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Luis Collazo Stops Sammy Vasquez in Tunica in 6 Thursday!

Posted on 02/03/2017

Luis Collazo Stops Sammy Vasquez in Tunica in 6 Thursday!
By: Ken Hissner

It was a show of good fights all in the welterweight division by Premier Boxing Champions at the Horseshoe Casino, MS & Hotel Thursday night over FS-1.

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Former WBA world welterweight champion Luis Collazo, out of Queens, NY, may have been behind after five rounds though he scored a knockdown in the third round over Sammy “The Who Can Mexican” Vasquez, 21-2 (15), out of Monessen, PA. In the same round he had a cut over his right eye. A left and a right to the chin floored Vasquez. Vasquez looked to take the first two rounds in this battle of southpaws. After losing the third he came back to take the fourth with the fifth being close though he may have pulled it out.

In the sixth round Collazo landed the same combination as in the third round knockdown. A straight left to the chin followed by a right hook to the chin. Vasquez went down partially on his right side facing the canvas for the full count by referee Bill Clancy at 1:27 of the round. It was the second straight loss for Vasquez after winning first twenty-one for the two tour of Iraq Army Sgt.

In the co-feature Cuban welterweight Yordenis Ugas, 18-3-1 (8), out of Miami, FL, won a hard fought split decision over Levan Ghvamichava, 17-3-1 (13), of GEO, now out of Hayward, CA, over 10 rounds.
Ugas was the harder hitter landing overhand rights to the head of Ghvamichava all night to get past the hands held high of Ghvamichava. He had a strong body attack trying to get the guard down of Ghvamichava.

In the fifth round Ugas landed three or four low blows with only warnings from referee Clancy. It wasn’t until the eighth round a point was finally taken on the second low blow by Clancy.

The scoring was strange with Ghvamichava getting a 95-94 nod while Ugas took a 97-94 which seemed in line while the 99-90 was way off.

Welterweight Eddie “Escorpion” Ramirez, 16-0 (11), out of Aurora, IL, won after nine rounds when Ryan “Cowboy” Karl, 13-1 (9), out of Houston, TX, couldn’t come out for the tenth round. Ramirez looked like he was up 86-85 if not by more. It was give and take the entire fight with Clancy working as the referee.

Welterweight Jose Miguel Barrego, 11-0 (10), out of MEX, scored a first round knockout with a left hook to the liver over Tomas Mendez, 23-9 (16), out of DR, at 2:35 of the round. Barrego came out firing and never stopped throwing punches.

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PBC on Fox Results: Wilder Obliterates Arreola, Lubin and Diaz Win by Decision

Posted on 07/16/2016

PBC on Fox Results: Wilder Obliterates Arreola, Lubin and Diaz Win by Decision
By: William Holmes

Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series returned to Birmingham, Alabama for another World Heavyweight Title fight featuring the lone American champion in that division, Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder.
The Fox Network televised tonight’s fight card from the Legacy Arena and Lou Dibella was the lead promoter.

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Photo Credit: Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions

The opening bout of the night was between two time Iraq War veteran Sammy Vasquez (21-0) and former Olympic Gold Medalist Felix Diaz (17-1) in the welterweight division.

Both boxers fought out of a southpaw stance, and it was Vasquez that was backing up Diaz in the first two rounds with a steady jab while remaining out of the range of Diaz. There was more action in the second round than the first, but it appeared Diaz was having difficulty solving the height and range of Vasquez.

Diaz had a solid third round by getting in tight and landing some wild punches and short uppercuts. The difference in power was also evident in the fourth and fifth rounds as Diaz has Vasquez backing up and at times caught him by the ropes or corner with quick combinations.

Vasquez’s punches looked like they were losing it’s snap in the sixth and seventh rounds as Diaz continued to lay traps and pop Vasquez when he came in forward. Vasquez had blood coming out of his nose in the seventh round, and his mouth was wide open in the eighth round and he was visibly tiring.

Diaz knocked Vasquez’s mouthpiece out of his mouth again in the eighth round with several hard combinations. Vasquez’s mouth was bleeding badly and he was taking some hard shots.

