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The Avila Perspective, Chapter. 14: Ramirez vs. Orozco Under the Radar

All eyes are directed toward the middleweight world championship clash this weekend between Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and deservedly so. But a few interesting fights should not be overlooked.
In Northern California a super lightweight fight between WBC champion Jose Carlos Ramirez (22-0, 16 KOs) and perennial contender Antonio Orozco (27-0, 17 KOs) takes place on Friday Sept. 14, at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, Calif. ESPN will televise the Top Rank card.
Ramirez, 26, a 2012 US Olympian, always perplexed me as a talented fighter with speed but seemed to be matched with tailor-made foes that suited his busy style. Most of his opponents were overwhelmed by his barrage of blows but you always wondered what would happen against technically proficient fighters?
The clouds of doubt began to separate after Ramirez (pictured on the right) dissected Mike Reed and then Amir Imam in back-to-back fights with the last win handing him the WBC world super lightweight title in New York City of all places. It’s a place where fighters of Mexican descent seldom won by decision.
Now he faces a veteran contender in Orozco.
“Antonio is a very active fighter in the ring. He’s a pressure fighter like myself, and I’m more than excited to be facing fighters like him. I consider Antonio to be one of the very best in the division,” said Ramirez who trains in Riverside, Calif. with Robert Garcia.
San Diego’s Orozco is a prizefighter whose reputation of savagely working the body has kept him in the public eye for many years. But when he failed to make weight on a HBO televised card that set him back a few years. The question for Orozco: has he already peaked?
“This is the opportunity that every fighter wants to get to, and mine came at the right moment,” said Orozco, 30, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. “Things happen for a reason. I’m here in Fresno in front of a great champion. I’m ready. That’s all I can tell you.”
Ramirez fights under the Top Rank banner and Orozco for the Golden Boy flag, whenever these two organizations pit their fighters against each other you can expect an explosion in the boxing ring.
More Fresno
This fight card would fit perfectly in Las Vegas between the Friday and Saturday bouts but Ramirez has ticket appeal in Northern California so Top Rank placed the heavy duty lineup in Fresno.
Costa Rica’s Bryan Vasquez recently signed with Top Rank and meets Carlos Cardenas in a lightweight contest set for 10 rounds.
Vasquez, 31, is a slick counter-puncher who lost a razor close decision to Ray Beltran a year ago. Many, including this writer, felt he should have been given the win in Los Angeles. The Costa Rican seems to have bad luck when it comes to crucial fights but few have the boxing skills he possesses. He’s married to female super welterweight world champion Hanna Gabriels and since their marriage she’s improved immensely.
Facing Vasquez will be Venezuela’s Cardenas who moved to Mexico to get more fight opportunities. He’s a veteran who has fought former world champions Robert Easter and Juan Diaz but tasted defeat against both.
Japan
Another intriguing fight pits Japan’s Hiroki Okada (18-0, 13 KOs) against Cristian Coria (27-6-2, 11 KOs) in a 10 round super lightweight clash.
If you follow Japanese boxing you probably noticed that a wave of fighters from that warrior nation have been arriving the past several years. Last weekend boxing fans saw Kazuto Ioka wake up the crowd at Los Angeles and viewers around the country with his constant attack in dominating a very good McWilliams Arroyo.
Okada, 28, arrives with glittering credentials and faces a tough Argentinean in Coria who has never been stopped. It’s a good opportunity to see what the Japanese fighter can do in his American debut. All of his fights have taken place at the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
If all goes well he could be placed against Ramirez or maybe interim WBC titlist Regis Prograis. Suddenly the division looks even more exciting.
Saturday in Las Vegas
A clash between Canada’s David Lemieux (39-4, 33 KOs) and Ireland’s Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (28-2, 20 KOs) has gained considerable traction from their verbal wars on social media. It will be televised on HBO pay-per-view on Saturday.
Both have promised a knockout and with 53 knockouts between them it’s well within their fistic capabilities. Both also lost to current WBO middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders. On paper it’s a very even fight. On social media it’s a fight fans delight.
Lemieux, 29, a former world champion who bravely made his first and only world title defense against Golovkin three years ago, gets an opportunity to trade blows with somebody who will stand right in front of him and his steam roller style.
“He has a big mouth. He likes to talk garbage on social media. He’s not the best kind of guy,” said Lemieux. “I’m going to knock him out and make a lot of people happy.”
O’Sullivan, 34, brings his pressure style and his 1880’s moustache to the world stage and won’t have a problem finding Lemieux. Despite being in his mid-30s O’Sullivan started late at 24 so his body does not have the normal wear and tear that fighters have at that age.
“He’s going to be cooked. He’s very one dimensional. He does the same thing over and over again. He says the same stuff over and over again,” said O’Sullivan of Lemieux. “I fight like a Mexican. Watch out David, you’re getting knocked out.”
Words can mean “bombs away” when they jump in the ring on Saturday.
Chocolatito and More
Former four-division world champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez returns and the world will see just how much the Nicaraguan great still possesses.
Gonzalez (46-2, 38 KOs) meets Mexico’s Moises Fuentes (25-5-1, 14 KOs) in a super flyweight battle set for 10 rounds at T-Mobile Arena. It will be shown on HBO pay-per-view.
So far the super flyweight division has not treated Gonzalez very well. Fighting at 115 pounds has proved to be Kryptonite to the super fighter who had ravaged whole divisions since he started out in 2005. But back-to-back losses have uncloaked his weaknesses. It’s been a year since he last fought.
Fuentes, 30, is a former minimum weight world titlist and like Gonzalez has not looked good once he moved up. He was knocked out in round one by Japan’s Daigo Higa earlier this year when he fought for the WBC flyweight title. He was also knocked out by Kosei Tanaka last December 2016 when he fought for the WBO light flyweight title.
It’s a litmus test for Chocolatito, no doubt.
Also on the card are a couple of heavy hitting youngsters from the Golden Boy stable.
Welterweight prospect Alexis Rocha (11-0, 8 KOs) fights out of Santa Ana, Calif. and most of his knockouts happen in the first round. The southpaw slugger is trained by Hector Lopez and is the brother of Ronny Rios.
Rocha meets hard-hitting Mexican Carlos Cervantes (11-2, 11 KOs) in a moment-of-truth kind of fight. All of Cervantes wins have been via knockout. The Mexican from Torreon started late in the fight game at age 29. He’s now 34.
Super lightweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr. (10-0, 10 KOs) fights out of Riverside, Calif. but is a native of Dallas. The long armed Texan has never reached the final bell. He’s very aggressive but not careless. He destroyed former world champion Juan Carlos Salgado in his last outing this past June.
Ortiz, 20, faces knockout punching Roberto Ortiz (35-3-2, 26 KOs) of Torreon, Mexico who has lost his last two fights. They do not seem to be related. The Mexican Ortiz fought and lost to Lucas Matthysse by knockout in 2014. But that’s nothing to be ashamed about. Both fighters are explosive in this battle of the Ortiz’s.
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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

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

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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