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Roads Finally Merged For Josesito & Victor Ortiz; Plus, Upcoming Action

Jose Reynoso shows his fine form in photo by Katharine Rodriguez.
Josesito Lopez’s welterweight clash with Victor Ortiz was just one of many great fights that erupt every time a prizefight is held at the Staples Center.
These two Southern Californian fighters were going at it.
It started 12 years ago when East L.A.’s Oscar De La Hoya met Pomona’s Sugar Shane Mosley for the first time. It was also the debut for boxing in the Staples Center that had just opened. Many of the media were given a tour of the facility. That year, 2000, was also a big year for the Los Angeles Lakers, who captured the NBA title.
De La Hoya was the reigning pound for pound champion and Mosley the upstart and when the fight was announced it sold out the large venue. From round one until the end the two Southern Californians lit up the arena with punches. It was a blur of speed and power but neither was floored. That proved to be the benchmark for all future boxing cards.
Last Saturday, Riverside’s Lopez accepted the role of filling in for former world champion Andre Berto. When that fighter was unable to fight – due to a positive drug test – Lopez accepted readily but was quick to point out that he was not there to simply gain a hefty payday, he was there to win.
Their fight was a vivid reminder of the De La Hoya-Mosley clash 12 years earlier. I had seen both fighters open their pro careers and just recently Mosley retired a few years after De La Hoya. Now, here I was about to witness Lopez and Ortiz meet before thousands in the Staples Center.
I attended Ortiz’s first fight that took place in Las Vegas at the Plaza Hotel and Casino. He needed only two minutes and one second to destroy Raul Montes on June 4, 2004. The main event that night was Rolando Reyes who lost to Miguel Angel Huerta.
I was also at Lopez’s first fight a year earlier at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Feb. 8, 2003. The main event was Shane Mosley fighting Raul Marquez. Lopez didn’t waste time in opening up with all of his guns against Allen Litzau. The fight ended in 53 seconds. Ironically the late Toby Gibson was the referee for both Lopez and Ortiz’s pro debuts.
Lopez stands nearly six-feet tall and debuted at 130 pounds. Slowly he moved up in weight and just recently was fighting as a junior welterweight. Ortiz began as a lightweight and then a junior welterweight. When asked to move up to welterweight and challenge Berto he readily accepted and won.
The move to welterweight helped both Lopez and Ortiz with each showing power, speed and resilience at the 147-pound level.
On Saturday, the 7,000 fans in the arena and the millions watching saw a spectacular fight with both Ortiz and Lopez willing to exchange blows that would have felled a raging rhinoceros. Fans were oohing and aaahing at every exchange. The sound of the blows landing was booming.
Ironically, Ortiz had predicted it would be an all out war and he did his part to prove correct. Lopez, whose abilities were unknown to the world outside of Riverside County before the fight, showed why Ortiz knew what to expect.
Now the entire world knows what Ortiz predicted. Lopez can indeed fight.
For more than nine years I’ve seen both boxers march triumphantly through their professional careers. I’ve known and liked both for their personalities and willingness to fight the best. Though Ortiz was unable to continue to fight due to the broken jaw suffered against Lopez, he gave one hell of a fight. That’s all you can ask for.
Lopez now has the world’s attention. For many years he’s been hidden in the new hotbed of boxing talent in Riverside County. Now he joins a few others who have emerged from the desert dust to gain attention from the television spotlights.
Next Riverside Project: Jose Reynoso
Just one week after Josesito Lopez woke up boxing fans nationwide to the ever-growing talent pool of the Inland area, now it’s Jose “El Nino” Reynoso’s turn to show what fighters from Riverside County can do.
Reynoso (16-3-1, 3 KOs) challenges Russia’s ultra tough Ruslan Provodnikov (21-1, 14 KOs) on Friday, June 29, at Omega Products International in Corona. Thompson Boxing Promotions and Banner Promotions are staging the event. ESPN2 will televise.
Ironically, Provodnikov’s only loss came at the hands of another Riverside County prizefighter, Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera. So he will be fully prepared and is now trained by Freddie Roach.
Roach knows Reynoso or maybe he doesn’t. The last time the famed trainer was on the other corner his fighter Dean Byrne of Ireland knocked down the Riverside boxer several times. Then the fight got tough. Since that defeat in 2009, Reynoso has reeled off seven fights without a loss and has been a much better fighter since Roach last saw him.
Reynoso has learned his quirky southpaw style gives opponents fits and he is never under prepared for anyone. Stamina is one of his strengths. Provodnikov also can fight all night long and has never been stopped.
Can Reynoso follow in the footsteps of Lopez who last week stopped former world champion Victor Ortiz, or Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley another Riverside County boxer who pulled off a shocking upset over Manny Pacquiao? Well, maybe it was an upset to people outside of the area but not really to Riverside boxing fans.
