Cotto Still King of New York, At Least the One on Two Legs

Published

10 years ago

June 8, 2015

BROOKLYN,N.Y. – If Miguel Cotto were a baseball player, his popularity in the Town That Never Sleeps might not rise to the level of, say, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays or Tom Seaver. But the WBC middleweight champion from Caguas, Puerto Rico, probably could make a case for holding his own, at least with the many Puerto Rican fight fans who have migrated to these parts, against countryman Bernie Williams, the beloved former New York Yankees centerfielder who played on four World Series championship teams and on May 23 had his No. 51 retired and a plaque honoring him placed in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.

The 34-year-old Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) ran his record in his home-away-from-home to 11-1, with six victories inside the distance, when he defended his 160-pound strap Saturday night on a spectacularly entertaining, fourth-round stoppage of former IBF and WBA middleweight titlist Daniel Geale (31-4, 16 KOs), of Australia, before an announced attendance of 12,157 in the Barclays Center, approximately 99.5 percent of whom were there to cheer on their sort-of native son. And they did just that, lusty chants of “Cotto! Cotto!” erupting before the opening bell and periodically throughout the one-sided bout until a buzzed Geale, who went down under three times (once in the first round and twice more in the fourth) advised referee Harvey Dock that he’d prefer to take the rest of the night off. The end came after an elapsed time of 1 minute, 28 seconds.

It was Cotto’s debut not only in the Barclays Center (he previously had fought nine times in Madison Square Garden, once in Yankee Stadium and once in the Hammerstein Ballroom), but under the auspices of Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports, which signed him in March after his contract with Top Rank expired. The change of venue and promotional companies didn’t seem to affect Cotto’s appeal to his legion of NYC supporters, however, although they may be obliged to travel to Las Vegas or to purchase HBO pay-per-view subscriptions for their hero’s next bout against former WBC/WBA super welterweight champ Canelo Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) in September, as seems likely. Alvarez – who is coming off his own exclamation-point triumph, a three-round blowout of the dangerous James Kirkland on May 9, which drew 31,000 mostly pro-Alvarez spectators in Houston’s Minute Maid Park — is likely an even bigger money fight, and possibly a bit less dangerous, than a unification showdown with WBA middleweight ruler Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs), who was at ringside and is fresh off his own latest kick-ass victory, a six-round stoppage of Willie Monroe Jr. on May 16 in Inglewood, Calif.

Given their large and devoted followings, in addition to their nationalities – the 24-year-old Alvarez is already a Mexican icon, and boxing history is rife with classic confrontations between elite Mexican and Puerto Rican fighters – Cotto-Canelo figures to be a must-see event.

“It is the biggest fight in boxing after (Floyd) Mayweather-(Manny) Pacquiao,” said Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya, who was on hand along with fellow GBP executive Bernard Hopkins on something of a scouting mission. “But the difference is with Cotto-Canelo, you will be guaranteed action.”

Michael Yormack, president of Roc Nation Sports, sounded as if the only thing holding up a Cotto-Canelo superfight was putting all the details on contracts and providing the combatants with pens.

“It’s a fight everyone wants to see,” he said, which certainly seems to be the prevailing opinion. “It’s a fight we’re going to make. We have the framework of a deal done.”

As Golovkin also holds a WBC interim championship, he is the mandatory for the more legitimate 160-pound belt held by Cotto, who also possesses the lineal and THE RING magazine titles. But Golvokin apparently is amenable to accepting a seven-figure step-aside fee, with the assurance he would be first in line for the Cotto-Canelo winner.

It is a heady time for the sweet science, with fights suddenly all over the TV dial and May-Pac shattering PPV records. But, boxing being boxing, even a feel-good moment as such transpired on a big sports Saturday, and is apt to be replicated in September should Cotto-Canelo take place, didn’t command the world’s, or even New York’s, full attention. A bit earlier in the day, just 19.7 miles away in Elmont, N.Y., a bedroom community in Nassau County just outside the Queens Borough line, American Pharoah became thoroughbred racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 37 years in leading wire-to-wire to win by 5½ lengths over runner-up Frosted. Over in the Bronx, meanwhile, Bernie Williams’ old team, the American League East Division-leading Yankees, were thrashing the Los Angeles Angels, 8-2, to extend their winning streak to five games.

But the full slate of other attractions in New York and around the world (such as a flu-ridden Serena Williams’ French Open title, her 20th in a Grand Slam event, two fewer than Open Era record-holder Steffi Graf), doesn’t explain why the New York Daily News, whose pages once were graced by the elegant prose of such distinguished boxing writers as Michael Katz and Tim Smith, did not have a single word about the big fight on the day it was to take place.

