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Friday, August 30, 2013

Bits & Pieces: Ali makes GBP debut, Tomlinson moves to L.A.


Bits & Pieces: Ali makes GBP debut, Tomlinson moves to L.A.
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 30, 2013


Ali makes Golden Boy debut Sept. 30

2008 U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali held himself back early in his professional career by refusing to sign with a major promotional company, instead going on his own.

Ali finally aligned himself with Golden Boy Promotions earlier this year, and makes his debut in a headlining bout of a Fox Sports 1 card on Sept. 30. It'll be the most exposure he's received since turning pro in January of 2009. It'll be part of Golden Boy's Monday night series, Golden Boy on FOX, and will take place in Ali's hometown of Brooklyn at the Cushman & Wakefield Theater at Barclays Center.

Ali (16-0, 10 KOs) will fight the unheralded Jay Krupp (17-5, 8 KOs) in his first fight of 2013.

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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Mayweather-Canelo media day notes


Mayweather-Canelo media day notes
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 29, 2013


RingTV.com contributor Mark E. Ortega attended both the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez media days this week, compiling the following notes on their anticipated mega-fight, now just two weeks away. Alvarez opened his camp in Big Bear to the media on Tuesday while Mayweather's gym in Las Vegas was open the next day. Here are some notes from those two days.

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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

A day at The Doghouse

A day at The Doghouse
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 28, 2013


LAS VEGAS – Two Mondays ago, I spent the afternoon at the Mayweather Boxing Club. I’ve made plenty of stops at the gym since moving here in November, but had yet to take in a Floyd Mayweather sparring session. That changed on this day, as Mayweather would go four rounds in preparation for his Sept. 14 pay-per-view fight against Saul Alvarez.

I showed up to the gym around 1:00 p.m., knowing Mayweather wouldn’t show up until around 4:00 or so. Nicknamed “The Doghouse,” the gym is usually hotter indoors than what the Las Vegas sun feels like outside, but on this day, it wasn’t as sizzling. This was perhaps due to the fact that Showtime Sports was there shooting some footage for their All Access documentary series, and in the past, they’ve made the conditions more bearable for those handling the heavy equipment.

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Mosley not sold on Mundine fight


Mosley not sold on Mundine fight
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 28, 2013


Yesterday, Saul Alvarez held his media day in Big Bear, Calif., in anticipation of his September showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. The workout took place at the home of three-division champion Sugar Shane Mosley, a former adversary to both fighters.

Prior to Alvarez's arrival, Mosley spoke to a handful of media about a number of topics, including his projected October fight against former 168-pounds beltholder Anthony Mundine, which seems to be in heavy doubt.

“I'm supposed to fight Anthony Mundine, but they're having problems sending the money to escrow, so the fight might not happen,” said Mosley.

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Monday, August 26, 2013

Bits & Pieces: Gonzalez's and Golden Boy's future plans


Bits & Pieces: Gonzalez's and Golden Boy's future plans
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 26, 2013


One of boxing's young stars was dealt his first taste of defeat on Saturday, as Abner Mares was shockingly knocked out by veteran Jhonny Gonzalez in the first round at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, Calif. The bout headlined a Showtime telecast that also featured Leo Santa Cruz add another title to his name when he beat up Victor Terrazas before stopping him in the third.

After the fight, Gonzalez and Mares appeared at the post-fight press conference and showed their class. Here are some of the details from that as well as Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer discussing a few future points for his company.

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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Agbeko a free agent, eyes top junior featherweights


Agbeko a free agent, eyes top junior featherweights
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 25, 2013


Former two-time bantamweight titleholder Joseph Agbeko informed RingTV.com on Sunday that he has split from promoter Don King and is in search of a big fight in the junior featherweight division.

"Don recently granted me my release after we had a couple talks and now I'm free," Agbeko told RingTV.com on the phone.

Agbeko was previously a staple on Showtime, beginning with his dominant title claiming victory over Luis Perez in 2007. As with nearly every Don King fighter, inactivity plagued his career, but he still was able to remain a top name in the division with wins over Vic Darchinyan and Yonnhy Perez before two losses to Abner Mares.

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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Santa Cruz blitzes Terrazas to take WBC title


Santa Cruz blitzes Terrazas to take WBC title
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 24, 2013


It took less than three rounds for Leo Santa Cruz to add a second title in as many divisions to his résumé on Saturday night as he demolished WBC junior featherweight beltholder Victor Terrazas at the Stub Hub Center in the evening's co-feature.

Terrazas (37-3-1, 21 KOs), of Guadalajara, was expected to give the 25-year old Santa Cruz some trouble, but Santa Cruz walked through his punches in order to batter his more experienced opponent.