In a junior featherweight match, San Diego’s Christopher Martin (23-2-3, 6 KOs) encounters Mexicali, Mexico’s Roberto “Azabache” Castaneda (20-1, 15 KOs) in the semi-main event. Martin is trying to get back into the win column after suffering two losses and a draw this past year. Castaneda is making his first appearance in this country.
Another bout includes a rematch between Maywood’s Lissette Medel (6-1-1) and Las Vegas boxer Tatina Anderson (5-1-1) in a junior lightweight fight. Both fought to a four-round draw a year ago in Primm, Nevada.
Fantasy Springs
IBF junior middleweight titleholder Cornelius “K-9” Bundrage (31-4, 18 KOs) defends against Cory Spinks (39-6, 11 KOs) in a return match on Saturday, June 30, at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio. Bundrage took the title from Spinks nearly two years ago.
Both come from the Midwest. Spinks hails from St. Louis and Bundrage from Detroit. Perhaps this was the best neutral site for the fight.
Bundrage, 39, formerly participated in the Contender reality television series in 2006. Though he didn’t win he proved to be very strong and captured the world title last year by knocking out Spinks in his hometown of St. Louis.
Golden Boy Promotions is the host for the fight card so it may be they are priming the winner of this fight to meet one of their many other junior middleweights.
Several other good match ups are scheduled.
Cuba’s Erislandy Lara ( 16-1-1, 11 KOs) faces Mexico City’s Freddy Hernandez (30-2, 20 KOs) in another junior middleweight bout. The 10-round fight could produce the winner to meet the victor of the Bundrage-Spinks main event. It’s a loaded division and Golden Boy has several of its fighters like James Kirkland, Alfredo Angulo and WBC titleholder Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in its vast stable ready to go.
More Lopez
After Riverside’s Lopez defeated Victor Ortiz last Saturday, the CEO of Golden Boy Richard Schaefer said that his performance proved him ready to fight “Canelo” Alvarez. But will it happen on September 15 in Las Vegas as planned? That’s the question.
Rival promoter Top Rank has announced it will stage a world title fight on Sept. 15 in Las Vegas between Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Can Las Vegas host two world title fight cards simultaneously?
More Golden Boy
Oscar “Golden Boy” De La Hoya announced he will attend the fights at Fantasy Springs on Saturday June 30. He will also be available for autographs and photos. The boxing card will be televised on Showtime.
Fights on television
Fri. ESPN2, 7 p.m., Ruslan Provodnikov (21-1) vs. Jose Reynoso (16-3-1).
Sat. Showtime, 9 p.m. Cornelius Bundrage (31-4) vs. Cory Spinks (39-6).
Sat. Telefutura, 11 p.m., Michael Perez (15-1-1) vs. Eric Cruz (13-9-3).
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Sam Goodman and Eccentric Harry Garside Score Wins on a Wednesday Card in Sydney

Australian junior featherweight Sam Goodman, ranked #1 by the IBF and #2 by the WBO, returned to the ring today in Sydney, NSW, and advanced his record to 20-0 (8) with a unanimous 10-round decision over Mexican import Cesar Vaca (19-2). This was Goodman’s first fight since July of last year. In the interim, he twice lost out on lucrative dates with Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue. Both fell out because of cuts that Goodman suffered in sparring.
Goodman was cut again today and in two places – below his left eye in the eighth and above his right eye in the ninth, the latter the result of an accidental head butt – but by then he had the bout firmly in control, albeit the match wasn’t quite as one-sided as the scores (100-90, 99-91, 99-92) suggested. Vaca, from Guadalajara, was making his first start outside his native country.
Goodman, whose signature win was a split decision over the previously undefeated American fighter Ra’eese Aleem, is handled by the Rose brothers — George, Trent, and Matt — who also handle the Tszyu brothers, Tim and Nikita, and two-time Olympian (and 2021 bronze medalist) Harry Garside who appeared in the semi-wind-up.
Harry Garside

Harry Garside
A junior welterweight from a suburb of Melbourne, Garside, 27, is an interesting character. A plumber by trade who has studied ballet, he occasionally shows up at formal gatherings wearing a dress.
Garside improved to 4-0 (3 KOs) as a pro when the referee stopped his contest with countryman Charlie Bell after five frames, deciding that Bell had taken enough punishment. It was a controversial call although Garside — who fought the last four rounds with a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads in the opening frame – was comfortably ahead on the cards.
