First round of Boxcino tournament delivers excitement

First round of Boxcino tournament delivers excitement
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
February 21, 2014


LAUGHLIN, Nev.–Friday night at the Edgewater Casino, ESPN2 kicked off their eight-man single elimination tournament, Boxcino. Though no big names are involved, the tournament produced four entertaining first round bouts, getting things off to a pretty good start.

The first fight fed right into what makes a tournament so special, that win or go home mentality. Chris Rudd and Yakubu Amidu went six back and forth rounds, with the fight ending in a draw.

Because it is a tournament, that resulted in an additional round being fought, and it was Rudd (13-1, 8 KOs) who emerged victorious after out working Amidu (19-5-2, 17 KOs) . The scores were officially 59-55 for Amidu, 57-57 twice. Rudd won the seventh on all three scorecards.

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Super Magdaleno Bros. victorious in SoCal

Super Magdaleno Bros. victorious in SoCal
Mark E. Ortega
BehindTheGloves.com
February 16, 2014


HAWAIIAN GARDENS, Calif.–Saturday night at the C. Robert Lee Center, boxing brothers Diego Magdaleno and Jessie Magdaleno notched a pair of knockouts over solid if not unspectacular foes in front of a raucous and supportive crowd. The older brother and former 130-pound title challenger Diego tried one-upping his brother’s effort by stopping Mexican veteran Jorge Pazos in the fourth round of their UniMas SoloBoxeo televised main event in a card promoted by Top Rank.

Magdaleno (25-1, 10 knockouts) continued his rebound from an unsuccessful effort in capturing an alphabet trinket last April by dominated the action with combinations and body shots. Magdaleno was more aggressive as top trainer Joel Diaz continues to work with the two Las Vegas natives.

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Provodnikov wears down Alvarado to stoppage

Provodnikov wears down Alvarado to stoppage
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
October 19, 2013


BROOMFIELD, Colo. – When Mike Alvarado tasted the canvas twice in the eighth round Saturday night, a weight must have lifted from Artie Pelullo’s shoulders. Challenger Ruslan Provodnikov, whom Pelullo promotes, had opened up what was to that point a close fight on the scorecards.

Twice this year, Pelullo fighters wound up on the losing end of close decisions against fighters promoted by Top Rank. First, in March, Provodnikov lost a close decision to Timothy Bradley in a Fight of the Year candidate. Last month, Bryan Vera lost a highly disputed decision to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., in a fight that was unfair before the bell even rang.

Though all the officials for Saturday’s main event were from outside the state of Colorado, where Alvarado resides, each of the first seven rounds were extremely close and could have gone either way.

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Diaz rust-free in win over Santiago

Diaz rust-free in win over Santiago
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
October 19, 2013


BROOMFIELD, Colo. – Former unified lightweight champion Juan Diaz has fully shaken off the rust from a two-and-a-half year layoff that came to an end earlier this year.

In the third fight of his comeback in the co-feature to Mike Alvarado-Ruslan Provodnikov on Saturday night, Diaz met unheralded Juan Santiago (14-11-1, 8 KOs) of Del Norte, Colo., in a ten-round bout that took place at 136 pounds, just one pound north of where he achieved his greatest success, and came away with a clear unanimous-decision win.

From the opening bell, Diaz jumped on the much taller Santiago, utilizing the pressure style that made him a fan-friendly fighter during the peak of his powers.

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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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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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Molina stops Bey in final round of ShoBox shocker

Molina stops Bey in final round of ShoBox shocker
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
July 19, 2013


LAS VEGAS – For nine plus rounds, Mickey Bey was putting together a signature performance in his ShoBox: The New Generation main event against John Molina at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Bey constantly beat Molina to the punch, utilizing his superior hand speed and footwork to build a wide lead on all three judges' scorecards. What makes boxing beautiful in comparison to other sports is that the scoreboard doesn't matter until it reads zero.

Molina was the latest example of this, as he stopped Bey on his feet at the 2:01 mark of the 10th and final round after being outclassed for most of the contest.

Despite Bey being superior for much of the fight, Molina never stopped coming forward. With his left eye badly swollen in the early rounds after eating numerous jabs from Bey, he began to have a hard time seeing the check hooks coming.

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Perez wins showcase against Riovalle

Perez wins showcase against Riovalle
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
July 13, 2013


INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Alejandro Perez started out his career underneath the Top Rank umbrella, but it ultimately didn’t work out, resulting in Perez going on his own for a long stretch.

Perez fared pretty well given the circumstances, scoring some credible victories over a range of contenders. Yet, Perez was unable to parlay those victories into a major fight, likely due to not having a powerful promoter at his disposal.

Earlier this year, Perez signed on again with Top Rank, believing they could navigate him up the ladder the correct way. Saturday night in Inglewood, Calif., their second run began with a showcase bout in the 10-round main event of Solo Boxeo against Edgar Riovalle.

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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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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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Ringside Report: Mares-Agbeko 2

In the January 2012 edition if American boxing publication RING Magazine, I contributed a Ringside Report on the December 2011 rematch between Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko. This was my first appearance in RING Magazine.

Kirkland takes Julio’s heart, title of biggest puncher at 154

Kirkland takes Julio’s heart, title of biggest puncher at 154
Mark E. Ortega
Freelance
March 8, 2009


In an exceptionally well-matched card on paper, Golden Boy Promotions presented three equally intriguing bouts featuring some of their hottest young stars and seemingly had a can’t miss card. Unfortunately, anything can happen in the sport of boxing, and that includes three high-profile bouts being less than expected for reasons that were uncontrollable. The HP Pavilion lured HBO into their town of San Jose, California with a mission to prove that the city is a fight fan city, and the hometown crowd was successful in that mission as 6,765 people were reported in attendance. On this night, however, quite a few instances occurred that took some of the air out of the tires that was the three televised bouts.