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Ismael Salas is the TSS 2022 Trainer of the Year

The noted boxing trainer Ismael Salas has been on quite a ride since leaving his native Cuba in 1989. In the 30-plus years since he left Guantanamo, the former head coach of the Cuban National Team has roamed the globe, conducting seminars and staying long enough at some of his stops to craft world champions, both amateur and pro. Conversant in multiple languages, Salas â who developed six world title-holders and two Olympic gold medalists during his sojourn in Thailand — now spends most of his time at his boxing gym in Las Vegas which we noticed had doubled in size since our previous visit, indicative of the fact that at age 65 and four years removed from a brief retirement, he is, one might say, at the top of his game.
The year 2022 was a very good year for Ismael Salas. He was an easy pick for the TSS Trainer of the Year.
Among his achievements, Salas scored his second win over the great Manny Pacquiao. Actually, it was his fighter Yordenis Ugas (pictured) who upended the Filipino legend, winning a unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Aug. 21. Veteran El Paso boxing scribe Matthew Aguilar called it, âperhaps the greatest triumph ever in Cubaâs [professional] boxing history.â
This was the same Yordenis Ugas, then 35 years old, who was considered past his prime after losing back-to-back fights with prospects Emanuel Robles and Amir Imam in 2014, mishaps that prompted a 28-month break from the sport.
Twenty-three years earlier, back in the previous century, Salas had worked the corner of flyweight Boonsai Sangsurat who stopped Pacquiao in the third round of a world title fight in Thailand.
No less notable was Salasâs work with heavyweight behemoth Joe Joyce. Salas had worked with Joyce when Joyce came out of the amateur ranks, but for various reasons the two had drifted apart. They reunited before Joyceâs 2020 match with Daniel Dubois. Of the two, Dubois was the most highly-touted. But he had no antidote for Joyceâs robotic but unrelenting jab and surrendered in the 10th round with a badly-damaged left eye.
Salas wasnât in Joyceâs corner that night. He had contacted COVID and was forced to quarantine. But Ismael was there in more than just spirit, communicating with Joyceâs chief cornerman by phone between rounds.
Salas was back in Joyceâs corner this past September when the aptly-nicknamed Juggernaut scored his most important victory, an 11th-round stoppage of former title-holder Joseph Parker. It positioned Joyce for a match with the winner of the unification fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. âWith his heart, his chin, and his engine, no one can stop this guy,â said Salas who built heavyweight Felix Savon into a three-time Olympic gold medalist before leaving Cuba.
This year, Salas had great success with Robeisy Ramirez, another former multi-Olympic-gold-medalist for Cuba. Ramirez stumbled out of the blocks after turning pro in 2019, suffering a shocking defeat to an obscure fighter from Denver. Enter Ismael Salas. In 2022, Ramirez made great strides, scoring three stoppages in scheduled 10-rounders to advance his record to 11-1. Ramirez, who turned 29 earlier this month, is currently ranked in the top six at 126 pounds by all four major sanctioning bodies.
It wasnât all gravy for Ismael Salas in 2022. After upsetting Manny Pacquiao, Yordenis Ugas failed in his bid to capture another welterweight title, losing to Errol Spence Jr. But Salas, who is also the longtime trainer of long-reigning WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka (who has a big fight coming up on New Yearâs Eve in Tokyo against Joshua Franco) had quite a year, by our reckoning a year that set him apart from other candidates for this annual end-of-year honor.
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Garcia Promotionsâ Event in San Bernardino was a Showcase for Saul Rodriguez

SAN BERNARDINO-Saul âNenoâ Rodriguez, out of action for nearly three years, returned to the prize ring on Saturday in San Bernardino at the Club Event Center in a Garcia Promotions event. San Bernardino is in the Inland Empire which is two counties just east of Los Angeles.
Riversideâs Rodriguez (24-1-1) weighed much more than the designated weight and his match with Mexicoâs Juan Meza Angulo was demoted to an exhibition because of the weight disparity. Despite wearing head gear, the popular Riverside fighter was able to stop Angulo (6-1) in his first fight since February 28, 2020.
Though Rodriguez looked slightly over-weight as a super lightweight, it didnât dampen his sharp punching skills. He immediately caught Meza with a well-timed overhand right. Luckily, Rodriguez didnât put muscle on it. The fight proceeded.
Because of inactivity, Rodriguez seemed to relish getting back to work. He moved around and tried different combinations. Everything seemed to be working in his favor. But Meza countered a left by Rodriguez with a strong right. It proved the popular Riverside fighter needs work on bringing back his left quickly.
After Meza connected things got serious.
Rodriguez immediately opened the third round at a quicker tempo and seemed intent on changing from a wait-and-see attitude to one of bad intentions. Meza didnât notice the change and looked to catch Rodriguez with a combo and instead was caught with a monster counter-right. Down went Meza with a thud. The fight was stopped.
Fans, many of them wearing Team Neno t-shirts, were deliriously happy to see Rodriguez back in action.
In the co-main event, San Bernardinoâs Leo Ruiz clashed with granite-chinned Cameron Krael.
Ruiz (11-0, 7 KOs) unloaded horrific bombs on Krael (19-25-3) who calmly kept his gloves covering his head and although some managed to connect flush, nothing fazed the Las Vegas fighter.
Round after round Ruiz unloaded on Krael only to quickly realize that attempting a knockout was futile. The reputation of Kraelâs chin was correct and no need to break a knuckle trying to score a knockout. Instead, Ruiz went six rounds and won every one to take a win by unanimous decision by scores of 60-54 on all three cards.
Other Bouts
Gabe Muratalla (9-0) knocked out Michael Nielsen (6-3) with a four-punch combination in the third round of a bantamweight fight. Body shots dropped Nielsen in the second round.
Venturaâs Jose Delgado (10-1-4), a southpaw, overcome a sluggish start with body shots to defeat San Bernardinoâs Jesus Beltran (6-3-1) by majority decision after four rounds in a lightweight fight.
Riversideâs Victor Pelayo (2-0) defeated Milwaukeeâs DâAngelo Hopgood (2-1) by decision after four rounds in a very close super bantamweight match. Both fighters showed solid fundamentals in a fight that could have easily been scored a draw. Pelayo won by decision 39-37 on all cards.
Riversideâs Jose Rodriguez (2-0) stopped Henry Mendez (0-9-2) in the fourth round of a super welterweight bout. Mendez was deducted a point in the second round for incessant holding after numerous warnings.
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Alexis Rocha KOs Brave but Overmatched George Ashie on DAZN.

Golden Boy Promotionsâ potted their first offering of 2023 at the recently opened YouTube Theater, a 6,000-seat venue situated inside the stadium built to house LAâs two NFL franchises. The main event was a scheduled 12-round welterweight match between Alexis Rocha, a southpaw from nearby Santa Ana and George Ashie, a 38-year-old Ghanaian making his U.S. debut. Ashie was a late substitute for Anthony Young who reportedly suffered a nose injury in training. The match and supporting bouts were live-streamed on DAZN.
Ashie, who was fighting above his normal weight class and carried a career-high 146 pounds, was brave but out-gunned. Rocha knocked him down in the third frame with a right hook and hurt him several more times as the fight progressed although Ashie never stopped trying. In round six, an accidental clash of heads left Rocha with a nasty cut on his left eyebrow. He fought with more urgency after this incident and knocked Ashie out cold in the next round. The official time was 2:08 of round seven.
It was the fifth straight win for Rocha who improved his ledger to 22-1 (14 KOs). After the bout, he expressed an interest in fighting Terence Crawford. Ashie fell to 33-6-1 (25).
Other Bouts of Note
Floyd âAustin Kidâ Schofield, a precocious 20-year-old lightweight, had Albert Mercado on the canvas in the second round but was unable to put him away despite hurting him multiple times and went 10 rounds for the first time in his young career.
Schofield, the 2022 TSS Prospect of the Year, improved to 13-0 (11), winning 100-89 on all three cards. Mercado, a 35-year-old Connecticut-born Puerto Rican, declined to 17-5-1 but retained his distinction of having never stopped.
