Opening Bell: Big-Time Boxing Returns to DC on June 30
by Gautham Nagesh
The big news today from Ring Magazine’s Lem Satterfield: DC fight fans enthralled by December’s slugfest between Lamont Peterson (left) and Amir Khan won’t have to wait another 18 years for championship boxing to return to the DMV. It looks like rising local featherweight Gary Russell Jr. will return to action June 30 at the Verizon Center. The news is music to the ears of local fight aficianados hoping DC would capitalize on momentum from the Khan-Peterson fight.
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told Lem they have the Verizon Center on hold and are working with local attorney Jeff Fried to finalize the card. While Lamont is tied up in a May 19th rematch with Khan in Las Vegas, his brother Anthony (right) would appear to be a leading candidate to fight in DC. He told me at last month’s presser that he’s planning to fight on the May 19th show, but an opponent hadn’t been found yet. Seth Mitchell is another possibility, if he’s willing to take a stay-busy fight so soon after his turn against Chazz Witherspoon on the undercard of Chad Dawson-Bernard Hopkins 2 on April 28.[[MORE]]
Russell is considered one of the top prospects in all of boxing and there’s a good chance the card would air on HBO, which has carried his last few fights. Importing a solid co-feature could solidify the card’s box office appeal. Russell and his brothers are the stars of the local amateur fight scene, which means DC’s fight fans would probably leap at the chance to see him take a step up in person. Someone like Daniel Ponce De Leon would probably be a good test, but I expect the actual name to be significantly less dangerous.
Russell sprained an ankle during sparring on Friday, forcing him to pull out of an April 21 card televised by Showtime. His opponent for that fight, Vietnamese veteran Dat Nguyen, had previously withdrawn from the fight.
Hopefully we’ll see at least one of Gary’s younger brothers turn professional on the undercard; Gary Allan Russell, who won the 2010 National Golden Gloves title at 141 lbs. is the one to watch. It would be great to see some younger area prospects like Fernando Guerrero, Dusty Harrison, Terron Grant, Jerren Cochran, David Grayton or Danny Kelly appear as well, but we’ll wait before passing any judgment. Regardless, count on us to bring you all the action from ringside.
Bold Mayweather-Pacquiao Prediction: After dismantling Miguel Cotto on May 5th, Floyd Mayweather serves his sentence without incident, quietly exits jail early due to overcrowding and good behavior, and announces his next fight will come against tousle-headed Mexican sensation Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for the Ring Magazine Junior Middleweight title. Floyd will promote the fight as his opportunity to win the true championship in a fifth weight class, trumping the alphabet championship won by Manny Pacquiao at 154. He will have a point. The two won’t fight until late 2013 at the earliest.
NBC Sports Fight Night Heads to Newark: Main Events informed us recently that the next installation of NBC Sports Fight Night will feature heavyweight contenders Tomasz Adamek and Eddie Chambers over ten rounds from the Prudential Center, which has hosted many of Adamek’s recent fights. Judging by the quality undercards we’ve seen thus far on the series, I wouldn’t be surprised to see either Main Events welterweight prospect Sadam Ali or Philly heavyweight prospect Bryant Jennings on the card; Jennings has essentially made his name by appearing on the first two editions of the show.
The NBC Sports/Main Event collaboration has thus far been a smash success as far as we’re concerned, bringing some much needed color and variety to professional boxing on the East Coast. Not to mention it’s always nice to see some pugilism on basic cable. As always we’ll be ringside in the form of either myself or the excellent Trey Pollard. June is shaping up to be an excellent month for fight fans nationwide.
Snooki Boxing Returns: Jersey Shore reality starlet Snooki Polizzi continues her turn as Don King on May 12 in Poughkeepsie when her unbeaten Irish junior lightweight prospect Patrick Hyland takes on veteran Frankie Archuleta at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in a show promoted by Final Round Promotions. The co-feature pairs super featherweights Chazz McDowell and Joseliz Cepeda for six rounds. The rest of the card includes a six-round bout matching female junior welterweights and a host of four-rounders featuring local prospects.
HBO on Floyd: In case the upcoming 24/7: Cotto-Mayweather isn’t enough Money in your life (show debuts Saturday night), HBO will debut a new, in-depth profile of Floyd on April 21, hosted by Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson. The 30-minute program includes an interview between Dyson and Mayweather, which should be interest. You can be sure we’ll tune in.