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Posted on 03/29/2017

PBC on Fox Sports 1 Results: Leduan Barthelemy and Kyrone Davis Win Tuesday in CA!
By: Ken Hissner

At the Robinson Rancheria in Nice, CA, over PBC in the main event southpaw Cuban Leduan Barthelemy, 13-0 (7), now out of Las Vegas, from the Barthelemy family, after a tough eight rounds stopped Dominican Reynaldo Blanco, 14-4 (8), at 1:30 of the ninth round when Blanco’s corner threw in the towel shortly after Blanco was dropped.

The much taller Barthelemy dominated the first round as Blanco dropped down to 130 from his usual 135 on two weeks notice and used his right hand when possible. In the second and third rounds Blanco became the aggressor back Barthelemy up in a close round. In the fourth round it was Barthelemy being the aggressor hurting Blanco with a counter right hand to the head. Blanco’s right eye was starting to swell.

In the fifth and sixth rounds Barthelemy continued countering as Blanco was the aggressor throwing right hands against the southpaw. In the seventh round after an even six rounds Barthelemy kept setting up Blanco with a long jab and hook hurt Blanco. It looked like Blanco’s corner was not letting him out for the ninth but out came Blanco for the ninth round. Barthelemy dropped Blanco with a right hook to the chin. His corner waved to him to stay down but up he was at eight. It wasn’t seconds before Blanco’s corner threw in the towel at 1:30 of the ninth round.

In the semi-final as expected it was a war with southpaw Kyrone “Shut It Down” Davis, 12-1 (5), of Wilmington, DE, won a split decision over Mark Hernandez, 9-1 (2), of Fresno, CA, over ten rounds of action.

In the opening round though only having two knockouts in his nine wins Hernandez showed power with right uppercuts while Davis forced the action driving Hernandez into a neutral corner setting the stage for the entire fight. In the second round Hernandez came back in this round and near the end of the round rocked Davis with a left hook and a pair of right uppercuts. In the third round Davis outpunched Hernandez three to one but Hernandez had power on his right uppercuts. The corner of Davis in his trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards out of Philadelphia kept warning him about the uppercuts from Hernandez. In the fourth and fifth round Davis put on a vicious display of body shots that were breaking down Hernandez.

In the sixth round Hernandez was landing some left hooks to the head of Davis while being pushed into a neutral corner. Davis continued working the body taking several warnings from referee Dan Stell.

In the seventh round in what looked like a border line shot from Davis referee Stell stopped the action and took a point from Davis. Davis did enough to earn a 9-9 round. In the eighth round Davis continued outworking Hernandez who was slowed down with a barrage of body shots.

In the ninth round which was a first for both fighters Davis continued to keep Hernandez on the ropes outworking him but on several occasions would be hit with a right uppercut or left hook both to the chin. In the tenth and final round halfway through Hernandez rocked Davis with a counter right to the chin forcing Davis to hold on. Hernandez was not able to take advantage though taking the round.

Scores were 96-93 for Davis, 95-94 for Hernandez and 96-93 for Davis while this writer had it 97-92 for Davis.

Posted on 03/28/2017

Boxing Insider Notebook: Golovkin, Canelo, Fortuna, Chavez, Lemieux, and more..
Compiled By: William Holmes

The following is the Boxing Insider notebook for the week of March 21st to March 28th, covering the comings and goings in the sport of boxing that you might have missed.

Gennady Golovkin’s Promoter Tells TMZ Canelo Alvarez Fight Needs to Happen

Gennady Golovkin’s promoter told TMZ that the Canelo Alvarez fight needs to happen and that both sides want it done and that there’s just way too much money to be made.

Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, says he’s been in serious talks with Golden Boy about a possible September date as long as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. doesn’t beat Canelo in May.

He also indicated that there’s a lot of options for a venue, including Madison Square Garden and T-Mobile Arena.

Read more at: http://www.tmz.com/2017/03/25/gennady-golovkin-promoter-canelo-alvarez-fight/

Javier Fortuna Renews Promotional Agreement with Sampson Boxing

Former WBA Featherweight and Super Featherweight Champion Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (31-1-1, 22 KOs) has renewed his long-term promotional agreement with promoter Sampson Lewkowicz and Sampson Boxing.

From La Romana, Dominican Republic, the 27-year-old Fortuna has won two straight since dropping his super featherweight belt in a shocker against Jason Sosa in June 2016. He came back with an impressive two-round blowout of fellow Dominican Marlyn Cabrera in September 2016 and then, in November took the undefeated record of Delaware’s Omar “Super O” Douglas by unanimous decision.

“Sampson Lewkowicz is and always will be my promoter,” said Fortuna. “He has done right by me and my career at every turn. I will be world champion again with Sampson in my corner.”

Lewkowicz, who says he’s working on a big fight for Fortuna, says Fortuna has become like family.
“Javier is a son to me. I am honored to be his promoter and look forward to continuing to work for him. He is a great champion with many great fights left. After he won his first title, he told me we would work together for his entire career and he has kept his word. I will do everything to make him a champion again.”

Hasim Rahman Jr. Pro Debut Moved to Friday, April 14th

When promoter Greg Cohen announced he had finalized arrangements for his next event, the decision to delay his promising heavyweight hopeful, Hasim Rahman Jr.’s, professional boxing debut two more weeks became an easy one.

Originally scheduled to turn professional on March 23, Baltimore native Rahman will now have his first four-round fight in front of a huge contingent of hometown family and friends on Friday, April 14, at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md.

Rahman will face Kansas City’s Brian Imes (1-4, 1 KO) on the non-televised undercard portion of an event that features the live telecast of undefeated Dmitry Bivol defending his interim WBA Light Heavyweight title against Samuel Clarkson in the 12-round main event of a ShoBox: The New Generation tripleheader (10 p.m. ET/PT). In the co-feature, unbeaten welterweight prospects Juan Ruiz and Malik Hawkins will square off in an eight-round bout, and Baltimore’s undefeated featherweight Glenn Dezurn will open the telecast.

Tickets for the event, which is co-promoted by Greg Cohen Promotions and Banner Promotions in association with World of Boxing and Uprising Promotions, are priced at $103, $73 and $48 and can be purchased at www.TicketMaster.com.

“You only get one pro debut, so when Greg announced this show, he and I thought it would be a great idea for me to turn pro on this show instead, in front of my hometown friends and family,” explained Rahman.
The 25-year-old, son of Hasim “The Rock” Rahman, who famously knocked out Lennox Lewis in April 2001 to win the WBC and IBF Heavyweight Championships, says to being at home is a very important part of his mission.

“I’m doing this for my family and my friends and my city, so I think I should start right in front of them,” Rahman continued. “And someday I’ll bring them back the heavyweight championship. I can’t wait to fight on the same show as my brother with all my loved ones watching. It’s going to be a very big night.”
“We didn’t get the final word we were doing the Maryland show until a few days ago,” said Greg Cohen. “But once we knew it was happening, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to let Hasim Jr. turn pro at home. It just worked out perfectly.”

Barry Tompkins will call the ShoBox action from ringside with Steve Farhood and former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer is Gordon Hall with Rich Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.

David Lemieux and Joseph Diaz Added to Canelo vs. Chavez Jr. HBO PPV Telecast

Less than two months after delivering the top knockout of 2017, Canadian knockout artist David Lemieux (37-3, 33 KOs) will return in a 10-round fight against Marco “Dorado” Reyes (34-4, 25 KOs) as the chief support to the highly anticipated battle between Canelo Álvarez and Julio Cesar Chávez, Jr. on Saturday, May 6. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

Opening up the stacked Cinco de Mayo weekend card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, former U.S. Olympian and current undefeated NABF Featherweight champion Joseph “JoJo” Diaz, Jr. (23-0, 13 KOs) will face perhaps his toughest challenge to date when he defends his title against the undefeated Manuel “Tino” Avila (22-0, 8 KOs) in a 10-round battle.

These two fights along with the main event and the previously announced brawl between Argentinian slugger Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse (37-4, 34 KOs) and Emmanuel “Tranzformer” Taylor (20-4, 14 KOs) will round out the pay-per-view telecast on Saturday May 6.

“With three of Golden Boy Promotions’ most exciting contenders appearing on the pay-per-view, as well as the biggest star in the sport, Canelo Álvarez, the Cinco de Mayo card can be described in one word, ‘stacked’,” said Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya. “I fully expect four action-packed fights that will have fans out of their seats for the entire evening.”

The hard-hitting Lemieux is riding a three-fight winning streak and was last seen delivering a thunderous third-round knockout of the highly touted Curtis “Cerebral Assassin” Stevens that has put the Canadian directly back into the title picture.

“I’m thankful to have the opportunity of being part of this event during the Cinco de Mayo celebrations,” Lemieux said. “I think I was able to send a clear message on March 11 with my performance against Stevens and I intend to do the same on May 6. I want to make sure that everyone understands that David Lemieux is making his way towards the top and that he intends to stay there.”

Reyes, a 29-year-old former WBC FECOMBOX middleweight champion, has knocked out 25 opponents and went toe-to-toe with Chavez, Jr., in a unanimous decision defeat that many spectators had closer than what came up on the scorecards.

“I know everyone is talking about the Lemieux knockout, but I’m ready to take him out,” Reyes said. “With my Mexican fans supporting me on Cinco de Mayo weekend, I’m ready to turn Lemieux’s lights out.”

“Following his performance against Curtis ‘The Cerebral Assassin’ Stevens at Turning Stone Resort Casino, fight fans wanted to see David in the ring again as soon as possible,” said Eye of the Tiger Management President Camille Estephan. “Being part of such a tremendous card that will be featured on May 6 with eyes on us from all around the world represents an incredible showcase opportunity. We are convinced that David will shine. He is in great shape and is more motivated than ever to conquer the top of the middleweight division,”

In the opening battle of the HBO Pay-Per-View telecast, two undefeated fighters will go toe-to-toe with both Joseph Diaz, Jr. and Manuel Avila risking their undefeated records for a chance at greater glory.
“I’m excited to return for the first time in 2017 and put my title on the line against such a tough competitor,” Diaz, Jr. said. “This fight will put me one step closer to a world title shot.”

“This is a golden opportunity to move myself into world title contention, and I’m not planning to let that chance slip away,” Avila said. “I know all about JoJo’s undefeated record, but he’s never faced anyone like me, and at the end of the night, my hand will be raised in victory.”

Preliminary bouts for the May 6 show will be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets for a closed circuit viewing of the fights at the Grand Ballroom at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino are on sale for $75, not including applicable fees. All seats are general admission and can be purchased at the MGM Grand box office or by phone with a major credit card at 800-745-3000.

Helenius and Chisora Set for Huge Heavyweight Rematch

Robert Helenius (24-1, 15 KOs) and Dereck Chisora (26-7, 18 KOs) are set for a huge heavyweight rematch on May 27 at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.

