Promoter Kathy Duva and Oscar De La Hoya greet the boxing media prior to the Hopkins-Kovalev Main Events/Golden Boy co-promotion. Photo by Naoki Fukuda

GOLDEN BOY PROMOTIONS

What’s up man! Glad to see the mailboxes back on and hope you enjoyed the vacation. I wanted to write in and give props to Golden Boy Promotions for doing their part for making fights people want to see. Al Haymon and Richard Schaefer tried their hardest to bury Oscar and the team and it didn’t work. Canelo vs Cotto, GGG vs Lemieux, and Postal vs Matthesse are the most exciting fights all year and that Canelo vs Kirkland was great.

Do you think some of the PBC fighters would possibly come back to Golden Boy? Keith Thurman, Amir Khan, Shawn Porter and some of the other guys had their eyes on the Floyd Mayweather Sweepstakes and they all missed out. All of those guys fought the guys Haymon put in front of them and it got them no more popular to the public. I just don’t see how PBC could catapult those guys into superstars and HBO, Top Rank and Golden Boy knows a lot about turning prospects into stars and stars into superstars. It just seems like it’s way too many fighters on PBC and no way all those guys can stay happy if they’re already changing feelings about the move. Thanks. – Michael from Angleton

Who says any of the name-fighters with Haymon have “changing feelings” about the move (from Golden Boy Promotions to the PBC)? What have you heard, bro? Dish! Dish!

In all seriousness, I’m sure most of Haymon’s young standouts who used to be Golden Boy fighters would want to keep their options open if the PBC league doesn’t pan out. And I don’t think Golden Boy Promotions would holds grudges against most of Haymon’s stable that used to fight under their banner. There could be a few, though. Abner Mares and Leo Santa Cruz come to mind. GBP took a chance on Santa Cruz when other promoters dissed or overlooked him and before Haymon signed him, and they helped guide him to world titles in two divisions. They developed Mares from 0-0 (he was first homegrown champ, come to think of it) and helped guide to major titles in three divisions before he signed up with Haymon (under devious means). So there might be some bad blood with those two, and maybe some guys like Kid Chocolate, who they took a chance on (before Haymon nabbed them).

But I don’t think GBP would have a problem working with Thurman, Porter, Khan, Deontay Wilder, hell, even Adrien Broner, in the foreseeable future as long as those guys are willing to challenge themselves with quality matchups that fans want to see.

Now that Oscar has re-taken the reigns of his company there is an emphasis – as you noted – on making the kind of fights that fans want to see (live and on TV) and the kind of risky matchups that are going to advance the careers and statures of their fighters. And since late last year, it’s been very clear that GBP is willing to work with other promoters to make this happen. They worked with Banner Promotions to make Matthysse-Provodnikov. They’re working with Top Rank to give us Matthysse-Postol. GGG-Lemieux is a co-promotion with K2. Cotto-Canelo is a co-promotions with Roc Nation (obviously), and so on. Even the smaller shows we’re seeing on HBO Latino (Herrera-Lundy and Perez-Mikhaylenko) are co-promotions and the main event bouts are fights that the GBP fighter can lose (as Johan Perez did against that Russian beast this past Saturday). Main Events promotes Dmitry Mikhaylenko. Lou DiBella (who’s been working with Haymon) promotes Tevin Farmer, who looked very good stopping Daulis Prescott in the opening bout of Saturday’s HBO Latino show.

Obviously, GBP won’t be working with Haymon any time soon with the current lawsuit going on, but in a couple years? Who knows?

Cold Wars don’t last forever.

(Oh, and by the way, this column is called the “mailbag” not the “mailbox.”)

REMATCH CLAUSE/MANDATORY CHALLENGER

Hey Dougie,

Hope all is well with you. I have a question that I hope you can help me out with.

Would a rematch clause in the inevitable Cotto vs Canelo contract change anything with GGG getting a shot at the winner first?

