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Saul “Neno” Rodriguez Returns to RGBA to Reload
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Several years ago, Saul “Neno” Rodriguez was tabbed best new prospect by British journalists and was involved in a tug of war between rival boxing promotion companies vying for his services, but then came that day:
“I got caught and got sloppy,” said Rodriguez.
Getting sloppy might be satisfactory for actors, singers or painters, but in the world of prizefighting it can lead to a knockout loss in front of a nationwide television audience. It can also lead to losing a promotional contract with Top Rank.
That all occurred on June 28, 2019. For Rodriguez, that was a night that will live in infamy.
The lean machine-gun punching fighter who looks like a 16-year-old lost his promoter and ranking when he exchanged bombs with Mexican fighter Miguel Angel Gonzalez and was stopped in the third round at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula.
It was a furious firefight and after 24 previous battles this time the dice rolled for the other guy.
Armed with redemption in his soul, the 26-year-old Riverside native Rodriguez (24-1-1, 18 KOs) won by knockout last Saturday in Texas and is eager to reclaim his place among the top prizefighters in the world without a world title.
Now he is a full-fledged lightweight.
Returning to the upper ladder of respectability and recognition takes time and refinement. There can be no slip-ups while re-building one’s reputation. But understanding that also takes self-evaluation.
“I need to work on my defense,” said Rodriguez quickly.
Rodriguez realized he needed to start over and had found success working with Robert Garcia and family. When the Riverside boxer first turned professional it was under the guidance of the Garcia family then led by Eduardo Garcia. They call him “Big G” and he is the father to Mikey and Robert and one of the geniuses of the sport.
“I learned a lot under the Garcias especially defense,” said Rodriguez who made a call and was accepted back to their fold.
Return to Normalcy
As an amateur Rodriguez was known for his flashing power and knockout wins. Despite head gear and thicker gloves, the skinny Riverside teen exploded on opponents and wrecked anyone in front of him. Crowds would gather anytime he would enter a boxing ring to see how he would perform.
The Garcias are always on the hunt for talent and during one of the amateur tournaments they spotted Rodriguez and invited him to their camp. Back in 2011 the Garcia’s gym was still located in Oxnard, though both Eduardo Garcia and Mikey Garcia had already moved to Riverside County.
Rodriguez was signed and though he still occasionally trained in Riverside, he would also train in Oxnard.
“I lived with the Garcias when I trained in Oxnard,” said Rodriguez. “They always treated me well, like family.”
From 2011 to 2016 the Riverside fighter ripped through opposition beginning with a one round destruction of a fighter named William Fisher at the Commerce Casino. Rodriguez walked in with a tight guard, chin tucked in and fired blows in a blur. The fight lasted less than a minute but those in attendance knew Rodriguez was special.
When Rodriguez’s contract with Top Rank neared the end, the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Riverside was already built and most of his team moved there. One day Floyd Mayweather walked into the gym to take a look around and get acquainted with a few of the young fighters including Rodriguez.
Near the end of December 2016 Mayweather visited Rodriguez again with an offer that could not be beat by rival promoters. He signed with Mayweather.
Another problem was the managerial aspect. Rodriguez decided he did not need a manager and instead parted ways with his former manager and also the Garcias who co-managed Rodriguez.
“We left on good terms, there were no bad feelings,” said Rodriguez.
Things didn’t pop with the Las Vegas-based promoter though not that they didn’t try. It’s just different when promoters have large television contracts. Mayweather Promotions did not have the clout to keep Rodriguez busy and he waited and waited.
Those few times Rodriguez entered the ring he looked out-of-sync and exposed. The tight guard was gone, the look of a hunter was replaced by a calm but less confident face of an inspector.
Rodriguez asked Mayweather Promotions to release him from contract and they did. After some months of lobbying, Top Rank re-signed Rodriguez and he competed on a Texas card and promptly won by second round knockout over Claudio Tapia in El Paso on November 2018.
Another win in Fresno on the undercard of Jose Carlos Ramirez title defense a year ago kept him busy. But four months later he returned to the boxing ring to perform in front of friends, family and fans at nearby Temecula. He lost the firefight and all of his many supporters were crushed.
