Late Night Action: Brian Deegan
Late Night Action: Brian Deegan
“The General” Brian Deegan calls in to recap his epic boxing match against Dave Mirra and recounts his gold medal run in Rally at X Games 17.
Article source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?id=7007629
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Boxing Champions
John Ruiz: ‘Evander Holyfield came to fight’
John Ruiz, 39, who became the first (and remains the only) Latino heavyweight champion in boxing history when he bested Evander Holyfield in a 12-round unanimous decision in 2001, went 44-9-1 in a commendable 17-year professional career. Since retiring in April 2010, he recently opened the Quietman Sports Gym (a nod to his ring nickname) in Medford, Mass., near his hometown of Chelsea. As part of our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, ESPN.com recently caught up with Ruiz (who is of Puerto Rican descent) to discuss his boxing career and his latest venture.
Which Hispanic fighter did you watch the most when you were growing up, and why?
I never really watched boxing at that age. I started [training] when I was 7. My main focus was to watch cartoons, when I had the chance. I was always getting up in the morning and running, and then going to school, and then from school going to the gym, and from the gym going home to do my homework and then going to bed. It was kind of a full schedule. I couldn’t even see my own friends because I was so busy. My only way to get away from things was to watch cartoons.
I guess I feel like I was always being — I don’t know — I guess pushed, in a way. My stepfather was always a big, big boxing fan. If he decided to take me to the gym, I could never say no. If I said no, it wouldn’t matter. If I said no at the beginning of the ride, at the end of the ride, I’d be at the gym. So he pushed me along in boxing. I also did some running, too, so we did some marathons. That’s my memories: Sundays doing marathons, hanging out with my family, my sister was always there, my mother, my stepfather — eating those free yogurts they give out after a road race, the ones with the fruit. That’s my memory of childhood — that, I did enjoy. But I wasn’t too thrilled with the running.
Later in your career, were there any Hispanic fighters you identified with, or were there any who your stepfather identified with?
With him, every time we went to the gym, he’d always mention Alexis Arguello, [Ray] “Boom Boom” Mancini — all those great fighters back then and all those wars they used to have. He’d be like, “I saw this fighter yesterday, and he fought this way, so I’m gonna try to teach you that today.” So I never really watched boxing, but I heard the names. Like I said, [my stepfather] was a big fan, and that’s what he did — he watched boxing, and any chance he got to, he took it. If it wasn’t for him mentioning those names, I would never know who was out there in boxing.
Later in your career, were you aware of some of the other Hispanic fighters, Puerto Ricans in particular?
As I kept growing up, eventually I started doing other sports. I started doing baseball, doing basketball, doing some football and, of course, some cross-country, stuff like that. I started boxing up again, turned more serious, when I was 16. And from there, I had a family when I was very young — when I was 18, I already had a child — and my focus turned to fatherhood and making a living to support the family.
Tell us about your travels touring around the world.
Boxing saved me. Saved me from a city where, of course, crime was everywhere. It was big back then, where I was at — drugs and everything else. Through boxing, I managed to see the world. I went to Sweden, I went to Australia, I went to Italy — things that opened my eyes to see what’s out there other than just where I’m from, a little city called Chelsea. That’s what I want to pass on to these kids now. They come up to the gym that I just opened in Medford, Mass., and I want to let them know, “Look, there’s another world out there. You just gotta work hard to go see it.” So that’s what I’m trying to do now — work as hard as I can to get the funding to help get these kids [to see] even just another state, or another country.
How were you able to do this — Golden Gloves? U.S. Olympic trials? — and how were those travels to Sweden and Italy and other countries?
I went to the national PALs [Police Athletic Tournament] — I went to New Jersey to do that, and that’s what got me to Sweden. That was the first national tournament that I won. And from there, I went to the [Golden] Gloves. … I did the Golden Gloves, I placed second. From there, I did the nationals for national ranking [in U.S. boxing], and I won those — I won a gold medal at the Olympic festival. And from the Olympic festival, they put me on Team USA. … In 1991, I went to Australia for the world championships. But before that, I went to Italy to fight with the U.S. team, [and then] I fought in the states with the U.S. team. We hosted Germany. At that time, in Germany, the No. 1 guy in the world was in my division, so I fought him there in Florida, and I managed to win that fight, which was a big win for me. And when I [eventually] went back to Germany, I met up with him. We said hello, we talked, and it seemed like he was doing well himself; he opened up a gym over there.
Those amateur years probably honed your fighting style. But is there any one fighter or any one trainer you can point to who helped hone your style more than others?
Well, like I was saying, my stepfather tried to teach me as many styles as he could — he was a big boxing fan and he watched every fight he could. It was like, the night before, he’d teach me one thing one way, and then the next day he’d teach me something else.
I loved one fighter, one who always stands out in the back of my mind — and I managed to meet him — and that was Roberto Duran. The sad part was, I never got to watch any of his fights. But I used to see some of his clips. He basically was a guy who seemed like he was in the same position as I was: He just wanted to go out and do his best, and when he fights, it’s with his heart, you know what I mean?
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Aside from your stepfather, was there anyone else in your career, a trainer, who held that kind of influence on you in terms of fighting style?
My next trainer [after my stepfather] was Gabe Mari, who was a fighter himself before. And one trainer I would have to say who got me back to basics was Miguel Diaz. The thing is, with him, I realized I wasn’t doing the right things. That’s the sad part: I met him at the end of my career. I wish I would’ve met him a little sooner.
In addition to Roberto Duran, are there any other Hispanic fighters you would say you admire?
The other person I’d say is Alexis Arguello. Definitely. I saw him — I think my stepfather used to force me to watch some of his boxing, and a couple of times it was Alexis Arguello. Tall frame, basically try and keep guys at bay with his jab, and those wars that he took with “Boom Boom” Mancini.
