“The Fight Game” Recap: Manny Testing, Love For Steward, More

Published

10 years ago

October 26, 2013

A half-hour flurry of fact, opinion and insight unfolded on the Oct. 25, 2013 edition of Jim Lampley’s “The Fight Game,” on HBO.

Lampley led off with a look at Ruslan Provodnikov, the Siberian gangsta who broke down Mike Alvarado last Saturday night, on HBO, in California. Lampley correctly noted that Provo was the B side to Alvie, but by round eight, the worm totally turned, and the hometowner was sent twice to the mat in that frame. He called Alvarado’s decision not to continue to round 11 “intelligent,” for the record.

We saw Provo and sub trainer Marvin Somodio, in a photo, doing Face Time with Freddie Roach after the win. Maybe next for Provo is a sequel with Tim Bradley, Lampley said, but Bradley “defied doubts” to get the better of Juan Manuel Marquez. Lamps threw an uppercut at Marquez and trainer Nacho Beristain, for whining after close losses, as they did after the Bradley loss. Be like Manny, Lamps extolled, and to Marquez, he suggested he take a loss like a man.

Lamps surged into the issue of PED usage, and the testing scene, in the fight game. Andre Ward didn’t do VADA testing, Lampley said, because Nov. 16 foe Edwin Rodriguez sought VADA testing for “publicity” purposes. We didn’t hear how Ward came to that determination. Lampley then welcomed VADA founder and head Dr. Margaret Goodman to the show. She said she wasn’t sure if VADA would be able to stay afloat during the entities’ two year existence, especially when Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto tested positive while VADA screened them. She was asked about Victor Conte’s relationship with VADA; she said Conte has only sent athletes to do screening via VADA, and sponsored their testing protocol. She said she thinks Conte, the notorious BALCO boss, is now on the side of good. VADA has no ties, and acts on their own authority, she noted. Lampley brought up the Nevada Commission’s decision to not go with VADA for testing. She expressed disappointment that the commission, for whom she worked for many years, didn’t go outside their own sphere to handle an anti-doping program. She likes her protocol more than any other for its stringency.

Manny Pacquaio and Brandon Rios are using VADA for their Nov. 23 fight, and Goodman thinks Manny’s testing for this fight will be the strictest he’s ever experienced, she said, in closing.

Lampley next touched on Vasyl Lomachenko, the Ukrainian with a 395-1 amateur record, who debuted two weeks ago for Top Rank. We saw Loma’s skill against Jose Luis Ramirez, and his KO shot in round four. Next? A title crack against Orlando Salido, the host said.

Lampley touched on HBO’s upcoming fare, a jam-packed schedule to delight fight fans in November.

Max Kellerman joined Lampley via a remote shot. He said Lomachenko was immensely impressive in his debut, and he’s not sure Salido can go into the late rounds with Loma. “Can Salido stick around? Lomachenko is devastating,” Max enthused.

Lampley said that Gary Russell is the No. 1 contender for that Salido belt, the WBO feather version, but he referred to the talented Russell’s resume as “comical.” That would be a fine fight, but he’d love to see Loma-Rigo more.

The return of Miguel Cotto was touched upon. Is he all the way back? Delvin Rodriguez wasn’t of the caliber to prove that..but Cotto hasn’t looked this good in eons, Max said. How about Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez, or a rematch with Floyd, he said. If Cotto loses to Sergio, no sweat, go back to 154 and beat a Delvin type, and then get a megafight at 154. “He’s must see TV again,” Max said.

Cotto-Martinez, who’s the favorite? Sergio, Max said. He’s mobile and a sneaky puncher and Cotto’s not a real middleweight. Wladimir Klitschko’s clinching and resting was no fun to watch, Lampley said. Max said warnings should have been rendered, and then points should have been taken, and if it continued, he should have been DQ’d. He looked like John Ruiz, he said.

Is there a beef between Brandon Rios and Max, Lampley asked. Max said he texted Rios after he saw a video of Rios cursing out Max, for not believing in him. Brandon said he wasn’t singling out Max and they hugged it out via text, Kellerman stated.

Lampley dropped Wlad from his pound for pound top five, for his “ugly tactics” versus Povetkin and Vitali is out too, because he’s headed to politics full-time. Floyd is No. 1, Lampley said, and he will likely meet Amir Khan next, as a beyond prohibitive favorite. Andre Ward is No. 2, and Lampley expects no layoff dropoff. Sergio Martinez is No. 3, and Gennady Golovkin is No. 4. Tim Bradley came next on the Lamps list.

