JACOBS-QUILLIN FOR WORLD TITLE, AND THRONE OF BROOKLYN, NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER

Published

9 years ago

October 9, 2015

After Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier squared off in their classic rubber match, the “Thrilla in Manila,” Ali biographer Thomas Hauser framed the importance of the confrontation in a manner that left no doubt that what was at stake transcended the possession of any sanctioning body’s bejeweled belt.

“They weren’t fighting so much for the heavyweight championship of the world,” Hauser noted. “They were fighting for the heavyweight championship of each other.”

In some ways, the Showtime-televised turf war that Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs (30-1, 27 KOs) and Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (32-0-1, 23 KOs) will engage in on Dec. 5 in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center is reminiscent of Ali-Frazier III. It’s almost an afterthought that Jacobs’ WBA “regular” middleweight title will be on the line; what matters is that these are two Brooklyn guys, one homegrown, another an adopted son, who desperately want to claim the unofficial but highly prized designation as kingpin of New York City’s most populous (2,621,793) and iconic borough.

“This fight is to show who The Man in town is,” said promoter Lou DiBella. “The winner will own Brooklyn. If you’re The Man in Brooklyn, you’re The Man.”

At a press conference to announce the much-anticipated bout, both fighters left no doubt that being The Man along Flatbush Avenue — and everywhere else within Brooklyn’s 71-square-mile limits – is something that can’t be understood by outsiders. It is home, and home means a lot to nearly everyone, but maybe especially so to residents of a melting-pot community who know what it’s like to be the punch line of jokes told by other Americans, even fellow New Yorkers with more prestigious Manhattan zip codes. If you’re a Brooklynite, there is no place on earth quite like their little slice of heaven.

“To me, this fight means everything to Brooklyn,” said the 28-year-old Jacobs, who was born in the same gritty Brownsville section of the borough that gave boxing Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe. “This is a thick-skinned city that was raised on fighting. You always had to defend yourself. We have that pride of having great fighters that come from here. I’m fortunate to be (another Brooklyn-authenticated) champion and to continue that legacy.”

Said Quillin, 32, who was born in Chicago, raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., and moved to Brooklyn when he was 19, his adopted hometown is a place he has taken to his heart and which has loved him back, negating any presumed advantage Jacobs might have as a true native.

“This fight means everything to me,” said Quillin, a former WBO middleweight champ. “It’s two guys in the Battle for Brooklyn. We are both going to have great support in the building, and this fight will really inspire people.

“I feel like I’m a son of Brooklyn. Although I’m from Michigan, this city has taken me in like I’m one of their own. You see what Las Vegas did for Floyd Mayweather (another fighter raised in Grand Rapids who made his mark elsewhere). That’s what Brooklyn did for me.”

It’s not so common a misconception as it once was, with the Internet and mass communications filling in gaps of knowledge among Americans far removed from New York, but many U.S. residents of a certain age – like me, a native New Orleanian who didn’t relocate to the Philadelphia area until I was 36 – were unaware for a long time that the country’s most-populated city consisted of five separate but connected boroughs. Or maybe we just preferred to think that way. Oh, sure, the uninformed probably understood that Manhattan was skyscrapers, Times Square, Wall Street and Madison Avenue, incredibly expensive real estate and, from a sports perspective, the Knicks, Rangers and major fights in Madison Square Garden. The Bronx meant the Yankees and, from what we were told, a high crime rate. Queens and Staten Island? They were just there, less consequential parts of a larger whole.

But Brooklyn, it had been drilled into the national psyche, was unique. It was special. It was the place where dem lovable Bums, the Dodgers’ “Boys of Summer,” regularly won National League pennants only to be thwarted time and again (seven in all) by the lordly Yanks in subway World Series, with the blessed exception of 1955 when Duke, Campy, Pee Wee, Skoonj, Newk, Oisk and Gil silenced the standard “Wait ’til next year” refrain and made next year that year.

We outsiders knew Brooklyn as the place that actor William Bendix (who was born in Manhattan, by the way) lovingly referenced in several 1940s war movies, fretting as much about how his Dodgers were doing as to the more immediate task of defeating the Germans and the Japanese. We knew Brooklyn from the 1970s TV show, “Welcome Back, Kotter,” whose opening sequence included a sign that advised viewers that Brooklyn was America’s third-largest city, although it isn’t actually a city unto itself. We knew it from “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” both the book and the movie, which suggested tightknit families and roots sunk deep. And we were aware that Brooklynites talked, well, kind of funny.

But the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, Ebbets Field was demolished shortly thereafter, and the demographics of the Brooklyn that had been began to evolve into something else. The borough that was 97 percent white in the 1930s is now, according to a 2014 accounting, 49.5 percent white, with the remaining percentages filled in by all races and ethnicities.