There is a lot of the line for both men, in what promises to be the biggest fight on Finnish soil in recent history, with both the WBC Silver World Heavyweight title and a shot at the current WBC World Champion Deontay Wilder up for grabs.

Helenius holds a controversial split decision win over Chisora from their all action showdown in December 2011, which many believed the British boxer did enough to win. However, the Finnish fighter says this time the decision will be left in no doubt.

‘’Chisora is a good fighter and I’m expecting a tough fight, but I’m very confident I will win,’’ said the 33 year-old. ‘’Before our first match, I injured my right shoulder and had to fight for twelve-rounds with just one arm. If I was able to beat him with one arm, I don’t see any problems beating him when I have two.

‘’I am in great shape now, and I feel stronger than ever. It’s been a long road back since my shoulder operation, and I’ve been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this. I believe I am ready, and after I beat Chisora, I will be in a good position to challenge for the World title.’’

‘’I’m looking forward to going back to Helsinki and putting on another great show for the fans,’’ said Chisora. ‘’It’s a beautiful city with a lot of beautiful people. We had a lot of fun last time, and everyone knows who really won that fight. He can make all the excuses he wants, but that won’t help him on May 27.

‘’I feel like this is my time, I’m in my prime, and I can’t wait. I might be relaxed now, but when I leave London, I’m going to war. When I get on that flight I become a different person. Mr. Nice Guy is gone. It brings the vicious side out in me, and he’d better be ready!’’

‘’We’re delighted to be bringing this huge heavyweight attraction to Helsinki,’’ said promoter Nisse Sauerland. ‘’The first fight between Robert and Dereck was something special, and this promises to be even better. They’ve got unfinished business, and on May 27, they’ve finally got the chance to settle the score.’’

Tickets for the WBC Silver World Heavyweight Championship clash between Robert Helenius and Dereck Chisora will go on sale Monday, March 27 at 9.00 (EET) and are available online via www.ticketmaster.fi or by calling the ticket hotline on 0600 10 800.

Life Saving Brain Scanners Debut at Exclusive Boxing Event in Malta

Last Friday evening the cream of Maltese Glitterati descended on the Le Meridien Hotel in St Julian’s, Malta, for a rather exclusive Professional Boxing event, sanctioned by the British & Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA) in conjunction with the Malta Boxing Commission (MBC).

With tickets priced at almost ten times the normal for a boxing event in the Mediterranean haven, joining the rich and famous from the Islands were in excess of sixty international high rollers, each and every one of them attending to support Damon Booth as he made his professional boxing debut, against Ireland’s Marty Kayes, as well as to watch the highly decorated multi-World Champion Scott Dixon in action against England’s Will Cairns

However, those in attendance for the swanky event were totally unaware that in the background was an historic event also taking place, as for the first time on the Islands and only the second time ever at a professional boxing event anywhere in the World, the ground breaking hand held Infra-Scanners, that can detect bleeds to the brain of the combatants, were in action both pre and post fights.

The Infra-Scanners, that were successfully introduced by the BIBA just two weeks prior, at an event in Paisley Scotland, following a number of high profile life changing head injuries incidents at professional boxing events in the UK last year, most notably the death of Scottish Boxer Mike Towell, even though these tragic incidents were on events sanctioned by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) and not by themselves.

The Infra-Scanner is a hand held brain scanner that is designed to detect bleeding on the surface of the brain inside the skull, so epidural and subdural bleeds, which are the common bleeds associated with an impact to the head, ones that can commonly cause life changing injuries or in the worse case scenario, death, in a short space of time.

Within Boxing, the Infra-Scanner is not intended to replace an MRI scan, which is required annually for Professional Boxers, but allows Doctors at Ringside to undertake a two or three minute scan, to determine if as a result of the boxing match that a boxer may have sustained an epidural and subdural bleed to the head.

Should the scan produce a positive result this will enable the Ringside Doctors to ensure that the Boxer is admitted immediately to the nearest specialist unit, where the appropriate care can be undertaken.
Malta Boxing Commission (MBC) Chief Medical Officer and British & Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA) Medical Advisory Committee Member Dr Mark Xuereb spoke briefly after the successful introduction of the Infra-Scanners at the special event.

“My comments as a Boxing Doctor for both the MBC & BIBA and having been in this profession for in excess of ten years, I can say I’ve seen a lot of boxers and sometimes as a clinician the team has a dilemma do you refer to hospital or don’t you, which is a crucially important decision because you are potentially toying with death.

Without wanting to dramatize, this is a fantastic tool, the Infra-Scanner is a crucial tool to aid in that decision process. It’s easy, it’s simple, any paramedic or doctor can be trained to use it and it helps with the triage system, which is crucially important decision, because we decide what is current urgent versus future important.

We have guidelines for head injuries charting, whether to refer or not refer, as always this will not replace clinical assessment, however shall we say it fortifies and confirms your clinical hunch.
So easy to use, perfect, would I use in the future, absolutely, the research results are undeniable, and it’s making waves all over the world, so I would really like to thank whoever invented it because it is really going to help us as health & safety in any sport is first and foremost, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, five stars and hopefully as it develops it will get smaller and lighter, although saying that must say it is already lightweight and reasonable in size, so brilliant all round.”

Maltese Heavyweight Billy Corito, who had attended the event became the first Maltese boxer to be scanned, even though he wasn’t boxing on the event had this to say about the technological breakthrough.
“I was overwhelmed to be asked by Dr Xuereb to be the first Maltese boxer to have a Brain scan using the infra-scanner.

Could not believe this little remote looking device can save a boxers life! It was so quick and easy to detect if I have an injury or blood on my brain or anyone else’s.

It was over in just a couple of minutes, so just imagine if all boxing federations have one of these on every boxing event how quick lives would be saved.

As the saying goes, boxing saves lives, well now its Infra-scanners who are saving lives”

Scott Dixon, who was the actual first competitor to be scanned post fight at the event also spoke about the infra-scanners and the positive effect he believes having them ringside will have on the sport.

I think it’s an absolute revelation that BIBA have now bought in the head scanners to Malta, before and after every contest, this is the way forward, the only way forward.

There have been a few fatalities in the ring and most notably when I had my first fight on Friday the 13th October 1995 my best friend James Murray died in the boxing ring.

It took me a long time to get over that and I always hoped and wished that the rules would become more stringent. Back then it was British Boxing Board of Control, but hey now the British & Irish Boxing Authority are ruling the waves now with their pro-active approach to boxer safety.

BIBA make it their number one priority to look after the fighters and that’s the way it should be, their regulations are amazing, so I’m delighted to be a BIBA license holder and to be the first boxer to undertake a scan after my fight here in Malta, forget the rest BIBA’s the best.

I came to Malta eleven years ago and when I came here boxing was virtually nonexistent, they never knew a left hook from a fishhook, but now they’ve progressed and moved forward, so much so that having the scanners here are leading the charge in boxer safety.

Scott then went on to praise the BIBA on their professionalism with regard to another of their procedures, this time regarding dope tests, particularly due to an unsavory brush with the local doping authority, who not only failed to follow correct procedures at one of his previous fights that was sanctioned by the Malta Boxing Association (MBA), but then decided to charge him with failing to undertake a doping request, which is currently under appeal.

“I’m also delighted that tonight BIBA even regulated the doping screening, I volunteered to take the tests as they were going to pick them at random which is standard procedure, but I volunteered as I have nothing to hide.

The true procedure is that you are notified before that you will be subject to dope testing, obviously like I said, I volunteered, I done one test before the contest.

After my fight I was escorted, to the dressing room, by BIBA officials, to make sure there was no dodgy business, I went straight to the dressing room and was observed and did another doping test.
Obviously both were clear, as always, because I’m a professional athlete, I’ve been a professional 23 years now.

Now I’ve done thirty dope tests during my career in total, the correct procedure is you be notified and like I said BIBA followed the correct procedure and in an appropriate manner.

I’m so pleased to be part of this set-up, I mean listen there are so many cowboys in this sport, let’s be honest you have the MBA here in Malta for an example, so if you want to join a circus you go with them, if you want to be part of a truly professional set up you go with MBC or BIBA, as they look after the fighters safety first and foremost and that’s the only way forward and that’s why we’ve gone with the top of the chain.”

Posted on 03/28/2017

Gerrie Coetzee the First African to Win the Heavyweight Title!
By: Ken Hissner

After an amateur career with a 185-7 record Gerrie “Boksburg Bomber” Coetzee would start the long journey to be the first African to become the world heavyweight championship. Losing 3 times to Kallie Knoetze came to an end when in 1973 he stopped Knoetze for the Senior Amateur title. What seemed as a long shot he would overcome all the odds and road blocks he would encounter along the way.

Coetzee would turn professional in September of 1974 against the former South African champion Chris Roos, 11-6-2, seemed like the right opponent to start his career. In having what would be his only scheduled 4 rounder in his career he won the decision over Roos in Johannesburg, South Africa. He would score knockouts in his next 3 fights with a pair of first round knockouts of which one was an opponent from the Netherlands and another from the UK.
After Coetzee’s sixth fight he had won 3 by knockout and 3 by decision. Wanting to get a rematch for those he won decisions over he aimed to show improvement in knocking them out in return matches. He would start with Hennie Thoonen, 4-1, some 7 weeks after defeating him and coming off another decision win some 20 days after defeating Amedeo Laureti, 6-5-1, all over 6 rounds. Thoonen would be halted in 3 rounds this time. This followed with a rematch with Chris Roos who hadn’t fought in 13 months since being defeated by Coetzee. It was a totally different outcome this time stopping Roos in 3 rounds in his first scheduled for 8.

Feeling confident Coetzee would take a giant step taking on the veteran Jimmy Richards, 26-9-4, in February of 1976. Richards was 10-0-1 having won the South African title and drawing with American Henry Clark but losing his title to Mike Schutte over 12 rounds. Coetzee defeated Richards over 6 rounds. Then he moved back up to an 8 rounder against Hartmut Sasse, 11-6-1, from Europe and found himself on the canvas in the first round. He was able to rebound and take an 8 round decision over Sasse.

Then Coetzee had a rematch with Richards some 6 weeks after defeating him. This time he stopped Richards in the 9th of a 10 rounder. Next up American Ron Stander, 30-9-2, was brought in. He had failed in a world title fight with “Smokin” Joe Frazier. He stopped Stander in the 8th round of a 10. This set the stage for his first shot at the South African title against champion Mike Schutte a month later.

Schutte, 32-5-1, was on a 14 fight win streak at the time. It had been almost a year since taking the title from Richards and this would be his first defense in August of 1976. Coetzee was 12-0 at the time with almost 2 years of experience. By the 6th round Schutte was DQ’d and Coetzee was the new South African champion. Coetzee injured his right hand in this fight.

