HAMBURG – Top Rank will open their account for 2025 in New York in February – and an announcement could be imminent.
After Xander Zayas accepted an offer to fight Vergil Ortiz, it seemed he might be one of Top Rank’s first stars to box in the new year, but Ortiz was instead matched with Israil Madrimov.
“It didn’t really get that far,” said the vice-president of operations for Top Rank, Carl Moretti. “We received an offer, [Zayas] wanted to do it, but in hindsight, they’re just keeping the original fight on with Madrimov and Vergil, so it never got any further.”
Jared Anderson will likely return in the first part of 2025, too. Anderson last boxed when suffering a stoppage loss to Martin Bakole in August in Los Angeles.
“He’ll do the holiday I think and then he’ll come back in the first quarter,” Moretti said of the heavyweight prospect. “When and where is still to be determined.”
They have not drawn up a shortlist of opponents yet and, asked whether he felt Anderson’s loss was damaging, Moretti replied: “I’ve never heard of a defeat that was a good defeat.”
Some fighters say they learn lessons from defeat. Would Anderson have done the same?
“I’m sure there was a lesson from it,” Moretti said.
Meanwhile, Emanuel Navarrete, having so recently defended his WBO junior-lightweight title against Oscar Valdez in Phoenix, will likely target a unification with the WBC champion and his Top Rank stablemate O’Shaquie Foster. The other champions in their weight class are Lamont Roach, who moves up to face Gervonta “Tank” Davis on March 1, and the IBF champion Anthony Cacace, who is in advanced talks with Eduardo Nunez.
The featherweight prospect Bruce Carrington, ranked first by the WBC, second by the WBA and WBO and fourth by the IBF, could get a title fight in his next fight, or the one after.
As with Carrington, Keyshawn Davis could be in a title fight in his next fight or the fight after, but Top Rank hopes to pair him with the WBO champion Denys Berinchyk. Moretti was regardless impressed with the buzz Davis created in Norfolk, Virginia, in November for his fight with Gustavo Lemos.
“It was sold out before the week of the fight,” said Moretti. “It was like [Pernell] Whitaker. He’s the guy down there. He’s the man.”
There is no news yet, however, on the return of Vasiliy Lomachenko, the IBF lightweight champion who was last seen impressively defeating George Kambosos in Australia in May.
“Nothing yet,” said Moretti. “I think by the end of the year, mid-January we will have an update on what he’s gonna do. We’re just waiting to see what he does. He’s dealing with a lot with Ukraine, obviously, so we’ll just wait and see.”