The Hauser Report: Adrien Broner Punks Out

Published

9 years ago

June 22, 2015

Three competing fight cards of note were televised simultaneously on June 20. The most intriguing match-up of the night was on NBC and showcased Adrien Broner vs. Shawn Porter.

There was a time when Broner (30-1, 22 KOs) sought to position himself as the successor to Floyd Mayweather. No undersized punching bag was safe when Adrien was on the loose. His formula was to potshot opponents until he knew they were safe and then go after them. He had (and still has) prodigious physical gifts.

“At lightweight, where he was able to exploit his size,” Jimmy Tobin writes, “Broner walked opponents down and banged them out. His mediocre defense was masked by his ability to handle a lightweight punch. His struggles to transition between offense and defense were hidden by the fact that Broner never needed to take a backward step.”

But as Broner moved up in weight and the caliber of opponent improved, his limitations as fighter became evident. He won a narrow split-decision victory over Paulie Malignaggi at 147 pounds in 2013 and, later that year, was exposed in a unanimous-decision loss at the hands of Marcos Maidana.

Broner claimed that he wanted a rematch against Maidana. But as Carlos Acevedo observed, “Not only was Broner thrashed by Maidana, he was humiliated. He rose like a man suffering from Jake Leg after being knocked down in the second round, tried to buy a disqualification by writhing on the canvas like a two-year old in a Wal-Mart after Maidana butted him, hit the deck again in the eighth, was the victim of a revenge humping, and then fled the ring under a gauntlet of beer cups. Another loss to Maidana might have put an end to the Broner hype once and for all.”

So instead of fighting a rematch against Maidana, Broner went down in weight to 140 and fought three overmatched opponents. Then, on Saturday night, he squared off against Shawn Porter (25-1, 16 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at a catchweight of 144 pounds.

Porter’s resume had a unanimous-decision victory over Devon Alexander on it and also a majority-decision loss to Kell Brook. As a point of further comparison with Broner, Shawn wiped out Paulie Malignaggi in four rounds last year.

Porter was a 6-to-5 betting favorite. Broner has better natural gifts, but the feeling among those in the know was that Adrien is soft. Broner can trash-talk with the best. But it has become increasingly clear that he can’t back it up. Against Porter, he didn’t even try to.

Boxing maven Charles Jay has opined, “I hate it when a guy talks like a monster before the fight and then comes out and fights like a little lamb. I’ve seen it too many times, and it shows disrespect for the sport itself.”

That was Broner on Saturday night.

“Hit and don’t get hit” doesn’t mean “run, hold, and be boring.” There’s a difference between fighting cautiously and stinking out the joint.

Against Porter, Broner ran all night. Whenever Shawn got inside, Adrien tied him up. As the fight progressed, hugging and holding evolved into forearms to the throat. Then Adrien added headlocks to his repertoire. By round four, Steve Smoger (who was commentating for NBC) noted, “All we’ve seen so far is four rounds of fouls and forearms.”

Porter tried to make it more of a battle. But he couldn’t figure out how to do damage while coming in. And whenever he got inside, Broner tied him up. Adrien simply didn’t want to fight. And Shawn didn’t know how to fight a guy who didn’t want to fight.

Referee Tony Weeks let Broner continue to hold and foul until round eleven, when he belatedly deducted a point. It was one of the few times in memory that the crowd has roared its approval when the referee took a point away from a fighter.

Early in round twelve, Porter got sloppy and Broner landed a hook up top that put Shawn on the canvas. But when Porter rose, Adrien went back to holding and hugging rather than going for a knockout (which he obviously needed to win).

Porter prevailed by a 118-108, 115-111, 114-112 margin on the judges’ scorecards and had a 149-to-88 advantage in punches landed.

Thereafter, Broner nonsensically proclaimed, “I’m okay. It’s okay. It don’t matter. I’m a real animal. I came to fight today and I didn’t get the decision. But at the end of the day, everyone here will take my autograph and my picture.”

Broner isn’t as good as he says he is. Boxing fans figured that out a while ago.

