Austin Trout Remembers, Emulates Departed New Mexico Boxing Icon Johnny Tapia

Austin Trout Remembers, Emulates Departed New Mexico Boxing Icon Johnny Tapia
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
May 29, 2012

Saturday night, Las Cruces, New Mexico's Austin Trout makes his debut on the big stage as part of a Showtime televised quadrupleheader taking place in Carson, Calif. where he defends his 154-pound alphabet strap against tough and determined Delvin Rodriguez.

What was already a difficult assignment got a bit more taxing when news broke late Sunday night that New Mexico boxing icon Johnny Tapia (right) had passed away at 45 after a long and tumultuous life.

“At first I didn't believe it,” Trout (right center) told TQBR Monday.

“You know Johnny, he's got like 20 lives. He has unfortunately OD'd numerous times. There have always been rumors of him dying. I didn't really believe it. 'Johnny didn't die, he's still alive,' is what I said. When I heard that they confirmed it I just felt, 'God, that is crazy.' There were stages of denial and sadness, now I am just praying for his family.”

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Showtime Returns 168 Pound Division; HBO, EPIX Happy to Refurbish

Showtime Returns 168 Pound Division; HBO, EPIX Happy to Refurbish
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
May 26, 2012

It took nearly three years to complete it, but the groundbreaking boxing endeavor that was the Super Six World Boxing Classic was good business for premium U.S. television network Showtime—until they decided to cash in their chips at the conclusion.

What Showtime did, which is invest conceivably millions of dollars as well as a high number of dates in a single weight class over a lengthy span of time only to walk away from the table once the tournament had reached its conclusion, is quite perplexing.

It's akin to purchasing a storage unit to house items that gain considerable value as time wears on, only to quit paying the bill at a high point in their value, thus letting someone else off the street come in and pick up your stuff for a slashed price.

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Obscure Offerings: The Cotto-Mayweather Edition

Obscure Offerings: The Cotto-Mayweather Edition
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
May 4, 2012

This weekend, as with two or three weekends of the calendar year, boxing will be king. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is back in the ring, on the cover of ESPN the Magazine, and in against a fighter familiar with the big stage in Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto, who will be defending his alphabet title at junior middleweight against Floyd, catchweights checked at the door.

The only time the sport seems to be good enough for watercooler talk at the office in the States is when Floyd or Manny Pacquiao find themselves in the news or in the ring. With Floyd, his life outside the ropes has kept the sport afloat with the casual fan thanks to his impending jail sentence, as well as his sucker punch victory over Victor Ortiz last September and the follow-up post-fight interview low blow to the venerable Larry Merchant, who threatened Floyd that if Frank Sinatra were still crooning, he'd have his foot planted up the Las Vegas based star's ass.

You'll find this fight as well as the entire undercard covered elsewhere here at TQBR. The purpose of this piece is to clue you in on some of the action taking place on the more obscure side featuring some promising fighters who hope to make some sort of splash of their own. In today's saturated world of titleholders, there are a heavy number of trinkets at stake this weekend that will go largely disregarded. It doesn't mean that there aren't some quality fights taking place that may be worth a stream or a YouTube find following Saturday night's main festivities.

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Darnell Boone and the Education of Andre Ward

 In the May 2012 issue of British boxing publication Boxing Monthly, you can read my four-page spread on tough gatekeeper Darnell Boone, who dropped Andre Ward early in their careers and has been in with stiff competition his whole career, a lot of times on short notice. This was my first spread for the magazine. The article includes quotes from Boone, Ward, promoter Dan Goossen, and trainer Jack Loew.

Richard Abril Looks to Avoid Becoming a Punchline

Richard Abril Looks to Avoid Becoming a Punchline
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
April 12, 2012

There was a collective sigh heard across the boxing community when it became evident that Yuriorkis Gamboa would not be fighting Brandon Rios in a legitimate dream fight on April 14 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

 Some even held out a little hope that, somehow, Gamboa would show up at the scheduled presser in Los Angeles after ducking the first one in the Cuban's adopted home of Miami.

