Golden Boy mostly "ghosts" for Guerrero's win

Golden Boy mostly "ghosts" for Guerrero's win
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 30, 2012


When boxing promotional juggernaut Golden Boy Promotions announced their most recent run of major fights, most experts thought if one of the house fighters was going to lose, Gilroy, Calif.'s Robert Guerrero felt the part.

Instead, Golden Boy lost Victor Ortiz to a broken jaw—as well the projected Saul Alvarez pay-per-view showdown that was tied into it. They lost Amir Khan to a figuratively broken chin as he suffered a shock loss to a mostly under-appreciated Danny Garcia.

Noticeably missing from this past fight week in San Jose were Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya, CEO Richard Schaefer, as well as main matchmaker Eric Gomez. Both are in London for the Olympics, no doubt working on softening up the American boxing team to turn pro with them, likely dangling the announced deal between CBS and Golden Boy to promote their pro debuts on network television.

It must be noted that Schaefer did in fact call Guerrero immediately following the press conference from London, where it was around 6 a.m.

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Robert Guerrero holds off Selcuk Aydin

Robert Guerrero holds off Selcuk Aydin
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 29, 2013


SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Though the Olympics officially kicked off in London Friday with the opening ceremony, Gilory, Calif.'s Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero earned gold for the United States Saturday on Showtime as he outpointed Turkey's Selcuk Aydin by unanimous decision in their 12 round welterweight bout in front of his home crowd at the HP Pavilion. It was Guerrero's first fight in over a year and he jumped two weights in handing his opponent his first career loss.

Both fighters came out at the opening bell looking to do damage but settled in after missing wildly with their first shots. Guerrero landed some nice jabs and countered Aydin's wilder stuff nicely. Aydin landed a few good jabs and moved Guerrero back with a few good power shots.

Aydin didn't do much in the second as Guerrero held whenever he tried getting inside. Guerrero boxed well from the outside and landed a few combinations and the two traded shots after the bell and then smiled at each other.

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Shawn Porter decisions Alfonso Gomez in bloody battle

Shawn Porter decisions Alfonso Gomez in bloody battle
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 29, 2012


SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Shawn Porter of Cleveland, Ohio had to work through some difficulties, including cuts near both eyes, in order to notch a unanimous decision Saturday on Showtime over former reality boxing star Alfonso Gomez of Guadalajara, Mexico in their 10 round welterweight bout.

The fight began with some great action in the 1st round as the two fighters got into some nice exchanges. Porter staggered Gomez a bit and did some damage with his opponent on the ropes, but Gomez came back to land some solid shots before the end of the round. Porter suffered a cut on the right eye.

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Robert Guerrero hopes to keep Golden Boy applecart from being overturned

Robert Guerrero hopes to keep Golden Boy applecart from being overturned
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 27, 2012


It has been more than a year and a half since a major fight took place in northern California. The region is home to arguably three of the sport's best fighters in the world, with Oakland's Andre Ward, San Leandro's Nonito Donaire and Gilroy's Robert Guerrero all winning their assortment of important bouts over their careers.

Ward returns to Oakland on Sept. 8 after fighting in southern California and Atlantic City in his last two contests. Donaire has not fought once in northern California since bursting on the scene following a devastating KO of Vic Darchinyan five years ago. Guerrero hasn't fought in the area since 2009.

The three fighters have a good rapport with each other and always seem to be trying to one-up each other with each fight. Guerrero has a chance to sway the locals in his favor with a victory over Selcuk Aydin in San Jose on Saturday, televised by Showtime.

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The Sins of Adrien Broner vs. Vicente Escobedo

The Sins of Adrien Broner vs. Vicente Escobedo
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 23, 2012


A snapshot into how social media has changed the fight game, and the ongoing saga of the big payday versus more likely longevity.

What was previously disregarded as just another mismatch engineered by adviser Al Haymon atop an HBO televised doubleheader morphed into case studies of a number of contentious topics in the sport by the time fight night rolled up around 8 p.m. PT Saturday evening.

Among them: a canvassing of many of the seven deadly sins that find their way into boxing, as well as the way in which rapid minute-by-minute reporting has perhaps affected boxing more than any other major sport. This, all over a fight that was supposed to take place in a junior lightweight division that many regarded as one of the shallowest stateside. But the result, in which Adrien Broner scored a technical knockout over Vicente Escobedo in five rounds, wasn't the story Saturday night.

