Richard Schaefer: If Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez beats Floyd Mayweather Jr., look out

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will tangle Sept. 14 in a junior middleweight title-unification bout at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view). If Alvarez hands Mayweather (44-0, 26 KOs) his first defeat, Richard Schaefer believes the aftermath could be unprecedented.

Alvarez, just 22, is treated like a rock star in his native Mexico. He also has a huge following in the U.S., what with its large population of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.

“If ‘Canelo’ wins, can you imagine what that would do?” said Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Alvarez. “Oh my gosh. He sold 40,000 tickets (for his fight against Austin Trout in April in San Antonio) before beating a Mayweather. So can you just imagine? I can see him fighting at the Coliseum right here in downtown Los Angeles in front of 150,000 people and setting an all-time record.”

Alvarez is 42-0-1 with 30 knockouts.

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Mikey Garcia loses featherweight title on the scales, but fight with Lopez still a go

Mikey Garcia of Oxnard was all set to defend his featherweight title against Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico on Saturday from American Airlines Center in Dallas. However, he was two pounds over at Friday’s weigh-in and was stripped of his belt.

Garcia, who weighed 128 pounds, could have weighed in again two hours later, but he declined because “he was completely drained,” said Lee Samuels, a spokesman for Top Rank Inc., which promotes Garcia and Lopez.

The fight will go on. If Garcia wins, the title will remain vacant. If Lopez wins, he will leave the ring with the championship belt because he came in under the 126-pound limit.

Garcia is 31-0 with 26 knockouts. Lopez is 33-2 with 30 knockouts. Their fight will be televised by HBO.

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Tickets for Juan Manuel Marquez-Timothy Bradley title fight go on sale next week

It’s still four months until Timothy Bradley will defend his welterweight title against Juan Manuel Marquez on Oct. 12 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view). But tickets for the event go on sale on June 21 at noon.

Bradley, 29, of Palm Springs, is 30-0 with 12 knockouts. He’s coming off a very gutsy – and very narrow – decision over Ruslan Provodnikov on March 16 at Home Depot Center.

Marquez, 39, of Mexico, is 55-6-1 with 40 knockouts. He knocked out Manny Pacquiao in the sixth round with one punch in his most recent start in December at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Ticket prices are $50, $100, $200, $300, $400, $600 and $800. They can be purchased at the Thomas & Mack box office, online at www.unlvtickets.com or by calling 702-739-3267.

 

 

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Marcos Maidana-Josesito Lopez to be replayed tonight on Showtime Extreme

The hard-hitting welterweight bout between Marcos Maidana of Argentina and Josesito Lopez of Riverside won by Maidana via 6th-round TKO at Home Depot Center this past Saturday will be replayed tonight at 7 (10 p.m. on the East Coast) on Showtime Extreme.

A record sellout crowd of 8,629 took in the event that was televised live by Showtime.

Also on tonight’s replay will be the junior middleweight semi-main event between Erislandy Lara of Cuba of Alfredo Angulo of Mexico. That ended in the 10th round when Angulo appeared to suffer a broken left orbital bone as the area ballooned to grotesque proportions. Moments after taking a hard punch to the eye from Lara, Angulo turned his back and the referee stopped the fight, Lara getting a TKO.

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Giant press tour – open to public – set for Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, told this newspaper just the other day he was putting together an unprecedented press tour for the Sept. 14 junior middleweight title-unification fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view).

He wasn’t just whistling Dixie. The 11-stop tour will begin June 24 in New York City and culminate July 2 in Los Angeles. On three days – June 26, July 1 and July 2 – there will be two stops, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

The good news for fans is, they are all open to the public. We’ll keep everyone updated regarding times and places.

Mayweather, of Las Vegas via Grand Rapids, Mich., is 44-0 with 26 knockouts. Alvarez, of Mexico, is 42-0-1 with 30 knockouts. They will fight at a catch-weight of 152 pounds, two under the limit.

