The Week: Canelo describes fighting Benavidez as “lose-lose”, “Boots” finds a home at Matchroom and Edwards returns

Weird Wednesday

The week started with a flurry of activity as news first emerged of another last-minute wallet auction cancellation. After Adam Azim withdrew ahead of a potential bout with Dalton Smith, this time Isaac Chamberlain decided to relinquish his British cruiserweight title rather than face mandatory challenger Chev Clarke.

This led to some back and forth on Twitter between Clarke's annoyed promoter, Eddie Hearn, and Chamberlain's promoter, Mick Hennessey.

However, there was some other news on Wednesday that left Hearn beaming as it was announced that top welterweight Jaron 'Boots' Ennis has now signed a deal with Matchroom, becoming one of the signings most importantly done by anyone, anywhere during this time. year.

And there's still time for Tyson Fury to hold a press conference at Morecambe FC's home ground, where he confirmed that 'former reporter' Anthony Joshua will not be in to fight Fury winner Oleksandr Usyk before The pair fought. a contractual rematch.

However, he then added: “Let's wait and see. Don't be surprised when this match takes place in September.” We live in hope.

The return of the nerd

BOXING missed out on the one and only Biggest Nerd on the planet, Brandon Scott, who has been out of action since August due to hand surgery. But he was back in signature fashion on Thursday, attracting attention at a press conference regarding his Spider-Man costume.

This time, however, it's not the emerging Welsh star dressing up as the Marvel hero but Sunny Edwards, who will now help manage Scott alongside Lee Eaton. And what better way to announce that than to dress Edwards up as Spider-Man only for Scott to show up and unmask him. Only in boxing and only in Scott's world.

Meanwhile, throughout the (hardly noticeable now) commercial break, Frank Warren is discussing the anticipated fight between Anthony Yarde and Joshua Buatsi. Warren has been working hard to make the fight happen but on Thursday, Yarde took to social media to announce that he is now a free agent. But Warren hit back in an interview with Box Nation: “Our position is simple – we have a contract that is still in effect… We have always stood by our contractual position. I won't go into details but it's very disappointing.”

Warren has been Yarde's promoter since he turned amateur. Let's hope they can patch things up and keep fighting.

Brandon Scott (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Lose-lose situation

A HUGE interview with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez was posted on the Fight Hub YouTube channel on Friday and it's basically bad news for all of us still looking forward to the David Benavidez fight. The Mexican tennis player, who is preparing to fight Jaime Munguia on May 4, described the match with Benavidez as 'lose-lose' if there is a rehydration clause.

“When I beat him they will say: 'they put that clause in'. It's a lose-lose situation. I can fight anyone and make a lot of money. I can do whatever I want and I deserve it because I've done everything in my career.”

At York Hall that evening, a less-noticed Charlie Edwards boxed for only the second time since December 2021. For context, that was the same month that the Omicron variant caused a sharp rise in Covid cases. Regardless, Edwards did just that, boxing well en route to a 10-round UD with Georges Ory. Also in the building that night was the one and only Mikkel Kessler, who was involved in coaching Danish prospect Oliver Zaren, who beat John Harding Jnr by an eight-over score.

The Week has yet to confirm or deny rumors that Clarke could face Whittaker next.

Ultrasonic feeling

SATURDAY was a big night for Ellie Scotney, who 'unified' two super bantamweight titles in Manchester and made sure she marked the occasion in style.

First, she enlisted the help of Billy Graham, the iconic Manchester trainer, to carry her belt on the circuit. And if that wasn't enough, she decided to mark her trip up north by walking to Oasis. The song she chose, Oasis' first single Supersonic, was released 30 years ago this month and her performance lived up to the tune's title.

Meanwhile, Naoya Inoue has hit back at claims from the likes of Shawn Porter that he has to fight in America if he truly wants to become a star. “If you want to watch the game,” the Monster tweeted. “Let's go to Japan. If there's something better than what's available in the Japanese market in the US, I'll be happy to go. All of those things are valuable in Japan.”

Of course, Inoue is just weeks away from facing Luis Nery at the famous Tokyo Dome, in the first boxing event at the venue since Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson there in February 1990. Around 55,000 people are expected to attend the match.

'Fight this right…'

YOU can't beat an old-fashioned Sunday night match announcement – and this is a good one. The week had barely taken the roast potatoes out of the oven when Matchroom confirmed that Sunny Edwards will face Adrien Curiel in Jesse Rodriguez vs. Juan Francisco Estrada on June 29 in Phoenix.

This will be Edwards' first fight since he was beaten by Rodriguez in Glendale on December 16 and a stern test following the first defeat of his career. “Fight right, are you sure?” Hearn asked Edwards. “There will be 12,000 Mexicans there, you just lost and you're coming back to fight a former world champion.”

Regular readers of this column may recall the news that another Matchroom fighter, Katie Taylor, may be returning to the ring by participating in the first combat sports event at the Las Vegas Sphere, with an Amanda Serrano rematch on the cards. However, Dana White, UFC President, insists he will get there first.

“I love Eddie Hearn and consider him a friend,” he said. “But that didn't happen. You can go to Sphere in October.”

Sunny Edwards (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Sticky or twisted?

Where to start with this? Monday is the day that Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren reveal the fighters for their 5 vs 5 face-off, which pits Artur Beterbiev against Dmitrii Bivol on June 1.

The press conference, which took place, as usual, at the Here at Outernet venue in central London, was strange. 10 boxers sit at the top table with strange masks and then reveal their faces one by one. Much of it has been leaked before – All parties involved have vowed to make sure no one knows about the fights the next time an event like this happens – with September's proposal .

But never mind the fighters, one of the best lines of the night came from Queensberry's lovable rogue Dev Sahni, who introduced Hearn to the stage by saying: 'you might recognize him from the cover of Men's Health magazine and the 400 YouTube interviews he does every day. day.'

The promotional video for the 5 vs 5 fight, also released today, may be the best promotional content in boxing history. Acclaim.

Working breakfast

THERE were brighter things early on Tuesday morning as all the fighters taking part in the '5 on 5' show appeared in the media during breakfast. Deontay Wilder was the first to present and wax lyrical about how the Bronze Bombers bounced back from their disappointing loss to Joseph Parker in December. However, some casual guests at the Swiss Cottage Marriott might was confused as to why a 6ft 7in Alabaman was stomping around shouting 'Bomb Squad'.

There's also a 30-minute chat with Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren together, which adds credence to the claim that they have emerged as boxing's greatest double act. They were even finishing each other's sentences. Honestly, it's just weird.

And while all of this was going on, Matchroom's legendary press officer, Dan Barnard, was feverishly working in the corner preparing the press release for their latest show, when Tyler Denny would cover his European middleweight title against Felix Cash in Birmingham on June 22. Great fight.