WHAT ABOUT STEVENSON!?

Hi Dougie,

All this chatter about who is the next opponent for Andre Ward, but I haven’t heard Adonis Stevenson mentioned. He’s #2 Ring rated. I’d put that fight up there with Ward-Sergey Kovalov.

Did Stevenson disappear? I know he unsuccessfully sought a match with Kovalov. If he isn’t retired, or in witness protection, how do we skip him even for honorable mention? I can’t keep up with which promoter won’t do business with which. And I won’t rant about how unconscionable it is. But you do know in which prima donna’s stable Stevenson resides. Appreciate it if you could clarify. – Mikescapes

I’m happy (but also sad) to clarify the situation for ya, Mike.

Stevenson isn’t retired or in witness protection (although some fans claim that he is in order to hide from The Krusher). The lineal/WBC champ is promoted by Yvon Michel of GYM, the most prominent company in the Quebec region of Canada, and he’s advised by Al Haymon. And Haymon, as you can probably guess, is the sticking point for a potential Stevenson-Ward showdown.

There’s reportedly bad blood between Haymon and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, the founder of Roc Nation Sports, which promotes Ward. Word on the street (and I hate to begin a sentence with that phrase, but Haymon and Jay-Z won’t publicly address the issue) says this bad blood stems from an ugly 2011 lawsuit that singer/entertainer Beyonce directed at Haymon (and her own father). Carter is married to Beyonce.

There seems to be some merit to this Haymon-Jay-Z “beef.” Not long after tossing his hat into boxing realm, Carter’s Roc Nation Sports won a purse bid for then-WBO middleweight titleholder Peter Quillin’s mandatory defense against Matt Korobov. Quillin, who is advised by Haymon, abdicated his WBO belt rather than going through with the fight (and making hefty payday). Roc Nation also reportedly made overtures to promote Hamon-advised fighters, such as Deontay Wilder, Keith Thurman and Adrien Broner. Massive offers were made, all were rebuffed.

Bottom line, Al and Jay ain’t doin’ business anytime soon. Beyond the promotional impasse, there’s Ward’s contract with HBO, which (for the time being) has an adversarial relationship with Haymon. Kovalev’s exclusive contract with HBO is the main obstacle preventing a deal from being reached with Stevenson.

Anyway, I hate writing about the business/politics side of boxing. I view it as peripheral s__t, but the fact of matter is that it often dictates what happens or doesn’t happen in the sport these days. That’s why when D.W. from Boston asked about Ward’s potential opponents (before the Kovalev showdown) in Monday’s mailbag he phrased it like this:

My question is who do you think Ward will/should fight first before his eventually showdown with Sergey? Which fighter (who realistically can fight Ward without promotional issues like the Roc Nation/PBC feud) do you think would be a good barometer for how Ward handles the Kovalev?

And that’s the reason I brought up Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (who fights for Golden Boy Promotions) and Isaac Chilemba (who is promoted by Main Events). Those two contenders are affiliated with promoters that have a good relationship with HBO.

I know it’s frustrating for a longtime boxing fan to have to factor in promotional conflicts and network exclusivity every time he or she talks about potential matchups. I’d love to see Ward challenge Stevenson in his next fight. If he won (and I believe he has the ability to do so) and then took on Kovalev in his next bout the winner of that showdown would be THE RING/undisputed/unified champion at light heavyweight.

It hurts me to write this, but the age of “Cold Wars” between boxing’s power brokers is quickly making undisputed champions a thing of the past.

WARD VS. STEVENSON

Hi Dougie,

I made sure I stayed off the turps before writing this email. Have been thoroughly enjoying the recent mailbags.

My inquiry/comments regard the future of Andre Ward and the LHW Division.

Firstly, I think it would be wise for Ward, as most fans suggest, to have at least 2 more increasingly competitive matches before taking on Krusher.

I see things a little differently though, and would appreciate your opinion.

