NorCal Boxing Report: Aug. 29

NorCal Boxing Report: Aug. 29
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
August 29, 2012

Some notes compiled on different things around the Northern California boxing scene, including Richard Hargraves, potential Jorge Linares fight in the area, Andre Ward-Chad Dawson undercard.

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Alan Sanchez stops Manuel Leyva in 10

Alan Sanchez stops Manuel Leyva in 10
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
August 26, 2012


FAIRFIELD, Calif. -- A day after a club show took place down the road in Sacramento, Golden Boy Promotions in association with Don Chargin Promotions and Paco Presents returned to the Fairfield Sports Complex Saturday as homegrown Alan Sanchez looked to continue forward progress as he took on veteran gatekeeper Manuel Leyva in a 10-round welterweight bout.

Sanchez took a few rounds to get untracked as the pace at the outset of the Sol Boxeo main event was not enthralling. Sanchez and Leyva showed each other too much respect early on, and Sanchez only started getting his offense really moving after Leyva bothered him midway through with some solid body work. Though Leyva may have only won a single round, the 6th being his best far and away, he forced Sanchez to open up a bit more, which lead to some exciting exchanges.

A Leyva from even a few years ago could have given Sanchez a scare on this night, but having been starched in four of his previous six, the29-year old from Downey, Calif. was well on the downside when this fight came together.

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Otis Griffin gets back in win column in Sacramento

Otis Griffin gets back in win column in Sacramento
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
August 25, 2012


SACRAMENTO -- Friday night in Sacramento at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Sacramento favorite and former winner of the boxing reality show “The Next Great Champ” Otis Griffin (24-10-2, 10 KOs) found the win column again as he stopped the tough but inexperienced Adam Collins (11-8, 8 KOs) of Ironton, Ohio. The end came in the 2nd round of their scheduled 10 round over the limit light heavyweight bout and it was Griffin's first fight in Sacramento in nearly three years.

The fight was closely contested in the opening round until a shot near the top of Collins' head put him down in the final seconds of the opening round. Collins was not recovered from that blow as he kept pointing to the back of his head before getting dropped again early in the 2nd. Collins looked as though he rebounded well from the knockdown but Griffin finished him later in the round with a left hook, as referee Dan Stell called the fight. Official time of the stoppage was 1:22 of round 2.

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Nonito Donaire gears up for Toshiaki Nishioka

Nonito Donaire gears up for Toshiaki Nishioka
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
August 24, 2012


Last Friday at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Nonito Donaire fired a pitch high but over the plate on Filipino Heritage Night prior to the hometown Athletics' game with the Cleveland Indians.

TQBR spoke to Donaire as he left the field on a variety of topics surrounding his compelling Oct. 13 HBO-televised scrap with longtime junior featherweight force Toshiaki Nishioka in Carson, Calif. at the Home Depot Center.

“It is very exciting for me,” Donaire said. “Like Nishioka said, it is not about the titles, it is not about anything, it is about fighting that guy. I believe that I have a lot to prove with Nishioka and we have great respect for each other. "

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Mia St. John avenges loss to Christy Martin, opportunity to pass the torch exists

Mia St. John avenges loss to Christy Martin, opportunity to pass the torch exists
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
August 17, 2012


Tuesday night in Friant, Calif., a lightly populated central California town, two of the most recognizable names in women's boxing squared off in a rematch ten years removed from an initial battle that took place on pay-per-view.

Now both in their mid 40s, Mia St. John exacted her revenge on Christy Martin in a non-televised clash that, according to the two combatants, signaled the end of their respective professional boxing careers. It also could perhaps signal the end of an era in which women's boxing was treated as a sideshow or an appetizer rather than legitimate competition.

Both Martin and St. John graced the covers of two major publications in their heyday. Martin, who was nicknamed “The Coal Miner's Daughter,” was on the cover of the April 15, 1996 edition of Sports Illustrated. St. John was featured on the cover of the November, 1999 cover of Playboy, showcasing a different set of assets.

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Mares-Moreno tops full Saturday boxing schedule

Mares-Moreno tops full Saturday boxing schedule
Mark E. Ortega
Martinez News-Gazette
November 9, 2012

Saturday night, an important junior featherweight clash takes place at the famed Staples Center as Abner Mares and Anselmo Moreno do battle to determine who might give San Leandro's Nonito Donaire the biggest trouble in a future fight.

It was announced last week that Donaire will return to the ring on Dec. 16 against Mexican fan favorite Jorge Arce, marking the fourth time Donaire will step in the ring in 2012, a remarkable feat in today's game. On that undercard, fellow 122 pounder Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba faces his stiffest test as he meets Thailand's Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym.

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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