Essential The Official Boxing Random Thoughts Thread...All boxing heads ENTER.
- Thread starter Jesus Is Lord
- Start date
i just think it makes for more better/significant fights due to the lack of dates.
No more cannon fodder or learning on the job shyt type of abundant matches
every platform doesn't need to air its jobber festivals. Top Rank be pissing me off with that shyt,
No more cannon fodder or learning on the job shyt type of abundant matches
every platform doesn't need to air its jobber festivals. Top Rank be pissing me off with that shyt,
The Inoue Auditions
_1690169802.jpg)
BY CLIFF ROLD
Published Thu Dec 07, 2023, 12:04 AM EST
Multi-million dollar rainmakers are nothing new in boxing.
Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and presently Saul Alvarez have all been held to a different standard than other fighters. Their financial clout creates the perception, and often the reality, that they are in charge of their destiny in a way other fighters are not.
They are thus held responsible by most of the public when any given big fight doesn’t happen. The hottest fight for Alvarez right now is a showdown with David Benavidez. It might happen in 2024. It won’t happen until Alvarez decides it will and everyone knows it…and he will make lots of money if he fights someone else before Benavidez…and there will be howls of injustice drowned out by the cash register.
And Benavidez will wait if he has to, and keep winning if he can, because Alvarez represents the biggest prize he can get in prizefighting.
Multi-million dollar rainmakers are nothing new, but they often come in the form of welterweights and higher. Rainmakers near the featherweight line and below are fewer and farther between. Naseem Hamed was one for a time. Japan’s Naoya Inoue, the unified junior featherweight titlist just weeks away from a showdown with Marlon Tapales for undisputed in that class, has emerged as one today.
Inoue might not ever do the sort of numbers on US pay-per-view that Tank Davis-Ryan Garcia did this year or Alvarez-Benavidez might one day, but it doesn’t have to for Inoue to be an economic “Monster” for his weights. The anticipated showdown with Stephen Fulton this year saw them split a reported total purse of $8 million dollars with three of those going to Fulton.
For comparison's sake, Nonito Donaire-Guillermo Rigondeaux a decade ago was a big fight for the same weight class. They split roughly $2 million. The epic third fight between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez a few years before that saw those two warriors split just over $1 million.
$8 million dollars doesn’t just change the game at junior featherweight.
It forms a line.
If the four-division champion Inoue (25-0, 22 KO) gets by Tapales (37-3, 19 KO), and he is favored to do so, he will hear more of a question already being asked: how high will he go?
One interested party will be in the ring this Saturday (ESPN, 10 PM EST).
Cuba’s two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (14-1, 8 KO) has rebounded from a startling loss in his professional debut and lately looks like the talent everyone expected. He easily decisioned former junior featherweight titlist Isaac Dogboe two fights ago for a vacant WBO belt at featherweight and will attempt his second defense against Rafael Espinoza.
Ramirez isn’t interested in Inoue-Tapales in any way other than observation, right?
Earlier this week, Ramirez noted to BoxingScene’s Jake Donovan, “I will definitely pay attention to this fight. It’s for all of the titles (at junior featherweight) between two champions. I will be tuned in but as a fan of the sport. I’m not even thinking about how it will impact my career.”
Let’s take Ramirez at his word.
Let’s also guess his promoters at Top Rank might not be looking at it the same way. Ramirez isn’t getting just any date on ESPN this weekend. He’s in the Heisman spot that was so valuable in building Teofimo Lopez in recent years. They’re placing Ramirez where they think he will get more eyeballs and with a rainmaker four pounds below him, the strategy is transparent.
If Inoue beats Tapales, there are certainly some deserving junior featherweights he can defend against first, chiefly Luis Nery and Sam Goodman. But the scale is already weighing heavy. The investment is clear.
Top Rank is clearly positioning themselves to stay near the Inoue business with Ramirez and IBF titlist Luis Alberto Lopez in the fold along with a purse bid win for the vacant WBA featherweight title bout between Otabek Kholmatov and Raymond Ford. The PBC will have their own attractive option at featherweight if and when Brandon Figueroa-Rey Vargas gets done to sort out the WBC title picture but if Inoue chased more unification at featherweight his options for now look more aligned with Top Rank.
That makes Ramirez-Espinoza as much of an audition as it is a title fight. If Inoue keeps winning, and growing, the money will only increase. Fighters may say they want to watch as a fan, but they’ll all be bigger fans of the paydays that come with a chance to face him.
Fighters who audition well can easily change the question from “how high will Inoue go” to a better question: when will Inoue move to featherweight to fight Ramirez…Figueroa…Lopez…etc. The weight will matter less than the wait for a specific fight.
We’ll see this weekend if Ramirez or Espinoza can begin to cement their place in the demand chain.
Bigblackted4
Superstar
Lol right he’s a fool man
4 streaming apps i pay for to watch boxing..a far fukking cry from those early days of watching boxing on real player and shyt..evolution 
oh man 10 years ago i missed watching this fight and card live because i was at my company's holiday party at a fancy hotel in downtown boston blitzed outta my mind with my then gf.. i got my first significant holiday bonus and life was good..dont know how i even got back to my suite..but i remember coming to in my bed hungover like crazy...i checked my phone to see who won last night...and being surprised like "porter beat devon?
