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Arum And Lomachenko Were Outmaneuvered By Salido

His name is Vasyl Lomachenko, he’s from the Ukraine, he’s 26 years old and is a two time Olympic gold medalist. As an amateur he was a reported 396-1. He’s long, strong and he can fight inside and outside. His fundamentals and basics are good and he can hit with either hand. The plan his promoter Bob Arum had mapped out for him was to win a world title in his second pro bout after winning a regional title in his debut a little less than four months ago. It would’ve been an astounding achievement.
A world title after two fights would’ve launched Lomachenko into an overnight sensation and fighters already representing boxing’s future such as Mikey Garcia, Andre Ward and Ganady Golovkin would’ve been joined by a new contemporary.
Enter Orlando Salido, who is 33 years old and has been fighting grown men as a pro since he was about 15 years old. Salido, a veteran of 55 professional bouts 41-12-2 (28) was the chosen title holder (who didn’t make the featherweight limit and relinquished his title the day before the fight) was thought to be the sacrificial lamb and launch pad for Lomachenko’s impending stardom. Only things didn’t go as planned and boxing’s next must see fighter has to regroup and learn from his twelve round crash course this past weekend.
As the fight unfolded, it was painfully obvious to all watching that the supposedly shrewd course Bob Arum had charted for Lomachenko was on a collision with a huge detour. For starters, Salido who obviously has been paying attention to how the boxing game operates, was onto their game and had a few tricks of his own up his sleeve. Add to the equation that Salido was nearly a 4 1/2 -1 underdog, he no doubt was insulted and was clearly on a mission to upend Lomachenko and company. At the weigh in the day before the bout Salido came in at 128 1/4, two and a quarter pounds over the featherweight limit. He had to pay Lomachenko a small percentage of his purse along with being forced to relinquish his WBO title. This was a gamble that he no doubt figured would pay off if he could beat Lomachenko. Orlando knows that titles don’t mean much today and are really just a vehicle in which promoters and the powers in charge manipulate the sport of boxing and fighters. Salido knew a win over the next big thing in boxing would pay huge dividends down the road without the title. Lomachenko made the weight at 125 1/4 as expected. On fight night Salido scaled 147, 11 pounds more than the 136 that Lomachenko would enter the ring at. In other words Salido the welterweight was fully ready to manhandle and rough up the inexperienced lightweight that Lomachenko showed up being.
Right from the onset, Salido made the fight ugly, used his weight, stepped on Lomachenko’s feet, hit him on the hips, punched low, roughed him up on the inside, even raked his gloves across Lomachenko’s face. There was no question about who won the fight, it was a slow ugly fight that suited Salido’s best interest. To his credit, Lomachenko’s best round was the 12th, where he actually had Salido in some trouble. But it really was a rough introduction to the pros for Lomachenko, who lost a split decision (116-112, 115-113 and 115-113). Remember, Lomachenko’s whole persona was based on his being the Golden Boy, completely unbeatable even at the top levels of the division. At 1-1 you have to wonder how the marketing for him will go now.
Lomachenko showed grit for a guy who’s really still, in many ways, an amateur. However, he and his team were dumb to agree to fight after Salido weighed in that morning at 147. That had to make Salido a good 20 plus pounds bigger than any fighter Lomachenko ever fought. In addition to that, Vasyl was foolish to continue his amateur approach to how to fight a dirty fighter (in effect to say “he can fight dirty, but I’m above that.”) There are a lot of sharks out there at 126-130 who will eat him up (Rigondeaux, Donaire, and Garcia would have a picnic with him). Now he should be moved back to safer waters in order to build up his record. Sure, they could probably get him another title shot, and winning a world title in his third bout would be a herculean effort, but he’s surely not a given and very well could get beat again, and that would be a catastrophe.
What was also troubling is how Lomachenko didn’t retaliate with an eye for an eye approach when it was obvious that Salido didn’t respect him. Granted, referee Laurence Cole did a terrible job in dealing with Salido, but we’ll never know whether he would have given Lomachenko the same leeway that he gave Salido, since he never tried to retaliate. That was on him, not Cole. The reality is Lomachenko’s passivity represents a mindset regarding his personality and makeup more than it does his lack of experience. Then again when you’re so conditioned to fighting for ribbons and trophies, Lomachenko was undone by the hardness and bravado of a solid pro like Salido.
And after the bout Lomachenko didn’t seem particularly upset about having lost when he should’ve been beside himself. Again, that’s a little troubling. Before the broadcast it was even talked about how Salido is always brought in as the “other guy.” And how often it’s a mistake to dismiss him that way. Salido was very smart to trade the title and pay a few dollars in order for him to game the system the other way. Having the extra weight played into his hands and he fully understood that his title didn’t mean much and that a win over the future golden boy is all that anyone will remember, and he’s right. He’ll now be known for being the supposed cannon fodder that struck down a fighter who things were being set up for him to become an overnight star in boxing. Yes, it registered to him how Lomachenko was having things handed to him.
