Col. Bob chasing 1,000, back in the swing of things

Col. Bob chasing 1,000, back in the swing of things
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
September 19, 2013


There's Pete Rose's 4,256 career hits. Cal Ripken Jr.'s "iron man" streak of 2,632 consecutive games played. Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points in a single game. All of these records are considered largely unbreakable.

But perhaps the record least likely to be broken resides in the sweet science. It doesn't have to do with the guys landing the blows, either, but the man calling them.

Colonel Bob Sheridan has called 952 world championship fights through this past Saturday’s huge pay-per-view card headlined by Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Saul Alvarez. Even in an era where world titles are handed out like call-girl flyers on the Las Vegas Strip, the likelihood of anyone approaching that number is extremely slim.

Sheridan has endured a number of ups and downs, most of them related to his health. The Colonel has bounced back nicely from his sixth heart attack and has a new lease on life after undergoing a triple bypass in mid-July. He now has his sights set on calling an unprecedented 1,000 championship fights.

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Vegas insanity: Fans flock to Mayweather-Alvarez weigh-in

Vegas insanity: Fans flock to Mayweather-Alvarez weigh-in
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
September 13, 2013


Saturday’s pay-per-view card headlined by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul Alvarez has been generating an unbelievable buzz in Las Vegas since early in fight week. The turnout for Friday’s weigh-in is something that had to be seen to be believed.

Passionate boxing fans camped out at the entrance to the MGM Grand Garden Arena as early as midnight and the line stretched well into where the food court sits, about half a football field away.

“We haven’t been asleep for 27 hours,” said a Mayweather fan named Tiffany, who was wearing shirt emblazoned with "The One." “It’s pure adrenaline that’s keeping us awake.”

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Getting ready for Mayweather & Alvarez

Getting ready for Mayweather & Alvarez
Mark E. Ortega
Martinez News-Gazette
September 12, 2013


LAS VEGAS – If Tuesday’s grand arrivals are any indication of what’s in store later in the week, Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn’t know what he was signing up for when he agreed to face 23-year old Mexican superstar Saul Alvarez this Saturday at the MGM Grand.

Mayweather and Alvarez’s fight takes place on the weekend of Mexican Independence Day. Mayweather has a long history of fighting Mexican fighters, usually around the time of either that holiday or Cinco de Mayo.

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De La Hoya admits himself into rehab, will miss Saturday's fight

De La Hoya admits himself into rehab, will miss Saturday's fight
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
September 10, 2013


Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions, has announced he will miss the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Canelo Alvarez fight Saturday in Las Vegas because he will be in rehab.

De La Hoya has had ongoing problems with substance abuse. Alvarez is his company’s star attraction.

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A mention in the New Yorker

Much to my surprise, on Sept. 9, 2013, my name got a mention in a boxing piece done by Kelefa Sanneh of The New Yorker.

If I had placed a prop bet on my name ever getting in there, it would have paid in the range of 20,000-to-one. Pretty cool.

Here's the excerpt:

Suffice it to say that, during the past few decades, boxing fans have become, like Mayweather in the ring, rather defensive. The sport they love has regularly been pronounced dead, and somehow the regularity of this pronouncement has had the effect of increasing, rather than decreasing, their sensitivity to it. Kevin Iole, who covers boxing for Yahoo! Sports, found Wilbon and Kornheiser guilty of “pure laziness.” Mark Ortega, on the Web site of The Ring, criticized their “limited knowledge” of the sport. And Dan Rafael, ESPN’s indispensible boxing reporter, took to Twitter to declare his colleagues “ignorant and/or lazy,” adding, “I declare afternoon sports talk banter dead.”

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Commentary: Boxing is dead? Again?

Boxing is dead? Again?
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
September 6, 2013


Boxing fans who tuned in Thursday afternoon to ESPN’s debate show Pardon the Interruption collectively shuddered when hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon declared the sport one fight away from being dead.

It should come as no surprise, though. Whenever a big fight looms the way next Saturday’s bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez does, casual followers of the sport kick in their two cents on the state of the game.

“He’s the last headliner out there in professional boxing,” stated Wilbon about Mayweather.

“What other names do you know? You know the Klitschko name, that’s it. Who else do you know,” said Kornheiser.

“He’s the last guy out there for a sport that’s all but dead,” said Wilbon. “This is it. It’s over for boxing after this.”

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More humble, maybe, but still the same Mayweather

More humble, maybe, but still the same Mayweather
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
September 4, 2013


It’s true that ever since he served his 87-day jail sentence, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has seemed much more humble.

For his fight this past May, Mayweather was more accommodating to the media than most veterans ever recall him being. That has carried over to his fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, which takes place next Saturday.

But whatever gains have been made in humility, there are still remnants of the old Mayweather. During his media day in August, he took his time getting a haircut before jumping into the ring for his workout. On Wednesday’s conference call, he held things up for about fifteen minutes, and then dropped off the call a number of times while answering a question. He also took off a few minutes early after Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe claimed his phone had died.

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No problem with judges selected for Mayweather-Canelo

No problem with judges selected for Mayweather-Canelo
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
September 4, 2013


The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced the officials for next Saturday’s junior middleweight championship between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul Alvarez.

The referee will be respected veteran Kenny Bayless, a selection the boxing public responded to positively.

The three judges will be Dave Moretti, CJ Ross and Craig Metcalfe. Moretti and Ross both hail from Las Vegas while Metcalfe is the neutral judge from Alberta, Canada.

When asked about the appointed officials on Wednesday’s conference call, Mayweather seemed fine with the selection.

“Kenny Bayless is a great referee who’s going to let us fight,” said Mayweather. “He’s not for the bulls__t. He treats every fighter fair.”

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Q&A: Merchant on Mayweather-Canelo, Zou Shiming

Q&A: Merchant on Mayweather-Canelo, Zou Shiming
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
September 3, 2013


After a quiet Labor Day weekend, RingTV.com contributor Mark E. Ortega got in touch with legendary analyst Larry Merchant on Tuesday afternoon via phone. Merchant gave his thoughts on the highly anticipated fight next Saturday between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul Alvarez, along with his thoughts on Chinese amateur star-turned-pro Zou Shiming and his impact on the sport.

RingTV: Obviously, there’s a pretty big fight coming up between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul Alvarez. I’m curious, if Canelo were able to pull off the victory, where would you rank that among the biggest wins in Mexican boxing history?

Larry Merchant: It would certainly be a major earthquake for many fans, and for Mexican fans it would be a huge event because prizefighting is so important to them. They, in fact, discovered and anointed Canelo to be their next superstar, so it would be a very big deal.

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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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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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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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Espinoza talks Matthysse-Garcia, more

Espinoza talks Matthysse-Garcia, more
Mark E. Ortega
RingTV.com
July 19, 2013


Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer made a major announcement at noon on Thursday, when during a conference call he made it public that the highly anticipated junior welterweight showdown between Lucas Matthysse and Danny Garcia would be the Sept. 14 Showtime pay-per-view co-feature to Floyd Mayweather-Saul Alvarez.

In attendance at Thursday's ShoBox weigh-in to discuss the fight as well as a few other items was Showtime Sports executive vice president Stephen Espinoza.

Rumors of the Matthysse-Garcia fight had been swirling for weeks, and Espinoza admitted to RingTV the fight had been done before Thursday's announcement.

"The fight had been done for a little bit," shared Espinoza. "We wanted to wait for the right timing. For one, Richard was in Europe at the time. This is one of the rare occasions in boxing where a secret couldn't be kept. It's a miracle one of us didn't let it out. We've all been dying to make the big announcement."

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