It is truly a new day in boxing. As of now one of the biggest promoters in the sport, Top Rank, is without a viable broadcasting home for their fight cards. This summer their multi-year agreement with sports broadcasting giant ESPN ended with no renewal. Granted it was rumored not too long ago the Starz network had pledged 1 million dollars once a month for a Top Rank card but that amount would not be able to sustain their vast and talented fighter stable.
The deal has not been announced as official.
Top Rank currently counts with champions Naoya Inoue, Rafael Espinoza, Angelo Leo, Emmanuel Navarrete, Brian Norman Jr, Teofimo Lopez, Mikaela Mayer, Janibek Alimkkanuly, Junto Nakatani, O’Shaquie Foster, Xander Zayas and Raymond Muratalla within their ranks as well as stars Tyson Fury, Richard Torrez Jr, Vito Mielnicki Jr, Luis Alberto Lopez, Lindolfo Delgado, Abdullah Mason, Christian Mbilli, Artur Beterbiev, Jaime Munguia, Oscar Valdez and Emiliano Vargas.
The company needs a multi-year and lucrative deal to keep the company going.
Top Rank was founded by former U.S. prosecuting attorney Bob Arum in the mid-60s. He began to work with Muhammad Ali in 1966 with his fight vs George Chuvalo in Toronto, Canada. Arum has promoted over 2,500 fights in over six decades in the business. Arum has worked with the biggest names in the sport and with every major network which has ventured into boxing.
Fow now Arum and company is content in sporadically putting their fighters on other networks and with other promotors. That is the case this upcoming Saturday, September 6th, when former world champion Oscar Valdez (32-3, 24KO) headlines a fight card on the Mexican network Azteca from his hometown of Nogales, Sonora. Valdez will be taking on Richard Medina (16-3, 9KO) of San Antonio, Texas.
Not long ago, Valdez was one of Top Rank’s biggest stars. The 34-year-old has held world titles at 126 and 130 pounds and has faced the best of his division including Scott Quigg, Miguel Berchelt, Shakur Stevenson and Emmanuel Navarrete. Against Berchelt back in early 2021 Valdez scored one of the best knockouts in recent memory.
Medina should be no trouble for the talented and experienced Valdez as this fight is set up as a confidence builder after his last, a KO loss to Navarrete in their rematch. The event is a co-promotion with Zanfer out of Tijuana, Mexico, who Top Rank has worked with extensively all the way back when Erik “Terrible” Morales was a star of the company. Currently they co-promote former world champion Jaime Munguia.
Other Musings
-In other Jaime Munguia news, he and his team announced the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) will not be sanctioning for his positive for synthetic testosterone in his last fight last May.
-37-year-old former world champion Danny Garcia has announced his next fight after a year-long hiatus, October 18th vs. unknown Daniel Gonzalez in what is being billed a “Farewell to Brooklyn” where Garcia, a native of Philadelphia, has fought nine times prior. A retirement announcement is expected soon.
Although not official yet, there is talks for a Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson fight for January 2026 at 140lbs.
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