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How O’Shaquie Foster’s Long, Dark Night Led to A Brighter Future
O’Shaquie Foster was sitting alone in the dark on an unforgiving concrete floor in a Texas jail cell. Sweltering heat. No windows. No lights. The power had been out for over half a week now, and there was no window by which a gentle breeze might offer even the slightest comfort.
“I couldn’t even see my hands,” remembered Foster. “They were handing us food, and I couldn’t even eat it. It was so crazy. It was so bad.”
Foster was in for a shooting incident that had left one man wounded and the other, Foster, in jail. Being trapped inside a cage is bad enough, but Hurricane Harvey had made things so much worse that summer after it tore through the Texas Gulf Coast like a runaway jackhammer in the hands of a madman scattering ruthless devastation all around the state.
To make matters worse, Orange County officials had been divorced enough from compassion, or at least languishing far enough away from the sound shores of reason, that they hadn’t seen fit to evacuate the prisoners to safer quarters.
But sometimes, even in the most dire circumstance, all the universe conspires to give a person the opportunity to discover a new point of view, one that might otherwise have gone unseen.
So here in this horrible moment was where Foster, stuck in the stuffy darkness made worse by the third 500-year flood in just three years, at long last considered what he had been doing with his one and only life before and what he could have been doing with it instead.
“It just opened my eyes,” said Foster, who just a few days prior had watched Terence Crawford become the undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world on the jailhouse community television set.
Foster said he knew he had that kind of ability, the kind that Crawford used to fight out of Nebraska. But there was Crawford on a grand stage making the most out of his life, and here sat Foster among the prisoners.
Foster had been an alternate for the 2012 Olympic team. Just 17 years old at the time of the Olympic Trials, Foster, a fighter from Orange, Texas, aka the tiny East Texas town hardly any good boxer had ever come from, almost did the unthinkable when he came within three points of upsetting Joseph Diaz to make the team.
To this day, Foster still believes he deserved to win that fight. While it would have been an upset, it wouldn’t have been considered a fluke. After all, Foster had won nearly 200 bouts as an amateur, was a two-time national Jr. Golden Gloves champion, a five-time Ringside national champion and the 2011 PAL national champion.
But coming oh-so-close to beating Diaz, and feeling as if maybe USA Boxing officials had purposely made sure he didn’t, Foster declared himself a professional with no real connections to that world and no big plan.
“Yeah, I was pretty salty.”
To make matters worse, Foster’s local gym in Orange closed right after the Olympic trials had ended. So as Foster was attempting to launch his professional fighting career, he had to do so with a very limited support network and virtually no place to train.
Foster briefly moved to Houston, but after winning his first few professional fights, he ended up back in his hometown again where he admitted he really didn’t focus all that much on his craft.
“I wasn’t training like I was supposed to,” said Foster. “I was still stuck in the hood where I grew up, but I was still taking fights and I was winning for as long as I could.”
Sometimes an unexpected setback can lead to a personal breakthrough. Other times, it takes multiple difficulties for a person to make whatever connection he or she needs to make that giant leap forward.
For Foster, despite losing in 2015 to Samuel Teah and in 2016 to Rolando Chinea, the fighter didn’t really make his big personal decision to turn his life around until that long, dark night in a Texas jail cell. It was at that moment that Foster decided what he would do the minute he got out of there.
“I came straight here,” said Foster, pointing down at the ground while standing next to a well-worn punching bag at Main Street Boxing and Muay Thai Gym in Houston.
“It changed my whole life. I stayed away from the hood. I didn’t go to my hometown for like a year. It was a while before I went back, and I just changed my whole environment.”
Foster has since become one of boxing’s best-known spoilers. Trained by Bobby Benton and Aaron Navarro, the now completely dedicated fighter has won five straight bouts, including twice as an underdog, most recently upsetting previously undefeated Spanish prospect Jon Fernandez.
