UPSET: Smith demolishes Fonfara in one (PBC ON NBC CBS Fox…who Knows anymore!!) By Craig Wick and Jesse Wright at ringside Photos: Leonard Wilson Jr. & Nabeel Ahmad/Premier Boxing Champions In a Windy City shocker, little-known light heavyweight Joe Smith Jr. came into the lion’s den and flattened WBC #2, WBA #3, WBO #4 rated Andrzej “The Polish Prince” Fonfara at 2:32 of the first round on Saturday night at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. Fonfara, who drops to 28-4, 16 KOs, just landed his best combination of the fight when “The Irish Bomber” suddenly dropped him hard in ring center courtesy of a monstrous overhand right. Fonfara gamely rose, but crashed into the ropes on unsteady legs. The fight was allowed to continue, but several pinpoint combinations to the head left Fonfara in a heap in his respective corner, unable to rise. With the spectacular win, Smith Jr., out of Brookhaven, NY, improves to 22-1, 17 KOs. Joe Smith Jr: “There’s no feeling like this. I’m happy to take this victory back home to New York to all my fans. I’ll talk to my promoter but I’m hoping for another big fight to get myself to a world title. Now everybody knows who I am. This is the best thing that could have happened. Once I started hitting him and pushing him back he fell away and left himself open for the right hand. I thought this would be more of a fight, but I took him out early and it feels great. He was punching and I knew he leaves himself open. I was just looking for the punch and it landed.” Andrzej Fonfara: “He is a heavy puncher. He hit me with a great punch. It happens. I threw some good punches, but I got too comfortable. I didn’t see the punch coming. That made it a great punch. I’m disappointed because I thought I would win the fight but it is boxing. I will rest and get back in the ring. I’ll get back to work.” News Of The Week Cuellar vs. Mares cancelled DiBella Entertainment Statement: Regrettably, due to a medical issue that renders former three-division world champion Abner Mares presently unable to fight in New York State, the Cuellar vs. Mares fight has been cancelled and will be replaced on the Showtime Championship Boxing on CBS telecast next Saturday, June 25. Abner’s condition is in no way life-threatening, nor was it revealed in a blood or urine test; there was no use of any drugs, including PEDs or other banned substances. In honoring Abner’s right to medical confidentiality, no further information will be released on this situation unless he chooses. An announcement will be forthcoming with respect to the replacement bout that will open the broadcast. Spence to return August 21, opponent TBA Unbeaten welterweight Errol Spence Jr. (20-0, 17 KOs) announced on Saturday night’s ?NBC boxing broadcast that he’ll be back in the ring in prime time on NBC on Sunday, August 21. No opponent was named for the IBF #2, WBO #3, WBC #5 and WBA #5 147-pound contender, but on June 8 we reported that Spence and IBF #7 Leonard Bundu(33-1-2, 12 KOs) have agreed to fight in an eliminator bout to become the new IBF mandatory welterweight challenger. Wilder a 37:1 favorite over Arreola Undefeated heavyweight world champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) is a massive early wagering favorite to defeat Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (36-4-1, 31 KOs) on July 16 in Birmingham, Alabama. 5dimes currently lists Wilder at -3750 to retain his belt. Bettors who peg Arreola for the upset can get +1500. The fight was made official earlier this week. Promoters request November 19 for Kovalev-Ward, September 17 for Canelo return The next meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission will be held on Tuesday. The business at hand includes requests from promoters for fight dates. Main Events and Roc Nation have requested the date of November 19 to promote a boxing event to be held at the T?Mobile Arena to be televised on pay?per?view. That bout is expected to be Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward. Golden Boy Promotions has requested the date of September 17 to promote a boxing event to be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to be televised on HBO Pay?Per?View, undoubtedly the return of Canelo Alvarez vs. TBA. Roy Jones Jr. Boxing has requested the dates of September 9, September 30 and December 17 to promote boxing events at the Downtown Las Vegas Event Center to be televised on CBS Sports. The commissioners will also select officials for Top Rank’s big July 23 world title tripleheader at the MGM Grand Garden Arena headlined by the WBO/WBC unification clash between Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol. Finally, there will be a hearing on the disciplinary complaint against former world champion Zab Judah, who is under suspension for providing false information on a licensing document. No major pros biting on Rio Olympics Some big name boxers expressed interest, but at this point no notable professional boxers appear headed toward to competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics even though the AIBA opening up the competition just weeks before a final qualifying tournament in Venezuela. One country that has expressed interest in adding pros to fill their remaining spots is Canada. “I’ve received a ton of emails from professional boxers since (AIBA) made this announcement,” Boxing Canada president Pat Fiacco told the Regina Leader-Post. “No one in Canada is losing the opportunity to go to the Olympic Games because they’re not a professional. The first priority is our ‘open’ boxers. That’s why I feel good about it. We haven’t taken anything away. What we’ve done is added an opportunity to get a medal by including the best boxers in the world. We should all be excited about that.” Canelo out of WBC ratings, Arreola reenters at #9 The new WBC ratings for June have been released and former middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is not currently rated in either the middleweight or super welterweight division. After Canelo relinquished his WBC title to Gennady Golovkin, the WBC contacted Canelo’s promoter to confirm which division he is planning to continue his career in, but didn’t receive a response. Consequently, Canelo will not be rated this month as the WBC waits to receive official confirmation about his status. Heavyweight Chris Arreola has been returned to his previous #9 rating as the WBC Ratings Committee has verified that an administrative suspension imposed in Texas has been lifted. Arreola, who tested positive for marijuana after his last fight, will challenge WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder on July 16 in Birmingham, Alabama. Heavyweight Alexander Povetkin remains rated #1 with an asterisk as the WBC Clean Boxing Program continues to investigate his positive drug test. The investigation is expected to be resolved during the month of June. Super middleweight Lucien Bute is rated #9 with an asterisk, as his positive drug test is also being investigated by the WBC Clean Boxing Program. The WBC, WBA and IBF have all issued ratings updates for the month of June. Click here to see all the latest ratings. Terence Crawford Training Camp Blog Here’s an update from WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford and his trainer Brian McIntyre for the July 23 the unification clash between Crawford and WBC champion Viktor Postol on July 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Terence Crawford: “It is an honor to fight in Las Vegas, especially at the MGM Grand where so many historic fights have taken place and so many great fighters have made their mark. It’s the same way I felt when I headlined my first card at Madison Square Garden earlier this year. Many fighters dream of fighting on such a big stage but it’s something you have to earn. I have worked very hard to get to this point in my career — to earn the right to headline my first pay-per-view event. I can’t think of a better place to do it than in the Fight Capital of the World. It’s very exciting, but I need to keep my eye on the ball. There will be a lot of hard work to do in training camp to make my pay-per-view debut successful. This isn’t just opening night for a new phase of my career. I want this to be the beginning of a long run as boxing’s next pound for pound star and a worthy successor to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.”
Comentarios