by Looking forward to the Frank Martin-Michel Rivera fight this weekend, ten rounds…
10. Terence Crawford knocking out David Avanesyan in the sixth round was what I expected. Avanesyan was competitive early on. However, a notoriously slow starter, Crawford continued into the third round, slowing Avanesyan with withering body kicks, eventually catching him upstairs with an uppercut-hook combination that ended the fight. It was a smashing win and a good payday (reportedly $10 million) for Crawford, but now the question is: Crawford, Errol Spence Jr. Can it rekindle talks with There is a healthy amount of skepticism in the industry, and insiders point out that not only are there still problems undermining October’s negotiations, but a healthy distrust between Crawford and Spence’s adviser, Al Haymon. Perhaps without an eight-figure offer to back out this time, Crawford would be more eager to close a deal.
9. Dmitry Bivol is now in a position to play a rematch with Canelo Alvarez and in an interview SI This week, Bivol made it clear that he wants the challenge at a new weight. Bivol, who beat Alvarez at 175 pounds last May, says he’s ready to drop to 168 and face Alvarez in the super middleweight.
“I think it’s much more interesting to fight with 168,” says Bivol. “And why? Because the first thing he said after the fight was, ‘Maybe this isn’t my weight class.’ Secondly, I want to be motivated too. I don’t want to be motivated just by money for this fight. I want the motivation to be the belts. I can do 168 because now my weight is around 187, maybe 185. Why not? This will be a new experience for me and there will be no excuses for the weight. “
8. Speaking of Bivol, I asked him about his fun exchange with middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, who challenged Bivol when their paths crossed in the Regis Prograis-Jose Zepeda fight last month.
“It was kind of funny, to be honest,” Bivol says. “To be honest… I don’t know what it is. When I try to remember our conversation, I don’t know what happened. I was confused because I didn’t want to fight him before. I just met her and I saw her, we were talking and I said to her, ‘You look big. You’re 160 years old, but you’re big. And he said to me, ‘Do you want to fight me? Do you want to fight me?’ And I said, ‘I don’t want to fight you, but that’s interesting, maybe we can fight’. But for what? For the belt? If you have a belt, I want to fight you and what weight class are you in?’ It was a funny speech, to be honest.”
7. Conor Benn’s most recent statement was a big no burger. Infamous former heavyweight contender Benn, who tested positive for a banned substance multiple times before his anticipated showdown with Chris Eubank in September, posted on social media that “my team has proven my innocence and the truth will soon come out”. If Benn, who tests positive for the female fertility drug clomiphene, has any evidence to justify it, great. At this point, I will content myself with a reasonable explanation. But it’s pointless to just say you’ve proven it.
6. Naoya Inoue goes 122kg after fully combining the 118-pound division with Paul Butler’s 11th-round win on Tuesday. Can he do the same in the super bantamweight? The division has two owners, Stephen Fulton and MJ Akhmadaliev splitting the belts. Fulton, who will at least tentatively hit 126 pounds in his next rematch with Brandon Figueroa, has expressed interest, but it seems unlikely that Fulton will go to Japan, where both fighters stand to earn the most money. Akhmadaliev is much more likely to go, but he has been injured in the hand since June and must first defend his titles in a forced defense against Marlon Tapales. If Akhmadaliev can beat Tapales, an Akhmadaliev-Inoue fight will be a big deal next year.
5. I’m slightly above the flood of criticism Teofimo Lopez has received since narrowly beating Sandor Martin last week, especially from the fighters. It certainly wasn’t Lopez’s best performance, but any fighter who had anything to say about how Lopez looked against Martin would be right now with Martin, an incredibly tough opponent that makes the two best fighters (Lopez, Mikey Garcia) look bad. must have to fight.
4. As SI Adrien Broner and Ivan Redkach will face each other in February in a 147-pound non-championship fight, it was reported last week. BLK Prime, the startup pay-per-view provider, made the announcement over the weekend. However, this announcement was met with heavy skepticism after Broner, who looked quite overweight, appeared at the press conference. “Broner was nauseous,” Prograis said in an interview with FightHype. While Redkach plans to train as if the Broner fight were happening at all costs, many members of his team said. SI they do not believe that this struggle will take place, at least in February.
3. Manny Pacquiao expressed his desire to return to boxing to tackle one of the top heavyweights. After watching Pacquiao’s debut against influencer and MMA fighter DK Yoo over the weekend, it’s clear that this would be a mistake. At 160 pounds for the fight, Pacquaio dominated Yoo but looked like the Hall of Fame fighter he once was. Pacquiao, who will turn 44 on Saturday, is absolutely free to continue his exhibition tour, and there are rumors that he may exhibit another one early next year, perhaps in the Middle East. But his days of competing in traditional boxing are over.
2. You must have been impressed by Ebanie Bridges, the 118-pound title holder who retained the belt by knocking out Australian opponent Shannon O’Connell in the eighth round last weekend. Bridges, who spent most of his career being ignored as a number one, battered O’Connell in that fight and ended the game with bruising punches that prompted the referee to step in. underwear for weighing. But he can fight. Eddie Hearn, who recently signed another 118-pound champion, Nina Hughes, hopes to have reunion fights for Bridges next year. There’s also a compelling rematch with Shannon Courtenay, who gave Bridges his first professional defeat last year.
1. Happy late birthday to Bob Arum, who turned 91 last week and spent last weekend sitting at ringside for the entire Lopez-Martin card. Arum admitted that with Top Rank he is much less involved in day-to-day affairs than he used to be. “When they want me to do an interview, they kick me out,” Arum said last month. But he still enjoys his job and has no intention of leaving it anytime soon. “They consult me about some fights,” Arum says. “Hard work? No, it’s not a hard job. So people ask me, ‘Why don’t you retire?’ I’m not really working.”
