COMMISSIONER’S CORNER: The Big “E”—It Just Can’t Be Taught

Published

10 years ago

November 25, 2014

Last year at this time, Chris Algieri was 18-0 and had just been given word that, on Valentine’s Day, around 11 weeks away, he’d be facing 17-1 Emmanuel Taylor in a scheduled 10-round bout to be shown on the NBC Sports Network. Taylor represented the toughest challenge to date Algieri had faced in his previous 18 fights, stretching back six years.

Algieri had come off an impressive stoppage of 14-12 Wilfredo Acuna back in September, as well as unanimous 10-round decisions against 10-1 Jose Alejo and 24-8-2 Mike Arnaoutis earlier in the year.

As soon as Star Boxing’s President, Joe DeGuardia and Matchmaker Ron Katz notified Algieri of the match, Algieri accepted. The fight would take place in the Paramount, a multipurpose nightclub in Algieri’s hometown of Huntington, New York. The Paramount is an old theatre, which promoters rent for the use of putting on plays, concerts, children’s events and boxing. For boxing, it can be configured to seat around 1,200. The Paramount closely resembles Philadelphia’s now gone Blue Horizon, which, for decades, played host to most of Philadelphia’s vast array of boxing talent, including Bennie Briscoe, Bobby “Boogaloo” Watts, Tyrone Everett, Jeff Chandler, Johnny Carter, Eugene “Cyclone” Hart and Stanley “Kitten Hayward.

Through the holiday season and into 2014, Algieri worked out with his two hard-driving and dedicated trainers, Long Island’s Keith Trimble and former Long Islander-by-way-of-Virginia and now Las Vegas resident Tim Lane.

Lane is a former ISKA (Kickboxing) champion. He left competitive kickboxing and moved into boxing in 1996. He won three of his five pro fights between 1996-1998, being trained and managed by former world heavyweight kickboxing champ Derek Panza. Lane was a much more proficient fighter when he was using his legs.

Keith Trimble runs a successful Martial Arts Gym, the Bellmore Kickboxing Academy, on Long Island, and is highly-respected in that field.

As a former kickboxer who did quite well in that field (Algieri was not undefeated as publicized in the pre-fight buildup), the triumvirate of Algieri, Lane and Trimble moved into the world of professional boxing as Algieri’s love of the sport grew and as his passion for kickboxing waned. Together, they were licensed. Together, they trained.

Day in and day out it was Algieri with Trimble. When fight time approached, Lane flew in from his home in Las Vegas, where he moved several years ago. Together, from mainly small venues in and around Long Island, Team Algieri racked up win after win.

He fought at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn…The Huntington Hilton Hotel…The Plattdeutsche Restaurant in Franklin Square, Long Island…The Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, Long Island….At Madison Square Garden on an undercard which featured Yuri Gamboa v Rogers Mtagwa and Juan Manuel Lopez v Steve Luevano in the co-featured fights…and he fought at the Paramount in Huntington. He fought eight main events there.

Only two years ago, he was fighting guys whose records were 10-5-1, 7-4-1 and 10-5. He stopped one of them and decisioned the two others. He was becoming more and more of a smooth boxer. His conditioning was increasing with every outing. But he wasn’t learning to punch even a drop harder. Either he wasn’t being taught by Trimble and Lane or he wasn’t learning.

While Algieri was fighting his 7-4-1 guys, Manny Pacquiao was fighting Timothy Bradley (twice). He was fighting Brandon Rios. He was fighting Juan Manuel Marquez. Though only 2-2 in those four fights, the experience Pacquiao was adding to his future Hall-of-Fame resume was invaluable. He won. He lost. He learned.

Algieri was building and padding his record, but he wasn’t learning. My SiriusXM co-host, Gerry Cooney, who knows more than a little about power-punching and throwing body punches and turning over a thunderous left hook and snapping out a ramrod left jab, would say to me, “Algieri is just not learning enough. I don’t know if it’s his trainers or what it is, but he should be learning to punch harder and move his head more. He needs more than what he is getting.”

