White and the UFC in 2012, and those bouts

LONDON -- As unified middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin prepares to make his 17th defense, against Englands Kell Brook, theres a third wheel muscling in on the attention being paid to their fight: lineal middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.Golovkin, a knockout machine and perhaps boxings most feared fighter, has come to the birthplace of boxing to defend against Brook on his turf on Saturday (HBO, 5:30 p.m. ET/PT with a replay at 10 p.m. ET/PT) at the sold-out O2 Arena because Alvarez has steadfastly refused to fight him, going so far as to relinquish his sanctioning organization belt rather than fulfill a mandatory obligation to Golovkin in a megafight.The typically mild-mannered Golovkin normally doesnt utter a negative word about anybody, but Alvarezs gamesmanship clearly has annoyed him. He has been more outspoken about the situation than ever before.Its like a circus, too many clowns, Golovkin said. Canelo knows he doesnt want to fight me. Why do you keep talking then?Although Alvarez won the lineal middleweight title, he did so at his preferred catch weight of 155 pounds against Miguel Cotto last November and continues to resist a move to 160 pounds. Instead of agreeing to face Golovkin, as he appeared to do following his huge knockout of Amir Khan, a welterweight who moved up, in a May defense, Alvarez is retreating to junior middleweight. He will return to 154 pounds, where he once held titles, to challenge titleholder Liam Smith, Brooks countryman, on Sept. 17 (HBO PPV) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.Golovkin, who has knocked out 22 consecutive opponents since 2008 and owns the best knockout percentage in middleweight title history (.914), is resistant to any criticism that he is picking on a welterweight in Brook, who owns a world title and is considered by many No. 1 at 147 pounds, the same way Alvarez did with Khan.Canelo was the middleweight champion and chose Amir Khan, said Golovkin, who has been rebuffed by a whos who of the middleweight division in recent years. We didnt choose Brook. He chose me. My goal is all the middleweight belts. Canelo is not ready until next year or maybe not for five years.The 30-year-old Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) had no fear of facing Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs), jumping at the chance when offered the fight after a bout between GGG and another Brit, middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr., fell apart in the final moments when Eubank allowed the deadline to pass without signing.This fight is much bigger than if I faced Eubank, Golovkin said. [Brook] is a champion, hes undefeated, he is more famous. Who knows Eubank? Everybody understands he is 50 percent clown, 50 percent fighter. OK, he says hes ready, hes fighting. [Then] hes not ready, more dancing, more talking, trash talking. Hes like clown.Brook is moving up two weight divisions in an attempt to become the third reigning welterweight titlist to win a middleweight title in boxing history, joining all-time greats Sugar Ray Robinson and Carmen Basilio. Kazakhstans Golovkin, 34, who fights out of Santa Monica, California, respects the fire Brook has shown in accepting this difficult assignment.Everybody has risk in boxing, Golovkin said. Hes moving up and taking that risk, and for that I have a great deal of respect for him. Brook is dangerous. He has a very high boxing IQ and were fighting in his country.Golovkin, however, said he has little respect for Alvarez after the way he led him to believe they would fight on next weeks Mexican Independence Day weekend.After Alvarez knocked out Khan, he called Golovkin into the ring, telling him to his face that Mexicans dont f--- around and seemingly promising they would fight next.At the postfight news conference, Alvarez said he would even fight GGG at 160 pounds, and his promoter, Golden Boys Oscar De La Hoya, put on an over-the-top display, telling the media that Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler, of K2 Promotions, should make sure his phone was on because he would be calling him the following day to open discussions.But instead of trying to make the fight, Alvarez vacated his title, which interim titlist Golovkin inherited, and eventually signed to fight Smith, who was all but unknown outside the United Kingdom. Alvarez also promised that he would fight Golovkin next September, although there is no formal agreement and few believe him.Golovkin does not think it will happen and that Alvarez will continue to make him and the public wait for the big fight.Impossible, he said of Alvarez agreeing to fight him in 2017. But maybe if I look bad with Kell Brook or another guy and hes ready, but [only] if I look bad.An