Sunday, March 31, 2013
The First Time: Boxing promoter Terry Lane's trip to Montreal for Bute-Brinkley
The First Time: Award-winning author Donald McRae & going to Tulsa to hangout with James Toney
The following story is the full-length version of what Don sent me when I inquired about him contributing to a monthly piece I'm debuting at RingTV called "The First Time". The idea behind the column is to take a different subject every month, and ask various boxing people about their first memories related to that. For this first column, I asked people about their first trips abroad for a fight. In the RingTV story here, I excerpted Don's story and have linked it over here, where you can read the full body of his recollection, which I highly recommend you do. I'd like to thank Don for this contribution, it was far and beyond what I expected given his always busy schedule. Without further to do, here is Donald McRae's trip to Tulsa to meet James "Lights Out" Toney.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Berchelt impresses on Rios-Alvarado undercard
Berchelt impresses on Rios-Alvarado undercard
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 31, 2013
Undefeated Mexican junior lightweight standout Miguel Berchelt needed only one round to dispatch Carlos Claudio in his American debut on the undercard of the Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado undercard on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Berchelt (17-0, 14 KOs) needed only 1:53 to dispatch Carlos Claudio (15-10-3, 8 KOs) ,of Kissimmee, Fla. Berchelt landed a bevy of power shots early, then eventually stunned Claudio, sending him to the ropes. Berchelt wasted no time jumping on his opponent, landing a signature Oscar De La Hoya style flurry of punches that forced referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight.
Highly touted 2012 U.S. Olympian Jose Ramirez (2-0, 2 KOs) made quick work of Hastings, Neb.'s Charlie Dubray, dropping him twice in the opening round en route to a TKO. Ramirez bounced a right hand off the top of Dubray's head early in the round, resulting in a knockdown. Dubray returned to his feet and Ramirez jumped on him, unleashing a furious body attack before referee Robert Byrd halted the bout at 1:06.
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Friday, March 29, 2013
Crawford eager to shine as late replacement
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 30, 2013
LAS VEGAS--Thursday afternoon, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum compared one of the young fighters in his stable to an understudy in a big play that gets the call when the main lead calls in sick.
At least in those instances, the understudy knows their lines.
Saturday night, Omaha, Nebraska's Terence Crawford will be ad-libbing his way through his first real test, and on major television no less, as he fights veteran gatekeeper and relentless power puncher Breidis Prescott. What's more, Crawford will be testing the waters in a foreign weight division as he'll experiment at 140 pounds.
Previously, Crawford (19-0, 15 KOs) has campaigned almost exclusively as a lightweight, where he possesses a number of alphabet rankings at the moment. But when WBA 140-pound titlist pulled out of a fight with Prescott due to injury, Crawford didn't hesitate when he got the call to jump into the HBO co-feature.
“I feel good about the fight,” the quiet Crawford told RingTV at Thursday's press conference. “They called my phone for a reason, and this is the moment I've been waiting for.”
Crawford could possibly be the best kept secret in boxing—this despite being handled by the most prominent promoter in the sport. None of his nineteen wins were on national television. His most challenging opponent to date was a past-it David Rodela last June.
There's another fighter from the Midwest who took an equally large leap in his level of opposition, in his premium cable debut no less. Cincinnati, Ohio's Adrien Broner went from fighting the pedestrian John Revish to going ten rounds with the formidable Daniel Ponce De Leon.
Though Broner struggled with that assignment, he learned from the experience and hasn't looked back since.
Broner was 21 at the time he fought Ponce De Leon. Though Crawford is a bit further along in age, his potential is just as unknown. The extra life experience could perhaps be of benefit to Crawford. Broner might have benefited from reaching stardom in his mid-twenties and been more equipped to handle the fame. Recent incidents indicate Broner still has some growing up to do, while Crawford is a no nonsense guy without a rap sheet.
Prescott (26-4, 20 KOs), of Colombia, hasn't been easy work for anyone at 135 or 140 pounds. Given the situation Crawford has been tossed into, coming away with a clear victory would go a long ways to establishing his credibility.
It wasn't as though Crawford wasn't preparing for a fight. Crawford was on the card from the gate, and was projected to fight tough Robert Osiobe, a journeyman fighter who was on a nice win streak and a tough out for any young fighter. That fight would have been Crawford's stiffest test by a mile, the kind of fight that tells you whether your next move is a Prescott-type fight or a step backwards into confidence boosters.
