RINGSIDE REPORT: DeGale Betters Dirrell in Boston, Grabs Title

Published

8 years ago

May 24, 2015

Boxing is back in Boston and it’s not a moment too soon. In the past ten years, there have been only two significant fight cards held in the city and both were at the TD Boston Garden.

The UK’s Ricky Hatton defeated New Yorker Luis Collazo for the WBA welterweight title in 2006 and then two years ago, a successful pro-am show was put on there as well and featured Danny O’Connor in the main event against Derek Silveira in a regional battle.

Thanks to Al Haymon’s revolutionary Premier Champions (PBC) platform, the sweet science was in full effect at the Agganis Arena on Saturday afternoon, May 23 on the campus of Boston University.

Home to the BU Terriers college hockey team, the arena hosted an NBC televised card promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Murphy’s Boxing before a small but very enthusiastic crowd.

In the main event, James “Chunky” DeGale (seen above, after his win, in Freeman photo), 29, London, England, 21-1, 14 KOs, 167.2, fulfilled his obsessive dream of becoming the first Olympic Gold Medalist from Great Britain to win a “genuine” world title.

“I’m speechless,” the new champion told me after the fight. DeGale defeated American Olympic Bronze Medalist Andre Dirrell, 31, 24-2, 16 KOs, Flint, Michigan, 167.8, by unanimous decision to win the IBF super middleweight championship in a tactical but relatively entertaining affair. The Brit scored two knockdowns in the second round and used his superior boxing skills to outpoint his opponent over the distance.

“Dirrell showed a lot of heart like a true warrior,” said DeGale. “That second round knockdown was heavy,” DeGale said of the shot that dropped Dirrell. Dirrell had his moments but they were essentially given to him by DeGale in an attempt to set Dirrell up for more of the abuse he put on Dirrell in the second. When I asked DeGale if that was the case, the Londoner confirmed my assessment of his strategy. “Also, he’s such a good fighter, I couldn’t be careless and make too many mistakes because he’s dangerous with that left hand,” he said.

After a slow first round battle of jabs, traps, and counters, DeGale picked up the pace in the second round and dropped Dirrell hard with a smashing left cross to the face. Dirrell hit the mat flat but bounced up fast, only to get sent back down from a follow-up barrage. Dirrell got his legs back in the third but DeGale pinned him in a corner late in the round and hammered his exposed chin with another hard left hand. In the fourth, DeGale slowed his attack but landed a spearing right jab to the face of Dirrell, who struggled from the outside and clinched on the inside whenever DeGale pressed his advantage in close. As the rounds went on, DeGale showed the true essence of boxing. He hit more than he got hit. His defense was tight. His counters were on point. As chants of “Chunky, Chunky” broke out in the sixth, Dirrell looked like a beaten fighter, or at the very least, an extremely frustrated one.

In the seventh, eighth and ninth, DeGale motored around the ring looking to land his big left hand again as he did in the second round. Occasionally he’d plant his feet and let Dirrell tire himself out by punching wildly at his guard. In the tenth, Dirrell responded to “USA, USA” chants with two straight left hands to the chin of DeGale as “Chunky” backed up into the ropes. DeGale seized control in the championship rounds and outboxed Dirrell to punctuate his tactical victory by official scores of 117-109 and 114-112 twice.

From ringside, I scored it 116-110 in favor of DeGale, who told me he agreed with the 114-112 scores, but that the 117-109 score was “a bit too much.”

“He ran from me and they gave it to him,” said a dejected Dirrell after the second loss of his career.

Edwin Rodriguez, Worcester, MA., 27-1, 18 KOs. 176, stopped Craig Baker, Baytown, TX., 16-1, 12 KOs, 175.6, in the third round of a scheduled ten. Both light heavyweights came to the ring in Red Sox baseball jerseys. Baker, an interesting character for sure, wore a Larry Bird shirt to the Friday weigh-in. It featured Bird’s upside down image and read “Flip The Bird” across the front. In boxing they say you kill the body so the head will follow but Rodriguez took a different approach, targeting Baker upstairs early in an attempt to open up those exposed flanks for Rodriguez’s trademark body punches. In the second round, Baker was starting to feel them as Rodriguez whipped him with long right hands downstairs. Baker stayed pesky on the inside but “La Bomba” was walking through his best punches to land his own. After five consecutive right hands from Rodriguez to the head of Baker, the referee jumped in at 2:22 of the third and called a halt, a surprise only to Baker, who was not punching back.

