A Fighter’s Chance

Published

10 years ago

April 8, 2015

Steve Loff

Jermaine White, a club fighter out of Vegas, stood in the doorway of a ratty dressing room, only moments after being on the wrong end of an 8-round decision on this June night at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

“That’s it for me, man,” he said, his slightly swollen eyes darting everywhere, except at the man he was talking to. “I can’t do this no more. I can’t.” He was shaking his head, shoulders dropped, in a bad place after the loss.

“You’re a good fighter, bro. This ain’t easy, but this is what we do. Keep your head up.” The man consoling him was the same man who put White on the wrong side of the decision and on the brink of retirement, a fighter who probably had similar doubts after taking the first loss of his career in his last bout at this same venue, the only blemish on his otherwise perfect record. But after tonight’s win, he was 16-1. One win can change everything in boxing, same as one loss. For Gabriel “Tito” Bracero, bigger fights and larger purses were on his mind, not hanging up the gloves and going back to the relative safety of an everyman life.

White was gone now, leaving Bracero to deal with the incidental head-butts White delivered him during the fight. He was being stitched up by the doctor in two spots, above the left eye, and in the middle of his forehead. It was hard to watch, but even harder to receive. “Ahhhhhh!” Bracero shouted when the doctor hit a nerve. Bracero’s a tough dude, a fighter turned ex-con back to fighter, and to hear him scream in pain was disconcerting. Two hours of careful stitching later, Bracero and his camp were back to thinking about the next fight, the next chance to put his well-being on the line for cash and glory, the next opportunity to move up the ranks toward title fights and marquee venues, and leave behind the days of fighting journeymen for pocket change and record-padding and local bragging rights.

The fight vs White was in June of 2012. This Saturday night, almost 3 years later, Bracero finally gets the opportunity he’s been looking for. He’ll take on a top-notch boxer at a premiere venue when he meets undefeated Dominican Olympic Gold Medal winner, Felix Diaz, at the Barclays Center. For Bracero and other fighters, this is why you put in all the work, put your body on the line every time out, for an opportunity like this – to fight on a stage that’s as big as it gets these days in boxing.

Bracero’s path to this moment is not uncommon. Setbacks and disappointments to overcome. Enduring faith. Determination. Hard work. The idea being if you stick it out long enough, persevere, things even out. Good fortune eventually makes an appearance. Opportunities arise. And if you’re ready, the moment can be yours. For Bracero, a well-documented 6 year prison bid interrupted a promising start to his professional boxing career, but he didn’t let it derail him. And now, at the age of 34, he has his shot, a shot to move up the ranks and get the best matches against the biggest contenders, a chance for the father of five from Sunset Park to fight for real purses. He thought he had that shot a year ago, lined up for a bout against Danny Garcia, but it was pulled away from him by the mysterious boxing powers that be. Now he’s finally here, here to prove himself against a fighter with a good pedigree, an Al Haymon controlled boxer in Diaz. If Bracero gets this win, it will be hard for boxing politics and behind the scenes players to deny him any longer.

Bracero isn’t a big puncher, but a good boxer. His trainer, Tommy Gallagher, goes so far as to compare him to the great Willie Pep, a defensive master who made a Hall of Fame career out of speed and technique, a record 229 wins over 3 decades, with only 65 knockouts. While Bracero is certainly no Willie Pep, there’s nothing to say he can’t climb the ranks by outboxing opponents as opposed to outslugging them. But even in a world where the elusive Floyd Mayweather is king, power is sexy, and that’s why a fighter like Bracero is still on the outside looking in. He won’t outpunch Diaz, but if he’s at his best, he can surely outpoint him and pull out the win. His career comes down to this moment, and though he certainly will fight again if he loses, it’s likely to be in a much quieter setting against a much lesser opponent than Diaz. Bracero and his camp know it. This is their shot. We all dream of such opportunities, and for the fortunate among us, such opportunities will present themselves, though we won’t have to be punched in the face and cut and bloodied to get there. I asked Gallagher about the plan against the southpaw Diaz. “Nothing special. We bleed, we fight, we bleed, we fight, and we keep going like that until the end.”

This is Bracero’s chance to take what once seemed an improbable step for him. “Anything is possible,” Bracero said in a recent presser, his mantra. “If you put your mind to it and have faith, anything is possible.” On paper, this fight could go either way. After the fight, one of these fighters will continue to dream of a title shot, while the other will have to find a way to pick up the pieces, put it all back together again. But neither one of them thinks about the outcome at this point in the week, they think about how fortunate they are to be here. They use adjectives like “thankful,” “blessed,” “excited.” And if you look at the fight from this angle and you consider Diaz with his Olympic experience, having been on the big stage before as opposed to Bracero, fighting in his hometown, a few miles from his neighborhood, waiting for so long to get to this spot, it’s just that much more special for Bracero. There’s added motivation, an edge. In a matchup that’s close on paper, that edge could be the difference.

