The Overhand Right

The overhand right returns with a few thoughts on the boxing world before things get a little warmer next Saturday night with the WBC Heavyweight title tilt between Bermane Stiverne and Deontay Wilder.

Our picture for this edition is from the bantamweight battle that featured the WBA champion Alfonso Zamora and WBC champ Carlos Zarate in a 10 round non-title bout to prove the best bantamweight in the world,since neither organization would sanction a unification fight.
Zamora would stagger Zarate in round one,had the round interrupted by a fan that came into the ring to stand and watched his chance go away. Zarate finished Zamora off in four rounds...

I'm not a hip-hop fan,so I know little of Jay-Z,so I was wondering about what I would think of the first show of Roc Nation televised on Fox Sports 1.
The card was essentially a club show and they won't be able to have tons of celebrities for that level of show very often,but there were some positives and negatives on the presentations.

Pro-I loved the "box" with the fighters name and trunk color on the screen for the entire fight.
Most networks put it up briefly and take it down,so I really liked that part of the telecast.
The graphics were bold and easy to read too,all too often when other sports use the box,it's small and hard to read...

Con- The "host" was this really loud woman (didn't take notes on the name) that was really obnoxious.
I would have preferred the usual Fox Sports 1 host in Jessica Rosales,who was far more understated.
Gus Johnson's back.
Gus Johnson is my least favorite football and basketball announcer,but at least he knows his stuff there.
Johnson is out of his element in the fight game and comes off as unprepared when he does boxing...

I'll be interested to see the Roc Nation presentation when they present a big fight compared to one a level below the ESPN Friday Night Fights...

Al Haymon vs Golden Boy battle continues as Golden Boy settled with their former CEO Richard Schaffer and released several Haymon fighters from their contracts.
Haymon is expected to announce a deal with NBC and NBC Sports network this week that returns boxing to the network airwaves,which I have been hoping for years to see.
As much as I think that this is a good thing,Al Haymon and his stable may suddenly have painted themselves into a corner.
When you consider that Haymon has shown a reluctance to match his fighters in tough fights and has already cut himself off from HBO (and likely now CBS owned Showtime),Haymon may have a hard time making big fights for his guys,especially when you consider the only hope for Haymon to take his fighters outside his reach would be mandatory title fights-which might be out the door with Haymon fighters vacating belts in order to please Haymon.
The business of this transaction will be interesting to watch as it plays out....

I posted my thoughts on Andre Ward and his signing with Roc Nation a few days ago,but I was interested in his words during the broadcast when he was asked about Gennady Golovkin and he did say that "absolutely" he was interested in fighting GGG.
I'm not quite convinced.
In boxing-Absolutely usually means you accept all my terms and frankly Andre Ward isn't a big enough star to be dictating terms to people.
Let's see who Ward fights this year and if he forces his fights to continue to be in Oakland,since he cannot sell tickets anywhere else.....