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Solving “The Problem”

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BronerPerez Hogan68This Saturday, one of boxing’s most prodigious talents, Adrien Broner {24-0 with 20 Kos} will be stepping u to 135 pounds for the very first time {at least officially} when he meets tough Mexican Antonio DeMarco {28-1-2 with 21 KOS} at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

While the bout is no forgone conclusion -DeMarco is certainly no walk in the park- the general feeling among most boxing people is that Adrien Broner will have too much speed and skill for the tough but limited Tony DeMarco to handle.

With this in mind then, I thought I’d take this time to dissect Adrien Broner’s signature technique, the shoulder roll, and highlight how Tony DeMarco could possibly take advantage of it in any way.

Getting beyond the shoulder

Even at this early stage in his career, Adrien Broner is already one of the best defensive fighters in professional boxing. One of the ways he remains so elusive during a fight is because of the way he uses his shoulder to defend himself. The shoulder roll is the foundation of Broner’s game.

Here’s a quick look at the type of defense we’re going to be looking at.

Demarco vs Broner

Broner defends using the same shoulder roll defense as the likes of James Toney and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Standing side on to his opponent, Broner’s left shoulder is raised and slightly turned in so that it’s guarding his chin. His left elbow is pushed out slightly so that his forearms are protecting his lower left side, and his right glove is positioned by his chin so that his right elbow is covering his lower right side. This defense is excellent for deflecting punches using the shoulders, arms and elbows by rolling in the same direction with the punch. It’s also useful for creating angles to counter back from.

One of the best examples of Adrien Broner effectively using his shoulder roll defense came against Vicente Escobedo during his last fight.

Demarco vs Broner

Vicente Escobedo’s applying pressure in close. Notice as he’s trying to land a left hook to the body followed by a right hook up stairs, how Broner rolls and avoids the attack -blocking Escobedo’s left hook by jamming his right arm into the shot, and Escobedo’s right hook by using his left elbow to intercept the shot as it’s coming over the top. This defense blunts wide punches in close easily.

Demarco vs Broner

Escobedo is standing right in front of Broner. As he tries to land a left/right combination, Broner picks both shots off effortlessly using his elbows. Again, Escobedo’s shots are coming in wide and are easy to track.

 Demarco vs Broner

Once more, Escobedo tries to land a left/right, and once more, Broner evades both shots by using his right elbow and lead shoulder to block and roll with the punches.

Here’s Vicente Escobedo trying to mount some offense without success and this time, being countered for his troubles.

Demarco Vs Broner

Escobedo finds himself standing right in front of Broner with his back up against the ropes. As Escobedo pushes forward in an attempt to land a left hook to the body, Broner places his right glove on the back of Escobedo’s neck and pushes down. Using Escobedo’s neck for leverage, Broner comes back with a short left cross in close, before blocking a right hook to the body by jamming his left shoulder and elbow into the shot. In this position, Broner uses his left elbow to push Escobedo off and create room for a counter right uppercut through the center.

This sequence shows how comfortable Broner is defending inside the pocket.

Demarco vs Broner

Notice as Escobedo throws a jab, Broner sees it coming and performs an inside parry, knocking Escobedo’s lead hand down. Escobedo then follows up with a right and left hook towards the body, but Broner, always relaxed on the inside, intercepts both shots easily using his left elbow to block the right, and right elbow to block the left.

demarcovsBroner11162012 7

Look how Escobedo is attacking Broner the same way over and over. As Escobedo comes in with another left hook/right hook combination, Broner doesn’t even have to adjust his guard. Because Escobedo’s shots are coming in wide, Broner knows he can catch them on his gloves and shoulders by simply rotating his hips. Notice how Broner’s chin is hidden behind his lead shoulder and right glove at all times.

demarcovsBroner11162012 8

Here’s Broner hiding behind his shoulder, this time, disguising his offense. As he pushes Escobedo towards the ropes, notice how Broner is still in a defensive position {chin protected by his lead shoulder and right glove} but he’s also in position to land a right uppercut, or, as he does in this scenario, use his left arm to separate himself from Escobedo in order to land a right hook to the side of Escobedo’s body, underneath Escobedo’s high guard.

By looking at the sequences above, it’s doesn’t take long to realize that Adrien Broner is a very skilled individual. It doesn’t take long to come away with the conclusion that all of Vicente Escobedo’s attacks were too predictable either. Escobedo was never going to take Broner by surprise by standing right in front of him without the using any feints, a change of angle or any creativity prior to launching an attack. Every single Escobedo assault consisted of him attacking in a straight line, throwing nothing but wide left/right combinations. No fighter is going to get beyond Broner by simply pushing forward, hoping to get inside and rough him up. As I’ve already mentioned, I believe Broner’s shoulder roll defense is the perfect foil for neutralizing wide shots on the inside. Once a fighter gets too close to Broner, it’s nigh on impossible for them to throw anything other than wide punches. Broner is very good at eliminating his opponent’s attacking options. By covering up and looking vulnerable, he manipulates his opponents into thinking they will have more success by jumping in and swarming all over him, as opposed to standing off and boxing him.