That win netted Foster the WBC silver junior lightweight title, along with a top ten ranking from that organization and a well-deserved homecoming bout just 30 minutes west of his hometown in Beaumont in February. More importantly, this newfound dedication to living his best life, one that includes fully devoting himself to professional boxing, is turning him into the fighter he always believed he could be.
And all that Foster has planned next is more of the same.
“We’re trying to take over one fight at a time,” said Foster.
Benton said Foster reminded him a lot of his other star pupil, 140-pound titleholder Regis Prograis. In fact, the 40-year-old trainer said he remembered meeting both fighters when they were young, and that he knew upon seeing each that they possessed real potential.
“I’ve known O’Shaquie since he was eight years old,” said Benton. “Even back then, I knew he was special.”
Benton isn’t one to overpromote, so if he says Foster, a two-loss fighter from Orange, can seriously compete for a world title at 130 pounds; he really believes it.
“This kid’s really got it,” said Benton. “Listen, at the point he’s at right now, nobody is going to beat him.”
Just two years ago, that kind of talk about Foster would be laughable to anyone but Foster, who said he always believed he could make it, and maybe his manager, Keith Mills, who Foster said always stuck by him even during difficult times.
And who knows what might happen? Maybe someday soon, Foster will be the one on a grand stage helping inspire another lost and wayward soul who needs to make some really big changes in his life.
Maybe Foster can really be like Crawford.
“Nah,” said Foster, owning his incredible power of self-belief, that same energy which gave him hope during an incredibly difficult situation two years ago and led him out of the darkness into the light of a brighter future.
“I’m going to be better than that. I’m better than Terence Crawford.”
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R.I.P Israel Vazquez who has Passed Away at age 46
Israel Vazquez, a three-time world champion at 122 pounds and one of the most crowd-pleasing prizefighters of any era, has passed away at the age of 46. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman revealed the bad news today (Dec. 3) on his social media platform.
Born on Christmas Day 1977, Vazquez began his pro career in his native Mexico City at age 17. He was 16 fights into his pro career when he made his U.S. debut in El Cajon, California, under the management of Frank Espinoza.
Vazquez is most remembered for his four-fight rivalry with fellow Mexico City native Rafael Marquez.
The first two meetings were contested before small crowds in Carson, California, and Hidalgo, Texas.
Marquez won the first meeting thanks to a left hook that broke Vazquez’s nose in the opening round. The nose swelled to the point that Vazquez, who was making the fourth defense of his WBC super bantamweight title, could no longer breathe and he was all done after seven rounds.
Vazquez won the rematch (TKO 6), setting the stage for a rubber match that would be a fight for the ages. The bout, contested on March 1, 2008 at the soccer stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, was a shoo-in for Fight of the Year, earning that accolade from the BWAA, The Ring magazine and others.
Vazquez pulled that fight out of the fire in the final round, knocking Marquez to the canvas to win a split decision. Ron Borges, writing for this publication, wrote, “they knocked pieces off each other that could never be fully reattached.”
That was true of the detached retina in Vazquez’s right eye. It would require multiple surgeries before Vazquez, nicknamed “El Magnifico,” fought again and the eye would eventually be replaced by a prosthetic.
Their fourth meeting, contested before a celebrity-studded crowd at LA’s Staples Center, was anticlimactic. Vazquez, damaged goods, was stopped in the third round and never fought again.
All four meetings were televised on Showtime which celebrated the rivalry in 2015, airing highlights from all four fights on March 7 of that year. TSS West Coast Bureau Chief David A. Avila, looking back at the series, wrote, “[It was] 28 rounds of the most scientifically brutal and awe-inspiring prizefighting at an elite level.” Avila would also call Israel Vazquez one of the sport’s greatest gentlemen, a class act, as evinced in his energetic handshake whenever meeting a new fan.
Vazquez used his ring earnings to open a boxing gym in the Greater Los Angeles City of South Gate.