It would be 2 ½ months later when Coetzee would defend against his old nemesis from the amateurs Kallie Knoetz, 6-1, who had defeated Coetzee 3 times before Coetzee ended his amateur career stopping Knoetz. Coetzee went against his physician’s advice to fight having a pulled muscle in his back. Knoetz just 2 weeks earlier lost for the first time by DQ. This would be a 10 round non-title bout. Coetzee would take a decision win over Knoetz.

Now it was time for Coetzee to make the first defense of his title. He was considered the white champ and would be taking on the non-white champion James Mathatho, 12-4-1. He was 7-1-1 since taking his title. Coetzee would score a 7th round knockout. Pierre Fourie, 52-6-1, was next. He had failed twice trying to take Bob Foster’s light heavyweight title and failed both times. He was now on a 3 fight win streak. Coetzee would score a knockout in 3 rounds.

Next up would be a rematch for Coetzee with Schutte whom he won the South African title over. Schutte had rebounded defeating Americans Rodney Bobick and Chuck Wepner. Coetzee would take a 12 round decision over Schutte this time but had hurt his left hand in the second round and his right hand in the third round but showed quite a bit of courage in winning this fight over 12 rounds. After the fight his gloves had to be cut off due to the swelling in his hands.

After this fight a Johannesburg surgeon performed a complex operation on his right hand and also on his left hand at that time. He would be back in the ring 6 months later and win 4 straight fights against Americans stopping Tom Prater, 18-6-1, and Johnny Boudreaux, 20-2-1. He would be off for 5 months before taking on and defeating future cruiserweight world champion Randy Stephens, 10-3. It was a lack luster win and he would receive another operation after this fight and be out for 7 months returning to defeat American Ibar Arrington, 26-6-1.

This writer remembers Cus D’Amato telling me Bob Arum who had been with the IRS wanted him to come up with an idea of taking 2 black boxers to South Africa against 2 white challengers with the winners meeting. Knoetz, 17-2, was on an 11 fight win streak since losing to Coetzee and would meet Olympian John Tate, 18-0, who would knock out Knoetz in 8 rounds. Coetzee would meet former world champion and Olympic champion Leon Spinks, 7-1-1, who had lost in a rematch with Muhammad Ali in his previous fight.

It was in Monte Carlo in June of 1979 and Coetzee would score 3 knockdowns in the first round to stop Spinks earning a shot at the world title in meeting Tate, 19-0, some 4 months later. Before over 77,000 people in a South African stadium Coetzee would fall short losing a decision to Tate. In his first defense Tate would be knocked out by Mike “Hercules” Weaver while ahead on all 3 scorecards being knockout out in 2:13 of the 15th and final round.
His first fight back since losing to Tate, Coetzee would take on American Mike Koranicki, 22-5-2, who had just knocked out Knoetz in the 10th and final round. Coetzee scored a 1st round knockout. In October of 1980 Coetzee would get another shot at the world title that Weaver had won over Tate. He had Weaver hurt in the 8th round but didn’t finish him off. It would be Weaver’s first defense taking a close decision into the 13th round and knocking out Coetzee.

Coetzee would take his first fight outside of South Africa going to Hawaii and defeating American George Chaplin, 16-2-2, over a lack luster 10 rounds. Some 5 months later he would make his state side debut in America against Renaldo “Mr.” Snipes, 21-0, for the right to meet WBC champion Larry Holmes, but lost a disputed split decision to Snipes in New York.

Coetzee would come back to South Africa and score 4 straight knockouts over American opponents with the last one in Atlantic City, NJ, stopping Stan Ward, 15-4-2, in 2 rounds. He would return to the American City, fighting to a draw with future world champion Pinklon Thomas, 20-0. One judge had it for Coetzee but the other two called it a draw. Thomas would take the WBC title from “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon the following year.

For Coetzee he would meet American Michael “Dynamite” Dokes, 26-0-2, who had taken the WBA title from Weaver by a disputed stoppage and fought to a draw in the rematch in his previous fight before meeting Coetzee. The fight would take place in Richfield, OH, the home state of Dokes and promoter Don King. It was September of 1983 and Coetzee would have his third chance to win a world title. He was a 5-1 underdog. He had dropped Dokes in the 5th round and seemed to tire late in the fight. He was slightly ahead on all 3 scorecards and scored a sensational knockout in the 10th round achieving his dream of being the first African world heavyweight champion. It was reported he received $250,000 to $750 that Dokes the champion received.

Bringing the WBA title back to South Africa Coetzee would make his first defense some 15 months later. A unification bout with Larry Holmes had fallen through. Coetzee had 23 surgeries on his right hand during his career having his bones fused together and was given the moniker the “bionic hand.” His challenger would be American Greg Page, 23-3, who was coming off 2 straight losses, one a loss to Witherspoon for the vacant WBC title but still ranked No. 6. He was from the same city, Louisville, KY, that Ali was from and tried to imitate the same style as Ali. Coetzee was down in the sixth being hit after the bell and in the seventh round. He seemed to recover and started to outbox Page in the 8th round but would be knocked out in the 8th round at 3:50, of the round that had gone well over the 3 minute mark. Pages manager Janks Morton was yelling at the time keeper prior to the stoppage about the fight continuing past the 3 minutes. The WBA Championship committee denied a protest from Coetzee, and Page’s win was upheld.

It would be 9 months before Coetzee would fight again taking on American James “Quick” Tillis, 31-6, winning over 10 rounds. He came in at a career high 232 for this fight. It would be his last fight in South Africa. He would travel to the UK and take on Frank Bruno, 27-1, at the same weight with the winner to fight Witherspoon now the WBA champion. Coetzee was knocked out in the first round. Bruno would lose to Witherspoon in his next fight. Soon after this Coetzee would move his family to America.

Coetzee had Hal Tucker as his manager and co-manager Jock Lewin and later Peter Vension as his manager. His trainers were his father Flip Coetzee, Willie Locke and Jackie McCoy.

It would be 7 ½ years when Coetzee would make a comeback winning 3 straight knockouts in California He had retired after the second win and come back some 3 years later. He was 41 at the time of his return. He would then have the final fight of his career at age 42 against the former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Iran “The Blade” Barkley, 40-12, in Hollywood, CA, coming in at 253 lbs. Barkley was on a 7 fight win streak and a title called the vacant World Boxing Board was at stake. He would drop Barkley in the second round but tired as the fight progressed. Barkley scored a 10th round stoppage ending the career of the first African to ever win a world title, Gerry Coetzee, 33-6-1 (21)! Barkley would never defend the title. Coetzee would return to live in South Africa.

KEN HISSNER: Being the first African to win a world title must have been a dream come true for you.

GERRIE COETZEE:
Yes, I was very proud to open all doors, for all people, and the boxers in Africa. I really was excited to get a third opportunity for the WBA World title against Michael Dokes. Many people in South Africa told me to go to the USA early in my career, but I was so attached to my family, I could not leave them in South Africa. I need to highlight when I went to the USA to meet my USA trainer Jackie Mc Coy I was so impress with him I knew he is the man that shall make me the next World Champ. He asked me to write down what my training sessions was in South Africa. I wrote it down and gave it to him, the next day he said softly. Do I want to impress him, I said no Uncle Jackie this is what I did for my previous fights. He looked at me and said, this will be cut by fifty present as I was over trained for most of my fights. He took over the training and it was a new me. This made me extremely positive, I felt light and quick and could not believe that I won some of my previous fights in that condition and with bad hands. Since my victory over Dokes South Africa and Africa produced many more world champs, it opened the door for them to get the opportunities many couldn’t before

KEN HISSNER: Did you get discouraged having lost in two attempts at the title when you met Michael Dokes for another chance for the title?

GERRIE COETZEE:
Losing to John Tate the next day I could not face the public and press the fight was of such magnitude it drew 96 thousand people it filled Loftus rugby stadium. It was very difficult since that time; I never realized that I was over trained. That is why I felt weak and slow during the fight and the press and public blamed it on me being unfit. Although it went 15 rounds I was weak before even entering the ring after the fight a couple of days later I swallowed tablets because I could not accept that I lost that fight, with all the training as Tate was not a strong puncher and could not take a punch. I was convinced I would beat him. My wife called a doctor when this happened he came to our house and monitored the situation until I was stable and, the doctor found no permanent damage, I just had a good sleep. Luckily my wife managed to keep this away from all the press who would have loved to report this. Getting knocked out by Mike Weaver was even worse after the fight, as I trained even more for the Weaver fight, when watching the fight you will notice that I was holding onto the ropes and Weaver, from round one, I had one good round as my trainer Allan Toweel had me doing 15 rounds of sparing the Friday night before the fight, with 3 different sparring partners from the USA. This loss also had bad publicity and again I was depressed and negative for not being able to win and felt I disappointed my fellow countrymen. I was depressed and embarrassed by my loss that I stayed in bed for around 3 weeks and allowed no one to talk to me, my wife and my cocker spaniel who stayed by my side helped me not to do anything drastically as she knew how I felt and what happened the last time.

KEN HISSNER: Was there any talk of meeting Dokes or Pinklon Thomas whom you had drawn with in the previous fight before defeating Dokes?

GERRIE COETZEE:
Yes there was a lot of talk and pressure on me, for the Pinklon Thomas fight. I broke my right hand again in sparing preparing for that fight. Every person involved in boxing knew about my broken hand. I am sure a promoter, manager or a trainer paid one of my sparing partners to make a fight of my sparing session, to use his elbows, and his head, my sparring partner changed his style of boxing leading into the fight . I kept on training with my broken hand. When I entered my dressing room, the night of the fight, there was an official in the dressing room watching me with an eagle eye. I started to get undressed and put my boxing trunks on. I had a terrible headache and wanted to take a tablet for the headache, before I could take the tablet the official slap the tablet and water out of my hand. He then picked up the tablet in order to keep me from taking it and he was there all the time until we left for the ring. I suppose he had it tested, that did not concern me accept the headache before the fight. I knew they can test it but I was clean. As you know it was a draw, but I can’t recall the round, when I thru my right hand, I could clearly see his eyes rolled, this is a sure sign that I shook him, with my broken hand. He himself had an explosive jab that made you think twice what to do. He also gave me a tremendous cut above my left eye. That evening at their apartment my trainers were loud and the neighbors called the cops, my mom called me immediately as I stayed close by, fortunately I arrived just in time as the cops pulled their guns pointing it at my dad as he kept on moving towards them, I rushed passed them and picked my dad up and took him up stairs and locked the door. I warned him not to open his mouth again; the cops recognized me as they were watching the fight earlier on. A couple of weeks later they brought me a card which allowed me having any moving violation without getting a fine

KEN HISSNER: Did you think the loss to Page getting stopped after the 3 minute mark would be reversed?

