The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of August 23
Summer's last gasp is upon us, and the boxing gods have saved the best fight for last.
In this week's edition, we preview the huge all-Mexican clash between Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares that will take place Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Next we take on the Shane Mosley vs. Ricardo Mayorga saga (also scheduled to conclude Saturday night) and the last-minute wrinkle that threatens to tank the fight.
We conclude by taking a look at ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins' next and final fight, whether or not Antonio Margarito's comeback attempt is legit and what the hell Roy Jones Jr. is thinking.
These are the hottest boxing storylines for the last full week of August.
Will Santa Cruz vs. Mares Live Up to the Hype?
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Santa Cruz and Mares are set to meet in the summer's swan-song fight Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN. The fight has been in demand for the past couple of years, and even if it's not what it could've been, it still represents a potentially exciting matchup between a pair of Mexican bangers.
Santa Cruz has received quite a bit of (fair) criticism in recent years for taking on a series of badly overmatched opponents. The slow progress of his career has been frustrating for fans of the rising star, who rightly wanted more, but this is his chance at silencing the doubters.
He fights in and around divisions brimming with top-shelf talent, which makes his last three opponents (unknowns Manuel Roman, Jesus Ruiz and Jose Cayetano) inexcusable. But you can be sure that fans will forget in a hurry if he turns in a big performance here.
Mares had a tremendous run between 2010 and 2013, knocking off a slew of high-profile foes and winning world titles in three weight divisions. The Guadalajara product seemed to be peaking (and rising up many pound-for-pound lists) when former champion Jhonny Gonzalez knocked him out in one round in August 2013.
He hasn't looked the same since that night, linking up with Virgil Hunter for one underwhelming fight before returning to longtime trainer Clemente Medina late last year. Whether or not he can channel the pre-Gonzalez Mares remains an open question.
For the fans' sake, and for the sake of the all-action, all-Mexican war we all we want to see, we sure hope so.
What's Happening with Mosley-Mayorga II?
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Mosley and Mayorga are set to do battle in a rematch of their exciting 2008 clash (Mosley won via knockout in Round 12) Saturday night at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
For now.
Famous/infamous boxing promoter and all-around controversy magnet Don King has filed papers seeking an emergency injunction to stop Mayorga, whom he claims to still promote, from fighting.
King has been the subjected of many high-profile lawsuits from fighters, such as Mike Tyson, who claimed that he stiffed them out of millions, and he was forced to settle and pay $7.5 million to former world champ Terry Norris in 2003.
Mosley hopped on a plane to head to court in an attempt to stop King from putting the kibosh on the fight, but per TMZ, the former multi-time world champion doesn't believe things are looking good.
He accused King, per TMZ, of having some "fraudulent stuff going on" and said he didn't believe that Mayorga's signature on King's contract was a match. A judge was expected to rule on the matter last Thursday, but we're now less than a week from the fight with no ruling.
What's unclear are the legitimate motivations. It's obvious that King has no desire to promote or market Mayorga (legal contract or not), and it appears he's just trying to be disruptive.
Whatever you may think of Mosley's comeback attempt (and there are strong opinions on both sides), this would be a real travesty for him if the fight cannot go forward. He's put a lot of time and money into making it happen, and sink or swim, he deserves the opportunity.
He told Steve Kim of Boxing Scene that the show would go on with or without Mayorga, but that's a hard sell at $49.95 on pay-per-view even with the Nicaraguan madman.
Does Bernard Hopkins Have One More Title Win in Him?
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Hopkins has accomplished basically everything a fighter can accomplish in the sport of boxing.
There literally won't be enough room to list it all when his plaque eventually hangs on the walls of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.
Hopkins held undisputed championships at middleweight and light heavyweight, successfully defended his middleweight title 20 times (an all-time record he took from legendary Argentine Carlos Monzon) and on multiple occasions became the oldest man to win a world championship, most recently taking a 175-pound belt last year at age 49.
If the one-time "Executioner," who now fashions himself as "The Alien," has his way, that record too will soon fall.