The two traded uppercuts and body punches like they were baseball cards, but Santa Cruz proved the harder puncher. By the end of the second round, Terrazas' face was a grotesque and swollen mess, particularly his right eye.

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Undercard report: Orozco, Breazeale win by KOs


Undercard report: Orozco, Breazeale win by KOs
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 24, 2013


CARSON, Calif. – San Diego-based junior welterweight Antonio Orozco (18-0, 14 KOs) had few issues getting rid of Colombia's Ivan Hernandez (29-4, 22 KOs), putting him down three times before stopping him in the third round. Orozco's ruthless body work helped get the job done. He is now being targeted for a future date on ShoBox, according to series producer Gordon Hall. Hernandez had previously campaigned at 130 pounds and has been largely inactive the past five years.

2012 Olympic heavyweight Dominic Breazeale (6-0, 6 KOs) scored a fourth-round knockout of the experienced Lenroy Thomas (16-3, 8 KOs). Breazeale took some shots in the process of grinding down his opponent. He then buckled Thomas in the fourth, and a follow-up barrage ending with a body shot put him down. The end came at 2:29 when Thomas was counted out.

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Pulev outworks Thompson to unanimous decision


Pulev outworks Thompson to unanimous decision
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 24, 2013


In the last decade, American heavyweight Tony Thompson had lost just twice, both in failed world title opportunities against Wladimir Klitschko.

Thompson, THE RING’s No. 9-rated heavyweight, was denied his chance to get a third try at Klitschko on Saturday night when he was soundly outpointed by unbeaten Bulgarian contender Kubrat Pulev in Germany in an IBF eliminator.

Fighting for the second time in less than 50 days, the 41-year-old Thompson got off to a great start, clearly winning the first two rounds while also likely winning the third, giving him an early cushion to work with. Thompson's right jab set him up for some solid left hands that had Pulev looking a little out of his depths.

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Friday, August 23, 2013

Usmanee catches good karma with title shot on FNF


Usmanee catches good karma with title shot on FNF
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 23, 2013


Tonight, Arash Usmanee challenges for a title for the first time in his career when he meets Argenis Mendez on Friday Night Fights for the IBF 130-pound title.

Usmanee (20-1, 10 KOs) and Mendez will close this season of ESPN2's flagship boxing program. It is only fitting that Usmanee be part of the final show, given that he opened the program in January against Rances Barthelemy. Usmanee lost a highly controversial decision in that fight and hopes he closes the year with a better taste in his mouth.

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Monday, August 19, 2013

Jacobs blasts Lorenzo in three on Fox Sports 1


Jacobs blasts Lorenzo in three on Fox Sports 1
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 19, 2013


Come-backing young middleweight Daniel Jacobs impressively stopped former title challenger Giovanni Lorenzo in the third round in the 10-round main event of Fox Sports 1's debut Monday night broadcast of the new Golden Boy on FOX series.

Emanating from the Best Buy Theatre in New York, the bout was a solid crossroads bout between two New York-based fighters looking to make a statement on this inaugural broadcast.

The fight began slowly with Jacobs (26-1, 23 knockouts) edging the first two rounds. It seemed Lorenzo was breaking through with some rough tactics in the third before Jacobs dropped him on his face when the two were exchanging.

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Saturday, August 17, 2013

Jackson turns back Hirsch by tough unanimous decision


Jackson turns back Hirsch by tough unanimous decision
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 17, 2013


Once-beaten junior middleweight prospect John Jackson endured a stiff test Saturday night in his homeland, earning a hard-fought eight-round unanimous decision over the well prepared Tony Hirsch in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The son of International Boxing Hall of Famer Julian Jackson, John was faced with his toughest challenge since losing to Willie Nelson last September in Las Vegas. The always game Hirsch, who has served as a primary sparring partner for RING super middleweight champion Andre Ward for much of his career, went tit-for-tat with Jackson for much of the fight.

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Friday, August 16, 2013

Fonfara hits three-run homer to outlast Campillo


Fonfara hits three-run homer to outlast Campillo
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV
August 16, 2013


Don’t call it a comeback, but if this week’s ESPN2 Friday Night Fights is any indication as to the health of boxing in the city of Chicago, it should play host to big fights more often.

With a card taking place at U.S. Cellular Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox, prognosticators were unsure at what the turnout would be. An estimated number of around 10,000 people showed up, and nobody went home disappointed.

Hometown favorite Andrzej Fonfara headlined in an intriguing light heavyweight crossroads fight against former titlist Gabriel Campillo. After being outclassed for much of the fight, Fonfara earned a satisfying victory when he delivered the proverbial three-run home run while down to his final few outs, stopping Campillo with a right hand body shot in the ninth round.

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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Fonfara meets Campillo at the light heavyweight crossroads


Fonfara meets Campillo at the light heavyweight crossroads
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 15, 2013


Andrzej Fonfara first arrived in the United States as a lanky 6-foot-2 welterweight. Over the past seven years, Fonfara has grown into his body and is currently climbing the ranks of the light heavyweight division.

