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Cecilia Braekhus Leads Heavy Duty Card at StubHub

LOS ANGELES-After days of a dark and cold storm the sun is out.
The sun will be shining when Cecilia Braekhus the undisputed welterweight world champion leads the best female fight card in more than a decade at the StubHub Center on Saturday, Dec. 8. HBO will televise its last boxing event ever.
You could say female prizefighting was hidden behind a cloud of darkness for many decades as it struggled to find a place. Television ignored it and now, HBO in its last boxing telecast, finally opens its camera lenses to the sport.
Tom Loeffler, the head of 360 Promotions that is sponsoring the event, recalled back in 2003 trying to put two female bouts on HBO. The two female prize fights were Lucia Rijker versus Jane Couch and Laila Ali against Valerie Mahfood at the Staples Center. The main event was Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko.
Loeffler tried in vain to put either or both of the female bouts on television that day in 2003.
“I was begging HBO,” said Loeffler during the media day at the Sheraton Gateway on Thursday afternoon. “Laila (Ali) because she could really fight.”
The world never got to see Ali or Rijker on HBO, though both were televised by other networks.
Braekhus
Braekhus’ arrival in the sport has driven attention all over the world.
The Colombian-born and Norwegian raised prizefighter singlehandedly crashed the 30-year ban on boxing in her home country. It’s because of her fame and leadership that Norway now allows boxing. She sells out stadiums.
Braekhus signed with 360 Promotions and trained for this upcoming fight in Los Angeles under much warmer conditions than accustomed.
Opposing Braekhus (34-0) will be Aleksandra Magdziak-Lopes (18-4-3) who fights out of Massachusetts and has beaten Kali Reis who has the claim of being the only one to knock down the welterweight world champion.
When you see Braekhus in that slight tilting boxing stance and the right hand cocked like she’s about to fire a rocket it’s not a mirage. She has one of the quickest rights I’ve seen from a male or female prizefighter. It’s a burst of power that keeps the opposition leery of attacking.
But fighting American fighters presents a different challenge for Braekhus. Most American fighters do not have the European style with hands high while jabbing and moving. Fighters in the U.S. prefer to move in with power.
Lopes-Magdziak has fought for a world title in Poland but fell short. While not in the boxing ring she’s an attorney at law. She quickly accepted the fight against Braekhus when it was offered.
Women prizefighters are unafraid when it comes to world titles. They will accept.
“I’m sure there are a lot of women that would love this opportunity,” said Lopes during the press conference.
Shields
Dynamic seems to fall short when describing Claressa Shields the WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight titlist.
Ever since arriving from the amateur boxing world with two Olympic gold medals Shields has charged into the female boxing world with a fighting style that’s best described as a tornado of fury.
After whipping every super middleweight put in front of her and taking their world title straps, the Michigan native found more competition in the lower weights. She also changed trainers and slowly subscribed to the more professional style.
“I want knockouts,” said Shields whose speed and skills have put her on another fighting level. “I’m learning to be more patient and set up my shots.”
Belgium’s Femke Hermans (9-1) accepted the world title challenge against Shields without hesitation. Despite the internationally known fighting skills of Shields, the Belgian fighter signed within weeks of the fight.
“It’s very great to fight for three world titles against a great fighter like Claressa Shields,” said Hermans.
Very few male fighters would accept a world title fight weeks before a fight. Female prizefighters are extremely professional and always ready. It’s another reason to check into the female prizefighting world.
Gallo Estrada
Former light flyweight and flyweight world champion Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico quickly accepted a fight on HBO when it was learned Nicaragua’s Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez was forced to pull out of the boxing card due to a leg injury.
Estrada (37-3, 25 KOs) accepted a fight and his first scheduled foe had to pull out due to injury. Now he’s facing another fighter from his hometown in Victor Mendez (28-3-2, 20 KOs) in a 10 round super flyweight clash. Both fight out of Hermosillo, Mexico.
“I’m happy for this fight in the United States,” said Estrada whose nickname is Gallo. “Victor Mendez is a very good fighter.”
Mendez was set to face Chocolatito and now meets a Mexican rival.
“I was thinking I was going to face Chocolatito so I was getting ready,” said Mendez. “This Saturday is going to be a great opportunity. I believe it’s going to be a war.”
Mexican versus Mexican in the U.S. is usually a war. Perhaps the greatest of all in the StubHub was when Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez fought there twice. Both were magnificent if not brutal.
Bang Bang
Though not on the televised portion, Louisa or Lulu “Bang Bang” Lawton (8-2) is set to face Southern California’s Lorraine Villalobos (2-1) in an atomweight fight.
“I had never heard of atomweight before,” said promoter Loeffler adding that it was through Lawton he discovered the 102-pound division.
Lawton was scheduled to fight Mexico’s Brenda Flores in a rematch for the WBC atomweight title but illness forced the Tijuana-based fighter to pull out. Now Lawton meets Villalobos a talented local fighter.
