Dan Rafael chat wrap 2/5:
- Better case for the HOF: Bradley or Donaire? At this point Bradley, but neither are done yet. Believes Bradley is on the doorstep of being in the HOF. A win vs. Pacquiao certainly would put him in. Actually when he thinks about it, Bradley probably deserves to be in regardless of April 9.
- RJJ vs. Michalczewski never happened because RJJ wouldn't fight in Germany and Darius would never even throw a number out to start negotiations. Prime RJJ would have beaten him easily.
- From ringside it did feel like Kovalev was intentionally trying to beat up Pascal over a longer period of time rather than go for a quick KO.
- Montreal is a great fight city. Crowd wasn't pleased to see Pascal lose. They respect Kovalev as he got a lot of cheers.
- Is a Pascal fan because he has fought great opponents, gave great effort, and was in excellent fights. Really respects him for fighting with a dislocated shoulder vs. Diaconu.
- Stevenson running into the ring was a B.S. move because he knew they are not going to fight. Stevenson's side has screwed up a potential fight with Kovalev twice. He kept wanting his people "to hold him back" from Kovalev at the fight. Believes that Stevenson does not want to fight Kovalev. Agrees with Kathy Duva in that if Khan can make a fight on HBO than Stevenson certainly could if he wanted to.
- Believes Kovalev gets a bad rap. He has covered Kovalev 5 times and been around him as much as any boxing writer and his impression is he is a cool guy and very easy to deal with. In fact his whole team is good to deal with.
- Kovalev might fight again this summer in Russia.
- Literally laughed out loud when Yvon Michel was telling him about the idea for a Showtime-HBO joint PPV for Kovalev-Stevenson.
- It is the commission's job to regulate beards on fighters. Lamont Peterson's was certainly ridiculous and Pascal's bordered on being ridiculous.
- Had no idea Canelo vs. Khan was being negotiated. No one in the media did. One of only a few times he heard no rumblings about a fight being made. Congratulated ODH on being able to keep it under wraps.
- The Khan fight does not get Canelo ready for GGG. Believes Khan has good power, but we don't know what it looks like at 155.
- Khan has never been a runner, but he is an excellent boxer.
- People cannot be mad at Khan for taking this fight. He is taking on an excellent fighter in Canelo and this fight is far bigger financially than a Garcia rematch.
- Prefers Canelo having Khan as an opponent over Rosado or Stevens.
- Khan is technically jumping up 2 weight classes, but he considers it 1 since it is 1 pound over 154.
- Canelo has a rematch clause according to GB.
- According to GB they never directly dealt with Al Haymon. Did Khan and/or his father consult Al Haymon? Very likely. His point was that Khan and his father may have dealt with Haymon on the side, but when it came to actual talks between the sides negotiating the fight, GB says the only parties involved were their team, Khan and his father. Interesting how PBC went out of their way to say they were involved in some capacity during negotiations, but will not comment on anything else.
- Not sure if Canelo vs. Khan hurts Bradley vs. Pacquiao numbers. Bradley vs. Pacquiao isn't going to do very good numbers anyway.
- Guessing that Canelo vs. Khan will do about 500k PPV buys.
- No idea on who would be in the Khan-Canelo undercard yet. Thinking a step up fight for Joseph Diaz is possible.
- Wilder says he will go to the UK to fight Fury, but it is one thing to say it and another to actually do it.
- No talks on making GGG vs. Hopkins.
- GGG vs. Wade is agreed to, but nothing is signed. Should be April 23 at the Forum in LA.
- Chocolatito should be on the undercard of GGG's next fight.
- Reaction to Brook saying he would fight GGG at 155? Kind of ridiculous Brook would think he could dictate terms to GGG. The idea of that fight is meh.
- Saunders had the opportunity to fight GGG on April 23, but he had outrageous financial demands.
- Cotto is supposed to be back in June. Possibly vs. JMM.
- Martin wants to fight Joshua because he wants to make a lot of money. Has doubts we see this fight next. Would have Joshua as the favorite.
- Martin is a late starter in boxing who looks very raw and not very natural.
- Will Joshua hold a HW title in the future? Probably.
- TR is talking to HBO about Lomachenko's next fight.
- Lomachenko vs. Hamed? Interesting fight. Lomachenko could pick Hamed apart, or Hamed could KO him.
- Fan saw Hopkins at the hotel gym before the Kovalev-Pascal fight, he was going hardcore at a workout. No fight lined up, that is just Hopkins.
- Hopkins says he will fight once more and retire. Would love to see him fight Froch.
- Is told that PBC's plan is to have Danny Garcia face the winner of Thurman-Porter later this year.
- Darchinyan HOF worthy? Probably not.
- Spence is the number 2 mandatory for Kell Brook. He probably will have to win an eliminator to become the number 1 mandatory.
- Spence will not talk about it, but is rumored to have done really well sparring against Mayweather, even giving him a black eye, and KO'ing Broner.