I’m a GGG fan and would love to see him fully unify the middleweight division over the next couple of years. From what I understand he would be the mandatory challenger to the winner of Cotto vs Canelo, but please correct me if I’m wrong. I can understand what goes on inside of the ring just fine, but trying to understand how some of these contracts work is difficult for me. I believe that if Cotto were to win (I personally don’ think will happen, but who knows) that he would vacate the titles instead of fighting GGG and officially move down/possibly retire. Thoughts? Thanks for your time. – Jonathon B., Palm Desert, CA

My guess is that Cotto would rather not deal with a beast like GGG at this stage of his career but I can’t say for certain that he would avoid his WBC mandatory challenger if he beats Canelo. Cotto’s never avoided a tough challenge in the past and he’s got a lot of pride. I think it all depends on how the Canelo fight (which will hopefully be officially announced soon – rumor is that the purse-split portion of the rematch clause is what’s holding it up) plays out.

If Cotto beats Canelo handily and without taking too much punishment, I wouldn’t rule out a Cotto-GGG showdown sometime next year. However, if it’s a close and exciting fight (which it could be) I’m sure there would be an immediate rematch and GGG would be standing on the sidelines. However, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t get his hands on the WBC title. I think the WBC will strip the winner of Cotto-Canelo if he doesn’t defend the green belt against GGG. (Either that or somebody’s gonna have to pay the Good Boy Killa a hefty step-aside fee.)

If Cotto-Canelo turns out to be a great fight and does great business, I don’t think they would worry about being stripped of the WBC belt. They’d go ahead with Cotto-Canelo II (with THE RING middleweight title on the line).

SHOBOX/HBO LATINO PROSPECTS

What up Dougie,

Very entertaining if one-sided fights this weekend. I was impressed with Mikhaylenko, Derevyanchenko, Prograis, and Farmer but would have liked to see Khytrov do a better job of cutting off the ring. And slipping the jab for that matter but I wonder if that is too critical (not exactly your legendary level of hatred however LOL). I would like to hear your opinions on the future of these fighters.

Now some mythical matchups:

GGG vs. Bennie Briscoe (I like Briscoe by close maybe controversial decision)

Krusher vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi (Camden Buzzsaw by split decision)

Money vs. Donald Curry (Curry by dominant UD)

Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Emile Griffith (SRL by split maybe controversial decision)

Tito vs. Tony Ayala Jr. (Tough, but I think Tito may win a controversial decision. He would probably have to get off of the floor to do it)

I apologize if you have already answered some of these in the mailbag. It would be nice to have a database of your mythical matchups. How else are Money fans to answer the questions that keep them up at night? Like in what round does Henry Armstrong get destroyed against TBE? Exactly how long does it take Roberto Duran’s yellow streak to come out against Mayweather’s virtuoso boxing? When does Mickey Walker wilt under the pressure of Floyd’s savvy backpedaling? And of course why should an undefeated fighter take on that bum Harry Greb? Can he say 48 have tried and 48 have failed? Without the Database to check they must be tossing and turning at night wrestling with these questions. No wonder they’re so irritable LOL. – Mark, Indiana

They are a testy lot, aren’t they? Perhaps they’re just trying to emulate their often irritable hero, “Moody May.”

Anyway, the mental image of this line made me chuckle: “When does Mickey Walker wilt under the pressure of Floyd’s savvy backpedaling?”

So you want a Mythical Matchup Database? Really? Are these opinions that important? I don’t know, man. How about you try doing this first:

Go to the “Search” field in the upper-right corner of this website and type in “mailbag” “mythical matchup” and the names of the fighters in the mythical matchup that you are looking for.

If that doesn’t work, do the same thing with Google, but add “Dougie’s mailbag” and “RingTV.com”

Speaking of mythical matchups, how about I take a crack at yours?

GGG vs. Bennie Briscoe – yeah, I can see the perennial middleweight contender from Philly outworking GGG, but I can also see Golovkin landing the harder, cleaner shots en route to a decision. Either way, it would be a good extended scrap.

Krusher vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi – I agree with your pick.

