Breakdown: Chavez-Rubio

Published

12 years ago

February 3, 2012

Chavez Jr Rubio weighin 120203 001a Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and #1 ranked Marco Antonio Rubio weigh in (Chavez 159.5 lbs., Rubio 159 lbs.) at the Alamodome in San Antonio,Texas, Friday for their upcoming world title fight, Saturday, Feb. 4. (Chris Farina)

I do not envy Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.

For a kid who was supposed to have it easy, things have gotten a bit complicated. When he started his professional career back in 2003, the blueprint appeared to be simply to cash in on his legendary namesake’s reputation and make a few bucks before the public realized they were being scammed. Even Junior seemed to be fine with the arrangement. Judging by the marked lack of craft and notoriously lazy work ethic that defined his early career, it didn’t look like Chavez the Younger had any intent of being a serious fighter.

Then things took an unexpected turn. That Junior defeated the scores of no-hopers put in front of him was no surprise, but the fact that many fans believed those wins were indicative of something meaningful was somewhat unforeseen. He was gaining throngs of fans who loved the idea of a running legacy of greatness in the Chavez clan. At the same time, he was also gaining a band of skeptics who resented the idea of a kid who was getting, what they perceived to be, unfair and unearned opportunities that more deserving fighters did not.

As I mentioned earlier, I wouldn’t want to trade places with Chavez. On one hand, he’s got an overwhelming fan base with expectations that he probably can’t live up to, at least not at this point of his career. On the other, he’s drawn a band of skeptics who have been waiting for the fraudulent fairy tale to come to an end, for the kid to be exposed as a con artist, and for boxing logic (or karma) to play itself out.

To his credit, Chavez has made a much more concerted effort to be a serious prizefighter. He’s brought in Freddy Roach as a hired gun. His work ethic and training routines are much improved. It seems to Chavez that if boxing is something worth doing, it’s worth doing right.

Going into Saturday night’s fight with former title-challenger Marco Antonio Rubio, the big question remains as to how seriously we should take Junior. The rugged, but limited Rubio figures to be a decent test for the 25-year old Chavez, who, for the time being, is respectfully declining to engage with the upper echelon of the middleweight division.

So how will the first major boxing subplot of 2012 play out? Will the Chavez Jr. express train roll on to the next stop? Or will Rubio cause it to derail, as so many have predicted it would? Several important factors will all come together to determine the outcome of Saturday night’s main event.

The Manfredo Effect
Chavez’ last performance was probably his most impressive to date: a fifth round stoppage of former Contender participant and world title challenger Peter Manfredo. What was so impressive was that Chavez demonstrated an impressive arsenal that showed he has more chops than he’s been given credit for. He jabbed with conviction, maintained solid balance, set up openings for combinations, and minimized risk more than he had in the past. Afterward, more than a few doubters had to grudgingly admit that the kid looked pretty sharp, and his supporters would have us believe that Junior was starting to put the pieces together under the tutelage of Roach.

It was an impressive performance, yes, but let’s not get carried away. Remember that Chavez was in with maybe the most compliant opponent possible in that type of situation. This is the same Peter Manfredo who froze against Joe Calzaghe and Sakio Bika. He was chosen because he was a safe bet to revert to those habits against Chavez, which is pretty much what he did. This is no fault to Chavez, who did his job and did it exceptionally well. Still, with all due respect to the good-guy Manfredo, he was there for a reason, and he fulfilled it.

So what’s the real verdict on Chavez’ progress, taking into consideration the Manfredo Effect? Realistically, he is improving, but probably not as much as some might want you to believe.

Rubio: The (Sometimes) Willing Accomplice
When someone looks at the glossy record of Marco Antonio Rubio, boasting 53 wins and 46 knockouts, he looks like an experienced, world-class threat. But when you look at that record long enough, like a Magic Eye picture, a whole different image appears.

Of his fifty three wins, Rubio’s career-defining win came against the untested prospect David Lemieux. That is, unless you consider wins over Grady Brewer or the ancient likes of Frankie Randall and Jorge Vaca to be especially scintillating. The fact of the matter is that Rubio owns not a single win over an elite-level opponent, which makes his intimidating KO ratio seem a bit less formidable upon closer examination.

Rubio, though, is a toughguy, a man’s man. He’ll do his best with what he’s got, which consists mainly of fairly slow, awkward, thudding punches. He can do damage when allowed to, but has problems when his opponents don’t have losing on their mind.

The idea that Rubio is a real, A-level fighter is challenged by the role he’s been asked to play more than once in his career: the durable, but relatively safe opponent.

In February 2009, Rubio was given an opportunity to face Kelly Pavlik for the middleweight title. Keep in mind, this was a post-Hopkins version of Kelly Pavlik who was in desperate need of a confidence builder in front of the Youngstown faithful. Rubio was, conveniently enough, a mandatory challenger for Pavlik, but common sense would make us believe that the folks at Top Rank were not going to put Pavlik in too tough after the demoralizing loss to Hopkins. They wanted a guy who would give the champ a good workout, rebuild his confidence, but not be too serious of a threat. In Rubio, they got exactly what they wanted, as Pavlik methodically broke him down for a ninth round stoppage win.

For David Lemieux, the plan was similar. Rubio was brought to Montreal for the same reason he went to Youngstown: to help make the hometown boy look good. For the first five rounds, things went according to the script for Team Lemieux. Their man was putting a beating on Rubio, who produced little other than meager offensive bursts. As Lemieux teed off on Rubio, the ending seemed inevitable.

That is, until Lemieux folded like a sunchair. All credit to Rubio’s heart for withstanding a ton of punishment, but his win was dramatically aided by Lemieux’s inexperience in deep waters. Rubio got the win, but the unlikelihood of the circumstances makes it difficult to interpret its significance in any really meaningful way for Rubio.

On Saturday night, Rubio will be called into San Antonio for the same purpose as he was for Pavlik and Lemieux. San Antonio might not be Chavez’ hometown, but you won’t know that based on the support he’ll get from the droves of fans that will pack Alamodome. Will he be a willing accomplice for Chavez, or does he have another storyline in mind?

We’ll find out at the opening bell.

The Likely Plotline
It’s hard to see this fight playing out any other way than the predicable route.

Chavez is quicker than Rubio, not to mention more skilled and versatile. It doesn’t take Copernicus to understand that Rubio’s only means of winning is by landing something big and land it often. Freddie Roach will have Chavez executing a gameplan that will minimize, if not eliminate, Rubio’s chances to smash the homerun ball.

Plan to see Chavez’ improved, intentional jab on display along with simple, effective footwork to keep the plodding Rubio off balance. Sure, there will be exchanges, because this is a Chavez fight after all. But Junior will make sure that he doesn’t gamble too recklessly against Rubio, and eventually the shots will add up. Rubio’s main means of defense is simply to cover up. He’s not a proponent of head movement, but he does have a fondness for moving straight back to avoid punches, all of which is good news for Chavez.

It will be fun, and Rubio will try to hang in there, but Junior’s punches could add up to a late round stoppage. If not, expect a wide unanimous decision.

What It Will All Mean
Honestly, not much. It will go down as a title defense for Chavez. His fans will relish the victory, his detractors will still claim he’s overprotected, and the dual hyperbole will likely continue.

With such a broad spectrum of opinions about Junior’s place in boxing’s pecking order, where does the reality of the situation lie?

As is often the case, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Chavez is probably not a legend in the making, and he’s definitely not a bum. He’s a young man who’s learning on the job what it means to be a fighter, and he looks to be on his way to being a pretty good one.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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