TICKETS FOR GOLDEN GLOVES REGIONAL
TOURNAMENT ON SALE
The Golden Gloves Regional Championships
will be held in Mesquite on March 17-18 at the Casablanca
Resort in Mesquite. Among those representing Nevada
will be Gino Padilla (106 lbs), Louie Padilla (112
lbs), Teddy Padilla (119 lbs), Davon Lawson (125
lbs), Diego Magdaleno (132 lbs), Jessie Vargas (141
lbs), Quincey Williams (152 lbs), Jared Johnson
(165 lbs), and Michael Hunter (201+ lbs).
Tickets are available on
the Barry's Boxing website: www.barrysboxingcenter.com
PAST AND PRESENT CHAMPIONS,
A RISING STAR, AND A “CONTENDER” HIGHLIGHT
BARRERA-MARQUEZ UNDERCARD ON MARCH 17
AT MANDALAY BAY EVENTS CENTER – LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW
Las Vegas, February 24, 2007
– They come from vastly different places in
their lives and boxing careers, but Daniel Ponce
De Leon, Gerry Penalosa, Demetrius Hopkins and Steve
Forbes all have one thing in common – the
desire to be the best, and the willingness to put
everything on the line to achieve that goal.
On Saturday, March 17, on the
Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Juan Manuel Marquez undercard
at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, all four fighters
will look to move one step closer to their dream
when they square off in two intriguing bouts which
will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Mexican powerpuncher Daniel Ponce
De Leon will put his WBO super bantamweight championship
on the line against former world champion Gerry
Penalosa of the Philippines, and in a junior welterweight
showdown with major title implications, Demetrius
Hopkins puts his unbeaten record on the line against
former world champion and a season two finalist
of ‘The Contender’, Steve Forbes.
One of boxing’s exciting
young stars, thrill-a-minute WBO super bantamweight
champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (30-1, 28 KOs) gets
more impressive with each victory. A native of Chihuahua,
Mexico, the 26-year-old southpaw won his first world
title October 29, 2005, when he outpointed Thailand’s
previously unbeaten Sod Looknongyangtoy in 12 rounds.
After a second round knockout over Gerson Guerrero
in his first title defense, De Leon met Looknongyangtoy
again last July, but this time, the rapidly improving
champion was in fearsome form as he knocked his
challenger out in only 52 seconds. In October 2006,
De Leon made the third defense of his crown with
an eighth round blowout of Al Seeger.
Gerry Penalosa (51-5-2, 34 KOs),
a seasoned southpaw from Manila with close to 18
years as a pro to his name, has gone 5-0 with three
knockouts since his return to the ring in 2004 after
a two-year layoff. He is a former WBC super flyweight
world champion with three defenses under his belt
who impressively stopped highly regarded contender
Mauricio Martinez in his last outing October 21,
2006. On March 17th, Penalosa hopes to show young
gun Daniel Ponce De Leon a few tricks en route to
gaining yet another world championship belt.
The nephew of middleweight legend
Bernard Hopkins, Demetrius Hopkins has worked tirelessly
to create his own identity in the boxing world and
has passed with flying colors, compiling 25 wins
(10 by knockout) with no losses and a single technical
draw. The current USBA junior welterweight champion,
“The Gladiator” was once seen as strictly
a technician in the ring, but with four of his last
six wins coming by knockout over top-notch competition,
opponents now have to fear Hopkins’ power
as well. In his last fight, Hopkins, who is currently
ranked No. 2 by the IBF, scored a dominant 12-round
decision over Rogelio Castaneda Jr. in November
2006.
Steve “2 Pounds”
Forbes (32-4, 9 KOs) turned pro in 1996 and has
since thrilled aficionados of the fight game with
his stellar skill set and boxing savvy. A native
of Las Vegas, Forbes first burst on the world scene
in 2000, when he won the vacant IBF world lightweight
title by defeating John Brown. He would defend the
title once before losing it on the scales before
a win over David Santos, and after tough title fight
defeats to Carlos Hernandez and Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai,
he moved up to 140 pounds. Since 2004, he has won
eight of nine fights, with the only loss being a
close 10-round split decision to the much bigger
Grady Brewer in the finale of ‘The Contender’.
Now fighting fighters closer to his size, Forbes
is looking for big things in the junior welterweight
division.
“Fearless”
- Barrera vs. Marquez, is a 12-round WBC Super Featherweight
Championship bout presented by Golden Boy Promotions
and Romanza Boxing.
The Barrera vs. Marquez pay-per-view
telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, has
a suggested retail price of $44.95, will be distributed
by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more
than 56 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View
is the leading supplier of event programming to
the pay-per-view industry. For your daily Barrera
vs. Marquez fight week updates, log onto www.HBO.com.
Tickets to Barrera vs Marquez
are priced at $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50. Tickets
are sold at any Mandalay Bay box office and all
Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Smith’s
Food and Drug Centers, Macy’s stores and Ritmo
Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit
card, call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702)
632-7580 or Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets
also are available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com
or www.ticketmaster.com.
LVBOXING.COM WEEKLY NEWS AND
NOTES
by Lawrence Hidaka
W eek of February 19, 2007
LAS VEGANS SUFFER SETBACKS! On
Saturday night's HBO Boxing After Dark show from
New York City, Las Vegan Ishe “Sugar Shay”
Smith held his own with top junior middle contender
Sechew Powell, but did not do enough to sway the
judges as he fell by unanimous decision. Ishe scored
the only knockdown of the fight when he put Powell
on the deck with a body shot in the 4th. With the
win, Powell maintains his position as top junior
middle contender, while Ishe goes back to the drawing
board.
Meanwhile, the same night in London, 2000 Olympic
gold medalist and Las Vegas resident Audley “A-Force”
Harrison was knocked out in the 3rd by Michael Sprott.
Harrison had been dominating the fight until the
unexpected end, flooring Sprott with an overhand
left in the 1st round. The wild left hand from Sprott
that put Harrison on the canvas for a couple minutes
was of the “lucky punch” variety, reminiscent
of Oliver McCall's KO of Lennox Lewis. Nevertheless,
at age 35, another loss was the last thing Harrison
could afford, and it may very well be the end of
the road for the Olympic gold medalist . . .
SOTO ON “FIGHT NIGHT LIVE”
THIS THURSDAY! Top super featherweight contender
Humberto Soto, who made his name in Las Vegas as
the star of numerous fight cards at the Orleans,
will headline “Fight Night Live” on
the Versus network this Thursday night. As he patiently
awaits a world title shot (Soto has won two WBC
“interim” featherweight title bouts
and a WBC super featherweight “eliminator”
in his last outing), he will take on Humberto Toledo
in the Fight Night Live main event from West Virginia.
The card also has Baby Joe Mesi taking on George
Linberger. The show airs live on Versus (Cox digital
67) at 6:00pm . . .
Speaking of Joe Mesi, SHOULD NOT BE FIGHTING UPDATE:
The latest round of fight announcements sounds like
an episode of VH1's “I Love the 90s”.
Former light heavyweight champions Virgil Hill (43)
and Henry Maske (43) are set for March 31in Munich.
This will be a a rematch of their 1996 fight, which
was won by Hill in a decision. Also in March, Lance
Whitaker (34) will return to the ring over a year
after getting KO'd by Sultan Ibragimov. And finally,
on March 17, the legendary Evander Holyfield (44)
will face Vinny Maddalone in Corpus Christi, TX
. . .
CONGRATULATIONS TO NEVADA STATE
GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPIONS! The Nevada Golden Gloves
Championships held over the weekend at Barry's Boxing
Gym produced state champions in three weight divisions:
(141 lbs) Jessie Vargas, (165 lbs ) Quincey Williams,
and (201+ lbs) Michael Hunter. All three are from
Las Vegas and will represent Nevada in the National
Golden Gloves Regional Tournament to be held March
17-18 at the Casablanca in Mesquite . . .
HAVE A GREAT BOXING WEEK!
