Tag Archives: cancellation

Posted on 07/06/2020

By: Hans Themistode

When one door closes, another one opens. And in the case of Sergiy Derevyanchenko, two have opened at the same time.

The middleweight contender is currently sitting at a table in his home mulling over two championship offers. The first is from WBC belt holder Jermall Charlo for a showdown that would take place roughly in September or October. The second is from pound for pound star Canelo Alvarez. Their possible showdown would go down on September 12th.

For Derevyanchenko, there are pros and cons when facing off against either man. In the case of Alvarez, the middleweight contender would have not only one of the premier faces of boxing standing across from him, but also a four division world champion. If Derevyanchenko were to go in that direction though, he would be giving Alvarez a weight advantage as their matchup would be contested at 168 pounds. Placating the Ukrainian born Derevyanchenko for moving up to another weight class however, would be a large sum of money as Alvarez could represent a career high payday. 

If the former title challenger bypassed the option of moving up in weight and instead took on Charlo, he would feel more at home at 160 pounds. Nevertheless, the comfort of fighting at his ideal weight would be compromised as he would be giving up three inches in height along with six inches in reach against Charlo. 

For Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs), he believes that his empty championship mantle at home should already be occupied by the IBF world title. The middleweight contender took on reigning belt holder Gennadiy Golovkin for the vacant strap in October of 2019. Derevyanchenko was dropped in the second round, but ultimately rallied in the second half of the contest. 

Head trainer Andre Rozier along with many of the fans that were in attendance at Madison Square Garden in New York City, were incredulous when Golovkin was given the close unanimous decision victory. Unfortunately Derevyanchenko, that wasn’t the only time he came up on the wrong end of a close championship decision. 

The scene was familiar for the Ukrainian in October of 2018. He once again found himself fighting for the vacant IBF title. His opposition on the night was former champion Daniel Jacobs. Much like Derevyanchenko’s contest against Golovkin, he was forced to pick himself up off the ground due to an early knockdown, but rallied back during the second half. The early deficit once again cost him on the scorecards as he lost a split decision. 

Still, even with two championship losses on his resume, Derevyanchenko ranks number one in the WBC sanctioning body. Charlo’s trainer in Ronnie Shields, recently revealed that Derevyanchenko is the “frontrunner” to take on his fighter next. 

With lopsided wins in each of his past five contests at middleweight, Derevyanchenko could present Charlo with his toughest matchup to date. The Houston born native was last seen in the ring in December of 2019 against Dennis Hogan. On the night, Charlo handed his man a Christmas present in the form of a highlight reel seventh round knockout. 

As for Alvarez, he has already seen his time at 160 pounds truncated once he was given the opportunity to take on Rocky Fielding for his WBA Regular title in December of 2018. Alvarez would go on to show exactly why their contest was a mismatch as he delivered on a third round knockout. In his next contest, he would drop back to 160 pounds to snag the IBF belt from Derevyanchenko conqueror Daniel Jacobs, before ultimately moving up to 175 pounds to stop Sergey Kovalev for his WBO strap in the 11th round. 

Neither Charlo nor Alvarez will be forced to wait long for an announcement. Derevyanchenko is determined to make his choice some time this week. Should he go in the direction of Charlo, Alvarez could opt for a showdown with former WBC super middleweight titlist Anthony Dirrell. If however, Derevyanchenko goes in the other direction, Charlo could see himself in a matchup with Chris Eubank Jr. 

Posted on 04/03/2018

By: Sean Crose

“I am sad and feel powerless,” Canelo Alvarez told the media on Tuesday, “that this fight cannot happen now.” And with that, all remaining hope for the superfight between Canelo (49-1-2) and middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1) going down this spring vanished. Canelo tested positive on two occasions this past February for having the banned substance Clenbuterol in his system. He was subsequently suspended (albeit temporarily) by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, leaving the Las Vegas based Golovin rematch (the two men first fought to a controversial draw last autumn), which was scheduled to occur on May 5th, in serious doubt.

Canelo took the opportunity Tuesday to argue that he never took a banned substance intentionally. “I have always operated as a clean fighter,” he said. “I have always taken clean substances.” He’ll have a chance to argue his case before the Commission on an April 18th hearing. If the Commission decides to be firm, the Mexican star can be suspended for six months or more. Other states are apt to follow the Nevada ruling, whatever it should be, meaning that a suspension would likely carry over throughout the United States, where Canelo has proven to be most successful as a prize fighter.

