First GloveGate, Now BraceGate: Sergio Knee Braces A No Go in NYC

Published

10 years ago

June 2, 2014

TUESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: BraceGate is a done deal, friends. The New York State Athletic Commission informed Team Martinez that the sleeves he wants to wear, to offer a bit of extra support to his knees, are A-OK with them. Thus, Sergio can have that peace of mind heading into his Saturday cclash against Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden.

Here is the release put out by NYSAC, speaking to their stance on sleeves and braces.

Executive Director Memo: 2014-6

June 2, 2014

Use of Knee Braces and Sleeves

Boxers will not be permitted to wear a knee brace during a bout. Boxers will be permitted to wear a knee sleeve during a bout under the following conditions: (1) the boxer will receive no competitive advantage from wearing the sleeve; (2) the knee sleeve will not pose any danger to the boxer’s opponent; and (3) the boxer—without the knee sleeve—is found medically fit to compete by the physician appointed by the Commission to examine the boxer prior to the scheduled bout.

In order for the Commission to properly evaluate a knee sleeve that a boxer wishes to wear during a bout, the boxer or boxer’s representative must present such knee sleeve to the Commission in a timely manner.

Promoter Lou DiBella told TSS he gives the commission, and new executive director David Berlin, high marks for their timely and pragmatic response to the issue, which popped up late Monday morning, after Team Cotto noticed Sergio’s knee brace/sleeve in footage seen on HBO’s 24/7 program. “I have to thank the commission for the ruling and prompt attention to the situation,” DiBella said.

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GloveGate goofed up the May 3 Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana fight lead-in, and it looks like a similar sort of beef is exploding into a thing as we count down to the June 7 clash between middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez and Miguel Cotto in the Madison Square Garden Big Room.

During a Martinez meet ‘n’ greet at the Times Square Modells, during which the 39-year-old shadowboxed, got a nice sweat going, and then set many hearts aflutter by taking off his shirt, revealing a sick physique for a man half his age, Sergio’s promoter Lou DiBella worked the phone regarding the phone call his office got that morning.

Team Dibella was given word that no boxer would be allowed to wear a knee brace, and thus the supportive sheath Martinez was planning to wear on his knees would not be allowed on fight night. The promoter put in a call to the new NYSAC executive director, David Berlin, and forcefully but politely asked why this issue was popping up so late in the game.

WBC champ Martinez took questions from the media, while HBO cameras caught footage for their second installment of their 24/7 docu-mercial series, and fans clutched photos and gloves for the 51-2-2 hitter to sign. He told us that he was planning to wear a sheath on both knees, but that he felt, physically, better than 100%. His left knee, which had undergone surgery last year, leaving him on crutches for seven months, is feeling more than fine. The braces would be on for support, he told the keyboard tappers.

Or not.

Not long after the Modells session broke, DiBella informed Martinez of the NYSAC ruling. “Sergio is pissed,” DiBella told me at 3:30 PM. “He’s really pissed off. If there is a rule, why was no one ever informed? And what’s the rationale?” DiBella is of the mindset that NBA and NFL athletes wear them, and they are not performing enhancing.

I reached out to the NYSAC and emailed their media relations department. A spokesman answered thusly: “The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) does not comment on the specifics of a fighter’s health. Per NYSAC policy, as previously recommended by its Medical Advisory Board on 9/30/13, braces are not allowed during competition.” He pointed me out to a video…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2NDZo7dr, of a NYSAC medical advisory board meeting from Sept. 18, 2013, which posted on the DOS website on Sept. 20, 2013, with the portion starting at 27:20 being especially pertinent. “Knee braces in the ring” are being discussed, and the board tosses around the issue.

In the video, you can see the board talking about the fact that a brace might indicate a fighter’s health might be not be 100%, and thus perhaps, its presence could indicate he or she shouldn’t be licensed.

It seems to be a majority opinion that a brace wouldn’t be a performance enhancer, among the board. The board then discusses making the allowance of a brace in-ring a case by case basis, and the issue is decided at 38:10, with the board deciding “no” on braces.

DiBella is irked and now mindful of the fact that it seems like his guy is being made to jump through hoops. The promoter told me he sees fighters wearing braces on his club shows…but now, before this mega-fight, the issue is raised and pertinent? Also, he wonders why his guy was asked to have an MRI, an extra procedure, done to prove his healthfulness..even though, he told me, his fighter has never had to end a fight because his knee gave out, and has never been medically suspended because of a knee injury.

