According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is out of his heavyweight debut on May 25th against Carlos Takam on May 25th.

With Usyk out, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn told ESPN that he hopes to still go forward with the show but might try to move it to Las Vegas, the hometown of 20-year-old blue-chip lightweight prospect Devin Haney (21-0, 13 KOs). Haney recently signed with Hearn and was scheduled to fight Antonio Moran (24-3, 17 KOs), 26, of Mexico, on the Usyk-Takam undercard.

“We’re still working on what will happen with the show but we still want Devin Haney and the rest of the fighters on the card to fight,” Hearn said.

“It’s been two months of hard work and preparation for this fight every day,” Usyk manager Egis Klimas said. “We had two more weeks to the fight, but he suffered the injury. Of course, everybody is very disappointed, especially Usyk.

“He will probably be out for one month. The doctor told him he can’t do anything with the arm for one month. Then maybe another month or two of recovery and hopefully he can come back to fight sometime in September.”

Derek Chisora says he would be open to fighting former undisputed Cruiserweight World Champion Oleksandr Usyk – should he come through his crunch Heavyweight clash with Senad Gashi at The O2 in London this Saturday, shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US.

Pound-for-pound star Usyk makes his Heavyweight debut against former Chisora foe Carlos Takam at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on May 25, and the Finchley man says Usyk’s switch to Heavyweight spells big trouble for the other members of the division.

“Usyk will be a nightmare for everybody,” said Chisora. “The moment he puts his weight on, he will be a nightmare. He has the punching power and the boxing skills, his movement will kill most Heavyweights. I think to win with that guy you might have to foul him a little bit, a couple of low blows!”

“Is he holding hand luggage or a massive suitcase of money? I love fighting – whoever wants it can have it. We do the deal, we sign, we get ready for it, we fight. Parker or I might go to watch Usyk – I don’t mind having some of that. I just want to fight. Most people are scared of fighting but, if I could fight every week, I would do.”

Chisora recently split with long-time coach Don Charles and is feeling upbeat after moving up to Yorkshire to train with Dave Coldwell at his gym in Rotherham alongside rising Featherweight talent Jordan Gill and two-time World Champion Jamie McDonnell.

“I like Don but it was time for a change,” added Chisora. “In the Takam fight, he (Coldwell) was on the other side and I could hear him shouting instructions, – and Tony (Bellew) told me it was a good move. He is making my feet move fast, everything move faster – I am feeling great benefits and everything is working out great.”

Chisora vs. Gashi is part of a huge night of boxing in the Capital.

Doncaster fan favourite Dave Allen (16-4-2, 13 KOs) faces the biggest night of his career against Australia’s former WBA Heavyweight World Champion Lucas Browne (28-1, 14 KOs), Sunderland’s ‘Pretty Boy’ Josh Kelly (8-0, 6 KOs) takes on the toughest opponent of his career to date in the form of unbeaten 17-0 Pole Przemyslaw Runowski and Ilford Welterweight prospect Conor Benn (13-0, 9 KOs) makes his long-awaited return to the ring, Brooklyn Middleweight prospect Nikita Ababiy (3-0, 3 KOs) makes his UK debut and Watford Bantamweight Shannon Courtenay fights for the second time as a pro after her debut win at the Copper Box Arena.

General Sale tickets for April 20 are available to purchase from StubHub (www.stubhub.co.uk), The O2 (www.theo2.co.uk) and Matchroom Boxing (www.matchroomboxing.com)

Tickets for the Heavyweight debut of pound-for-pound star Oleksandr Usyk against Carlos Takam on Saturday May 25 at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland live on DAZN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK, go on pre-sale tomorrow morning at 10am ET.

Undisputed Cruiserweight king Usyk (16-0 12KOs) made the move to Heavyweight following his domination of the Cruiserweight division over the last 18 months, winning the inaugural World Boxing Super Series and then bowing out at 200lbs with a KO win over Tony Bellew in Manchester, England.

The Ukrainian hero begins his assault on the Heavyweight division with a tough test against rugged French-Cameroonian Takam (36-5-1 28KOs), the former World title challenger heading into the clash on the back of a return to winning ways with a KO win at The O2 in London, England in December, the same venue he shared a fight of the year contender with Dereck Chisora in July.

Tickets are priced at $40, $80, $150 and $250 (plus fees) and go on pre-sale at 10am ET tomorrow (Wednesday April 10) using the following pre-sale codes USYK, TAKAM and MBUSA at this link: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/15005688E0B851B0

Tickets go on general sale at 10am ET on Thursday April 11 via Ticketmaster at this link: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/15005688E0B851B0

Pound-for-pound star Oleksandr Usyk will make his Heavyweight debut against Carlos Takam at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Saturday May 25, live on DAZN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK.

Usyk (16-0 12KOs) was the dominant force in the Cruiserweight division over the last 18 months, culminating with his commanding win over Murat Gassiev in July to become the undisputed World ruler and the winner of the inaugural World Boxing Super Series tournament in Gassiev’s Moscow home.

The unbeaten ruler waved goodbye to the division in style in November in Manchester where he KO’d Tony Bellew in the eighth round of their clash – a seventh straight World title triumph on the road for the 2012 Olympic gold medal hero.

The 32 year old’s bid to win World titles at Heavyweight will begin with a stern test against French-Cameroonian Takam (36-5-1 28KOs). Takam challenged Anthony Joshua for the IBF, WBA and IBO World titles in Cardiff, Wales in October 2017, taking the Briton ten rounds, and recently starred in a fight of the year contender with Dereck Chisora at The O2 in London, England in July 2018 – returning to that venue in December to register the 36th win of his career and 28th inside the distance.

“May 25 marks a major moment in my career when I move to the Heavyweight division,” said Usyk. “At Cruiserweight I did it all and became the undisputed champion and that is my goal now in the Heavyweights.

“This is the ultimate challenge and it begins on May 25 against Carlos Takam. It’s a tough first fight but I need to test myself against World class opposition on my new road to undisputed.”

“Usyk has achieved everything in the Cruiserweight division – I am ready to welcome him to the new world of Heavyweight boxing,” said Takam. “I can promise that this will be a great fight and I will provide Usyk with a huge test on his Heavyweight debut. I have huge ambitions of my own in the division and this fight will provide me with the chance to prove that.”

“The time has come for the ultimate challenge for Oleksandr Usyk,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “This pound-for-pound star had dominated the Cruiserweight division becoming undisputed champion after just 15 fights. Now he takes the daring leap to the land of the giants as he attempt to repeat his achievements in the Heavyweight division.

“Takam is the perfect test for the Heavyweight debut. A big strong, all action fighter who will welcome Usyk into the fold with a heavy arsenal – be ready for fireworks on May 25! I’m delighted to promote this outstanding fighter in America as DAZN start a magical period of Canelo vs. Jacobs, Usyk vs. Takam, Joshua vs. Miller and the return of GGG all in the space of two months – don’t miss it!”

“Usyk brings to Heavyweight his skills of the Olympic champion as well as his experience of the undisputed Cruiserweight champion,” said Alexander Krassyuk, general director of K2 Promotions. “He has got all he needs to pick up the heritage of the great brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, to unify the belts and to reign the division for many years. This journey starts on May 25 with Carlos Takam. Let us witness his story becoming the history.”

An announcement on the undercard will be made next week.

Tickets go on pre-sale on Wednesday and on general sale on Thursday – full ticket details will be released early next week.

Cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and junior middleweight Kell Brook could be fighting next in the United States, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Eddie Hearn said May 18 is the target date, with Chicago as a possible location, for the southpaw Usyk (16-0, 12 KOs), 32, of Ukraine, to face contender Povetkin (34-2, 24 KOs), 39, of Russia, in a fight that would mark Usyk’s official entrance into the heavyweight division.

Hearn said he is also hoping to finalize the fight between Brook and Jesse Vargas — weight to be determined but between 147 and 150 pounds — for either late May or early June, at a location on the West Coast to be determined. Brook (38-2, 26 KOs), 32, of England, has won two fights in a row against lesser opponents since losing two fights in a row, by fifth-round knockout to Gennady Golovkin for the middleweight title in 2016 followed by an 11th-round knockout loss to Errol Spence that cost him his welterweight belt in May 207.

