Tag Archives: injury

Posted on 03/15/2018

by: Sean Crose

While training for his upcoming bout with WBO world welterweight champion Jeff Horn, Terence Crawford has injured his hand, causing the April 14th bout between the two men to be postponed. Horn defeated Manny Pacquiao by a wildly controversial decision last summer in his homeland of Australia while Crawford is hoping to conquer the welterweight division after unifying the junior welterweight realm – a rare feat in today’s splintered boxing world.

Top Ranks’ Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters, has indicated that the fight is still on, but will be postponed. The bout was originally supposed to go down at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Arum indicated that the fight, when it does go down, will remain in town.

“The doctor prescribed two weeks of rest,” Arum said of Crawford to ESPN, “and then he should be ready to go. We’ll put the fight sometime in late May or early June, but that depends on how Terence’s hand is feeling.”

Boxing Insider will keep readers updated as events develop.

Posted on 07/26/2017

 

By: Ken Hissner

 
We live in a society that seems infatuated on violence. For years boxing has taken a bad rap for being a sport that was continuously getting criticism for violence. This brought about the increased interest in UFC and MMA. They do not have the skill levels of boxing but the head injuries exceeded boxing which the blood thirsty fans seemed to enjoy. In boxing a knockout normally issues a ninety day suspension before performing again.
A study that will be presented at next week’s American Academy of Neurology (AAN) meeting offers one of the most conclusive pieces of evidence yet of a definitive link between brain injury and playing football.

 

 

The researchers studied 165 deceased people who had played the sport in high school, college or professionally, and found evidence of CTE in 131 of them. The recent movie “Concussion” starring Will smith points out that tackle football as America knows it is doomed in the long run as parents become increasingly concerned about letting their children play. The study of 40 retired NFL players while giving them concentration and memory test showed players playing for an average of seven years had a reported an average of 8.1 concussions.
In football one can be injured from the back and any part of the body. In boxing the rules say “no hitting below the belly button” and no hitting behind the head or be penalized. When a fight breaks out in any sport whether its football or ice hockey the fans seem to thrive on it. You see unskilled athletes swinging wildly as in a street fight.
There have been nine reported deaths in the past ten years in boxing. They were Pedro Alcazar, Cho Hi, Becky Zerlentes, Benjamin Flores, Brad Rone, Martin Sanchez, Daniel Aguillan, Leavander Johnson and Yo-Sam Choi. Injuries in basketball and bicycling are two of the three highest in sports.
Boxing has reduced world title bouts from fifteen to twelve rounds. This was mainly the circumstance of the November 1984 bout when Ray Mancini defeated Deuk-Koo Sim who was 17-1-1 having never been stopped prior to their match. He had problems making weight and collapsed into a coma after the match that went into the fourteenth round when he got knocked down and stopped by the referee.

Posted on 09/19/2016

A Fractured Thumb Will Keep Canelo From Fighting Until 2017
By: Sean Crose

Accusations of ducking and cherry picking aside, it’s hard to argue that Saul Canelo Alvarez didn’t look magnificent on Saturday night as he took apart true warrior Liam Smith on his way to winning Smith’s WBO super welterweight title. Employing a sustained body attack that would make Mike McCallum nod his head in approval, the Mexican star completely dismantled his British opponent.

Impressive, to be sure, but not without cost. Canelo stated after the fight that he had hurt his hand. And, sure enough, on Monday it was announced that Canelo had indeed fractured his thumb and will be out of commission for six weeks.

That means a bout in December is no longer a viable option for Alvarez. Six weeks of healing certainly doesn’t mean the man will be able to fight again in a few short months, after all. What this means for HBO, which has already had a light boxing year to put it mildly, remains to be seen. Word was that Canelo would appear on the network for his next bout. With a PPV match pretty much certain for May, it’s difficult now to say if and when he Canelo be featured on pay cable – as opposed to pay per view – again.

To be sure, Canelo’s overall future was uncertain to begin with. While he has an enormous fan base, he also now has many detractors due to the fact that he gave up his WBC middleweight title rather than face middleweight terror Gennady Golovkin. A bout with Golovkin is supposed to go down next fall, of course, but in truth, there’s no guarantees when it comes to Canelo and his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya. With all this in mind, news of Canelo’s broken thumb only adds to the overall air of uncertainty that surrounds the man.

The good news in all this, of course, is that neither Canelo nor his opponent suffered serious injury on Saturday – boxing can be an exceedingly dangerous sport, after all. The timing of Canelo’s injury could have been worse, as well. Had his thumb been injured in training for the assumed December bout, for instance, time, money and fan disappointment could have been a major factor. As it stands, however, both Canelo and fight fans will just have to wait for his injury to heal. What will happen after that, of course, remains to be seen.

Posted on 09/04/2016

Pirog, Hernandez, Simon and Valero’s Careers Ended as Champions!
By: Ken Hissner

Sometimes a champion can only be stopped by injury or death. First we will look at Russia’s Demitry “Grandmaster” Pirog, 20-0 (15), who was WBO Middleweight champion. He gave up his title to challenge Gennady “GGG” Golovkin instead of his top contender Hassan N’Dam which cost him his title. In training he suffered a debilitating (ruptured disc) back injury and never fought again. His last fight was on May 1st, 2012 in his third title defense.

Pirog is the only boxer to defeat (by stoppage) current WBA World middleweight champion Danny “Miracle Man” Jacobs who was 20-0 at the time and 31-1 (28) now with 11 straight knockout wins since this defeat. Pirog was 16-0 at the time. It was July 31st in 2010 when they fought in Las Vegas, NV, for the vacant WBO title.
In his fourth bout Pirog won the Russian title defeating Sergey Tatevosyon, 25-5, by decision. In his eighth bout he stopped Juan Manuel Alaggio, 16-4-1, of Argentina. In his tenth bout he stopped fellow Russian Alexey Chirkov, 18-2, for the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council title. In his eleventh fight he knocked out another fellow Russian Aslanbek Kodzoev, 20-2-1. In his next and twelfth bout he defeated Serbian Geard Ajetovic, 16-2-1.

In Pirog’s next bout he stopped Kuvanych Toygonbayev, 29-4, of UZB improving to 13-0. In his next fight for the vacant WBC International title he ended the career of Ghana’s Kofi Jantuah, 32-3-1, in his first bout out of Russia in Saarland, Germany. This was followed with his first American opponent stopping Philly’s Eric “Murder” Mitchell, 22-6-1. Next he stopped and took the WBC Baltic title from Estonia’s Sergei Melis, 15-1.
In what would be Pirog’s only US appearance is when he stopped Jacobs in Las Vegas. In his first defense of his WBO title he defeated Javier Francisco Maciel, 18-1, of Argentina. In his final bout he defeated the former interim WBA champion Nobuhiro Ishida, 24-7-2. Ishida in his next bout was stopped by Golovkin being the only one to stop Ishida in his now 40 bouts.

Golovkin and Pirog were to fight August 25th 2012 on HBO. Pirog claims to have had a 200-30 amateur record. He gave up Chess at age 8 for something more physical which would start his boxing career. He has gone into training several times for a proposed comeback but could never get to the level he was when he stopped fighting.

The second Champion was Cuban Yoan Pablo “Iron Man” Hernandez, 29-1 (14), held the interim WBA Cruiserweight title before winning the IBF Cruiserweight title. In September 2005 he lived in Germany where he started his career. In the pro’s he was trained by Ulli Wegner.

In Cuba Hernandez fought from 2001 to 2005 and had quite a career. In 2001 he was a Cuban Jr. Champ. In 2002 he won the World Jr. Champion in Cuba. He lost that year to Cuban heavyweight Odlanier Solis. In 2003 he fought as a light heavyweight in the Pan Am Games going 2-1. He was in the 2004 Olympics getting a bye and losing in the second round. He then defected to Germany. In 2005 he was the Cuban National heavyweight champion. He had knee surgery for a rupture of the Meniscus of the right knee putting his professional career on hold.

Turning pro Hernandez won his first 10 fights knocking out Thomas Hansvoll, 25-3-2, of Norway, who resided in Denmark in the tenth fight. In his fourteenth fight Hernandez won the WBC Latino title knocking out Algerian Mohamed Azzaoui, 22-1-2, of France. In his fifteenth fight he lost for the first and only time in his career to former WBC Cruiserweight champion Wayne “Big Turk” Braithwaite, 22-3, of Guyana and living in the US.
In May of 2009 Hernandez defeated Aaron Williams, 19-1-1, of the US. In his next bout in October of 2009 he defeated Serb Enad Licina, 17-1, residing in Germany for the IBF Inter-Continental title. In February of 2011 he won the interim WBA title knocking out fellow southpaw Steve “Centurian” Herelius, 21-1-1, of France.
In October of 2011 Hernandez possibly had his toughest fight for the IBF title held by Steve “USS” Cunningham, 24-2, of the US. Both were promoted by Sauerland of Germany. Hernandez wasn’t ranked in the IBF due to holding the interim WBA title so why was this fight made by their same promoter? In the first round Hernandez missed with a right hand but followed with a left dropping Cunningham who upon getting up rolled back on his side but beat the count of referee Mickey Van. For some reason due to the referee it took about 10 seconds to resume the bout when the bell sounded.

In the second round and third rounds Cunningham became the aggressor in taking both rounds. With about 30 seconds to go in the round a clash of heads caused Hernandez to suffer a cut. The referee never stopped the action to inspect the cut. In the fifth round Hernandez hit Cunningham behind the head. By the time the referee got to the fighters Hernandez hit Cunningham behind the head again without a warning from the referee. The corner of Hernandez took the full minute then requested the ring physician to check the cut. Hernandez stood up looking to resume the action when the referee comes over to him and stops the fight telling both the decision will go to the scorecards.

When the scorecards were announced the first judge had Cunningham up 57-56. The other two judges had it 58-55 and 59-54 for Hernandez. This writer had Cunningham ahead 58-55 only losing the first round. Cunningham walked around the ring with his hands in the air with his thumbs pointing down. Hernandez was later informed he would have to fight Troy Ross with the winner meeting Cunningham. Hernandez’s camp insisted on a rematch with Cunningham some 4 months later with the winner to fight Ross.

The rematch was entirely different. Hernandez had Cunningham down twice in the fourth round and coasted to a decision win. After this fight he defended against Ross winning by decision. It was 14 months later before he fought again in 2013 when he knocked out Alexander Alekseev, 24-2, of UZB, residing in Germany in the tenth round. In August of 2014 he won a split decision over Firat Aslan, 34-7-2, of Germany. The fans were not happy with the decision. Both fighters complimented each other afterwards.

In late 2015 Hernandez was to have surgery for his knee and for loose cartilage in his elbow. He was to fight Ola Afolabi in April of 2015 but had to cancel due to his injury. He’s talked about a comeback but it’s never developed
The third world champion is Harry “The Terminator” Simon, 29-0 (21), of Walvis Bay, Nambia. He claimed to be 271-2 in the amateurs. One loss was in the 1992 Olympics. He was trained by Brian Mitchell and managed by Ellison Hijarunguru.

On November 21, 2002, in trying to pass two cars Simon hit a car head on killing a couple and their baby. Simon had two broken legs and a broken arm. In March of 2007 he returned after serving two years in prison.

Simon turned pro in 1994 in South Africa and after winning his first five fights stopped Enuel Marshile, 11-1. In 1995 he defeated Danny Chavez, 25-4-1. In 1998 he won a majority decision over Ronald “Winky” Wright, 38-1, for the WBO Super welterweight title. In 1999 to 2001 he fought out of the UK making a pair of defenses. In his third defense he traveled to Canada winning a majority decision over Rodney Jones, 24-2. In February 2001 he defeated Wayne Alexander, 15-0, who took the fight on 24 hour notice replacing Robert Allen.
In July Simon moved up to middleweight beating Hacine Cherifi, 32-5-1, of France in Puerto Rico, winning the interim WBO title. In April of 2002 he defeated Sweden’s Arman Krajnc, 26-0, in Denmark. He would return in March of 2007 in Nambia as a light heavyweight winning over Stephen Nzuemba, 7-0, but didn’t fight again for a year winning two fights and appearing at 200 pounds in June of 2012 stopping Ruben Groenewald, 23-9, some 18 months later. He returned to light heavyweight a year later winning a pair of fights with the last one a 12 round decision over Serbian Geard Ajetovic, 23-8-1, for the vacant IBF International light heavyweight title.
Simon would not fight again after September of 2013 a month before his 39th birthday. He had never been the same after coming back in 2007 after being off for five years but still never lost a fight.

The fourth champion is Edwin “Dinamita” Valero, 27-0 (27), of Merida, VZ, who was found dead after hanging himself in a prison cell on April 19th of 2009. He admitted killing his wife the day before. In March of 2010 he had cracked his wives ribs and punctured her lung. Upon visiting her at the hospital he made a commotion and was arrested.

Valero’s amateur record was 86-6 (45). On Feb 5th 2001 he had a motor cycle accident and fractured his skull. This could be the reason he eventually went bad. He would hold the WBA Super featherweight title defending it four times. He won the WBC Lightweight title and defended it twice. Both Golden Boy and Top Rank promoted him.

Valero turned professional on July 9th 2002 and won his first 18 fights all in the first round. In his 18th fight he stopped Whyber Garcia, 17-3, of Panama in an elimination fight for the WBA Super featherweight title. He also won the WBA Fedelatin title in February 2006.
Valero knowing he wouldn’t get the title fight for six months he took another fight one month later in Japan stopping Mexican Genaro Trazancos, 21-7, in the second round. In August of 2006 he won the WBA Super featherweight title stopping Panama’s Vicente Mosquera, 24-1-1, in the 11th round. He had Mosquera down twice in the first round and was down himself in the third round.

Valero made three defenses in 2007 with the first two in Japan and the third in Mexico. In April of 2009 he won the WBC Lightweight title stopping Colombian Antonio Pitalua, 47-3, out of Mexico knocking him down three times in the second round in Austin, TX. It was his only title bout in the US. In December of 2009 he made his first defense winning over Hector Velazquez who didn’t come out for the seventh round. In February of 2010 he had his last fight stopping Mexican Antonio De Marco, 23-1-1, who didn’t come out for the tenth round. In the second round an accidental elbow from De Marco opened up a large gash on Valero’s hair line which seemed to make him fight even harder with blood covering the right side of his face.

Plans for Valero meeting Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquaio were in the making later in the year. In January of 2004 Golden Boy took him to New York where a small blood clot was showing in his brain. He was suspended and would be off for 17 months.
This was one “wild man” who was in 8 world title bouts. He fought in VZ 12 times, Japan 5 times, US 4 times, Mexico and Panama twice each and Argentina and France once each. He was one of the few champions to end his career undefeated.

Posted on 06/24/2016

Fury v. Klitschko rematch Postponed: Fury Injured
By: Matthew N. Becher

​Just over 7 months ago Tyson Fury shook up the boxing world by beating Wladimir Klitschko by Unanimous Decision and becoming the new undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the world. The loss ended Klitschko’s eleven and a half year reign as the champion and essentially breaking up the monotony of the division.

Klitschko immediately enacted the rematch clause in the contract and the fight was eventually set up to take place at the Manchester Arena in the UK for this coming July 9th.

​This morning that fight was postponed, when Tyson Fury released a statement, via social Media, explaining to his fans that he has injured his ankle and will need at least 6-7 weeks to recover fully.

​“Hey guys, I got a little bit of bad news for you all. About ten days ago, I was running and I went over on my ankle, sprained my ankle. I’ve been to the hospital and had X-rays and MRI scans and all that stuff. They say it’s not broken but it’s badly sprained. Keep off it for 6-7 weeks. I tried to still train a bit. I had a second opinion a week later and I got the same advice. So the fight will be postponed.

​“Sorry to all my fans to let you all down, but injuries do happen. It’s one of them things. My apologies to everybody. The fight will be on as soon as possible. That’s all I know at this moment. But the fight is still going ahead as soon as the ankle gets better.”

​This fight will most likely take place in October now, almost one year after the initial meeting. Which is an extremely long time for two fighters to have taken off with no fights in between. Some are saying that the injury is an excuse, because Fury has not been training hard enough in the time in between fights, and with the showdown only a couple weeks away, he just was not ready to rematch Klitschko. Fury’s uncle and Trainer Peter did share a photo on his twitter page of the bruised and swollen ankle which would prove otherwise.

​Klitschko was asked for comment and stated “of course, I am currently totally disappointed about the cancellation. As well as for my fans, I’m very sorry. They were all very excited for this rematch. But one thing is also clear: This just means I’ll get my belt a few weeks later.” Klitschko will have to wait for his chance at becoming a three time heavyweight champion until later this year.

​Hopefully Fury will have a speedy recovery and this fight will not run into anymore roadblocks that have already taken us into almost a year of waiting.