You’ve had a long career in boxing — a long amateur career, which you don’t see too much anymore, and an extremely successful professional career. If you had to break it down and pick the top two or three moments of your career, what would they be?
Of course, No. 1 for me is winning the world [heavyweight] title. I could never put words to it. The man himself, the legend himself, Evander Holyfield. … He came to fight.
The other one was winning nationals [in 1990], being No. 1 in the country, winning the gold medal at the Olympic festival in California.
That had to have been a big moment for you. It was a glory time for boxing: Oscar De La Hoya was a fighter in the amateurs, the U.S. had a competitive team, Cuba and the Soviet bloc countries had strong teams — amateur boxing was still pretty revered internationally.
Yeah, definitely. I fought the Russian [Andrey Kurniavka] in Australia. He hit me with a shot that woke me up. And that’s when I started fighting.
That same Russian, he always beat every American. Back then, they had the points system — they had just started it. I lost on points, but at the same time, it didn’t seem like I lost. I thought I was doing more, but if you don’t throw the right punch at the right time, not every [judge] is going to push that button.
Are you currently training any kids in the amateur system?
We’ve got some kids who have come in, and they’re very new to the sport. Some of them are going in more for self-esteem. Others are going in to actually compete. We try to do our best for them to see what they want to do. One thing’s for sure: If they want to learn boxing for self-esteem, that’s fine. It’s a perfect time, too, because of all the stuff going on in this world.
Do you see any potential in your town, now that you’ve opened the gym, for kids that maybe you could take through the amateur program that you so benefited from?
My main goal is to [foster] self-esteem, but also to help create the next Olympian. I’ve got another five years [looking to the 2016 Olympics] to get this going. … I’m trying to get back to how we were at one time, with [U.S.] boxing being in competition with other countries. Nowadays, I don’t know, I don’t really hear too much about USA boxing anymore.
Gabrielle Paese is a deputy editor for ESPNdeportes.com.
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Article source: http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7006068/evander-holyfield-came-fight
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Boxing Champions
IOC’s Jacques Rogge ‘welcomes’ boxing probe after TV report
BEIJING — IOC president Jacques Rogge on Friday welcomed an investigation by amateur boxing’s governing body into allegations that millions of dollars have been paid to guarantee Azerbaijan two gold medals in the ring at next year’s London Olympics.
The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) said it will look into the allegations made by BBC TV’s Newsnight on Thursday that $9 million from Azerbaijan was paid to World Series Boxing, a franchised league supported by AIBA.
“We welcome the inquiry by the AIBA and we have asked the BBC to provide evidence … we take every allegation very seriously,” Rogge told a news conference after a sports seminar in Beijing.
Since the allegations surfaced, AIBA president Wu Ching-kuo has denounced the BBC claims saying they are “totally untrue and ludicrous,” but added he would investigate them.
According to the BBC report, an Azeri national paid the money to a WSB competition.
After the program was broadcast, the AIBA issued a statement saying a loan to WSB had been made by “an Azerbaijani investor … made on a commercial basis and with a view to a commercial return for the investor.”
AIBA said it believed the allegations were made by individuals with an ax to grind and added that the claims “demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the procedures which lead to the award of Olympic boxing medals and the impossibility of influencing these.”
The statement added: “Any suggestion that the loan was made in return for promises of gold medals at the 2012 Olympics is preposterous and utterly untrue.”
The BBC report cited unnamed “whistleblowers” and “insiders” as having told its reporters they had been informed about a deal by WSB’s chief operating officer Ivan Khodabakhsh. The program also said the money was needed by the WSB because it had run into financial difficulties in the United States.
Khodabakhsh called the allegations “an absolute lie.”
The BBC’s report comes just days before the world amateur boxing championships get under way Sept 26, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s only boxing medal at the last Olympics in Beijing was a bronze.
Rogge did not give details as to what role the IOC would play in the investigations.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams earlier highlighted moves by the IOC to ensure fairness in its competitions.
“We would also note that the judging process in boxing as in other sports at the Games are transparent and open to public scrutiny — and a number of sports, including boxing, have made significant changes to their procedures in recent years to deal with any potential issues,” he said.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Article source: http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/7007701/ioc-jacques-rogge-welcomes-boxing-probe-tv-report
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Boxing Champions
Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II tension is already high
VIDEO PLAYLIST 
- Miguel Cotto Interview
Miguel Cotto Interview
- John Ruiz Interview
John Ruiz Interview
- Both Sides of the Ball
Both Sides of the Ball
- Haye Talks MMA, Future
Haye Talks MMA, Future
There was a time when Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito were a bit friendly with each other, having fought on the same Top Rank cards several times.
That all ended, of course, in the aftermath of their July 2008 fight in Las Vegas, when Margarito stopped Cotto in the 11th round of a tremendous slugfest to win a welterweight title.
Margarito had launched a huge rally over the second half of a fight he had been losing, grinding Cotto — whose face was bloodied, bruised and looking like he had been hit with a baseball bat — into submission.
Perceptions of that fight changed radically for many, including Cotto, when, before Margarito’s next fight — a January 2009 defense against Shane Mosley — he was caught trying to enter the ring with hand wraps coated in a plaster-like substance. His hands were re-wrapped legally and Mosley knocked him out in the ninth round. Margarito, who blamed former trainer Javier Capetillo for inserting the illegal pads without his knowledge, was later suspended by the California commission for the funky wraps and did not fight for 16 months.
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Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs), like many, believes Margarito (38-7, 27 KOs) got away with wearing loaded hand wraps for their fight, which is what many attribute his gruesome facial swelling to.
“The first fight has to go down with an asterisk, after what happened with Mosley,” Cotto said Thursday. “So there is a doubt that there are questions about our fight. Everyone knows what happened to him after our fight.”