“Are they picking on us?” he asked, rhetorically.

Dibella is mindful that MSG is seen as “Cotto’s house,” and wants to make sure that the “house fighter” isn’t getting extra love and attention. He said he respects the NYSAC, the exec director David Berlin and the chair Melvina Lathan, but wants to make quite sure that his guy isn’t getting the short end of a stick because Cotto is so beloved in NYC.

Cotto is promoted by Top Rank; one of their executives, Carl Moretti, said that Top Rank didn’t drop a dime on the brace issue. He said maybe Cotto and trainer Freddie Roach saw Martinez wearing a brace on the first HBO 24/7. “We promise not to punch Sergio in the knee…only on the chin!” Moretti cracked.

Meanwhile, at Modells, aside from the BraceGate beef, DiBella was in a stellar mood, as he watched Sergio whirling about while hotting pads held by trainer Pablo Sarmiento. The promoter told his pal, chef Chris Santos, who was present watching the event, that he was over the moon, because the boxer looked so mobile. I grilled Martinez about his knee, his elbow, everything…he said, “I’m one hundred percent..and a little bit more,” as Team Martinez’ Nathan Lewkowicz translated.

Sergio was asked bout the remark by Miguel Cottos’ trainer Freddie Roach that Cotto would score a KO4 in NYC.

“Freddie is a good joke-teller,” Martinez joshed.

The boxer made clear that he sees this fight as the most important of his career, and Cotto the toughest test to this point.

The most humorous part of the session came when Sergio was doing pads, and re-directed a person who veered too close to him as he danced and popped. That person happened to be DiBella, and Sergio lightly shoved Lou, saw it was Lou and not some random schmuck, and then greeted him. Both chuckled.

“Sergio looks good planting,” the promoter whispered to Santos, and then noted that the same couldn’t be said of Martinez right before his Oct. 1, 2011 scrap against Darren Barker, in AC. DiBella saw Martinez immobile right before and wondered what the heck was wrong. Advisor Sampson Lewkowicz told DiBella he’d been hurt a month before.

“You can hear the thud! His hands are fast…you can see his feet,” DiBella pointed out. “I’m watching him now, and I don’t have any doubt. I think he’s faster, bigger, stronger, than Cotto, that should do it,” the promoter said.

Dibella, as he was leaving Modells, said that this situation wasn’t at all like GloveGate, that no one was threatening to pull out of the fight, and he noted that Sergio’s knees are solid, so no brace is needed…but his implication was clear…just in case the judges are needed on Saturday, he’d like to make quite sure that in their heads, they are explicitly aware that the playing field must be even-Steven. That’s all he wants, he said.

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Michael Woods

WBA Feather Champ Nick Ball Chops Down Rugged Ronny Rios in Liverpool

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2024

Arne K. Lang

WBA-Feather-Champ-Nick-Ball-Chops-Down-Rugged-Ronny-Rios-in-Liverpool

In his first fight in his native Liverpool since February of 2020, Nick Ball successfully defended his WBA title with a 10^th-round stoppage of SoCal veteran Ronny Rios. The five-foot-two “Wrecking Ball” was making the first defense of a world featherweight strap he won in his second stab at it, taking the belt from Raymond Ford on a split decision after previously fighting Rey Vargas to a draw in a match that many thought Ball had won.

This fight looked like it was going to be over early. Ball strafed Rios with an assortment of punches in the first two rounds, and likely came within a punch or two of ending the match in the third when he put Rios on the canvas with a short left hook and then tore after him relentlessly. But Rios, a glutton for punishment, weathered the storm and actually had some good moments in round four and five.

The brother of welterweight contender Alexis Rocha and a two-time world title challenger at 122 pounds, Rios returned to the ring in April on a ProBox card in Florida and this was his second start after being out of the ring for 28 months. He would be on the canvas twice more before the bout was halted. The punch that knocked him off his pins in round seven wasn’t a clean shot, but he would be in dire straits three rounds later when he was hammered onto the ring apron with a barrage of punches. He managed to maneuver his way back into the ring, but his corner sensibly threw in the towel when it seemed as if referee Bob Williams would let the match continue.

The official time was 2:06 of round ten. Ball improved to 21-0-1 (12 KOs). Rios, 34, declined to 34-5.