RESULTS FROM NEVADA STATE GOLDEN
GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS
HELD AT BARRY'S BOXING GYM 2/17/07 to 2/18/07
Semi-Finals
141 lbs Jessie Vargas (Elite Boxing)
RSC2 over Daniel Reece (unattached)
Finals (winners advance to National
Golden Gloves Regional Tournament)
141 lbs Jessie Vargas RSC2 over
Chad Sagney (Sun Valley)
165 lbs Quincey Williams (Barry's) points over Jared
Johnson (Barry's)
201+ lbs Michael Hunter (unattached) points over
Henry Namau'u (unattached)
Off-Tournament Bouts
95 lbs Carli Clendenen (Henderson
PAL) points over Karla Garcia (Barry's)
135 lbs Marygen White (Henderson PAL) RSC1 over
Caludia Nunez (Barry's)
108 lbs Andre Cantlin (NLV Center Ring) RSC2 over
Ulises Medrano (Barry's)
121 lbs Martin Mendez (unattached) points over Parnell
Fisher (Barry's)
136 lbs Jose-Luis Vergara (unattached) points over
Angel Cedano (unattached)
143 lbs Jose Rojas (Las Vegas Boxing) DQ over Steven
Mitchell (Broadway Boxing)
201+ lbs Eugene Lawson (Broadway Boxing) points
over John Bisaillon (unattached)
185 lbs Dumont Williams (Rite of Passage) points
over Hajro Sujak (unattached)
McCarter Retains Title at The
Orleans
2/14/07
By Steve Robinson
Crown Boxing, using the mob war
theme, “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre”,
put on an action packed six fight professional boxing
show at The Orleans Hotel and Casino Wednesday night.
The card featured many boxers with local connections,
who brought out a substantial number of local boxing
fans, friends and relatives to enjoy a night of
entertaining fights.
GBU Lightweight Championship Fight
Local favorite “Amazing”
Leyla McCarter put her GBU Lightweight title on
the line against Mellissa “Huracan”
Hernandez of The Bronx, NY by way of Puerto Rico.
McCarter (22-15-5, 4 KO’s) used her experience
and Luis Tapia schooled boxing skills to fend off
aggressive attacks by Hernandez (6-1-1, 2 KO’s)
for eight rounds until Hernandez’ corner advised
Referee Toby Gibson that she would be unable to
answer the bell for the ninth.
Many of the early rounds were back and forth with
McCarter using her jab to set up combinations and
taking advantage of Hernandez missed blows to counter
effectively. Hernandez put on an aggressive attack,
always moving forward and trying to land big head
shots. And she didn’t always miss, rocking
McCarter several times with straight rights and
right hooks, but McCarter never faltered and came
back with some good shots of her own every time
she was hit. Then McCarter would settle down into
her game plan, getting off first with a stiff jab
that she kept in Hernandez face and not missing
many opportunities to land when openings appeared
in Hernandez defense. Hernandez best round was the
fifth, when she got McCarter in her own corner and
worked her over early, then on the ropes later landing
a series of big shots. McCarter survived these onslaughts
to go right back to her plan getting off first and
landing more often until she eventually wore the
less experienced Hernandez down. The eighth round
was all McCarter where everything she threw landed
and Hernandez appeared defenseless against an unending
attack. After the round the ring doctor looked Hernandez
over closely and Hernandez corner had seen enough.
They advised Referee Toby Gibson that Hernandez
would be unable to continue giving Leyla McCarter
a TKO at 3:00 of the eighth. The fight was a great
demonstration of conflicting boxing skills where
the boxer overcame the puncher and where both showed
a lot of “heart” on this Valentine’s
Day event.
Heavyweight Match
“Bronco” Billy Wright
(32-4, 24 KO’s) of Jordan, UT fighting out
of Las Vegas made his return to the ring after a
seven year lay-off to take on Cornell “Troublesome
Underdog” Davis (3-7-2). Needless to say,
“Bronco” Billy needed to shake off some
rust and Cornell Davis did all he could to live
up to his nickname. Wright has been in the ring
with such notables as Tony Tucker, Francois Botha
and Michael Moorer, but that was a long time ago
in another era where everyone he fought is long
since out of the boxing game. This was not a pretty
fight where the smaller Davis (248#) charged inside
of Wright’s longer arms to tie him up, hit
and hold. Wright (278#) managed to catch him a few
times on the way in and some more after each break
to win most rounds. But most of the time it was
a picture of two fat, sweaty heavyweights holding
and hugging and pushing each other around the ring.
Davis was warned several times by Referee Jay Nady
for head butts and “Bronco” Billy was
finally cut by a butt late in the fifth. At the
end of six rounds nobody was down and it went to
the judge’s scorecards where Glen Trowbridge
scored it 58-56 and Judges Duane Ford and Patricia
Morse Jarman had it 59-55 all for Wright. Many in
the crowd booed the decision in a fight that was
hard to score because of all of the inside action;
lvboxing.com saw it as a draw.
Orr vs. Smallwood
In a Middleweight match up former
Canadian Olympian Donnie “Boy” Orr,
(7-0, 4 KO”s), now living in Henderson, NV,
took on Robert Smallwood (4-3-2, 4 KO’s) of
St. Joseph, MO. In an interesting start, Smallwood
came out after the opening bell and reached out
to tap gloves to start the fight. He was greeted
by a quick left hook that dropped him to the canvas
on the first blow of the fight. After an eight count
a “totally pissed off” Smallwood charged
Orr, evidently reverting to his old football days
tackling Orr against the ropes trying to bring him
down. Referee Russell Mora broke up the melee and
took control of the action deducting another point
from Smallwood. Less than a minute into the second
Smallwood ducked low and was caught with a downward
Orr punch that dropped him to the floor. Smallwood
beat the count only to go down again from an Orr
combination. Smallwood got to his feet again but
Referee Mora looked him over and stopped the fight.
Donnie “Boy” Orr gets a TKO at 1:18
of the second.
Taunton vs. Cortez
Johnny “The Cobra”
Taunton in his pro debut took on Alejandro Cortez
(0-4) in a Lightweight match that led off the evening.
For his first pro fight Taunton looked very poised
from the beginning. He used a good jab followed
by body shots and rights and lefts to Cortez’
head to easily win the first. Cortex was more aggressive
in following rounds but was out boxed all night
by a skilled Taunton. Taunton used a straight left
to rock Cortez several times late in the fight.
Judge Duane Ford saw it 39-37, while judges Jerry
Roth and Richard Ocasio had it 40-36 all for Johnny
Taunton who impressively notches his first pro victory.
Marin vs. Hurley
Last month Ronald Hurley (0-1)
took on Oscar Marin (3-0) in his pro debut and lost
a Unanimous decision 39-37 X 3 in an action packed
4-rounder that was a real crowd pleaser. This month
Hurley came back for more of the same and vowed
not to leave the decision in the judge’s hands.
Hurley, despite his best efforts, didn’t get
the promised KO, but used his height and reach advantage
and surprising power to pound out a 40-36 X 3 Unanimous
Decision over Marin.
Aguiar vs. Titus
In a Middleweight match Rigo “The
Iceman” formerly “the Body Hunter”
Aguiar 1-0) took on Tyrone Titus fighting in his
pro debut. A smaller Titus used his speed to attack
and get out fast to keep away from Aguiar’s
power for most of the fight. After four rounds it
went to the judges scorecards where all three saw
it 39-37 for Tyrone Titus who wins his first professional
fight.
LVBOXING.COM WEEKLY NEWS AND
NOTES
by Lawrence Hidaka
Week of Feb. 12, 2007
ST.VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE AT
THE ORLEANS! A romantic evening is in store for
all this Wednesday at the Orleans as Crown Boxing
presents their monthly World Championship Boxing
card.
“The Amazing” Layla
McCarter returns as the headliner as she defends
her GBU Lightweight World Championship against undefeated
Melissa Hernandez of Puerto Rico by way of the Bronx,
NY. Layla headlined last month's Crown card at the
Orleans and looked spectacular in taking out Donna
Biggers in 2.
