Articles of 2009

Spawned In A Dark Place, Sunny Times Ahead For Victor Ortiz

Published

16 years ago

June 26, 2009

Ron Borges

Every boxer’s childhood is a sad one, save perhaps the rare guy like Gene Tunney. It is not a sport for the well adjusted or the well treated.

Successful boxers are spawned in dark places. They flourish, like mushrooms, despite the darkness. Victor Ortiz is one such child warrior.

Ortiz is not the first fighter to emerge from a hellish childhood nor will he be the last. In fact, in many ways, he is the norm. But the odd coalescence of a winning smile, willingness to speak of his sad past and all it has wrought and the stinging gift of punching power and the ability to use it has made him one of boxing’s fastest rising prospects. Saturday night he will headline for the first time, taking on Marcos Rene Maidana on HBO’s Boxing After Dark series. If things go well, as they seem likely to, it will be the beginning of one life but not the end of the other.

In a sport that has marginalized itself through years of self-abuse, it perhaps would be fitting that its next savior is a boy marginalized by two parents who abused and abandoned him while refusing to do what he has done. They quit.

He did not.

At seven years old, Ortiz came home one day to a poor home in Garden City, Kansas to find his mother gone, abandoning not only her husband but her three children. He was just a boy but his childhood ended that day, although it was already well destroyed.

“I came home and she was gone,’’ Ortiz said. “Everything was gone. My little brother (Temo) was crying. I just sat down and watched a whole episode of Power Rangers. I never got to watch it all because I always had to go to the gym. My dad came in and asked me why I wasn’t at the gym. I told him Mom didn’t come home.

“I hated that lady. I drew her a card once with a little rose on it and I gave it to her. She just threw it down and said, ‘What do I want that shit for?’ That’s when I picked up boxing. Then my Dad started screwing up, drinking.’’

Who can understand exactly how a family falls apart? Certainly not a boy of 7 or 10 or even one today of 22. Who can understand all that leads to the kind of fractures that came when Ortiz’s father snapped like a dry twig. As for many troubled kids, boxing became a refuge for Ortiz but it was often a violent one. Not long after his mother left, his father spiraled into bleary-eyed alcoholism, rising up it seemed only to beat one of his kids. Most often it was young Victor, who wanted only to sing in the school choir. His father beat him until he decided boxing was a wise course of action.

“I didn’t want to box,’’ Ortiz recalled. “I wanted to watch Power Rangers and sing in the school choir but if I went to the gym my father treated me nice. If I didn’t, he smacked me around.’’

He smacked him around even when he did go to the gym too but usually only when he lost a fight, which thankfully wasn’t that often. The first time it happened Ortiz was 24-0 and came out on the wrong end of a decision that could have gone either way. His father didn’t see it like that.

“My trainer (the late Ignacio “Bucky’’ Avila, to whose 87-year-old wife Ortiz still makes a phone call after every fight), he was like a Dad to me. He told me it was all right but my Dad whipped my ass in front of the crowd. Smacked me around right in front of every body. The day I knew he left, that was a good day.’’

The father couldn’t take the pressure and so one day he just walked out too, abandoning three kids in a trailer with no electricity. Ortiz, 12 years old and adrift, lived there with his younger brother and older sister for three years, working in corn fields when he could, going to school, fighting, hiding the fact they were on their own until someone from social services finally found out. As with most of the troubles he’s seen, fists were involved.

“They caught us because of me fighting in school,’’ Ortiz recalled sheepishly. “I guess I had a lot of anger inside me.’’

Wonder why?

Soon he was sent into foster care, living with a family he calls “lovely people but they weren’t living the same lifestyle as me. They were stable, strong, loving, always hugging each other and I’m not into that.’’

Although he credits the Ford family for helping him grow it is Bucky Avila who he believes saved him. More than that, he taught him a skill. He taught him how to fight, switching him from conventional style to southpaw for added power in his lead hand and directing him to a 141-20 amateur record.

