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<\/a>By Randy \u201cThe Commish\u201d Gordon<\/strong><\/p>\nHow hot has boxing been since September? Scorching!<\/p>\n
Just some of the incredible action we\u2019ve seen since the kids went back to school are:<\/p>\n
Vasily Lomachenko W 12 Luke Campbell<\/strong><\/em><\/span> The great news is, there\u2019s still more to come before we sing Auld Lang Syne to 2019.<\/p>\n Next up is a Light Heavyweight Title fight. On Saturday night, out in the robust, gambling, carousing, nightlife city in the desert which I call Lost Wages, Nevada, a boxing match of major proportions and significance will take place. It\u2019ll be a battle for the Light Heavyweight Championship\u2014or a piece of the 175-lb crown, anyway.<\/p>\n On Saturday, it\u2019s WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey Kovalev putting his title on the line against Saul \u201cCanelo\u201d Alvarez. It\u2019s an intriguing match, to say the least.<\/p>\n The most common response from boxing fans is \u201cCanelo is looking to win a fourth divisional title and is doing so against the most vulnerable of the other light heavyweight champions (Dmitri Bivol, WBA; and Artur Beterbiev, IBF\/WBC).<\/p>\n Can Alvarez do it?<\/p>\n Historically, Bob Fitzsimmons won the light heavyweight championship, but did so after a quick stint as heavyweight champion, which followed a period where he reigned as middleweight champ. So, technically, Fitzsimmons, as middleweight champion, did not step up to challenge for the light heavyweight title.<\/p>\n In 1952, Joey Maxim reigned as king of the light heavyweights. On June 25, 1952, Middleweight Champion Sugar Ray Robinson, coming off a third round knockout of Rocky Graziano two months earlier, challenged him for the 175lb belt in the sweltering Summer heat at Yankee Stadium in New York. The 100+ degree heat\u2014it was at least 20 degrees hotter under the ring lights\u2014first wilted referee Ruby Goldstein in the 10th round and had to be replaced by referee Ray Miller, before it melted Robinson, who was unable to answer the bell for the 14th round.<\/p>\n In April 1966, Dick Tiger was dethroned as Middleweight Champion by Emile Griffith. Citing problems making 160 pounds, Tiger decided to move into the light heavyweight division. Because of his vast popularity in boxing circles, Tiger was given a shot\u2014in his first fight at light heavyweight\u2014against titleholder Jose Torres. On December 16, 1966, in his first fight since losing to Griffith, Tiger outpointed Torres in Madison Square Garden to become Light Heavyweight Champion. So, while beating Torres for the title, Tiger did so as a former champion, not as a current champion moving up in weight. Kovalev is 36 and has mileage on him. He was unbeaten in his first 31 fights. Then a complacent attitude and a fast life style\u2014plus some really good fighters\u2014caught up to him. He was decisioned by Andre Ward in 2016, then stopped in a rematch seven months later. After changing trainers, he won two in a row. However, his opponents were exactly that. He was knocked out against tough, unbeaten Eleider Alvarez in August 2018.<\/p>\n After taking off a few months for some soul-searching, Kovalev found his salvation. He also found a new trainer\u2014former two-division champion and IBHOF inductee, James \u201cBuddy\u201d McGirt. Kovalev returned with a decision victory against Alvarez, then faced unbeaten, hard-hitting Anthony Yarde stopping him in the 11th round in August. When the challenge came from Canelo Alvarez, Kovalev did not have to think twice.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s do this,\u201d Kovalev said to his longtime promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events. \u201cGet him. I can beat him.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, the fight is hours away. It\u2019s Fight Week.<\/p>\n Canelo is 29 and in his prime, maybe not even there yet. He is 52-1-2, 35 KO\u2019s and the biggest money-maker in the sport. Why has he chosen Kovalev, and not one of the other two light heavyweight champions? Why not Dmitri Bivol? Why not Artur Beterbiev? Both would have gladly given Alvarez a shot at their respective belts.<\/p>\n Canelo chose Kovalev because he wanted to fight before the year ended, and because Kovalev was ready. Beterbiev and Bivol just fought within the last few weeks.<\/p>\n It also makes business sense for Golden Boy. They\u2019ve worked with Main Events before and did so successfully. Why not do it again?<\/p>\n Then, there is certainly the \u201cbeatable factor.\u201d While a hard-puncher, Kovalev can be outboxed, as we\u2019ve seen Andre Ward do twice and Eleider Alvarez also do. Canelo feels he can do the same.<\/p>\n Should Canelo win, it will give him his fourth divisional title, as he has already won belts at 154, 160 and 168 pounds. Winning his fourth would put him in a select group ever to do so.<\/p>\n History doesn\u2019t look favorably on middleweight champion\u2019s who move up to fight for the light heavyweight title. Let\u2019s see what history holds for Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Nice move by Gervonta Davis in calling out Josh Taylor, saying \u201cI\u2019ll knock you out!\u201d The unbeaten (22-0, 21 KO\u2019s) former WBA Super Featherweight Champion, who has vacated the title to campaign at lightweight and above, was asked recently to give his opinion of Taylor\u2019s victory last weekend over Regis Prograis, Davis merely shook his head and said, \u201cHe\u2019s good and all, but he can\u2019t beat me.