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Mauricio Herrera injured, out of Karim Mayfield Aug. 17 fight

Mauricio Herrera injured, out of Karim Mayfield Aug. 17 fight
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 21, 2012


Junior welterweight Mauricio Herrera confirmed to TQBR Saturday that he has pulled out of the proposed Aug. 17 main event of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights against San Francisco's Karim Mayfield, citing a back injury. Herrera's move was originally reported by Boxingscene.com's Ernest Gabion earlier Saturday.

TQBR spoke with Herrera about the pull out and he had a few interesting things to say about it.

“Well the back injury was part of it,” Herrera told TQBR on the phone Saturday afternoon. “We hadn't really signed a contract yet, we weren't sure we were gonna take it yet. At the time they called me for Mayfield, it was kind of sketchy. The fight is in San Francisco, where he is from, and then I threw my back out too.”

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Art Hovhannisyan Eeks Out Split Decision Over Miguel Acosta

Art Hovhannisyan Eeks Out Split Decision Over Miguel Acosta
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 21, 2012


Though the main event kind of went against the spirit of the ShoBox: The New Generation series, an entertaining battle unfolded between two 30-somethings looking to figure their place in the lightweight division.

Friday night at the Chumash Casino and Resort, Art Hovhannisyan (15-0-2, 8 KOs) had to work harder than he would have liked to eek out a 10 round split-decision win over former lightweight titlist Miguel Acosta (29-6-2, 23 KOs) after dropping him hard in the opening round.

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Canned: Timothy Bradley in 2010

Canned: Timothy Bradley in 2010
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 18, 2012


Back in 2010, myself as well as Brent Alderson and Otis Griffin hosted an almost every Tuesday Unternet boxing radio show of which there are now many. On the March 9 edition, we had Timothy Bradley as a guest and a yet to appear on HBO version of the fighter showed the personality that existed all along before it was blasted to the masses via HBO's 24/7. Bradley had a number of interesting things to offer his opinion on, including early thoughts on the Pacquiao-Bradley drug testing drama.

Mark Ortega: What are your feelings on Alexander-Urango being for the WBC title that they made you vacate and it being a unification fight? 

Tim Bradley: No feelings whatsoever man. These guys are gonna do whatever they want to do. I still got my WBC title over here. I don't have any quarrels with anyone man. Give me an opportunity to fight for it back. This is the guy they wanted me to face. I didn't think he was worthy at the time, and now he is making noise in the division. Let's make it happen. Boxing is a business as well, man. It's not just to get in there to fight someone, if it don't make dollars it don't make sense. That is the only way I will fight him, if it makes sense to me money wise. Other than that I feel he is the #2 fighter in the division behind myself and I would love to get it on with Devon Alexander.

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Grzegorz Proksa in Talks to Fight Gennady Golovkin

Grzegorz Proksa in Talks to Fight Gennady Golovkin
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 12, 2012


When the news broke that Dmitry Pirog would be unable to fight Gennady Golovkin on an Aug. 25 edition of HBO's Boxing After Dark, hardcore boxing fans felt it was a devastating blow as that bout guaranteed action and intrigue.

Fans can hold out hope that Golovkin will indeed be facing a step-up in competition as Matchroom Sport's Eddie Hearn has informed TQBR that they are in discussions to make a fight between Golovkin and Grzegorz Proksa, whose promotional rights Matchroom owns. Proksa is coming off an 8th round technical knockout victory over Kerry Hope which took place just last weekend, avenging a questionable majority decision loss that took place in March, Proksa's only blemish so far in 29 professional contests.

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EPIX's "Moneybox" Strategy

EPIX's "Moneybox" Strategy
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 12, 2012


Despite not being available in the same number of households or bringing the same kind of budget, the New York based premium network EPIX has, in a short amount of time, been able to make an impact on the boxing landscape by finding value where the “Big Two,” HBO and Showtime, don't see any.

A comparison could be made to the early 2000s version of Major League Baseball's “Moneyball” Oakland Athletics, of which a major motion picture and book was based on, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Call EPIX's strategy “Moneybox.”

“If you say so,” laughed EPIX Executive VP and Chief Creative Officer Travis Pomposello on the analogy in a phone interview with TQBR on Tuesday afternoon. “Just don't make me Jonah Hill, I'd rather be Brad Pitt.”

