The Hauser Report: Triller at Madison Square Garden

Published

4 years ago

August 4, 2021

The-Hauser-Report-Triller-at-Madison-Square-Garden

On Tuesday, August 3, I went to the fights for the first time in seventeen months. The occasion was the inaugural TrillerVerz event at Madison Square Garden – a nine-bout card followed by a hip-hop “rap battle.”

On July 1, it was reported that Triller would present twelve monthly shows at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden beginning on August 3, 2021. Each event would consist of a regular live boxing card followed by a TrillerVerz music battle. A subsequent press release stated that these events would take place on the first Tuesday of each month and be streamed on FITE.TV and other platforms.

Boxing is a vehicle of opportunity for Triller. The company is selling what it calls a “four-quadrant model” consisting of “influencers, legends, music artists and contemporary fighters.” During the past year, it has sought to build its brand by blending the sweet science with contemporary urban music. It’s greatest success to date was a November 28, 2020, event featuring an exhibition bout between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones paired with performances by Wiz Khalifa, French Montana, YG, and Snoop Dogg. Other Triller events have been less commercially successful, and Triller has struggled to find a formula that will give it an adequate return on its $6,018,000 purse bid for a lightweight title-unification bout between Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos.

The Garden gave Triller a good deal on rent for TrillerVerz and pushed for the involvement of a local promoter to oversee the boxing end of the promotion. DiBella Entertainment was hired to perform the nuts-and-bolts, on-site duties. In return, it received slots on the card for four of its fighters – Mikkel LesPierre, Eric Walker, Ivan Golub, and Joe Ward.

Explaining the series, Ryan Kavanaugh (the driving force behind Triller) proclaimed, “It’s about continuing to build our customers as well as to continue to deliver what they want. Pay-per-view is one way to make money but that is for big, big events. In the meantime, we need to build up our fighters and image. The idea is to have a series leading up to our big PPV events.”

There are a lot of questions that can – and should – be asked about Triller, its financial underpinnings, its ever-changing business model, and Kavanaugh. These questions are for another forum. This article is about a return to ringside after a long absence occasioned by the pandemic and what it felt like for this writer to be on the boxing scene again.

Tickets for the August 3 TrillerVerz show went on sale on July 15 with five hundred tickets held in reserve as comps and for sale to the fighters and their camps. Within hours, every ticket available to the public had been sold. The music, not the fights, drove the promotion.

There was confusion surrounding the start time for the event. Initially, the media was told that the first fight would begin at 6:05 PM. Then, on August 2, a 4:05 PM start time was finalized with a 7:00 PM start for the streaming portion of the fight card. The rap battle would commence around 9:30 PM.

I arrived at Madison Square Garden at 3:45 PM, the same time as Gerry Cooney (who co-hosts a radio show devoted to boxing). Gerry and I are friends and try to sit next to each other at fights. Toward that end, the first thing Gerry did on arriving at The Theater was rearrange the seating labels on press row so we could sit together.

The specter of COVID-19 and its variants hung in the air. Media and spectators had been told in advance that, to be allowed entry, they had to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of having received their final dose no later than fourteen days prior to the event. All Madison Square Garden personnel on site had to be vaccinated. New York State Athletic Commission personnel were required to wear masks but there was no requirement that they be vaccinated. Everyone in the technical zone at ringside wore masks. Virtually none of the spectators were masked. With close to five thousand people in attendance by evening’s end, it was a statistical certainty that some of the spectators were COVID-positive.

Gerry and I wore our masks throughout the night. Security was tight, and I missed being able to move around freely from area to area to schmooze with friends. But as the evening progressed, I was able to chat with Michael Buffer, Lou DiBella, Keith Idec, and others.

The first fighters – junior-middleweights Nikoloz Sekhniashvili and Guido Schramm – entered the ring at 4:00 PM. When the bell for round one sounded, there were two dozen spectators in the stands. Schramm won a unanimous decision. Then Robert Sabbagh decisioned an overweight, out-of-shape Cleveland Billingsly in a four-round heavyweight contest, and light-heavyweight prospect Matthew Tinker stopped sacrificial lamb Michael Rycraft in two rounds. There was little crowd response. Of course, there was little crowd.