In March of 2011, Adrien Broner won a hotly disputed decision over rugged veteran, Daniel Ponce De Leon. As I’m sure you’re all aware, De Leon is far from an elite level fighter. He’s not the fastest, not the most athletic nor is he the most technically gifted, and yet he was able to fight on even terms with Adrien Broner for 12 rounds because of a well laid out game plan.

So what was Daniel Ponce De Leon able to do against Adrien Broner that Vicente Escobedo could not?

Movement

demarcovsBroner11162012 10

It’s immediately apparent here, that Ponce De Leon is using more of the ring than what Vicente Escobedo did during his fight with Broner. Whereas Escobedo was always right in front of Broner, peeking out beyond his earmuff guard and his feet in line with his shoulders, De Leon is moving laterally, side to side and giving Broner lots of different looks. Moving in this way doesn’t allow Broner to plant his feet and set himself –crucial elements that are required in order for the shoulder defense to be effective.

Feinting

demarcovsBroner11162012 11

Notice how De Leon comes in with a foot feint and instantly causes Broner to react. De Leon hasn’t even thrown a punch yet, but he’s managed to do something to Broner that Escobedo couldn’t, and that’s put Broner on to his back foot.

demarcovsBroner11162012 12

Notice how Ponce De Leon makes Broner reluctant to throw by feinting him. As De Leon takes a step forward, Broner reacts and leans away. As Broner resets, De Leon steps in again and causes Broner to react again. Feinting in this way disrupts an opponent’s rhythm. Broner is at his best when he’s dictating things -using his slick skills to control the inside action or keeping his opponent occupied with the jab. Broner is too busy thinking about De Leon’s sudden sporadic bursts to do either in this instance. I also want you take another look at Broner’s feet as Ponce De Leon is stepping in. Notice how Broner never really takes a step back. Instead, he relies on nothing but upper body movement to avoid an attack.

Using southpaw angles effectively

demarcovsBroner11162012 13

De Leon is not the quickest of fighters by any stretch of the imagination, but because he has a clear understanding of angles, he’s able to attack where Broner’s at his most vulnerable –in a position where he’s unable to defend and counter with maximum effect. See how De Leon has stepped inside of Broner’s lead shoulder in order to land his lead hand, as opposed to attacking from outside of it as Escobedo did. Broner’s defense is ineffective if the attack is travelling inside of his lead shoulder.

demarcovsBroner11162012 14

Once again, De Leon has managed to get a dominant angle on Broner. As Broner jabs, De Leon ducks under it before landing his trailing to the body. Notice how as De Leon steps in, he’s successful in getting his lead foot outside of Broner’s.

demarcovsBroner11162012 15

It’s the same story again in this sequence. As Ponce De Leon steps forward, Broner is rooted to the spot. Because Broner defends primarily by planting his feet and using upper body movement, as opposed to moving away to avoid an attack, De Leon can gain the outside position and land his trailing hands to Broner’s body by stepping outside of him. A simple step back may have shut down Ponce De Leon’s charge.

Mixing up the target with the one-two

demarcovsBroner11162012 16

Here, Ponce De Leon is drifting left before falling in with an overhand left. Notice how De Leon throws a range finding right before throwing the left. Doing this forces Broner into opening up with a right hand. Believing this was De Leon’s primary attack, Broner left himself available for the left hand over the top. It’s yet another unpredictable, but brilliant strategical attack from Ponce De Leon –drifting left, inside of Broner’s lead shoulder, before attacking in an unpredictable manner, using relatively straight shots as opposed to the wider, easier to read shots of Escobedo.

And another…

demarcovsBroner11162012 17  

De Leon is successful using the same strategy here as well. Only this time, he alternates the target by going to the body instead. Again, Ponce De Leon comes in from the outside and throws a range finding lead right hand before dropping a left hook into Broner’s stomach.

As you can see, there were vast differences between the ways in which Vicente Escobedo and Daniel Ponce De Leon went about their business with Adrien Broner.

Although there was an obvious weight issue when they fought, Vicente Escobedo would have had very little success against Adrien Broner, regardless of weight because;

  • He lacked creativity on offense

  • Showed little to no lateral movement

  • Attacked and backed up in straight lines

  • Remained stationary and in front of Broner for the duration of the fight

  • Continued to throw punches outside of Broner’s lead shoulder.

