The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of September 25
Boxing had something of a slow week in the ring after back-to-back weekends featuring significant fights, but plenty of news is making the rounds to keep us busy.
Some early pay-per-view numbers are trickling in from Canelo Alvarez's defeat of Liam Smith for the WBO Junior Middleweight Championship last weekend at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
They're probably not what Golden Boy Promotions was looking for and look like something of a bomb compared to Canelo's previous outings.
It appears that Gennady Golovkin could be the biggest beneficiary of Canelo's possible flop. The Mexican injured his hand in the fight and will miss the remainder of 2016, which has freed up some money for HBO to try to secure a bout between the Kazakh and Daniel Jacobs.
Will that fight get finalized?
All that, plus we'll look at the postponement (again) of Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko II, Jorge Linares' big win over Anthony Crolla and whether Joseph Parker can take the final step toward a title shot.
These are the hottest boxing storylines for the week!
Was Canelo vs. Smith a Bomb?
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Canelo had to figure he was taking a big risk by jumping back down in weight and challenging the virtually unknown Liam Smith for a junior middleweight title on HBO PPV.
The PPV market has been depressed ever since Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao reached over 4 million homes in a bout that was highly anticipated but stunk out the joint, and Smith carried none of the name recognition you'd expect for an opponent in an event of this magnitude.
Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reports that the PPV numbers for Canelo-Smith aren't expected to be great. The four-fight PPV card (that featured an atrocious undercard) is not expected to eclipse 300,000 buys, with the final number likely somewhere in the 250,000 range.
That would be a smaller audience than the cinnamon-haired star brought in for previous PPV showings against Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara and Alfredo Angulo.
It also seems to fly in the face of Oscar De La Hoya's contention on a media conference call to promote the fight that he was expecting a big number.
Maybe the fans had enough?
Maybe they didn't appreciate a fighter calling out the biggest fight in the sport before backing out and trying to sell them on an anonymous fighter from a weight class below whom nobody believed had a genuine shot of winning the fight?
And maybe Team Canelo needs to re-evaluate just how much it needs GGG after spending months of kicking the can down the road and allowing terrible public relations to dim the Alvarez's star.
Can Golovkin vs. Jacobs Get Done?
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Golovkin isn't going to get Canelo until September 2017 at the earliest, but he might land a significant fight as a result of his rival's thumb injury that will keep him on the shelf and force him to skip a reserved December date on HBO.
The WBA has ordered Golovkin to defend his 160-pound title against the organization's "regular" champion and mandatory No. 1 contender, Daniel Jacobs. The two sides have a couple of weeks to reach an agreement before a purse bid is ordered.
That deadline is October 10.
Both sides are reportedly at the table, making an honest effort to get the fight done for regular network HBO (not PPV), and the Barclays Center has been placed on hold for December 10 to host the event, per Miguel Rivera of Boxing Scene.
HBO has been criticized this year for its boxing product at a time when the network has slashed its boxing budget. The money saved from not having to put on what would have likely been a meaningless (in the grand scheme) bout between Canelo and say Willie Monroe Jr. can now be put toward a significant fight for GGG.
That's much better than the alternative and will go a long way toward helping HBO recover from what has been mostly a disastrous year.
Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward and GGG vs. Jacobs in back-to-back months would help salve many wounds.
Are the Boxing Gods Against Fury-Klitschko II?
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Fury and Klitschko engaged in one of the most dreadfully boring fights you will ever have the displeasure of seeing in your lifetime last November. The towering Brit did the bare minimum (but more than enough compared to the defending champ) to pry the heavyweight title loose from the division's long-term kingpin.
Klitschko, who looked like a shell of the fighter who dominated his division and seemed to have a shot at eclipsing Joe Louis' record for heavyweight title defenses, immediately executed his rematch clause, but the fight has now been postponed for a second time.
The rematch was originally scheduled for July 9 but had to be put off when Fury injured his ankle.
Per BBC Sport, Fury is medically unfit for the fight with rumors once again circulating as to why the bout has been shelved for a second time. There is a lot of jumbled information flying around out there, and we've chosen not to run with anything until all the facts are clear.
Suffice it to say that this is bad news for all the principals involved in the situation.
Klitschko is once again forced to wait for a rematch (he isn't getting any younger). Fury faces an unknown future, though his team says he won't be stripped of his titles, per Peter Gilbert of Sky Sports. Meanwhile, the rest of the division remains in neutral until the logjam at the top can be cleared out.
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Did Jorge Linares Finally Get over the Hump?
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Linares captured a unanimous decision (which probably should have been slightly wider on two of the cards and closer on the third) and the WBA Lightweight Championship from Crolla on Saturday night at the Manchester Arena. It was a solid performance from a fighter who has always had talent but showed difficulty holding it all together.
The win also netted him the unofficial designation of the Ring Magazine champion, a belt that signifies a fighter who has achieved universal acclaim as the best fighter in a given division, mostly because it's free of sanctioning-body politics.
It was an exciting fight, but the ultimate verdict seemed beyond much doubt when the official scorecards were read, even if the pro-Crolla crowd in Manchester didn't like the outcome.
Linares was disciplined and showed flashes of the guy whose massive talent had people raving about his potential a few years back. He was sharp with his punches and landed the harder, more effective shots.
His career has been derailed over the past several years due to inactivity and an injury to his right hand, but he didn't wilt, even as Crolla upped the pressure with a hot crowd at his back and cut him.
The Venezuelan notched the signature victory of his career with the win, and it seems likely that a rematch will follow. There was a rematch clause in the contract that Crolla will probably exercise.
That doesn't seem completely necessary, but you could do worse than have these two scrap again.
The fight was competitive and the victor clear, but sometimes you need to take care of business fully before moving on. The lightweight division has a ton of talent and some intriguing matches for Linares now that he's finally gotten over the hump and become the division's standard-bearer.
Can Joseph Parker Advance to a Title Shot?
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Parker (24) is one of the heavyweight division's best young fighters. He was frequently mentioned alongside Anthony Joshua as the future of the division, and now he sits just one win away from locking up a shot at the Brit's IBF Heavyweight Championship.
That would be a humongous fight, even if both guys are young and ahead of schedule.
The Kiwi fighter takes on veteran contender Alexander Dimitrenko Saturday night in New Zealand and will advance to a November showdown with Joshua with a victory.
Parker hasn't taken the slow road to the top of the division.
This is already his fourth fight of 2016, and he's gradually stepped up his level of opposition while working toward a shot at a world title. Some have questioned whether he's taking things too far too soon, but you have to give a guy some credit for taking the path most young fighters avoid.
Dimitrenko isn't a world-beater, but he's a solid contender who should push the home fighter. Dimitrenko has won six straight fights, albeit against low-level opposition, since Kubrat Pulev knocked him out in 2012.
This is a high-stakes affair with a potential showdown between two of the top young big men in the sport looming later in the fall.
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