Heavyweights
In a slobberknocker being hailed as a shoo-in for the Australian domestic Fight of the Year, 34-year-old bruisers Stevan Ivic and Toese Vousiutu took turns battering each other for 10 brutal rounds. It was a miracle that both were still standing at the final bell. A Brisbane firefighter recognized as the heavyweight champion of Australia, Ivic (7-0-1, 2 KOs) prevailed on scores of 96-94 and 96-93 twice. Melbourne’s Vousiuto falls to 8-2.
Tim Tsyzu.
The oddsmakers have installed Tim Tszyu a small favorite (minus-135ish) to avenge his loss to Sebastian Fundora when they tangle on Sunday, July 20, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Their first meeting took place in this same ring on March 30 of last year. Fundora, subbing for Keith Thurman, saddled Tszyu with his first defeat, taking away the Aussie’s WBO 154-pound world title while adding the vacant WBC belt to his dossier. The verdict was split but fair. Tszyu fought the last 11 rounds with a deep cut on his hairline that bled profusely, the result of an errant elbow.
Since that encounter, Tszyu was demolished in three rounds by Bakhram Murtazaliev in Orlando and rebounded with a fourth-round stoppage of Joey Spencer in Newcastle, NSW. Fundora has been to post one time, successfully defending his belts with a dominant fourth-round stoppage of Chordale Booker.
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Thomas Hauser’s Literary Notes: Johnny Greaves Tells a Sad Tale

Johnny Greaves was a professional loser. He had one hundred professional fights between 2007 and 2013, lost 96 of them, scored one knockout, and was stopped short of the distance twelve times. There was no subtlety in how his role was explained to him: “Look, Johnny; professional boxing works two ways. You’re either a ticket-seller and make money for the promoter, in which case you get to win fights. If you don’t sell tickets but can look after yourself a bit, you become an opponent and you fight to lose.”
By losing, he could make upwards of one thousand pounds for a night‘s work.
Greaves grew up with an alcoholic father who beat his children and wife. Johnny learned how to survive the beatings, which is what his career as a fighter would become. He was a scared, angry, often violent child who was expelled from school and found solace in alcohol and drugs.
The fighters Greaves lost to in the pros ran the gamut from inept local favorites to future champions Liam Walsh, Anthony Crolla, Lee Selby, Gavin Rees, and Jack Catterall. Alcohol and drugs remained constants in his life. He fought after drinking, smoking weed, and snorting cocaine on the night before – and sometimes on the day of – a fight. On multiple occasions, he came close to committing suicide. His goal in boxing ultimately became to have one hundred professional fights.
On rare occasions, two professional losers – “journeymen,” they’re called in The UK – are matched against each other. That was how Greaves got three of the four wins on his ledger. On September 29, 2013, he fought the one hundredth and final fight of his career against Dan Carr in London’s famed York Hall. Carr had a 2-42-2 ring record and would finish his career with three wins in ninety outings. Greaves-Carr was a fight that Johnny could win. He emerged triumphant on a four-round decision.
The Johnny Greaves Story, told by Greaves with the help of Adam Darke (Pitch Publishing) tells the whole sordid tale. Some of Greaves’s thoughts follow:
* “We all knew why we were there, and it wasn’t to win. The home fighters were the guys who had sold all the tickets and were deemed to have some talent. We were the scum. We knew our role. Give some young prospect a bit of a workout, keep out of the way of any big shots, lose on points but take home a wedge of cash, and fight again next week.”
* “If you fought too hard and won, then you wouldn’t get booked for any more shows. If you swung for the trees and got cut or knocked out, then you couldn’t fight for another 28 days. So what were you supposed to do? The answer was to LOOK like you were trying to win but be clever in the process. Slip and move, feint, throw little shots that were rangefinders, hold on, waste time. There was an art to this game, and I was quickly learning what a cynical business it was.”
* “The unknown for the journeyman was always how good your opponent might be. He could be a future world champion. Or he might be some hyped-up nightclub bouncer with a big following who was making lots of money for the promoter.”
* “No matter how well I fought, I wasn’t going to be getting any decisions. These fights weren’t scored fairly. The referees and judges understood who the paymasters were and they played the game. What was the point of having a go and being the best version of you if nobody was going to recognize or reward it?”
* “When I first stepped into the professional arena, I believed I was tough. believed that nobody could stop me. But fight by fight, those ideas were being challenged and broken down. Once you know that you can be hurt, dropped and knocked out, you’re never quite the same fighter.”
* “I had started off with a dream, an idea of what boxing was and what it would do for me. It was going to be a place where I could prove my toughness. A place that I could escape to and be someone else for a while. For a while, boxing was that place. But it wore me down to the point that I stopped caring. I’d grown sick and tired of it all. I wished that I could feel pride at what I’d achieved. But most of the time, I just felt like a loser.”