Semi-wind-up

A bout contested for a multiplicity of regional 140-pound titles produced a mild upset when Jack Rafferty wore down and eventually stopped Henry Turner whose corner pulled him out after the ninth frame.

Both fighters were undefeated coming in. Turner, now 13-1, was the better boxer and had the best of the early rounds. However, he used up a lot of energy moving side-to-side as he fought off his back foot, and Rafferty, who improved to 24-0 (15 KOs), never wavered as he continued to press forward.

The tide turned dramatically in round eight. One could see Turner’s legs getting loggy and the confidence draining from his face. The ninth round was all Rafferty. Turner was a cooked goose when Rafferty collapsed him with four unanswered body punches, but he made it to the final bell before his corner wisely pulled him out. Through the completed rounds, two of the judges had it even and the third had the vanquished Turner up by 4 points.

Other Bouts of Note

In a lightweight affair, Jadier Herrera, a highly-touted 22-year-old Cuban who had been campaigning in Dubai, advanced to 16-0 (14 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of Oliver Flores (31-6-2) a Nicaraguan southpaw making his UK debut. After two even rounds, Herrera put Flores on the deck with a left to the solar plexus. Flores spit out his mouthpiece as he lay there in obvious distress and referee Steve Gray waived the fight off as he was attempting to rise. The end came 30 seconds into round three.

In a bantamweight contest slated for 10, Liverpool’s Andrew Cain (13-1, 12 KOs) dismissed Colombia’s Lazaro Casseres at the 1:48 mark of the second round.

A stablemate and sparring partner of Nick Ball, Cain knocked Casseres to the canvas in the second round with a short uppercut and forced the stoppage later in the round when he knocked the Colombian into the ropes with a double left hook. Casseres. 27, brought an 11-1 record but had defeated only two opponents with winning records.

In a contest between super welterweights, Walter Fury pitched a 4-round shutout over Dale Arrowsmith. This was the second pro fight for the 27-year-old Fury who had his famous cousin Tyson Fury rooting him on from ringside. Stylistically, Walter resembles Tyson, but his defense is hardly as tight; he was clipped a few times.

Arrowsmith is a weekend warrior and a professional loser, a species indigenous to the British Isles. This was his twenty-fourth fight this year and his 186^th pro fight overall! His record is “illuminated” by nine wins and 10 draws.

A Queensberry Promotion, the Ball vs Rios card aired in the UK on TNT Sports and in the US on ESPN+.

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Alimkhanuly TKOs Mikhailovich and Motu TKOs O’Connell in Sydney

Published

2 days ago

October 4, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Alimkhanuly-TKOs-Mikhailovich-and-Motu-TKOs-O'Connell-in-Sydney

IBF/WBO world middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, generally regarded as the best of the current crop of middleweights, retained his IBF title today in Sydney, Australia, with a ninth-round stoppage of game but overmatched Andrei Mikhailovich. The end came at the 2:45 mark of round nine.

Favored in the 8/1 range although he was in a hostile environment, Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) beat Mikhailovich to a pulp in the second round and knocked him down with one second remaining in the frame, but Mikhailovich survived the onslaught and had several good moments in the ensuing rounds as he pressed the action. However, Alimkhanuly’s punches were cleaner and one could sense that it was only a matter of time before the referee would rescue Mikhailovich from further punishment. When a short left deposited Mikhailovich on the seat of his pants on the lower strand of rope, the ref had seen enough.

Alimkhanuly, a 2016 Olympian for Kazakhstan, was making his first start since October of last year. He and Mikhailovich were slated to fight in Las Vegas in July, but the bout fell apart after the weigh-in when the Kazakh fainted from dehydration.

Owing to a technicality, Alimkhanuly’s WBO belt wasn’t at stake today. Although he has expressed an interest in unifying the title –Eislandy Lara (WBA) and Carlos Adames (WBC) are the other middleweight belt-holders — Alimkhanuly is big for the weight class and it’s a fair assumption that this was his final fight at 160.

The brave Mikhailovich, who was born in Russia but grew up in New Zealand after he and his twin brother were adopted, suffered his first pro loss, declining to 21-1.