GERRIE COETZEE
With apartheid here in South Africa, it would not have been reversed. For Don King to support and promoting me, he would come across that he supported apartheid, which I don’t agree with as we are all people, unfortunately this is not how it works. The only way out for Mr. King was to sell me for an enormous amount of money, and wipe his hands clean. Again I broke my right hand thumb during sparing, when this happened the people around the ring heard the bone snapped. Jackie McCoy said immediately that I must stop. I completed the round as I did not want the people to know I broke my hand. We went to get x-rays of my hand and it showed that my metacarpal was severely broken. Uncle Jackie said there was going to be no fight with Page, Stan Christodolou who was the head of the boxing board met with us the following day and we showed him the x-rays his response was that Tommy Hearns had his right hand broken and went ahead with the World Title fight by only using his left hand and faking with the right. Uncle Jackie told him that this would never happen in the USA and Stan told him we are not in the USA and if I did not fight he will make sure the WBA would strip me of the title. My response to him was then I will fight with both hands broken. Uncle Jackie did not condone this, on the night of the fight the boxing board doctor injected me with the same stuff the dentist use to num your gums. After the injection I fell asleep and they had to wrap my hands while I was sleeping, Uncle Jackie woke me up when they were announcing the fight. I went in without warming up; many people mentioned that I only started to look better in the 8th round when the injection was wearing off. This was when I was knocked out, most of the damage was done when the bell rang and I turned away and walked to my corner and he came from behind and hit me with a overhand right, which I never saw and I went down.

KEN HISSNER: You had 23 operations on your right hand. What kind of effect did this have over your career?

GERRIE COETZEE:
It was an extra large and serious problem for me during my career, my left hand was broken twice and my right hand was serious with twenty three operations. After the twenty third operations Dr Boonzaier mentioned that this is the last operation that he will do on my hands. His theory was: There was a man with short legs and long arms, which nearly touched the floor. He asked the Dr. to shorten his arms, the Dr. said yes it can be done and he will look like a normal person, but let me tell you one possibility, you can get an infection in one of your arms and then we have to amputate the arm. Then he looked at me seriously and said we can no longer operate on your hand as there were too many ops on your hand and you can end up with only one hand. Training was a terrible problem, as the broken hands prevented me for getting back into the gym. I couldn’t fight too often and when I had a fight I sometimes went in with a broken hand and other times broke it during the fight. My punching power was not there in many fights and I felt I could have had more knockouts. To make it short and sweet I fought more or less with sixty percent of my fights, with broken hands.

KEN HISSNER: In your next fight you would defeat Tillis. Did you know at the time it would be your last fight in South Africa?

GERRIE COETZEE
I knew I was at the end of my career, my mother passed away on Monday the week of the event; we were unable to cancel the fight because of the date was set for the television. This was the worst time of my life to continue with that fight. But at least I won, I forced my memory to think that I am doing it for my mother, as I was a real mama’s boy.

KEN HISSNER: You travel to the UK and get stopped by Frank Bruno and announced your retirement. Bruno would lose in his next fight losing to Witherspoon for his WBA title. What made you come back over 7 years later?

GERRIE COETZEE:
I was asked by Sol Kersner from Sun International to win two fights and then Larry Holmes. Larry played the same game again as after the Dokes fight Promoter offer him 5 million then He wants 10 million then they offer him 10 million, surprise he then wants 15 million and so on, it never stopped. Renaldo Snipes fought him and dropped Larry. I fought Snipes and drop him twice. Larry didn’t want to fight me, signed many agreements and took upfront money when signing. The love for the UNITED STATES, it is as my country and my youngest daughter is an AMERICAN CITIZEN as well as my grandson.

KEN HISSNER: You won 3 straight by knockout on your return with your weight now over 250 lbs. You are stopped by former 2-division world champion Iran Barkley ending your career. Did you know it was over this time for good?

GERRIE COETZEE
Re the Barkley fight, it sounds that I have an excuse for every fight I lost. You can check and verify, that my trainer Uncle Jacky had throat cancer and I took that fight without a trainer and training maybe once a week at the gym by myself and the rest is history.

KEN HISSNER: South Africa changed dramatically upon the release of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990. Were you living in South Africa at the time or did you move back afterwards his taking over the country?

GERRIE COETZEE:
I was then all ready in the USA. When I returned from the USA Nelson Mandela wanted to meet me, and I was so privy to meet such a great man .He gave me goose bumps and He reminded me of Ali. There is only good things you can say of our Madiba which Means Father of the Nation.

KEN HISSNER: When was it when you met Mandela and under what circumstances?

GERRIE COETZEE: I recon it was in 2000 or 2001 I shall find out. I went to his government section and I was so nerves. I was so proud when he accepted my gold coin with my face on it. What a great and wise man there is only respect for him.

KEN HISSNER: You had an outstanding career. When did you have what was called the “bionic hand” and was it an asset

GERRIE COETZEE:
After my second Mike Schutte South African title fight it was more of a problem but the press enjoyed it

KEN HISSNER: I understand from Macauley Utuk that Fonta Brilla Productions wants to do a movie of your life. How exciting would that be and have you agreed to it?

GERRIE COETZEE:
Yes, thank you it will be very exciting. I am a supporter of all USA Presidents and the country. I never miss the Presidential elections, on TV. And I would be honored to have a movie made by an American company.

KEN HISSNER: I’ve wanted to do an article on you for years and want to thank you for taking the time out to respond to these questions.

GERRIE COETZEE:
I sincerely appreciate it and it is a big honor for me.

KEN HISSNER:Thank you for taking the time out to respond to these questions.

GERRIE COETZEE:
There is so much more exciting things I can tell you. When I lost an amateur boxing fight between the age of 10 to 12 years, my Father would give me a good hiding and told us he is going to run into another car on our way home, we all were crying, shaken and scared. An unknown person was tail gating our car and my father was so angry with my loss he hit the brakes and the person hit the back of our car, the impact was so big some of the smaller siblings went over the front seat. Later the cops came to our house and wanted to take a statement. My mother always knew how to handle the situation. Another time when I lost he stop behind a car at a shop and on my Mothers return, he started the car and accelerated into the car in front, then put the car in rear gear and hit the car behind him. Then he had a big space to exit and when we got home gave me another hiding. My Father was very aggressive when I lost but normally he is a very soft and kind person, assisting the poor people of all colours.

This was a quote:
A left hand that can thread a needle and a fist that can stun a Rhino. Yet 2 years ago boxing’s most valuable was so mangled in that fight with Mike Schutte that his boxing life hung on a thread.

Thank you let us know if there are any other questions as I have many more incidents in my career. For all the politics and injuries it was a miracle to make it to the top. My medical doctor, Dr Jock Lewin, who lives in America, said I was one of a kind and definitely not human.

Posted on 03/28/2017

Everybody Has a Game Plan ‘Til You Get Hit: The Anthony Macias Interview

Part Three of Three: The Gracie Hunter, The Janitor, and Fighting on the Side Shows

By William Colosimo | [email protected]

William Colosimo: That fight at UFC 6 obviously strained your relationship with Albin- but as far as Oleg is concerned, you came back at the next UFC to corner him vs Ken- so that match you had with Oleg didn’t hamper your relationship with him at all?

Anthony Macias: You know, he didn’t speak a whole lotta English when he was here then. We didn’t pal around like every day and stuff, it was just in the gym, and we’d hang around every now and then- but we weren’t really close friends. No, it didn’t… not from my point of view- I had a little animosity towards him- but that was my own fault, you know? I should’ve told Buddy to screw off, and… well, you’ve seen me fight Dan. And then, you’ve seen me fight Oleg. So, you tell me. Did I fight Oleg? (Laughter) It’s pretty obvious if you’ve ever seen me fight.

WC: So basically what you’re saying is if you’re willing to fight Severn, who’s a monster- why wouldn’t you be willing to fight Oleg, or put up a better fight against him, or-

AM: Well, not only that- he had a knee injury. Oleg had a knee injury, and he had that cut on his eye from UFC 5- which was only about three months prior to that- so yeah, yeah, I could’ve… I trained with him a little bit, so I already knew a little bit about his style, what he was gonna try to do. Dan- it was just… never seen the man, except for at the press conference- and just went in there and fought. So yeah, I would have fought Oleg.

WC: Oh, that makes a lot of sense- you knew his weakness with the damaged knee and the cut.

When you trained with Oleg, he was known for that tuck under knee bar and a guillotine- were there other techniques that he had that he was really good at that he never got to showcase in those early fights?

AM: Yeah, man- well, his ankle crank- he’s got a really, really good ankle lock. Not a heel hook or a toe hold, but a regular achilles ankle lock. The day that he fought Ken Shamrock in UFC 7- we were all staying in the hotel together: me, Buddy Albin, and Oleg- we were all staying in the same hotel. It was like a suite- it had two different rooms, or three different rooms. And he gets me up at like five in the morning- he’s like “Anthony, Anthony- let’s wake up and exercise like morning workout.“ I go, “Okay.” He gets me in a leg lock, and he will not stop cranking on it. My ankle goes “pop, pop”- I go “Oleg, Oleg, stop!” And he just kept cranking on it. So, yeah he had a really, really good ankle lock. That’s exactly what he was going for whenever Renzo up kicked him.

WC: He got Dave Beneteau with that in their second match too, now that I think about it.

AM: Yeah- he’s got a really good ankle lock. But his rolling knee bar was beautiful- I learned that quickly.

WC: You went on a tear right after your UFC stint- you were in three different eight-man tournaments, you won all three of them; that was all in ’96:the Oklahoma Free Fight Federation (OFFF) 1 and 2, I think, and then IFC-

AM: Yeah. Okay, well- let me get the record straight here. They’ve gotten a couple of tournaments, but what they’ve forgotten is, for Dale Cook- I fought on a Thursday- (Editor’s Note: 3/21/96) I fought an eight-man tournament on Thursday, which they didn’t get in Sherdog. Won an eight-man tournament there, then I went to Enid (Oklahoma) on Saturday, and won an eight-man tournament there. (Editor’s Note: the OFFF 2, held on 3/23/96)

WC: Where did you win the second one on Saturday?

AM: Enid. The first one was in Lawton, Oklahoma.

WC: Oh, okay.

AM: That may be on Alex Andrade’s fight (record), but it’s not on mine for some reason.

WC:I’ll have to check that out. So then, were both of those shows the OFFF?

AM: They were… it’s the “Freestyle Fighting Federation,” is what the organization was called. It was Tony Holden and Dale Cook.

WC: And was that March of ’96?

AM: Yeah, it’s March, I believe, of ’96.

WC: Okay. That was March, and then-

AM: Two days right before that, I’d fought another eight-man tournament down in Lawton, Oklahoma.

WC: And do you remember any of the fighters that you had fought in that one?

