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THE PREDICTION PAGE: TEAM TSS Sizes Up Mayweather-Maidana 2
Everyone seems to think “Money” flashes more brilliance, fights smarter and not harder tonight in Vegas, and beats Chino by UD12, sans controversy or aberrant scorecard. Thought: wouldn’t it be something if he lost? Wouldn’t that be great? No, not because there’s enmity there. For the drama. For the change in dynamic. For the anticipation of seeing how such a confident soul reacts when the O goes. If that vaunted undefeated record weren’t there to brag about, if Mayweather got beat with no wiggle room for debate or equivocation, I think that would be great for the sport, for Showtime, who’d get a third Maidana-Mayweather fight, and maybe, maybe for the man himself. He sometimes seem like he could use some grounding.
Let’s see what other TSS keyboard tappers are thinking, and if anyone thinks Chino can be the busier guy in the ring, and do the unthinkable: force Floyd to sip from the bitter chalice of defeat.
DAVID A. AVILA The rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana will be different for two reasons: 1) Floyd has figured out Maidana’s brawling style and will keep the fight at a distance. 2) Kenny Bayless is the referee and prefers that boxers keep a distance. He disdains inside fighting and hates body shots. There will not be a brawl this time. Bayless will separate them when they even get close to a clinch. Mayweather by decision.
BLAKE HOCHBERGER Mayweather via very tight decision like the last fight. He’s declining fast and losing his legs/ability to evade all opponents’ offense. That said, Maidana isn’t the guy to crack the code.
FRANK LOTIERZO Unless Floyd Mayweather has aged dramatically over the last four months, which I wouldn’t bet on, he’ll win a conclusive decision over Marcos Maidana when they meet for the second time tonight. Maidana was in the last fight but didn’t really come close to actually winning it. He didn’t show me anything over the 12 rounds that the first fight went that he has the needed tools to beat Mayweather. Compete with him, yes, but not defeat him. If Maidana is one of the rare attackers/swarmers who can reinvent himself stylistically and defeat the better skilled boxer/technician in the rematch after losing the first fight, he’ll add his name to a very short list.
AARON LOWINGER Even as one of sport’s most finely-tuned body ages, Floyd Mayweather’s strongest attribute remains his ring acumen. He’s a great defensive fighter, and is able to borrow from his 30 years of experience to make adjustments on the fly. In the first fight, even when Chino was able to pin the master against the ropes, he was rarely able to land anything clean. For Maidana to have a shot, he’ll have to find a way to unnerve Floyd and beat him at his own mental game. It’s counter-intuitive for the Argentine slugger to do anything but brawl, but if he’s smart, he’ll save some power for the late rounds. I don’t think he’s savvy enough to pull it off. Mayweather solved him by round 6 the first time out, I don’t see the second go-round ending any different. Mayweather UD-12
RAYMOND MARKARIAN Will never bet against Floyd until he pulls a Roy Jones one-hitter quitter. Floyd beats Maidana by unanimous decision and moves on to the next.
KELSEY McCARSON Mayweather by UD. I think we see something similar to the same fight this time around, except that we see Maidana a little less successful and Mayweather a little more accurate. It will be entertaining but pretty easy to score. Mayweather is probably the best second-half fighter in the sport. Once he has you figured out, you’re toast. Having gone 12 rounds with Maidana in May, Mayweather will look a lot better early in the fight than he did last time (though Maidana will still have his moments).
JOEL STERN The Mayweather-Maidana II promotion may not have generated much excitement, but Mayweather and Maidana will generate exciting rounds when they step in the ring though not enough for Maidana to earn the victory. Maidana’s jab, timing, ability to see punches coming, unconventional combinations and ability to close distance will continue to trouble Floyd regardless that Floyd has had 12 prior rounds to study Maidana. Floyd will be land the cleaner shots and at times dominate Maidana from the outside and the inside like he did for much of the later half of first fight. I expect Floyd will not be taking multiple steps straight back in this fight and will be turning off much sooner to keep the fight in the center of ring. The open question is can Maidana keep up a maniacal pace for enough rounds to earn a victory. When Maidana is fighting all out, he can still steal the advantage. The other wildcard is Kenny Bayless. Can he keep the fight clean while still allowing Maidana to work when he has Floyd against the ropes? I expect the fight to play out much like the first. With Maidana fading enough for Floyd to dissect him for much of the later half of the fight. 116-112 for Mayweather
AARON TALLENT Maidana seems to be the only person who thinks he won their first matchup. He’ll charge Mayweather again, but be will still be frustrated when the fight ends. Mayweather by unanimous decision.
