AROUND THE RING
Valuev injured
Nicolay Valuev's proposed September fight in New York has been derailed. (Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)
While HBO had hoped to feature 7-foot, 320-plus-pound Russian heavyweight titlist Nicolay Valuev (44-0, 32 KOs) in his second title defense Sept. 9 at New York's Madison Square Garden, the fight isn't going to happen.
Co-promoter Don King had big plans to bring Valuev to the United States and promote him as "King Kong." He had been negotiating with HBO and had offered perennial contender Monte Barrett the fight.
However, this week King told HBO he can't deliver the match because Valuev suffered a recent knee injury and will be unable to fight in September.
Valuev will have surgery on the meniscus in his left knee next week, according to Chris Meyer, a spokesperson for German co-promoter Wilfried Sauerland, and won't be ready to fight until the end of September.
Valuev had the same procedure on his right knee following his title victory against John Ruiz in December, and it delayed his first defense from April to June.
Meyer told ESPN.com that Valuev never intended to fight in September, even though King was pitching the fight.
"He had planned originally to resume training on July 10. Now, there is a two-week delay," Meyer said, adding that Valuev is on vacation in Cyprus with his wife and son.
King could not be reached for comment.
Meyer said that Valuev will cancel a trip to King's July 8 card in St. Louis, where he was going to meet and talk to American media members. Instead, Valuev will be in Berlin rehabilitating his knee.
King had gotten HBO to approve Barrett (31-4, 17 KOs), a New Yorker, as the opponent, and he wanted the fight, Barrett adviser Stan Hoffman told ESPN.com.
Barrett is promoted by King, who also co-promotes Valuev with Sauerland, meaning a deal would have been relatively easy to make.
"Monte was offered the fight and it is a fight he said he really wants," Hoffman said before learning of Valuev's injury. "He's really up for it. I told him he needs to be very well prepared for that kind of fight, and he said he was really excited for it. He wants to come up to the camp (in New York's Catskill Mountains) and get in a strong six-week training camp. He said he has the formula to beat him."
In his last fight, Barrett lost a lopsided decision to Hasim Rahman for a vacant interim title in August 2005. In the fight before the loss to Rahman, Barrett scored a ninth-round knockout of Owen Beck, a fighter Valuev needed only three rounds to smash in his first title defense June 3.
Had Valuev fought in September, King and HBO were talking about an undercard that would have featured either a heavyweight title match involving Sergei Liakhovich, perhaps against Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride, or a fight involving New Yorker Luis Collazo, who lost his welterweight belt in a close, spirited fight with Ricky Hatton on May 13.
King cuts Judah
The downward spiral of former undisputed welterweight champ Zab Judah continued when promoter King released him from his promotional contract during a meeting this week.
Judah
King, 74, denied rumors that he and Judah, 28, were involved in a physical altercation during the meeting.
"We had a difference regarding accountability and responsibility," King said in a statement.
Being released is the latest blow to Judah, whose career is in shambles. He has lost two fights in a row, the latest to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in April, during which Judah's brutal 10th-round low blow and punch to the back of Mayweather's head helped ignite a melee in the ring.
Already under significant financial duress from the IRS, Judah later was fined $250,000 and had his boxing license revoked for a year by the Nevada Athletic Commission for his role in the near-riot.
Mayweather vacates
Pound-for-pound king Mayweather vacated the tainted IBF welterweight title this week. Leonard Ellerbe, a Mayweather adviser, said that attorney John Hornewer sent a letter to the organization notifying it that Mayweather was giving up the belt that he won in April.
Mayweather
Mayweather's ownership of the title was controversial from the start because he won it from Judah, who was shockingly allowed to keep it after losing to Carlos Baldomir in a January title fight because Baldomir didn't pay the sanction fee.
In that situation, the title typically would have been vacated. However, the IBF let Judah keep it in one of its many outrageous moves.
Mayweather gave it up because he intends to fight a big-name opponent on Nov. 4 rather than being forced to defend against unknown mandatory challenger Mark Suarez. A purse bid for a Mayweather-Suarez fight had been slated for later this month.
Suarez will fight an opponent to be named for the vacant belt.
Rahman-Maskaev undercard
The undercard for the Aug. 12 Rahman-Oleg Maskaev heavyweight title fight on HBO PPV is being finalized. Promoter Top Rank plans to include the following bouts on the telecast from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas:
• Interim featherweight titleholder Humberto Soto (39-5-2, 23 KOs) will move up to junior lightweight to face Bobby Pacquiao, the brother of star Manny Pacquiao, in a 12-rounder.
