Tevin Farmer, Katie Taylor Win and Entertain in Showcase Bouts in Philadelphia

Published

5 years ago

March 16, 2019

PHILADELPHIA – Once upon a time, a major manufacturer of athletic shoes and apparel orchestrated a national television advertising campaign with the message that “Chicks dig the long ball,” a reference to baseball that holds that home runs are sexier than mere singles.

That still is so in baseball, and is even more the case in boxing, where fighters with the ability to turn out the lights on an opponent with a single shot – Mike Tyson being a prime example – almost always command a higher level of public interest than tacticians with lesser voltage in their punches. But there are some boxing maestros who seldom go deep, in baseball vernacular, but nonetheless have demonstrated an ability to entertain with a wide array of ring skills.

Cases in point: Pernell Whitaker and Floyd Mayweather Jr., who bewitched, bothered and bewildered opponents through the use of superior footwork, hand speed, defense and precision punching. They became rich and famous despite relatively low KO percentages, presenting the counter argument that chicks – guys, too – can appreciate pugilistic artistry as well as annihilation.

It remains to be seen whether IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer (29-4-1, 6 KOs) can ever match “Sweetpea” or “Money” in terms of accomplishment or crowd appeal, but the 28-year-old southpaw from North Philadelphia strengthened the case for himself as a headliner with an entertaining unanimous decision over gritty Irish challenger Jono Carroll (16-1-1, 3 KOs) in the DAZN-streamed main event here Friday night at the Liacouras Center on the Temple University campus.

“Tevin has worked himself into a position where he’s a valuable commodity in the American fight game,” said Matchroom Sports’ Eddie Hearn, who, along with Lou DiBella, co-promote the prolific singles hitter who extended his winning streak to 22 bouts, albeit with a hotly disputed points loss to Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa that was changed to a no-contest when Ogawa failed a post-fight drug test. Only five of Farmer’s victories have come inside the distance during his six-year ascent from a nondescript 7-4-1 start to his pro career.

An enthusiastic, international turnout of approximately 4,600 spectators – exact attendance figures were not announced – voiced its approval not only of Farmer-Carroll, but of the two other fights streamed by DAZN, in which Ireland’s Katie Taylor (13-0, 6 KOs), arguably the world’s finest female fighter, retained her WBA and IBF lightweight championships while adding the WBO title held by Brazil’s Rose Volante on a ninth-round stoppage, and Poland’s Maciej Sulecki (28-1, 11 KOs) survived a late-round assault from Philadelphia veteran Gabe Rosado (24-12-1, 14 KOs) to capture the vacant WBO Intercontinental middleweight belt on a unanimous decision.

It was an overall good night for boxing, with several non-televised bouts on the nine-fight card – which featured participants from eight countries – also engaging in scraps that stirred the passions of the in-house audience.

“I want to thank Philadelphia because that was a f—— hell of a show,” Hearn said. “The Philly guys came out, the Irish came out, the Polish came out. It was just a great feeling all night, from top to bottom.”

Not too shabby, considering that the very good DAZN card will be overshadowed by Saturday night’s megafight in which IBF welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. will defend against future Hall of Famer Mikey Garcia in Arlington, Texas, and maybe even by Sunday afternoon’s St. Patrick’s Day card in Madison Square Garden topped by popular Irish featherweight Michael Conlan against Ruben Garcia Hernandez.

If there was anything to be disappointed about in Philly, it was the lack of coverage by the city’s two major newspapers and web site, which did not send any reporters from its offices located just a few miles away from the Liacouras Center. Maybe the fight card got lost on an extremely busy local sports day that included the Eagles’ latest moves in free agency, the Phillies in spring training with newly signed superstar Bryce Harper, the 76ers winning at home against the Sacramento Kings, the Flyers losing a high-scoring contest on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and defending NCAA basketball champion Villanova and Temple playing in their respective conference tournaments. Still, for a town that has long prided itself as being America’s hottest of boxing hotbeds, the snub might not portend well for more such shows finding their way back here.

Carroll, who had at the insistence of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission trimmed a jet-black beard that would have done Rip Van Winkle proud, promised to give a spirited effort, and he did just that. Punch statistics revealed that he landed 294 of 1,227, the latter number third highest all-time for super featherweights since such statistics have been tallied. He elected to make the fight at close range from the opening bell, with a furious body assault designed to wear Farmer down.