The death of Mexican Franky Leal, age 26, was discussed. That reminds us, Lampley said, that most boxers campaign off big stages, and take huge risks. He sent heartfelt condolences to his family.

Provo topped “The Gatti List.” Leo Santa Cruz came next. Sergey Kovalev followed. Adonis Stevenson came behind Kovalev. Manny Pacquiao returned to the list.

Lampley paid homage to Emanuel Steward, one year after his death. His legacy lives, Lampley said, as his students racked up and continue to notch wins after he left this plane. He said Manny lives on in Detroit, and “where-ever there is boxing, Emanuel Steward lives.” Superbly summarised kicker, sir.

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Michael Woods

Canelo-Charlo Gets All the Ink, but Don’t Overlook the Compelling Match-up of Gassiev-Wallin in Turkey

Published

6 hours ago

September 26, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Canelo-Charlo-Gets-All-the-Ink-but-Don't-Overlook-This-Compelling-Match-in-Turkey

Canelo-Charlo Gets All the Ink, but Don’t Overlook the Compelling Match-up of Gassiev-Wallin in Turkey

The eyes of the boxing world will be on Las Vegas this Saturday where Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez risks his four super middleweight title belts against unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo. Earlier that day at a luxury resort hotel in the city of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, there’s a heavyweight match sitting under the radar that may prove to be the better fight. It’s an intriguing match-up between former world cruiserweight title-holder Murat Gassiev and Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin, a bout with significant ramifications for boxing’s glamour division.

Gassiev (30-1, 23 KOs) and Wallin (25-1, 14 KOs) have only one loss, but those setbacks came against the top dogs in the division. Gassiev was out-boxed by Oleksandr Usyk back in the days when both were cruiserweights. Wallin gave Tyson Fury a world of trouble before losing a unanimous decision.

Since those fights, both have been treading water.

Gassiev

Gassiev was inactive for 27 months after his match with Usyk while dealing with legal issues and an injury to his left shoulder. He is 4-0 (4 KOs) since returning to the ring while answering the bell for only eight rounds. The only recognizable name among those four victims is German gatekeeper Michael Wallisch. After stopping Wallisch, Gassiev was out of action for another 13 months while reportedly dealing with an arm injury.

A first-round knockout of Carlouse Welch, an obscure 40-something boxer from the U.S. state of Georgia on Aug. 26, 2022, in Belgrade, Serbia, was promoted as a title fight. The sanctioning body was the Eurasian Boxing Parliament (insert your own punchline here). Gassiev followed that up with a second-round knockout of former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun who came in undefeated and was seemingly a legitimate threat to him.

Although he has yet to fight a ranked opponent since leaving the cruiserweight division, Gassiev — a former stablemate of Gennady Golovkin who has been living in Big Bear, California, training under Abel Sanchez – is one of the most respected fighters in the division because he has one-punch knockout power as Balogun and others can well attest. The rub against the Russian-Armenian bruiser is that he is somewhat robotic.

Wallin

Otto Wallin, a 32-year-old southpaw from Sweden who trains in New York under former world lightweight champion Joey Gamache, fought Tyson Fury on Sept. 14, 2019 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. There was a general feeling that the Swede would be a stroll in the park for Fury, but to the contrary, he gave the Gypsy King a hard tussle while losing a unanimous decision.

Wallin is 5-0 since that night beginning with victories over Travis Kauffman (KO 5) and Dominic Breazeale (UD 12), but his last three opponents were softer than soft and all three lasted the distance. In order, Wallin won an 8-round decision over Kamil Sokolowski, who was 11-24-2 heading in, won a 10-round decision over ancient Rydell Booker, and won an 8-round decision over Helaman Olguin. His bout with Utah trial horse Olguin was at a banquet hall in Windham, New Hampshire.

It isn’t that Wallin has been avoiding the top names in the division; it’s the other way around. His promoter Dmitriy Salita reportedly came close to getting Wallin a match with Anthony Joshua whose team had second thoughts about sending Joshua in against another southpaw after back-to-back setbacks to Oleksandr Usyk.

Gassiev vs Wallin is a true crossroads fight. Both are in dire need of a win over a credible opponent. At last look, Gassiev, who figures to have the crowd in his corner, was a 3/1 favorite.

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Published

2 days ago

September 24, 2023

David A. Avila

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.

It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.

Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.

Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.

Bustillo Wins Rematch

Applerose2

In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.

Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.

Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.

After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.

A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Published

3 days ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Tedious-Fights-and-a-Controversial-Draw-Smudge-the-Matchroom-Boxing-Card-in-Orlando

Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.

It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.

Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.

Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.

Other Bouts of Note

The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.

The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.

In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

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