- The point of contention between Ward and HBO is that the contract Ward signed with them stipulated he fight 3 fights with the last being Kovalev, one in November, one in March, and a Kovalev fight in the fall. Since Ward missed his November fight, Ward is saying his March fight is the first of his contract and he gets another fight before Kovalev. HBO is saying that November date counts regardless if Ward fought or not (because he was scheduled to fight and pulled out), so the March fight counts as fight number 2. Both sides are still talking about how the situation will be resolved.
- The Ward vs. Barrera fight is still not officially signed. Kathy Duva is becoming very frustrated because this fight should be an easy one to wrap up, but Roc Nation and Ward keep bringing things on a daily basis to negotiate into the fight. Ward is known for being high maintenance.
- TR is having Rex Tso fight in May in Hong Kong and very possibly a title shot vs. Kono after that.
- St. Juste vs. Lafrieniere was a great fight on the Kovalev-Pascal undercard.
- Gerry c00ney vs. Fury? c00ney by KO.
- Most exciting fighter to watch right now? GGG, Kovalev, or Chocolatito.
- Doubts the Frampton vs. Quigg winner will fight Rigondeaux.
- Does Rigo not engage much in fights because of his questionable chin? Believes so.
- Lomachenko vs. Rigo is not being talked about because of Rigo's performance on Nov. 21. HBO does not want him fighting on their network.
- A current HW who could compete with Larry Holmes? Only a prime Wlad. Holmes had the best jab in HW history.
- No news on who Danny Jacobs is looking to fight. An Andy Lee fight would certainly be interesting. Good NY fight. Would probably pick Jacobs to win, but it wouldn't be a blow out.
- HBO's Bob Arum documentary should be televised in March to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first event he promoted.
- Arum said he talked to HBO about Postol, but they have not committed to showing his next fight.
- DeGale vs. Jack would be a good fight. DeGale wants to unify and it should be an easy fight to make.
- DiBella's current relationship with HBO? Complicated.
- Julian Williams is expected to face Marcello Matano on March 5. The winner of the fight will become the mandatory for Jermall Charlo.
- Any respected Peruvian fighters? Only one he can think of is Liborio Solis.
- Better argument for the HOF: Corrales or Castillo? Corrales.
- Sergio Martinez deserves to be in the HOF and he will vote for him.
- Spends much of his day and night on the phone communicating with people involved in the business. With Arum they may talk several days in a row and not talk for a couple weeks depending on what is happening. Same with ODH, although he texts more with Oscar. If he isn't in direct contact with Arum and Oscar he is usually following up with people at TR and GB. Talks with DiBella a lot. Actually talked with him 3 times on the phone during the chat.
- Gradovich is a reasonable step up fight for Valdez. Likes Valdez winning that fight, believes Gradovich is basically done.
- Does a prime ODH beat Mayweather? Well a shot ODH almost beat Floyd.
- Bigger bust: Jeff Lacy or Rocky Juarez? Juarez. At least Lacey won a title and defended it a few times, Juarez could never get over the hump.
- Mike Alvarado is making a ring comeback. Apparently he went to rehab and is clean and sober. He also cleaned up his legal issues.
- Talked with Maidana's manager about a month ago and Maidana is still happy being away from boxing. He is not officially retired. If he were to fight again it wouldn't be for a while because Maidana looks like a cruiserweight.
- There are a number of fighters who are involved with testing at the Lou Ruvo center in Las Vegas, where they get MRI's over time to see how boxing affects the brain.
- Where will Uchiyama vs. Fortuna take place? Depends on if they make a deal or purse bid. Uchiyama has a market in Japan, so he certainly has a good shot to win a purse bid.
- At this point no chance of Crawford vs. Verdejo in the near future. Maybe a few years down the road.
- Thoughts on Sammy Vasquez? Good fighter, good story, but not sure how far he goes.
- Juan Diaz had shoulder surgery and missed last year. He is back and trying to get back in the swing of things. If his comeback goes okay, suspects he will be offered good money to face Verdejo.
- Verdejo vs. Valdez? Verdejo.
- Bute vs. Pascal rematch? No interest. Would rather see Stevenson face either of them.
- Things should pick up. HBO and Showtime's schedules will start filling up more and PBC is supposed to be back on ESPN and Spike.
- Fan wrote in: does Tarver's ex ever ask him "got any excuses tonight Antonio?", when it comes time to pay child support. Cold.
- Gamboa vs. Juanma...still marinating.
- The fighters and promoters are interested in making Soto vs. Vargas, but they need HBO to be interested. Should be a no brainer.
- The WBA is going to try and start consolidating their title belts so there is only one per division. As it should be.
- Broner vs. Theophane is still likely to take place in April.
- Wishes HBO showed undercards on one of their channels like Showtime does.
- Better career, Barrera or Morales? Barrera.
- Wilder says the rumors of him giving up his title to fight Martin are not true.
- Had Taylor winning both the fights vs. Hopkins.
- Best fighter ever to come from the UK? Lennox Lewis.
- Better ATG: Leonard or Duran? Leonard.
- Scale of 1-10, how scared are the other HW's of Luis Ortiz? 11.
- Dimitrenko got greedy and GB is moving on looking for another opponent for Ortiz.
penis head aka piss head.