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A Conversation With Award-Winning Boxing Writer Lance Pugmire

A masterful storyteller, Lance Pugmire spent nearly two decades covering sports for the Los Angeles Times. He is the most-recent recipient of the prestigious Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism which is presented annually by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Trustworthy is just one reason why Pugmire has had a successful sports writing career.
“I’d like to think of myself as the type of reporter that the athletes, no matter how high profile they became in their career, they could trust me completely, and that they knew that, yes, I am on the quest for the truth, but I’m also going to allow them to speak their truth while delivering it the way they wanted it delivered,” he said.
Pugmire spoke about the trust Saul “Canelo” Alvarez had in him while Canelo was training for a fight several years ago.
“One time I went to San Diego and Alvarez gave me an interview in English, and I like to think I was the first reporter he spoke to in English,” he said of the boxer who will meet Jermell Charlo on September 30.
Pugmire also built a rapport with Miguel Cotto who had two big matches with Antonio Margarito.
Margarito was accused of using loaded hand-wraps on more than one occasion including his first meeting with Cotto and had his license revoked for one year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“I was able to do a lot of reporting on loaded gloves,” Pugmire noted. “When I spoke to Cotto,” he said to me, “he knows about the hand wraps. I will get revenge for this. When he fought him at Madison Square Garden [December 2011] in front of all his people, that was one of the more emotional fights that I covered.” (After Cotto lost to Margarito in July 2008 in Las Vegas via eleventh-round technical knockout, Cotto came back and earned a ninth-round stoppage in the rematch).
While Pugmire is straightforward in his dealings with the men in the ring, so too are they honest with him.
“I’ve always had a soft spot for them. Boxers are always an open book on every level. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Tyson Fury or some young prospect on his way up,” he pointed out. “There’s not a lot of publicists in their ear saying, ‘don’t talk about this and don’t talk about that.’ They always give you their truth and then you report it as you see fit. As a reporter we like to know that it’s not scripted or sugar coated and that’s what I like about boxers.”
Pugmire began his career in 1999 at the Times Inland Valley office. He covered the 2000 Shane Mosley-Oscar De La Hoya fight as a round-by-round reporter and became a full-time boxing writer in 2007 with the Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez tussle.
Pugmire enjoyed his tenure at the Times, but felt a tugging to try something different.
“I absolutely loved my 19 years at the Los Angeles Times – so many amazing experiences and unforgettable stories that we nailed,” he said. “I’ve always sought to continue challenging myself. Because of my earnings there and The Athletic, I was able to experience real estate investment, which led me to a new career that is still all about learning people’s stories and helping them reach a better place. Not ever taking myself out of my comfort zone would have been my ultimate regret.”
To this end, Pugmire recently moved into a career selling high-end property for Seven Gables Real Estate/MX Associates in Huntington Beach after nearly two decades at the Los Angeles Times.
While boxing doesn’t hold sway like it once did, there are weekends when the sport is still important, such as the night Crawford faced Spence at T-Mobile Arena.
“The powers that be who run boxing know that staging these great fights is the best thing for the sport’s future. So, when we can get these fights, everybody knows this is the fight that should be happening,” Pugmire noted. “Then boxing still has the ability to capture the mainstream sports fans and get complete attention on that Saturday fight night. That is still the great thing about boxing. Boxing will never die as long as it is giving fans that moment.”
Crawford-Spence turned out to be lopsided in favor of Crawford who won on a ninth-round stoppage, notes Pugmire, but it still created significant buzz because it did take place after a lot of earlier wrangling.
“When Spence said, ‘Unless you’re going to bring me a Crawford fight, I’m not going to fight,” he [he showed that he] understands what this sport is about…For Spence, he believed I’m the naturally bigger man, I am the more skilled man, and I can win this fight. As tough as Crawford is and an undefeated three-division champion, we all know Terence is one of the great finishers of this generation. For Spence to take on this fight, he has to be given a lot of credit.”
Boxing will always have a place in the sun even if it’s not at the top of the food chain.
“To me, there’s no better example, so let’s just go global,” Pugmire said. “Manny Pacquiao sold rice on the streets so he and his family could eat. If it wasn’t for boxing, what would have become of Pacquiao? This is someone who, with his money, with his power, is elevated to political office and is doing everything that he can to help his fellow humans in the Philippines escape the ravages of poverty. We all know this [boxing] isn’t good for someone’s health. Absolutely not.”
Pugmire was able to cozy up to Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., who were two very opposite personalities.
