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With Manny Pacquiao's win over Tim Bradley out of the way, the stage seems set for a fifth bout with rival Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez just needs to beat Mike Alvarado on May 17, and he'll be the mandatory challenger to Pacquiao, the WBO welterweight champion.
Jermell Charlo has his next fight lined up. The junior middleweight contender announced on Instagram on Tuesday that he will face Charlie Ota at the Bell Centre in Montreal on May 24. The fight will be on the undercard of Showtime's main event between Adonis Stevenson and Andrzej Fonfara. While it's not clear if the fight will be on the main broadcast, it's likely it will at least land on television via Showtime Extreme.
HBO's May 24th doubleheader will soon have a home. According to sources involved in the process, the Bryant Jennings-Mike Perez/Matthew Macklin-Daniel Geale twinbill is likely headed to the Wild Horse Pass casino in Chandler, Ariz.
HBO's first pay-per-view card of 2014 is a welterweight matchup, but the network plans to really focus on fights from 160 to 175 pounds this year, HBO's Mark Taffet told BoxingScene.com. "In the 68 and 75 pound divisions, there are a lot of stories and a lot of stars developing," Taffet said. "There are great things to look forward to. From 160 to 175, there is a great run of fights to come in 2014."
Manny Pacquiao's last fight on pay per view disappointed at the box office, coming in at around 475,000 buys, but HBO hopes for a much better result Saturday in the rematch with Tim Bradley. The main reason? This event is on American soil.
Fans complained after the horrid undercard for Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios. HBO admitted the supporting fights could be better going forward, and told BoxingScene.com earlier this year that fans would get a better product with the next pay per view. "Top Rank recognizes and the fans told us with their post-fight comments on digital and social media, that the undercard is something that everyone needs to pay more attention to with these pay-per-view cards, and Top Rank takes the fan's input very seriously," HBO PPV boss Mark Taffet said. "So do we, and we expect that it will be addressed going forward.
A 160-pound showdown between Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam and Andy Lee is being discussed for March 1 at the National Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, Gary Hyde told BoxingScene.com on Saturday. N'Dam and Lee have history together. They faced each other in the 2004 Olympic Games, with N'Dam coming out on top by countback decision.
Andre Ward (27-0, 14 KOs) returned from a 14-month layoff to easily defeat Edwin Rodriguez in November. Rodriguez didn't present much of a challenge, but Ward is looking at a tougher opponent for his next bout.
Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam returned to the ring Saturday with a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Anthony Fitzgerald. It was the Frenchman's first bout since he lost his WBO middleweight title to Peter Quillin in Oct. 2012 on Showtime. N'Dam (27-1, 18 KOs) is now fighting under the guidance of manager Gary Hyde, who counts Guillermo Rigondeaux in his growing stable. With his comeback fight out of the way, N'Dam has his sights set on reclaiming a middleweight belt.
"Sugar" Shane Mosley and Anthony Mundine finally meet Wednesday in Sydney, Australia. The aging fighters were slated to face off Oct. 27, but Mosley withdrew one day before, saying he wasn't paid the remainder of his guaranteed purse in advance (totaling $1 million.) This time around, Mosley got his money and the fight is on. There's no clear favorite in the bout and the loser is in a tough spot. Daniel Geale, who split a pair of bout with his bitter rival Mundine, gave BoxingScene.com his thoughts on Mosley-Mundine.