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Posted on 11/02/2018

By: Henry Deleon

During the Sullivan Barrera vs. Seanie Monaghan media workout at the Mendez Boxing club in NYC, Boxing Insider had the pleasure of interviewing the CEO of Main Events Promotion, Kathy Duva.

Boxing Insider – Boxing insider here with Kathy Duva. Kathy, what is your opinion on HBO no longer televising boxing?

Kathy Duva – Oh I feel like it’s a death! It’s been 45 years! longer than I’ve been in the sport and they’re aren’t too many things that have been in the sport longer than me. I’m really going to miss it.

Boxing Insider – Do you feel that with HBO getting out of the picture, is it going to have a huge impact on boxing how is being televised?

Kathy Duva – I think it’s happening already. When boxing went to HBO, all the big fights started going there. The other networks lost interest because they couldn’t compete. But now you can see them on ESPN they’re already out there. FOX is already out there and there may be others coming up soon too, you never know.

Boxing Insider – Rumor is that the Kovalev vs. Alvarez rematch is set to be on ESPN, is this true?

Kathy Duva – That is true. It’s going to be on ESPN February 2nd, 2019

Boxing Insider – How did you feel with the results of Kovalev’s last fight against Eleider Alvarez?

Kathy Duva – Obviously I was not too happy. I think we saw this happening in the Ward fights. He got so tired, first of all Ward’s people did an amazing job of getting into his head, It was like watching a master class and I think I learned from it. Sergey was convinced that you had to try harder and work harder, because you know you’re a guy who like to party and have fun, and the worst thing for a guy who’s in his mid 30’s to do is to try and work harder because when you get older you have to work smarter not harder. Unfortunately, Sergey being Sergey just did not believe that. As he got tired, he would just continue to work harder and all he did was set himself up so that he runs out of gas. So now you have a guy who is 35 and is trying to fight and train like he’s 25. He needs to learn to train and fight like he is 35 and he’s doing that now with Buddy McGirt. He has made some changes to his training regime and hopefully it will all work out.

Boxing Insider – So what you’re saying is we are going to see a different Kovalev come this rematch?

Kathy Duva – yeah, you know Buddy is the guy who brought back Arturo Gatti and responsible for the incredible resurgence at the back of his career. Buddy knows what to do with an old fighter, and Sergey at his age has to start fighting like an old fighter which is not something negative. Some of the greatest fights you’ve ever seen involved guys who have that experience and are now challenged in the sense that they don’t have the stamina they once did when they were younger. All that plays into a guy who is a really dominant fighter suddenly getting into fights that are very competitive. So, I believe we are going to see that and in the end the fans are going to be very entertained.

Boxing Insider – So coming into this rematch, do you feel Sergey will have a different outcome?

Kathy Duva – you know Sergey won 5 out of the 7 rounds. He is by far the better fighter. The problem was that he ran out of gas after the 6th round. I remember leaning over to Sergey’s manager before the 5th round and said “I don’t know how he’s going to keep up this pace, what is he doing?”. Sergey’s going to have to learn to beat Alvarez at a slower pace and he is going to have to learn to train in a way in where he doesn’t leave it all in the gym. If he does those things he’s going to win, and if he doesn’t do those things he’s going to lose. That’s what’s going to make this fight very interesting.

Boxing Insider – What is your opinion on what Eddie Hearn and DAZN are doing for boxing?

Kathy Duva – You have people who want to invest in boxing. It’s a great time to be an elite fighter, so much opportunity for elite fighters. How can one be opposed to that, it’s terrific!

Boxing Insider – What’s your take on Saturdays main event between Sullivan Barrera and Seanie Monaghan?

Kathy Duva – This is a terrific fight! This is the greater fight that isn’t happening in places like DAZN, ESPN, or FOX. You’re looking at high level elite fighter, fighters who are world title fighters. If you look at the history of our sport, and I did the other day. I looked at all the “fight of the year” fights and what I found, dating back to 1922, is how rarely the “fight of the year” is one of the “BIG” fights. Its usually a fight like this. Look at when Gatti and Ward fought, you had two guys who people considered to be on the downside of their career and look at what they did! This is one of those fights, now I will never say a fight will be as good as Gatti and Ward, but what I am saying is that you have the same dynamic in fight with Barrera vs. Monaghan. I think if our sport is missing anything right now, its fights like these.

