The Vegas Fight Week Experience From A To Z (Part I)

Published

14 years ago

September 19, 2011

MayweatherOrtizFinalPC_Blevins4 I hate the alphabet groups in boxing. But I have nothing against the alphabet itself. So, on the heels of my five days and five nights spent experiencing fight week in Las Vegas, this week’s column will lean on the alphabet as a narrative-structuring device. I’ll offer my insights on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz hoopla from A to Z, sharing my opinions on the various happenings that the fight world is now buzzing about and going behind the scenes with some of the things I saw, heard, and did that I couldn’t have seen, heard, or done from the comfort of my living room:

A is for Action

I’m using “action” to mean two different things here. Primarily, I’m talking about a pay-per-view card that was as action-packed from top to bottom as any I can remember in recent years. Jessie Vargas vs. Josesito Lopez was the close, hard-fought affair I expected it to be. Erik Morales vs. Pablo Cesar Cano was 10 times the bloody, dramatic battle that anyone expected it to be. Saul Alvarez vs. Alfonso Gomez teased us with the possibility of a massive upset before delivering a sudden (perhaps too sudden) finish. And Mayweather vs. Ortiz, whatever you thought of the conclusion, produced the most memorable action of any Mayweather fight since his first clash with Jose Luis Castillo nine years ago.

But “action” also applies to gambling action, and I got an added kick out of silently rooting for the one outcome nobody else in the arena wanted to see: a draw. At 35-1 odds at the MGM Grand sports book, and with any kind of a fluky technical draw getting me paid, I couldn’t help but plunk down $20 for the opportunity to win $700. Oh, how enjoyable it would have been to pull a Mayweather and tweet a picture of my winning ticket, as well as a picture of me holding a phat stack of seven C-notes. (And perhaps using them as a flip phone on which to call my buddy 50 Cent.) But alas, it wasn’t to be. I need to stick to what I do best: acting like I know what’s going to happen in fights without actually putting any money behind my predictions.

B is for Boos

The boos rained down at the Grand Garden Arena both early and late in Saturday’s card. They echoed when Vargas was given a split decision over Lopez in the opening bout of the pay-per-view. (For the record, I had Lopez winning by a point, but this was no robbery; the fight could have gone either way.) And they reverberated again when Mayweather-Ortiz ended abruptly on a less-than-sporting (but 100-percent legal) two-punch combination that Joe Cortez learned about via the magic of instant replay. On the whole, though, we heard a lot more cheering than booing over the course of this action-packed (callback to the letter A!) night of boxing.

C is for Cano

This wasn’t quite Azumah Nelson announcing his arrival with a competitive loss to a prime Salvador Sanchez, but Cano earned my approval with one hell of a mature, gutsy performance for an untested 21-year-old kid facing a Hall-of-Fame-bound legend. And he bled like the girl scout who tried to sell Larry David cookies this year on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Who would have guessed that Lucas Matthysse dropping out of this show would turn out to be a good thing?

D is for Dynamic

As in, the dynamic prepared-statement reading of Leonard Ellerbe. In the midst of the interminable drone-fest that is the final prefight press conference (we need more guys in suits thanking other guys in suits while the fighters sit there playing with their iPhones!), the CEO of Mayweather Promotions/head sycophant attempted to address the media. I say “attempted” because Ellerbe is to public speaking as Victor Ortiz is to beard growing. I especially enjoyed the moment where Ellerbe built and built toward finally bringing Mayweather to the microphone … only it was Ortiz’s turn to speak next, so Ellerbe had to sheepishly hand it off to Oscar De La Hoya instead so that Oscar could introduce his fighter. Good times.

E is for El Terrible

I’ve covered the young man, Cano. How about the old man, Morales? Sure, he looked a little closer to shot than he did last time out, against Marcos Maidana. But he added another thriller to a career absolutely loaded with them. Seriously, Arturo Gatti is revered as the most exciting fighter of his generation, but Morales’ resume of major and minor classics is creeping up on Gatti’s. The guy is simply never in a bad fight, never escapes one without his face looking like it’s gone through a food processor, and even if watching him fight now means watching his love handles jiggle round after round, that’s a small price to pay. It truly was an honor to be there live to see the legendary El Terrible do his thing.

