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Koval Fighting One Week After His Dad Died in Car Accident

Published

12 years ago

September 7, 2012

Koval (right) takes a heavy heart into the ring with him Saturday against Jennings.

Kathy Duva, Promoter and Main Events CEO: “This the first time a US broadcast of any fight from Main Events is going to be on WealthTV. WealthTV has recently dipped its toe into the boxing world, we are very happy about that. They are particularly interested in the heavyweight division so that makes make us very happy too because as you can see we know a lot of heavyweights!”

Kathy Duva

Photo Credits to Kamil Krzaczynski

“In Poland the fight will only be available on PPV. Due to scheduling problems Polsat and Canal Plus will not carry the fights. The pay-per-view will be available for purchase on N Platform, UPC, Multimedia, Vectra, INEA, Netia IPTV, SGT SA, TOYA, Asta-Net, Antserwis-Walcz and Antserwis-Pila. The four-bout card will also be shown in Multikino cinemas throughout Poland.”

“As always Jolene Mizzone, our matchmaker, and Russell Peltz, our matchmaking consultant, have outdone themselves with this card. It really jumps out at me because every single fight on the card is very interesting.”

“In the first fight at 2PM which will only be seen in the arena, we have two young fighters who have both agreed to step up. A classic matchup between not just these two young fighters, but also their trainers. In the red corner you are going to see the great Nassim Richardson and in the blue corner you are going to see the great Don Turner. Karl “Dynamite” Dargan from Philadelphia, 10-0 with 5 KO's, is in the red corner with Nassim Richardson, and has been training in Steve Cunningham's camp. “Dynamite” has all the earmarks of being the kind of fighter that people will talk about a long time from now. He will be facing in a 6 round lightweight bout, Jesse Carradine from Cincinnati, 8-1-1 with 4 knockouts in the blue corner with Don Turner.”

“In the second fight, which again can only be seen in the arena, we have Jose Peralta of Jersey City, NJ, against Christian Steel of Philadelphia, PA. A fantastic 6 round matchup with two entertaining junior welterweights.”

“The first television fight of the night is going to take place at 3pm. Is a fight that could be the main event on any cable show, that's how good this fight is. We have got a young man named Jerry Belmontes, who has been fighting with Main Events for a short time now. Jerry is from Corpus Christi, TX, he is 16-0 with 5 knockouts. This is really his first step-up fight and he is going to be taking on Joselito Collado of Queens (NY) who is 13-1, with 3 knockouts. Again this is another fight where we really can't predict what the outcome will be and it's a sign of just how strong this undercard is going to be.”

Belmontes and Collado

Photo Credits to Kamil Krzaczynski

“We have three big heavyweight fights on the card and I think everyone in them is going to be in the heavyweight mix for years to come. The first heavyweight bout in an 8-rounder, features Bryant Jennings from Philadelphia. Trained by Fred Jenkins, he made a tremendous impression on everyone when he stepped up into the main event on a couple days' notice on our first NBC (Sports Network) broadcast in January and won the fight. And then came back a few months later, defied the odds and all the predictions and knocked out Sergei Liakhovich. He will take on a fellow from Youngstown, OH, Chris Koval.”

Chris Koval: “I've never had a training camp that went as well as this one has – up until last Sunday when there was a tragic car accident and my father passed away. He would be extremely mad and disheartened if I did not come and do this fight because this is both of our dreams and that's why I am here. Thank you.”

Jennings and Koval

Photo Credits to Kamil Krzaczynski

Bryant Jennings: “First of all I extend my condolences to Chris and his family. I am not going to say a lot today. You already know what I am about; you already know what I came here to do. My past fights speak for themselves. I'm here and I know what to do. See you on Saturday.”

Kathy Duva: “Another one of the great stories that we are going to be telling on Saturday night involves another gentleman up here. Everybody knows Steve Cunningham; he is a two time Cruiserweight world champion. Tremendous fighter, one of the best cruiserweight fighters, along with the gentleman on my right (Tomasz Adamek), that ever fought in the division. They once put on a tremendous, exciting Fight of the Year candidate fight here at Prudential Center. This story is that he is moving up to the heavyweight division for the very first time. We expect that he is going to be just as much a force in the heavyweight division as he was in the cruiserweight division. He is facing a guy named Jason Gavern. Jason is not as well known to the casual fan, but to people in boxing he is very well known. He takes on anybody and he always puts out a great effort.”

Jason Gavern: “Steve Cunningham is world-class fighter, he's got world-class people like Nassim Richardson with him and it's going to be an honor and a privilege for me to punch him in the face Saturday afternoon. I'm looking forward to the fight. I'm always here to put on a good show; I always put my heart and soul in the ring in the fight.”

Cunningham and Gavern

Photo Credits to Kamil Krzaczynski

Steve Cunningham: “I am here to fight. I am here to win. I am here to put on a good show. I trained very hard. Expect to see the same Steve Cunningham, just with a little more weight. Just come and enjoy yourselves.”

Kathy Duva: “In the main event we have a 12 round IBF North American Heavyweight title fight. Both fighters, Tomasz Adamek and Travis Walker, are rated by the IBF; this is an important heavyweight fight. Both fighters have engaging, come-forward styles and I expect this is going to be a tremendous battle to watch.”

“Travis Walker is from Tallahassee, FL. He is another one of the road warriors on this card. He has fought everywhere and has worked his way up again to the top 15 in the IBF division. He is very interested in working his way all the way up to a title shot.”

Travis Walker: “I am here for one thing. Man, I'm here to win this fight, to get my name back to the top of this business. I've been here before and this time I'm here to take care of business. I'm trying to get as many Polish fans as I can and I know this is the best way to do this.”

Travis Walker

Photo Credits to Kamil Krzaczynski

Kathy Duva: “Tomasz Adamek is former Light Heavyweight Champion of the World; he is the former Cruiserweight Champion of the World. His goal is still to become the Heavyweight Champion of the world and he is going to entertain us on Saturday, as he always does, with another great performance.”

Tomasz Adamek: “I am very excited to be a Prudential Center again, I feel like Prudential Center is my home. We had a good camp. I believe we will make a good fight with Travis Walker. He is a tough fighter. The fight should be very interesting for all my fans here and in Poland too.”

Tomasz Adamek

Photo Credits to Kamil Krzaczynski

“I know and hear that Travis wants to knock me out, and this would be the only way he could beat me. Wishing and actually doing are two separate things. There are some new elements in my offensive and defensive arsenal. Travis will be surprised both of them.”

FIGHT INFO:

Prudential Center doors will open at 1:30PM, first fight is 2:00PM.

“Ironbound Throwdown” September 8th at Newark's Prudential Center features Tomasz Adamek vs. Travis Walker. Tickets priced at $180 ringside, $105, and $55 are available through Ticketmaster: online at www.ticketmaster.com; Charge-by-phone: 1-800-745-3000; Ticketmaster Express 866-448-7849; and Ticketmaster ticket centers. Tickets are also available at Prudential Center's Box Office and www.prucenter.com.

The fight will be available in Poland on PPV. WealthTV will begin airing undercard bouts live at 3PM ET nationally on Verizon FiOS TV channel 169 and 669 in HD, AT&T U-Verse TV channels 470 and 1470 in HD, along with over 100 cable systems across the country.

The card is presented by Main Events in association with Peltz Boxing, and Ziggy Promotions.

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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.

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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.

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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

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