Boxing Insider – Is there any other up and coming fighters under your promotion that you want fans to keep an eye out for?

Kathy Duva – We actually have quite a few. Some of them you will see on Saturday, others you will see in the upcoming months. Leshawn Rodriguez (9-0 7KO) unfortunately had to pull out due to an injury but he’s a terrific fighter. Cassius Chaney (13-0 6KO) is a terrific heavy weight fighter. We just signed Denis Douglin (21-6 13KO) he’s one of those guys who has a lot going for him. He took some bad advice on a fight once and suddenly his career was going to waste, but no we are going to make a career for him. We have Madiyar Ashkeyev (10-0 6 KO), Meriim Nursultanov (8-0 5KO), Enriko Gogokhia (8-0 3KO) and Frank Galarza (20-2-2 12KO). We have a lot of really talented young fighters who are going to be the next generation of people you hear about. We to say this last big group of the Pacquiao’s, the Mayweather’s, the Klitschko’s they all lasted beyond the prime of fighters of generations past because we know more about nutrition, and training. They’ve extended their athletic careers so, it’s been a while since a new crowd has come along and took over. I believe this is going to be the beginning of that and I hope that the people I just mentioned and a few others are going to be in the vanguard of that and I look forward to being part of it.

Boxing Insider – Thank you so much Kathy. Wishing you all the best.

Kathy Duva has over 38 years of experience in the business of professional boxing and is the CEO of Main Events promotions. Kathy has helped promote many legendary careers such as Evander Holyfield, Fernando Vargas, Vinnie Pazienza, Lennox Lewis and many more.
Tune in Saturday Nov 3rd for Sullivan vs. Monaghan live globally on Facebook Watch via the Golden Boy Fight Night Page beginning at 6:00 p.m. PT/ 9:00 p.m. ET.

Posted on 10/28/2018

By: Sean Crose

Mayweather Promotions broadcast a fight card free for their fans on their Facebook Page and featured some of their up and coming prospects, including Juan Heraldez and Angelo Leo.

Juan Heraldez improved his record to 15-0 on Saturday night, thanks to a destructive performance against the 11-4 Maynard Allison, known as “Mr. Marvelous,” at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas. The fight, which was the main event of a Mayweather Promotion’s card, pitted Mayweather protege Heraldez against North Carolina’s Allison. Herladez looked impressive throughout and forced the Referee Tony Weeks to step in and stop the bout at 1:05 of the third.

Photo Credit: Mayweather Promotions Facebook Page

Another Mayweather protege, the 14-0 Angelo Leo also impressed on the card, via an impressive first round knockout of Glenn Porras, 31-7, of the Philippines. Leo, a rising star in the super bantamweight division, ended things quickly, at just 1:37 of the very first round.

The 6-0 lightweight Rolando Romero of Vegas proved himself a sound member of team Mayweather earlier on in the evening when he bested Dieumerci Nzau in thunderous fashion. The bout didn’t get past the opening chapter, as Romero knocked his man unconscious in the first. Andres Cortes added to the night’s trend of early stoppages by finishing Omar Castillo within the distance. Cortes’ record now stands at 9-0, while Castillo’s resume stands at 5-1. Cortes, of Las Vegas, fights in the lightweight division under the Mayweather banner. Overall, it was an impressive evening for the Mayweather Promotions brand overall.

Sam’s Town in Vegas is known to host Mayweather Promotion’s cards, which serve to provide the Mayweather universe’s up and coming fighters the opportunity to show their mettle and to improve upon their resumes. The program at Sam’s Town is known as the “Sin City Showdown.” As is common, there was a charitable aspect to Saturday’s card. Non perishable food items were collected at the door for the Floyd Mayweather Jr Foundation’s “Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway.” on

Posted on 09/02/2018

By: William Holmes

Golden Boy Promotion seven fights on facebook live from the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino in Indio, California. This is a newer venture for Golden Boy as promotional outfits worldwide are increasingly turning to streaming to deliver their product.

Ryan Garcia was able to sell out the Fantasty Springs Resort and Casino for the second time.