But the spirit and pride that set Brooklyn apart, at least to that hodgepodge of humanity’s view of themselves, carries on. The Barclays Center officially opened on Sept. 21, 2012, bringing big-time sports to the borough for the first time since the Dodgers went west. The NHL’s Islanders are a new tenant this season, and the Barclays management has, in a way, declared itself the new “Mecca of Boxing,” going head-to-head with the Garden in a pugilistic version of Dodgers vs. Yankees, and this time dem Bums are determined to make next year every year.

“The two gentlemen up here are part of the Barclays Center,” Brett Yormark, Barclays’ CEO, said as he was flanked by the fighters at a press conference last week. “This is their home away from home. There is no better place for them to be getting it on.”

Brooklyn, which gave the world such notorious or venerated figures as crime boss Al Capone, wordsmiths Walt Whitman, Norman Mailer and Neil Simon, chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer, entertainers Jackie Gleason, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, Richard Dreyfuss, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond and Jay Z, and sports greats Sandy Koufax, Joe Torre, Joe Paterno and Bernard King, as well as champion boxers Tyson, Bowe, Mark Breland, Shannon Briggs and Yuri Foreman, is back. It might not be the cultural and emotional center of the universe, or even of its own city, but to its residents much of the once-familiar magic has returned.

It will be interesting to see how the house is divided when Jacobs, a four-time New York Golden Gloves titlist who will be fighting at Barclays for the fifth time, and Quillin, who will be making his fourth appearance there, square off. After Bernard Hopkins won his first world championship, stopping Ecuador’s Segundo Mercado in seven rounds to claim the vacant IBF middleweight belt on April 29, 1995, he stated that he was the first “native Philadelphian” to win a title in that weight class. It was an assertion hotly disputed by former 160-pound ruler Joey Giardello – a native of Brooklyn, incidentally – who moved to Philly after he mustered out of the Army and made it his home throughout his 19-year professional career.

“We adopted Peter as one of Brooklyn’s own, but come fight night you will see a Brooklyn-born champion,” Jacobs said, sounding very much like Hopkins did 20 years ago.

However Brooklyn opts to subdivide its affections, the important thing is that Jacobs and Quillin will fight one another, as was not the case with Brownsville homeboys Tyson and Bowe, who were in the same division at more or less the same time but never crossed paths where it counts, in the ring. And their respectful current demeanors notwithstanding, expect things to heat up at the moment of truth.

“Take all the friendship and throw it out the window,” DiBella said. “This is going to be nasty. This is going to be brutal. There will be boxing, but these guys will throw bombs. They can’t help themselves. That’s what makes them so great.”

Post Views: 897

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Bernard Fernandez

Bivol Evens the Score with Beterbiev; Parker and Stevenson Win Handily

Published

13 hours ago

February 22, 2025

David A. Avila

Bivol-Evens-the-Score-with-Beterbiev-Parker-and-Stevenson-Win-Handily

It was labeled the best boxing card in history.

That’s up for debate.

And there was some debate as Dmitry Bivol avenged his loss to Artur Beterbiev to become the new undisputed light heavyweight world champion on Saturday by majority decision in a tactical battle.

“He gave me this chance and I appreciate it,” said Bivol of Beterbiev.

Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) rallied from behind to give Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) his first pro loss in their rematch at a sold out crowd in the Venue Riyadh Season in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Like their first encounter the rematch was also very close.

Four months ago, these two faced each other as undefeated light heavyweights. Now, after two furious engagements, both have losses.

Beterbiev was making his first defense as undisputed light heavyweight champion and made adjustments from their first match. This time the Russian fighter who trains in Canada concentrated on a body attack and immediately saw dividends.

For most of the first six rounds it seemed Beterbiev would slowly grind down Bivol until he reached an unsurmountable lead. But despite the momentum he never could truly hurt Bivol or gain separation.

Things turned around in the seventh round as Bivol opened up with combinations to the head and body while slipping Beterbiev’s blows. It was a sudden swing of momentum. But how long could it last?

“It was hard to keep him at the distance. I had to be smarter and punch more clean punches,” said Bivol.

Beterbiev attempted to regain the momentum but Bivol was not allowing it to happen. In the final 10 seconds he opened up with a machine gun combination. Though few of the punches connected it became clear he was not going to allow unclarity.

Using strategic movement Bivol laced quick combinations and immediately departed. Betebiev seemed determined to counter the fleet fighter but was unsuccessful for much of the second half of the fight.

Around the 10^th round Beterbiev stepped on the gas with the same formula of working the body and head. It gave Bivol pause but he still unleashed quick combos to keep from being overrun.

Bivol connected with combinations and Beterbiev connected with single body and head shots. It was going to be tough for the referees to decide which attack they preferred. After 12 rounds with no knockdowns one judge saw it a draw at 114-114. But two others saw Bivol the winner 116-112, 115-113.