One of those watching the fight was former trainer Robert Garcia.
“He’ll come back. A loss doesn’t mean its over,” said Garcia that night. “He is too good to not come back.”
The good ones always come back.
When Roberto Duran was kayoed by Tommy Hearns in 1984 many felt his career was done. But the Panamanian-Mexican returned at age 37 to knock down and defeat Iran Barkley for the WBC middleweight title in 1989. It was one of the most shocking upsets in the decade. Duran would fight another 12 years until he was 50 years old.
Of course, not everyone can be like Duran but many others have returned from knockout defeats like Manny Pacquiao, Tommy Hearns, Marco Antonio Barrera and others. The good ones find a way.
Reloading
Several months ago, Rodriguez realized that under Garcia’s family guidance he was at his best form and asked to return. The Garcia’s consented and now the Riverside lightweight feels comfortable.
“It was never bad between us,” said Rodriguez who actually lives close to the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Riverside. “It has changed a little, there are more fighters.”
One huge perk of training at RGBA is the abundance of talented fighters at camp on any day. It’s basically an army of three dozen elite prizefighters that spar each other at a moment’s notice under the guidance of the Garcia family consisting of Robert, Mikey, Robert Jr. “Pita” and of course the patriarch Eduardo.
Their combined boxing knowledge provides staggering results.
When Rodriguez returned, on one particular day, he was told to spar several of the younger undefeated fighters near his weight class. His instructions were clear: do not let them hit you cleanly.
“They just wanted me to use my defense and movement,” said Rodriguez. “They know my offense is there but I needed to be more defensive. I sparred some of the guys and just moved around and wasn’t allowed to punch back hard. It’s good practice.”
Since Rodriguez departed several years ago a few new faces have arrived including world champions Jose Carlos Ramirez and Abner Mares and also Vergil Ortiz Jr.
“They’re real cool guys,” said Rodriguez of the champions.
Of course, Mikey Garcia remains an integral part of the RGBA camp and a week ago was back at work showing his talent in a decisive win over the much bigger Jessie Vargas. It was a powerful demonstration and witnessed by many of the RGBA army who watched.
“That’s why he’s one of the best,” said Rodriguez. “He is going to surprise the other welterweights.”
Rodriguez feels he’s back where he belongs and ready to reload on the talented lightweight division.
“Yes, there is a lot of talent in the lightweights with guys like Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia,” said Rodriguez. “I like that. It’s my time.”
Time to resurface.
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Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez
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Northern California’s Cain Sandoval remained undefeated with a knockout win over Mark Bernaldez in a super lightweight battle on Friday on a 360 Promotions card.
Sandoval (15-0, 13 KOs) of Sacramento needed four rounds to figure out tough Filipino fighter Bernaldez (25-7, 14 KOs) in front of a packed crowd at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.
Bernaldez had gone eight rounds against Mexico’s very tough Oscar Duarte. He showed no fear for Sandoval’s reputed power and both fired bombs at each other from the second round on.
Things turned in favor of Sandoval when he targeted the body and soon had Bernaldez in retreat. It was apparent Sandoval had discovered a weakness.
In the beginning of the fourth Sandoval fired a stiff jab to the body that buckled Bernaldez but he did not go down. And when both resumed in firing position Sandoval connected with an overhand right and down went the Filipino fighter. He was counted out by referee Rudy Barragan at 34 seconds of the round.
“I’m surprised he took my jab to the body. I respect that. I have a knockout and I’m happy about that,” Sandoval said.
Other Bouts
Popular female fighter Lupe Medina (9-0) remained undefeated with a solid victory over the determined Agustina Vazquez (4-3-2) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight fight between Southern Californians.
Early on Vazquez gave Medina trouble disrupting her patter with solid jabs. And when Medina overloaded with combination punches, she was laced with counters from Vazquez during the first four rounds.
Things turned around in the fifth round as Medina used a jab to keep Vazquez at a preferred distance. And when she attacked it was no more than two-punch combination and maintaining a distance.
