Catching Up with Jonnie Rice as He Prepares for His Rematch with Michael Coffie

Published

3 years ago

November 19, 2021

Catching Up with Jonnie Rice as He Prepares for His Rematch with Michael Coffie

There are different kinds of upsets. Some of the most storied upsets in American sports annals were actually quite mundane when measured against the betting line. The bigger the stage, the greater the shared element of surprise when an underdog brings home the bacon. Then there are upsets that are purely numerical. The magnitude isn’t measured by whether it provokes a great yammering, but simply by the odds displayed on a wagering board.

By this second barometer, Jonnie Rice may have forged the biggest upset of 2021 when he stopped Michael Coffie in the fifth round at Newark, New Jersey, on July 31. Coffie was chalked a 25/1 favorite at several off-shore sports books. Factoring in the straddle, a wager on Rice would have returned $15 for every dollar that was wagered.

Michael Coffie, an ex-Marine, was 12-0 heading in and was coming off a brutal third round knockout of Darmani Rock, a well-regarded 24-year-old prospect from Philadelphia with a 17-0 pro record and a strong amateur pedigree. True, Coffie was relatively untested, but on the surface it was hard to fancy Rice who was 13-6-1, hadn’t defeated anyone of note, and had taken the fight on short notice when Coffie’s original opponent Gerald Washington flunked his COVID test.

With the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, however, it’s plain that the bet-takers didn’t do their homework. Five of Rice’s six defeats had come at the hands of opponents that were undefeated. He had gone the distance with Tony Yoka and Efe Ajagba and had lasted into the seventh round against fearsome Arslanbek Makhmudov who has 10 first-round knockouts to his credit in only 13 pro starts.

Rice was battle-tested in the gym. He had worked in the camps of Filip Hrgovic and Joe Joyce and had sparred many rounds with Luis Ortiz, Tyson Fury and Mike Hunter. Michael Coffie had worked with Deontay Wilder, Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller and Adam Kownacki, but Rice’s sparring partners were certainly a more formidable lot.

In all sports, including boxing, “strength of schedule” is a salient variable in the handicapping equation.

During the COVID era, promoters have taken to keeping an alternate on standby in case of a late scratch. Against Coffie, Jonnie Rice was not your conventional late sub. He knew that he might be summoned out of the bullpen, so to speak, and never stopped training.

His trainers Rodney Crisler and Bones Adams felt that Jonnie had become too defense-oriented. Against Ajagba, he had been reluctant to let his hands go until late in the fight and then he had more than held his own with the highly-touted Nigerian. It was as if he had fallen into the rut so common to “B-side” fighters whereby they feel pressure to perform in the manner expected of them by the promoter/matchmaker that is paying their rent.

Against Michael Coffie, Rice promised to be more offense-minded and proved to be a man of his word. He took the fight to Coffie from the opening bell. According to CompuBox, Rice out-landed Coffie 68-40 with a 54-26 edge in power punches. In the fifth round, with Coffie pawing at his left eye which was nearly shut and offering little resistance, the ref waived it off.

Now Jonnie Rice must prove that it was no fluke. In case you missed it, he and Coffie will be locking horns again on New Year’s Day as part of an all-heavyweight FOX Sports pay-per-view extravaganza in primetime from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Luis “King Kong” Ortiz squares off against Charles Martin in the main go. (The telecast goes head-to-head against the Sugar Bowl which isn’t on the National Championship docket this year.)

Getting to Know Jonnie Rice

Jonathan Micah “Jonnie” Rice turned 34 in February. He was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, the son of a Baptist minister who passed away when Jonnie was 15.

Rice has a versatile sports background. He played some hoops at Winthrop, a D-1 school in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and played semi-pro football. And he’s not the only athlete in his extended family. The man he grew up calling Uncle Ed is none other than Jim Rice, more formally James Edward Rice, the former star outfielder for the Boston Red Sox who is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. (Repeating what his dad told him, Jonnie says that Jim Rice sharpened his batting eye as a young boy hitting pebbles with a broomstick.)

There is an international data bank for athletes of various stripes; a digital warehouse for scouts. Michael King found him there.

Fourteen years ago, Michael King had an epiphany. It struck him that there were a lot of great college athletes who just weren’t quite good enough to make the NFL or the NBA and that the next heavyweight champion could be culled from this rich talent pool. To this end, King founded a company named “All American Heavyweights” and built a mammoth, state-of-the-art training facility in Carson, a city in Los Angeles County. He called it The Rock.

King had the resources to pull it off. He was the President of King World, a company founded by his father. King World syndicated Oprah Winfrey’s talk show and the iconic game shows “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy.” Michael King was rolling in dough.

King passed away in 2015 at age sixty-seven. He never came anywhere close to earning back his investment in boxing. The only heavyweights of note to emerge from The Rock were two-time world title challenger Dominic Breazeale and the aforementioned Charles Martin who had a cup of coffee as a world title-holder. His reign lasted only 85 days.

Although it certainly must be considered a longshot, perhaps Jonnie Rice will come to be seen as the best of Michael King’s “All American” alumni.

Rice prepared for the Makhmudov fight in Las Vegas and decided that this was where he needed to be to make headway in his career. He left behind his girlfriend in Los Angeles, a Swedish exchange student at Cal State-Northridge.

Absence, as they say, makes the heart grow fonder. But reconnecting with her was complicated. After Jonnie put down roots in Las Vegas, she returned to Sweden.

Rice spent the bulk of his purse from the Coffie fight on what would prove to be something of a wild goose chase. He spent an entire month in Sweden, returning without her, cognizant that he might never see her again. He hurt in a way that made Tyson Fury’s punches pin-pricks by comparison.

Jonnie Rice is a big bear of a man. He carries about 270 pounds on his six-foot-five frame. If one were to encounter him for the first time in a dark alley, one would make a quick U-turn. But that wouldn’t be necessary. It has been observed that many prizefighters have a tender side; an attribute more striking because of their violent profession. Jonnie Rice has a tender side.

Unlike career women, men don’t have biological clocks that begin to tick as they approach the end of their child-bearing years. But many men, as they slip into their mid-thirties, feel a pull to settle down and start a family. It’s not something that men readily talk about, but Jonnie Rice doesn’t shrink from acknowledging that he yearns to find the right woman and become a father.

There’s a certain irony there in that Rice is whelmed by voluptuous women at work. In common with many MMA fighters based in Las Vegas, he works the night shift as a bouncer/doorman at a so-called gentleman’s club. He doesn’t have the luxury of giving boxing his full attention.

Jonnie Rice picked the right moment to come out of the shadows. His bout with Michael Coffie was the main event of a show nationally televised on FOX. As such, viewers got to see more of him than just the fisticuffs. A scene in his dressing room before the fight undoubtedly turned many people off. Looking straight into the camera, Jonnie took a bunch of bills out of his wallet and made it rain in a Mayweather-ish fashion.

“I wasn’t expecting the camera crew to barge in like that,” says Rice. “At the time, I was getting text messages from friends and I was very nervous. I decided I would give them a show because I knew that’s what they wanted.”

He may have lost some potential fans with that display, but he gained new fans in his post-fight interview. Standing in the center of the ring, his body dripping with sweat, Rice gave an extemporaneous speech that would have been the envy of any motivational speaker. “The whole key to life is getting better every day you walk this earth…I didn’t let my past dictate my future,” he told Heidi Androl. “I’m always looking to learn from the greats as well as my peers…I’ve got a great team around me that believe in me. But I have to believe in me too and you have to believe in you to be successful…{What I learned tonight} is that if I do the work, I will see the results; I will reap what I sow and that’s a universal rule for everybody.”

“I spoke from the heart,” says Rice, re-visiting that moment.

Now comes the hard part, proving to himself and others that he isn’t a one-trick pony. The day of judgment comes on Jan. 1 in Florida. And if he comes up short, that would be insignificant in the larger scheme of things if he satisfies his yearning to become a good father.

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Arne K. Lang

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 161: Elite Battles from East to West

Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

Published

2 days ago

November 3, 2024

David A. Avila

Floyd-Schofield-Wins-a-Banger-and Gabriella-Fundora-Wins-by-KO

Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

LAS VEGAS-Shades of Henry Armstrong and Baby Arizmendi. If you don’t know those names, look them up.

Floyd Schofield battled his way past Mexico’s super tough Rene Tellez Giron who walked through every blow the Texan could fire but lost by decision on Saturday.

It was a severe test and perfect matchmaking for Schofield who yearns for the big bouts against the lightweight giants roaming the world.

Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) remains undefeated and won the war over thick-necked Mexican Tellez Giron (20-4, 13 KOs) who has never been knocked out and proved to be immune to big punches.

In the opening rounds, the Texas fighter came out firing rapid combinations from the southpaw and orthodox stances. Meanwhile the shorter Tellez Giron studied and fired back an occasional counter for two rounds.

Tellez Giron had seen enough and took his stand in the third stanza. Both unleashed blazing bombs with Schofield turning his back to the Mexican. At that moment referee Tom Taylor could have waved the fight over.

You never turn your back.

The fight resumed and Schofield was damaged. He tried to open up with even more deadly fire but was rebuked by the strong chin of Tellez Giron who fired back in the mad frenzy.

For the remainder of the fight Schofield tried every trick in his arsenal to inflict damage on the thick-necked Mexican. He could not be wobbled. In the 11^th round both opened up with serious swing-from-the-heels combinations and suddenly Schofield was looking up. He beat the count easily and the two remained slugging it out.

“He hit me with a good shot,” Schofield said of the knockdown. “I just had to get up. I’m not going to quit.”

In the final round Schofield moved around looking for the proper moment to engage. The Mexican looked like a cat ready to pounce and the two fired furious blows. Neither was hit with the big bombs in the last seconds.

There was Tellez Giron standing defiantly like Baby Arizmendi must have stood in those five ferocious meetings against the incomparable Henry Armstrong. Three of their wars took place in Los Angeles, two at the Olympic Auditorium in the late 1930s as the U.S. was emerging from the Great Depression.

In this fight, Schofield took the win by unanimous decision by scores 118-109 twice and 116-111. It was well-deserved.

“I tried to bang it out,” said Schofield. “Today I learned you can’t always get the knockout.”

Fundora

IBF flyweight titlist Gabriela Fundora needed seven rounds to figure out the darting style of Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz before firing a laser left cross down the middle to end the battle and become the undisputed flyweight world champion.

Fundora now holds all four titles including the WBO, WBA and WBC titles that Alaniz brought in the ring.

Fundora knocked down Alaniz midway through the seventh round. She complained it was due to a tangle of the legs. Several seconds later Fundora blasted the Argentine to the floor again with a single left blast. This time there was no doubt. Her corner wisely waved a white towel to stop the fight at 1:40 of the seventh round.

No one argued the stoppage.

Other Bouts

Bektemir Melikuziev (15-1, 10 KOs) didn’t make weight in a title bout but managed to out-fight David Stevens (14-2, 10 KOs) in a super middleweight fight held at 12 rounds.

Melikuziev used his movement and southpaw stance to keep Pennsylvania’s Stevens from being able to connect with combinations. But Stevens did show he could handle “The Bully’s” punching power over the 12-round fight.

After 12 rounds one judge favored Stevens 116-112, while two others saw Melikuziev the winner by split decision 118-110 and 117-111.

Super middleweight WBA titlist Darius Fulghum (13-0, 11 KOs) pummeled his way to a technical knockout win over southpaw veteran Chris Pearson (17-5-1, 12 KOs) who attempted the rope-a-dope strategy to no avail.

Fulghum floored Pearson in the first round with a four-punch combination and after that just belted Pearson who covered up and fired an occasional blow. Referee Mike Perez stopped the fight at 1:02 of the third round when Pearson did not fire back after a blazing combination.

Young welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (5-0, 5 KOs) blasted away at the three-inch shorter Xavier Madrid (5-6, 2 KOs) who hung tough for as long as possible. At 2:50 of the first round a one-two delivered Madrid to the floor and referee Thomas Taylor called off the beating.

Iriarte, from Bakersfield, Calif., could not miss with left uppercuts and short rights as New Mexico’s Madrid absorbed every blow but would not quit. It was just too much firepower from Iriarte that forced the stoppage.

Photos credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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Results and Recaps from Turning Stone where O’Shaquie Foster Nipped Robson Conceicao

Published

2 days ago

November 2, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Top Rank was at the Turning Stone casino-resort in Verona, New York, tonight with an 8-bout card topped by a rematch between Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster with the victor retaining or recapturing his IBF world junior lightweight title. When the smoke cleared, the operative word was “recapturing” as Foster became a two-time title-holder, avenging his controversial setback to the Brazilian in Newark on July 6.