Wouldn’t it make for an excellent ‘winner takes all’ mega fight if Ward were to fight and beat Adonis Stevenson and claim the WBC strap? A match to determine the undisputed LHW champ of the world?

Also I wracked my brains and can’t remember the last time the division had an undisputed champ (which, if I’m correct used to require holding 3 of the 4 major belts, but now it is 4 out of 4 to be undisputed).

Look forward to your thoughts. Regards. – Ki, Sydney Oz

Thanks for the kind words about this column and for sharing your thoughts, Ki (I like you better sober!)

It wouldn’t just be “excellent” if Ward were to win the WBC title before challenging Kovalev for the other three major 175-pound belts (WBA, IBF and WBO), it would be totally f__king AWESOME.

Alas, for reasons detailed in my response to the previous email, chances of that happening or slim and none (and Slim just left town as Don King used to say).

Also I wracked my brains and can’t remember the last time the division had an undisputed champ (which, if I’m correct used to require holding 3 of the 4 major belts, but now it is 4 out of 4 to be undisputed). To my knowledge no light heavyweight has ever held all four major 175-pound titles (WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO). The last man to be recognized as “undisputed” light heavyweight champ (which is not necessarily the same thing as the “lineal,” “RING,” or “world” champ) was Roy Jones Jr., who unified the WBC and WBA titles he already held when he outpointed Reggie Johnson for the IBF belt in June 1999. At the time, as you noted, holding the WBA, WBC and IBF belts was enough to be considered the unified champ. One didn’t need to hold the WBO belt to be undisputed. Jones held all three until early 2003 when he challenged heavyweight beltholder John Ruiz (and was subsequently stripped by each sanctioning organization). Prior to Jones, the “lineal” and WBO beltholder unified three major title when he outpointed Virgil Hill for the WBA and IBF straps in June 1997. The last truly undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division (the holder of ALL the major belts) was Michael Spinks, who unified the WBA and WBC titles (the only two sanctioning organizations at the time) by outpointing Dwight Muhammad Qawi in March 1983. The IBF wasn’t formed until later that year (and once they were they wisely recognized Spinks as their champ, along with Larry Holmes and Marvin Hagler).

INJURIES, JACK-BUTE ODDS, PACQUIAO-BRADLEY

Hey Doug!

Hope all is well man. Just a number of random thoughts and questions I wanted to throw your way to keep things interesting. I’ll start with something that has been bothering me lately.

I feel like there are an inordinate number of injury postponements in boxing lately. Is it me? Have there are always been so many injury postponements or do you think fighters use that more as an excuse now to get out of bouts these days? It may just be that I follow the sport much more closely now and am more aware.

Moving on, I was surprised to see Lucian Bute open as such an underdog to Badou Jack – who is close to a 5:1 favorite. I mean given Bute’s performance against James DeGale and Jack’s recent change in style, I would actually call this an almost even fight. Your thoughts?

In terms of the big April fight, I’m not sure what Teddy has in store for Tim’s game plan but I think if it were me, I would have him feeding Manny a steady diet of jabs while pushing him back and fighting on the inside. Unless you’re a top counter puncher, I think taking away Pacquiao’s leverage and momentum is the best approach to beating him – especially with him coming off a layoff and injury. Additionally, given Pacquiao’s injury, layoff, focus on politics, and potential oversight of the threat Bradley poses – what do you think the odds of Bradley being able to stop Pacquiao are? Tim really sat down on his punches versus Brandon Rios (a much bigger guy) and seemed pretty effective. I can see that as being on the table, though not terribly likely.

Lastly, I’m hesitant to say I would call Amir Khan a favorite in his fight with Canelo Alvarez, but given how easily he has out-boxed very fast guys like Devon Alexander and made good ring cutters like Luis Collazo look foolish, I wonder if his shot at winning is much better than anyone is expecting. Let’s face it, Canelo does not have the best footwork to cut off the ring. Alfredo Angulo was all over Erislandy Lara and Canelo really struggled to land on the Cuban. Khan’s chin is the question mark but it is usually at risk when he underestimates his opponents and thinks he can stand in the pocket and trade. I’m sure he won’t have that inclination on May 7. I know a lot of people point to Chris Algieri, but I think Khan wasn’t motivated and Algieri is probably better at cutting the ring than Canelo who is more methodical. Or is it all a matter of if and when Khan gets sloppy?