On the undercard, heavyweight
“Bronco” Billy Wright (32-4, 24KOs)
will launch a comeback. Billy has been in with Michael
Moorer, Frans Botha, and Tony Tucker, but has been
off for several years. His opponent is Cornell “Troublesome
Underdog” Davis, whom we saw giving Erick
Vega a hard time at the South Coast last year.
The undercard also features the
rematch of last month's crowd-pleasing 4 round brawl
between Oscar Marin and Ronald Hurley, one of the
Las Vegas fights of the year so far, where Marin
edged Hurley on the scorecards. At the press conference
today at the Orleans, both Marin and Hurley predicted
that the rematch would not go the distance. A reasonable
strategy for the brawling Marin, not so much for
the lanky Hurley, who was successful early on in
the first fight by boxing and using his reach advantage.
Also returning from last month's
card are undefeated middleweights Rigo “The
Body Hunter” Aguiar and Canadian Olympian
Donnie “Boy” Orr in separate bouts.
Doors open to the Orleans Mardi Gras Ballroom at
6:00pm and the first fight goes at 7:00pm. Tickets
start at $25. Bring someone you love . . .
TOUGH NIGHT IN LAUGHLIN FOR LAS
VEGANS: Last Friday night at a card hosted by the
Avi Resort in Laughlin, popular Las Vegas fighters
Ryan Ellul, Luis Raul Galvan, and Terrence Jett,
all went down to defeat. Ulell, fighting just two
weeks after a wildly successful but bruising pro
debut at the Orleans Arena in which both he and
his opponent were awarded bonuses by promoter Top
Rank, was stopped in 1 by David Marquez. Galvan
dropped a 6 round split to Torrence Daniels. On
the plus side, Jett's vanquisher was fellow Las
Vegan Don Juan Futrell, who won by 4 round unanimous
decision, and in the main event, Las Vegas-based
undefeated super middleweight Carlos DeLeon, Jr.
was a big 1st round KO winner over Derek Andrews
. . .
ESPN2 FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS AT WYNN
THIS FRIDAY, but none of us will be there. Unfortunately,
this is a private event with no public ticket sales.
Hey, sometimes the best seat is your living room
couch. The main event has Verno Phillips facing
Eduardo Sanchez. Start time on ESPN2 is 7:00pm .
. .
ISHE SMITH ON HBO THIS SATURDAY!
On an HBO Boxing After Dark tripleheader this Saturday
from NYC, Las Vegas' Ishe “Sugar Shay”
Smith will face the challenge of his career so far
when he faces Sechew Powell in a 10 round junior
middleweight showdown. Ishe gained notoriety on
“The Contender Season 1” as “the
hot-headed guy”. Ishe's only defeat was on
“The Contender” to eventual Contender
champion Sergio Mora. Powell, meanwhile, is coming
off his lone defeat, a 10 round decision to Kassim
Ouma. The main event of the Boxing After Dark card
features Paulie Malignaggi, who in his last fight
showed guts in taking a 12 round beating from Miguel
Cotto. Paulie will not give himself a break, as
he takes on yet another tough customer in Edner
Cherry. The third fight of the tripleheader has
undefeated Andre Berto taking on Nito Bravo from
“The Contender Season 2”. The show will
be tape delayed to Las Vegas at 9:45pm . . .
STATE GOLDEN GLOVES TOURNAMENT
THIS SATURDAY! Catch the best amateur boxers in
Nevada this Saturday as Barry's Boxing Gym hosts
the State Golden Gloves Tournament. Barry's is located
at 2664 South Highland Dr., between I-15 and Industrial
just south of Sahara. The show starts at 6:00pm
. . .
SHOULD NOT BE FIGHTING UPDATE:
Last Saturday night in Philadelphia, 40 year old
Bruce Seldon scored a first round stoppage over
professional heavyweight opponent Marcus Rhode.
In Seldon's previous fight over a year ago at the
Orleans in Las Vegas, the former “Atlantic
City Express” was unrecognizable at 260+ pounds
as he fell in 2 to “Big Sky” Tye Fields.
Though he weighed in at a respectable 235 against
Rhode, his lowest weight since getting KO'd by Mike
Tyson over 10 years ago, it's difficult to see a
happy ending for the comeback of the former WBA
heavyweight champ . . .
HAVE A GREAT BOXING WEEK!
Shane Mosley vs Luis Collazo
WBC Interim World Title Fight
By Gregory Robinson
Things were tough for Mosley
tonight. He didn’t have much to gain by winning,
and loosing would have been devastating. Furthermore,
Collazo is a quick southpaw, and few fighters ever
really look good in front of a talented southpaw.
Nevertheless, Mosley is a knockout puncher that’s
taken out De La Hoya twice, while Collazo has no
knockout power and has earned most of his respect
by loosing a close decision with Hatton. Collazo’s
only chance was to Rocky-out, try to be standing
at the end of twelve and maybe catch a close decision.
For the first half of the fight, it looked like
he might actually make it happen. In fact, for the
first two rounds, Mosley and Collazo looked like
old friends, trading smiles and having fun. But
in the third round the frolic filled friendship
ended and Shane got serious. He landed a big overhand
right and then another straight right – the
two weapons that he would use to dominate the fight.
Collazo responded with some respectable combinations
as well – and against what the judges say,
I’d call the first six rounds essentially
even. But after the 7th, Collazo got progressively
slower, while Mosley got increasingly confident.
Mosley found more success with his rights, and Collazo
was unable to respond. In 11, Mosley landed a big
right hook that sent Collazo stumbling backwards
and down to the mat. Collazo was tired and out.
He made it through the next round, but Mosley had
assumed full generalship of the ring. Mosley noted
afterwards that Collazo stayed in there and kept
fighting, but the truth is that Collazo had landed
single digits in 10 of the 12 rounds. The judges
score the bout 118-109, 119-108, and 118-109 –
all in favor of Mosley. After the fight, Collazo
claimed that he had hurt his hand in training and
re-injured it in round three. If it’s true,
its too bad, because it will be a while before he
gets a big shot like this again. Mosley said afterwards
that he felt light on his feet and would be ready
to fight again in June.
Vivian “Vicious” Harris
(27-2-1) vs Juan “The Hispanic Causing Panic”
Lazcano (37-3)
Jr. Welterweight WBC Eliminator
Despite the nickname, Harris took
charge of this fight by being considerably less
vicious than the overly aggressive Lazcano. Harris’s
strategy was to take the center of the ring and
stay there, using his reach, his accurate jab, and
his size to pound away as Lazcano tried to come
in. When Harris was successful, he took rounds.
But Lazcano quickly learned that he could charge
in head first and duck under everything Harris had
to offer. When Lazcano got in, the flurries began,
and Harris was out of his element. In rounds 4 and
5, Lazcano used his bulldozing head to press Harris
to the ropes and tee off, but in round 7, Harris
came back with a newfound aggression and returned
the favor. As the fight progressed, Lazcano showed
increasing signs of fatigue, and Harris took his
place back at the center of the ring, where he could
again pick away at Lazcano – a place where
he stayed until the end. In rounds 11 and 12, Harris
outlanded Lazcano 37-7. Lazcano mounted his final
counter-attack in the last round by going almost
to the canvas and hauling off on Harris’ lower
body, pelting his thighs, quads and pelvis with
a relentless below-the-belt assault. Referee Tony
Weeks stepped in and took a point away, but at that
point all was lost for Lazcano anyway. Judges score
the bout 114-113, 115-112, and 115-112 all for Harris,
who proves that calm and collected is sometimes
better than vicious.
Billy Dib vs Carlos Contreras
If Dib came out to make a statement
to the featherweight division, he succeeded. His
opponent, the tough Carlos Contreras, had a focused,
uni-directional attack plan: duck the head and charge.
But like a talented bullfighter, Dib repeatedly
spun out his way and made him pay. That said, Contreras
stayed the course and refused to go down despite
relentless waves of punishment. After 10 rounds,
it was a complete shut out, all three judges giving
every round to Dib. The 100-90 on each card moves
Dib to 15-0 – featherweights get ready for
this guy.