Baker got into boxing to lose weight. After losing more than 100 pounds in 16 professional wins, he finally lost a fight. “I was pacing myself,” said the winner. “When the referee stopped it, Baker wasn’t throwing back. He took my body punches well but they slowed him down. They did what I wanted them to do. It was like chopping down a tree. The accumulation was too much for him.”

Danny O’Connor, Framingham, MA., 26-2, 10 KOs, 147.4, beat up Chris “Gumby” Gilbert, Windsor, VT., 13-2, 10 KOs, 146, registering a fifth round TKO to win the New England welterweight championship close to home. Bull versus matador. Brute versus brains. This is how O’Connor was able to handle the tank-like Gilbert. In the first round, Gilbert charged hard and was merely outboxed. In the second, O’Connor gored the bull with brutal left hands to the gut and Gilbert went down twice in obvious pain. By the fourth, O’Connor was in complete control of the fight and he hit the defenseless Gilbert at will up and down. In the fifth, Gilbert fell again from body punches and the referee put a stop to Gilbert’s agony at 1:04.

“Gilbert was tough as nails. I didn’t believe his level of skill was at my level. I could’ve fought down to his level but I stayed skillful. I stayed true to me,” said O’Connor of the victory.

Undercard Results:

Featherweight Jonathon Guzman, 19-0, 19 KOs, Boca Chica, Dominica Republic, 124.6, stopped Christian Esquivel, 27-7, 20 KOs, Mexico, 123.2, in the corner after five rounds. The undefeated Guzman keeps his knockout streak intact in the last bout of the day.

Heavyweight Danny “Smooth” Kelly, 8-1-1, 7 KOs, Washington DC, 239.8, obliterated Curtis Lee Tate, 7-6, 6 KOs, Memphis, TN., 229.4, with three thudding knockdowns in the first round. The slaughter was wisely waved off by the assigned referee at 1:05.

Middleweight Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan, 21-1, 14 KOs, Cork, Ireland, 159.6, brutalized MelvinBetancourt, 29-2, 23 KOs, Dominic Republic, 159.6, for a scary second round knockout. Sporting a traditional green Irish kilt and bright yellow boxing shoes, O’Sullivan walked his man down and hammered him with lefts and rights before a sweet right hook put Betancourt flat on his back for the count. The pillow-fisted Betancourt had never fought outside of the Dominican Republic and it showed. Time of the KO was 2:46. Said the victorious O’Sullivan afterwards, “Anyone I hit is going to sleep. I want Gennady Golovkin. I’ll knock him out.”

Middleweight Immanuwel Aleem, 13-0, 9 KOs, East Meadow, NY., 159.2, knocked out DavidToribio, 21-15, 14 KOs, Dominican Republic, 159.6, at just 0:39 of the first round. A wicked left to the body sent Toribio down in a corner and a follow up right hand to the head as he fell was just the icing on the cake. Toribio was counted out with a grimaced look on his face.

Light heavyweight prospect Edwin Espinal, 6-0, 4 KOs. Providence, RI., 171, defeated Alvaro Enriquez, 5-14-2, Mexico City, Mexico, 170.4, by unanimous decision to stay undefeated. Bouncing on his toes and attacking behind a high guard, Espinal battered his Mexican opponent around the ring like a rag-doll in the first round before reducing his output in the second to choose his shots more carefully. The boom was nearly lowered in the fourth and final round when Espinal scored a hurtful knockdown from a hard right hand to the chops but Enriquez hung in there like a Mexican fighter. Scores: 40-35 from all three judges.

Super featherweight Ryan “Polish Prince” Kielczewski, 23-1, 7 KOs, Quincy, MA., 127.6 scored a first round knockout of Anthony Napunyi, 11-12, 6 KOs, Nairobi, Kenya, 125.4, to get back in the win column after his first professional loss last month to Danny Aquino in Connecticut on ESPN Friday Night Fights. Kielczewski’s opponent made the ever menacing throat-slash sign at the weigh-in face off but Kielczewski made him pay for that nonsense with a vicious body attack that sent him down and out at 2:54.

Junior lightweight Logan McGuinness, 23-0-1, 10 KOs, Ontario, Canada, 136.8 decisioned Gerardo Cuevas, 17-14, 15 KOs, Mexico City, Mexico, 142, over six rounds. Cuevas brought a soft abdomen to the ring against McGuiness but that didn’t stop him from dropping the Canadian with a soft left jab in the first round. McGuiness responded well by attacking the body of Cuevas who stayed feisty with his jab and busy fists. McGuiness pounded the jelly bellied Cuevas in the third and “Pipino Junior” looked a little gassed in the corner after the assault. The pace slowed considerably in the second half of the bout for both. Scores: 57-56 on all three cards.