“I will do whatever I need to do,” he said, “to demonstrate I have never taken this substance (intentionally).” Seeing his reputation as an honest player in a dirty game take a serious hint, Canelo took time to lament his situation. “It saddens me that people are accusing me of doing something improper,” he claimed. Canelo also said that he was going to henceforth be more mindful about what goes in his body. “From here on out, I will take increased precautions to ensure this will never happen again,” he said.

Team Canelo made it clear during the conference that they still wish for a Canelo-GGG rematch to go down, perhaps in August or September. As for Golovkin, it looks as if he’s preparing to face another opponent on May 5th. Names such as Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (27-2), Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (25-0) and WBO super middleweight champ Gilberto Ramirez (37-0) have all popped up. Golovkin’s promotional company has also requested a permit for May 5th at the MGM Grand in Vegas (the Canelo rematch was supposed to take place at the T-Mobile Arena). As of press time, no opponent for Golovkin had been announced.

Golovkin has unleashed on Canelo through the media since news of the drug tests broke. He’s accused his opponent as having cheated before and has also stated that Canelo has been unfairly supported by the powers that be. On Tuesday, Canelo’s response was restrained. “What Golovkin or his team say does not bother me at all,” he said. ”They’re not experts, doctors.” Canlo had a doctor on hand who stated the levels of Clenbuteral that Canelo tested for were in line for levels of those who have consumed contaminated meat. Intent, however, did not come into play in regards to the Commission’s handing down of a suspension.

Posted on 03/07/2017

Breaking News: Pacquiao-Khan Fight A No Go
By: Sean Crose

It ain’t happening, folks. Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan are not going to be meeting in the boxing ring, at least not anytime soon. Talk was that the phantom superfight would go down in the Middle East this spring. What’s more, both Pacquiao and Khan announced over Twitter that they would, in fact, be facing one another. As Boxing Insider reported earlier this week, however, there was a potential air of unreality about the entire affair.

And now word arrives that the fight simply won’t be happening. ESPNs Dan Rafael writes that Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum informed ESPN “that the UAE deal for Pacquiao-Khan was dead.” UAE, which stands for United Arab Emirates, was said to be the proposed location of the hoped for megabout. What Pacquiao will do now is anyone’s guess, never mind Khan.

Pacquiao was originally supposed to face the widely unknown Jeff Horn, possibly in Horn’s homeland of Australia. That idea was clearly not in keeping with what Pacquiao wanted, however. Now that the potential of a big money dream match with Khan has morphed into a dream deferred, it will be interesting to see where things go from here.

Posted on 02/02/2017

Breaking: Cotto-Kirkland Bout Cancelled
By: Sean Crose

Roc Nation Sports has announced the upcoming pay per view fight between Miguel Cotto and James Kirkland has been cancelled. It appears that Kirkland has fractured his nose, therefore making the fight a no go. To be sure, Cotto-Kirkland was never promising as a pay per view event. Now, it’s been announced that the entire card has been called off. ESPN reports that Kirkland was hurt while sparring. The Texas native is an exciting fighter, but rarely finds himself in the ring. In truth, the last fights both he and Cotto have had have been against Canelo Alvarez. Cotto lost a close fight to Canelo, while Kirkland was knocked out in brutal, highlight reel fashion.

Mega star Cotto, who many believe will be a first ballot Hal of Fame inductee, is wrapping up a long and illustrious career. Yet the choice of Kirkland as an opponent was never going to get many fans to cough up money in order to view the affair on pay per view (though it may have made a solid traditional HBO card). Needless to say, fights with the likes of Tim Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez or even Kell Brook would have generated far more buzz.

Posted on 12/05/2016

Beautiful Brawlers Pro Female Fight Card Postponed Due To Illness and Injury
By: Ron Scarfone

There is an old adage in boxing to “expect the unexpected” which refers to what happens inside the ring. However, this was true outside the ring as well for boxing promoter Blanca Gutierrez. Her inaugural female professional boxing event scheduled for December 3rd in Pacifica, California had to be deferred until a future date because of unforeseen circumstances. Gutierrez intended to have five fights for this women’s pro boxing card. Previously, Gutierrez promoted her very successful Beautiful Brawlers amateur female boxing tournaments which have attracted competitors from the United States and other countries. This pro boxing series by Gutierrez is intended to showcase the talent emerging from the Beautiful Brawlers amateur boxing tournaments as well as provide opportunities for established professionals.

