Haymon Boxing on Spike

Published

10 years ago

March 16, 2015

The rollout of Premier Boxing Champions continued on March 13 with Haymon Boxing’s inaugural show on Spike.

First the fights, which were contested at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.

Shawn Porter (24-1-1, 15 KOs) was coming off a majority-decision loss to Kell Brook, but had impressive victories over Paulie Malignaggi and Devon Alexander in his two fights immediately preceding that defeat.

Roberto Garcia was the intended ‘B-side” opponent. But Garcia failed to appear at the weigh-in and was replaced by Erick Bone of Ecuador. To make Bone’s task more difficult, he was called upon to take a long flight to California one day before the bout. Porter stopped him at 2:30 of round five in a lackluster fight.

Then, despite the fact that it was Friday the 13th, Premier Boxing Champions had a stroke of luck. Because Porter-Bone ended early, Chris Arreola vs. Curtis Harper was inserted in the telecast as a swing bout.

Arreola entered the ring weighing 262 pounds, 23 more than for his last fight. Harper was a blubbery 265. The assumption was that Curtis would get whacked out early. He’s a club fighter who was taken the distance by Jamal Woods (5 wins in 21 fights) in his last outing, a six-round bout in Arkansas. That assumption was further bolstered in round one when Harper was decked by a right hand and rose on wobbly legs, looking like 265 pounds of Jell-O.

But Arreola was woefully out of shape. And Harper had the mindset, if not the skills, of a good fighter. The bout devolved into two huge guys staggering each other back and forth in what resembled a barroom brawl highlighted by a POP-CRASH-POW seventh round. Arreola won a 76-75, 77-74, 78-73 decision, the latter score being a bit too kind to Chris. It did not speak well for his showing that he was pushed to the limit by a nomadic clubfighter. But it was highly entertaining television.

Then came the main event: Andre Berto (29-3, 22 KOs) vs. Josesito Lopez (33-6, 19 KOs).

Berto is Exhibit A for how Al Haymon was allowed to distort the decision-making process at HBO in an earlier era. Andre was a two-time national Golden Gloves champion, a bronze medalist at the 2003 World Amateur Championships, and a 2004 Olympian (representing Haiti as a consequence of his father’s dual citizenship). He turned pro in 2004, and was ESPN’s 2006 “prospect of the year.” Thereafter, Berto was on HBO too many times against soft opponents for inflated license fees with less-than-enthusiastic viewer response. No longer a “star of the future,” he entered the ring on March 13 having won two fights since 2010.

Lopez is a game fighter who has trouble getting by world-class opposition. He beats the guys he should beat and loses to the fighters that he’s expected to lose to. His marketability was built on a 2012 outing against Victor Ortiz in which Ortiz (ahead on points) retired after nine rounds because of a broken jaw. In Josesito’s next two fights, he was knocked out by Canelo Alvarez and Marcos Maidana.

Berto-Lopez was a fast-paced spirited fight. Lopez was ahead on the scorecards in round six, when Andre landed a sharp right hand that staggered Josesito. Then Berto hit him again, and Lopez went down. He rose, was knocked down for the second time, and referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the fight.

Insofar as the production of Premier Boxing Champions on Spike is concerned, the most readily apparent difference from PBC’s fights on NBC is the announcing team.

Dana Jacobson, a former ESPN Sports Center anchor who has hosted a variety of sports radio and television shows, opened the Spike telecast. Later in the evening, she was paired with Thomas Hearns. Hearns was a great fighter. He’s not a great commentator.

Scott Hanson, known primarily for his work as an NFL Network host, was the blow-by-blow announcer. Jimmy Smith (a veteran of Spike’s Bellator MMA telecasts) and Antonio Tarver (an expert analyst for Showtime Boxing before he tested positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs) served as analysts. Nigel Collins had an off-camera role, unofficially scoring the fights.

Smith made the most credible commentating contributions to the telecast. When Hanson told viewers that Bone was in shape to fight Porter because he’d been working in the gym, Smith correctly noted, “There’s no such thing as fighting shape if you’re not getting ready for a fight.” (EDITOR NOTE: Bone in fact was getting ready for a fight, sometime in April, against foe TBD.) Smith also picked up nicely on an apparent ankle injury suffered by Bone just before he was stopped by Porter. There should have been a follow-up on Bone’s medical condition later in the telecast but wasn’t.