To be sure, boxing is like any other athletic endeavor in that somebody can find fault with what, at first glance, would appear to be a blemish-free performance. There are those out there (you know who you are) who contend that Cotto became the first Puerto Rican to win world titles in four separate weight classes by beating up a damaged-goods Sergio Martinez on June 7, 2014, and that he defended it Saturday night by forcing Geale, who already had been having trouble making the 160-pound middleweight limit, dangerously dehydrate himself by agreeing to a contractual catch weight of 157 lbs. Having made that weight with not an ounce to spare, Geale apparently went on a feeding frenzy like a contestant at the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island, gaining an almost unfathomable 25 pounds in a single day. His sluggish attempts at coming toward, or running away from, the much quicker Cotto called to mind the plight of WBC super middleweight champion James Toney, who gained, depending on which version of the story you choose to believe, 15, 19 or 24 pounds overnight in yielding his title on a wide unanimous decision to the decidedly more mobile Roy Jones Jr. on Nov. 14, 1994.

“I think the weight had an effect for sure, but that’s boxing,” Geale rationalized after a lackluster effort that lowered his stock while simultaneously elevating that of Cotto, who was all but certain to become an eventual enshrinee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame regardless of what happened Saturday night, or will happen moving forward. “I signed the contract. I have always struggled to make 160, so this was obviously much tougher.”

The mini- or maxi-weight controversy aside, give credit where credit is due. Not all that long ago, Cotto was thought to be on the downhill side of an exemplary career, but he seems to have been rejuvenated under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach, who served as his chief second for the third time. Conversely, Cotto’s latest star turn is apt to restore some of the lost luster to Roach, a seven-time Trainer of the Year honoree by the Boxing Writers Association of America who saddled up the losing entry in a pugilistic version of the Triple Crown, with Mayweather’s two 147-pound belts in addition to Pacquiao’s one at stake.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Cotto told Roach after Geale had been wolfed down like another shrimp on the Barbie.

Cotto turned away from trainer Pedro Diaz and to Roach after he dropped back-to-back unanimous decisions to Floyd Mayweather Jr. (which was no surprise) and Austin Trout (which was). It has been a mutually beneficial arrangement, not unlike the owner of a vintage sports car taking his pride and joy to an expert for the sort of restoration that turns faded glory into something as good or better than the original.

“He gave me the confidence I lost after dealing with two losses in a row for the first time in my career,” said Cotto, who has been punching for pay for 14 years. Asked what fight plan Roach had laid out against Geale, Cotto said, “The plan was to follow Freddie instructions all the time.”

Those instructions apparently called for extensive use of the left hook, which Cotto employed up and down the ladder to floor Geale in the first round and twice more in the fourth, although the hook merely served to set up the overhand right that was the capper of a flurry of punches on the last knockdown.

Now it’s on to Alvarez, a closer size fit to Cotto, who came in for the Geale fight at 153.6 pounds, a smidgeon below the super welterweight limit. Cotto said his team would probably try to set a contract weight of 155 pounds for Alvarez.

“It’s going to be just another fight,” Cotto said, matter-of-factly. “Canelo is just going to be another opponent. We’re going to be ready for him.”

If the site selected is Las Vegas, however, it won’t be just another venue. Alvarez would have the crowd on his side, with Cotto ceding home-arena advantage. Then again, true champions presumably pay little heed to such matters. Hopkins, for one, says he feeds as much or more off negative energy as he does off the positive variety. Still, Cotto is the franchise for New York City boxing, or at least the subset that has Puerto Rican roots and heritage. The only thing that might have made this latest quasi-homecoming better is if the Belmont Stakes had taken place the previous weekend, or was scheduled for the following weekend. American Pharoah wasn’t exactly the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in the room, deflecting attention from the 153.6-pound fighter deserving of a larger portion of the spotlight, but the 3-year-old colt was without question the 1,170-pound horse assuming that role.

“I am so thankful for New York, no matter where I’ve been in New York fighting,” Cotto said in a nod toward his most faithful followers. “People here have always been supportive of me.”

The guess here is that they will continue to be, right until Cotto crosses his career finish line. Bernie Williams, who was a Yankee Stadium favorite through his final at-bat, surely understands what it is to bask in that kind of love in a tough town that doesn’t yield its affections easily.

PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Hogan – Hoganphotos/Roc Nation Sports/Miguel Cotto Promotions

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Bernard Fernandez

Gabriela Fundora KOs Marilyn Badillo and Perez Upsets Conwell in Oceanside

Published

7 hours ago

April 20, 2025

David A. Avila

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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

1 day ago

April 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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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

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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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