“I was better. I was pushing myself more, I was lighter. I just wanted to win so much today,” said Bivol.

Beterbiev was gracious in defeat.

“Congratulations to Bivol’s team” said Beterbiev. “I think this fight was better than the first fight.”

After the match it was discussed that an effort to make a third fight is a strong possibility.

Heavyweight KO by Parker

Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) once again proved he could be the best heavyweight without a world title in knocking out the feared Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) to retain his WBO interim title. It was quick and decisive.

“Catch him when he is coming in,” said Parker, 33, about his plan.

After original foe IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois was forced to withdraw due to illness, Bakole willingly accepted the match with only two days’ notice. Many experts and fans around the world were surprised and excited Parker accepted the match.

Ever since Parker lost to Joe Joyce in 2022, the New Zealander has proven to be vastly improved with wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Now you can add Bakole to the list of conquests.

Bakole, 33, was coming off an impressive knockout win last July and posed a serious threat if he connected with a punch. The quick-handed Bakole at 310 pounds and a two-inch height advantage is always dangerous.

In the first round Parker was wary of the fighter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He kept his range and moved around the ring looking to poke a jab and move. Bakole caught him twice with blows and Parker retaliated.

It proved to be a very important test.

Parker refrained from moving and instead moved inside range of the big African fighter. Both exchanged liberally with Bakole connecting with an uppercut and Parker an overhand right.

Bakole shook his head at the blow he absorbed.

Both re-engaged and fired simultaneously. Parker’s right connected to the top of the head of Bakole who shuddered and stumbled and down he went and could not beat the count. The referee stopped the heavyweight fight at 2:17 of the second round. Parker retains his interim title by knockout.

“I’m strong, I’m healthy, I’m sharp,” said Parker. “I had to be patient.”

Shakur Wins

Despite an injured left hand southpaw WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) won by stoppage over late replacement Josh Padley (15-1, 6 KOs). It was an impressive accomplishment.

Often criticized for his lack of action and safety-first style, Stevenson was supposed to fight undefeated Floyd Schofield who pulled out due to illness. In stepped British lightweight Padley who had nothing to lose.

Padley was never hesitant to engage with the super-quick Stevenson and despite the lightning-quick combos by the champion, the British challenger exchanged liberally. It just wasn’t enough.

Even when Stevenson injured his left hand during an exchange in the sixth round, Padley just couldn’t take advantage. The speedy southpaw kept shooting the right jabs and ripping off right hooks. At the end of the sixth Stevenson briefly switched to a right-handed fighting style.

Stevenson used his right jabs and hooks to perfection. Double right hooks to the head and body seemed to affect the British challenger. A clean left to the body of Padley sent him to the floor for the count in the ninth round. It was a surprising knockdown due to his injured left. Padley got up and the fight resumed. Stevenson unloaded with right hooks to the body and down went the British fighter once again. He got up and tried to fight his way out but was met with another left to the body and down he went a third time. Padley’s corner tossed in a white towel to signify surrender. The referee stopped the fight at the end of the round. Stevenson scored his 11^th knockout win.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 579

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Early Results from Riyadh where Hamzah Sheeraz was Awarded a Gift Draw

Published

16 hours ago

February 22, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Early-Results-from-Riyadh-where-Hamza-Sheeraz-was-Awarded-a-Gift-Draw

After two 6-round appetizers, British light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith got the show rolling with a lusty 12-round skirmish. Things went south in the middle of the seven-fight main card when WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames locked horns with challenger Hamzah Sheeraz. This was a drab fight owing to a milquetoast performance by the favored Sheeraz.

Heading in, the lanky six-foot-three Sheeraz, whose physique is mindful of a young Thomas Hearns, was undefeated in 21 fights. Having stopped five of his last six opponents in two rounds or less, the 25-year-old Englishman was touted as the next big thing in the middleweight division. However, he fought off his back foot the entire contest, reluctant to let his hands go, and Adames kept his title when the bout was scored a draw.

Sheeraz had the crowd in his corner and two of the judges scored the match with their ears. Their tallies were 115-114 for Sheeraz and 114-114. The third judge had it 118-110 for Adames, the 30-year old Dominican, now 24-1-1, who had Ismael Salas in his corner.

Ortiz-Madrimov

Super welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr, knocked out his first 21 opponents, begging the question of how he would react when he finally faced adversity. He showed his mettle in August of last year when he went a sizzling 12 rounds with fellow knockout artist Serhii Bohachuk, winning a hard-fought decision. Tonight he added another feather in his cap with a 12-round unanimous decision over Ismail Madrimov, prevailing on scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice.

Ortiz won by adhering tight to Robert Garcia’s game plan. The elusive Madrimov, who bounces around the ring like the energizer bunny, won the early rounds. But eventually Ortiz was able to cut the ring off and turned the tide in his favor by landing the harder punches. It was the second straight loss for Madrimov (10-2-1), a decorated amateur who had lost a close but unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in his previous bout.

