Dibella puts on "Rising Stars" card

Dibella puts on "Rising Stars" card
by Dan Rafael

Last July, I wrote about HBO's plans to launch a prospect-oriented boxing series on its HBO2 platform.

Promoters Lou DiBella, Gary Shaw and Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer, along with then-HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg, signed the paperwork to create a monthly tripleheader (probably a four- or six-rounder followed by 10- or 12-round bouts) for about $150,000 per show.

The show was originally delayed until January and now has been canceled altogether. Obviously, Ken Hershman, the new HBO Sports boss who replaced Greenburg -- who was forced to resign last summer -- didn't want to go forward with the series.

But he still had obligations to the promoters for the money they would have received for a year's worth of cards under the deal. That has now seemingly been worked out, and the promoters will get lower-priced "Boxing After Dark" shows to make up for the license fees they would have gotten for the now-dead (and unnamed) series.

The first of these "makeup" shows looks promising. DiBella will put on a Sept. 29 tripleheader from the Foxwoods resort in Mashantucket, Conn., that will feature some of his most promising fighters: super middleweight Edwin Rodriguez and junior featherweight Luis "Orlandito" Del Valle and probably light heavyweight Isaac Chilemba.

"There's a need to build some new blood," DiBella said. "HBO is doing what they promised they'd do, but in a different way. This is like a rising stars card, where the matches all look good on paper and should have action, and there's a chance for a prospect to make his mark."

Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs), 27, who outpointed Donovan George in his HBO debut in March, will fight in the main event, largely because he is from nearby Worcester, Mass., and will bring a crowd. He'll face New Jersey's Jason Escalera (13-0-1, 12 KOs), also 27.

Escalera has never faced anyone close to Rodriguez's caliber, so I'm far more intrigued by the undercard bouts.

DiBella said the deal is done for Puerto Rico's Del Valle (16-0, 11 KOs), 25, to face former junior bantamweight and flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan (37-5-1, 27 KOs). Darchinyan, 36, has lost two in a row at bantamweight and is moving up in weight, but he is very experienced, packs a punch, usually is in entertaining fights and has nothing to lose. He is Del Valle's best opponent -- by far.

"Del Valle-Darchinyan, it's a war," DiBella said. "The thing I love about Edwin and Orlandito is, they're great TV fighters because they can't help themselves to engage even though they don't have to. But it's who they are. They put themselves in danger, and it makes it fun to watch. Orlandito is a little beast. We know Darchinyan is a warrior. He never makes a bad fight.

"If Orlandito passes the test, he emerges as a legitimate challenger for [titleholder] Nonito Donaire. Orlandito against [former titlist] Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., if Vazquez beats Rafael Marquez in August in Puerto Rico, is a big fight. [Top Rank's Bob] Arum and I have already talked about that fight."

DiBella is working to finalize the third fight -- South Africa's 25-year-old Chilemba (19-1-1, 9 KOs) against former light heavyweight and cruiserweight titlist Zsolt Erdei (33-0, 18 KOs), who's a bit older (38) and hasn't fought in a year but is regarded as one of the best at 175 pounds. Chilemba is coming off a career-best win against Edison Miranda, whom he outpointed in February on "Friday Night Fights."

DiBella said he tried to work out a deal with British promoter Frank Maloney to have heavyweight prospect David Price (13-0, 11 KOs), a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and perhaps England's best heavyweight hope, appear on the show, but it didn't work out.

Shaw is supposed to get his version of a "rising stars" card in October, and could feature welterweight sensation Thomas Dulorme (15-0, 12 KOs) of Puerto Rico.

www.FightMuseumLV.com

Rahman out of title bout

Rahman out of title bout
by Dan Rafael

Former heavyweight world champion Hasim Rahman, due to challenge titleholder Alexander Povetkin in a mandatory fight on July 14, withdrew on Thursday because of a wrist injury.
Rahman aggravated a cyst on his right wrist so acutely during a training session on Wednesday that he had surgery to remove the cyst on Thursday morning and will be sidelined for two weeks, promoter Greg Cohen told ESPN.com.
"He was working out and he had excruciating pain in his wrist because of the cyst," Cohen said. "His trainer, Eddie Mustafa (Muhammad), stopped the session and had him go to the doctor. He had an MRI. 'Rock' wanted to have a cortisone shot, but the doctor said it wouldn't help. So he had surgery (Thursday) morning. Everything went fine. He's out for two weeks. Really, it's a minor thing, but obviously we have to postpone the fight."
It has not been determined if Povetkin will fight a substitute opponent on short notice, although Cohen said their contract with Sauerland Event, Povetkin's promoter, contains standard injury delay language.
"Our contract calls for a postponement if there's an injury," Cohen said. "From our perspective the fight will be postponed. We're the mandatory, and Povetkin has to make his mandatory defense. I expect Rahman and Povetkin will be fighting each other in their next fight. It's a matter of the German TV date."
Rahman has had the cyst but had not previously been bothered much by it, Cohen said, so when it flared up so severely it came as a surprise.
"It was a pretty substantial cyst around the wrist and he said from time to time he had discomfort, but never a big deal," Cohen said. "'Rock' is not a complainer. He didn't have it checked out. (Wednesday) he said it was like a sledgehammer hitting his wrist every time he punched. He saw the doctor, had the surgery. He did the right thing. Now we have to reschedule the fight."
Cohen said as soon as he found out, he notified Sauerland Event officials.
"They were disappointed to hear the news but appreciative that as soon as we knew we informed them," Cohen said. "We hope to have a new date worked out with them soon."
Sauerland Event could not be reached for comment.
Povetkin (24-0, 16 KOs) was originally due to make his third defense against Rahman (50-7-2, 41 KOs) in London on the undercard of the Dereck Chisora-David Haye heavyweight fight. However, earlier this week the bout was moved to Hamburg, Germany, to its own card due to conflicts on the timing requirements of the two bouts with their respective home television networks, BoxNation in the United Kingdom and ARD in Germany

www.FightMuseumLV.com