Bantamweight Gary “Another” Russell, 2-0, 2 KOs, Washington, DC, 117.2, stopped Brandon Garvin, 0-2, 118.6, Philadelphia, PA in one round. Cornered by current WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr., this Russell made short work of his opponent, dropping him with a right hook along the ropes during an exchange that left Garvin in no condition to continue. The referee appropriately stopped the fight at 1:03 of the first. This was opening bout of the show and the first bell sounded at 1:38 PM.

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Jeffrey Freeman

Broner UD 10 Hutchinson in Miami; Izmailov UD 10 Foster at Turning Stone

Published

9 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Broner-UD-10-Hutchinson-in-Miami-Izmailov-UD-10-Foster-at-Turning-Stone

Boxing cards in Miami and in Verona, New York, competed for eyeballs on Friday night. Neither card produced much in the way of fireworks.

The main go of the Miami event, a Don King promotion, was dismal. Perpetual under-achiever Adrien Broner delivered another clinker while pitching a near-shutout over gallant but overmatched Bill Hutchinson.

Yes, that sounds like a contradiction in terms, but Broner was matched very soft and it did not reflect well of him that Hutchinson was never off his feet and still standing at the final bell. The judges had it 100-90 and 99-91 twice.

Broner (35-4-1, 24 KOs) seemed content to get in 10 rounds of sparring in his return to the ring after a 27-month absence. The intrepid Hutchinson, a 34-year-old attorney from Pittsburgh who hadn’t previously fought beyond eight rounds, fell to 20-3-4 and will be able to boast that he stayed the limit against an opponent who was a title-holder in four weight classes.

Other Bouts of Note

In a 10-round light heavyweight affair with a pair of regional belts at stake, Ahmed Elbiali won a unanimous but paper-thin decision over Laredo, Texas campaigner Rodolfo Gomez Jr. All three judges awarded Elbiali six of the 10 rounds which translated to 95-94 scores factoring in a point deduction for low blows.

A local Miami man but born in Egypt, Elbiali won his seventh straight to improve his record to 23-1 (18). However, this was a messy fight marred by excessive clinching and Elbiali, 32, did nothing to suggest that he could hold his own with the top dogs in his weight class. Gomez declined to 14-7-3 but maintained his distinction of having never been stopped.

In a bantamweight contest slated for “10,” Guillermo Rigondeaux (22-3, 15 KOs) scored his second straight knockout, knocking defensive-oriented Charlie Clemente-Andino down for the count with a straight left to the belly in the seventh round. The 42-year-old southpaw, a former two division world title-holder and one of the most decorated amateurs of his generation, had the best of every round before bringing the bout to its sudden conclusion. Puerto Rico’s Clemente-Andino came in undefeated (12-0), but had been out of the ring for seven years. He filled the breach when Argentine veteran Julian Aristule pulled out, purportedly because of visa problems.

TURNING STONE

“ShoBox: The New Generation” was at the Turning Stone Casino Resort in Verona, New York, with a show held in conjunction with Induction Weekend at the nearby International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum. The lead promoter, Dmitry Salita, left a happy man when his fighter, light heavyweight Ali Izmailov, won the featured bout. Izmailov, who improved to 11-0 (7) won a unanimous decision over previously undefeated Charles Foster (22-1). Foster was fighting an uphill battle after hitting the deck near the end of round five. The judges had it 95-94 and 96-93 twice.

A 30-year-old Russian who trains in Michigan and Florida, Izmailov came in ranked number 11 by the WBO. He will need some help to move up a notch, however, as his showing wasn’t particularly impressive.

The other TV bouts were also light heavyweight affairs.

Co-Feature

In a battle of southpaws in which the competitors traded knockdowns, Colombia’s Juan Carrillo advanced to 11-0 (8) with a majority decision over Washington’s Richard Vansiclen (13-1-1). Carrillo put Vansiclen on the canvas early in round three with a right hook. Vansiclen wasn’t badly hurt and he returned the favor in the next round just when it seemed that the Colombian was on the verge of scoring a TKO. It was a good back-and-forth fight from that point on. Two of the judges favored Carrillo by 95-93 scores with the other scoring it a draw (94-94).