* “The fights were getting much more difficult, the damage to my body and my psyche taking longer and longer to repair after each defeat. I was putting myself in more and more danger with each passing fight. I was getting hurt more often and stopped more regularly. Even with the 28-day [suspensions], I didn’t have time to heal. I was staggering from one fight to the next and picking up more injuries along the way.”
* “I was losing my toughness and resilience. When that’s all you’ve ever had, it’s a hard thing to accept. Drink and drugs had always been present in my life. But now they became a regular part of my pre-fight preparation. It helped to shut out the fear and quieted the thoughts and worries that I shouldn’t be doing this anymore.”
* “My body was broken. My hands were constantly sore with blisters and cuts. I had early arthritis in my hip and my teeth were a mess. I looked an absolute state and inside I felt worse. But I couldn’t stop fighting yet. Not before the 100.”
* “I had abused myself time after time and stood in front of better men, taking a beating when I could have been sensible and covered up. At the start, I was rarely dropped or stopped. Now it was becoming a regular part of the game. Most of the guys I was facing were a lot better than me. This was mainly about survival.”
* “Was my brain f***ed from taking too many punches? I knew it was, to be honest. I could feel my speech changing and memory going. I was mentally unwell and shouldn’t have been fighting but the promoters didn’t care. Johnny Greaves was still a good booking. Maybe an even better one now that he might get knocked out.”
* “Nobody gave a f*** about me and whether I lived or died. I didn’t care about that much either. But the thought of being humiliated, knocked out in front of all those people; that was worse than the thought of dying. The idea of being exposed for what I was – a nobody.”
* “I was a miserable bastard in real life. A depressive downbeat mouthy little f***er. Everything I’ve done has been to mask the feeling that I’m worthless. That I have no value. The drinks and the drugs just helped me to forget that for a while. I still frighten myself a lot. My thoughts scare me. Do I really want to be here for the next thirty or forty years? I don’t know. If suicide wasn’t so impactful on people around you, I would have taken that leap. I don’t enjoy life and never have.”
So . . . Any questions?
****
Steve Albert was Showtime’s blow-by-blow commentator for two decades. But his reach extended far beyond boxing.
Albert’s sojourn through professional sports began in high school when he was a ball boy for the New York Knicks. Over the years, he was behind the microphone for more than a dozen teams in eleven leagues including four NBA franchises.
Putting the length of that trajectory in perspective . . . As a ballboy, Steve handed bottles of water and towels to a Knicks back-up forward named Phil Jackson. Later, they worked together as commentators for the New Jersey Nets. Then Steve provided the soundtrack for some of Jackson’s triumphs when he won eleven NBA championships as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.
It’s also a matter of record that Steve’s oldest brother, Marv, was arguably the greatest play-by-play announcer in NBA history. And brother Al enjoyed a successful career behind the microphone after playing professional hockey.
Now Steve has written a memoir titled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth. Those who know him know that Steve doesn’t like to say bad things about people. And he doesn’t here. Nor does he delve into the inner workings of sports media or the sports dream machine. The book is largely a collection of lighthearted personal recollections, although there are times when the gravity of boxing forces reflection.
“Fighters were unlike any other professional athletes I had ever encountered,” Albert writes. “Many were products of incomprehensible backgrounds, fiercely tough neighborhoods, ghettos and, in some cases, jungles. Some got into the sport because they were bullied as children. For others, boxing was a means of survival. In many cases, it was an escape from a way of life that most people couldn’t even fathom.”
At one point, Steve recounts a ringside ritual that he followed when he was behind the microphone for Showtime Boxing: “I would precisely line up my trio of beverages – coffee, water, soda – on the far edge of the table closest to the ring apron. Perhaps the best advice I ever received from Ferdie [broadcast partner Ferdie Pacheco] was early on in my blow-by-blow career – ‘Always cover your coffee at ringside with an index card unless you like your coffee with cream, sugar, and blood.’”
Writing about the prelude to the infamous Holyfield-Tyson “bite fight,” Albert recalls, “I remember thinking that Tyson was going to do something unusual that night. I had this sinking feeling in my gut that he was going to pull something exceedingly out of the ordinary. His grousing about Holyfield’s head butts in the first fight added to my concern. [But] nobody could have foreseen what actually happened. Had I opened that broadcast with, ‘Folks, tonight I predict that Mike Tyson will bite off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear,’ some fellas in white coats might have approached me and said, ‘Uh, Steve, could you come with us.'”
And then there’s my favorite line in the book: “I once asked a fighter if he was happily married,” Albert recounts. “He said, ‘Yes, but my wife’s not.'”
“All I ever wanted was to be a sportscaster,” Albert says in closing. “I didn’t always get it right, but I tried to do my job with honesty and integrity. For forty-five years, calling games was my life. I think it all worked out.”
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at:
https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329
In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.
The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.
But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.
Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.
Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.
As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.
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