BWAA Dinner Report: Donaire Impresses, Arum Rails

Published

12 years ago

April 12, 2013

Gosh, are major, multinational companies dropping the ball not throwing fat endorsement deals at Nonito Donaire, I found myself thinking on Thursday evening at the luxurious Capitale in NYC, at the 88th annual Boxing Writers Association of America awards dinner. Yeah, sorry, I gotta admit that business thoughts intruded where they shouldn’t, but one and all in the room were feeling the waves of emotion and gratefulness emanating from Donaire as he received his award as 2012 Fighter of the Year.

He spoke about being the runt of the litter growing up in the Phillipines, about how he was taunted, bullied and beaten, and lived in fear. Breaking into a nervous grin, and admitting he felt ill at ease giving this speech, as wife Rachel and his Top Rank team, led by Bob Arum, looked on, Donaire (above, in Chris Farina-Top Rank photo) said that this award should be noted by all the little kids who are getting taunted, bullied and beaten. This award is for the asthmatics, for the children who aren’t expected to flourish as adults, he said. This award is being held by a person who was so nervous that he peed his pants before his first time stepping into a boxing ring. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna wet the stage,” he cracked.

Yes, I have said this before, but maybe this time some marketer, or someone with influence in this sphere will get the damn memo–Donaire is a role model whose story should be disseminated far and wide. His is an inspirational tale and it is a minor felony that non boxing fans aren’t fully aware of where he has come from to get to this peak. His level of excitement and committment as he counts down to the birth of his first child in July is widely appealing to women as a whole, I suspect, and we know that his in-ring skill and power has fight fans, male and female, enthralled.

Most of you know, you can see Donaire in action Saturday night, at Radio City Music Hall (NYC) or on HBO, against Guillermo Rigondeaux (11 PM ET).

The dinner was a success, as BWAA president Jack Hirsch once again oversaw, with event coordinator Gina Andriolo, a smashing gala. It got off to a rough start for me, as I arrived at 7:20, and went to a bar to grab a club soda. A Capitale employee grabbed the club soda out of my hand, and said, “The bar is closed.” We argued, I informing the man that I was on the board of the damn organization paying for the event, but he was unmoved. He wouldn’t let me have a club soda. I dropped an eff bomb and he pouted. I then walked into the dinner area and got a club soda. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” I found myself thinking as I collected myself. It’s not like I was grabbing a bottle of Stoli and causing a ruckus. Shame on Capitale for enforcing such a silly rigidity…

One standout moment for me, aside from collecting a second place writing award for this story on the late Willie Classen, in the long feature category, was hearing Bob Arum rail against the programming powers that be while accepting the Fight of the Year award on behalf of Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao, for their December 2012 squareoff. (Note: Please feel free to follow me on Twitter here.) Enough with appearance fights, Arum said to a room of about 150 people, as many had cleared out because the dinner ran a bit long. All of the fights up for Fight of the Year were basically even fights going in, and that is instructional, he said. Fans don’t want showcase fights, don’t want to see record and hype building exercises. Give them pick em fights, and we will once again see boxing tick up in popularity. I cracked up to myself as Arum, as passionate as ever at 81, gave folks the what for. And guess what? He’s not wrong. Programmers need to assert themselves and force advisors and promoters to bring pick em fights to the table. If they do that 95% of the time, all of us will benefit. Brandon Rios lost against Mike Alvarado, but are any of us writing him off, dismissing him, saying that we don’t want to see him again? No. Informercials are great for 2 AM on a bottom tier cable channel, but not appropriate on premium cable, is what I took Arum to be saying, reading between the lines.

As for Arum, you should have seen his face when Jack Obermayer, introing the Long and Meritorious award to Top Rank’s Bruce Trampler, cracked a joke about Oscar De La Hoya and his relationship with Arum. Arum looked like he’d found a roach on his filet.