Vasquez mounted a small comeback in the ninth round and showed he was willing to take a punch in order to land a punch, but he didn’t appear to seriously hurt Diaz, though he did threaten at times.

The last round featured some hard exchanges by both boxers, but Vasquez’s mouthpiece was popped out again by Diaz and Vasquez lost a point by the referee. Vasquez suffered a bad cut near his right eye in the final round.

It was a good bout with several close rounds but it looked like to this author that Felix Diaz had done enough to win the bout, but the judges scored it 96-94 Diaz, 95-95, and 95-95 for a majority draw.

However, the Alabama Comission recalculated the scorecards and found out the scores should have been 96-93, 95-94, and 95-94 for Felix Diaz. The final round point deduction helped Diaz squeak out the victory.

The second fight of the night was between Erickson Lubin (15-0) and Ivan Montero (20-1) in the super welterweight division.

Lubin, a southpaw, looked in control early with accurate check right hooks and strong body shots. He was walking Montero down in the second round with combinations to the body and head, and several hard left hands.

Lubin was in complete control in the third round, but was warned by the referee twice for low blows in the fourth warned and was told he would be deducted a point if he landed another low blow. Montero was also warned for landing a low blow.

Lubin dominated Montero in the fifth and sixth rounds. He stunned Montero in the fifth round with a straight left hand and did it again in the sixth round with a left hook to the chin preceded by a combination to the body.

Montero clearly needed a knockout in the final two rounds in order to win the fight, but instead he got battered by the more talented Lubin.

Lubin won the decision with scores of 80-72 on all three scorecards.

The main event of the night was between Deontay Wilder (36-0) and Chris Arreola (36-4-1) for the WBC Heavyweight Title.

Even though this bout took place in Wilder’s hometown, the crowd appeared to be somewhat subdued during the ring walk and fighter introductions.

The opening round was a slow round. Arreola circled to his right in order to avoid the right hand of Wilder but threw little. Wilder threw a pawing jab and threw a couple of right hands, but was also pretty passive.
Arreola tried to press forward a little more in the second round but had to eat several jabs in the process and was cut on the bridge of his nose at the end of the round after Wilder made him pay with hard right hand counters.

Wilder landed several hard jabs in the third round that snapped the head of Arreola backwards. Arreola was able to land some body shots, but was stunned at the end of the round.

Arreola was badly wobbled from a two punch combination in the fourth round and went to the mat. He was able to get back up before the ten count, but was immediately attacked by Wilder and badly hurt and wobbly as the round came to an end.

Wilder started off the fifth round aggressively but Arreola still had some fight left in him and kept coming forward despite being badly hurt the previous round. Arreola tried to throw some shots at the head of Wilder,
but most of them were blocked. Wilder was able to land a vicious right uppercut in the fifth round when his back was near the ropes.

Wilder’s jab was extremely accurate in the sixth round. Arreola just was not able to get past that jab and within range to hurt Wilder.

Wilder continued to obliterate Arreola in the seventh round and was showboating while doing so. Arreola went back to the stool on wobbly legs at the end of the seventh and his face was badly bruised.

Arreola had little ot nothing left in the eighth round and had blood streaming from the bridge of his nose. Wilder just continued to land shots at will and the referee looked like he was close to stopping it.

Arreola survived the eighth round, but his corner wisely went to the referee and told him he was stopping the fight before the ninth round could begin. Arreola showed incredible heart, but Wilder was just too big and too powerful for him.

Deontay Wilder wins by TKO at the end of the eighth round.

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PBC on Fox Preview: Wilder vs. Arreola, Vasquez vs. Diaz

Posted on 07/14/2016

PBC on Fox Preview: Wilder vs. Arreola, Vasquez vs. Diaz
By: William Holmes

On Saturday night in Birmingham, Alabama Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) will return to the hometown of Deontay Wilder as he defends his WBC Heavyweight Title against former title challenger Chris Arreola.

A welterweight matchup between Sammy Vasquez and Felix Diaz will open up the telecast.

