Some news and notes at our midpoint of the week...
-Sergio Martinez had successful knee surgery and is looking at a date in April 2013 for his return, and the fight is appearing to be in Argentina. Opponents? Nothing spectacular. Per Ring Magazine: Jose Miguel Torres (26-5, 23 KOs), Martin Murray (24-0-1, 10 KOs), Domenico Spada (36-4, 18 KOs), and Kerry Hope (17-4, 1 KO).
Marty Murray is the only world class opponent of the mix.
-Danny Garcia vs. Zab Judah has moved from January to February, due to a scheduling conflict Gennady Golovkin's date at MSG. NYSAC will not allow to events on the same day (which is great for fans).
-Hopkins vs. Cleverly has ran into a snag. Clev has a mandatory defense due VERY soon with Robin Krasniqi. They were supposed to fight earlier, and Clev got sick and pulled. This could mean B-Hop looks to Cloud or Shuemenov instead of Cleverly.
-Longtime champion Toshiaki Nishioka has officially announced his retirement, and did not seek a new boxing license. In all honesty, it looked like he did this BEFORE his bout with Nonito. But, that cash grab aside, Nishi had a hell of a career, and was a very solid champion fighting anyone, pretty much anywhere.
-Antonio Tarver has done next to nothing about his PED bust. No news really other than a filed extension with the CSAC. The draw with Kayode was turned into a no contest, so I doubt we hear much from Magic Man. Although, his lack of defense really makes me question the rest of his brilliant career now.
-Marco Huck spouting off about Wlad Klitschko lately. It's comical, because the fight almost "can't" be made due to TV agreements in Germany. You think Showtime and HBO are bad here, it's nothing compared to RTL and ARD.. who have tens of millions invested in each fighter.
-Gary Russell officially called out Daniel Ponce de Leon for a title shot in early 2013. I'd love the fight to be made. The hand issues with Russell appear to be behind him, and Ponce is a very stiff test for him - but one he should be able to pass, unless the pressure breaks him down.
-Billy Dib pulled from the Trout/Cotto card. Boxing politics has a lot more to do with this than "injury" claims from Dib. Billy is under SMS Promotions banner, which is 50 Cent's banner. To spite Floyd Mayweather, 50 Cent is taking his business from GBP and is going to work with Top Rank. Whoopy, more boxing politics.
-Kendall Holt is rumored to be coming back to the ring in February or January. He'd like to be on the Zab/Danny card, but no guarantee their (pricing reasons).
-Still nothing from K9 and Rosado. Not sure why the IBF hasn't ordered a purse bid, at the very least, with this fight. Rosado is 2 months removed from his eliminator bout, and K9 is 5 months removed from his last title defense. Also worth noting is that K9 didn't land Austin Trout or Miguel Cotto, and with those guys fighting in a few weeks, him holding out for either and avoiding his mandatory doesn't seem like it should work that way. But, the IBF has been known to take some money to avoid this kind of situation.
-Still nothing from team Dmitry Pirog on what his plans are. Remember, he was supposed to return to the States a few months back, but pulled citing an injury. Fast forward to present times, still nothing from the hiding Russian.
-A few weeks left on Vitali and what way he's going to go with his career. How the WBC handles this, if he retires, will be VERY interesting. They'd want David Haye to have the title. He brings in the most dollars of any non-Klit brother HW. But, he's also not ranked right now, and a mandatory is scheduled between Bermane Stiverne and Chris Arreola for the right to face Vitali. Talk about a mess for the WBC.
-Sticking with the HWs, Tyson Fury has tabbed American former title challenger Kevin Johnson as his next opponent.
-Also, former HW champ Ruslan Chagaev, will return to action 12/1 against undefeated prospect Mike Perez (18-0, 12 KOs). Good to see Chagaev serious about returning to championship contention with his 4th fight of the year, and a step up in competition from his previous, under .500 opponent.
I'll preview the weekend on Friday... should be another very fun weekend of boxing action.