* * *

David Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs) vs. Hassan N’Dam (31-1, 18 KOs) on FoxSports2 was a even-money fight in Lemieux’s hometown of Montreal for the vacant (and phony) IBF 160-pound world championship belt.

Lemieux is an entertaining fighter, who couldn’t get over the hump in back-to-back losses against Marco Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine in 2011. N’Dam who was knocked down six times in a 2012 loss to Peter Quillin, scored his biggest win last year, a unanimous 12-round decision over Curtis Stevens.

Lemieux wanted a slugfest. And because he was in the ring with a fighter who has limited defensive skills, he got one. That led to N’Dam being knocked down once in round two, twice in round five, and again in round seven; each time by a left hook up top.

They weren’t flash knockdowns. They were punishing damaging blows. And when Lemieux wasn’t knocking N’Dam down, he was loading up with both hands and pummeling him around the ring for long stretches of time.

One couldn’t help but compare N’Dam’s fortitude to that of Daniel Geale, who quit on his feet two weeks ago against Miguel Cotto. Unlike Geale, N’Dam took an incredible amount of punishment. And not only did he keep fighting; he kept trying to win.

In the end, the judges favored Lemieux by a 115-109, 115-109, 114-110 margin.

Lemieux vs. Gennady Golovkin will be fun while it lasts if it happens.

* * *

Andre Ward (now 28-0, 15 KOs) hasn’t joined the federal witness protection program. But he’s no longer in the thick of things either.

Ward rose to prominence with victories over Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, and Carl Froch in Showtime’s “Super Six” 168-pound tournament. But contractual problems, injuries, and a general disinclination to fight credible opponents limited him to two ring appearances in the forty-two months that followed.

Then Ward signed a promotional contract with Roc Nation at the start of 2015, demanded a tune-up fight, and was relegated to BET, where he fought England’s Paul Smith (35-5, 20 KOs) on Saturday night.

Smith, a likable man who has never beaten a world-class fighter, was a 30-to-1 underdog. He simply didn’t have the tools to challenge Ward on any level.

Ward fought a safety-first fight. After three dreary rounds, he had a 72-to-10 edge in punches landed. The rest of the fight was no different. During the seventh stanza, blow-by-blow commentator Barry Tompkins observed, “It’s been the same dance since the opening round.” The seventh round also saw Smith cut above the left eye (which has been a problem for him in recent fights). In round nine, Ward broke Smith’s nose; blood began to pour; and Paul’s corner stopped the fight. Andre won every minute of what looked like a one-sided sparring session.

Fights like this might help Ward’s bank account. There are reports that his purse for the fight was $2,000,000. But they don’t help the Roc Nation brand.

Meanwhile, Ward’s status in boxing is best understood when one compares him to Miguel Cotto.

Ward is undefeated. When last in action, he was rated #2 on most pound-for-pound lists. Both Ward and Cotto are signed to Roc Nation. Each man fought a B-level opponent this month. But Cotto fought on HBO and Ward needed a time buy on BET to get his comeback fight on television.

There are two opponents of note outside of the Al Haymon universe that Ward could fight next: Gennady Golovkin at 168 pounds and Sergey Kovalev at 175. No other foreseeable Andre Ward fight matters.

* * *

A word on Sergio Martinez, who announced his retirement from boxing on June 13 at age forty.

Martinez walked into a boxing gym for the first time at age twenty. He turned pro three years later and compiled a ring record of 51 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws. On April 17, 2010, he decisioned Kelly Pavlik to claim the world middleweight crown. Six successful championship defenses followed. But as Sergio grew older, his body betrayed him. Plagued by a bad knee that limited his training and ring movement, he was dethroned last year by Miguel Cotto.

I was priviliged to spend the hours before and after a fight in Martinez’s dressing room on six occasions. The first of these came on November 20, 2010, when Sergio rendered Paul Williams unconscious with a crushing overhand left in the second round.

Williams and his trainer, George Peterson, later spoke of a “lucky punch.”

“It definitely wasn’t a lucky punch,” Sergio countered. “Anybody who has seen the tape – it’s not too long – sees me throwing the same punch six times and landing five, and then I knock him out. It was a premeditated punch, not lucky.”

