Las Vegas Analysis: Neno Rodriguez, Vargas, Rios, and Canelo

Published

8 years ago

November 28, 2015

Looking back at the long weekend of Las Vegas fights several prizefighters emerged to take the next step in their careers.

This is what we saw:

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defeated Miguel Cotto in a fight much closer than the scores indicated, Ronny Rios has a lot more left in his tank, Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura had the Fight of the Year, and Saul “Neno” Rodriguez is ready for prime time.

Neno

Neno, as his family and friends call him, trains in Riverside under Robert Garcia or more precisely the entire Garcia family. It’s a dynamic that includes brothers Mikey, Robert, Robert Jr. and father Eduardo Garcia. Together they’ve honed a lightweight contender capable of ending a fight at any moment.

For example, last Friday at the Cosmopolitan the slender lightweight was matched with San Antonio’s Ivan “Bam, Bam” Najera a good fighter who had gone the distance against Puerto Rico’s banging Felix Verdejo.

Rodriguez had sparred with the real “Bam, Bam” Brandon Rios and also with Mikey Garcia to prepare for the fight. You can’t get better preparation than that.

During the weigh-in, Najera was 2.6 pounds overweight and did not try to lose the weight. Rodriguez took the fight any way. He wasn’t going to miss out on a television opportunity with the nation watching. Basically, Najera had the advantage of weight and did not starve himself like Rodriguez to make weight. He went in at full-power.

Ever since Rodriguez turned professional, the Garcias have been molding him to be a more defensive-minded fighter. As an amateur the Riverside lightweight would come in with guns blazing and it was kill or be killed. Mostly he collected scalps but did not make the elite amateur squads. But fans loved to watch him in amateur tournaments. When the bell rang Rodriguez would blast out of his corner and obliterate most opposition.

Fans love knockouts.

If you’ve followed Rodriguez you know that knockouts are still a central part of his plans. But professional boxing has its latitudes and each time a fighter climbs another rung it gets tougher to achieve knockouts. That’s where the Garcias have added another layer to his arsenal; one that includes strategy and defense.

Against Najera the entire arsenal was on display as Rodriguez analyzed, dissected and obliterated the Texans in less than a round. The Riverside prizefighter has graduated to another level and just might be the next emerging star.

Ironically, or maybe not, junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford watched intently as Rodriguez dispatched Najera with left hooks and check right hands. Puerto Rican contender Verdejo was there too.

“I took a photo with Felix Verdejo,” said Rodriguez after the fight. “He’s a nice guy.”

Rodriguez and Verdejo could be the next Mexican-Puerto Rican war down the line. And whoever is successful could be matched with the very talented Crawford in two or three years. But for right now, Rodriguez will probably be graduating to HBO level fights very soon.

A contingent of HBO executives were in attendance and were impressed with Rodriguez’s firepower. Everybody loves knockouts.

Fight of the Year

Even before the fight took place one had to know that matching WBC junior lightweight titlist Takashi Miura of Japan against Mexico’s Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas was putting gasoline with fire.

Two years ago I witnessed Miura fight Sergio “Yeyo” Thompson in a similar match up. It was a filthy hot and humid bull ring in Cancun, Mexico during the summer of 2013. That night each fighter hit the deck and clobbered each other for 12 rounds. Miura emerged the victor but collapsed in his dressing room and was carted away to a local hospital. The temperature inside the enclosed bull ring was well above 100 degrees that night. Miura proved to be ok. He just did not have any more fluids in his body. I voted it Fight of the Year for 2013 but many did not see the fight on the Golden Boy card.

Miura showed me then he was one heck of a warrior.

Vargas started kind of late as a professional at age 25. Now 30, he’s been on the fast-track and in five years has fought and defeated talented opposition such as Jerry Belmontes, Abner Cotto, and Will Tomlinson. He’s not afraid to trade blows with anyone. He showed that against Juanma Lopez back in 2014 when he got into a firefight with the hard-hitting Boricua and ended the fight in three rounds. Of course, many said Lopez was past his prime and that may or not be true, but Vargas did take some shots. He survived.

