Connect with us

Boxing

Dana White slams MGM for ‘disrespecting’ UFC over September 14 fight

Published

on

Two titans of the martial arts, Canelo Alvarez and Dana White, will face off on September 14 in Las Vegas in a uncommon scheduling conflict between top boxing and MMA events.

Mexico’s Alvarez, boxing’s biggest star, defends his unified super middleweight title against Edgar Berlanga at MGM’s T-Mobile Arena. Two miles away, UFC will host the first live sporting event at the revolutionary Sphere venue, UFC 306.

Sean O’Malley defends his UFC bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of Riyadh Season Noche UFC as the MMA promotion plants its flag on Mexican Independence Day weekend, a established day for boxing’s biggest stars.

“Canelo is one of those guys I respect and hey, good job [PBC’s Al] Haymon,” UFC president White told ESPN on Friday. “Haymon ripped that date right off the bat. The guys at MGM have done nothing but disrespect me and the UFC for 20 years. That’s it. Here we go.”

UFC has held four pay-per-view events at T-Mobile Arena in the past two years. And MGM controlled all the live sporting event venues on the Strip until Madison Square Garden opened the Sphere in September.

That paved the way for White and the UFC to hold the major event on September 14, even after PBC and Canelo booked the date with MGM Resorts International. White beat Canelo to it last year and held the first iteration of Noche UFC (a Fight Night event at T-Mobile Arena) after the MMA promotion booked the date.

Instead, Alvarez fought two weeks later at the T-Mobile Arena and secured a victory over Jermel Charlo.

“PBC is excited to continue the 20-plus year tradition of bringing boxing to Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day weekend with our friends and partners, MGM Resorts and T-Mobile Arena,” a PBC spokesperson told ESPN on Friday.

“This year it’s even more special as Canelo Alvarez, the biggest star in boxing, will face Edgar Berlanga on September 14th, marking the sixth time the Mexican icon will celebrate the holiday weekend in Las Vegas. We wish our friends at UFC the best of luck with their event.”

A spokesman for MGM Resorts International said he had nothing to add to PBC’s statement.

Before Alvarez took over the revered boxing date (along with Cinco de Mayo weekend), the two Mexican holidays were reserved for Floyd Mayweather (and Oscar De La Hoya before that). This year, the September weekend will be shared by Alvarez and the UFC.

This became possible when Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, agreed to sponsor UFC 306, continuing to commercialize the season in Riyadh.

“We’ll eat him,” Alalshikh told ESPN about his event, which competed with Canelo’s.

White has repeatedly expressed how steep it is to stage an event at the Sphere, with its immersive screens and the artistic direction required to take advantage of the venue’s audio and video capabilities. The Sphere also boasts the world’s highest-resolution LED display, which wraps around, above, and above the audience.

Sponsorship money from Alalshikh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia allowed the UFC to become the first live sporting event at the Sphere. White admitted last month at a post-UFC 303 press conference that they had already spent $17 million on the event. He claimed that the experience the UFC provides at the Sphere “will never, ever be replicated… because it costs too much money.”

“This will be an incredible tribute to the Mexican people for their incredible contribution to combat sports,” White said.

Now, however, White and the UFC will have to face the biggest sports star in Mexico, Canelo Alvarez.

Canelo is expected to outshine Berlanga, a sedate outsider, and Alalshikh hopes it will support him secure the biggest fight in boxing: Canelo vs. Terence Crawford, ESPN’s No. 2 boxer regardless of weight class.

Crawford fights Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles, in the main event of the first Riyadh Season event outside of Saudi Arabia. If Crawford is successful and wins the title in the third weight class, Alalshikh will look to tie him with Alvarez next year.

“I will give Canelo a price that I think is fair,” Alalshikh said. “If he accepts it, he will be with me directly to complete the transaction. I don’t want anyone in the middle. I guaranteed Crawford a huge fight, I want Canelo for Crawford, and Crawford wants Canelo. But if Canelo is crazy [with his financial demands] I will continue to guarantee Crawford any fight he wants.

Alalshikh has had five boxing fights since taking over the boxing industry in October with the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou fight. His biggest boxing fight was the Oleksandr Usyk-Fury fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship in May.

