RASKIN’S RANTS: Goodbye Friday Night Fights, Hello Alfredo Angulo

Published

14 years ago

August 22, 2011

By Eric Raskin:

As this wasn’t the most eventful weekend in boxing (televised main events were limited to a rare dull Friday Night Fights bout and a Saturday midnight ESPN Deportes fight that was over by about 12:02), this week’s one-email mailbag harkens back to the highly eventful Abner Mares-Joseph Agbeko fight from two Saturdays ago:

Hey Eric,

I just read your piece from this past Monday and I’m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you about the judging of the Mares-Agbeko fight. 115-111 in favor of Mares is, as I’m sure you well know, 7-5 in rounds, which seems to me reasonable. You said yourself you gave Agbeko but one of the first six rounds, is it that farfetched to believe Abner won two more? Personally, I thought he did. How did you score the fight? I thought the third card, can’t remember the judge’s name, at 113-113 was too far in favor of Agbeko (7-5 for him). The oddest part of all of this is that despite probably four to five really close rounds in the second half of the fight, we didn’t get one truly wacky scorecard. I’ve come to expect decisions that somehow manage to be 115-113, 113-115, 117-111.

Best,

Robb

Hey Robb,

You make some valid points, and after thinking it through more carefully than I did before banging away impulsively on my keyboard last week, I have (almost) no problem with your 115-111 card. Still, I don’t have any regrets over what I wrote because the wording I used was “slightly too wide” and “questionable.” Had I used the word “unreasonable,” I would want to retract that.

My scorecard looked different than the 115-111 cards of Oren Shellenberger and Adalaide Byrd. I had it just 114-113 for Mares. But you’re right, 115-111 was reasonable—or at least just one point away from being reasonable. The only thing about the 115-111 card that I vehemently disagree with is that those judges gave Mares a 10-8 round in the 11th. The knockdown was so obviously a horrible call by ref Russell Mora, and Agbeko was doing just fine in the round otherwise, so to me, that was an obvious 10-9 knockdown round. Official judges at ringside and unofficial scorers at home alike need to use a little personal judgment and not just automatically make a round 10-8 because the ref says there was a knockdown. I didn’t have a problem with scoring the opening round 10-8 despite the shaky knockdown call, because Mares dominated the round so completely that it could almost have been 10-8 without a knockdown. But the 11th round was a different story. It was unfair enough to Agbeko just to make it 10-9 in the other guy’s favor.

In any case, while I had the fight six rounds apiece, with one 10-8 round, giving Mares a one-point win, I’m okay with a 7-5 scorecard and a 115-112 victory for Mares. I also think you could have given Agbeko one more early round than I did (the second was close) and had “King Kong” ahead 114-113. Bottom line: While I don’t quite agree with 115-111 (and I think Byrd’s scorecards are frequently off-base), maybe I was a tad harsh to rank the two judges who scored it that way among the “losers” of the evening. You’re right, Robb, there were no wacky scorecards here. Just a wacky ref who caused scorecards that didn’t reflect what really happened in the fight. With correct knockdown non-calls and reasonable low-blow deductions (conservatively, there should have been one deduction prior to the 11th round and a second one on the “knockdown” punch), Agbeko should have been at least a one-point winner.

And now let’s get the weekly Rants rolling, segueing seamlessly by starting with a note on the Mares-Agbeko rematch in the offing:

• Yes, the alphabet body involved in the Mares-Agbeko fight made a good decision in ordering an immediate rematch. But all of the alphabet embracers in the media, who are so very content with the status quo, shouldn’t rush to press with their “See, we need the alphabets!” columns. This is a rematch that the marketplace was going to dictate happen anyway, and Mares is a real fighter who wasn’t going to run away from it.

• You’ll notice in my Alexander Povetkin-Ruslan Chagaev article that will run later this week on TSS that I don’t write one single word about the silly alphabet title involved, and the story doesn’t suffer for it. Ignore, ignore, ignore. It’s not that hard, people.

• I spoke last week to Doug Loughrey, ESPN boxing’s director of programming and acquisitions, and he informed me that preliminary discussions have begun to get some extra boxing cards on the air late in the year if NBA games are missed. “If there’s not a positive end to the NBA lockout, some dates might open up toward November or December,” Loughrey said. “A lot of the college football games that would have been on ESPN2 would move over to ESPN to fill the NBA slot, and leave a hole on ESPN2 and a need for live programming. If the lockout happens, we’re prepared to step in.” I know most of the folks at ESPN, including Loughrey, aren’t actively rooting for a lockout. But as a boxing fan—and, importantly, as a 76ers fan—I sure am.