Oleksandr Usyk has been named the 2018 BWAA Fighter of the Year, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

For the second year in a row, Anatoly Lomachenko, Usyk’s trainer (and Vasiliy Lomachenko’s father) won the Eddie Futch-John F.X. Condon Trainer of the Year award. He beat out Jay Deas, Robert Garcia and Derrick James.

Egis Klimas, who manages Usyk along with Lomachenko, newly crowned light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk and a slew of other fighters, won the Cus D’Amato Manager of the Year award for the third year in a row, beating out Keith Connolly, Chepo Reynoso and Sam Katkovski.

The other award winners:

Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier Fight of the Year went to Jarrett Hurd’s split decision win against Erislandy Lara to unify junior middleweight titles in an all-out slugfest in April. That fight was also awarded ESPN fight of the year honors. Hurd-Lara beat out heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder’s exciting 10th-round knockout of Luis “King Kong” Ortiz in March; Lomachenko’s 10th-round knockout of Jorge Linares to win a lightweight world title in May; junior welterweight Alex Saucedo’s seventh-round stoppage of Lenny Zappavigna in a back-and-forth bloodbath in June; and Canelo Alvarez’s narrow majority decision win over Gennady Golovkin to win the unified middleweight world title in their action-packed rematch in September.

The Sam Taub broadcast award winner was Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza, who has been at the network since 2011 and led its rise to dominance in the premium cable boxing battle with HBO. The other nominees were HBO analyst Roy Jones Jr., Showtime Sports executive producer David Dinkins Jr., HBO senior producer Dave Harmon and Showtime Sports broadcaster Jim Gray.

Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury won the Bill Crawford-John McCain award for courage in overcoming adversity. After winning the unified and lineal title from Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, Fury went on a downward spiral of drug and alcohol abuse. He also had mental health issues, blew up to more than 400 pounds and did not fight for 2½ years before getting his life together, slimming down and returning in 2018 for two wins followed by a draw with world titleholder Wilder. The other nominees were late Sen. John McCain, whose name was added to the award title, Main Events promoter Kathy Duva, trainer Jose Santa Cruz and Showtime broadcaster Brian Custer.

International Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Lampley, the voice of HBO boxing for more than 30 years until the network’s exit from the sport in December after 45 years, was voted winner of the Barney Nagler Long and Meritorious Service award. The other finalists were CompuBox founder Bob Canobbio, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti, MGM Resorts International public relations executive director Scott Ghertner and former middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Bernard Hopkins.

There was a three-way tie for the Marvin Kohn Good Guy award between publicist Steve Brener, president of Brener Zwikel & Associates; Ray Stallone of HBO Sports media relations; and four-division world titleholder Nonito Donaire. The other nominee was two-division world titlist Badou Jack.

Two other award winners were previously announced. Unified women’s middleweight world titlist Claressa Shields (8-0, 2 KOs) was named winner of the Christy Martin award for female fighter of the year in a unanimous vote of the BWAA women’s boxing committee and Thom Loverro, a sports columnist for the Washington Times since 1992, who has written extensively about boxing in his decades of writing experience, was voted the 46th winner of the Nat Fleischer award for career excellence in boxing journalism, which is voted on only by past winners.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday in England undefeated Ukrainian southpaw Oleksandr Usyk defended his trove of cruiserweight world titles – Ring, WBA, IBF, WBC, WBO – from the challenge of England’s Tony Bellew, last seen doubleaxing heavyweight David Haye, by emphatic eighth-round knockout. In these United States the match happened before dark, aficionados’ hour, on DAZN, aficionados’ network, while American casual fightfans reliably watched college football.

What a wonderful secret is Usyk for the longsuffering American aficionado. He has fought but twice in our hemisphere, and once in Inglewood on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins’ unforgettable if entirely forgotten farewell to boxing (a lesson from the B-Hop archive: when a man tirelessly tells you you’ll miss him when he’s gone, you won’t). When last Usyk fought in our hemisphere it was 18 months ago and he won via lopsided decision on HBO, which is to write if anyone watched him and remembered him that person has since endured disappointments enough to’ve lost his memories of Usyk in the strogranoff of former Soviet fighters served by Comrade Pyotr during HBO Boxing’s pominki.

Since then Usyk has fought on afternoons, here in the States, on YouTube streams and apps; the nearest he’s come to slickly produced punchstats and pedantic commentators is when he stepped in the WBSS’ whitelight show before unmanning Murat Gassiev in July to hoist the bestlooking new trophy in sport.

It gets better. There’s nothing cool about Usyk in the way American influencers understand the term. He’s zany and awkward and devoutly religious. He’s more likely to kiss a felled challenger than taunt him. And since he doesn’t cherrypick opponents or fight on terms bent to prohibitive there’s no telling how good or bad he’ll look when the opening bell rings. Then there’s the way he fights. He’s none of countryman Lomachenko’s pizzazz, especially not to what untrained eyes have yet to try DAZN. He’s more obviously awkward than innovative, which means whenever the American laity eventually catches up with him they’ll unlikely sense the innovation of making every man across from him, even the most obdurately orthodox, awkward unto paralysis. Usyk is an acquired taste and American casuals haven’t the palate or patience to acquire tastes, accustomed as they are to forcefeedings.

Round 5:30 PM ET on Saturday Usyk began to study and pull apart Bellew in yet another packed English arena (it would be a surprise and mistake if semifinal rounds of WBSS Season 2 happened in many American venues, large and cultivated as the European fanbase is become, comparatively funereal and hollow as American venues now sound). Usyk did nothing outlandish to Bellew. He respected the Brit’s power from the open. He established the quirky beat ever playing between his temples and fought to it till Bellew made him stop. And Bellew did do that numerous times.

As it should be. Two judges in fact had Bellew ahead many rounds later, and whatever DAZN commentators said about it in English, the Spanish booth had Bellew ahead, too. If Usyk was winning on any honest card it wasn’t by much.

There’s not any way to argue Usyk won round 1. Perhaps Bellew didn’t either. That’s a 10-10 round, then, which is not a scorekeeping impossibility, by the way, no matter how anomalous. Usyk and Bellew fairly well split their first 12 minutes together, however that shook-out on the cards. By the midway point of the match the match was close enough not to care about the decision; if one man didn’t snatch the other’s consciousness he wouldn’t have a sympathetic ear among aficionados when his handlers whined about a robbery afterward, as they’re wont to do.

Usyk heard us thinking that, he did. He next invited Bellew to lefthand city, a place not quite inhospitable as Ray Mercer’s fabled righthand city, but a place in the vicinity nonetheless. On the way there Bellew realized he was fully spent.

That’s what will be lost on American casuals most frequently – the psychology of what Usyk does other cruiserweights. Because Usyk is not ferocious his physicality can be lost on careless eyes. Usyk’s combination of size and relentlessness, though, is unprecedented. Nobody his size moves continually for every minute of every round. There’s a tacit assumption harbored by any man who confronts a man big as Usyk: So long as I don’t get hit flush by this beast there’ll be respites aplenty. But there aren’t. Instead there’s a dancing madman with a belligerent jab that portends a lampswitch left. Standing armslength to that is exhausting for any 200-pounder the world over. It’s why Usyk’s attack evinces no urgency. So long as he’s on his rhythm and jabbing and you’ve ceded centermat, he’s swapping your energy for fatigue, and he knows it and you know it and now you know he knows it. And that is terrible depleting.

Bellew was so beaten so instantly Saturday th’t American casuals will mistake the finale for force, they’ll expect other men Usyk touches with his cross to backsplash like Tony, and when they don’t American casuals will accuse Usyk of deterioration and aficionados of exaggeration. So be it. Usyk doesn’t need the bigoted buffoons of the Mayweather faithful to surpass what expectations he’s set for himself, and if he immediately ascends to heavyweight and fights Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium it will be unwise but lucrative, and it will happen on a Saturday afternoon in the States, blessedly.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Follow all the action as Oleksandr Usyk defends the undisputed cruiserweight title against Tony Bellew.  The action begins at 5 PM ET / 10 PM UK time

NO BROWSER REFRESH NEEDED.  THE PAGE WILL UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY

Round 1: Left to body from Bellew..Jab from Usyk..Right from Bellew

Round 2 Right from Bellew..Jab from Usyk..Counter right from Bellew..