Several undercard fights were shown, but the main event of the evening was between Ryan Garcia and Carlos Morales in the lightweight division and the co-main event of the night was between Marvin Cabrera and Neeco Macias.

Marvin Cabrera (8-0) and Neeco Macias (16-0) met in the junior middleweight division. Both boxers are undefeated, but Cabrera has been the more active fighter the past two years and had former world champion Daniel Ponce DeLeon in his corner.

Macias had a good contingent of fans in attendance, and he made it known immediately why. They both came out swinging in the opening round but Macias took the best shots of Cabrera well and continued to come forward, while smiling. Macias didn’t appear to have a whole lot of power and was taking some good left hands from Cabrera, but he threw over twice the number of punches than Cabrera. Macias threw 147 punches in the opening round while Cabrera threw 72, and it was a sign of things to come.

Macias stayed in tight during the second round and didn’t appear to land many hard punches, but he applied an incredible amount of pressure and appeared to overwhelm Cabrera. He continued that output into the third round when he threw 196 punches and appeared to be visibly wilting Cabrera.

Macias opened up the fourth round with a looping left hand went right back to work. He was swarming Cabrera and was really snapping the head of his opponent.

Cabrera’s back was stuck next to the ropes and corner often in the fourth and fifth rounds and wasn’t really able to throw much in response to the aggression of Macias. Whenever Cabrera backed away in an attempt to escape and breathe Macias would quickly close the distance and pound away at the body and head.

Cabrera looked exhausted in the sixth round and took a hard left hand in the opening seconds of the sixth. Cabrera was stuck in the corner often and was getting beat from corner to corner.

Cabrera’s corner wisely stopped the fight before the start of the seventh round. Macias wins by knockout at 3:00 of the sixth round.

The main event of the night was between Ryan Garcia (15-0) and Carlos Morales (17-2-3) in the lightweight division.

Garcia held the NABF and NABO Super Featherweight Championships while Morales held the NABA Super Featherweight Championship.

Garcia is one of Golden Boy Promotions’ high ceiling prospects and is only twenty years old. Garcia looked like the bigger fighter and was able to establish himself as the boxer with the quicker hands early on. Garcia was able to land some good left hooks in the first two rounds and had a good jab working.

Garcia did trip and fall backwards in the second round but Morales was warned by the referee for pushing his opponent.

Garcia was shifty in the third round and was able to land his counter right hands. One of his punches opened up a cut on the bridge of the nose of Morales.

Morales was able to land some right hands to the body of Garcia in the fourth round, but Garcia appeared to land the better shots and even had Morales shaking his head no after landing a combination.

Garcia’s timing was on point in the fifth and sixth rounds and was able to touch Morales whenever he got into range. Both boxers were warned by the referee for wrestling during these rounds.

Morales’ corner think he hurt Garcia in the seventh round and even wobbled the legs of Garcia after landing a jab. Morales pressed the pace afterwards, but Garcia recovered quickly and lasted the round.

Morales continued to attempt apply the pressure in the eighth and ninth rounds but with the exception of a few body shots wasn’t able to hurt Garcia again. Garcia however appeared to be tiring and looked at the clock continuously.

Morales probably needed a knockout in the final round to win, but Garcia had caught his second wind by then and threw enough punches in the final round to win it.

The judges scored it 98-92, 95-95, 98-92 for Ryan Garcia by majority decision.

Posted on 08/30/2018

By: William Holmes

On Saturday night Golden Boy Promotions will continue their partnership with Facebook Live to broadcast what appears to be seven fights live from Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino in Indio, California.

The undercard will feature fighters such as Sergey Lubkovich, George Rincon, Daniel Perales, Alex Rincon, Patrick Teixeira, and Nathaniel Gallimore.

The main event of the evening will be a lightweight fight between Ryan Garcia and Carlos Morales in the lightweight division. The co-main event of the night will be between Marvin Cabrera and NEeco Macias in the junior middleweight division.

Photo Credit: Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

The following is a preview of the co-main event and main event of the night.

Marvin Cabrera (8-0) vs. Neeco Macias (16-0); Junior Middleweights

This is a rare bout between two southpaw boxers, so expect some awkwardness at first and tangled up feet.

