. So he’ll have to settle for Mayweather, whose opponents earn half what they would against Pacquiao. If the fight is offered to Khan immediately, he will have some tough decisions to make. He has fought his whole career at 140, and Mayweather last fought at 154. It’s likely Mayweather will leave Khan no choice but to go up in weight.

But there’s also the chance Khan could fight Bradley if Top Rank doesn’t make the Bradley-Pacquiao rematch on Nov. 10. With all the controversy swirling around Bradley’s victory over Pacquiao, this fight could generate much, much more than a year ago. It’s a fight Khan covets, and Bradley really wants to beat up Khan. Of course the main hurdle is if Top Rank and Golden Boy can work together to make the fight happen.

But first things first. Garcia is a tough, undefeated opponent. He won the title beating a very old and worn Erik Morales, who was gifted Bradley’s title. So Garcia has a lot to prove in this fight. A victory will move him among the elite fighters in the division.So you can bet Garcia will come in hungry and determined. That can make up for a lot, in what we saw from Josesito Lopez’s stunning victory over Victor Ortiz.

 

 

Randy Caballero, one of ESPN’s top prospect to watch in 2012

Posted: December 28th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Boxing | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
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ESPN’s Dan Rafael, one of the most respected boxing journalists out there, put out his top 25 prospects to watch for in 2012, and on the list is Coachella’s Randy Caballero, which is a major accomplishment.

What’s not to like about Caballero. He is one of those athletes who fights with flair and has a good deal of charisma. In the ring, he has an entertaining blend of speed and power. He’s willing to mix it up, but he can be a technician and fight on the outside of need be. The only criticism is he needs to work on his defense. He takes too many blows. It makes his fights entertaining, but also puts on mileage on his body way too early in his career.  

Caballero has been busy since turning pro, and it’s paid off with a WBC youth intercontinental title. He also woke up the echos at Fantasy Springs Casino, making it a great venue for boxing again. Hopefully, with the stamp of approval from ESPN, Golden Boy Promotions will take Caballero out on the road to give him some much needed exposure.

Credit has to go to Golden Boy for bring in some top young talent to Fantasy Springs. All five of the Golden Boy fighers — Sharif Bogere, Seth Mitchell, Leo Santa Cruz and Deontay Wilder — have all fought at Fantasy Springs.

Fantasy Springs is moving up for its next card on Jan. 6, as the fights will be televised on Showtime’s ShoBox The Next Generation, which is a showcase for the top young prospects. That’s the show where Timothy Bradley first began getting noticed and where he won his first world title.

A look at Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson

Posted: December 9th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Boxing, Sports Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Everyone is treating this weekend’s fight between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson as if the result is a forgone conclusion, that Khan will win. Wish I could contradict those predictions.

This very well could be Khan’s toughest fight. Peterson is smart and tough. He’s proven he can take a punch and keep coming, like he did against the hard-hitting Victor Ortiz to earn a draw. Cathedral City’s Timothy Bradley has repeatedly said Peterson was his toughest opponent, tougher than Kendall Holt, who knocked Bradley down twice. Also, this fight is in Washington D.C., where Peterson grew up and built a strong following.

But it’s still hard to pick Peterson. For all the respect Bradley has given Peterson, he still won in dominating fashion. Peterson said he was nervous and grew since the Bradley loss two years ago, but that’s a big gap to close against an elite opponent like Khan. Also, Khan has been on a good hot streak and coming off his victory over Zab Judah to win his second belt in the division. Also, Khan has the big carrot dangling in front of him, a potential fight against Floyd Mayweather, which promises to be a rich pay day.

Is Amir Khan the cash cow in the light welterweight division of boxing?

Posted: October 4th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Boxing, Sports Blog | Tags: , , , , ,
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Ever since Cathedral City’s Timothy Bradley turned down a fight with Amir Khan, he has been bashing the Desert Storm. That’s what all boxers do, and Khan had a lot of ammunition. Bradley looked bad turning down the fight. He said he wanted the fight to marinade and felt it was too soon to make the fight against Khan. At that time, Khan and Bradley were the undisputed top fighters in the division and it would be a big fight.

But Khan kept proclaiming himself the cash cow of the division. For turning down the fight, Khan threatened that he would never offer so much to Bradley if he comes looking for a fight.

Bradley seems to be doing OK without Khan now that he’s signed with Top Rank.

From what I could gather, Khan’s two fights in Vegas were disappointments at the box office, based on whatI saw from other beat writers online and on Twitter.

Then I hear Khan’s next fight is against Lamont Peterson, but it’s not in Vegas or New York. It’s in Washington D.C. Nothing wrong with that, as Washington is a major city. But this is Lamont Peterson’s hometown. Since when does a champion, who claims to be a cash cow, have to go into someone’s hometown for a title defense? But that’s what Khan is doing. Basically, Khan is accepting he will have second billing to Lamont Peterson. Does that make sense for a cash cow?

Remember, Khan was going to throw in a large portion of his shares to make the fight with Bradley after he turned it down the first time. That included half of the international television market that was in the neighborhood of $500,000 for Bradley.

Maybe Khan just isn’t the attraction he claims he is.

Don’t get me wrong, Khan is one of the big names in the sport and he rightfully deserves to be recognized as one of the top-10 fighters in the world. But a large part of this business is buzz, and despite Khan’s fight, he’s not as big an attraction as he should be. What Khan has had was decent promotion by Golden Boy, while Bradley has had some questionable moves from his former promoters.

But you would think that if Khan is a big attraction, he could have secured the Floyd Mayweather fight next. Khan said his fight in December will be his last at 140 before he moves up in class to challenge Mayweather. Why not now? I know the Golden Boy people are pushing for a rematch between Mayweather and Victor Ortiz, but who really wants to see that fight again? Victor didn’t do enough in that fight that warrents a second look. So why not Khan? Maybe Mayweather sees what Bradley saw — that Khan doesn’t bring enough to the table.

Go by his action (and not their words) and Khan seems to be proving Bradley right. Bradley has said he will fight Khan, but the money has to be better than what was offered, even if it was the most Bradley would make at the time. Bradley might be doing both of them a favor by not undervaluing their talents.

But the Khan-Peterson fight will be a terrific matchup. Although Bradley dominated Peterson, the D.C. native is a tough customer. Despite getting knocked down, he hung in and earned a draw against Ortiz, and fought to the finish against Bradley. Peterson will keep coming, he’s young and he’s hungry. And credit to Khan for fighting a very tough opponent in Peterson, rather than WBC title holder Erik Morales, who is a champion by reputation, not merit.  

If Khan wins that fight, he will deserve a lot of credit and his reputation will rightly grow. Maybe if Khan does have a great performance, he claims of being a cash cow won’t be hot air.