David Greisman’s analysis supported Sergio’s view.

“Can we please put this to rest, already,” Greisman wrote. “Martinez landed the same timed overhand left as the knockout punch numerous times in both his first fight with Williams and in their rematch. By my tally, Martinez landed it fifteen times in their first bout, including nine times in the final three rounds of the bout, as he realized it was another weapon that would work on Williams. And in the rematch, Martinez landed it half a dozen times in four minutes. Seven times, if you count the final blow.”

Outside the ring, Martinez has been an advocate for women who have been subjected to domestic violence and for children who’ve been the target of bullying in school.

“A world-class fighter doesn’t have to act like a thug,” he says. “As a professional athlete who is in the public eye, I have a duty to speak out on behalf of people who need help and are not heard.”

Sergio Martinez has always conducted himself with dignity and grace. Boxing will miss him.

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.

Post Views: 1,833

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.”

Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

22 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Ramon-Cardenas-Channels-Micky-Ward-and-KOs-Eduardo-Ramirez-on-ProBox

The Wednesday night bi-monthly series of fights on the ProBox TV platform is the best deal in boxing; the livestream is free with no strings attached! Tonight’s episode was headlined by a super bantamweight match between San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas and Eduardo Ramirez who brought a caravan of rooters from his hometown in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.

Cardenas, coached by Joel Diaz, entered the contest ranked #4 by the WBA. He was expected to handle Ramirez with little difficulty, but this was a close, tactical fight through eight frames when lightning struck in the form of a left hook to the liver from Cardenas. Ramirez went down on one knee and wasn’t able to beat the count. It was as if Cardenas summoned the ghost of Micky Ward who had a penchant for terminating fights with the same punch that arrived out of the blue.

The official time was 1:37 of round nine. Cardenas improved to 25-1 with his14th win inside the distance. Ramirez, who was stopped in the opening round by Nick “Wrecking” Ball in London in his lone previous fight outside Mexico, falls to 23-3-3.

Co-Feature

In an upset, Tijuana super welterweight Damian Sosa won a split decision over previously undefeated Marques Valle, a local area fighter who was stepping up in class in his first 10-round go. Sosa was the aggressor, repeatedly backing his taller opponent into the ropes where Valle was unable to get good leverage behind his punches.

The 25-year-old Valle, managed by the influential David McWater, was the house fighter. This was his 10^th appearance in this building. He brought a 10-0 (7) record and was hoping to emulate the success of his younger brother Dominic Valle who scored a second-round stoppage of his opponent in this ring two weeks ago, improving to 9-0. But Sosa, who brought a 24-2 record, proved to be a bridge too high.

The judges had it 97-93 and 96-94 for the Tijuana invader and a disgraceful 98-92 for the house fighter.

Also

In a fight whose abrupt ending would be echoed by the main event, 34-year-old SoCal featherweight Ronny Rios, now training in Las Vegas, returned to the ring after a 22-month hiatus and scored a fifth-round stoppage over Nicolas Polanco of the Dominican Republic.

A three-punch combo climaxed by a left hook to the liver took the breath out of Polanco who slumped to his knees and was counted out. A two-time world title challenger, Rios advanced to 34-4 (17 KOs). Polanco, 34, declined to 21-6-1. The official time was 0:54 of round five.

—

The next ProBox show (Wednesday, May 8) will have an international cast with fighters from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom. In the main event, Liverpool’s Robbie Davies Jr will make his U.S. debut against the California-based Kazakh Sergey Lipinets.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 411

Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Haney-Garcia-Redux-with-the-Focus-on-Harvey-Dock

Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum, CLICK HERE

Post Views: 883

In a Shocker, Ryan Garcia Confounds the Experts and Upsets Devin Haney

Published

5 days ago

April 21, 2024

David A. Avila

In-a-Shocker-Ryan-Garcia-Confounds-the-Experts-and-Upsets-Devin-Haney

Its good to be crazy. Like a fox.

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia knocked down WBC super lightweight titlist Devin Haney three times to remind everyone of his fighting abilities in winning by majority decision on Saturday.