Hopkins, who was in attendance as Golden Boy's representative at Tuesday's press conference announcing Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux for the unified middleweight championship, confirmed to various media outlets, including Bleacher Report, that he's working out the details to challenge Arthur Abraham for the WBO Super Middleweight Championship.
That's the division Hopkins skipped over when he jumped from middleweight to light heavyweight in 2006.
Hopkins said that he hopes the fight, which would be billed as the final one in his historic career, will take place in January (after his 51st birthday) and that he would be willing to face Abraham on his home turf in Europe.
Abraham has won seven fights in a row, including taking his title back from Robert Stieglitz early last year before winning their rubber match in July. He's a tough opponent who comes in behind a high guard, but he represents a chance for Hopkins to add three-division and (once again) oldest champion to his resume.
So, why not?
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Is the Tijuana Tornado's Return Legit?
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Margarito, who was last seen taking a brutal beating in a grudge rematch loss against Miguel Cotto late in 2011, is returning to the ring.
Steve Kim of Boxing Scene reported last week The Tijuana Tornado, who is known for his action style and hand-wrap scandal during his career, is back with trainer Robert Garcia and will be speaking with his longtime promoter Top Rank about a comeback in the near future.
Margarito's left eye was severely damaged in a one-sided beatdown loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2010, which led to complications when he sought to be licensed by New York State for the Cotto rematch.
His manager told Kim the eye has cleared up and that his fighter has passed requisite eye exams since deciding to resume training.
It's not clear whether or not Top Rank would have any interest in resuming its relationship with Margarito, who was found to have illegal hand wraps prior to his 2009 knockout loss to Shane Mosley.
Margarito was suspended for the potentially dangerous infraction, and many called his entire career into question as a result of the discovery.
The problem is that the situation isn't nearly as cut-and-dried as some would make it seem.
That's not our purview here, but for a good take on the whole situation, check out Thomas Hauser's piece. Nobody is saying that what happened was on the up and up, but it really is impossible to know for certain whether the fighter was in on it or not.
(That's all I'm saying).
Regardless, any comeback would be impossible without these questions bubbling back to the surface, and that's even before we get any idea of whether or not Margarito, who is four years removed from the ring, even has anything left.
What's Roy Jones Jr. Up To?
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Whoa, Roy!
Did you finally take one too many shots upside that noggin of yours?
Jones Jr., one of the greatest and most physically gifted fighters of all time, signed papers, per Boxing Scene, applying for Russian citizenship on Wednesday in Crimea (arm-in-arm with President Vladimir Putin), which Russia annexed last year from Ukraine amidst international condemnation and a United Nations declaration of its illegality.
Yikes.
Jones, who has many business interests in Russia, was, per Alexey Sukachev of Boxing Scene, promptly placed on a Ukrainian blacklist that is reserved for enemies of the state for his trip to Crimea, which, in the eyes of Ukraine and most in the international community, remains illegally occupied territory.
Believe it or not (and nobody blames you if you fit into "or not"), this isn't even the strangest part (at least boxing-related) of this story.
Jones has continued his boxing career long beyond the point of its relevance, but even viewed in that context, the following statement is just plain delusional and strange. He said about his blacklisting, per Boxing Scene:
"I know the Klitschko brothers have been itching to fight me, and it could be that this is there way of calling me out. So hey, if Vitali or Wlad want to settle this over a friendly sparring session for 12 rounds for the world heavyweight title anywhere in the world outside of Ukraine, including Crimea, they know how to reach me. Otherwise, this nonsense of Ukraine blacklisting me is a transparent attempt to politicize a legitimate business endeavor that we are pursuing with peace in our heart to help restore and build bridges between the East and the West.
"
The Klitschkos have been itching to fight him? An international incident is their way of calling him out? That's not a sensitive and loaded issue at all, right, Roy?
There aren't words for how stupid a statement that was from a guy who has shown to be pretty smart throughout his future Hall of Fame career.
Really.
Kevin McRae is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on Twitter @McRaeWrites. Unless otherwise noted, all information was obtained firsthand.
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