As if a rematch between the two wouldn’t have been anticipated enough, we can throw the controversy over the hand wraps into the equation — which was a big part of the discussion as they spent this week promoting their Dec. 3 (HBO PPV) sequel at New York’s Madison Square Garden during a four-city media tour to San Juan, New York, Mexico City and Los Angeles.
“The hand wraps, that is an issue,” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said. “It’s an issue based on what Cotto thinks and what happened with the Mosley fight.”
Arum, who maintained all along that Margarito never knew the wraps were loaded before the Mosley fight and believes that Margarito did not wear altered wraps for the 2008 fight with Cotto, said they will take measures to make sure there is no funny business with the wraps before the rematch.
Arum said his plan is for each trainer, Emanuel Steward for Cotto and Robert Garcia for Margarito, to seal all of their wrapping materials — tape, gauze and pads — in bags at the weigh-in and charge the New York commission with keeping them secure overnight, until it’s time for the boxers’ hands to be wrapped on fight night.
“Why not take all the steps that you can to make it not an issue in this fight?” Arum said.
He said he has talked to New York commissioner Melvina Lathan, who said the organization would do something to keep the materials secure.
“The first fight was thrilling, and even without this stuff, it’s going to be a great fight — the same kind of fight as the first one,” Arum said. “The only question from Cotto’s standpoint is, has he been able to develop the stamina to go all 12 rounds with this guy? That’s what he has to work on, in my opinion.”
Before the first fight, nobody from Cotto’s camp — including uncle and trainer Evangelista Cotto, who has since been fired — oversaw the wrapping of Margarito’s hands. The Nevada commission had an inspector in the dressing room to watch the proceedings, but a member of the opposing camp usually is present to observe.
“We’re going to make sure that we take care of that,” said Cotto, who will be making the second defense of his junior middleweight title. “Everybody on my team knows their job on fight night.”
Said Arum: “The commission in Nevada swears its inspectors inspected everything and [that] Margarito’s hands were clean, but who knows?”
Cotto vowed he would never give Margarito a rematch, thus preventing him from making a significant payday. However, economic realities set in and Cotto agreed to the rematch because it was also the biggest available payday for him. According to Arum, Cotto will earn $5 million plus a percentage of the pay-per-view profits, while Margarito will earn $2.5 million and a lesser percentage of the PPV upside.
Although he didn’t address the financial factors, Cotto said, “I’m happy to get the rematch so I can prove I can beat him. I’m very confident it will be a great fight like the first one, but with a different result. I know the mistakes I made in the first fight and they will be corrected. I’m more mature now and I have a better attitude about my training and about getting ready for a fight than I did three years ago.”
Margarito, who will be fighting for the first time since suffering a serious eye injury in a 12-round thrashing at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in November, maintains that his wraps were clean for their first fight and predicts another victory — this time without any taint.
“I’m a clean fighter. I have never done anything illegal in my career,” Margarito said. “Once I beat him again, it will be proof. But I understand where he’s coming from.
“The guy had no power at welterweight. I never felt his punches. I doubt he will have any power at 154.”
Arum said Cotto needs to let go of his bitterness to be effective against Margarito.
“The one thing that can really hurt Miguel in this fight is that he has such anger built up,” Arum said. “He certainly believes that they were illegal hand pads in the first fight, and he’s an angry man. There is no love lost between him and Margarito, but not on Margarito’s side. I just think if Miguel has anger, it’s not good for his performance. Hopefully, he uses that anger to prepare for the fight and comes into the ring without the anger, and then he can put up a much better fight. The anger tends to sap your strength.”
Although Cotto has behaved professionally and hasn’t engaged in trash talk, Arum said he could feel the tension during the media tour when they would stand with each other for photos.
“They conduct themselves like professionals. That is a real plus. I can’t stand the trash talking, but there is an intensity involved in it,” Arum said. “I can feel it. I can see it. It makes the whole thing very uneasy. But controversy like that always sells, gives you a storyline — and it’s an interesting storyline.”
Said Cotto: “He sits on his side, I am on my side. We are close only for the pictures.”
Although Cotto has always been a big ticket seller, Arum said the heat for the fight and the grudge match angle is one of the reasons that nearly 10,000 of the roughly 18,000 available tickets were sold in the first few days they were on sale this week.
“These are real people buying tickets, not [a] casino,” Arum said.
Doctors OK Taylor license
Former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor’s path to receiving a boxing license cleared a major hurdle Thursday when the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s medical advisory panel offered a 5-0 recommendation that the commission approve him medically, commission executive director Keith Kizer said.
Taylor is seeking to return to the ring after almost two years since stepping away from the sport when he suffered a small brain bleed in an October 2009 12th-round knockout loss to Arthur Abraham in the opening round of Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic.
Taylor has undergone a battery of tests by multiple doctors, including by his own doctor in his hometown of Little Rock, Ark., at the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. The results were examined by Nevada’s medical advisory board, who met via teleconference to consider the reports. Taylor and adviser Al Haymon listened to the call, Kizer said.
Now that the medical advisory board has given its recommendation to the commission, Taylor’s application is on the agenda for the commission’s Sept. 28 meeting, at which the panel is expected to vote on whether he will receive a license.
Kizer said Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs), 33, must appear in person at the meeting for his application to be considered. If Taylor is licensed, he plans to fight before the end of the year, probably in Little Rock.
Arce defends in Nongqayi rematch
Mexican star Jorge Arce, who knocked out Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in the 12th round in May to win a junior featherweight title, will make his first defense against South Africa’s Simphiwe Nongqayi in Mexicali, Mexico on Saturday night (Fox Deportes, 10 ET).
Arce (57-6-2, 44 KOs) will be looking for revenge. In September 2009, Nongqayi (16-1-1, 6 KOs) went to Mexico and won a unanimous decision against Arce to claim a vacant junior bantamweight title. Now that Arce has moved up and won another belt, he wants payback.