A telling point regarding Crawford was the read you could get on Top Rank executives' thoughts when asked the fight.
Without disclosing exact words, some of the important cogs in the Top Rank machine seemed uncertain whether Crawford was ready for the test.
“We don't manage fighters, we offer them fights,” said one Top Rank executive memorably. “It is ultimately up to them if they are ready for it.”
Given how quickly Crawford agreed to jump in to fight Prescott, his team has all the confidence that he'll get the win Saturday.
“I answered immediately,” responded Crawford to a question of how long it took him to decide to take the fight.
When asked about future plans and the weight they would be discussed at, Crawford made it evident he'd like to make this a temporary appearance in the ultra-deep junior welterweight class.
“My main goal is to get the title at 135 first, and then move up,” said Crawford.
Though it is always important to look good when you get an opportunity out of left field to fight on a network like HBO, in a situation like this, it is fair to adopt the Al Davis train of thought. “Just win, baby,” the late Oakland Raiders owner used to declare famously.
“I think once I win, they'll want me back on,” said Crawford. “Anybody at 135 with a title can get it.”
It's a shame that the rift between Top Rank and rival Golden Boy Promotions exists. Who knows, perhaps a Broner-Crawford fight in Cincinnati could do big numbers in a few years. It's a fight that Crawford has already been pondering.
“I'm right there with him,” Crawford told RingTV's Mike Coppinger in a recent issue of RING Magazine, with Crawford being profiled as a “New Face”. “No question, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”
Crawford has to pass one test first. Watching footage of Prescott obliterating Amir Khan in less than a few minutes could have an adverse effect on the psyche of an inexperienced fighter like Crawford.
If Crawford is weak minded, he's done a great job hiding it so far. Saturday night, it is very likely that the boxing community finds out if Crawford has a strong stomach to go along with it. Prescott battered Mike Alvarado, who fights in the main event Saturday against Brandon Rios, nearly costing him his eye. Prescott was unable to finish the job and Alvarado overcome early odds to stop his opponent late in the fight, early Friday morning.
Saturday night, you'll find out how much Prescott has in his relatively deep tank. You'll also likely have a firmer grasp on how deep the tank of Crawford is, whether or not he is equipped with the miles per gallon of a hybrid or a pickup truck. It's the kind of fight that HBO's Boxing After Dark used to feature on the regular.
It'll be hard to upstage the main event, a rematch of one of 2012's greatest bouts. Should Rios and Alvarado falter later on, it could be Crawford's performance that everyone is talking about Monday afternoon.
Unlike the previously compared Broner, Crawford will try and make an impression solely with his boxing skills. An impressive enough performance could allow him to skip all the self-hype that Broner took on after he had difficulty with Ponce De Leon.
A win will get Crawford back in the spotlight. An impressive win will have people wondering where he's been hiding, and when they can see more.
Mark Ortega is the boxing columnist for the Martinez News-Gazette and is a member of the Boxing Writers Assoc. of America and the RING Ratings Advisory Panel. He can be reached via e-mail at markeortega@gmail.com as well as followed on Twitter @MarkEOrtega.
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Rios, Garcia talk about Heredia team presence
Heredia is most recently known for his work with Juan Manuel Marquez, transforming the veteran from a soft looking junior welterweight to the cut-to-shreds welterweight version that starched Manny Pacquiao abruptly last December. Prior to that, Heredia’s checkered past of helping athletes with performance enhancing drugs and then testifying against them made him a recognizable name.
Rios told RingTV.com after Thursday's press conference that he talked to Heredia in December, before Pacquiao-Marquez IV.
“I approached him at Pacquiao-Marquez and told him how Marquez looked good, healthy,” said Rios. “I told him we need to work together, but we didn't start working together until this rematch with Mike became official.”
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Rios-Alvarado rematch draws Gatti-Ward parallels
Rios-Alvarado rematch draws Gatti-Ward parallels
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 29, 2013
LAS VEGAS – When HBO vice president Kery Davis took the dais at the final press conference at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino for Saturday's junior welterweight rematch between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado, he opened with the formal announcement that the network would be revitalizing their Legendary Nights documentary series to examine the trilogy between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward.