Money vs. Donald Curry – I agree with your pick.

Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Emile Griffith – I agree with your pick but I don’t think it would be a controversial decision, just close.

Tito vs. Tony Ayala Jr. – Tito by mid-rounds stoppage in a very good fight. He might have to get up from an early knockdown but once he connected with clean shots he’d force Ayala to trade and finish the shootout soon after.

Regarding the prospects that were showcased on this past weekend on ShoBox and HBO Latino, I was impressed with Derevyanchenko, Mikhaylenko, Prograis and Farmer.

Derevyanchenko and Mikhaylenko are technical pressure fighters. I liked their patience, pacing, footwork and balance. Both guys are accurate punchers with power and quickness. And both put those quick, heavy mitts on experienced veterans. Prograis and Farmer are fast, fluid boxers with good combinations and high workrates.

All four standouts went to the body well.

Khytrov was a bit disappointing. Yeah, he’s got heavy hands but as you noted, he’s a rather plodding stalker who doesn’t cut the ring off well. He’s not active enough for my taste. Oh well, he’s still learning. Let’s see how he progresses going into 2016. I can’t wait to see Mikhaylenko take on some of the better fringe contenders (or even top-10 fighters) in the welterweight division. That dude is a beast.

STILL NOT PLAYING FAIR

I read your reviews on Mayweather-Berto and as expected you ripped the selection. I agree Berto isn’t a solid choice but Algeri wasn’t a solid choice for Pac Man, so what is the difference? Nobody complained when he selected Algeri, in fact you were all giddy over the matchup, but you want to rip Mayweather for taking a soft touch. Man you are a hypocritical, unfair, and biased ass dude. I don’t know if this is self- hate for your black side, if there is a black side. To be so knowledgeable in the fight game, you really fall in the pattern of most novice fight fans who wanna see blood and guts and not appreciate the sweet science (hit and not get hit). Your like the men back during the Jack Johnson era who criticized his defensive prowess and called him coward but when Jim Jeffries, Tommie Burns, or any other white fighter fought defensively they were a genius. It’s easy to talk s__t behind a keyboard and I am sure some fighters have wanted to whip your ass for talking crap, but cooler heads prevailed. I am not a Mayweather apologist, in fact some of the stuff he does is annoying and downright weak as hell, but I can appreciate the man’s skill and ability, just I do for other fighters (GGG, Pac Man, Thurmon, Khan, Klit,), who are not black. Look beyond yourself hatred of your so called black side little man and play fair. – Andre

You’re a schmuck, Andre. You have no concept of fairness. You just want everyone to see things the way you do.

You’re also a whiner. How the hell are you gonna get butt hurt about anyone – let alone little ole “self-hating” me – for not being into Mayweather-Berto? I haven’t even bothered to truly rip the matchup. I just stated that it’s a gross mismatch and that I don’t care about it.

But, like a typical Moody May fan, that FAIR opinion pisses you off. So you gotta go and piss on another fighter in a typically weak effort to prop up your idol (in this case Manny Pacquiao). And, in typical Mayweather-supporter fashion, you can’t help but tell lies. I was never “giddy” about Pacquiao-Algieri. I came of age in the Show-Me State, you twit, so if you’re going to make an accusation you’re going to have to back it up.

As soon as Pacquiao-Algieri was made this was my response to frequent mailbag contributor Juan Valverde of San Diego’s complaint (in the July 21, 2014 Monday mailbag) that it was a pay-per-view main event:

I hear ya, Juan. It would be great if the top draws of boxing – Mayweather, Pacquiao and Canelo – would mix in some regular Showtime or HBO appearances into their pay-per-view schedules. Canelo-Lara wasn’t a PPV event, in my opinion. And neither is Pacquiao-Algieri. The problem is that Mayweather wants at least $30 million to fight. Pac wants at least $20 million per fight. Canelo is still making his name, so he isn’t asking for that much, but he still requires a hefty payday and he also wants to make whatever he can from the PPV upside. God bless these guys for being able to call the shots as they do, but all these damn pay-per-view shows aren’t good for the growth of the sport.