Cabrera is a young prospect who has been fairly active recently. He fought twice in 2018 and four times in 2017 and started competing as a professional in 2016. He has moderate power and has stopped six of his opponents.

His opponent, Neeco Macias, is two years older than him and has twice the number of professional fights. But he has not been as active as Cabrera in the past two years. He only fought once in 2018 and once in 2017. He has stopped seven of his opponents, including stopping three of his past four opponents. However, his three past opponents had losing records.

Cabrera has the better amateur career of the two. Macias has no notable amateur accomplishments and Cabrera has competed in the Pan American Games as an amateur with moderate success.

Cabrera will have about three inches in height on Macias, but both boxers will have about the same reach.

Cabrera has defeated the likes of Wilfrido Buelvas, Hector Velazquez, and Esau Herrera. Macias’ record is filled with guys with sub .500 records, but he does have notable wins over Rolando Garza and Limberth Ponce.

Macias has a good record, but he hasn’t faced any significant opposition and his lack of activity the last two years is telling. Macias appears to have the power to stop Cabrera, but Cabrera’s amateur background should lead him to a decision victory.

Ryan Garcia (15-0) vs. Carlos Morales (17-2-3); Lightweights

Ryan Garcia holds the NABF and NABO Super Featherweight Championship while Carlos Morales holds the NABA Super Featherweight Championship.

Garcia however, is the prospect with a much higher ceiling and has the promotional muscle of Golden Boy Promotions supporting him.

Garcia is only twenty years old, but has already fought fifteen times and fought twice in 2018 and six times in 2017.

Morales is twenty eight years old and didn’t fight at all in 2018, but fought three times in 2017. Morales isn’t known for his power, he has only stopped six of his opponents.

Garcia will have a sleight one inch height advantage on Morales. They both have a 70” reach and box orthodox.

Garcia has been stepping up his competition recently. He has beaten the likes of Jayson Velez, Fernando Parra, and Cesar Valenzuela.

Morales has beaten the likes of Dardan Zenunaj, Cesar Valenzuela, Charles Huerta ,and Luis Franco. He has losses to Alberto Macahdo and Allan Benitez.

Morales has two losses on his record, but has never been stopped. He’s a good opponent for Garcia in that he should give him some good rounds and good work, but Garcia should be a large favorite on Saturday.

Posted on 07/03/2018

By: Charles Jay

They aren’t the first organization to do it. And they certainly won’t be the last. But Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions intends to be the outfit that makes the greatest strides in developing the ability to capitalize on presenting professional boxing over the internet.

They have announced a partnership with Facebook in which they will present a series of live fight cards, free of charge, through Facebook Watch, the branded live streaming mechanism the mammoth social network has. It all begins on August 11 with a WBA featherweight title fight between Jesus Rojas and JoJo Diaz, taking place in Hollywood, CA. They will also go the next week from the Sands in Bethlehem, PA. And from there it will continue.

There has been a traditional business model for years in boxing, with slight variations. You sell tickets or try to get a casino to pay for the show, and then you see if you can make a deal to go on cable TV. If it’s sufficiently big enough, then pay-per-view (PPV) becomes a possibility. But you probably knew all that already.

Well, casino rights fees have dried up considerably from what they used to be. Television money isn’t spread around as much either, and with Al Haymon having taken a significant position through time buys instead of selling the product itself, you have to wonder how anxious some of these non-premium networks are going to be about giving up money in the future, outside of a couple of vendors.

We’ve seen some trips “out of the box” that might just stick. ESPN Plus is making some fights available through a paid app (also available through other platforms); DAZN is doing live streaming and has a deal in place with Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Anthony Joshua. In one conversation with me a while back, Top Rank’s Bob Arum envisioned that the Chinese, with a billion or so cell phones on hand, might pay a small fee for an attractive product (preferably including one of their countrymen) and that would add up to huge money. Twitter showed a championship fight a couple of years ago, through it was more of an experiment than anything else. There are services in operation right now that show boxing on a pay-per-view basis online, although I’m not sure what their numbers are. Certainly the direct-to-consumer model (“over the top,” as they say) is at some point going to be a major staple of what HBO or Showtime PPV does. It would appear inevitable.

Not everything is going to work. The point, though, is that different methods of distributing the programming are being explored.