Round 3 Left from Usyk..Counter right from Bellew..Straight left from Usyk..Counter right to body from Bellew..Lead right..Right off the ropes

Round 4 Left from Usyk..Good right lead from Bellew..Body shot from Usyk..lead left..Bellew lands a right..Jab from Usyk..Good left..left..Good bidy shot from Bellew..

Round 5 Jab from Usyk..Right from Bellew..Combination from Usyk..Good left..Looping right from Bellew.

Round 6 Good left from Usyk…Jab..3 rights from Bellew

Round 7 Jab from Usyk..Good left..Hard jab..Jab..straight left

Round 8 Left in the corner for Usyk..Jab..Good right from Bellew..right and left from Usyk...HUGE LEFT AND DOWN GOES BELLEW…THE FIGHT IS STOPPED

Oleksandr Usyk retained the undisputed cruiserweight title with an 8th round stoppage over Tony Bellew in Manchester, England.

Bellew took the early ;ead by landing some nice right hands on Usyk, who seemed to be biding his time to figure out Bellew.  Usyk started to come on in the middle rounds and got his vaunted jab working.

Clearly with the momentum in his favor, Usyk continued to break down Bellew until he landed a crushing left that sent Bellew crashing back first over the bottom rope.  Bellew got to his knees, but the fight was waved off at 2:00.

Usyk of Ukraine is 16-0 with 12 knockouts.  Bellew of Liverpool, UK is 30-3-1.

Former world champion Anthony Crolla earned another world title shot with a 12-round unanimous decision over Daud Yordan in a lightweight contest.

Crolla of Manchester won by scores of 116-112 on all cards, and is now 34-6-3.  Yordan of Indonesia is 38-4.

Former three-division world champion, Ricky Burns stopped Scott Cardle in round three of their scheduled 10-round lightweight bout.

In round one, blood started to flow from Cardle’s nose from hard jabs from Burns. In round three, Burns landed a perfect right that sent Cardle to the deck. Cardle got to his feet, but the fight was stopped at 2:06.

Burns, 138 lbs of Scotland is 43-7-1 with 16 knockouts. Cardle, 136 1/2 lbs is now 23-3-1.

Josh Kelly stopped Walter Castillo in round one of their scheduled 10-round welterweight bout.

In round one, Kelly dropped Castillo with a perfect 1-2 combination. Moments later, Kelly landed a hard combination on the ropes, and the fight was stopped at 2:55.

Kelly, 151 lbs of Sunderland, UK is 8-0 with six knockouts. Castillo, 149 1/2 lbs of Argentina is 13-3.

Dave Allen stopped Ariel Bracamonte after round seven of their scheduled 10-round heavyweight fight.

In round seven Bracamonte suffered a cut on the bridge of his nose from a flush right hand from Allen. The fight was halted after that round.

Allen, 257 1/4 lbs of England is 16-4-2 with 13 knockouts. Bracamonte, 256 1/2 lbs of Argentina is 8-2.

Richard Riakporhe stopped Sam Hyde in round eight of their scheduled 10-round cruiserweight bout featuring undefeated cruiserweights.

Riakporhe landed hard shots in round eight, and Hyde’s left eye began to swell in round eight. There was a huge hemotama that shut Hyde’s eight and the towel was thrown in.

Riakporhe, 197.3 lbs of London is 8-0 with seven knockouts. Hyde, 199.5 lbs of Manchester, UK is 13-1-1.

Dymytro Mytrofano and Gino Kanters battled to a four-round draw in a middleweight fight.

In round one, Kanters dropped Mytrofanov just seconds into the fight. Mytronfavov fought back but was only able to muster a draw.

Mytrofanov, who was an Olympian is 2-0-1. Kanters of The Netherlands is 5-2-1. The referee score was 38-38.

By Norm Frauenheim-

The gap-toothed smile is Alfred E. Neuman-like. But the eyes are mad, full of enough menace to definitively answer that comic-book question:

What, me worry?

Yeah, Tony Bellew should.

Oleksandr Usyk is scary, more so than perhaps anybody in a business full of fighters who use fear as much as their fists. Bellew knows that, of course. He knows a lot more, too. He possesses clever instincts, has more experience and is still motivated by an inexhaustible love for a dangerous game.

“I just love to fight,’’ Bellew said a couple of months ago at a news conference.

It’s a love that’s bound to be tested, perhaps even exhausted by Usyk, who is favored Saturday in Manchester, England, to keep his unified title in what looks to be a cruiserweight stepping stone to heavyweight, perhaps against Anthony Joshua.

“He’s a monster,’’ said the engaging Bellew, who is coming out of retirement and moving down in weight – he lost 34 pounds – for a chance to become the first UK fighter to ever win a unified title. “I admire him.’’

But he doesn’t fear him. At least, no fear was evident in Bellew’s voice or gestures throughout the build-up to the intriguing bout, which can be seen in the United States on the DAZN streaming service (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT).

There are reasons for Bellew’s confidence. He’ll have a loyal UK crowd in his corner. If it’s close, that could emerge as key factor on the scorecards. He also knows his way around the ring. Translation: He figures out a way.

“Retired or not, this fight had to happen,’’ said Bellew, whose record (30-2-1, 20 KOs) includes more than twice as many bouts and perhaps twice as many lessons than Usyk’s resume (15-0, 11 KOs). “I will find a way to win.’’

Maybe, but all of the momentum is with Usyk, who has rapidly emerged as a pound-for-pound contender. He’s No. 5 in The Ring’s current ratings, which has his Ukrainian Olympic teammate Vasiliy Lomachenko still at No. 1, ahead of Terence Crawford at No. 2, Canelo Alvarez at No. 3 and Gennady Golovkin at No. 4.

Usyk and Bellew look to be at a career crossroads. Bellew says he’ll retire after Saturday night. Meanwhile, Usyk, an Olympic gold medalist at heavyweight, appears to be just approaching his professional potential.

But Bellew believes he will introduce Usyk to adversity he has yet to encounter. Above all, Bellew said, it will be at the end of his power punches.

“When he feels my power, he’ll know,’’ said Bellew, who is convinced he his power will prove to be the edge in a bout that promises to take the snoozer out of cruiser, perhaps the best fight in a forgotten division since James Toney scored a decision over Vassiliy Jirov in April, 2003. “He doesn’t have my kind of power.’’

Bellew made the claim about his power when the fight was formally introduced during a news conference in September. When Bellew’s remark was translated into Ukrainian for him, Usyk flashed that gap-toothed grin.

“He’s kidding,’’ said Usyk, with eyes that clearly said he wasn’t.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday brought yet another delightful multihour multiplatform celebration of a sport even weekly columnists feared might die four years ago (Pacquiao-Algieri, for bottomwatchers). The World Boxing Super Series delivered another pair of quarterfinal matches on DAZN, late afternoon, and ESPN+ presented an entertaining if not historic scrap from El Paso a few hours later. Our wonderful recrudescence continues Saturday with the return of Oleksandr Usyk on DAZN, in a match to ensure he is recognized as 2018’s best fighter.

Going last to first Mexican super featherweight Miguel Berchelt diswilled Mexican Miguel Roman in a Texas beating brutal as promised. Scottish super lightweight Josh Taylor denuded American Ryan Martin in Scotland. Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire benefited from an uncommon bit of bad luck when Northern Ireland’s Ryan Burnett lost his bantamweight title via searing backache.

One of the German philosophers, must’ve been Nietzsche, posited sympathy was the worst emotion because it required its possessor be unseemly superior to its object; a person may feel many emotions towards a person of circumstances superior to his own but sympathy be not one of them. One keeps such a teaching behind his lifelong thoughts after he reads it and especially as he watches prizefighting and especially especially as he watches prizefighting to write about prizefighting. Beatings, hundreds to thousands of them, he witnesses without perching himself highly enough to sympathize with the vanquished because, frankly, why should he? Even the loser of a prizefight has engaged in a display of public courage.

Still, Saturday brought a genuine and weird tingling of sympathy for Ryan Burnett. To see a fighter so dramatically reduced so rapidly through no decipherable fault of his own was unpleasant. So freakishly, too. One sees injured hands, eyes and noses enough to be immune their happenings. Where brittle hands are tragic they’re also to prizefighting what height is to a professional basketball player – sure, theoretically, you could make it to the NBA at 5-foot-9, but it is unlikely your destiny.

