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Logic in Boxing is an Oxymoron
![Logic-in-Boxing-is-an-Oxymoron](https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/better.jpg)
Logic in Boxing is an Oxymoron
In 1996, David Tua KOed future world champion John Ruiz in 19 seconds with a left hook from hell. In 2002, he dispatched former world champion Michael Moorer in 30 seconds with an explosive straight right. A prime Tua was a heavy load for anyone.
After losing to Chris Byrd in 2001, he went on an undefeated streak of 14 including the aforementioned blow-out of Moorer and a slaughter of countryman Shane Cameron, the Mountain Warrior, in a 2009 fight billed as the âFight of the Centuryâ in New Zealand. Tua came into the fight in the best shape of his career having lost a significant amount of weight.
In the first round, Tua hurt and decked Cameron twice with a crushing and accurate attack and even hit him while he was on the canvas. He ended matters 20 seconds into round two with 13 consecutive heavy and accurate blows, all to Cameronâs head. This ending was not for the squeamish or faint of heart.
After beating Friday Ahunanya, the âTerminatorâ was then held to an upset draw by a fading Monte â2Gunzâ Barrett (34-9 coming in) in Atlantic City, NJ. It appeared that Davidâs great run was coming to an end, especially since Barrett came into the fight having lost six of his last nine.
A year later in 2011, Barrett, now 40 years old, beat a sluggish Tua by a clear UD and in New Zealand no less. Tua lost for the first time since being out-classed by Chris Byrd 10 years earlier. Sadly, Tua also told the press that he was broke and homeless and that he was uncertain about his boxing future. He stepped aside from boxing with a myriad of personal issues including depression and a divorce.
Meanwhile, Barrett was scheduled to fight Shane Cameron in July 2012 though he badly wanted a third fight with local hero Tua because he knew it would be a bigger draw. He also resented accusations that he had taken steroids (accusations that never panned out because of procedural irregularities).
Monte was stung by these accusations and lashed out at Tua. âAfter I beat up on Shane,â he said, âIâm going to give Tua one more chance to whip his fat arse into shape and get his act togetherâŠFor me, itâs that or nothing. I want David to take my last fight. After his wife finished pounding on him with their divorce I donât know if heâll have enough for me. I hope he will.â
âDavid doesnât do anyone proud,â continued the vengeful Barrett. âHeâs an embarrassment to New Zealand. Heâs a lazy, fat slob. He doesnât apply himself. He can die a loser and never get a chance to redeem himself or be a man. The first fight his shoulder was hurt and the gloves were too bigâŠ.The second fight he claimed I was taking steroids. Whatâs his excuse for the third fight? I know New Zealand wants to see itâŠ.He will probably make every excuse because heâs a coward. I used to have a lot of respect for David. But he doesnât appreciate the status he has and realize the whole country is behind him.â
Shane Cameron, meanwhile, seemed to be lost in the shuffle, but he remained Monte Barrettâs stepping stone to a lucrative payday. Barrett, a resident of Bayonne, New Jersey, would be risking the WBO Asia and WBO Oriental heavyweight belts that he won when he defeated David Tua, belts formerly held by Cameron.
Barrett vs. Cameron
Cameron won the first three rounds which were uneventful. Early in the fourth, both threw monster right hands simultaneously. Cameronâs got there first, rendering 2Gunz unconscious and producing a very scary moment for everyone at ringside.
This frightening result afformed that Monte had been shot for some time but further certified that David Tua was even more shot. And yet, Tua was able to crush Cameron who in turn crushed Monte Barrett.
Go figure. There was absolutely no logic in what transpired here.
Many more examples would follow. Ricardo Mayorga, for example, scored two wins over Vernon Forrest who owned two wins over Shane Mosley, but Mosley KOed Mayorga twice. Expecting logic to exist in boxing is something one does at his or her peril.
Ted Sares can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com
Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing ChannelÂ
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More
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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 Promotionsâ 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. Itâs 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 âEast Losâ 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. Donât 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. Itâs a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. Thereâs 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 Canadaâs 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. Donât 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 doesnât 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.
Donât 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 Philadelphiaâs 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 Â 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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Arneâs Almanac: Jake Paul and Womenâs Boxing, a Curmudgeonâs Take
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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, Jakeâs boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.
Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekendâs bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jakeâs previous opponents consisted of âa 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.â
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 Saturdayâs 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.
âWe found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for womenâs boxing than in the United States,â she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we wonât 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. Paulâs 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, âItâs not my bag but folks who donât like it shouldnât get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.â True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.
—
The next big womenâs 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) wonât 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 Cancunâs 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 Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse](https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Vanessa-300x263.png)
Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse
True, on the womenâs 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 Argentinaâs Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ÂŒ. (On the distaff side, thereâs no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)
Claressa Shields doesnât 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
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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: âBoxing 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.â
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 âSuperflyâ Sandoval, became a big draw at LAâs fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintorâs 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 Russiaâs invasion of Afghanistan.
As a pro, Sandovalâs signature win was a 15th-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 Richieâs 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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