Boxing was healthier in the 1990s when the pay-per-view stars would fight on HBO or Showtime when they weren’t facing a well-known opponent or a real killer. Of course, the top dogs in the sport fought more than twice a year back then, so it made sense to mix it up.

And then I gave examples of De La Hoya, Mosley and others fighting lower-level contenders off of the PPV platform. At no time did I ever tell boxing fans that Pacquiao-Algieri was an awesome matchup that they should be excited about or pay to watch.

But since you asked what the difference is between Berto and Algieri, I’ll be happy to point that out to you (not that it will matter – you Mayweather fools only care about your boy remaining unbeaten). Algieri was an undefeated titleholder who was ranked at 140 pounds in every independent boxing ratings at the time Pacquiao fought him. That’s because Algieri beat a top contender/beltholder in Ruslan Provodnikov to “earn” his shot at PacMan. Berto is unranked. Berto is coming off two victories over unranked fighters (and he was losing to Josesito Lopez before he dropped the slugger twice). Berto is two fights removed from being stopped by a gatekeeper (Jesus Soto Karas), and he went life-and-death with that tough-but-basic slugger before getting TKO’d. Berto is 3-3 in his last six bouts. Everyone knows this. I didn’t even bother mentioning this stuff in my last mailbag, but you’re sorry ass forced me to spit it in your face.

Your Jack Johnson talk is pure garbage. (I’ve forgotten more about Johnson than you will ever know.) The Old-Time defensive specialists that Mayweather fans try to compare him to were far more active and gutsy than he’s ever been.

Give it up, man. Calling me being a “keyboard” s__t talker is meaningless. Say it to my face (as a few pro boxers have over the years – and I didn’t back down or cower when it happened). I don’t hide in my home or office. I get out. I go everywhere (and you can know exactly where by following me on social media). So if you think I’m some kind coward, prove it. Like I said, I’m from the Show-Me State.

WHAT’S YOUR BEEF WITH PACQUIAO?

What’s up Dougie. I first want to say I think you do a heck of a job with your craft and I can finally say my life is complete when I finally made your mail bag about a few months back when I asked about the A side of a Canelo Cotto match.

With that being said I want to know what your beef is with Pacquiao? In your Friday bag you said that after that May 2^nd stinker you don’t care about him. It’s not like Mayweather hasn’t made so many other fighters look the same way. Are you done with Canelo because he barely put up a fight against Floyd? With the Floyd fight as an exception when has he not put up a great and exciting fight? He has fought great competition throughout his career. Just two fights ago he fought a young undefeated pound for pound fighter in Bradley. And although Chris Algeri was a horrible choice for an opponent it’s not like he stunk up the joint. I am a huge PAC fan but I am not unreasonable so I would just like to hear your answer for this. I could understand if he fought nobodies or boring fights but for the most part that is not the case. Anyways keep it up and glad you got some much needed time away even though we missed you. Thanks. – Julio

I respect Pacquiao, but I’m tired of him the same way I’m tired of Mayweather. The five-year-plus wait for those two prima donnas to finally get in the ring (and the Cold War between GBP and Top Rank that they helped fuel) has a lot to do with my being fed up with Pacquiao. (I was fed up with Mayweather 10 years ago.) But the main reason I’m done with Pacquiao is that it’s clear to me that he’s no longer a fighter. Boxing is not a priority for him. I don’t like watching world-class fighters go through the motions in the ring, especially future hall of famers in big pay-per-view matches. I know Pac has faced several top-notch opponents from 126 to 147 pounds, but I don’t think he’s trained his ass of for a fight since his camp for Cotto in 2009. And ever since the Clottey fight (or maybe after the Margarito fight), I’ve had the feeling that he’s kind of half-assed it in the ring. (Although I will admit that he appeared to regain some fire for his fourth fight with Marquez.)