SPRINGS TOLEDO Maidana looked like something Mayweather can out-speed and counter to death, but looks can be deceiving. Maidana was surprisingly effective last time because he compensates for his slower hand speed by punching with his opponent and getting chest-to-chest and throwing blind shots. His pressure is disruptive and his awkward shots from odd angles are hard to anticipate. Mayweather may claim that he doesn’t watch film, but don’t believe it. He’ll see Maidana’s susceptibility to pull-counters and he’ll feint his way in to invite a Maidana attack, then step back, throw hard ones, and circle out under Maidana’s big hooks. He better stay off the ropes and he better hope that his legs haven’t stiffened with time. I see him using space better, punching harder, and as Maidana fades late, stopping him this time.
MICHAEL WOODS I hope Mayweather loses. For the drama, for the buzz, maybe for the better of him. It seems like his ego is still so thick, that he’s so insulated from reality, that his jail stint didn’t pierce it. Maybe a loss to Maidana would. But unless he overtrained, in taking Chino properly seriously this time, if he didn’t before, and Father Time’s poisonous talons sunk in a millimeter more, we see a UD for Floyd.
PHIL WOOLEVER Have to go with the law of Vegas averages this time. Same fight as before, but easier for Mayweather as Maidana is less effective with his rushes. Mayweather unanimous decision, almost a shutout. Biggest shock could be a flash knockdown by either man. Odds of either guy stepping way up from their performance in the first fight : Mayweather 50% chance, Maidana 10% chance.
Photo credits:Esther Lin/SHOWTIME
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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce
Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.
Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.
The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.
In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.
It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.
For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.
Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.
It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.
“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”
Trinidad Wins Too
Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.
Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.
“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”
After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.
Other Bouts
Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.
Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.
Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.
More Winners
Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More
Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More
Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.
Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.
Hopefully the worst is over.
Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.
“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.
Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.
“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.
He knows talent.
Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.
Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.
Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.
Can Trinidad reach world title status?
Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.
It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.
Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.
Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.
Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
Boxing and the Media
The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.
Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.
Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.
Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.
MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.
Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.
Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.
It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.
Photos credit: Lina Baker
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Boxing Trainer Bob Santos Paid his Dues and is Reaping the Rewards
Bob Santos, the 2022 Sports Illustrated and The Ring magazine Trainer of the Year, is a busy fellow. On Feb. 1, fighters under his tutelage will open and close the show on the four-bout main portion of the Prime Video PPV event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Jeison Rosario continues his comeback in the lid-lifter, opposing Jesus Ramos. In the finale, former Cuban amateur standout David Morrell will attempt to saddle David Benavidez with his first defeat. Both combatants in the main event have been chasing 168-pound kingpin Canelo Alvarez, but this bout will be contested for a piece of the light heavyweight title.
When the show is over, Santos will barely have time to exhale. Before the month is over, one will likely find him working the corner of Dainier Pero, Brian Mendoza, Elijah Garcia, and perhaps others.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) turned 28 last month. He is in the prime of his career. However, a lot of folk rate Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) a very live dog. At last look, Benavidez was a consensus 7/4 (minus-175) favorite, a price that betokens a very competitive fight.
Bob Santos, needless to say, is confident that his guy can upset the odds. “I have worked with both,” he says. “It’s a tough fight for David Morrell, but he has more ways to victory because he’s less one-dimensional. He can go forward or fight going back and his foot speed is superior.”
Benavidez’s big edge, in the eyes of many, is his greater experience. He captured the vacant WBC 168-pound title at age 20, becoming the youngest super middleweight champion in history. As a pro, Benavidez has answered the bell for 148 rounds compared with only 54 for Morrell, but Bob Santos thinks this angle is largely irrelevant.
“Sure, I’d rather have pro experience than amateur experience,” he says, “but if you look at Benavidez’s record, he fought a lot of soft opponents when he was climbing the ladder.”
True. Benavidez, who turned pro at age 16, had his first seven fights in Mexico against a motley assortment of opponents. His first bout on U.S. soil occurred in his native Pheonix against an opponent with a 1-6-2 record.