 That didn't happen. Top Rank president Todd Duboef didn't offer up replacement names, as though Gamboa was just running late in L.A. traffic and was en route.

 Though the air was let out of the promotion's sails and HBO backed off broadcasting the Gamboa-less main event on their regular airwaves, a new possible opponent emerged due to a melee that occurred at the Miami presser.

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Main Events Gambles Big

Main Events Gambles Big
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
March 23, 2012

Immediately following this Saturday’s telecast of the NCAA men’s basketball regional finals will be the second round of Main Events' NBC Sports “Fight Night” aired simultaneously with a solid HBO doubleheader.

Despite this, both NBC and Main Events nurse high hopes as their card, featuring former two-division champion Zab Judah against the unbeaten Vernon Paris in an intriguing junior welterweight scrap, capitalizes on both the former’s star power and the sports fanaticism of a captive audience.

“What we are trying to take advantage of is two things -- Zab's name recognition and being right after the quarter-finals of the NCAA Tournament,” explained Main Events CEO Kathy Duva, who spoke with TQBR earlier this month.

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Vicente Escobedo Makes Quick Work of Lonnie Smith

Vicente Escobedo Makes Quick Work of Lonnie Smith
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
March 3, 2012

WOODLAND, Calif. -- Saturday night, from the Woodland Community Senior Center, 2004 U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo fought in his hometown for the first time in his 28-bout career, as he met Lonnie Smith of Las Vegas in the ten-round main event of TeleFutura's Solo Boxeo.

Escobedo made it a successful homecoming, dismantling Smith in the 1st round, dropping him three times before the fight was waved off.

Escobedo (24-3, 14 KOs) came into the fight at 129 pounds, which marks the lightest he had ever weighed for a fight in his run as a professional. It marked his second fight in a row in the junior lightweight division, where Escobedo hoped to bring new life to his career after previous failed attempts at breaking through at the world level in the lightweight division.

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Lonnie Smith: See You at the Crossroads

Lonnie Smith: See You at the Crossroads
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
March 2, 2012

On a weekend devoid of a marquee matchup, Lonnie Smith has an opportunity to steal the spotlight as he meets fellow junior lightweight and former U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo in a 10-round crossroads bout in the latter’s hometown of Woodland, Calif. The fight, scheduled for Saturday, (Smith's 25th birthday), will be aired on TeleFutura's Solo Boxeo.

 Though Wladimir Klitschko is slated to defend his two alphabet straps earlier that day against former cruiserweight champion Jean Marc Mormeck, the preservation of his titles seems predetermined; Mormeck, pushing 40, is five years senior to and nearly a foot shorter than the reigning heavyweight king.

 That the weekend's most competitive card – on paper, anyway – will air on Solo Boxeo is surprising. Since Golden Boy Promotions and Telefutura announced their partnership in April 2010, the matchmaking has been lukewarm at best.

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Eloy Perez: "The Prince" vies for his crown

Eloy Perez: "The Prince" vies for his crown
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
February 23, 2012

Though they both share Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions as their promoter, junior lightweights Adrien Broner and Eloy Perez have taken considerably different routes to Saturday night's destination: a 12-round HBO-televised co-feature slot from St. Louis, Mo. underneath the welterweight clash between Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana.

 Broner, 22, of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been the focus of attention in the United States when it comes to the 130-pound division; his last three bouts have all been televised by HBO and he has been well-favored to win all three of those contests. Against Perez, Broner is currently a 5-to-1 favorite to defend the WBO belt he won against overmatched Argentine Vicente Rodriguez in November. Perez was actually considered to fill that slot, but his team decided to wait for a better opportunity, a smart move in hindsight.

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Famous Fight Fan: Mark Kozelek

Famous Fight Fan: Mark Kozelek
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
February 11, 2012

It's not often that boxing appears a central theme in music, but recording artist Mark Kozelek has given the combat sport a starring role in his work since disbanding alternative rock band, Red House Painters, on the eve of the millennium.

