If There Was No Boxing, There Would Be No Me Here Now

Published

12 years ago

March 14, 2013

When you attend a fight card with Wale Omotoso on the bill, you can expect to see Lucky Boy listed as the fighter’s name in your program. No, not his given name of Oyewale, or even the abbreviated Wale (pronounced Wall-ee). Instead, entering the ring that night will simply be a man named Lucky Boy Omotoso, and when the fighter disrobes before the opening bell, you’ll see it tattooed proudly across his chest in robustly round script.

Lucky Boy.

“I call myself Lucky Boy,” Omotoso told TSS, “because of what I’ve passed through, growing up in Africa, what I’ve seen, what I’ve faced in life…”

Omotoso has lived through more than most of us could ever imagine. He’s seen men and women butchered in the street. He’s tasted the cold bitterness of poverty in a developing country, and he’s carried the burden of hopelessness and the badge of pragmatic necessity that comes with it. For this, he calls himself lucky.

Omotoso has picked up six wins on American soil. At 23-0, the undefeated welterweight stands on the precipice of achieving things he dared not dream about oh-so-long-ago in Lagos. Not only will he be appearing on the co-feature of Saturday’s Timothy Bradley-Ruslan Provodnikov fight card, but the bout, Omotoso’s biggest test yet against fellow undefeated Top Rank prospect Jessie Vargas (pictured above, on the left, with Omotoso, in photo by Chris Farina-Top Rank), will be televised live on HBO’s World Championship boxing.

Lucky Boy can tell you tales of his life as a “street boy” in Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria. Almost eight million souls call this African port metropolis home. Truth be told, compared to other parts of Nigeria the standard of living in Lagos is quite high, so long as your family has the means to enjoy it. Omotoso’s family did not.

“I grew up in the street,” says the lucky one. “If there was no boxing, there would be no me here now.”

One of five children, Omotoso lost his mother at an early age. His father worked hard at providing what he could, but wasn’t able to keep his children away from the street life. Like his siblings, Omotoso said he did what he had to do. He joined a street gang. He learned to take what he could get from who he could get it. He was a gangster in the truest sense of the word.

Still, Omotoso said he never fully lost his grip on morality. He knew what was right and what was wrong. It’s just that it wasn’t always about right or wrong. It was about survival. He did what he had to do, he said, but he was sorry for it.

“I went every Sunday when I was in street,” he said. “Commit crime and get in trouble Monday through Saturday, then go to Church on Sunday to ask for forgiveness in case anything happened to me or if I died. I’d always go to ask for forgiveness for all the things I did on Monday through Saturday.”

Omotoso told TSS he never really wanted to be a boxer. It just happened. He learned to fight out of necessity. On the streets of Lagos, he said, fighting was just part of staying alive long enough to ask for forgiveness again at church.

“I started boxing on the street. That’s what I did. I was a street fighter. I never planned on being a boxer. I just planned to learn boxing so I could learn how to punch people, so I could fight three people at a time without a weapon. And life just changed from there.”

Once, after a particularly brutal street fight, Omotoso said he headed to the boxing gym while he and other gang members were laying low for awhile from local authorities. Once inside the structured life of the boxing gym, Omotoso quickly established himself. His powerful fists and quick hands made him a natural boxer. His life-or-death battles on the street gave him ruggedness not easily had. But more was needed to make it off the streets of Lagos.

Good fortune smiled on Omotoso by way of an Australian named Murray Thompson. The fighter was invited by the boxing trainer to leave his homeland and train down under. He gave Omotoso a shot at a different kind of lifestyle, a prizefighter’s. Omotoso jumped at the opportunity. In Australia, Omotoso found hope and purpose. He still attended church every Sunday, he said, but he no longer had street crimes to confess.

“I loved the country! I thought I was dead. I thought I was in heaven!”

Omotoso stayed with Thompson from the beginning of his professional career in 2006 until 2010. Running his record to 17-0, Omotoso started to sense he would need more to make a life for himself in the brutal sport of boxing than his newfound heaven could give him.

“I fought in Australia and fought people from Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines – all the Asian counties. But I watched United States fighters and would see how Australian fighters would travel to the United States and they would lose. I knew this was the next step. I needed to go to the U.S. to learn more, to grow more in my career, to make a life for myself.”

After waiting months for trainer Murray to bring him over to the States as promised, Omotoso finally decided to go it on his own. He set out for America alone, this pilgrim pugilist from Nigeria, aimed straight for Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

“United States boxing is like going to University,” he said. “I made it to Freddie Roach’s gym. I sparred there two times. Top Rank saw me and they picked me up from there. Look where I am today! Why not call myself Lucky Boy, brother?”

Top Rank’s chief matchmaker, Bruce Trampler, remembers first discovering Omotoso when he saw him sparring with Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.

“Lucky Boy is skilled and he hits real hard. He got my attention quick,” Trampler said.

Omotoso said once signed, he was told things wouldn’t be easy for him. Despite his skill level and power, it wouldn’t take just a few months or a year to reach the top. It would take considerable time and effort on his part. No longer a “street boy” from Lagos plying the boxer’s trade to make ends meet, Omotoso transformed himself into a hardworking, dedicated, professional boxer. He focused on the little things, the subtle nuances of the science that separate the sport’s top performers from the everyday palookas fighting for table scraps.

“When I came here, it’s not that they changed me, it’s that they told me what I didn’t know: how to sit down on my punches, how to work the angles. America is the school of boxing. In Australia I sparred, but not like here. Here, in America, you will find sparring. You can spar as much as you want. Fighting different people, getting different experience. I love my training here.”

Of his Saturday clash, he said, “I can’t wait! This fight will let everyone know I’m ready…that I’m born to do this,” said Omotoso as we finished up the call.

And with a name like Lucky Boy, maybe he really is.

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Kelsey McCarson

Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2025

David A. Avila

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Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.

Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.

“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.

After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.

Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.

One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”

Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.

“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”

Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.

A real fight was happening.

Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.

Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.

In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.

“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”

Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.

In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.

“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”

Espinoza Wins

WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.

“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.

Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.

Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.

It was Espinoza’s third title defense.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.

The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.

The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.

Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.

Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.

A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.

In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.

Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.

Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.

In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.

Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.

Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.

In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.

Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.

Semi-wind-up

In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.

A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.

The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.

Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.

Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.

Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.

Heavyweights

In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.

Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.

The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.

In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions

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