"
Ricky Hatton, Diego Corrales, Calderon, Moorer Among 2024 Boxing Hall of Fame Class
.jpg)
BY RANDOM HITS
Published Thu Dec 07, 2023, 11:11 AM EST
The International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum, which will be celebrating its 35th Anniversary in 2024, is thrilled to announce the newest class of inductees to be honored during the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend June 6-9, 2024.
The Class of 2024 includes Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Michael “Double M” Moorer, Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon and Diego “Chico” Corrales (posthumous) in the men’s Modern category; Jane “The Fleetwood Assassin” Couch and “La Guerrera” Ana Maria Torres in the Women’s modern category; trainer Kenny Adams, manager Jackie Kallen and publicist Fred Sternburg in the Non-Participant category; journalist Wallace Matthews and broadcaster Nick Charles (posthumous) in the Observer category; Luis Angel Firpo (posthumous) in the Old Timer category and Theresa Kibby (posthumous) in the women’s Trailblazer category.
Inductees were voted in by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a panel of international boxing historians. Biographies on the Class of 2024 can be found on www.ibhof.com.
“As the Hall of Fame readies to celebrate its landmark 35th anniversary, we are beyond excited to reveal the Class of 2024 and are very much looking forward to honoring the newest class of inductees to earn boxing’s highest honor,” said Executive Director Edward Brophy.
The 2024 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend is scheduled for June 6-9th in “Boxing’s Hometown.” Many events will take place in Canastota and nearby Turning Stone Resort Casino throughout the four-day celebration including ringside talks, fist casting, fight night, 5K race / fun run, boxing autograph card show, banquet, parade and induction ceremony.
For more information on the 2024 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend, please call (315) 697-7095.
COMMENTS UPON RECEIVING INDUCTION NEWS
“This is something great, a dream come true. I dreamed to be a boxer. I dreamed to be a world champion. I especially dreamed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. And now I’ve got everything!” - Ivan Calderon
“That’s incredible. You never think of when you lace the gloves on at 10 years old that you’ll end up in the Hall of Fame with some of the great fighters already there. I’m a bit speechless. There’s no greater honor. I’m delighted.” - Ricky Hatton
“I appreciate this very much. The Hall of Fame Wall is the wall of the elite, and I am so happy to be inducted alongside some of my favorite boxers like Salvador Sanchez, Alexis Arguello and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. I made it to the elite.” - Michael Moorer
“Oh my God, I’m in shock over this news. Wow! I can’t believe it. I’m so excited and cannot wait to get to Canastota and meet everyone during the Induction Weekend.” - Jane Couch
It is a great honor to be in the International Boxing Hall of Fame with great champions. I am very happy! Thanks to my mom, who has always been with me. My husband, my children and I have taken this great news as another championship.” - Ana Maria Torres
“This feels great to get this news. I can now say that I’ve reached the highest point in the sport of boxing.” - Kenny Adams
“I’m so happy I could cry! I’ve wanted this for so long. I am so elated I don’t know what to say. To be recognized for my 45 years in the sport is amazing and I’m so appreciative. I’m looking forward to a wonderful experience at Induction Weekend.” - Jackie Kallen
"I am stunned. Working in boxing has been such great fun. I have had the good fortune to work with some very remarkable people, including world champions and contenders, promoters, managers, and television executives, trainers and fellow public relations practitioners, all who were generous with their time and taught me so much. Inside the International Boxing Hall of Fame, there are plaques dedicated to boxing legends of all generations. It is a privilege to join them." - Fred Sternburg
“I never went into this for awards or money. I went into it to help the fighters because I love boxing and to know that I’m going to be honored among the athletes that I respected and loved as a kid is a great honor and humbling.” - Wallace Matthews
“I'm over the moon happy to hear that Diego will be enshrined with his boxing peers and family that he loves so much at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the Class of 2024. Our entire family thanks the voting committee for recognizing the hard work and dedication that Diego gave the sport of boxing with the highest level of recognition a Champion can ever ask for. I'm sure Diego is smiling from ear to ear as I accept this news on his behalf. Thank you.” - Michelle Corrales-Lewis.
hatton and calderon -
chico - im in the middle
the great nick charles -
about damn timegenaro hernandez should have went in
Knicksman20
Superstar
oh man 10 years ago i missed watching this fight and card live because i was at my company's holiday party at a fancy hotel in downtown boston blitzed outta my mind with my then gf.. i got my first significant holiday bonus and life was good..dont know how i even got back to my suite..but i remember coming to in my bed hungover like crazy...i checked my phone to see who won last night...and being surprised like "porter beat devon?
Pineda could punch! I remember his ghost giving Zab Judah a hard fight lol. But I always loved the underrated brawl between Mark Breland vs Pineda. We were big Breland fans with that Brooklyn connection & him coming outta the Olympics
Knicksman20
Superstar
he beat the fukk outta manfredy that nightThat Chico left hook was a thing of beauty
pineda did give zab problems...gave cory spinks problems too..the cut was enough for cory to call it a night
..but he prolly should have won that fight...ko'd oba carr too..sweet pea gave him the business
3xplatinum
Pro
I asked this some months ago, but I was serious. Ya'll bruhs know anyone?