When I think of this fight I go back to that night at Roseland. The dark and dingy dressing rooms jammed with fighters. Discolored carpeting and faded paint. A decades old stench you could never wash away. A place where fighters must pay their dues to get to a state-of-the-art facility like Barclays for a fight like this, a moment they’ve dreamed of many a night. Bracero has come so far from that June night 3 years go. Even farther than that. They say nothing in life worth having comes easy. This Saturday night at Barclays is proof that no matter the circumstance, if you keep punching, your shot can come, too. That moment you’ve dreamed of. Anything is possible.

After his loss to Bracero, Jermaine White did indeed fight again, six months later in January of 2013 at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, about 3000 miles away from the Roseland Ballroom. He lost. He hasn’t fought since.

Loff is an award-winning filmmaker presently developing a feature film about the life of boxing legend Willie Pep. tw: @steveloff and vimeo.com/steveloff.

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Gabriela Fundora KOs Marilyn Badillo and Perez Upsets Conwell in Oceanside

Published

4 hours ago

April 20, 2025

David A. Avila

Gabriela-Fundora-KOs-Marilyn-Badillo-and-Perez-Upsets-Conwell-in-Oceanside

It was just a numbers game for Gabriela Fundora and despite Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo’selusive tactics it took the champion one punch to end the fight and retain her undisputed flyweight world title by knockout on Saturday.

Will it be her last flyweight defense?

Though Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs) fired dozens of misses, a single punch found Badillo (19-1-1, 3 KOs) and ended her undefeated career and first attempt at a world title at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

Fundora, however, proves unbeatable at flyweight.

The champion entered the arena as the headliner for the Golden Boy Promotion show and stepped through the ropes with every physical advantage possible, including power.

Mexico’s Badillo was a midget compared to Fundora but proved to be as elusive as a butterfly in a menagerie for the first six rounds. As the six-inch taller Fundora connected on one punch for every dozen thrown, that single punch was a deadly reminder.

Badillo tried ducking low and slipping to the left while countering with slashing uppercuts, she found little success. She did find the body a solid target but the blows proved to be useless. And when Badillo clinched, that proved more erroneous as Fundora belted her rapidly during the tie-ups.

“She was kind of doing her ducking thing,” said Fundora describing Badillo’s defensive tactics. “I just put the pressure on. It was just like a train. We didn’t give her that break.”

The Mexican fighter tried valiantly with various maneuvers. None proved even slightly successful. Fundora remained poised and under control as she stalked the challenger.

In the seventh round Badillo seemed to take a stand and try to slug it out with Fundora. She quickly was lit up by rapid left crosses and down she went at 1:44 of the seventh round. The Mexican fighter’s corner wisely waved off the fight and referee Rudy Barragan stopped the fight and held the dazed Badillo upright.

Once again Fundora remained champion by knockout. The only question now is will she move up to super flyweight or bantamweight to challenge the bigger girls.

Perez Beats Conwell.

Mexico’s Jorge “Chino” Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) upset Charles Conwell (21-1, 15 KOs) to win by split decision after 12 rounds in their super welterweight showdown.

It was a match that paired two hard-hitting fighters whose ledgers brimmed with knockouts, but neither was able to score a knockdown against each other.

Neither fighter moved backward. It was full steam ahead with Conwell proving successful to the body and head with left hooks and Perez connecting with rights to the head and body. It was difficult to differentiate the winner.

Though Conwell seemed to be the superior defensive fighter and more accurate, two judges preferred Perez’s busier style. They gave the fight to Perez by 115-113 scores with the dissenter favoring Conwell by the same margin.

It was Conwell’s first pro loss. Maybe it will open doors for more opportunities.

Other Bouts

Tristan Kalkreuth (15-1) managed to pass a serious heat check by unanimous decision against former contender Felix Valera (24-8) after a 10-round back-and-forth heavyweight fight.

It was very close.

Kalkreuth is one of those fighters that possess all the physical tools including youth and size but never seems to be able to show it. Once again he edged past another foe but at least this time he faced an experienced fighter in Valera.

Valera had his moments especially in the middle of the 10-round fight but slowed down during the last three rounds.

One major asset for Kalkreuth was his chin. He got caught but still motored past the clever Valera. After 10 rounds two judges saw it 99-91 and one other judge 97-93 all for Kalkreuth.

Highly-rated prospect Ruslan Abdullaev (2-0) blasted past dangerous Jino Rodrigo (13- 5-2) in an eight round super lightweight fight. He nearly stopped the very tough Rodrigo in the last two rounds and won by unanimous decision.