This was a somewhat better fight than their initial encounter and once again the verdict was split. Foster prevailed by 115-113 on two of the cards with the dissenting judge favoring Conceicao by the same margin. Conceicao seemingly had the edge after nine frames, but Foster, a 4/1 favorite, landed the harder shots in the championship rounds.

It was the thirteenth victory in the last 14 starts for Foster who fights out of Houston. A two-time Olympian and 2016 gold medalist, the 36-year-old Conceicao is 19-3-1 overall and 1-3-1 in world title fights.

Semi-wind-up

SoCal lightweight Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) made a big jump in public esteem and moved one step closer to a world title fight with a second-round blast-out of Jose Antonio Perez who was on the canvas twice but on his feet when the fight was stopped at the 1:24 mark of round two. Muratalla, a product of Robert Garcia’s boxing academy, is ranked #2 by the WBC and WBO. A Tijuana native, Perez (25-6) earned this assignment with an upset of former Olympian and former 130-pound world titlist Jojo Diaz,

Other Bouts

Syracuse junior welterweight Bryce Mills, a high-pressure fighter with a strong local following, stopped scrawny Mike O’Han Jr whose trainer Mark DeLuca pulled him out after five one-sided rounds. Mills improved to 17-1 (6 KOs). It was another rough day at the office for Massachusetts house painting contractor O’’Han (19-4) who had the misfortune of meeting Abdullah Mason in his previous bout.

In a junior lightweight fight that didn’t heat up until late in the final round, Albany’s Abraham Nova (23-3-1) and Tijuana native Humberto Galindo (14-3-3) fought to a 10-round draw. It was another close-but-no- cigar for the likeable Nova who at least stemmed a two-fight losing streak. The judges had it 97-93 (Galindo), 96-94 (Nova) and 95-95.

Twenty-one-year-old Long Island middleweight Jahi Tucker advanced to 13-1-1 (6 KOs) with an eighth-round stoppage of Stockton’s teak-tough but outclassed Quilisto Madera (14-6). Madera was on a short leash after five rounds, but almost took it to the final bell with the referee intervening with barely a minute remaining in the contest. Madera was on his feet when the match was halted. Earlier in the round, Tucker had a point deducted for hitting on the break.

Danbury, Connecticut heavyweight Ali Feliz, one of two fighting sons of journeyman heavyweight Fernely Feliz, improved to 4-0 (3) with a second-round stoppage of beefy Rashad Coulter (5-5). Feliz had Coulter pinned against the ropes and was flailing away when the bout was halted at the 1:34 mark. The 42-year-old Coulter, a competitor in all manner of combat sports, hadn’t previously been stopped when competing as a boxer.

Featherweight Yan Santana dominated and stopped Mexico’s Eduardo Baez who was rescued by referee Charlie Fitch at the 1:57 mark of round four. It was the 12^th knockout in 13 starts for Santana, a 24-year-old Dominican father of three A former world title challenger, Mexicali’s Baez declines to 23-7-2 but has lost six of his last eight.

In his most impressive showing to date, Damian Knyba, a six-foot-seven Pole, knocked out paunchy Richard Lartey at the 2:10 mark of round three. A right-left combination knocked Lartey into dreamland, but it was the right did the damage and this was of the nature of a one-punch knockout. Referee Ricky Gonzalez waived the fight off without starting a count.

Knyba, 28, improved to 14-0 (8 KOs). A native of Ghana coming off his career-best win, a fourth-round stoppage of Polish veteran Andrzej Wawrzyk, Lartey declined to 16-7 with his sixth loss inside the distance.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More

Published

3 days ago

November 1, 2024

David A. Avila

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Those lightweights.

Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.

Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.

Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left) is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.

“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.

Even in Las Vegas.

Verona, New York

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.

Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.

“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.

Foster disagrees.

“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.

Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).

Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.

“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.

Muratalla likes challenges too.

“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.

Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship

WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.

Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.

But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.

“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.

In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.

Bad choice for Mucino.

Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.

Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.

Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.

Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.

“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.

It should be exciting.

Fights to Watch

Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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