Real or Not – Teofimo Lopez will fight George Kambosos in Australia; Charlo-Castano 2 will happen

In a parallel universe, we might be days away from the high-stakes heavyweight title trilogy battle between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder that was initially scheduled to happen Saturday. Sadly for battle followers trying ahead to a different huge heavyweight conflict, Fury contracted COVID-19, and that battle seems destined to take place in October, leaving an enormous gap within the boxing schedule.

COVID-19 seemingly shifted one other huge title battle to October, as undisputed light-weight champion Teofimo Lopez additionally examined optimistic and had his title protection towards George Kambosos postponed. As battle promoters search to recoup a few of their losses from the last-minute cancellation in Miami, will they have the ability to lock down Lopez to battle of their meant new vacation spot of Australia?

Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano did get to battle, however with a split-decision draw, their junior middleweight unification bout did not crown an undisputed champion as hoped. Will they run it proper again?

In the meantime, Joe Joyce and Carlos Takam sq. off in a WBC heavyweight title eliminator on Saturday in London. With the titles at the moment tied up between Fury-Wilder 3 and Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk, would a Takam win be sufficient to place him on the entrance of the road as soon as the image will get a little bit bit clearer within the fall?

Lastly, we’re six weeks out from the following chapter of the Paul brothers boxing saga, as Jake Paul takes on former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a boxing ring. If Woodley can lastly put the brakes on Jake Paul’s string of wins over non-boxers, may he stick across the sport for extra showcase alternatives?

Our panel, which options Mike Coppinger, Ben Child, Marc Raimondi and Nick Parkinson, digs into the largest subjects of the day to separate what’s actual from what’s not.

Teofimo Lopez will face George Kambosos in Australia in his subsequent battle

Coppinger: Not actual. Final week I reported that Triller is planning the rescheduled bout for Oct. 17 in Sydney, Australia, which might make it a hometown battle for the title challenger. The issue is that Lopez is not on board. In any respect. Teofimo is not desirous about touring abroad, neither is he within the 14-day quarantine vacationers face. It is particularly a difficulty, his supervisor, David McWater, mentioned, when the fighter is reducing weight, a troublesome chore for somebody Lopez’s dimension. Lopez additionally does not need to wait till mid-October to battle when the unique rescheduled date was Aug. 14.

McWater mentioned Lopez would somewhat relinquish his 135-pound title than make the journey down beneath. Within the background, Lopez has retained longtime boxing legal professional Pat English to persuade the IBF that the title battle is overdue.

The 23-year-old is within the midst of a long-term take care of Prime Rank, a pact he renegotiated final month amid points together with his promoter. That adopted Triller snatching up the rights to his obligatory title protection towards Kambosos at an IBF purse bid in February.

The battle was scheduled for June 19 in Miami, however Lopez tested positive for COVID-19 and the bout was postponed just four days out from battle night time. The virus sidelined Lopez for just a few weeks, and he nonetheless has some minor lingering results, however as of Monday he had examined unfavorable for the coronavirus 22 days straight and has resumed coaching.

Triller misplaced almost $5 million on the occasion after journey bills, advertising and marketing prices, and so on. To recoup the cash, Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh desires the battle in Australia, a boxing-starved nation the place the residents assist their very own. Simply have a look at the packed stadium that noticed Jeff Horn’s controversial upset win over Manny Pacquiao.

However McWater, on behalf of Lopez, has been steadfast: The battle is not taking place in Australia. Kavanaugh has planted his toes within the floor, too. It does not seem both occasion will give in. Lopez is because of earn a career-high payday of almost $4 million, so he can be dropping extra than simply his standing as undisputed light-weight champion.

In the meantime, sources instructed ESPN that Prime Rank is discussing the long-awaited rematch between Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko. Lopez outpointed Loma once they met in October. If Lopez-Loma 2 replaces Lopez-Kambosos, I am certain boxing followers might be simply high-quality.

In that state of affairs, Kambosos, ESPN’s No. 9 light-weight, will transfer on and face Isaac Cruz for the vacant belt. The 23-year-old from Mexico has slowly made a reputation for himself together with his relentless strain model.

Certainly, followers would somewhat see two evenly matched, glorious matchups in Lopez-Loma 2 and Kambosos-Cruz. This could be the uncommon time when the shenanigans of the boxing trade formalize a extra favorable state of affairs.

In fact, that is merely that in the mean time — a state of affairs. For now, Lopez and his lawyer will attempt to persuade Triller to advertise the battle at an earlier date within the U.S. Do not guess on that consequence.

There might be a Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano rematch

Child: Actual. No different battle for Jermell Charlo or Brian Castano even appears remotely logical. A rematch makes an excessive amount of sense — particularly for Charlo, and never simply due to the disputed draw.

