Broner Is 143 Pounds In AM, But Escobedo Fight Is ON

Published

12 years ago

July 21, 2012

Lee Wylie

Well, that was a fiasco. Broner was 133 1/2 Friday, needed to be 140 or under Saturday AM…and weighed 143 pounds. So quite rightly, Team Escobedo pulled out. And then pulled back in…he gets a chunk of Broner's purse, because The Show Must Go On, and boxing is the theater of the unexpected.

Adrien Broner-Vicente Escobedo: U.S Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio. Shown on HBO and BoxNation in the UK.

Vicente Escobedo, 26-3 {15} must be thinking to himself: How do you solve a problem like Broner? It's a good question. Maybe, he figured, after seeing Broner weigh in three and a half pounds over the limit on Friday, that part of the problem was solved. Perhaps Broner was looking past Escobedo, to bigger things in the near future, and maybe he wasn't mentally focused on this test. Thus far, Broner, 23-0 {19}has looked simply sensational en route to establishing himself as, in many people's eyes, boxing's premier young talent. The Cincinnati native's flamboyant and boisterous behaviour -he's one of the most polarizing fighter's around- makes him a true entertainer. None of this would matter though, if Broner couldn't back it up once inside the roped square. Unfortunately for Escobedo, not to mention the other twenty-three others who have already tried,he does.

Vicente Escobedo is what I would call a nice fighter.He's pretty well-rounded, throws a decent jab, motors well around the ring,is the owner of decent hand speed and power, and has the cajones to mix it up if the situation occurs. That said, I don't think he has the specialist tools that would be required to solve a problem like the one awaiting him, because I don't think the weight issue will suddenly render Broner a so-so talent. It's not that Escobedo does anything particularly bad,it's just that he fails to possess any stand-out attribute that would really disrupt Broner and take him out of his game. So far,Escobedo has came up short against the most talented fighters he's faced -Katsidis in 2009 and Guerrero in 2010- and hasn't fought anyone of their calibre in his last four fights {Walter Estrada, Rocky Juarez, Lonnie Smith and Juan Ruiz}.In terms of athleticism, skill and technique, Escobedo is probably in for the toughest fight of his life.

Notwithstanding a close unanimous decision win over hard hitting southpaw Daniel Ponce de Leon back in March of last year, Broner has looked every bit the boxing prodigy that many have been quick to bestow upon him. Using his vast array of defensive craft to first neutralize and stabilize his opponent's offense, Broner then sets about quickly dispatching them using his lightning quick offensive bursts and high-grade power power -none of his last three opponents have made it beyond the fourth round- and his superior ring mechanics. Often compared to Floyd Mayweather Jr, and for good reason I might add,Broner shares a lot of common attributes with his self professed idol. Defensively, both possess the uncanny ability to stand within punching range of their opponents, before making them miss by inches with a subtle move -namely a roll of the shoulder-while remaining perfectly poised and balanced, allowing for a counter. Also, on offense, both are as smooth and relaxed as they come. Neither fighter throws much more than a jab or a straight right hand, although Broner tends to work the body more with left hooks, but both share the same mentality when it comes to letting their hands go -straight, untelegraphed, cerebral punching. This allows them to reveal no more of their intended movement towards an opponent than someone displaying a poker face would reveal his next card to his fellow player.

The mere fact that Broner is being talked about as a “next Floyd Mayweather,” and not just for his out of the ring demeanor either,gives an idea as to just how highly regarded he is.

Prediction:

In spite of a sudden rise in upsets of late, it's really hard to imagine one coming into fruition this Saturday. Escobedo is a good fighter, Broner meanwhile is a potentially great fighter, even if questions now arise about his focus and professionalism. Broner's sheer athleticism alone would probably be too much for Escobedo to deal with. Once you throw in Broner's superior speed, technique and power however, suddenly, the odds looked stacked in his favour.

From a strategical point of view, Escobedo should come out moving, fighting off the back foot,looking to implement his advantages in height and reach by attempting to keep Broner on the outside. Broner is a counter-puncher, so Escobedo should give him very little to counter -plenty of feints before throwing and a lot of punch variation.The jab, boxing's straightest and quickest punch,is an important weapon against a counter-puncher, especially if you're trying to keep the fight at arms length as Escobedo will be, but he must not allow Broner to familiarize himself with it, as his timing is impeccable.

Of course,such strategies are easier plotted than produced. Does Escobedo really possess the skill-set to execute such a strategy and pull off the upset? Not likely by my reckoning. Broner, even at this early stage in his career, is of an entirely different breed to Escobedo.The superior speed, reflexes, skill, defensive/offensive ratio and just about any other boxing nuance you can think of should equate to Broner having an easy time of it tonight.

I do believe Escobedo, as he should, will come out looking to box behind his jab trying to keep Broner on the end of the stick. However, despite his counter-punching nature, Broner is highly adept at walking his man down while at the same time making him miss {something Chad Dawson found extremely difficult to pull off against Jean Pascal}. Broner is excellent at cutting off the ring; his foot speed and quickness enable him to maneuver his opponent into where he wants them. Once Broner positions his opponent, he can inflict damage with either hand. Broner's last two stoppages have come via a straight right hand and a short left on the inside. Even with only a little experience, Broner is one of the few fighters competing today whose many attributes never seem to be placed in jeopardy by any of his others -despite the wide stance, which allows for his punching power and defense, his quickness around the ring remains cat-like as does the transition from defense to offense.

With Broner,I get the feeling that we haven't yet seen the very best of him. Maybe we will see something special tonight? I believe Broner has the perfect opponent -one who has never been stopped- in front of him to really make a statement. Look for Broner to have found his range by the third round, where he will then proceed to dominate his less talented opponent with the jab, straight right hand and lead left hook. I also have a feeling, as with many a taller fighter, that Escobedo won't like it to the body.Watch for Broner to be working that area every time Escobedo finds himself with his back to the ropes. Simply put, Broner should be able to dominate Escobedo in just about every aspect of the fight.

With bigger fights on the horizon -namely at 135 pounds and even above- Broner must not look past the opponent at hand. Like I mentioned earlier, there's been an unprecedented sequence of upsets recently, and thus I now finds himself second guessing some of these perceived boxing formalities.

Not here though.

I fully expect Broner to have put an end to matters by the eighth round, thus taking his knockout streak to four and looking just as spectacular inside the ring tonight as he will likely do coming down the aisle outside it.

It's been mentioned here before. We know how GOOD Adrien Broner is, now let's see how GREAT he can be….One step at a time though.

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Lee Wylie

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

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-289-East-L.A.-A-Fight-Town-Claressa-Shields-and-More

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

Arne's-Almanac-Jake-Paul-and-Women's-Boxing-a-Curmudgeon's-Take

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

Former-World-Bamtamweight-Champion-Richie-Sandoval-Passes-Away-at-age-63

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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