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Avila Perspective, Chap. 211: Two Title Fights in Las Vegas on Saturday and More

Another hard-hitting Kazakh named Zhanibek Alimkhanuly headlines a Top Rank card in Las Vegas this Saturday and faces Great Britain’s Denzel Bentley for the WBO middleweight title.
The co-main event at the Palms Casino Resort features budding female superstar Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada defending the WBA minimumweight title against Jazmin Gala Villarino. ESPN+ will show the Top Rank card. Which fight will be more electrifying?
Alimkhanuly (12-0, 8 KOs) is a 29-year-old southpaw slugger about the same size as fellow Kazakh named “GGG,” or more properly known as Gennady Golovkin who holds the WBA and IBF titles. Should the young Kazakh win, a match against his senior countryman could easily be made.
“I don’t know why nowadays champions don’t want to fight with the other champions. I don’t think they should be afraid. I am here. I am a champion now,” said Alimkhanuly who was the interim WBO middleweight champion and had the interim tag removed when Demetrius Andrade vacated the title rather than face him. “I am here to fight the champions. Hopefully, Top Rank can organize a fight with another world champion next.”
First, Alimkhanuly must pass through England’s Bentley. You never know what you’re facing when it comes to British fighters. They can be monsters or paper champions.
Bentley (17-1-1, 14 KOs) is a 27-year-old fighter out of London who has feasted on mostly British and European middleweights. He definitely possesses stopping power but facing Alimkhanuly, who trains in Oxnard, Calif., may be a contest he’s not ready to encounter.
But boxing is like this. You just never know.
“This is what every fighter dreams of. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime to be here in Vegas and fight for the WBO world championship against the champion himself,” said Bentley.
Also on the card will be Emiliano Vargas, the son of “El Feroz” Fernando Vargas who now makes Las Vegas his home. He was recently signed by Top Rank and makes his debut with the boxing promotion company on this card. It should be a wild opening.
If Emiliano, a lightweight, fights nearly as good as his father it should be a fight you don’t want to miss. Fernando was a rocket with gloves when he fought. Always willing to fight the best, he had a fan following that few other fighters during his era possessed. It was a rabid fan base.
Two other top prospects on the card include Fontana’s Ray Muratalla and former US Olympian Carlos Balderas. It’s very conceivable to see the two lightweights face each other possibly next year.
East European champs
WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitriy Bivol remained undefeated with a superior performance in defeating Mexico’s Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez by unanimous decision last week in Abu Dhabi. There was no disputing the win. But one thing about Russia’s Bivol is his inability to provide entertaining fights.
Safety-first styles are OK, if a knockout is attempted when it develops. Bivol just doesn’t provide that kind of prizefight. It’s win the fight and don’t take chances.
A major reason fighters like Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev became fan favorites is their propensity for knockout wins. They always hunted for the knockout whether the opponent was dangerous or not. And both could box if necessary.
Bivol has excellent boxing skills but as a prizefighter, he just doesn’t attract the masses. He deserves props for his boxing ability but for entertainment value, not so much.
IBF Title Fight in England
Nicaragua’s Felix Alvarado holds the IBF light flyweight title and moves up to challenge IBF flyweight titlist Sunny Edwards on Friday Nov. 11, in Sheffield, England. The fight will be shown on FITE.TV.
Alvarado (38-2, 33 KOs) has a three-fight knockout streak going but Edwards (18-0, 4 KOs) has never been stopped and is defending the world title for a third time. He’s also the younger fighter at 26. The Nicaraguan is 33 years old.
Edwards expects the toughest test of his career so far.
“Alvarado was a world champion at the weight below, he has 33 KOs on his record, and he has boxed at the highest level. He’s a big punching Nicaraguan, who has had more knockouts than I’ve had fights and he is hungry for this,” said Edwards.
Big Showdown in SoCal
Super lightweight bombers Regis Prograis and Jose “Chon” Zepeda are mere weeks away from their confrontation on Nov. 26, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The fight will be shown on FITE.TV pay-per-view at a cost of $39.99. This is the kind of fight made for that venue that has provided some of the most engaging wars of the last 20 years.
Neither fighter currently holds a world title, but both are deserving and represent two of the toughest in the 140-pound super lightweight division. It’s the reason it’s the main event and headlining a major card.
No other super lightweight has the athleticism and strength of Prograis (27-1, 23 KOs) who meets sledge-hammer fisted Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs) in a battle of the best fighters in their talented division without a world title.
This fight is not for the squeamish.
Fights to Watch
Fri. FITE.TV 2:00 p.m. ET (main card) / 5:00 p.m. ET (main event) Felix Alvarado (38-2) vs Sunny Edwards (18-0).