Vazquez proved determined but discovered clinching was not a good idea as Medina took advantage and overran her with blows. Still, Vazquez looked solid. All three judges saw it 79-73 for Medina.
A battle between Southern Californian’s saw Compton’s Christopher Rios (11-2) put on the pressure all eight rounds against Eastvale’s Daniel Barrera (8-1-1) and emerged the winner by majority decision in a flyweight battle.
It was Barrera’s first loss as a pro. He never could discover how to stay off the ropes and that proved his downfall. Neither fighter was knocked down but one judge saw it 76-76, and two others 79-73 for Rios.
In a welterweight fight Gor Yeritsyan (20-1,16 KOs) scorched Luis Ramos (23-7) with a 12-punch combination the sent him to the mat in the second round. After Ramos beat the count he was met with an eight punch volley and the fight was stopped at 2:11 of the second round by knockout.
Super feather prospect Abel Mejia (7-0, 5 KOs) floored Alfredo Diaz (9-12) in the fifth round but found the Mexican fighter to be very durable in their six-round fight. Mejia caught Diaz with a left hook in the fifth round for a knockdown. But the fight resumed with all three judges scoring it 60-53 for Mejia who fights out of El Modena, Calif.
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The Return of David Alaverdian
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By TSS Special Correspondent David Harazduk — After David Alaverdian (8-0-1, 6 KOs) scored a gritty victory against a tough Nicaraguan journeyman named Enrique Irias, his plans suddenly changed. The flashy flyweight from Nahariya, Israel hoped to face even tougher opposition and then challenge for a world title within a year or so. But a prolonged illness forced David to rip up the script.
The Irias fight was over 22 months ago. On Saturday, Feb. 22, Alaverdian will be making his first appearance in the ring since that win when he faces veteran road warrior Josue “Zurdo” Morales (31-16-4, 13 KOs) at the Westgate Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It’s the fifth promotion by Las Vegas attorney Stephen Reid whose inaugural card was at this venue on Feb. 13, 2020.
“I’m excited to come back,” Alaverdian declared.
During his preparation for Irias two years ago, Alaverdian felt fatigue after a routine six-round sparring session. “It was on April 1, 2023, about ten days before my fight. It felt like an April Fool’s joke,” he said. He came down with a sore throat, a headache, and congestion. He soon developed trouble breathing. At first, he thought his seasonal asthma had flared up, but his condition soon worsened. No matter what he did, Alaverdian could no longer take deep breaths. Fatigue continued to plague him. His heart constantly raced. Instead of breathing from his diaphragm, he was breathing from his chest. He sought out numerous doctors in the United States and in Israel.
His symptoms were finally diagnosed as Dysfunctional Breathing (DB). DB is a condition that can stem from stress and is often misdiagnosed. Its symptoms include dyspnea and tachycardia, both of which David experienced.
While receiving treatment, the Vegas-based pro went back to Israel where he coached aspiring fighters. “David’s influence on Israeli boxing is amazing, because he shows we can succeed in a big business even though we come from a small country,” said another undefeated Israeli flyweight, 20-year-old Yonatan Landman (7-0, 7 KOs). “A lot more Israelis are going to dare to succeed.”
Landman was able to work with Alaverdian during David’s return to Israel. “He is a great guy and a friend,” Landman said. “He has a lot of willingness to help, share his knowledge, and help you move forward.”
Alaverdian finally started to feel like he could compete again eight months ago. He won last year’s Israeli national amateur championship and competed in Olympic qualifiers. Now, he’s preparing to fight as a professional once again. “He doesn’t mention anything about [his breathing issues] like he did before,” his coach Cedric Ferguson said about this camp. “He’s been working like there’s no issue at all.”
It has been a whirlwind week for the 31-year-old Alaverdian. In addition to putting the finishing touches on his preparation ahead of Saturday’s comeback fight, David got married on Tuesday. His mom came over from Israel for the wedding and will stay for the fight. “It’s a good distraction,” David said of this week’s significant events. “It helps me. That way I don’t have to focus on the fight all day.”
Josue Morales, a 32 year old from Houston, hopes to play spoiler on Saturday. The crafty southpaw has never been stopped during his 52-fight career. “He’s a seasoned guy with a lot of experience,” Alaverdian said of Morales. “He knows how to move around the ring and is more of a technical boxer. He’s a tough opponent for someone who has been out of the ring for two years.”
A win Saturday night would complete a monumental week for David Alaverdian, both in and out of the ring, repairing the once-shredded script.
Doors open at the Westgate fight arena at 6:30 pm. The first bout goes at 7:00. Seven fights are scheduled including an 8-round female fight between Las Vegas light flyweight Yadira Bustillos and Argentine veteran Tamara Demarco.
NOTE: Author David Harazduk has run The Jewish Boxing Blog since 2010. You can find him at Twitter/X @JewishBoxing and Instagram.
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Two Candidates for the Greatest Fight Card in Boxing History
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Two Candidates for the Greatest Fight Card in Boxing History
Saturday’s fight card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, topped by the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol for undisputed light heavyweight supremacy, was being hyped as the greatest boxing card ever. That was before Daniel Dubois took ill and had to pull out of his IBF world heavyweight title defense against Joseph Parker, yielding his slot to last-minute replacement Martin Bakole.
The view from here is that the card remains in the running for the best fight card ever, top to bottom. The public didn’t view Dubois as the legitimate heavyweight champion. That distinction goes to Oleksandr Usyk.
Terms like “greatest” are, of course, subjective. Are we referring to the most attractive match-ups or the greatest array of talent, or the card that gives the most satisfaction by churning out a multiplicity of entertaining fights?
We won’t know how satisfying this card is until after the fact. We won’t know whether the talent on display was the greatest ever assembled on one night until many years have passed. Contestants such as Shakur Stevenson, Vergil Ortiz Jr, and Hamzah Sheeraz are still in their twenties (Stevenson is the oldest of the three at age 27) and it’s too soon to gauge if they will leave the sport with a great legacy.
As for which fight card in history had the deepest pool of attractive match-ups, this is a query that is amenable to an operational definition. Betting lines are a useful tool for informing us whether or not a fight warrants our attention if the likelihood of witnessing a closely-contested bout is our primary consideration.
Based on these factors, I would submit that the current leader in the race for the best card ever assembled goes to Don King’s May 7, 1994 promotion at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Six future Hall of Famers – Julio Cesar Chavez, Ricardo Lopez, Azumah Nelson, Terry Norris, Julian Jackson, and Christy Martin — were on that card, an 11-fight, eight-hour marathon with five WBC world title fights, four of which were rematches.
These were the five title fights:
140 pounds: Julio Cesar Chavez (89-1-1, 77 KOs) vs. Frankie Randall (49-2-1, 39 KOs)
Odds: Chavez 3/1 (minus-300)
154 pounds: Terry Norris (37-4, 23 KOs) vs. Simon Brown (41-2, 30 KOs)
Odds: even (11/10 and take your pick)
160 pounds: Gerald McClellan (30-2, 28 KOs) vs. Julian Jackson (48-2, 45 KOs)
Odds: McClellan 7/2 (minus-350)
130 pounds: Azumah Nelson (37-2-2, 26 KOs) vs. Jesse James Leija (27-0-2, 13 KOs)
Odds: Nelson 17/10 (minus-170)
105 pounds: Ricardo Lopez (36-0, 27 KOs) vs. Kermin Guardia (21-0, 14 KOs)
Odds: none
Results
Chavez-Randall — Julio Cesar Chavez avenged his loss to Frankie Randall, but not without controversy. An accidental clash of heads in the eighth round left Chavez with a bad gash on his forehead. Ring physician Flip Homansky would have allowed the bout to continue if that had been Chavez’s preference, but El Gran Campeon wasn’t so inclined. A WBC rule specified that in the event of a significant injury accruing from an accidental head butt, the less-damaged fighter is penalized a point. The fight went to the scorecards where Chavez won a split decision that would have been a draw without the point deduction. The crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Chavez, but the big bets were mostly on Randall and the odds got nicked down on the day of the fight.
