3 Punch Combo: Truax’s Improbable Upset, a Winky Wright Flashback and More

Published

7 years ago

December 11, 2017

THREE PUNCH COMBO — Caleb Truax (29-3-2, 18 KO’s) stunned the boxing world this past Saturday scoring a majority decision win against the heavily favored James DeGale (23-2-1, 14 KO’s) to win a 168-pound belt. Truax is a great story of perseverance and seizing the moment in this sport. Ironically, nearly 20 years ago to the day another major upset also took place with a fighter in a very similar spot to that of Truax.

In 1997, Top Rank was seeking opponents for their cash cow Oscar De La Hoya. That year, they signed Terry Norris with the idea of matching Norris with De La Hoya sometime in 1998 in a big pay-per-view event. With the fight essentially signed, Top Rank wanted to build that event by placing Norris and De La Hoya together on a big card. De La Hoya would headline on December 6^th, 1997 in Atlantic City, NJ against Wilfredo Rivera while Norris would have his showcase bout as the chief support against journeyman Keith Mullings.

Mullings entered the ring that night with a pedestrian record of 14-4-1 and was coming off a hard fought loss to Raul Marquez three months earlier. Known as a durable guy with limited skills and not much of a punch, Mullings seemed to be the perfect safe opponent to showcase the abilities of Norris and help build toward a super fight with De La Hoya.

In the early going, the fight went to script. Norris controlled the early rounds and seemed to be on his way to an easy victory. But midway through the scheduled 12-round fight, Mullings began bouncy castle with pool to slowly turn the tide. After scoring a knockdown of Norris in round eight, the realization began to seep in that we could be in store for a mega upset. In the ninth, Mullings hurt Norris and pounced on him, throwing a barrage of punches which eventually forced the referee to stop the contest.

Similar to Norris, DeGale seemingly had a big fight lined up himself with a unification bout with David Benavidez on the horizon. Much like Mullings, Truax was hand-picked to showcase the skills of DeGale prior to him going on to bigger things. And similar to Mullings, Truax refused to read that script. Instead, Truax had a plan of his own and executed that plan to perfection to pull the stunning upset. Now it is Truax who is on the brink of much bigger things as we head into 2018.

Remembering Winky Wright’s First Attempt at a World Title

The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced its class of 2018 this past week and one of the inductees in the Modern category was Ronald “Winky” Wright. Wright had an amazing career and is well deserving of being enshrined in Canastota. It was a career of patience and perseverance as he is remembered most for the bouts that took place toward the tail end of his career. What has been forgotten about Wright are some of his earlier fights and the long journey he took to reach the pinnacle of the sport.

Caleb Truax

One of Wright’s most memorable fights from the early part of his career was his first attempt at a world title against Julio Cesar Vasquez on August 21, 1994 in France. Wright (25-0, 18 KO’s) was still relatively green at this point in his career and was facing a very seasoned champion in Vasquez (50-1, 35 KO’s) who had held the title for nearly two years, having already made eight successful defenses.

Wright set a blistering pace in the first round, beating Vasquez to the punch working fast combinations behind a stiff right jab. The second round saw a little controversy as a counter right hand from Wright put Vasquez on the canvas but was not counted as an official knockdown. Later in that round, Vasquez would land his first significant punch of the fight with a counter left uppercut that put Wright on the canvas. This was counted as a knockdown and Wright arose willing to go toe to toe with Vasquez as the round came to a close.

The next three rounds saw Wright work combinations behind the jab and out-box Vasquez. Wright’s speed and boxing ability were giving the aggressive Vasquez all sorts of issues.

In round six, Wright appeared to be getting a little tired. Vasquez’s pressure seemed to be getting to him and Vasquez enjoyed his best round since the second, landing with consistency a hard left to Wright’s head.

Wright was dropped for the second time in the fight in the seventh. But he would get up again and after surviving the initial onslaught go to war with Vasquez for the remainder of the round. The eighth saw Wright turn the tables and hurt Vasquez with a sweeping right hook. It would be the best round for Wright since the fifth.

But again in round nine, Wright would get deposited on the canvas, this time from an overhand left. Wright was visibly hurt but resilient, not only in getting to his feet but surviving the remainder of the round.

Looking fatigued, Wright’s punch output slowed the next two rounds as Vasquez stepped up the pressure, raking Wright with hard shots to the head and body. In the twelfth and final round, Vasquez would put a totally gassed Wright down two more times. Wright did well just to hear the bell.

The decision would be unanimous for Vasquez. But this was one tremendous fight and a learning experience for Wright who showed incredible courage and fortitude. He fought his heart out and though he came up short this night set the foundation for what would later become a Hall of Fame career.

Under The Radar Fights

Well the last big boxing weekend of 2017 is upon us. There is plenty of action in store before a bit of a reprieve. With so many bouts, there are bound to be some that are flying severely under the radar.

On Friday as part of the PBC on FS1 broadcast, Jamal James (21-1, 9 KO’s) battles Diego Chaves (26-2-1, 22 KO’s) in an evenly matched 147-pound crossroads fight. James was once a highly-thought-of prospect but a 2016 loss to Yordenis Ugas knocked James back a rung on the ladder. He rebounded earlier this year with a solid win against former world title challenger Ionut Dan Ion and looks to build on that performance against Chaves.

James has solid skills and is a well-rounded fighter. A boxer-puncher by trade, he will look to work behind the jab using his legs to set up angles to fire off combinations. James has a bit of slickness to him and will need that against Chaves. Chaves knows only one way to fight and that is to bring pressure from the opening bell. He will look to make this a rough and tumble fight on the inside. And Chaves will not be afraid to bend the rules some to lure James out of his game plan into a firefight. It is an interesting clash of styles and should be a solid entertaining scrap.

On Saturday as part of HBO’s tripleheader, once-beaten 160 pound prospect Antoine Douglas (22-1-1, 16 KO’s) takes on rugged veteran Gary O’Sullivan (26-2, 18 KO’s) in a scheduled 10-round contest. Douglas is a skilled prospect who seemed to be on the verge of a title shot before getting derailed by Avtandil Khurtsidze in March of 2016. Since that loss, Douglas has scored three straight knockout wins, albeit against less than formidable opposition. Douglas is athletically gifted and possesses very fast hands. He is a natural boxer puncher and will work combinations with his quick hands behind a sharp left jab.

In O’Sullivan, Douglas is facing an opponent in a similar mode to Khurtsidze. O’Sullivan will apply constant pressure. He may not be a one punch knockout guy but has relatively heavy hands and will try to overwhelm opponents with volume. O’Sullivan is not known for his defense and opponents usually find him to be a very easy target. He can be out-boxed by more skilled fighters as evidenced in his two losses to Billy Joe Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr. The question here is whether or not Douglas can get the respect of O’Sullivan early to discourage him from unloading a high volume of punches. If Douglas can, it could be easy work for him. If he can’t, we may see a replay of the Khurtsidze fight.

It has been quite a year in boxing in 2017. And we are going out with a bang with one last big week of action. Though the above fights may not be getting the press of some of the other bouts taking place this coming week, these should be entertaining fights and should not be missed.

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Matt Andrzejewski

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

2 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

3 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-319-Rematches-in-Las-Vegas-Cancun-and-More

Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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