Regardless of his standing as a reputable three-organization champion, Charlo’s credentials lacked the load required to really be thought-about one in every of boxing’s prime pound-for-pound fighters. One of many huge points was that it was troublesome to really consider the energy of the 154-pound division, by which ESPN ranked Charlo because the No. 1 fighter.

Castano was simply the very best opponent Charlo has confronted throughout his title run, together with Tony Harrison, who beat Charlo in 2018 earlier than Charlo received the WBC title again from Harrison with a TKO win within the rematch. Charlo and Castano have been boxing at such a excessive stage that referee Hector Afu hardly ever intervened all through the 12-round bout.

Excluding Nelson Vazquez’s horrific scorecard, Charlo-Castano was a implausible efficiency that capped a really sturdy Showtime card. Every man produced the kind of battle that solely will increase their respective inventory and raises the stakes for a possible rematch.

Certain, Charlo and Castano can go their separate methods and search for different opponents. However after Saturday night time, nothing however a win over the opposite will produce the kind of acclaim and recognition every of them desires.

Joe Joyce deserves a title shot if he beats Carlos Takam

Parkinson: Actual … offered it comes after one other title unification battle. The world’s 4 greatest heavyweights meet one another of their subsequent fights, as we get Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder 3 and Anthony Joshua-Oleksandr Usyk. That is the place we have landed after delays and U-turns prevented rival champions Fury and Joshua from combating for all the belts this summer time.

Our religion in getting a four-belt world heavyweight title battle in 2021 has been knocked by the letdowns and postponements over the previous 12 months, but when promoters could make it work, then Joyce must wait till 2022 for his first world title shot (offering he beats Carlos Takam, who was stopped by Joshua 4 years in the past). Joyce, who will change into WBO obligatory challenger if he beats Takam, is already among the many chasing pack attempting to earn a shot at one of many 4 titles (the others being Andy Ruiz Jr., Luis Ortiz, Joseph Parker and Charles Martin), and he arguably had a greater win in his most up-to-date battle than the opposite main contenders.

Others on the prime of the governing our bodies’ rankings could have all fought for world titles — in contrast to Joyce — and the Londoner has had solely 12 skilled fights since profitable silver on the Olympics as an newbie. However Joyce has made spectacular and convincing progress to world title competition, stopping 11 of his 12 opponents, together with a Tenth-round knockout of fellow Englishman Daniel Dubois in his most spectacular efficiency.

A conflict towards Joshua, who holds the WBO belt together with the IBF and WBA titles, can be intriguing. The pair are former sparring companions, and outdoors of Fury, Wilder or Usyk, and maybe Dillian Whyte, combating Joyce can be the largest battle accessible to Joshua.

Woodley can have a legit boxing profession after Paul battle

Raimondi: Final week at a information convention in Los Angeles, Tyron Woodley made some headlines when he mentioned that his boxing match with Jake Paul on Aug. 29 will not be a one-off. Woodley mentioned he plans on boxing sooner or later. His precise phrases have been: “I am in boxing.” He did not fully shut the door on MMA — he mentioned he would do each — however it seemed like his focus at this level was on boxing. In fact, Woodley’s future in boxing might be decided by how effectively he does towards Paul, the YouTube star-turned-prizefighter, later this summer time. Nonetheless, I will say “actual” on this assertion.

Here is one key issue: Woodley was not speaking as a lot a couple of lengthy future in boxing when he first began coaching, however it looks as if just a few months within the health club with Pedro Diaz and Eric Brown in Florida have given him some confidence. He has clearly been getting optimistic suggestions not solely from Diaz and Brown, but additionally from Floyd Mayweather Jr., whom Woodley has additionally been coaching with a bit. I would guess that Woodley feels good together with his coaching thus far — he additionally talked about how lean he was getting after placing within the rounds — and his inside outlook is vivid.

Woodley mentioned final week that he wasn’t joyful in MMA for the previous 5 years, which was one other fascinating assertion, since he was the UFC welterweight champion throughout that point interval. Woodley misplaced 4 in a row to complete his UFC run, a stretch that started with Woodley dropping the title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 in March 2019. Woodley’s contract ran out with a loss to Vicente Luque at UFC 260 in March. Now, Woodley will face Paul, and after that he mentioned he would think about a battle with a boxing “OG,” somebody like Oscar De La Hoya. After which, Woodley mentioned, he would think about taking over a prime boxer.

Expectations have to be tempered, after all. Woodley is 39 years previous and has regarded gun-shy in current fights. That doesn’t bode effectively for boxing, the place Woodley cannot use his All-American-caliber wrestling. However Woodley has all the time been an excellent athlete and one of many savviest fighters in MMA in relation to technique. These two issues may certainly translate to boxing. And if Woodley, after getting in months of boxing coaching, thinks he has an actual future within the squared circle, I would are inclined to consider him. Beating Paul — particularly in spectacular style — can be the right springboard to extra large boxing bouts.