Bantamweight Christian Carto Gives Fans Another Sweet Treat at the SugarHouse

Published

6 years ago

November 10, 2018

PHILADELPHIA – There are certain flavors – like, say, scrapple for breakfast – that are more accepted and even favored here than in other places, where they have yet to become acquired tastes, and might never be.

The same might be said at this point of boxing’s little dynamo, bantamweight prospect Christian Carto, who resides in Deptford, N.J., but continues to train in and be introduced as being from South Philly, which, along with his family’s deep and long-established roots in the local fight scene, have helped make the 21-year-old something akin to a rock star. His bouts at the SugarHouse Casino along the Delaware River waterfront are always sold out (all right, so capacity is only 1,100) and his trunks are festooned with so many ads from area merchants that longtime Philadelphia promoter J Russell Peltz has cracked that “he looks like a NASCAR driver.” Carto’s manager, older brother Frankie Carto, claims he has had to tell other would-be advertisers that, sorry, there is no more open space for product placement on Christian’s work duds.

Carto’s latest ring appearance, a six-round unanimous decision over Mexican veteran Antonio Rodriguez Friday night before another raucous SugarHouse crowd, might yet prove to be another little acorn that blossoms into a mighty oak of national and even international significance. But, while typically dominant, Carto’s slightly smudged performance offered little proof one way or another as to the still-unproven kid’s potential for spreading his magic beyond his currently limited comfort zone.

“I tried to get him out of there,” Carto (17-0, 11 KOs), who floored Rodriguez (13-23-2 (6 KOs) with a left hook to the body in the second round,” said of the extension of his non-stoppage streak to six bouts, and against a 30-year-old opponent who had lost inside the distance 12 times previously. “I’m going to go back to the gym and work more on setting my shots up. There’s a lot I still need to work on.”

The task of furthering Carto’s pugilistic education has fallen to veteran Philadelphia trainer Billy Briscoe, who took Gabe Rosado to two shots, albeit losing ones, at world titles. Earlier this year Briscoe replaced Mickey Rosati, who had been with Carto since his days in the amateurs.

“We’re still trying to work out some wrinkles, getting him a little more well-rounded,” Briscoe said. “He got a little overanxious after he knocked the guy down, but that’s all a part of growing and maturing. He’ll get it.”

Carto and his family are betting that when and if he does get it, the rewards will be ample. The 5-foot-5 Carto, who hopes to become the first Philly bantamweight to become a world champion since International Boxing Hall of Famer “Joltin’” Jeff Chandler dethroned Julian Solis on a 14th-round knockout on Nov. 14, 1980, a title he held through nine successful defenses, has elected to remain a free agent rather than to sign a long-term deal with the many smaller, regional promoters who would like to have him as the face of their operation. (Friday’s card at the SugarHouse was staged by Marshall Kaufmann’s King’s Promotions.) But if popularity is a factor, and it generally is, Carto could soon announce an exclusive arrangement with one of boxing’s promotional heavy hitters. When he appeared on the undercard of an ESPN-televised card in Atlantic City headlined by heavyweights Bryant Jennings and Alexander Dimetrenko on Aug. 18, his appearance resulted in more direct ticket sales than the compiled total of fellow Philly fighters Jennings and Jesse Hart, both of whom are world-rated and have fought for world championships.

Not too shabby for someone barely old enough to vote and has yet to be involved in a fight scheduled for longer than eight rounds.

“He’s Italian and he’s South Philly. That’s a perfect combination,” said Peltz, who co-promoted the Aug. 18 show in Atlantic City along with Top Rank.

Although Carto disavows the notion that he was “born to be a fighter,” his genetics suggest otherwise. His late grandfather, Frankie Carto, was a lightweight who was 40-13-3 (21) from 1941-46; great-uncle Joe Carto, also a lightweight, was 4-2-1 (3) and another great-uncle, Nunzio Carto, another lightweight (natch) was 27-2 (13). It’s little wonder Christian, then eight, began tagging along with older brother Frankie, his grandpop’s namesake, when he’d go to the gym to work out, and he had his first amateur bout at 11, progressing enough over time to win the National Golden Gloves light flyweight title in 2014 (a championship once held by future pro greats Johnny Tapia, Michael Carbajal and Floyd Mayweather Jr.) and take bronze at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Thirteen of Carto’s 17 fights have been staged in Philadelphia, including eight at the SugarHouse, where he has become so much of a “house” fighter that the casino heralds his upcoming bouts in the upstairs Events Center by plastering his face on billboards. All that remains now is for the local kid with the cult-like following to see if he can expand his brand to larger stages in New York, Las Vegas and other destinations that have yet to sample and savor his little slice of Philly.

Curiously, coming as it did three days after the nation’s mid-term elections, Philadelphia fighters participated in all six bouts on the card, all were victorious and all were assigned to the blue corner, making for a “blue wave” of another sort. Carto was the draw, as might be expected, but he was not the only home-grown fighter who had family as well as municipal pride to uphold. Welterweight James Martin (3-0), son of former light heavyweight contender Jerry “The Bull” Martin, scored a tough, four-round unanimous decision over Denis Okoth (2-1-1, 1 KO) of Staya, Ky., a bout in which Okoth went down in the first round and Martin in the third.

As is the case with Carto, it will take some doing for Martin, 21, to match the ring legacy of his celebrated forebear. Jerry Martin, who turns 65 on Nov. 29, was a world-class 175-pounder who fought three times for world titles, losing in each instance to such notables as Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Matthew Saad Muhammad and Dwight Muhammad Qawi. But “The Bull” did procure minor NABF and USBA titles along the way, and defeated quality opponents in James Scott, Billy “Dynamite” Douglas (father of heavyweight champion Buster Douglas), Jerry Celestine and Anthony Witherspoon.

“I look up to my dad, and I want to be a champion like he was,” the son said. “I want to copy his steps.”

Other victorious Philly fighters were welterweight Poindexter Knight (6-0, 3 KOs), who scored an impressive, first-round TKO over highly regarded and more experienced Travis Castellon (16-3-1, 12 KOs), of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; welterweight Frankie Trader (11-2-1, 3 KOs), who ended a 4½-year layoff with a second-round stoppage of Pablo Cupul (10-28, 5 KOs), of San Diego; welterweight Mark Dawson (5-0, 3 KOs), who scored a four-round, unanimous decision over Chukka Willis (3-7, 2 KOs), of Emporia, Kan., and middleweight Maurice Burke, who made his pro debut with a unanimous, four-round nod over Brandon Bey (0-1), of the Bronx, N.Y.

Bernard Fernandez is the retired boxing writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. He is a five-term former president of the Boxing Writers Association of America, an inductee into the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Atlantic City Boxing Halls of Fame and the recipient of the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism and the Barney Nagler Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Boxing.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-289-East-L.A.-A-Fight-Town-Claressa-Shields-and-More

Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Former-World-Bamtamweight-Champion-Richie-Sandoval-Passes-Away-at-age-63

Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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