Overall, the announcing team devoted too much energy trying to sell the concept of Premier Boxing Champions. Phrases like “a new era in boxing” and “a new day for boxing” were repeated more than necessary. If the fights are good, viewers will figure it out. If the fights are bad, viewers will figure that out too.

A few more observations . . .

The fighters’ ringwalk music written by Hans Zimmer isn’t effective. I know it’s branding for PBC. But it takes away from the individuality of the fighters and has the homogeneous feel of a television game show. Ditto for the staged visuals of the combatants walking to the ring. That kind of entrance works for Wladimir Klitschko because he’s Wladimir Klitschko. None of the fighters we’ve seen so far on Premier Champions Boxing has a legitimate claim to being King of the World.

As with the March 7 NBC telecast, the ring announcer and roundcard girls were out of sight on Spike.

Once again, there was no mob in the ring before and after each fight. Once again, thank you, Al Haymon.

The 360-degree overhead ring camera was used less often on Spike than on the NBC telecast. In this instance, less is better.

As was the case on March 7, the ring ropes were black instead of red, white, and blue. That effectively highlighted the fighters.

PBC also introduced a new toy on the Spike telecast: a miniature camera installed on a headband worn by referee Jack Reiss during the first fight of the night. But contrary to its billing, the “ref cam” didn’t show viewers “what the referee sees” because it follows the referee’s forehead, not the referee’s eyes.

Where broader business issues are concerned; the past week has seen a flurry of press releases and comments by interested parties on all sides regarding PBC’s March 7 NBC telecast. Many of these statements have been evocative of the spin-doctoring that follows a presidential debate.

If Keith Thurman vs. Robert Guerrero is a “fight of the year” candidate, then 2015 will be a bad year for boxing. Guerrero won two rounds at most and was outlanded 211-to-104. He fought courageously and there was drama in round nine as to whether or not he’d survive. But boxing fans aren’t calling for a rematch.

The key talking points regarding the NBC telecast have revolved around ratings (which will dictate how much advertising is sold in the future – which, in turn, will be crucial to the success or failure of Haymon Boxing).

Team Haymon sent out a press release that declared, “The PBC on NBC telecast averaged 3.4 million viewers, ranking as the most-watched professional boxing broadcast in 17 years (“Oscar De La Hoya’s Fight Night” on FOX, 5.9 million, March 23, 1998).”

This implied to the uninitiated that De La Hoya fought on March 23, 1998. He didn’t. It was a Top Rank show, and the main event was Yory Boy Campas versus Anthony Stephens. Oscar (who was then with Top Rank) lent his name to the promotion.

Also, on October 15, 2005, NBC televised a live fight card headlined by Sergio Mora versus Peter Manfredo that drew 8,000,000 viewers. But Team Haymon and NBC say that doesn’t count because the telecast was the finale of a TV reality show.

Let’s put these numbers in perspective.

On May 11, 1977, Ken Norton fought Duane Bobick on NBC on a Wednesday evening in prime-time. As reported by Carlos Acevedo, that fight earned a 42% audience share and was watched by 48,000,000 people.

Obviously, those were different times. So let’s leave it at this for the moment. The advertisers will sort out the ratings. Either the audience for PBC will grow or it won’t. Boxing fans should hope that it does. But significant growth won’t be easy to accomplish.

The mainstream media is drooling over Mayweather-Pacquiao. Television networks, Internet sites, newspapers, and magazines that haven’t covered boxing for years will be on hand. But that might not translate into broader support.

By way of example; on March 7, the New York Times sports section listed fifty “TV highlights” for that day in its “Sports Calendar.” Premier Boxing Champions on NBC was not among them. Nor did the Times list PBC’s Spike card among the more than thirty “TV highlights” on its March 13 sports calendar.

And a few more thoughts in closing . . .

Berto-Lopez was for the “interim WBA world welterweight” title. Mercifully, that wasn’t mentioned during the Spike telecast. Also, had Haymon chosen to do so, he could have found a belt for Porter and Bone to fight for. He didn’t.