By then his older sister, a young teen-aged mother herself, got custody of him and his younger brother, Temo, and moved them to Denver. For a while he trained in the gym of the old heavyweight contender Ron Lyle. An ex-con who made a life for himself in boxing who will always be remembered for the amount of times he knocked George Foreman down one night before Foreman finally stopped him, Lyle took him aside after he learned the kid’s sad story and told him something Ortiz still remembers.

“Victor,’’ Ortiz recalled him saying, “if I can come out of prison (he did seven years for second degree murder in a gang fight) to get to the top and fight Ali, there’s no reason in hell you can’t make it too.’ He made me believe anything is possible.’’

In boxing it often is. A life can be reclaimed from ashes by a sport that demands so much self-discipline from its practitioners. Maybe that’s why Ortiz survived but there was something else going on too. Something Robert Garcia, a former fighter and trainer from Oxnad, Calif., saw in Ortiz when he was still an amateur.

They were all at a national tournament when Garcia realized Ortiz was using his per diem money not to eat but to buy his younger brother a pair of shoes for school. When he later learned Ortiz had been evicted from their apartment in Denver, he talked him into making another fateful move. He left for California to continue his apprenticeship at Garcia’s gym in Oxnard. It was there that he met a lawyer named Rolando Arellano, who would become his manager. Having once served in the same role for another deeply troubled kid who became a world champion and a huge money maker, Fernando Vargas, Arellano knew what he was getting into and he knew he needed help if Ortiz’s skills were going to change his life.

There are far more skilled boxers than there are successful ones. Many things can derail a young man who starts life the way Ortiz did and because boxing has made itself a niche sport through it own endless self-abuse the road is even steeper to success. Fortunately for Ortiz beyond skill he also has Arellano and well-connected veteran fight manager Shelly Finkel handling his affairs; and through them Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions became intrigued by not only his boxing ability but his survival skills and his winning smile.

“I look at my whole life and I just want to do something big,’’ Ortiz said… and he’s getting close.

He nearly did it before in 2004 but lost in the Olympic Trials. His support group in California wanted him to stay amateur and wait for 2008, when he’d only have been 21, but he felt he’d already been supported too long by the Garcia family and Arellano and turned pro. Almost instantly he was a hit, attacking opponents with the kind of fury that comes only from dark places. That led to his only loss, a disqualification in his eighth fight for hitting on the break, but it didn’t slow down his progress. After Golden Boy got involved, doors began to open and now HBO, the cable giant in boxing, seems to have adopted him as well.

At 24-1-1 with 19 knockouts, “Vicious’’ Victor Ortiz is on his way to turning a nightmare into a dream. Some, including De La Hoya himself, have said he is the future of boxing for Golden Boy and perhaps he is but he saw too much too soon to listen too often to anyone with promises in their mouth.

“I listen to that stuff and it goes in this ear and I let it go out the other ear,’’ Ortiz said. “I don’t take anything for granted. I question myself a lot. The pressure of hearing ‘you won’t be nothing, you can’t be nothing’ gave me fuel to try and keep on a straight path.

“It’s depressing at times. I won’t lie to you. I sit down and cry sometimes but God put those obstacles in my way to help me. Everyone makes mistakes. My parents made very big ones but I ask myself, ‘How can I complain?’ My life is OK. With God’s help I’ll make a statement. I’ll make something of myself.’’

At that Victor Ortiz sat back and smiled. It was the brilliant, 1,000-watt smile if someone who has known the depths but chosen not to stay there. It was the kind of smile that sells as long as it is accompanied by the most important thing in boxing.

“You got to win,’’ he said. “I understand that.’’

One would imagine so.

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Ron Borges

Articles of 2009

UFC 108 Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva

Published

15 years ago

December 31, 2009

David A. Avila

Former champion Rashad Evans meets Brazil’s venerable Thiago Silva in a non-title belt that can lead to a return match with the current champ, but first things first.