“I just knew what I could do,” Garcia said.

Fans will not forget the lanky kid from Victorville, California now.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) fooled everyone in playing crazy weeks before the fight, then showed shocking power to hand Haney (30-1, 15 KOs) his first loss as a professional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney’s WBC super lightweight title was not at stake for Garcia because he weighed three pounds over the limit.

After Garcia seemingly acting out of control on social media, Haney’s guard must have slipped in the first round during the first few seconds as Garcia connected with that hellish left hook and Haney, with a look of shock in his eyes, almost went down. He barely survived the first round.

“He caught me with it,” said Haney.

During the next few rounds, Haney proceeded to advance toward Garcia seemingly fully aware of the lethal left hook. He used feints and rights to score with a busier approach as Garcia seemed cocked and ready to counter with a left hook.

In the fourth round it seemed Haney was confident he had regained control of the fight, but every time he opened up with more than a two-punch combination Garcia reminded him whose hands were faster and more dangerous.

Though Garcia seldom jabbed he seemed bent on looking for the right moment to unleash his deadly left hook. And every time the Southern California fighter opened up with a combination he scored and Haney dare not exchange.

A few times Haney smiled as if signifying he escaped.

In the seventh round Haney looked to punish Garcia’s body and instead was met with a three-punch combination included a left hook to the chin and down went Haney slumped on the ground. He managed to beat the count and as soon as Garcia came within reach Haney wrapped his arms around him with a python grip. Despite the warnings by referee Harvey Dock, the fallen fighter would not release and Garcia impatiently fired a weak punch during the break. The referee deducted a point from Garcia though he could have deducted a point from Haney for not obeying his instructions to release his hold. Haney actually went down three times in the round but only one was counted by the referee.

From that point on Haney was very cautious but still looking to win by decision.

Though Garcia kept using a shoulder-roll defense that left his body exposed, he would retaliate with three and four punch combinations that usually Haney could defend against other fighters.. But Garcia’s blazing combinations were too fast to defend.

In the 10^th round Haney looked to attack and was countered by Garcia’s right and a blinding left hook to the chin and another two blows that sent the former undisputed lightweight champion to the floor again.

It didn’t look good for Haney to survive.

Garcia walked into the 11^th round still composed and never out-of-control He dared Haney to exchange and when within striking distance Garcia unleashed another lightning combination and down went Haney again with a defeated look.

Both fighters had fought each other as amateurs six times so there were no surprises between them. But Garcia’s power and speed were superior and that was the difference in a professional fight.

In the final round both were cautious with Garcia’s combination punching proving too dangerous for Haney to open up. Garcia celebrated early as the round ended confident of victory.

After 12 rounds Garcia was seen the victor by majority decision 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.

“You really thought I was crazy,” Garcia told the interviewer and the crowd. “You guys hated on me.”

Other Bouts

Arnold Barboza (30-0) won a curious split decision victory over United Kingdom’s Sean McComb (18-2) in a 10-round super lightweight fight. McComb’s long reach and busy southpaw style gave Barboza trouble. But he managed to win the fight though the crowd was not pleased.

Bektemir Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOs) defeated France’s Pierre Dibombe (22-1-1) by technical decision after eight rounds due to a cut on his eye from an accidental head butt. It was a very competitive super middleweight fight.

Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (16-1, 11 KOs) outworked John “Scrappy Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round scrap to upset the Los Angeles based fighter. After a few close rounds Jimenez simply bullied his way inside and forced Ramirez against the ropes and unloaded his guns.

After 12 rounds two judges saw it 117-111 and 116-114 all for Jimenez.

“I’m a hard-working man from Cartago I come from nothing,” said Jimenez. “My corner told me I had to work inside.”

Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) stepped on the gas early with vicious body shots and uppercuts and blasted through the resilient Nathaniel Gallimore (22-8-1, 17 KOs) for several rounds. After a brutal fifth and sixth round the referee halted the one-side beating in favor of Conwell who was fighting for the first time under the Golden Boy banner.

Another winner was Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-5) by decision over Vaughn Alexander (18-11-1) in a super middleweight match.

To comment on this story in the Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 1,240