Fox will televise this heavyweight fight live from the Legacy Arena and the telecast will begin at 8:00 PM.

The following is a preview of both of the televised bouts.

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Photo Credit: Chris Farina/Premier Boxing Champions (PBC)

Sammy Vasquez (21-0) vs. Felix Diaz (17-1); Welterweights

Sammy Vasquez served two tours in Iraq for the United States Army and is a fan favorite. He’s been very active the past two years and fought six times in 2014, three times in 2015, and once in 2016. He had a successful amateur career and was able to make it in the semi finals of the 2012 US Olympic Boxing Trials and was the runner up in the 2008 Golden Gloves competition.

His opponent, Felix Diaz, had a more successful amateur career and was a Gold Medal winner in the 2008 Summer Olympics and also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics for the Dominican Republic.

Both boxers are southpaws. Vasquez will have a five inch height advantage and a four inch reach advantage. He is also two years younger than Diaz.

Diaz has not been anywhere near as active as Vasquez. He fought twice in 2014 and in 2015.

Vasquez has defeated the likes of Aaron Martinez, Jose Lopez, Wale Omotoso, Emmanuel Lartey, James Stevenson, and Juan Rodriguez Jr. Diaz’s only notable victories have come against Emmanuel Lartey by split decision and Gabriel Bracero. Diaz lost his last fight to Lamont Peterson in a close bout.

Vasquez would be wise to use his height and reach advantage and stay on the outside. However, if Diaz is able to work his way in, Vasquez does appear to have an edge in power. He has stopped fifteen of his opponents while Diaz only has eight stoppage victories.

This should be a close fight, and is a competitive matchup for the PBC opener. Vasquez should be considered a slight favorite.

Deontay Wilder (36-0) vs. Chris Arreola (36-4-1); WBC Heavyweight Title

The one thing most fight fans are pretty sure about is that this fight will end in a knockout.

Deontay Wilder has stopped every single one of his opponents except for one, and that was Bermane Stiverne. Arreola has stopped thirty one of his opponents and is also known for his vicious power.

Wilder will have a four inch height advantage and a very large seven inch reach advantage on Saturday night. He is also five years younger than his opponent.

Both boxers fight out of an orthodox stance. Wilder has been the more active of the two, as he fought three times in 2015 and twice in 2014, while Arreola fought once in 2014 and three times in 2015.

Wilder, obviously, has won thirty six fights in a row and has yet to taste defeat. Arreola has gone 2-2-1 in his past five fights and only one once in 2015. His last good win was in 2013 when he defeated Seth Mitchell.

This will be the third time that Wilder has fought for the heavyweight title in Alabama and he has successfully defended his title three times. He hasn’t faced any of the elites in the heavyweight division at this point, but he has defeated the likes of Bermane Stiverne, Artur Szpilka, Johann Duhaupas, Eric Molina, Bermane Stiverne, Malik Scott, and Siarhei Liakhovich.

Arreola has lost to Bermane Stiverne twice, as well as Tomasz Adamek and Vitali Klitschko. He has defeated the likes of Chazz Witherspoon, Travis Walker, Jameel McCline, Eric Molina, and Seth Mitchell.

Both boxers have had successful amateur careers. Wilder is a bronze medalist in the 2008 Summer Olympics and is a former National Golden Gloves Winner. Arreola was the 2001 National Golden Gloves Champion in the Light Heavyweight division.

Arreola recognizes that father time is working against him and stated, “Deontay is a very tough opponent so I have to come hard this time. This is my third world title shot and I have to make it count. The first time I was too young, the second time I got caught with a shot, but this time I’ll be ready for anything..”

Wilder, as always, is looking for the knockout and stated, “Arreola definitely has a style prone to a knockout. He’s a pressure fighter who will come forward all night. That plays to my style. I love pressure fighters who give me a challenge. They keep me moving and thinking. I love the sweet science and the art to it.”

This would have been a much more interesting fight in Arreola’s prime. It will likely feature some suspenseful moments, but Wilder will likely continue to roll and stop Arreola before the end of the bout.

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