Ignoring the belts on Spike gives more credibility to PBC’s decision to match Danny Garcia against Lamont Peterson in an over-the-weight bout on NBC on April 11 rather than fight for their respective titles. Let’s see how Haymon handles the belts for Andy Lee vs. Peter Quillin on the same card and in other future beltholder fights.

All five of the PBC fights on NBC and Spike to date have matched black against Hispanic fighters. The next Haymon time buy on NBC features black vs. Hispanic and black vs. Irish. Ethnic matchmaking is a boxing tradition, but it’s a tradition that PBC might consider jettisoning. Great fights that become part of boxing lore like Ali-Frazier, Leonard-Hearns, Barrera-Morales, and Vazquez-Marquez stand on their own merit.

Finally, as of this writing, the favorite has won five-out-of-five fights on PBC’s Spike and NBC telecasts. That got old on premium cable a long time ago. And it will get old here fast.

The banner at the top of the home page for the Premier Boxing Champions website trumpets: “Premier Boxing Champions: Where the Next Legends Collide.” Taking Al Haymon at his word, boxing fans will be looking for some of those colliding legends.

* * *

HBO’s March 14 telecast started poorly with Isaac Chilemba vs. Vasily Lepikin and Steve Cunningham vs. Vyacheslav Glazkov. The main event – Sergey Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal – was worth watching.

Kovalev came into the bout with 26 wins, 23 knockouts, 0 losses, and a technical draw that should have been recorded as a win. Four months ago, he solidified his credentials as the best 175-pound fighter in the world with a 120-107, 120-107, 120-106 whitewash of Bernard Hopkins.

Pascal (29-2, 17 KOs) was regarded as a good measuring stick for Kovalev.

Kovalev was the aggressor in the early going and fought at a brisk pace. In round three, Pascal decided to fight with him and wound up being saved by the bell after a hard right hand draped him over the ropes and led to a correctly-called knockdown. It was the first knockdown scored against Pascal in his pro career.

Pascal rallied to win rounds five and six, but he tired noticeably in round seven. In round eight, Kovalev unloaded, leaving Jean on wobbly legs. Referee Luis Pabon stopped the bout at the 1:03 mark with Pascal pinned in a corner but still standing.

It was the first stoppage loss in Pascal’s career. He can take solace in the fact that Kovalev never knocked him off his feet. After the bout, Jean told television viewers and the crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal, “I don’t know why the referee stopped the fight. It’s not hockey.”

Kovalev showed a good chin and an improving left hook to go with his power. The fact that he outlanded Pascal 122-to-68, indicates an effective delivery system for his arsenal. He got hit with too many solid punches, but that makes for exciting fights.

The biggest problem that Kovalev will have in the near future is getting marketable opponents to step into the ring with him. After the bout, Adonis Stevenson claimed that wants to fight Sergey, but he won’t.

* * *

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Staged pre-fight staredowns are stupid.

The latest example of this stupidity was on display at the final pre-fight press conference for Kovalev-Pascal. The fighters got into a shoving match. No damage was done, except to the dignity of the sport. Then the promotion decided that this was a good thing and sent out an email blast with the subject line “Download Kovalev-Pascal Altercation Video.”

Some day, a fighter will be hurt during a staredown altercation and a fight will be canceled. Let’s hope that “someday” isn’t May 1, when Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao face off at the weigh-in for boxing’s next fight of the century.

Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His most recent book – Thomas Hauser on Boxing – was published by the University of Arkansas Press.

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Thomas Hauser

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

The Hauser Report: Some Thoughts on Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul

Published

4 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Thomas Hauser

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Jake Paul boxed his way to a unanimous decision over Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Friday night. The bout, streamed live on Netflix, was one of the most-watched fights of all time and, in terms of the level of competition, boxing’s least-consequential mega-fight ever.

We’re living in a golden age for spectator sports. Sports generate massive amounts of money from engaged fan bases and are more popular now than ever before. Today’s athletes are more physically gifted, better conditioned, and more skilled than their predecessors. Their prowess is appreciated and understood by tens of millions of fans.

Not so for boxing. For the sweet science, this is an era of “fools’ gold.” Yes, fighters like Oleksandr Usyk, Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, and Naoya Inoue bring honor to the sport. But boxing’s fan base has dwindled to the point where most people have no idea who the heavyweight champion of the world is. The sport’s dominant promoter has a business model that runs hundreds of millions of dollars a year in the red. And most fights of note are contested behind a paywall that shrinks the fan base even more. Few sports fans understand what good boxing is.

