Salido-Lopez Series Latest Example Of Strength Being A Major Factor In Outcome

Published

12 years ago

March 14, 2012

Salido-Lopez Series Latest Example Of Strength Being A Major Factor In Outcome – Throughout the modern era of professional boxing the physical strength versus punching power debate has been ongoing. The media and fans are mesmerized by fighters who have life-taking power and no fighter looks more invincible or unstoppable than an undefeated big puncher on the way up.

What’s so often overlooked and flat out missed is, all fighters can punch. No, they’re not all destroyers, but they all can hit. However, punching power must be delivered and then what if when delivered the other fighter isn’t forced to do what he doesn’t want to? Some fighters are too strong to box and to beat them you have to fight them. Maybe not go toe-to-toe and trade, but to have a chance to win you have no other alternative but to engage with them. And often times because of one fighters’ superiority in ring strength over the other, the weaker fighter has to do something to try and hold his ground. It’s either that or submit, which we know isn’t really an option once a fighter is gloved up and in the midst of combat.

As we saw this past weekend for the second time in two fights, despite perhaps being the bigger puncher, Juan Manuel Lopez couldn’t do enough damage to Orlando Salido before being stopped by him. Forget about punching angles and foot placement, the reality was, when Lopez, who was noticeably gun shy for a few rounds, landed on Salido who fought a more intelligent fight, he couldn’t deter him from proceeding with what he was intent on doing. And a lot of that had to do with Salido being the physically stronger fighter who also possesses the better chin. The sense one got from the onset was that Salido was too strong for Lopez, and Lopez’ defense was just too easy for Salido to penetrate with his Sunday punches.

Granted, while he was fresh Lopez was able to stay with Salido. The problem for Lopez was, despite almost knocking Salido out in the fifth round, he couldn’t finish him. And the punch Lopez nailed Salido with would’ve knocked out a horse. Once that didn’t work, there was no hope for Lopez. Salido, who is clearly the stronger fighter, by surviving the best Lopez had, began to come on. By the 10th round Lopez was weakened and had nothing left and was ultimately put away. Postfight, Salido’s face looks like he was mugged. Only the mugger wasn’t strong enough to finish him and take his wallet.

Forget about the Salido-Lopez series for a moment. Look at some other big match ups where the maybe better technician hung with the stronger, more durable fighter until after using up everything they had physically to stay in the fight, they had nothing left after five or so rounds.

Look at the series between former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier and decade long top contender Jerry Quarry. When they met the first time, Jerry tried to take the fight to Joe. And for the better part of three rounds he gave every bit as good as he took. The problem was that in order for Jerry to fight Frazier on even terms during those nine minutes, it took everything he had physically and by the fourth round Quarry’s stamina was springing leaks. From the fourth round on Frazier didn’t miss a beat and Quarry kept falling more links behind until the fight was stopped after the seventh round due to a terrible eye cut and Jerry not having anything left to defend himself.

When they fought a second time five years later, Quarry had re-invented himself and promised that he wasn’t gonna fight Joe’s fight and go to war with him again. When that was relayed back to Frazier, he assured the media that once he tagged Jerry with something big, he’d go back to fighting him and then he’d take over the fight. And for the first round Quarry boxed beautifully and wasn’t nailed with anything of major consequence. Then came round two and Frazier landed a thundering left-hook to Quarry’s jaw. From that moment on Quarry was fighting for his life because he wasn’t strong enough to box Joe. Sure, he knew that he wanted to use the ring and keep Frazier turning as he was going away from his left hook, but he lacked the needed physical strength, not punch, to keep Frazier off so he could box him.

We can use Frazier again in his fights with Jimmy Ellis and Muhammad Ali. Both Jimmy and Muhammad wanted to use the ring and time Joe on the way in as they picked their spots. For two rounds Ellis was looking good, then once he ate a big left hook in the third round, he was never able to physically recover and couldn’t come out for the fifth round. The biggest difference between Ellis and Ali fighting Frazier was, Ali was physically strong enough to come back after Joe landed a lot of heavy leather on him.

You can’t say that Ali really beat up or hit Joe much, if any harder than Ellis did while Jimmy wasn’t tired. The difference was Ali was strong enough to not only stand up to Frazier’s head and body assault, he was also strong enough to tie Frazier up and force him to break off the exchanges. And even when Ali needed to come up for air, he could go to the ropes and let Joe work his body over, yet in two of their three fights Ali had the needed reserve to come back in the later rounds because he was so physically strong.

Another great example is the two fight series between light heavyweight champs Matthew Saad Muhammad and Marvin Johnson. I remember being in the gym 10 days before their first fight at the Spectrum in Philadelphia when Johnson came to Frazier’s to train. On his last day before the fight when he came in to just warm up, trainer George Benton told Johnson that Saad was as strong as a wild bull, and for Johnson to assure himself a win, he couldn’t trade with or engage Saad in a brutal fight that turned into a war. Yes, Johnson was probably the sharper puncher of the two, but Saad had a great chin was prohibitively stronger than Marvin.

When they met in the ring Johnson dominated the first eight rounds, hitting Saad with left and right uppercuts that should’ve landed his head in the upper rafters. But as Benton warned, Saad was so strong and couldn’t be broken by a fighter who wasn’t as strong as he was. After beating Saad for eight rounds Johnson started to tire and the wall in front of him started to fire back at Johnson who lacked the strength and energy to stabilize Saad’s rally. Johnson attempted in vain to box Saad and keep the fight from becoming a war of attrition. But due to him emptying his wagon in trying to either get “Miracle” Matthew out of there or deplete him enough to the point where he couldn’t come on at the end, it took everything out of Johnson and he couldn’t hold him off and was stopped late in the 12th and final round.

In their rematch two years later the same scenario was repeated. Only this time Johnson’s strength and energy were depleted in eight rounds. So regardless of how well he fought and boxed while he was fresh along with him being the better technician, Marvin Johnson wasn’t physically strong enough to defeat Matthew Saad Muhammad the only way he could, by boxing him. In two fights Johnson had the early formula to beat Saad, but the physicality of Saad dictated the outcome of both fights. And like Salido this weekend, Saad looked like the loser after both fights.

When all is said and done, Juan Manuel Lopez lacks the needed physical tools to get the execution fighting Orlando Salido. He doesn’t have enough punching power to stop him, and once he gets winded and slows down some, he isn’t physically strong enough to box and survive an emerging Salido. Like any fighter in that predicament, once Lopez realizes that he can’t get rid of Salido and he’s growing confident and escalating his attack, JuanMa begins to rush his shots. At this point Xs & O’s are forgotten and the only thing he’s running on is trying to survive until he comes up with something or lands a lottery punch.

If Lopez and Salido fought only four or six round bouts, Lopez would have the edge because Salido can’t really get to Lopez until he expends himself. While fresh Lopez can handle anything Salido tries. The problem is, for him to keep Salido somewhat under control, it takes everything out of him physically and in a long damaging fight, Lopez lacks the needed physicality to make it to the end of the 12th round.

The asset of physical ring strength (much different than who is simply the stronger man) and durability is monumental in determining the outcome between two closely matched world class fighters. No, it’s not the be all end all but it effects so much of what transpires after fighters touch each other and feel the physical presence of each other. In the end the stronger fighter isn’t guaranteed to be the winner every time out, but it sure is a huge advantage that’s very difficult to address and overcome. And the biggest punchers aren’t necessarily always the stronger fighter physically.

Salido-Lopez Series Latest Example Of Strength Being A Major Factor In Outcome / Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.

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Frank Lotierzo

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

3 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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