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Salka Over Bracero For Garcia, Huh?

Published

10 years ago

June 26, 2014

Boxing has afforded Gabriel Bracero a reason for being, and a get out of jail card.

The Brooklyn-born boxer got out of jail after being installed for shooting at someone, focused his energies on the ring instead of the thug life and today, thought he was being graced with the second biggest opportunity of his 33 years on the planet.

Bracero, who holds a 23-1 record, with just 4 KOs, was under the impression he’d be granted a title shot against 140 pound champion Danny Garcia of Philadelphia at Barclays Center on Aug. 9. That rug got yanked out from underneath he and his team, which includes Tommy Gallagher and Richie Kommisar, though, leaving them seeing stars…and trying to remain optimistic that the proverbial shot at the big time would be on the near horizon once again.

There would have been those who would have squawked, declaring Bracero, who holds the WBO Intercontintental title, to be not of the same caliber of a Garcia (28-0 with 16 KOs). To be sure, his resume doesn’t boast the name recognition power of Garcias’, who holds wins over Erik Morales, Amir Khan, Zab Judah and Lucas Mattyhsse. But Bracero was coming off a career-best win, over ex world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, who he handily outboxed, according to the judges. His signature loss came to Chop Chop Corley back in 2012, but he made it interesting by knocking down Corley in the eighth after hitting the deck three times, in the second, third and fifth.

The guy who got the Garcia gig, one Rod Salka, is also coming off a career best win, over 18-0 Alexei Collado on April 18 (UD10). He was saddled with a loss in the fight before that, against Canelo Alvarez’ older and less talented bro Ricardo (MD10 loss on Dec. 14, 2013). Compare the resumes, and both men have a good record, and need to get their wins without being graced with even average power, if you judge power by KOs.

Salka has three KO wins on his 19-3 ledger, while Bracero has just four KOs on his 23-1 ledger. Barcero’s promoter, Lou DiBella, told me he thinks Team Garcia wanted a softer touch than Bracero, who he reminds us has a quite-solid NYC amateur background, and can indeed bother a foe with his pop, as opposed to Salka. No, it’s fair to say DiBella thinks Bracero is two cuts above Salka, who typically campaigns at 135 pounds, not the 140 pound class where Garcia holds crowns.

Anyone who doesn’t comprehend that other reasons besides what the resume says don’t help get fights made isn’t living in the real world, so most folks get it that Garcia comes in on semi-shaky ground. In his last fight, I had him losing, to Mauricio Herrera, so if he wants to get back into the talk for a Floyd Mayweather fight, a step back a half step, against a Salka or Bracero-level foe, isn’t a silly move from a confidence-building perspective.

One reason the Salka move doesn’t make sense to me is that about 30% of Braceros’ old Sunset Park, Brooklyn hood would have been buying tix to see the event, and yes, sometimes good ole ticket sales does impact a match being made or not.

Also, people who saw Bracero’s emotion-filled plea for a big bout opportunity following his win over Salita will not soon forget it. He presents himself as a beacon of hope for other people who have a hard time existing in the confines of the system, and knows that he is a role model for the incarcerated seeking a second chance at the straight life, and I thought it entirely possible that he’s have fought over his head Aug. 9, and given a MUCH better account of himself than naysayers are saying.

Lastly, did Chris Algieris’ resume scream “Deserves A Title Shot Against Ruslan Provodnikov” leading up to his WBO title win? Rhetorical question…

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Michael Woods

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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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