It was a calculated and gutsy gamble, and I give Lomachenko props for lasting the twelve rounds against a rough guy who was using all kinds of old pro tactics and tricks to get him out of there. But it turned out to be a mistake in that they picked on the wrong fighter who was tired of being the set-up guy.
Vasyl Lomachenko has tools to work with and it’s not out of the question that if he takes the type of fights that he should be taking at this stage of his career, he might one day be one of boxing’s brightest stars. However, for that to happen he has to ditch his father as his trainer and bring in a real one to work his corner. He’s not an amateur anymore.
Also, Salido served notice on how fighters who are forced to fight Floyd Mayweather, and perhaps even Manny Pacquiao at some gimmick catchweight should handle their business. Like say maybe Saul Alvarez shouldn’t have come in at the contracted 152 for Mayweather and came in at 155 and given up his title. Force Mayweather to fight him at his real weight and see if he takes the fight or backs out. Mayweather would have a hard time living that down and if he goes through with it and Alvarez beat him, it would’ve paid Saul back exponentially what he had to pay Floyd for not making weight. Remember how Mayweather paid Marquez after he came in two pounds over the contracted weight and then took the smaller Marquez apart the night they fought? That should’ve been lesson 101 on how to deal with the catch-weight hussle.
Yes, Arum and Lomachenko were outmaneuvered from the weigh-in to the final bell by team Salido. Arum and Team Lomachenko were playing marbles when they should’ve been playing chess.
Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com
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Late Bloomer Anthony Cacace TKOs Hometown Favorite Leigh Wood in Nottingham

Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, tonight with a card featuring hometown favorite Leigh Wood against Ireland’s Anthony “Apache” Cacace.
Wood, a former two-time WBA featherweight champion, known for dramatic comebacks in bouts he was losing, may have reached the end of the road at age 36. He had his moments tonight, rocking Cacace on several occasions and winning the eighth round, but he paid the price, returning to his corner after round eight with swelling around both of his eyes.
In the ninth, Cacace, an 11/5 favorite, hurt Wood twice with left hands, the second of which knocked Wood into the ropes, dictating a standing 8-count by referee John Latham. When the bout resumed, Cacace went for the kill and battered Wood around the ring, forcing Wood’s trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. The official time was 2:15 of round nine.
Akin to Wood, Northern Ireland’s Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) is also 36 years old and known as a late bloomer. This was his ninth straight win going back to 2017 (he missed all of 2018 and 2020). He formerly held the IBF 130-pound world title, a diadem he won with a stoppage of then-undefeated and heavily favored Joe Cordina, but that belt wasn’t at stake tonight as Cacace abandoned it rather than fulfill his less-lucrative mandatory. Wood falls to 28-4.
Semi-Wind-Up
Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor, fighting in his hometown for the first time since pro debut, delighted his fan base with a comprehensive 10-round decision over previously undefeated Troy Jones. Taylor, who improved to 12-0 (9) won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.
This was Taylor’s first fight with new trainer Malik Scott, best known for his work with Deontay Wilder. The victory may have earned him a match with Commonwealth title-holder Lewis Edmondson. Jones was 12-0 heading in.
Other Bouts of Note
In his first fight as a featherweight, Liam Davies rebounded from his first defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Northern Ireland’s previously undefeated Kurt Walker. Davies, who improved to 17-1 (8), staved off a late rally to prevail on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. It was the first pro loss for the 30-year-old Walker (12-1), a Tokyo Olympian.
In a mild upset, Owen Cooper, a saucy Worcestershire man, won a 10-round decision over former Josh Taylor stablemate Chris Kongo. The referee’s scorecard read 96-94.
Cooper improved to 11-1 (4). It was the third loss in 20 starts for Kongo.
A non-televised 8-rounder featured junior welterweight Sam Noakes in a stay-busy fight. A roofer by trade and the brother of British welterweight title-holder Sean Noakes, Sam improved to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of overmatched Czech import Patrik Balez (13-5-1).
Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 326: Top Rank and San Diego Smoke

Avila Perspective, Chap. 326: Top Rank and San Diego Smoke
Years ago, I worked at a newsstand in the Beverly Hills area. It was a 24-hour a day version and the people that dropped by were very colorful and unique.
One elderly woman Eva, who bordered on homeless but pridefully wore lipstick, would stop by the newsstand weekly to purchase a pack of menthol cigarettes. On one occasion, she asked if I had ever been to San Diego?