  • Couldn’t avoid the pocket

  • Threw wide, telegraphed, looping punches

On the other hand, Daniel Ponce De Leon had a lot of success against Adrien Broner because;

  • He used plenty of lateral movement

  • Used his southpaw stance to its full affect {angles}

  • Mixed up his punches, high and low

  • Used feints

  • Avoided the inside for long periods of the fight

  • Used an unpredictable” in and out” strategy

  • Threw straight punches

So what can Tony DeMarco take from both of these fights?

Although common perception says that a defensive counter puncher is susceptible to volume and pressure, I believe that an inside fight here would favor Adrien Broner. Besides, not everyone is able to maintain the same kind of frenetic pace that Abner Mares produced against Anselmo Moreno last weekend.

No, in my view, Tony DeMarco should avoid getting too close to Broner. From mid to long range, there are multiple offensive weapons and angles to choose from. Once inside, however, such is the way that Broner positions himself in relation to his opponent, there are only a few attacking options available, primarily a right or a left hook. When most people look at a fighter like Broner, they assume his defensive skills are a result of God-given perception, when really, it’s down to visual clarity amid heavy fire and the probability of an opponent’s attack. When Broner is defending, his eyes are wide open and he sees everything that’s going on. If an opponent is right up on top of him, then rest assured, he knows that all he needs to look out for are the shots that he’s given his opponent permission to throw, so to speak. It’s all about anticipation. Vicente Escobedo continued to put himself in a position where he could throw nothing but wide hooks around the sides of Broner’s guard. Broner knew this and allowed Escobedo to throw wide shots at his arms, shoulders and elbows, before systematically breaking him down.

I believe DeMarco would be well advised to take a leaf out of Ponce De Leon’s book by using plenty of movement combined with feints, sporadic attacks and straight punching, and also by moving to Broner’s right, and attacking inside of his lead shoulder.

Even though Broner eventually went on to win the fight, he never quite came to terms with what Ponce De Leon was doing to him. DeMarco is an intelligent, gutsy, bigger and probably a quicker fighter than Ponce De Leon. Oh, and he’s got those southpaw angles on his side too.

However, saying what someone could or should do and what someone can do are two very different things entirely. Things look a lot differently in the heat of the battle and I have a funny feeling that Adrien Broner has improved a lot since his struggle with Daniel Ponce De Leon.

If I was a gambling man, I’d say Broner will be too fast and too skilled for DeMarco . I can’t get the vision of Jorge Linares boxing circles round DeMarco before he was eventually cut up and stopped. Simply put, Adrien Broner is bigger, faster and stronger than Linares. He’s also much better defensively and has way more punching power than Jorge Linares too. The more I think about it, the more I can envision Broner taking DeMarco out before the final bell. I sense we haven’t seen the best of Adrien Broner just yet. Maybe this Saturday we get to see something special from a potentially very special fighter.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

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Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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Boxing Trainer Bob Santos Paid his Dues and is Reaping the Rewards

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Bob Santos, the 2022 Sports Illustrated and The Ring magazine Trainer of the Year, is a busy fellow. On Feb. 1, fighters under his tutelage will open and close the show on the four-bout main portion of the Prime Video PPV event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Jeison Rosario continues his comeback in the lid-lifter, opposing Jesus Ramos. In the finale, former Cuban amateur standout David Morrell will attempt to saddle David Benavidez with his first defeat. Both combatants in the main event have been chasing 168-pound kingpin Canelo Alvarez, but this bout will be contested for a piece of the light heavyweight title.

When the show is over, Santos will barely have time to exhale. Before the month is over, one will likely find him working the corner of Dainier Pero, Brian Mendoza, Elijah Garcia, and perhaps others.

Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) turned 28 last month. He is in the prime of his career. However, a lot of folk rate Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) a very live dog. At last look, Benavidez was a consensus 7/4 (minus-175) favorite, a price that betokens a very competitive fight.

Bob Santos, needless to say, is confident that his guy can upset the odds. “I have worked with both,” he says. “It’s a tough fight for David Morrell, but he has more ways to victory because he’s less one-dimensional. He can go forward or fight going back and his foot speed is superior.”

Benavidez’s big edge, in the eyes of many, is his greater experience. He captured the vacant WBC 168-pound title at age 20, becoming the youngest super middleweight champion in history. As a pro, Benavidez has answered the bell for 148 rounds compared with only 54 for Morrell, but Bob Santos thinks this angle is largely irrelevant.

“Sure, I’d rather have pro experience than amateur experience,” he says, “but if you look at Benavidez’s record, he fought a lot of soft opponents when he was climbing the ladder.”

