Golden Boy, Top Rank set clashing cards

Suddenly, Dec. 13 has become a busy day for local boxing fans.

Top Rank had earlier announced a card at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas featuring former world welterweight champion Timothy Bradley Jr. facing Diego Chaves in the main event on HBO. On Tuesday, Golden Boy Promotions announced it too would hold a Dec. 13 card on the Strip, as Amir Khan, another former world welterweight champion, will meet Devon Alexander in the main event at the MGM Grand Garden on Showtime.

Top Rank has since beefed up its card, adding a fight for the vacant World Boxing Organization middleweight title between Matt Korobov and Andy Lee in addition to Bradley-Chaves and Mauricio Herrera’s World Boxing Association interim junior welterweight title defense against Jose Benavidez Jr.

Unlike previous head-to-head cards between the two companies, local fans should be able to see both main events in person.

The Showtime card is expected to start at 6 p.m., an hour earlier than the HBO telecast and it’s a short drive or walk between the two properties.

“Usually, I don’t think it’s a good thing to have two fight cards at the same place,” Top Rank president Todd duBoef said. “I think we have a really good show and I’m confident we’ll get a good turnout. But if that was the best place for Golden Boy and Showtime could find for their card, then it is what it is.”

The big winner? The Nevada Athletic Commission, which will gain tax revenue from both fight cards.

■ MARNELL RETURNS — It has not been officially announced but Anthony Marnell III is expected to remain on the NAC as a commissioner. Marnell, who was appointed in March following the Jan. 24 death of Reno’s T.J. Day, will serve a full two-year term through 2016. Reno’s Skip Avansino is also expected to be re­appointed for another term by Gov. Brian Sandoval. Avansino has served on the commission since 2002.

■ SPINKS UPDATE — Former world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks remains hospitalized in Las Vegas after under­going a second surgery this month to address an abdominal issue.

“He’s still in stable condition,” his wife, Brenda, said. “We don’t know when the doctors are going to send him home. It’s one day at a time.”

Spinks, 61, attended his son Leon III’s fight at Sunset Station on Sept. 20 and appeared fine, but a few days later complained of abdominal pain and went to the hospital. According to TMZ Sports, Spinks swallowed a chicken wing bone that lodged in his intestine. The first procedure did not correct the ailment.

Spinks, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist, scored a stunning 15-round split-decision victory over heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in 1978 at the Las Vegas Hilton. But Spinks lost a rematch in New Orleans seven months later. He was 26-17-3 with 14 knockouts as a professional before retiring in 1995.

■ JESSIE CANCELS — Unbeaten Las Vegas super bantamweight Jessie Mag­daleno was scheduled to fight Erik Ruiz on Saturday in Fresno, Calif. But Mag­daleno pulled out last week after learning his Las Vegas home had been burglarized Oct. 9.

Magdaleno (19-0, 15 KOs) has been living and training in Indio, Calif., where he and his brother Diego work with trainer Joel Diaz. When he learned of the burglary, he was emotionally distraught and decided to withdraw.

“Mentally, I wasn’t in any shape to continue training,” Magdaleno said. “(The burglars) cleaned me out, but thank God no one was hurt.”

Magdaleno, who said he returned to the gym last week, will talk to his promoter, Frank Espinoza, about trying to get on the Top Rank card on Dec. 13 at The Cosmopolitan.

■ TRIO FLUNKS TESTS — Heavyweight Luis Ortiz’s TKO over Lateef Kayode on Sept. 11 might be changed to a “no contest” in the wake of Ortiz flunking his pre-fight drug test.

Ortiz (22-0, 19 KOs) tested positive for Nandrolone, a banned anabolic steroid, after his first-round stoppage of Kayode at the Hard Rock Hotel which gave him the WBA interim heavyweight title. He is on the agenda for Monday’s NAC meeting, where a request for a temporary suspension is expected.

Two other fighters on the card — Noe Bolanos and Luis Pelayo — tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic banned in competition, and also are expected to face suspensions Monday. Bolanos, a welterweight, was stopped by Errol Spence Jr., while Pelayo, a lightweight, suffered a TKO loss to Jamael Herring.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.