Jose “Silver Boy” Rodriguez
vs Cesar Valentin
Rodriguez gave Valentin
a lesson in boxing, keeping his hands high and picking
away at Valentin’s defenses until Valentin
dropped to a knee in round two. In three, Valentin
got backed into a corner and Rodriguez proceeded
to wail until a right to the midsection of Valentin
hit him like a depth charge and dropped him to a
knee again. Valentin’s corner stepped in to
stop the fight, giving Rodriguez another small notch
on his belt. Official time: 1:35 of round 3.
In other action:
Craig McEwan took out Isidro
Arreola III by TKO in round 4, and Leon Green won
a decision over Bryan Mullis, all judges scoring
the bout 40-34.
Official Weights for BATTLE AT THE BAY at Mandalay Bay
photo by Lawrence Hidaka
Shane Mosley 147
Luis Collazo 147
Vivian Harris 140
Juan Lazcano 140
Billy Dib 129
Carlos Contreras 129
Jose Rodriguez 154
Cesar Valentin 154
Craig McEwan 164
Isidro Arreola 161
Leon Green 148
Bryan Mullis 146
Tickets still available starting at $50
Doors open to Mandalay Bay Event Center at 4:00pm
First fight 4:30pm
Live on HBO at 6:45pm
BATTLE AT THE BAY
MOSLEY-COLLAZO FINAL PRESSER
Billy Dib
Report and Photos by Lawrence
Hidaka
The final press conference for
Saturday night's WBC "interim" welterweight
championship bout between Sugar Shane Mosley and
Luis Collazo was held today at Mandalay Bay and
hosted by Golden Boy President and noted funnyman
Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins. Hopkins
made several hilarious jokes, including apologizing
for pronouncing Juan Lazcano's name as "Joo-Ahn",
blaming the error on the new teeth in his mouth.
Both Mosley and Collazo proclaimed themselves ready and fit, and spoke confidently.
Collazo's trainer Nirmal Lorrick
made reference to what happens when the heat is
on. "Sugar melts."
Shane's father and trainer Jack
Mosley's response: "Sugar can give you diabetes,
sugar can kill you . . . Solid, melted, heated,
sugar will break you down."
Shane confidently announced, "I'm
just too good right now. I'm too sharp."
The semi-main event is a well-matched
WBC junior welter eliminator between "Vicious"
Vivian Harris and Juan "The Hispanic Causing
Panic" Lazcano. Though Lazcano is known for
a hard head, Harris' assistant trainer Blimp predicted
a KO victory.
Featured on the undercard is Golden Boy's undefeated featherweight contender Billy Dib. Dib, from Australia, has been compared in style to Naseem Hamed and will be making his Las Vegas debut. Billy said he is excited to be fighting in Las Vegas, and he really likes the atmosphere here. At 14-0, 9KOs, Billy said within his next 2-3 fights he'll be ready to fight for a world championship at 126 pounds. When asked who he would like to fight for the championship, Billy replied "Whoever holds the belts." Saturday night Billy will be fighting Carlos Contreras of El Paso in a scheduled 10 rounder.
Tickets are still available for
"Battle at the Bay" and start at $50.
LVBOXING.COM WEEKLY NEWS AND
NOTES
By Lawrence Hidaka
Week of February 5, 2007
SUGAR SHANE RETURNS THIS SATURDAY!
Sugar Shane Mosley headlines HBO's World Championship
Boxing from Mandalay Bay this Saturday night. This
will be Shane's first appearance in the ring since
retiring Fernando Vargas last July. The opponent
is former WBA welter titlist Luis Collazo, who lost
the title to Ricky Hatton last year. Collazo does
not figure to be much of a challenge for Shane,
whom we suspect is staying busy while waiting for
one more superfight, perhaps against Floyd Mayweather
(assuming he defeats Delahoya in May), or the winner
of Cotto-Margarito in June, or the winner of Hatton-Castillo
also in June. Mosley-Collazo is scheduled for 12
rounds.
The fight to watch on the card is the junior welter
showdown between “Vicious” Vivian Harris
and Juan “The Hispanic Causing Panic”
Lazcano. The hard-hitting Harris was squarely atop
the list of junior welter contenders until two years
ago when he was upset by Carlos Maussa. Harris will
regain his former standing with a victory over the
rock-solid Lazcano, who three years ago gave Jose
Luis Castillo one of his toughest fights.
Start time at the Mandalay Bay Events Center is
4:05pm, with the live HBO broadcast starting at
6:45pm. Tickets start at a very reasonable $50 .
. .
BOXING RETURNS TO LAUGHLIN THIS
FRIDAY! For those of you for whom one live boxing
card a week is not enough, the Avi Resort in Laughlin
is hosting a show the night before Mosley-Collazo.
Headlining the card is red-hot super middleweight
contender Carlos Deleon, Jr., son of the former
cruiserweight champ. Also scheduled for the card
is Las Vegas-based heavyweight Duncan Dokiwari,
who launched a comeback last year and went 3-0 with
3 KOs. Card is subject to change. Scheduled start
time is 6:30pm, with tickets starting at $35 . .
.
PETER AND SOTO WAIT FOR TITLE
SHOTS! Looks like Las Vegas-based Samuel “The
Nigerian Nightmare” Peter, who is coming off
two WBC heavyweight title eliminator victories over
James Toney, will have to wait for his title shot.
Champion Oleg Maskaev is set to defend against comebacking
former champ Vitali Klitschko in April in a huge
Russian extravaganza. Meanwhile, Humberto Soto will
stay busy against Humberto Toledo on a Fight Night
on VERSUS card later this month as he awaits a shot
at WBC featherweight champ In Jin Chi. Soto made
his name in Las Vegas at Guilty Fight Nights at
the Orleans and has won two WBC “interim”
featherweight title fights . . .
HAVE A GREAT BOXING WEEK!
A TITLE SHOT IS ON THE LINE
WHEN LAZCANO TAKES ON HARRIS
WBC ELIMINATION BOUT TO BE FEATURED
ON MOSLEY-COLLAZO CARD,
FEB. 10 IN LAS VEGAS
LOS ANGELES, January 23 –
The stakes will be higher than ever for Juan Lazcano
and Vivian Harris on Saturday, Feb. 10th, when the
two highly regarded contenders battle it out in
a 12-round WBC super lightweight elimination bout
which is the co-featured attraction of the “Battle
At The Bay” card at the Mandalay Bay Events
Center in Las Vegas.
“Battle At The Bay”
– Sugar Shane Mosley vs. Luis Collazo, and
Vivian Harris vs. Juan Lazcano will air live on
HBO World Championship Boxing at 9:45 PM EST / 6:45
PM PST.
“Both Juan Lazcano and Vivian
Harris are at the top of their games, and as far
as I’m concerned, this matchup is as good
as, if not better, than a world title fight,”
said Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions.
“These are two veterans with a lot on the
line, and it may be safe to say that while the winner
goes on to fight for the championship, the loser
may have to re-evaluate his career and where he’s
headed. That type of pressure always makes for a
great fight.”
An entertaining boxer-puncher
known to fight fans as ‘The Hispanic Causin’
Panic’, El Paso’s Juan Lazcano (37-3-1,
27 KOs) is always a crowd pleaser and never afraid
of a good scrap. A former IBA and NABF lightweight
champion, Lazcano moved to the 140-pound weight
class in 2005 and has been impressive in putting
together a four fight win streak that includes wins
over solid contenders Ben Tackie and Courtney Burton.
In his last fight, on October 21st, Lazcano pounded
out a hard-fought ten round decision over Manuel
Garnica.
A native of Guyana who now makes
his home in Brooklyn, New York, hard-hitting Vivian
Harris (27-2-1, 18 KOs) has long been one of boxing’s
most avoided practitioners. A pro since 1997, Harris
finally got his break in 2002, when he fought and
knocked out Diosbelys Hurtado to win the WBA junior
welterweight championship. He defended the crown
three times before an upset loss to Carlos Maussa
in 2005, but with back to back comeback wins over
Marteze Logan and Stevie Johnston, ‘Vicious’
Vivian is ready to challenge for the crown once
again.