It's only fitting. The seven-round slugfest, which Rios won by technical knockout last October, left the most bloodthirsty of boxing fans satiated. As it was with Gatti-Ward, the first Rios-Alvarado fight wasn't about titles or undefeated records. As Davis put it, it was about putting two guys together that all but guaranteed an exciting fight, however long it may last.
“Everybody has seen these two warriors fight,” said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum at the press conference.
“The fight at the Home Depot Center was an instant classic. Many thought it was a Fight of the Year candidate, and for many it was just edged out by the fourth fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.”
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Lederman's most memorable Boxing After Dark fights
Lederman's most memorable Boxing After Dark fights
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 27, 2013
Over the course of its 15 year run, HBO's Boxing After Dark series has produced some of the sport's most exciting matchups. The series has televised cards from all over the world in eight different countries with more than 125 championship bouts being broadcast.
The inaugural broadcast on Feb. 3, 1996 featured a smashing 122-pound contest between rising Marco Antonio Barrera and a still quality Kennedy McKinney. It was a back-and-forth war with tons of bad blood. The program, which has focused on building stars for its World Championship Boxing brand, has hardly looked back since that first show.
On Saturday, a rematch of one of last year’s best fights tops an HBO B.A.D. telecast.Brandon Rios looks to duplicate his mid-rounds stoppage of Mike Alvarado at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The first fight, which took place last October in Carson, Calif., was a B.A.D. opener (for Nonito Donaire-Toshiaki Nishioka), while this fight will headline – to lots of fanfare.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Bits and Pieces: Gamboa-Burgos possible for June 8
Bits and Pieces: Gamboa-Burgos possible for June 8
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 26, 2013
Gamboa-Burgos possible for June 8 at 135 pounds
As previously reported by Maxboxing's Steve Kim last week, the idea of Yuriorkis Gamboa fighting Juan Carlos Burgos as part of a June 8 HBO show is being contemplated.
According to Thompson Boxing general manager Alex Camponovo, who backs Mexico's Burgos, it would more than likely be a move to 135 pounds for both fighters, whose most recent fights were at 130 pounds.
Burgos (30-1-1, 20 knockouts) is coming off a highly-controversial draw against WBO 130-pound beltholder Roman Martinez in January that saw his team petition the WBO for an immediate rematch. Martinez defends his title against Diego Magdaleno in Macau on April 2, but the WBO elected to keep Burgos its No. 1 contender in lieu of the controversial nature of the bout.
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HBO reboots popular Legendary Nights to chronicle Gatti-Ward
Young prospects round out Rios-Alvarado untelevised card
Young prospects round out Rios-Alvarado untelevised card
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 26, 2013
The word has been mostly mum on who would appear on the untelevised undercard to Saturday's highly-anticipated return bout between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado. Their bout, along with Terence Crawford's step-up against Breidis Prescott, will be televised on HBO’s Boxing After Dark at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
The card takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and Boxrec.com, the records and schedule database, has limited information listed on what the non-televised portion of the card will feature. Crawford was initially supposed to be part of it, but when 140-pounder Khabib Allakhverdiev was injured, Crawford took his spot against Prescott in the opening televised bout.
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Saturday, March 23, 2013
Journeyman Boone an unsung hero in boxing
Mark E. Ortega
Freelance
March 23, 2013
Years from now, most people will have forgotten about Darnell Boone.
I'm not talking 20 years from now. If last night's sixth-round TKO loss to Adonis Stevenson on WealthTV is the last we see of Boone, even a few years from now he will have faded from the memories of most. His 19-21-3 record, despite the level of competition and circumstances it has come against, won't standout as anything but subpar.
But to those who have closely followed Boone's career, which may end up being just a few others outside of myself, they will remember Boone as one of the sport's toughest journeyman or gatekeeper types of this era.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
April 12 FNF card gets an overhaul
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 21, 2013
News broke early Thursday that Andre Dirrell would no longer be in action in the April 12 edition of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights, which takes place in Shelton, Wash. Dirrell was slated to face tough gatekeeper Ossie Duran but was pulled from the card according to ESPN.com.
That isn't the only change that has been made. The middleweight bout between Brandon Gonzales and Will Rosinsky is now off the card as well. Goossen-Tutor Promotions matchmaker Tom Brown indicated to RingTV that Gonzales pulled a hamstring and had to be removed from the card.
Taking the main event slot is a featherweight ten-round bout between former 122-pound titleholder Rico Ramos, of East Los Angeles, and Oscar Gonzalez, of Mexico.
