Boxing

Antonio Margarito is making plans to get back into action. And not a lot of people are happy about it. The issue isn’t necessarily that he is too old – indeed, he is “only” 35, which makes him a spring …

Dereck Chisora won't make his return on June 15, and he certainly won't be facing Deontay Wilder, as the card has been pushed back until July 20 while promoter Frank Warren tries to find an opponent for the controversial heavyweight. That means that the British and Commonwealth welterweight title unification bout between Frankie Gavin and Denton Vassell has also been postponed. Warren says in a statement that he had been assured by his matchmaker Dean Powell and Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez that Wilder was good to go for a Chisora fight, which is why he made the announcement in the first place. He says that Wilder's recent arrest in Las Vegas is the reason the fight isn't happening: It was only after the press conference that we received an email from Mr Gomez saying: "I got a call from Deontay's attorney, there is [sic] some legal issues with travelling to the UK because of the arrest for battery. This is going to be a problem." We do not know when the attorney called Eric Gomez and, if before the press conference, why he did not tell us about this sooner. I have therefore had to cancel the fight and postpone the show scheduled for 15 June. However, despite Mr Wilder's allegations, this is solely because Mr Wilder has been arrested and cannot now meet his commitment to fight Dereck Chisora. There have been a number of websites which have reported Mr Wilder's comments and my lawyers will be raising complaints with them separately. However, I wish to make it clear at this stage, so that it is beyond doubt, that it was only after the announcement for the fight that Mr Wilder's representatives informed me that he could not travel to London to fight Dereck Chisora. There were no indications publicly from Golden Boy that Chisora-Wilder was actually happening, and CEO Richard Schaefer outright denied that the fight would be taking place. This is a he-said, they-said situation for everyone except the handful of people who actually know: Warren, Powell, Gomez, Wilder's team, Schaefer, etc. Terence Dooley reports that Warren has three names in mind to face Chisora on July 20: Tyson Fury, Manuel Charr, and Fres Oquendo, those names getting less interesting by the step. Fury beat Chisora soundly in 2010, but a rematch wouldn't be the worst thing for the big guy, and their press conferences now might be utter chaos. Actually, Chisora-Charr could have some remarkable trash talk, too. Oquendo is a veteran fighter who would be the major underdog, might actually wind up deserving a decision, and wouldn't get it, because he never does.

By Chris Cella Saturday night WBA Super Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO) will again step between the ropes against IBF champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO) to compete for a world title belt, but unlike when the two …

Ward: Kessler will beat Froch

Richard Schaefer, who isn't concerned with Top Rank, has taken another shot at Top Rank, a company that does not concern him and that he doesn't want to talk about all the time, it's, like, enough already, you guys, they'll do them and Golden Boy will do Golden Boy, throwing in the verbal slap with the more useful news that he's dead-set on doing Danny Garcia vs Lucas Matthysse on September 7: "We are not marinators. I am not into marinating stuff. That's another company, that's not us. I can tell you that when you have the best fight the best - there are no losers. So if Garcia loses to Matthysse or Matthysse loses to Garcia - you know it's going to be a hell of a fight... I would bet on it. If you asked me for my percentage, I would say 90-10." It's wonderful news that Garcia-Matthysse is a top priority, because it's a great fight and will determine a true ruler at 140 pounds, and will also be the first time that one of Golden Boy's "tournament" ideas actually plays out as planned, with the two of them scoring recent wins that were, in theory, to set up a fight with one another. (We'll ignore the part where the winner of Garcia-Matthysse supposedly faces Amir Khan. That no longer seems likely. And that's fine, because that was just a money grab bonus section. It had nothing to do with anything otherwise, really. Not that it's a bad fight, just, you know. It is what it is and the like.) This again puts Schaefer on the spot if the fight doesn't happen. Someone will have to be blamed for that, because obviously the promoter is publicly saying that this is the fight to make. He's also right. It is the fight to make.

Promoter delays London card until July 20 because of Dereck Chisora-Deontay Wilder fight snafu

Promoter Frank Warren announced Wednesday that his card at London's Wembley Arena on June 15 has been postponed until July 20.

More new than you can use!

Miguel Cotto will be back in the ring this fall, and it looks like he could return smack in the middle of a huge run for boxing, as Golden Boy is holding a September 28 date at the Barclays Center for his return, ESPN.com reports via Richard Schaefer. Schaefer says there is nothing set, just a held date. Usually, this does lead to a fight, and the talk from Cotto's camp the last few months has been that he planned to return later in the year and fight once in 2013. Cotto (37-4, 30 KO) has lost two straight convincing decisions, first to Floyd Mayweather and then to Austin Trout in December. The Trout fight was an upset (by betting odds -- I know a lot of people thought Trout would win), and seemed to show us Miguel's limits at 154 pounds, where it figures that he'll struggle against true junior middleweights, particularly those who are younger, which most of the top guys are. That said, there are vulnerable top 10 guys at 154, including IBF titlist Ishe Smith, who will face Carlos Molina on July 19, WBO titlist Zaurbek Baysangurov, who will face Demetrius Andrade on July 6. The winners of those two fights could be targeted by Cotto if he wants to jump right back into a title fight, with the Smith-Molina winner probably the more likely of the two, if either could be made. Meanwhile, BoxRec are already listing Cornelius "K9" Bundrage as Cotto's opponent. Bundrage lost the IBF belt to Smith on February 23 in Detroit. The move to Barclays is somewhat significant, but not a surprise. Cotto's win streak at MSG was snapped by Trout, so any superstition about fighting there is gone, I would expect, and furthermore, MSG just wasn't exactly rocking for Cotto's last two fights there against Trout and Antonio Margarito. It was fine, and Miguel still drew good crowds, but as far as pure quality of venue -- not taking into account history and all that jazz -- there's no denying that Barclays is the hotter venue right now, the more modern, the fresher and newer. That's just a fact, and it's also been an early friend to boxing, with Golden Boy regularly promoting cards there and hoping to essentially rebuild what had become a rather stale New York City fight scene.

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