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Boxing 360 Signs Two Fighters From Guyana

Published

10 years ago

February 2, 2011

NEW YORK (February 2, 2011) – Boxing 360 has tapped into the rich Guyana resources to sign world rated super bantamweight Leon “Hurry Up” Moore and unbeaten super middleweight Lennox “2 Sharpe” Allen, the reigning New York State champion.

Guyana has produced many world champions starting with “Barbados” Joe Walcott around the end of the 19^th century and beginning of the 20^th (Walcott as born in British Guyana but grew-up in Barbados), Dennis Andries, Andrew Lewis, Wayne Braithwaite, and Gairy St. Clair (fought out of Australia), along with top contenders Vivian Harris, Patrick Ford, Terrence Alli, Steven and Raul Frank, and Howard Eastman.

“Guyana is not a rich country and, boxing-wise, fighters from there are very hungry to succeed,” Boxing 360 founder and CEO Mario Yagobi said. “Boxing 360 has quite a following there, based on our website (www.Boxing360.com) hits, and I’ve received many emails from Guyanese boxers that want to join the Boxing 360 family. Guyanese love boxing and it’s a tremendous advantage for us that all of the boxers from there we’ve dealt with also speak English.”

Moore is rated No. 3 by the World Boxing Council, behind only Giovani Caro (Mexico) and Simpiwe Vetyeka (South Africa). The reigning WBC super bantamweight champion is Toshiaki Nishika. Moore is also as the No. 13 junior featherweight by the World Boxing Organization.

The 32-year-old southpaw Moore (27-2, 22 KOs), from Georgetown, Guyana, is the reigning WBC CABOFE super bantamweight champion, as well as the former NABA, PABA, Guyanese and CABOFE bantamweight titlist.

Moore captured the WBC CABOFE and NABA bantamweight belts in September 2009, when he won a unanimous 12-round decision against former 2-time world champion Maurico Pastrana. A year ago, Leon won a unanimous 12-round decision versus Indonesia Boxing Association champion Marangin Marbun for the vacant PABA crown. In his last fight (Nov. 16), Moore won a 10-round decision against Breilor Teran in Guyana. The stylish southpaw, who recently moved to New York City, hasn’t lost in nearly four years and he represents Boxing 360’s best chance for its first world champion.

“Leon is getting his immigration papers in order and we hope to have him make his U.S. debut here in New York within the next month or two,” Yagobi noted. “We feel that he is one or two good fights away from a major fight, hopefully for the world title. Because of the division he fights in he’ll probably have to fight for the world title in Mexico or the Far East.

Allen is another Guyanese southpaw who turned pro 6 ½ years ago in Georgetown. Less than a year later, attempting to kick-start his boxing career, he moved to Perth, Western Australia. Things didn’t work-out there as expected for Allen and18 months later he returned home to Guyana.

He fought three more times at home before taking advantage of an opportunity to come to the United States in 2008 as a sparring partner for Bernard Hopkins who was preparing to fight Joe Calzaghe. The 6’ 1” Allen captured the vacant Guyanese super middleweight title a year ago and, soon after, he moved to Brooklyn and signed a promotional contact with Boxing 360.

During the past 11 months, Allen is 4-0-1 fighting in the U.S., and he’s become more comfortable in each fight. Back in November, Allen shook-off the passing of his brother to stop previously undefeated Nick Brinson in the seventh round for the vacant New York State title.

Last Friday night in Yonkers, Allen (14-0-1, 9 KOs), knocked out 23-fight veteran Jesse Orta in the second round. In his previous fight, Orta lasted five rounds against world title challenger Danny “The Golden Boy” Jacobs (20-1). Orta also went the distance with undefeated middleweight prospects Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (22-0, 10 KOs) and 2004 U.S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs).

“We’re going to start putting him in tougher,” Yagobi added about Allen. “He first fought here last March and it’s night and day between that fight and his last. He is so much more confident now. He trains hard, plants his feet for added power, and is using his natural skills more. We’re going to keep him busy, fighting him every month or two, in order for him to gain experience against American fighters. There’s no rush; he’s only 25 and has a lot of potential. By the end of this year we’ll be able to put him in with almost anybody in the super middleweight division.”

Other members of Boxing 360’s stable include USBA heavyweight champion Maurice “Sugar Moe” Harris, former IBF super middleweight champion Alejandro “Naco” Berrio, veteran heavyweights Mike Mollo and 2004 U.S. Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada, Joshua “The Juice” Harris, Emad Ali, KO king Tyrone Brunson, Angel “Toro” Hernandez and “King” David Estrada.

Go on line to www.boxing360.com for more information about Moore, Allen, or any of the Boxing 360 fighters.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

5 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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