Tickets to “Battle
At The Bay” are priced at $300, $200, $100
and $50 and are on sale now. Tickets will be sold
at any Mandalay Bay box office and all Las Vegas
Ticketmaster locations (Smith’s Food and Drug
Centers, Macy’s stores and Ritmo Latino).
To charge by phone with a major credit card, call
the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or
Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are
available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or
www.ticketmaster.com.
OSCAR DE LA HOYA TO TEAM UP
WITH RENOWNED TRAINER FREDDIE ROACH
FOR MAY 5TH SUPER FIGHT AGAINST FLOYD MAYWEATHER
JR.
LOS ANGELES, January 30 –
After much deliberation, WBC super welterweight
champion Oscar De La Hoya has decided that the man
to lead him into battle against Floyd Mayweather
Jr. on May 5th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Las Vegas is the 2003 Boxing Writers Association
of America’s Trainer of the Year and the leading
candidate for the honor again this year, Freddie
Roach.
“Freddie and I have known
each other for many years, and I am very happy that
at this point in my career he has accepted my offer
to be my trainer,” said De La Hoya. “I
felt very humbled by the fact that many great trainers
reached out and offered their services, but after
sitting down with Freddie, I quickly realized that
this is the man I want to have in my corner come
May 5th. Freddie’s accomplishments speak for
themselves, and I look forward to working with him
and getting in the best shape of my career to conquer
yet another challenge.”
“I’m happy to be working
with Oscar for this fight, which for a trainer is
not only a dream opportunity, but a great challenge
and responsibility,” said Roach. “I’m
going to do everything in my power, and I know Oscar
will as well, to ensure victory on May 5th.”
Pre-camp workouts have already
begun for De La Hoya, with his training camp to
officially kick off in Puerto Rico on March 1st.
Roach, the BWAA’s Trainer
of The Year in 2003, is a former pro fighter who
shared the ring with former world champions Bobby
Chacon, Hector Camacho, and Greg Haugen over the
course of an eight year pro career. After retiring
in 1986, Roach carried on the teachings of the legendary
Eddie Futch, and began molding champions as a trainer.
Since then, he has trained 18 world champions, including
Manny Pacquiao, James Toney, Mike Tyson, Virgil
Hill, Israel Vazquez, and Wayne McCullough, and
is respected throughout the boxing community as
one of the last true teachers in the sport.
De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KOs) is coming
off a stirring sixth round TKO of Ricardo Mayorga
last May to win the WBC super welterweight crown.
In the most highly-anticipated bout of this era,
De La Hoya will defend his title against Mayweather
in what is expected to be one of the biggest boxing
events of all-time.
Results from Barry's Boxing
Match 01/27/07
Thomas Ramirez ( Las Vegas
Boxing) over Danny Vella (Barry's)- Points
Parnell Fisher (Barry's) over Charles Wethwine (Unattached)
- Points
Daniel Reece (Unattached) over Ben Baysinger (Bruno's
Boxing) - Points
Edgar Sagon ( Barry's) over Lucky Singh (Barry's)
- RSC
Stata Championship Match - 178
lbs
Josh Kennedy ( Bruno's Boxing)
over Devin Ross (Headstrong Boxing) - RSC
Unapposed State Champions who
will go on to Regionals in San Diego, CA
106lbs Gino Padilla
112lbs Louie Padilla
119lbs Teddy Padilla
125lbs Davon Lawson
132lbs Diego Magdaleno
141lbs Jessie Vargas
165lbs Ben Baysinger
200lbs Cory Santos
201+ Henry Namau'u
TYE FIELDS SCORES BIG WIN AT
ORLEANS ARENA
By Steve Robinson
6’8’” Las Vegas
Heavyweight Tye Fields (36-1, 33 KO’s) pounded
out a Unanimous Decision over journeyman Kendrick
Releford (14-8-1, 5 KO’s) of Ft. Worth, Texas
in a fight where he demonstrated all his advantages,
skills and training. For ten rounds Fields never
let up keeping Releford at bay with a right jab
in his face all the time and landing right hooks
and strait lefts when there was an opening. Fields
also demonstrated that he has a heavyweight chin,
taking a few huge shots to the chin and continuing
his attack without showing effect.
Fields came out strong early in
the first looking like he wanted to put Releford
away early. He drove Releford onto the ropes and
worked him over while Releford covered and countered
when he could. Releford took advantage of Fields
slowing up in the next few rounds to land more big
head shots but even though Fields blows were not
as effective, he never let up in volume. He kept
a pawing jab in Releford's face and swung his big
rights often. From the fifth round on it was all
Fields. He kept busier every round in an unrelenting
attack that eventually wore Releford down and managed
to avoid Relford's wild efforts by backing off when
he attacked.
In round ten Fields staggered
Releford a few times but was unable to put him away
and the decision went to the judge’s scorecards.
Jerry Roth and CJ Ross saw it 99-91 while Dave Moretti
had it 98-92 all for Tye Fields. Lvboxing also scored
it 98-92. Compubox punch stats showed that Fields
threw 886 total blows connecting with 196. That
number is the 9th highest output for a Heavyweight
in a ten round fight.
Fields steps up in competition
against a tougher foe than he has fought in the
past and shows he is ready to go up against the
top fighters in the division.
ARCHIE SOLIS RETAINS IBF JR FLYWEIGHT
TITLE
Last January, “Archie”
Solis took the IBF Light Flyweight Title from Will
Grigsby in Madison Square Garden by Unanimous Decision.
Since then Solis (22-1-1, 16 KO’s) has defended
the title twice while Grigsby (18-3-1, 7 KO’s)
hasn’t fought. We’re not sure what Grigsby
did to deserve another shot at the title and shortly
after the fight began it was evident that he didn’t
really have a plan to get it back. For eight of
a scheduled 12 rounds a faster more confident Solis
landed quick left-right combos then got away only
to come back in and repeat. He never changed his
attack and Grigsby seemed unable to neither mount
any effective defense nor mount any offense. At
the end of the 8th the ring doctor advised Referee
Jay Nady to stop the bout as Grigsby apparently
has an eye injury and can’t answer the bell
for the 9th. Solis retains his title with a TKO
victory at 3:00 of round 8.
UNDERCARD ACTION
LEE VS. ORTEGA
“Irish” Andy Lee (6-0,
3 KO’s) of Limerick, Ireland now boxing out
of Emanuel Steward’s Kronk Gym in Detroit,
MI gave a boxing lesson to Arturo Ortega (12-2-3,
7 KO’s) of Phoenix, AZ in the opener. Lee
controlled the action with superior speed, footwork
and combinations that left Ortega frustrated and
ineffective in the early rounds. In the fourth Lee
landed two huge lefts that staggered Ortega but
he managed to keep his feet. In the 5th lee continued
his assault landing a few more big lefts late in
the round. In between the rounds the ring doctor
carefully looked Ortega over. Early in the 6th lee
landed a huge straight left that rocked his opponent
when Referee Kenny Bayless stepped between the boxers
to end the bout. Andy Lee gets a TKO at 32 seconds
of the 6th to improve to 7-0.
RIVERA VS. ELLUL
In a Welterweight match Martin
Vierra (2-0, 1 KO) of Phoenix, AZ took on Ryan Ellul
of Las Vegas appearing in his pro debut. Ellul survived
getting tagged hard early in the first to come back
to win the round with a good left jab and good left-right
combos. From them on it was all Ellul who dominated
the final three rounds landing several big shots
to Vierra’s head. The biggest surprise was
that Vierra was able to keep his feet throughout
the fight as he was rocked several times. Ellul
scores a 40-36 X 3 Unanimous Decision victory for
his first pro win.
