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Posted on 07/13/2017

PBC on Fox Preview: Omar Figueroa vs. Robert Guerrero, Marcus Browne vs. Seanie Monaghan

By: William Holmes

On Saturday night Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) will return to the Fox network to broadcast a double header live from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island in Uniondale, New York.

Other bouts fighting on the undercard include boxers such as Artur Szpilka, Jamal James, Jo Jo Dan, Eliezer Aquino, and Brandon Figueroa.

Photo Credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment

The following is a preview of the two main bouts on the card.

Marcus Browne (19-0) vs. Seanie Monaghan (28-0); Light Heavyweights

This is an intriguing fight between two undefeated New York Light Heavyweights, and it’s a great fight to open up the televised portion of the card from Long Island, New York.

Monaghan, who was born in Long Beach, and Browne, who was born in Staten Island are familiar with each other and bring a local flair to this event.

Monaghan is undefeated, but aging, and is currently thirty five years old. A win against Browne could catapult him to a future title fight, but a loss will likely end any hopes he has of becoming a world champ. Browne is twenty six and nine years younger than Monaghan. He also has about a two and a half inch height advantage and a three inch reach advantage on Monaghan.

Monaghan has some success on the local amateur circuit and lost in the finals of the 2009 New York Golden Gloves. Marcus Browne experienced success on the national level and represented the United States in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also the 2010 Amateur PAL Champion.

Monaghan fought twice in 2016 and three times in 2015. Brown fought once in 2017 and once in 2016, and four times in 2015.

Monaghan is signed to Top Rank Promotions, but has yet to face and defeat a big name opponent. His biggest wins to date have come against Donovan George, Elvir Muriqi, and Anthony Caputo Smith.

Browne has been facing an increasing level of opposition as he’s advanced as a professional. He has defeated the likes of Thomas Williams Jr., Radivoje Kalajddzic, Gabriel Campillo, Cornelius White, Aaron Pryor Jr., and George Blades.

Browne and Monaghan are about equal in power. Browne has stopped fourteen of his opponents while Monaghan has stopped seventeen.

There should be a large number of fans in attendance to watch this bout between two native New Yorkers, but Browne’s physical advantages, age advantage, and amateur pedigree indicates that he should walk away the victor on Saturday night.

Omar Figueroa (26-0-1) vs. Robert Guerrero (33-5-1); Welterweights

Robert Guerrero’s career has taking a sharp downturn since he lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. He’s 2-4 in his last six fights and seems far removed from sniffing another world title shot.

He’s facing Omar Figueroa, an undefeated boxer seven years his junior. But Figueroa has been relatively inactive, he hasn’t fought since 2015 and has experienced issues with his hands recently.

Guerrero will have about an inch and a half height advantage but Figueroa will have a two inch reach advantage. Both boxers have eighteen stoppages to their record.

Guerrero has the better amateur accomplishments; he won a gold medal in the National Junior Olympics. Figueroa competed briefly as an amateur but turned pro at a young age.

Guerrero has defeated some good opponents, and they include Yoshihiro Kamegai, Andre Berto, Selcuk Aydin, Michael Katsidis, Joel Casamayor, and Jason Litzau. However, Guerrero has had a rough stretch recently and has lost to many of the top welterweights in the world. His losses were to Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and a loss he later avenged to Gamaliel Diaz.

Most concerning for Guerrero is the fact he lost his last bout to an Argentinean cab driver by the name of David Peralta and he escaped with a lucky decision over Aaron Martinez.

Figueroa has spent most of his career fighting in the lightweight division but holds victories over notable boxers such as Michael Perez, Abner Cotto, Nihito Arakawa, Jerry Belmontes, Ricky Burns, and Antonio DeMarco.

This is a bout between a boxer who’s career has been on a steady decline and a boxer with a bright future. Guerrero’s recent performances have been disappointing and it’s hard to imagine him turning his career around against a young hungry fighter at the age of thirty four.

If Figueroa’s hands aren’t injured he should be able to defeat Guerrero.

Posted on 05/26/2017

Boxing Insider Interview with Seanie Monaghan: “This is going to be a real big win on my resume”
By: Matthew N. Becher

​Sean Monaghan is an undefeated (28-0 17KO) light heavyweight from Long Island who has been waiting for his big shot, for the last few years. He is a staple in the NYC fight scene, bringing a dedicated and raucous crowd wherever and whenever he fights. For a while, Monaghan was thought to have finally gotten his big fight chance against current WBC light heavyweight champion, Adonis Stevenson, until the fight was unexpectedly called off. Monaghan then believed that a fight with fellow Long Island fighter Joe Smith Jr. would come to fruition, until Smith took a better deal on the left coast against Sullivan Barrera.

​Fortunately for Monaghan a big fight came through in the way of undefeated, Staten Island fighter Marcus Browne. The two will battle it out on July 15th, on Fox primetime television and will be part of the first boxing card at the newly renovated Nassau Coliseum. Seanie took some time away from his training schedule to speak with us at Boxing Insider.

Boxing Insider: How does it feel to be on the first boxing card at the new Nassau Coliseum?

Sean Monaghan: Its beautiful man. I run on Mitchell field, the track is right outside of there. Every Monday and Wednesday morning, I’m doing my laps and I look up at the Coliseum, imagining myself fighting in there. So it’s the perfect fit for me. That’s my home.

Boxing Insider: You are going up against someone you know in this fight. Tell us about your relationship with Marcus Browne.

Sean Monaghan: Out of all the guys in boxing, he is probably one of my better friends in the boxing game. It is a little unusual for me, I’ve never done this before. We haven’t spoken about it yet, but I’m sure we will be cool when it’s all over. We just have to go do what we gotta do. It’s nothing personal, strictly business.