“It was a bad time for me and my team in Cancun,” Arce said of the site of the first fight. “I had shin splints, I was sluggish, slow and weak. One day earlier, I had been hit with a cold and I never recovered, and Simphiwe boxed well. But things will be different in Mexicali and I will KO him to even the score.
“I have several offers in case I beat Simphiwe. One of them is a rematch against Wilfredo ‘Papito’ Vazquez in November and the other one is a fight against [Jhonny] Gonzalez for the featherweight title. They’re both attractive fights, but I need to win in Mexicali first.”
After beating Arce in their first meeting, Nongqayi retained his title in a draw against Malik Bouziane and then lost it via sixth-round knockout to Juan Alberto Rosas in July 2010.
“I want to thank Arce for giving me this opportunity to revalidate my achievement here,” Nongqayi said to Arce at this week’s final news conference. “I beat him the last time and this time it will be the same. I don’t know why you want to fight me. Perhaps ‘Topo’ Rosas could tell you a little bit about me. But now I am very strong as a fighter, so please look at me now, Jorge, because on Saturday I will knock you out.”
In the fight before Nongqayi defeated Arce, he had outpointed Jorge’s brother, Francisco Arce, in a title eliminator.
“I did it to your brother Francisco, I followed up with you and then on Saturday I will finish you off,” Nongqayi said. “I am happy to be in Mexico, and I will regain my title again.”
Quick Hits
• Erik Morales (52-7, 36 KOs), who won a vacant junior welterweight belt by stopping Mexican countryman Pablo Cesar Cano in the 10th round on the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz undercard last Saturday night, likely will return in December. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com that Morales visited his Los Angeles offices this week to discuss plans for a defense in Mexico before the end of the year. Although Morales, 35, was cut in a very physically taxing fight with Cano, Schaefer said that Morales “really wanted to fight again before the end of the year, so we are working on plans for him.”
• Schaefer said he is also making plans for the next fight for junior middleweight titlist Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (38-0-1, 28 KOs), who successfully defended his belt for the second time by stopping Alfonso Gomez in the sixth round last Saturday at the Staples Center on the Los Angeles portion of the Mayweather-Ortiz split-site HBO PPV card. Alvarez is only 21 and looking to stay busy, so Schaefer said he is planning a fight for him — Alvarez’s fourth of the year — in November or December in his native Mexico. No opponent or venue has been determined. Even though the American TV networks are booked for the rest of the year and have spent their money, Schaefer said, “Once we have a fight and a date, I will see what TV is available. I’m quite sure HBO or Showtime would love to have Canelo and would make a date available. I’m not worried at all that there won’t be TV for Canelo in the United States.”
• If you missed Mayweather’s controversial fourth-round knockout of Ortiz to win a welterweight belt on HBO PPV last Saturday night in Las Vegas, HBO will show a replay on a special edition of “World Championship Boxing” on Saturday night (9:45 ET/PT). In addition to the bout, the delayed broadcast will include what is, in essence, the fifth episode of the network’s “24/7″ series. It will include footage shot during fight week, including after the fight in the dressing rooms and postfight news conference. Following the HBO replay of the main event, the Alvarez-Gomez and Morales-Cano undercard bouts from the pay-per-view will be replayed in Spanish on HBO Latino (11:15 ET/PT).
• With the ongoing lawsuit pertaining to the estate of the late two-time titleholder and all-time action fighter Arturo Gatti, and given the belief by many that Gatti was murdered while on vacation in Brazil with his wife, Amanda Rodrigues, and infant son — and that he did not kill himself, as Brazilian authorities ruled — his untimely July 2009 death remains a mystery. The season premiere of CBS’ news magazine show “48 Hours Mystery” on Saturday night (10 ET/PT) examines Gatti’s death for the hour-long program. Correspondent Erin Moriarty’s report includes Rodrigues’ first television interview. She was originally arrested for murder, but released nearly three weeks later when Brazilian authorities ruled that Gatti had hanged himself with her purse strap and had not been murdered, even though serious questions remains over the validity of the ruling. Rodrigues is embroiled in a lawsuit with Gatti’s family over his multi-million dollar estate. The report also includes interviews with Joe Gatti, Arturo’s brother and a former professional fighter, who shares his own theory about how his brother died, and Micky Ward, Gatti’s ring rival and close friend.
• Featherweight contender Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia (26-0, 22 KOs) is closing in on a title opportunity. But while awaiting it, he’ll stay busy fighting Oct. 22 in New York’s Madison Square Garden Theater on the undercard of Nonito Donaire’s bantamweight title defense against junior bantamweight titlist Omar Narvaez. Garcia’s last two bouts have been on HBO, but this one is not part of the network’s telecast — although the network likely will show highlights of the bout. Garcia will face Mexico’s Juan Carlos Martinez (19-12-1, 7 KOs), who has won two fights in a row, including an upset eight-round decision against former title challenger Bernabe Concepcion on May 6 on “Friday Night Fights” in Las Vegas. “The plan is to get Mikey a title fight,” manager Cameron Dunkin said. “We’ve worked toward that. He does have this fight first, but Mikey’s day is coming soon. He will have his time.”
• When former welterweight titlist Luis Collazo signed with Golden Boy in June, the original plan was for him to fight last weekend either on the Mayweather-Ortiz undercard or on a Golden Boy show the previous night. Neither worked out, but Collazo (31-4, 16 KOs) is now scheduled to fight Oct. 15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson undercard, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com. Collazo will face Freddy Hernandez (29-2, 20 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round junior middleweight bout at a contract weight of 150 pounds. Hernandez hasn’t fought since being knocked out in the first round of a welterweight title bout by then-titlist Andre Berto in November. Most of the card pits Golden Boy fighters against Gary Shaw-promoted fighters. Schaefer has talked about putting together a tournament of welterweights and said Collazo is another name that could fit in if the event comes off. “I think he fits perfectly into that mix,” Schaefer said. “He’s a guy who can make a lot of noise in that weight class, which is why we signed him.”