But Carroll – who landed exactly 10 more punches than Farmer, despite throwing an astounding 404 more – wound up wearing himself down more than the champion, who had enough gas left in the tank to clearly hurt and nearly finish off the Irishman in the 11^th round. After another big round for Farmer in the 12^th, the scores were read: 117-111 (twice) and 117-110, a just decision but by wider margins than some veteran observers at ringside had it.

Asked if he thought he might have taken Carroll out with his 11^th-round barrage, which included more doubles than singles, Farmer said, “When I seen him hurt, I thought I could. But I messed my hand up in, like, the fourth round. It’s swollen.

“But I had to push through it. I knew a guy at this level was not going to be easy. You got to keep pushing, and you got to be in shape to go 12. I’m a tough guy. It’s going to take a lot to stop me.”

Carroll, whose puffy face was indicative of his hard night on the job, confirmed that he had to dig deep to make it through the 11^th round in which Farmer landed 36 of 67 power shots. “Obviously, I was hurt,” he said. “Me balance was off. Mentally, I was all right. Mentally I was with it. But I had never experienced that before, so me legs were all over the place, you know what I mean?

“But it’s good to overcome those things so you can come back stronger. Next time when it happens I’ll know how to deal with it. Boxing is all about pushing yourself to the limit every single time. If you’re not pushing yourself in the boxing world, what’s the point of being in this sport? I don’t want to fight average people. I want to fight the best in the world.”

DiBella credited Carroll with providing Farmer, who had said beforehand that he was winning fights too easily, with a much-needed trial by combat. “I know what kind of fighter I have in Tevin Farmer, but this guy gave a blueprint of what you do when you get a chance to fight for a world title,” DiBella said, nodding toward Carroll. “You give 110 percent of what you have.”

Next up for Farmer, if he has anything to say about it, will be a unification showdown with WBA super featherweight titlist Gervonta Davis (21-0, 20 KOs). But if that fight can’t be made quickly, Hearn and DiBella won’t hesitate to put Farmer in with whoever’s available and willing.

“That’s the fight that will secure Tevin’s legacy in this sport, not just his financial legacy,” Hearn said of the prospect of the most attractive 130-pound title bout that can be made at this time. “Tevin’s had three world championships defenses in four months. Tank’s (Davis) had three world championship fights in five years.”

Women’s boxing in the United States is still attempting to break that figurative glass ceiling, but it is much more popular in Europe and Taylor, a 2012 London Olympics gold medalist, is a really big deal in her home country, and apt to be even bigger after the way she systematically dismantled the previously unbeaten Volante. Taylor’s Irish fans, many draped in Ireland’s green, white and orange flags, cheered her rapid-fire combinations as if they were at a U2 concert.

“I think she brought the best out of me tonight,” Taylor said of the valiant but outclassed Volante. “It was definitely a great showcase for women’s boxing.”

Taylor has big plans for the remainder of 2019. She hopes to add the fourth and final slice of the women’s 135-pound title pie by enticing WBC champion Delfine Persoon (43-1, 18 KOs) of Belgium into a June 1 bout, on the undercard of IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s defense against Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller in Madison Square Garden. Further down the road might be high-visibility, catchweight clashes with undisputed welterweight champ Cecilia Braekhus (35-0, 9 KOs) and Amanda Serrano (36-1-1, 27 KOs).

The first of the three DAZN-streamed fights also was action-packed. Sulecki floored the 33-year-old Rosado in the first and eighth rounds to build a sizable points lead, but Rosado, a two-time challenger for world titles, roared back to register two knockdowns himself in the ninth round and was still firing desperation bombs in the 10^th and final round, narrowing the gap on the scorecards.

In other bouts:

*Welterweight Daniyar Yeleussinov (6-0, 3 KOs), a gold medalist for Kazakhstan at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, fought for the first time with new trainer Cory Spinks in his corner and won his first scheduled eight-rounder on a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Silverio Ortiz (37-24, 18 KOs).

*”Cool Hand” Luke Campbell (20-2, 16 KOs), a lean southpaw from Hull, England, and the WBC’s No. 1-rated lightweight, had the hot hand in stopping Adrian Young (26-6-2, 20 KOs) of Mexico in five rounds.

*In an all-Philly lightweight matchup, Avery Sparrow (10-1, 3 KOs) scored an entertaining 10-round draw over “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy (29-8-1, 14 KOs), who came out in a green-and-white ensemble decorated with his hometown Eagles’ logo.