My late, great guru—Hall-of-Fame trainer/announcer Gil Clancy—used to say, “Nothing beats experience. If you want to be a good dancer, you need to have a good dance partner, someone who really knows what they are doing. If you are trying to become a better tennis player and continually play against lesser opponents, you’ll never get any better. The same thing holds for boxing. The better the opponents are, the better you’ll be, especially if you have boxing talent to begin with.”

Well, that upgrade to a higher opposition level came against Emmanuel Taylor. Algieri rose to the occasion against Taylor, winning by sores of 98-92 and 97-93 (twice).

Then came the big jump. Algieri fought last June 14 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. His opponent was ultra-tough Ruslan Provodnikov. The “Russian Rocky” dropped Algieri twice in the first round, although the second knockdown was Algieri taking a knee to assess the damage the first knockdown did to his rapidly-swelling right eye.

Rising from the knockdown, Algieri finished the first round in a place he had never been before—behind by three points on each of the scorecards. He turned on his impressive foot-speed from that moment, and, showing heart and courage nobody knew he had, went on to take a disputed split decision against Provodnikov.

Off that victory, Algieri was offered a fight against Pacquiao and came to financial terms which would earn him around $1.5 million. For this camp, Algieri had everything. He had paid sparring partners. He had training like never before. There were two-a-days. There were three-a-days. HBO cameras were in his face wherever he went. He became an instant celebrity on Long Island…and in New York City…and in Los Angeles. They even loved him halfway around the world in Macao, China.

The training progressed and Algieri got in phenomenal shape. He used state-of-the-art machines to train on. He had hot tubs and ice baths. He had massages and strength coaches. His every step was recorded and monitored. So was his breathing and his heart rate. The plan was to turn Algieri into a fighting machine. His punch output was charted to be at an astounding 100+ per round.

Then the fight began. Algieri couldn’t find a rhythm. Pacquiao could. The taller, rangier, longer-armed Algieri could barely lay a meaningful punch on Pacquiao. Not so the other way around.

How could that be? Algieri had everything going into this fight. Or so he thought.

His corner had convinced him he was in better shape than Pacquiao. Algieri was told he had done everything humanly possible to win this fight.

He was told, over and over, that he has everything that Pacquiao has, and more.

On paper, he did have youth over Pacquiao. He did have height, he did have reach and he did have speed over the Filipino legend. Yes, he may have even had conditioning.

Yet, in reality, Algieri did not have everything. He lacked the one thing that Pacquiao has in abundance, the one thing no trainer or coach or fitness guru can give or teach.

Chris Algieri did not have experience.

He received it the hard way on Saturday night.

Photo Credit: Chris Farina

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Randy Gordon

Canelo Proves Too Canny and Tough for Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2024

David A. Avila

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Canelo Proves Too Canny and Tough for Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas

Never underestimate a Puerto Rico versus Mexico fight.

Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez needed all 12 rounds to defeat Puerto Rico’s super strong Edgar Berlanga and retain the unified super middleweight championship on Saturday.

Berlanga never quit.

“He’s very strong,” Canelo said.

Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) showed that championship fighting is like high-speed chess and Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) did not have enough moves to out-wit the Mexican redhead at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Especially on Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Despite an early knockdown by a Canelo left hook, Berlanga was able to survive the Mexican fighter’s onslaught and withstand punishment that could have felled a rhinoceros.

“I got a little bit of Mexican in me,” Berlanga joked.

During an exchange in the third round Alvarez snapped a quick left hook that timed the Puerto Rican perfectly. Down he went for only the second time in his career. But he got up quickly and rallied a bit in the round.

It was the theme of the fight.

Every time Alvarez scored heavy with combinations to the head and body, Berlanga responded back as much as possible. He never wilted though he had plenty of opportunities.

It was a methodical attack by the Mexican champion that kept Berlanga guessing in every round. The Puerto Rican tried firing back and using his height and reach but Alvarez was always a step ahead.