LIZZARAGA VS. SOLIS
Omar Lizzaraga (16-3, 12 KO’s)
of Tijuana, MX took on #1 ranked Featherweight contender
Jorge Solis (31-0-2, 22 KO’s) of Guadalajara,
MX in a bout scheduled for ten rounds. After a slow
start, Solis took control in the second showing
his superior skills and experience to control the
action. In the 5th, Lizzaraga was staggered by a
series of blows to his head that caused him to grab
the ropes to stay up. Referee Robert Byrd properly
gave him an eight count. Solis continued his attack
by landing several more huge shots until the referee
was forced to step in and stop the action. Solis
gets a TKO at 1:10 of the 5th.
PAGE VS. BANKS
In a Cruiserweight match Zack
Page (11-9-1, 3 KO’s) of Warren, OH took on
another Emanuel Steward prospect Jonathon Banks
(13-0, 10 KO’s) of Detroit, MI. This match
was designed to showcase Banks’ skills and
further his record on to bigger and better fights.
Although Banks clearly won the fight he didn’t
look good doing it and was unable to dominate Page
or put him away when he got him hurt. Pages somewhat
lazy effort shows he needs a lot more tune-ups before
he can take on the top fighters in his division
and go on to the big money fights. At the end of
eight Judges Hoyle and Houck scored it 79-73, while
Judge Ford had it 78-74 all for Jonathon Banks unimpressive
UD victory.
HOPPE VS. COOPER
The Queen of Las Vegas Ladies
Boxing, Melinda Cooper (17-0, 9 KO’s) had
to go all the way to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
to find an opponent in Delia Hoppe (3-4-1, 1 KO).
However if didn’t take long for Melinda to
demonstrate why it’s so hard to find someone
to fight her – she dropped Hoppe to the canvas
with a beautiful straight right about mid first
round. Hoppe was dazed and blinking her eyes when
she got up but continued the fight and survived
the round. Cooper hurt her again just before the
round ended. Hoppe’s corner looked her over
and talked to her between rounds and decided she
had had enough as they refused to answer the bell
for the second. Cooper gets a TKO at 3:00 minutes
of round 1 and shows again why she is the best in
her division.
Heavyweights Tye Fields and Kendrick Releford seperated by Middleweight "Irish" Andy Lee
LVBOXING.COM WEEKLY NEWS AND NOTES
by Lawrence Hidaka
Week of January 22, 2007
HATTON-CASTILLO SET FOR VEGAS!
At the post fight press conference
following the Hatton-Urango/Castillo-Ngoudjo doubleheader
at the Paris Las Vegas last Saturday night, promoters
Dennis Hobson and Bob Arum announced that Ricky
Hatton and Jose Luis Castillo will meet in June
at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Both
Hatton and Castillo won their respective fights
Saturday night, Hatton in far more impressive fashion,
setting up the showdown. The exact date in June
will be announced soon. It should be quite a seen
in the Thomas & Mack with each fighter bringing
hordes of enthusiastic supporters from their respective
countries . . .
“BIG TIME” KO'D
BY KNEE INJURY! Last
Saturday night in Basel, Switzerland, Las Vegan
Jameel “Big Time” McCline fell short
in his challenge of WBA heavyweight champion Nicola
Valuev when he suffered a knee injury in the 3rd
round and could not continue. McCline was removed
from the ring on a stretcher. Neither fighter had
established a significant advantage at the time
of the stoppage. It was the end of a remarkable,
gutsy journey for Jameel McCline, which saw him
fight on undercards across the U.S., earning a second
title shot blue collar style . . .
TYE FIELDS HEADLINES TOP RANK
CARD AT THE ORLEANS ARENA THURSDAY! Thursday
night at the Orleans Arena it will be the return
of 6'8” heavyweight Tye “Big Sky”
Fields, as he will take on Kendrick Releford in
the 10 round main event. Fields, newly signed by
Top Rank, was last seen disposing of former heavyweight
contender Maurice Harris back in June at the South
Point. Kendrick Releford holds victories over Ron
Guerrero, Ramon Garbey, Elicier Castillo, Garing
Lane, and Mika Gergen in his most recent outing,
and has gone the distance with Roman Greenberg and
Malik Scott.
Also on the card is the rematch
between Ulises Solis and Will Grigsby for Solis's
IBF 108 lb. title. Solis and Grigsby went 12 hard
rounds a year ago, with Solis winning on the cards.
Rounding out the card are undefeated
Emmanuel Steward-trained Irish middleweight Andy
Lee, and local teen (now 21 years old) sensation
Melinda Cooper in her first fight in Las Vegas in
a year and a half. Cooper is so good she has had
problems with opponents not sticking around for
the actual fight.
Tickets start at a heck of a bargain
price of $20. There are no bad seats in the Orleans
Arena . . .
CONGRATULATIONS TO RICHARD
OCASIO AND TOBY MURRAY, who
were both approved earlier this month by the Nevada
State Athletic Commission as new ring officials,
Ocasio as a judge and Murray as a timekeeper. Both
Ocasio and Murray have served for years as volunteer
officials for USA Boxing (the governing body of
amateur boxing in the U.S.) in Southern Nevada .
. .
HAVE A GREAT BOXING WEEK!
BANNER PROMOTIONS AND FIGHT
ACADEMY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH TOP RANK PRESENT
TOTAL DOMINATION
AT PARIS LAS VEGAS
HATTON TRIUMPHS IN LAS VEGAS DEBUT
by Lawrence Hidaka
Tonight at the Paris Hotel and
Casino in Las Vegas England's Ricky “The Hitman”
Hatton recaptured the IBF junior welter title with
a lopsided 12 round decision over Colombia's Juan
Urango. Hatton previously held the title before
moving up in weight and taking the WBA welterweight
belt from Luis Collazo last year. This was Hatton's
first fight in Las Vegas, and judging by the full
house and the thousands of overjoyed British supporters
who crossed the pond to support their man, it will
be the first of many to come.
Largely unknown but undefeated
Juan Urango may very well be the most thickly muscled
140 pounder in the history of boxing. He cut an
imposing figure as he stood as the champion (he
won the vacated title with a decision over Naoufel
Ben Rabah last year) across the ring from the more
modestly built Hatton, but once the bell rang, the
imposing figure proved to be Ricky Hatton.
The “Hitman” has made
his name as a recklessly aggressive blood and guts
go for broke brawler, but we saw a different “Hitman”
tonight. Tonight Hatton used his feet as well as
his hands, moving in and out and circling. What
remained the same was the hand speed, which proved
to be too much for Juan Urango.
The story was largely the same
for the 12 round distance: Hatton (139) scoring
with both hands, moving in and out and circling,
the southpaw Urango (139) meanwhile thinking about
throwing punches. While Urango thought about what
to throw, Hatton would unload three or four. It
seemed as if they were playing the game at different
speeds. Compubox punchstats would attest to Hatton's
greater activity: 755 total punches to 570 for Urango.
When the fighters entered close quarters, where
one would think the muscular Urango would be most
dangerous, Urango could do little more than hold.
Urango had his best moments in
the 5th and the 12th, getting in some good body
shots, but that was about it for Urango's offense.
All three judges, Robert Hoyle, Dave Moretti, and
Jerry Roth scored 119-109 for Ricky Hatton. Lvboxing.com
had the same score. Hatton remains undefeated at
42-0, 30KOs, and is on a collision course with Jose
Luis Castillo. Juan Urango suffers his first defeat
and is now 17-1-1, 13KOs.
Said Hatton in the ring after
the fight, “He was very, very tough. Those
first 4 or 5 rounds I looked like Willie Pep . .
. I think I showed another side. I can box.”
UNDERCARD ACTION
In the opening fight of the evening,
Ricky's younger brother Matthew Hatton (146) scored
a TKO at the end of 7 of a scheduled 12 over journeyman
Frank Houghtaling (146). Matthew did not display
the same overcaffeinated frenzy his older brother
is known for, but his measured, disciplined, short
punches were enough to make Houghtaling's corner
call it a night after 7 rounds. Houghtaling was
down in the 4th to a short right hand preceded by
a quick double jab. Matthew Hatton improves to 30-3-1,
12KOs and takes possession of a minor welterweight
belt, while Houghtaling drops to 19-13-5, 4KOs.
Jon Ibbotson (175) of Sheffield,
England scored the KO of the year so far with a
first round demolition of Shannon Anderson (175)
of Coatesville, PA. Anderson was in a little over
his head (literally, Ibbotson stood a good head
taller) as he first went down to a barrage about
a minute into the fight. Anderson rose, but moments
later a sweeping left hook from Ibbotson landed
on Anderson's temple. Anderson was out on his feet
for a couple of seconds before his body crashed
to the canvas. Referee Jay Nady did not bother to
count. KO at 1:35 of the 1st round for Jon Ibbotson,
who remains undefeated at 8-0-1, 4KOs, while Anderson
suffers his first defeat and falls to 3-1, 1KO.
In the walkout bout, Richard Abril
(139) of Miami, FL stopped Marcus Luck (138) of
Danville, VA at :55 of the 2nd of a scheduled 4.
Luck was in some distress from a body shot in the
1st round, before succumbing in the 2nd. Abril still
undefeated at 7-0-1, 3KOs, while Luck runs out at
7-13-1, 3KOs.
CASTILLO EKES OUT
SPLIT DECISION
By Steve Robinson
Jose Luis “El Terrible”
Castillo lived up to his nickname last night in
a terrible performance against Herman “The
Black Panther” Ngoudjo. Castillo (54-7-1,
47 KO’s), fighting for the first time in nearly
a year and only for the second time as a Jr. Welterweight,
put on a lackluster performance against the less
experienced Ngoudjo (15-0, 9 KO’s). Perhaps
it was the long layoff, perhaps it was difficulty
in making weight again or maybe he just overlooked
Ngoudjo as a serious opponent and didn’t train
seriously but this was not the Jose Luis Castillo
we have seen in tremendous battles with Diego Corrales,
Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Joel Casamayor.
Ngoudjo’s effort was highlighted
by a fast stiff jab combined with quick rights and
right hooks that seemed to keep Castillo at bay.
Castillo did most of his work in close with upper
cuts and body shots. Castillo was warned from time
to tome for low blows. For twelve rounds neither
fighter appeared hurt at any time but from early
on Ngoudjo appeared fresher and threw cleaner blows.
Castillo’s lackluster performance kept his
Mexican fans strangely silent throughout the fight.
Those of us viewing the fight in the auxiliary fight
section were sure had seen a major upset when the
fight ended and the decision went to the judges
scorecards.
Judge Chuck Giampa gave
the victory to Ngoudjo 115-113 giving him rounds
2,3,5,7, and 10-12. Judge Mike Ross saw it 115-113
for Castillo giving him round 1, 4, 5, and 8-11.
Judge Glenn Trowbridge has it 115-113 for Castillo
also giving him rounds 1, 2, 4, and 8-11. Castillo
thus earns a Split Decision win to set up a possible
future match with Ricky Hatton. By the looks of
it, Hatton doesn’t have much to worry about.
Hatton-Urango Weigh-In
Photo by Lawrence Hidaka
lvboxing.com
Ricky Hatton 139
Juan Urango 139
Jose Luis Castillo 139
Herman Ngoudjo 140
Tickets available
at Paris Hotel box office and Ticketmaster
4:30PM Doors open to Paris Ballroom
4:50PM First fight
HATTON-URANGO FINAL
PRESSER
by Lawrence Hidaka
The final press conference for
this Saturday's IBF junior welterweight championship
bout between Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton
and champion Juan Urango promoted by Art Pelullo/Banner
Promotions and Dennis Hobson/Fight Academy in association
with Top Rank was held today at the Paris Hotel
and Casino. The presence of the entire British press
corps made for an intimate afternoon in the Anthony
Smalls Theater.
Hatton stated that he was happy
to finally fight in Las Vegas, where he had previously
come to watch others fight. For the second time
this week, he playfully referred to “getting
an erection”, to the delight of the media
in attendance. Hatton also stated, “This is
the entertainment capital of the world, I won't
let you down in that department . . . You'll see
a show you won't forget from Ricky Hatton.”
The promoters also announced that
the first fight (Matthew Hatton-Frank Houghtaling)
will be moved up to 4:50pm to accommodate European
television, and that tickets are still available
at the Paris box office and through Ticketmaster.
The full scheduled card:
4:30PM Doors open to Paris Ballroom
4:50PM 12 rounds welterweights
Matthew Hatton vs. Frank Houghtaling
6 rounds junior welterweights Nicky Smedley vs.
Juan Pablo Montes
6 rounds super middleweights Jonathan Ibbotson vs.
Shannon Anderson
TBD rounds lightweights Richar Abril vs. TBA
7:00PM Live on HBO 12 rounds
junior welterweights Jose Luis Castillo vs. Herman
Ngoudjo
12 rounds IBF junior welterweight championship
Ricky Hatton vs. Juan Urango
LVBOXING.COM WEEKLY NEWS AND
NOTES
by Lawrence Hidaka
HAPPY NEW YEAR LAS VEGAS!
And welcome to what we expect
will be another fantastic year of boxing in Las
Vegas. Weekly News and Notes has been off for a
while, due to my regular job rudely distracting
me from my enjoyment of boxing, but I took care
of that. So please bear with me for a couple weeks
as I shake off the rust and get back into the groove.
All right, LET'S DO IT, BABY!
“HITMAN” HITS VEGAS!
This Saturday night at the Paris Hotel, Ricky “The
Hitman” Hatton will make his long overdue
Las Vegas debut, as he goes back down to 140 to
challenge Juan Urango for the IBF junior welter
title. Very little is known about Urango, except
he is from Colombia, he is undefeated, and he possesses
the IBF junior welter belt that Hatton relinquished
when he went up to 147 and took the WBA welter belt.
Could be a dangerous fight for Hatton, or could
be a walk in the park. If you stroll the strip this
week, you'll notice approximately the entire population
of England here to cheer on their countryman. Gee,
I better brush up on my English.
The undercard has Jose Luis Castillo
in his first appearance in Las Vegas since weighing
in heavy for Corrales-Castillo III last June, sabotaging
that fight. It will be interesting to see how the
fans receive him. I predict all will be forgiven.
Castillo should have little problem with undefeated
Herman Ngoudjo, setting himself up nicely for the
winner of the main event.
The show is scheduled to begin
at 5:00pm at the Paris, with tickets starting at
$50. Hatton-Urango and Castillo-Ngoudjo will be
broadcast live by HBO (barring local blackout) .
. .
ON THE VERY SAME NIGHT IN BASEL,
SWITZERLAND, stubborn Jameel McCline of Las Vegas
will challenge Nicolay Valuev for the WBA heavyweight
title. This will mark the end of a remarkable journey
for “Big Time” which began after a failed
challenge of Chris Byrd for the IBF belt over two
years ago and a subsequent loss to Cal Brock. McCline,
dissatisfied with his performances, went back to
the minor leagues, fighting on undercards across
the country with the goal of earning another title
shot. McCline fought eight times in just a year
and a half, including a loss to Zuri Lawrence. McCline's
tenacity (or stubborness) paid off, as he will get
his second chance at the title this Saturday night.
If McCline manages to dethrone the 7 foot champion,
we will already have our comeback story of the year
. . .
KID DIAMOND WHIPS AUGUSTUS! Las
Vegas-based Kid Diamond (aka Almazbek Raiymkulov)
scored a lopsided 10 round decision over Emmanuel
Augustus last Thursday in Philadelphia in a fight
broadcast by VERSUS. Augustus was down in the 9th.
Augustus stepped in on short notice, but he is a
fighter who is always in shape and has been in with
everyone from Floyd Mayweather to Micky Ward to
Ray Oliveira, and serves as a good measuring stick
for Diamond's progress. Looks like Diamond is right
back at the top of the list of lightweight contenders,
a position he enjoyed until he was stopped by Nate
Campbell back in '05 . . .
