Devon Alexander-Kell Brook Likely Headed for Los Angeles
Last week, talks began to surface that the Jan. 19 Showtime Championship Boxing card headlined by Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KOs) of St. Louis and Kell Brook (29-0, 19 KOs) of the United Kingdom was projected to take place in Las Vegas, likely at the MGM Grand. The bout will be for Alexander's IBF 147 pound belt.
The card, which will run against an HBO tripleheader in New York that same night, will instead take place in Los Angeles, according to sources close to the promotion, with an announcement likely being made Wednesday as to the venue and undercard.
Junior welterweight Lucas Matthysse is a name that has been mentioned for the televised undercard, with Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer saying matchmaker Eric Gomez would have an opponent ready for announcement in the matter of a few days. [UPDATE: Golden Boy matchmaker Robert Diaz confirmed via e-mail Tuesday that the card would take place at Nokia Theater in L.A., and that Matthysse would be in the co-main event in a three-bout broadcast.]
With Jan. 26 being the date for Andre Ward's super middleweight title defense against Kelly Pavlik in Los Angeles at USC's Galen Center, the prominent fight town will likely be getting a heavy dose of big time boxing to open the year.
(Devon Alexander, right, in his last fight, against Randall Bailey; photo credit: Tom Casino, Showtime)
Randy Caballero Looks for New Challenges
Two Saturdays ago I watched Golden Boy Promotions bantamweight prospect Randy Caballero impressively dispatch unheralded Rigoberto Casillas, a .500 fighter, off-television on the undercard of Robert Guerrero's big win over Andre Berto in Ontario, Calif.
My first thought was that it is time for Caballero to take a step up. At 22 years old, Caballero has shown maturity in recent fights and could stand to step in with another quality young fighter at this stage.
One possibility that was suggested was a showdown with fellow Californian prospect Roman Morales, who hails from San Ardo, located nearer to central California. Caballero hails from Coachella in southern California.
The two are quite familiar with each other and the fight has a decent backstory. Caballero outpointed Morales in the 2009 California State Golden Gloves finals in April 2009 but Morales' pro career has taken a quicker trajectory to his current status.
Morales, who is promoted by Gary Shaw, is currently campaigning at 122 pounds while Caballero manager Cameron Dunkin tells TQBR that his fighter is a 118 pounder, for now, and for the immediate future.
“The only reason we've fought at 122, 123 in the past is because we didn't have an opponent and the only way we were going to fight was if we took an opponent at a higher weight,” Dunkin said in a phone call on Monday afternoon.
“We've got a world ranking and we want to challenge for a title at 118,” Dunkin continued. “We aren't concerned about Roman Morales. If he wants to come down to 118 pounds, then we have something to talk about. As for now, we've already got an opponent and a date lined up for Randy's next fight.”
Caballero is projected to take on unbeaten Puerto Rican prospect Jonathan Vidal (17-0, 9 KOs) on Jan. 11 on the undercard of Rico Ramos against Ronny Rios, an enticing featherweight scrap on its own, according to Team Caballero. That card is likely to land on ShoBox, but at this stage could still wind up on Telefutura's SoloBoxeo according to Dunkin.
While maybe now is not the right time for Caballero and Morales to do battle, if both guys keep winning, it surely could be a tremendous fight down the road.
NorCal's Mike Dallas, Jr., Glenn Donaire, Without Fights On Dec. 8
Junior welterweight contender Mike Dallas, Jr. has had a tumultuous past few months. Last month, the young fighter from Bakersfield, Calif. had to handle the loss of his father and boxing mentor Mike Dallas, Sr., who sadly passed away from leukemia on Nov. 14 at the age of 45.
Dallas Sr. was a longtime boxing coach at the Bakersfield PAL club and brought Mike Jr. along as an amateur and professional until handing the reins over to esteemed Bay Area trainer Virgil Hunter once his health began to deteriorate.
Dallas Jr. has been training with Hunter since last year and has put together a nice surge in 2012, earning an ESPN2 headlining stoppage over Javier Castro back in June. He was supposed to return to the ring this coming Saturday in Anaheim on a Golden Boy Promotions card on Fox Deportes, but his opponent Joseph Elegele pulled out last Wednesday, according to his Twitter account. No new date has been assigned for Dallas Jr., but he is anxious to get back in the ring at the soonest possible date. Dallas Jr. has been sparring with a very talented stable of fighters including Amir Khan, Karim Mayfield. Alfredo Angulo, Fernando Guerrero, and Stan Martyniouk among others.
San Leandro's Glenn Donaire, older brother to Nonito, was also supposed to fight this weekend in Mexico against rugged Giovani Segura, but that bout fell by the wayside a few weeks ago. Donaire was excited to get the opportunity against a legitimate name after suffering a setback against Omar Soto in September in his third bout of his comeback after a more than three-year layoff.
Donaire was interviewed when that bout came together here at TQBR and is disappointed to not be in the ring this weekend. Stablemate Glenn Porras will fight Friday night on Telemundo against Jose Nieves in a promising ten-round featherweight bout with Donaire's father Nonito Sr. working the corner. The elder Donaire brother hopes to be back in the ring in January or February at the latest.
