Librado Andrade, Kaliesha West & Other Boxing Chatter….AVILA

Brothers Librado Andrade (29-3, 22 KOs) and Enrique Ornelas (30-7, 20 KOs) lead a boxing card at Fantasy Springs Casino on Friday, May 6. Andrade, a super middleweight contender, fights Aaron Pryor Jr. (15-3, 11 KOs) in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds at light heavyweight. Ornelas fights Hector Hernandez (10-3-2, 4 KOs).

Andrade, 32, should have been a world champion (in my opinion), but some bad refereeing prevented that from happening in Canada two and a half years ago. But what’s done is done. Now he has Pryor in front of him and a career to maintain.

It’s the first time in three years that Andrade has fought on home soil. The last time he was inside an American boxing ring he nailed current WBO super middleweight world champion Robert Stieglitz of Germany with some body shots and stopped him in round eight.

The next fight saw Andrade out-boxed by Lucian Bute for most of their first encounter then in the last round the Southern Californian had Bute out on his feet. But Canadian Marlon Wright spent costly seconds on Andrade instead of allowing the fight to continue. If it had, Andrade would have definitely taken the title from Bute. (EDITOR NOTE: This controversy lives on! To my eye, Bute was knocked down with about three seconds remaining in the last round. So if he stayed down for three seconds or more, and then got up,  before the count of ten, the fight would be over, no more fighting could occur. Yes, Wright took his eye off Bute and was overly focused on Andrade being in a neutral corner, so he didn't render a count during the knockdown in a timely fashion. But that fact is to me immaterial, because Bute did indeed get up, after about eight and a half seconds. At that time, the fight was over, for all intents and purposes.)  Of course Bute won the rematch with a perfect body shot. Now Andrade is climbing back up the ladder again.

If Pryor is anything like his father Aaron Pryor Sr. then it should be one of the great fights of the year. His dad was one of the best prizefighters of all time. Not just his time, but of all time. I would have loved to have seen Pryor vs. Roberto Duran or Tommy Hearns or Marvin Hagler. The world will never know.

But the world will know if Pryor Jr. belongs with the best super middleweights or light heavyweights on Friday.

Younger brother Ornelas, 30, is also on the fight card and fights Hector Hernandez in a light heavyweight bout scheduled for eight rounds. Ornelas is a perennial contender as a middleweight and now is moving up a few divisions. He and his brother are good friends with Shane Mosley and often worked as sparring partners for the Pomona prizefighter up in Big Bear.

Super prospect Randy Caballero (9-0, 5 KOs) is also on the fight card. The bantamweight has blitzed through all of his opponents. He fights Francis Ruiz (9-4) in a six round featherweight bout.

Fore more information (800) 827-2946.

Kaliesha West vs. Melinda Cooper?

Southern California’s Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West, who holds the WBO bantamweight world title, has been offered a televised fight with dangerous Melinda Cooper (21-1, 11 KOs) on a Golden Boy Promotions fight card, said promoter Claudia Ollis while in Los Angeles. Despite repeated phone calls and e-mail messages, West (13-1-2, 4 KOs) and her father Juan West have not answered to say whether or not they would accept the fight.

“They’ll never take the fight,” said James Pena, who manages Cooper.

West formerly passed on a fight with Ava Knight, the only fighter to have beaten Kaliesha West. However, in that proposed fight, West was still recovering from a car accident. Recently her team has been looking for a fight or an opportunity to defend her title. They even requested and were granted an extension. So far no fight has evolved.

Recently, a publicity stunt fight between West and radio personality Tattoo, formerly of Power 106, has been bandied about on Twitter.  

Still, it makes no sense that West not accept a televised fight. For years women have tried to have their fights televised. It doesn’t make sense but it seems that West is looking for an easier fight.

Cooper, who recently lost via a bad decision, immediately accepted the offer to challenge West.

“To be the best you must fight the best,” said Ollis, who is trying to put the fight together.

It just doesn’t make sense that West would ignore a televised world title fight after struggling so hard to finally grab the title. Ironically, it was Ollis who helped her get the opportunity.

West is usually game to fight anyone and has the talent to do so. But not taking a fight against Cooper or Knight and letting her world title slip away just doesn’t make sense.  

Other Chatter

Author Araceli Martinez Rose’s new book “El Negocio del Dolor” has been released in book stores. The biography deals with former junior lightweight world champion Gabriel Ruelas. Martinez Rose is a former journalist with Univision. Martinez Rose was in Los Angeles last Thursday promoting her book and staged a press conference to announce the release.