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Overseas promoters hope to fill Golden Boy void on HBO
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 21, 2013
Earlier this week, HBO announced that it would no longer be doing business with Golden Boy Promotions.
With that announcement came the opportunity for other promoters and fighters to slide into the televised dates that may have otherwise belonged to Golden Boy.
In the past, HBO has televised shows from Europe, often airing them in the U.S. in the afternoon with a replay later that night, sometimes coupled with a live American broadcast. Occasionally, as was the case with the Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler super middleweight unification in November 2007, bouts have been held well past midnight in Europe so they could be televised live in America.
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Bits and pieces: Groves added to Abraham-Stieglitz card
Bits and pieces: Groves added to Abraham-Stieglitz card
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 20, 2013
Groves added to Stieglitz-Abraham bill Saturday
Sauerland Events confirmed Thursday that super middleweight contender George Groves will appear on their Saturday bill headlined by Robert Stieglitz' rematch against WBO titleholder Arthur Abraham in Magdeburg, Germany.
Groves (17-0, 13 knockouts) is being showcased as a potential future challenger to the winner, which makes sense given his No. 2 ranking in the WBO. He made his first appearance under the Matchroom Sport banner just two weekends ago, scoring a third-round stoppage over journeyman Dario Balmacedo just days after parting ways with Frank Warren.
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Boone hoping history repeats itself against Stevenson
March 20, 2013
With greater exposure comes greater opportunity.
The last time Darnell Boone and Adonis Stevenson met, it was on a small untelevised club show in Salisbury, Md. Stevenson, then an undefeated but untested 13-0, was promptly knocked out by a single overhand right in the second round of the fight.
Due to the where and the when, the win garnered Boone little fanfare.
When the two meet Friday night in Montreal, it'll be the televised headliner of a WealthTV broadcast with Stevenson on the verge of a world title challenge.
Tough journeyman Boone (19-20-3, 8 KOs) told Boxing Monthly in their May 2012 edition that the biggest purse he'd ever earned was the $12,500 he'd received to fight Anthony Thompson in 2006.
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Five that will benefit most from HBO-Golden Boy split
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Bits and pieces: Fortuna-Zamudio lands in Atlantic City
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Saturday, March 16, 2013
Vargas hopes patience pays off with tonight's HBO debut
Vargas hopes patience pays off with tonight's HBO debut
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 16, 2013
In the short term, it looked as though Jessie Vargas had made a mistake leaving the stable of fellow Las Vegas resident Floyd Mayweather Jr. to join up with Las Vegas-based Top Rank Promotions nearly a year ago.
Prior to the switch, Vargas had been positioned well in showcase bouts on Mayweather pay-per-view undercards, perhaps the most visibility a young fighter could ask for.
After being brought on with Top Rank, Vargas took a bit of a step back. He was no longer fighting Josesito Lopez or Steve Forbes type guys at the MGM Grand on pay-per-view. He had been relegated to fighting lesser heralded names like Aaron Martinez and Vito Gasparyan on ESPN2 at places away from the Las Vegas Strip.
But when Top Rank and their matchmakers Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman make decisions on what speed they are going to move you at, you would be smart to listen.
“They did tell me to be patient, that they were gonna get me there,” said Vargas in a phone interview with RingTV on Thursday.
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Thursday, March 14, 2013
Hercules’ Vasquez fighting for more than ring glory
Hercules’ Vasquez fighting for more than ring glory
Mark E. Ortega
Martinez News-Gazette (print paper)
March 14, 2013
Friday night, Hercules, Calif.’s Paul Vasquez faces the stiffest test of his sometimes-frustrating boxing career as he meets veteran Elvir Muriqi in an eight-round light heavyweight main event in Whippany, N.J.
Vasquez has compiled a 9-2-1 record over a nearly ten-year career since turning pro in Fresno back in July of 2004. While frustrating inactivity has plagued him, Vasquez doesn’t fight for aspirations of world championships, but instead he fights to raise awareness to a cause dear to his heart.
“My wife Brenda, she is a pediatrics nurse,” explained Vasquez in a phone interview on Monday.
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Commentary: Hopkins can enhance legacy with Povetkin fight
Commentary: Hopkins can enhance legacy with Povetkin fight
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 14, 2013
This past Saturday, Bernard Hopkins topped himself again by becoming the oldest recognized world champion at age 48 after handing undefeated light heavyweight beltholder Tavoris Cloud a clear decision defeat in Brooklyn in front of more than 12,000 fans at the Barclays Center.
