
Ten rounds, hoping men’s boxing will follow women’s boxing in 2023…
10. Jaron Ennis will admit that last year was unforgettable. After three fights in 2020 and two more in 21, Ennis, one of boxing’s top young stars, has only fought once in 22. Ennis, who will face Karen Chukhadzhian for the interim 147-pound title on Showtime’s Gervonta Davis-Hector Garcia pay-per-view, attributes the inactivity to the uncertainty surrounding the fight negotiations between Errol Spence and Terence. and Crawford.
“All the 147-pounders were waiting to see what they were going to do,” says Ennis. “So no one really wanted to get involved with anything until they found out. Once they figured out what they were going to do, they all started going in different ways.”
A win over Chukhadzhian would solidify Ennis (29-0) as a mandatory contender for one of Spence’s three titles. It could also make him an attractive opponent for Crawford, who fought in November. Does Ennis believe that one of them will fight him?
“I mean, they’re two grown men, they’re not afraid of anyone, and I feel like both of them would get in the ring with me,” says Ennis. “It’s just a matter of their decision whether they want to fight me or not. I feel like Spence would fight me and I feel that way [Crawford] would fight me. Hopefully we can get those fights so I can take the belts away from them.”
Ennis is targeting three fights this year, including the winner of the exciting welterweight bout between Vergil Ortiz and Eimantas Stanionis, the two undefeated 147-pound fighters who were due to fight in March. Ennis had hoped to face Stanionis in this fight, while Ortiz’s bout would represent a clash between two top young boxing stars.
“I feel like this is one of the biggest fights in boxing, regardless of who wins over Ortiz or Stanionis,” says Ennis. “This is definitely one of the biggest fights in boxing. I feel like it can definitely happen in a year or six months. It might happen later, really. If it was up to me, it would be later, but people will go different ways and try to move. I feel like if it was up to me, I would do everything, the best possible fights.”
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9. Will Demetrius Andrade have a big fight this year? Andrade, the former middleweight titleholder, will end his 14-month hiatus when he takes on Demond Nicholson at the Davis-Garcia pay-per-view opener. This will be Andrade’s first fight since ending his three-year partnership with Matchroom. Andrade, 34, aligned himself with PBC for this fight, hoping the change would open up opportunities for him to take on PBC-affiliated fighters like Jermall Charlo, David Benavidez and Caleb Plant. Will it be? One of the wildest facts in boxing is that Andrade, a two-division title holder, has never fought a current or former world champion. Let’s hope this is his year.
8. It’s January – has Anthony Joshua chosen a new coach yet?
7. Love the recently announced Matchroom card set for February 4 in New York. Amanda Serrano and Erika Cruz… for the undisputed 126-pound championship. Alycia Baumgardner vs. Elhem Mekhaled… for the undisputed 130weight championship. One of the reasons why women’s boxing skyrocketed in 2022 is because instead of talking about big fights, as is often the case in the men’s game, women made them and are releasing them This trend is expected to continue in 2023.
6. It was amazing how people underestimated Hector Garcia’s chances this weekend. Ryan Garcia – who has a vested interest in the outcome of this fight – told me last month that he didn’t consider Garcia a spoiler, while Devin Haney noted that Garcia was so ineffective in sparring that he was kicked out of a recent fight. camp. SI Sportsbook, meanwhile, ranked Davis as the 12-1 favorite. Davis is a bigger puncher and a more natural 135-pounder. But Garcia looks physically bigger and has had the best year of his career with a pair of solid wins (Chris Colbert, Roger Gutierrez) along with the 130-pound belt. He also has one of boxing’s most underrated tacticians, Bob Santos, working his corner. This fight can be a lot more competitive than people think.
5. Will anyone fight Shakur Stevenson? Stevenson is still looking for an opponent to face in his 135-pound debut, with fighters including George Kambosos, William Zepeda and Isaac Cruz taking the opportunity to challenge the two-division title holder. Next on Stevenson’s list: Frank Martin, Errol Spence’s candidate for the promotion, who had his best performance of his career against Michel Rivera. It’s unlikely that Martin, who has been aligned with PBC, will take on Stevenson promoted by Top Rank, but it would be fun.
4. Joshua Franco had to settle for an unsatisfying draw with Kazuto Ioka last weekend in Japan, but that shouldn’t derail another potential 115-pound unification fight. A fight between Franco and Juan Francisco Estrada would be a good deal in Texas, where Franco is from and where Mexican-born Estrada could draw large crowds. If Estrada wins, it could add interest to a fourth fight with Roman Gonzalez. If Franco wins, he could face Gonzalez, giving Gonzalez a new challenge – and a chance to win two titles.
3. The video of Dana White hitting his wife is reprehensible. White, the UFC czar who dabbled in boxing, said there is no place in the UFC for people who lay their hands on women. Will it hold to the same standard? Few have the power to discipline White, but those who do – his Endeavor partners or supervisors at ESPN, who has a long-term contract with the UFC, or network executives at TBS who have to decide the future of White’s upcoming new series, Power Slap – should. I thought Luke Thomas, co-host of Showtime’s Morning Kombat, hit the nail on the head this week: combat sports has a blind spot when it comes to violence against women.
2. Jake Paul is polarizing, but his decision to join the PFL – partly to use his long social media reach to promote the rookie league and partly to potentially step into the MMA cage – is a brave one. Paul told New York Times that he wants to make a two-fight deal with former UFC star Nate Diaz, with one fight in the boxing ring and the other in an MMA cage. Paul, a long-time advocate for higher pay for MMA fighters, who will assume the newly created role of the PFL’s head of fighting fighters, is helping to create a “super fight division” where the most valuable stars compete with a 50% revenue share.
Paul said, “As Head of Fighter Advocacy, I will consistently promote PFL fighters and invite all top MMA fighters, both men and women, to join the PFL and receive a paycheck like they’ve never had before.”
1. Ryan Garcia said SI on Thursday that he has no plans to attend the Davis-Garcia fight this weekend. Garcia is, of course, scheduled to face Davis sometime in the spring, although it should be noted that there are no signed contracts (or contracts of any kind, really) for this fight. While Garcia said SI last month that he wasn’t going to take a temporary fight before the Davis bout, you wonder if he’ll reconsider that decision.