Sat. ESPN+ 7:15 p.m. ET (main card) / 11:00 p.m. ET (main event) Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (12-0) vs Denzel Bentley (17-1-1); Seniesa Estrada (22-0) vs Jazmin Villarino (6-1-2).
Sat. DAZN 7:30 p.m. ET (main card) / 11:15 ET (main event) Montana Love (18-0-1) vs Steve Spark (15-2).
Sun. FITE.TV PPV 1:00 p.m. ET (main card) / 5:15 p.m. ET (main event) Floyd Mayweather vs Deji (exhibition)
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Mbilli Stays Unbeaten: Outpoints Gongora in a Bruising Tiff

Camille Estephan’s “Eye of the Tiger” promotions returned to the Montreal Casino tonight with an 8-bout card capped by an intriguing match between super middleweights Christian Mbilli and Carlos Gongora, both former Olympians.
The Cameroon-born Mbilli (pictured on the left) represented France in the 2016 Rio Games. He was undefeated (23-0, 16 KOs) coming in and ranked #2 by the WBA. The Massachusetts-based Gongora, a two-time Olympian for his native Ecuador, brought a 23-1 (16) record, his lone defeat coming on the road in Manchester, England, to currently undefeated Lerrone Richards.
When the smoke cleared, Mbilli won a unanimous decision, but the scores (99-91, 98-92, and 97-93) were misleading as this was an entertaining fight and the granite-chinned Gondora, a southpaw, was always a threat to turn the tide with his signature punch, a left uppercut. In fact, he may have landed the best punch of the fight when he hurt Mbilli in the opening minute of the eighth round. But the muscular Mbilli shook off the cobwebs and stormed back, dominating the final minute of the eighth and then finishing strong, nearly forcing a stoppage with a non-stop assault in the final frame.
Mbilli would love to fight the winner of Saturday’s tiff between David Benavidez and Caleb Plant, but that’s not likely to happen. A more likely scenario finds Mbilli opposing fellow unbeaten Vladimir Shishkin, the Detroit-based Russian.
Co-Feature
Simon Kean, a six-foot-five, 250-pound heavyweight from Three Rivers, Quebec, advanced to 23-1 (22 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage of 40-year-old warhorse Eric Molina (29-9).
Both were tentative during most of the match. The end came rather suddenly when Kean knocked Molina down with an overhand right after landing a good left hook. The punch did not appear to land flush, but Molina was swaying as he made it to his feet and the referee called it off.
It was not a particularly impressive performance by Kean. Molina, a special education teacher in the Rio Grande Valley community of Edinburg, Texas, hinted before the bout that this would be his final fight. That would be a sensible idea. He has been stopped six times in his last 10 outings and nine times overall.
Also
In a 10-round bout contested at 140 pounds, Calgary veteran Steve Claggett improved to 34-7-2 (24) with a TKO over Mexican import Rafael Guzman Lugo (26-3-2) whose corner pulled him out after seven frames. This was a good action fight fought at close quarters, albeit Claggett was clearly in control when the bout was halted.
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A Conversation About Boxing with Author and Journalist Steve Marantz

If you ask former sportswriter Steve Marantz when was boxing’s Golden Age, he’s quick with a response.
His answer just so happens to coincide with the period when he was on the beat as a boxing columnist for the Boston Globe (1979-1987).
“You could argue that boxing has had a few Golden Ages, but yes, that was an exciting and memorable era,” said Marantz, who sat ringside for many legendary matches. “The round-robin bouts amongst [Ray] Leonard, [Marvin] Hagler, [Thomas] Hearns and [Roberto] Duran, certainly was a major element.”
Those four legends are important but other weight division kings also played an integral role in boxing’s global popularity.
“Let’s not forget [Aaron] Pryor, [Alexis] Arguello, [Julio Cesar] Chavez, [Salvador] Sanchez, [Hector] Camacho, [Wilfredo] Gomez, Michael Spinks, [Dwight Muhammad] Qawi, [Donald] Curry, [Mike] Tyson and [Evander] Holyfield,” Marantz offered. “The key was competitive balance in most of the divisions.”
Marantz began his journalism career in 1973 at the Kansas City Star after graduating from the University of Missouri. After leaving the Globe, he worked for the Boston Herald (1999-2004) and ESPN (2004-2016). Nowadays, in addition to freelance writing for publications such as the Jewish Journal of Greater Boston, he produces the podcast “Championship Stories.”
Marantz recalled one particular moment that stood out while covering boxing and it happened at Aaron Pryor’s training camp.