“I’m super hyped to be part of this card,” said Lawton who has more enthusiasm than anyone in the sport of boxing.
The last time the Aussie native fought Flores the two tiny atomweights lit up the arena and stole the show with their vicious exchanges. They completely outshined the two male world title fights that night at the Inglewood Forum on September 8. Though Hawton lost by split decision, she won the hearts and cheers from the fans there who clapped loudly for the two tiny warriors.
It’s definitely a Fight of the Year candidate.
Bohachuk
Another fighter under the 360 Promotions umbrella is Serhii Bohachuk of the Ukraine. So far he’s blown out the competition.
Bohachuk (11-0, 11 KOs) meets Puerto Rico’s Carlos Garcia Hernandez (15-19-1) in a middleweight match set for six rounds. We’ll see if he attains any kind of competition.
The Ukrainian fighter trains in Big Bear with Abel Sanchez and is very heavy handed. He does have boxing skills as most Ukrainians.
A total of 10 pro bouts are scheduled. Tickets for Saturday’s show start at $25 dollars and go up to $125. It’s well worth the value. Go to this link to purchase tickets:
https://www.axs.com/events/365141/braekhus-vs-lopes-tickets
HBO will televise three fights.
Photo credit: Tom Hogan / Hogan photos
Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel
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Thomas Hauser’s Literary Notes: Johnny Greaves Tells a Sad Tale

Johnny Greaves was a professional loser. He had one hundred professional fights between 2007 and 2013, lost 96 of them, scored one knockout, and was stopped short of the distance twelve times. There was no subtlety in how his role was explained to him: “Look, Johnny; professional boxing works two ways. You’re either a ticket-seller and make money for the promoter, in which case you get to win fights. If you don’t sell tickets but can look after yourself a bit, you become an opponent and you fight to lose.”
By losing, he could make upwards of one thousand pounds for a night‘s work.
Greaves grew up with an alcoholic father who beat his children and wife. Johnny learned how to survive the beatings, which is what his career as a fighter would become. He was a scared, angry, often violent child who was expelled from school and found solace in alcohol and drugs.
The fighters Greaves lost to in the pros ran the gamut from inept local favorites to future champions Liam Walsh, Anthony Crolla, Lee Selby, Gavin Rees, and Jack Catterall. Alcohol and drugs remained constants in his life. He fought after drinking, smoking weed, and snorting cocaine on the night before – and sometimes on the day of – a fight. On multiple occasions, he came close to committing suicide. His goal in boxing ultimately became to have one hundred professional fights.
On rare occasions, two professional losers – “journeymen,” they’re called in The UK – are matched against each other. That was how Greaves got three of the four wins on his ledger. On September 29, 2013, he fought the one hundredth and final fight of his career against Dan Carr in London’s famed York Hall. Carr had a 2-42-2 ring record and would finish his career with three wins in ninety outings. Greaves-Carr was a fight that Johnny could win. He emerged triumphant on a four-round decision.
The Johnny Greaves Story, told by Greaves with the help of Adam Darke (Pitch Publishing) tells the whole sordid tale. Some of Greaves’s thoughts follow:
* “We all knew why we were there, and it wasn’t to win. The home fighters were the guys who had sold all the tickets and were deemed to have some talent. We were the scum. We knew our role. Give some young prospect a bit of a workout, keep out of the way of any big shots, lose on points but take home a wedge of cash, and fight again next week.”
* “If you fought too hard and won, then you wouldn’t get booked for any more shows. If you swung for the trees and got cut or knocked out, then you couldn’t fight for another 28 days. So what were you supposed to do? The answer was to LOOK like you were trying to win but be clever in the process. Slip and move, feint, throw little shots that were rangefinders, hold on, waste time. There was an art to this game, and I was quickly learning what a cynical business it was.”
* “The unknown for the journeyman was always how good your opponent might be. He could be a future world champion. Or he might be some hyped-up nightclub bouncer with a big following who was making lots of money for the promoter.”
* “No matter how well I fought, I wasn’t going to be getting any decisions. These fights weren’t scored fairly. The referees and judges understood who the paymasters were and they played the game. What was the point of having a go and being the best version of you if nobody was going to recognize or reward it?”
* “When I first stepped into the professional arena, I believed I was tough. believed that nobody could stop me. But fight by fight, those ideas were being challenged and broken down. Once you know that you can be hurt, dropped and knocked out, you’re never quite the same fighter.”
* “I had started off with a dream, an idea of what boxing was and what it would do for me. It was going to be a place where I could prove my toughness. A place that I could escape to and be someone else for a while. For a while, boxing was that place. But it wore me down to the point that I stopped caring. I’d grown sick and tired of it all. I wished that I could feel pride at what I’d achieved. But most of the time, I just felt like a loser.”
* “The fights were getting much more difficult, the damage to my body and my psyche taking longer and longer to repair after each defeat. I was putting myself in more and more danger with each passing fight. I was getting hurt more often and stopped more regularly. Even with the 28-day [suspensions], I didn’t have time to heal. I was staggering from one fight to the next and picking up more injuries along the way.”
