Cotto-Margarito 24/7 Brings The Drama, Emotion

Published

12 years ago

November 21, 2011

An HBO 24/7 doesn’t have to feature Floyd Mayweather or Miguel Cotto to be compelling. The Saturday debut of the Cotto-Margarito episode one cemented that.

Liev Schrieber, aka The Voice, told watchers that the Dec. 3 rematch between the Puerto Rican and Mexican-born hitters is a battle between the good guy and the bad guy, the guy who has never been and will never be accused of being anything less than a principled professional, and the guy who quite possibly has cheated his way to prominence.

“He used it, he used the plaster the night of the fight with me. He looks and he acts like a criminal,” Cotto says. “I’m a clean fighter, there was nothing illegal,” responds Margarito, looking like he should play Tony Montana in a “Scarface” remake, of the circumstances of their 2008 clash.

In Cocoa Beach, FL, we see Cotto, having come from Orlando, working out. Cotto said he’s better today than in 2008, because his passion is back. His trainer is Pedro Diaz, the third cornerman in his last four fights. His uncle Evangelista, ex strength and conditioning coach Joel Santiago and Manny Steward were at the helm before.

Cotto said people will know Margarito was cheating after he wins on Dec. 3, and he’s right, people will assume that Margarito was using loaded gloves in their first tangle if Cotto gets it done.

Margarito is training in Temoaya, Mexico, about 10,000 feet above sea level, as opposed to Southern California. The show mentioned that his career took a dive when in January 2009 the California commission confiscated hardened pads which were being inserted into the fighter’s gloves before he was set to fight Shane Mosley. It does strike me that it is strange that Margarito doesn’t hammer ex trainer Javier Capetillo, who he supposedly viewed as a father figure, for inserting hard pads into his gloves, which resulted in the diminishment of the boxer’s reputation. Cynics would say of course Margarito doesn’t hammer Capetillo, because Capetillo has allowed the bus to run over him, allowed himself to bear the blame for the event, and Margarito owes him one. “We are moving on,” Margarito says. Easier said than done..

We see Capetillo, who can work with boxers but can’t corner them. He says that he grabbed pads already out on the table and says he wasn’t paying attention. “I paid and I’m still paying for it. And I’m not guilty of anything. And neither is Margarito,” he says.

Cotto begs to differ. He said he wondered if the plaster pads were used against him. Mostly, he’s taken the high road when asked if Margarito cheated. He’s said he wasn’t sure. But he is vehement now.

We saw a synopsis of the 2008 clash. Then Cotto shows his photo which he says proves the wraps were iffy. “It could have been twisted. It could have been a booger I had there,” Margarito says of the discoloration seen on the wrapped fist. Schrieber says that Cotto says the redness seen is dye from the gloves, but then Cotto says the redness on the pad is the same as the redness on a confiscated pad…so that left me confused. All in all, the “evidence” wouldn’t fly in court, so we will be left to wonder.

“He play with my health..thank God I’m healthy, but it could be worse,” Cotto says. Margarito says he told Cotto to his face he could wrap his hands, and he would beat him.

The cataract surgery at the end of May is referenced. “Everything is perfect,” Margarito says. That remains to be seen, through the eyes of the NY commission. Trainer Robert Garcia says Margarito looks superb in training and appears to have no worries about the artificial lens in the eye. (Side note: I do not dismiss out of hand the word of the doctors Top Rank has assembled who say Margarito is in no more danger than any other boxer. I don’t think they’ve collected a couple joker hacks to say this. And without knowing the specifics of the case, I do know that advances in medical technology can oftentimes mean that manmade devices and prosthetic body parts can be as sturdy or even more so than the original device or body part. But to the best of my knowledge, their doctors do not specialize in boxing. And, I do not know of a precedent for this, of any other boxer who had the artificial lens inserted and then fought with the lens in. And judicial bodies like to see precedents, because that allows them cover in case things go wrong. Everyone is worried in this day of age about getting their pants sued off. So they tend to veer toward the side of caution. And, we also hope, that powers that be all have the health and well being of the boxers in mind. We all hope that is the paramount reasoning used in this and all situations, that goes without saying. And until explicitly shown otherwise, I will assume that there is no other agenda for the NY commission than the health and well being of the boxer. We all have to be judicious with our judgements and assumptions. Talk of this being a morality play, or a reaction to the UFC’s pending suit against the state for not licensing MMA..I need to see compelling evidence those are anything more than suppositions. I suggest we all, until it’s proven otherwise, assume that all involved are doing the right thing, and lobbying with a clean conscience.)

