Tag Archives: featherweight
More Than A Belt: Santa Cruz vs Frampton
More Than A Belt: Santa Cruz vs Frampton
By: Brandon Bernica
Dreams come to life in the Big Apple. Lives constantly intersect. People from far-reaching locations around the globe converge in this concrete jungle in hopes of capturing the American dream. In New York, competition to the top is a little stiffer, but the opportunities are a little more grandiose.
Saturday night will pit Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton against one another for the WBA Featherweight World Championship. The fight will happen in Brooklyn, New York amidst a crowd of city dwellers who are all too familiar with the struggles of proving oneself. Because, whether Santa Cruz or Frampton realize it or not, more than a belt is at stake in this fight. Just like New York’s inhabitants, they both fought to distinguish themselves from the crowd; now, they will attempt to carve legacies enduring far beyond the splendor of a singular win.
See, fans sometimes look back on these types of fights with remorse, not having comprehended the significance of these matchups when they happened. Truthfully, the glow of this bout hides behind the circumstances around it. Take that the PBC consistently receives flack for showcasing non-intriguing one-sided fights. When a gem such as this one sparkles brightest amongst a lackluster schedule, it’s hard to determine just how compelling the fight really is. In addition, HBO aired a PPV this past Saturday featuring Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol. While experts probably would tout Santa Cruz vs. Frampton as the better choice, being on PPV can make fights appear greater than their actual value.
Two undefeated fighters butting heads is a no-brainer win. But the fighters’ rich resumes and their individual fighting styles accentuate this bout as extraordinary. Both of their resume’s shine with exceptional wins. However, their only shared opponent is Kiko Martinez, a rugged veteran from Spain. Frampton demolished him with two knockouts in two blood-rushing fights, while Santa Cruz went toe-to-toe with Martinez en-route to a stoppage of his own. Martinez (a former champion himself) and his losses to these two men confirm just how far ahead of the pack both Santa Cruz and Frampton are heading into Saturday night’s clash.
Style-wise, this matchup flourishes as a potential slugfest. Frampton excels on both the back foot and front foot, depending on the style he needs to win. He demonstrates power and grit, cycling between gears with ease. Santa Cruz, however, knows one gear: forward. He marches ahead and relentlessly bombards his foes with punches that never seem to seize. While nerves could freeze both fighters into more cautionary styles, something tells me that competing at such a high level will bring the best out of both men. Youth vs. youth. Length (Santa Cruz) vs. compact punching (Frampton). Who wants it more? Who can adapt better?
To add flavor to the storylines surrounding the bout, both men hail from boxing-rich traditions. Frampton comes from the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland, to be exact) while Mexican blood courses through Santa Cruz’s veins. Fans from both Mexico and the United Kingdom share rabid passion for their brethren in the fighting ranks. With the rise of various world-ranked fighters from both nations, the potential for a boxing rivalry to form only grows stronger. You can bet the last dollar in your wallet that each side will cheer their lungs out for their man to come out on top.
In the end, country pride looms as a sliver of the backdrop to this pertinent matchup. Boxing’s current landscape opposes top-level fights in favor of money-making draws. Substance decays on the backburner in favor of sizzle. As fans, we wait years for ideal meetings of talent in the ring. Yet we’re so conditioned by the disappointment of boxing politics that it’s tempting to care less when we’re finally thrown a bone. Don’t fall into the trap. Hindsight is 20/20, and years from now, this bout could be known as the defining bout in both Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton’s careers.
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Rigondeaux’s Left Leaves Dickens a Broken Man
Rigondeaux’s Left Leaves Dickens a Broken Man
By: Oz Ozkaya
The WBA World Super-Bantamweight clash between champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, and challenger Jamie ‘Jazza’ Dickens, certainly didn’t fail to produce the world class touch that many had paid to see. Sadly, in the short two rounds that were witnessed, it was only Rigondeaux who produced that small glimmer of class. After a steady start, Rigondeaux quickly got his eye in and dealt a fatal left-handed hook shot that broke the jaw of Jamie Dickens.
Leading up to this fight, Rigondeaux, or as he is better known ‘Rigo’, had been caught up in a Visa complication which ultimately led to the cancellation of the previously arranged fight with Dickens, back in March. However, with everything during the build-up running much smoother this time; the fight was all that was left to complete.
Rigondeaux and Dickens, as you could suspect, both talked about defeating one another in their own spectacularly envisaged ways pre-fight. But with Rigondeaux appearing extremely focused through all the press that he had done, in addition to the public pad work sessions where he showed off how quick and skillful he is, it was widely thought that he was going to make light work of Dickens and claim yet another scalp to add to his perfect record of 16-0.
In all fairness his opponent cannot really be criticised for last night, after all, despite receiving a few lightning quick combinations from Rigondeaux in the first, of which he countered twice respectably, he never really got the chance to get going. Once he was back in the corner at the end of the second after Rigondeaux’s venomous overhead left, it was unanimously decided among the Dickens team that it was game over. The heart of Dickens wanted to fight on, but sadly for him the heads in his corner knew it was too big a risk to continue.
Speaking after the fight, a dejected Dickens tells of the motions when Rigondeaux’s left connected.
“Yeh, I knew straight away it was broken. I felt the crack when he landed. I felt it hanging off but I thought that I could carry on. I thought if it was meant to be I could get him but I knew that if he connected again, it was just going to come right off.
“We all made the call at the end of the (second) round. It was sensible really. Paul and Mick (Stevenson) said they had to pull me out, that I couldn’t go back out like that. I wanted to think I could get him but realistically it wasn’t worth it.”
It is unknown at this point as to how bad the damage on his jaw is, but one thing is for certain; The sound that the overhand left Rigondeaux delivered could probably have been heard all the way back in Miami, Florida. It was crisp, clear-cut, powerful… and thrown at the speed of light. Dickens was wobbled and appeared confused from damage, but, somehow managed to survive the onslaught.
After the fight speaking to Box Nation (Who hosted the fight on U.K television), Rigondeaux said that he wanted to stay in the U.K and fight again but only if Frank Warren would like him to. Frank Warren (Queensbury Promotions) was, of course, grinning from to cheek at the mere notion of that idea, Rigondeaux and he then subsequently shook hands in the post-ringside interview.
“I’m not the best, but I’m the most complete,” Rigondeaux said. “I ripped his jaw out. All those guys that want their jaws ripped out, I’m here!”. He then went on to say: ”Not 100 of those guys add up to 1 of me. I want hard fights. People make it boring [against me] once they feel my power.”
The future for Rigondeaux remains to be seen, at 35, this may be his last push to secure some big main event clashes. Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg were two of the fighters named post match, and Rigo appeared un-phased about who could potentially be put in front of him, the only question on his mind; when and where?.
An interesting night of Boxing in Cardiff for sure. The British & Commonwealth Super Welterweight Championship match between Luke Williams and Gary Corcoran producing arguably the best fight of the evening, in what actually turned out to be more of a highly energetic street fight than a boxing match. Williams landing some crushing blows to Corcoran in the early rounds, more memorably a swiftly executed hook managed to open up a large gash above the left eye of Corcoran. His corner then left with the job of keeping patched up thereafter.
Going into the final rounds it was all very ‘from me to you’ with the ever-changing shift in momentum. Despite somehow managing to remain composed from an earlier knockdown (which wasn’t classed as a knocked down as he miraculously bounced off the ropes and landed back on his feet) Corcoran was trying absolutely everything he could to try and slay Williams. But, the opposite happened and after withstanding a lot of tidy jab-by-jab work and meaty body shots, Williams pulled out a stunning KO from his almost empty locker.
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Guillermo Rigondeaux To Defend WBA World Super-Bantamweight Title In Wales
Guillermo Rigondeaux To Defend WBA World Super-Bantamweight Title In Wales
By: Oz Ozkaya
The mysterious nature of Guillermo Rigondeaux (16-0) would intrigue even Sherlock Holmes, but Saturday night will be the 17th professional fight he would have competed in after boasting an unrivalled record of 475 victories in 487 contests as an amateur. Some would argue that he is one of the greatest boxers of all time. Others would say that he has been ruined by leeches and ghouls that have previously run his brand.
Unfortunately, in recent years, Rigo (as he is better known) has not had the greatest of luck when it has come down to agents, managers and promoters. The fight he participates in on Saturday was originally scheduled to have taken place back on March 12th, however, due to Visa complications that couldn’t be resolved the fight was cancelled and nobody knew what was to happen next.
Thankfully, Frank Warren, the promoter of Queensberry Promotions, has been able to rearrange the showdown at another venue and the now world title fight should go ahead tomorrow night instead. His opponent, a completely inexperienced one when it comes to the world level, is up-and-coming British fighter Jamie ‘Jazza’ Dickens. Dickens has never fought an opponent anywhere near the rank of Rigondeaux, but with the utmost of confidence, and with an impressive professional record (22-1), Dickens will be heading into this fight knowing that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. He knows he will have to give absolutely everything if he is to come anywhere near defeating Rigondeaux.
For the original bout, the world title wasn’t contractually agreed to have been on the line, and this was mainly because Rigondeaux had been stripped of it for failing to make a defence through a certain period of time. Since then, the WBA have recently reinstated him as their champion and so the fight now has a been given world title glorification, but having said this it is beyond doubt that Rigondeaux will be envisaging the next step ahead after this bout. Carl Frampton and Moses Flores two of the undefeated names in the division that the world would love to see try and outbox Rigondeaux.
During the final press conference in Cardiff, Rigondeaux stated: “I would like to show my respect and gratitude to Dickens for having the courage to take this fight. Dickens is the only [junior featherweight] in the world that has the guts to step in the ring with me. All of the others like to talk and talk but they don’t have the courage to actually fight. They know where to find me. I’m here and I’m ready to face anyone in the world. I’m quicker than FedEx and better than UPS.”
Dickens on the contrary, with that ever so familiar cheeky but confident Liverpudlian charm that’s very reminiscent of fellow Merseyside boys Tony Bellew and Liam Smith, presented the cameras of Boxing Nation TV with some startling confidence of his own. He went on to say: “I’ll listen to my coaches and get my hand raised at the end of the night. I’m going to box out of my skin, I know there’s more in me—that’s why I took this fight. If there’s anyone to bring it out of me I know it’s him.”
Realistically, if Dickens can manage to withstand the speed and skill of Rigondeaux for twelve rounds then that in itself should be a realistic aim for Saturday night. With Rigondeaux looking in fine fettle during public pre-fight pad and sparring sessions, it’s exciting to know that he will be bringing his A-game along with him come Saturday at Cardiff’s Ice Arena.
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Sosa Dared to Believe
Sosa Dared to Believe
By: Ben Underwood
The site was Beijing ,China , the favourite was Javier Fortuna and the script was ripped apart by Jason Sosa. Although Sosa seemed alarmingly easy to hit and Fortuna was hiding behind his Mayweather- esque front shoulder, it was Sosa who seemed to want it more as he moved forward and put pressure on the relaxed Fortuna from the first bell.
Southpaw Javier seemed to fight with the attitude that he only needed to turn up to win for the first two rounds ,while Sosa was making the most of the opportunity with wild swings and catching Fortuna with the left hook as the latter tried to back off. The WBA Super Featherweight champion suddenly woke up and let his hands go, landing a clubbing right at the end of the second but it was a belated attempt and the bell provided a get out of jail free card for Jason (19-1-4,15 KO’s).
El canito was showing great head movement but it was Fortuna who was taking over and landed a great burst of punches in the fourth making his crude and lunging opponent think. It only seemed a matter of time before Javier (29-0-1,21 KO’s going in) would get to his man and in the fifth, landed a great left hand that he set up from a distracting right hook and felled the brave Sosa that didn’t seem to hurt him too badly. The underdog got up and brushed himself off and immediately set about his work.
By the seventh round Sosa had his best round so far catching Fortuna with straight rights and left hooks, with Fortuna with his jerky movements was looking for that one shot to win in style, this ultimately cost him the round. The contest caught fire in round nine as Fortuna looked to finish Sosa,but after going the distance with Nicholas Walters It seemed that the champion underestimated the toughness of Sosa, as he took all that fortuna could deliver and looked very composed under pressure.By the end of the round both men were exchanging with Javier landing left and rights to Sosa’s head while El canito was landing to both body and head.
The fight was close at this point and by the tenth it was Sosa who ,with his relentless pressure caught Fortuna with a right to the body and a straight right to the head which had Fortuna in all kinds of bother as he went down from a straight right hand. The drama was coming in thick and fast as Javier spat his gumshield to buy some time and the third man in the ring took a point for his troubles. Fortuna looked desperate as he tried to let his hands go and was getting caught in the process by left hooks from Sosa, and by the end of the 10th they were both on the floor as Fortuna did an MMA take down to end the action packed round.
It was the relentless pressure that Fortuna could not get to grips with and right after slashing right were landing and without warning a massive left hook detonated of the jaw of the Dominican Republic native and he fell to the floor. Although he got up he was clearly unsteady as he tried to con Raul Caiz jr ,but the referee made the right decision to wave the fight off and allow Javier Fortuna to fight another night.
Fortuna was making his second defence of the WBA title that he won from Bryan Vasquez and was expected to win. The determination of Sosa is something that cannot be taught in any gym around the world and serves as a testiment to Jason Sosa as he becomes the new WBA Super featherweight champion of the world.
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HBO Boxing Results: Lopez wins Controversial Decision; Salido and Vargas fight to Majority Draw
HBO Boxing Results: Lopez wins Controversial Decision; Salido and Vargas fight to Majority Draw
By: Matthew N. Becher
In the wake of the death of the Great Muhammad Ali, HBO aired a boxing card which proved to be the best way to pay tribute to the former Heavyweight champion of the world. Live from Carson, California at the StubHub Center a pair of fights in the Featherweight division, one between two rising prospects and the other between two champion veterans was held.
Between the undercard and main event HBO presented a very nice tribute to Muhammad Ali. The StubHub Center was lit up in cell phone cameras, while chants of “Ali, Ali, Ali” rang out. Michael Buffer led the tribute with a great speech as they tolled the traditional 10 count.
Photo Credit: Chris Farina- Team Salido
Abraham Lopez (20-0-1 15KO) v. Julian Ramirez (16-0 8KO): Featherweight
The fight started out extremely fast, with hard punches from both fighters. Ramirez was on the balls of his feet, bouncing around, while his counterpart Lopez began landing heavy accurate punches. Ramirez was more of the sharp shooter, efficiently landing a strong, straight left hand.
The second and third rounds provided the same quick pace action, with both fighters going toe to toe, landing heavy shots, to the surprise of Lopez, who most likely thought Ramirez as a non-contact boxer.
During the middle rounds the pace slowed down tremendously, and went from a brawl to a boxing match, which is exactly what Julian Ramirez was hoping for. Both fighters suffered cuts on accidental head butts, due to the southpaw and orthodox styles.
Ramirez proved that he could brawl when need be, but could more than out box the undefeated brawler in Lopez. Even though Ramirez was bothered by the flowing cut on his right eye, which he constantly pawed at, he was none the less able to stick to his game plan, landing more than 50% of his power punches. Ramirez has put himself in the position to take on someone that he believes to be the best fighter in the sport and test his own worth in Guillermo Rigondeaux.
The judges did see it differently and all saw the winner of the fight in Abraham Lopez. This was very much a controversial decision, as Lopez look battered, bruised and tired at the end of the fight.
Lopez UD10 97-92(2x), 98-92
Francisco Vargas (23-0-1 17KO) v. Orlando Salido (43-13-3 30KO): WBC Featherweight title:
What was billed initially as a “Fight of the Year” candidate on paper did not disappoint in its advertisement. Both fighters delivered on action, ditching any kind of defense very early in the first round and beginning to just brawl as soon as they could.
Trading shots, and toe to toe fighting was the norm of the fight. Vargas attempted to use his boxing skill, but was eventually made to fight inside the phone booth as the veteran Salido never stopped coming forward, both men throwing every shot with bad intentions, looking to stop their opponent.
The sixth round was the closest to a knockdown for Vargas, wobbling Salido and nearly sending him to the canvas. Vargas tried to put his opponent down, but ended up punching himself out, giving Salido a way to make a comeback.
The last third of the fight was just as brutal as the first half with both men in- fighting, landing blistering shots to the others head and body. These are the fights that people talk about for years, and take years off of a fighters lives. This style of fight is what separate fighters, that puts fear in to other fighters hearts.
It could have gone either way. Both men left their souls in that ring, entertaining the fans and leaving it all on the line. Fight of the year candidate? That is the least we could give these two warriors.
115-113 Vargas, 114-114 (2x) Majority Draw
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HBO World Championship Boxing: Vargas vs. Salido Preview
HBO World Championship Boxing: Vargas vs. Salido Preview
By: Matthew N. Becher
This Saturday night from the StubHub center in Carson, California, Golden Boy Promotions will telecast a possible fight of the year candidate live on HBO. The undercard will pit two young, undefeated prospects in the featherweight division who have been showcased on smaller Golden Boy cards, and will look to use this opportunity to expose themselves to a very large audience and possibly set themselves up for bigger fights in the upcoming year.
Julian Ramirez (16-0 8KO) vs. Abraham Lopez (20-0-1 15KO): Featherweight
Julian “El Camaron” Ramirez is a fresh faced, 23 year old slick boxer out of Los Angeles, California. Ramirez is the nephew of former world champion Genaro Hernandez. Ramirez comes from a very good amateur background, compiling a record of 73-5 and going on to become a four time National PAL champion. He has won his last three meetings, over Raul Hidalgo, Hugo Partida and Christopher Martin, by Unanimous decision, slowly stepping up the quality of opponent. Ramirez is a fast handed southpaw who is very much looking to get to that next level of opposition.
Abraham “Chamaco” Lopez is also a young fighter looking to take advantage of the exposure he will receive on this undercard. Though a little older than his opponent, the 28 year old Lopez has also stayed very busy in the last year, winning all of his fights by stoppage. His lone draw on his record came last year against a much more experience fighter in Juan Carlos Martinez, who has been in the ring with the likes of Antonio DeMarco, Juan Carlos Burgos, Bernabe Concepcion and Mikey Garcia. Lopez is a brawler and will look to use his power to win this fight.
Francisco Vargas (23-0-1 17KO) vs. Orlando Salido (43-13-3 30KO): WBC Featherweight championship
Both fighters in this main event are come forward, punch for punch, warriors in the ring. They exemplify the “Mexican Style” of boxing that is one of the most entertaining styles of fighting the sport has to offer. Vargas is coming off of an unbelievable performance last November, in a fight that went on to win the BWAA fight of the year award, against Takashi Miura. Not only did Vargas get off the canvas and work through an awful cut on his eye, he was able to knock out Miura, who seemed unstoppable.
Vargas and Salido are similar in their fighting styles, which can at time resemble fighting in a phone booth, but they come from different backgrounds. The 31 year old champion, Vargas, was a highly decorated amateur who represented his native Mexico in the 2008 summer Olympics in China. Salido, who is only four years older at 35, has been a pro since he was 15 years old. This will be his 60th professional fight, and he has seen it all. Where Vargas does have some big wins against Miura and Juan Manuel Lopez, which is really the extent of his accomplishes as a professional. Salido, who has been pro since 1996 has been in the ring with the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Robert Guerrero, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Juan Manuel Lopez, Mikey Garcia, Vasyl Lomachenko and Roman Martinez.
When they say styles make fights, this is the type of fight they are referring to. On paper, fireworks are already starting to go off, and both of these men do not want to leave anything back once the final bell is rung. We expect the fight to live up to the hype and commend both fighters for putting aside any legal, contractual or ego garbage aside and get ready to fight.
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Replace UFC’s Conor McGregor with Reptile & Floyd Mayweather Match Gets Interesting
Replace UFC’s Conor McGregor with Reptile & Floyd Mayweather Match Gets Interesting
By Ivan G. Goldman
Floyd Mayweather in a cross-sport showdown with MMA scrapper Conor McGregor? Nah, I’ve got something better. Why doesn’t Floyd wrestle an alligator?
Gators, being lizards, are pretty dumb and you could probably find one who’d settle for only 30 or 40 percent of the pay-per-view money. And as my colleague Matthew Becher pointed out to me in an email, if Floyd gets himself a Chinese alligator it would have even more trouble reading all those contract clauses.
Also, Chinese alligators, I’m told, weigh about 80 pounds while U.S. gators can get up to 500 – quite a lot for any welterweight to handle.
Whatever gator you choose, the match puts Floyd back on the sports pages where he wants to be and also a little change in the pocket of his advisor Al Haymon, who’s besieged with legal fees while his grand idea of a PBC empire collapses all around him.
Not that I’m praying for a PBC collapse. I like the PBC. I look upon it as a Robin Hood-tinged organization that takes money from the fat-cat investors of investment colossus Waddell & Reed and distributes a lot of it among prizefighters and their teams (with a nice little slice going to boxing godfather Haymon). But I digress.
Apparently some media agitator named Colin Cowherd has announced that his sources indicate Mayweather-McGregor is all set for September. His sources are so dug in and important that he labels them as “intel.” And an MMA site says rumors of the match – this is an exact quote now – are “running rampant.” Wow.
Clearly these MMA folks have never tried to get Mayweather to sign a contract. They’re in for quite an experience. But I say let’s put a stop to this madness while we consider the benefits of substituting a gator for McGregor. McGregor, my Wikipedia intel informs me, is a UFC champion from Ireland who’s a big, trash-talking draw and has never defended his featherweight title.
And apparently he’s smart enough to know that his income might rise astronomically if he could get the retired Mayweather into a ring or cage or something, Mayweather being, of course, the best-paid fighter of all time, a guy who earned some $400 million to defeat Manny Pacquiao in a dull contest the world looked forward to for years. Not that the world wanted the contest to be dull. But let’s not get into that again.
The proposed McGregor match would apparently be fought under prizefighting rules, making him a goner. Mayweather reportedly said once that MMA is a sport for white boys who couldn’t make it in boxing, but I will not comment on this beautifully crafted thought. McGregor isn’t the first MMA champion to offer a circus challenge to Mayweather. So did Ronda Rousey before she got knocked out by Holly Holm.
Superbly skilled prizefighter James Toney, aging and down on his luck, entered a cage against Randy Couture and lost toot sweet under MMA rules.
Muhammad Ali once opposed a Japanese wrestler named Antonio Anoki and Anoki spent much of the night scuttling around the canvas like a turtle on his back and kicking at Ali’s legs. Ali circled him and didn’t throw a punch until round seven. The event went the distance of 15 rounds, was called a draw and was one of the biggest entertainment duds of the 20th century.
Boxing is a special sport, as is MMA, and trying to mix them gets you into all sorts of quandaries about rules and such. It’s like trying to blend football and baseball.
Which is another reason I prefer an alligator. An alligator doesn’t give you any arguments. It doesn’t even care who enters the ring first, though it may demand some kind of national anthem. But these details are easily ironed out – as long as the gator doesn’t bite off more than he can chew.
Ivan G. Goldman’s 5th novel The Debtor Class is a ‘gripping …triumphant read,’ says Publishers Weekly. A future cult classic with ‘howlingly funny dialogue,’ says Booklist. Available from Permanent Press wherever fine books are sold. Goldman is a New York Times best-selling author.
