Have fights, will travel.
Don King’s February 3rd show, which is to be televised on Showtime and that features an attractive doubleheader of Jesus Chavez-Julio Diaz (for the IBF lightweight crown) and Tomasz Adamek-Chad Dawson (for the WBC light heavyweight title), was to have taken place in Miami, Florida on Super Bowl weekend at the Miami Arena. But ironically, as checks started bouncing like basketballs from a private investor representing the Miami Heat’s old gym, this card has found a new home up north in the ‘Sunshine State’.
According to Alan Hopper, director of public relations for DKP, the show has been moved to Kissimmee, Florida at the Silver Spurs Arena at Osceola Heritage Park, which has a capacity of 9,000.
“Tuto Zabala has been doing fights in Kissimmee since 2001. He’s done many, many fights on Telemundo there and he says he draws 2,000 a show,” Hopper would tell Maxboxing on Wednesday. “His company is All-Star Boxing and he’s going to be assisting us in this promotion. We’re working together on this one. We got a guy who knows the market.”
Meanwhile, look for litigation between King and one Allan Howell, who represented the arena and was responsible for bringing in the private investor whose $500,000 check bounced. (No word if it was more like the ‘new’ NBA ball or the one they just went back to.)
King – who was traveling to Switzerland for this weekend’s title bout between Nicolai Valuev and Jameel McCline – has learned a lesson here; if you’re going to deal with a Howell, make it ‘Thurston B.’ and not Allan, who seems to have quite a checkered history. According to Wikipedia, the former GM/President of the CFL Ottawa Roughriders, “has done jail time for numerous counts of fraud related to sports franchises. His crimes range from petty theft to crimes ranging in the thousands of dollars. He has an extensive history of other fraud-related charges.”
Talk about a Miami vice.
MARCH MADNESS
The battle between the world’s best bantamweight (Rafael Marquez) and the world’s best jr. featherweight (Israel Vazquez) is all set for March 3rd. It’s one of the most anticipated ‘fight fan’s fights’ (which I guess is a euphemism for ‘about 15 of us will really look forward to it’) of 2007.
So just where does this matchup take place?
“It could wind up in Reno, Vegas or maybe Texas or California,” says Marquez’s promoter, Gary Shaw. “Those are the four places it could wind up.”
My personal suggestion? The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Shaw says that the co-feature that night on Showtime will be IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan facing Jose Victor Burgos.
MACAU MADNESS
OK, so is the April 28th bout between Manny Pacquiao and In Jin Chi signed, sealed and delivered for Macau?
“Not yet,” said Bob Arum on Wednesday afternoon to Maxboxing. “It was supposed to be last night but then he shot pool all night. So anyway, it’ll be done today.”
Arum says this bout will not be pay-per-view, but on regular HBO.
MARGARITO MANDATORY
So will Top Rank participate in the WBO purse bid for the welterweight title bout between their champion Antonio Margarito and top-rated challenger Paul Williams?
“I have no idea,” Arum would say. “Right now, the doctor is saying he shouldn’t fight, he shouldn’t go into the gym until April.”
It seems that Arum’s preference is for Margarito to go straight into his June affair versus Miguel Cotto. When asked if they were being hypocritical in not facing Williams, Arum would answer: “The Williams fight is not a money fight and the Cotto fight is a money fight. And he’s going to make by far and away his biggest payday. Besides, if he beats Cotto he’s on top of the world. So why would he even think about fighting Williams at this point?
“Now, if he beats Cotto and then didn’t want to fight Williams, then you could make a case for it.”
As for the actual purse bid, “I don’t know how they can have a purse bid at this point when we don’t know exactly when he’s going to be able to fight again,” Arum would say. “Now, if he was going to fight on March 3rd, then it would be different. But he’s definitely not going to fight on March 3rd. And so there’s no hurry for a purse bid. I think we would because what happens if (Oktay) Urkal upsets Cotto? Then we would do the fight.”
When asked about his fighter’s health, manager Sergio Diaz would say, “As of now, Antonio will not be fighting in March. That hand injury is still there. We thought it was going to get better, but the way it looks, it’s not. So we will not be able to fight in March.”
Margarito was given a cortisone shot last week on his right hand.
Diaz says a Williams fight could happen after the Cotto fight in June.
“Definitely, definitely, we are willing to fight Paul Williams by the end of 2007.”
WORLD CUP PPD
Golden Boy’s World Cup event, which would’ve pitted their champions (Daniel Ponce de Leon, Jhonny Gonzalez and Fernando Montiel) versus a group of Filipinos in March in the Philippines has been backed up.
“We are going to postpone it till July or August,” said Eric Gomez, matchmaker for GBP. “It’s better all around for everybody because Oscar (De La Hoya) wants to be there. And in order for this to be a big success it’s important to have him there and present. Having it in March, Oscar wouldn’t be able to be there.”
So what happens to Ponce de Leon and Gonzalez in the interim?
“We’re looking at Ponce possibly underneath Barrera (on March 17th) and we’re looking at a few other options. And Jhonny Gonzalez, has a mandatory (Irene Pacheco) he’s got to do and we’re currently looking into that now and working on that.”
Gomez mentioned that the press conference to officially announce Barrera-Marquez will take place next week in Los Angeles. Another bout that might take place on that undercard is a jr. welterweight tilt between Steve Forbes and Demetrius Hopkins, a fight aimed at bringing in some pay-per-view subscribers east of the Mississippi.
“We want to bring in a different audience and we feel it’s a good fight. It’s going to bring in a lot of east coast viewers that would most likely want to buy the pay-per-view to see Forbes, who was on ‘The Contender’, which had really good ratings, and Demetrius is red hot right now. He’s undefeated, he’s been winning lately, he’s had some pretty good fights and so we feel it’s a good competitive fight.”
CONGRATS
To Allan Hopper who got married to one Louise Ball this past weekend – and yes, his boss showed up and acted as a human party favor from what I’m told.
Hopper is one of the game’s class acts. Good luck and lifelong happiness, big fella!!!
RANDOM THOUGHTS
– I have no clue just who will actually train ‘the Golden Boy’ for his May showdown against Floyd Mayweather, but I’m just waiting for Robert Alcazar to throw his name into the mix sometime soon.
– It’s a long ways from releasing my 2007 K9 Awards, but for ‘KO of the Year’, it’s going to be tough to top what the ex-wife of New York Giants standout Michael Strahan did to him during their divorce with the prenuptial agreement.
That thing was as one-sided as Tyson-Spinks.
He should go Rae Carruth – on the attorneys that signed off on that deal. I think Mr. Subway knows how Manny Pacquiao must’ve felt fighting for Murad Muhammad.
– A few sports look-a-likes: Orlando Magic power forward Dwight Howard and Dallas Cowboy Terrell Owens. And Marty Schottenheimer and Schleprock.
– I’ll say it right now, Texas Longhorn Kevin Durandt is pound-for-pound the best college basketball player today, bar none, end of story.
– OK, I hear all the cries of Margarito being hypocritical (which are coming mostly from Mayweather sycophants). Well, he is if he doesn’t face Williams later this year if he downs Cotto. I think Cliff Rold of Ringtalk.com summed it up best in his latest column.
Again, till I hear Margarito is turning down a career high payday to face Williams – with no intention of ever facing him – then this is comparing rotten apples to oranges.