The victory is another accolade to add to a laundry list of them, leaving few worthwhile challenges to remain for the former longtime middleweight champion, who also holds the record for defenses in that weight class with 20.
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Younger Magdaleno maintains focus while title shot looms for older brother
But first things first, the younger, and according to many, the more talented Magdaleno brother has his own business to take care of. The 21-year old junior featherweight prospect fights journeyman Carlos Fulgencio on Saturday's Timothy Bradley-Ruslan Provodnikov undercard where he is expected to get a quick and impressive victory.
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Friday, March 8, 2013
Cloud-Hopkins: Will Father Time finally KO B-Hop?
Mark E. Ortega
ThePhillyGodfather.com
March 8, 2013
Saturday night, Philadelphia future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins tries to outdo himself by becoming the oldest world champion at age 48, besting his previous record of 46 years old when he defeated Jean Pascal by unanimous decision in their May 2011 rematch.
Hopkins is coming off an uninspiring performance in defeat last April where he lost a unanimous decision to Chad Dawson in a rematch of their December 2010 bout that saw Hopkins climb off the canvas to rally late in the fight in order to secure a draw.
“You’re not going to see a new Bernard Hopkins,” said the former lineal middleweight champion at the final press conference.
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RingTV Q&A: Larry Merchant
RingTV Q&A: Larry Merchant
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 8, 2013
After finishing up a 35-year run providing some of the most poignant words to some of HBO's greatest boxing moments, you had to know Hall of Fame broadcaster Larry Merchant wasn't going to rest on his laurels long. Since retiring in December, he played himself in a movie alongside longtime colleague Jim Lampley and got a call from Top Rank Promotions to help commentate on a historic boxing card that will take place in Macao next month alongside fellow all-time great broadcaster Tim Ryan as well as former colleague and legendary former heavyweight champion George Foreman.
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Griffin takes one more shot
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Soliman's banned substance identified
Soliman's banned substance identified
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 5, 2013
In an update to an earlier story, the performance enhancing drug that 39-year old Australian veteran middleweight Sam Soliman tested for in his A-sample when facing Felix Sturm last month was oxilofrine, an amphetamine-class stimulant.
The positive test was made apparent by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), the organization in charge of drug testing in German sports. NADA does Olympic-style drug testing and is affiliated with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), applying WADA's list of prohibitive substances, which can be found here.
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Sunday, March 3, 2013
Abril outclasses Bogere in ugly fight, keeps WBA lightweight belt
Abril outclasses Bogere in ugly fight, keeps WBA lightweight belt
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 3, 2013
LAS VEGAS – Richard Abril wanted to pick up a win without the judges factoring into the verdict in order to avoid being on the wrong end of a controversial verdict once again.
Abril didn't quiet his wish, but the gangly stylist tried to make sure he did enough to leave no doubt that he was a better boxer than Sharif Bogere in a very sloppy and dirty fight on Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Halfway through the Showtime Championship Boxing headlining bout, the official scorecards still had the fight in reach for the undefeated challenger, Bogere. As the bout moved into the deeper rounds, however, Abril closed the show dominantly.
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GBP plans stacked Fox Deportes card on March 16 in Cancun
GBP plans stacked Fox Deportes card on March 16 in Cancun
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 3, 2013
Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Robert Diaz informed RingTV.com Saturday night at the Sharif Bogere-Richard Abril card of a Fox Deportes card that is taking place in Cancun, Mexico on March 16 that features a number of quality fighters looking to get in the win column to start 2013.
In the main event, Pablo Cesar Cano (25-2-1, 19 knockouts), of Mexico, will fight Manuel Perez (19-8-1, 4 KOs), of Denver, Colo., in a ten-round junior welterweight contest. Cano is coming off a hotly contested split-decision loss to Paul Malignaggi in October at the inaugural card at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, Malignaggi's home. Perez is stiffer than his record indicates and is coming off a solid 2012 where he handed Edgar Santana and Jose Miguel Cotto defeats in consecutive fights.