AM:Oh man. I do, man- I’ve got them on tape I think, somewhere. But it’s some VHS shit (laughter).

WC: It looks like here on the Sherdog record, they’ve got you for one of the eight-man tournaments in February of ‘96. March ’96 was the other Oklahoma one. And then they had IFC 2. So you had the one that was uncredited, you said- and then it looks like those other three. So it might have been fourdifferent eight-man tournaments you won in 1996.

AM: Yeah, I did a little bit of work in ’96.

WC: At this point was this your career? Did you think this was what you were going to make your living at? Were you dedicated to the NHB at this time?

AM:Well, I didn’t know because… let’s see, ’96, there still weren’t any weight classes yet, I don’t think. You’re talking to a 180 pound guy by the time now, I guess, and I’m 180 pounds- against Mark Kerr? (Laughter) You see what I’m saying? So, I never got a call back from UFC or anything. I just tried to stay on the side shows, and I do a little work here and there. Had a little fun.

WC:And then after you won those four different eight-man tournaments, you went to Extreme Fighting 3 to fight Allan Goes. That was a frustrating fight, because he kept cheating.

AM: Yeah, dude- I don’t know why he didn’t get disqualified. I do not understand that. The commission was there. I could have bit his ear off just as easily.But I ain’t like that, that’s just, I’m not… I wasn’t brought up that way, brother. I’m not that kind of sportsman. “Aw damn it, you beat my ass, good job, hell yeah, let’s go again later.” You know what I mean?

WC: Unless I heard it wrong- it sounded like after he fouled you for I think the third time, you had tapped-but the referee was coming in to stop it anyway. Did he tell you that he was gonna disqualify him, but you tapped first?

AM: No, he didn’t say anything. I said”Get this mother f-er off of me”- because he kept cheating. He already head butted me a couple times, and fish hooked me. And so I said, “Get this mother f-er off me,” and I guess that was the verbal submission, so…

WC: I gotcha. I didn’t know if the ref was stepping in to stop it because of the disqualification or what.

AM:I’ll tell you the hardest I’ve ever been hit was by Vladimir Matyushenko in IFC. Dude, he hit me so hard I woke up next year.

WC:Is that the finals of the eight-man tournament you fought him in? That one?

AM: Yeah, that’s one of them.

WC: Okay. I remember the second one was pretty quick due to- I think- a cut over the eye?

AM: Yeah. The same eye that he dropped a knee on two months before- which I was stupid to take the fight; I should have waited six months and let my eye heal. And yeah, one punch cut it right back open- same eye.

He hit the hardest. And I’ve been… hell, I’ve ducked down into kicks before. And dude, that boy could hit (laughter). He didn’t knock me out, but I realized after the fight… me and my corner guys are standing there at the end of the cage- most people are leaving, and I’m like, “Where’s my bag?” And they’re like, “It’s in your hand.” And right at that moment, I woke back up and I don’t remember anything in between him hitting me the very first punch, and that moment of me standing there just saying “Where’s my bag?”It started coming back as time went on, but I didn’t remember anything right at that point. I was like “So… what happened?” (Laughter)

WC: So in that third fight of the night, you were basically on automatic pilot once…

AM: Yeah. Good guy though, he’s a nice guy too.

WC:And then a little bit after that, you had the Kazushi Sakuraba fight. Now Sakuraba, a lot of people considered him possibly the greatest of all time. You had a great back and forth fight with him. It seemed like his gas tank might have outlasted yours a little bit.

AM: Man, I took that fight on two weeks’ notice.

WC:Who contacted you about that one?

AM: Okay, there’s this little circle called Andy Anderson, Buddy Albin… (laughter) and if you’ll remember, Andy Anderson was at almost all of the IFC’s- he was the referee.

WC: I wanted to ask you about Andy Anderson. He fought on UFC 5, and then after that it seemed like every PPV you could always catch him in a crowd shot in the audience. Basically, what was Andy’s role in the NHB world? Did he become more of a promoter or a manager?

AM: Yeah, promoter, manager, kind of event coordinator… I know that the IFC that they did in Kiev, Ukraine- he basically paid for that entire show.

WC: What was your relationship with him? I know you said he was a training partner at one point.

AM: I had a great relationship with Andy. I worked for him for eight and a half, nine years- I managed about four different strip clubs- he owned a corporation, he owned different clubs. And I managed four of those clubs for him. We were real good friends, up until the point he went to jail.

But I guess he got contacted by… was it “EC”? Is that who does that, or…

WC: As far as who did Pride at the time?

AM: Yeah, yeah, I wasn’t for sure who it was.

WC: It was this company called KRS (Kakutougi Revolutionary Spirits) I think, for the first four shows, and then they got sold- and I don’t know what they were called exactly after that. (Editor’s Note: Dream Stage Entertainment)

AM: I met a bunch of different people, but I know none of them owned it. (Laughter)

WC: But anyway, Sakuraba… you guys were- in my opinion- pretty darn dead even in that first round. What are your thoughts-

AM: Man, he is a master, brother- he is a master.

WC: That he is. That’s what I wanted to ask you, now that you were in the ring with him- what were your impressions of him? Do you think he was the greatest, or one of the greatest of all time?

AM: Well, you know, definitely one of the greatest- of course. I don’t know about the greatest. Anybody could be: Anderson Silva, Royce Gracie at different points in their career- you know what I mean? But yeah man, he is definitely one of the greatest for sure. Strong guy, stronger than I thought he’d be. Doesn’t have the physique for the strength that he has. He’s got a… you see a country boy doesn’t look real big, but you know he’s been throwing hogs all day, or tipping cows, so he’s strong as shit. He’s got that strength. (Both laugh)

WC:How hard were his strikes?

AM: They were pretty solid, they were good. They didn’t have a lot of snap on them, but they were thudding. They were more thudding punches.

WC: What did you think was your downfall in that fight? Do you think more gas, because it was too short notice?

AM: Oh definitely more gas, and I had… let’s see, he was like a black belt and I was like a yellow belt (laughter) in skill level, you know what I mean?

WC: I gotcha.

AM: That’s how he made me feel. You know he was baiting me for shit with doing one thing to try to get me to do something else- and I was like, “Oh, we’re gonna play chess.”

WC: So he was really good with the feints?

AM: If you notice we were kinda talking back and forth throughout the fight. Neither one of us could understand each other, but we’re, you know…

WC: Oh- was he trying to taunt you, or trying to get into your head?

AM:No, I was like “Oh, good shot,” or “Oh no, you ain’t getting that,” whatever- stuff like that, just stuff you do through the fight.

WC:Did you have anything that you wanted to get out there? Anything I didn’t cover?

AM: No, man, I think we got everything straight, dude.

WC: All right. Anthony, I appreciate your time so very much.

AM: Hey, no problem brother.

Posted on 03/27/2017

I Don’t Really Care If GGG And Canelo Never Fight. And You Shouldn’t, Either.
By: Sean Crose

I’ve been reading quite a lot of comments from boxing’s new breed of fan lately – you know, those fans who cheer on boxers for their earning potentials and capital rather than their skills in the ring. As far as these new breeds seem to be concerned, Canelo Alvarez is the pound for pound best boxer in the world. Why? Because he’s the A-side against Gennady Golovkin’s B-side in contract negotiations. This simple fact thrills new breeds, as they cheer their man on and mock Golovkin. To new breeds, Canelo’s A-side status makes him Manny Pacquiao to Golovkin’s Ricky Hatton.

Check out the comments section of some publications out there. New breeds appear more into the contract negotiations between teams Canelo and Golovkin than they ever would be an actual fight between the two men. In their minds, Canelo has Golovkin on the ropes at the moment and is pounding the hell out of him. They’re cherishing this moment. To quote Donald Fagan, “the things you think are precious, I can’t understand.” There’s one thing I’m starting to agree with the new breeds on, however, and it’s this:

It might be awesome for team Golovkin to admit there’s no winning and give up on contract negotiations with Canelo.

I know, I know, this may be petty and small of me, but the behavior of Oscar de la Hoya, Canelo’s promoter, has morphed from ring warrior to insufferable businessman to such a degree that I find it off putting. Want to guarantee Golovkin less than he’s worth, Oscar? Then forgive me for smiling if team GGG walks away from negotiations and gets on with life. One doesn’t need Canelo money to be rich, after all, and Golovkin is already doing quite well form himself, thank you very much. It’s been said team Canelo may be entering the realm of Adonis Stevenson, where competition essentially doesn’t matter. I hope not, but maybe it’s true. As the new breeds continuously remind us – this is a business, not a sport.

So be it. I’ll stick with my delusions. Truth be told, I’d rather see GGG rematch Jacobs than I would see him fight Canelo, anyway. I know, I know, less than two hundred thousand pay per view buys, blah, blah, blah. Truth is, I think Jacobs is a better opponent than Canelo is. And while I’ve always through Canelo had a good chance against GGG (and still do), I’m honestly okay with never finding out who the best man is in the ring. When I read recently that Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, claimed GGG might just move up to junior middleweight if he can’t get the fights he wants, I was relieved. Enough nonsense.

As for Canelo – hey, the man’s very good and a lot of fun to watch. Again, I give him a good chance against GGG if they meet in September (provided he beats Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. in the spring, which isn’t a foregone conclusion). If he decides against fighting Golovkin in the fall, though, then I don’t see much reason to take him all that seriously anymore. Avoiding, aging out, or bilking opponents doesn’t make you a great fighter. It makes you a fighter worthy of the admiration of the new breeds – and not much else.

Posted on 03/27/2017

The Most Controversial Sporting Event In History: Gene Tunney vs. Jack Dempsey

Some contemporary boxers go month after month without a fight. Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey went years. That’s years. How this was acceptable is a question we modern fans can chew on, but Dempsey’s extended layoff appears to have been at least somewhat accepted in his time. Perhaps the biggest sports celebrity of the 1920s (and let’s keep in mind this was the era of Babe Ruth). Dempsey looks to have been free to literally “go Hollywood” for three years without much backlash from the public. He stared in movies for Universal studios, boxed in exhibitions and married movie star Estelle Taylor. The heavyweight champion of the world was indeed living life in the fast lane.

Yet at the same time, a son of an Irish laborer from New York City had Dempsey much on his mind. For Gene Tunney wanted Dempsey in the ring, so much so that it was said the man was thoroughly obsessed with the current champ. A former marine, Tunney worked his way up the hard way, accumulating a terrific record along the way. Although today the guy is known as a technical boxer (which Tunney certainly was), the New Yorker also accumulated a very large share of knockouts.