Alvarez-Golovkin fight looms as one of the biggest in boxing, but it could play out like the frustrating Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, which took years to make. Golden Boys Eric Gomez, promoted this week to president of the company, has said repeatedly to ESPN.com that Alvarez will fight Golovkin, but he would not give a timetable.That is the biggest fight, with Canelo, Golovkin said. But he stepped back. He is like loser. After Khan he said, OK, G, come into the ring. Im asking, What you want? He said, Im OK, I looked good. We fight. Then at the press conference, he says, I am ready, give me gloves. Im ready right now. Too much talking. This is not true. He is saying, I am ready [but] maybe not next fight. Next year. Everybody understands he said I am ready right now. I gave him too much attention. I do not believe he is ready.I know him. We trained together, like, three training camps. We sparred together. I know his team. He is not ready. I told him, Please just give me my belt, and thats it. He says OK and steps back. Too much talking, too much trash talking. Just give me my belt and get out of here. Maybe its business. After [the Khan] press conference I lost respect for him because he talks too much.Abel Sanchez, Golovkins trainer and the 2015 Boxing Writers Association trainer of the year, said Golovkin is angry that Alvarez is playing games.When the whole Canelo fiasco first started, when he fought Cotto, we were trying to just be laid back and let him talk and let him do his thing, Sanchez said. Once he called Golovkin into the ring, Golovkin was very offended. He may not say that to you, but I know Golovkin and Golovkin was like, What the hell did they call me in here for if hes not going to be true to his word?But when he did that and he showed all that bravado and then backed down, I think it set off something in Golovkin that was like, You know what? Im through being a nice guy. Im through not saying the things that I honestly think.Sanchez shares the opinion of Golovkin and many others who do not believe Alvarez will fight him next year.I dont think so. Weve had that discussion, and I honestly dont think so either, Sanchez said. I think Canelo knows he doesnt stand a chance and I think that Oscar knows that he doesnt stand a chance. But the more they talk, the more they stay relevant. We as the GGG team just keep GGG busy. When you keep him busy, eventually the fans will have so much pressure on Canelo, as the Mexican fans are doing right now, and the journalists. Dont talk if youre not going to back it up.Sanchez said that had Alvarez and Golden Boy simply told Golovkin that Alvarez was not ready for the fight, vacated and said he would come back and fight Golovkin for the title in a few fights, Golovkin would have been cool with that.But he called G in the ring and said some bad things in Spanish and then Oscar goes in the press conference and says, Tom, make sure you answer the phone. Come on, Sanchez said.Then along came Brook, daring to be great and going up to fight the man nobody else wants to face. Golovkin and Sanchez both respect that. A lot.I think a guy like Kell and a guy like [Sugar Ray] Leonard and guys like Robinson, those guys are wanting to test themselves to see where theyre at, Sanchez said. Theres nothing wrong with saying, You know what? That guy was just too big [if you lose]. But when they introduce you as middleweight champion and you talk all kinds of nonsense and then give up the title, how can you have any respect for somebody like that?Said Golovkin: Kell Brook has my full respect. Its not easy for us to get opponents. Hes ready for me and Im ready for him. Kell Brook is the biggest test to me. Hes a great champion, hes moving up in weight, but great fighters have done that and I know hes a great boxer and he will test me the most. Sean Elliott Spurs Jersey . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. DeMar DeRozan Spurs Jersey . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. https://www.spurslockerroom.com/David-Robinson-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Lonnie Walker Jersey . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. DeMar DeRozan Jersey . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. Womens boxing has long lived in the shadows of the sport.Its a cycle that begins and ends with television networks, a cycle that stems from a perception that the quality of female talent is thin. Yet, without the ability to sell womens fights on televised cards, the signing and developing of female fighters is rendered an unprofitable business for promoters. The opportunity for women to make a living fighting thus becomes virtually impossible ... and the cycle continues.Im a little embarrassed we havent gotten to it sooner, said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, about the networks plans to put womens fights back on its air. We aim to rectify that very quickly -- and not on a one-off basis but on a meaningful regular basis as well.While Showtime still hasnt promoted a fight since 2001, it plans to do so, and womens boxing will be televised Saturday, when Claressa Shields makes her professional debut on Saturday in a four-round super middleweight bout against Franchon Crews. It will air on ESPN3 on the freeview undercard of Sergey Kovalev and Andre Wards pay-per-view fight on HBO.Coupled with the previous strides made in 2016, it appears that a new era of womens boxing is dawning.Claressa Shields has dubbed this era as the reintroduction to womens boxing. The era took a giant step forward on Aug. 21 when Shields became the first American fighter, male or female, to defend an Olympic gold medal. That same day, Heather Hardy and Shelly Vincent became the first women to be featured on a Premier Boxing Champions?nationally televised undercard.Now, that era is primed to move ahead even further.Well aware of her role in what could be the surge needed to finally carry womens boxing from out of the shadows, Shields is preparing to make her professional debut on Saturday.Shields chose to begin her professional career rather than stay an amateur (and have the guarantee of eligibility to return to the Olympics in 2020) in part because of the potential the timing presented. At 21 years old, amid what already feels like a revolution in womens boxing, Shields is primed to take up the baton and carry the sport over the line it has come so close to crossing so many times.I dont want to let this flame burn out that we have right now, Shields said. You have to seize the moment and take advantage of it.Im not doing it for the money. Im doing it for womens boxing.Shields has marinated on this concept of being the change for some time. It was a primary reason behind her decision and a seed that was planted before she won her second gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, when she had a conversation with Hardy about the two fighters mutual hope for the future of their sport and the respect it deserves.The way Hardy understood it, Shields turning pro would send a message: This is what women do. Women fight. Women box.We werent just thinking about each other making millions of dollars; we were thinking about the other women coming up behind us, Shields said.This is a new era, and thats no disrespect to Christy Martin or Lucia Rijker or Laila [Ali]. But the women of this generation are just different. And me? Im one-of-a-kind. You only get one of me every century.New York-born and bred, Hardy used to dream about becoming a Yankee. As a child she would even envision herself running out of the bullpen at Yankee Stadium. She watched every game. She knew every stat. But little girls didnt play baseball.I remember feeling like I was sorry I liked it, she said. I was sorry I was a girl.Later in life, Hardy adopted a new dream: becoming a professional boxer. But as she transitioned out of the amateurs, she was confronted with a harsh reality: Women dont make much money fighting.A bunch of the girls who are pro [told me], Just know this isnt a life for you; this is a hobby because youll never make any money off of it, Hardy said.And 20 years later, I have that same feeling. Im sorry Im a girl.Hardy was the first woman to be signed to a long-term promotional contract with Lou DiBellas company, DiBella Entertainment. DiBella, one of New Yorks premier boxing promoters, has been one of the main actors at the forefront of the current revolution. In addition to Hardy, DiBella has signed deals with other prominent women fighters, including WBO featherweight champion Amanda Serrano and Hardys last opponent, Vincent.While DiBella said he doesnt make money off their fights, the fact that he puts on shows in New York and throughout New England means Hardy and the other female fighters in his stable who are from the area sell enough tickets to cover a good portion of the costs of their bouts. DiBella, who admits he was once hardened to the idea of women in the ring when he was an HBO executive, has said that promoting his female fighters has become a cause for him.I admire their dedication. I admire their spirit to want to bring about change, DiBella said. Id say a number of these women right now are not only out there as fighters; theyre out there as trailblazers, as advocates. Theyre trying to change the status quo, to be agents of change, so that other women coming fforward in the sport in the future have an easier road and an opportunity to make a living the same way men do.dddddddddddd.The difference between the money that male and female fighters can make fighting doesnt necessarily stem from a gap in fight purses -- in