Anyway, thanks for your time Doug and take care! – Vincent Santino, Winston-Salem, NC

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and questions, Vincent.

Is May 7 all a matter of if and when Khan gets sloppy? Yeah, it is. Khan can’t be sloppy in this fight. He knows that. He can be sharp and focused when he needs to be – that’s why he dominated Alexander and Collazo. He’s going to have that kind of focus with Canelo. Trust me, he’s not in this fight for the payday. He wants to win, and he’s not the pipsqueak a lot of fans think he is. I visited his camp outside of Oakland on Tuesday and he looked very solid and fast at 166 pounds. That’s right, he’s a super middleweight right now, and he ain’t fat. And the guy he sparred seven rounds with on that day, Michel Soro, would give Canelo all that he can handle in a real fight. Khan’s not half-steppin’ in this camp. Canelo’s will also need to be sharp and 100% focused if he wants to hold onto his RING/WBC middleweight titles.

Let’s face it, Canelo does not have the best footwork to cut off the ring. Alfredo Angulo was all over Erislandy Lara and Canelo really struggled to land on the Cuban. Angulo is a pressure fighter. Canelo isn’t. He’s more of a boxer-puncher/counter-puncher. Styles make fights.

I feel like there are an inordinate number of injury postponements in boxing lately. Is it me? No, it’s not just you. A lot of fans, myself included, are thinking the same thing. Perhaps it has something to do with modern conditioning methods and the lack of activity (fighting once or twice a year) in comparison to previous eras. Then again, injuries are a part of boxing. In the old days, when even top contenders were making a fraction of what premium TV fighters of this era make, I think boxers were more inclined to fight with injuries than they are now. Also, fans tend to forget that a particular matchup was postponed once the fight actually happens. How many readers of this mailbag recall that the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Juan Manuel Marquez fight was postponed due to a rip injury Mayweather reportedly suffered in sparring? How many remember that Oscar De La Hoya’s showdowns with Ike Quartey and Fernando Vargas were postponed because of (disputed) injuries The Golden Boy suffered in camp? Were the injuries real or as severe as reported by the star fighter’s teams/promoters? We’ll never know.

Moving on, I was surprised to see Lucian Bute open as such an underdog to Badou Jack – who is close to a 5:1 favorite. I mean given Bute’s performance against James DeGale and Jack’s recent change in style, I would actually call this an almost even fight. Your thoughts? Wow. Jack has come a long way, but I think he’s earned his respect with his solid performances against Anthony Dirrell and George Groves. Do I think he’s a 5-to-1 favorite over Bute? Hell no. Bute’s no longer in his prime but he’s certainly not old or “shot,” and he’s the far more experienced of the two super middles. But having said that, I do think Jack should be the favorite. He’s in his prime, he’s got the momentum coming into this fight and Bute, who is 36, 3-2 in his last five bouts, has a lot of mileage on his legs and probably doesn’t travel well (the fight takes place in Washington, DC).

I’m not sure what Teddy has in store for Tim’s game plan but I think if it were me, I would have him feeding Manny a steady diet of jabs while pushing him back and fighting on the inside. I’m no trainer but that sounds like a reasonable plan of attack. It’s not like Bradley can take him out with a single counterpunch as JMM did in 2012.

Additionally, given Pacquiao’s injury, layoff, focus on politics, and potential oversight of the threat Bradley poses – what do you think the odds of Bradley being able to stop Pacquiao are? Tim really sat down on his punches versus Brandon Rios (a much bigger guy) and seemed pretty effective. Yeah, Rios is a much bigger guy, but he was also a more stationary guy and a far lesser talent. I think, given the circumstances, Pacquiao is ripe for being outworked and outboxed. I think Timmy’s going to finally earn a legit victory against Pac, but I don’t see him doing it by stoppage. And if he tries too hard to score a KO, I think he’ll hurt himself and play into Manny’s hands.