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Johnny Tapia’s heartbreaking saga too unfold in ‘Tapia’ at Los Angeles Film Festival

If you have been fascinated by the life and times of the late world champion Johnny Tapia, you might want to know that “Tapia,” a documentary about just that, will premiere Saturday in competition in the Los Angeles Film Festival at the Regal Cinemas at L.A. Live. (There will be an additional screening June 19).

The rights to the documentary that will take a look at Tapia’s hard life that ended in May 2012 at the age of 45, belong to promoter Lou DiBella and entertainment mogul Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. For one, Tapia was only 8 when partially witnessed the violent murder of his mother. The film will explore, among other things, the eventual drug addiction of Tapia, as well as his fine boxing career.

“I was drawn to the intensity of this project,” Jackson said. “His story resonated with me because like Tapia, I, too, lost my mother to violence and grew up with limited means. It’s a heartfelt story and it was important for me to get involved with bringing this to a broader audience.”

Said DiBella: “I’m thrilled to join 50 in acquiring this riveting documentary. This is not a boxing film, but a film about tragedy, triumph, demons and redemption.”

The documentary features Tapia in his own words and interviews with trainer Freddie Roach, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and Tapia’s wife, Teresa.

Tapia compiled a record of 59-5-2 with 30 knockouts and won titles in three weight classes.

 

 

 

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Joseph Diaz Jr. stops Rigoberto Casillas after the third round at Home Depot Center

Joseph Diaz Jr. of South El Monte is 5-0 with three knockouts after stopping Rigoberto Casillas of San Diego after the third round of their scheduled four-round featherweight bout on Saturday at Home Depot Center in Carson.

Diaz, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, battered Casillas (8-12-1) with hard shots to the head and body. Casillas did not answer the bell for the fourth round.

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Former USC football player Gerald Washington now 8-0 after win over Williams

Gerald “El Gallo Negro” Washington, a former defensive end at USC, is now 8-0 after coming away with a unanimous decision over Sherman “The Tank” Williams on Saturday in an eight-round heavyweight preliminary bout at Home Depot Center.

Washington decked Williams in the second round and won by three scores of 79-72. Unfortunately for Washington, 31, he didn’t exactly win over the crowd as the boo-birds were out in force because of the overall lack of action.

Williams, of Vero Beach, Fla., is 35-13-2.

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John Molina of Covina suffers a tough majority-decision loss to Andrey Klimov

John Molina, a lightweight out of Covina, entered his fight Friday night against Andrey Klimov ranked as high as No. 4 in the world by one of the major governing bodies. A victory would have put him closer to another title shot.

It didn’t happen. Klimov, of Russia, out-boxed Molina and it was Klimov who came away with a majority decision by scores of 95-95 (Alan Krebs), 96-94 (Hunter Walton) and 97-93 (Tom McDonough) at Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Wash. That last score seemed a bit out of whack, but the decision was not controversial.

Molina landed the harder punches, to be sure, just not enough of them as Klimov used his feet well to stay out of serious harm’s way; Molina did shake him up with some power shots in the fourth round.

The setback is a blow to Molina. It will now be harder for him to land that second championship fight. He challenged lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco in September 2012, DeMarco stopping Molina in the first round.

Molina, 30, is 25-3 with 20 knockouts. Klimov, 30, is 16-0 with eight knockouts.

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All four feature fighters for Saturday’s card at Home Depot Center make weight

Marcos Maidana of Argentina and Josesito Lopez of Riverside made weight for their welterweight main event Saturday at Home Depot Center (on Showtime). Maidana (33-3, 30 KOs) weighed the 147-pound limit while Lopez (30-5, 18 KOs) tipped the scales at 145.

The two are expected to provide what figures to be a sellout crowd of more than 8,200 with plenty of thrills. Both are hard punchers, both are looking at this as one of the most important fights of their respective careers.

The semi-main event will see Alfredo Angulo of Mexicali squaring off with Erislandy Lara of Cuba in a junior middleweight bout. Angulo (22-2, 18 KOs) weighed 153 pounds, Lara (17-1-2, 11 KOs) came in at 153.8. The limit is 154.

The main promoter is Golden Boy Promotions.

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