Victorious Rigondeaux Likes His Style Just Fine

Published

11 years ago

December 8, 2013

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – When you stop and think about it, boxing fans are no different than moviegoers that have to decide which flick they want to see on a given night out. Whether you’re heading to the arena or your local cinema, the choice sometimes has to be made between The Fast and the Furious and Driving Miss Daisy.

No one can dispute that Guillermo Rigondeaux (13-0, 8KOs), who successfully defended his WBA and WBO super bantamweight championships here Saturday night with a typically efficient unanimous decision over Joseph Agbeko (29-5, 22 KOs), is a defensive genius. Most opponents can barely touch the two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba when he is in peak form, and the 33-year-old southpaw certainly appeared to be at or near the top of his game against Agbeko, a former two-time world bantamweight titlist from Ghana who would have preferred to turn the fight into a pugilistic demolition derby instead of another mostly uneventful drive down safe streets by the man known as “El Chacal.” Judges Ron McNair, Eugene Grant and Robin Taylor all had Rigondeaux pitching a 120-108 shutout.

Really, how we get our entertainment is a matter of personal preference, and there are those who will always prefer a screeching, high-speed ride on the wild side to someone expertly demonstrating the proper way to parallel-park.

Count Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum, who promotes the Miami-based Rigondeaux, among those who would like to see the master technician add a bit more pizzazz to his exquisite displays of ring generalship. Like a lot of people, Arum has a fondness for guys who go down in the trenches, to spill a little blood, even if some of it is their own, and score dramatic knockouts.

After Rigondeaux’s nearly flawless unanimous decision on April 13 over Nonito Donaire, the Boxing Writers Association of America’s 2012 Fighter of the Year, Arum – who also promotes Donaire – reacted to the outcome as if he’d just found a roach floating in the punch bowl at the party he was throwing. He complained that Rigondeaux was not a TV-friendly kind of fighter, and that “every time I mention him (to HBO Sports executives), they throw up.”

The suits at HBO, which televised three of Saturday night’s bouts in the Adrian Phillips Ballroom of Boardwalk Hall – super welterweight slugger James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) weathered an early assault from Glen Tapia (20-1, 12 KOs) to score a brutal, sixth-round technical knockout and two-time former world title challenger Matthew Macklin (30-5, 20 KOs) scored a 10-round, unanimous decision over Lamar Russ (14-1, 7 KOs) in the others – apparently suppressed their gag reflexes long enough to give Rigondeaux another high-visibility shot at winning over viewers who worshipped at the altar of the late Arturo Gatti. Suffice to say the jury is still out as far as future projections regarding Rigondeaux’s ability to ever produce the kind of thrills and high Nielsen ratings Gatti so routinely delivered.

“I wouldn’t blame HBO for never putting Rigondeaux back on,” longtime HBO analyst Larry Merchant said after the Cuban, who defected to the United States in February 2009, had clinically dissected Donaire. “I think Rigondeaux is a talented, beautiful boxer, but prizefighting is about entertainment. You want a fighter that can excite.”

For his part, Rigondeaux – who believes he is a better all-around fighter, pound-for-pound, than Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Andre Ward – isn’t disposed to do much tinkering. What’s that saying? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“I fight my own way, my own style,” Rigondeaux said a couple of days before he schooled Agbeko. “I do what I need to do to win.”

And what of Arum’s occasionally unflattering critiques of Rigondeaux’s obviously successful but comparatively bland style?

“Bob Arum is not the one doing the fighting,” Rigondeaux said. “If he’s not pleased with me or how I fight, maybe he should consider letting me out of my contract. I’m sure there are other promoters who would love to have Guillermo Rigondeaux fighting for them.”

Upon further review, as NFL officials are wont to say, Rigondeaux softened that stance somewhat. Hey, Arum is still signing his paychecks.

“I understand Bob Arum has a job to do,” he said. “I’m very appreciative that Bob Arum has helped me make some money. I have nothing bad to say about him.”

