1. UFC Parent Company Withdraws IPO
At the start of the week, Endeavor, UFC’s parent company, was hoping for an influx of $600 million coming by way of their first foray into the New York Stock Market.
Now, a day before their IPO was set to be released, the business founded by Ari Emmanuel was been pulled from trading.
The move coming on Thursday night was cited by Endeavor to be due to “market conditions” seeing a disastrous debut of Peloton Interactive, known for their indoor exercise equipment, which dropped 11% on their first day of trading, from $25.76 a share to $3.24 a share.
“Endeavor will continue to evaluate the timing for the proposed offering as market conditions develop,” Endeavor said in a statement.
2. Spence Making Less For Porter Fight
While Errol Spence Jr and Shawn Porter will add more zeroes to their bank account on Saturday night, Spence will be earning less to unify his title than he did to just defend it.
Per a report from Boxing Scene, both Spence and Porter, who will defend the IBF and WBC welterweight titles respectively, will earn $2 million each for their Fox Sports Pay-Per-View main event inside Staples Center on September 28th.
While a source who reviewed the contracts confirmed both fighters have additional guarantees and potential backend bonuses depending on the event’s success, Spence will make less than the $3 million he and Mikey Garcia individually earned for their March fight inside AT&T Stadium in front of 47,000 fans and 360,000 households on Pay-Per-View.
3. Chaos Nearly Erupts At EFC Presser
On Friday morning all 20 competitors facing off at EFC 82 on September 28th took to the scale in Johannesburg.
Not all fighters were on weight though, as EFC welterweight title contender Luke Michael was over the 170-pound welterweight limit by half a pound.
Michael is facing off against rival and former teammate Themba Gorimbo in the finals of the EFC Welterweight Grand Prix.
“Tomorrow I will be smart, quick and ruthless. I want to kill him!”, responded Gorimbo said following the weigh-ins
“I am incredibly ready for tomorrow. Expect fireworks, my journey got me to this point and tomorrow I will take EFC gold!”, Michael claimed before taking the scale, as he will no longer be able to win the title if he defeats Gorimbo on Saturday.
Before Manny Pacquiao’s win over Keith Thurman, Amir Khan announced that he’d be the next opponent for Manny Pacquiao for a fight in Saudi Arabia.
While Pacquiao’s team denied talks of anything like that were not real, a fight between the two may actually happen in Dubai.
Per a report from Gulf News, the current WBA welterweight champion addressed the Dubai Sports Council this week prior to the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event at Hamdan Sports Complex.
“I’m planning for next year; trying to make it for next year with a possible opponent. Especially Amir Khan wants to fight me. We will talk again. It would be a good fight,” Pacquiao told The National.
“We can discuss that, a fight between us. I have a commitment for my next fight – one fight only. But after that we can talk. No problem.”
5. Saunders Wants Canelo On Cinco De Mayo
Billy Joe Saunders wants to ruin the major Mexican holiday in 2020 by being the only man, not named Floyd Mayweather, to defeat Canelo Alvarez.
the WBO super middleweight world champion has been chomping at the bit to fight Alvarez at either 160 or 168-pounds,
“That’s because he’s the face of boxing and I’d like the chance to beat him,” Saunders told Sky Sports. “Here’s the really scary thing – I know that I can do it. I would take pleasure in ruining Cinco de Mayo for the Mexican fans.”
“I watched Canelo fight Ryan Rhodes and Matthew Hatton. I’ve known since day one, ever since I put on a pair gloves, that our paths would cross,” Saunders continued. “I always knew, and dreamed, what would happen when we did. Just the same as David Lemieux – I always knew our paths would cross, too, and they did. Just the same as becoming world champion – I always knew I’d do it, and I did,” Saunders said.
“With a fighter like Canelo you can’t go into the ring with a game-plan. You need to think: ‘this is my one and only chance to change my name from being good to great’. [Former trainer] Jimmy Tibbs always said there’s a difference. If I said someone was a great fighter, Jimmy would say: ‘No, Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano were great fighters – that guy is a good fighter’. Canelo isn’t great. He’s good. I might look terrible in 10 fights in a row but if you put Canelo in front of me, it’s a different ball-game. A fighter like me? My style has beat him before, and I believe I can do it again.”