fact, according to DiBella, male and female fighters on the same card will generally make similar money for the same level of fight. The difference, then, is the fact that televised fights come with much bigger purses, and without opportunities to fight on televised cards, women simply dont have the option for bigger paydays. As DiBella put it, its a wage ceiling.While male fighters are going after that $100,000 payday -- the $50,000, $150,000 or $1 million payday -- those paydays dont exist for women because television has been closed to them, DiBella said.Female fighters with untelevised bouts thus become more reliant on whatever percentage of ticket sales they get, which can often mean more aggressive promotion of their own fights, spreading the word and hanging up posters to try to sell tickets.Hardy, a single mother, has considered taking MMA fights to help pay the bills, a proposition that recently became even more real when DiBella had to cancel the cards he had scheduled in New York through the end of the year because of a new provision that requires promoters in the state to secure $1 million of insurance per fighter in the event one suffers a traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately for Hardy, one of those events DiBella had to cancel was a show at Barclays Center on Dec. 16 that Hardy was supposed to fight on.As much as Id like to discourage her as a promoter from [moving to MMA], Im not going to because she has to do what she has to do to maximize her revenue streams, to take advantage of her popularity and to try to make a living for her and her daughter, DiBella said. I cant fault her for needing a supplemental income.Its worth noting that while DiBella has signed some of the best female talent in the United States, his stable is missing the biggest star in Shields, who told ESPN in September before announcing her pro debut that the only company she wanted to sign with was Oscar De La Hoyas Golden Boy Promotions. However, Shields agent said she has yet to make any decisions regarding a promoter as of this week.DiBellas investment could turn out to be a gamble that pays off if the status quo changes.The current pool of female talent is ripe for a chance at the big time, with fighters on the rise from coast to coast. Even across the pond, where womens boxing is already more prominently televised, 13-year Irish amateur and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Katie Taylor has too decided to turn professional.The skill level and talent base is all there, Espinoza said. Its just a matter of providing the opportunity.Espinoza wants Showtime to provide that opportunity. The five-year executive said that putting female fights back on the networks airwaves has been on its to-do list for some time, and that he hopes to get one on a card in the first quarter of 2017.Espinoza and DiBella have elevated conversations even further, with pretty extensive discussions about the prospect of an all-female card sometime next year. DiBella said that that type of card would ideally feature a Hardy-Vincent rematch, possibly even for a world title, if Hardy ends up fighting for one in March, as DiBella suggested she might.An all-womens card is certainly an ambitious goal, considering it likely would require the cooperation of various promoters, but Espinoza doesnt consider it insurmountable.If we can be the unifying force to bring this aboard, wed be happy to, he saidThe concept of elevating womens presence in combat sports by making opportunities possible isnt new for Showtime. Ronda Rousey fought her final three Strikeforce fights before signing with Dana White and the UFC in 2012, and those bouts aired on Showtime. Other female mixed martial arts stars such as Gina Carano, Cris Cyborg Justino and Miesha Tate also came up through Strikeforce before making the same jump.When you look at the business opportunity, which has been demonstrated in MMA, you cant really argue that the market isnt ready or the audience isnt ready, Espinoza said.The momentum that peaked in August, with Shields Olympic win and Hardy and Vincents televised bout, is palpable and has continued to pick up steam. For women in the sport, its a fight for their livelihood and for equality in the ring, present and future.If my daughter wanted to box, I would never be like, Yeah, you should work for that, Vincent said. Before I wouldve said, No, youre never going to get anywhere. Theyre never going to accept you. Youre never going to make any money.But now I would say there is hope, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.That light is primed to grow brighter again on Saturday, when Shields steps into the ring at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.Just tell everybody this is the reintroduction to womens boxing, Shields said. Thank me later. ' ' '