Saturday Recap 7/16: From New Delhi to La Paz, the Scene Was Vibrant

Published

8 years ago

July 17, 2016

Saturday Recap 7/16 – The eyes of most U.S. boxing fans were riveted on the big show in Birmingham, Alabama, but elsewhere there were some important matches that commanded the attention of hard-core fans. We’ll start this overview by going to India where professional boxing is sprouting from soil that was previously barren. The fight between Vijender Singh and Kerry Hope was a historic event.

NEW DELHI

Vijender Singh, a full blown celebrity in the world’s second most populous country, won a 10-round unanimous decision over Kerry Hope in a bout sanctioned for something called the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight Title. The scores (100-90 and 98-92 twice) were somewhat misleading as many of the rounds were close. The 34-year-old Hope, who was 23-7 going in, did his best work in rounds four and five, but Singh came back strong in the sixth. There were no knockdowns.

The undercard fighters on the 9-bout card were primarily Indian boxers new to the professional ranks. The packed house at Thyagaraj Stadium was studded with well-known people. The Vice President of India, Rahul Gandhi, was among those in attendance. Singh was greeted with a huge ovation when he entered the arena and the crowd erupted with joy when the decision was announced. Singh had won each of his six previous pro fights inside the distance. All of those bouts were in England.

CARDIFF, WALES

At the Ice Arena, WBO World lightweight champion Terry Flanagan pitched a shutout over 42-year-old South African Mzonke Fana, winning by scores of 120-106 on all three cards. Although Flanagan, now 31-0, scored knockdowns in Round 4 and Round 12, his performance could best be described as workmanlike.

After the bout it was revealed that Flanagan’s promoter Frank Warren has been having discussions with Bob Arum about matching Flanagan with Vasyl Lomachenko. The bout would take place in England, likely Manchester where the Mancunian southpaw would have the home field advantage.

In the co-main, 35-year-old Cuban defector Guillermo Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the lineal bantamweight champion of the world, won as expected over Liverpool’s James “Jazza” Dickens. The fight, stopped after the second round, was largely devoid of action save for the perfect left that Rigondeaux landed in the second round. It broke Dickens’ jaw, forcing his capitulation.

In another bout of note, Welshman Liam Williams successfully defended his British super welterweight title with an 11^th round stoppage of London’s Gary Corcoran. This figured to be the best fight on the card and it didn’t disappoint. Williams, now 15-0-1 (9), suffered a long cut over his left eye following a clash of heads in the fourth round, but continued to apply pressure throughout. One could sense that the end was near when Williams felled his adversary with a thunderous right hook. It was the first defeat for Corcoran, now 15-1, who was applauded for his valiant effort.

BERLIN, GERMANY

Italy’s Giovanni De Carolis (25-6, 12 KOs) retained his WBA World super middleweight title when his match with Berlin’s Tyron Zeuge was scored a draw, a decision that was somewhat controversial as De Carolis had seemingly done enough to win. The 24-year-old Zeuge, who is undefeated (now 18-0-1), was bidding to become the youngest German to win a world title, breaking the record held by Graciano Rocchigiani. DeCarolis won the WBA title in January when he upset Vincent Feigenbutz, avenging a prior defeat.

In the 12-round co-main, veteran Arthur Abraham rebounded from a poor showing in Las Vegas where he lost his WBO 168-pound belt to Gilberto Martinez with an eighth round stoppage of Tim Robin Lihaug, an obscure 23-year-old Norwegian. Abraham improved to 45-5 (30). Lihaug declined to 15-2.

In another bout of note, Germany’s Ramona Kuehne successfully defended her WBO World female 130-pound belt when Ikram Kerwat retired after the fifth round. The 36-year-old Kuehne, who advanced to 25-1 (10) hasn’t lost in six years. Kerwat, who is of Tunisian descent, had been a pro for only 18 months. She was undefeated in six bouts with five knockouts.

LA PAZ, MEXICO

The ‘interim” WBO 130-pound strap was on the line when Miguel Berchelt, 29-1 (26), from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico met Thailand’s Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo, 61-2 (41) In his most impressive showing to date, Berchelt knocked out the Thai invader in the fourth round. In his two prior defeats, Piriyapino was widely outpointed by Chris John and Vasyl Lomachenko, but he hadn’t previously been stopped. It’s time to add Berchelt’s name to the list of sharpshooters in what is arguably the strongest division in boxing.

Saturday Recap 7/16 – STATESIDE

At Detroit, heavyweight Andy Ruiz, on loan from the Top Rank stable, registered a third round TKO over 42-year-old Josh Gormley. The pudgy Ruiz, born in Mexico but raised across the border in Southern California’s Imperial Valley, improved to 28-0 with his 19^th knockout. Gormley, supposedly a distant relative of Jack Dempsey, returned to the ring last year in the Dominican Republic after an absence of more than 16 years and bowled over three no-hopers to earn this assignment. Once considered a promising prospect, this was likely his last hurrah. If he leaves the sport, he will depart with a record of 22-5. As for Ruiz, he is slated to fight again on Sept. 10 where he will oppose 40-year-old Franklin Lawrence. This will be his third straight bout against a fighter in his 40s. This is the template of a fighter being groomed for a rich payday as a sacrificial lamb.

At the Pioneer Event Center in Lancaster, CA, on UniMas as part of the “Solo Boxeo Tecate” series, the “A side” fighters won as expected. In the 8-round main event, Casey Ramos, now 23-0, fought with more ferocity than was his norm and stopped Chile’s Hardy Paredes (18-14) in the fifth frame. The 25-year-old Ramos, who had his first pro fight at age 17, is a different kind of cat. The undefeated lightweight attends St. Edwards University in his hometown of Austin, Texas, and aspires to a career in politics. He is on the ballot in the race for city council in the November election.

In another TV bout, LA’s Arnold Barboza, now 13-0, topped John David Charles in a 6-round welterweight affair. Barboza won by 60-54 in all three scorecards. On the off-TV portion of the card, welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas dispatched Jeremy Bryan in the third frame. Bryan’s corner threw in the towel after Kavaliauskas, now 14-0 (12 KOs), smashed him to the canvas.

Kavaliauskas, a Lithuanian who fights out of Oxnard, California, was the subject of a recent TSS profile. He has a big upside.

Saturday Recap 7/16

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The Sweet Science

Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

1 day 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

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.

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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.

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