Mike Tyson is 58 years old. Once upon a time, he was the most destructive boxer in the world and “the baddest man on the planet.” Prior to last Friday night, he hadn’t fought in nineteen years and hadn’t won a fight since 2003.

Jake Paul is a 27-year-old social media personality who wasn’t born when Tyson lost his aura of invincibility at the hands of Buster Douglas. Paul began boxing professionally three years ago and, before fighting Tyson, had compiled a 10-1 (7 KOs) record against carefully chosen opponents.

Netflix has roughly 283 million subscribers globally, 84 million of them in North America. Recently, it made the decision to move into live sports. On December 25, it will stream the National Football League’s two Christmas games on an exclusive basis.

Netflix took note of the fact that Tyson’s 2020 exhibition against Roy Jones drew 1.6 million pay-per-view buys and concluded that Tyson-Paul had the potential to be the most-viewed fight of all time. It purchased rights to the fight as an attention grabber and subscription seller for (a best-estimate) $40 million.

Tyson-Paul was originally scheduled for July 20. A compliant Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations sanctioned the bout as an official fight, not an exhibition. In deference to Tyson’s age, the fighters agreed that the match would be contested over eight two-minute rounds (women’s rules) with 14-ounce gloves (heavyweight gloves normally weigh ten ounces).

But on May 26, Tyson became nauseous and dizzy while on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles and needed medical assistance for what was later described as a bleeding ulcer. The fight was rescheduled for November 15. Later, Tyson described the incident on the plane as follows: “I was in the bathroom throwing up blood. I had, like, eight blood transfusions. The doctor said I lost half my blood. I almost died. I lost 25 pounds in eleven days. Couldn’t eat. Only liquids. Every time I went to the bathroom, it smelled like tar. Didn’t even smell like shit anymore. It was disgusting.”

Does that sound like a 58-year-old man who should be fighting?

As Eliot Worsell noted, Tyson-Paul contained all the elements of a successful reality show. “There are for a start,” he wrote, “celebrities involved, two of them. One is ‘old famous’ and the other ‘new famous’ and both bring large audiences with them. They need only tap something on their phone to guarantee the entire world pays attention. And that, in this day and age, is all you really need to green light a project like this.”

But Worsell added a word of caution, observing, “This has been the story of Jake Paul’s pro boxing career to date; one of smoke and mirrors, one of sycophants telling him only what he wants to hear. He has been fed a lie just as Mike Tyson is now being fed a lie, and on November 15 they will both play dress-up and be watched by millions. They will wear gloves like boxers and they will move like boxers – one hampered in this quest by old age and the other by sheer incompetence – and they will together make ungodly sums of money.”

There was early talk that 90,000 fans would jam AT&T Stadium on fight night. Initially, ticket prices ranged from $381 to $7,956. And those prices were dwarfed by four tiers of VIP packages topped by a two-million-dollar “MVP Owner’s Experience” that included special ringside seating at the fight for six people, luxury hotel accommodations, weigh-in and locker room photo ops, boxing gloves signed by Tyson and Paul, and other amenities.

But by Monday of fight week, ticket prices had dropped to as little as $36. Ringside seats were available for $900. And the press release announcing the eventual MVP Owner’s Experience sale backtracked a bit, saying the package was “valued at $2 million” – not that the actual sale price was $2 million. It also appeared that the purchase price included advertising for the law firm that purchased the package since the release proclaimed, “Just as every fighter in the ring stands to represent resilience, grit, and the pursuit of victory, TorkLaw stands in the corner of the people, fighting for justice and empowering those who need it most.”

That said, the fight drew 72,300 fans (inclusive of giveaway tickets) to AT&T Stadium. And the live gate surpassed $18 million making it the largest onsite gate ever in the United States for a fight card outside of Las Vegas. More than 60 million households watched the event live around the world.

The undercard featured a spirited fight between Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos that ended in a draw. Then came the second dramatic showdown between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.

Taylor-Serrano II was for all four major sanctioning body 140-pound belts. Two years ago, Katie and Amanda did battle at Madison Square Garden on a historic night that saw Taylor emerge with a controversial split-decision win. Katie is now 38 years old and her age is showing. Amanda is 36. Taylor was an early 6-to-5 betting favorite in the rematch but the odds flipped late in Serrano’s favor.