Super middleweight Bektemir Melikuziev, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist for Uzbekistan who lives and trains in Indio, California, overpowered San Diegoâs Ulises Sierra who was on the deck twice from body punches before the fight was waived off at the 2:59 mark of round three. It was the fourth straight victory for Melikuziev (11-1, 9 KOs) after suffering a stunning one-punch knockout at the hands of seemingly shopworn Gabriel Rosado with whom he is pursuing a rematch. Sierra was 17-2-2 heading in with eight of his wins coming in Mexico.
In a match framed as a WBO minimumweight title eliminator, Oscar Collazo (6-0, 4 KOs) scored an impressive fifth-round stoppage of Yudel Reyes. Collazo knocked Reyes down twice in the fifth round, the second with a vicious right hand that put Reyes down so hard that the referee didnât bother to count. The official time was 2:59 of round five.
In theory, Collazoâs next fight will come against the Filipino Melvin Jerusalem who won the title earlier this month with a second-round stoppage of Masataka Taniguchi in Osaka. Reyes, a 26-year-old Mexican making his U.S. debut, declined to 15-2.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Artur Beterbiev TKOs Anthony Yarde in a London Firefight

The presumption, echoed by ESPN boxing commentator Bernardo Osuna, was that tonightâs bout at Wembley Arena in London between Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde would be explosive and entertaining for as long as it lasted. That proved to be true and when the smoke cleared, Beterbiev, the rugged Montreal-based Russian had retained his three light heavyweight title belts and had added another knockout to his ledger, his nineteenth as a pro in as many opportunities.
Both men landed hard shots during the fight and both were marked up at the finish. Yarde had a cut under his right eye and Beterbiev had a cut on his left eyelid.
A chopping right hand from Beterbiev late in the first minute of the eighth round marked the beginning of the end for Yarde, the muscular 31-year-old Londoner who entered the contest sporting a record of 23-2 with 22 knockouts. The punch sent him reeling backward toward his corner where he landed on his knees. He beat the count, but turned toward his corner rather than referee Steve Gray.
Gray let the bout continue, but Beterbiev pressed his advantage and after a few more unanswered punches Yardeâs trainer Tunde Ajayi stepped up on the ring apron and summoned Gray to stop it. The official time was 2:01 of round eight.
Beterbiev hasnât lost since losing a decision to amateur nemesis Oleksandr Usyk in the quarter finals of the 2012 London Olympics. At age 38, he shows no signs of slowing down.
In his post-fight interview, the self-effacing Russian said, âI hope some day I will be a good boxer,â and acknowledged that he would welcome a unification fight with fellow Russian Dmitry Bivol, the WBA title-holder.
WBA Title Fight
In a bout that was in theory the co-feature but went off during the earlier portion of the ESPN+ livestream, Artem Dalakian (21-0, 15 KOs) retained his WBA world flyweight title with a unanimous and somewhat controversial 12-round unanimous decision over Costa Ricaâs David Jimenez (12-1). The judges had it 116-112 and 115-113 twice.
An Azerbaijan-born Ukrainian, Dalakian was making the sixth defense of the title he won in 2018 with a 12-round decision over Brian Viloria in Los Angeles in his lone previous appearance at a venue in the English-speaking world. His five title defenses were in Kiev. Jimenez was coming off a 12-round majority decision over Ricardo Sandoval in what ranked as one of the bigger upsets of 2021.
A Split for the Itauma Brothers
Promoter Frank Warrenâs newest signee, 18-year-old heavyweight Moses Itauma, made a big splash in his pro debut, blasting out Czechoslovakiaâs Marcel Bode (2-2) in 23 seconds. Moses and his older brother Karol Itauma are sons of a British citizen of Nigerian ancestry and a Slovakian mother.
In a shocking upset, Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna, a 36-year-old Argentine who had lost six of his previous eight fights, forged a fifth-round stoppage of well-touted Karol Itauma who was 9-0 (7 KOs) as a pro coming in. Itauma ate numerous straight right hands before a straight right hand knocked him down for the count. The official time was 1:04 of round five. Maderna improved to 29-10 (11).
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