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Dallas Takes Easy UD10 Over Gonzalez on ESPN’s FNF

Published

12 years ago

February 18, 2012

Miguel Gonzalez talked a heck of a game coming into the main event against Mike Dallas Jr. on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights,” which unfolded at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. But his fighting didn’t match his pre-fight bluster. Dallas was the busier man throuby scores of ghout, and boxed smartly to a unimous decision after ten rounds which looked remarkably similar. The judges scored the slightly listless event for Dallas, 100-90, 100-90, 100-89, who broke a two-fight losing streak. Dallas went 184-600 to 92-398 for the loser.

“The Silent Assassin” Dallas (17-2-1 entering, with seven KOs; 140 pounds) lives in Bakersfield, CA while Gonzalez (20-2 with 15 KOs; 139 pounds) lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Teddy Atlas said before the bout that Gonzalez had had his left hand in a cast two weeks before the bout, while his dad Sonny, who trains him, told the analyst it was in a cast four weeks ago.

In the first, Dallas, trying to send a message, was aggressive. Gonzalez, who had told me that he wanted to end things early, so he could have a nice night of winding down with friends and family, slipped quickly when Dallas charged.

In the second, a cut opened on left eye of Dallas from a head clash. But that didn’t make him shrink; Dallas sent the message that he wanted to be first.

In the third, the lefty G popped the jab but didn’t really follow up with a plan after that. He wasn’t setting up combos at all.

In the fourth, Dallas went low and was warned from the ref, Neil Young. He didn’t want it to occur again, leaving Gonzalez “Helpless.” Dallas glared at the “Old Man,” and proceeded to flurry, “Like A Hurricane.” We wondered if the man from “Ohio” would get untracked, let loose his power left at all, or if the hand was still tender.

In the fifth, it occurred to me again that Gonzalez had told me he wanted to wrap this up early, score an early stoppage. Was that bluster? Because he wasn’t fighting in a manner suggesting he truly wanted this. was he trying to psych himself up with that talk?

In the sixth, it was more of the same. Dallas was busier, more aggressive, winning rounds, in a ho hum fight. In the seventh, there was again an excess of smothering and clinching at times. Ref Young was featured way too much for my liking in this one. In round eight, Dallas stepped it up. His body work was maybe paying dividends at this point. His foe looked to clinch even more quickly by the middle of the round.

In the ninth, we heard Atlas say that Dallas’ trainer, Virgil Hunter, Andre Ward’s trainer, told him to, “Keep whuppin’ him.” Atlas took a sideswipe at Alexander Povetkin when he complimented Ward as the ultra pro, and said he wished there were more classy people like him in the game. Poor Teddy, he has such high expectations for people.

In the tenth, Dallas finished strong, unworried that he’d get caught by Gonzalez, who didn’t often enough get out of defensive mode.

Not sure what is going on in the head of Shawn Estrada, who weighed 196 on his first attempt Friday for an over-the-weight light heavyweight match against Terrance Woods. He then made 191, so he enjoyed a 14 pound edge over Woods, 177 pounds. We heard that the second weigh-in for Estrada was allegedly not done publicly, so once again, the Texas commission is involved in some strange circumstance. They got ink when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and the other boxers on the Feb. 4 San Antonio card didn’t have to furnish urine samples post-bout, because no lab had been booked to do the sampling. Texas allows a 15 pound disparity in weight in pro bouts, and many if not most experts and heck, even casual fans, think that is too much. Luckily, Woods didn’t get hurt.

Estrada had balance and accuracy issues, though his volume wasn’t horrid considering it looks like he didn’t go heavy on the roadwork, or even the recumbent bike, before the bout. The 26 year old Californian, who made the 2008 US Olympic squad, rose to 14-0, while the Texan Woods drops to 9-4.

Note: We’re not sure what made Estrada so heavy for this bout. He’s battled a heavy load of injuries the last couple years, and now his focus and professionalism will be questioned. He did win a UD8, with one judge scoring it 78-74. That judge is named Erwin Sparks, and that card is beyond bad. Woods ate shots and scored quite infrequently. Was Sparks giving points for chin and heart?

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.

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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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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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