* “I was losing my toughness and resilience. When that’s all you’ve ever had, it’s a hard thing to accept. Drink and drugs had always been present in my life. But now they became a regular part of my pre-fight preparation. It helped to shut out the fear and quieted the thoughts and worries that I shouldn’t be doing this anymore.”
* “My body was broken. My hands were constantly sore with blisters and cuts. I had early arthritis in my hip and my teeth were a mess. I looked an absolute state and inside I felt worse. But I couldn’t stop fighting yet. Not before the 100.”
* “I had abused myself time after time and stood in front of better men, taking a beating when I could have been sensible and covered up. At the start, I was rarely dropped or stopped. Now it was becoming a regular part of the game. Most of the guys I was facing were a lot better than me. This was mainly about survival.”
* “Was my brain f***ed from taking too many punches? I knew it was, to be honest. I could feel my speech changing and memory going. I was mentally unwell and shouldn’t have been fighting but the promoters didn’t care. Johnny Greaves was still a good booking. Maybe an even better one now that he might get knocked out.”
* “Nobody gave a f*** about me and whether I lived or died. I didn’t care about that much either. But the thought of being humiliated, knocked out in front of all those people; that was worse than the thought of dying. The idea of being exposed for what I was – a nobody.”
* “I was a miserable bastard in real life. A depressive downbeat mouthy little f***er. Everything I’ve done has been to mask the feeling that I’m worthless. That I have no value. The drinks and the drugs just helped me to forget that for a while. I still frighten myself a lot. My thoughts scare me. Do I really want to be here for the next thirty or forty years? I don’t know. If suicide wasn’t so impactful on people around you, I would have taken that leap. I don’t enjoy life and never have.”
So . . . Any questions?
****
Steve Albert was Showtime’s blow-by-blow commentator for two decades. But his reach extended far beyond boxing.
Albert’s sojourn through professional sports began in high school when he was a ball boy for the New York Knicks. Over the years, he was behind the microphone for more than a dozen teams in eleven leagues including four NBA franchises.
Putting the length of that trajectory in perspective . . . As a ballboy, Steve handed bottles of water and towels to a Knicks back-up forward named Phil Jackson. Later, they worked together as commentators for the New Jersey Nets. Then Steve provided the soundtrack for some of Jackson’s triumphs when he won eleven NBA championships as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.
It’s also a matter of record that Steve’s oldest brother, Marv, was arguably the greatest play-by-play announcer in NBA history. And brother Al enjoyed a successful career behind the microphone after playing professional hockey.
Now Steve has written a memoir titled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth. Those who know him know that Steve doesn’t like to say bad things about people. And he doesn’t here. Nor does he delve into the inner workings of sports media or the sports dream machine. The book is largely a collection of lighthearted personal recollections, although there are times when the gravity of boxing forces reflection.
“Fighters were unlike any other professional athletes I had ever encountered,” Albert writes. “Many were products of incomprehensible backgrounds, fiercely tough neighborhoods, ghettos and, in some cases, jungles. Some got into the sport because they were bullied as children. For others, boxing was a means of survival. In many cases, it was an escape from a way of life that most people couldn’t even fathom.”
At one point, Steve recounts a ringside ritual that he followed when he was behind the microphone for Showtime Boxing: “I would precisely line up my trio of beverages – coffee, water, soda – on the far edge of the table closest to the ring apron. Perhaps the best advice I ever received from Ferdie [broadcast partner Ferdie Pacheco] was early on in my blow-by-blow career – ‘Always cover your coffee at ringside with an index card unless you like your coffee with cream, sugar, and blood.’”
Writing about the prelude to the infamous Holyfield-Tyson “bite fight,” Albert recalls, “I remember thinking that Tyson was going to do something unusual that night. I had this sinking feeling in my gut that he was going to pull something exceedingly out of the ordinary. His grousing about Holyfield’s head butts in the first fight added to my concern. [But] nobody could have foreseen what actually happened. Had I opened that broadcast with, ‘Folks, tonight I predict that Mike Tyson will bite off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear,’ some fellas in white coats might have approached me and said, ‘Uh, Steve, could you come with us.'”
And then there’s my favorite line in the book: “I once asked a fighter if he was happily married,” Albert recounts. “He said, ‘Yes, but my wife’s not.'”
“All I ever wanted was to be a sportscaster,” Albert says in closing. “I didn’t always get it right, but I tried to do my job with honesty and integrity. For forty-five years, calling games was my life. I think it all worked out.”
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at:
https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329
In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.
The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.
But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.
Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.
Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.
As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.
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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.
What do they feed these guys?
Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.
From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.
It was savage.
Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.
Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.
Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.
But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.
Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.
Interim IBF Lightweight Title
The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.
Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.
Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.
Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.
There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.
Muratalla was brief.
“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”
Perla Wins
Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.
Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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