On Friday night, Fonfara fights in his adopted hometown of Chicago against former titleholder Gabriel Campillo in what will be the Polish-born fighter’s toughest test to date. The bout headlines one of ESPN2’s final Friday Night Fights of the season.

The fight is the definition of a crossroads bout. Two fights ago, Campillo was brutally knocked out by Sergey Kovalev, who will challenge for his first title on Saturday against Nathan Cleverly.

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Bits and Pieces: Aug. 24 Sho-Extreme card set


Bits and Pieces: Aug. 24 Sho-Extreme card set
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 15, 2013


Aug. 24 Sho-Extreme set

Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Robert Diaz confirmed to RingTV earlier this week the lineup for the Sho-Extreme portion of next Saturday’s card taking place at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, Calif. The Showtime Championship Boxing telecast features intriguing matchups Abner Mares against Jhonny Gonzalez and Leo Santa Cruz against Victor Terrazas.

The main attraction on the Sho-Extreme portion of the card is junior welterweight Antonio Orozco, who will meet Colombian Ivan Hernandez in a ten-round bout.

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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Hirsch hopes to shed journeyman label on Saturday


Hirsch hopes to shed journeyman label on Saturday
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 14, 2013


As much as boxing needs to continue developing young fighters into stars, the sport needs just as much a solid foundation of gatekeepers and stepping-stones to provide tests on the way up the ladder.

What about those fighters who were relegated to those labels not because of lack of talent, but lack of opportunity? Oakland, Calif., junior middleweight Tony Hirsch, a longtime sparring partner of RING super middleweight champion Andre Ward, hopes to prove he can be a contender one day.

Saturday night, Hirsch (14-5-2, 6 KOs) gets his first real opportunity. He’ll travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands to fight John Jackson (18-1, 14 KOs) in an eight-round main event that can only be seen on a web stream on GoFightLive (gfl.tv) for $9.99.

Jackson suffered his only defeat last year in a competitive untelevised scrap against Willie Nelson. It was a good learning experience for the 24-year old.

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Q&A: Sturm rooting for Geale (but not because he's a fan)


Q&A: Sturm rooting for Geale (but not because he's a fan)
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 14, 2013


An intriguing middleweight title fight will take place on Saturday night in Atlantic City when the incumbent Daniel Geale faces former title challenger Darren Barker on HBO.

There’s one observer who is particularly interested in the result, that being former middleweight titlist Felix Sturm, of Germany. Sturm lost his alphabet trinket to Geale in a unification fight and then lost a decision to Sam Soliman, which was later ruled a no-contest when Soliman tested positive for PEDs.

RingTV contributing writer Mark E. Ortega caught up with Sturm prior to this weekend’s showdown to discuss his recent victory and future plans, as well as his thoughts on Geale-Barker and Gennady Golovkin. (Translated by Wolfgang Schiffbauer.)

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Sunday, August 11, 2013

Wilder takes another big step in boxing career


Wilder takes another big step in boxing career
Mark E. Ortega
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
August 11, 2013



INDIO, Calif. | Deontay Wilder, the 2008 Olympic heavyweight boxing bronze medalist, barely broke a sweat Friday night en route to dispatching Sergei Liakhovich in less than two minutes at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino.

The former WBO heavyweight champion was supposed to provide Wilder, a Tuscaloosa native, solid work in extending him past the fourth round for the first time. Instead, Liakhovich didn’t make it through the first round. Previously, no opponent had been able to get rid of the Scottsdale, Ariz., resident in less than nine rounds.

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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Wilder scores another first-round knockout


Wilder scores another first-round knockout
Mark E. Ortega
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
August 10, 2013



INDIO, Calif. | Tuscaloosa native and American heavyweight hopeful Deontay Wilder was expected to be in the ring with his toughest opponent Friday night when he met former WBO heavyweight champion Sergei Liakhovich.

Instead, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Wilder delivered the most brutal knockout defeat of Liakhovich’s career, knocking him down just 43 seconds into the opening round with a combination that started with a short right hook.

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Friday, August 9, 2013

Wilder blasts Liakhovich in one round on ShoBox


Wilder blasts Liakhovich in one round on ShoBox
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 9, 2013


INDIO, Calif. – 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Deontay Wilder had never gone more than four rounds in his professional career. Veteran Sergei Liakhovich, who previously had never been stopped before the ninth round, seemed the guy to extend the undefeated KO artist.

However, the former WBO titleholder didn't make it a full minute. The bout headlined a three fight ShoBox card at the Fantasy Springs Resort & Casino.

That Liakhovich was stopped wasn't the surprise, the way in which Wilder sent him spiraling to the canvas 43 seconds in was.