Next up, flyweight Cristina Cruz won her pro debut against Indeya Smith. BoxRec.com credits Cruz with a 93-39 amateur record and three knockout victories in 132 fights. It was hardly a surprise that the bout went the distance.

The best fight of the evening – on paper and in the ring – came next: Eric Walker (20-3, 9 KOs) vs. Ivan Golub (19-1, 15 KOs) in a welterweight match-up. It was 5:30 PM when the bout began. Golub dropped Walker twice en route to a ten-round unanimous decision triumph. Then light-heavyweight Joe Ward decisioned Tory Williams.

At 7:00 PM, the Triller stream began with junior-welterweight Aaron Aponte knocking out Gerardo Gonzalez in the second stanza. The Theater was still two-thirds empty.

Then came the first co-featured fight of the evening, Chris Algieri (24-3, 9 KOs, 1 KO by) vs. Mikkel LesPierre (22-2-1, 10 KOs) at a 143-pound contract weight.

There was a time when Algieri was willing to go in tough. His career peaked in 2014 when he overcame two first-round knockdowns and a badly damaged eye to win a split decision over Ruslan Provodnikov and claim the WBO 140-pound title. But he lost by decision in his next outing when he was knocked down six times by Manny Pacquiao. Defeats at the hands of Amir Khan and Errol Spence followed. Since then, Algieri has sought out less threatening opposition. LesPierre met that criteria.

Early in the fight, it became clear that the bout was likely to go ten dreary rounds. And it did. Neither guy is a puncher. But Algieri was stronger physically, and LesPierre fought like he was just mailing it in. The final scorecards read 100-90, 100-90, 99-91 in Chris’s favor.

Now the arena was filling up. But these were hip-hop fans, not fight fans. In essence, the fights were an opening act for the rap artists to follow

Michael Buffer took over ring announcing duties from Mark Fratto for the main event – Michael Hunter vs. Mike “White Delight” Wilson in what was styled as a ten-round WBA title-elimination bout. For the first time in memory, Buffer’s classic intonation of “Let’s get ready to rumble” failed to elicit a roaring Pavlovian response. This wasn’t a boxing audience.

Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs heading in) is a credible heavyweight. But he has fallen short each time he stepped up the level of competition, losing as a cruiserweight to Oleksandr Usyk and fighting to a draw in the heavyweight ranks against Alexander Povetkin.

Wilson, despite his 21-1 (10 KOs) record, was a safe opponent. His most credible credential was that he’d gone the distance, losing eleven of twelve rounds against Denis Lebedev three years ago. One could make the case that he’d never even beaten a good club fighter. He weighed in for Hunter at 224 pounds, 26 pounds more than for his most recent fight.

Wilson came to fight but didn’t know how. He’s tough. But at a certain level, that’s not nearly enough. In round four, with “White Delight” reeling like a heavy bag getting hit by a precision puncher, Hunter ended matters with a straight righthand up top.

At 8:30 PM, a Madison Square Garden maintenance crew began breaking down the ring and setting up a stage for the music to follow. On July 1, hip-hop fans had been told that N.O.R.E. and Beanie Sigel would square off in the August 3 TrillerVerz Rap Battle. But on July 14, that was changed to The Lox vs. Dipset.

If Little Richard vs. Fats Domino had been on the bill, I would have hung around. But their voices were stilled a long time ago, so I put away my pad and pen and went home.

Earlier in the evening, tickets for the event had been scalped on the streets outside the Garden and there were reports that some would-be spectators had tried to storm one of the entrances to the arena. As I was leaving The Hulu Theater, a security guard stopped me and said, “You might want to take off your [press] credential so someone outside doesn’t rip it off your neck.”

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – Broken Dreams: Another Year Inside Boxing – will be published by the University of Arkansas Press this autumn. In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Thomas Hauser

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

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Bivol Evens the Score with Beterbiev; Parker and Stevenson Win Handily

Published

3 hours ago

February 22, 2025

David A. Avila

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It was labeled the best boxing card in history.

That’s up for debate.

And there was some debate as Dmitry Bivol avenged his loss to Artur Beterbiev to become the new undisputed light heavyweight world champion on Saturday by majority decision in a tactical battle.