*Super middleweight D’Mitrius Ballard (20-0, 13 KOs), of Temple Hills, Md., looked sharp in stopping Mexico’s Victor Fonseca (17-10-1, 14 KOs) in five rounds.

*Raymond Ford, a 2018 National Golden Gloves titlist from Camden, N.J., just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, turned pro with a four-round unanimous decision over Weusi Johnson (3-11), of Wilmington, Del.

*Irish-born John Joe Nevin (12-0, 4 KOs), a lightweight now based in Philly, took a six-round unanimous decision over Andres Figueroa (9-4, 5 KOs) of Colombia in a walk-out bout after the main event.

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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Bernard Fernandez

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In a Massive Upset, Dakota Linger TKOs Kurt Scoby on a Friday Night in Atlanta

Published

6 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

In-a-Massive-Upset-Dakota-Linger-TKOs-Kurt-Scoby-on-a-Friday-Night-in-Atlanta

Although it was an 8-rounder on a show with two “tens,” Kurt Scoby’s match with Dakota Linger was accorded main event status on tonight’s card at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. This had everything to do with Scoby (pronounced Scooby), a former record-setting college running back who was considered one of the brightest prospects in the 140-pound weight class. “[Scoby] works harder than almost anyone I’ve ever seen,” said veteran New York promoter Lou DIBella in a conversation with Keith Idec. “But he’s literally getting better after every fight and he’s got the hammer of Thor, man. He can punch through walls.”

The Duarte, California product who has relocated to Brooklyn and trains at Gleason’s Gym, was undefeated (13-0) heading in and was expected to make Linger his ninth straight knockout victim. But Linger, a 29-year-old Buckhannon, West Virginia policemen whose first ring engagements were in Toughman competitions, wasn’t intimidated by Scoby’s press clippings or by Scoby’s bodybuilder physique.

Linger, who improved to 14-6-3 with his tenth win inside the distance, took the fight right to Scoby and repeatedly found a home for his overhand right. In the sixth round, after Linger strafed the ever-retreating Scoby with a barrage of punches, referee Malik Walid determined that he had seen enough and waived it off. The decision seemed a tad premature, but neither Scoby nor his cornermen offered anything in the way of a protest.

Tournament results

In the first installment of an 8-man super welterweight tournament, Brandon Adams returned to boxing after his second three-year layoff and showed no ring rust whatsoever. Adams, a 34-year-old family-man who grew up in the Watts district of LA, dismissed Ismael Villareal with a wicked punch to the liver in the waning seconds of round three. The official time was 2:59.

A former wold title challenger, Adams who improved to 23-3 (16 KOs), has become the king of boxing tournaments. He first attracted notice in 2018 when he won the fifth edition of “The Contender” series, scoring a wide 10-round decision over Shane Mosley Jr in the championship round.

Villareal, a second-generation prizefighter from the Bronx whose dad fought the likes of Hector Camacho, declined to 13-3.

Adams next opponent will be Francisco Veron who will bring a record of 14-0-1 (10).

In an energetic 10-rounder, Veron, a Florida-based Argentine with a strong amateur pedigree, scored a unanimous decision over Mexico-born, LA southpaw Angel Ruiz (18-3-1). The judges had it 100-90, 99-91, and 96-94.

Ruiz certainly had his moments, but Veron launched and landed many more punches despite fighting the last six rounds with a damaged eye.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 281: The Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia Show

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-281-The-Devin-Haney-and-Ryan-Garcia-Show

Over the years bouts between old foes such as Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia tend to be surprising.

Yes, both are only 25 but have known each other for many years.

When undisputed super lightweight champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) steps into the prize ring at Barclays Center to meet challenger Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday, April 20, fans will be witnessing the continuation of a feud that began more than a decade ago.

And though the champion is a heavy favorite, familiarity is Garcia’s best weapon heading into their fight on the Golden Boy Promotions card that will be shown on PPV.COM with Jim Lampley and friends. DAZN pay-per-view is also streaming the card.

In many ways Haney and Garcia have ventured down the same path. From amateur sensations to fighting in Mexico while teens to asking for the biggest challenges available.

“Whichever version of Ryan shows up on April 20, I will be ready for him. Ryan Garcia is just another opponent to me,” said Haney who holds the WBC super lightweight title after his win over Regis Prograis.

The first time I saw Haney as a pro he battled the dangerous Mexican contender Juan Carlos Burgos at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. It was an impressive performance against a fighter who fought three times for a world title.

Haney was 19 at the time.