I answered “yes, many times.”
She countered “you need to watch out for San Diego Smoke.”
This Saturday, Top Rank brings its brand of prizefighting to San Diego or what could be called San Diego Smoke. Leading the fight card is Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs) defending the WBO super feather title against undefeated Filipino Charly Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) at Pechanga Arena. ESPN will televise.
This is Navarrete’s fourth defense of the super feather title.
The last time Navarrete stepped in the boxing ring he needed six rounds to dismantle the very capable Oscar Valdez in their rematch. One thing about Mexico City’s Navarrete is he always brings “the smoke.”
Also, on the same card is Fontana, California’s Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) vying for the interim IBF lightweight title against Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs) on the co-main event.
Abdullaev has only fought once before in the USA and was handily defeated by Devin Haney back in 2019. But that was six years ago and since then he has knocked off various contenders.
Muratalla is a slick fighting lightweight who trains at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy now in Moreno Valley, Calif. It’s a virtual boot camp with many of the top fighters on the West Coast available to spar on a daily basis. If you need someone bigger or smaller, stronger or faster someone can match those needs.
When you have that kind of preparation available, it’s tough to beat. Still, you have to fight the fight. You never know what can happen inside the prize ring.
Another fighter to watch is Perla Bazaldua, 19, a young and very talented female fighter out of the Los Angeles area. She is trained by Manny Robles who is building a small army of top female fighters.
Bazaldua (1-0, 1 KO) meets Mona Ward (0-1) in a super flyweight match on the preliminary portion of the Top Rank card. Top Rank does not sign many female fighters so you know that they believe in her talent.
Others on the Top Rank card in San Diego include Giovani Santillan, Andres Cortes, Albert Gonzalez, Sebastian Gonzalez and others.
They all will bring a lot of smoke to San Diego.
Probox TV
A strong card led by Erickson “The Hammer” Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs) facing Ardreal Holmes Jr. (17-0, 6 KOs) in a super welterweight clash between southpaws takes place on Saturday at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida. PROBOX TV will stream the fight card.
Ardreal has rocketed up the standings and now faces veteran Lubin whose only losses came against world titlists Sebastian Fundora and Jermell Charlo. It’s a great match to decide who deserves a world title fight next.
Another juicy match pits Argentina’s Nazarena Romero (14-0-2) against Mexico’s Mayelli Flores (12-1-1) in a female super bantamweight contest.
Nottingham, England
Anthony Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) defends the IBO super featherweight title against Leigh Wood (28-3, 17 KOs) in Wood’s hometown on Saturday at Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England. DAZN will stream the Queensberry Promotions card.
Ireland’s Cacace seems to have the odds against him. But he is no stranger to dancing in the enemy’s lair or on foreign territory. He formerly defeated Josh Warrington in London and Joe Cordina in Riyadh in IBO title defenses.
Lampley at Wild Card
Boxing telecaster Jim Lampley will be signing his new book It Happened! at the Wild Card Boxing gym in Hollywood, Calif. on Saturday, May 10, beginning at 2 p.m. Lampley has been a large part of many of the greatest boxing events in the past 40 years. He and Freddie Roach will be at the signing.
Fights to Watch (All times Pacific Time)
Sat. DAZN 11 a.m. Anthony Cacace (23-1) vs Leigh Wood (28-3).
Sat. PROBOX.tv 3 p.m. Erickson Lubin (26-2) vs Ardreal Holmes Jr. (17-0).
Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1) vs Charly Suarez (18-0); Raymond Muratalla (22-0) vs Zaur Abdullaev (20-1).
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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“Breadman” Edwards: An Unlikely Boxing Coach with a Panoramic View of the Sport

Stephen “Breadman” Edwards’ first fighter won a world title. That may be some sort of record.
It’s true. Edwards had never trained a fighter, amateur or pro, before taking on professional novice Julian “J Rock” Williams. On May 11, 2019, Williams wrested the IBF 154-pound world title from Jarrett Hurd. The bout, a lusty skirmish, was in Fairfax, Virginia, near Hurd’s hometown in Maryland, and the previously undefeated Hurd had the crowd in his corner.
In boxing, Stephen Edwards wears two hats. He has a growing reputation as a boxing coach, a hat he will wear on Saturday, May 31, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when the two fighters that he currently trains, super middleweight Caleb Plant and middleweight Kyrone Davis, display their wares on a show that will air on Amazon Prime Video. Plant, who needs no introduction, figures to have little trouble with his foe in a match conceived as an appetizer to a showdown with Jermall Charlo. Davis, coming off his career-best win, an upset of previously undefeated Elijah Garcia, is in tough against fast-rising Cuban prospect Yoenli Hernandez, a former world amateur champion.