“The creativity and the power that we saw from Pacquiao as he moved through these divisions was such an impressive thing to cover. Same thing with Mayweather. His defensive acumen and his brilliance of being able to figure out whatever opponent was set before him. Even if it was to his advantage to handpick guys like a 23-year-old Alvarez or an over-the-hill Oscar De La Hoya,” he said. “The fact is that he did it. [We all who covered Floyd’s career] know that there were many tough fights against guys like Jose Luis Castillo that he took that were 50-50 endeavors, and even his fight against Marcos Maidana, that was a tough task. He found a way to get the victory. He fought Cotto and Juan Manuel Marquez. The guy deserves to be credited. In my eyes, it’s not a sin how he handled his career.”
The May 2015 bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather was a dud in terms of entertainment, but an immense money-maker.
Pugmire recalls being inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena that evening.
“To me, when I see these two guys, I always go back to that moment when I looked up right before the first bell rang and they were both bouncing in each other’s corner right before it went down,” he recalled. “Wow, it was one of the most electric moments that I can ever remember.”
Pugmire no longer covers boxing full-time but still keeps track of the sport. As a contributor to the boxing website ppv.com, he covered the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia battle and the Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr. showdown.
He’s honored that the Boxing Writers Association of America deemed his block of work worthy of being included with the best writers to have spent time ringside.
“The thing that really struck me after looking at the past winners was who had won the Fleischer before me and how deeply I’ve been influenced by past winners,” he said. “Growing up in Phoenix, I read Norm Frauenheim in grade school. When I moved to Orange County to go to college [majoring in communications with an emphasis in journalism] at Cal State Fullerton, I read Mark Whicker. My sports editor at the Los Angeles Times that brought me downtown from a satellite office in Ontario was Bill Dwyer. I’m very close to Dan Rafael.”
Pugmire then spoke about the obligation all reporters have.
“These guys were never beholden to any particular side. They were not shills. They spoke their truth. They were obligated to the readers,” he said. “I was there to tell the truth and I do love the sport and I was there to communicate what their stories were in the most truthful, elegant and dignified way that I could. That enough people on this committee noticed my work is a great honor. They said, ‘You belong among us.’”
And now he does.
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International Brotherhood of Prizefighters Rankings: Week of September 24, 2023

What’s in a nickname, you ask? Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang exhibited shades of the legendary Brown Bomber, Joe Louis; the exception being he conducts business from the port side. Zhang’s 3rd round stoppage of Joe Joyce sees Joyce exiting the top 10 in the heavyweight division. Also exiting due to inactivity is Andy Ruiz and Luis Ortiz, who last fought each other on September 4, 2022. Gaining entries are Daniel Dubois, Dillian White and Derek Chisora, at 8, 9 and 10 respectively.
At 140, Richardson Hitchins earned his asterisk with a one sided decision over Jose Zepeda. Hitchins enters the top 10 in the 7th slot, while Zepeda falls to 8th. Zhankosh Turarov drops to 9th in the world and immediately underneath him, rounding out the top 10, is Elvis Rodriguez. Scotland’s Josh Taylor gets bumped from the 10th slot.
At 108, World Champion Kenshiro Teraji defended his title with a stoppage of 4th ranked Hekkie Budler in round 9 of a scheduled 12. Budler drops to 7th, see list for reshuffle.
*Please note that when the fighter’s name appears with an asterisk it represents a movement in ranking from the previous week.
105lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Thammanoon Niyomtrong (Knockout CP Freshmart) (Thailand)
2 Panya Pradabsri (Petchmanee CP Freshmart) (Thailand)
3 Oscar Collazo (USA)
4 Ginjiro Shigeoka (Japan)
5 Daniel Valladares (Mexico)
6 Yudai Shigeoka (Japan)
7 Melvin Jerusalem (Philippines)
8 Masataka Taniguchi (Japan)
9 Rene Mark Cuarto (Philippines)
10 Yudai Shigeoka (Philippines)
108lbs
♛ Kenshiro Teraji (Japan)
1 Jonathan Gonzalez (Puerto Rico)
2 Masamichi Yabuki (Japan)
3 Sivenathi
4 Elwin Soto (Mexico)*
5 Regie Suganob (Philippines)*
6 Shokichi Iwata (Japan)*
7 Hekkie Budler (South Africa)*
8 Carlos Canizales (Venezuela)
9 Daniel Matellon (Panama)