But to see a 26-year-old championship prizefighter slip a disk while throwing a cross?

Yet there was Burnett after 10 minutes of movement both mechanically correct and innovative suddenly near paralyzed across half his body. Donaire, having done nothing to cause the injury, had no choice but to exploit his opponent’s weakness unto unconsciousness if possible. Burnett didn’t allow that but neither was he allowed out his corner for round 5 and not too long – though excruciatingly – after that he was wheeled out the arena, unable to make the walk. One winces at thoughts of Burnett’s next week ambling about his house.

Weird and deep as went the pang of sympathy for Burnett, one suspects there was selfishness in the brew. The opening three rounds of Donaire-Burnett were fantastic compelling. Donaire was outclassed but giving an excellent account of himself, and Burnett was beginning to invent and transcend, hitting Donaire disrespectfully and unusually for a fighter his size.

Remember, the last time any aficionado saw Donaire at 118 pounds he was electrocuting Fernando Montiel and unilateraling Omar Narvaez; nobody at that weight who stood and swapped with Donaire did so without fear he’d be Darchinyan’d. Burnett did so fearlessly and creatively. Donaire’s seven years and 15 fights (11-4, 6 KOs) removed from his best bantamweight days, of course, but during lots of exchanges Saturday he was similar enough to prime Nonito – Victor Conte affiliate, future VADA posterboy – to make Burnett look awesome to trained eyes.

No one looked better in a mainevent Saturday than Burnett did those opening 10 minutes against Donaire. The creative way he used the lefthook to corral Donaire into a right uppercut, throwing the 3 as a wide lead, and the way he chalked Donaire with the cross. Then came the cross that felled Burnett, and if you didn’t immediately think “pre-existing condition” you’ve not spent sufficient time round boxers or Democrats. It’s the only sensible explanation that burst over the synapses: Burnett did some sort of campy crosstraining something, whether sledgehammering a tire or pulling a tractor, that made him unright a month out. But with massages, painkillers and pilates, hopes were high things’d hold up. And they did, too, enough for Burnett to move not-gingerly until the moment he was unable to move.

All that is merest speculation but more believable, anyway, than a fighter’s 10,000th thrown punch disconnecting his back from itself.

It was in the shadow of this climactic anticlimax Josh Taylor outclassed Ryan Martin. Readers are duly admonished to suspend judgement on Taylor, as he did nothing more than exactly what he was supposed to do Saturday and in unremarkable fashion. Oh, but his footwork is bewitching!

If that’s true it will manifest itself quickly enough in a tournament designed to reveal character. See, there’s no longer any need to be early on these things. There’s no longer a need to squint at the screen in the hopes of being the only one to see how special a fighter is before he’s proved it, lest he never have the chance to prove it. The WBSS proves it. If your guy is a great fighter he’ll win his season of the WBSS, and in so doing will justify for at least a halfyear your belief in him by being recognized as the world’s best in his weightclass.

Tournament boxing eliminates the matchmaking (cherrypicking) that brought so much misplaced anxiety and argument to Money May’s era and GGG’s middleweight reign. HBO’s gone now, too, so there’s no need to rehash the banal hypothetical hash that became the network’s lowly specialty once Larry Merchant left: Our middleweight champion just poleaxed a welterweight, which proves if he were to campaign at super middleweight he’d have no trouble dominating there, either.

That brings us to Saturday’s third mainevent and a commentary like: Blessed be Timothy Bradley among all ESPN mainevent commentators (Brian “Bomac” McIntyre is fantastic, too, but he does undercards) for realizing our beloved sport is moved on from HBO so there’s no reason to audition for Max Kellerman’s seat, there’s no need to interrupt insights about the present with cliched musings about fighters’ pasts, there’s no need to reargue and reheat and recycle whatever tiny detail your cohosts didn’t buy fully enough, there’s no need to unearth the human condition with every single punch.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, a cruierweight title bout between undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tony Bellew is close to being finalized.

“Alexander (Krassyuk) and Eddie (Hearn) have been negotiating and I spoke to Alexander and they’re getting very close and most likely it’s going to be completely done (later this week or next week),” Usyk Manager Egis Klimas said. “They’re looking in November.”

“Usyk is a road warrior,” Klimas said. “‘Road Warrior’ Usyk.”

“Bellew made a very good comment,” Klimas said. “He said, ‘Why do I need Usyk in the heavyweight division? He has no name in the heavyweight division. I’d rather come down to the cruiserweight division because there are four titles involved.'”

“(The tournament organizers) hope we will be releasing the titles. We’re not planning to do that,” Klimas said. “We’re going to fight Bellew.”

“(If) Andre Ward wants to come back as a cruiserweight, Andre Ward and Usyk would be a perfect fight. A perfect fight,” Klimas said. “But right now we’re trying to make Usyk and Bellew.”

By Bart Barry-

Saturday in Moscow undefeated Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk became the first unified cruiserweight champion of the world since Evander Holyfield, pitching a 12-round no-hitter against Russia’s Murat Gassiev to win the inaugural season of the World Boxing Super Series. Usyk decisioned Gassiev so lopsidedly not one round went unanimously the Russian’s way. It was a remarkable conclusion to a remarkable run in no way diminished by Americans’ having to watch it on a YouTube stream from Turkey.

Usyk’s was a wonderful performance in consequential of a match as we’ve had in years. What Usyk betrayed through nearly every moment of 36 minutes and Gassiev failed to disrupt more than a pair of times was comfort. There’s an equation of sorts for how a stalking powerpuncher attritions a clever boxer, and it relies mostly on fatigue begotten by discomfiting. If Usyk’s jab and movement looked nervy anxious in Saturday’s opening two minutes they looked strategic gorgeous in the closing round, and the importantest part: They looked nearly the same all through the 32 minutes separating those.

Gassiev may not have landed a single clean shot the entire fight and certainly nothing Usyk didn’t see en route; Gassiev’s few noteworthy blows went through Usyk’s southpaw guard and touched Usyk’s gloves and arms before touching his head.

There was subtlety and awkward wonderment in what Usyk did, and if it was missed by many Americans for the match’s inaccessibility, well, let’s correct what of that we might.

No matter how the opening 2:50 of most rounds went, and most especially the especially consequential middle rounds – when Gassiev had to take anything he learned watching Usyk for five six seven frames and apply his rebuttal – Usyk found a way to punctuate doubt in Gassiev’s mind as the round closed. A wellplaced right uppercut, 5, or uppercut-hook, 6-3, didn’t so much hurt Gassiev as tell him: “I can hit you anytime with anything I want, and I beseech you remember that as your trainer whispers sour nothings in your ear for the next minute.”

Gassiev didn’t get angry, he’s too good and unattached for that, but he got verily discouraged in those pivotal rounds when he expected to begin striking Usyk properly. He trudged cornerwards while Usyk strolled.

And who was there to greet Gassiev when he arrived?

Why, none other than Abel “Plan A” Sanchez, the architect of Mexican Style, a form of prizefighting not one of Mexico’s five greatest prizefighters would recognize. Sanchez’s fighting philosophy appears to rely on, well, not head movement or innovative defense but perhaps initiative – a Sanchez fighter must want to hurt the other man more and oftener, and then everything else sort of works out? To carry such initiative, such enduring and quicksummoned rage, through 36 minutes, is nigh impossible, so a Sanchez fighter must be well-conditioned and attrition his man well before the championship rounds. He must hurt his opponent with every landed punch, and this works because, at the championship level, surely even the least-creative attack must find some purchase sometime in 2,160 seconds of opportunity.

Except Saturday.

In Moscow the Sanchez tactical vision for Gassiev reduced to: Go punch that guy.

Usyk obviously knew what Gassiev would do a third of a second or more before Gassiev did and a halfsecond or more before Gassiev started to do it. If it were a football game Saturday’s fight would evince a stolen playbook; stolen signals, were it a baseball game. Since it’s a fight, though, and there are only so many punches and ways of throwing them, there’s no conspiracy – the verb “to outclass” suffices.

Gassiev recognized it, applauding for Usyk through the reading of the scorecards, but since it might be less apparent to aficionados treated since 2012 to what gullibility has marked Mexican Style’s reception, let’s set the hands unmistakably upon the clock: Usyk outclassed Sanchez at least as much as he outclassed Gassiev.