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Tyson Fury Beats Down Vinny Maddalone Over Five

Tyson Fury Beats Down Vinny Maddalone Over Five
Mark E. Ortega
Boxingscene.com
July 7, 2012


Hand Arena, Clevedon, Somerset - Saturday on terrestrial TV in the UK and in the U.S. on WealthTV (a newcomer to the boxing game), Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KOs) took a sidestep in his quest to become a legitimate player in the heavyweight division, stopping Vinny Maddalone (35-8, 26 KOs) of Queens, New York, in round five via TKO.

Both fighters started off a bit cautious, but Fury was able to land a number of solid straight rights in the opening frame that highlighted the difference in class between the two. Fury landed the right hand off his jab and Maddalone looked bothered by the Manchester native's power through the next few rounds.

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Tyson Fury Disposes of Vinny Maddalone in Five

Tyson Fury Disposes of Vinny Maddalone in Five
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 7, 2012


Saturday on terrestrial TV in the U.K. and in the U.S. on WealthTV (a welcome newcomer to the boxing game), Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KOs) took a sideways step in his quest to become a legitimate player in the heavyweight division, stopping Vinny Maddalone (35-8, 26 KOs) of Queens, New York in round 5 via technical knockout.

Both fighters started off a bit cautious, but Fury was able to land a number of solid straight rights in the opening frame that highlighted the difference in class between the two. Fury landed the right hand off his jab and Maddalone looked bothered by the Manchester native's power.

Maddalone's face began puffing up a bit in round 2, as more jabs and straight rights found the mark. Fury used the ring well, outmaneuvering Maddalone when he waded forward without his jab.

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Javier Fortuna Aces Cristobal Cruz Test

Javier Fortuna Aces Cristobal Cruz Test
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 6, 2012


In an intriguing doubleheader on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights from Las Vegas, we learned a couple of new things about a few young fighters that share the oversight of Sampson Lewkowicz, who manages both A-side fighters in each bout and is largely responsible for their rise.

In the main event, 22-year-old Javier Fortuna of the Dominican Republic gave himself a nine-day early birthday present, starching well-traveled Tijuana-based journeyman Cristobal Cruz inside of two rounds in their scheduled 10-round clash.

Fortuna (20-0, 15 KOs) bothered Cruz with his power early, dropping him with some wide-swining stuff inside of Cruz's slower unorthodox punches early in the round. Cruz used all the veteran tricks he could in order to remain on his feet, pulling Fortuna to the canvas a number of times and falling to the ground at least once on his own.

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Questionable Technical Knockout Remains Unchanged [UPDATE: Since Overturned]

Questionable Technical Knockout Remains Unchanged [UPDATE: Since Overturned]
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 6, 2012


On May 12 in Woodland, Calif., San Francisco's Denis Madriz and Fresno's Luis Villagomez were two fighters looking for their first professional victory off-TV on the Solo Boxeo undercard of Vicente Escobedo versus Juan Ruiz.

Their scheduled four-round featherweight bout was considered by many in attendance the best fight of the night. Unfortunately, the 4th round stoppage in favor of Madriz was incorrectly ruled as the cut that caused the stoppage came from a head butt and not from a punch and thus should have been ruled a no contest.

According to Frank Aleman, president of Aleman Boxing Fresno where Villagomez trains, he was told by California State Athletic Commission director Che Guevara that if they could obtain a copy of the fight that shows the headbutt clearly caused the cut, that they would change the decision to a no contest.

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Half-Year 25 Favorite Prospects Report Card

Half-Year 25 Favorite Prospects Report Card
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 4, 2012


In January, one of my first contributions to TQBR was a list of my 25 favorite prospects to start 2012. Now that we have met the halfway point of the year, compiled here is a report on how those 25 prospects have fared and a grade letter assigned. Over the first six months, prospects were 41-2 with 27 knockouts. Not a bad start.

MAKING THE GRADE 

Eleider Alvarez, light heavyweight, 28, 9-0, 5 KOs (2-0) B+ 
Alvarez didn't sparkle against Rayco Saunders on ESPN2 in April, but returned to the Bell Centre in early June to lay a whooping on once-beaten Shawn Hawk. Alvarez needs to be a little more active at 28, and if he is able to get two fights to close out '12 it will have been a good year for him. Next fight: N/A

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