“Sometimes it scares me when I can tap a guy and hit him and they just fall,” said Wilder after the knockout. “Did you see the reaction when I hit him? It was like he was falling from a roof or something.”

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Wilder ready for step up with next fight


Wilder ready for step up with next fight
Mark E. Ortega
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
August 9, 2013



INDIO, Calif. | Tuscaloosa heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, takes his first big step up in class tonight when he meets former WBO heavyweight champion Sergei Liakhovich in a 10-round main event. The card will be televised on Showtime.

Wilder has a perfect 28-0 record with 28 knockouts since turning professional almost five years ago. None of those knockouts have come against a fighter in the class of Liakhovich, who in 2006 upset the odds by earning a decision victory over Lamon Brewster to win a version of the heavyweight title.

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Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame inducts inaugural class

Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame inducts inaugural class
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 9, 2013



With states having their own boxing halls of fame, it seemed odd that Nevada – where so many high-profile prize fights have taken place over the decades – was without one of its own.

Boxing commentator Rich Marotta set out to fix that, announcing the formation of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame late last year. The Reno, Nev., resident, along with a board of directors and a lot of work from his son Joey, will see the fruits of their labor reach its satisfying completion, with Saturday marking the induction of the inaugural class.

The gala at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas sold out a week ago and promises to be a memorable night for a state that has produced so many historic moments in the sport.

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Thursday, August 8, 2013

Did HBO's 'Champions Dinner' snub Rigondeaux?


Did HBO's 'Champions Dinner' snub Rigondeaux?
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 8, 2013


This past weekend in Los Angeles, HBO Sports had a private dinner that they called the "Dinner of Champions."

Fighters in attendance were Adonis Stevenson, Ruslan Provodnikov, Mike Alvarado, Gennady Golovkin, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Nonito Donaire, Juan Manuel Marquez, Terence Crawford, and Mikey Garcia, based on a picture tweeted by Provodnikov.

When reached by e-mail for a list of those in attendance, HBO informed RingTV.com that it was a private dinner and that the guest list was not available.

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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

My final words regarding Gabriel Montoya



I thought I would put everything out there regarding my thoughts on Gabriel Montoya and our differences in the past. Also, to answer questions some might have about a link he posted on his Tumblr, the place where you once were able to read Montoya's terrible erotic fiction.



Here is the direct message that is posted on Gabriel's site. It is blacked out in certain parts. I will read to you what it says in complete text, as it took me several hours to go back through my DMs and find this particular one.

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:27:48
MarkEOrtega (at the time I was OrtegaLIITR): Just read Casal is fighting Kendall Holt. Need any footage of Holt before the fight? I have tons on him, I give really good prices.

This Direct Message was directed towards the acccount @Boxing360. If you are unfamiliar, Boxing 360 is a promotional company based out of New York who I've long assumed has been putting money into Maxboxing.com's pockets to run stories on their fighters. I have no proof of this, but it reeks of the time when promoter TKO Boxing Promotions was spending a hefty dollar on advertising space on Maxboxing.com.

Montoya hardly writes at what I would call a frequent pace. He contributes between two to three articles a week on average, if you're unlucky enough to come across them.

Despite this, Gabriel has always found time to write about Boxing 360 fighters. Whether it is Maurice Harris, Joel Diaz Jr., Amanda Serrano, or any number of their fighters, he covers them very regularly. Harris is a journeyman heavyweight with an interesting story, but not interesting enough to warrant this many stories over a short period:
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/maurice-harris-looks-ahead
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/maurice-harris-ready-for-the-unwilling
http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Gabriel/Montoya080610.htm
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/maurice-harris-i-wont-take-no-for-an-answer
Gabriel even had Harris on his radio show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/leaveitintheringradio/2012/05/11/leave-it-in-the-ring-3hours-of-boxing-talk

Gabriel's stories on young promising prospect Joel Diaz Jr., whom he covered a ton for a guy in his first handful of fights before ever being on TV:
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/joel-diaz-jr-looks-to-make-it-five-in-a-row
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/joel-diaz-jr-finally-descends-the-mountain
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/joel-diaz-jr-stays-ready1
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/joel-diaz-jr-answers-the-call
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/abel-sanchez-joel-diaz-makes-you-want-to-coach-better

I obviously could be off base here, but it has always looked like to me he's been giving this promoter favors.

Anyways, let's address that direct message to Boxing 360's Twitter account where I offered them footage of an opponent to one of their fighters.

Yes, it is admittedly an inappropriate thing to do. But let's put this into context. In December 2011, I had been writing about boxing for four years.

Want to know how much money I had made writing about boxing to that point?

Zero. Dollars.

Yes, zero. In fact, I had invested much of my spendable money into riding to fights with my older brother Mario Ortega, then a regular writer for 15rounds.com. We went to southern California a number of times, to Sacramento, got hotels, etc. All of that was covered out of our own pockets.

At the time, writing about boxing was mostly a hobby. I hadn't earned a cent doing it, and though I thought if I applied myself perhaps one day I could get there, it still seemed pretty far away. Ironically enough, in the next six months I would get published in RING Magazine and Boxing Monthly, respectively. I never sold footage to a fighter's camp once I earned my first dollar as a writer.

Want to know what site I was writing for at the time? Leave-it-in-the-ring.com. Yes, the same site that Montoya co-hosts a radio show with David Duenez. Go ahead and ask how much money Duenez paid me over the year-long period I wrote for his site. If he's honest, he'll tell you that number was zero dollars. Though I admit, he once bought me lunch at a Chili's or something.

At the time I was also helping out with a online boxing magazine called Undisputed Fight Magazine. It was a very interesting concept that I got hooked on when I was recruited earlier that summer to participate. When the initial editor fell out due to being overworked, myself as well as UK writer Shaun Brown (a helluva guy), took over and invested hundreds of man-hours into the project. When the magazine looked like it was folding, I brought it to the attention of Duenez, who came in as a co-owner of the magazine.

Eventually, Duenez had a terrible Twitter exchange with the guy who had taken a step back as the editor and all hell broke loose. Shaun had enough (I couldn't blame him) and stepped away. At that point, all the responsibility fell into my lap.

I was working an overnight shift at CVS at the time, working 11 PM to 7 AM. I was investing probably close to full-time hours on that magazine on my own time, all while making zero dollars. I saw the potential to make money in the project, and told Duenez I didn't want to make a dollar until it was actually turning a profit. We charged $1.99 an issue.

There were a TON of talented writers involved with this project, many of whom have found success elsewhere. As an operation, it was ran as a clusterfuck. It was a total mess. At one point in time, I actually got severe stomach pains that I was told were associated with too much stress when I finally went to the doctor.

I had a ton of creative ideas flowing that would work specifically well for a magazine, print or otherwise. The "The First Time" pieces I've adopted for RingTV.com came from an idea I initially quelled while at UFM. I also had ideas of comparing two prospects from opposing continents that were in the same weight class, rather than the usual prospect pieces. Also a gaming section where you talk to a specific fighter about their video gaming habits that I thought would have been fun as a light read. I also extensively polled people on the 15 best fights in HBO Boxing After Dark history as the 15th anniversary was coming up, with the plan being to break it up over two issues. This is where we revisit Gabriel Montoya a bit.

At this point in time, Gabriel had been brought on in some capacity to contribute to the magazine. With Duenez, he was running the show even though I was doing a majority of the work as far as handing out assignments and coming out with ideas. When he wanted to bring new writers on, he just told me, "Hey, this person is now writing this," rather than talking to me about it. Apparently, he and Gabe had something worked out that I was unaware of.

The beauty of an online magazine is that you can recruit people from other websites to contribute to it, because really, it is a completely different medium. With that in mind, I reached out to a couple of quality writers from other sites to gauge their interest in contributing. They got the permission of their editors and things seemed to be going well.

For the Top 15 Boxing After Dark fights, which I had come up with after mass e-mailing different writers and boxing people a long list of all the fights and asking for top 10s, then breaking it down to a top 15, I thought it would be cool to get different people to write up each fight.

Like I said, this was to be broken up over two (or more) issues. The first issue featuring this piece would have 300-word writeups on fights ranked #6 to #15. I had a deadline for all of these writers to turn in their work. Montoya was one of the writers I had asked to help, and he seemed glad to.

I had a deadline for it that passed without Gabe sending me anything. I sent him DMs on Twitter, e-mails, no response. The deadline was a Friday, and on Sunday, Gabe was tweeting about the St. Louis Rams game while I had not heard back from him. We needed to submit all content for the magazine Monday at the latest in order for it to be put in. This also knowing I'd have to edit it before doing so.

When Gabe didn't respond, I said fuck it, spent an hour watching the fight he was supposed to write up (ironically, Maurice Harris against Derrick Jefferson), wrote a 300-word write-up and wrote off Gabe.

Later that night, without any previous e-mail or answer stating he was working on it, he sends his version to me. Even though initially I was very pissed off about that, I intended on using his version.

Until I read it. It was 1,100 words long, or about 3.5 times what the requirements were size-wise. I asked Duenez what I should do, and he said it was up to me. Here are the corresponding e-mails:


Dave Duenez to me, at 10:07 PM, Sept. 27, 2011
 I like urs its short and sweet .... though Gabriel is more personal.  But I know where ur going.  Ur call Mark

editor in chief / publisher
David Duenez

Me to Gabe at 10:47 PM, Sept. 27, 2011
Hey Gabe,
We couldn't wait any longer on your writeup to get this thing finished off so after not receiving it this weekend I sat down and watched the fight and wrote it up. Plus it was meant to be about 300 words as its part of a series of 10 writeups that are going in this. The thing was already sent off to the publisher and Dave said to just move on with what we got. Sorry about that, hope you understand.

Gabe to me at 11:27 PM, Sept, 27, 2011
I write how I write. Nothing quality can come in 300 words. I did that work and it's being tossed aside for a digital magazine a week away from going live? That's a waste of time I could have used writing something for money. 
Do what you want but just don't ask me for any more stories. 

Me to Gabe at 12:28 AM, Sept. 28, 2011


Gabe,

Come on man.

On the 15th when I first asked if you would be willing to contribute to this collaborative effort, I told you it was a 300 word count thing. If you knew you wouldn't be able to make that work why didn't you tell me that from the gate?

You asked when I would need it by, and I told you the 23rd. You told me you could do that. When it didn't happen I waited a bit before emailing you to let you know I could stand to wait until the end of the weekend. You didn't so much as make the effort to respond to my emails asking where your progress was with it. It wasn't until I hopped on Twitter that you let me know you were watching football and you'd have it to me by the end of the night.

The end of the night rolled around and I didn't receive anything. I noticed your Twitter timeline was quite busy which was a little irritating. At this point I got in touch with Dave, he later told me you said you sent it to me and that you'd resend it when you got home or something. I didn't get it until 10pm tonight, after I had already written you off and went ahead and wrote it up myself, which I posted on Twitter.

If you would have sent me something within the 300 word guideline I had setup, I would have had no problem replacing my hour and a half worth of work with your piece. But it didn't work that way.

Of course an 1100 word piece is going to be more emotionally resonant than a 300 word one. But if all ten fights got 1100 words the feature would be 20+ pages. This isn't just an Internet piece where word count doesn't matter. And given the word count, everyone else came pretty close to making it work for them and still bringing something worth reading. With magazines you can't just go on and on, there isn't space for that.

You did that work, yes. But you gave me no indication it was coming, no explanation why it didn't get to me on time. How was I being unreasonable in only taking things into my own hands when I could wait for it no longer? Especially considering you did almost nothing to try and communicate with me?

This is not to mention the story you were supposed to be giving us for the magazine. The one I asked you what your angle was and you told me to talk to Dave, which I did not understand. You told Dave it wasn't going to work out in time and you didn't see me bat an eye over it.

I feel like you have some personal problem with me or something. I've only ever had good things to say publicly about you. I am forever grateful for you going to bat for me over the credentials for Moralea-Maidana and helping me out with contacts when I've asked. Even when you tool up Steve Kim's cause and came at me on Twitter, I never once attacked you personally, only Steve. And since then I backed off on that crusade completely since it rubbed you the wrong way.

So tell me what I need to do to resolve this because I don't think your anger is really valid here. 


Gabe to me at 12:27 PM, Sept. 28, 2011

Nothing to resolve, Mark. I don't appreciate being hounded on twitter and facebook. Dave was clear with you to leave me alone. I have no deal with Undisputed. It was a personal deal between me and Dave that had zero to do with you. We made that clear. Dave told you to leave me be. You did not. 

I work for money. When I work for free it has to be because I want to. Constantly being badgered made it less fun with each message I received. 

You asked me for a 300 word blurb. Sorry but I gave you my perspective on the fight. As I understood it, the magazine is in fact, on the internet. What's more, I find it much more interesting to hear different writers give their takes on a fight no matter how long. Dave told me he wanted this to be something special. Something unlike any other magazine or website. Now you say I went on and on?  I was trying to give you my best work. Not good enough? Not the way you demanded it despite being told to lay the fuck off? Awesome. ind another guy who does this for a living to do it for free. 

As for the other piece, you can't have it. I worked too hard to have you look at it and deem it not worthy. I'd rather it sit unread than have that happen. 


Me to Gabe at 1:26 PM, Sept. 28, 2011

Dave never told me to leave you alone. That wasn't made clear to me. If so, I wouldn't have asked you to contribute to the damn thing.

And leave you alone? When I am the one editing most of the work, organizing things, I don't understand how that makes sense.

You ASKED what the deadline was. You didn't meet it. When you didn't, I said don't worry about it as long as you could get it to me by the end of the weekend. You didn't even have the courtesy to respond.

 Hounded? Give me a break. Tell me where my tone suggests I was hounding you. You never communicated with me. You SAW that it was a 300 word thing. Do you think you are special and you can work outside of word counts and deadlines? You must with the way you have acted and on top of that the way you don't feel like you did anything wrong.

Where did I say it wasn't good enough exactly? I don't see those words anywhere below. I said of course with 1100 words it will be more emotionally resonant but if everyone took 1100 words it would be 22 pages long. Or do you think you deserve two pages to yourself when everyone else's writeup fits 1/3 or 1/2 of a page? 

Demanded? I asked and you told me you could do it. You email me your piece in the 13th hour. No explanation why it wasn't when you said it would be. No explanation why it wasn't 300 words, which you told Dave you could do in your sleep. But you're Gabe Montoya, you're above all deadlines and word counts.

I took an hour and a half out of my own time to write what you told me you would be able to do. My time is less valuable than yours? At this stage of everything going on with the magazine, I didn't have time to be writing any new material but I really didn't have a choice. Now I should just toss that aside because you finally sent me something? Sent me something that you gave me no heads up I would even be receiving?


At that point in time, I just wrote it off, saying I'd never involve myself professionally with Gabe in any way. A few months later I began writing for Queensberry-Rules.com. Duenez had gotten upset at me for contributing an article to their site he said I got using a phone number he gave me. He had given me Glen Johnson's number for an article that I contributed to his site. I later used that number to write a piece getting a bunch of people who fought in the Super Six, were trainers, and promoters to give their predictions on the finals. Duenez wasn't very happy about this and "fired" me, more or less. He then drudged my name through the mud as much as he could, referring to me as a moneygrubber [despite never making a dollar doing anything for him] as well as an assortment of other things.

Gabriel became more involved with the digital magazine I was involved with, and predictably, it went to total shit. 







So of eight issues they produced after I left, only one didn't have any obvious errors on their front cover. I can't tell you about the inside, though.

I'm not saying it crashed and burned because I wasn't there, but Dave and Gabriel in two positions of prominence spelled immediate trouble. If you've ever read Gabe's work, you know it is a constant Gatti-Ward type battle with the English language and grammar in general.

Even then, I was courteous to Gabe until July of last year. This is when he was infamously banned by Golden Boy Promotions for the way in which he handled himself trying to find information on a supposed positive Floyd Mayweather test.

Here's the the series of tweets that set him off:

Main part of that Twitter exchange

@Gabriel_Montoya @stevemaxboxing My point, Gabe, is if Steve doesn't have your back on this GBP ban, why do you expect other writers with no connection to back you up? #boxing #wakeup

Then there was of course this one, which is what had Gabe challenging me to a fight, and also slapping me in person at the Rouge bar at MGM Grand after Sergio Martinez against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.:

Gabe put in his place

Then of course the official boxing match we had agreed to. Eventually, multiple people contacted me saying it was a bad idea that would make both of us look terrible and if I was serious about writing, I should refrain. I then backed out, took a bunch of flack for it, and Gabe harassed me for months about "being a coward". I flat out ignored him from October to February of this year. Four months of constant shot taking from one douchebag will get you to respond.

That brings us to the last six months or so of annoying back and forths between me and Gabe. I have reached my limit and will no longer respond to Gabriel Montoya in any way, nor address his terribleness as a writer or person, no matter how much I might like to.

But first, let's visit some of Gabe's hypocrisy. Just today, for instance, he responded to a tweet about how Top Rank would foot the bill for some writers to attend Pacquiao-Rios in Macau. His response was interesting, and took a shot at me. The tweeter asked wondering who would qualify.


Personally, I don't have TOO much of a problem with a promotion footing the bill for stuff in circumstances extreme like this, where the fight is basically impossible to cover otherwise. But what makes Gabe's point interesting is that Steve Kim, also of Maxboxing.com, once wrote an entire article in 2008 about how great it was to travel on the dime of Dan Goossen to cover an Andre Ward fight in the Cayman Islands. Unfortunately, Maxboxing's archives are shit and I think the article has been wiped, but trust me, it exists.

Gabe is a hypocrite in a number of ways.

In January 2011, on the Boxing Tribune message board [who is now Gabe's mortal enemy], he posted about media lunches:

Do I think some writers are lazy or take an easy way out or maybe even take freebies? I'm sure it happens though I couldn't name names because I wouldn't know those names. Personally, I'm squeamish about taking the media lunch. I never want to be beholden to a promoter or anyone else.

In this March 2012 ode to Bert Sugar, it seems his stance had changed quite a bit:

 After peeking out to see the first of the evening’s bouts, I wandered into the press room so I could slip into the press conference room. This is the holy of holies: the free media buffet. Some guys think you’re a shill for partaking. Me? I’m a starving artist over here who needs the calories. And let’s face it; when I am in Vegas, not counting all the booze and cigarettes I can consume for that weekend, this might be the only time I think to eat. Watching six or more fights and writing about it in as much detail as you can is taxing. No time but the present to load up. As for the conflict of interest that exists with a journalist taking a free meal from a promoter [Editor’s Note: to all young writers, I put this to you: get that meal. You deserve it], I say this: If you are compromised that easily by a chicken burrito and some white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, you’ve got bigger personal fish to fry than being a biased boxing writer.
Full disclosure: I eat the media meals. Fuck it. If they're going to conduct things where I need to be in attendance around lunch time, might as well be able to get a bite in. And I agree with Gabe's final words where if a free burrito sways your allegiance, you have issues. Free Stone Temple Pilots tickets, that's another issue...



