Top Rank and ESPN have announced their love for one another for the world to see with a lengthy commitment beyond what they original agreed to when the two lovebirds first started dating. We also have a major retirement, a WBA ordered fight, a canceled fight, and more.
- Top Rank on ESPN – First, the big one. Apparently Top Rank and ESPN are so happy with their partnership that they tossed out their original four year deal in favor of a new, bigger seven year agreement. Each year under its terms Top Rank will bring 18 fight cards to ESPN proper and 12 to ESPN+. On top of those thirty promised shows, Top Rank will negotiate the rights to an additional 24 international cards for ESPN+. Dan Rafael cites that the majority of these shows will come from Frank Warren in the UK, Zanfer Promotions in Mexico, and Teiken Promotions in Japan. We are going to get a whole lot of boxing in the coming years, folks. Add in DAZN’s promised 53 cards a year and we are at two a week on average before we even get a show from PBC, Golden Boy, HBO, or anyone else. The sport is thriving.
- So Long, Lucas – 35 year old former Argentinian top contender Lucas Matthysse (39-5, 36 KOs) is hanging them up following his one sided stoppage loss to Manny Pacquiao last month. The slugger never won a true, full world title, but he definitely won the hearts of fight fans with his aggressive and powerful style. Matthysse will probably be best remembered for either his career defining destruction of Lamont Peterson or his fight of the year contenders with Ruslan Provodnikov and John Molina Jr. He isn’t a hall of famer, but the Argentinian will be remembered fondly in the sport by those who saw him at his best. Hopefully he stays retired too as recent performances have not been up to the par of his prime.
- WBA Business – The WBA has ordered secondary titleholder Ryota Murata (14-1, 11 KOs) to defend his secondary strap against season one World Boxing Super Series participant Rob Brant (23-1, 16 KOs). This throws a thorn into Top Rank and Teiken’s side as Murata’s co-promoters had planned to put him in next with Irish unbeaten Golden Boy prospect Jason Quigley (14-0, 11 KOs), but that isn’t out of the question still either. All it would take would be an accepted step aside fee. Either fight would be well matched and fine by me, though Murata probably wins in either circumstance. These matchups will help sort out the division below the GGG-Canelo-Saunders-Jacobs level.
- Coming to America – 2016 Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist Joe Joyce (5-0, 5 KOs) didn’t get the gold medal most thought he deserved in Rio, but the British prospect has gotten himself off to a promising start to his pro career. The problem? He’s 32 already after a long and successful amateur career. Accordingly, “The Juggernaut” is on the fast track as a professional. He won’t have twenty something fights before he steps up to the top of the division. To aid in this necessary rapid ascent, Joe Joyce has come stateside and hired a new trainer in Abel Sanchez. Stylistically, I love this pairing. Sanchez, one of the top trainers in all the sport, excels with come forward, aggressive guys and that is exactly what Joyce brings to the ring. This is a very natural pairing.
- Sullivan Out – Finally, we close with a bit of bad news. 36 year old Cuban light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (21-2, 14 KOs) has withdrawn from his upcoming Golden Boy Fight Night main event slot scheduled for the 18th. This show was to be broadcast on Facebook as part of a new, experimental streaming deal between Golden Boy, Main Events, and the social media giant, but I’m not sure what will happen to the show now. I suspect it is probably canceled. Popular Long Island regional level fighter Seanie Monaghan (29-1, 17 KOs) was supposed to be his opponent, but I don’t know if he can carry a show outside of his home area.