10 Miel Fajardo (Philippines)
112lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Sunny Edwards (England)
2 Artem Dalakian (Ukraine)
3 Julio Cesar Martinez (Mexico)
4 Angel Ayala Lardizabal (Mexico)
5 David Jimenez (Costa Rica)
6 Jesse Rodriguez (USA)
7 Ricardo Sandoval (USA)
8 Felix Alvarado (Nicaragua)
9 Seigo Yuri Akui (Japan)
10 Taku Kuwahara (Japan)
115lbs
♛ Juan Francisco Estrada (Mexico)
1 Roman Gonzalez (Nicaragua)
2 Kazuto Ioka (Japan)
3 Fernando Martinez (Argentina)
4 Junto Nakatani (Japan)
5 Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (Thailand)
6 Kosei Tanaka (Japan)
7 Andrew Moloney (Australia)
8 Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (Mexico)
9 Pedro Guevara (Mexico)
10 Donnie Nietes (Philippines)
118lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Emmanuel Rodriguez (Puerto Rico)
2 Alexandro Santiago (Mexico)
3 Jason Moloney (Australia)
4 Vincent Astrolabio (Philippines)
5 Gary Antonio Russell (USA)
6 Takuma Inoue (Japan)
7 Nonito Donaire (Philippines)
8 Ryosuke Nishida (Japan)
9 Keita Kurihara (Japan)
10 Paul Butler (England)
122lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Naoya Inoue (Japan)
2 Marlon Tapales (Philippines)
3 Stephen Fulton (USA)
4 Luis Nery (Mexico)
5 Murodjon Akhmadaliev (Uzbekistan)
6 Sam Goodman (Australia)
7 Azat Hovhannisyan (Armenia)
8 Kevin Gonzalez (Mexico)
9 Ra’eese Aleem (USA)
10 Liam Davies (England)
126lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Luis Alberto Lopez (Mexico)
2 Leigh Wood (England)
3 Brandon Figueroa (USA)
4 Rey Vargas (Mexico)
5 Mauricio Lara (Mexico)
6 Robeisy Ramirez (Cuba)
7 Mark Magsayo (Philippines)
8 Josh Warrington (England)
9 Reiya Abe (Japan)
10 Otabek Kholmatov (Uzbekistan)
130lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Emanuel Navarrete (Mexico)
2 Joe Cordina (Wales)
3 Hector Garcia (Dominican Republic)
4 O’Shaquie Foster (USA)
5 Oscar Valdez (Mexico)
6 Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (Tajikistan)
7 Otar Eranosyan (Georgia)
8 Lamont Roach (USA)
9 Eduardo Ramirez (Mexico)
10 Kenichi Ogawa (Japan)
135lbs
♛ Devin Haney (USA)
1 Gervonta Davis (USA)
2 Vasily Lomachenko (Ukraine)
3 Isaac Cruz (Mexico)
4 William Zepeda Segura (Mexico)
5 Frank Martin (USA)
6 Shakur Stevenson (USA)
7 Maxi Hughes (England)
8 George Kambosos Jr (Australia)
9 Keyshawn Davis (USA)
10 Raymond Muratalla (USA)
140lbs
♛ Teofimo Lopez (USA)
1 Regis Prograis (USA)
2 Jose Ramirez (USA)
3 Jack Catterall (England)*
4 Subriel Matias (Puerto Rico)*
5 Arnold Barboza Jr. (USA)*
6 Gary Antuanne Russell (USA)*
7 Richardson Hitchins (USA)*
8 Jose Zepeda (USA)*
9 Zhankosh Turarov (Kazakhstan*)
10 Elvis Rodriguez (Dominican Republic)*
147lbs
♛ Terence Crawford (USA)
1 Errol Spence (USA)
2 Jaron Ennis (USA)
3 David Avanesyan (Russia)
4 Cody Crowley (Canada)
5 Alexis Rocha (USA)
6 Rashidi Ellis (USA)
7 Souleymane Cissokho (Senegal)
8 Roiman Villa (Venezuela)
9 Egidijus Kavaliauskas (Lithuania)
10 Shakhram Giyasov (Uzbekistan)
154lbs
♛ Jermell Charlo (USA)
1 Tim Tszyu (Australia)
2 Brian Mendoza (USA)
3 Jesus Alejandro Ramos (USA)
4 Sebastian Fundora (USA)
5 Erickson Lubin (USA)
6 Michel Soro (Ivory Coast)
7 Magomed Kurbanov (Russia)
8 Tony Harrison (USA)
9 Israil Madrimov (Uzbekistan)
10 Bakhram Murtazaliev (Russia)
160lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan)
2 Carlos Adames (Dominican Republic)
3 Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (Kazakhstan)
4 Chris Eubank Jr. (England)
5 Liam Smith (England)
6 Sergiy Derevyanchenko (Ukraine)*
7 Vincenzo Gualtieri (Germany)
8 Felix Cash (England)
9 Michael Zerafa (Australia)
10 Esquiva Falcao (Brazil)
168lbs
♛ Canelo Alvarez (Mexico)
1 David Benavidez (USA)
2 Caleb Plant (USA)
3 Christian Mbilli (France)
4 David Morrell (Cuba)
5 John Ryder (England)
6 Pavel Silyagin (Russia)
7 Vladimir Shishkin (Russia)
8 Carlos Gongora (Ecuador)
9 Jaime Munguia (Mexico)
10 Demetrius Andrade (USA)
175lbs
♛ Artur Beterbiev (Canada)
1 Dmitry Bivol (Russia)
2 Joshua Buatsi (England)
3 Callum Smith (England)
4 Joe Smith Jr. (USA)
5 Gilberto Ramirez (Mexico)
6 Anthony Yarde (England)
7 Dan Azeez (England)
8 Ali Izmailov (Russia)
9 Michael Eifert (Germany)
10 Igor Mikhalkin (Germany)
200lbs
♛ Jai Opetaia (Australia)
1 Mairis Breidis (Latvia)
2 Chris Billam-Smith (England)
3 Richard Riakporhe (England)
4 Aleksei Papin (Russia)
5 Badou Jack (Sweden)
6 Arsen Goulamirian (France)
7 Lawrence Okolie (England)
8 Yuniel Dorticos (Cuba)
9 Mateusz Masternak (Poland)
10 Ilunga Makabu (So. Africa)
Unlimited
♛ Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine)
1 Tyson Fury (England)
2 Zhilei Zhang (China)
3 Deontay Wilder (USA)
4 Anthony Joshua (England)
5 Filip Hrgovic (Croatia)
6 Arslanbek Makhmudov (Russia)*
7 Frank Sanchez (Cuba)*
