Here are the most eye-catching stories from this week’s/weekend’s boxing news and ring action:
– Atop a week without a whole lot of ring action, Claressa Shields defended her undisputed middleweight champ status, scoring a one-sided unanimous 10-round decision over Maricela Cornejo at Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit. The judges had an easy job in this one and scored accordingly with three shutout cards (100-89, 100-90, and 100-90).
– On Thursday, Gervonta Davis was jailed for violating the terms of his 90-day home detention sentence, stemming from his hit-and-run conviction in November of 2020.
According to the Baltimore Banner, Davis had violated the terms of the house arrest, which was to be served in the Baltimore home of his trainer Calvin Ford, by moving to a Four Seasons Hotel and then a $3.4 million high-rise penthouse he recently purchased in Baltimore.
Davis’ attorney Michael Tomko appealed to the judge to place the blame for the violation of the house detention terms on him. Tomko said that he was not aware of the requirements needed for the house arrest and that Ford’s one bedroom home was not equipped to accommodate the fighter’s around-the-clock security needs. The attorney’s pleas to not sanction Davis any further fell on deaf ears though.
Per the Baltimore Banner:
“At one point, Tomko implored the judge to not punish Davis for having fame or money, adding that it’s sometimes hard for individuals to understand that ‘people can attack famous people or hurt them or not want them to fight or win.’
No one wanted him to live in the hotel, Tomko said. He said he worked with his client’s team to buy the condo as quickly as possible to move Davis to a safe location.
‘Blame me. Because he didn’t do anything wrong,’ Tomko said. ‘He did what I asked him to do.’
‘I don’t think that Mr. Davis did anything wrong except listen to his lawyer,” he later added.”
Davis will now serve out the rest of his 90-day sentence (roughly 60 days) behind bars.
– David Benavidez’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, has reportedly offered unified super middleweight champ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez as much as $50 million guaranteed to face his fighter. While Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso had denied receiving such an offer, Lewkowicz has since followed through with proof of the proposal.
– Ryan Garcia and promoter Oscar De La Hoya went to war on social media last week, engaged in a heated back-and-forth on Twitter that, by all accounts, was bound to happen.
De La Hoya took umbrage over a recently released video that saw Garcia lamenting about the lack of support from his own team following his loss to Gervonta Davis. The promoter would respond with an “it’s been almost two months and you’re still crying about the post presser?” comment and a demand that Garcia look to lay the blame for his loss at the feet of his own adviser, who allowed for a rehydration clause to be put in his contract for the Davis fight.
Garcia would return fire with, among other things: “Tired of you disrespecting my whole career and you think none of it matters. Loyalty and common sense is lost in your head.”
– Rising star and welterweight top contender, Philadelphia’s Jaron “Boots” Ennis will headline a July 8 Showtime event from the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He’ll be facing Venezuelan-Colombian Roiman Villa, who is coming off an impressive upset victory over the highly regarded Rashidi Ellis.
– According to Boxingscene, tickets for the long-awaited welterweight title unification bout between Errol Spence and Terence Crawford are going for between $1505-$8500.
– Despite suffering a dog bite injury on his arm that required surgery and 26 stitches, Australia’s Tim Tszyu will go ahead with the June 18 defense of his interim WBO super welterweight title against Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo. Should he beat Ocampo, the second generation star is set to face unified 4-belt super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo. Tszyu and Charlo were supposed to meet in January, but an injury forced Charlo to withdraw from the bout.