PRIMA-DONNA WALTERS

Hey Doug,

This is the third time I will write to you and now I hope I can make your cut (cause the first two didn’t made it, and I admit I’m kinda disappointed) but its all good, no hard feelings. I know you receive a lot of emails and you can answer only a few but still I hope this one makes it. LolxD!

Just a quick one, how come Nicholas Walters is now becoming a full Diva as he is asking a lot more just to fight Vasyl Lomachenko. I mean come on, he is a certified bad-ass but he is not that big yet to demand more money. He keeps saying he wants to fight the best and now here is Loma ready to move up and vacate his title just to fight him and now he ducks? Is it possible he is afraid of Loma? I heard Loma even offered Walters $300k from his purse if the Jamaican beat him, well that’s confidence. What do you think? How do you see Loma vs. Walters matchup? I personally favor Loma by decision in a bloody war with knockdowns maybe on both sides.

Some Mythical Match Ups:

Ketchel vs. GGG

Pancho Villa vs. Chocolatito

Pacquiao/Barrera/Morales vs. Loma/Walters at 126/130

Thanks Doug, keep up the good work. Your work is one of the reasons why I love boxing! (really!) Hope I finally make it. I would love to read your response my topic and MMUs. – Neil from Philippines

Thanks for the kind words, Neil.

I think it’s too early to brand Walters as a “prima donna.” Is he delusional about the amount of money a non-title showdown with Lomachenko is worth? Yeah, of course he is, but most fighters are delusional when it comes to money.

Think of it this way: ever since Walters put on a pair of boxing gloves, his idols (men like Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield) were fighting on HBO or Showtime for multi-million dollar purses. Maybe it’s na├»ve of Walters, but when he beat Nonito Donaire (who made $1 million when he KO’d a shopworn Jorge Arce on HBO in December 2012) in his HBO debut in October 2014 he probably thought that it wouldn’t be long before HE was making seven-figure paydays.

Don’t bother trying to explain to Walters that Donaire and Arce had name recognition (as well as several years of being the top dogs in their respective divisions). Most fighters don’t see things that way. In Walters’ mind, he proved he was better than Donaire by knocking the elite Pinoy out. He KNOWS Lomachenko is a hell of a lot better than the version of Arce that Donaire iced. So he wonders why HBO can’t come up with a licensing fee of $1.8 million (the amount the network paid for Donaire-Arce) for Walters vs. Lomachenko? To the AxeMan, it’s almost an insult that HBO is “only” willing to cough up $1 million for his showdown with Loma.

I don’t agree with this line of thinking, but hey, I’m not the guy who has to climb into that ring.

Is it possible he is afraid of Loma? Not a chance.

I heard Loma even offered Walters $300k from his purse if the Jamaican beat him, well that’s confidence. Loma is fearless, and for good reason. And I love that he’s just as motivated by legacy as he is by money.

What do you think? How do you see Loma vs. Walters matchup? I personally favor Loma by decision in a bloody war with knockdowns maybe on both sides. I favor Loma by decision in a very good fight. I don’t think it will be bloody and I don’t see any knockdowns, but I think it will be intense and it will feature some very good body punching from both fighters.

Your mythical matchups:

Ketchel vs. GGG – Golovkin by hard-fought decision in a wild, sometimes dirty, fight.

Pancho Villa vs. Chocolatito – Pancho by close, hard-fought decision in a brutal fight.

Pacquiao/Barrera/Morales vs. Loma/Walters at 126/130 – I think the Dynamic Three dominates at 130 pounds. At featherweight, I’ll take Loma by close decision over Pac and El Terrible, but I think Barrera outpoints him and Walters at featherweight. I think Pacquiao and Morales outgut Walters in terrific wars at 126. I think MAB outboxes Walters at featherweight.