Berlanga managed to score, but he never could mount a long rally. In the fifth round Berlanga used rough tactics including a head butt that angered Alvarez. It was the first time the Boricua was able to connect heavily.

But Alvarez proved too canny for Berlanga. The Mexican redhead who has won world titles as a super welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight, showed off his experience. The Puerto Rican could only absorb the blows and retaliate. But his strength was impressive.

“He will be a champion,” said Alvarez.

After 12 back-and-forth rounds, both hugged like old friends. It was exactly the type of fight Alvarez wanted for the thousands of Mexican and Puerto Rican fans at the arena and worldwide.

Alvarez was deemed the winner by unanimous decision 117-110, 118-109 twice and retains the world titles.

“I did good,” said Alvarez. “I’m the best fighter in the world.”

Berlanga was gracious in defeat.

“I could have done a lot more, but I was fighting a legend,” Berlanga said.

Other Fights

After nine rounds of whistles and boos by a disgruntled crowd due to inactivity, Erislandy Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs) fired a lead left cross to drop Danny “Swift” Garcia (37-4). Lara was making the third defense of the WBA middleweight world title he won with a one-punch knockout of Thomas La Manna.

The battle between counter-punchers did not please the fans, but slowly Lara kept Garcia at bay with his sharp right jabs. The Cuban southpaw caught Garcia moving with his hands down with a single strafing left. Down he went for the first time in his career and the fight was ended at the end of the ninth round.

It was the first loss by knockout for Garcia, the former super lightweight and welterweight world titlist.

Plant

Once again Caleb Plant (23-2, 15 KOs) made the fight personal and found Trevor McCumby (28-1, 21 KOs) a worthy challenge for the interim super middleweight title for most of the fight.

It was thoroughly entertaining.

McCumby battered Plant early and put him to the canvas twice, although only the second was ruled a knockdown. A strong left hook to the shoulder caught Plant perfectly and down he went.

That seemed to wake up Plant.

The former super middleweight world titlist who lives in Las Vegas took the fight inside and pinned McCumby to the ropes. Plant went to work from that point on and did not allow his foe another big opportunity.

In the ninth round Plant pinned McCumby against the ropes once again and unloaded a dozen blows that ravaged the Arizona fighter. Referee Allen Huggins stopped the fight at 2:59 of the ninth round.

“Word on the street is I cant fight inside,” said Plant sarcastically.

Rolly Wins

Former lightweight champion Rolly Romero (16-2) proved too experienced for the rugged Manuel Jaimes (16-2-1) who resembles slightly Antonio Margarito. The only problem is he doesn’t punch enough like the Tijuana tornado.

Romero hit and held through much of the fight until the referee warned him repeatedly. Still, Romero was busier and far more accurate than Jaimes. All three judges scored in favor of Romero 99-91.

Photo credit: German Villasenor

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Stephen Fulton Nips Carlos Castro in a Prelude to Canelo vs Berlanga

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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In his first fight back after being dominated and stopped by pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue in a fight for super bantamweight supremacy in July of last year, Stephen Fulton nipped upset-minded Carlos Castro, improving to 22-1 (8) in his first start as a featherweight. The verdict was split, with Fulton prevailing by 96-93 and 95-94 with the dissenter favoring Castro 95-94. The decision seemed fair although not in eyes of the predominantly Mexican crowd which booed the decision.

This was an entertaining 10-round fight between two evenly-matched 30-year-old campaigners. Long-time Phoenix resident Castro (30-3) put Fulton on the deck in round five with a counter right hand and Fulton rode his bicycle to shed the cobwebs as the round played out. But the Philadelphian, with new trainer Bozy Ennis in his corner, recuperated well and had a strong sixth round.

In round eight, Castro buckled Fulton’s knees with another straight right, but was unable to press his advantage. The bout served as the “main” prelim to the four-fight PPV card.