Abdullaev is trained by Joel and Antonio Diaz in Indio.

Bakersfield prospect Joel Iriarte (7-0, 7 KOs) needed only 1:44 to knock out Puerto Rico’s Marcos Jimenez (25-12) in a welterweight bout.

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‘Krusher’ Kovalev Exits on a Winning Note: TKOs Artur Mann in his ‘Farewell Fight’

Published

24 hours ago

April 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Krusher-Kovalev-Exits-on-a-Winning-Note-TKOs-Artur-Mann-in-his-Farewell-Fight

At his peak, former three-time world light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev ranked high on everyone’s pound-for-pound list. Now 42 years old – he turned 42 earlier this month – Kovalev has been largely inactive in recent years, but last night he returned to the ring in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia, and rose to the occasion in what was billed as his farewell fight, stopping Artur Mann in the seventh frame.

Kovalev hit his peak during his first run as a world title-holder. He was 30-0-1 (26 KOs) entering first match with Andre Ward, a mark that included a 9-0 mark in world title fights. The only blemish on his record was a draw that could have been ruled a no-contest (journeyman Grover Young was unfit to continue after Kovalev knocked down in the second round what with was deemed an illegal rabbit punch). Among those nine wins were two stoppages of dangerous Haitian-Canadian campaigner Jean Pascal and a 12-round shutout over Bernard Hopkins.

Kovalev’s stature was not diminished by his loss to the undefeated Ward. All three judges had it 114-113, but the general feeling among the ringside press was that Sergey nicked it.

The rematch was also somewhat controversial. Referee Tony Weeks, who halted the match in the eighth stanza with Kovalev sitting on the lower strand of ropes, was accused of letting Ward get away with a series of low blows, including the first punch of a three-punch series of body shots that culminated in the stoppage. Sergey was wobbled by a punch to the head earlier in the round and was showing signs of fatigue, but he was still in the fight. Respected judge Steve Weisfeld had him up by three points through the completed rounds.

Sergey Kovalev was never the same after his second loss to Andre Ward, albeit he recaptured a piece of the 175-pound title twice, demolishing Vyacheslav Shabranskyy for the vacant WBO belt after Ward announced his retirement and then avenging a loss to Eleider Alvarez (TKO by 7) with a comprehensive win on points in their rematch.

Kovalev’s days as a title-holder ended on Nov. 2, 2019 when Canelo Alvarez, moving up two weight classes to pursue a title in a fourth weight division, stopped him in the 11^th round, terminating what had been a relatively even fight with a hellacious left-right combination that left Krusher so discombobulated that a count was superfluous.

That fight went head-to-head with a UFC fight in New York City. DAZN, to their everlasting discredit, opted to delay the start of Canelo-Kovalev until the main event of the UFC fight was finished. The delay lasted more than an hour and Kovalev would say that he lost his psychological edge during the wait.

Kovalev had two fights in the cruiserweight class between his setback to Canelo and last night’s presumptive swan song. He outpointed Tervel Pulev in Los Angeles and lost a 10-round decision to unheralded Robin Sirwan Safar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Artur Mann, a former world title challenger – he was stopped in three rounds by Mairis Briedis in 2021 when Briedis was recognized as the top cruiserweight in the world – was unexceptional, but the 34-year-old German, born in Kazakhstan, wasn’t chopped liver either, and Kovalev’s stoppage of him will redound well to the Russian when he becomes eligible for the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Krusher almost ended the fight in the second round. He knocked Mann down hard with a short left hand and seemingly scored another knockdown before the round was over (but it was ruled a slip). Mann barely survived the round.

In the next round, a punch left Mann with a bad cut on his right eyelid, but the German came to fight and rounds three, four and five were competitive.

Kovalev had a good sixth round although there were indications that he was tiring. But in the seventh he got a second wind and unleashed a right-left combination that rolled back the clock to the days when he was one of the sport’s most feared punchers. Mann went down hard and as he staggered to his feet, his corner signaled that the fight should be stopped and the referee complied. The official time was 0:49 of round seven. It was the 30^th KO for Kovalev who advanced his record to 36-5-1.

Addendum: History informs us that Farewell Fights have a habit of becoming redundant, by which we mean that boxers often get the itch to fight again after calling it quits. Have we seen the last of Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev? We woudn’t bet on it.

The complete Kovalev-Mann fight card was live-streamed on the Boxing News youtube channel.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welterweight Week in SoCal

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-322-Super-Welterweight-Week-in-SoCal

Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.

One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.

Take your pick.

The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.

Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.

Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.

If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.

He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.

During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.

Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.

Fundora

Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.

Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.

Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.

Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.

Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?

When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.

This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.

Commerce Casino

Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.

Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.

It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.

Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?

That’s a question for another day.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).

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