My first look at Garcia as a pro was in his first bout in the U.S. when he met Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Cruz at the Exchange in downtown Los Angeles. The Boricua looked at Garcia and tried intimidating him with stares, taunts and the usual patter. During the fight both swung and missed until the second round when Garcia zeroed in and took him out.

Garcia had just turned 18, the legal age to fight in California.

Both fighters did not have the Olympics credentials that lead to fame. But their talent has allowed them to fight through the dense smoke that is professional boxing.

Haney has defeated numerous world champions such as Prograis, Vasyl Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr., while Garcia has stopped champions Javier Fortuna and Luke Campbell.

As amateurs, Garcia and Haney battled six times with each winning three.

“They know each other very well,” said Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. “Ryan is going to beat Devin Haney.”

Haney has a buttery-smooth style with one of the best jabs in boxing. He’s very adept at keeping distance and not allowing anyone to fight him inside. His reflexes are outstanding, yet he seldom fights inside. That’s his weakness.

Garcia fights tall and has superb hand speed and a lightning quick left hook. Though his defense lacks tightness his ability to rip off three-punch combinations in a blink of an eye pauses opponents from bullying their way inside.

“These guys always just look at me and look at me like I don’t know how to box,” said Garcia on social media. “Why was I one of the best fighters in the amateurs. Why was I a 15-time National champion…why did I beat everyone I came across.”

Haney is a strong favorite by oddsmakers to defeat Garcia. But you can never tell when it comes to fighters that know each other well and are athletically gifted.

When Sergio Mora challenged Vernon Forrest he was a big underdog. When Tim Bradley fought Manny Pacquiao the first time, he was also the underdog. And when Andy Ruiz met Anthony Joshua few gave him a chance.

Haney and Garcia have history in the ring. It should be an interesting battle.

PPV.COM

Jim Lampley will be leading the broadcast on PPV.COM for the Haney-Garcia card at Barclays and texting with fans on the card live. He will be accompanied by journalists Lance Pugmire, Dan Conobbio and former champion Chris Algieri.

The PPV.COM broadcast begins at 5 p.m. PT. and is available in Canada and the USA.

Other News

MMA stars Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will be holding a media day event on Friday, April 19, at NOVO at L.A. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Diaz and Masvidal will be boxing against each other in a grudge match on June 1 at the KIA Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The two MMA stars met five years at UFC 244 with Masvidal winning by TKO over Diaz due to cuts.

This is a grudge match, but under boxing rules.

Fight card in Commerce, Calif.

360 Promotions returns to Commerce Casino on Saturday April 20 with undefeated super lightweight Cain Sandoval leading the charge.

Sandoval (12-0) faces Angel Rebollar (8-3) in the main event that will be shown live on UFC Fight Pass. Also on the card are two female events including hot prospect Lupe Medina (5-0) versus Sabrina Persona (3-1) in a minimumweight clash.

Doors open at 4 p.m.

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Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

There were few surprises when co-promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren and their benefactor HE Turki Alalshikh held a press conference in London this past Monday to unveil the undercard for the Beterbiev-Bivol show at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 1. Most of the match-ups had already been leaked.

For die-hard boxing fans, Beterbiev-Bivol is such an enticing fight that it really doesn’t need an attractive undercard. Two undefeated light heavyweights will meet with all four relevant belts on the line in a contest where the oddsmakers straddled the fence. It’s a genuine “pick-‘em” fight based on the only barometer that matters, the prevailing odds.

But Beterbiev-Bivol has been noosed to a splendid undercard, a striking contrast to Saturday’s Haney-Garcia $69.99 (U.S.) pay-per-view in Brooklyn, an event where the undercard, in the words of pseudonymous boxing writer Chris Williams, is an absolute dumpster fire.

The two heavyweight fights that will bleed into Beterbiev-Bivol, Hrgovic vs. Dubois and Wilder vs. Zhang, would have been stand-alone main events before the incursion of Saudi money.

Hrgovic-Dubois

Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 13 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) fought on the same card in Riyadh this past December. Hrgovic, the Croatian, was fed a softie in the form of Australia’s Mark De Mori who he dismissed in the opening round. Dubois, a Londoner, rebounded from his loss to Oleksandr Usyk with a 10^th-round stoppage of corpulent Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller.

There’s an outside chance that Hrgovic vs. Dubois may be sanctioned by the IBF for the world heavyweight title.