Soto, who upset Rocky Juarez last summer to win an interim belt, is in the process of finalizing a promotional contract with Top Rank. He fought one non-title fight and made one defense before deciding to move up in weight. Pacquiao (27-11-3, 12 KOs) is coming off an impressive fourth-round knockout of former featherweight champ Kevin Kelley on June 6 on the Miguel Cotto-Paulie Malignaggi undercard.
• Jose Armando Santa Cruz (23-1, 13 KOs), who claimed a vacant interim lightweight belt May 20, will make his first defense against 1996 U.S. Olympian David Diaz (31-1-1, 16 KOs). Diaz is coming off a lopsided 12-round decision win over Cristian Favela on June 16.
• Vanes Martirosyan (9-0, 6 KOs), a 2004 U.S. Olympian, will get his first TV exposure. The 20-year-old Armenian lives in Glendale, Calif.; he is trained by Freddie Roach and managed by Shelly Finkel, Nick Khan and Keith Davidson. Martirosyan will face an opponent to be named in a six-round junior middleweight bout.
Cunningham-Jones on Showtime
Cruiserweight contenders Steve Cunningham and Guillermo Jones, who were originally scheduled to fight May 6 on Showtime before the fight fell apart over money issues, will finally meet for a vacant belt July 8 on King's Showtime card.
When King was able to make the fight, Showtime agreed to add it to what was originally a single bout broadcast featuring Roman Karmazin's first junior middleweight title defense against hometown hero Cory Spinks in St. Louis.
Although Cunningham (19-0, 10 KOs) and Jones (33-3-2, 26 KOs) are two of the top cruiserweights in the world, the IBF belt they will fight for is a paper title. The IBF inexplicably stripped undisputed champion O'Neil Bell of its belt because he was recovering from dental surgery and unable to fight.
Cunningham and Bell will be meeting in a rematch. Cunningham edged Jones on a 10-round split decision in their first meeting on April 2, 2005. Many felt Jones deserved the decision, and he has won both his bouts since, beating former titleholders Wayne Braithwaite and Kelvin Davis via fourth-round knockouts.
Cunningham earned the mandatory position with a decision against Davis last fall.
'Gateway to Glory' undercard
Besides the two Showtime-televised title fights, King has added several bouts to his July 8 "Gateway to Glory" card, including three that involve former titleholders appearing in their first fights since losing their belts (a fourth, Spinks, fights in the main event):
• Former unified cruiserweight champ Jean-Marc Mormeck (31-3, 21 KOs) of France returns for his first fight since losing via 10th-round knockout to Bell in a battle for the undisputed title Jan. 7. Mormeck, who will face an opponent to be determined, figures to get a shot at the winner of the Cunningham-Jones fight if he wins.
• Former junior middleweight titlist Daniel Santos (29-3-1, 20 KOs) of Puerto Rico faces Sherwin Davis (18-3, 12 KOs) in a 10-rounder. It will be Santos' first assignment since losing his title via decision to Sergei Dzindziruk in Germany in December.
• Former minor middleweight titlist Maselino Masoe (26-3, 25 KOs) of New Zealand faces Philadelphia's Randy Griffin (23-1-2, 12 KOs) in an elimination bout. Masoe lost his belt to Felix Sturm in March and will be fighting for the first time since the defeat.
Also on the card are former middleweight titlist William Joppy (36-4-1, 27 KOs) in his second appearance at super middleweight and King's top two prospects, Brooklyn-based Dominican featherweight Elio Rojas (16-0, 12 KOs), 23, and 19-year-old St. Louis welterweight Devon Alexander (8-0, 3 KOs).
'ShoBox' tournament
Promoter Gary Shaw and Showtime's prospect-oriented series "ShoBox: The New Generation" are putting together an eight-man super middleweight tournament in an attempt to usher prospects into contender status by having them fight each other.
The tournament's first two installments will take place on "ShoBox" cards July 28 and Aug. 4 in Las Vegas, when eight fighters will be whittled to four.
The plan is for the winners of the July 28 fights and the winners of the Aug. 4 bouts to face each other in the semifinals in October, also on "ShoBox." The winners of the two October bouts will meet in early 2007 in a co-feature on the network's flagship series "Showtime Championship Boxing."
The field is not settled, but the fighters vying for slots in the tournament include Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan (13-0, 11 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Md.; Anthony Hanshaw (19-0, 13 KOs) of Mansfield, Ohio; Jean Paul Mendy (21-0, 11 KOs), a Las Vegas-based native of France; former world title challenger Sakio Bika (20-1-2, 13 KOs), a native of Cameroon based in Australia; Victor Oganov (25-0, 25 KOs), an Australian-based Russian with explosive power; Esteban Camou (19-1, 16 KOs) of Mexico; Jose Juan Vasquez (16-1-1, 9 KOs) of Puerto Rico; Jose Luis Herrera (14-1, 14 KOs) of Colombia; and Alejandro Berrio (25-4, 24 KOs) of Colombia.