Brandon Rios cracks wise in Margarito camp. “He’s like a big kid,” Margarito says of Bam Bam. The camp looks to have a happy atmosphere.

Back in Florida, we hear about the death of Cotto’s dad Miguel Sr, who died last January from respiratory distress stemming from asthma. Miguel’s mom Juana has stepped in for dad; she oversees the camp, reluctantly. “He was my friend. He was my angel,” mom says. “My father? He was everything,” Cotto says, as he gets misty. He has taken the death hard and sometimes doesn’t want to get out of bed, but does out of obligation.

His father’s face is etched on his left shoulder, in ink. “He watch my back, every moment of my life,” he says.

His dad was by his side in the hospital after the 2008 fight, and he treasures those moments. His dad will be his corner on Dec. 3, he says.

“Why does he cry so much?” Margarito says, mockingly.

“He doesn’t have the same plaster this fight. So it’s going to be different,” Cotto says.

This fight will happen, it’s just a matter of where. A New York Athletic Commission doctor will examine Margarito today and give his assessment to chair Melvina Lathan, who will provide a ruling on licensing tomorrow. A cataract surgery had previously been a disqualifier to get licensed in NY, but the commission has allowed for debate, rather than an automatic DQ. I know of no other boxer that has boxed with an artificial lens but there may be examples I’m unaware of. Stay tuned, fight fans…

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Michael Woods

Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

22 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Ramon-Cardenas-Channels-Micky-Ward-and-KOs-Eduardo-Ramirez-on-ProBox

The Wednesday night bi-monthly series of fights on the ProBox TV platform is the best deal in boxing; the livestream is free with no strings attached! Tonight’s episode was headlined by a super bantamweight match between San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas and Eduardo Ramirez who brought a caravan of rooters from his hometown in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.

Cardenas, coached by Joel Diaz, entered the contest ranked #4 by the WBA. He was expected to handle Ramirez with little difficulty, but this was a close, tactical fight through eight frames when lightning struck in the form of a left hook to the liver from Cardenas. Ramirez went down on one knee and wasn’t able to beat the count. It was as if Cardenas summoned the ghost of Micky Ward who had a penchant for terminating fights with the same punch that arrived out of the blue.

The official time was 1:37 of round nine. Cardenas improved to 25-1 with his14th win inside the distance. Ramirez, who was stopped in the opening round by Nick “Wrecking” Ball in London in his lone previous fight outside Mexico, falls to 23-3-3.

Co-Feature

In an upset, Tijuana super welterweight Damian Sosa won a split decision over previously undefeated Marques Valle, a local area fighter who was stepping up in class in his first 10-round go. Sosa was the aggressor, repeatedly backing his taller opponent into the ropes where Valle was unable to get good leverage behind his punches.

The 25-year-old Valle, managed by the influential David McWater, was the house fighter. This was his 10^th appearance in this building. He brought a 10-0 (7) record and was hoping to emulate the success of his younger brother Dominic Valle who scored a second-round stoppage of his opponent in this ring two weeks ago, improving to 9-0. But Sosa, who brought a 24-2 record, proved to be a bridge too high.

The judges had it 97-93 and 96-94 for the Tijuana invader and a disgraceful 98-92 for the house fighter.

Also

In a fight whose abrupt ending would be echoed by the main event, 34-year-old SoCal featherweight Ronny Rios, now training in Las Vegas, returned to the ring after a 22-month hiatus and scored a fifth-round stoppage over Nicolas Polanco of the Dominican Republic.

A three-punch combo climaxed by a left hook to the liver took the breath out of Polanco who slumped to his knees and was counted out. A two-time world title challenger, Rios advanced to 34-4 (17 KOs). Polanco, 34, declined to 21-6-1. The official time was 0:54 of round five.

—

The next ProBox show (Wednesday, May 8) will have an international cast with fighters from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom. In the main event, Liverpool’s Robbie Davies Jr will make his U.S. debut against the California-based Kazakh Sergey Lipinets.

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Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Haney-Garcia-Redux-with-the-Focus-on-Harvey-Dock

Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

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In a Shocker, Ryan Garcia Confounds the Experts and Upsets Devin Haney

Published

5 days ago

April 21, 2024

David A. Avila

In-a-Shocker-Ryan-Garcia-Confounds-the-Experts-and-Upsets-Devin-Haney

Its good to be crazy. Like a fox.