Amanda began Taylor-Serrano II in dominating fashion and wobbled Katie just before the bell ending round one. That set the pattern for the early rounds. Serrano looked like she could hurt Taylor, and Taylor didn’t look like she could hurt Serrano.

Then in round four, Serrano got hurt. A headbutt opened a gruesome gash on her right eyelid. As the bout progressed, the cut became more dangerous. From an armchair perspective, it looked as though the fight should have been stopped and the result determined by the judges’ abbreviated scorecards. But the ring doctor who examined Serrano allowed it to continue even though the flow of blood seemed to handicap Amanda more and more with each passing round.

In round eight, referee Jon Schorle took a point away from Taylor after the fourth clash of heads that he thought Katie had initiated. By then, Serrano’s face resembled a gory Halloween mask and the bout had turned into a non-stop firefight. Each woman pushed herself as far as it seemed possible to go.

In the eyes of most observers, Serrano clearly won the fight. This writer scored the bout 96-93 in Amanda’s favor. Then the judges had their say. Each one favored Taylor by a 95-94 margin.

“My God!” blow-by-blow commentator Mauro Ranallo exclaimed after the verdict was announced. “How does one rob Amanda Serrano after a performance like that?”

In keeping with the hyperbole of the promotion, one might say that it was the most-watched ring robbery (although not the worst) in boxing history.

CompuBox is an inexact tabulation. But there’s a point at which the numbers can’t be ignored. According to CompuBox, Serrano outlanded Taylor in nine of ten rounds with an overall 324-to-217 advantage in punches landed.

From a boxing standpoint, Taylor-Serrano II made the evening special. Casual fans who don’t know much about the sweet science saw a very good fight. But they also saw how bad judging undermines boxing.

Meanwhile, as good as Taylor-Serrano II was, that’s not what Netflix was selling to the public. Jake Paul’s most recent events had engendered disappointing viewer numbers. This one was a cultural touchstone because of Tyson.

Paul has worked hard to become a boxer. In terms of skills, he’s now a club fighter (which is more than 99.9 percent of the population could realistically dream of being). So, what happens when a club fighter fights a 58-year-old man who used to be great?

Jack Johnson fought until the age of 53, losing four of his last six bouts. And the two he won were against opponents named Rough House Wilson (who was disqualified in what would be his only recorded professional fight) and Brad Simmons (who was barred from fighting again in Kansas because he was believed to have thrown the fight against Johnson).

Larry Holmes fought until age 52, knocking out 49-year-old Mike Weaver at age 51 and winning a unanimous decision over Eric Esch (aka Butterbean) in his final bout.

Paul was a 2-to-1 betting favorite. Serious PED testing for the fight was a murky issue but seems to have been minimal. Taylor and Serrano underwent VADA testing in advance of their bout. Tyson and Paul didn’t.

Tyson weighed in for the contest at 228.4 pounds; Paul at 227.2 (well over his previous high of 200). Following the weigh-in, Mike and Jake came face to face for the ritual staredown and Mike slapped Jake. But the incident was self-contained with no ripple effect and had the feel of a WWE confrontation.

That raised a question that was fogging the promotion: “Would Tyson vs. Paul be a ‘real’ fight or a pre-arranged sparring session (which was what Tyson vs. Roy Jones appeared to be)?”

That question was of particular note because sports betting is legal in 38 states and 31 of them were allowing wagers on the fight.

Nakisa Bidarian (co-founder of Paul’s promotional company) sought to lay that issue to rest, telling ESPN, “There’s no reason for us to create a federal fraud, a federal crime. These are pro fights that consumers are making legal bets on. We have never and we’ll never do anything that’s other than above board and one hundred percent a pro fight unless we come out clearly and say, ‘Hey, this is an exhibition fight that is a show.'”

Tyson looked old and worried during his ring walk and wore a sleeve on his right knee. The crowd was overwhelmingly in his favor. But it’s an often-repeated truism that the crowd can’t fight. And neither could Mike.

Once upon a time, Tyson scored nine first-minute knockouts in professional fights. Not first-round. First-minute.