\u201d He then added, \u201cI\u2019ll knock you [Taylor] out.\u201d The fact is, neither Davis, or his promoter\u2014Mayweather Promotions\u2014want anything to do with Taylor, the best, sturdiest and toughest 140lb\u2019er in the world.<\/p>\n In fact, the refused to talk about facing Vasily Lomachenko\u2014the unified lightweight champion\u2014earlier this year. So why would they want Taylor? The truth is, they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n But calling out a fighter he has little chance of facing anytime soon makes him look bigger in the eyes of his fans. So, Davis has parades in his honor in his hometown of Baltimore and prepares for his next bout in between calling out Josh Taylor. By the way, Davis\u2019 next fight is scheduled to take place on December 28 on Showtime. The opponent? Yuriorkis Gamboa. Gamboa, who will turn 38 a few days before the fight, has lost only two career fights, both coming at lightweight. One was to Robinson Castellanos in 2017 and the other to Terence Crawford.<\/p>\n (In 2014). Both stopped him. Castellanos in seven, Crawford in seven. An older, slower, more-hittable Gamboa stands no chance in this one. It truly is head-shaking that Showtime\u2014last year\u2019s \u201cNetwork of the Year\u201d\u2014would stoop to showing this kind of match.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 2020, then goodbye: If you want to believe Tyson Fury, he intends to fight three more times\u2014all of them in 2020, then retire. He predicts two of those matches will be against Deontay Wilder. Fury says he\u2019ll beat Wilder in the rematch, which will make Wilder desperate for a rubber match. He says he\u2019ll beat Wilder in that one, then they both can retire together.<\/p>\n It\u2019s nice to dream!<\/p>\n Welcome to the paid ranks: On Saturday\u2019s Top Rank show from Reno, Nevada, Xander Zayas made his pro debut. A baby-faced 17-year-old welterweight from Puerto Rico, Zayas became the youngest fighter to ever sign with Top Rank, doing so a few months before his 17th birthday in September. He was an 11-time USA\/Puerto Rico champion who has been boxing since the age of six. He had an amateur record of 118-12. At 5\u201910\u201d, he is still growing. Don\u2019t expect him to remain a welterweight for too much longer. His mother is 5\u201911\u201d and his father is 6\u20191\u201d. Oh, he stopped his 1-0 opponent in the first round. He\u2019s a fighter to keep your eyes on.<\/p>\n Over this past weekend, Showtime took its cameras and crew down to Philadelphia, PA. The main event was a 154-lb contest between Erickson Lubin and Nate Gallimore. Before the fourth round of the main event, Showtime put its cameras on former world champion Adrien \u201cThe Problem Broner. Instead of smiling at the camera and to the large audience watching on Showtime, he threw a two-fisted \u201cHawaiian Good Luck Sign,\u201d as Naval Commander Lloyd Bucher once told his North Vietnamese captors it was called, after they made he and his crew pose for a picture to show Americans just how wonderfully they were being treated.<\/p>\n It boggles my mind why Showtime insists on thinking that their boxing audience wants or even needs to see and hear Broner, among the biggest thugs this sport has ever seen. We were doing just fine watching the fight and listening to Mauro, Al and crew without having to look at the lowlife giving us his vile gestures then laughing about it. You could see Sam Watson, a PBC executive, sitting next to Broner. Watson wasn\u2019t laughing. If anything, he was cringing!<\/p>\n PBC on FOX with a goodie: According to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, the rematch between Tony Harrison and Jermell Charlo for the WBC Super Welterweight Title will take place on December 21. Harrison, 28-2, 21 KO\u2019s took the title from Charlo, 32-1, 16 KO\u2019s last December in a close, controversial decision in New York. A rematch was scheduled for this past Summer, but was scratched when Harrison suffered an injury in training camp. Their first fight was interesting. The rematch should be even better!<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be headed to Easton, PA, this weekend for the birthday party of a longtime, very special friend, who is turning 70. My friend\u2019s name is Larry Holmes. Larry\u2019s beautiful wife, Diane, is making him the party at their home in Easton. I\u2019ll be sure to send birthday wishes from all of you!<\/p>\n Randy \u201cThe Commish\u201d Gordon is the Author of the hit book, “Glove Affair”. Order your copy by clicking HERE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nTyson Fury W 12 Otto Wallin<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nErrol Spence, JR. W 12 Shawn Porter<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nDavid Benavidez TKO 9 Anthony Dirrell<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\n\u201cGGG\u201d W 12 Sergei Derevyanchenko<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nArtur Beterbiev TKO 10 Oleksandr Gvodzyk<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nDerek Chisora TKO 4 David Price<\/strong><\/em><\/span>
\nJosh Taylor W12 Regis Prograis<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\nNow, we\u2019ll see if Canelo Alvarez has what it takes to beat the bigger, hard-punching \u201cKrusha\u2019 from Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n