Evans (15-1-1) and Silva (14-1) meet in Ultimate Fighting Championship 108 in a light heavyweight bout on Saturday Jan. 2, at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. A win by either fighter could result in a world title bid. The fight card is being shown on pay-per-view television.

Events can change quickly in the Octagon and anybody can beat anybody in the 205-pound weight division. Just ask Silva or Evans.

Silva and Evans are both experienced and can vouch firsthand about the capriciousness of fighting in MMA and especially as a light heavyweight. On one day this man can beat that man and on another day, that man can beat this man. It can make you absolutely daffy.

Evans, 30, is the former UFC light heavyweight world champion who only defended his title on one occasion and lost by vicious knockout to current champion Lyoto Machida of Brazil. It’s the only defeat on his record.

Silva, 27, is a well-rounded MMA fighter from Sao Paolo, Brazil who is versed in jujitsu, Muy Thai and boxing. He can end a fight quickly in a choke hold just as easily as with a kick or a punch. His only loss came to who else: Machida.

Evans and Silva know a win can push open the door to a rematch with current UFC light heavyweight champion Machida.

“A win against Rashad would put me in the track against Lyoto,” said Silva, in a telephone conference call. “That's what – what I want to do.”

When Silva fought Machida the two Brazilians were both undefeated and feared in the MMA world. The fight took place in Las Vegas and with one second remaining in the first round a perfectly timed punch knocked Silva unconscious.

“I was humbled big time, man,” says Silva who fought Machida in January 2009. “I learned a lot from that fight. I think I can correct the mistakes from that fight, not overlooking anything else right now, but just I want to get the chance to fight him again.”

For Evans it was a different circumstance. The upstate New Yorker held the UFC title and was defending it after stopping then champion Forrest Griffin by knockout. Still, many felt Machida was far too technically versed. Evans was stopped brutally in the second round.

“I've made it a point to not – to not get distracted on what I want to do, because you know Thiago (Silva) is a very hungry fighter,” said Evans who has not fought since losing the title to Machida last May. “My focus is just on Thiago so much. You know I don't want to overlook him, you know, not even a little bit.”

Dana White, president of UFC, says the winner of this fight could conceivably fight Machida in the near future. Evans and especially Silva are motivated by the open window.

“I learned a lot from that fight. I think I can correct the mistakes from that fight,” says Silva. “Not overlooking anything else right now, but I just want to get the chance to fight him again.”

What a prize. The winner gets to face the man who beat him: Machida.

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Articles of 2009

Paul Malignaggi Explains Why He Thinks Manny Has Used PEDs

Published

15 years ago

December 30, 2009

Michael Woods

In theory and in practice I am vehemently opposed to people tossing out unfounded allegations against someone. Supply evidence, then we can talk. But saying someone is using steroids, or EPO, or HGH, based on a theory, or your gut instinct….I have to consider, what if the allegation were thrown at me, and I was 100% innocent. I'd be mightily irked. And so too would you be.

Manny Pacquaio has been hammered from all sides with folks insinuating and coming right out with the contention that they think he's been cheating, that he's been using illegal performance enhancers to give him an edge in competition. Floyd Mayweather Sr, Paulie Malignaggi, Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron have either accused Manny, or insinuated that he's been using PEDs. One has to wonder, where's all this smoke coming from? Is it possible that there's fire lurking? That these folks aren't just lobbing unfounded barbs at Manny, that their allegations and hints aren't just sour grapes, or posturing, or a ploy to lure Manny into a fight?

