After what has been a slow
start to the 2013 boxing schedule, beset by injuries and postponements, it
seems to be picking up steam going into the spring. And Golden Boy Promotions is
doing more than its part to add to this momentum with what could be the most
fan-friendly doubleheader of the year on April 20th.
Golden Boy CEO Richard
Schaefer announced to Maxboxing on Monday, “[Abner] Mares and [WBC
featherweight titleholder Daniel] Ponce de Leon signed, Home Depot Center. How
do you like it? This is going to be an amazing fight, toe-to-toe action. This
is like when we did Israel Vazquez against Rafael Marquez, two Mexican warriors
and you paired them up and you knew it was going to be a great fight. Here,
with Mares and Ponce de Leon, two real Mexican warriors, it sorta reminds me of
all that. And then to top it all off, you put it in the same venue?”
The classic first and third
chapters of Vazquez-Marquez took place at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
Stephen Espinoza of
Showtime, which would televise this clash, confirms both fighters have put
their names on the dotted line.
“It doesn't get much better
than that,” said Schaefer, excitedly. “Actually, it does, a little bit better
if I would be able to - and I'm not there yet, so no promises - to pair it up
with Josesito Lopez against Marcos Maidana. Oh, my God, who wouldn't want to be
there?”
Well, along with many other
boxing fans in Southern California and beyond, sign me up.
Then you could see a collision
between two premier junior welterweights in Lamont Peterson (who successfully
returned to the ring by dismantling Kendall Holt last Friday night) and perhaps
the most feared figure in this division, “The Machine,” Lucas Matthysse on May 18th.
“It seems to me that both
fighters are open to it. Let's see if we can get it done and potentially pair
it up with Devon Alexander and Kell Brook,” said Schaefer of the fight that was
supposed to take place this past weekend in Detroit before Alexander suffered a
biceps injury in camp.
As for the venue, Schaefer
is inclined to do it in a neutral setting for all four fighters. “I think we have
to be fair; I wouldn't do it in Argentina and I wouldn't do it in Washington
D.C. but maybe the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. That seems to be a perfect
spot or other spots somewhere in the East Coast would be my preference.”
This should be music to
Matthysse's ears given his two losses to Alexander and Zab Judah were on enemy
turf.
COMBINE FLURRIES
Schaefer says he hopes to have some resolution as to whether Saul Alvarez will face Austin Trout on May 4th or someone else on that card “within the next 24 hours.”...The March 30th card from Monte Carlo that will feature Golovkin against Nobu Ishida, Edwin Rodriguez vs. Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and Zsolt Erdei vs. Denis Grachev will be distributed on pay-per-view by Integrated Sports Media that afternoon. The retail price is set at $24.95...The March 22nd edition of ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” will take place from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago and have Donovan “Da Bomb” George facing David Lopez and Adrian Granados taking on veteran Kermit Cintron. Expect the usual lively throng in “The Windy City”...HBO premieres “Cornered” on March 5th (10:15 p.m. ET/PT), which will focus on some of the noted figures in boxing who don't actually fight. Its first subject will be Michael Buffer...As if Manti Te'o didn't have enough question marks regarding him before his 40-time...The Miami Hurricanes’ 2013 football schedule is very manageable. I don't think a “Bo Derek” (a 10-win season) is out of the question…
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