—

In a welterweight contest slated for “10,” Mexico City’s Ricardo Salas, a 6/1 underdog, scored a second-round stoppage of Roiman Villa. The end in this slam-bang and all-too-brief skirmish came at the 2:06 mark of round three when Salas, fighting off the ropes, nailed Villa with a perfectly-placed, short right hand. Villa went down for the count.

Salas, whose de facto manager is the ubiquitous Sean Gibbons, improved to 20-2-2 with his 15^th win inside the distance. From Colombia by way of Venezuela, Villa (26-3) was making his first start since being stopped by Boots Ennis in July of last year.

—

In the opener on the PBC YouTube channel, super featherweight Jonathan “Geo” Lopez, a 21-year-old Pennsylvania-born southpaw, won a wide 8-round decision over rugged San Antonio campaigner Richard Medina. Lopez pitched a shutout, winning 80-71 on all three cards, but this was hardly a stroll in the park for him.

Lopez, who improved to 17-0 (12), simply had too much class for Medina. A 20/1 favorite, the Eddy Reynoso-trained boxer hurt Medina at the end of round seven and put him on the canvas in the final round with a straight left hand, but Medina (15-3) kept on plugging away and maintained his distinction of never being stopped.

Also

In an off-TV fight, super middleweight Bek Nurmaganbet, a 26-year-old Kazakh, won his eighth straight inside the distance, improving to 12-0 (10) with a second-round stoppage of SoCal’s Joshua Conley (17-7-1).

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Rocky Hernandez Improves to 36-2 with a Controversial TD in Hermosillo

Published

3 days ago

September 13, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Matchroom was in northwestern Mexico tonight in the city of Hermosillo for a card that aired on DAZN. In the featured bout, super featherweight Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez was awarded a technical decision over Thomas Mattice when the bout was halted by the ringside physician at the start of the seventh round because Hernandez had severe cuts around both eyes. The first cut, over his right eye, developed in round four. Replays showed that the second cut, over his left eye, was caused by a right uppercut. However, in the eyes of veteran Texas referee Mark Calo-oy, the damage was caused by an accidental head butt. That sent the bout to the scorecards where Hernandez was deemed the victor by tallies of 59-55, 58-56, and 58-55 per ring announcer David Diamente who had trouble reading the results submitted to him by a boxing commissioner.

Hernandez, who turned pro at age 15 in Mexico City, is best known for his rumble with defending WBC 130-pound title-holder O’Shaquie Foster. Rocky was leading that fight with 30 seconds remaining in the final round when the roof fell in on him. He trained for tonight’s bout at the DLX and Top Rank gyms in Las Vegas under Kay Koroma and Brandon Woods, the latter of whom trains Trevor McCumby. Neither Koroma nor Woods was in his corner tonight.

It was the first fight outside the U.S. for Cleveland’s hard-luck Thomas Mattice who had won five straight heading in and appeared to be turning the bout in his favor. Mattice declined to 22-4-1.

Semi-wind-up

Twenty-four-year-old Hermosillo knockout artist Sergio Mendoza showed that he is a rising force in the flyweight division with a third-round stoppage of stocky Ensenada southpaw Angel Ramos. Mendoza crumpled Ramos with a short left uppercut in round two. Ramos attempted to rise, but it became a moot point when the match was waived off.

Mendoza improved to 24-0 with his twenty-first knockout. Ramos, a 12-year pro whose career has been slowed by injuries, falls to 30-2-2.

Also

A 10-round super middleweight contest that shaped up as a slugfest proved the opposite. Local product Julio Porras (12-0, 8 KOs) won a wide decision in a snoozefest over Venezuelan import Isaac Torres who had won all 10 of his previous fights by stoppage, none of which lasted beyond six rounds.

Torres turned timid after Porras decked him with a left hook in the second frame. He fought off his back foot for the reminder of the bout, seemingly content to simply last the distance. The scores read 100-89 and 99-90 twice.

It was hard to get a good read on Porras who trains in Seatle with David Benavidez and Diego Pacheco, but at age 22 he appears to have a bright future.

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