Facing Miura, the first round had barely begun when Vargas tagged the Japanese warrior early with a left hook and had him wobbling around the ring. Unlike many others, I had seen Miura before and knew he would survive. He did. Slowly but surely Miura began mounting an attack and began battering the Mexican fighter around the ring. The momentum shifted and the champion was in full control and floored Vargas with a perfect right jab, left cross combination. Down went Vargas. He got up and battled like I knew he would. Four rounds later, Miura seemed to have the Mexican fighter in bad trouble in the corner, but time ran out.

In the ninth round Vargas stormed out of his corner and caught Miura with an overhand right and down went the champion. The entire arena was in shock. They expected the Japanese to end the fight and instead saw Vargas whack out Miura with a barrage of blows that forced referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight.

Could Miura have continued?

That could spell a rematch between the two warriors. It’s definitely the Fight of the Year.

Rios Reloads

Santa Ana’s Ronny Rios had one victory since being blasted out by Robinson Castellanos a year ago at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio. It was a one-sided beating that could have taken the heart out of any fighter. Rios was taken by ambulance to a local hospital after that fight in October 2014.

Rios has never been a big puncher. The featherweight instead relies on good boxing fundamentals and constant pressure. He’s proof that if you know your craft you can succeed even in a knockout driven sport.

The featherweight contender returned to the boxing ring last March and seemed tentative in his return. But as the rounds mounted you could see the confidence build. After 10 rounds he looked back to normal. But that was against a good fighter, but not a contender.

Puerto Rico’s Jayson Velez fought on a Golden Boy fight card in downtown L.A. this past June and had prepared at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. He showed sharpness, power and most of all he was very strong.

When Golden Boy announced the match between Velez and Rios it was clear it was a do or die moment for Rios.

Rios, 25, is a fighter of Mexican-American descent managed by Frank Espinoza. Most of his fighters have serious firepower. But there’s something about the Orange County fighter that makes you like him. He loves to fight. He’s smart and people simply are drawn to him.

But you can’t take fans into the ring with you. Though a large contingent of fans were in attendance at the Mandalay Bay for Rios, he was facing Puerto Rico’s Velez who also had a large contingent of Puerto Rican fans shouting for him. It was Mexico versus Puerto Rico all over again.

From the first round it was obvious that Rios planned to target the body and was doing a great job. But referee Jay Nady once again declared the blows were low. Nady has done this many times in the past including his horrible work officiating John Molina’s fight with Humberto Soto. In that fight he took points away from Molina that led to a defeat for the Covina fighter. Here he was again taking a point away from Rios for a blow that landed on the belt.

Nady is simply too tall to referee fighters below welterweight. He takes away use of body shots that can change the outcome of a fight. The Nevada State Athletic Commission needs to evaluate his performances more closely. Body shots are legal and he’s penalizing fighters who attack the body. It’s costing boxers their livelihood.

Rios was battling Velez and the referee throughout the fight but somehow managed to control the fight. Velez tried mightily but it just wasn’t his night. The Puerto Rican fighter is very talented and his style wasn’t suited for Rios constant attack.

Fans waited for the verdict and when it was announced Rios had won they burst into near tears. Not only was Rios back but he looked stronger than ever.

“He looked very good,” said Espinoza after the fights. “I was very impressed by Ronny.”

Fans watching on television were also impressed.

Canelo

After 12 rounds between Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto it was obvious that the redhead belongs in the upper tier. Cotto had consecutive knockouts against former world champions but could not put a dent on Canelo.

The fight appeared to be a lot closer than the judges scored it. Many on press row had the fight a draw. It was one of those fights that saw one guy (Canelo) landing much harder blows and the other scoring with jabs and combinations.

Alvarez was declared the winner so what’s next?

The Mexican redhead has three options: 1) a rematch with Cotto. 2) defend the title against David Lemieux. 3) meet Gennady Golovkin in a unification bout.

Of course the world would love to see the third option. So would I. In my opinion Alvarez showed he’s very strong and could go toe-to-toe with Golovkin. Not many fighters can, but I think the Mexican from Guadalajara showed he has a chin and strength to withstand Golovkin’s assaults at least in the early going.

It’s all up to Golden Boy and Canelo.

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David A. Avila

Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

2 days 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.

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Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

4 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.

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

Published

6 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.

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