The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of August 8
Boxing fans have reason to be optimistic.
Andre Ward was victorious Saturday night in Oakland, turning a complete mismatch on paper into one in the ring, but the big news was the fight announcement that followed the main event.
We break down his performance and what it means going forward.
Manny Pacquiao now has a fight date and reportedly an opponent.
Will fight fans buy what the Pac Man and his team are going to try and sell?
Spoiler alert: It's a tough sell, especially on pay-per-view.
All that, plus we break down Billy Joe Saunders' likely landing date on the Canelo Alvarez-Liam Smith undercard, the potential for Felix Verdejo challenging Terry Flanagan for a lightweight title and Team USA Boxing's chances at the Summer Games in Rio De Janeiro.
These are the hottest boxing storylines for the week.
Did Andre Ward's Win Prove Anything?
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Ward easily dispensed with the completely overmatched Alexander Brand at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, on Saturday night on HBO.
It was the type of fight that could put even the worst insomniac to sleep.
To its credit, HBO and its veteran commentating teams of Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman were honest and up front. They described it as a tuneup bout and something that wasn't in the tradition of HBO boxing at the opening of the broadcast and limited their attempts to sell a false bill of goods as the fight progressed.
Brand was absolutely terrible. The 39-year-old Colombian showed no inclination that he was there for anything more than a paycheck (which itself was paltry compared to Ward's payday) and never mounted anything resembling a significant amount of offense.
Ward looked sharp when he wanted to throw punches, but too often he looked for one shot at a time and didn't put his shots together in a way that could have gotten Brand out of there and saved the fans additional distress.
The big takeaway from this dreck is that there should be no further impediments to Ward challenging light heavyweight kingpin Sergey Kovalev for his unified championship November 19 on HBO PPV.
The two men stood together in the ring after the fight and all systems are go for what is as of right now the biggest fight on the 2016 boxing calendar.
Would Fans Buy Pacquiao vs. Vargas?
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Pacquiao will end a brief retirement when he fights November 5.
Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reports that Pacquiao will face WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas but that a site hasn't yet been determined.
Pacquiao's right-hand man Michael Koncz told Pugmire that Las Vegas and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are both under consideration to host the fight. It will come down to which site makes the most financial sense to maximize the Pac Man's earnings.
The last part is critical. Maximizing Pacquiao's earnings will likely need to come from whatever incentives and deals are provided by the fight host, since fan reception to a Pacquiao-Vargas PPV clash is likely to be chilly at best.
Adrien Broner and Danny Garcia were both mentioned for this assignment.
Neither of those fights came together, and the reasons why depend entirely on who and what you believe.
Terence Crawford looked like the real deal and a pound-for-pound star in his one-sided win against Viktor Postol a couple of weeks ago on HBO PPV, but Koncz was candid why that fight isn't happening.
“I don’t like Crawford’s style. I don’t believe it’s a style that suits Manny,” Koncz said, per Pugmire.
You can read into that what you choose, but it sounds an awful lot like they're ducking Crawford because he's a serious threat to beat Pacquiao in his comeback fight.
So, instead, the fans get Vargas. He is a good fighter, but one that lost virtually every round to Timothy Bradley, a man Pacquiao beat three times in the estimation of virtually everyone.
Will this sell?
Probably not, and good luck to those tasked with trying to convince people.
Does Rosado Lead Saunders to a Canelo Clash?
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The lone middleweight championship not held by Gennady Golovkin resides in the United Kingdom around the waist of Saunders, a tricky fighter who dethroned veteran Andy Lee to win the belt last December.
Saunders was due to make the first defense of that title against the thoroughly underwhelming Max Bursak this past April but was forced to withdraw from the fight with a hand injury suffered during training camp. He's been on the shelf since beating Lee.
It seems that his first defense is now highly likely to take place on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez's return to the junior middleweight division in a challenge for Liam Smith's WBO 154-pound title, per Miguel Rivera of Boxing Scene.
A deal for Saunders to face veteran contender Gabriel Rosado is close to being finalized.
Rosado doesn't have a pretty record, but he does carry a reputation as one of the toughest fighters in the sport. He's just 2-4 over his last six contests, though in his defense, all four losses did come against top-level fighters.
Still, this isn't the type of fight that's going to get boxing fans salivating. That will have to come with what seems likely to follow, should both Canelo and Saunders avoid significant upsets.
Appearing on the same card looks to be a prelude for Saunders to defend his WBO middleweight championship against Canelo on HBO this December, per Mitch Abramson of Ring TV.
That fight would give the cinnamon-haired star, who was savaged by fight fans and media for avoiding a highly demanded fight with GGG to move down in weight, a chance to acclimate to middleweight and regain a title ahead of a possible showdown (we all hope) next year with the Kazakh star.
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Is Flanagan Too Much Too Soon for Verdejo?
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Rivera of Boxing Scene reported late last week that the WBO has ordered its lightweight titlist Terry Flanagan and top-rated contender Felix Verdejo to begin negotiations for the organization's mandatory fight.
Flanagan, represented by Frank Warren, and Verdejo, a top prospect who fights under Bob Arum's Top Rank banner, will have until August 20 to reach an agreement or a purse bid will be called. That would open up the process to the highest bidder and allow the winner to set the date and site for the fight.
Arum is hoping that the fight can come together for the November 5 Pacquiao PPV undercard in Las Vegas.
Flanagan is a fighter in high demand.
He's undefeated but still somewhat unproven. Both of his title defenses have been against underwhelming opposition, the most recent a shutout decision against 42-year-old Mzonke Fana, who did absolutely nothing to even sniff the title picture, much less get a shot.
Verdejo arrived on the scene and was immediately penned as a future star, but his reputation has taken a few hits after a couple of underwhelming performances against less-than-stellar opposition. He's been moved along very slowly, leading some to question whether the hype is real or overblown.
He looks good, and meets many of the criteria for a star, but you just can't tell when you only fight a string of cans. This would solve that problem, but it's possibly too much too fast.
This isn't an especially good style matchup for the rising Puerto Rican, but it's a nice crossroads fight for each man to measure against the toughest challenge of their career.
How Will Team USA Fare in Rio?
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Team USA Boxing only sent eight athletes to compete at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio and there seems to be only one gold-medal favorite in the bunch.
Claressa Shields, who became the first American woman to capture an Olympic gold in the middleweight division at the 2012 Games in London, is back to defend her crown and a heavy favorite to repeat. If she leaves Brazil without a gold medal it would be a true shocker.
Her teammate Mikaela Mayer, who was profiled by Bleacher Report last week, will compete in the lightweight tournament, but Ireland's Katie Taylor, with 18 golds in 19 international tournaments including 2012 in London, is the favorite.
On the men's side, Shakur Stevenson has a good shot to become the first U.S. man to capture boxing gold since Andre Ward accomplished the feat in Athens a dozen years ago. He's highly skilled, undefeated in international competition and hopes to use a strong Olympic performance to launch a professional career.
Stevenson has gotten the headlines, but two American men have already gotten their Rio journey off on the right foot.
Karlos Balderas, a 19-year-old lightweight from Santa Maria, California, became the first American to win a match on Saturday when he upset Kazakhstan's Berik Abdrakhmanov to advance to the second round. He'll face Japan's Daisuke Narimatsu Tuesday for a spot in the quarterfinals.
He's since been joined by light flyweight Nico Hernandez.
So, where Team USA ends up, nobody knows, but it's off to a good start.
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