Avila Perspective, Chap, 251: Golden Boy Returns to Roots

Published

2 weeks ago

September 15, 2023

Avila-Perspective-Chap-251-Golden-Boy-Returns-to-Roots

COMMERCE, Calif.-Within a few miles of Oscar De La Hoya and half his team’s old stomping grounds in East L.A., Golden Boy Promotions staged their press conference with a touch of old fashion promoting on Thursday.

World champion Yokasta Valle, lightweight contenders William Zepeda and Mercito Gesta and some local fighters will showcase their skills and pride on Saturday, Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“For some strange reason, whenever anyone steps inside that ring on Mexican Independence Day, they fight with such passion,” said De La Hoya who grew up less than two miles away in East L.A.

YouTube.com and DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card.

Years ago, promoter Aileen Eaton would scoop up boxing talent from around the Southern California area like a runaway vacuum. East L.A. and the surrounding areas were always a hotbed for talent if you could pry them away from the barrio gangs.

Mando Muniz, Bobby Chacon, Mando Ramos, Ruben Navarro and Art Aragon, the original Golden Boy, were all discovered within a dozen miles from the Golden Boy promotion press conference.

This boxing show on Saturday has some of those elements that return to the roots and include an international cast of world class elite fighters.

Zepeda (28-0, 24 KOs) and Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) will clash for a regional title and a higher place in the lightweight standings. Both have a thirst for action.

“I am so excited to be facing William Zepeda who is undefeated. Zepeda is an up-and-coming fighter. He’s great and he excites me,” said the always classy Gesta (pictured on the right), a fan favorite.

“To face a grand rival like Mercito Gesta is a great privilege, and I can’t wait to demonstrate to everyone of what “El Camarón” is made of,” said Zepeda, a hard charging lightweight from the state of Mexico.

The co-main event features two-division world champion Yokasta Valle (28-2, 9 KOs) defending the WBO and IBF minimumweight titles against Guatemala’s Maria Santizo (11-3, 6 KOs). Both faced each other years ago as amateurs.

“We have prepared 100-percent for this fight to give you guys the show you have all been waiting for and one that is worthy for this special Sept. 16 date. I am so excited for the first bell to ring this coming Saturday,” said Costa Rica’s Valle who has been training in Los Angeles for nearly two years and absorbing the local culture.

The remainder of the boxing show is filled with fighters of various skill level. Some from right down the street in East L.A. and others from out of state such Darius Fulghum from Houston, Texas or Eric Priest from Kansas City.

During the weeks leading up to this date Golden Boy was reaching out to East L.A. area businesses and schools introducing their brand to adults and children. It was old fashioned promoting that seemed to disappear as social media emerged.

It’s one thing to post photos and video clips. It’s more engaging to meet and greet in person. It’s lasting. Even for the fighters it adds excitement.

Middleweight great Bernard Hopkins added a reminder to the fighters of the importance of this show.

“This is an opportunity to get respect for your team because the world is watching,” said Hopkins.

It’s also an opportunity to showcase the Golden Boy brand.

Friday Shows

Two rival promotions are going head-to-head on Friday, Sept, 15.

Matchroom Boxing duels Top Rank with a heavy-duty show featuring both male and female highly ranked prizefighters.

Former featherweight world titlist Erika Cruz (15-2) meets Melissa Odessa Parker (6-1) in a super featherweight fight set for 10 rounds at Auditorio Municipale in Tijuana, Mexico. DAZN will stream the boxing card at 1 p.m.

Cruz battled the great Amanda Serrano ferociously and lost the WBC featherweight belt by decision. It was a bloody affair that cemented her reputation as an awkward but crafty southpaw.

Almost all her fights are bloody.

Parker is a hard charger from Texas who recently suffered her first loss. She will be eager to gain notoriety by defeating Mexico’s Cruz.

Another female title match pits Australia’s super athletic Skye Nicolson (7-0) against Mexico’s Sabrina Perez (18-1-1). Both are fighting for an interim featherweight title. It’s not the actual title but one meant to gain sanctioning money for the WBC.

Lightweight contenders Angel Fierro (21-1-2) and Brayan Zamarripa (13-1) meet for a regional title.

Top Rank

Later, on Friday, Top Rank matches Luis Alberto “Venado” Lopez (28-2, 16 KOs) against always tough Joet Gonzalez (26-3, 15 KOs) for the IBF featherweight world title with super welterweights Xander Zayas (16-0, 10 KOs) and Roberto Valenzuela (21-4) meeting in the co-feature. The undercard will stream on ESPN+ with three-bout main card on the main ESPN platform.

Lopez demolished British isle fighters Michael Conlan and Josh Warrington to get to this point.

Gonzalez has three losses, but all were to world champions Shakur Stevenson, Isaac Dogboe and Emanuel Navarrete. He can fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 1 p.m. Erika Cruz (15-2) vs Melissa Odessa Parker (6-1).

Fri. ESPN+ 3:30 p.m. Luis Lopez (28-2) vs Joet Gonzalez (26-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (28-0) vs Mercito Gesta (34-3-3).

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Arne K. Lang

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International Brotherhood of Prizefighters Rankings: Week of September 24, 2023

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2023

IB of P

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 Nontshinga (South Africa)

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

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Canelo-Charlo-Gets-All-the-Ink-but-Don't-Overlook-This-Compelling-Match-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

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2023

David A. Avila

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

Applerose2

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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