• I asked Amir Khan over the weekend if he regretted his conspiracy-theory tweets regarding the Robert Guerrero-Marcos Maidana cancellation. Khan said he wasn’t the one who sent those tweets; they were typed by a second tweeter on the grassy knoll.

• Glen Johnson is clearly the most credible opponent that was available for Lucian Bute to fight, and with Johnson having just fought Carl Froch, this bout will give us some indication of where Bute stands in relation to the Super Six finalists. So I’m fully in favor of Bute-Johnson happening. But at the same time, it’s getting hard to believe Johnson, at age 42 and with close losses in the past 24 months to Froch, Tavoris Cloud, and Chad Dawson is actually going to win a fight against an elite opponent. This fits the description of a quality bout that somehow is hard to get pumped for.

• I will say this, in terms of finding a reason to get pumped for Bute-Johnson: Johnson’s insistence on taking this fight for short money makes you wonder if he knows something the rest of us don’t.

• Is there any reason to think Oliver McCall won’t still be beating fourth-rate heavyweights when he’s in his sixties?

• Alfredo Angulo is back, and on Saturday night, “El Perro” proved he can defeat a chew toy. Instead of the stick-and-move, Joseph Gomez used the move-and-suck, which involves running for one minute, then taking a couple of clean punches and folding immediately. It wasn’t a very entertaining return for Alfredo Angulo, but at least he followed that old show-biz maxim about leaving us wanting more.

• I thought Andre Ward was solid overall providing color commentary on the season finale of Friday Night Fights, and he got off one outstanding line in defense of Demetrius Andrade as the unbeaten prospect started stinking it out in the main event: “This is not pride fighting. This is prize fighting.” I don’t know if it was an original line or not, but it was a fine turn of phrase just the same.

• Credit for another excellent line to fellow fight scribe David Greisman, who tweeted, “Is this Demetrius Andrade Dirrell?” There was an unmistakable Dirrell vs. Curtis Stevens vibe to the fight, though Andrade’s performance wasn’t as boring and maddening. I give Andrade a bit of a pass for the way he fought because Grady Brewer represented such an enormous step up in competition and because Brewer is a dangerous puncher.

• Maybe Andrade-Brewer wasn’t the ideal capper to the FNF season, but at least we got the super-slo-mo in the co-feature that offered blood splashing off of David Diaz’s face, followed by the magnificent undulating ear shot. For what it’s worth, I doubt that left hand from Hank Lundy lands so cleanly if Diaz isn’t busy trying to blink the blood out of his right eye.

• What’s less surprising: that Octomom is hitting the celebrity-boxing circuit, or that Damon Feldman is promoting it?

• It’s not tooting your own horn if you’re quoting someone else tooting it, right? In reference to last week’s episode of Ring Theory (http://ringtheory.podbean.com), one listener with impeccable taste emailed me to say “the Morales-Marquez-Barrera discussion was maybe the best boxing conversation I’ve ever heard.” If you want to discover for yourself what that listener was talking about, well, it’s not too late to subscribe and join our club of true fight fans.

Eric Raskin can be contacted at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter @EricRaskin and listen to new episodes of his podcast, Ring Theory, at http://ringtheory.podbean.com.

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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Published

13 hours ago

May 3, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Canelo-Alvarez-Upends-Dancing-Machine-William-Scull-in-Saudi-Arabia

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.

In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.

Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.

Semi-wind-up

In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.

A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.

The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.

Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.

Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2014 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.

Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.

Heavyweights

In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.

Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was e=never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.

The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.

In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roch to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions

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Rolly Romero Upsets Ryan Garcia in the Finale of a Times Square Tripleheader

Published

2 days ago

May 2, 2025

David A. Avila

Rolly Romero Upsets Ryan Garcia in the Finale of a Times Square Tripleheader

Disappointment.

Those bright lights on Times Square proved too much for some but not for Rolly Romero who soaked it up, floored Ryan Garcia early, then cruised to victory on the public streets of Manhattan on Friday.

Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) rode into the prize ring in a vintage Chevy Impala against Garcia (24-2, 23 KOs) and his flashy Batmobile on the streets of Manhattan and walked away victorious.

Simple as one-two-three.

Though both fighters pack tremendous power it was the lightning speed of Garcia that transfixed most and many felt that speed would prevail. It did not.

Instead, Romero caught Garcia inside with his own left hook followed quickly with another hook and down went the Southern Californian in the second round. But just like in previous instances Garcia quickly got up.

