Breazeale Hunts For New Foe, Aims To Stay on PBC Bill

By Jake Donovan

As negotiations are set to begin for a vacant title fight between Vyacheslav Glazkov and Charles Martin, the hunt is on to keep Dominic Breazeale in action this weekend.

Breazeale and Martin were due to collide this Saturday in San Antonio, in a heavyweight battle to have aired live in primetime as part of the latest installment of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC. Martin has since pulled out of the fight, in light of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) stripping recently crowned Tyson Fury of the strap due to his committing to a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko - whom he dethroned in November - rather than honoring his mandatory obligations with Glazkov.

Event handlers have confirmed that Breazeale (16-0, 14KOs) will remain on the show, but unclear at the moment as to whether his fight will still air on NBC or either NBC Sports Network telecast bookending the main portion. The opponent will likely dictate where his fight lands, although the goal for now is to avoid any further change of plans for the unbeaten heavyweight - a former college football quarterback before turning to boxing and representing the United States in the 2012 London Olympics.

The 30-year old Breazeale has remained active in 2015, with Saturday marking his fourth fight on the year. His most recent ring appearance marked his toughest test yet as a pro, edging Fred Kassi over 10 rounds this past September, which also aired live on NBC from Birmingham, Alabama. The fight was far more competitive than the scorecards suggested, with one judge disgracefully awarding Breazeale every round.

Still, his level of competition has been superior to that of Martin (22-0-1, 20KOs), who is basically being given a free pass to a heavyweight title fight. The unbeaten southpaw will have 30 days to negotiate terms with Glazkov or else be subject to a purse bid hearing, currently penciled in for January 8 at IBF headquarters in New Jersey.

With Martin removed from the show, the question arose of whether Breazeale would be scratched as well and possibly land a title shot of his own. Reigning unbeaten World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder remains in need of an opponent for a planned January 16th headlining bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The void remains, ironically, due to Glazkov walking away from negotiations for such a fight when promoter Main Events opted to instead pursue his mandatory IBF title shot.

Any discussion of Breazeale sliding in and grabbing such an opportunity would have been a non-starter. The 6’7” heavyweight from California – whose win over Kassi served as the co-feature to Wilder’s knockout win over Johann Duhaupas – is not currently ranked in the Top 15 by the WBC or any major sanctioning body, thus limiting his options for potential future scenarios.

Finalization of his opponent for Saturday night is expected to come as early as this evening or possibly by Wednesday. The upside for boxing fans is that it could also accelerate plans to nail down the heavyweight who lands a shot at Wilder next month, as the same general talent pool is being eyed for both fighters.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox