HITS and MISSES from Another Huge Weekend of Boxing

Published

12 months ago

December 16, 2019

HITS and MISSES from Another Huge Weekend of Boxing

Some of boxing’s best fighters were on display over the weekend, including pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford making the third defense of his WBO welterweight title against Egidijus Kavaliauskas in the main event of a Top Rank on ESPN card in New York.

Additionally, lightweight terror Teofimo Lopez took a stab at winning his first world title against dangerous IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey in the co-main event, and welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr. attempted to finish off his impressive 2019 run by defeating Brad Solomon on a separate card featured in DAZN.

Once again, it’s time to name the biggest hits and misses of another huge weekend in boxing.

HIT: Teofimo Lopez Jr.’s Takeover Being Revealed in Full Measure

Super-charged lightweight talent Teofimo Lopez Jr. completely dismantled Richard Commey on Saturday night in the co-feature of the Terence Crawford-Egidijus Kavaliauskas card at Madison Square Garden.

With all eyes in the sporting world pointed sharply toward the Heisman Trophy ceremony just 15-minutes down the street where LSU’s Joe Burrow was awarded college football’s highest honor, Lopez was striking his own metaphorical pose of sorts after stopping Commey for the IBF lightweight title in just two rounds.

Lopez had certainly looked like generational talent as he worked his way up the ranks, but nobody really knew what might happen when he stepped in against a fighter as exceptional and accomplished as Commey.

But the 22-year-old from Brooklyn proved beyond doubt the elite status he holds among his peers. Now, the world awaits a superfight between Lopez and unified champion Vasyl Lomachenko that would potentially crown the first undisputed champion in the division since Pernell Whitaker accomplished the feat almost 30 years ago.

I say potentially because I don’t think anyone has really decided yet how to interpret the WBC Franchise belt the sanctioning body created earlier this year that Lomachenko wears in comparison to the belt Devin Haney now possesses

MISS: Michael Conlan’s Shortsighted Strategy in Olympic Grudge Match

Top Rank seems to envision a bright future for 28-year-old featherweight contender Michael Conlan, but seeing the undefeated prospect rise through the rankings has left me to question whether he’s more John Duddy than Carl Frampton.

Duddy was a fun professional prizefighter, but one who left his chin out too much to ever seriously compete for a world title. Frampton, on the other hand, is smackdab in the middle of enjoying one of the greatest professional fighting careers of any Irish fighter to date.

Sure, Conlan avenged his controversial 2016 Olympic loss to amateur rival Vladimir Nikitin, 29, from Russia, on Saturday night on the undercard of Crawford-Kavaliauskas by scoring a wide unanimous decision victory.

The problem, though, is that Conlan consistently puts himself into vulnerable situations by trying to trade punches with his opponents rather than boxing them. It might win him some fans right now, but that strategy is sure to falter once he moves up to face top-level opposition for one simple reason: He’s not very good at it.

HIT: Terence Crawford’s Single-Minded Mean Streak to Stop Mean Machine

It’s one thing for an elite fighter like pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford to bolster fantastic boxing skills and the amazing propensity to be just as effective from both the orthodox and southpaw stances, but it’s quite another thing for the welterweight to carry a chip on his shoulder the size of a bowling ball.

When Crawford faces his opponents, one gets the sense that just beating them isn’t quite good enough. He often becomes a fierce and aggressive stalker, and this special trait is something that helped him already achieve historically important credentials such as becoming the lineal lightweight champion in 2016, undisputed junior welterweight champion just a year later, and WBO welterweight champion since June 2018.

Crawford’s patented single-minded mean streak mindset also helped overcome the bigger-than-expected challenge Egidijus Kavaliauskas presented him on Saturday. Kavaliauskas, 31, from Lithuania, was truly the “Mean Machine” his handlers at Top Rank had promoted him to be, even going so far as to hurt Crawford early in the fight.

But Crawford, as it turns out, is the meanest machine of all. The 32-year-old knocked down Kavaliauskas three times total (once in the seventh and twice in the ninth) on his way to scoring an impressive ninth-round stoppage win.

MISS: Top Rank Not Getting Middleweight Prospect Edgar Berlanga More Rounds

Twenty-two-year-old middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga scored his 13th straight first-round knockout when the Brooklynite stopped Cesar Nunez at 2:45 of round one on the Crawford-Kavaliauskas undercard.

Berlanga appears to be a fighter worth keeping an eye on right now. After all, just about everyone in boxing loves knockout punchers, and make that double for those of them that hail from historically important U.S. boxing hotbeds like Brooklyn.

But is Berlanga really the next great middleweight (or super middleweight) power puncher? Or has he just not been matched tough enough quite yet for us to tell?

Far be it from me (well, mostly) to question the methods of Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum and arguably boxing’s top matchmaker Brad Goodman, but it seems like finding just one opponent in 13 tries that could give Berlanga more than three-minutes or less of work shouldn’t be too big an ask.

Not even Gennady Golovkin, the last great middleweight terror, or Deontay Wilder, arguably the hardest puncher in boxing history, scored as many first-round knockouts during the early parts of their careers, and that was probably best for them in long run.

HIT: Vergil Ortiz Jr Cementing His Status as Boxing’s Top Prospect

Welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr. again showed why most people see the 21-year-old Texan as one of the brightest prospects in boxing by stopping Brad Solomon in just five rounds at Fantasy Spring Casino in Indio, California.

Ortiz had already won all 14 of his professional fights by knockout, including step-up bouts earlier this year against Mauricio Herrera and Antonio Orozco.

While Golden Boy Promotions usually isn’t considered as being in the same league as Top Rank in the matchmaking department, it did seem important for the development of Ortiz to be matched up against a mover like Solomon.

Sure, Ortiz had already tracked down the crafty Herrera, but once the Dallas-native starts competing for world titles he’ll find it more important than ever to have his footwork down pat so he can do the things he wants to do.

Overall, Ortiz enjoyed a great 2019 campaign, going 3-0 with 3 KOs. More importantly, he solidified his status as one of the top prospects in the sport, perhaps even next year’s Teofimo Lopez: a fighter transforming talent into making good on a world title opportunity.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank

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Kelsey McCarson

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 116: Three Days of the Condor

Published

2 hours ago

December 2, 2020

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-116-Three-Days-of-the-Condor

Every year it happens.

Some of the best fights are made at the end of the year.

Three consecutive days of high-level prizefighting begin in Los Angeles, move to London and return to Dallas, Texas. I tagged it Three Days of the Condor in honor of the great spy movie of the 70s starring Robert Redford.

Here’s what is coming:

New York welterweight prospect Brian Ceballo (11-0, 6 KOs) meets Utah’s Larry Gomez (10-1, 8 KOs) 10 rounds on Thursday Dec. 3, at the Wild Card Gym parking lot in Hollywood, California. NBC SN will televise the Ring City Fight card beginning at 6 p.m. Pacific Coast Time.

It was supposed to be Brandon Adams versus Serhii Bohachuk in a super welterweight clash that had fans salivating who are familiar with the two. But the Ukrainian fighter who trains in Southern California fell ill with the coronavirus. Now Adams fights late replacement Sanny Duversonne in an eight-round bout. Poor Bohachuk.

“It is with regret that I have to announce that I’ve contracted the COVID virus and have to withdraw from the fight on Dec. 3,” Bohachuck said. “I want to thank Ring City and NBC Sports for the opportunity, and I look forward to fighting Adams in the future. I’m feeling fine and look forward to resuming my training as soon as I’m cleared.”

Ceballo (pictured) and Gomez are now the true main event and both have not fought in over a year. That should make it even. This also makes the second boxing card for the Ring City fight group. Two weeks ago, Ring City opened with a doozy of a boxing card. This should equal their opener in terms of even matchups.

British Action

Early Friday morning a boxing card features WBO super middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) defending against veteran contender Martin Murray (39-5-1, 17 KOs) at London, England. DAZN will stream the Matchroom fight card beginning at 11 a.m. PT.

Saunders is a chatty sort who loves to discombobulate opponents in a variety of ways. Whether attacking their physical appearance or lack of skills, he is not shy about voicing his opinion.

But he does have respect for Murray.

“He’s challenged for the world title four times. He should have been world champion in two of those fights. I’ve promised him a chance,” said Saunders who is making his second defense of the WBO title and is a former middleweight world titlist.

The left-handed Saunders has long sought a match with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez who has held super welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight world titles.

“The Canelo fight fell through in May,” said Saunders. “On Friday we’ll rock and roll.”

Murray is anxious for what could be his final world title shot.

“He’s not fought the opposition I’ve had,” said Murray who lost to Gennady Golovkin, Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm. “If I’d had fought the people he’s fought, I’d have a world title. I’ve done it the hard way.”

PPV Welterweight Showdown

Errol Spence Jr. returns and the world will see if the championship caliber fighter still carries all of his weaponry.

He will be tested.

Spence (26-0, 21 K0s) returns to the prize ring after one year following a horrific automobile crash. He meets former two-division world champ Danny “Swift” Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) on Saturday Dec. 5, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The PBC card will be televised on FOX pay-per-view.

Back in September 2019, the speedy Spence lit up the boxing ring at Los Angeles in an electrifying battle with Shawn Porter. He barely emerged victorious and then allegedly celebrated in Texas by going more than 100 mph in a Ferrari 488 Spyder and flipping the expensive car end over end. The horrific crash was captured on video and despite the ugliness of the accident, Spence did not suffer any broken bones. But there was internal damage.

Just how severe were his injuries?

This marks the first time back in the prize ring and Garcia is a very rugged test. All Philadelphia fighters are tough, and he just might be the toughest of them all.

Garcia has only two losses in his career and both were very close decision defeats: First, against Shawn Porter and second against Keith Thurman. The counter-puncher has never been stopped or dropped and packs a wallop.

“He’s not much of a volume puncher so it will be more tactical. It probably won’t be like the Shawn Porter fight, an all-out brawl/fight. I think this will be more tactical, and pinpoint type of fight between me and him,” Spence told Brian Custer on The Last Stand Podcast.

This will be a true test for Spence who has mentioned many times desiring a match with Manny Pacquiao and WBO titlist Terence Crawford.

One interesting bout on the same pay-per-view card pits Josesito Lopez (37-8) versus Francisco Santana (25-8-1) in a 10-round welterweight mash-up. This fight is not for the squeamish. Both these guys are bruisers and have fought the best. It’s amazing that the two California fighters have not faced each other before. They have fought everyone else. Now its Lopez against Santana.

It will be brutal while it lasts.

Macho film

Showtime debuts its sports documentary on “Macho: The Hector Camacho Story” on Friday night December 4, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

If you love boxing don’t miss this important film on Camacho, one of the most scintillating boxers of the 1980s and 1990s. His presence in the boxing scene now seems to be overlooked by the great welterweights and Mike Tyson who dominated the boxing landscape.

Camacho was the lone prizefighter in the lower weight classes who could match their allure. The Puerto Rican fighter from Spanish Harlem fought and beat Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard. How many fighters can claim that?

It’s a very well-made documentary that delves into the flamboyant fighter’s life.

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Boxing Promoter Michelle “Raging Babe” Rosado Pulls No Punches

Published

1 day ago

December 1, 2020

The Sweet Science

Boxing-Promoter-Michelle-Raging-Babe-Rosado-Pulls-No-Punches

Michelle Rosado, the founder and CEO of Raging Babe Promotions, made her promotional debut on Feb. 8, 2019 with a show at South Philly’s intimate 2300 Arena. The show drew an SRO crowd, a testament to Rosado’s tireless work ethic, but ended on a sour note when local fan favorite Christian Carto – potentially the next big thing on the Philadelphia boxing scene – stepped up in class and was brutally knocked out by Mexican veteran Victor Ruiz. A protégé of Hall of Fame boxing promoter J Russell Peltz (pictured on the left), Rosado recently appeared on the “Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer” to share her thoughts on some of the major issues in boxing. Here are excerpts from that interview compliments of publicist Keisha Williams.

ROSADO ON WHY CLUB SHOWS ARE IMPORTANT TO THE SPORT

“Club shows are where you are building those prospects, that’s where you’re developing those fighters you see the top promoters are pulling these opponents from. We’re developing these guys from the ground up, we’re almost like a farm system. Most of these guys you see on TV fighting for millions of dollars, and becoming world champions, a lot of them started at the club level.”

ROSADO ON STATE OF WOMEN’S BOXING

“Women’s boxing needs a platform, there’s nowhere for these girls to fight, they deserve some fairness in our sport. I’m not trying to say they deserve to be paid the same as Canelo, but they shouldn’t be paid 5 thousand dollars to defend their titles either, so in 2021

I’m going to get more involved in women’s boxing and try and be a voice for them because they deserve better and a platform.”

ROSADO ON HOW DIFFICULT IT IS BEING IT IS BEING A FEMALE PROMOTER IN BOXING

“I’ve been called every racial slur you can think of, I’ve had tickets thrown in my face, I’ve had my house vandalized, I’ve had a brick thrown threw my back window of my car. I’ve been called every kind of groupie you can imagine. She’s slept with everybody in the business and every fighter. I’ve earned my stripes, I’ve worked hard, no handouts, it’s just been all hard work and I’ve had to learn to turn the cheek. Most people know nine years in that I’m a hustler. You’ll never find a fighter that says she stole from me, she didn’t pay me, she lied to me, you’ll never find a fighter that says that!”

RAGING BABE ON FEMALE BOXING PROMOTERS

“Yes we have a lot more women in boxing, yes it still a little more difficult for us, but we’re there you hear us roaring. Behind every big promoter, he’s got a woman either as his right hand man or running the operation. And I mean all of them!”

ROSADO ON HER ULTIMATE GOAL

“I want to continue to promote good fights, I want to make Philadelphia the legendary fight town that it once was, I want to develop those guys from the ground up, I want old school and new school boxing fans to come to my shows and fall in love with boxing again, and them become interested in the bigger boxing world again because we’re losing that old school boxing fan. I want to uphold the reputation of real fights, real fighters, real fans that’s my passion.”

ROSADO’S TOP 5 POUND FOR POUND LIST

Terence Crawford
Canelo Alvarez
Errol Spence Jr.
Naoya Inoue
Teofimo Lopez

Rosado on who’s boxing next big star and the best fighter out of Philly right now

“Boxing’s next big star is Tank….We got a lot of really good fighters in Philly, but Jaron “Boots” Ennis is that dude!”

The full in-depth interview is now available on YouTube (Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer) and all major podcast platforms (Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, etc.)

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HITS and MISSES: Post-Thanksgiving Weekend Edition

Published

2 days ago

November 30, 2020

Kelsey McCarson

HITS-and-MISSES-Post-Thanksgiving-Weekend-Edition

It was another massive weekend in boxing. There were big fights on pay-per-view that maybe shouldn’t have been so big, and fights surrounded by lesser fanfare that will probably be looked back at as the more meaningful action by future historians.

Here are the biggest HITS and MISSES from another week on the boxing beat.

HIT: Mike Tyson, Roy Jones and the Unifying Power of Boxing

Whatever you think about the boxing exhibition bout between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones, Jr. on Saturday night, the most important aspect of the whole night (to this writer at least) was seeing how easily a big fight in boxing could still unify our culture.

No, it wasn’t a legitimate prizefight, but people still wanted to see the 54-year-old Tyson go a few rounds with the 51-year-old Jones, and that’s exactly what they got. It was a ride built mostly around the power of nostalgia, and it featured all sorts of present-day celebrities, too.

By the end of things, it seemed the general reaction to the event on social media was positive.

Tyson vs. Jones showed how big a reach boxing still has. Tyson retired over 15 years ago, but people from all over the planet were still willing to pay $50 to watch him climb inside the ropes for a sparring session.

Seeing that left me with two exciting questions.

What awesome power will boxing’s next superstar have?

More importantly, where is he (or she) anyway?

MISS: Ring Announcer’s Steve Harvey Moment

In 2015, comedian Steve Harvey accidentally announced the wrong winner of the Miss Universe pageant. As humiliating as that event was for Harvey, just imagine how the two women felt after having their hearts filled and slashed by his error.

That same thing sort of happened on Friday night when Danny Jacobs beat Gabriel Rosado via split decision in a 168-pound stay-busy fight streamed by DAZN.

Ring announcer Jeremiah Gallegos accidentally said the winner hailed from Philadelphia (where Rosado is from) before quickly changing it back to Brooklyn (where Jacobs is from).

So momentarily, the hard-luck Rosado, who never has been the beneficiary of a close decision in any important fight, thought he had just pulled off the upset of the year.

Instead, Jacobs was corrected as the winner and that had to be an awful experience for both fighters, one that was completely avoidable.

HIT: Joe Joyce: An Actual Juggernaut?

Heavyweight prospect Joe Joyce is a popular fighter on the other side of the ocean because of his long and successful campaign as an amateur boxing star which culminated with Joyce winning the silver medal for Great Britain in the super heavyweight division at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Still, as a professional prospect, there are lots of things not to like about Joyce. First, Joyce didn’t start boxing until he was 22. Late bloomers come around now and then, but they’re still a rarity in the sport. Second, Joyce is already 35, which means he’s already just outside the confines of his theoretical physical prime, something that ends around 33 years old and only gets worse. Finally, Joyce is just plain slow as molasses.

Regardless, Joyce stopped fellow Brit Daniel Dubois on Saturday in London.

Unlike Joyce, Dubois, 23, possesses plenty of attributes one looks for in a future world champion. But none of those things helped Dubois win the fight.

All this to say Joyce just keeps winning fights. Sure, he might appear to be a boulder tumbling slowly down a hill when he fights, but that rock is starting to gain some real momentum.

HIT: 54-1

Thailand’s Wanheng Menayothin finally lost a fight over the weekend, but it should be noted that at least the fighter finally knows his limits.

Menayothin (aka Chayaphon Moonsri) entered his fight against Petchmanee CP Freshmart (aka Panya Pradabsri) with a sterling record of 54-0. He left the contest 54-1 after judges rendered their verdict for the challenger.

Much was made of Menayothin’s glossy win streak last year when he surpassed retired boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather’s 50-0 mark. But a combat sports culture obsessed with suffering no blemishes on a record is only a relatively new phenomenon. Moreover, the very nature of that path through the sport never reveals the true limits of a fighter.

All this to say that Menayothin now gets a better sense of his limits, and the boxing world as a whole gets to know that same thing about him, too. That’s wildly better than the alternative.

MISS: Nate Robinson Challenge

If you missed the Tyson vs. Jones pay-per-view event on Triller over the weekend, you didn’t see social media star Jake Paul’s viral knockout of ex-NBA star Nate Robinson.

It was clear from the start of the fight that Paul and Robinson weren’t evenly matched. That kind of thing happens all the time in boxing, of course, but here was a case of a person (Robinson) who maybe had been so mismatched against Paul that it was too dangerous to have happened at all.

Regardless, Robinson did have the courage to train for the fight and step inside the ropes on fight night.

After he was knocked out, something called the “Nate Robinson Challenge” started trending on Twitter, and it was basically people from all over the world trolling the 3-time NBA dunking champ for getting knocked out in the fight.

Look, Robinson made his own bed by calling for the fight in the first place. But the Internet trolls that rag people for stepping outside their comfort zones probably would never dare to attempt that accomplishment themselves.

Robinson tried and failed. That’s the real challenge.

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