True. Benavidez, who turned pro at age 16, had his first seven fights in Mexico against a motley assortment of opponents. His first bout on U.S. soil occurred in his native Pheonix against an opponent with a 1-6-2 record.

While it’s certainly true that Morrell, 26, has yet to fight an opponent the caliber of Caleb Plant, he took up boxing at roughly the same tender age as Benavidez and earned his spurs in the vaunted Cuban amateur system, eventually defeating elite amateurs in international tournaments.

“If you look at his [pro] record, you will notice that [Morrell] has hardly lost a round,” says Santos of the fighter who captured an interim title in only his third professional bout with a 12-round decision over Guyanese veteran Lennox Allen.

Bob Santos is something of a late bloomer. He was around boxing for a long time, assisting such notables as Joe Goossen, Emanuel Steward, and Ronnie Shields before becoming recognized as one of the sport’s top trainers.

A native of San Jose, he grew up in a Hispanic neighborhood but not in a household where Spanish was spoken. “I know enough now to get by,” he says modestly. He attended James Lick High School whose most famous alumnus is Heisman winning and Super Bowl winning quarterback Jim Plunkett. “We worked in the same apricot orchard when we were kids,” says Santos. “Not at the same time, but in the same field.”

After graduation, he followed his father’s footsteps into construction work, but boxing was always beckoning. A cousin, the late Luis Molina, represented the U.S. as a lightweight in the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, and was good enough as a pro to appear in a main event at Madison Square Garden where he lost a narrow decision to the notorious Puerto Rican hothead Frankie Narvaez, a future world title challenger.

Santos’ cousin was a big draw in San Jose in an era when the San Jose / Sacramento territory was the bailiwick of Don Chargin. “Don was a beautiful man and his wife Lorraine was even nicer,” says Santos of the husband/wife promotion team who are enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Don Chargin was inducted in 2001 and Lorraine posthumously in 2018.

Chargin promoted Fresno-based featherweight Hector Lizarraga who captured the IBF title in 1997. Lizarraga turned his career around after a 5-7-3 start when he hooked up with San Jose gym operator Miguel Jara. It was one of the most successful reclamation projects in boxing history and Bob Santos played a part in it.

Bob hopes to accomplish the same turnaround with Jeison Rosario whose career was on the skids when Santos got involved. In his most recent start, Rosario held heavily favored Jarrett Hurd to a draw in a battle between former IBF 154-pound champions on a ProBox card in Florida.

“I consider that one of my greatest achievements,” says Santos, noting that Rosario was stopped four times and effectively out of action for two years before resuming his career and is now on the cusp of earning another title shot.

The boxer with whom Santos is most closely identified is former four-division world title-holder Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero. The slick southpaw, the pride of Gilroy, California, the self-proclaimed “Garlic Capital of the World,” retired following a bad loss to Omar Figueroa Jr, but had second thoughts and is currently riding a six-fight winning streak. “I’ve known him since he was 15 years old,” notes Santos.

Years from now, Santos may be more closely identified with the Pero brothers, Dainier and Lenier, who aspire to be the Cuban-American version of the Klitschko brothers.

Santos describes Dainier, one of the youngest members of Cuba’s Olympic Team in Tokyo, as a bigger version of Oleksandr Usyk. That may be stretching it, but Dainier (10-0, 8 KOs as a pro), certainly hits harder.

Dainier Pero

Dainier Pero

This reporter was a fly on the wall as Santos put Dainier Pero through his paces on Tuesday (Jan. 14) at Bones Adams gym in Las Vegas. Santos held tight to a punch shield, in the boxing vernacular a donut, as the Cuban practiced his punches. On several occasions the trainer was knocked off-balance and the expression on his face as his body absorbed some of the after-shocks, plainly said, “My goodness, what the hell am I doing here? There has to be an easier way to make a living.” It was an assignment that Santos would have undoubtedly preferred handing off to his young assistant, his son Joe Santos, but Joe was preoccupied coordinating David Morrell’s camp.

Dainer’s brother Lenier is also an ex-Olympian, and like Dainier was a super heavyweight by trade as an amateur. With an 11-0 (8 KOs) record, Lenier Pero’s pro career was on a parallel path until stalled by a managerial dispute. Lenier last fought in March of last year and Santos says he will soon join his brother in Las Vegas.

There’s little to choose between the Pero brothers, but Dainier is considered to have the bigger upside because at age 25 he is the younger sibling by seven years.

Bob Santos was in the running again this year for The Ring magazine’s Trainer of the Year, one of six nominees for the honor that was bestowed upon his good friend Robert Garcia. Considering the way that Santos’ career is going, it’s a safe bet that he will be showered with many more accolades in the years to come.

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