Articles

DON’T CALL ME A CRACKHEAD: Vernon Paris Shuts Tim Coleman’s Mouth on FNF

Published

13 years ago

August 7, 2011

FNF Next time, maybe Vernon Paris can arrange for his opponent to brand him a needle-using heroin junkie. One wonders what the Detroit boxer would do if that happened, considering how he took care of Tim Coleman on Friday Night Fights.

Paris, who admits that he has failed a postfight urine test and used to smoke pot, was surprised and miffed when during fightweek Coleman alleged that he was a crack smoker.

He bided his time, and got his revenge served a bit cold, with a left hook delivered in round seven. That sent Coleman to the mat at the Chumash Casino, in Santa Ynez, California, not out cold but close enough for the ref Dan Stell. He halted the scrap at 27 seconds elapsed after two knockdowns in the sixth, and one in the seventh and final round. All came via viciously efficient left hooks to the side.

For the record, some of the loudest cheers of the night came when Coleman came over to Paris’ corner after the stoppage, and paid him respects.

In a battle of 140 pounders, Paris went down in the second, off a right cross. He was up and clear headed, quickly, with a minute to go. Coleman went to the deck in round six, off a left hook to the body, with 30 seconds remaining, and again from the same shot 20 seconds later. Coleman came out jabbing, moving his legs, looking to get his head straight. No dice; a left hook delivered while Coleman was on the ropes sent him down, and the ref said that was all she wrote, a TKO win went into the books for Paris.

The two men got heated before the bout, and on Thursday mixed it up in the hotel lobby where the fighters were housed. Coleman swung at Paris, and got tossed out of the hotel by management. Oftentimes–hello Klitschko, hello Haye–we’ve all been impressed by the level of vitriol on display before a bout, and been disappointed when the fight itself turned out to be an underwhelming waltz. The word war was just as heated. “I’d like to be the one to beat him to death in the ring,” Coleman said earlier in the week.

Paris, age 23, rose to 25-0 while Coleman, age 27, from Baltimore, living in Vegas, dropped to 19-2-1.

By the way, Roger Mayweather didn’t show up to work Coleman’s corner, and Floyd Sr prepped Paris, but he didn’t say he’d work in his corner, so a Mayweather cornerman faceoff didn’t come off.

Many gave Coleman an edge coming in, having been influenced by the Jan. 29 showing by Paris against Emanuel Augustus. The elder slickster impressed everyone but the judges, and most thought Paris didn’t deserve a UD.

SPEEDBAG Paris was stabbed and pierced in the lung and kidney in May 2008, and before that, in September 2006, he was shot, and still has a bullet lodged in his back and thigh. Please remember stuff like this and occasionally remind yourself that boxing gives structure and reason for being for some folks who might easily fall in between the cracks.

—Sergio Mora was relaxed and articulate in subbing for Teddy Atlas, who is in Russia training Alex Povetkin for his upcoming fight against Ruslan Chagaev, Aug. 27 in Germany. The WBA belt will be up for grabs there.

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Michael Woods

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 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

8 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

8 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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