Of course, Rigondeaux would like for Arum not to have anything bad to say about him, either. Telling it like it is, or how you think it is, is a knife that cuts both ways.

“In the ring, I always feel that I can do whatever I want, that I’m in total control at all times,” said Rigondeaux, who added that his punching power is often underrated by media know-nothings who see only his impenetrable defense. “Anybody can beat anybody else on a given night, right? That’s what they say. So let the others think they have a chance to beat me. Line them up. I’ll fight anybody. But the problem is that nobody wants to fight me.”

Agbeko might have wanted to fight, but he spent 12 rounds pawing at the empty air that Rigondeaux had just vacated. The punch stats were, action-craving spectators, abysmal: Agbeko landed just 48 of 349 (14 percent) to 144 of 859 (17 percent) for Rigondeaux. Both finished below the dreaded Mendoza Line.

“It was just hard to get to him,”Agbeko said. “He’s very fast and he has great foot movement.”

For his part, Rigondeaux was hardly dismayed by the sporadic boos and catcalls that rang out in the last several rounds.

Buoyed by a crowd that was very vocal in its support for him, Tapia, a resident of Passaic, N.J., who sold over 1,000 tickets to family members, friends and supporters, came out winging in the first round against Kirkland. By the time the bell rang to end the stanza, Kirkland had a mouse under his left eye and the understanding he probably was in not in for the easiest of nights.

But electing to stand and trade with Kirkland, one of boxing’s more damage-inflicting hitters, is probably a dubious strategy, as Tapia soon came to realize. Kirkland began to get far the better of the exchanges and by the end of the fifth Tapia looked ready to go – more than ready, in fact. Referee Steve Smoger appeared inclined to stop the bout then, but ring physician Blair Bergen looked Tapia over and, with some hesitation, gave the OK for him to continue.

“I did (think about stopping it), but the doctor told me it was all right for (Tapia) to continue,” Smoger said. “I was on the verge of doing it a couple of times, but then the kid returned fire.”

Tapia, however, was only on the receiving end, all but defenseless, when Smoger wrapped his protective arms around him 38 seconds into Round 6.

Kirkland, who landed 305 of 644 punches – 287 of the connects were power shots – lauded the bloodied Tapia, who was quickly taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, for the courage he had displayed.

“It was a real war,” Kirkland said. “I told everyone it would be this way. We traded some good shots. I came in with a game plan and I stuck to it. I had to be a warrior, and I was.”

Macklin, who was able to impose his superior strength on Russ and wear him down a bit more with each succeeding round, immediately called for a rematch with Germany’s Felix Sturm (39-3-2, 18 KOs), who dethroned IBF champion Darren Barker (26-2, 16 KOs) on an emphatic second-round stoppage Saturday in Stuttgart, Germany. When they met on June 25, 2011, Sturm retained the WBA 160-pound crown on a split decision.

“I feel good,” Macklin said after he had handed Russ his first professional defeat. “I was a little impatient in the beginning, trying for the knockout. I relaxed later and felt more comfortable.”

In non-televised bouts of note, super featherweight Toka Kahn Clary (9-0-1, 6 KOs) scored a six-round unanimous decision over Ramsey Luna (11-1, 5 KOs) in a battle of unbeatens; super middleweight prospect Jesse Hart (11-0, 10 KOs) continued to impress with a first-round stoppage of Tyrell Hendrix (10-3-1, 3 KOs), and Russian middleweight Matt Korobov (22-0, 13 KOs), who was wobbled in Round 1, seized control thereafter, dropping a game Derek Edwards (26-3-1, 13 KOs) three times in all before Smoger stepped in 28 seconds into the ninth round.