“He gave me this chance and I appreciate it,” said Bivol of Beterbiev.

Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) rallied from behind to give Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) his first pro loss in their rematch at a sold out crowd in the Venue Riyadh Season in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Like their first encounter the rematch was also very close.

Four months ago, these two faced each other as undefeated light heavyweights. Now, after two furious engagements, both have losses.

Beterbiev was making his first defense as undisputed light heavyweight champion and made adjustments from their first match. This time the Russian fighter who trains in Canada concentrated on a body attack and immediately saw dividends.

For most of the first six rounds it seemed Beterbiev would slowly grind down Bivol until he reached an unsurmountable lead. But despite the momentum he never could truly hurt Bivol or gain separation.

Things turned around in the seventh round as Bivol opened up with combinations to the head and body while slipping Beterbiev’s blows. It was a sudden swing of momentum. But how long could it last?

“It was hard to keep him at the distance. I had to be smarter and punch more clean punches,” said Bivol.

Beterbiev attempted to regain the momentum but Bivol was not allowing it to happen. In the final 10 seconds he opened up with a machine gun combination. Though few of the punches connected it became clear he was not going to allow unclarity.

Using strategic movement Bivol laced quick combinations and immediately departed. Betebiev seemed determined to counter the fleet fighter but was unsuccessful for much of the second half of the fight.

Around the 10^th round Beterbiev stepped on the gas with the same formula of working the body and head. It gave Bivol pause but he still unleashed quick combos to keep from being overrun.

Bivol connected with combinations and Beterbiev connected with single body and head shots. It was going to be tough for the referees to decide which attack they preferred. After 12 rounds with no knockdowns one judge saw it a draw at 114-114. But two others saw Bivol the winner 116-112, 115-113.

“I was better. I was pushing myself more, I was lighter. I just wanted to win so much today,” said Bivol.

Beterbiev was gracious in defeat.

“Congratulations to Bivol’s team” said Beterbiev. “I think this fight was better than the first fight.”

After the match it was discussed that an effort to make a third fight is a strong possibility.

Heavyweight KO by Parker

Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) once again proved he could be the best heavyweight without a world title in knocking out the feared Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) to retain his WBO interim title. It was quick and decisive.

“Catch him when he is coming in,” said Parker, 33, about his plan.

After original foe IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois was forced to withdraw due to illness, Bakole willingly accepted the match with only two days’ notice. Many experts and fans around the world were surprised and excited Parker accepted the match.

Ever since Parker lost to Joe Joyce in 2022, the New Zealander has proven to be vastly improved with wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Now you can add Bakole to the list of conquests.

Bakole, 33, was coming off an impressive knockout win last July and posed a serious threat if he connected with a punch. The quick-handed Bakole at 310 pounds and a two-inch height advantage is always dangerous.

In the first round Parker was wary of the fighter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He kept his range and moved around the ring looking to poke a jab and move. Bakole caught him twice with blows and Parker retaliated.

It proved to be a very important test.

Parker refrained from moving and instead moved inside range of the big African fighter. Both exchanged liberally with Bakole connecting with an uppercut and Parker an overhand right.

Bakole shook his head at the blow he absorbed.

Both re-engaged and fired simultaneously. Parker’s right connected to the top of the head of Bakole who shuddered and stumbled and down he went and could not beat the count. The referee stopped the heavyweight fight at 2:17 of the second round. Parker retains his interim title by knockout.

“I’m strong, I’m healthy, I’m sharp,” said Parker. “I had to be patient.”

Shakur Wins

Despite an injured left hand southpaw WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) won by stoppage over late replacement Josh Padley (15-1, 6 KOs). It was an impressive accomplishment.

Often criticized for his lack of action and safety-first style, Stevenson was supposed to fight undefeated Floyd Schofield who pulled out due to illness. In stepped British lightweight Padley who had nothing to lose.

Padley was never hesitant to engage with the super-quick Stevenson and despite the lightning-quick combos by the champion, the British challenger exchanged liberally. It just wasn’t enough.

Even when Stevenson injured his left hand during an exchange in the sixth round, Padley just couldn’t take advantage. The speedy southpaw kept shooting the right jabs and ripping off right hooks. At the end of the sixth Stevenson briefly switched to a right-handed fighting style.