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia knocked down WBC super lightweight titlist Devin Haney three times to remind everyone of his fighting abilities in winning by majority decision on Saturday.

“I just knew what I could do,” Garcia said.

Fans will not forget the lanky kid from Victorville, California now.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) fooled everyone in playing crazy weeks before the fight, then showed shocking power to hand Haney (30-1, 15 KOs) his first loss as a professional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney’s WBC super lightweight title was not at stake for Garcia because he weighed three pounds over the limit.

After Garcia seemingly acting out of control on social media, Haney’s guard must have slipped in the first round during the first few seconds as Garcia connected with that hellish left hook and Haney, with a look of shock in his eyes, almost went down. He barely survived the first round.

“He caught me with it,” said Haney.

During the next few rounds, Haney proceeded to advance toward Garcia seemingly fully aware of the lethal left hook. He used feints and rights to score with a busier approach as Garcia seemed cocked and ready to counter with a left hook.

In the fourth round it seemed Haney was confident he had regained control of the fight, but every time he opened up with more than a two-punch combination Garcia reminded him whose hands were faster and more dangerous.

Though Garcia seldom jabbed he seemed bent on looking for the right moment to unleash his deadly left hook. And every time the Southern California fighter opened up with a combination he scored and Haney dare not exchange.

A few times Haney smiled as if signifying he escaped.

In the seventh round Haney looked to punish Garcia’s body and instead was met with a three-punch combination included a left hook to the chin and down went Haney slumped on the ground. He managed to beat the count and as soon as Garcia came within reach Haney wrapped his arms around him with a python grip. Despite the warnings by referee Harvey Dock, the fallen fighter would not release and Garcia impatiently fired a weak punch during the break. The referee deducted a point from Garcia though he could have deducted a point from Haney for not obeying his instructions to release his hold. Haney actually went down three times in the round but only one was counted by the referee.

From that point on Haney was very cautious but still looking to win by decision.

Though Garcia kept using a shoulder-roll defense that left his body exposed, he would retaliate with three and four punch combinations that usually Haney could defend against other fighters.. But Garcia’s blazing combinations were too fast to defend.

In the 10^th round Haney looked to attack and was countered by Garcia’s right and a blinding left hook to the chin and another two blows that sent the former undisputed lightweight champion to the floor again.

It didn’t look good for Haney to survive.

Garcia walked into the 11^th round still composed and never out-of-control He dared Haney to exchange and when within striking distance Garcia unleashed another lightning combination and down went Haney again with a defeated look.

Both fighters had fought each other as amateurs six times so there were no surprises between them. But Garcia’s power and speed were superior and that was the difference in a professional fight.

In the final round both were cautious with Garcia’s combination punching proving too dangerous for Haney to open up. Garcia celebrated early as the round ended confident of victory.

After 12 rounds Garcia was seen the victor by majority decision 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.

“You really thought I was crazy,” Garcia told the interviewer and the crowd. “You guys hated on me.”

Other Bouts

Arnold Barboza (30-0) won a curious split decision victory over United Kingdom’s Sean McComb (18-2) in a 10-round super lightweight fight. McComb’s long reach and busy southpaw style gave Barboza trouble. But he managed to win the fight though the crowd was not pleased.

Bektemir Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOs) defeated France’s Pierre Dibombe (22-1-1) by technical decision after eight rounds due to a cut on his eye from an accidental head butt. It was a very competitive super middleweight fight.

Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (16-1, 11 KOs) outworked John “Scrappy Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round scrap to upset the Los Angeles based fighter. After a few close rounds Jimenez simply bullied his way inside and forced Ramirez against the ropes and unloaded his guns.

After 12 rounds two judges saw it 117-111 and 116-114 all for Jimenez.

“I’m a hard-working man from Cartago I come from nothing,” said Jimenez. “My corner told me I had to work inside.”

Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) stepped on the gas early with vicious body shots and uppercuts and blasted through the resilient Nathaniel Gallimore (22-8-1, 17 KOs) for several rounds. After a brutal fifth and sixth round the referee halted the one-side beating in favor of Conwell who was fighting for the first time under the Golden Boy banner.

Another winner was Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-5) by decision over Vaughn Alexander (18-11-1) in a super middleweight match.

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