Also

In the TV opener, Australian import Clay Waterman, making his U.S. debut, advanced to 11-0 (8) with a unanimous 8-round decision over Kenmon Evans (10-1-1). The judges had it 77-75 and 78-74 twice. Evans, a 31-year-old Floridian promoted by 2020 IBHOF inductee Christy Martin, had won eight straight heading in.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 239: Mexican Boxing Stars in SoCal’s Inland Empire

Published

23 hours ago

June 9, 2023

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-230-Mexican-Boxing-Stars-in-SoCal's-Inland-Empire

Mexican style prizefighting arrives in the Inland Empire with undefeated burgeoning middleweight star Jaime Munguia and female boxing legend Mariana “Barbie” Juarez this weekend.

Both have their legion of fans. Both are in dangerous fights.

Munguia (41-0, 33 KOs) faces a tough test in Ukraine’s Sergiy Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) and former three-division world champion Juarez (55-12-4, 19 KOs) has an equally tough match in tiny but powerful Mayeli Flores (9-1-1). Both will be fighting at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA on Saturday, June 10. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card.

And to add local luster Pomona’s Shane Mosley Jr. (19-4) has been added. The super middleweight has been impressive in his rise to contention. He also has a rough foe in D’Mitrius Ballard (21-1-1).

It’s an interesting card mostly because the two Mexican stars are not guaranteed wins on Saturday. Munguia faces a very tough and experienced fighter who has traded blows with several of the best fighters today.

“He has a lot of experience,” says Munguia about his next foe. “Without a doubt the hardest fight of my career.”

While Derevyanchenko has fought Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs and Jermall Charlo, the Mexican fighter has only faced Gabe Rosado, Dennis Hogan and Liam Smith. All are worthy opponents but not as dangerous as the Ukrainian.

“I think he has the experience with 41 fights,” said Derevyanchenko. “We will see.”

One way or the other Munguia expects people to sit up and notice both fighters after they clash on Saturday.

“There’s going to be a lot of punches thrown and a lot of emotion,” Munguia predicts.

Hall of Fame boxer Bernard Hopkins (pictured between the two gladiators) predicts big things for the winner.

“I know from my experience these are champions brewing and these are legends coming,” Hopkins said.

Five years ago, Munguia almost fought Golovkin but it was nixed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission because of the Mexican fighter’s young age and lack of experience. Instead, Munguia was matched against Sadam Ali in New York and promptly knocked out the WBO super welterweight titlist.

Munguia has out-grown the super welterweight division and now fights at or above 160 pounds.

“Everyone wanted to see Jaime in a battle like this one,” said Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions.

Barbie

Mariana “Barbie” Juarez, 43, has been fighting since the 1990s and was largely helpful in making women’s boxing legal in Mexico.

You read that correctly.

Before the early 2000s women’s boxing was illegal in Mexico so fighters like Juarez and Ana Maria Torres fought underground and mostly against each other. Early on Mexican-style fighting was established by women like Juarez, Torres and others.

Juarez made boxing history when she fought in front of the largest recorded crowd of more than 500,000 people at the Zocalo in Mexico City in April 2017. No fighter, man or woman, has ever reached or exceeded that number.

Barbie

Unknown to many, Juarez moved to Southern California in the early 2000s and trained under South El Monte’s boxing wizard Ben Lira. For several years she learned the finer points of boxing and emerged one of the greatest female fighters of her generation.

Juarez also spearheaded the women’s boxing movement in Mexico which gained popularity and was often televised in that country when it was ignored in the USA and other countries.

Now women’s boxing has gained traction due to fighters like Juarez who willingly spoke to the media whenever asked. She advised other female fighters to never turn down media requests.

The queen has returned.

Boxing Addicts Weekend

If you love boxing, today and tomorrow will be crunched with boxing cards all over the world. Many will be televised.

Don King Productions brings Adrien Broner back to the limelight. Guillermo Rigondeaux is also competing on the same card. It begins in the late afternoon for West Coast fans. It can be seen on FITE.tv.

360 Promotions has a boxing event tonight (Friday June 9), at Commerce Casino with Callum Walsh versus Carson Jones.

PBC also has a Showtime Boxing card featuring undefeated light heavyweights Charles Foster and Ali Izmailov clashing in upstate New York.

Then on Saturday morning Matchroom Boxing has flyweights Sunny Edwards and Andres Campos vying for the IBF flyweight title and also female fighters Cherneka Johnson defending against Ellie Scotney for the IBF super bantamweight title. All on DAZN.

That is followed by the Golden Boy Promotions card at 5.p.m

In New York, a showdown between pound for pound fighters Josh Taylor and Teofimo Lopez takes place at Madison Square Garden. ESPN will televise. It should be very revealing.

