RINGSIDE Donaire Closes Stellar 2012 In Fine Fashion

Published

12 years ago

December 16, 2012

Arce tried patience, then aggression, nothing worked. Donaire convinced him retirement was the obvious option. (photo by Rachel McCarson)

Houston – The Transnational Boxing Ranking Board’s junior featherweight champion, Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KOs), closed his impressive four-fight 2012 campaign in fitting fashion. The “Filipino Flash” battered gallant warrior Jorge Arce (61-7-2-1, 46 KOs) from pillar to post in what could only be described as a one-sided beatdown. With the win, Donaire retained his linear TBRB championship, along with the WBO and Ring Magazine belts.

Over 7,250 fans in attendance rose to their feet to greet the combatants as they entered the arena. Despite losing notable Top Rank stars Mike Lee and Guillermo Rigondeaux on the card earlier in the week, Houston fight fans showed up loud and proud at the Toyota Center Saturday night, home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets.

Arce came to the ring first and was greeted affectionately by the pro-Mexico crowd. Fans adorned their heads with sombreros for crowns and their bodies with Mexican flags for robes as they chanted with vigor – Mexico, Mexico, Mexico. Next up was Donaire, who was booed heavily as he entered the fray while bopping his head up and down to handpicked entrance music seemingly unaware of it. The pre-fight introductions remained consistent, though the small but vocal Donaire contingent in attendance did their best to even things out.

After a somewhat cautious start, a strong right hand from Donaire set the tone in the first round. His crisp punches snapped the courageous Arce’s head back each time they found their mark. It was clear from the beginning to those at ringside what this fight would be: Donaire the stalking predator, Arce the formidable but overmatched prey.

Arce dug a good, deep shot to his opponent’s body in the second, but Donaire followed it up promptly with two clean blows that sent the Mexican down to his knee. He was up quickly, seemingly unfazed, unhurt and ready to brawl. During the rest of the round, Arce employed strategic aggression to try and even things up while the ever confident Donaire remained content to alternate powerful potshots with timely and adept defense.

At the beginning of the third round, the two fighters got tangled together and collapsed in heap to the canvas. After referee Laurence Cole brushed each man’s gloves off, the two continued what began in the preceding round. Arce bullied his way in at times; Donaire countered and jabbed. To his credit, Arce was able to land some clean blows in the round, but Donaire was landing the cleaner, harder ones. Three straight shots from Donaire sent Arce down for the count once again and this time left him reeling and wobbled. Ever the brave warrior, Arce made it to his feet for one more go, but he was knocked out cold seconds later from a brutal left hook. The referee called the fight off immediately when Arce fell flat to the canvas.

“My left hook was my damaging punch tonight,” said Donaire afterward. “I just felt great.”

Head trainer Robert Garcia concurred. He was beaming with pride from what he had just witnessed, perhaps his 30-year-old protégé’s most impressive performance to date.

“His power was unreal, beautiful, perfect,” he said. “Whenever Nonito hits you…it’s gonna hurt real bad.”

Arce announced his retirement immediately following the fight. The fight officially ended at 2:59 of round number three.

Donaire-Arce Undercard Highlights

Houston – Fight fans coming out to support Top Rank’s Donaire-Arce live boxing promotion were treated to a slew of solid undercard fights Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston. Here is a recap of the notable action.

Light heavyweight Cedric Agnew (25-0, 13 KOs) of Houston used sharp jabs and crisp right hooks from a high guarded, southpaw stance to defeat Alfredo Contreras (12-15-3, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision. The heavily tattooed Agnew controlled the pace early with clear, crisp shots and never really looked back. Ever durable Contreras had his moments, but he got hit far too often from his opponent’s lead hand bombs along with a handful of well-placed lefts. The three judges at ringside scored it 58-56, 60-54 and 59-55 for the winner, Agnew.

Super featherweight Saul Rodriguez (8-0-1, 5 KOs) had to bulldoze his way over the scrappy Pablo Brates to earn a win. After learning he couldn’t out-quick the crafty Brates in the first, Rodriguez just started mauling him with heavier-handed blows in the second. It worked, and Rodriguez rode that strategy all the way to a unanimous decision victory. Scores read 40-36 across the board at the end of the four-round fight.

Jose Felix, Jr. (22-0-1, 18 KOs) knocked out Meachor Major (20-6-1, 17 KOs) with a clean left hook in round number three of a lightweight contest that had been fairly close up until that point. Major waddled first, and then stumbled down in a delayed reaction all the way to the canvas where the bout ultimately ended for the fighter nicknamed “Major Pain.”

Welterweight Larry Smith (10-14, 7 KOs) came out of his dressing room hooting and hollering to anyone that would listen that he would be the victor. He danced in his corner as his name was read before the bout, and when red corner opponent Daniel Sandoval (30-2, 29 KOs) came to the middle of the ring after the bell sounded to touch his opponent’s glove in a show of sportsmanship, Smith obliged with a quick one-two combination. It all went downhill from there for Smith in the first. Sure, he continued whatever it was he was doing in there up to that point—let’s call it showmanship—but only in-between being on the wrong end of a constant barrage of power punches roving up and down his torso. The pace cooled a bit from there. Smith was just crafty enough to stay in the fight despite being outworked throughout the six-round clash, except possibly the final round where it almost appeared even. In the end, Mexico’s Sandoval took home the unanimous decision victory by scores of 60-54, 59-55 and 60-54.

Featherweight Victor Terrazas (36-2-1, 20 KOs) wanted to keep Juan Ruiz (23-11, 7 KOs) on the end of his jab where he could land his shots as the taller man without taking considerable return fire. When he accomplished this, he found success, but when the dodgy, aggressive Ruiz was able to slip and rip, Terrazas was made uncomfortable. The pattern played itself out fairly consistently through all eight rounds, so what fans in attendance got by arriving early enough to see it was a mini-version of something akin (at least stylistically) to Ali-Frazier. Neither of these men will reach anything close to that level in their careers, but no matter. It was a damn fine scrap between two eager combatants for all eight rounds. In the end, it was Terrazas earning the split decision win by scores of 74-78, 78-74 and 79-73.

Finally, one of Top Rank’s young, impressive uber-prospects, Alex Saucedo (7-0, 5 KO), fought Eddie Cordova (3-4-1, 1 KO) at welterweight in a scheduled four-rounder. How good is Saucedo? Look at it this way: after light heavyweight Mike Lee dropped off the card due to illness, and the co-main event of Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym was called off due the latter being unlicensable in Texas, Saucedo was moved all the way to the top of the undercard, as close to the limelight as possible, in what was only his seventh professional fight. He did not disappoint. Saucedo looked every bit as good as his handlers believe him to be. He dominated the action from start to finish in every way possible. He hurt Cordova in the first with strafing right hands and made him miss wildly as he did it. Cordova was game but overmatched, and he went down in the third from a brutal combination before succumbing again to a brilliant right hand counter. The fight was halted at 2:14 of round number three. Keep your eye on Alex Saucedo.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

The Sweet Science

Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-322-Super-Welter-Week-in-SoCal

Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.

One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.

Take your pick.

The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.

Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.

Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.

If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.

He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.

During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.

Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.

Fundora

Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.

Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.

Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.

Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.

Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?

When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.

This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.

Commerce Casino

Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.

Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.

It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.

Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?

That’s a question for another day.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2025

TSS Press

TSS-Salutes-Thomas-Hauser-and-his-Bernie-Award-Cohorts

The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.

Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.

Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11^th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)

Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.

The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).

Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”

A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.

Other winners:

Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon

Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney

Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire

Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix

The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.

The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Mekhrubon-Sanginov-whose-Heroism-Nearly-Proved-Fatal-Returns-on-Saturday

To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.

He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.

Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.

“After he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,” recollects Sanginov. “There was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.

“By the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, ‘Give thanks to God because he gave you a second life.’ It is like I was born a second time.”

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,” he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: “Good man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.”)

Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. “Muhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,” he says.

During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. “Ideally,” he says, “I would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.”

He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off – “I had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,” he says – and he will be resuming his career at 154. “Although I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,” says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.

He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginov’s opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.

On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.

Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.

If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubon’s world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!