• Middleweight titlist Felix Sturm (36-2-1, 15 KOs), who survived to win a highly controversial decision against Irishman Matthew Macklin of England in June, will face another fighter from the United Kingdom — Martin Murray (23-0, 10 KOs) — in his next defense on Dec. 2 in Mannheim, Germany. Although his résumé is thin and lacks notable victories, Murray will get a shot at a title and is bidding to become the first fighter promoted by Ricky Hatton to capture one. “I am absolutely buzzing and have so much motivation to go over there and beat Sturm,” Murray said. “I first knew about the fight in early September, but we couldn’t say anything until the contract was signed. I have started an 11-week training camp at Oliver Harrison’s gym, and come fight night I will be in the shape of my life. I have been ready for this chance for about nine months, but I seemed to slip under the radar because everybody talks about Matthew Macklin and Darren Barker as the main middleweights in Britain.”
• Former strawweight and junior flyweight champ Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon’s return to the strawweight division is set for Oct. 29 in his hometown of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, promotor PR Best Boxing announced. He will face former two-time strawweight titlist Raul Garcia (30-2-1, 18 KOs) of Mexico for a vacant interim belt on a card that coincides with the WBO’s annual convention, which is in Puerto Rico this year. Calderon (34-2-1, 6 KOs) has been idle since being knocked out in a junior flyweight championship fight by Giovani Segura in April. Also due to appear on the card are two other former titleholders from Puerto Rico: junior featherweight Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-1-1, 17 KOs), in his first fight since losing his title via 12th-round knockout to Jorge Arce in May, and junior middleweight Carlos Quintana (28-3, 22 KOs), a former welterweight titlist. Their opponents have not been determined.
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• Junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-1, 23 KOs) of Ukraine suffered a shoulder injury, forcing him to withdraw from a mandatory defense against Lukas Konecny (47-3, 22 KOs) on Sept. 30 in Konecny’s native Czech Republic, according to Matt Rowland of Banner Promotions, Dzinziruk’s co-promoter. A new date has not been determined, Rowland said. Gary Shaw, Dzinziruk’s co-promoter, told ESPN.com that Dzinziruk should be ready to train in October. He is returning to 154 pounds to defend his title after being stopped in the eighth round of a one-sided fight challenging middleweight champ Sergio Martinez in March. Dzinziruk already owns a win against Konecny. He won a majority decision against him in a 2008 title defense in Germany.
• Super middleweight James DeGale (10-1, 8 KOs), the 2008 British Olympic gold medalist, will try to rebound from his majority decision loss to rival George Groves in May by challenging Poland’s Piotr Wilczewski (29-1, 10 KOs) for the European title. Promoter Frank Warren announced that the bout will take place Oct. 15 in Liverpool, England, on the undercard of light heavyweight titlist Nathan Cleverly’s defense against Tony Bellew. “Piotr is a good, tough champion and he looks like a right handful,” DeGale said. “This is a really tough fight for me and I’m expecting him to bring the best out in me on the night. It’s fantastic that I’m challenging for the European title in my first fight back, and I’m going to take the title.”
• Junior lightweight Adrien Broner (21-0, 17 KOs) is due to fight on HBO on Nov. 26, possibly for the belt Scotland’s Ricky Burns recently vacated to move up to lightweight for a November fight against Michael Katsidis and s shot at a vacant interim lightweight belt. Broner is without an opponent, but Argenis Mendez (18-2, 9 KOs) is volunteering for the fight. He is coming off an entertaining and controversial decision loss to Juan Carlos Salgado for a vacant junior lightweight belt on Sept. 10 on Salgado’s turf in Mexico. “Mendez should be the IBF champion right now,” promoter Lou DiBella said. “He lost a close decision due to hometown advantage. If Adrien Broner wants to be a champion, he has to fight top-quality opposition. Broner and Mendez is a perfect championship match to replace [Burns].”
• Faded former two-time lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo (62-11-1, 53 KOs), 37, coming off a surprising loss to fellow Mexican Jorge Paez Jr. in March, hits the road to Montreal for his next fight to face fringe welterweight contender Antonin Decarie (25-1, 7 KOs), 28, on Oct. 20 at the Bell Centre, where promoter Yvon Michel’s new season of regular cards begins. The Decarie-Castillo card is the first of five shows Michel will promote this fall at the Bell Centre. Michel said middleweight prospect David Lemieux (25-1, 24 KOs), 22, is due to fight on one of the Bell Centre cards in his first fight since suffering a stunning seventh-round knockout loss to Marco Antonio Rubio in April. Michel’s series also will feature three fall cards at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City.
Quotable
Martinez
“I have been training very hard and am expecting a tough fight out of Barker on Oct. 1. Barker is coming here to the states undefeated and he intends to leave that way. I must be in top shape, both physically and mentally, to prevent that from happening. The fact that Barker is willing to step up and put his undefeated record on the line shows you that he has a lot of heart and that he is a true warrior, which isn’t the case for all fighters.”
– Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez on Darren Barker, whom he faces next week on HBO in Atlantic City, N.J.
Marquez
“I have been waiting for this fight for a long time and I am very excited that it is finally going to happen. I beat him the first two fights but did not get the decisions. This time I will beat him again — and I will also get the victory.”
– Juan Manuel Marquez on pound-for-pound king and welterweight titlist Manny Pacquiao, against whom he has a controversial draw and split-decision loss, and will fight for a third time on Nov. 12 (HBO PPV) in Las Vegas
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at danrafaelespn.
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Super Six final postponed after Andre Ward suffers cut
Super middleweight titlist Andre Ward suffered a cut over his right eye in training on Thursday, which required seven stitches and forced the postponement of his unification fight with England’s Carl Froch.
They were due to meet Oct. 29 in Atlantic City, N.J., in the final of Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic.
