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Snooki’s Pride Hyland Fights Dec. 8 Vs. Fortuna

Published

12 years ago

November 29, 2012

LAS VEGAS (November 29, 2012) – Irish and boxing have been synonymous for more than a century. Undefeated featherweight Patrick “The Punisher” Hyland, one of three prizefighting Hyland brothers, certainly embodies the popular sobriquet, “The Fightin’ Irish.”

Dublin-native Hyland (27-0, 12 KOs) plans to continue making Irish boxing history on December 8, when he fights fellow undefeated challenger Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna for the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title, fighting on the HBO Pay-Per-View event headlined by Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marguez 4, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The 29-year-old Hyland, who is promoted by Final Round Promotions and Team Snooki Boxing, made a major commitment to boxing a year ago, moving from Ireland to Marlboro, New York in order to be trained by two-time two-division world champion Tracy Harris Patterson. Rated No. 6 by the WBA, Hyland already holds the Republic of Ireland boxing record for most consecutive wins to start a professional career (27), and he’ll become the first Ireland-born world featherweight champion with a win Dec. 8.

Hyland would become the first Irishman to capture a world title since Bernard Dunne (WBA super bantamweight) in 2009, also joining Dunne and Stevie Collins as the only Dubliners as world champions. In fact, Hyland would be only the seventh Irishman (Ireland national born), dating back to the late 1800’s, in an exclusive group that also includes George Gardner, Mike McTigue and Hall of Famers Barry McGuigan and Jack McAuliffe.

“I’ve had tunnel vision for this fight and didn’t know I could become the first world featherweight champion born in Ireland,” Hyland said. “It feels great to hear that as well as have a chance to be mentioned in the same class with those other Irish world boxing champions.”

WBA No. 2-rated Fortuna (20-0, 15 KOs), fighting out of the Dominican Republic, is a 23-year-old southpaw. “Fortuna is an explosive fighter and it’s a pleasure to share the ring with him,” always the gentleman Hyland noted. “He’s a lefty, which is a problem for most right-handed fighters, but we’ve trained hard to move to the left. I have to stay sharp and focused, especially the first few rounds, so he doesn’t catch me. Our plan is to take him into deep water and see what he has left.”

Hyland will be fighting in Las Vegas for the first time. He doesn’t plan on hitting the strip, at least not on this particular trip, and everything there has been all business for the personable boxer with a thick brogue.

“It’s hard to describe,” Hyland spoke about fighting on the HBO PPV in Las Vegas. “Manny Pacquaio is the best known boxer in the world and fighting on his undercard hasn’t really sunk in, yet, and it probably won’t until after the fight It has gone through my mind but it’s all been positive We have two unbeaten fighters who both want to win and get that belt. We’ll put on a show, fighting on the biggest stage (HBO PPV in Las Vegas), and we could steal the show.”

One of Hyland’s promoters, Mike Pascale (Final Round Promotions), believes that it’s Hyland’s time to shine. “This fight is the culmination of Patrick’s training as a boxer since the age of seven. As always, he has trained hard and will lay it all on the line on December 8th. The Hyland-Fortuna fight will be a real barnburner. Patrick will shock many when his arm is raised as the winner. This is Patrick Hyland’s time and he will not be denied.”

Clan Hyland

About Final Round Promotions: A full-service boxing and MMA promotional company, Final Round Promotions is based in Poughkeepsie, New York and operated by Mike Pascale and Brian Burke.

About Team Snooki Boxing: Founded by one of the stars of MTV’s reality shows, Jersey Shore and JWoww, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, and her father, Andy.

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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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