THE BRAWLBAG

Whazzup Doug-E?

Thanks for getting back to me last Friday. Enjoyed your response! And the rest of the Bag off course. And to those good folks who wondered where was my follow-up Brawbag (in the comments section). Sorry, I pulled an Andre Ward and ruptured myself while typing the e-mail and had to recuperate but I’m all better now.

Anyhow I’ll just save time and do both an E-mail and a Brawlbag in one.

So here goes. From Ward vs Mega-Krusher to Vargas vs Salido:

1. Ward looked good ripping home those Karate Kid left-hooks and kudos to Golovkin’s boy Barrera for at least winning a round. One round more than what most previous guys have done against Ward. Nevertheless, being trained by The GGGamma-Bot doesn’t make you the next GGGamma-Bot of boxing. And I still favour Kovalev to punch Ward in the face and make him poop out his own toothies. But that doesn’t mean that deep down I’ll write off Ward’s chances completely. Again the guy barely loses a round. And I think that this fight will be more competitive than GGG-Canelo. The big question is whether the vacant Ring World Title will be on the line here or does the winner have to fight Stevenson for that title. Providing off course that Stevenson’s still ranked by then since he’s gone from fighting wimps n gimps to not fighting at all.

2. Lot of PBC fighters love to thank their beloved Uncle Albert Haymon for everything on God’s green earth including all those pointless bouts but is there any chance Al Salmon oops I mean Haymon will actually give us fans a PBC fight to be thankful about. As in Fonfara vs Beterbiev?

3. Got some career advice for Kell Brook. Give Showtime the kiss-off and get his ass over to HBO. Kell already got Shawn Porter out of the way. And there’s no guarantee that Thurman can do the same. So that takes the lustre off Thurman-Brook. Now if Brook says screw it and jump worlds then he can finally test his mettle against guys ranging from Tim Bradley to Amir Khan. Jessie Vargas to Terrance Crawford. Makes sense to me anyways.

4. After Canelo’s inability to dent Miguel Cotto all that much I really doubt he can get past the middle rounds against The GGGamma-Bot. And originally I scoffed at his bout with Amir Khan. But I guess that fight does have a Joe Louis vs Billy Conn appeal to it. So what happens if Khan wins it. Sure Canelo will be spared a beatdown from GGG. But he will be looked at as the biggest phony since those Milly Vanilly girlie guys. If he isn’t already.

5. We all want to see superstar fights like Canelo-GGG, Ward-Kovalev etc. But why can’t we at least settle for some real blood n guts superbrawls. And that’s what we’re going to get when Francisco Vargas rams heads with Orlando Salido. We’re already going to get this fight but no one barely has even mentioned it. I’m just think it’s about time HBO signed in Salido. And Vargas? Hey if he wins this this one then he takes a huge step in becoming the next Matthew Saad Muhammad. The next Arturo Gatti. That kind of blood n guts slugger we all love to watch.

OK Doug I’m done. Why is there no mention of Fury-Klitchko 2? I’m just so pumped up over that one I have no room for it. Hope this write-up gets Mailbagged or else I’ll have to booze up and pull a Ki. – Captain Ron

Don’t do that, Cap. I’m the only one authorized to booze up for the mailbag (because I’m a happy drunk).

Why no mention of Fury-Klitschko II? Because they still need to settle on a date, country and venue and formally announce the sucker.

I’ll respond to your questions/comments in order:

And I still favour Kovalev to punch Ward in the face and make him poop out his own toothies. You’re still a nut, Cap. Don’t ever change.

But that doesn’t mean that deep down I’ll write off Ward’s chances completely. You can’t. Ward’s the real deal, just like Krusher is.

And I think that this fight will be more competitive than GGG-Canelo. No duh. But despite the fact that most fans believe Canelo will be absolutely beat to hell by GGG, everyone demands that the red head fight Golovkin yesterday. And those SAME fans give Ward full permission to engage in at least one – maybe two – more tune-up bouts before facing his demon. I don’t get it.