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Bernard Fernandez

Gabriela Fundora KOs Marilyn Badillo and Perez Upsets Conwell in Oceanside

Published

7 hours ago

April 20, 2025

David A. Avila

Gabriela-Fundora-KOs-Marilyn-Badillo-and-Perez-Upsets-Conwell-in-Oceanside

It was just a numbers game for Gabriela Fundora and despite Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo’s elusive tactics it took the champion one punch to end the fight and retain her undisputed flyweight world title by knockout on Saturday.

Will it be her last flyweight defense?

Though Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs) fired dozens of misses, a single punch found Badillo (19-1-1, 3 KOs) and ended her undefeated career and first attempt at a world title at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

Fundora, however, proves unbeatable at flyweight.

The champion entered the arena as the headliner for the Golden Boy Promotion show and stepped through the ropes with every physical advantage possible, including power.

Mexico’s Badillo was a midget compared to Fundora but proved to be as elusive as a butterfly in a menagerie for the first six rounds. As the six-inch taller Fundora connected on one punch for every dozen thrown, that single punch was a deadly reminder.

Badillo tried ducking low and slipping to the left while countering with slashing uppercuts, she found little success. She did find the body a solid target but the blows proved to be useless. And when Badillo clinched, that proved more erroneous as Fundora belted her rapidly during the tie-ups.

“She was kind of doing her ducking thing,” said Fundora describing Badillo’s defensive tactics. “I just put the pressure on. It was just like a train. We didn’t give her that break.”

The Mexican fighter tried valiantly with various maneuvers. None proved even slightly successful. Fundora remained poised and under control as she stalked the challenger.

In the seventh round Badillo seemed to take a stand and try to slug it out with Fundora. She quickly was lit up by rapid left crosses and down she went at 1:44 of the seventh round. The Mexican fighter’s corner wisely waved off the fight and referee Rudy Barragan stopped the fight and held the dazed Badillo upright.

Once again Fundora remained champion by knockout. The only question now is will she move up to super flyweight or bantamweight to challenge the bigger girls.

Perez Beats Conwell.

Mexico’s Jorge “Chino” Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) upset Charles Conwell (21-1, 15 KOs) to win by split decision after 12 rounds in their super welterweight showdown.

It was a match that paired two hard-hitting fighters whose ledgers brimmed with knockouts, but neither was able to score a knockdown against each other.

Neither fighter moved backward. It was full steam ahead with Conwell proving successful to the body and head with left hooks and Perez connecting with rights to the head and body. It was difficult to differentiate the winner.

Though Conwell seemed to be the superior defensive fighter and more accurate, two judges preferred Perez’s busier style. They gave the fight to Perez by 115-113 scores with the dissenter favoring Conwell by the same margin.

It was Conwell’s first pro loss. Maybe it will open doors for more opportunities.

Other Bouts

Tristan Kalkreuth (15-1) managed to pass a serious heat check by unanimous decision against former contender Felix Valera (24-8) after a 10-round back-and-forth heavyweight fight.

It was very close.

Kalkreuth is one of those fighters that possess all the physical tools including youth and size but never seems to be able to show it. Once again he edged past another foe but at least this time he faced an experienced fighter in Valera.

Valera had his moments especially in the middle of the 10-round fight but slowed down during the last three rounds.

One major asset for Kalkreuth was his chin. He got caught but still motored past the clever Valera. After 10 rounds two judges saw it 99-91 and one other judge 97-93 all for Kalkreuth.

Highly-rated prospect Ruslan Abdullaev (2-0) blasted past dangerous Jino Rodrigo (13- 5-2) in an eight round super lightweight fight. He nearly stopped the very tough Rodrigo in the last two rounds and won by unanimous decision.

Abdullaev is trained by Joel and Antonio Diaz in Indio.

Bakersfield prospect Joel Iriarte (7-0, 7 KOs) needed only 1:44 to knock out Puerto Rico’s Marcos Jimenez (25-12) in a welterweight bout.

