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TSS PROSPECT WATCH: Boxer/Hurdler Ronald Ellis

Published

10 years ago

November 18, 2014

Michael Woods

Time has some sneaky-quick hands.

Actually, not so much sneaky-quick, as resolute.

Don’t stop. Won’t stop, not for nobody, no matter how much you try to bargain, or how good your plastic surgeon is….

Ronald Ellis (seen above in Pete Politanoff photo), who fights Friday, on a Mike Tyson show in Oklahoma, is feeling it. The 9-0 (7 KOs) hitter, who fights at 168/160 and is managed by Sheer Management Group, grew up in Lynn, Mass. and now lives in Santa Monica, CA.

“Man, years pass,” he told me. “I’m 25, I remember 21 like it was a couple months ago. It feels like a couple months ago.”

Time passing isn’t the same for us as it is for them. A fighter’s athletic peak isn’t infinite. The sport can reward the wisdom accumulated with the passage of time, but in all cases, really, fortune favors the young. We saw the constraints imposed by aging on Nov. 8, when the youngest old man in sports lost his tagline, when Bernard Hopkins joined us mortals, with our graying beards, hernias and mid life crisis daydreams. Now, Ellis isn’t there, but he seems aware that he’s got to get into another gear, that years will pass and you can find yourself…not where you thought you would be.

Ellis had been with manager Cameron Dunkin, and was on the Top Rank radar, but got off track a bit when he indulged in some reefer, and got popped in a post-fight urine test, after his Jan. 213 win on the NYC card topped by Gennady Golovkin and Mikey Garcia. No more reefer, the boxer assured me, and he’s hoping he won’t have any more injury issues, and is over elbow woes. He seems to be focused on making that leap, to where he’ll be in a mix for bigger things by this time next year.

Eliis disappointed me, in that he doesn’t really have a hint of a Boston accent. “I think I lost it with all my traveling,” he told me with a chuckle. Asked to furnish some intel on Lynn, he pondered and said, “You’re not really missing anything. They have the fluff factory.” Ah yes, the marriage partner of peanut butter, right…

Ellis has been learning from the estimable Dedham Freddie Roach at Wild Card, but will be cornered on Friday by ex 168 champ Frankie Liles, so he should be comfortable when he faces off with Puerto Rican fighter Julio Garcia (6-6, 3 KOs, been stopped three times), a boxer who lives in the Boston area.. Check Ellis out and you will see a guy who likes to box, looks to start setting down on shots after he assesses for awhile, probes for best openings. He’ll switch lefty and righty, to confuse, and he understands that KOs spur interest.

“I’ve been pro awhile, it’s been a little slow ride, but I’m looking forward to next year,” he said. “I’m in shape, and I will be busy and healthy, god willing.”

Ellis has been good and busy under the Sheer banner, having fought three times for them already, since March.

I found common ground with the man when I learned he’s a Libra. We like balance, like to find that middle ground, fairness is of great import to us. “I’d say I’m a Libra fighter, the balance is there, I have power, and I can box,” he told me.

His galpal since high school is preggers, four months, so it is that much more crucial to kick into another gear, be ultra serious and focused, and not let that time pass him by, he knows. “You got to make mo money, tell me about it,” he said, laughing, as we talked about the cost of diapers.

The cost of doing the baby business could be helped if he looks sharp on Friday; the Tyson people have indicated that he could be signed to their promotional roster if he impresses. He trained with lots of Tyson fighters in Florida, and came onto their radar as a possible future star.

Ellis seems to have a firm grasp on the ways of the world, and I sense he’s in a new mode of efficiency. “It can be a cold world, but if I had a setback, I’m ready for the comeback. That’s life… hurdles you got to jump.”

Follow Woods on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Woodsy1069

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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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