By and large, there hasn't been much in the way of coverage from the standpoint of: what if Manny is using PEDs, or was using PEDs? I think that is rightly so; I'd be more comfortable if none of us trafficked in the innuendo and speculation, and worked within the realm of evidence, and facts. But it's out there, and a topic of conversation and speculation. Perhaps it's a symptom and sign of the times we live in…

TSS reached out to Malignaggi, just off a solid win in his Dec. 12 rematch with Juan Diaz. The Brooklyn-based pugilist has never been shy about speaking his peace (I picture him exiting his mom's womb and barking at the labor and delivery crew to get the room cleaned up, stat!), and he shared with TSS what he bases his allegations, which he's careful to label opinion, upon.

First off, Malignaggi is of the belief that if the Pacquiao-Mayweather negotiations are at a fatal impasse, Yuri Foreman, and not he, will get the coveted date with Pacquiao. Malignaggi has been mentioned as stand-in for Mayweather.

He started off by insisting that ” I have nothing against Pacquiao” but then went from mellow to madman in a 30 second span.

First off, the boxer wonders why Team Pacquiao isn't going after big-time newspapers, with deep pocketed owners, for libel, for insinuating that Pacquiao is drug cheat.

“If Pacquiao's so sue happy, why not sue the New York Daily News?” he asked. “Maybe they know the steroid allegations are true.”

By and large, Malignaggi thinks it is impossible, utterly impossible, for a boxer to put on 15 or more pounds between March 15, 2008, when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez and weighed 129 pounds at the weigh in, and Nov. 14, 2009 when he fought Miguel Cotto and was 144 pounds at the weigh in, and more on fight night.

“It's not natural looking,” Malignaggi said. But, I countered, what if Manny's supremely blessed, that unlike some other fighters who go up in weight, and look a bit bloated, and lack definition, he's just a special creature?

“He's not supremely blessed,” Maliganngi said. “I know body builders. They can't put on 17 or whatever pounds of muscle in a year. It's not doable, in my opinion. These are my speculations, my opinions based on certain factual evidence. Does his weight gain look normal to you? And his head looks like it has blown up in size, too.”

I offered to Malignaggi that perhaps we should be attacking the system, if we believe it to be lacking, rather than the individual.

“We can blame the system a little bit, but if you were Manny, wouldn't you want to leave no doubt? Or speculation?” said Maliganngi, who believes that by not agreeing to the terms set forth by Team Mayweather, and opposing a blood test within 30 days of the bout, Pacquaio appears guilty.

Pacquiao has agreed to take 3 blood tests: the first during the week of the kickoff news conference in early January, the second random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight, and a final test after the bout. A video making the rounds from the HBO 24/7 series shows Pacquiao submitting to a blood test two or three weeks before he was due to fight Ricky Hatton, and that has cast doubt on Team Pacquiao's stance that Manny is disinclined to get a blood test too close to a bout, for fear he may be weakened. Originally, it was reported in error that that test was taken 14 days before the Hatton bout, but subsequent reports pegged the test as being taken 24 days before the scrap. Malignaggi feels Pacquiao has been caught lying, that the report from Team Pacquiao that he “has difficulty taking blood” is a cover story. “Why is he effing lying?” Malignaggi said, heatedly.

The New Yorker doesn't believe too many fighters in the lighter weight classes are using PEDs, but thinks usage isn't uncommon in the heavyweight division. “That's hard to do and make weight,” he said.

The question is asked of Malignaggi: why does the issue make him so steamed?

“I don't like cheaters,” he said. “This is not baseball. You're not just hitting home runs. You have to worry about peoples' lives. Miguel Cotto in my opinion has been beaten by two cheaters. Manny if he's cheating is taking away from guys who are doing things the right way. His team is reneging on their words.”

And what if you're wrong, Malignaggi? What if Manny is clean, and you are hurting his rep with these allegations?

“I bet everything I own that I'm not,” he said. “But we'll never find out. Hey, I would take the test in a heartbeat. I would want people to know I'm clean. He wants to leave doubts!?? His entire legacy is being questioned, he's willing to hurt his legacy and leave $40 million on the table?”