This was no aberration, either – and a replica preview of how Gennady Golovkin would fare against Billy Joe Saunders, were GGG’s handlers careless enough to make that match (unlikely: Saunders is an actual middleweight).

Usyk is a weird and wonderful gentleman pugilist, dancing ever elegantly to a ballet of his own conjuring. He is physically enormous; let not the title cruiserweight mislead you. And howsoever lightly he appeared to hit Gassiev he is mighty and unwilling to be moved or bullied about the ring. While there’s no doubting Gassiev had power enough to affect Usyk painfully in the first eight rounds of the match – hence Usyk’s abiding vigilance – there’s neither doubting Usyk’s resilience and power of resistance. Out of ideas by round 3 Gassiev’d’ve shoved Usyk where he could were he not routinely chastened by Usyk’s lefthand. Usyk didn’t (doesn’t) hit hard as Gassiev but he sure as hell hit hard enough to dissuade Gassiev.

With frustration came fatigue and with fatigue went Gassiev’s initiative. Even had Gassiev found a way to surprise Usyk after the ninth round nothing about the result’d’ve changed – Gassiev alternately winged wildness or tentatively threw darts, and if Usyk was far too seasoned to be caught by Gassiev’s windups his chin was also far too low to be destabilized by anything less than a combination, and Gassiev threw nary one of those #MexicanStyle.

Let’s close with a few words of gratitude. Thank goodness for the Turks on Saturday. Tivibu Spor, a 24/7 sports unit of Istanbul’s TTNET, delivered for aficionados where no American broadcaster bothered. Much of Saturday’s undercard and every second of its main event happened on Tivibu Spor’s YouTube channel, crisply, cleanly and legally. No logons, no credit cards, no monthly fees, no popups or pirating – just live boxing with commentary blessedly outside our comprehension. One of the talkers was wild for Gassiev, shouting crazily the three times Gassiev threatened Usyk, but otherwise it was a flawless broadcast.

Bart Barry uzerinden ulasilabilir Twitter @bartbarry

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – July 20, 2018 – On Saturday afternoon, July 21st, undefeated cruiserweights with knock-out power, Uysk and Gassiev, will battle for four of the major world titles IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO. KlowdTV is proud to air the exclusive live United States stream of the finals of The World Boxing Super Series Cruiserweight championship that will pit undefeated fighters Oleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev.

The bout will take place in Moscow, Russia beginning at 3 PM ET. “We are very proud to be able to bring this outstanding fight to KlowdTV,” said Robert Herring Sr., CEO of KlowdTV. “I know how much interest there is in the fight by reading all of the talk on all of the websites and social media. The fans have been clamoring for the fight to find a United States distributor, and we hope all the fans tune in on Saturday.”

Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs) of Kiev, Ukraine is WBC and WBO world cruiserweight champion.

The 2012 Olympic Gold Medal winner won the WBO world title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Krzysztof Glowacki on September 17, 2016 in Poland. Usyk defended the title twice with a 9th round stoppage over Thabiso Mchunu and a 12-round unanimous decision over Michael Hunter.

Usyk entered the World Boxing Super series with a 10th round stoppage over former world champion Marco Huck. In his semifinal bout, Usyk captured the WBC World Cruiserweight title with a majority decision over Mairis Briedis on January 27th in Latvia.

Gassiev (26-0, 19 KOs) of Russia, is the IBF and WBA Super Cruiserweight champion.

Gassiev now trains in Big Bear, California under famed trainer Abel Sanchez.

The 24-year-old Gassiev won IBF championship on December 3, 2016 with a 12-round unanimous decision over Denis Lebedev.

Gassiev entered The World Boxing Super Series with a 3rd round destruction of former world champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk. In his last bout, Gassiev won the WBA World Super Cruiserweight title with a 12th round stoppage over previously undefeated Yunier Dorticos on February 3, 2018.

The weigh can be seen on KlowdTV

The action begins at 3 PM

A full undercard will be shown that includes a world championship bout.

Mairis Briedis (23-1, 18 KOs) vs Brandon Deslaurier (11-1-1, 1KO)-10 Rounds-Cruiserweights

Cecilia Braekhus (33-0, 9 KOs) vs Inna Segaydakovskaya (7-0, 3 KOs)–10 Rounds–for the IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO World Welterweight titles

Fedor Chudinov (17-2, 12 KOs) vs Nadjib Mohammedi (40-5, 23 KOs)–12–WBA International Super Middleweight title

KlowdTV is a 24/7 live streaming service, that has over 31 live channels and 50 music channels.

The fight will be free to anyone who is already a KlowdTV subscriber. For any non-subscribers, the cost will be $9.99 and that will not only guarantee Saturday’s “can’t-miss” fight, but 30 days of KlowdTV.

KlowdTV can be accessed on any device that includes Smart TV’s, Computers, ROKU, Amazon, All IOS devices, phones and Tablets.
The fight card will be streamed live via KlowdTV. Visit www.klowdtv.com for additional information.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Muhammad Ali’s wife Lonnie will present the Muhammad Ali trophy to the winner of the Oleksandr Osyk – Murat Gassiev Cruiserweight final in Moscow.

“Since this is the first Ali Trophy ever presented, and as a part of Muhammad’s legacy in boxing, I am proud to be here to represent the Ali family, the WBC and its president Mauricio Sulaiman,” Ali said in a statement before Saturday’s fight.

“Muhammad would have been proud to see one of these champions being rewarded with the trophy that carries his name,” Ali said.

Said promoter Kalle Sauerland, the chief boxing officer of tournament organizer Comosa AG: “Muhammad Ali being our ambassador is the greatest honor of all. Having his wife present the first Ali Trophy in Moscow will make this ceremony one of the most emotional moments ever seen in a boxing ring.”

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – July 17, 2018 – On Saturday afternoon, July 21st, the world’s best and undefeated cruiserweights, Oleksandr Uysk and Murat Gassiev, will battle for four world titles and the bragging rights to be crowned the undisputed World Cruiserweight Champ. Both fighters possess perfect undefeated records, tremendous explosive power, and with the winner taking all the major recognized belts, this is the must-watch Cruiserweight battle of the year. This amazing showdown featuring Usyk v Gassiev for the undisputed Cruiserweight championship and will air live and exclusively on KlowdTV in the United States.

The bout will take place in Moscow, Russia beginning at 3 PM ET. “We are very proud to be able to bring this outstanding fight to KlowdTV,” said Robert Herring Sr., CEO of KlowdTV. “I know how much interest there is in this fight from all the interest on boxing sites and social media. The fans have been clamoring for the fight to find a United States home, and KlowdTV is once again stepping up to answer the call of US boxing fans.”

Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs) of Kiev, Ukraine is WBC and WBO world cruiserweight champion.
The 2012 Olympic Gold Medal winner won the WBO world title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Krzysztof Glowacki on September 17, 2016 in Poland. Usyk defended the title twice with a 9th round stoppage over Thabiso Mchunu and a 12-round unanimous decision over Michael Hunter.

Usyk scored a 10th round stoppage over former world champion Marco Huck. In his latest bout, Usyk captured the WBC World Cruiserweight title with a majority decision over Mairis Briedis on January 27th in Latvia.

Gassiev (26-0, 19 KOs) of Russia, is the IBF and WBA Super Cruiserweight champion.
Gassiev now trains in Big Bear, California under famed trainer Abel Sanchez. The 24-year-old Gassiev won IBF championship on December 3, 2016 with a 12-round unanimous decision over Denis Lebedev.

Gassiev registered a 3rd round destruction of former world champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk. In his last bout, Gassiev won the WBA World Super Cruiserweight title with a 12th round stoppage over previously undefeated Yunier Dorticos on February 3, 2018.

KlowdTV is your 24/7 live streaming service, featuring over 30 live channels plus 50 music channels. The fight is free to KlowdTV subscribers. New subscribers can enjoy the fight for the $9.99/month subscription fee, which includes numerous live channels including Fight Network, GolTV, FNTSY Sports Network, Pursuit Channel, Sony Movie Channel and more. Simply visit www.klowdtv.com to enjoy this “can’t-miss” fight and 30 days of KlowdTV for just $9.99 per month. KlowdTV can be accessed on any device that includes Smart TV’s, computers, ROKU, Amazon, Android and iOS phones and tablets.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday on the ESPN+ app Filipino Manny Pacquiao smelted Argentine welterweight titlist Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia. Saturday on no app whatever undefeated Russian cruiserweight Murat Gassiev will fight undefeated Ukrainian cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk in Moscow to unify their division. If the latter’s lack of an American broadcaster is bizarre, the former’s broadcaster was indeed apropos.