Stevenson used his right jabs and hooks to perfection. Double right hooks to the head and body seemed to affect the British challenger. A clean left to the body of Padley sent him to the floor for the count in the ninth round. It was a surprising knockdown due to his injured left. Padley got up and the fight resumed. Stevenson unloaded with right hooks to the body and down went the British fighter once again. He got up and tried to fight his way out but was met with another left to the body and down he went a third time. Padley’s corner tossed in a white towel to signify surrender. The referee stopped the fight at the end of the round. Stevenson scored his 11^th knockout win.

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Early Results from Riyadh where Hamzah Sheeraz was Awarded a Gift Draw

Published

6 hours ago

February 22, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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After two 6-round appetizers, British light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith got the show rolling with a lusty 12-round skirmish. Things went south in the middle of the seven-fight main card when WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames locked horns with challenger Hamzah Sheeraz. This was a drab fight owing to a milquetoast performance by the favored Sheeraz.

Heading in, the lanky six-foot-three Sheeraz, whose physique is mindful of a young Thomas Hearns, was undefeated in 21 fights. Having stopped five of his last six opponents in two rounds or less, the 25-year-old Englishman was touted as the next big thing in the middleweight division. However, he fought off his back foot the entire contest, reluctant to let his hands go, and Adames kept his title when the bout was scored a draw.

Sheeraz had the crowd in his corner and two of the judges scored the match with their ears. Their tallies were 115-114 for Sheeraz and 114-114. The third judge had it 118-110 for Adames, the 30-year old Dominican, now 24-1-1, who had Ismael Salas in his corner.

Ortiz-Madrimov

Super welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr, knocked out his first 21 opponents, begging the question of how he would react when he finally faced adversity. He showed his mettle in August of last year when he went a sizzling 12 rounds with fellow knockout artist Serhii Bohachuk, winning a hard-fought decision. Tonight he added another feather in his cap with a 12-round unanimous decision over Ismail Madrimov, prevailing on scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice.

Ortiz won by adhering tight to Robert Garcia’s game plan. The elusive Madrimov, who bounces around the ring like the energizer bunny, won the early rounds. But eventually Ortiz was able to cut the ring off and turned the tide in his favor by landing the harder punches. It was the second straight loss for Madrimov (10-2-1), a decorated amateur who had lost a close but unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in his previous bout.

Kabayel-Zhang

No heavyweight has made greater gains in the last 15 months than Agit Kabayel. The German of Kurdish descent, whose specialty is body punching, made his third straight appearance in Riyadh tonight and, like in the previous two, fashioned a knockout. Today, although out-weighed by more than 40 pounds, he did away with Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang in the sixth round.

It didn’t start out well for Kabayel. The New Jersey-based, six-foot-six Zhang, a two-time Olympian for China, started fast and plainly won the opening round. Kabayel beat him to the punch from that point on, save for one moment when Zhang put him on the canvas with a straight left hand.

That happened in the fifth round, but by the end of the frame, the 41-year-old Zhang was conspicuously gassed. The end for the big fellow came at the 2:29 mark of round six when he couldn’t beat the count after crumbling to the canvas in a delayed reaction after taking a hard punch to his flabby midsection.

Kabayel remains undefeated at 26-0 (18 KOs). Zhang (27-3-1) hadn’t previously been stopped.

Smith-Buatsi

The all-British showdown between light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith was a grueling, fan-friendly affair. A former 168-pound world title-holder, Smith, 34, won hard-earned unanimous decision, prevailing on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and a ludicrous 119-110.

There were no knockdowns, but Liverpool’s Smith, who advanced to 31-2 (22) finished the contest with a bad gash in the corner of his right eye. It was the first pro loss for Buatsi (19-1), an Olympic bronze medalist who entered the contest a small favorite and was the defending “interim” title-holder.

This contest was also a battle of wits between two of America’s most prominent trainers, Buddy McGirt (Smith) and Virgil Hunter (Buatsi).

Check back shortly for David Avila’s wrap-up of the last three fights.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez

Published

22 hours ago

February 21, 2025

David A. Avila

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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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