 The frontman for a nearly twelve-year stint (which saw their biggest selling U.S. album “Songs for a Blue Guitar” in 1996, as well as contributions on film soundtracks such as that of Cameron Crowe’s “Vanilla Sky”), Kozelek laid the Red House Painters to rest in 2001 in order to focus on his solo career. Two years later, he and the other founding members of RHP resurrected the band under the moniker Sun Kil Moon, inspired by former South Korean two-division world champion and namesake, Sung-Kil Moon. According to Kozelek, he considered Sun Kil Moon a continuation of the Red House Painters but changed its name to pique the interest of critics who got bored with, or stopped paying attention to, SKM’s previous incarnation.

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Wayne Kelly (1948-2012): No Gimmick Necessary

Wayne Kelly (1948-2012): No Gimmick Necessary
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
February 7, 2012

He needed no gimmick and drew no attention to himself. It was modesty, perhaps, that overshadowed his merits, as his name was oft overlooked in casual discussions of the United States’ best officials.

For veteran referee Wayne Kelly, who passed away last Wednesday due to heart attack at age 63, this mattered none. Of his peers in the fight community, Kelly commanded great respect.

Twenty years playing the third man inevitably saw his involvement with some major incidents, yet the grace with which he handled them elicited little -- if any -- contention. Though I missed the opportunity to meet Mr. Kelly in my five brief years covering the sport, I have always admired his work from afar. With the announcement of his name during pre-fight introductions came the reassurance that I could focus on the in-ring action, rather than the competency (or lack thereof) of the calls.

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NorCal Boxing Report, Feb. 4

NorCal Boxing Report, Feb. 4
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
February 4, 2012

Team Eloy Perez Moves Camp To SoCal In Prep For Adrien Broner 

With just three weeks to go before they make their arrival on the big stage, Team Eloy Perez has relocated their training camp to Oxnard from Oakland, Calif., according to assistant trainer Sam Garcia. The move is in preparation for his HBO debut against WBO 130-pound beltholder Adrien Broner, set for Feb 25 in St. Louis, Mo. in the co-feature to the intriguing welterweight scrap between Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana. Perez and company have been working at King's Gym in Oakland for the past few weeks with Virgil Hunter and his growing stable of fighters, including junior welterweight Mike Dallas Jr. and lightweight Stan Martyniouk. Perez will now be down in Oxnard at Robert Garcia's gym to spar with undefeated former WBA 135-pound titlist Brandon Rios as well as fellow junior lightweight Argenis Mendez.

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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.

Jose Miguel Aguiniga Takes Two

Jose Miguel Aguiniga Takes Two
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
February 1, 2012

The early aughts saw champions-in-the-making Victor Ortiz, Steven Luevano, and Brandon Rios all begin their ascent up the pro ranks, yet it was fellow southern Californian Jose Miguel Aguiniga who many experts predicted would first reach the peak. In boxing, a fighter is not always the sum of his physical parts. Such was the case of Aguiniga.

 Though he ran his record to an impressive 31-0, Aguiniga never managed to earn notoriety, nor a lucrative bout before deciding to step away from boxing in 2007. Now returning to the ring for the first time in five years as he fights veteran gatekeeper Juan Ruiz on Feb. 25 in Port Hueneme, California, Aguiniga is hoping to revise his story from a cautionary tale to an inspirational one.

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NorCal Boxing Report: Jan. 29

NorCal Boxing Report: Jan. 29
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
January 29, 2012

Trainer Hunter Begins Building Stable In The Bay Northern California 

Trainer of the Year Virgil Hunter had a banner year in 2011, leading Oakland, Calif.-based super middleweight champion Andre Ward to victory in the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic. Ward compiled wins against Arthur Abraham in the semifinals and followed it up with a victory over Englishman Carl Froch to unify both the WBA and WBC belts as well as earn the Super Six Trophy in the finals.

Hunter also helped raise the profile of middleweight hopeful Brandon Gonzales, who earned a narrow victory over venerable gatekeeper Ossie Duran in his ShoBox debut last October. Gonzales was set to fight on the Jan. 20 edition of ShoBox against Caleb Truax but suffered a torn hamstring just more than a week away from the fight. Hunter noted that Gonzales will likely begin work in the gym again in about three weeks from the time of this writing.

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