“Bad news: I sustained a cut in sparring a few hours ago,” Ward, who was training in his hometown of Oakland, Calif., tweeted Thursday night. “Flew to (Los Angeles) to see the Doc. I got 7 stitches. I will let you know the new date soon.”
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Ward was sparring with Brandon Gonzalez on Thursday afternoon when he suffered what promoter Dan Goossen called “a fluke cut.”
Goossen said Ward immediately flew from Oakland to Los Angeles to meet with Dr. Paul Wallace, a plastic surgeon and California ringside doctor. Wallace was responsible for stitching up the horrendous cut that Vitali Klitschko suffered in his heavyweight championship fight with Lennox Lewis in 2003.
“I met Andre at the airport last night and took him to see Dr. Paul Wallace and he ended up receiving seven stitches,” Goossen told ESPN.com. “It was a clean, straight cut, which is good. It heals much better and faster that way rather than it being a jagged one. No nerves or any other part of the eye was affected.”
Goossen said the cut was directly above Ward’s right eyebrow.
“It was somewhat shocking,” Goossen said. “I would attribute this to a being a fluke cut. He had the head gear on, a full face bar and all. He doesn’t recall getting hit or a head butt, or elbow that would cause it. It was just one of those freak accidents that very seldom occur when you are sparring and have head gear on.”
Showtime had its crew from the reality series “Fight Camp 360″ filming during Ward’s training and the crew accompanied Ward to Los Angles, so it is likely viewers will see what happened during the next episode of the series.
After all of the issues that have beset the Super Six it should not come as much of a surprise that the final wound up being postponed. The six-man tournament was conceived as an 18-month event, but was already stretched to two years after several previous delays, injuries and fighter dropouts.
Goossen said a new date for the final has not been determined, although the fall calendar is jammed and it is possible the fight won’t be rescheduled until early next year.
“The fight is postponed, but I am talking to the site, Showtime and the doctor, along with Andre, to see when we could reschedule everything,” Goossen said. “Andre is very professional in the truest sense of the word. He handled this professionally, but obviously there is disappointment from all of us. But you have to deal with reality. Andre was great about it, but dejected.”
The Froch camp found out about the injury from Ward’s tweet.
“All we can go on is the news given by Andre Ward, and he was very unprofessional to do so in that manner,” Eddie Hearn, Froch’s promoter, told Sky Sports in England. “His promoters will be fuming at the way he delivered that message. I told Carl go to the gym this morning. He’s sparring at the moment and we’re ready to go in October. We’re not happy. We don’t believe it and won’t believe it until we see the cut.
“If we’re told the fight is postponed then there’s not a lot we can do. I know that Showtime will make sure fans see the evidence. Cuts can happen. It’s unusual that cuts that size happen in sparring and it’s unusual to be sparring that late at night.”
Ward (24-0, 13 KOs) advanced to the final by rolling through each of his tournament bouts in dominant fashion.
Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) suffered his only loss in the second round of the round-robin tournament to Mikkel Kessler — who later dropped out — but compiled enough points to advance to the semifinals, where he outpointed Glen Johnson in June.
Dan Rafael is the senior boxing writer for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter @danrafaelespn.
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Rogge: Boxing Corruption Charges Taken Seriously
IOC President Jacques Rogge on Friday welcomed an investigation by amateur boxing’s governing body into allegations that millions of dollars have been paid to guarantee Azerbaijan two gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics.
The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) said it will look into the allegations made by BBC TV’s Newsnight on Thursday that $9 million from Azerbaijan was paid to World Series Boxing, a franchised league supported by AIBA.
“We welcome the inquiry by the AIBA and we have asked the BBC to provide evidence … we take every allegation very seriously,” Rogge said at a news conference after a sports seminar in Beijing.
Since the allegations surfaced, AIBA President Wu Ching-kuo has denounced the BBC claims saying they are “totally untrue and ludicrous,” but added he would investigate them.
According to the BBC report, an Azeri national paid the money to a WSB competition.
The BBC’s report comes just days before the world amateur boxing championships get under way on Sept 26. in Baku, Azerbaijan. The country won a bronze medal in boxing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
After the program was broadcast, the AIBA issued a statement saying a loan to WSB had been made by “an Azerbaijani investor … made on a commercial basis and with a view to a commercial return for the investor.”
AIBA said it believed the allegations were made by individuals with an ax to grind and added that the claims “demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the procedures which lead to the award of Olympic boxing medals and the impossibility of influencing these.”
The statement added: “Any suggestion that the loan was made in return for promises of gold medals at the 2012 Olympics is preposterous and utterly untrue.”
The BBC report cited unnamed “whistleblowers” and “insiders” as having told its reporters they had been informed about a deal by WSB’s chief operating officer Ivan Khodabakhsh. The program also said the money was needed by the WSB because it had run into financial difficulties in the United States.
Khodabakhsh called the allegations “an absolute lie.”
The BBC’s report comes just days before the world amateur boxing championships get under way on Sept 26. in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s only boxing medal at the last Olympics in Beijing was a bronze.
Rogge did not give details as to what role the IOC would play in the investigations.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams earlier highlighted moves by the IOC to ensure fairness in its competitions.
“We would also note that the judging process in boxing as in other sports at the games are transparent and open to public scrutiny — and a number of sports including boxing have made significant changes to their procedures in recent years to deal with any potential issues,” he said.
———
AP writer Trevor Huggins in London contributed to this report.
———
Follow Chi-Chi Zhang at http://twitter.com/thunderchi
Article source: http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/rogge-corruption-charges-14587965
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GOODWIN: Mayweather mayhem the talk of boxing world
Click to enlarge
Floyd Mayweather delivers a knockout punch to Victor Ortiz in the fourth round during a WBC welterweight title fight.
Whether it was a cheap shot, a breach of sportsmanship or a perfectly justified means to an end, Floyd Mayweather’s punch seen round the world stoked the controversy that seems to follow the Grand Rapids native and his clan.