F is for Free Food

As a guy who does a lot of one-day trips to Atlantic City for fights and rarely does these five-day trips to Vegas, most of my media feeding experience involves the college-cafeteria-quality media room buffet at Boardwalk Hall. I wasn’t fully prepared for the majesty of media food in Vegas—with the highlight coming at a Thursday night media dinner at a restaurant called Fiamma, a smorgasbord of fine foods the likes of which I don’t quite experience at home when finishing my kids’ partially eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Golden Boy isn’t sending me any freelance checks anymore, so I may as well at least let them foot the bill for some grub. Speaking of which …

G is for Golden Boy Promotions

As pretty much everyone knows by now, GBP recently gutted the staff of The Ring magazine, firing people who did the job with passion and integrity and expertise in magazine production in favor of … well, other people. I’m not happy about this. I got mildly nauseous at the prefight press conference, watching Richard Schaefer and De La Hoya greet each other on the dais with a big ol’ back-slappy hug. And the nausea just kept bubbling to the surface all week long. Look, there are plenty of employees of Golden Boy against whom I harbor no ill will. But the people who played a hand in the firing of people I respect and care about—while potentially destroying the magazine I’ve spent my entire career proudly representing—made the bile rise inside me throughout the week. I took the most professional path I could: not saying a word to any of them, since I didn’t have anything nice to say.

H is for HBO.com

Editor Steve Marzolf and company are the ones who brought me out to Vegas for the week so I could author the HBO.com blog, and it was a pleasure working with them. In case you missed any of it, you can check out my work for them here http://www.insidehboboxing.com/, and I particularly recommend my fun back-and-forth discussion with fellow scribe Kieran Mulvaney (http://tinyurl.com/3ej6q4j) and my three seconds of fame in this video (http://tinyurl.com/3ep6c8n). Okay, end of commercial interruption, back to our regularly scheduled column …

I is for Indoors

Would you believe I only left the MGM Grand once in the entire five days I was there? I walked 10 minutes to Planet Hollywood on Friday to meet a friend and former business associate for lunch, and otherwise, I breathed recycled casino air for roughly 154 consecutive hours. I guess when I call this column the “Vegas experience,” I should really call it the “MGM Grand experience.” I didn’t actually experience Vegas at all. But I’ve experienced Vegas plenty of times before, so this trip was about ease, convenience, and getting work done. And that meant never seeing the sun. My sources tell me the weather was rather nice.

J is for Jones

In the best undercard fight you didn’t see from the comfort of your home, frequent ESPN2 and ShoBox competitor Carson Jones scored a mild upset of the generally overrated Said Ouali, closing his right eye and forcing his corner to stop the fight after the seventh round. At various points in the fight. I had flashbacks to the first time I saw Ouali fight in person, when he was boxing well before falling apart in the fifth round against the then-unknown Kermit Cintron. When Ouali’s corner threw in the towel on Saturday night, Jones turned toward the crowd, thrust both arms in the air, and yelled, “Yes!” (And because the arena was 96 percent empty throughout the undercard, I was able to hear his voice clearly from seven rows back in the press section.) It was a great moment of triumph for a journeyman fighter still looking to make something of himself, and hopefully he’ll get a TV date out of this entertaining win.

K is for Kyrone Butler

In a far less compelling undercard fight between two guys making their pro debuts, Butler scored a four-round shutout over … wait for it … Cassius Clay. I flew to Vegas to see Cassius Clay handed his first professional loss. I feel like I’m a part of history now.

L is for Larry Merchant

We couldn’t hear it in the arena, but you’d better believe I watched it on YouTube later that night, when HBO’s feisty old color man screamed at Mayweather, “I wish I was 50 years younger and I’d kick your ass!” Some have suggested Merchant went over the line. In my view, sure, it was unprofessional, but it was completely warranted. When Mayweather said Merchant needed to be fired, that’s the kind of threatening statement that causes a man with a backbone to stand up for himself. So Larry did. And it gave us this (http://bit.ly/n5fueo). Everybody wins.

M is for Money Mayweather

Ortiz is a lover. Mayweather is a fighter. He operated within the rules when he decked an opponent who failed to protect himself while the fight was going on, and even if many other fighters wouldn’t have taken advantage of that opening the way Mayweather did, there is no real fault to be found in his actions. And for four rounds leading up to the controversial finish, Floyd was his usual brilliant self. Maybe his resume isn’t as great as he thinks it is. Maybe he’s overrating his place in history. But the man is one heck of a special talent. And the fact that he found a way to both win and perpetuate his bad-guy image means demand for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight won’t cool off one bit. Now it’s up to Mayweather to capitalize on that sometime before both fighters are in their 40s.

(Check back tomorrow for Part II, as we go from N to Z. Admit it, you’re dying to see what liberties I take with the rules in order to use the letter X.)

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

7 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

1 day 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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