Here’s a bit of this and that from around the world of boxing, in no particular order of importance:
– In just 8 months, Eddie Hearn has managed to take one of boxing’s hottest rising properties, Jaron “Boots” Ennis, and turn him into a laughing stock and an object of ridicule as a “duck.”
There’s been some confusion and disagreement over how, exactly, Ennis got tied into a fight with Vergil Ortiz on February 22 and why that fight fell apart. But even in a worst case scenario, where Ennis agreed to the fight and then backed out, Ennis should not be the one taking the lead in relating his take to the public. That’s what a promoter is for.
To be fair, Hearn did come out and give an explanation about how this Ennis-Ortiz stuff happened and how it really wasn’t Ennis’ fault. But that was only after being directly asked about it and after Boots had been dragged through the mud for about three days-- an eternity in social media time.
Maybe there’ll be a turnaround in 2025, but one would be properly skeptical of Hearn bringing in a promised “huge” fight for Ennis at 147 when he let WBO champ Brian Norman walk over relative pennies the last time he tried to wrangle a unification bout for his fighter. Thus far, Boots’ rise to superstardom consists of nothing bouts with David Avanesyan and Karen Chukhadzhian.
– As expected (at least by me), Israil Madrimov will NOT be fighting Serhii Bohachuk on December 21 and then Vergil Ortiz on February 22.
According to Saudi sportswashing figurehead Turki Alalshikh, Madrimov has suddenly contracted “acute bronchitis,” forcing him to withdraw from the Bohachuk fight on the Usyk-Fury 2 undercard.
It’s understandable. I get it. Ortiz-Madrimov is much bigger than Bohachuk-Madrimov and when the opportunity arose to book the bigger fight, the lesser one had to be Khashoggi’d.
There’s nothing wrong with killing off the lesser fight for the sake of the bigger one. But why make up a story about it? And, yeah, I’d wager three pounds of Saudi street shawarma that Madrimov is currently NOT sitting over a humidifier, spreading Vicks Vaporub under his nose, and taking deep, wheezing breaths right now.
Could this misinformation/disinformation be a harbinger of things to come from boxing’s new Saudi overlords, who’ve never been friends of free-flowing truth? Oh, damn straight it is.
– Emanuel Navarrete handled Oscar Valdez easily Saturday night in Top Rank’s ESPN main event in Phoenix, stopping him in six rounds of a 3-knockdown affair with a body shot. It was somewhat of a pointless rematch since Navarrete handled Valdez fairly easily in a 2023 unanimous decision victory, but it was an enjoyable rout nonetheless. Some of the enjoyment probably came from being able to watch boxing outside of a political context and not have to ignore that the same people sponsoring the big fight are also waiting to execute some people for “bad” tweets. Although, one of Top Rank’s sponsors for Navarrete-Valdez WAS Riyadh Season...so...fuck…
– Also sponsored by Riyadh Season was the horrible, horrible watch that was Liam Paro vs. Richardson Hitchins on DAZN for Paro’s IBF super lightweight title. About five rounds in I stopped scoring and, by the eighth, I was contemplating flying to Saudi Arabia and tweeting something negative about the Crown Prince. I don’t want to say that this fight was dull, but I would’ve preferred watching Chris Mannix’s pre-fight banter over this waste of eyeballs where neither fighter really deserved a win. In the end, however, Hitchins got the split decision. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
– Getting back to Top Rank...It’s widely known that their deal with ESPN ends this coming summer and they are currently shopping around for a new deal. They won’t exactly be entering talks from a position of power as their current roster boasts not a single pay-per-view star, other than their partial stake in Tyson Fury-- who, reportedly, can’t fight in the US due to his ties to drug kingpin Daniel Kinahan. And, sorry “purists,” but mid-afternoon Artur Beterbiev fights and early morning Naoya Inoue slaughters are NOT needle movers.
– Jermell Charlo intimated over Instagram that he may be ready for a return to the ring with a “Recess Ova Wit” post last week…and that deafening silence was the non-sound of nobody caring. Charlo went from unified champ and fringe pound-for-pound recognition to a complete afterthought in less than a year-and-a-half. Part of the reason for that was his passive performance against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez back in September of 2023 in the defining fight of his career. Another part of the reason was the ongoing vacation he’s had since then. An equally large part, however, was that he (and the PBC public relations team) let the cynics, critics, and agenda-wieldng PBC bashers disassemble his reputation in the wake of the Canelo loss. If/when he returns, he’ll be coming back buried under nothing but bad vibes and negative mojo and I don’t think he has the fire to fight his way through all that.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com