Tag Archives: Friday

Posted on 07/10/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Featherweight sensation Joet Gonzalez, 19-0 (11), of L.A. looks to keep his unbeaten streak going Friday night in an Oscar de La Hoya Golden Boy Promotion at the Nova at L.A. live, in Los Angeles, CA. He meets Rafael “Big Bang” Rivera, 25-1-2 (16), of Tijuana, Baja, CA, Mexico, for the vacant WBO NABO Featherweight Title.

Rivera is coming off a loss last September to Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz by decision. Diaz in May lost a lopsided world title challenge to Gary Russell Jr. after giving up the WBO NABO title.

Gonzalez has stopped his last five opponents. In his last and only fight in 2018 he knocked out Rolando “Smooth Operator” Magbanua, 29-7 (21), in 5 rounds. He has yet to get into the world ratings but possibly with a win he can enter the WBO ratings.

In the co-feature lightweight Christian “Chimpo” Gonzalez, 18-2 (15), of Buena Park, CA, takes on Arturo “Reyes” Santos Reyes, 19-10 (5), of Sonora, MEX, in an 8. Gonzalez has lost two of his last four fights including his last fight in February to Filipino Rey “Flash” Perez, 21-9, by an 8 round decision after suffering a pair of cuts on the left eye from an accidental head butt causing a 60 day suspension.
Reyes on the other hand has lost his last four fights to high quality boxers with a 70-4-1 combined record. A month ago he lost a split decision to Matt “Sweet Child” Conway, 12-0, for IBA Intercontinental title over 10 rounds in Pittsburgh, PA.

Super Middleweight Maricela “La Diva” Cornejo, 11-2 (4), of L.A. takes on Samantha Pill, 3-0 (0), of Fairmont, W.V., in a 6. Cornejo has won seven straight with her last win in May. She last lost in May in 2016 in Auckland, NZ, by split decision for the vacant WBC World Female Middleweight title to Kali Reis. In her prior fight she won the vacant WBC International Female Super Middleweight Title in August of 2015.

Posted on 09/15/2017

By: William Holmes

The Marquee Ballroom at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada was the host site for tonight’s Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN Card.
The venue was a more intimate venue with good views for the fans in attendance.

Photo Credit: Tom Hogan-Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

The opening bout of the televised card was between Damon Allen Jr. (12-0) and Jayro Duran (10-2) in the lightweight division.
Damon Allen is a Philadelphia native and considered by many to be on of the area’s best prospects.

Allen was in clear control the opening rounds and was able to land his left hook and jab with ease. He was able to control the distance and fight a measured but controlling pace on Duran.

Duran was able to land a thudding right hook in the fifth round that caught Allen by surprise momentarily, but Allen was able to outland Duran for the remainder and in this writer’s opinion still won the round.

Allen won a large majority of the remainder rounds and was sharp with his combinations and didn’t appear to tire even though Duran was able to continuously come forward. However Allen did not show that he had fight stopping power, but he did have good boxing skills.

All three judges scored the bout 79-72 for Damon Allen Jr.

The next bout of the night was in the Super Featherweight Division between Ryan Garcia (10-0) and Miguel Carrizoza (10-2) in the Super Bantamweight division. This bout was for the Junior NABF Super Featherweight Title.

Garcia came right out and landed a thudding right hook in the opening seconds that sent Carrizoza down to the mat. As soon as Carrizoza got to his feet Garcia landed another thudding hook that sent him down to the mat and the referee stopped the fight.

Two punches, two knockdowns, quick stoppage. Impressive fight for Garcia.

Ryan Garcia wins by TKO at 0:30 of the first round.

The next bout of the night was between Alexis Salazar (11-3) and Evan Torres (6-4) in the middleweight division. This bout was a TV swing bout.

Salazar was the taller fighter and he attempted to use his reach to keep Torres at bay. Torres, however, applied consistent pressure but he appeared to be more effective in the earlier rounds.

Both boxers took advantage of the opportunity to possibly be on television and had some heavy exchanges in the later rounds.
The final scorecards were read in Torres favor: 59-55, 58-56, and 60-54.

The televised main event was between Claudio Marrero (22-1) and Jesus Rojas (25-1-2) for the WBA Interim Featherweight Title.
Rojas is known for his hard charging come forward style and he had Marrero backing into a corner early. Marrero was mixing his combinations to the body and head and at one point pushed Rojas down into the corner. Marrero landed several good uppercuts in the opening round.

Marrero controlled the distance in the second round and showed he was clearly the fighter with the faster hands. Rojas was able to do a better job in the third round keeping the fight in close quarters, but Marrero was dominating when there was some separation between the two fighters.

Rojas dominated the fourth and fifth rounds and looked like he was wearing Marrero down. He kept his head in the chest of his opponents and was landing heavy shots, though Marrero was able to get in some good combinations of his own.

Marrero was able to retake control in the sixth round by landing good combinations and even backing Rojas up. Marrero could be seen jawing to his opponent throughout the sixth.

Marrero looked like he was catching his second round in the seventh round until Rojas landed a devastating combination with a fight ending left hook that sent Marrero down to the mat. Marrero was badly hurt and unable to get up before the count of ten.

Jesus Rojas wins by knockout at 2:59 of the seventh round.

Posted on 01/19/2017

ESPN, Golden Boy Announce Major Collaboration
By: Sean Crose

Those of us who have been moaning and groaning since the small scale, yet thoroughly terrific, Friday Night Fights has been yanked off the ESPN airwaves now have plenty to smile about. For Golden Boy Promotions has announced a major collaboration with the sports network, one which will bring close to twenty fight cards to the ESPNs channels this year alone. What’s more, Golden Boy has declared that the deal is of the “multi-year” variety, which means the programming will at least extend beyond 2017. For the record, the first card will air March 23d. The participants, however, have yet to be announced.

The ESPN branches which will be airing the fights are ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, the network’s traditional boxing homes. Furthermore, ESPN and Golden Boy will be showing more than just fight cards.

Things such as a “Classic Fight Library,” half hour boxing-related interviews, an entire thirty minute program about boxing training, and podcasts are also on the roster. To be sure, it’s a full plate, and one which seemingly came out of the blue. After what was, in many ways, a miserable 2016, the New Year is looking much improved for fight fans. Let’s hope things keep moving forward.

Posted on 07/15/2016

Lipinets, Nyambayar Thunder To Victory
By: Sean Crose

There were complaints that Friday’s PBC card on ESPN appeared to be pretty much the same as an old Friday Night Fights broadcast. For those who don’t know, Friday Night Fights, ESPNs boxing program of old, featured up and coming boxers and gave them international exposure. The PBC, on the other hand, was supposed to bring major bouts to “free” television. Needless to say, ESPNs PBC card on Friday featured up and comers rather than huge stars. So yes, the broadcast did look like an old FNF show. Truth be told, however, I always loved FNF, so I settled in for a fun night of boxing.

The evening showcased a Mongolian fighter who boasted a 5-0 record, all by knockout. Sure enough, Tugstogt Nyambayar stepped into the ring at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi as a featherweight who was off to a thunderous, if not high profile, start. His opponent, Rafael Vazquez, hadn’t fought since dropping a unanimous decision to Ryan Kielczewski the previous October. Still, with 13 knockouts out of 16 victories in a record consisting of 19 fights, it was clear Vazquez was more than just cannon fighter. Unfortunately for Brooklyn’s Vazquez, Nyambayar kept up his knockout streak by crushing his man in round one.

The main event, which featured 9-0 junior welterweight Sergey Lipinets facing off against Nicaragua’s 26-3-1 Walter Castillo. With a rich background in MMA and amateur boxing, Lipinets was clearly looking to improve his resume -which featured seven knockouts – with a sharp performance. Castillo, however, was known to be a high energy foe. After having one win, one loss and one draw in his last previous fights, Castillo would earn the career boost he needed with a win over the rising Kazakh.

Lipinets took to Castillo with his heavy fists early on, but Castillo remained game. Lipinets split his man’s lip in the third as his hard shots gave him an edge. Castillo, however, was not to be denied so quickly, for he started the fourth with a harsh assault on his foe. Sure enough, the fight started to even out. What’s more, Lipinets suffered a cut due to a clash of heads.

Lipinets nailed his man in the 6th so effectively that it looked like the proceedings might be coming to a close. Castillo survived, though, and remained competitive. Still, Lipinets connected with thunderous precision again in the seventh before banging Castillo against the ropes. Not one to relent, Lipinets swung away until Castillo began to look helpless, leaving the referee no choice, but to stop the fight.