While it’s certainly true that Morrell, 26, has yet to fight an opponent the caliber of Caleb Plant, he took up boxing at roughly the same tender age as Benavidez and earned his spurs in the vaunted Cuban amateur system, eventually defeating elite amateurs in international tournaments.
“If you look at his [pro] record, you will notice that [Morrell] has hardly lost a round,” says Santos of the fighter who captured an interim title in only his third professional bout with a 12-round decision over Guyanese veteran Lennox Allen.
Bob Santos is something of a late bloomer. He was around boxing for a long time, assisting such notables as Joe Goossen, Emanuel Steward, and Ronnie Shields before becoming recognized as one of the sport’s top trainers.
A native of San Jose, he grew up in a Hispanic neighborhood but not in a household where Spanish was spoken. “I know enough now to get by,” he says modestly. He attended James Lick High School whose most famous alumnus is Heisman winning and Super Bowl winning quarterback Jim Plunkett. “We worked in the same apricot orchard when we were kids,” says Santos. “Not at the same time, but in the same field.”
After graduation, he followed his father’s footsteps into construction work, but boxing was always beckoning. A cousin, the late Luis Molina, represented the U.S. as a lightweight in the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, and was good enough as a pro to appear in a main event at Madison Square Garden where he lost a narrow decision to the notorious Puerto Rican hothead Frankie Narvaez, a future world title challenger.
Santos’ cousin was a big draw in San Jose in an era when the San Jose / Sacramento territory was the bailiwick of Don Chargin. “Don was a beautiful man and his wife Lorraine was even nicer,” says Santos of the husband/wife promotion team who are enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Don Chargin was inducted in 2001 and Lorraine posthumously in 2018.
Chargin promoted Fresno-based featherweight Hector Lizarraga who captured the IBF title in 1997. Lizarraga turned his career around after a 5-7-3 start when he hooked up with San Jose gym operator Miguel Jara. It was one of the most successful reclamation projects in boxing history and Bob Santos played a part in it.
Bob hopes to accomplish the same turnaround with Jeison Rosario whose career was on the skids when Santos got involved. In his most recent start, Rosario held heavily favored Jarrett Hurd to a draw in a battle between former IBF 154-pound champions on a ProBox card in Florida.
“I consider that one of my greatest achievements,” says Santos, noting that Rosario was stopped four times and effectively out of action for two years before resuming his career and is now on the cusp of earning another title shot.
The boxer with whom Santos is most closely identified is former four-division world title-holder Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero. The slick southpaw, the pride of Gilroy, California, the self-proclaimed “Garlic Capital of the World,” retired following a bad loss to Omar Figueroa Jr, but had second thoughts and is currently riding a six-fight winning streak. “I’ve known him since he was 15 years old,” notes Santos.
Years from now, Santos may be more closely identified with the Pero brothers, Dainier and Lenier, who aspire to be the Cuban-American version of the Klitschko brothers.
Santos describes Dainier, one of the youngest members of Cuba’s Olympic Team in Tokyo, as a bigger version of Oleksandr Usyk. That may be stretching it, but Dainier (10-0, 8 KOs as a pro), certainly hits harder.
This reporter was a fly on the wall as Santos put Dainier Pero through his paces on Tuesday (Jan. 14) at Bones Adams gym in Las Vegas. Santos held tight to a punch shield, in the boxing vernacular a donut, as the Cuban practiced his punches. On several occasions the trainer was knocked off-balance and the expression on his face as his body absorbed some of the after-shocks, plainly said, “My goodness, what the hell am I doing here? There has to be an easier way to make a living.” It was an assignment that Santos would have undoubtedly preferred handing off to his young assistant, his son Joe Santos, but Joe was preoccupied coordinating David Morrell’s camp.
Dainer’s brother Lenier is also an ex-Olympian, and like Dainier was a super heavyweight by trade as an amateur. With an 11-0 (8 KOs) record, Lenier Pero’s pro career was on a parallel path until stalled by a managerial dispute. Lenier last fought in March of last year and Santos says he will soon join his brother in Las Vegas.
There’s little to choose between the Pero brothers, but Dainier is considered to have the bigger upside because at age 25 he is the younger sibling by seven years.
Bob Santos was in the running again this year for The Ring magazine’s Trainer of the Year, one of six nominees for the honor that was bestowed upon his good friend Robert Garcia. Considering the way that Santos’ career is going, it’s a safe bet that he will be showered with many more accolades in the years to come.
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