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Russell shuts out Gusev on Abril-Bogere undercard
Russell shuts out Gusev on Abril-Bogere undercard
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 3, 2013
With the World Baseball Classic just getting underway and the major league season around the corner, saying that 2011 boxing Prospect of the Year Gary Russell Jr. is ready to make the jump from AAA to the majors is a fair assessment after he thoroughly outclassed Vyacheslav Gusev in a shutout in the Showtime televised co-featured bout to Saturday's Richard Abril-Sharif Bogere lightweight title bout.
Early against Gusev, Russell (22-0, 13 KOs) doubled and tripled his jab while also mixing in a wide array of shots to the body. Gusev (20-3, 5 KOs), of Prokopyevsk, Russia, stood in there and tried his best to get some work done, but was largely ineffective. At the sound of the sticks, indicating ten seconds remaining in the first round, Russell exploded with offense, landing a right hook that buckled Gusev. Russell followed up with a lightning fast combination that would have undoubtedly lead to a knockdown had it not come at the end of the round.
In the second, Russell and Gusev landed solid straight shots simultaneously, with Russell's more powerful punch producing the first knockdown of the fight. Despite his opponent being hurt, Russell didn't waste any punches when he returned to his feet, landing at very accurate rate, seemingly content to pick at his prey rather than finish him.
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Saturday, March 2, 2013
Baby Bull to return against famous namesake
Baby Bull to return against famous namesake
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 2, 2013
As has been previously reported, former lightweight world champion Juan Diaz will return to the ring following a two-and-a-half year layoff on April 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas, just a few hours' drive from his hometown of Houston.
What hasn't been previously reported until now is that Diaz's opponent will be Pipino Cuevas Jr., the namesake of the former welterweight titlist from the late 1970's who was a contemporary of Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, and Wilfredo Benitez. The opponent was confirmed by Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Robert Diaz.
The fight is slated to be televised by Fox Deportes on a Leija-Battah Promotions card and will be 10 rounds in the 135-pound weight division, where Diaz once reigned as the recognized lightweight champion, having held the WBA, WBO, and IBF versions of the crown simultaneously.
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Soliman tests positive for banned substance after Sturm fight
Soliman tests positive for banned substance after Sturm fight
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 2, 2013
At age 39, it seemed as though Australian middleweight veteran Sam Soliman had finally gotten a career defining victory, as he outpointed former middleweight titlist Felix Sturm over twelve tough rounds on Feb. 1, somehow prevailing on the scorecards in Sturm's backyard in Germany.
Unfortunately, news has just surfaced that Soliman tested positive for a yet to be determined designer drug in his post-fight A-sample, as confirmed by German Boxing Federation president Thomas Putz. They could now open Soliman's B-sample if Soliman's team asks for it to be opened, which could take place in the next week.
Though the substance has yet to be named, it has been narrowed down to an amphetamine that is performance enhancing. It is often used in cycling and helps produce a higher amount of oxygen.
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Friday, March 1, 2013
Bogere looks to become the latest African titleholder on Saturday
Bogere looks to become the latest African titleholder on Saturday
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 1, 2013
LAS VEGAS – On Saturday night, Sharif Bogere looks to follow in the footsteps of Ike Quartey, Joshua Clottey and Kassim Ouma – fighters who journeyed from impoverished African countries to more lucrative earnings and world titles in the United States – as he vies for his first major title in the headlining bout of Showtime Championship Boxing against Richard Abril for a vacant WBA 135-pound belt.
Where the 24-year-old Ugandan hopes to take a different path from his predecessors comes after he wins Saturday. While all of those names won major titles and found themselves in marquee matchups, their dedication curtailed after their earnings reached a high point.
Quartey took a five-year hiatus after fighting big names like Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas and Clottey has hardly been seen since appearing in big matchups with box-office darlings Miguel Cotto and, more recently, Manny Pacquiao in 2010.
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Cotto plans ring return later this year
Cotto plans ring return later this year
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
March 1, 2013
LAS VEGAS – In attendance at Thursday's press conference for the Showtime-televised WBA lightweight title tilt between Richard Abril and Sharif Bogere on Saturday was three-division titleholder Miguel Cotto.
Cotto was there in support of his two fighters, junior middleweight Jorge Melendez and lightweight Jeffrey Fontanez, who will appear on the Showtime Extreme portion of the Abril-Bogere undercard.
Cotto recently revealed that he plans to fight three more times before calling it a day as a fighter and focusing on his family. RingTV caught up with Cotto as well as his attorney Gaby Penagaricano prior to the press conference to touch on a few subjects.
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