Dalia Gomez and Temitope Pedro were scheduled to make their pro debuts in separate bouts on the pro boxing event. Both Gomez and Pedro competed in the Beautiful Brawlers amateur tournament. Claudia Gutierrez (no relation to promoter Blanca Gutierrez) was scheduled to fight Katonya Fisher on the pro boxing card in what would have been the best matchup of the event. Unfortunately, the fight was cancelled because Gutierrez was sick. Gutierrez is a legitimate featherweight contender with wins over current International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight champion Jennifer Han and former International Female Boxers Association (IFBA) featherweight champion Kelsey Jeffries. Fisher has a win against Jessica McCaskill who was recently signed by Warriors Boxing to a promotional contract. After the Gutierrez versus Fisher fight was cancelled, only four fights remained on the card.

Former world champions Melissa McMorrow and Martha Salazar were scheduled on the card in separate bouts, but the event had to be postponed due to injuries to other boxers. Both McMorrow and Salazar are among the best in their respective divisions despite losing recently in Mexico. Salazar made her first defense of the World Boxing Council (WBC) female heavyweight title against Alejandra Jimenez of Mexico, but lost due to a controversial majority decision. Salazar should have won the vast majority of the rounds based on her landing many more punches. Jimenez’s left eye was swollen and blackened from Salazar’s repetitive right hands. The judge from the United States scored it a 95-95 draw whereas the other two judges scored it in favor of Jimenez. One judge scored it 96-94 in favor of Jimenez. The most biased score was decided by the judge from Mexico who scored it 98-93 in favor of Jimenez.

Recently, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman stated that there is no fraud or corruption in the scoring of fights. However, Sulaiman admitted that there could be incompetence occasionally. Sulaiman further stated several actions that he recommends should be taken in order to remedy incompetent judging. Sulaiman believes that judges “must always” come from neutral countries for both boxers. Apparently, the WBC does not practice what they preach because the WBC assigned a judge from Mexico in Salazar’s first defense of the WBC female heavyweight title. McMorrow lost in the WBC female flyweight tournament against Esmeralda Moreno of Mexico due to a controversial decision. The scores from McMorrow’s fight against Moreno were 100-90, 100-88, and 98-89 all in favor of Moreno by unanimous decision. In this fight, all three judges had to be either incompetent or biased. Two of the judges did not give a single round to McMorrow even though she was usually better than Moreno throughout the fight.

Promoter Blanca Gutierrez plans on scheduling at least six bouts for a future date of the Beautiful Brawlers pro female fight series. This will provide a cushion in case boxers have to pull out due to illness and/or injury. Athletic/state commissions typically require a minimum amount of rounds for a boxing event to be sanctioned by the commission. Therefore, scheduling more bouts provides a safety net in case boxers are not able to fight and then fights getting cancelled as a result. The boxers who were ready to fight in this event were obviously disappointed about its postponement, but look forward to the future. A few of them came to the Babyface Boxing Gym to train on what would have been the day of the event. The gym is owned by promoter Blanca Gutierrez who also owns Babyface Boxing Promotions.

Salazar expressed her feelings about the event being postponed. “I feel sad, angry, frustrated. This has happened to me before and it’s part of the sport. We can’t control things that happen to other people (such as) injuries or they get sick. You get frustrated in the beginning, but we can do it again some other time,” Salazar said. Salazar also stated her desire to become WBC female heavyweight champion again. “Hopefully, Alejandra (Jimenez) gives me a rematch and I can get that title back.” Salazar said that the media in Mexico were trying to portray her fight against Jimenez as a Mexico versus United States matchup and did not want to acknowledge that Salazar is originally from Mexico. “I was born over there (in Mexico) and I came over here (to the United States) when I was nine. They don’t accept me as Mexican over there (in Mexico),” Salazar said. There was also another reason why the media in Mexico were being less than truthful about Salazar’s nationality. The media in Mexico stated that Jimenez was the first female Mexican heavyweight to win a world title, but actually Salazar was the first because she was born in Mexico. “She’s not the first one. I already made that history. I’m the first Mexican,” Salazar said.