Articles

Sadam Ali Wins Debut As Promoter-Fighter in Brooklyn

Published

12 years ago

June 5, 2012

ALI KO Ali gave the fans at the Aviator what they wanted, a KO, over game Franklin Gonzalez on Saturday night.

Fight fans turned out in force Saturday night to cheer on local hero Sadam Ali in his headlining appearance on the inaugural card of his newly- formed World Kid Promotions.

A capacity crowd was in attendance at the Aviator Sports Complex in South Brooklyn as the former Olympian was set to face the tough and experienced Franklin Gonzalez. The undefeated welterweight prospect didn’t disappoint, scoring an 8th round TKO and capturing the WBU Americas Championship in the process.

Having not been in the ring since last September, Ali started slowly with
he and Gonzalez beginning the first round feeling each other out. Gonzalez, a lefty from the Dominican Republic, struck first with a left hand and the two boxers continued the cat and mouse. Midway through the round the crowd began chanting for “Ali.” The Brooklyn native responded by connecting with several right hands to end the round.

Ali (age 23; weighed 147 pounds) continued using the right hand in the second pressing the action and staggering Gonzalez (age 36; 146 lbs) after connecting with a straight right hand. His right uppercut also found some openings as well.

The third frame saw Ali getting busier with his jab, while trying to feint
Gonzalez out of position for more damaging right hands.

A focused body attack from Ali started the fourth round and he bore down
on the game Gonzalez. Ali fired thudding body shots and backed Gonzalez
against the ropes where he opened up with four and five punch combinations
to stagger the Dominican as the round ended.

Trying to capitalize on his strong showing in the previous frame, Ali mounted an aggressive attack in the 5th, perhaps looking for the knockout. His timing was a shade off and he missed with several homerun punches with Gonzalez moving and clinching in an effort to survive the attack.

With world champion Paulie Malignaggi and prospect Gary Stark Jr.
offering encouragement from ringside, Ali continued to find a home for his
right hand and provided consistent action throughout the sixth round.

A booming right hand from Ali opened the 7th round and he continued to
search for the show-closing KO. His uppercut was again effective as it
hammered the chin of Gonzalez, who by this point in the fight was
beginning to tire.

The final round found a focused Ali trying to walk down Gonzalez and
end the fight in crowd-pleasing fashion. Ali connected with a right hand
and shortly thereafter Gonzalez went down. The referee ruled it a slip and
the action continued. Ali continued to bear down on his opponent with flurries of punches. Gonzalez lost his mouthpiece and the resulting timeout allowed him to gather himself. With time back in Ali backed Gonzalez into the ropes with a left-right combination. Another combination put Gonzalez down but he was up and survived the referee’s count. Ali continued to find the mark with his punches but another trip to the canvas by Gonzalez was also ruled a slip and the action resumed. A focused left-right by Ali put Gonzalez down, but the tough competitor rose to his feet. Seeing that Gonzalez was staggering and defenseless, the referee waved off the contest at 2:22 of the final round.

The undefeated (15-0, 9 by KO) Ali provided the hometown fans with an exciting finish and won a title. Gonzalez dropped to 15-10.

In the co-feature, New York Golden Gloves champion Jennifer Santiago
made her professional debut. In the four round bantamweight bout the Brooklyn native faced Mikayla Nebal (0-1) of Columbus, Ohio.

The four round distance seemed to tire Santiago, but her focused presence in the ring earned her a unanimous decision against the tough and ready Nebal.

Maine native, currently fighting out of New York City, Steven Gamache
made his return to the ring after a 12 month layoff. Fighting at junior middleweight Gamache (2-0) faced the cocky Willie Bryant (0-3-1) from Conway, Arkansas.

Both fighters began at a busy pace, ready to start the action following some in-ring jawing at one another. Heeding the advice of his father and trainer, former world champion Joey Gamache, Gamache stayed patient and worked behind his jab to win a unanimous decision (40-36) from the judges. Bryant proved to be an awkward opponent who held often. Gamache would benefit from a quick return to the ring to continue to shake off the rust.

Cruiserweight Armin Mrkanovic (2-1) returned to action against Ohio’s Daniel Pietch, who was making his pro debut.

Mrkanovic started slowly and, after hearing his trainer Hector Roca implore
him to “get to work!” picked up the pace. The third and fourth rounds brought impressive exchanges and Mrkanovic stopped the bloodied and tiring Pietch at 1:10 of the 4th round, securing a TKO.

The evening’s opening bout matched two middleweights making their pro debuts.

Brooklyn’s Akil Frederick-Auguste faced New Jersey’s Jamil Gadsen.
The tense, stiff, and off-balance Gadsen succumbed to Auguste’s measured
attack at 2:26 of the second round.

Comment on this article

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

The Sweet Science

Articles

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.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

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.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

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

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!