Kabayel-Zhang

No heavyweight has made greater gains in the last 15 months than Agit Kabayel. The German of Kurdish descent, whose specialty is body punching, made his third straight appearance in Riyadh tonight and, like in the previous two, fashioned a knockout. Today, although out-weighed by more than 40 pounds, he did away with Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang in the sixth round.

It didn’t start out well for Kabayel. The New Jersey-based, six-foot-six Zhang, a two-time Olympian for China, started fast and plainly won the opening round. Kabayel beat him to the punch from that point on, save for one moment when Zhang put him on the canvas with a straight left hand.

That happened in the fifth round, but by the end of the frame, the 41-year-old Zhang was conspicuously gassed. The end for the big fellow came at the 2:29 mark of round six when he couldn’t beat the count after crumbling to the canvas in a delayed reaction after taking a hard punch to his flabby midsection.

Kabayel remains undefeated at 26-0 (18 KOs). Zhang (27-3-1) hadn’t previously been stopped.

Smith-Buatsi

The all-British showdown between light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith was a grueling, fan-friendly affair. A former 168-pound world title-holder, Smith, 34, won hard-earned unanimous decision, prevailing on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and a ludicrous 119-110.

There were no knockdowns, but Liverpool’s Smith, who advanced to 31-2 (22) finished the contest with a bad gash in the corner of his right eye. It was the first pro loss for Buatsi (19-1), an Olympic bronze medalist who entered the contest a small favorite and was the defending “interim” title-holder.

This contest was also a battle of wits between two of America’s most prominent trainers, Buddy McGirt (Smith) and Virgil Hunter (Buatsi).

Check back shortly for David Avila’s wrap-up of the last three fights.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 529

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez

Published

1 day ago

February 21, 2025

David A. Avila

Cain-Sandoval-KOs-Mark-Bernaldez-in-the-Featured-Bout-at-Santa-Ynez

Northern California’s Cain Sandoval remained undefeated with a knockout win over Mark Bernaldez in a super lightweight battle on Friday on a 360 Promotions card.

Sandoval (15-0, 13 KOs) of Sacramento needed four rounds to figure out tough Filipino fighter Bernaldez (25-7, 14 KOs) in front of a packed crowd at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.

Bernaldez had gone eight rounds against Mexico’s very tough Oscar Duarte. He showed no fear for Sandoval’s reputed power and both fired bombs at each other from the second round on.

Things turned in favor of Sandoval when he targeted the body and soon had Bernaldez in retreat. It was apparent Sandoval had discovered a weakness.

In the beginning of the fourth Sandoval fired a stiff jab to the body that buckled Bernaldez but he did not go down. And when both resumed in firing position Sandoval connected with an overhand right and down went the Filipino fighter. He was counted out by referee Rudy Barragan at 34 seconds of the round.

“I’m surprised he took my jab to the body. I respect that. I have a knockout and I’m happy about that,” Sandoval said.

Other Bouts

Popular female fighter Lupe Medina (9-0) remained undefeated with a solid victory over the determined Agustina Vazquez (4-3-2) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight fight between Southern Californians.

Early on Vazquez gave Medina trouble disrupting her patter with solid jabs. And when Medina overloaded with combination punches, she was laced with counters from Vazquez during the first four rounds.

Things turned around in the fifth round as Medina used a jab to keep Vazquez at a preferred distance. And when she attacked it was no more than two-punch combination and maintaining a distance.

Vazquez proved determined but discovered clinching was not a good idea as Medina took advantage and overran her with blows. Still, Vazquez looked solid. All three judges saw it 79-73 for Medina.

A battle between Southern Californian’s saw Compton’s Christopher Rios (11-2) put on the pressure all eight rounds against Eastvale’s Daniel Barrera (8-1-1) and emerged the winner by majority decision in a flyweight battle.

It was Barrera’s first loss as a pro. He never could discover how to stay off the ropes and that proved his downfall. Neither fighter was knocked down but one judge saw it 76-76, and two others 79-73 for Rios.

In a welterweight fight Gor Yeritsyan (20-1,16 KOs) scorched Luis Ramos (23-7) with a 12-punch combination the sent him to the mat in the second round. After Ramos beat the count he was met with an eight punch volley and the fight was stopped at 2:11 of the second round by knockout.

Super feather prospect Abel Mejia (7-0, 5 KOs) floored Alfredo Diaz (9-12) in the fifth round but found the Mexican fighter to be very durable in their six-round fight. Mejia caught Diaz with a left hook in the fifth round for a knockdown. But the fight resumed with all three judges scoring it 60-53 for Mejia who fights out of El Modena, Calif.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 499

Share The Sweet Science experience!