Kathy Duva probably gave the best speech of the night. She gave a shoutout to all the ladies in the sport and jabbed the preponderance of penises in the power-archy in the game. We’ve gotten better, she said, but there is still room for improvement. Russell Peltz, introing her, had the best anecdote of the night. He recalled that Kathy’s late husband Dan signed Arturo Gatti. Russell had his brother Joe. Before Arturo was much into his pro career, Dan called Russell and asked to trade 50% of Joe for 50% of Arturo. Russell said yes, and from then on, after a few years, he shared in the bounty of Arturo’s take. Dan died in 1996 and around 2000, Kathy was sorting out Main Events business. She wondered why funds from Arturo’s purse were being funneled to Russell, so she asked Russell. Because Dan and I made a deal, over the phone. Good enough for me, Kathy said. Peltz noted that her decency was apparent to him, in spades, because of that interaction.

SPEEDBAG I took note halfway through that this was the best behaved crowd I’d ever seen at one of these things. There was no chatter while people spoke, people were fantastically attentive. And I figured out why…no open bar. Cash bar. People weren’t that sauced, over all. So they acted respectfully, instead of babbling like intoxicated orangutans. I make a motion that we do the same every year. (Top Rank sponsored a cocktail hour, so it’s not like the savages didn’t get their freebie hooch anyway.)

–No, Al Haymon didn’t show up to get his Manager of the Year award, but they did show a picture of him on the screen, so that means another couple hundred people won’t see Sam Watson in the ring and think that’s Haymon, moving forward.

—Max Kellerman of HBO gave a classy speech, mentioning most all the fine people he’s worked with, and who helped him get to the point where he was voted broadcaster of the year. As the attendees filed out, I noticed that he looked stricken. “I forgot to mention Harold Lederman!” he said. As I exited the building, I noticed Max apologizing to Harold profusely.

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Results and Recaps from Las Vegas where Richard Torrez Jr Mauled Guido Vianello

Published

1 day ago

April 6, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Results-and-Recaps-from-Las-Vegas-where-Richard-Torrez-Jr-Mauled-Guido-Vianello

LAS VEGAS, NV – In an inelegant but wildly entertaining rumble, Richard Torrez Jr, bullied his way past Guido Vianello. The 10-round heavyweight contest, an appealing match-up between former Olympians, was the featured attraction on a Top Card at the Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

Torrez, the pride of Tulare, California and a 5/2 favorite, promised to show more dimensions to his game, but was the same old frenetic bull-rusher. Torrez likes to dig inside and smother the punches of his opponent who is invariably taller. His chief asset is an engine that never quits.

The early rounds were marred by a lot of wrestling. Referee Tom Taylor, who had a difficult assignment, took a point away from Vianello for holding in round two, a controversial call although it proved to be a moot point.

Vianello, who was coming off an eighth-round stoppage of Russian-Canadian behemoth Arslanbek Makhmudov, wasn’t able to build on that victory and declined to 13-3-1 (11). Torrez, competing in his first scheduled 10-rounder, won by scores of 97-92 and 98-91 twice, improving to 13-0 (11).

Co-Feature

In a tactical fight (translation: no fireworks) Lindolfo Delgado remained undefeated with a 10-round majority decision over Elvis Rodriguez. The scores were 95-95 and 96-94 twice.

Delgado, a 2016 Olympian for Mexico, won over the judges by keeping Rodriguez on his back foot for most of the fight. However, Rodriguez won the most lopsided round of the bout, the ninth, when he hurt the Mexican with a punch that sent him staggering into the ropes.

Delgado, a 3/2 favorite, improved to 23-0 (17). It was the second pro loss for Rodriguez (17-2-1), a 29-year-old Dominican who trains in Los Angeles under Freddie Roach.

Abdullah Mason

Cleveland southpaw Abdullah Mason celebrated his 21^st birthday by winning his first scheduled 10-rounder. Mason (18-0, 16 KOs) scored three knockdowns before the fight was waived off after the sixth frame.

Mason’s opponent, Mexican southpaw Carlos Ornelas (28-5), fought a curious fight. He wasn’t knocked down three times, not exactly; he merely thought it prudent to take a knee and after each occasion he did his best work, if only for a few brief moments.