Edwards’ other hat is that of a journalist. His byline appears at “Boxing Scene” in a column where he answers questions from readers.
It’s an eclectic bag of questions that Breadman addresses, ranging from his thoughts on an upcoming fight to his thoughts on one of the legendary prizefighters of olden days. Boxing fans, more so than fans of any other sport, enjoy hashing over fantasy fights between great fighters of different eras. Breadman is very good at this, which isn’t to suggest that his opinions are gospel, merely that he always has something provocative to add to the discourse. Like all good historians, he recognizes that the best history is revisionist history.
“Fighters are constantly mislabled,” he says. “Everyone talks about Joe Louis’s right hand. But if you study him you see that his left hook is every bit as good as his right hand and it’s more sneaky in terms of shock value when it lands.”
Stephen “Breadman” Edwards was born and raised in Philadelphia. His father died when he was three. His maternal grandfather, a Korean War veteran, filled the void. The man was a big boxing fan and the two would watch the fights together on the family television.
Edwards’ nickname dates to his early teen years when he was one of the best basketball players in his neighborhood. The derivation is the 1975 movie “Cornbread, Earl and Me,” starring Laurence Fishburne in his big screen debut. Future NBA All-Star Jamaal Wilkes, fresh out of UCLA, plays Cornbread, a standout high school basketball player who is mistakenly murdered by the police.
Coming out of high school, Breadman had to choose between an academic scholarship at Temple or an athletic scholarship at nearby Lincoln University. He chose the former, intending to major in criminal justice, but didn’t stay in college long. What followed were a succession of jobs including a stint as a city bus driver. To stay fit, he took to working out at the James Shuler Memorial Gym where he sparred with some of the regulars, but he never boxed competitively.
Over the years, Philadelphia has harbored some great boxing coaches. Among those of recent vintage, the names George Benton, Bouie Fisher, Nazeem Richardson, and Bozy Ennis come quickly to mind. Breadman names Richardson and West Coast trainer Virgil Hunter as the men that have influenced him the most.
We are all a product of our times, so it’s no surprise that the best decade of boxing, in Breadman’s estimation, was the 1980s. This was the era of the “Four Kings” with Sugar Ray Leonard arguably standing tallest.
Breadman was a big fan of Leonard and of Leonard’s three-time rival Roberto Duran. “I once purchased a DVD that had all of Roberto Duran’s title defenses on it,” says Edwards. “This was a back before the days of YouTube.”
But Edwards’ interest in the sport goes back much deeper than the 1980s. He recently weighed in on the “Pittsburgh Windmill” Harry Greb whose legend has grown in recent years to the point that some have come to place him above Sugar Ray Robinson on the list of the greatest of all time.
“Greb was a great fighter with a terrific resume, of that there is no doubt,” says Breadman, “but there is no video of him and no one alive ever saw him fight, so where does this train of thought come from?”
Edwards notes that in Harry Greb’s heyday, he wasn’t talked about in the papers as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. The boxing writers were partial to Benny Leonard who drew comparisons to the venerated Joe Gans.
Among active fighters, Breadman reserves his highest praise for Terence Crawford. “Body punching is a lost art,” he once wrote. “[Crawford] is a great body puncher who starts his knockouts with body punches, but those punches are so subtle they are not fully appreciated.”
If the opening line holds up, Crawford will enter the ring as the underdog when he opposes Canelo Alvarez in September. Crawford, who will enter the ring a few weeks shy of his 38th birthday, is actually the older fighter, older than Canelo by almost three full years (it doesn’t seem that way since the Mexican redhead has been in the public eye so much longer), and will theoretically be rusty as 13 months will have elapsed since his most recent fight.
Breadman discounts those variables. “Terence is older,” he says, “but has less wear and tear and never looks rusty after a long layoff.” That Crawford will win he has no doubt, an opinion he tweaked after Canelo’s performance against William Scull: “Canelo’s legs are not the same. Bud may even stop him now.”
Edwards has been with Caleb Plant for Plant’s last three fights. Their first collaboration produced a Knockout of the Year candidate. With one ferocious left hook, Plant sent Anthony Dirrell to dreamland. What followed were a 12-round setback to David Benavidez and a ninth-round stoppage of Trevor McCumby.
Breadman keeps a hectic schedule. From Monday through Friday, he’s at the DLX Gym in Las Vegas coaching Caleb Plant and Kyrone Davis. On weekends, he’s back in Philadelphia, checking in on his investment properties and, of greater importance, watching his kids play sports. His 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son are standout all-around athletes.
On those long flights, he has plenty of time to turn on his laptop and stream old fights or perhaps work on his next article. That’s assuming he can stay awake.
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