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It Looks Like Maybe Derric Rossy Got Cheated In Denmark

Published

13 years ago

May 24, 2011

While this is a famous saying in a Shakespearean play (which of course was fictional), it may in fact be a sad reality after questionable events in a May 7^th fight card promoted by Sauerland Boxing Promotions, in Copenhagen Denmark.

As most of the boxing world is aware, Wilfried Sauerland recently caused quite a spectacle while complaining about the officials assigned in the Andre Ward versus Arthur Abraham bout on May 14^th in California, even going as far as threatening to pull Abraham from the fight. Apparently, Mr. Sauerland doesn’t practice what he preaches. When his company reached out to Sal Musumeci of Final Forum looking to use his fighter, World-ranked Heavyweight Contender Derric Rossy, as a last minute replacement to fight Kubrat Pulev, Musumeci questioned Sauerland about the officials that would be used. It is no secret that when American fighters travel to Europe to take on the locals, the odds are stacked against them and it is more often than not that they are not given a fair shake. In response to Musumeci’s concern, Hagen Dohring, matchmaker of Sauerland's team, stated that the Commission and officials are assigned by Queen Margrethe herself and Denmark is a neutral country and that all fighters would be treated fairly. Sadly, the attached link from the Rossy-Pulev bout will shed a different light on that.

In what was a very active and even bout for the first 4 and a half rounds, the referee put a questionable halt to the bout with no explanation. Upon further review, after examining the YouTube link carefully (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlfUG2vCYw), the world can witness a very peculiar chain of events: with around 1 minute left in round 5 (8:35 on the YouTube reel), it appears that a ringside judge by the name of Jan Christensen (who for some reason was still dressed as a referee from an earlier bout), can be seen raising his hand, queuing the actual referee, Soren Saugman, to stop the bout as Rossy was firing back with counter shots. Being a prominent promoter in Denmark and the rest of Europe, it seems as though Wilfried has more insight and influence with officials in Europe than he would in a fair, unbiased United States Commission, which is probably why he was so concerned about the officials in the Ward-Abraham fight.

“I mean, I thought he was stopping the action for a standing 8-count, which I didn’t think I needed but when you go overseas I guess you have to expect it,” said a still agitated Rossy. “Once I realized he stopped the fight I couldn’t believe it. I trained my a** off up until this fight and I was firing back with every punch he threw at me. The kid was obviously gassed and I was conditioned to go 15 rounds if I needed to. The referee couldn’t even look me in the face when I was asking him what he was stopping it for. It’s really not fair that fighters can work so hard and put their all into this game only to get screwed every time they leave the U.S.”

When Musumeci brought the early stoppage to the attention of Michael Seemann Hansen, President of Danish Professional Boxing Federation, he promised that he would look into the matter and correct any wrong doing. It’s been over 2 weeks and all of Team Rossy’s calls have been ignored.

Rossy’s promoter, Sal Musumeci, reiterated what his fighter was saying. “When the fight was stopped I was livid. It’s such an injustice because I saw in Pulev’s face that he was gassed and had nothing left at the end of that round (apparently the judge saw that as well). I thought the stoppage was questionable from just the way the fight was going, but going back and watching the footage and seeing the judge signal the ref to stop it, it’s an absolute travesty. You hear the horror stories about U.S. fighters going to Europe and getting jerked around, but until you actually fall victim to it you can’t really understand the frustration and anger that builds up. We will not stop fighting and seeking justice until the Commission does the right thing and changes the outcome to a No-Contest and the officials involved are made accountable for their unjust actions.”

Seems as though something is in fact rotten in Denmark.

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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”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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