The May 18 showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury has a rematch clause. The IBF is next in line in the rotation system for a unified heavyweight champion and the organization has made it plain that the winner of Usyk-Fury must fulfill his IBF mandatory before an intervening bout.

The best guess is that the Usyk-Fury winner will relinquish the IBF belt. If so, Hrgovic and Dubois may fight for the vacant title although a more likely scenario is that the organization will keep the title vacant so that the winner can fight Anthony Joshua.

Wilder-Zhang

The match between Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) and Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) is a true crossroads fight as both Wilder, 38, and Zhang, who turns 41 in May, are nearing the end of the road and the loser (unless it’s a close and entertaining fight) will be relegated to the rank of a has-been. In fact, Wilder has hinted that this may be his final rodeo.

Both are coming off a loss to Joseph Parker.

Wilder last fought on the card that included Hrgovic and Dubois and was roundly out-pointed by a man he was expected to beat. It’s a quick turnaround for Zhang who opposed Parker on March 8 and lost a majority decision.

Other Fights

Either of two other fights may steal the show on the June 1 event.

Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) meets Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) in a 12-round featherweight contest. New Jersey’s Ford will be defending the WBA world title he won with a come-from-behind, 12th-round stoppage of Otabek Kholmatov in an early contender for Fight of the Year. Liverpool’s “Wrecking” Ball, a relentless five-foot-two sparkplug, had to settle for a draw in his title fight with Rey Vargas despite winning the late rounds and scoring two knockdowns.

Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KOs) meets fellow unbeaten Austin “Ammo” Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) in a 12-round middleweight match. East London’s Sheeraz, the son of a former professional cricket player, is unknown in the U.S. although he trained for his recent fights at the Ten Goose Boxing Gym in California. Riding a skein of 13 straight knockouts, he has a date with WBO title-holder Janibek Alimkhanuly if he can get over this hurdle.

The Forgotten Heavyweight

“Unbeaten for seven years, the man nobody wants to fight,” intoned ring announcer Michael Buffer by way of introduction. Buffer was referencing Michael Hunter who stood across the ring from his opponent Artem Suslenkov.

This scene played out this past Saturday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was Hunter’s second fight in three weeks. On March 23, he scored a fifth-round stoppage of a 46-year-old meatball at a show in Zapopan, Mexico.

The second-generation “Bounty Hunter,” whose only defeat prior to last weekend came in a 12-rounder with Oleksandr Usyk, has been spinning his wheels since TKOing the otherwise undefeated Martin Bakole on the road in London in 2018. Two fights against hapless opponents on low-budget cards in Mexico and a couple of one-round bouts for the Las Vegas Hustle, an entry in the fledgling and largely invisible Professional Combat League, are the sum total of his activity, aside from sparring, in the last two-and-a-half years.

Hunter’s chances of getting another big-money fight took a tumble in Tashkent where he lost a unanimous decision in a dull affair to the unexceptional Suslenkov who was appearing in his first 10-round fight. The scores of the judges were not announced.

You won’t find this fight listed on boxrec. As Jake Donovan notes, the popular website will not recognize a fight conducted under the auspices of a rogue commission. (Another fight you won’t find on boxrec for the same reason is Nico Ali Walsh’s 6-round split decision over the 9-2-1 Frenchman, Noel Lafargue, in the African nation of Guinea on Dec. 16, 2023. You can find it on YouTube, but according to boxrec, boxing’s official record-keeper, it never happened.)

Anderson-Merhy Redux

The only thing missing from this past Saturday’s match in Corpus Christi, Texas, between Jared Anderson and Ryad Merhy was the ghost of Robert Valsberg.

Valsberg, aka Roger Vaisburg, was the French referee who disqualified Ingemar Johansson for not trying in his match with LA’s Ed Sanders in the finals of the heavyweight competition at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Valsberg tossed Johansson out of the ring after two rounds and Johansson was denied the silver medal. The Swede redeemed himself after turning pro, needless to say, when he demolished Floyd Patterson in the first of their three meetings.

Merhy was credited with throwing only 144 punches, landing 34, over the course of the 10 rounds. Those dismal figures yet struck many onlookers as too high. (This reporter has always insisted that the widely-quoted CompuBox numbers should be considered approximations.)

Whatever the true number, it was a disgraceful performance by Merhy who actually showed himself to have very fast hands on the few occasions when he did throw a punch. With apologies to Delfine Persoon, a spunky lightweight, U.S. boxing promoters should think twice before inviting another Belgian boxer to our shores.

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