The big question is whether the vacant Ring World Title will be on the line here or does the winner have to fight Stevenson for that title. That depends on who Ward fights next (assuming he doesn’t go directly into the Kovalev showdown). He’s currently rated No. 5 by THE RING. If Ward does what Stevenson hasn’t done in a quiet some time – face a legit top-10 contender – in his next bout, and beat him, he could advance to the Nos. 2 or 3 spots, which would make his challenge to Kovalev eligible for vacant RING title.

Is there any chance Haymon will actually give us fans a PBC fight to be thankful about? As in Fonfara vs Beterbiev? Yeah, I think there’s a decent chance of that happening, especially now that Showtime is cutting decent checks for decent matchups. Fonfara-Beterbiev would be a lot of fun. I think it can happen. For starters, both fighters are fearless and probably won’t ask Al for crazy high purses provided the winner is promised a shot at Stevenson. I can see Al (who seems more willing to make 50-50 matchups among his non-American clientele) pulling the trigger on that one.

If Brook says screw it and jump worlds (from Showtime to HBO) then he can finally test his mettle against guys ranging from Tim Bradley to Amir Khan. Jessie Vargas to Terrance Crawford. Makes sense to me anyways. I don’t know if he’s exclusive to Showtime right now, but I would hold off choosing either of the Big 2 among U.S. subscription cable networks until the result of the Erroll Spence-Chris Algieri fight takes place. If Spence wins and Al Haymon decides to push the 2012 U.S. Olympian’s mandatory position with the IBF, that’s a fight Showtime would gladly pay to air. If Brook wins that fight it could lead to showdown with other Haymon fighters. If not, it still boosts his marketability and would encourage HBO to push for showdowns with the likes of Bradley and Vargas.

So what happens if Khan wins it? The entire boxing world will take a big ole greasy dump on Mr. Freckles. And every Hardcore Harry in the Twitterverse that s__t on the fight and said Khan had no chance will say they always knew that he was too skilled/talented for Canelo to handle.

Sure Canelo will be spared a beatdown from GGG. But he will be looked at as the biggest phony since those Milly Vanilly girlie guys. If he isn’t already. There are a lot of old school Mexican boxing legends – from Lupe Pontor to Finito Lopez to Juan Manuel Marquez – who already view Canelo as a fraud. He tells me they’re just jealous that he’s making s__tload of money at such a young age. Milli Vanilli probably made their share of cash in the late ’80s/early ’90s. Rest In Peace Rob Pilatus! Hey, if Canelo does lose to Khan let’s convince him to walk out to a Milli Vanilli tune for his first comeback fight. “Ba-ba-ba-baby! Don’t forget my number!” Don’t lie, Cap, you know those German weirdos faked it to some catchy tunes.

Why can’t we at least settle for some real blood n guts superbrawls? I can’t speak for the average angst-ridden boxing geek of the social media age, but I’m more than happy to settle for a blood-and-guts punch-out while the players involved in the so-called mega-events get their ducks in order. I’m looking forward to watching Vargas-Salido in the only venue this kind of slugfest belongs – StubHub Center in Carson, California.

We’re already going to get this fight but no one barely has even mentioned it. Well, in defense of the embittered modern boxing fan, Vargas-Salido doesn’t take place until June 4. We’re two months away from the Mexican un-civil war. That means Twitter nerds and comment section malcontents have a few weeks to proclaim how meaningless the Golovkin-Wade and Canelo-Khan matchups are, while obsessing over whether Canelo-Golovkin will be made this year (and fretting about that rascally redhead’s dastardly plans to strong arm GGG into a catchweight), before they begin to pay attention to a can’t-miss drama-brawl. Props to Vargas for accepting a challenge that will no doubt result in a hard night’s work in his first bout after waging the Fight of the Year for 2015 with Takashi Miura.

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