The most telling thing about Tunney, however, was the man’s heart. Tunney fought a total of nineteen times while Dempsey was on hiatus. That’s one short of twenty. In three years. What’s more, Tunney had beaten some of the best fighters out there within that time frame. Dempsey’s former foe Georges Carpentier was one of Tunney’s victims, as was the famous brawler, Harry Greb. Funny thing about Greb, he’s said to have made Tunney the fighter Tunney eventually became. For, after taking a ferocious beating by Greb in his only loss, Tunney came back a more complete, more effective boxer. To be sure, Tunney returned to best Greb four times, three of those times while Dempsey was on his hiatus.

Still, many didn’t give the Irish American much of a chance when he was finally set to face Dempsey in Philadelphia on the 23d of September, 1926. Tunney had come up from the light heavyweight division, which perhaps meant he wasn’t a “true” heavyweight in the eyes of many. Furthermore, this was Jack Dempsey Tunney was facing. Jack Dempsey. The celebrity. The legend. The movie star. The man who went through opponents like a hot scoop through ice cream. To think the guy could be taken out by the likes of Tunney, a man who had ambitions to rise up the social ladder, probably seemed a bit silly.

Maybe people should have given Tunney a closer look before writing him off. Sure, he wanted to use boxing to get ahead in life, but he was also a former marine whose immigrant father had worked as a longshoreman and who himself had worked as a lumberjack. There was also the matter of having come back from a horrible beating at the gloves of Greb. Tunney was no wimp. He was a smart fighter, though. One who was prepared to use a sharp game plan to take down the heavyweight king.

And so, during the ten round bout with Dempsey, Tunney proved to be the smarter, hungrier and perhaps even stronger fighter. To the surprise of many, Tunney put on a performance of defensive wizardry, making an art form out of hitting and not getting hit. After the judges’ scorecards had been read, the world had a new heavyweight champion on its hands. The great Jack Dempsey had been defeated. No great story ends simply, however, and there was to be an historic second act to the Dempsey-Tunney saga. After besting Jack Sharkey in controversial fashion, Dempsey was set to have a second shot at the man who had dethroned him.

The rematch was to occur on the 22nd of September, 1927 – just a day shy of the one year anniversary of the first Dempsey-Tunney match. Well over one hundred thousand people crammed into Solider’s Field in Chicago while the Chicago Tribune claims around fifteen million people were able to listen to the fight live over the radio. To say the match was quite the big deal would be, of course, an understatement. How many matches today cram over one hundred thousand people into a single stadium? How many sporting events of any kind can do as much? Sadly for the fans, though, the second fight looked like a replay of the first one, with the skillful Tunney holding off his man effectively.

Then, however, came the seventh round. That was when Dempsey finally caught Tunney and stunned him. Not one to let an opportunity pass, the former champion whaled away at his former conqueror, sending the helpless Tunney to the mat. That’s when things went from thrilling to downright odd. There was a new rule that fighters had to go to a neutral corner after dropping an opponent. In the heat of the moment, Dempsey understandably forgot that rule and hovered over his fallen prey, ready to pounce. Referee Dave Barry then took it upon himself to direct Dempsey to a neutral corner.

The problem was that, instead of picking up the time keepers’ count – as he should have – Barry started counting on his own, which allowed Tunney to be up at the count of nine. In reality, however, Tunney had been down for well over ten seconds – around fourteen, in fact. To make matters worse for Dempsey, Tunney went on to win the fight, even scoring a flash knockdown himself later on in the evening. By the time all was said and done, both fighters had made it to the final bell and Tunney was once again awarded a decision win.

The one thing Tunney wasn’t awarded, however, was a general sense of acceptance that he had won the second fight. What’s more, even now, with both Dempsey and Tunney having long since passed, the Long Count remains the most controversial sporting event in history.

Posted on 03/26/2017

Vasyl Lomachenko: Enter the Matrix
By: Francisco Martinez

April 8th Vasyl Lomachenko enters the ring once again and his opponent Jason Sosa will step into the matrix and experience what Lomachenko calls hi-tech. Both fighters have an opponent in common in Nicholas Walters. Sosa went the distance in a majority decision loss to Walters in a fight many thought he actually won. Lomachenko confused and systematically picked apart Walters until Walters had enough and refused to come out for the 8th round. A decision he made on his own as his team pleaded with him to continue fighting but chose not to after realizing he was starting to take a beating and hadn’t won 1 single round prior to the decision of not wanting anymore of Vasyl Lomachenko after 7 perplexing rounds.

Vasyl Lomachenko is arguably the best pound for pound fighter today but to his own account he would humbly disagree and rank others ahead of himself like placing Gennady Golovkin at #1 and Sergey Kovalev along with Terence Crawford in the number 2 and 3 slots. However his team speaks more confidently about Lomachenko as Russ Anber of Rival Gear fame who’s not Lomachenko’s trainer but contributes to the World Boxing Gymnasium formerly known as the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy. Anber says this about Lomachenko

“I think he already is (number one pound for pound fighter today) and my argument is when people say, we really can’t consider him because he’s only had 8 pro fights, that’s the reason you should consider him because no other pound for pound great in boxing history (was) even Sugar Ray Robinson wasn’t considered pound for pound great when he only had 8 fights that’s the reason you should consider him. I mean no one has done what this guy has done. You have to give credit where credit is do, I mean this guy has done it now to me. He’s considered or if you don’t want to give him the position or you just consider him nobody has been considered that so early in a pro career. He’s a phenom, there hasn’t been anybody like him in boxing history and I’m talking all the greats. The closes one to probably have that was Roy (Jones Jr.) and they didn’t get him the fights that he wanted at that time but besides him there’s no one this guy is a phenom”

Vasyl Lomachenko’s strength and conditioning coach, Cicilio Flores who’s one of the top S & C coaches in boxing having worked with Sergio Martinez in the primed years of his career knows a special fighter when he sees one and Lomachenko is just that as he explains the differences and similarities between both unique pugilists “you know, they’re two different animals but what they have in common is their mind set and their work ethic, he works hard. They have that movement because it works for them but it’s their freaking mind set man and there’s a couple of moves Lomachenko would do that I would say, wow he looks like Sergio but they train hard man. I remember vividly Sergio’s goal was to become the pound for pound best fighter but Lomachenko is doing it faster he’s in a speed boat, you know and it’s beautiful to see and we’re watching history and it’s beautiful to be apart of”

With possible showdowns in the loom for Vasyl Lomachenko against the likes of Mikey Garcia, Terry Flanagan, Jorge Linares and even Manny Pacquiao, Lomachenko won’t allow himself to slip up “Yeah I want these fights” states a Pacquiao showdown will only be at 135lbs “if we’re talking about 135lbs it would be an interesting fight for me I think not for Manny…he’s has a lot of years and after 30 years, 31 years your (hand) speed slows down” Lomachenko sounding confident that he can match up against the Filipino Icon, Pacquiao but doesn’t allow himself to get too ahead of the conversation before saying it would be to no respect of his April 8th rival in Jason Sosa if he didn’t focus on the task at hand which could be detrimental to his own position and future plans of these possible mega fights.

As great and as flawless as Vasyl Lomachenko has performed he does have a style which he finds a little complicated for himself “all the people know it’s just one style, the Mexican style. I don’t hear about another style. For me it’s Mexican style and second style, I have one more style, Lomachenko style, that’s it” words of confidence by Lomachenko hinting his style isn’t of the norm which many won’t argue for there’s a reason they call him the Matrix.

April 8th Jason Sosa will meet Hi-Tech, Vasyl Lomachenko in a 12 round bout for Lomachenko’s WBO 130lbs title on HBO in the MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill in Maryland a pivotal fight to the possible future mega showdowns with Mikey Garcia and even Manny Pacquiao. In this card you’ll also have Lomachenko’s country men in Alex Gvozdyk a highly touted 175lbs prospect along with Oleksandr Usyk who’s considered by most the best cruiserweight at the moment and will be defending his WBO title.

So tune in this April 8th live on HBO for a glimpse at the present in boxing with Vasyl Lomachenko and the future of boxing with Alex Gvozdyk & Oleksandr Usyk. Follow complete coverage leading up to fight night by using #HBOboxing

Posted on 03/26/2017

Exclusive interview with Matthew Chanda
By: Iftisaam Khan

He’s One for the future, step forward Matthew Chanda. The Londoner from Hackney has been taking the profession ranks in his stride of late, having recorded 7 wins with only 1 loss to his name he certainly looks he has the potential to make it to make a name for himself in the sport. Reflecting on his transition into the pro game, the current Southern Bantamweight champion said: “oh I love the pro’s. My fighting style has always been one that would gel well in the pros So I don’t feel I had to do a lot of adjusting. “

The current southern Bantamweight champion hasn’t always had it easy, “My father passed away when I was 12 but was the best man I’ve known, I still remember his love now.” Despite the tragic circumstances, Chanda was able to use it to spur himself on as he now looks to take his career to the very top through his sheer talent and determination to become a world champion. He stated : “I put everything into training. Not just at gym but at home too, boxing is always on my mind.” Further explaining the reasoning behind his desire he declared:

“ I do see boxing as a way out. I’m in it for the titles and the glory. Eventually when the fighters step to fight me I’ll get both.”

Going back to where to it all began, Chanda went back down memory lane to explain how he got involved in the fighting game “I’ve always loved boxing.

When I was 13/14 years old I used to go down to my boxing gym and watch Ian Napa at Crown and Manor ABC. Myself and a few friends would mess around on the bags and spar.” Becoming a father at 17, the fighter was forced to work long hours to support his child, which resulted in his social life becoming non-existent.

Looking to get to away from his gruelling work life he turned back to boxing , he said: “ I went back to Crown ABC and Manor ABC and I would just hit the bag and go on the pads with Steve Kipps, who is my trainer now. After a few sessions he took me to the side and said he can make me champion if I dedicate myself and yeah, now I’m here.”

Despite being defeated in last bout, Chanda is rather upbeat about it, with the virtue of a valuable learning experience he can only improve “I did learn the importance of framing a fight and adjusting during a fight. I believe I did enough to win my last fight but I know now that I need to leave no doubt in the judge’s minds so I’ve been working smarter in the gym.”

With the aspiration of being in “fights like Juan Manuel Marquez vs Juan Diaz, when Marquez comes from the brink and puts on a masterpiece” in abundance with his talent and desire to reach the top don’t be surprised to hear his name a lot more often. I won’t be.

Posted on 03/25/2017

Showtime Boxing International Results:
By: William Holmes

The last time Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares faced each other their bout was televised in the United States on A Wealth of Entertainment (AWE) Network.

However, their bout was so good that Showtime decided to televise the rematch, with the winner likely to face Mikey Garcia.

The Manchester Arena in Manchester, England was the host site for tonight’ fight and the arena was rocking for local favorite Anthony Crolla.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Matchroom

Anthony Crolla (31-5-3) and Jorge Linares (41-3) met in the main event of the card for Linares’ WBA Lightweight Title.

The opening round was a close round and the ring was smaller than the last time they fought. Most of the punches of Crolla were blocked by Linares, but neither boxer landed a dominant punch or combination to clearly win the round.

The second round was a clearer round for Linares, who used good lateral movement and a steady jab to keep Crolla at a safe distance. Crolla was able to land a few good jabs, but Linares landed the higher number of punches.

Crolla was warned for a low blow in the third round, but was met with a lead left hook almost immediately afterwards and was tagged with several sharp and crisp combinations form Linares for the rest of the round. The right uppercut by Linares found it’s home several times in the third and fourth round as Linares’ hand speed looked like it was too much for Crolla to handle.

Crolla was able to land a couple of jabs in the fourth round, but nothing of note that had Linares hurt.

Linares confidence appeared to be very high in the fifth and sixth rounds as he was masterfully out boxing Crolla and landing punches and combinations at will. Linares had the Manchester crowd quiet and had the face of Crolla swollen by the end of the sixth.

By the seventh round in their last bout their fight was close to even on the judges’ scorecards. In this fight Linares was clearly ahead.

Linares landed a looping left uppercut that caught Crolla by surprise and sent him to the mat in the seventh round. Crolla was able to get back to his feet and survive the onslaught by Linares, and even landed some good punches of his own as the round came to an end, but the left uppercut had badly hurt him.

Crolla picked up the pressure in the eighth round and tried to get in on the inside with Linares, but he had difficulty doing so and ate several hard right uppercuts. Crolla had his moments in the eighth and ninth rounds, but Linares was quick to land sharp uppercuts and combinations every time Crolla started to build up some momentum.

Crolla’s left eye had a bad cut over it before the start of the tenth round and he continued to press forward in an effort to back up Linares and test his chin. But Linares’ accuracy and hand speed showed no signs of slowing down as he was able to pop shot Crolla and then move out of danger’s way.

Anthony Crolla clearly needed a knockout in the final two rounds to win the title. But in the eleventh round Linares was closer to knocking down Crolla than Crolla knocking down Linares and Crolla’s corner seemed hesitent to send him out for the final round.

The knockout punch that Crolla badly needed never came in the final round.

Jorge Linares wins convincingly on the judges’ scorecards with scores of 118-109, 118-109, and 118-109.

Posted on 03/25/2017

“The New” Ray Robinson Wins at the Fillmore in Philly Friday night!
By: Ken Hissner

Hard Hitting Promotions moved to a bigger facility at The Fillmore for their ever boxing event. They showcased contender “The New” Ray Robinson and Philly’s prospects filling out the undercard. The new site is beautiful and reminds boxing fans of the legendary Blue Horizon with balconies and not a bad seat in the house. Once again the fans were treated to a fine show and showed their appreciation throughout the event. Manny Rivera and co-promoter Will Ruiz who also serves as matchmaker keep the fans happy.

In the Main Event WBC southpaw welterweight contender “The New” Ray Robinson, 23-2 (12), of Philadelphia, stopped Claudinel Lacerda, 18-17-1 (13), of Sombrio, BRZ. 2:30 into the seventh round. Referee Benjy Estevees, Jr. had seen enough with Lacerda taking a brutal beating.

In the opening round Robinson moved well using his jab and an occasional left hook. In the second round Robinson stood his ground getting more power into his punches with a lead left to the chin of Lacerda ending the round. In the third round Lacerda came in throwing wide punches to the body of Robinson who countered with right hooks to the body and straight lefts to the chin. Robinson did enough damage in the round to earn a 10-8 round. In the fourth round Robinson came out with bad intentions landing a right hook followed by a left uppercut to the head of Lacerda. Robinson landed half a dozen unanswered punches. Lacerda finally landed a wild right to the head of Robinson getting his attention. Robinson came right back with the jab followed by a left to the chin of Lacerda.

In the fifth round Lacerda suffered a small cut on the bridge of his nose. A hard left uppercut by Robinson stunned Lacerda. He looked like he was about to go down but his heart kept him upright. In the sixth round a Robinson right hook to the head had Lacerda hurt. Lacerda was swinging wildly hitting nothing but air as Robinson counters him well. In the seventh round Robinson hurt Lacerda with a right hook to the body. Out of desperation Lacerda landed several punches to the head of Robinson but paid the price as he was countered well to the head. Near the end of the round referee Benjy Esteves, Jr., had seen enough and called a halt to the fight. Lacerda wanted to go on but took a brutal beating.

“I want to thank my trainer Bozy Ennis and my promoters Hard Hitting and DiBella Entertainment, all our team and the fans who came out tonight,” said Robinson. He is managed by Dave McWater.

In the co-feature 17 year-old lightweight Brandon “The Gift” Pizarro, 4-0 (2), of Philadelphia scored a knockdown and put on a spectacular 4 round decision over Matt Murphy, 2-10-1 (2), of St. Louis, MO.

In the first round Pizarro put on a show with a variety of punches and great footwork landing punches with great speed having Murphy on the defense. In the second round Pizarro landed 3 left hooks to the head of Murphy without return. The blue haired Murphy seemed bewildered by the hand speed of Pizarro. A Pizarro right to the head of Murphy followed by a left hook dropped Murphy for an 8 count by referee Ron Bashir.

In the third round while against the ropes Pizarro landed a 3-punch combination backing Murphy up. Halfway thru the round a Pizarro right to the head knocked Murphy back several steps. It was a round the flashy Pizarro put more behind his punches hurting Murphy on several occasions. In the fourth and final round Murphy came out more aggressive than in the first 3 rounds catching plenty of firepower from Pizarro. Murphy landed a combination to the head of Pizarro who was against the ropes. Pizarro ended the round with a flurry of punches to the delight of his many fans. In his corner was his father Angel and assistant Bozy Ennis. Pizarro may have hurt a hand early in the fight. He’s got worlds of potential at such a young age.

All 3 judges George Hill, Alan and Justin Rubenstein had it 40-35 as did this writer.

Bantamweight Christian Carto, 8-0 (8), of Philadelphia, scored his eighth straight stoppage over Rudolph “The Cutting Edge” Hedge, 10-5-3 (4), of Kingston, JAM, after Hedge’s corner wouldn’t allow him out for the fifth round. It was another flawless exhibition by the home town favorite Christian Carto. He always seems to stand out on these Hard Hitting Promotions shows.

In the opening round it was all Carto mixing it up body to head while moving around the ring with Hedge following him hands held high. In the second round it was another flawless round by Carto. Halfway thru the round Carto rocked Hedge with a left hook to the head. Carto’s jab is in the face of Hedge at all times. It always seems to have something behind it snapping Hedge’s head back.

In the third round Hedge finally landed something more than a jab but paid the price as Carto countered with a solid straight right to the head of Hedge. Just prior to the bell Hedge landed a right to the head of Carto. The fans appreciate the combination of punches Carto has landed. In the fourth round Carto opened up with a power punching right to the chin of Hedge. Carto would flurry half a dozen punches without return. Carto ended the round with a solid left hook to the head of Hedge. Hedge couldn’t answer the bell for the fifth round.The referee was Esteves, Jr. In the corner of Carto was trainer Mickey Rosati and cut-man Joey Eye.

Super lightweight southpaw Jeremy “King” Cuevas, 3-0 (2), of Philadelphia, easily defeated southpaw Jack Grady, 0-5-1 (0), of Buffalo, NY, over 4 rounds.

In the opening round with both southpaws Cuevas landed a 3-punch combination against the wild swinging Grady. Halfway thru the round Cuevas landed 5 unanswered punches. In the second round Grady continues to clown around while taking a beating from Cuevas.

In the third round Grady’s face was beat red from the Cuevas punches to the face. In the fourth and final round it was all Cuevas until the final 10 seconds when both boxers slugged it out past the bell before referee Bashir separated them. Grady showed heart and a good chin considering all the punches Cuevas hit him with.

Judges George Hill, Dewey La Rosa and Justin Rubenstein and this writer scored it 40-36.

Super featherweight Gadwin Rosa, 3-0 (2), of Ocala, FL, knocked out southpaw Wytama “Fearless” Faulk, 1-3 (0), of Webster, FL, @ 2:14 of the first round.

In the opening round Rosa dropped Faulk with a left hook to the chin. Shortly afterwards a right hand by Rosa put Faulk on the seat of his pants as referee Esteves, Jr., counted him out.

In the opening bout featherweight Vidal Rivera, 5-0 (4), of Camden, NJ, stopped Jesus Feliciano, 0-3 (0), of San Juan, PR, after 2 rounds. Referee was Bashir.

In the opening round the much taller Rivera used his reach while Feliciano was swinging wildly hitting air. In the second round Rivera finally landed a right to the chin of Feliciano who came back with an overhand right to the chin of Rivera. In the third round Feliciano’s corner wouldn’t let their fighter come out.

The ring announcer was Pat Michael Fattore. It was another lively crowd with a world contender and top former amateurs who keep winning in the pro ranks. Hard Hitting plans to co-promote a show in Puerto Rico on April 7th with Rosa returning home. There are plans to run a show at the Tropicana in Atlantic City in June with Robinson meeting a quality opponent.

Posted on 03/24/2017

Forget What You’ve Heard, Pacquiao is Still the Best Welterweight
By: Matthew N. Becher

​The welterweight division has and will always be one of the top divisions in the sport of boxing. At the very moment it is one of the richest with young talent and major fights. Just three weeks ago, undefeated champions, Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman unified two of the major four belts at a sold out and raucous Barclays Center, in what was billed as “the two best welterweights in the world”.

​Just this week, another major welterweight fight was announced for May 27th, against IBF champion Kell Brook and the undefeated Errol Spence Jr., which will take place in front of 30,000 people in the UK. All four of these fighters are toward the very top of the division. All four of these fighters are 30 years old or under (Thurman 28; Garcia 29; Brook 30; Spence 27). They are without a shadow of a doubt the future of the division.

But what everyone keeps seeming to forget is the man that holds the 4th welterweight title. The other man who is pushing 39 years old. The other man that has literally put boxing as his second occupation. That other man is the great Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao is the WBO welterweight champion. He has 59 wins and is coming off of a year where he dominated Timothy Bradley Jr. for a 3rd time and also destroyed a young top ten welterweight and world champion in Jessie Vargas. Pacquiao is without a question of a doubt, still the very top of the division. Unfortunately he is being left out of the conversation.

​This doesn’t go without saying that Manny has done a great deal to ruin his own name. His position as a congressman in his native Philippines has taken him away from the global day to day spotlight of the boxing world. His completely uncalled for rant about homosexuals a couple of years back that lost him his sponsorships, and the fact that he tried to make a fight with Amir Khan without his promoters backing (and that of a false Dubai Prince), have all hurt the Pacquiao brand.

​After watching “The two best welterweights in the world”, that was Garcia v. Thurman, and the boring affair they presented, one could not help but see, even a 39 year old Pacquiao box circles around these kids. Pacquiao still fights with more speed and angles. His power may have diminished, but it still seems to be on par with the other top welters around today.

​Pacquiao is said to be on his “retirement tour”, when a proposed fight against Australia’s Jeff Horn was in the works, but who else will turn up for a Pacquiao fight? Would Thurman or Garcia’s management let the brand they have grown, take a chance against Pacquiao? Most of these Welterweights are under the same umbrella (PBC) and rarely are matched up against one another, could maybe an Adrien Broner, Shawn Porter, Garcia or Thurman be allowed to take a risk against the top Welterweight in the world. The money is still lucrative, though maybe not as much as it was even five years ago. Just do not be fooled. Manny is still the best active welterweight in the world, pound for pound level even. He may be close to retirement, but he is far from being washed.

Posted on 03/24/2017

Overweight Jacobs Should Fess Up and Quit Crying After Loss!
By: Ken Hissner

On March 17th Gennady “GGG’ Golovkin, 36-0 (33), got on the scale and it was 159¾ while Danny “Miracle Man” Jacobs, 32-1 (29), stepped on the same scale and it was 159½.

Golovkin was defending his WBA, WBC and IBF titles while Jacobs was the WBA World champion. The following day Jacobs failed to show up and meet the IBF rules of a day of the fight weigh-in to keep the weight differences at a maximum ten pounds. Golovkin got on the scales and it was 170 pounds. If Jacobs got up the day of the weigh-in and was 180 pounds he would still have a ten pound advantage in the fight. He obviously was over 180 and possibly as much as 185 and forfeited fighting for the IBF title and possibly having the entire fight cancelled. You know Jacobs got on a scale Saturday morning in order to decide not to show up for a second weigh-in or he would not have skipped Saturday’s weigh-in.

The fight itself lived up to the hype and then some. Jacobs fought well above what was expected which may have given a false opinion for many. In the fourth round Jacobs went down which can be considered the difference of winning and losing at the end.

Judge Max DeLuca scored it 114-113 while judges Don Trella and Steve Weisfeld scored it 115-112 as did this writer. DeLuca gave both fighters 6 rounds each while Trella and Weisfeld 7 rounds to Golovkin and 5 to Jacobs. Though listed as having a 1” advantage in height Golovkin had to look up to Jacobs who obviously had at least a 3” advantage in height.

The way the scoring broke down was as the following:

Golovkin took rounds 1, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9. Jacobs rounds 2, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12. Each fighter took 6 rounds apiece but the fourth round was the difference when Golovkin scored the lone knockdown of the fight to take a 10-8 round. Four of the twelve rounds were 2-1 to the winner. Those were Golovkin in the third, Jacobs in the second, seventh and twelfth rounds.

Golovkin keeps his WBA, WBC and IBF titles and improves to 37-0 with 33 knockouts. He is 34. Jacobs drops to 32-2 with 29 knockouts. He is 30. Golovkin made 17 WBA super world defenses, 3 IBF defenses and 1 WBC defense while Jacobs made 4 defenses. Golovkin has been a professional for 11 years and Jacobs 10 years.

Golovkin’s manager Tom Loeffler stated the next defense will be in June in KAZ. Their hope is WBO champion southpaw Billy Joe Saunders, 24-0 (12), from the UK with 1 defense will back up his mouth and put his signature on a contract with all 4 titles on the line.

Golovkin has a tentative September date with WBC super welterweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 48-1-1 (34), who must defeat Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., 50-2-1 (32), on May 6th with a 164½ weight limit. Alvarez has 7 defenses. He has never weighed more than 155 pounds.

Chavez was WBC World middleweight champion and had 3 defenses. His last 5 fights have been at super middleweight with a 172½ high. In his last fight in December of 2016 he came in at 168.

Posted on 03/24/2017

Golden Boy on ESPN Results: Quigley and Caballero Emerge Victorious
By: William Holmes

Boxing made its return to ESPN last night as Golden Boy Promotions put on a card from the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Many boxing aficionados’ are hoping the deal between Golden Boy and ESPN turns out to be successful for both parties as boxing has greatly missed the legendary Friday Night Fights series on ESPN.

The opening bout of the night was between Randy Caballero (24-0) and Jesus Ruiz (36-8-5) in the junior featherweight division.

Despite Caballero’s undefeated record and the eight losses of Ruiz this fight was much closer than expected. Caballero was clearly the better technical boxer, but Ruiz was willing to get in tight and rough up Caballero on the inside. Ruiz had success to the body, but Caballero was landing the cleaner combinations.

Caballero suffered a cut over his right eye in the ninth round from an accidental head butt but it didn’t cause him any serious problems for the remainder of the fight.

The quick and crisp combinations of Caballero were too much for Ruiz to overcome; though no knockdowns were scored in the fight.

Caballero won the decision with scores of 97-93, 96-94, and 96-94.

The main event of the night was between Glen Tapia (23-4) and the undefeated Jason Quigley (13-0) in the middleweight division.

Tapia is known for giving his fans action packed bouts and this one was no different. However, Tapia started off slow and it cost him this bout.

Quigley looked like he may end the fight early and his right hand was finding its target on Tapia’s chin in the opening round and had him wobbled as the round came to an end.

Quigley’s assault continued into the second and third round and he was very effective to the body. But Tapia was able to stay on his feet and fight back and slowly wear down Quigley.

Quigley was taking some hard shots of his own from Tapia and his face was showing the effects of Tapia’s punches. By the eighth round Quigley looked exhausted and Tapia had blood on his face, but Quigley was still out boxing Tapia who at times appeared to be flat footed.

Tapia needed a knockout in the final two rounds to win and he made an honest effort to get it, but it was too little too late as Quigley won the decision.

The final scores were 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92 for Quigley.

Posted on 03/23/2017

Showtime World Championship Boxing Preview: Anthony Crolla vs. Jorge Linares
By: William Holmes

In the early evening on Saturday Showtime will broadcast an international boxing event between Jorge Linares and Anthony Crolla for Linares’ WBA Lightweight Title. This is a huge bout in England and will take place at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

Linares and Crolla met in September in Manchester which saw an exciting back and forth affair in which Linares won with scores of 115-114, 115-113, and 117-111 by unanimous decision. It was the first time that Linares went the full twelve rounds in his career.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Matchroom

Mikey Garcia, who will be a guest commentator, has been mandated by the WBC to face the winner of this bout.

The following is a preview of the upcoming WBA Lightweight Title fight.

Jorge Linares (41-3) vs. Anthony Crolla (31-5-3); WBA Lightweight Title

Prior to facing Crolla in September, Linares had never gone twelve rounds in his career. However, that does not mean he has never tasted defeat.

Linares is one year older than Crolla and will have a two inch reach advantage and a slight half an inch height advantage. Both boxers have not been very active in the past two years. Linares fought once in 2016 and twice in 2015 while Crolla fought twice in 2016 and twice in 2015.

Linares had the edge in power as he has stopped twenty seven of his opponents while Crolla has stopped thirteen. Crolla only has one stoppage loss. However, every single defeat of Linares was by stoppage and his chin is highly suspect.

Linares has beaten the likes of Anthony Crolla, Ivan Cano, Kevin Mitchell, Rocky Juarez, and Oscar Larios. He lost to Juan Carlos Salgado, Antonio DeMarco, and Sergio Thompson. Linares’ last loss came over four years ago and he won his four of his past five fights by stoppage.

Even though Linares beat Crolla last time, he understands that Crolla will be better prepared this time. He stated at a recent press conference, “Crolla could come better prepared than last time. Maybe he will throw more punches, maybe he will box more, I don’t really know. The most important thing is I hope he has worked really hard and comes in great condition so there are no excuses and no doubts after the fight.”

Crolla has defeated the likes of Ismael Barroso, Darleys Perez, John Murray, and Gavin Rees. He has lost to Derry Matthews, Gary Sykes (x2), Jorge Linares, and a relatively unknown Youssef Al Hamidi early on in his career.

Crolla has acknowledged he needs to come in with a different game plan in order to win. He stated, “This time I know I need to deal with the flashy combinations better, cut the ring off better and capitalize when he is open for shots.”

Linares has a slight edge in amateur experience as he was a national champion in Venezuela as an amateur.

This should be a good fight like last time, and Crolla will get a much needed boost from the hometown crown spurring him on. But, the result will likely be the same as last time if Crolla doesn’t take risks and try to test the questionable chin of Linares.

Posted on 03/23/2017

Brook and Spence Set To Rumble, Crawford To Face Diaz
By: Sean Crose

The long awaited IBF world welterweight title throwdown between champion Kell Brook and rising star Errol Spence Jr has been set for May 27th in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England. Many felt that Brook, an excellent 36-1 titlist, might move away from the welterweight division after a crushing loss to middleweight honcho Gennday Golovkin last year. Brook proved game, however, showing a willingess not only to return to welterweight, but also to take on a menacing challenge in the 21-0 Spence. “I’m an expereinced fighter,” Brook said at a Wednesday press conference, “I know what I need to do. I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again.”

Brook refused to pay homage to Spence at the conference. When Spence was referred to at one point as a “brilliant American,” Brook scoffed. “Brilliant American,” he quipped. “Yeah. We’ll see how brilliant he is.” Spence, however, wasn’t about to show deference to Brook, either. “Dude had two good rounds with GGG,” the Texas native snapped. “Willie Monroe did the same thing.” To be sure, there was a lot of back and forth at the press conference – mainly, it seemed, between the two fighter’s trainers. Such things make for good drama, however, and Brook-Spence promises (at least on paper) to be a very interesting matchup.

For Brook is a big, strong welterweight who knows how to let his strength be felt while throwing impressive straight punches. Spence, on the other hand, comes across as something of a wunderkind, a fact evidenced by his dismantling of former junior welterweight champ (and Manny Pacquiao opponent) Chris Algieri. Spence simply went through the Long Island native, much as he has most of his opponents to date. Can he get by the skilled and expereinced Brook, however? Can he do so in Brook’s hometown, no less? Those questions are what make this match so intriguing.

There’s also intruiging news to be found in the division below Brook and Spence, for Bud Crawford, the 30-0 king of the junior welterweight division is all but set to face 19-1 Felix Diaz May 20th in Newark, New Jersey. People have been waiting for a while to find out who the highly lauded Crawford’s next opponent would be. And while many want to see the WBC and WBO super lightweight champ against the likes of Adrien Broner or Manny Pacquiao, Diaz, whose apparently wanted this fight for a while, looks to be the man. While he’s no household name, Diaz has managed to best the likes of Adrian Granados and Sammy Vasquez. Some also feel he got robbed when he fought Lamont Peterson back in 2015. In other words, the guy’s no slouch.