But that’s what happens when you’re Floyd Mayweather, the fighter on the bad side of public opinion, as well as the victim of a vicious head butt from the head of a willing, but overmatched fighter by the name of Victor Ortiz.
With that deed still fresh in his mind, Mayweather probably wasn’t in a mood for pleasantries by the perpetrator, which not only led to the one-two combination which turned out the lights for Ortiz, but created the buzz heard round the boxing world.
Protect yourself at all times.
Those bizarre moments were only magnified with Mayweather’s tirade against HBO analyst Larry Merchant after the fight.
I suppose that Merchant and Mayweather will offer apologies to each other after a moment in which neither distinguished themselves.
But that’s boxing, the hurting business as coined by many great fighters. And that’s why we watch on pay-per-view, to get an eyeful of hurt, controversy and enough fodder for chats, opinions and criticisms for the following week.
The fact remains that Mayweather, having won six major world titles over several weight classes, is still undefeated after 42 fights. Very few professional fighters this deep in their careers — Mayweather is in his 16th year as a pro — have gone undefeated and collected so many world titles at similar points in their careers. Not Sugar Ray Leonard, not Thomas Hearns, not Felix Trinidad or Oscar De La Hoya.
“I’m in a league of my own,” says Mayweather, who gets few arguments from here.
What’s even more amazing is that Mayweather, who’ll pocket some $25 million from this fight, according to some reports, hasn’t let his mega paydays, his legal troubles and his unusual family dynamics distract him. Sure he’s enjoying the fruits of his labor, flashing big wads of cash, playing with his cars and hanging around with rappers and MCs. But when it comes down to fighting, Mayweather is all business and entertainment.
Now, the demand for a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight heightens, and Mayweather is certainly feeling it after his performance.
Pacquiao fights Juan Manuel Marquez in November. A decisive victory ramps up the demand for a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout, which has been stirred about for the past two years to no avail. Maybe, it could finally come to fruition.
It’s hard to believe that 30 years ago, Detroit was turning out championship fighters like an automobile assembly line under trainer Emanuel Steward. Led by the fists and fury of Thomas Hearns, who KO’ed Pipino Cuevas in a packed Joe Louis Arena in 1980 to win the WBA welterweight crown, the buzz for boxing around the area was its highest in years. With the heavyweight division in the doldrums, the loaded welterweight division was the premier weight class in boxing. Hearns, undefeated at the time, was set to face WBC champ Sugar Ray Leonard Sept. 16, 1981 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Future champ Floyd Mayweather, only three years old, had already slipped on his first pair of boxing gloves.
The buildup was mighty and the world-wide attention noticeable as some 25,000 spectators, many from the Detroit area, gathered in a specially made pavillion on the casino parking lot in the warm, desert air.
Hearns gave a good account of himself until Leonard caught him with a punch midway through the fight. Leonard, the slick boxer, became a slugger and stalked Hearns the rest of the bout until he scored a 14th round TKO. It was Hearns’s last fight as a welterweight as he moved up several weight classes, winning some and losing some. Eight years later, they’d do it again in Las Vegas with both on the downside of their careers. For nearly a decade, it was a golden era of boxing for Detroit, an era that, from all appearances, may not be coming again for a long time.
If you want to go way back, yesterday was the 84th anniversary of the Gene Tunney-Jack Dempsey “Long Count” heavyweight championship fight in Chicago. Dempsey knocked Tunney down in the seventh round, but didn’t go to a neutral corner immediately, giving Tunney time to get up, recover and eventually win the fight.
The mysterious death of former champ Arturo Gatti will be explored in the scheduled season premier of 48 Hours Mystery at 10 p.m. Saturday on CBS. Gatti was the blood and guts fighter who gave his all in the ring, and even fought Mayweather. He died two years ago under curious circumstances in Brazil. Although his wife, Amanda Rodrigues was charged, she was later absolved from any wrong doing. Still, there remains a cloud under the circumstances of Gatti’s death.
Marvin Goodwin covers boxing for Journal Register News Service. You can Email him at marvin.goodwin@oakpress.com.
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Andre Ward injury delays Super Six final
Super middleweight titlist Andre Ward suffered a cut over his right eye in training on Thursday, which required seven stitches and forced the postponement of his unification fight with England’s Carl Froch.
They were due to meet Oct. 29 in Atlantic City, N.J., in the final of Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic.
“Bad news: I sustained a cut in sparring a few hours ago,” Ward, who was training in his hometown of Oakland, Calif., tweeted Thursday night. “Flew to (Los Angeles) to see the Doc. I got 7 stitches. I will let you know the new date soon.”
Rafael’s Boxing Blog
Get the latest scoop and analysis on the world of boxing from ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael in his blog.
Ward was sparring with Brandon Gonzalez on Thursday afternoon when he suffered what promoter Dan Goossen called “a fluke cut.”
Goossen said Ward immediately flew from Oakland to Los Angeles to meet with Dr. Paul Wallace, a plastic surgeon and California ringside doctor. Wallace was responsible for stitching up the horrendous cut that Vitali Klitschko suffered in his heavyweight championship fight with Lennox Lewis in 2003.
“I met Andre at the airport last night and took him to see Dr. Paul Wallace and he ended up receiving seven stitches,” Goossen told ESPN.com. “It was a clean, straight cut, which is good. It heals much better and faster that way rather than it being a jagged one. No nerves or any other part of the eye was affected.”
Goossen said the cut was directly above Ward’s right eyebrow.
“It was somewhat shocking,” Goossen said. “I would attribute this to a being a fluke cut. He had the head gear on, a full face bar and all. He doesn’t recall getting hit or a head butt, or elbow that would cause it. It was just one of those freak accidents that very seldom occur when you are sparring and have head gear on.”
