April 12 FNF card gets an overhaul

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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Inside the Super Six: Predictions from Within

Inside the Super Six: Predictions from Within
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
December 16, 2011

Tomorrow night, the historic, groundbreaking Super Six World Boxing Classic wraps up after beginning more than two years ago when Andre Ward and Carl Froch meet in Atlantic City for the Super Six cup, vacant Ring Magazine 168-pound title, as well as their respective alphabet soup titles.

We were able to speak to a majority of the fighters, promoters, and trainers who took part in the Super Six experience on a variety of subjects related to the tournament, most importantly who they feel will win tomorrow night.

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Dissecting the Super Six: Part 3

Dissecting the Super Six: Part 3

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

July 3, 2011

With the Super Six World Boxing Classic headed down the final straightaway, Leave it in the Ring lead writer Mark Ortega makes a comprehensive appraisal of the groundbreaking tournament’s unfolding and considers what the future holds following its culmination. Included are insightful takes courtesy of Ken Hershman, vice president of Showtime Sports (the network responsible for producing the round robin), and Goossen-Tutor’s own Dan Goossen, who promotes Super Six finalist Andre Ward.

Here in part three, Ortega explores the possibility of Showtime staging a similarly structured tournament in the future, as well as which weight classes prove attractive for such a venture.

As the end draws near and certain questions are being asked (is the Super Six format friendly to future tournaments? Is Showtime ready for seconds?), it is natural to ponder the prospect of a Super Six sequel.

“I couldn't be happier with the way it played out; I loved doing it, I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had a weight division that could deliver this level of fights for this long of a period and promoters who were willing to participate,” enthused Showtime Sports’ Ken Hershman.

Dissecting the Super Six: Part 2

Dissecting the Super Six: Part 2

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

July 2, 2011

In part two, Ortega examines how Showtime and promoter Goossen-Tutor prepared themselves for the hiccups inevitable to this novel undertaking and also how the Super Six has affected the career trajectories of the participating fighters.

For Ken Hershman, or any diehard fight fan, satisfaction is guaranteed. In addition to two alphabet trinkets (and a big shiny trophy), tournament spoils include the illustrious vacant Ring title plus much-deserved accolades. And had the purpose of the Super Six not written itself, culminating with the a meeting of the division’s true leaders, Showtime had covered their bases by securing a lucrative multi-fight deal with Lucian Bute. So fans of the Romanian kingpin and those dubious about the legitimacy of Andre Ward and/or Carl Froch—poised to meet in Atlantic City on October 29—can breathe a sigh of relief come the inevitable match between Super Six victor and the undefeated IBF champion.

Dissecting the Super Six: Part 1

Dissecting the Super Six: Part 1

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

July 1, 2011

With the Super Six World Boxing Classic headed down the final straightaway, Leave it in the Ring lead writer Mark Ortega makes a comprehensive appraisal of the groundbreaking tournament’s unfolding and considers what the future holds following its culmination. Included are insightful takes courtesy of Ken Hershman, vice president of Showtime Sports (the network responsible for producing the round robin), and Goossen-Tutor’s own Dan Goossen, who promotes Super Six finalist Andre Ward.

In part one, Ortega explores the provenance of the Super Six and all the elements necessary for the execution of such a historic event.

Just shy of two years ago, an announcement was made that would rock the foundations of not only the 168-pound weight class, but of the boxing world. Showtime, the long time runner-up in terms of premium televised boxing coverage in the United States, had announced a six man, abbreviated round robin tournament that would make great strides in determining a true champion for a weight division that had been lacking in prestige.

Kirkland-Angulo: As hot as it is going to get?

Kirkland-Angulo: As hot as it is going to get?
Mark E. Ortega
Freelance
March 12, 2009


Also eight other matchups and whether they would come off better now or later

There are fights out there that quickly grasp the attention of the boxing public, sometimes a bit too early in time for it to be a realistic possibility based on where in their careers those two fighters are. That is one of the many things that make our sport intriguing, it is all in the timing. It isn’t like football or baseball, where they play basically the same set schedule with a few differences here and there. In boxing, you never can guess where you will be eight months from now; let alone two to five years from now.

With that said, in boxing, many times a fight will start building up heat and excitement even if it doesn’t make sense at that exact moment for that fight to come off. Promoters are always trying to build a fight up so much until both guys are at similar stages in their career, near their projected primes, so that it makes the most money. A lot of times, this has worked and many fights have come together that took years of build-up to produce. It seems that fights like Hagler-Hearns and Tyson-Holyfield, despite their numerous setbacks, were always meant to come together the way they did, and it served the winners in both of those fights much better based on the timing.