"Someone will emerge as a little mini-star from this," Shaw told ESPN.com. "I'm hoping that I can get Showtime to give a nice bonus to the winner. If the tournament works, we'll try to do another tournament next year in another weight class."
The tournament could inject some excitement into a super middleweight division looking for fresh faces to go with established fighters such as world champion Joe Calzaghe and former titlist Jeff Lacy.
"We're trying to get the best and brightest prospects in the division and have them face off against each other. That would be the plan -- to try to turn these prospects into contenders," said Showtime's Gordon Hall, executive producer of "ShoBox."
Tarver-Lacy on ropes
Lacy, 29, lost his super middleweight title on a lopsided decision to Joe Calzaghe in their March unification fight. Antonio Tarver, 37, lost the light heavyweight championship in similar lopsided fashion to Bernard Hopkins on June 10.
They both live in the Tampa, Fla., area; both are coming off bad losses; and both need a notable victory to quickly re-establish themselves.
That's why there was talk that they could face each other in Tampa on Oct. 7, the date Showtime is holding for Lacy's comeback fight.
However, after a few days of talks between Tarver promoter Joe DeGuardia and Lacy promoter Shaw, negotiations stalled.
"I believe it is dead in the water," Shaw told ESPN.com. "We couldn't come to an agreement."
Shaw said the issue that killed the fight was a disagreement over how to split the gate revenue.
"Jeff wasn't going to do the fight for less than 50-50 on the gate," Shaw said. "Tarver wanted more than 50-50. Jeff is as big a draw in that town [Tampa] as Tarver is, so it was 50-50 or no fight."
De Guardia said he hopes the fight can still be made, and he wants to continue talking with Shaw.
"It's a great fight and I hope we can work it out," De Guardia said. "But there won't be a 50-50 split on the gate. If they really want to fight, the fight will take place. If you don't want to fight, you find ways not to make the fight happen. Either way, we're pursuing a lot of avenues for Tarver."
De Guardia said Tarver wants to be back in the ring quickly, no later than this fall.
"He definitely wants to fight again," De Guardia said. "We have a lot of options, but we're not just going to take a Lacy deal to take a Lacy deal. It has to be in the best interest of Antonio Tarver."
While in Memphis, Tenn., to attend the Jermain Taylor-Winky Wright fight last week, Lacy said he wanted to fight Tarver and was willing to move up one division to get the match.
"It's a fight I think a lot of people would love to see," Lacy said. "It's a fight I would really like."
Lacy said he hasn't been training since the loss to Calzaghe, but he is beginning to feel the desire to train again.
He will still fight on Oct. 7, and Shaw is on the prowl for an opponent if the Tarver fight doesn't happen.
"We'll go after the biggest name we can get," he said. "We would like to fight [titlist] Mikkel Kessler, but it looks like he is going to fight [a unification bout against] Markus Beyer. We'll see if Danny Green is available or someone of that ilk."
'ShoBox' firsts
When touted prospect Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero faced Gamaliel Diaz seven months ago, Guerrero lost his first professional fight, an exciting 12-round split decision on "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Now, they meet again Friday night (Showtime, 11 p.m. ET/PT) in Oakland, Calif., in another first -- the first rematch in the five-year, 78-episode history of "ShoBox."
The winner will earn a title eliminator against Great Britain's Nicky Cook, and the winner of that bout will receive a mandatory shot at featherweight titlist Takashi Koshimoto of Japan.
Friday's card is also the first tripleheader in "ShoBox" history as the super middleweight Dirrell brothers will be in action in a pair of six-round bouts. Andre Dirrell (7-0, 4 KOs), a 2000 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist, will face Marcus Don Hall (11-1, 4 KOs) while younger brother Anthony Dirrell (8-0, 8 KOs) faces James Morrow (9-2-2, 4 KOs).
Guerrero (17-1-1, 10 KOs), of Gilroy, Calif., will have the hometown crowd on his side. He won his only fight since the loss and said he is excited to get another crack at Diaz (20-1-2, 9 KOs), who hasn't fought since their first encounter.