East L.A.’s Frankie Gomez (9-0, 7 KOs) stopped Jason Davis (11-9-1) in 25 seconds of a welterweight match on Thursday at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Also, welterweight Ernesto Ocon (3-0, 2 KOs) knocked out Puerto Rico’s Miguel Pizarro (1-2) in the third round and Fidel Maldonado (10-0, 9 KOs) stopped Jorge Cordero (4-7) at 1:03 of the first round.

Super middleweight Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (24-0, 18 KOs) stopped Jesse Brinkley (35-7, 22 KOs) at 2:34 of round three for a technical knockout victory on Friday. On the same card Las Vegas junior lightweight Lonnie Smith (13-2-2) beat Oxnard’s David Rodela (15-4-3) by unanimous decision after six rounds.

Former heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield (43-10-2, 28 KOs) clashes with Brian Nielsen (64-2, 43 KOs) on Saturday in Copenhagen, Denmark. Also on the card Florida’s Chevelle Hallback (28-6-2, 11 KOs) challenges Cecilia Braekhus (17-0, 4 KOs) for the welterweight world championship.

WBO minimum weight titleholder Raul Garcia (30-1-1, 18 KOs) stopped Rommel Asenjo (20-3, 16 KOs) in the third round to retain his world title in Mexico City on Saturday. On the same card Mexico’s Ramon Hirales (16-2-1, 9 KOs) knocked out Colombia’s Jesus Geles (12-2-1) in round four to grab the WBO junior flyweight world title.

Carson Jones (29-8-2, 19 KOs) fights Michael Clark (41-5-1, 18 KOs) in a welterweight match and Grady Brewer (26-12, 15 KOs) fights Abel Perry (13-4, 5 KOs) in six-round middleweight bout on Thursday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The fight card takes place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Las Vegas prizefighter Diego Magdaleno (18-0, 6 KOs) meets Gilberto Sanchez Leon (31-8-2, 11 KOs) on Friday at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Also on the fight card is Notre Dame football star Mike Lee (4-0) fighting Gilbert Gastelum (0-1-1) in a light heavyweight bout. For more information (877) 632-7400.

IBF middleweight titleholder Sebastian Sylvester (34-3-1, 16 KOs) defends his title against Australia’s Daniel Geale (24-1, 15 KOs) on Saturday in Mecklenburg, Germany. Geale’s only loss came to fellow Aussie Anthony Mundine by split decision.

WBA bantamweight world titleholder Koki Kameda (24-1, 15 KOs) defends his world title on Saturday against Nicaragua’s Daniel Diaz (18-2, 13 KOs) in Osaka, Japan. This is the left-handed Japanese bomber’s first title defense.

An eight-man heavyweight tournament is scheduled for Saturday, May 7 in London, England. Participating is Kevin Johnson (24-1-1, 10 KOs), Greg Tony (14-1, 10 KOs), Juan Carlos Gomez (49-2, 37 KOs), Tye Fields (45-3, 41 KOs) and several others. The tourney will be held at Alexandra Pavilion.

Mexico’s Anibel Ortiz ((7-1) defends the WBC minimum weight world title against Japan’s Naoko Fujioka (5-0, 3 KOs) on Sunday, May 8 in Tokyo, Japan. Ortiz is making her second world title defense and second in Japan.

IFBA minimum weight titleholder Ji-Hyun Park (13-2, 5 KOs) stopped Hungary’s Krisztina Belinszky (27-7-2) in the sixth round to win by technical knockout on Sunday in South Korea.

Mexico’s Ulises Solis (33-2-3, 21 KOs) beat Argentina’s Luis Lazarte (48-10-2, 18 KOs) by split decision on Saturday in Buenos Aires, Argentina to take the IBF junior flyweight world title. It was their second encounter, the first ended in a draw last December.

Mexico’s Adrian Hernandez (21-1-1, 13 KOs) stopped fellow Mexican Gilbert Keb Baas (35-21-4) at the end of round 10 to grab the WBC junior flyweight world title on Saturday in Texcoco, Mexico. Baas, 33, was making his second world title defense.

WBA featherweight titleholder Hyun Mi Choi (5-0-1, 2 KOs) stopped Canada’s Sandy Tsagouris (10-2, 4 KOs) at 1:39 of round four. The title fight was held on Friday in South Korea.

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