Brian Norman Jr. - Boots Ennis Clash Delayed, Canelo - Berlanga Set to Disappoint, Shakur Stevenson vs. Joe Cordina Confirmed for October 12th!

Brian Norman Jr. has now become a target in a welterweight division. After Terence Crawford vacated his WBO Welterweight World Championship, Conyers, Georgia's very own Norman Jr. became the full WBO world title holder. Norman Jr. is now receiving criticism from Jarron "Boots" Ennis and his father Bozy Ennis for turning down a fight they claim they sent a contract for. However, this recently breaking news is being called fraudulent by Brian Norman Jr. and Sr. Making history has always been on the minds of this father-son duo, and the claims of ducking a title unification fight have sparked a fire in them that has not been seen prior.

Brian Norman Jr.'s stock has remained high since his brilliant knockout upset victory over Giovanni Santillan, but the back-and-forth social media banter with "Boots" Ennis has made him a trending topic yet again. According to the Norman family, "Boots" took to YSM Sports and other boxing media outlets to claim that Norman Jr. and his father ducked the fight. As we now know from the fiery Instagram Live response from the Norman team, this is far from the truth. The response from Brian Norman Jr. has always been a willful yes, but the greed of boxing media and the consistent need for a headline cause misinformation to hit the airwaves.

With little to no apologies given, Norman Jr. now has to bring up the fact that he was robbed of a fight because of a well-developed lie. No one else in the welterweight division is willing to give Norman Jr. a shot at unifying. Mario Barrios is out of the picture due to the recent birth of his daughter. Eimantas Stanionis is being shielded by PBC, who are reluctant to cross-promote unless put within certain financial circumstances. Stanionis has been missing in actions since defeating Gabriel Maestre for the WBA Welterweight World Championship back on May 4th. The only option left is "Boots", but the deception from Ennis' team has thrown the potential fight to the wind.

Hopefully the Ennis and Norman camps can come to an agreement to make this title unification fight possible. Norman Jr. and Sr. appeared on boxing podcast ThaBoxingVoice to discuss the recent news. According to Norman Sr., regardless of whether or not the "Boots" fight happens, they have a confirmed date of November 9th from their promoter. The name of their opponent has yet to be revealed, but the Norman family has secured a solid backup plan in the event Ennis and DAZN refuse to fairly compensate them financially.

[Shakur Stevenson vs. Joe Cordina Confirmed for Riyadh Season Card!]

October 12th has received another star-studded matchup. Shakur Stevenson's next opponent has been announced, but many fans are unhappy with the news. Joe Cordina has been named as Stevenson's next opponent. This match will serve as a WBC Lightweight World Championship defense for Stevenson, who is looking to make a mark in a division with the always dangerous Gervonta "Tank" Davis looming in the background. Joe Cordina is not a favorable opponent for Stevenson due to the circumstances surrounding his position in the latest developments of 135 and 130 lbs.

Cordina recently fought on the Riyadh Season "Ring of Fire" card, where he took on Anthony Cacace for the IBF and IBO Super Featherweight World Championships. This fight ended in the 8th round, where Cacace was finally able to separate himself from his opponent with an impressive barrage of punches. This was the first loss of Cordina's career, and was the only time Cordina had ever taste the canvas in his career. This fight set Cordina back by months, with most of the progress he had built in the super-featherweight division now gone unless he could secure a rematch with Cacace.

Instead of seeking a rematch with Cacace, Cordina has now opted to move up and challenge Shakur Stevenson for his WBC Lightweight World Championship. After suffering such a critical knockout loss, one would expect Cordina to take a tune-up fight to reestablish himself in a new weight class and with new fans. The situation that has befallen Shakur Stevenson is no better than what Cordina is going through. Stevenson's performances have left him frozen in a corner with no internal promotional support. The fans desire knockouts at the highest level of each division, but Stevenson's style is the opposite of this. Stevenson is a boxer, not a brawler. Despite engaging his last opponent in the pocket, Stevenson has been labeled as "boring" and "ineffective." Time will tell if Stevenson can recover the fans he had prior to his back-to-back decision victories. After leaving Top Rank in one of the most explosive fighter-promotion spats, Stevenson secured a contract with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom/DAZN.

Immediately, talk of Shakur getting the Gervonta "Tank" Davis fight began. After many false headlines and Twitter announcements, it was confirmed that Shakur and "Tank" would not be fighting one another. Instead, Shakur would be fighting Joe Cordina, a UK fighter with many years of world-level experience under his belt. This fight benefits the Riyadh Season card greatly, as the only championship fights on the card were the main event and Skye Nicholson's title defense against the 9-0 Raven Chapman. Hopefully Shakur Stevenson leaves his heart in the ring on the night. He needs an impressive performance to return to the conversation of realistic challenges for Gervonta "Tank" Davis.

[Canelo and Berlanga Receive Dull Fan Reception]

The Canelo-Berlanga matchup is weeks away. Many pundits and fans alike are disappointed because this fight was not the desired outcome of the summer's negotiation periods. David Benavidez, the WBC's current mandatory challengers, has been iced out of the world-title picture at 168 lbs. After defeating Oleksandr Gvozdyk on Gervonta "Tank" Davis' undercard, Benavidez was expected to return to the super-middleweight division. However, the opposite has occurred. Benavidez is now waiting for the winner of Dimitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.

With Benavidez now out of the conversation, contenders such as Christian Mbili and David Morrell can position themselves as title challengers. After the Berlanga match is complete, Canelo can either chase after his last IBF Super-Middleweight World Championship, or pick from the list of challengers in line. Mbili is across party lines currently. Mbili signed a long-term deal with Top Rank this past summer, and it is hard to see Top Rank making a fight with Canelo unless it is motivated by Riyadh Season and Turki Al-Al-Sheikh. The fight would need enough money to pull Canelo in Mbili's direction, and Top Rank has historically been realistic with fight purses. The 200 million Canelo is asking for to fight Benavidez, for example, would receive a firm "no thank you" from Bob Arum.

Mbili's name is just one of a few that have weight in the super-middleweight division. Upcoming Cuban threat Osleys Iglesias is making a lot of noise in the rankings recently. With only 12 fights to his name, he is currently ranked #4 by BoxRec. He secured the IBO World Super-Middleweight Championship in his 8th professional fight, adding to his credibility as a viable opponent. The one argument that could be made about Iglesias is that he doesn't have many fights in America.

His last three world title defenses have all taken place in Canada, his most recent being in Quebec City. The Cuban sits just behind Jaime Munguia and Christian Mbili, who is hoping for a shot at Canelo himself. Regardless of who lands the Canelo fight next, it is clear from fan responses that Berlanga is not the fight worthy of approval. Berlanga is technically still one of the mandatory challengers Canelo had on his list, but is the least popular of the lot.

Benavidez and David Morrell both have a higher stock than Edgar Berlanga, while it can be argued that William Scull's smaller fanbase is on the same level as Berlanga's. Commercial value is tied heavily to what the fans want to see, and Berlanga is not the fighter the fans want to see in the world title mix. Fortunately for Berlanga, he still has the opportunity to defy the odds and carve out a legacy for himself. He and his team believe they are catching Canelo at a low point in his career.

Berlanga's coaches are under the impression that Canelo has been slacking in his preparation recently, which will ultimately contribute to less activity in the ring. This is the key to victory for Berlanga, remaining active in moments where Canelo is passive. All of this could be worthless in the end if Canelo chooses to turn up the heat early, but this hasn't been seen since Canelo fought Billy-Joe Saunders.