Alalshikh and White hosted the first UFC event in Saudi Arabia in June.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Boxing

Tyson’s conqueror, Danny Williams, was “never considered” for Morrison

Published

on

Kenzie Morrison Danny Williams

World Boxing News has learned that Danny Williams was never considered for a fight against Tommy Morrison’s son Kenzie on November 9.

WBN has learned from a source that Williams was scheduled to face Morrison next month when he returns to action at Firelake Arena in Shawnee. However, promoter Tony Holden confirmed what WBN initially reported, namely that Williams had been offered for the fight.

BoxRec also briefly placed Williams within Morrison’s record on November 9, before removing the former British champion. Williams famously knocked out Mike Tyson in 2004, but has since lived off his victory despite losing his British license more than a decade ago.

Holden, who represents Morrison and is looking for an opponent for the competition in three weeks, explained the situation exclusively to WBN.

“I never confirmed William’s story and I never considered him,” Holden said. “I said no when a local promoter suggested it.”

Williams, 51, last fought in August 202, losing for the 33rd time in his career. With 88 professional fights under his belt, Williams seems unable to turn down a payday despite his advanced age.

Morrison, a power puncher who has stopped 19 of his 21 wins, will look for his next conquest elsewhere. The fight with Mike Balogun remains on the table for 2025 after it was postponed from its original October date.

Balogun, who knocked out Kenzi’s brother Trey in the first round, claimed Morrison was pulled from the fight to spare him the loss.

Holden denies this view.

“Even though this post isn’t up to my standards, I’m going to write it anyway. Mike Balogun falsely claimed that I pulled Kenzie Morrison out of the fight because I was afraid he would lose. Please allow me to correct you, Mr. Balogun,” he stated.

“The decision was not made by Kenzie. Let’s raise the stakes and make it fascinating. If you emerge victorious this month, Kenzie will fight in November.

“We may decide this early next year. If your confidence remains unshaken, we can place a significant bet. Watch Kenzie take revenge on her brother and end your career.

Balogun, a former San Francisco 49ers linebacker, responded to Holden by increasing his salary for a potential collision next year.

“No matter how fair and honorable your decision was, just remember that ‘yesterday’s price is not today’s price,’” said the 2010 undrafted pick.

Continue Reading

Boxing

Andrew Moloney is confident that if given the chance, he would have beaten Phumelele Cafu and Kosei Tanaka

Published

on

Andrew Moloney (left) attacks Pedro Guevara – photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Few people were more disappointed than Andrew Moloney when Kosei Tanaka lost his WBO super flyweight belt to Phumelele Cafu at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Monday night.

The 33-year-old Australian veteran was hoping to get a shot at beating Tanaka in the lucrative Japanese market.

Those dreams were dashed when South Africa’s Cafu delivered the performance of his life, knocking out Tanaka in the fifth round and finishing the fight strongly, beating the four-weight world champion by split decision.

“The plan was to target the WBO and really chase the Tanaka fight, but it all fell apart on Monday night,” Moloney (26-4-1NC, 16 KO) told The Ring. “I think the WBO is probably still the direction we go, but I’m not sure if they have a rematch clause or if Tanaka will take it. But after watching the fight yesterday, I would be really confident that I could fight one of these guys and win. We would like to follow this path.

“I would love to fight Tanaka in Japan as a four-division world champion. He’s definitely someone I’ve looked up to and wanted to fight for a long time.

“Last night was a little hard to watch. The way he performed, I’m more confident than ever that I have what it takes to beat Tanaka.

I assume there will be a rematch and I hope that Tanaka will regain the belt and I will be able to return to the ring and climb the rankings, and maybe this fight will still happen.

Tanaka entered Moloney’s orbit four years ago when he debuted at 115 pounds. Earlier this year, it looked like they were also on a collision course, with Moloney being number one in the WBO rankings. However, when an offer was made for the vacant IBF lightweight title fight between Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. in May in Perth, Western Australia, Moloney felt he couldn’t turn her down.

This decision ended in disaster. Moloney faced Carlos Cuadras, who withdrew from the fight with a ruptured Achilles tendon and was replaced by Pedro Guevara. Moloney entered the fight with a torn bicep and was largely reduced to boxing with one hand, which circumscribed his punching power.