Romero tried to end the fight but was caught with a Garcia left hook and you could visibly see the changes in attitude. Romero re-thought his strategy and took the safer approach of making it a slow-moving exchange of feints, jabs and touches from distance.

For the next 10 rounds the crowd first sat on the edge of their seat then slowly sank back realizing that self-preservation had overtaken both fighters.

Though there were moments of possible shock, awe and explosion, it never came. After 12 rounds two judges scored it 115-112, and another 118-109 for Romero.

“Knockdowns always help the fighter,” said Romero.

Garcia was gracious in defeat.

“Rolly fought a good fight and did a good job,” said Garcia. “Hats off to Rolly.”

Haney Wins

Las Vegas fighter Devin Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) defeated Central California’s Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-3, 18 KOs) in a fight with few punches exchanged but plenty of side-to-side movement to win by unanimous decision.

For most fans, watching dirt turn to mud would have been more exciting.

If Haney’s goal was to win the fight and remain undefeated, he succeeded. If he was seeking to entertain fans and prove he is one of the best welterweights in the world?

It was a failure.

Still, Haney evaded exchanges for more than two minutes out of every round. Ramirez, knowing that chasing with abandon could lead to traps could not close the distance.

Haney did get caught a few times and proved any shock residual from his last fight against Ryan Garcia a year ago was a none-issue. Ramirez was also caught by a few uppercuts and survived.

Though very little meaningful punches were landed by either fighter, the judges chose Haney 119-109 twice and 118-110.

Teofimo Wins

Fighting in front of hometown fans, Teofimo Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) gave Arnold Barboza (32-1) his first defeat.

But it was never easy.

It was like watching a magician at work as Lopez led viewers, commentators and TV judges to think he was overwhelming Barboza with his left hand. Meanwhile the actual fight was happening in a far different dimension.

Jim Lampley, the golden voice of TV commentating for decades, returned but he needs a crack group to lead him toward the proper direction. In this instance he was told Lopez was winning every round.

He was not.

Every time Lopez tried to bamboozle his foe, he was met with a body shot, jab or some other deterrent. Every round was contested scientifically with precise steps, counter steps and touches.

Lopez was quickly swollen by the blows landed by Barboza, yet the Californian did not show as much. Lopez was indeed connecting too.

It was a brilliant display of scientific boxing that the commentating crew failed to convey to the viewers. At one point, I simply turned off the sound.

Few blows landed flush. A right cross that beat Lopez to the punch in the sixth round was perhaps the best. A slick three-punch combination by Lopez in the seventh round was poetry.

Neither fighter was able to take over the fight.

Lopez moved around every round never staying in the same spot. Barboza maintained his balance and composure and seldom gave Lopez easy pickings. After 12 rounds of scientific boxing all three judges scored in favor of Lopez 116-112 twice and 118-109.

“Never quit in anything you want to do,” said Lopez.

On another note, the new commentating team for DAZN needs better side support for Lampley.

Overall, the Ring Magazine fight card was all razzle but no dazzle.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 324: Ryan Garcia Leads Three Days in May Battles

Published

3 days ago

May 1, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 324: Ryan Garcia Leads Three Days in May Battles

They’re fighting on the streets of New York again.

Times Square.

Ryan “King Ry” Garcia leads six of the best crack shots in boxing under 30 in New York City on Friday, May 2. It begins a three-day event that moves to Saudi Arabia on Saturday then Las Vegas on Sunday. Three targets.

A number of the best promoters in the sport of boxing are combining forces for “Ring Magazine’s Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.”

Time Square is target one.

Fresh off a one-year suspension, Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) brings his brand of speed and power against Rollie Romero (16-2, 13 KOs), who is no shrinking petunia when it comes to power. They meet in the main event.

Ever since Garcia took off the amateur head gear, he’s shown almost inhuman explosive power and speed. Though his destruction of Devin Haney last year was overturned by the New York Athletic Commission, what viewers saw cannot be erased.

“His dad likes to talk a lot,” said Garcia of Haney. “that’s what got his son beat the first time.”

Now he faces Romero, whose years ago sparring superiority caused a furor when it happened. But sparring and fighting are distinctly different. Now there will be millions watching and future earnings at stake.

“This fight was destined to happen. I called it. I knew it was gonna be at 147 pounds and be one of the biggest fights in boxing history,” said Romero, a two-division champion.

Then, you have Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) who got his loss in the ring removed by the commission but now faces former two-time champion Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) in a welterweight showdown. It’s a compelling match.