Against Paul, “Iron Mike” came out for round one as hard as he could (which wasn’t very hard) while Jake kept a safe distance between them. Then Tyson tired and took all the air out of the fight. By round three, he was in survival mode with his head tucked safely behind his 14-ounce gloves. And Jake didn’t have the skills to hurt him.

The CompuBox numbers favored Paul by a 78-to-18 margin in punches landed. In other words, Tyson landed an average of two punches per round. The judges’ scores were 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 in Jake’s favor. It was a “real” fight but a bad one.

“I love Mike Tyson,” Terence Crawford posted on X afterward. “But they giving him too much credit. He looked like trash.”

Prior to the bout, Tris Dixon wrote, “Tyson-Paul is a weird event, and I can’t think of anything even remotely like it in terms of the level of fighters, celebrity, and their ages. The event is unique, and morally and ethically it is questionable. It is a cynical cash grab. I can’t see it being particularly entertaining as a high-level sporting event. But I’m sure once it starts you won’t be able to take your eyes off it.”

All true. But let’s remember that there was a time when Mike Tyson was universally recognized as the best fighter in the world. Not many people in history have been able to say that.

—

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – MY MOTHER and me – is a personal memoir available at www.amazon.com/My-Mother-Me-Thomas-Hauser/dp/1955836191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5C0TEN4M9ZAH&keywords=thomas+hauser&qid=1707662513&sprefix=thomas+hauser%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1

In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Golden Boy in Riyadh Results: Zurdo Ramirez Unifies Cruiserweight Titles

Published

1 day ago

November 16, 2024

David A. Avila

Golden-Boy-in-Royadh-Results-Zurdo-Ramirez-Unifies-Cruiserweight-Titles

Mexico’s Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez endured the grinding style of England’s Chris Billam-Smith to become the unified WBO and WBA cruiserweight champion by unanimous decision after a bruising battle in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

“I’m a true champion,” said Ramirez.

Ramirez (47-1, 30 KOs) used angles and experience to out-maneuver the very strong Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs) in Golden Boy Promotion’s first joint adventure with “Riyadh Season” in Riyadh, Saud Arabia.

Footwork by Ramirez seemed to surprise Billiam-Smith whose relentless approach could not corral the Mexican fighter who was fighting only for the second time at cruiserweight.

The former super middleweight champion used his experience and ability to create punching angles to optimum success against Billam-Smith. The movement confused the British fighter who never could find a solution.

“He has consistent shots,” said Billam-Smith. “I had trouble tracking him.”

But Billam-Smith used his relentless attacking style for all 12 rounds despite suffering a cut near his eye in the sixth round. He never quit and pounded away at Ramirez who simply out-punched the incredibly strong British cruiserweight.

No knockdowns were scored. Billam-Smith did have success in the 10^th round but couldn’t overcome the overall success Ramirez had tallied with body shots and straight lefts throughout the contest.

“It meant a lot for me to try and stop him,” said Ramirez. “But he’s pretty tough.”

After 12 rounds of bruising action all three judges saw Ramirez the winner 116-112 twice and 116-113.

Barboza’s Quest

After 11 years Arnold Barboza (31-0, 11 KOs) finally got his wish and met former super lightweight champion Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) in the boxing ring and handed him only his second defeat.

“It was a long time coming,” Barboza said.

Barboza started slowly against the pressure style of Ramirez but soon gathered enough information to determine his own attack. Accuracy with jabs and body shots opened things up for the Southern California fighter from El Monte.

Ramirez seemed to lose that fire in his legs and usually attacking style. Though he occasionally showed the old fire it was only in spurts. Barboza took advantage of the lulls and pierced the former champion’s guards with accurate jabs and quick body shots.

He was sharp.

After 10 rounds all three judges favored Barboza 96-94 twice and 97-93.

“This was my championship fight,” said the undefeated Barboza. “I respect everything about him (Ramirez) and his team.” Ramirez’s only previous loss came in a bout with Josh Taylor for the undisputed world title at 140 pounds.

Lightweight clash

William Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) survived a knockdown to out-punch former champion Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) and walk away with a split decision victory in their lightweight confrontation.

“I knew it was going to be a tough fight,” said Zepeda. “He surprised me a little bit.”

Zepeda opened up with his usual flood of punches from every angle and soon found himself looking up from the floor after Farmer floored him with a perfect counter-left in the third round.

