Sherdog Boxing: The Weekly Wrap

Last Saturday in Riga - Briedis vs Głowacki controversy in short video. @WBSuperSeries @SauerlandBros @ringpolskapl @ringmagazine @wbcmoro @WorldBoxingOrg @szpilka_artur @danrafaelespn @Boks4ever @boxingfun @MandesR @HitFirstBoxing @loudibella @bokser_org @garnekmedia pic.twitter.com/vrUvPSMOos

— Knockout Boxing Night (@knockoutprm) June 18, 2019

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Cancio Dumped By Golden Boy After Title Loss

Superstars are always treated differently. The rule applies for every sports team, acapella group, Broadway cast, and this week, Andrew Cancio learned it applies for Golden Boy Promotions when he was dropped following a title loss and some harsh words for the promotion.

Yes, before his loss to Rene Alvorado, Cancio expressed displeasure that Golden Boy wasn’t putting him on big cards like Alvarez vs. Kovalev, instead having him fight almost exclusively in Fantasy Springs, California. Golden Boy didn’t appreciate the public dissent and dropped Cancio as soon as he lost his title.

What does this have to do with being a superstar? Well, you’ll recall that both Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia have said much worse things about Golden Boy Promotions and Oscar De La Hoya, only to find themselves on the receiving end of huge contracts and big fights. In fact, if you believe Cancio’s team, they were supposed to be on the Canelo-Kovalev undercard, but when Garcia started badmouthing Golden Boy and threatening to leave, Canelo decided to put Garcia on the undercard to appease the young fighter (who also trains with Eddy Reynoso).

After calling the situation “effed up” (cutting him right after the loss just days before Thanksgiving was some cruel timing) Cancio noted that “Garcia beat Golden Boy up a lot worse than what I did. I just said the truth, but they signed Ryan to a big contract, and paid him more money than they paid me.”

Cancio is correct, but it doesn’t matter. Garcia and Alvarez are stars, while Cancio is a good fighter with a nice story. If the Heisman winning quarterback gets caught cheating on a test, he won’t get punished the way a backup lineman would. Alvarez is the biggest name in boxing and Garcia has 4.3 million followers on Instagram. Whomever he signs with next, Cancio needs to know he won’t be treated the same way guys like that are.

Briedis Stripped of Title

In June, Mairis Briedis knocked out Krzystof Glowacki in the third round to win the WBO cruiserweight title. After a review of the fight, the WBO ruled that Briedis had intentionally fouled Glowacki (there’s a breakdown of all the fouls on twitter, and it’s kind of crazy how dirty the fight was) and that the referee made multiple mistakes in the fight. Because the WBO can’t overturn the result of the fight, they did the only thing they could do and ordered a rematch.

Briedis opted not to take the rematch, so the WBO stripped him of the title and announced Glowacki would fight for the vacant title (likely against England’s Lawrence Okolie). Briedis will fight Yunier Dorticos in the finals of the World Boxing Super Series, though the fight will (obviously) no longer be a unification bout. While Briedis’ result warrants no sympathy, the WBO stripping Briedis of his title for not fighting Glowacki again, when they know his next fight is going to be for the Muhammed Ali Trophy was a harsh move. Dorticos owns the IBF title though, so if Briedis performs, he won’t be without a cruiserweight belt for long.

Fury-Wilder 2 Official for Feb. 22

While nobody knows where the fight will take place, we now know that Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will fight for the second time on Feb. 22. From a marketing perspective, Feb. 22 is a few weeks after the Super Bowl, but close enough to it that Fox can market the fight during the NFL playoffs. Feb. 22 is also a date before the NBA playoffs and March madness but after both college and pro football have concluded their seasons. Outside of the sports world, Vin Diesel’s “Bloodshot” movie is expected out that weekend, but that’s not a big enough movie to seriously dent the fight’s PPV numbers.

While we don’t know where Fury and Wilder will be fighting, this week we found out where a few other fights were going to take place. Julian “J-Rock” Williams will be fighting in his hometown of Philadelphia on Jan. 18 when he will take on Jeison Rosario. Williams is fresh off a win over Jarrett Hurd, which gave him the WBA (Super) IBF and IBO titles at 154.

It was also announced that Dillian Whyte will be taking on Mariusz Wach Dec. 7 as part of the Ruiz-Joshua 2 card. This move angered a lot of people on social media, because Whyte tested positive for PEDs before his last fight against Oscar Rivas (but was allowed to fight anyway) and does not appear to be suffering any consequences from that positive test. In fact, that Dec. 7 card now features four fighters that have tested positive.

Wilder Calls For Tyson to Publicly Praise Him

There’s something very strange going on with Wilder. A few weeks ago, he called out Floyd Mayweather for not passing the torch to him as the new black American superstar of boxing, saying:

“I haven’t [gotten the support of Floyd as the next big African-American star and passing of the torch], and that’s OK. Sometimes it takes our own kind to come to a realization. Sometimes people don’t want to let go, especially with our culture and people. We’ve been brainwashed for so long and put down for so long. It’s taken a while to love us as a race. Black excellence has come a long way, but you still have a few crabs in the bucket around, but all that will be washed away eventually. I don’t need the acceptance or the torch passed from none of these guys. They’ve done a great job in their careers -- not only Floyd, but a lot of them. They know who they are.”

This was a weird statement, because Mayweather is a promoter now. While it would be nice if he said some good things, Floyd is trying to convince (and has a financial incentive to try and convince) the world the next American superstar is Gervonta Davis. It was an odd statement that apparently is part of a recurring pattern for Wilder.

See, this week, Wilder called out Mike Tyson for not publicly stating his support of “The Bronze Bomber,” noting:

"I had some people sitting by Mike (at my fight). Mike gave me some praises, which I wish he would have said in public. Behind closed doors is cute and s**t but out in public?! Just express yourself. I don't know what the deal is with the old generation, new generation. Like, the old is the past, bro -- let it go.”

Again, why Wilder thinks that past American boxers should be praising him in public or seems to care so much that they’re not is very odd. If this is what Wilder needs to motivate himself, then that’s fine, but when we look at potential pitfalls of superstardom, Wilder’s need to be praised is something to keep an eye on.

Santa Cruz Blames Virus, Kovalev Blames Training Camp Proximity

This week, the excuses were aplenty in the boxing world. Leo Santa Cruz didn’t look great in his first performance at 130, when he beat but could not stop Miguel Flores. Santa Cruz said he got sick before the fight, and that the virus drained him of his energy so that on fight night he just wasn’t’ the same.

While Santa Cruz was making excuses for a subpar performance, Sergey Kovalev was making excuses for a knockout loss. According to Kovalev, he didn’t have enough time between the training camp and fight with Anthony Yarde, and the training camp and fight with Canelo, but that he couldn’t turn down the $12 million purse. Canelo (rightfully) called him a "bad loser", and pointed out that every fighter struggles with dieting and having to go through training camps.

It should be noted that there are financial reasons for both of these excuses. Santa Cruz is desperate to avoid being labelled a boring fighter as he looks to potential fights with guys like Gary Russell Jr., while Kovalev is calling for a rematch with Canelo. Still, making excuses after a bad performance and a loss will never win over fans so they should probably have opted to keep the excuses to themselves.