A temptation at times like these is to hedge one’s SportsCenterish prepositional phrase. Y’all know the drill: “in recent memory” is the way you take credit for boldness one word before you walk things back with a comma. Not today. After Saturday’s 25-minute comain of commercials, junior-dev graphics and overwrought pontification, it’s time someone other than an ESPN employee asserts what so many of us feel.

Manny Pacquiao’s comeback tilt in Kuala Lumpur was the greatest ESPN+ fight in history.

Before its cancellation some years back ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” consistently presented the weakest boxing on television, the sort of underbudgeted slop advertisers and reputable promoters skirred. Far from appearing on FNF himself Pacquiao wouldn’t consider permitting towelboy Buboy to chiefsecond even Manila minimumweights on the program. Yet here we are in 2018 and Pacquiao’s now fighting on the smartphone equivalent of FridayNightFights.com.

A word or two about that, actually. What the hell are commercials doing on a paid stream? Having charged us $5/month ESPN gave us at least a halfhour of commercials during its otherwise-inexplicable 150-minute prefight Pacquiao promotion, and had its commentary crew act like nothing was the matter. “Two revenue streams!” some pitchman inevitably proclaimed, but that’s all sorts of wrong because most Saturday viewers were on a free trial and won’t be renewing after the three hours of their lives they just gave ESPN+ for seven rounds of desired boxing. “But wait,” they say, “there are all those Muhammad Ali fights that come with your subscription!” – like either they don’t know about YouTube or figure we don’t.

Almost a decade ago one of promoter Top Rank’s leaders talked about a concept he called “brand of boxing” – encouraging his peers to imagine their sport as an ecosystem whose general health be far more important than any one of their events. Today an American aficionado spends monthly $25 for basic cable (ESPN), $10-$15 for Showtime, $5 for ESPN+ and soon $10-$20 for DAZN – and that $50-$65 monthly bill assumes both a savvy cordcutting bent for our aficionado and his cancellation of HBO some time ago. But here’s the brand-of-boxing punchline: That kind of money spent the first week of July, our aficionado looks forward to the year’s best fight this Saturday and finds to his amazement somehow not one of these sundry pay services is televising Murat Gassiev vs. Oleksandr Usyk to crown the rarest thing in our beloved sport – an undefeated, undisputed, unified champion of the world.

A word or two about that, too, actually. Gassiev-Usyk is a fascinating cruiserweight culmination of World Boxing Super Series’ inaugural season. Former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is associated with the WBSS and repulsive. There’s no history needed to make that assertion; if we, as men, were taught to trust our intuition the way mothers do, we’d all have heeded our genuine first impressions of Schaefer 14 years ago. But while Schaefer once combined visibility and repulsiveness in a unique way he’s not otherwise repulsively unique and definitely not repulsive enough to keep us from enjoying what exceptional cruiserweight matches WBSS gave us in its semifinal round. But Schaefer or somebody affiliated with him appears to have repulsed American broadcasters sufficiently to keep Gassiev-Usyk off even our smartphones.

Which makes brand-of-boxing, for the next week at least, toxic.

Writing of which, how about that Lucas Matthysse? We already knew power punchers kept prizefighting’s frailest psyches, but Matthysse’s comportment these last few years makes one consider the symmetrical possibility a boxer’s mental hardiness is inversely proportionate to his punching power.

Five years ago while writing The Ring cover story mentioned on Saturday’s broadcast I came across an exquisite Argentine boxing writer named Osvaldo Príncipi whose Spanish prose and presence make him something like South America’s Hugh McIlvaney. During our correspondence he attributed a whole lot of things like Mathysse’s tattoos to a divorce. I felt for Matthysse then; by all accounts the guy does little in his life but love his daughter, play with his dogs, avoid the media and fight.

Saturday’s second knockdown, though, is hard to excuse. It’s one thing to realize you’re in over your head and race towards unconsciousness, but it’s something else entirely to court it so wishfully – to hope a punch cuts the lights, find it didn’t, then in full consciousness genuflect to your opponent. Let’s move on.

Saturday’s iteration of Manny Pacquiao was a pleasant return to what belligerence once endeared him to so many of us. A return to the man who dealt swiftly and disproportionately with anyone who caused him a sting, a man who didn’t collect grievances or connive but rather sought instant redress – that’s who we saw go after Matthysse each of the three times the Argentine did something offensive to Pacquiao. And it was electrifying.

So Pacquiao fights on. One can’t seriously entertain the possibility GGG is a great middleweight – hard stop – and begrudge Pacquiao three or four farewell tours against career 140-pounders like Matthysse or a talented lightweight like Vasyl Lomachenko. In fact, Pacquiao-Lomachenko in Helsinki might make a great Christmas present for ESPN+ subscribers.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

.

Team Usyk has informed Comosa AG that Mr Usyk suffered a minor elbow injury whilst training for his World Boxing Super Series Final against Murat Gassiev, for the Muhammad Ali Trophy.

It has been confirmed by all parties, including Comosa AG appointed independent medical staff, that Mr Usyk is unavailable for the scheduled date of the event, May 11th.

As such, the May 11th event, due to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has been postponed.

Comosa AG is working in partnership with Team Usyk and Team Gassiev as well as Sela Sport, the local event organisers, to establish a new date for the event.

Comosa AG wishes Mr Usyk a good and speedy recovery. Further information on the rescheduling of the Final will be released in due course.

In the meantime, Comosa AG looks forward to announcing the weight classes that the World Boxing Super Series will employ for Season 2 of the Ali Trophy. Fans can expect to find out the divisions in the coming weeks.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday undefeated Ukrainian cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs) decisioned undefeated Latvian Mairis Briedis (23-1, 18 KOs) in the penultimate round of the World Boxing Super Series, in Latvia’s capital city of Riga. Their match graced no American airwaves. Saturday HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” program featured Argentine retread Lucas Matthysse avoiding his fifth career loss by jabbing to temporary unconsciousness a Thai fighter named, one second here, Tewa Kiram, in Los Angeles. These fights are juxtaposed for more than their common date.

What you had in Latvia were two undefeated titlists in a unification match that was the semifinal of a tournament to crown a unified cruiserweight champion of the world. And both hail from the former Eastern Bloc. Surely this was in HBO’s wheelhouse such that if HBO didn’t salivate at the bell Showtime should swoop in and spite-buy it, no?

No. Evidently, absolutely no. Dogged reporters might doggedly do reporting on this and uncover a sprawling, innocent mess of conflicting dates and logistics, a waterfall of prohibiting algorithms, that makes seamless sense of why none of this series is televised in the U.S., but here’s an unsolicited guess instead: Richard Schaefer.

The former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions is back in boxing and associated with the World Boxing Super Series, which seeks to do with the cruiserweight and super middleweight divisions what the Super Six World Boxing Classic started doing with the super middleweight division nine years ago. That tournament, excellent if snakebitten, sent aficionados to Showtime, who captured their allegiance from HBO and hasn’t yielded it much since. Back then boxing insiders confused Schaefer for a genius often as they confused him for an honest broker. But his eventual arch enemy, Bob Arum, had a true line of sight on him: Swiss banker.

Schaefer was an unscrupulous opportunist who brought contemporary accounting and marketing practices to boxing’s 18th-century way of doing both, which made him look brilliant, and a selfinterested operator who promoted an ethical approach to promoting while furtively selling his company out from under its namesake.

Schaefer, fired and barred from boxing three years ago, looks more like an Al Haymon toady, in retrospect, than a master of the universe. Whatever fellow World Boxing Super Series organizers had in mind when they hooked up with him, getting their tournament blacklisted from American television was doubtful it. That’s all conjecture, of course, but one needn’t be a fishnets-certified fanboy to see some irony in HBO’s broadcasting “Washed: The epic rebranding of Lucas Matthysse’s second comeback” in lieu of something at least five times better and more consequential.