Fights to Watch (Pacific Coast Time)

Fri. www.donking.com 3:50 p.m. Adrien Broner (34-4-1) vs Bill Hutchinson (20-2-4).

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Callum Walsh (6-0) vs Carson Jones (43-15-3).

Fri. Showtime 7 p.m. Ali Izmailov (10-0) vs Charles Foster (22-0).

Sat. DAZN 11 a.m. Sunny Edwards (19-0) vs Andres Campos (15-0).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Jaime Munguia (41-0) vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko (14-4); Shane Mosley Jr. (19-4) vs Demetrius Ballard (21-1-1); Mariana Juarez (55-12-4) vs Mayeli Flores (9-1-1).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Josh Taylor (19-0) vs Teofimo Lopez (18-1).

Munguia / Derevyanchenko photo credit: Al Applerose

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Adrien Broner Returns to the Ring with an Attorney in the Opposite Corner

Published

2 days ago

June 8, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Adrien-Broner-Returns-to-the-Ring-with-an-Attorney-in-the-Opposite-Corner

Adrien Broner returns to the ring tomorrow (Friday, June 9) after a 27-month absence. He meets Bill Hutchinson at Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida, in a fight slated for “10.” It’s a Don King promotion for sale at $24.99 on FITE TV and several other pay-per-view platforms.

Hutchinson – his friends call him Hutch — is a practicing attorney with offices in his native Pittsburgh and in Naples, Florida. Reading about him reminded me of Leach Cross. A very good lightweight during the early years of the twentieth-century, Cross was a dentist. His disparate occupations, as one would imagine, gave rise to many jokes. It was said of Leach that he drummed up business for his dental practice by rearranging the bridgework of his opponents. He could knock out a man’s tooth and replace it with a facsimile the next morning.

Adrien Broner, aptly nicknamed “The Problem,” is frequently in need of a good attorney. The same goes for Don King, a litigious sort who has sued and been sued many times. Even if Hutchinson never fights again, it wouldn’t be surprising if he crosses paths with Broner and/or King at some point again down the road. The principals made light of this in Tuesday’s press conference. “Dealing with lawyers is Broner’s forte,” wisecracked Don King. “After I mess you up, I’m going to hire you,” said Broner, looking sternly at Hutchinson.

On his web site, Hutchinson comes across as less of an attorney than a man who makes his living as a motivational speaker. “Currently,” it reads, “Hutch is a partner and leader in multiple businesses across divergent market categories. These businesses range from the automobile industry to event promotions, high end construction to hospitality, real estate to medical marijuana, and biologics/pharmaceuticals…Hutch has earned a reputation in each industry as an innovative problem solver who discovers new opportunities for growth.”

Okay, but can he fight?

Hutchinson’s current record (20-2-4, 9 KOs) is decent, but only nine of his 20 wins have come against opponents with winning records. None of his previous fights were slated for more than eight rounds.

There are levels to this sport as Mike Lee can ruefully attest. A finance major at Notre Dame, Lee was a successful businessman with a 21-0 record (against limited opposition) when he wangled a match with IBF super-middleweight title-holder Caleb Plant. That bout turned ugly in a hurry. Plant put him on the deck in the opening round and scored three more knockdowns before the butchery was halted at the midway point of the third round.

The guess is that Broner-Hutchinson won’t be quite as lopsided. Owing to legal problems, management issues, personal problems, and training injuries incurred by would-be opponents, Adrien Broner has been relatively inactive, missing all of 2020 and 2022. He’s 1-2-1 in his last four fights going back to July of 2017 with the lone triumph coming against unheralded Jovanie Santiago who took the fight on short notice. Broner won a 12-round unanimous decision, but was actually out-landed. His post-fight interview was more exciting than the fight, said CBS reporter Brian Campbell.

In truth, Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) hasn’t been the same fighter since his bout with Marcos Maidana in December of 2013. Broner was still standing at the final bell, but Maidana roughed him up en route to winning a lopsided decision. Entering that contest, Broner was 27-0 and had never been knocked down. After that bout, he became far less willing to initiate contact, relying more on his sublime defensive skills.

Broner vs. Maidana drew a reported 1.3 million pay-per-view buys, an impressive figure. Broner vs. Hutchinson won’t come anywhere close to matching those numbers (75,000 may be a stretch) and no matter his showing, Broner won’t repair his tattered image. A prizefighter cannot regain what he has lost against the Bill Hutchinson’s of the world.

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