Then of course, there's the news that Montoya wrote the testing protocol for Canadian drug testing in boxing, which he failed to disclose his involvement. It only became known because of my dislike for Gabe and my knowledge of his involvement due to an audio recording. I listened to only the first 30 seconds where he mentions designing the protocols and the contracts.

Brent Brookhouse did a much better job of handling it, as he wrote an article. I never intended to write an article, just to out Gabe for being a scumbag.

The person who did the best job of pointing out his hypocrisy was Gabe's Maxboxing mate, Matthew Paras. He wrote a Twitlonger on the subject that largely got ignored. I'll republish the key parts.

His problem comes with something he's stressed all along throughout this whole drug testing process - transparency. 

"The thinking was if people knew where the labs are and what the protocols are, they figure out how to beat the tests," said Montoya. "And I can't disagree with them as the rest of the anti-doping community in any sport believes the same thing. That keeping the dopers in the dark is part of the process. VADA is one of the only ones that has tried to be transparent about what tests they do, but they also do the strictest tests, so they can afford to be."

If the rest of the doping community agrees with keeping the process in the dark, then why has Gabe in the past stressed the importance that USADA and Golden Boy Promotions in disclosing the nature of their contracts and testing procedures? 

"It’s easier to do testing under a shroud of secrecy and ignore media questions about alleged impropriety than it is to have a transparent drug testing program that may end up cancelling fights due to its discoveries," Montoya writes (http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/boxings-ped-problem-where-do-we-go-from-here-

 Aside from that, I've got little to say about Gabe because I could talk all night about what a joke of a writer he is, both in boxing and in adult fiction. Yes, he writes adult fiction. He has since taken down the poetry, but in one "poem", he used the phrases "hot wetness" and "wet hotness" within two lines of each other. WTF?


These are my final words on Gabriel Montoya. If you have any questions, please direct them to me via e-mail at markeortega@gmail.com. I will not discuss this further on Twitter, enough pissing matches between me and him have taken place there.

And for the record, I no longer sell DVDs. I stopped once I began writing for RingTV, and all I did was fulfill orders that it was brought to my attention weren't received. Packages were re-sent to my old address and I didn't know until multiple people informed me they didn't get them. I've since taken care of all of these to my knowledge. If for some reason you believe you ordered DVDs from me and did not receive them, please contact me via e-mail and we can arrange for me to return payment. I've contacted everybody I know has previously bought some off of me, but it is possible something slipped through the cracks.

Good day!

Mark Ortega

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Theophane signs with Mayweather Promotions


Theophane signs with Mayweather Promotions
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 7, 2013


Ashley Theophane has been coming to the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas for two years now. After going to train in New York last year, he thought he would swing by Las Vegas to see what it was like to work in the same gym as Mayweather, regarded as the sport's best fighter pound for pound.

Theophane detailed that experience in the May 2012 edition of renowned British boxing publication Boxing Monthly, as he shared details of being in awe of the dedication Mayweather possesses.

Tweets over the last few days seemed to indicate that Theophane became the newest addition to Mayweather's promotional stable, Mayweather Promotions. RingTV.com caught up with the British junior welterweight, who confirmed he has signed.

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Saturday, August 3, 2013

Fortuna and Franco fight to split draw on FNF


Fortuna and Franco fight to split draw on FNF
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 3, 2013

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Julaton readies for tune-up on brink of bigger things


Julaton readies for tune-up on brink of bigger things
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
August 1, 2013


There's a reason Ana Julaton's name is at the center of rumors about the appearance of women's boxing on one of boxing's premium networks.

A few reasons, actually.

Julaton, a former junior featherweight titleholder, has never ducked a fight. On many occasions, the Filipino-American boxer has traveled to her opponent's territory. She fought Kelsey Jeffries in San Jose, Calif. Lisa Brown in Canada. Jessica Villafranca in Mexico. Yesica Marcos in Argentina.

Julaton also draws. In San Jose, she outsold Jeffries, who was from Gilroy, Calif., about a 10-minute drive from where the fight took place. Julaton, from the nearby Bay Area, brought Filipino fans in droves. Her follow-up fight against Donna Biggers in San Jose also drew well. Those two cards each drew nearly 4,000 fans, which outdid shows that major promoter Goossen-Tutor put on at the HP Pavilion the year before.

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