Even though it's raining here in Northern Virginia, it's still a great day. Earlier this afternoon, I watched with great pride as my alma mater, Binghamton University, handily defeated the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the America East conference tournament final to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time.
The Bearcats have come a long way since I was a student (and one of the few who regularly attended games between 1988 and 1993) and later the beat writer covering the team for the Press & Sun-Bulletin, the local newspaper (and that's when the Bearcats were the Colonials and in Division III).
I also have a friend coming over to watch this afternoon's Marco Antonio Barrera-Amir Khan card on pay-per-view. Now, that's what I call a quality Saturday.
But besides all that, it was quite a busy Friday night and Saturday in boxing. Here's what I've heard since Friday's notebook was published:
• Things in boxing can change swiftly. Take, for example, the makeup of the May 2 Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao HBO PPV undercard, for which Top Rank and Golden Boy are responsible. Steven Luevano will still defend his featherweight belt against Bernabe Concepcion in a Top Rank fight and red-hot junior middleweight James Kirkland will still be on in a Golden Boy fight (possibly against Michael Walker). The fourth slot was supposed to pit a Top Rank fighter against a Golden Boy fighter. The plan had been to match undefeated junior welterweights Mike Alvarado (Top Rank) against Lucas Matthysse (Golden Boy). But that fight isn't going to happen, at least not on this PPV card. Top Rank wants to keep Alvarado on the televised part of the card, but won't get its way. Instead, Top Rank and Golden Boy will each put on a prospect in a four-rounder. At least that's what Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told me Saturday morning. Top Rank will go with middleweight Matvey Korobov (the 2008 Russian Olympian who I can't get enough of). Schaefer said he'll likely put on junior middleweight Erislandy Lara, the exciting Cuban defector and 2005 world amateur champion. Golden Boy and Arena Box Promotions co-promote Lara.
But Schaefer could also use another of Golden Boy's prospects, perhaps lightweight Adrien Broner or heavyweight Deontay Wilder, both of whom fight Saturday night in Cincinnati. I feel bad for Alvarado, who is ready for the bright lights of a big PPV card. I know Top Rank wanted him on, but it's out of TR's hands.
• Schaefer also told me about another card that has me really pumped. I reported Friday that Golden Boy and HBO were working on a June 27 "Boxing After Dark" card on which Kirkland and junior welterweight Victor Ortiz, the 2008 ESPN.com prospect of the year, could challenge for world titles -- Kirkland most likely against Sergei Dzindziruk and Ortiz likely against Andreas Kotelnik. Golden Boy has made offers for both fighters to German promoter Universum. As a doubleheader, that is a great show. But Schaefer told me the card likely will expand to a tripleheader and take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The third fight on the show? A rematch between featherweight titlist Chris John and Rocky Juarez, who fought to a sensational draw Feb. 28 in Juarez's hometown of Houston. I thought John clearly won, but it was such a terrific fight a rematch makes all the sense in the world. "This is Rocky's last chance," Schaefer said. "If Chris John wins we have another hot fighter and the next logical fight would be unification with Luevano." If Schaefer can finalize all three of these fights, you're looking at perhaps the card of the year.
• Schaefer also said Don King had called him from England, where he is with Barrera (whom Schaefer used to promote). According to Schaefer, King said if Barrera defeats Khan, he wants to talk about a rematch with lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez, who is with Golden Boy. Marquez outpointed Barrera in a competitive fight in 2007.
• Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez, who had the Jorge Barrios-Carlos Hernandez bout, set for the April 4 "Lightweight Lightning" pay-per-view undercard in Austin, Texas, fall apart when Barrios suffered a broken upper jaw during sparring, nailed down his replacement fight Friday night. Gomez told me he was able to secure Golden Boy prospect and 2004 U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo to step in to face Hernandez. That means Escobedo's scheduled April 30 bout against Kevin Kelley, which was going on an untelevised Don Chargin-promoted card in Sacramento, Calif., is off, although it could be rescheduled for later in the spring or summer, Gomez said. It's a great move for Escobedo, who will get more exposure on the pay-per-view against a former titleholder than he would get facing another ex-titlist with no television.
• When Vitali Klitschko defends his slice of the heavyweight title against Juan Carlos Gomez next Saturday (ESPN's first-ever live heavyweight title bout, by the way), there will be a couple of familiar names on the undercard. I was sent the official bout sheet for the show in Stuttgart, Germany, and appearing on the card are a pair of heavyweights who lost title bouts to fellow heavyweight titleholder Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali's younger brother. They are former titleholder Chris Byrd and Tony Thompson. Byrd, whom Wladimir easily beat in 2000 and 2006, is fighting for the first time since May 2008, when he dropped down to light heavyweight and was smashed by Shaun George over nine lopsided rounds. Byrd is scheduled for an eight-round cruiserweight fight. Thompson, who was knocked out by Wladimir in the 11th round in July, was one of Vitali's sparring partners in his camp for the Gomez fight. Part of the deal to spar with him was a spot on the undercard, Dan Goossen, his promoter, told me.
Dan Rafael