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‘Krusher’ Kovalev Exits on a Winning Note: TKOs Artur Mann in his ‘Farewell Fight’

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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At his peak, former three-time world light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev ranked high on everyone’s pound-for-pound list. Now 42 years old – he turned 42 earlier this month – Kovalev has been largely inactive in recent years, but last night he returned to the ring in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia, and rose to the occasion in what was billed as his farewell fight, stopping Artur Mann in the seventh frame.

Kovalev hit his peak during his first run as a world title-holder. He was 30-0-1 (26 KOs) entering first match with Andre Ward, a mark that included a 9-0 mark in world title fights. The only blemish on his record was a draw that could have been ruled a no-contest (journeyman Grover Young was unfit to continue after Kovalev knocked down in the second round what with was deemed an illegal rabbit punch). Among those nine wins were two stoppages of dangerous Haitian-Canadian campaigner Jean Pascal and a 12-round shutout over Bernard Hopkins.

Kovalev’s stature was not diminished by his loss to the undefeated Ward. All three judges had it 114-113, but the general feeling among the ringside press was that Sergey nicked it.

The rematch was also somewhat controversial. Referee Tony Weeks, who halted the match in the eighth stanza with Kovalev sitting on the lower strand of ropes, was accused of letting Ward get away with a series of low blows, including the first punch of a three-punch series of body shots that culminated in the stoppage. Sergey was wobbled by a punch to the head earlier in the round and was showing signs of fatigue, but he was still in the fight. Respected judge Steve Weisfeld had him up by three points through the completed rounds.

Sergey Kovalev was never the same after his second loss to Andre Ward, albeit he recaptured a piece of the 175-pound title twice, demolishing Vyacheslav Shabranskyy for the vacant WBO belt after Ward announced his retirement and then avenging a loss to Eleider Alvarez (TKO by 7) with a comprehensive win on points in their rematch.

Kovalev’s days as a title-holder ended on Nov. 2, 2019 when Canelo Alvarez, moving up two weight classes to pursue a title in a fourth weight division, stopped him in the 11^th round, terminating what had been a relatively even fight with a hellacious left-right combination that left Krusher so discombobulated that a count was superfluous.

That fight went head-to-head with a UFC fight in New York City. DAZN, to their everlasting discredit, opted to delay the start of Canelo-Kovalev until the main event of the UFC fight was finished. The delay lasted more than an hour and Kovalev would say that he lost his psychological edge during the wait.

Kovalev had two fights in the cruiserweight class between his setback to Canelo and last night’s presumptive swan song. He outpointed Tervel Pulev in Los Angeles and lost a 10-round decision to unheralded Robin Sirwan Safar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Artur Mann, a former world title challenger – he was stopped in three rounds by Mairis Briedis in 2021 when Briedis was recognized as the top cruiserweight in the world – was unexceptional, but the 34-year-old German, born in Kazakhstan, wasn’t chopped liver either, and Kovalev’s stoppage of him will redound well to the Russian when he becomes eligible for the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Krusher almost ended the fight in the second round. He knocked Mann down hard with a short left hand and seemingly scored another knockdown before the round was over (but it was ruled a slip). Mann barely survived the round.

In the next round, a punch left Mann with a bad cut on his right eyelid, but the German came to fight and rounds three, four and five were competitive.

Kovalev had a good sixth round although there were indications that he was tiring. But in the seventh he got a second wind and unleashed a right-left combination that rolled back the clock to the days when he was one of the sport’s most feared punchers. Mann went down hard and as he staggered to his feet, his corner signaled that the fight should be stopped and the referee complied. The official time was 0:49 of round seven. It was the 30^th KO for Kovalev who advanced his record to 36-5-1.

Addendum: History informs us that Farewell Fights have a habit of becoming redundant, by which we mean that boxers often get the itch to fight again after calling it quits. Have we seen the last of Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev? We woudn’t bet on it.

The complete Kovalev-Mann fight card was live-streamed on the Boxing News youtube channel.

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

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

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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).

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