8 Daniel Dubois (England)*
9 Dillian White (England)*
10 Derek Chisora (Zimbabwe)*
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Canelo-Charlo Gets All the Ink, but Don’t Overlook the Compelling Match-up of Gassiev-Wallin in Turkey

Canelo-Charlo Gets All the Ink, but Don’t Overlook the Compelling Match-up of Gassiev-Wallin in Turkey
The eyes of the boxing world will be on Las Vegas this Saturday where Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez risks his four super middleweight title belts against unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo. Earlier that day at a luxury resort hotel in the city of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, there’s a heavyweight match sitting under the radar that may prove to be the better fight. It’s an intriguing match-up between former world cruiserweight title-holder Murat Gassiev and Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin, a bout with significant ramifications for boxing’s glamour division.
Gassiev (30-1, 23 KOs) and Wallin (25-1, 14 KOs) have only one loss, but those setbacks came against the top dogs in the division. Gassiev was out-boxed by Oleksandr Usyk back in the days when both were cruiserweights. Wallin gave Tyson Fury a world of trouble before losing a unanimous decision.
Since those fights, both have been treading water.
Gassiev
Gassiev was inactive for 27 months after his match with Usyk while dealing with legal issues and an injury to his left shoulder. He is 4-0 (4 KOs) since returning to the ring while answering the bell for only eight rounds. The only recognizable name among those four victims is German gatekeeper Michael Wallisch. After stopping Wallisch, Gassiev was out of action for another 13 months while reportedly dealing with an arm injury.
A first-round knockout of Carlouse Welch, an obscure 40-something boxer from the U.S. state of Georgia on Aug. 26, 2022, in Belgrade, Serbia, was promoted as a title fight. The sanctioning body was the Eurasian Boxing Parliament (insert your own punchline here). Gassiev followed that up with a second-round knockout of former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun who came in undefeated and was seemingly a legitimate threat to him.
Although he has yet to fight a ranked opponent since leaving the cruiserweight division, Gassiev — a former stablemate of Gennady Golovkin who has been living in Big Bear, California, training under Abel Sanchez – is one of the most respected fighters in the division because he has one-punch knockout power as Balogun and others can well attest. The rub against the Russian-Armenian bruiser is that he is somewhat robotic.
Wallin
Otto Wallin, a 32-year-old southpaw from Sweden who trains in New York under former world lightweight champion Joey Gamache, fought Tyson Fury on Sept. 14, 2019 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. There was a general feeling that the Swede would be a stroll in the park for Fury, but to the contrary, he gave the Gypsy King a hard tussle while losing a unanimous decision.
Wallin is 5-0 since that night beginning with victories over Travis Kauffman (KO 5) and Dominic Breazeale (UD 12), but his last three opponents were softer than soft and all three lasted the distance. In order, Wallin won an 8-round decision over Kamil Sokolowski, who was 11-24-2 heading in, won a 10-round decision over ancient Rydell Booker, and won an 8-round decision over Helaman Olguin. His bout with Utah trial horse Olguin was at a banquet hall in Windham, New Hampshire.
It isn’t that Wallin has been avoiding the top names in the division; it’s the other way around. His promoter Dmitriy Salita reportedly came close to getting Wallin a match with Anthony Joshua whose team had second thoughts about sending Joshua in against another southpaw after back-to-back setbacks to Oleksandr Usyk.
Gassiev vs Wallin is a true crossroads fight. Both are in dire need of a win over a credible opponent. At last look, Gassiev, who figures to have the crowd in his corner, was a 3/1 favorite.
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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.
It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.
Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.
Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.
Bustillo Wins Rematch
In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.
Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.
Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.
After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.
Other Bouts
In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.
A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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