Ornelas, a late sub for Giovanni Cabrera who had to pull out with an eye injury, was clearly buzzed after the third “knockdown.” The doctor examined him after the sixth round and when Ornelas left his corner with an unsteady gait, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough.

Other Bouts

Featherweight Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez, a protégé of Robert Garcia, improved to 14-0 (7) with an 8-round unanimous decision over Australia’s durable but limited Dana Coolwell. The judges had it 80-72, 78-74, and 77-75.

The granite-chinned Coolwell (13-4) was making his second start in a U.S. ring after taking Shu Shu Carrington the distance in an 8-rounder underneath the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson exhibition at the stadium of the Dallas Cowboys.

SoCal bantamweight Steven Navarro, the TSS 2024 Prospect of the Year, stepped up in class and scored a fourth-round stoppage of Mexicali’s Juan Esteban Garcia who was winning the fourth round when Navarro (6-0, 5 KOs) reversed the momentum with a flourish, forcing the stoppage at the 2:46 mark.

Junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr (8-0, 6 KOs) polished off Daijon Gonzalez in the second round. Barrera decked Gonzalez with a hard left hook and when Gonzales got to his feet, he was immediately greeted with another devastating punch which forced the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:56 of round two. A 32-year-old campaigner from Davenport, Iowa, Gonzalez brought a 12-5 record but had scored only one win vs. an opponent with a winning record.

Jahi Tucker, a 22-year-old middleweight from Deer Park, Long Island, scores his best win to date, winning a lopsided decision over former British junior middleweight champion Troy Williamson. The scores were 99-89 across the board.

Tucker (14-1-1) scored two knockdowns. The first in the second round was called a slip but overruled on replay. The second, in round eight, was the result of a left hook. Williamson stayed on his feet but the ropes held him up and it was properly scored a knockdown. The Englishman, 34, fell to 20-4-1 in what was his U.S. debut.

In a junior lightweight bour slated for eight rounds, 21-year-old Las Vegas southpaw DJ Zamora, advanced to 16-0 (11 KOs) with a fourth-round stoppage of Tex-Mex campaigner Hugo Alberto Castaneda (15-2-1). The official time was 1:24 of round four.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Filip Hrgovic Defeats Joe Joyce in Manchester

Published

2 days ago

April 5, 2025

David A. Avila

Filip-Hrgovic-Fefeats-Joe-Joe-Joyce-in-Manchester

In a battle to retain heavyweight contender status, Filip Hrgovic out-fought Joe “The Juggernaut” Joyce to win by unanimous decision on Saturday on Queensberry Promotions’ first card on DAZN.

It was a heavyweight brawl.

Croatia’s Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KOs) was the more accurate puncher over England’s Joyce (16-4, 15 KOs) in their heavyweight title fight at Manchester, England. Both were coming off losses.

Hrgovic, 32, entered the boxing ring as a replacement for Joyce’s original foe Dillian Whyte. Though short on notice, he worked with Abel Sanchez who formerly trained Joyce. It proved to be a wise move.

From the opening round Hrgovic opened-up with a battering attack, especially with the one-two combination that rocked Joyce repeatedly in the first two rounds. The British fighter known for his rock-hard chin, withstood the challenge.

“He is a beast,” said Hrgovic. “This guy is like steel.”

For the first half of the 10-round heavyweight clash, Hrgovic was the aggressor and the much more accurate puncher. Joyce seemed unsteady on his legs but every round he seemed to gain more stability and confidence.

By midway, Joyce resorted to his juggernaut ways and began to stalk the Croatian fighter whom he defeated in the amateurs a dozen years ago.

Though Joyce had lost by knockout to Zhilei Zhang and was knocked down by Derek Chisora, he was able to remain upright throughout the match with Hrgovic despite some wicked shots.

Just when it seemed Joyce might take over the fight, Hrgovic opened-up with an eight-punch volley in the eighth round that had the British heavyweight reeling. The fight turned around.

Hrgovic seemed to get a second wind and began connecting with left hooks and pinpoint accurate combinations. Joyce tried to fight back but his accuracy was off. The Croatian fighter regained the momentum and never allowed Joyce back in the fight.

After 10 rounds all three judges scored for Hrgovic 97-93, 96-95, 98-92.

“I came to fight on short notice. Thanks to God he gave me strength,” said Hrgovic. “Thanks to Joe for the opportunity.”

The Croatian fighter said he seeks a fight with IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois.

“This guy beat Dubois and I beat him,” said Hrgovic who lost to Dubois a year ago but defeated Joyce who knocked out Dubois when they fought.

Other Bouts

Heavyweight David Adeleye (14-1, 13 KOs) knocked out Jeamie Tshikeva (8-2, 5 KOs) during a clinch and interference by the referee. It remained a knockout win for Adeleye at 55 seconds of the sixth round. Adeleye becomes the British heavyweight champion.

Super lightweight Jack Rafferty (26-0, 17 KOs) knocked out Cory O’Regan (14-1, 3 KOs) in a punch seemingly delivered during a clinch in the fifth round. The match was stopped at 2:26 of the sixth round.

British Olympian Delicious Orie (1-0) made his pro debut and won by decision over Milos Veletic (3-8) in a heavyweight contest.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 320: Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame, Heavyweights and More

Published

3 days ago

April 4, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 320: Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame, Heavyweights and More

Many of the best female fighters of all time including Christy Martin, Laila Ali and others are gathering in the glitzy lights of Las Vegas this week.

Several hundred fans including current and former world champions are attending the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 4 and 5^th at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas.

It’s one of my favorite events.

Where else can you talk to the female pioneers and stars of the 1980s and 1990s?

The last time I attended two years ago, Germany’s super star Regina Halmich spoke to the packed house about her career in boxing. She and Daisy Lang were two female world champions who sold out arenas wherever they fought. The pair of blonde fighters proved that female prizefighting could succeed.

Many times, I debated with promoters who believed women’s boxing could not succeed in the USA. Though it was popular in Germany and Mexico, various organizers felt female boxing was not appealing to the American masses.

Now promoters and media networks know women’s boxing and women’s sports have crowd appeal.

Expected to attend the IWBHOF event at Orleans will be Mexico’s Jessica Chavez and Jackie Nava who will be inducted into the women’s hall of fame along with Vaia Zaganas of Canada among many others.

It’s also a gathering place for many of the top proponents of women’s boxing including the organizers of this event such as Sue Fox whose idea spawned the IWBHOF.

Each event is unique and special.

Many of my favorite people in boxing attend this celebration of women’s boxing. Stop by the Orleans Casino on the second floor. You won’t be disappointed.

Heavyweight prospects

Heavyweights take the forefront this weekend in two pivotal battles in different continents.

In England, a pair of contenders looking to maintain their footing in the heavyweight mountain will clash as Joe Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) meets Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester. DAZN will stream the event.

Both lost their last match and need a win to remain relevant. Joyce has lost his three of his last four, most recently coming up short in a riveting slugfest with Derek Chisora.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Nevada, two young heavyweights looking to crack contender status clash as undefeated Richard Torrez (12-0,11 KOs) fights Italy’s Guido Vianello (13-2-1,11 KOs) at the Palms Casino.

Both are Olympians who can crack and each can take a blow.

The winner moves up into contention and the other will need to scrape and claw back into relevance.

Coming up

April 12 in Atlantic City: Jarron Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) vs Eimantis Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) IBF welterweight title.

April 12 Albuquerque: Fernando Vargas Jr. (16-0) vs Gonzalo Gaston (23-7); Shane Mosley Jr. (22-4) vs DeAundre Pettus (12-4).

April 19 Oceanside, Calif: Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs). Also, Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs Jorge Garcia (32-4, 26 KOs).

April 26 Tottenham Stadium, London, England; Conor Benn (23-0) vs Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3); Aaron McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs) vs Liam Smith (33-4, 20 Kos).

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 11 a.m. Joe Joyce (16-3) vs Filip Hrgovic (17-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 2:30 p.m. Richard Torrez (12-0) vs Guido Vianello (13-2-1).

Sat. AMAZON PRIME VIDEO 8:00 8 p.m. Tim Tszyu (24-2) vs. Joey Spencer (19-1)

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