It took the Mexican fighter a few rounds to find a way to avoid Farmer’s counter lefts and then the deluge of blows resumed. Though Farmer continued to battle he couldn’t match the number of blows coming from Zepeda.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Farmer 95-94 but the two other judges saw Zepeda by 95-94 scores.

“I just brought it to him,” said Farmer who knew it was a close fight.

Puerto Rico’s New Unified Champ

In a battle between minimumweight world titlists Puerto Rico’s Oscar Collazo (11-0, 8 KOs) knocked out Thailand’s KO CP Freshmart (25-1, 9 KOs) to become the WBO and WBA champion.

Freshmart, also known as Thammanoon Niyomtrong, was the longest reigning champion in the 105-division weight class for a total of eight years. That was quickly ended as Collazo’s floored the strong Thai fighter three times during their clash of champions.

Body shots proved beneficial to Collazo as both exchanged blows to the abdomen but the Puerto Rican added flashy combinations to control the fight for six rounds.

“I saw him breathing hard,” said Collazo.

Possibly understanding he was falling behind, Freshmart began to advance more aggressively and forced exchanges with the fast Boricua. Bad idea.

During a furious exchange in the sixth Collazo connected with a counter right hook on the chin and down went Freshmart. He recovered and finished the round.

Collazo opened the seventh searching for an opening and immediately connected with another right hook during an exchange of blows with the Thai fighter. Down went Freshmart again but he got up to fight again. Collazo moved in cautiously again and this time fired a left uppercut that finished Freshmart at 1:29 if the seventh round.

“We got the stoppage,” said Collazo the unified WBO and WBA minimumweight champion.

Puerto Rico has another unified world champion in Collazo.

“I want all the belts,” Collazo said.

Duarte edges Akhmedov

Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (28-2-1, 22 KOs) scrapped past Botirzhon Akhmedov (10-4, 9 KOs) in a rugged super lightweight battle to win by unanimous decision. But it was a close one.

“He’s a great fighter, a warrior,” said Duarte of Akhmedov.

Akhmedov started faster using angles and bursts of punches as Duarte looked to counter. In the second half of the 10-round fight the extra energy expended by the fighter from Uzbekistan seemed to tire him. Mexico’s Duarte took advantage and looked stronger in the second half of the match.

All three judges saw Duarte the winner 98-92, 97-93, 96-94.

Welterweights

Saudi Arabia’s Ziyad Almaayouf (6-0-1) and Mexico’s Juan Garcia (5-6-1) fought to a majority draw after six rounds of action.

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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Jake Paul Defeats Mike Tyson plus Other Results from Arlington, Texas

Published

1 day ago

November 16, 2024

David A. Avila

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The power of Mike Tyson.

Tyson’s power was on display in the people he attracted from all over the world to fill up the 72,000-seat Texas stadium and to capture the interest of more than 160 million viewers on Netflix. But, not in the prize ring on Saturday.

Youth and Jake Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) were the winners after eight tepid rounds over legendary heavyweight champion Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs) who failed to beat the chains of time. But he did stir them a bit at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Paul moved in and out of danger against Tyson the former undisputed heavyweight champion whose name struck terror in the 80s and 90s. Though the social media influencer had a 31-year younger body, he could not take full advantage.

“I was afraid he was going to hurt me,” admitted Paul.

In the opening round Tyson stalked Paul like a hungry lion about to pounce on a piece of meat. The younger fighter used his legs and smart jabs to keep separation. It was a wise decision.

At times Paul would unleash quick combinations, but the experienced Tyson’s muscle memory kicked in and he easily avoided the blows. But from the third round on the legs seemed to lock up and every movement seemed a struggle.

Paul landed left hooks to the head but Tyson managed to avoid their full power. And when Tyson connected with a left uppercut in the fifth round Paul wagged his tongue to acknowledge it connected, but the power was not damaging.

The eight two-minute rounds were perfect for this fight.

When a 58-year-old body is forced to fight for its life with all the necessary tools such as agility, endurance and quickness, the mind can play tricks. But Tyson was resolute and kept advancing against Paul in every round.

In the seventh round the aged heavyweight rekindled a second wind and fired dangerous combinations for the first time since the second frame. His winning spirit blazed for a moment or two until Paul unleashed his own combination blows. The moment for miracles had passed.

