The following excerpt was first published on this week's edition of the Fightful Boxing Newsletter, which drops every Thursday at 6 AM EST.
***
News And Notes Around The World Of Boxing:
United Kingdom:
1. David Haye is still recovering from his biceps injury and preparing for his upcoming rematch against Tony Bellew on May 5, but in a recent interview, Haye said 2018 could be his last year as a boxer: "I'm happy and I'm working, I'm feeling good. 2018 is going to be an entertaining year, potentially my last year as a competitive athlete so I want to go out with some big fireworks." Haye has been fighting as a professional since 2002 and has had numerous injuries in the last few years, so 2018 is a good year for the 37-year-old to call it quits. If Haye loses the rematch against Bellew, there's not much else out there for Haye in terms of big fights.
2. Amir Khan has signed with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing in a three-fight deal, with his first bout coming on April 21, at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. Khan hs not fought since 2016 when he lost to Canelo Alvarez and was almost going to fight Manny PAcquiao in 2017, but that fight got stopped before it got signed. Khan is still aiming for a world title shot, but in this current welterweight and junior middleweight landscape, it's tough for him to get a title opportunity in 2018, but a strong consolation prize would be the long-awaited grudge match against long-time rival Kell Brook.
3. According to a report in The Mirror, a boxing fan was hit with an £85,000 demand after his IPad was used as a device to stream a Sky Sports pay-per-view from April 2016, featuring Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko, to 4,250 people on Facebook. Craig Foster, 34, paid £19.95 to watch the fight on Sky Sports. Foster claimed that one of his friends got the IPad, brought up Facebook Live, and pointed it at the television to stream the event. The network canceled his subscription and sent him an £85,000 demand for the loss in revenue from pay-per-view sales as well as an apology for the crime.
United States:
1. Junior lightweights Andy Vences and Erick De Leon are slated to meet in a 10-round fight on the March 10 Top Rank ESPN card at the StubHub Center in California. Other fighters scheduled to fight on the undercard include junior welterweight Alex Saucedo, middleweight Esquiva Falcao in what is supposed to be his final tune-up fight before challenging WBA "regular" middleweight champion Ryota Murata this summer on ESPN. Undefeated 2016 U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer is also scheduled to fight in a lightweight fight against an opponent to be named later. The main event is scheduled to have Oscar Valdez defending his WBO featherweight title against former junior featherweight world titleholder Scott Quigg.
2. Ray Robinson and Yordenis Ugas will meet in a world title eliminator Feb. 10 after the IBF agreed to approve the bout as an eliminator for the No. 2 position in its rankings. The winner will move a step closer to a mandatory shot at the 147-pound world title held by Errol Spence Jr. The IBF sent Tom Brown of TGB Promotions, which works with Ugas along with Mayweather Promotions, and Lou DiBella, who represents Robinson, a letter Monday saying that it would grant a formal sanction for the fight as an eliminator once it receives signed contracts for the bout. They are due by Jan. 24.
3. Forbes released their bi-monthly list of the "Top 15 Pound-For-Pound Moneymakers" in boxing. These rankings, which are published every other month, are based on past fight purses, potential future bouts and opponents, and where they currently stand in boxing's pecking order. Below are the January 2018 rankings:
- Canelo Alvarez
- Anthony Joshua
- Gennady Golovkin
- Vasyl Lomachenko
- Terence Crawford
- Errol Spence Jr.
- Daniel Jacobs
- Deontay Wilder
- Sergey Kovalev
- Keith Thurman
- Mikey Garcia
- Manny Pacquiao
- Jermell Charlo
- Jermall Charlo
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
Japan:
1. Ohashi Gym released several details regarding the undercard for the February 28 card with Danny Roman defending his WBA super bantamweight title against Ryo Matsumoto. One bout will see Quaye Peter take on Yuichi Ideta, another fight will feature Japanese Youth light welterweight champion Andy Hiraoka face Fumisuke Kimura and third bout announced is Kazuaki Miyamoto vs. Seiichi Okada. It's not confirmed but it appears that Fuji TV won't air the main event live and instead air it on a tape delay for the following weekend.
2. Japanese Youth super bantamweight champion Takuya Mizuno, who won the title last year and defended back in December, will return to the ring on March 25 when he defends his title against Daiki Maniwa. The bout will headline Super Fight 55 at the Aioi Hall in Kariya, Aichi.
3. Now that WBO flyweight champion Sho Kimura has defended his title against a mandatory challenger on the New Year's Eve card in Tokyo, Kimura will likely be able to take a voluntary defense. One possible name that has thrown his hat into the ring: Paddy Barnes.
4. Reiya Konishi has vacated the Japanese minimumweight title and stated his intent to campaign at light flyweight, where he will begin his hunt for a world title. At the moment it's unclear on which champion he is aiming for, but he is ranked by all 4 world title bodies. He is ranked No. 8 by the IBF, No. 6 by the WBC and No. 5 by the WBO, all at minimumweight, and No. 2 by the WBA at light flyweight.