Semi-wind-up

Topping the flimsy undercard was a scheduled 8-rounder between Mikhailovich’s stablemate Mea Motu, a 34-year-old Maori, and veteran Australian campaigner Shannon O’Connell, 41. The ladies share eight children between them (Motu, trained by her mother in her amateur days, has five).

A clash of heads in the opening round left O’Connell with a bad gash on her forehead. She had a big lump developing over her right eye when her corner threw in the towel at the 1:06 mark of round four.

Motu (20-0, 8 KOs) was set to challenge IBF/WBO world featherweight champion Ellie Scotney later this month in Manchester, England, underneath Catterall-Prograis, but that match was postponed when Scotney suffered an injury in training. Motu took this fight, which was contested at the catchweight of 125 pounds, to stay busy. O’Connell, 29-8-1, previously had a cup of coffee as a WBA world champion (haven’t we all).

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More

Published

3 days ago

October 3, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More

A small brigade of Mexican and Latino-American fighters gathered at the beautiful Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Their mission: to export Mexican style fighting to the Saudi Arabia desert.

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez defends the WBA cruiserweight title against WBO cruiserweight titlist Chris Billam-Smith and they will be joined by several other top Golden Boy Promotion fighters on Nov. 16 at the Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy and BOXXER promotions card called “The Venue Riyadh Season.”

Mexican fighters are known worldwide for their ferocity and durability. Ramirez, a former super middleweight champion, surprised many with his convincing win over former champion Arsen Goulamirian last March.

Now Ramirez seeks to unify the cruiserweight titles against United Kingdom’s Smith who has never fought outside of his native country.

“I will become the first Mexican cruiserweight unified champion. It’s exciting because my dream will come true this November 16,” said Ramirez.

Smith has a similar goal.

“This opportunity for me is huge,” said Smith. “I’ve been written off many times before.”

The cruiserweights will be joined by two top super lightweight warriors who’ve been itching to face each other like a pair of fighting roosters.

Arnold Barboza, an undefeated super lightweight contender from Los Angeles, has been chasing top contenders and world champions for the past six years. Former super lightweight champion Jose Ramirez simply wants action and a return to elite status.

“I’ve been wanting this fight since 2019 for whatever reason it never happened,” said Barboza. “I want to give credit and thanks to Oscar, he’s a man of his word. When I signed to Golden Boy, he said he was going to give me this fight.”

“It’s honorable Barboza saying he’s been chasing the fight since 2019. Now that he stands in the way for me to reclaim my titles it’s time to get that fight on,” said Ramirez.

Others on the Riyadh fight card include Puerto Rico’s WBO minimumweight world titlist Oscar Collazo defending against Thailand’s Thammanoon Niyomtrong, along with Oscar Duarte and lightweight contenders William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer.

One fighter missing from the card is Charles Conwell, the super welterweight contender they recently signed earlier in the year. He last performed on the Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Serhii Bohachuk clash in Las Vegas.

Conwell has similar talent to those two.

And what about the women fighters”

Yokasta Valle recently re-signed with Golden Boy Promotions. What is her next scheduled fight? She was spotted facing up against Australia’s Lulu “Bang, Bang” Hawton at a fight card. Is that on the horizon?

West Coast venues

Speaking of the Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles, its just a few buildings north of the Belasco Theater where Golden Boy was staging its club shows for several years.

A majority of the boxing media favored that location for its cozy atmosphere and proximity to LA Live. A number of prospects that developed into contenders and world champions fought there including Vergil Ortiz Jr., Ryan Garcia, Joshua Franco, and Oscar Duarte.

On any given fight night celebrities like Mario Lopez, George Lopez and others would show up in the small venue that held several hundred fans in its ornate theater setting.

The Mayan Theater and Belasco Theater are still open for business. According to one source, LA Laker owner Jeannie Buss stages a pro wrestling show at one of those theaters.

World title fight

England’s Nick Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) defends the WBA featherweight world title against Southern California’s Ronny Rios (34-4, 17 KOs) on Saturday Oct. 5, at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Starting time for the Queensberry and Top Rank promotion card is 11 a.m. PT.

Ball was last seen nearly toppling WBC featherweight titlist Rey Vargas but lost last March. He then defeated Ray Ford for the WBA title

Fights to Watch

Fri. ESPN+ 2 a.m. PT Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0) vs Andrei Mikhailovich (21-0)

Sat. ESPN+ 11 a.m. PT Nick Ball (20-0-1) vs Ronny Rios (34-4)

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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