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News Flashes: On Erdei Injury, Olusegun, Geale, CT H.O.F

Published

12 years ago

September 6, 2012

DiBellaLogo-no-website New York, NY (9/5/2012) – Former two-division world champion Zsolt Erdei has been forced to withdraw from his much-anticipated Septemember 29th light heavyweight matchup against Isaac Chilemba at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods after suffering two broken ribs in training. The bout was scheduled to open up the HBO “Boxing After Dark” telecast, which is being headlined by top-rated super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez (21-0, 14KO's) defending his USBA championship against undefeated prospect Jason Escalera (13-0-1, 12KO's).

“I can't express enough how disappointed I am,” said Erdei. “I wanted this fight so badly. To be honest I was so upset when this happened that I thought I would retire, but after speaking with my family and friends I have decided that I will be back. Fighting is my life and I am going to be coming back soon as possible.”

Erdei was in great shape preparing for Chilemba and was getting ready to travel to the U.S. to finish up his training camp when he suffered the injury during sparring. Erdei was hit with a body shot in an awkward spot causing the ribs to break. X-rays of the break can be seen below:

An announcement on the third televised fight will be made soon.

September 5, 2012 – Gary Shaw Productions and DiBella Entertainment's, undefeated WBC # 1 ranked Super Lightweight contender, Olusegun Ajose (30-0, 14 KOs), is ready for his first main event, when he challenges, WBC #2 ranked clubber, Lucas Matthysse (31-2, 29 KO's). On the line will be the vacant WBC Interim Super Lightweight Championship.

The 12-round bout will be televised this Saturday, Sept. 8, live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on SHOWTIME® at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Ajose has earned his #1 ranking the old fashioned way, by winning every fight he's ever been in. His opportunity has arrived and he's determined to show the world why he's been avoided by top boxers, promoters and matchmakers.

“I've been waiting for the opportunity to win a world title my entire life,” Ajose said. “No one can understand what I've been through being that I've been bypassed my shot to fight for a world title for years, with fighters I know I can beat getting their chance before me for no reason at all. The time is now to show the world what I am made of. I'm not going to let this long awaited opportunity pass me by. Come fight night I will leave everything in the ring and come out victorious.”

Co-promoter Gary Shaw believes Ajose is the most underrated fighter in boxing. With Olusegun's unique fighting style, his reasoning is legitimate.

“I believe Ajose is the best super lightweight walking the planet.” Shaw said. “There's a reason he's be denied his opportunity to fight for a world title. All the matchmakers and promoters know if they put their fighter in with him, they'll lose. And that is exactly what is going to happen this Saturday when Ajose fights Matthysse.

“Olusegun's style is very awkward to deal with and he comes to fight every time he steps in the ring. After this weekend, the boxing community and fans around the world will know who Ajose is. A hungry fighter cannot be stopped, and Olusegun is starving.”

“I want to thank Stephen Espinoza and Showtime for giving Ajose this opportunity to fight on Showtime once again. The fans will be the winner, and AJose will never disappoint.”

September 5, 2012 – After arriving in the states from Germany this week, promoter Gary Shaw reflects on the incredible week he had with Daniel “Real Deal” Geale and his team as the days led up to their big win against Felix Sturm. Already the IBF Champion, Geale added Sturm's WBA title, becoming the first Australian born fighter to become a unified world champion.

“Sturm literally thought Daniel's name was “Meal Deal” and found out the hard way that he's the “Real Deal,'' Shaw said. “Sturm, who acted as his own promoter for this event, must have been occupied with the stresses of being a promoter to think Daniels name was 'Meal Deal.' On the other hand, Team Geale was very relaxed going into this fight. Just hours before the fight, we were all hanging out in the dressing room joking around, and laughing to the point we had tears in our eyes. I've never been in a fight where the atmosphere was so calm. There was no yelling, just very relaxed.”

“Geale ended sparring 10 days before the fight and was on weight the entire time. There was no struggle to make weight and the game plan Graham Shaw put in place was incredible. Graham is a very underrated trainer. I nominate him for “Trainer of the Year” and he needs to be recognized as one of the best trainers in boxing.

“I realized that Daniel didn't have people around him that were dead weight. His brother Joe was a pleasure to be around and he provided an uplifting spirit. When you have people that really love you, around you for the biggest fight of your life, then good things are going to happen.

“Being around Team Geale leading up to this fight was one of the best experiences I've had as a promoter. Together we are willing and ready to take on the toughest challenges out there. I plan to have Daniel sitting ringside for the Martinez vs. Chavez Jr. fight in Las Vegas and then sit down with HBO to discuss all the options in the newly electrically charged middleweight division, where Geale is the only fighter holding multiple belts. There are many great fights that can be made and we'll make the announcement on who'll we'll fight next in the near future.”

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (September 5, 2012) – The 8th annual Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (CBHOF) Gala Induction Dinner has been rescheduled for November 17, one week after the original date, in the Uncas Ballroom at Mohegan Sun.

The 2012 CBHOF inductees are former World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight champion “Tremendous” Travis Simms, former World Boxing Union (WBU) middleweight titlist “Dangerous” Dana Rosenblatt, five-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach, promoter Jimmy Burchfield (Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc.), manager George Cruz and the late manager/promoter Lou Viscusi.

Tickets for the 8th annual CBHOF Gala Induction Dinner, reasonably priced at $75.00, are on sale now by calling Kim Baker at Mohegan Sun (1.860-.862.7377) or Sherman Cain at the Manchester Journal Inquirer (1.800.237.3606 X321). Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET, cocktails at 6 p.m. ET, followed by dinner.

Go online to www.ctboxinghof.com for additional information about the CBHOF.

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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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