Maliganngi, after reminding TSS that he was correct in predicting he'd be gamed by judges in the first fight with Diaz, insisted that he isn't singling out Pacquiao for a personal vendetta. “”I've never had anything against him. But that's enough now. I call it like I see it.”

What about those who'd say he's just trying to anger Pacquiao, to lure him into a fight?

“No. I expected he'd take the random tests to get this fight. No way I thought he'd throw away everything. That blew me away. It was cool to have my name mentioned.”

Malignaggi thinks the boxing media has dropped the ball, and not exercised due diligence in examining the possibility that Manny has used PEDs.

“I understand most people like Manny, and not Floyd. Just cause that's the case doesn't mean Manny might not be cheating. It's nothing to do with him personally. But I call a spade a spade. Too many people avoid the possibilities because Manny's a likable person. He's got that front, his country loves him. That front works like crazy. Floyd plays the bad guy, but he's natural. Just don't downplay the fact that Manny might be cheating. You have to open your eyes and at least be willing to look at it. This is bigger than me. The fact that the fight is not being made, you have to question the integrity of Pacquiao.”

Malignaggi then offered an analogy to the Manny-refusing-to-be-subjected-to multiple-random-drug-tests prior-to-a-fight-with-Mayweather deal. “It reminds me of the drunk guy who's pulled over at 3 AM. He has a field sobriety test, the cop knows he's drunk, he looks and acts drunk. But he refuses a breathalyzer test. That don't mean the cop don't haul him to the police station.”

I reiterate…I don't think anyone should be casting aspersions based on circumstantial evidence. But with so many people ganging up on Manny, I think fight fans are owed some details on why people are accusing Pacman of using PEDs.

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Articles of 2009

Ten Boxing Wishes For 2010

Published

15 years ago

December 30, 2009

Ralph Gonzalez

As 2009 comes to a close, one reflects on what went well and what went wrong during the year in boxing. There were many highlights. Pacquiao vs. Cotto and Showtime’s Super Six tournament were part of the best that boxing had to offer. But there were some low points too therefore the industry has some work to do in order to keep generating fans. Here are some suggestions for 2010:

10. Better pay per view cards

Paying 40 to 50 bucks to watch the main event gets old real quick. Why do we have to sit through a horrible under-card to get to the main course? It’s like being fed spam appetizers before the Thanksgiving turkey. It seems that the pay per view promoters just don’t get it. Are they watching what they put on or do they only watch the “big fight” as everyone else is slowly being conditioned to do so?

9. Time to make Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight

Okay, I understand he’s the son of one of the greatest fighters that ever lived. But he’s had 42 fights against low to mid level competition and has never managed to look spectacular. It’s time to throw the 23 year old out of the nest to see if he can fly. My suggestion is a fight against Sergio Mora or maybe even Yuri Foreman. Neither of these guys can punch. They may outbox Junior but they won’t totally humiliate him.

8. No more ridiculous Pay Per View mismatches

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez should’ve never been made. It was a ridiculous fight when it was announced and it was more ridiculous when it took place. Unable to bring Manny Pacquiao to the bargaining table for a third match against Juan Manuel Marquez, someone figured that pairing up the 135 pound champion against a natural 147 pounder like Mayweather would be a great idea. The pay per view generated over a million buys but the fact that millions of people were treated to an incredibly boring mismatch is what’s truly worrisome. I can guarantee you one thing about this card. The sport of boxing lost fans once the show was over and done with. Talk about short term thinking.

7. Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola shows up for a fight in amazing shape

It was painful to see Chris Arreola take a beating from the Ukrainian giant, Vitali Klitscho. The champion certainly earned his “Dr. Ironfist” moniker as he plowed his powerful shots into the former #1 WBC heavyweight contender’s face. He reddened and bloodied the young Mexican American with an assortment of weapons and foot movement seldom seen on a six foot seven inch heavyweight. Arreola was brave and unrelenting in battle. He never stopped coming forward and took chances when he could. His work in the ring at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles wasn’t the problem. Where Arreola let himself down was outside the ring. His unwillingness to condition himself into a finely tuned athlete cost him certain immortality as the first ever heavyweight champion of Mexican descent. Arreola has the heart and skills but it was his mental fortitude that broke down. Anyone who’s followed the Riverside fighter knows that his best weight is somewhere in the 230 pound range. It certainly isn’t at the 252 pounds he registered on the scale at the Staples Center. Those fifteen to twenty extra pounds might have made all the difference in the world. Maybe he would’ve been a little quicker, maybe he could’ve sustained a faster pace in order to tire out the champion. In his most recent fight against Brian Minto, Arreola weighed in at a career high 263. It looks like “The Nightmare” isn’t willing to change for anyone. At this pace, the only nightmares he’ll be providing will be to the management of Hometown Buffets all across Riverside. Just kidding “Nightmare”!

6. More respect for the lighter weights

Real boxing fans know that the most exciting fighters in the sport are usually found toiling in weight divisions south of 154 pounds. Pacquiao, Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, Edwin Valero, Israel Vazquez, Juan Ma Lopez, Vic Darchinyan, Rafael Marquez and countless others have been the real driving force behind this sport. It’s those great fighters that have made boxing fanatics out of casual fans. The heavyweights may get all the money and glory but it’s the little guys who make the sport shine and it’s time they received greater compensation. It’s dismaying to think that a mediocre heavyweight can make three or four times as much as the great Rafael Marquez.

5. An American Heavyweight champion

Speaking of heavyweights, two Americans tried and failed at dethroning Vitali Klitschko this year. Both Kevin Johnson and Chris Arreola did their best to wrestle the belt away from “Dr. Klitschko” but came up short since they were easily outclassed. What happened to the great American Heavyweight? Where’s our new Joe Frazier or Ali? Even a new Gerry Cooney or a Ken Norton would do at this point. I’ve got a feeling that the only way we’re going to see an American champion is if Klitschko retires. My money is on Arreola. Although undisciplined and rough outside the ring, he’s got tons (no pun intended) of natural talent. He’s without a doubt the most talented American heavyweight on the scene.

4. More ShoBox

The Showtime Cable network gave us the best boxing on TV for the price of a cable television subscription. Their ShoBox series has been a proven hit for Senior VP of Sports Programming Ken Hershman. The concept is simple yet brilliant. Match up two up and comers with great records and let’s see what happens. Sometimes the results are surprising. Many have passed the ShoBox test and went on to bigger and better things. Others have been exposed as having padded records and eventually their careers stall and take a dive.

3. More safety in Mexico so I can attend a show without a gun battle breaking out

Having lived near the Tijuana border all my life I’m dismayed at the war zone that the city has evolved into. Every day there are reports of shootings fueled by the drug war trade. Believe it or not, there was a time when Tijuana was safe and most wouldn’t have thought twice about crossing the border for some seafood and nightlife. No more. Having covered several boxing cards on Revolucion Avenue many years ago, I got a taste of just how important the sport is to Mexican fans. It’s also important to me but not that important. For now I’ll stick to covering shows at the Pechanga Casino and in the less dangerous city of L.A. I never thought I’d say that.

2. Pac Man vs. Mayweather

This is the fight everyone wants to see. Seeing how Mayweather dominated Pac Man’s arch enemy, Juan Manuel Marquez, you have to wonder if the Filipino can handle Lil’ Floyd’s speed and size. One thing is for sure, betting against Pacquiao doesn’t usually work out for me. It never has. There’s no future in it. So if the fight gets done it’s Pacquiao by TKO in ten.

1. And finally

One final wish is reserved for all the readers of TheSweetScience.com I wish you all a healthy and happy 2010. Thank you for your continued loyalty to the site. It’s very much appreciated.

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