Gonzalez' long flight, fight for redemption

Gonzalez' long flight, fight for redemption

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 28, 2011

If you've followed the career of former world bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez, you'd be sure to think that with all he has experienced in the squared circle over the course of his career that he was winding down a professional career and must be in his mid-to-late thirties.

You'd be incorrect. In six months, Gonzalez will be turning thirty years old despite having fought in more than his share of high profile bouts over the last decade. His path has been derailed more than a handful of times, but the Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexican born fighter has always found a way to keep his name in the mix despite his slipups.

Perez starches Escalante in one!

Perez starches Escalante in one!

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 25, 2011

In a shocking upset, Alejandro Perez [15-2-1, 10 KOs] scored an emphatic one round knockout of former contender Antonio Escalante [24-4, 15 KOs], whose career is now in doubt following the starching.

It's not so much the result that was shocking, but the way the fight finished. Most people that pegged Perez as a danger to Escalante figured he would box his way to a victory over Escalante. Instead, with less than thirty seconds in the first round, Perez stuck a jab in the stomach of Escalante and followed it up with a huge overhand right that crushed the favorite and bounced his head off the canvas.

Escalante 130, Perez 130

Escalante 130, Perez 130

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 25, 2011

Friday night, Solo Boxeo makes a return to Telefutura following a weekend off with a very competitive super featherweight main event between fringe contenders Antonio Escalante [24-3, 15 KOs] and Alejandro Perez [14-2-1, 9 KOs] in a ten round attraction at the Fairfield Sports Center in Fairfield, California.

The fight may not look like much on paper, but in comparison to the forgettable February the program had that saw numerous mismatches headlining the Friday weekly cards, it looks like a barnburner.

Humbled Kirkland on the rebound

Humbled Kirkland on the rebound

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 23, 2011

The last time Austin, Texas' James Kirkland [27-0, 24 KOs] found himself in the midst of a meaningful bout against an able bodied opponent, this writer was ringside.

In a headlining bout as part of HBO's Boxing After Dark in San Jose, California, James Kirkland dismantled a game Joel Julio, ultimately finishing the Colombian in six rounds. It was the kind of performance that, if Kirkland was somehow not on your radar, after that March 2009 performance he most certainly had to be.

Antonio Escalante's return to familiarity

Escalante's return to familiarity

Mark Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 22, 2011

This weekend's Telefutura Solo Boxeo main event will see a familiar face to its airwaves, as the always exciting Antonio Escalante [24-3, 15 KOs] returns to the network that helped build him to take on the tough Alejandro Perez [14-2-1, 9 KOs] in a bout scheduled for ten rounds.

Escalante, who last fought on Telefutura against veteran trial horse Edel Ruiz last August, will fight without the benefit of his fanbase in El Paso, Texas as he travels to the west coast and the now Solo Boxeo familiar Fairfield Sports Center in Fairfield, California.

Tough, tough lucked Collazo ready for another opportunity

Tough, tough lucked Collazo ready for another opportunity

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 21, 2011

Despite being only thirty years of age, former welterweight champion Luis Collazo of Brooklyn, New York has seen his share of big fight opportunities slip through his hands, more often than not the cause being something out of his control. Despite many questions left unanswered over the course of the 30-year old fighter's nearly eleven year professional career, he has found a way to move on and let the past be the past, focusing all of his efforts on a better tomorrow where he hopes another opportunity to showcase his talents at the upper tier will appear soon.

Arum, King reconciliation, hope for current qualms?

Arum, King reconciliation, hope for current qualms?

Mark E. Ortega

UndisputedFightMag.com

March 11, 2011

One of boxing's biggest rivalries is not one that took place between the ropes. It's not one where few, if any blows were exchanged. But it is one that helped fuel the sport for much of the last five decades.

Promoters Bob Arum and Don King, long the sport's most influential promoters worldwide, are winding down their personal careers and therefore have made amends over their tiff that crossed more than five decades.