The final round saw Paul use more jabs and a few combination punches. Tyson tried to fire back but was unable to get his legs to cooperate. Still, his bravado was intact and Paul marked the last 10 seconds by bowing down humbly in front of Tyson. Paul had survived the lion’s maw.

“He’s the greatest heavyweight to ever do it,” said Paul of Tyson. “He’s a really tough and experienced fighter.”

Tyson was almost silent after the fight.

“I knew he was a good fighter. I came prepared,” said Tyson.

Katie Taylor Wins Again

In an even more brutal fight than their first encounter, undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor (24-1) again edged out Amanda Serrano (47-3-1) after 10 bloody rounds to win by unanimous decision.

It was Serrano who jumped on Taylor in the first round and ravaged the Irish fighter with rifling lefts that snapped her head back. There was no wasting time to get acquainted.

Taylor got her footing in the third round with her quick-handed flurries. Though Serrano landed too it was Taylor’s resilience that kept her from being over run by the Puerto Rican’s power blows.

In the third round however, Taylor rushed in with blows and then grabbed Serrano and butted her with her head. A bloody gash opened up on the side of the Puerto Rican’s right eye. The referee quickly acknowledged it was a butt that caused the bad cut.

In the next round the cut opened up even more and the referee and ringside physician asked if she wanted to continue. She acknowledged to continue though the fight could have been stopped and judged by the scores accumulated up to that point. Serrano probably would have won.

Serrano did not want to stop.

“I chose to be great,” Serrano said. “I’m a Boricua. I’ll die in the ring.”

For the remainder of the fight the two combatants battled furiously. It was even more savage than their first encounter in New York two years ago. The referee repeatedly warned Taylor for intentionally diving in with her head and took one point away in the eighth round. He could have deducted more but did not.

“Sometimes it’s tough in there,” explained Taylor.

Serrano’s right hooks and left crosses found their mark repeatedly. Taylor’s quick combinations and strafing rights blazed often. It was up to the judges after 10 rounds had expired. All three judges saw it in favor of Taylor 95-94.

Many in the crowd booed. Even the announcers seemed surprised.

“She’s a fantastic champion,” said Taylor of Serrano. “She’s a hard puncher and tough.”

Serrano seemed displeased by the decision, but happy for the success of the fight card.

WBC Welterweight Title Fight

The theme for the WBC welterweight title fight was only sissies block and slip punches as Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) the champion and challenger Abel Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) slugged each other gruesome for 12 bloody rounds and a split decision.

Barrios retains the WBC title.

“I knew it was a close fight,” Barrios said. “He made it a war.”

The two Mexican-American warriors blasted each other with knockdowns but somehow continued to battle on.

Texas-born Barrios was defending his title for the first time and Arizona’s Ramos was finally invited to challenge for a world title. He accepted.

Barrios opened up with sharp jabs and rocked Ramos with a straight right. He almost went down. In the second round he was not as lucky and was floored with a perfect three-punch combination. Ramos smiled and resumed the fight.

After a few more one-sided rounds in favor of Barrios, who trains in Las Vegas with Bob Santos, the match seemed to be dominated by the welterweight champion. It was a false read.

Ramos opened the sixth round in a more aggressive attack and began hammering Barrios with right hands. A three-punch combination blasted the champion to the ground and forced him to take an eight-count. He barely survived the round as the crowd panted.

“He can crack,” said Barrios.

For the remainder of the match both fought back and forth with Barrios finding success with jabs and rights to the body. Ramos rocketed rights on the champion’s head and occasional left hooks but the right seemed lasered to Barrios head.

Both of their faces were swollen and bloodied by punches to the face and neither seemed willing to quit. After 12 rounds one judge saw Ramos the winner 114-112, another saw Barrios win 116-110, and a third judge saw it 113-113 for a split draw. Barrios retains the WBC title.

“It was a great fight for the crowd,” said Ramos with a smile. “Two warriors like us are going to give an action-packed performance.”

Indian Fighter Wins

Neeraj Goyat (19-4-2) of India defeated Brazil’s Whindersson Nunes (0-1) in a super middleweight fight after six rounds. No knockdowns were scored but Goyat was the busier and more skilled fighter.

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