Junior welterweight (140 pounds) is one of boxing’s most competitive weight divisions, featuring the likes of undefeated champion Tim Bradley, up-and-coming superstars Devon Alexander and Amir Khan, as well as Juan Urango and Marcos Maidana, not to mention pound-for-pound king/congressman Manny Pacquiao, who has moved up to 147 pounds for now.
SCHEDULE: Full slate of upcoming matches
HBO wanted to take advantage of such talent and Ross Greenburg, the network’s sports boss, threw open the idea of putting the cream of the 140-pound crop in a tournament to determine a lineal champion.
“The way HBO will conduct these tournaments is to create semifinal fights on the same night, then three months later have a final,” Greenburg told USA TODAY on Tuesday. “It’s in our interest, and I think boxing’s interest to, like we did with the middleweight series years ago ? if you remember (Bernard) Hopkins beat (Felix) Trinidad in the final. We did it over two nights, four months apart. And it brings a speedy and concise result to it.”
That’s unlike Showtime’s ongoing successful Super Six World Classic, which has had great fights but will span two years.
Greenburg said the network earmarked four junior welterweights to compete ? Mexican superstar Juan Manuel Marquez, if he beats Juan Diaz on July 31, England’s Khan, and Americans Bradley and Alexander. Bradley’s promoter, Gary Shaw, and Alexander’s promoter, Don King, were all for it. However, Golden Boy, which handles the other two fighters, nixed the idea.
“I think Amir Khan and his father were calling a lot of the shots, too,” Greenburg said. “And they didn’t feel like they were ready, willing and able to guarantee that they would fight the winner of Bradley-Alexander. So I think there might have been a variety of reasons from that side that (kept) this tournament from happening.”
Nevertheless, HBO will keep the spotlight on the loaded division, Greenburg said.
“We’re going to take those four fighters and add to it the likes of Victor Ortiz and (Marcos) Maidana and see what kind of prime matchups we can create that ultimately somewhere down the road lead to a 140-pound champion,” Greenburg said.
Bradley (25-0, 11 knockouts) is up first on July 17 (HBO, 9:45 p.m. ET), putting his zero on the line against another unbeaten, Argentine Luis Carlos Abregu, in Rancho Mirage, Calif. It’s Bradley’s first HBO fight, but he’ll move up a weight class to 147.
Alexander (19-0, 12 KOs) follows on Aug. 7, putting his WBC and IBF 140-pound titles on the line against German Andriy Kotelnik (31-3-1) in Alexander’s hometown of St. Louis (HBO, 10 p.m.).
“Maybe at the beginning of (2011) we can set up a big fight with Bradley and Alexander, and the Marquez-Diaz winner fighting Amir Khan,” Greenburg said.
“I think we’ll always keep prodding for a tournament. It’s in the best interests of the fighters, the sport and the promoters, whether they realize it or not. There’s much to be gained. It brings sanity and logic to boxing, which it desperately needs.”
Ace (under)card:
Golden Boy announced a stacked televised undercard for the Marquez-Diaz main event at Mandalay Bay on July 31 (HBO PPV, 9 p.m.).
The six undercard fighters have a combined 156-12 record with 108 KOs. Former two-time world champion Jorge Linares (28-1, 18 KOs) takes on Rocky Juarez (28-6-1, 20 KOs) in a lightweight bout; lightweight Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (26-1-1, 18 KOs) takes on Cuban veteran Joel Sotomayor (37-4-1, 22 KOs); and Daniel Jacobs (20-0, 17 KOs) of Brooklyn, N.Y., challenges Russian Dmitry Pirog (17-0, 13 KOs) for the vacant WBO middleweight title.