Boxing Insider: Is he someone that you have trained and sparred with before?

Sean Monaghan: I’ve sparred with Marcus more times than I can remember, I’ve sparred with Marcus a lot.

Boxing Insider: Is this fight “Make or Break” for you?

Sean Monaghan: 100%. I feel like, I’m thinking like none of my fights before this even mattered. This is my chance to prove that I’m one of the best fighters in the world. This is going to be a real big win on my resume.

Boxing Insider: Talks were out there that you were going to fight Adonis Stevenson or Joe Smith Jr. What happened to those fights?

Sean Monaghan: I don’t know what happened with the Adonis thing to be honest with you. I thought it was a go, we trained for five weeks for it and then one day I found out like everybody else. So that sucked. Lou DiBella made me a promise that he would get me a big fight, he gave me his word. They offered me Marcus or this Swedish kid. The money for Marcus was double. I said if I beat this Swedish kid (Erik Skoglund), nobody would care. I knew I would have to fight Marcus, we’ve always known. There were times when you had me, Marcus Browne and Joe Smith all sparring, all doing the round robbing sparring at the same time. We all knew that, sooner or later, we would all have to fight.

​We tried to make a fight with Joe Smith and it just wasn’t the time. His promoter thought they had a better gig somewhere else. So that is on hold for now. It’s a fight that I want and I know personally Joe would do it. It’s just a matter of the promoters getting it together.

Boxing Insider: What are your thoughts on the WBC letting a guy like Fonfara getting a crack at Adonis twice, before giving you a shot?

Sean Monaghan: With boxing, Fonfara has been in there with tough guys, but no way does he deserve a shot over me. And as much as I don’t like to say it, Joe Smith really deserved the title fight, he knocked Fonfara out in one round. I mean we’re all here scratching our heads thinking how does this thing happen. I think boxing fans have to take a stand and demand better fights, because these sanctioning bodies work in mysterious ways. I think they are hurting the sport, with whatever private deals they make. Like if you look at the UFC, those guys have to fight a tough guy right away, and if you beat him then you get an even better fight. If you get knocked out you aren’t getting a title fight your next fight, it doesn’t happen like that. I don’t know. I’m just focused on this fight, I was pissed off about the Fonfara thing, but I don’t even care about it anymore, I got bigger fish to fry. Marcus is going to be a very tough fight. Stevenson is a killer puncher with his left hand, but Marcus has a very difficult style to deal with, he’s got power in both hands, he’s slick, he’s fast. These are the kind of fights I’ve been looking for and I’m super excited about it.

Boxing Insider: This is a big show, you will be primetime televised on FOX. If you win this fight, you will have a huge audience watching, will you be calling out any names?

Sean Monaghan: I still want Adonis Stevenson. I’m not sure if it really matters to call out names at this point. It doesn’t seem to do anything. Right now I’d have to imagine that the winner of this fight would be next in line for a title shot.

Posted on 08/19/2016

PBC on NBC Preview: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Leonard Bundu
By: William Holmes

On Sunday afternoon, at 5:00 PM EST, Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) will broadcast a daytime event live on NBC from the Ford Amphitheater at the Coney Island Boardwalk in Brooklyn, New York.

Only one bout is scheduled to be televised on Sunday and it will be between former United States Olympian Errol Spence Jr. and Italian contender Leonard Bundu. They will be competing in an IBF Welterweight Title eliminator bout.

Prospects Claudio Marrero and Heather “The Heat” Hardy will be competing on the undercard will have a chance at fighting on the televised portion of the NBC card if the Spence bout is over quickly. Heather Hardy will have the toughest test of her career when she faces fellow undefeated boxer Shelly Vincent.

Spence, who is perhaps the most famous United States Olympian boxer from 2012, will be fighting before the start of the closing ceremonies for the 2016 Rio Olympics and on the same network that will be broadcasting it.

The following is a preview for the bout between Errol Spence Jr. and Leonard Bundu.

Errol Spence Jr. (20-0) vs. Leonard Bundu (33-1-2); IBF Welterweight Eliminator Bout

Many pundits consider Leonard Bundu to be the toughest opponent that Errol Spence Jr. has faced at this point of his career.

At first glance that may appear to be true. Bundu, like Spence, competed in the Olympics and was successful on the national and international stage in the amateurs. Bundu was born in Sierra Leone but represented Italy in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Spence represented the United States in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Both failed to medal.

However, the similarities end there.

The biggest difference between the two opponents is age. Bundu is fifteen years older than Spence and is past his prime at the age of forty one. Bundu will also be giving up about three inches in reach and three inches in height when he steps into the ring.

Bundu also has only competed once in 2015 and once in 2016, while Spence fought once in 2016 and four times in 2015. Spence has clearly been the more active fighter.

Spence has seventeen knockouts on his record for a high stoppage ratio of 85%. Bundu has only stopped twelve of his opponents, and has five less stoppage victories despite having sixteen more fights.

Spence has been in the ring with increasingly difficult opposition. He beat the brakes off of Chris Algieri and was able to stop him while Manny Pacquiao was unable to do so. He has also defeated the likes of Chris Van Heerden, the sparring opponent of UFC star Connor McGregor, Phil Lo Greco, Alejandro Barrera, and Ronald Cruz.

Bundu stepped up in competition to face the elite of the welterweight division when he faced Keith Thurman, but he lost to him by decision. He has defeated the likes of Frankie Gavin, Lee Purdy, and Daniele Petrucci.

Bundu is a good fight for Spence at this stage of his career and has a solid chin. He should be able to give Spence some rounds and an opportunity for Spence to showcase his skills in front of a nationally televised audience.

But, Bundu has little to no chance of defeating one of the most prized prospects in the United States on Sunday afternoon. Bundu can survive the whole bout, but will take a beating in the process.