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Librado Andrade, Kaliesha West & Other Boxing Chatter….AVILA

Published

14 years ago

May 3, 2011

LibradoAndradeStudio08_Hogan_8 Brothers Librado Andrade (29-3, 22 KOs) and Enrique Ornelas (30-7, 20 KOs) lead a boxing card at Fantasy Springs Casino on Friday, May 6. Andrade, a super middleweight contender, fights Aaron Pryor Jr. (15-3, 11 KOs) in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds at light heavyweight. Ornelas fights Hector Hernandez (10-3-2, 4 KOs).

Andrade, 32, should have been a world champion (in my opinion), but some bad refereeing prevented that from happening in Canada two and a half years ago. But what’s done is done. Now he has Pryor in front of him and a career to maintain.

It’s the first time in three years that Andrade has fought on home soil. The last time he was inside an American boxing ring he nailed current WBO super middleweight world champion Robert Stieglitz of Germany with some body shots and stopped him in round eight.

The next fight saw Andrade out-boxed by Lucian Bute for most of their first encounter then in the last round the Southern Californian had Bute out on his feet. But Canadian Marlon Wright spent costly seconds on Andrade instead of allowing the fight to continue. If it had, Andrade would have definitely taken the title from Bute. (EDITOR NOTE: This controversy lives on! To my eye, Bute was knocked down with about three seconds remaining in the last round. So if he stayed down for three seconds or more, and then got up, before the count of ten, the fight would be over, no more fighting could occur. Yes, Wright took his eye off Bute and was overly focused on Andrade being in a neutral corner, so he didn't render a count during the knockdown in a timely fashion. But that fact is to me immaterial, because Bute did indeed get up, after about eight and a half seconds. At that time, the fight was over, for all intents and purposes.) Of course Bute won the rematch with a perfect body shot. Now Andrade is climbing back up the ladder again.

If Pryor is anything like his father Aaron Pryor Sr. then it should be one of the great fights of the year. His dad was one of the best prizefighters of all time. Not just his time, but of all time. I would have loved to have seen Pryor vs. Roberto Duran or Tommy Hearns or Marvin Hagler. The world will never know.

But the world will know if Pryor Jr. belongs with the best super middleweights or light heavyweights on Friday.

Younger brother Ornelas, 30, is also on the fight card and fights Hector Hernandez in a light heavyweight bout scheduled for eight rounds. Ornelas is a perennial contender as a middleweight and now is moving up a few divisions. He and his brother are good friends with Shane Mosley and often worked as sparring partners for the Pomona prizefighter up in Big Bear.

Super prospect Randy Caballero (9-0, 5 KOs) is also on the fight card. The bantamweight has blitzed through all of his opponents. He fights Francis Ruiz (9-4) in a six round featherweight bout.

Fore more information (800) 827-2946.

Kaliesha West vs. Melinda Cooper?

Southern California’s Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West, who holds the WBO bantamweight world title, has been offered a televised fight with dangerous Melinda Cooper (21-1, 11 KOs) on a Golden Boy Promotions fight card, said promoter Claudia Ollis while in Los Angeles. Despite repeated phone calls and e-mail messages, West (13-1-2, 4 KOs) and her father Juan West have not answered to say whether or not they would accept the fight.

“They’ll never take the fight,” said James Pena, who manages Cooper.

West formerly passed on a fight with Ava Knight, the only fighter to have beaten Kaliesha West. However, in that proposed fight, West was still recovering from a car accident. Recently her team has been looking for a fight or an opportunity to defend her title. They even requested and were granted an extension. So far no fight has evolved.

Recently, a publicity stunt fight between West and radio personality Tattoo, formerly of Power 106, has been bandied about on Twitter.

Still, it makes no sense that West not accept a televised fight. For years women have tried to have their fights televised. It doesn’t make sense but it seems that West is looking for an easier fight.

Cooper, who recently lost via a bad decision, immediately accepted the offer to challenge West.

“To be the best you must fight the best,” said Ollis, who is trying to put the fight together.

It just doesn’t make sense that West would ignore a televised world title fight after struggling so hard to finally grab the title. Ironically, it was Ollis who helped her get the opportunity.

West is usually game to fight anyone and has the talent to do so. But not taking a fight against Cooper or Knight and letting her world title slip away just doesn’t make sense.

Other Chatter

Author Araceli Martinez Rose’s new book “El Negocio del Dolor” has been released in book stores. The biography deals with former junior lightweight world champion Gabriel Ruelas. Martinez Rose is a former journalist with Univision. Martinez Rose was in Los Angeles last Thursday promoting her book and staged a press conference to announce the release.

