Old timey people were very much into animals boxing. There’s some appeal there, to be sure. (via)
We’re heading toward the summer doldrums, which means not a lot of fights are being signed. A decent number are being discussed, though, and that’s good enough for Round And Round. Among the men discussed in this edition are the boxers in the headline, Carl Froch, Leo Santa Cruz, Lucas Matthysse, and, um… it drops off some from there, to be candid.
ROUND AND ROUND
As predicted, this week Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri became a thing, for November. Everything Alex McClintock said about the welterweight bout is true — it’s sub-meh competitively, but there might be some money in Algieri, maybe. Maybe he’ll be too obscure. Time will tell if his whiteness and interesting story and well-spokenness will do enough for the promotion to make up for a perceived lack of competitiveness or profile. We’re getting it because, according to Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, Juan Manuel Marquez asked for $20 million, which is hard to believe. Less than a month ago, however, Algieri wasn’t “in our sights,” according to Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz. Hard not to put two and two together. Word was that Algieri almost lost out on the fight for asking for too much money, which gave Thomas Dulorme a hilarious chance to suggest himself as an opponent. It’s great for guys to aim high but it’s laughable if you haven’t done anything in the ring to even come close to being in the discussion (outside of people putting you in the discussion to mock you, of course).
The game plan for another of boxing’s big stars, junior middleweight Saul Canelo Alvarez, is to target James Kirkland later this year then meet up with Miguel Cotto early next year. Sounds good; Kirkland is always a good time with his reckless power and vulnerability, and the Cotto match-up is obviously appealing. Talk is still that for all the rumors about Cotto-Timothy Bradley, nobody’s close to making it, thank goodness. Also Alvarez’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya suggested Canelo might fight Gennady Golovkin, which will never happen.
After knocking off British rival George Groves, Carl Froch had been dismissive of meeting up with another British super middleweight, James DeGale. Perhaps the uncertain status of Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. for an HBO pay-per-view date has made him rethink matters, because the discussion now points to Froch-DeGale in November or December. It’s a solid match-up, with impeccable gate potential in the U.K.
Leo Santa Cruz wants the winner of Carl Frampton-Kiko Martinez II, while junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux wants the winner of that fight or Santa Cruz. Any combination of these men will do; all of them are pretty good, and for all the talk of how boring Rigo is, he’d be less boring against this trio than just about anyone.
Junior welterweights Adrien Broner and Lucas Matthysse are heading toward separate opponents on the same Showtime card in September, in a repeat of what’s happening with champion Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson. The odds of Broner or Matthysse finding anyone all that desirable to fight is low. We should’ve had Garcia-Peterson and Broner-Matthysse instead of all this “same card/different opponents” bullshit.
Bermane Stiverne has hurt his hand, so the highly compelling heavyweight meet-up with young Deontay Wilder is going to be delayed until later this year. Boxing has screwed up plenty this year, but sometimes bad luck screws boxing, too.
Middleweight Peter Quillin will have to fight the erratic Matt Korobov because one of the sanctioning outfits ordered it, and while it’s nothing to go bonkers about, it’s better than what we usually get from Quillin. Which is a damnation of Quillin, by the way. Also at middleweight, Curtis Stevens is set for a September fight with Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, after King Sports World quizzically scooped up the purse bid, beating out Main Events. Stevens-N’Jikam is a nice one between a puncher and a resilient sort, both on the edges of the division’s top 10. And another one at middleweight: Brian Vera-Gabriel Rosado in August. These two brawlers were made for each other, and they’ll fight in a very different style than usual thanks to the peculiar phenomenon of Big-Knockout Boxing — fighting in a ropeless pit smaller than a boxing ring, and with gloves that have less padding. Not sure how I feel about this outfit yet.
The first fruits of lightweight Miguel Vazquez signing with Al Haymon are here, and the fruits come in the form of Mickey Bey in August. Vazquez should school him most ruthlessly.
Rebounding junior middleweight Glen Tapia’s July 26 bout with the unique Boyd Melson — who fights for charity, among other unique characteristics — is off because Melson is injured.
(Round And Round Sources: BoxingScene, RingTV, ESPN, The Sweet Science, FightHype)