And then there’s May 2. The Mega-Dud. Pac laid an egg (and Mayweather was glad for that). As my longtime buddy and peer Steve Kim recently said on one of our 10 Count shows “it take two NOT to tango.” I know Pacquiao went into that fight injured, but all that tells me is that his battle-worn body can no longer go through a hard training camp without breaking down. It’s a sign that it’s time for him to hang up his gloves. Twenty years is a very long time to be a professional boxer, and Manny, as you know, has been in some wars. He needs to move on. I know I have.

KOVALEV-BETERBIEV

Hi Doug, have not read anybody talking about this yet. This is the most attractive fight to me out there…period…. Have you any ideas as to why Artur Beterbiev’s camp haven’t taken the fight? Experience could be a factor as I do not buy into all this mandatory/ purse bid stuff? Or maybe Beterbiev’s camp see this as the premiere fight in the lights for them as they aren’t going to send Adonis Stevenson to the slaughter. Cheers – Rob Portchester, UK

I think Yvon Michel wants Beterbiev to get in some high-quality experience before turning his Russian steamroller loose on Sergey Kovalev or Stevenson. Certainly, an IBF title elimination about against a legend like Bernard Hopkins or even a solid top-10 contender like Isaac Chilemba would be an invaluable ring education for the hard-punching former amateur standout. (However, I should not that, according to Dan Rafael, B-Hop is looking at fighting Arthur Abraham and Chilemba could consider a WBC-title eliminator against Andrzej Fonfara.)

I would have been just as excited as you are had Beterbiev’s people accepted Main Event’s offer to challenge Kovalev, but I’m fine with letting this potential all-Russian showdown marinate a little bit.

Beterbiev needs more than just nine pro bouts under his belt before taking on a badass like Krusher. I know he’s got two former titleholders (Tavoris Cloud and Gabriel Campillo) on his resume, but those vets were damaged goods by the time he got his heavy hands on them. And I didn’t see a world-beater during his last bout (a seventh-round stoppage of unrated Alexander Johnson). Beterbiev still has some things to work on before he takes on the top 175 pounders.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Beterbiev is a beast, but if he were to land a fight against the 50-year-old Hopkins or the underrated Chilemba this year, I might those two boxer-technicians to beat him.

STAND-IN MAILBAG EDITOR

Hi Dougie,

Stephen Edwards aka “Breadman”, Julian Williams’ trainer, formerly of boxingtalk.com and presently of boxingscene.com, would be a great substitute. Although his fighter is signed up with Al Haymon so don’t know if you would allow him on your airwaves, LOL.

Hope you had a good rest and looking forward to future mailbags! – Tigran

I know and like Edwards (and I know you were joking with that Haymon quip but just for the record, I have no problem with his fighter’s PBC affiliation and I wish them both nothing but success). I have a ton of respect for his work (training and mailbag columns) and his boxing knowledge. We often talk and debate about the sport and its grand history through social media and email. He would be the perfect substitute mailbag editor. I’ll keep him in mind the next time I’m unable to compile a mailbag column due to vacation or family obligations. Hopefully, Bread would be willing and able to help us out.

FLEETWOOD CHECKS IN

Wasup bruh! Good bag…… been busy, VERY BUSY! Just giving you a shout out! – Fleetwood

Fleet! You’re alive (and well, I hope)! I thought you had forsaken us. Thanks for the props on the last mailbag and the all-too brief check in/shout out.

I know what you mean about being busy. This year has been a grind.

But still, you gotta share your thoughts and opinions with us when you get the time. The mailbag needs you. These Moody May fans are going to cause me to revert to an Ozark Mountain barbarian if they keep up their usual bulls__t. I don’t want to have to show the ugly side of my Missouri upbringing, but damn, some of these fools deserve it.

Check in again when you can.

BRILLIANT

And Mayweather fans will probably appreciate your “craft.”

Thanks for a good laugh. Great way to end the Friday mailbag. – Gerald

It wasn’t “fair,” but thanks for appreciating my self-hating sense of humor.

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.