With unfortunately few exceptions these days HBO’s Golden Boy Promotions cards are about ensuring biannual Canelo cash infusions and conceding that without access to Top Rank or PBC fighters it’s brutally hard to fill a boxing calendar. As the world moves acceleratingly away from both network television and America, the happy news for aficionados is our confinement to whatever American cable companies gift us now hurtles towards its proper end. Last weekend you didn’t need to blackpatch an eye to see Usyk-Briedis in gorgeous highdef well before Boxing After Dark lumbered along.

And what you saw in Usyk-Briedis was a very good prizefight that was oddly entertaining for a no-knockdowns affair. The gloves looked rightsized, in other words, to two 200-hundred-pound men, and both fighters, as the results got read, looked like they’d been punched oftenly. The right man won on scorecards that leaned expectedly Latvian in Riga; a forensic examination of results would find most points Briedis accumulated came via extralegal events and hometown support.

If Usyk is not a particularly large puncher he is a large man with excellent relative mobility, an Olympic gold medal that means an opponent’s style can hardly surprise him, and the sort of oblivious goofiness that supplies Tony Robbins’ charm. Usyk is a very good prizefighter but nothing like a prodigy.

Briedis, too, gave a professional accounting of himself – he was just the wrong the man against the wrong man. He wasn’t going to fight busier than Usyk and wasn’t likely to outbox him either; to get Usyk to settle down Briedis needed to worry him by concussing Usyk with every landed punch, and at the championship level Briedis does not hit hard enough to do that.

He does know some tricks, though. Howsoever inevitably and unintentionally came the early clash of heads between Usyk’s southpaw attack and Briedis’ forward-lean orthodox counterpunching, Usyk certainly got the worse of it. A Briedis baby-hiptoss in round 6, too, went someways toward destabilizing Usyk. Not enough is made generally of how much it affects a fighter to get dropped on the canvas via push or slip. The referee clears it of scoring consequence with a wave, and the felled man has no grogginess with which to contend, but his legs, trained for six weeks and a career precisely to stutterstep and twist in combat and spring upwards from a stool after respite, suddenly have to fold beneath their body and push upwards from a kneel. It’s surprisingly fatiguing. And Briedis followed Usyk’s rise from the canvas with more offensive enthusiasm and effectiveness than he’d shown to that moment.

Most every round before and after that was a copy of its predecessor, though only Usyk employed cruisecontrol and only for a little bit in the 12th round, at that.

This Saturday the second World Boxing Super Series semifinal happens with undefeated Russian Murat Gassiev (25-0, 18 KOs) and undefeated Cuban Yunier Dorticos (22-0, 21 KOs) trading fists in Russia. That one shan’t appear on American airwaves either.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

WBO World Champion Aleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) and WBC World Champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) exchanged words in Riga at the last press conference before the Ali Trophy semi-final bout in the Latvian capital on Saturday.

“I am going to entertain the crowd at the Arena Riga – that I can promise,” said Usyk.

“I have worked on some new things and Saturday you will see what I am talking about.”

10.000 fans are expected at the Arena Riga for the biggest unification fight in many years in the cruiserweight division; a semi-final in the World Boxing Super Series with a final in May in Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia and the Muhammad Ali Trophy at stake.

But hometown hero Briedis insists he doesn’t feel any pressure.

“My team is doing everything to take the pressure is off my shoulders. We are just concentrating on the fight. My dream is to deliver a fight that can go into the Boxing Hall of Fame.”

Said Comosa’s Chief Boxing Officer, Kalle Sauerland: “We are delighted to be in Riga. We have an absolute cracker. We have a fight between two world champions, two of the very, very best. We have a great arena and a country which seems captured by boxing and the fact that Muhammad Ali Trophy is coming to Latvia. We have a big showdown, Saturday night is all that boxing is about. Legacy is at stake.”

Tickets for the Usyk vs. Briedis, a semi-final in the cruiserweight division of the World Boxing Super Series, are on sale via bilesuserviss.lv.

WBO-Champion Aleksandr Usyk and WBC-Champion Mairis Briedis entertained the masses at an open training before their Ali Trophy semi-final clash on Saturday at the Arena Riga, Latvia.

“People can look forward to a great fight between two world champions,” said Aleksandr Usyk.

Usyk plowed through an ocean of Latvian and Ukrainian fans, who wanted autographs and selfies when his training was over.

“It is great to see so many people for an open training. I am looking forward to the atmosphere at the Arena Riga, and I know that many have traveled from Ukraine to support me. I’m not going to disappoint them!”

An estimated 2,000 fans showed up during the training at Domina Shopping in the Latvian capital to see the combatants in training before they clash on Saturday in a semi-final in the cruiserweight edition of the World Boxing Super Series.

And the hometown hero Briedis got a roaring reception when he entered the ring.

“I’m happy to see so many people here at an open workout. This proves the magnitude of Saturday’s fight,” said Briedis.

“We did a really good work in the training camp and we have prepared for 12 rounds. We are ready for whatever Usyk brings. I can’t wait for the fight to begin!”

Tickets for the Usyk vs. Briedis, a semi-final in the cruiserweight division of the World Boxing Super Series, are on sale via bilesuserviss.lv.

The undercard for the Ali Trophy semi-final in Riga on January 27 between Aleksandr Usyk and Mairis Briedis features both established and rising stars.

Switzerland’s Yoann Kongolo (10-0, 4 KOs) will defend his WBC International Silver title against hometown hero Andrejs Pokumeiko (16-12-1, 12 KOs), over ten rounds in the Light Heavyweight division.

The former WBC International Cruiserweight champion, Micki Nielsen (24-1, 15 KOs) from Denmark will take on Latvia’s Ricards Bolotniks (10-3-1, 4 KOs) in an 8-round contest. Nielsen has been sparring with Mairis Briedis in preparation for this bout, and the Danish star hopes to upset the hometown fans and make it three wins in a row.

Undefeated Swedish heavyweight Otto Wallin (18-0, 12 KOs) faces the man-mountain Srdan Govederica (6-5, 5 KOs) from Bosnia.

Undefeated Latvian, Jevgenijs Aleksejevs (7-0, 6 KOs), has made a very impressive start to his professional career so far. But there is no doubt that he faces his toughest test so far in Maurice Possiti (17-12, 7 KOs) from France.

Latvia’s Nikolajs Grisunins (6-0-1, 3 KOs) will aim to return to winning ways when he faces the dangerous big punching Jozsef Darmos (8-1-2, 7 KOs) from Hungary.

In a mouth-watering 8-round Heavyweight contest, 2016 Olympic games Bronze medallist Filip Hrgovic (2-0, 2 KOs) from Croatia meets United Kingdom’s Tom Little (10-4, 3 KOs). Hrgovic has made a very impressive start to his professional career with two sensational first-round KO victories. However, in Little he faces a very confident challenger.

Araik Marutjan (1-0), who represented Germany in the 2016 Olympics takes on the very tough Hungarian Richard Hegyi (4-2, 3 KOs) in a Middleweight contest.

The undercard also features the talented cruiserweight Mikael Lawal (4-0, 3 KOs) from London, United Kingdom, who has been sparring Aleksandr Usyk in preparation for this bout. He takes on the experienced southpaw Istvan Orsos (16-43-2, 5 KOs) from Hungary.

Tickets for the Usyk vs. Briedis, a semi-final in the cruiserweight division of the World Boxing Super Series, are on sale via bilesuserviss.lv.

WBO World Champion Aleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) talks about his upcoming semi-final against WBC World Champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) at the Arena Riga on January 27.

The Ukrainian superstar went to Berlin in September last year and opened the first season of the World Boxing Super Series by producing a spectacular display at the Max-Schmeling-Arena to stop former world champion Marco Huck in the 10th round.

Usyk’s training camp before the biggest unification fight in years in the cruiserweight division took place in Bukovel, on the ridge-lines of the Carpathian Mountains under the guidance of his trainer Sergey Vatamanyuk.

Now the 2012 Olympic gold medallist is traveling to Riga – to the backyard of the Latvian hero Mairis Briedis.

How are you looking forward to fighting in Riga?
“Let Briedis think about that, not me. All I know is that there will be a lot of my countrymen coming to Riga to support me.”