Brown-Norris — In their first meeting in December of the previous year, Simon Brown dominated Terry Norris from the opening bell before stopping him in the fourth round. It was a massive upset. Norris was in the conversation for the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. In the rematch, Norris opened a slight favorite, but the late money was on Brown. And, once again, the so-called “sharps” were on the wrong side. Terry Norris, the would-be avenger, won a comfortable decision.
McClellan-Jackson — A murderous puncher, Gerald McClellan bombed out Julian Jackson in 83 seconds, or four rounds quicker than in their first engagement. Jackson was also a murderous puncher and attracted money in the sports books, lowering the price on the victorious McClellan who yet remained a solid favorite.
Nelson-Leija – WBC President Jose Sulaiman mandated this rematch after the first meeting ended in a draw after an error was found in the tabulation of one of the scorecards, overturning the original verdict which had Nelson retaining his title on a split decision. Leija thought he was robbed and was the rightful winner in the do-over, outworking Nelson to win a unanimous decision. At age 35, Azumah was getting long in the tooth.
Lopez-Guardia – Before the digital age, bookmakers didn’t trifle to post lines on bouts that on paper were egregious mismatches, save perhaps a fight of great magnitude. Guardia, the Colombian challenger, overachieved by lasting the distance in a fight with no knockdowns, but “Finito” won a lopsided decision.
A Note on Odds
Betting lines serve a useful purpose for boxing historians; they quantify the magnitude of an upset. However, quoting odds is tricky because they are fluid and vary somewhat from place to place. What this means is that two journalists can quote different odds on the same event and they both can get it right – unless there is a significant disparity. The odds quoted above are the closing lines at the MGM Grand or, at the very least, a very close approximation.
Saturday in Riyadh
One reason why tomorrow’s fight card is the best ever, said the tub-thumpers, is that the card (in its original conformation) included seven world title fights. But that’s no big deal There are so many title fights nowadays that the term “world title” has been trivialized. And what wasn’t acknowledged is that three of the title fights were of the “interim” stripe.
However – and this is a big deal — a glance at the odds informs us that tomorrow’s card is chock-full of competitive match-ups (at least on paper) and from that aspect, a blend of quality and quantity, it is a doozy of a boxing card.
The greatest boxing linemaker of my generation, now deceased, once told me that any fight where the “chalk” was less than a 3/1 favorite is essentially a “pick-‘em” fight. Yes, I know that makes no sense mathematically. However, I know what he was getting at. In a baseball game, for example, it’s very rare to find a team favored by odds of more than 3/1. In boxing, where self-serving promoters are constantly feeding us King Kong vs. Mickey Mouse, odds higher than 3/1 are the norm.
As this is being written, there are six fights on Saturday’s card where one could play the favorite without laying more than 3/1. I believe this is unprecedented. Moreover, the main event and a fascinating match-up on the undercard, Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov, are virtual toss-ups with the favorites, Beterbiev and Ortiz, currently available at 5/4 (minus-125). Another very intriguing fight is the heavyweight contest between late bloomers Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang which finds the less-heralded Kabayel cloaked as a small favorite. And kudos to Joseph Parker for accepting Martin Bakole when he could have held out for a lesser opponent. If Bakole is in shape (a big “if”), he will be a handful.
And so, where does tomorrow’s card rank on the list of best boxing cards ever? Right up there near the top, we would argue, and, if the bouts in large part are memorably entertaining, we would push it ahead of Don King’s May 7, 1994 extravaganza.
That’s the view from here. Feel free to dissent.
Postscript: If you plan to watch the entire card ($25.99 on DAZN for U.S. buyers), it would help to stock up on some munchies. The first fight (Joshua Buatsi vs. Callum Smith) is scheduled to kick off at 8:45 a.m. for us viewers in the Pacific Time Zone / 11:45 a.m. ET. If the show adheres tight to its schedule (no guarantee), Beterbiev and Bivol are expected to enter the ring at 3:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. ET.
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