Boxing gala postponed because of the marriage of J-Lo and Ben Affleck?

UPGRADE DAY

The world welterweight championship fight between Oscar Rivas and Poland's Lukasz Rozanski, which was scheduled to take place on August 13 in Cali, has been pushed back a few weeks. This disappointing outcome has a link with singer Jennifer Lopez.

The event's Colombian promoter, Juan Carlos Moreno, had promised a top-notch gala to be staged at Cali's Pascual Guerrero Stadium, a 40,000-seat amphitheater. 

In addition to boxing, Moreno also wanted to put on a music show with Jennifer Lopez as the headliner on the same night. Willie Colon, Chris Brown, Natalia Paris and Omar Geles were also scheduled to take the stage.

Negotiations were advanced with the international artist. The contract was signed, but everything fell through for logistical reasons in the last three weeks. Around the same time, Lopez married actor Ben Affleck before going on their honeymoon. 

Since Lopez was the main performer of the evening, the rest of the programming has suffered the repercussions. The Rivas-Rozanski fight would now be presented in October still in Colombia. 

“We give ourselves 15 days to settle the details of the fight, mentioned Yvon Michel. We want to have written guarantees from the Colombian promoter. 

“There are three other groups in Colombia who are ready to take over if things don't work out. To present the fight in Quebec is another option on the table.

Several clues

Fighting in Colombia was a lifelong dream for Rivas. After he became world champion, the protege of Marc Ramsay had mentioned that this project was close to his heart. 

During a trip to his native country to celebrate his conquest, Rivas had had contact with the Ministry of Sports of Colombia. Yvon Michel had come to an agreement with politicians for the organization of the gala. 

Then there was a press conference last April. The project was well on track. 

Subsequently, the clues to a possible postponement began to accumulate. The launch of ticket sales for the evening of August 13 never took place. With Jennifer Lopez as the headliner, organizers believed they would sell out their tickets in seven days. This is why they were delaying the sale.  

Then there were the cancellations of the trips by Sylvain Pelletier and Alexandra Croft. The two GYM representatives were responsible for the logistics for the boxing gala.

The end of Rivas' training camp was supposed to be held in Bogota, but the whole thing was canceled. Coach Marc Ramsay has indicated that he will stand at full strength in Montreal. 

All of Rivas' sparring partners were canceled two weeks ago. It was a precursor to Monday's announcement. 

And Dicaire?

If the gala is postponed, it could give a new opportunity for a unification bout in Marie-Ève ​​Dicaire (18-1, 1 KO). 

The IBF super-welterweight champion was not available to beat in the August 13 gala undercard. She had accepted a summer contract to host a show at a Montreal radio station. unification for Dicaire. We would not be surprised to see a clash between the Quebecer and the WBC champion, the Swedish Patricia Berghult (15-0, 3 K.-O.).