How big is the fight against Briedis when you look at your career?
“It is a big fight and it is going to be a big day in my career. It’s a unification fight. The fight for the Muhammad Ali Trophy is about the best fighting the best. I have the WBO belt and he has WBC – I like the colour green and the WBC belt is green so I can’t wait to get that belt.”

What do you think of your opponent?
“I have nothing bad to say about Briedis. His style is a bit boring, but I respect him. Briedis is a world champion so he has to be good.”

Why do you respect him?
“In principle, I respect all of my opponents. I even respect Marco Huck who spoke bad about me and pushed me at a press conference. I know what fighters are going through in order to be able to enter the ring. It takes a lot of training, a lot of work and I will always respect that.”

Tickets for the Usyk vs. Briedis, a semi-final in the cruiserweight division of the World Boxing Super Series, are on sale via bilesuserviss.lv.

Croatian heavyweight sensation Filip Hrgovic (2-0, 2 KOs) returns to Riga and to the World Boxing Super Series with an eight-round contest against Britain’s Tom Little (10-4, 3 KOs) on the undercard of The Ali Trophy semi-final clash between Aleksandr Usyk and Mairis Briedis on January 27 at the Riga Arena in Latvia.

The 2016 Olympic bronze medallist returns to happy hunting ground having started his professional career with the first-round KO of Raphael Zumbano Love at the Riga Arena. The 27-year-old followed this up with a second win in Schwerin stopping the previously undefeated Pavel Sour inside the first stanza.

“I’m looking forward to fighting in Riga again,” says Hrgovic. “It’s a great city and a great event. I’m happy to come back here after a successful pro debut in Riga.”

“I’ve been preparing for this fight like it is a World title. I’ve been training and sparring very hard, and I’ll be 100% ready on fight night. My opponent Tom Little seems to be very confident. But whatever he brings, I’m ready for it.”

“I think it will be another 1st round stoppage victory, but I’ll be ready to go the 8-round distance if I need to. If I perform like I know I can, he doesn’t have a chance.”

Little, from Hatfield, England, is on a three-fight win streak, and confident of upsetting the odds and handing Hrgovic his first professional defeat.

“I’ve been waiting years for a chance like this, and I’m over the moon that I’ve finally been given an opportunity on such a massive show,” said Little. “Filip is a big strong boy, but this fight is way too early for him and I’ve seen a few things I can take advantage of. The fight won’t see the 8th round. I’ll bash his face in!”

Tickets for the Usyk vs. Briedis, a semi-final in the cruiserweight division of the World Boxing Super Series, are on sale via bilesuserviss.lv.

WBO World Champion Aleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) and WBC World Champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) had their first face-off in Riga before the Ali Trophy semi-final bout in the Latvian capital on January 27th.

“Briedis is a good fighter, but the only thing he has that I want is his belt,” said Usyk. “I am looking forward to fighting in Riga, it’s going to be a great event. I am sure there will be a lot of people coming from Ukraine to support me. People can look forward to an entertaining fight between two world champions both eager to qualify for the final and win the Muhammad Ali Trophy.”

Said Mairis Briedis: “It is one of my dreams as a fighter to be part of one of the greatest fights of all time. I hope this fight will be a Hall of Fame fight. It has all the ingredients to become a classic.”

“Usyk was excellent as an amateur and he has been great as a professional, so it will be a tough challenge, but I believe that I have what it takes to beat him.”

“It is lovely to be in Riga,” said Comosa’s Chief Boxing Officer Kalle Sauerland. “This fight will be the biggest sports event ever on Latvian soil. We have to world champions, two amazing contenders, two sensational athletes. Briedis, the national hero of Latvia, the WBC Champion vs. Usyk, an Olympic Champion and World Champion. So the stage is set for a night full of drama.”

This biggest cruiserweight unification fight for several years takes place at the Arena Riga. The same place where Mairis Briedis booked his place in the semi-final by outpointing Mike Perez in front of a sold-out crowd of 10.000 fans.

His Ukrainian opponent went to Berlin in in the tournament opener and produced a spectacular display at the Max-Schmeling-Arena to stop former world champion Marco Huck in the 10th round.

Tickets for Usyk vs. Briedis, a semi-final in the cruiserweight division of the World Boxing Super Series, are on sale via bilesuserviss.lv.

https://www.facebook.com/WBSuperSeries/videos/1023888831082308/

Tickets for the Ali Trophy semi-final bout in the cruiserweight edition of the World Boxing Super Series between WBO World Champion Aleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) and WBC World Champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) are on sale now via bilesuserviss.lv with prices starting at €50.

This biggest Cruiserweight unification fight for several years, takes place at the Arena Riga in Latvia on 27 January 2018.

Ukrainian Usyk has promised a night to remember for boxing fans at the arena and around the world: “Fans at the arena and in front of their TV’s can look forward to a beautiful and interesting battle between two world champions.”

Said Briedis: “I can’t wait to hear the noise of the devoted Latvian fans again. I will prepare myself over the next weeks to give them a show against Usyk.”

Tickets for Usyk vs Briedis start at €50 and are on sale now via bilesuserviss.lv

Tickets for the Ali Trophy semi-final bout in the cruiserweight edition of the World Boxing Super Series between WBO World Champion Aleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) and WBC World Champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) go on sale on Monday December 11th at 12.00 (Noon) CET, via bilesuserviss.lv with prices starting at €50.

This biggest Cruiserweight unification fight for several years, takes place at the Arena Riga in Latvia on January 27, 2018.

“Usyk, World Champion and the number one seed in the tournament collides with Briedis, national hero and World Champion. It doesn’t get much bigger than this,” said Kalle Sauerland, Comosa’s Chief Boxing Officer. “The noise from 10.000 fans when Mairis Briedis faced Mike Perez at the Arena Riga in September was one of the highlights of the quarter-finals in the World Boxing Super Series.”

And Ukrainian Usyk promises another night to remember for boxing fans at the arena and around the world: “Fans at the arena and in front of their TV’s can look forward to a beautiful and interesting battle between two world champions.”

Said Briedis: “I am looking forward to fight once again in front of the incredible crowd at the Arena Riga and I will do everything to make them proud with another victory.”

Fans are asked to sign-up for ticket alerts at worldboxingsuperseries.com to receive the ticket link emailed directly to their inbox and avoid disappointment

The Ali Trophy semi-final bout in the cruiserweight edition of the World Boxing Super Series between WBO World Champion Aleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) and WBC World Champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) hits the Arena Riga, Latvia on January 27, 2018.

“The stand-out atmosphere in the quarter-finals was the noise the fans made in the sold-out Arena Riga,” said Kalle Sauerland, Comosa’s Chief Boxing Officer.

“We are very excited to bring the Ali Trophy to Latvia on January 27. Usyk is Olympic Champion, World Champion and the number one seed in the tournament but when he collides with national hero and World Champion Briedis he will meet by far his toughest challenge in his career. This is the biggest unification fight in the division since many, many years.”

2012 Olympic Champion, 30-year-old Usyk expressed before the tournament his desire to unify the belts in the cruiserweight division and to take home the Muhammad Ali Trophy. And he kicked off in style:

The Ukrainian went to Berlin in Germany on September 9 in the tournament opener and produced a spectacular display at the Max-Schmeling-Arena to stop former world champion Marco Huck in the 10th round. Now he travels to another opponent’s backyard to face a current champion.

“I do not care where I fight,” said Usyk, the tournament’s number one seed.

“In Riga, there will be 10.000 fans and that’s great. The fans should expect a beautiful and interesting battle between two world champions.”

32-year-old Briedis excited an ecstatic hometown crowd at a sold-out Arena Riga on September 30 to score a unanimous decision in his quarter-final over the tough Cuban challenger Mike Perez.

“I had a gut feeling that the World Boxing Super Series might return to Riga because of the incredible crowd at the Arena Riga in the quarter-final bout against Mike Perez,” said Briedis, the tournament’s third seed.

“I’m really happy with how it has turned out. I am thankful to the Latvian fans who made it possible by being so passionate and devoted. Now it’s all about preparing for Usyk and put up a great show when January comes.”

Usyk and Briedis will soon come face-to-face at a kickoff press conference in Riga and tickets for the Ali Trophy semi-final between are going on sale next week with the exact time to be announced shortly. Fans are asked due to the huge demand to sign-up for ticket alerts at worldboxingsuperseries.com to avoid disappointment.