Still, Moloney felt he did more than enough to win, and was shocked when Guevara was declared the winner by split decision. He was so disappointed that he announced immediately after the fight that he was leaving the ring, but a few days later he withdrew these comments.

It was a breakthrough moment in his career.

“Looking back, it’s a wonderful thing, but watching the Tanaka-Cafu fight made me think that maybe I would do a lot of things if I could turn back time a little bit,” Moloney explained.

“Before my last fight, I was number one in the WBO rankings and I rejected the option of waiting to fight Tanaka. But the opportunity arose to fight Guevara in Australia for the interim WBC title on a major card, and to be candid, I kind of regretted that the Tanaka fight was hanging in the balance, but ultimately we decided to stay busy and take the opportunity to fight in Australia.

“Also, the injury before the fight was another thing I thought about: will I undergo surgery, keep the top spot and wait for Tanaka, but I made the decision to go ahead with the fight with Guevara. Looking back now, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. And looking at the way Tanaka fought last night, I thought maybe I should have waited. I’m sure I could beat Tanaka and take the belt away from him.

“So I take some consolation, but unfortunately you can’t turn back time.”

It’s been a frustrating year for Moloney, but he’s still hitting the gym and his team is working to get him another fight. The window of opportunity to box again this year is closing quickly, but he still hopes to return to the ring in December, most likely in his native Australia.

“I really hope so,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been working on. I have been training strenuous at the gym for some time, quite a few months. I hope to return before the end of the year.

“At this stage it will probably be December. I’m trying to block something, but so far no luck. I’m still training away as if the fight was to take place in December, the team is currently working on it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to finish it.

“I just hope we can get out before the end of the year, get back into the winner’s circle and start climbing the rankings again.”

Moloney, who fought at bantamweight for the first three years of his professional career before dropping down to super flyweight, surprisingly, said he would even consider moving up to another weight class given the right opportunity.

“It’s a tough time in the super flyweight division,” said Moloney, the eighth challenger to The Ring’s 115-pound title. “There’s a lot going on and it’s always strenuous to plan which route to take because everything changes so quickly. I’d pick Bam Rodriguez to beat Guevara, then there’s talk of a rematch between Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez on Up-to-date Year’s Eve. And then there’s talk of Bama, if they win, fighting the winner of that game in unification. The WBO seems to me the fastest way to win the title, so that’s the path we will follow.

“We have also rejected for some time the idea of ​​moving up to flyweight and getting crack there. There’s also some engaging scene going on there right now, but it’s still uncertain. I’d probably feel a little better at super flyweight, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Cafu and Tanaka, but like I said, I’d feel comfortable and confident against either of them, so hopefully he can make it it will happen sooner rather than later.”

Continue Reading

Boxing

Doubts that fuel 19-year-old Benjamin Johnson

Published

on

Despite an impressive amateur resume, welterweight Benjamin Johnson of Springdale, Maryland, enters the professional ring with a shoulder injury.

Johnson will face Kevin Pantoja in a four-round fight at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland, promoted by his trainer Lamont Roach Snr’s NoXcuses Promotions. The fight will be broadcast on Saturday on ProBox TV.

Johnson, 1-0 (1 KO), spent just 2:23 in the ring in his professional debut, displaying the quick, aggressive hands that won him multiple national titles. However, 19-year-old Johnson feels an advantage, believing he is being overlooked by his NoXcuses Boxing Gym teammates.

Pantoja, 1-1, 27, has never stopped being a professional – Johnson aims to change that.

“People underestimate me,” Johnson said. “It’s been like that since I was an amateur.”

He added that this underestimation increases his motivation in the gym. Johnson is determined to prove his worth not only to himself, but also to those who doubt him or, worse, don’t recognize him. “I never felt like I was recognized as that guy, so I feel like I’m underappreciated,” Johnson said of his amateur and now professional career.

Johnson sees the fight as a key step in his career, compared to feared forward David Benavidez by some teammates and touted by others as one of the most ready-to-fight prospects in the country.

“I train as much as I can,” Johnson said. “It’s about making a statement. The way you win shows people what you’re capable of, and I’m ready to show my best.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending