While 'Latin Night' in Saudi Arabia was largely overshadowed by the circus that took place at AT@T Stadium in Arlington, Texas the night before, it was a productive weekend for Golden Boy Promotions. When it was all said and done, they walked away with two unified champions, and put on some good fights.
Now, Golden Boy looks ahead.
On top of this bill was the cruiserweight clash between WBA champion, Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez, and WBO belt-holder, Chris Billam-Smith. In what was an entertaining affair it was Ramirez hammering home a decisive victory. So after his second title fight as a cruiserweight, is the Ring Magazine champion Jai Opetaia now on the radar?
Chris Esqueda/GBP
Eric Gomez, president of GBP told SNAC.com, "That's part of the plan. What 'Zurdo' would like to do is unify all the belts and he flirted with the idea, his dream fight would be with (Oleksandr) Usyk. Usyk did say he would consider coming back down to cruiserweight."
Usyk, who was once the undisputed cruiserweight champion, is scheduled to rematch Tyson Fury in defense of his heavyweight crown on December 21.
A victory over the highly regarded Opetaia, would cement Ramirez's status as one of the better fighters in the world. "It's very likely to be Opetaia, that's one of the belt holders. That's his plan, to unify all the belts," confirmed Gomez.
Chris Esqueda/GBP
Then you have Oscar Collazo who systematically dismantled Knockout CP Freshmart over seven rounds to add the WBA strap to go along with the WBO belt he already had possession of.
Riyadh Season: Latino Night | Oscar Collazo vs. Knockout CP Freshmart Fight Highlights
It was a thoroughly professional and polished effort that impressed Gomez.
"You've got to really consider him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters out there. His IQ is incredible, he kind of reminds me a little bit of (Vasiliy) Lomachenko. You see the footwork, the angles, the speed, the power -- everything," said an admiring Gomez. "He beat a very good champion that was undefeated and we want to keep building him."
Chris Esqueda/GBP
Right now, Puerto Rico doesn't have a true standout, at least among male boxers (can't forget Amanda Serrano). There is a void on the island which has a storied boxing legacy.
"We feel that he can be the number one guy out of Puerto Rico. He really is that good," Gomez said on Tuesday. And it could be time for Collazo to headline his own cards. "There's a few ideas with him and we want to build him in Puerto Rico, we want to build him in New York. Do something special for him in New York, so that's the idea."
Also on this card was William Zepeda, who got all he could handle -- and then some -- from the slick boxing Tevin Farmer. 'Camaron' kept his undefeated mark by the skin of his teeth. So is Shakur Stevenson still the target for them?
Chris Esqueda/GBP
Gomez answered, "We're going to evaluate that, we're going to talk to his team. It was a tough fight, tougher than expected. You've got to give all the credit to Farmer. He was prepared, this was his world title fight, and I think Zepeda kind of underestimated him. Which is fine but he learned a lot from that fight, and we want the Shakur fight, he wants the Shakur fight. So we'll see."
The first Riyadh Season card for 2025 is scheduled for February 22. There is already speculation on which bouts will be placed on that show.
"It's going to be a timing thing," Gomez said of a possible Zepeda-Stevenson clash. "I just don't know if we can get it done in February. I don't know, yet. We're going to hear from his team later this week, and we'll go from there."
In a crossroads junior welterweight clash, it was Arnold Barboza out-boxing Jose Ramirez over 10 rather subdued rounds. For Ramirez, it seemed like the end of the road in what was a productive career. For Barboza, it was a pivotal win that should lead to bigger things.
"Barboza, as was documented was offered a final eliminator, they chose not to do it. So we're going to have to follow up with the WBO. He's number one in the 'BO," said Gomez. "It was just a matter of him being frustrated because he had been number one for over a year-and-a-half, they say two years. I don't know the exact time.
Chris Esqueda/GBP
The WBO junior welterweight titlist is Teofimo Lopez.
"We're going to see if there's any way to enforce the mandatory, if possible, or just see what his situation is going to be," continued Gomez. "We're willing to fight just about anybody. He wants a big fight, a marquee fight."
Finally, Oscar Duarte won a tough 10 round decision over the hard-luck Batyr Akhmedov. He was originally slated to face Golden Boy stablemate, Kenneth Sims, on this show. When asked if there was any chance of rescheduling this match-up, Gomez said, "That's a natural for us and that's a good fight. So we're going to revisit that, see if we can get that done."
Chris Esqueda/GBP
"Duarte can still make 135, so he's willing to fight anybody, any of the top guys at 135 and 140."
From a critical -- if not, commercial -- standpoint, 'Latin Night' was a success. Perhaps it would do better if it was staged on the west coast in the States. But look for another collaboration between Golden Boy and Turki Alalshikh.
"There are some preliminary talks about doing another one," confirmed Gomez. "It's truly up to 'His Excellency' if he wants to get that done. He was very happy with everything, the show, the fights were great, very competitive. He hinted at doing more."
3KR
This week's edition of 'the 3 Knockdown Rule'' with Mario Lopez and I features an in-studio visit from the editor of Ring Magazine, Doug Fischer:
THE 3 KNOCKDOWN RULE EPISODE 67 | DOUG FISCHER
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FINAL FLURRIES
PBC has announced the David Benavidez-David Morrell bout for Feb. 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas...This pay-per-view card also features the rematch between Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa....The Mike Tyson-Jake Paul event did a gate of $18.1 million, which has set a record for any boxing or MMA event held outside of Las Vegas. It also doubled the previous record for the state of Texas, which was $9 million for the Saul Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders bout....I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com....