Showtime had its crew from the reality series “Fight Camp 360″ filming during Ward’s training and the crew accompanied Ward to Los Angles, so it is likely viewers will see what happened during the next episode of the series.
After all of the issues that have beset the Super Six it should not come as much of a surprise that the final wound up being postponed. The six-man tournament was conceived as an 18-month event, but was already stretched to two years after several previous delays, injuries and fighter dropouts.
Goossen said a new date for the final has not been determined, although the fall calendar is jammed and it is possible the fight won’t be rescheduled until early next year.
“The fight is postponed, but I am talking to the site, Showtime and the doctor, along with Andre, to see when we could reschedule everything,” Goossen said. “Andre is very professional in the truest sense of the word. He handled this professionally, but obviously there is disappointment from all of us. But you have to deal with reality. Andre was great about it, but dejected.”
The Froch camp found out about the injury from Ward’s tweet.
“All we can go on is the news given by Andre Ward, and he was very unprofessional to do so in that manner,” Eddie Hearn, Froch’s promoter, told Sky Sports in England. “His promoters will be fuming at the way he delivered that message. I told Carl go to the gym this morning. He’s sparring at the moment and we’re ready to go in October. We’re not happy. We don’t believe it and won’t believe it until we see the cut.
“If we’re told the fight is postponed then there’s not a lot we can do. I know that Showtime will make sure fans see the evidence. Cuts can happen. It’s unusual that cuts that size happen in sparring and it’s unusual to be sparring that late at night.”
Ward (24-0, 13 KOs) advanced to the final by rolling through each of his tournament bouts in dominant fashion.
Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) suffered his only loss in the second round of the round-robin tournament to Mikkel Kessler — who later dropped out — but compiled enough points to advance to the semifinals, where he outpointed Glen Johnson in June.
Dan Rafael is the senior boxing writer for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter @danrafaelespn.
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John Ruiz Interview
John Ruiz, the first and only Latino to win a heavyweight championship, recalls his victory over Evander Holyfield in 2003.
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Pair of bouts finalized for Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito undercard
While Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was wrapping up a four-city media tour on Thursday to promote the rematch between junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito on Dec. 3 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, he and his staff were also ironing out the undercard.
Arum gave ESPN.com a look at what he has so far for the HBO PPV card:
• Philadelphia welterweight contender Mike Jones will face former two-time title challenger Sebastian Lujan of Argentina. “It’s all done,” Arum said.
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They will meet in a title eliminator that will make the winner the mandatory challenger for titlist Andre Berto, who has a current mandatory defense first due against former titleholder Randall Bailey.
Russell Peltz, who co-promotes Jones (25-0, 19 KOs) with Arum, said everyone on their team realizes it is a dangerous fight. Known for having a strong chin, Lujan (38-5-2, 24 KOs) is riding a 12-fight winning streak, including a dominant ninth-round knockout of promising Mark Melligen on ESPN2 on July 1.
“I think it’s a lot tougher fight than Mike had with (Jesus) Soto Karass,” Peltz said of the most difficult fights so far in Jones’ career, back-to-back competitive decision wins against Soto Karass in November 20010 and in the February rematch. “(Jones) says if fighting this kind of fight is what he has to do to get a title shot, it is what he has to do. He has to be in better shape than he was for the second Soto Karass fight.”
Said Jones: “Lujan puts on pressure, but not constant pressure like Karass. He moves his head a lot more than Karass but throws wide punches, which I will take advantage of. This will put me in line for a money fight.”
• Junior featherweight titlist Rico Ramos (20-0, 11 KOs) will make his first defense against interim titlist Guillermo Rigondeaux (8-0, 6 KOs), a two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist and one of the great amateurs of all time. The sides recently made a deal and avoided a purse bid.
Rigondeaux had stepped aside to allow Japan’s Akifumi Shimoda to defend against Ramos on July 9 with the contractual promise that he would get the next shot at the winner. Ramos knocked out Shimoda in the seventh round.
Arum said the third televised undercard fight has not been set yet but that Top Rank president Todd duBoef “was working on it and I can’t say what it is yet because it’s not done.”
Also back in action on the undercard will be junior middleweight Pawel Wolak, although his bout is not scheduled to be part of the HBO PPV broadcast. Wolak’s opponent is not set, but manager Cameron Dunkin said they are OK with the fight not being on the telecast.
I’m trying to do certain things with him but it’s been tough. We wanted (titlist Cornelius) Bundrage, but there wasn’t the money to deliver it and Bundrage is with (promoter) Don King, which is never easy,” Dunkin said. “So I’m trying to get him back out there and keep him active. We wanted him on TV but there wasn’t a spot for him. This fight is the start and we’ll keep him going from here.”
Wolak (29-1-1, 19 KOs) gained a lot of attention this year because he stopped former titlist Yuri Foreman in a big upset in March on the Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga undercard and then fought to a draw with Delvin Rodriguez on July 15 in an all-action fight of the year candidate on ESPN2.
Naturally, Wolak hoped for his next fight to be televised and also hoped to face a name opponent. He won’t get either of those scenarios, but is still looking forward to getting back to work, especially on a major card.
“Excited,” Wolak said. “Unfortunately, (Bundrage) was scared. Canelo (Alvarez) and (Julio Cesar) Chavez (Jr.) aren’t available and worried and there was no (premium) network interest in a rematch with Delvin, so we are going to Plan B. That is why I signed with a competent manager as he knows how to get me where I want to go.”
Said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum: “Wolak wants a title fight. Rather than argue with him we said, ‘We’ll put you in with a second-level guy, but it won’t be on television’ and that way he stays active and I don’t embarrass myself with the televised undercard.”
In another untelevised undercard fight, Arum said light heavyweight prospect Mike Lee (7-0, 4 KOs), the 2009 Notre Dame graduate with a big fan base — who also is starring in a national commercial for Subway — will face an opponent to be determined in a four-rounder.
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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