Articles

Dulorme-Reynoso Headlines Feb. 17 ShoBox

Published

12 years ago

February 2, 2012

NEW YORK (Feb. 2, 2012) – Thomas Dulorme (13-0, 10 KOs), of Carolina, Puerto Rico, will face surging southpaw, Jose Reynoso (15-3-1, 2 KOs), of Riverside, Calif., by way of Mexicali, Mex., for the vacant North American Boxing Federation (NABF) welterweight title in the main event on ShoBox: The New Generation on Friday, Feb. 17, live on SHOWTIME® (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).

The headlining fighters will make their ShoBox debuts in a 10-round welterweight bout with a contracted limit of 143 pounds.

In the co-feature at Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif., the power-punching Puerto Rican, Jonathan “Mantequilla” Gonzalez (14-0, 13 KOs), of San Juan, will battle Billy Lyell (24-10-2, 5 KOs), of Warren, Ohio, in a 10-round junior middleweight match.

Despite having only 13 fights to his name, Dulorme (pronounced Do-Lore-May) is already ranked in the top 10 by both the World Boxing Association (No. 3) and World Boxing Council (No. 8) at welterweight. Some consider the charismatic youngster a superstar in the making.

A hard-hitting sort who also can box, the highly regarded Dulorme has been spectacular and explosive enough to warrant the lofty praise. But he'll get his toughest test to date against Reynoso, who's unbeaten in his last six starts (5-0-1).

“I'm always looking to fight the best guys available and I'm expecting a good fight,'' the crowd-pleasing Dulorme said. “I've been in with left-handers before. Fighting for the first time in 2012, I want to come out with a bang and show the audience on ShoBox that I'm the real deal.

“Capturing the NABF title will get me one step closer to my dream of becoming a world champion.”

Since turning pro after a terrific amateur career that included winning a Golden Gloves championship, the 5-foot-9 ½-inch Dulorme, who turns 22 on Jan. 29, has campaigned in three weight classes: welterweight, junior welterweight (140 pounds) and lightweight (135 pounds).

Dulorme won a four-round majority decision in his pro debut on Aug. 13, 2008. His next 10 fights ended by knockout — two in the first round, eight in the second. He's been victorious in his last two starts via lopsided decision, a 10-round triumph over former world champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley on June 10, 2011, and a nine-round win over world title challenger Charlie Navarro the following Oct. 22.

Although he knows he's an underdog, Reynoso is anxiously awaiting this fight, his first since taking an eight-round decision over Esteban Almarez on June 22, 2011.

“This is the most important fight of my career. I'm fighting for everything, and this fight means everything to me,'' the 5-foot-7, 27-year-old Reynoso said. “I've seen tapes. I know he's undefeated and a hard banger, but he hasn't fought solid opposition like I have. He's strong, but I'm strong too, and I plan to put him to the test. If I have to trade shots, I will. I have much more power than my record says.

“This isn't the first time I'll enter the ring an underdog, so I'm used to that kind of pressure. I'm coming to win and I'm going to surprise everybody.''

In the co-featured bout, Gonzalez, ranked by three of the four major boxing organizations, is fourteen fights into a career that began in January 2009. A former amateur standout and a 2008 Olympic representative for Puerto Rico, he's rated No. 7 in both the WBC and World Boxing Organization (WBO) and No. 12 in the WBA.

This will be Gonzalez' second consecutive start on ShoBox. In his debut and most recent outing last June 11, he recorded a unanimous 10-round decision over Richard Gutierrez. It was the first time the 5-foot-11, 22-year old Gonzalez had gone the distance since he went pro. None of his previous 12 outings had lasted more than seven rounds. Eleven of the KO wins came within three sessions.

Lyell is a durable, hard-luck 27-year-old who doesn't seem to get the benefit of the doubt in tough fights against favored fighters on the road.

In his last bout, the 5-foot-9 Lyell lost a majority 10-round decision to local favorite Dominik Britsch (25-0 going in) on Oct. 22 in Germany. On Jan. 29, 2011, he came up on the wrong end of a close 10-round decision to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (41-0-1 going in) in Mexico.

One fight that went Lyell's way: He scored a shocking split 10-round decision over previously undefeated John Duddy on April 24, 2009.

For information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please visit the website at

http://sports.SHO.com.

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The Sweet Science

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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