East L.A.’s Frankie Gomez (9-0, 7 KOs) stopped Jason Davis (11-9-1) in 25 seconds of a welterweight match on Thursday at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Also, welterweight Ernesto Ocon (3-0, 2 KOs) knocked out Puerto Rico’s Miguel Pizarro (1-2) in the third round and Fidel Maldonado (10-0, 9 KOs) stopped Jorge Cordero (4-7) at 1:03 of the first round.

Super middleweight Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (24-0, 18 KOs) stopped Jesse Brinkley (35-7, 22 KOs) at 2:34 of round three for a technical knockout victory on Friday. On the same card Las Vegas junior lightweight Lonnie Smith (13-2-2) beat Oxnard’s David Rodela (15-4-3) by unanimous decision after six rounds.

Former heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield (43-10-2, 28 KOs) clashes with Brian Nielsen (64-2, 43 KOs) on Saturday in Copenhagen, Denmark. Also on the card Florida’s Chevelle Hallback (28-6-2, 11 KOs) challenges Cecilia Braekhus (17-0, 4 KOs) for the welterweight world championship.

WBO minimum weight titleholder Raul Garcia (30-1-1, 18 KOs) stopped Rommel Asenjo (20-3, 16 KOs) in the third round to retain his world title in Mexico City on Saturday. On the same card Mexico’s Ramon Hirales (16-2-1, 9 KOs) knocked out Colombia’s Jesus Geles (12-2-1) in round four to grab the WBO junior flyweight world title.

Carson Jones (29-8-2, 19 KOs) fights Michael Clark (41-5-1, 18 KOs) in a welterweight match and Grady Brewer (26-12, 15 KOs) fights Abel Perry (13-4, 5 KOs) in six-round middleweight bout on Thursday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The fight card takes place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Las Vegas prizefighter Diego Magdaleno (18-0, 6 KOs) meets Gilberto Sanchez Leon (31-8-2, 11 KOs) on Friday at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Also on the fight card is Notre Dame football star Mike Lee (4-0) fighting Gilbert Gastelum (0-1-1) in a light heavyweight bout. For more information (877) 632-7400.

IBF middleweight titleholder Sebastian Sylvester (34-3-1, 16 KOs) defends his title against Australia’s Daniel Geale (24-1, 15 KOs) on Saturday in Mecklenburg, Germany. Geale’s only loss came to fellow Aussie Anthony Mundine by split decision.

WBA bantamweight world titleholder Koki Kameda (24-1, 15 KOs) defends his world title on Saturday against Nicaragua’s Daniel Diaz (18-2, 13 KOs) in Osaka, Japan. This is the left-handed Japanese bomber’s first title defense.

An eight-man heavyweight tournament is scheduled for Saturday, May 7 in London, England. Participating is Kevin Johnson (24-1-1, 10 KOs), Greg Tony (14-1, 10 KOs), Juan Carlos Gomez (49-2, 37 KOs), Tye Fields (45-3, 41 KOs) and several others. The tourney will be held at Alexandra Pavilion.

Mexico’s Anibel Ortiz ((7-1) defends the WBC minimum weight world title against Japan’s Naoko Fujioka (5-0, 3 KOs) on Sunday, May 8 in Tokyo, Japan. Ortiz is making her second world title defense and second in Japan.

IFBA minimum weight titleholder Ji-Hyun Park (13-2, 5 KOs) stopped Hungary’s Krisztina Belinszky (27-7-2) in the sixth round to win by technical knockout on Sunday in South Korea.

Mexico’s Ulises Solis (33-2-3, 21 KOs) beat Argentina’s Luis Lazarte (48-10-2, 18 KOs) by split decision on Saturday in Buenos Aires, Argentina to take the IBF junior flyweight world title. It was their second encounter, the first ended in a draw last December.

Mexico’s Adrian Hernandez (21-1-1, 13 KOs) stopped fellow Mexican Gilbert Keb Baas (35-21-4) at the end of round 10 to grab the WBC junior flyweight world title on Saturday in Texcoco, Mexico. Baas, 33, was making his second world title defense.

WBA featherweight titleholder Hyun Mi Choi (5-0-1, 2 KOs) stopped Canada’s Sandy Tsagouris (10-2, 4 KOs) at 1:39 of round four. The title fight was held on Friday in South Korea.

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

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

Published

9 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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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 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”.

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