And even though Facebook has done live events, like baseball games, what Golden Boy is doing represents the exploration of a legitimate frontier in this particular sport. It can be a winner. Like television, it offers the chance for the same outlet to market and exhibit boxing programming, provided of course they can cultivate an audience. But you see, over the social media channels, there is that built-in mechanism as well. And what is incorporated in this is the ability to get immediate fan feedback and interaction. So in a sense, a lot of this is self-contained. And obviously, the programs are adaptable to mobile devices, which is where the audience is going. Remember, people are moving away from cable, and toward other services. You have to get out front and go where the eyeballs are.

Golden Boy will not only have live fights, but also original programming in support of it; “shoulder” programming, if you will. You can bet that they will be promoting their pay-per-view telecasts as well, and this first fight comes just in time to push the Canelo-GGG fight on September 15. And in order to do this, they don’t have to get TV time cleared, or buy it, as Haymon has.

As part of the deal, Golden Boy is establishing a partnership-within-a-partnership, with Main Events (the New Jersey-based promoter) coming on board, and the CEO of that company, Kathy Duva, hit on something very important when she said, “For too long, promotional companies have been at odds over a limited number of television dates. We look now to a future with Facebook with unlimited opportunity, where promoters can work together to best serve the interests of the fighters and fans all over the world.”

Yes, in time things like this are going to flip the field.

Putting the product online in creative ways can be a great enabler for any number of promotional organizations. That’s because it is the most democratic distribution channel that has come along. Sure, not everybody is going to have a “partnership” with an entity such as Facebook, like Golden Boy has. But anyone has the capability to stream with Facebook Live, and then it just comes down to how many people can be driven to the “telecast.”

Years ago, when putting together a sponsorship proposal, we used to say that a cable channel, or combination of channels, got into X-million homes. Of course, that didn’t mean that X-million homes were going to tune in; it just meant the show had the capability to reach that many. Well, as long as you want to get theoretical about it, an online broadcast has the ability to reach almost every home on earth, or at least the vast majority, right?

That doesn’t mean there is a potential bonanza out there, naturally, but the doors can indeed be unlocked. The real opportunity for small and mid-level promoters probably doesn’t lie in online pay-per-view, truth be told, although I guess that if someone is going to produce a telecast anyway, it could fall into the category of “found money.” But this is more likely a play for enhanced sponsorship, using something similar to the over-the-air TV model (and the one Golden Boy is using), where the fights are free to viewers. If you can get a lot of targeted eyeballs to a piece of content, there should be a way to monetize that. It all depends how creative one wants to be.

Those who can somehow command a presence online, with regard to the actual presentation of the product, should be able to get a leg up on their competitors.

Remember, the technology isn’t going backward. And it’s going to allow even small, independent producers the chance to avail themselves of geo-tracking, instant viewer surveys and precise audience measurements, which provides plenty of ammunition, from the standpoint of data, to take to any sponsor. The challenge as we move forward is that whoever wants to hit big online will have to reach out and cultivate younger viewers, as MMA has done. And technology may be the mechanism through which to do it. Again, it comes down to who is creative about it.

I, for one, am rooting for this Golden Boy venture to succeed, not necessarily for what it will do for the company, but what it might do for an industry. And even in this business, where “schadenfreude” is often the order of the day, I think everyone else might do well to root for them too.

Posted on 05/12/2017

Delvin Rodriguez Loses to Courtney Pennington In Star Boxing Facebook Broadcast
By: Sean Crose

If there’s one thing the forces behind Thursday evening’s Star Boxing fight card at the Mohegan Sun Casino in eastern Connecticut wanted made clear, it’s the fact that card was being broadcast live on Facebook. Not Fox Sports1. Not ESPN2. Not Bounce. Not beIN. Facebook. While fights have streamed live – and for free – before, Star Boxing is on the more significant side of the promotional scale, which made Thursday’s card a memorable event. Was it the beginning of something significant? Time will tell – though the odds may be in its favor.