“Styles make fights. He does a lot of good things and a lot of bad things in there. It’s my job to go in there and handicap him of the good things he does and exploit the bad things,” said Haney of Ramirez.

Ramirez recently lost his last match and has a history of problems making weight. This fight will not be at 140 pounds, but five pounds heavier.

“I owe it to myself to show up and move up into a bigger weight class. I think that’s going to do wonders for me,” Ramirez said. ““I’m preparing for the best Devin Haney. That’s the guy I want to beat. I want that challenge.”

A super lightweight battle between New York’s Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) and California’s Arnold Barboza (32-0, 11 KOs) might be a Rubik’s Cube battle or a blast of nitro. Both are highly skilled and master craftsmen in a prize ring.

“We’re going to go out there and do what I have to do. I’m going to have fun and beat the brick out of this boy,” said Lopez, one of the local fighters who now lives and trains on the West Coast.

Barboza, a Los Angeles native, has knocked off several top contenders in remaining undefeated.

“This is the toughest opponent of my career,” said Barboza, who bested England’s Jack Catterall and fellow Californian Jose Carlos Ramirez. “I’m gonna punch him in the mouth and see what happens.”

Six of the best American fighters under 30 are slugging it out on Times Square. It probably hasn’t been done since Boss Tweed.

Day Two: Riyadh

Super middleweight champions Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) and William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) meet on Saturday, May 3, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s an extension of Ring Magazine’s event on Friday and presented by Riyadh Season. DAZN will stream the event on pay-per-view.

Another world title match pits Badou Jack (28-3-3, 17 KOs) versus Norair Mikaeljan (27-2 12 KOs) for the WBC cruiser world title.

Also, a return match between Mexico’s Jaime Munguia (44-2, 35 KOs) and France’s Bruno Surace (26-0-2, 5 KOs) in a super middleweight fight.

Day Three: Las Vegas

Immensely talented Naoya “Monster” Inoue of Japan returns to Las Vegas to showcase his fighting skills to an American audience.

It’s been nearly four years since Inoue appeared in Las Vegas and demonstrated why many experts and fans call him the best fighter pound for pound on the planet. The best.

“I’m excited about everything,” said Inoue about the opportunity to fight in front of an American audience once again.

Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) defends the undisputed super bantamweight championship against a little-known banger from San Antonio, Texas named Ramon “Dinamita” Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs). ESPN will televise the Top Rank and Teiken Promotions fight card.

Don’t dismiss Cardenas casually. He is co-promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz who knows a thing or two about signing little known sluggers such as Manny Pacquiao, Marcos Maidana and female undisputed champ Gabriela Fundora.

Cardenas trains with brothers Joel and Antonio Diaz in Indio, California and rumor has it has been cracking on the Uzbeks who are pretty rough and tumble.

Of course, the Monster is another matter.

Inoue has fought many of the best smaller weight fighters such as Luis Nery, Stephen Fulton and the great Nonito Donaire and swept them aside with his combination of speed, power and skill.

“I’m always going for the knockout,” Inoue said.

Cardenas always goes for the knockout too.

Two bangers in Las Vegas. That’s what prizefighting is all about.

“I hope to enjoy the whole atmosphere and the fight,” said Inoue. Also, it’s my first time fighting in the T-Mobile Arena.”

Co-Feature

WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza (26-0, 22 KOs) of Mexico defends against Edward Vazquez (17-2, 4 KOs) of Texas. This will be Espinoza’s third defense of the world title.

Espinoza could be Inoue’s next opponent if the Japanese legend decides to move up another weight division.

Also on the fight card will be Emiliano Vargas, Ra’eese Aleem and others.

Fights to Watch (all times Pacific Time)

Fri. DAZN ppv 2 p.m. Ryan Garcia (24-1) vs Rolando Romero (16-2); Devin Haney (31-1) vs Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-2); Teofimo Lopez (21-1) vs Arnold Barboza (32-0).

Sat. DAZN ppv 2:45 p.m. Saul Alvarez (62-2-2) vs William Scull (23-0); Badou Jack (28-3-3) vs Norair Mikeljan (27-2); Jaime Munguia (44-2) vs Bruno Surace (26-0-2).

Sun. ESPN 7 p.m. Naoya Inoue (29-0) vs Ramon Cardenas (26-1); Rafael Espinoza (26-0) vs Edward Vazquez (17-2); Ra’eese Aleem (21-1) vs Rudy Garcia (13-1-1).

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