"I am happy to be fighting the rematch against Diaz," Guerrero said. "I feel like I pulled off the win in the first fight, but the judges saw it differently. I felt like I picked up the pace in the later rounds, but it wasn't enough. It was too late. I got caught up in the hype being ranked No. 2 in the world [by one sanctioning organization] and being on the cusp of greatness. A lot was being said about me. I thought I was grounded and humble, but I got caught up. I looked past Diaz and I shouldn't have; I paid the price for it. I lost. Losing wasn't such a bad thing. It actually forced me to work on some things that I never thought needed work."
Mexico's Diaz, of course, predicted he will defeat Guerrero again.
"I see this fight the same as the first one, except I will win easier," Diaz said. "He got in some good punches the first time that he will not land this time. I am changing my style and working more on defense. I do not care if it is a knockout or another decision. I am confident that I will gain the victory."
Malignaggi on the mend
Paul Malignaggi takes a punch during a fight with Miguel Cotto.(AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
Malignaggi (21-1, 5 KOs), who fought valiantly in a bloody decision loss to Cotto in a June 10 junior welterweight title bout, underwent successful surgery this week to repair his fractured right cheekbone.
"It took less than two hours and went extremely well," Dr. Steven Margles said. "All fractures are back in good position, and a very thin plate with four screws was used to stabilize the most structurally important fracture. The plate is totally covered and will in no way interfere with Paulie's ability to box in the future."
Malignaggi should be well enough to train in six weeks, but he can't spar for three months. He is recovering at the home of his manager, Sal LoNano, in Tewksbury, Mass.
"I was disappointed after the fight," Malignaggi said. "But my spirits have been going up. I look forward to coming back. Right now I'm resting and watching a lot of World Cup soccer. This hasn't changed me a bit. I'll be the same as before. My goal is to be world champion within 12 to 18 months. Cotto's a great champion, but I promise you, our paths will cross again, even if it's at 147 pounds."
Malignaggi said he received hundreds of e-mails and cards wishing him a speedy recovery, including from Hall of Famer Barry McGuigan and phone calls from Arturo Gatti, Micky Ward and Vinny Paz.
"I've been overwhelmed with all of the fan support," Malignaggi said. "If there's one positive to come out of the fight, it's how many fans I won over. They saw how seriously I want to win and that I wasn't all talk. It's not all of the hype or credibility; it's the fan support that counts the most."
Fans who would like to e-mail their best wishes to Malignaggi can drop a note to him at fullcourtpress_143@hotmail.com.
Weird Williams
Heavyweight contender Danny Williams of England has taken to an unusual training regimen as he prepares for his July 8 rematch against countryman Matt Skelton in Wales.
Williams (36-4, 29 KOs), the former heavyweight title challenger and Mike Tyson conqueror, edged Skelton on a split decision in an all-action brawl in February.
For the rematch, Williams is spending 12 hours a day in an oxygen deprivation tent that recreates atmospheric conditions of 12,000 feet above sea level. Supposedly, the chamber will help Williams to increase red blood cell production, allowing more oxygen to reach his muscles, which in turn is supposed to increase his strength and stamina.
Williams sleeps and rests in the tent and only comes out to train, eat and go to the bathroom, a press release from promoter Frank Warren trumpeted.
Williams turned to this method after consulting a sports physiologist about how to improve his stamina after the rugged first fight.
"It's no fun living in one of these things, but if it means that I will knock Skelton out early rather than go through a 12-round war again, then I'll suffer it," Williams said. "Basically it's like living halfway up Mount Everest, and you are creating the same conditions as that. I've been living in this tent for the last two months, and I had one installed in my bedroom at home. Now that our training camp has shifted to Doncaster, I've got one in the hotel room."
Williams said he had a special version of the tent made so that he has a clear window through which he can watch TV, including a video of the first fight with Skelton.
"When I see all the dirty tricks he got away with, I just want to break out of the tent and smash the TV up," Williams said.
Training, not celebrating
Former junior welterweight titlist Vivian Harris (26-2-1, 17 KOs), anxious to get back into the title picture after his stunning knockout upset loss to Carlos Maussa last summer, turned 28 on June 17. Instead of celebrating, Harris went through a three-hour workout at Brooklyn's Gleason's Gym in preparation for a July 29 fight against Mike Arnaoutis (17-0-2, 9 KOs) on HBO's "Boxing After Dark."
"I could run my mouth about Ricky Hatton, about Miguel Cotto and all the rest, but I have a job to do on July 29," Harris said. "I never watched tapes of opponents before, but I have watched 10 tapes of this guy. He's a great fighter, undefeated, and coming up the ranks. ... I could say this and that about Hatton, about Cotto, but why? I am truly focused on Mike Arnaoutis. If I don't get past him, I won't get nowhere. I know that. He may not be a household name, but he is a good fighter. You don't get freebies on HBO. "