Vazquez’s passing wasn’t unexpected. Mauricio Sulaiman announced last month that Vazquez had been diagnosed with Stage IV Sarcoma, a particularly virulent strain of cancer and along with Oscar Valdez and Top Rank, established a GoFundMe account to defray his medical expenses. Today, Sulaiman wrote, “Israel Vazquez is finally resting in peace. May God give strength and support to his wife Laura, their children, family and friends during these difficult times.”
We here at TSS share that sentiment and send our condolences.
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Fighting on His Home Turf, Galal Yafai Pulverizes Sunny Edwards
The Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England, was the site of tonight’s Matchroom Promotions card featuring flyweights Galal Yafai and Sunny Edwards in the main event. Yafai went to post a short underdog in what on paper was a 50/50 fight, but it was a rout from the start.
Yafai got right into Edwards’ grill in the opening round and never let up. Although there were no knockdowns, it was complete domination by the Birmingham southpaw until the referee stepped in and waived it off at the 1:10 mark of round six.
“Bloodline” was the tagline of the match-up. Sunny’s brother Charlie Edwards, now competing as a bantamweight, is a former flyweight world title-holder. Galal, a gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, is the third member of his family to make his mark as a prizefighter. Brother Kal, also a former Olympian, once held a world title at 115 and brother Gamal was a Commonwealth champion as a bantamweight.
Edwards and Galal Yafai were well-acquainted. They had fought as amateurs and had shared the ring on many occasions as sparring partners. Although Galal was 31 years old, he had only eight pro fights under his belt and was meeting a veteran of six world title fights whose only loss in 22 starts came the hands of the brilliant Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
But that loss to Rodriguez in Arizona (Edwards’ corner pulled him out after nine frames) was of the kind that shortens careers. Although Sunny won a tune-up fight since that setback, tonight he had the appearance of a boxer who had grown old overnight. In fact, after the second round, he was heard saying to his corner “I really don’t want to be here.”
Edwards wanted out, but he dutifully answered the bell for the next four rounds. After the bout, he indicated that he had planned to retire after this fight, win, or lose, or draw.
The contest was billed as a WBC “eliminator” which positions Galal Yafai (9-0, 7 KOs) for a match with Japanese veteran Kenshiro Teraji, the long-reigning light flyweight title-holder who moved up in weight last month and captured the WBC flyweight title at the expense of Cristofer Rosales.
Other Bouts of Note
Welterweight Conah Walker, from the Birmingham bedroom community of Wolverhampton, won a clear-cut 10-round decision over Lewis Ritson, winning by scores of 98-93 and 97-93 twice.
A former British lightweight champion, Ritson (23-5) lost for the fourth time in his last six starts, but was game to the core. At various times he appeared on the verge of being stopped, but he may have won the final round when he got the best of several exchanges. Walker, a heavy favorite, improved to 14-3-1 (6).
In a 12-round middleweight match, Kieron Conway won his fourth straight, advancing to 22-3-1 (6) with a split decision over a local product, Ryan Kelly (19-5-1). Kelly got the nod on one of the cards (115-114), but was out-voted by his colleagues who had it 116-112 and 115-113 for Conway.
While the decision was fair, this was a lackluster performance by Conway who had fought much stiffer competition and entered the ring a 6/1 favorite.
Twenty-two-year-old junior welterweight Cameron Vuong, a stablemate of Jack Catterall, stepped up in class and improved to 7-0 (3) with a 10-round unanimous decision over Gavin Gwynne. The judges had it 97-94, 96-94, and 96-95.
Vuong, who is half Vietnamese, out-boxed Gwynne from the outside but was far from impressive. A 34-year-old Welshman and veteran of eight domestic title fights, Gwynne (17-4-1) was the aggressor throughout and there were scattered boos when the decision was announced.
In a scheduled 8-rounder that wasn’t part of the main card, Liverpool’s Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs) wacked out Colombian trial horse Carlos Galvan in the fifth round. Smith, whose only defeats came at the hands of future Hall of Famers Canelo Alvarez (L 12) and Artur Beterbiev (L TKO 7), knocked Galvan down in the fourth and then twice more in the fifth with body punches before the match was halted. Galvan declined to 20-15-2.
Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 306: Flyweight Rumble in England, Ryan Garcia in SoCal
Avila Perspective, Chap. 306: Flyweight Rumble in England, Ryan Garcia in SoCal
With most of America in a turkey coma, all boxing eyes should be pointed toward England this weekend.
Former world titlist Sunny Edwards (21-1, 4 KOs) challenges the fast-rising Galal Yafai (8-0, 6 KOs) for a regional flyweight on Saturday, Nov. 30, at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.
Without the fast-talking and dare-to-be-great Edwards, the flyweight division and super flyweight divisions would be in a blanket of invisibility. He’s the kind of personality the lower weight classes need.
The London kid loves to talk and loves to fight even more.
Edwards was calling out Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez when the San Antonio fighter was blasting out feared Thai slugger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and dismantling Mexico’s Carlos Cuadras. And he did this in front of a worldwide audience.
Of course, he fell short of defeating the young superstar but he kick-started the weight division with new life. And here he is again enticing more eyes on the flyweights as he challenges another potential star.
“I was happy and proud of Galal when he won the Olympic gold medal,” said Edwards who has sparred Yafai many times. “When me and Galal get in a small space, it’s fireworks.”
Yafai, a 2021 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, only has eight pro fights but at age 31 doesn’t have time to walk through the stages of careful preparation. But with blazing speed to go along with big power in his southpaw punches, it’s time for the Birmingham native to claim his spot on the world stage.
Is he ready?
“It’s a massive fight, it speaks for itself. Sunny is a great fighter, a former world champion, a good name and we’ve got history as well,” Yafai said at the press conference.” I’ve got to be a bit smarter, but I know Sunny inside-out.”
Both have blazing speed. Yafai has the power, but Edwards has the experience of pro-style competition.
Promoter Eddie Hearn calls this one of the top fights in British boxing.
“Sunny doesn’t care, he wants to be in great fights, he believes in himself and he is rolling the dice again on Saturday night, as is Galal. An Olympic gold medalist from Birmingham with just a handful of fights really, and already stepping up to take on one of the top, top flyweights in the world,” said Hearns.
Ryan Garcia in Beverly Hills
The budding Southern California superstar Ryan Garcia met the boxing media in Beverly Hills to announce an exhibition match against Japan’s kickboxing star Rukiya Anpo on December 30 in Tokyo. FANMIO pay-per-view will show the match if it takes place.
Garcia is still under contract with Golden Boy Promotions and according to the promotion company an agreement has not been established. But with Garcia under suspension for PED use following his last fight against Devin Haney back in April, an opportunity for the popular fighter to make a living will probably be allowed.
As long as everyone gets their cut.
Now 26, Garcia seeks to get back in the prize ring and do what he does best and that’s fire left hooks in machine gun fashion.
“He tried to knock out Manny Pacquiao and it pissed me off,” said Garcia on his reasons for accepting an exhibition match with the bigger in size Anpo. “That rubbed me the wrong way and now I’m here to show him someone in his prime with speed and power.”
Anpo wants a knockout and nothing else.
“I regret that I couldn’t finish Manny Pacquiao,” said Anpo who met Pacquiao in an exhibition this past summer in Tokyo. “That’s what we train to do in every fight. I have even more motivation this time and I will knock him out and finish Ryan Garcia as a professional.”
Following the press conference on Tuesday, Nov. 26, an e-mail by Golden Boy was sent to the media and stated: “Golden Boy Promotions has exclusive rights to Ryan Garcia’s fights. The organizers of this event (Garcia vs. Anpo) have acknowledged as such and have agreed in writing that our sign-off is needed for this event to occur. As no such sign-off has been given, as of today there is no event with Ryan Garcia.”
Simply said, they get their cut or no fight.
The potential money-making fight has a strong possibility to occur.
Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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