Will they? Won’t they? They will. Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez have once again agreed to a rematch for Mexican Independence Day weekend this fall. We also have news on Terence Crawford’s next date, Carl Frampton, and more.
- Big Men – Joe Joyce (4-0, 4 KOs), the man largely considered robbed of a 2016 Olympic gold medal in the super heavyweight division, has had a change of opponent for his Friday night main event on UK station Dave. Ivica Bacurin (29-13-1, 18 KOs) of Croatia is now the man set to fall down next to Joyce. Originally he was set to meet Ghana’s Richard Lartey. While Lartey has a better record, neither man figures to be much of a test.
- The Replacement – 38 year old Mexican fighter Roberto Garcia (41-3, 24 KOs) has stepped in to replace Billy Joe Saunders in against Martin Murray (36-4-1, 17 KOs) to help save the June 23rd Frank Warren show. This is probably a more competitive and action oriented fight, but it is also a worlds less relevant one to the international scene as a whole. Murray marks a significant step up for Garcia despite Martin being notably diminished and Roberto having won thirteen straight. Prospects Anthony Yarde (15-0, 14 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (7-0, 7 KOs will be in action on the undercard.
- An ESPN+ title fight – The rumored July 28th Top Rank on ESPN+ card has come to fruition. It will be headlined by a battle for the vacant WBO lightweight strap between Christopher Diaz (23-0, 15 KOs) of Puerto Rico and Japanese contender Masayuki Ito (23-1-1, 12 KOs). Diaz is a low key, quality prospect that Top Rank has brought up uncharacteristically quietly. He will be favored here, but Ito can fight too. Dominican welterweight prospect Carlos Adames (14-0, 11 KOs) will return in the co-main event against Artemio Reyes (25-2, 20 KOs) as well.
- Windsor Park – August 18th looks to be a big card for Frank Warren at Windsor Park in Belfast. Local hero Carl Frampton (25-1, 14 KOs) will headline. His yet to be signed but heavily rumored opponent is likely unbeaten Australian contender Luke Jackson (16-0, 7 KOs). The 33 year old is a former Olympian and a competent pro fighter for sure, but he’s likely in over his head against an elite fighter. Frampton and his team wanted to try to fry some bigger fish and fight for a title with this date originally. Circumstance has not played along, however, and we’ll all have to settle for a lesser fight here.
- Fury – Enigmatic and unpredictable popular former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (26-0, 19 KOs) will also return on Frampton’s Windsor Park undercard. Fury returned last weekend after a two and a half year layoff following upsetting long time divisional king Wladimir Klitschko to win the heavyweight championship due to substance abuse and mental healthy issues. Fury still seemed as crazy as ever in the ring in his farce of a comeback fight too before his opponent quit after four rounds. No word for an opponent for this date yet, but it won’t be anyone who is a real threat just yet for sure.
- The rematch – The rematch is back on. The will they, won’t they nonsense is over. Gennady Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) will indeed once again meet Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) on September 15th. Much has been written over the last few days about splits and deadlines. I am sure smarter writers than I used that drama to drive clicks to their sites, but I don’t have much tolerance for it. Here is the shortest version possible: They fight. Its a draw, but most think GGG won. They scheduled a rematch, but Canelo fails a drug test. In response GGG demands a much better split of the money for himself for the rematch to happen now. He gets an improvement after a lot of drama about missed deadlines, but maybe not as much as he wanted. Now they fight again on September 15th. This will certainly be an HBO PPV and one of the biggest fights of the year.
- Crawford Next – October 13th is the targeted date for the return of pound for pound elite welterweight titleholder Terence “Bud” Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs). The plan is to have his next fight be at home in Omaha, Nebraska. This means scheduling around Nebraska Cornhusker football and they are away on that date. Given the less prestigious location, one wouldn’t figure we’re looking at too major of an opponent and early rumors are agreeing. Fellow in house Top Rank fighter Jose Benavidez (27-0, 18 KOs) is the name being floated around. Benavidez was once considered one of the best prospects in the sport, but it never quite panned out for him despite still being technically undefeated to this day. Bud Crawford would be a big favorite in that one.