The night opened with local (by way of Hartford) fighter Rich Rivera beating on newcomer Marco Parente in the Canadian’s pro debut. The 180 lb catchweight fight was halted in the final seconds of the sixth and final round, giving Rivera a record of 2-0. New Jersey’s Jonathan Rojas was up next, facing fellow lightweight Omar Bordoy in a four round bout. Like Rivera, Bordoy was a Connecticut fighter and the crowd was enormously in his favor. Both he and Rojas, in fact, were making their pro debuts. It was a close, fairly sharp fight for two newcomers to the pro game. The UD win went to Bordoy, who landed the harder punches.

Another Hartford fighter, Jose Rivera, 2-1, then entered the ring to face Long Island’s Marcus Beckford, 3-6-3, in a six round junior middleweight affair. A thunderous, and I mean thunderous, shot by Rivera in the fourth ended things abruptly. Beckford was able to get to his feet, but the referee knew better than to let matters continue. New York City welterweight Sydney MacCow, 4-5, was up next to face East Hartford’s (noticing a theme here?) Anthony Laureano, 3-0. Laureano may have been the obvious crowd favorite, but it was MacCow who dominated the first few rounds by sharp punching and by throwing Laureano’s timing off. Laureano’s pressure, however, began to take effect in the third.

Things got close and heated in the fourth, with Laureano landing the more effective shots. MacCow was definitely there to win, though. Although Laureano was now able to land, the New Yorker kept things razor thin. In the sixth, MacCow was visibly hurt by Laureano. The East Hartford native couldn’t finish his man off, though. Still, the two men closed the show firing away at each other. Indeed, it was a great fight. Laureano took the UD win, but there’s no reason – none – these two couldn’t meet in the ring again.

Former WBC World Female Middleweight titlist Kali Reis, 10-6-1, then faced 7-10-4 Ashleigh Curry. Reis may not have been from Connecticut, but she hailed from right next door in Rhode Island, making her about as close to a local fighter as one could get without actually being local. The first few rounds were somewhat slow affairs, with Reis walking Missouri’s Curry down. The third and fourth rounds presented the audience with more of the same. As the fight wore on, it became clear that – although Curry had her moments – she simply wasn’t of Reis cailber. Curry’s inability to put her punches together, for instance, was particularly telling. The final round showed no significant or sustained change of pace. The easy victory was awarded to Reis, courtesy of a majority decision (how anyone could have ruled it a draw, as one judge did, is a great mystery).

In the co-main, welterweight Samuel Amoako, 21-14, of Ghana, fought undefeated New Yorker Danny Gonzalez, 13-0, in a scheduled eight round affair. Gonzalez dominated the first two rounds, but the fight did not start off being a barn burner. By the fourth round, the bout had developed into a familiar pattern: Amoako would be walked to the ropes and Gonzalez would fire way, hoping to land effectively. Amoako was able to land an occasional solid shot, but those weren’t nearly enough to change the tide. Gonzalez was clearly trying to look impressive, but it can be hard to beat an opponent who isn’t doing much more than surviving.

In the fifth, Gonzalez started landing effectively to the body. Amoako looked like he might be hurt, but held on. And, sure, enough, the sixth was a replay of numerous previous rounds, with Amoako deciding to take it to the ropes with Gonzalez pursuing him. Amoako took a considerable amount of punishment, but, sadly didn’t have much to dish out to his aggressive foe. Needless to say, Gonzalez went home with a comfortable UD win.

It was time for the main event. Danbury, Connecticut’s Devlin Rodriguez, 25-8-4, had been around for a while, but he was clearly looking to work his way back into the upper hierarchy of the junior middleweight division. His opponent was Brownsville, Brooklyn’s Courtney Pennington, 10-4-1. The bout was a scheduled ten round affair. Things started off slow, with Rodriguez stalking and Pennington landing clean on occasion. By the third round, however, it was clear that Rodriguez was the one landing the more effective punches. Or was he? By round 5, Pennington was pot shotting and pot shotting clean. It was a tougher fight for Rodriguez than perhaps some had expected. The truth is that Pennington was looking to keep things slick. That can be problematic for fans who want red meat, but it can also be a very productive strategy. Throughout the middle rounds, the fight was rather close.

The later rounds were similar to the earlier ones. Rodriguez was able to land clean, but his inability to cut off the ring on his man remained problematic. This , though, had as much to do with Pennington’s effective game plan as it did Rodriguez’ own skill set. In the end, the judges saw it in Pennington’s favor, as he walked away with a UD win