“I have a vivid memory of his workout before he fought Arguello in Miami, November 1982. He had a hot funk song on the speakers, “You Dropped A Bomb On Me,” and as it played, loudly, he shadow-boxed to its beat and lyrics,” he recalled. “A rope was stretched across the gym, four feet off the floor, and Pryor moved along the rope, ducking under and back, gloves flashing. He was hypnotized by the music, in a trance. Hypnotized me, too. A moment that made boxing so cool to cover.”
That classic matchup at the famed Orange Bowl was halted in the 14th round with Pryor winning by technical knockout.
Anyone at Caesars Palace on April 15, 1985, knows what happened over roughly eight minutes of hot action when Hagler and Hearns tangled. It was nonstop punches from both participants.
“Hagler and Hearns fought as if possessed,” recalled Marantz of that showdown. “The stark final image [for me] was that of Hearns, now helpless, semiconscious, looking very like a black Christ taken from the cross, in the arms of a solemn aide.
“Hagler’s pent-up bitterness found release in a violent attack, even as each crack of Hearns’ gloves reinforced a lifetime of slights. In the end, Hearns was martyred to absolve Hagler of victimization. The first round is legendary, among the most vicious and splendid ever fought on the big fight stage. Action accelerated so quickly that spectators were left breathless. Punches windmilled into a blur, though the actual count was 82 punches for Hagler and 83 for Hearns, about three times that of a typical round.”
While that fight has blended into boxing folklore, a 1976 Olympic gold medal winner from Palmer Park, Maryland, was the epitome of true greatness for Steve Marantz.
“The way Sugar Ray Leonard maneuvered [Roberto] Duran to ‘No Mas’ in their rematch was brilliant. His grit and toughness beat Hearns, one of the great fights of the 1980s. And he beat Hagler with brains and psychology. Not to overlook his win over [Wilfred] Benitez in 1979. He was gorgeous to watch, stylish and rhythmic. His combinations were a blur. And he strategized like a chess master. Smooth and cooperative in interviews, always aware of the marketing and promotional necessities. Leonard was the gold standard.”
Marantz re-visited the Hagler-Leonard fight and the drama that surrounded it in “Sorcery at Caesars: Sugar Ray’s Marvelous Fight,” first released in 2008 and now available as an eBook.
Boxing’s been called the cruelest and the most unforgiving sport, but it’s also filled with high drama.
“It’s a test of athleticism, intelligence, grit and character. At its best, it’s dramatic and unpredictable, exciting,” Marantz said of the fight game. “A rich history of iconic personalities and events. Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, for example. A window into history bigger than just sport, a window into popular culture and politics.”
Marantz fondly recalls some of the characters he met while covering the sweet science: “Promoters Don King and Bob Arum, both conniving quotable snakes. Trainer Ray Arcel, in his 80s, a pillar of honesty and integrity. Emanuel Steward and Prentiss Byrd, running the Kronk Gym as a beacon of light and hope in Detroit’s blighted inner city. In Brockton, Massachusetts, two Italian-American brothers, Goody and Pat Petronelli, formed a sacred trust with an African- American boxer, Marvin Hagler.”
Marantz went on: “On my first newspaper job with the Kansas City Times/Star, I met a kindly trainer, Peyton Sher, who welcomed me into his gym and taught me the basics,” he said. “Never will forget Daeshik Seo, the Korean therapist for Larry Holmes who two weeks before the Holmes-[Gerry] Cooney fight in June 1982, tipped me to a story that a member of Holmes’ entourage pulled a pistol on Cooney’s entourage at Caesars Palace. Caesars top brass had to call Holmes on the carpet to get his people under control. Holmes was incensed at the story. In his media session after he won, he said I wrote it because I was [expletive] … and that I worked in a racist city, Boston.”
Marantz has never been put off by the seedy elements of the sport. “I don’t feel polarized by it.,” he says. “Nobody is forced to box. Nobody is forced to watch it. The world has bigger problems than boxing.”
Marantz has fond memories of the people he met and the friendships he made while covering boxing. Does he miss not being rinigside? “Not really,” he says. “My time came and went. Journalism and life took me in other directions. I do have some nostalgia for that era, and for the people who were part of it.”
Having been around the sweet science for a spell, Marantz offered sage advice to anyone inclined to mix it up: “Be disciplined, work hard, find a good trainer, learn the subtleties, read the tea leaves and don’t be pig-headed.”
Actually, all of those traits are always handy, even if one doesn’t step into the ring.
You can read more about Steve Marantz at his website: www.stevemarantz.com
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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.
Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.
Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.
The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.
In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.
Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.
Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.
From the seventh until the 10th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.
After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.
“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”
Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.
Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”
Other Bouts
Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.
A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.
The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.
San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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