BEST WISHES AND A SPEEDY RECOVERY
TO CHARLES “DOC” BROADUS, who is recovering
at Valley Hospital from a broken bone suffered in
a fall. Doc discovered a young man named George
Foreman and guided him to the heavyweight championship
of the world. At age 87, Doc is one of the great
repositories of boxing knowledge in the world. I
stopped by to visit with Doc last Friday, and he
was very happy to chat about everything from the
NFL playoffs to the current heavyweight beltholders
to fighter safety. He said his injury isn't bad
in itself, but at his age, well, they're not sure
how long he'll be hospitalized. Doc said he welcomes
all visitors, so if you want to talk some boxing
with a legend, Valley Hospital is located on Shadow
Lane north of Charleston . . .
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO “THE GREATEST”,
who will turn 65 years young on Wednesday . . .
HAVE A GREAT BOXING WEEK!
McCarter Retains Title with
2nd Round TKO
By Steve Robinson
“Amazing” Layla McCarter
beat Donna “Nature Girl” Biggers into
submission in just under two rounds at The Orleans
Hotel and Casino Friday night to retain the women’s
GBU and WBA Lightweight titles. Before a sold out
Las Vegas crowd McCarter (21-12-5, 3 KO’s)
dominated Biggers (18-3-1, 15 KO’s) in a history
making women’s boxing event originally scheduled
for 12 3-minute rounds. (Women’s boxing usually
fights two-minute rounds)
McCarter, not known for knock out power with only
3 previous KO’s in her 38 fights, took advantage
of every opening landing stiff jabs, hard lefts
and rights to the body and head in an unending assault
that never allowed Biggers to mount any offence.
Late in the first round Biggers went down after
a series of blows to her head. She was able to get
to her feet and hold out until the round ended which
fortunately for Biggers came soon after. McCarter’s
relentless attack continued into round two until
after a series of unanswered blows Referee Kenny
Bayless stepped between the fighters and stopped
the bout. The winning time was 2:28 of the second
round. McCarter’s “amazing” boxing
demonstration of superior boxing skills makes a
statement for Women’s boxing and capped off
an evening of enjoyable bouts.
Heavyweight Action
(***View
the Complete Photo Gallery***)
Former IBF Cruiserweight Champion
Kelvin “Koncrete” Davis of Reno moved
up to Heavyweight to take on journeyman Willie Chapman
of Ogden, Utah. Davis (23-4-2, 17 KO’s) weighed
in at 207 pounds while Chapman (20-27-3, 6 KO’s)
came in at 222 pounds. A smaller, faster Davis with
a build reminiscent of a young Mike Tyson, got off
to a fast start dropping Chapman to the canvas about
two minutes into the first with a left hook. Chapman
beat the count but we all thought this would be
over soon. Chapman managed to stay on his feet throughout
the second and even landed a few good rights which
showed little effect on the determined Davis. Chapman,
evidently confident after the second, decided to
mix it up early in the third and was dropped with
a right to the head. He beat the count only to go
down again late in the round from another right.
At ringside we thought surely this was soon to be
over. The remaining five round were action packed,
mostly dominated by Davis attacks and lots of action
from both fighters. Kudos to Chapman for putting
up a good fight for the remainder after getting
behind early in the fight. It was a good clean fight
with little of the clinching and holding we are
used to seeing in heavyweight bouts that go into
later rounds. At the end of eight it went to the
judges scorecards where Judge Bill Graham had it
78-72, and Judges Chuck Giampa and Jerry Roth had
it 80-69 all for Kelvin Davis in a dominate victory
where he demonstrated both power and skill. Lvboxing.com
also scored it 80-69.
Undercard Action
Aguiar vs. Lopez
The opening bout was a Middleweight
fight between Rodrigo “The Body Hunter”
Aguiar and Kristan Lopez, both in the professional
debuts. Lopez opened quickly with a decent body
attack of his own in a sloppy first round. Aguiar
got busy in the second landing some hard shots while
Lopez appeared to slow and was warned for holding
by Referee Robert Byrd. In an ugly third round Lopez
was penalized twice by the referee for excessive
holding. In the final round Lopez was warned again,
and then disqualified when he continued to hold
thus ending the fight. Unfortunately for Aguiar
he didn’t get to demonstrate his skills in
his first pro victory.
Marin vs. Hurley
In an entertaining Lightweight
match Oscar Marin (2-0, 1 KO) took on Ronald Hurley
in his pro debut. A lanky Hurly had a height and
reach advantage he demonstrated from early on but
a tough Marin walked right through his jabs working
his way inside for some good close action. In an
action packed four rounds Hurley used his left jab
– straight right combination while Marin countered
effectively. There were no knockdowns and neither
appeared hurt throughout the fight. At the end of
four all three judges scored it 39-37 for Oscar
Marin who remains undefeated at 3-0.
Jett vs. Cortez
In another Lightweight match
Terrance Jett (1-5, 1 KO) of Las Vegas took on Alejandro
Cortez (0-3) of Fresno, CA. Early on Jett demonstrated
superior speed and skill landing lefts to the body
and lefts to the head throughout the first three
rounds. Cortez landed a few good body shots but
got countered every time with shots to his face.
At the end of four rounds Judge Bill Graham saw
it 38-38 draw, while Judge Chuck Giampa had it 40-36
and Judge Dave Moretti had it 39-37 for Terrance
Jett who gets his second professional win with a
majority decision.
Orr vs. Lyubarsky
In a Middleweight bout Donny
Boy Orr (6-0, 2 KO’s) of Victoria, BC now
fighting out of Las Vegas took on Mikhail “The
Czar” Lyubarsy of Hollywood, CA. Orr dominated
from the beginning dropping Lyubarsky with a left
hook early in the first. He beats the count only
to go down a minute later from a right-left combination.
He gets up again only to get caught immediately
with another Orr left that floors him. Referee Toby
Gibson has seen enough and waives off the count
at 2:44 of the first. Donny Boy Orr takes his undefeated
record to 7-0 in a dominating performance.
FIRST FIGHTS OF 2007 THIS FRIDAY
The Orleans Hotel and Casino
and Frank Luca's Crown Boxing start
the new year in Las Vegas with 6 bouts of professional
boxing this Friday night at 7:00 pm in the Mardi
Gras Showroom at The Orleans. Featured bouts include
a Womens' Lightweight Championship match between
Layla McCarter
(21-12-5, 3 KO's) of Las Vegas and Donna
Biggers (18-3-1, 15
KO's) of Shelby, NC. This will be the first time
two female fighters are scheduled to go 12 - 3 minute
rounds. Also featured is a Heavyweight match between
Kelvin "Koncrete"
Davis and Willie
Chapman scheduled
for 8 rounds.Four other bouts round out the evening.
Tickets are $25 Reserved and $50 Ringside and are
available at The Orleans box office at 365-7075.
BEST OF LAS VEGAS BOXING 2006
By Lawrence Hidaka
LAS VEGAS FIGHTER OF THE YEAR:
FLOYD MAYWEATHER, JR.
With two dominating and significant
victories right here in Las Vegas, Floyd Mayweather,
Jr. regains the title of Las Vegas Fighter of the
Year. Floyd was our Las Vegas Fighter of the Year
for 2002 and 2003, and then was supplanted by Diego
Corrales for two years.
In April at the Thomas & Mack,
it was Floyd versus Zab Judah for the IBF world
welterweight title. The fight was infamously interrupted
by a melee in the 10th round instigated by Floyd's
trainer Roger Mayweather, who stormed the ring after
Floyd was struck by a couple of illegal blows. Thanks
to security, the athletic commission, and referee
Richard Steele, order was restored and the fight
reached a natural conclusion, which was a unanimous
decision for Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Floyd was surprisingly
challenged early by Judah, but he turned it on and
was on the verge of stopping Judah at the point
of the brawl.
Then in November at the Mandalay
Bay, Floyd dispelled any possibility that he is
a mere mortal with
a 12 round rout of WBC welter champ Carlos Baldomir.
Baldomir, by far the largest man Floyd had ever
faced, was expected to provide at least a bit of
annoyance for Floyd by virtue of his size, but in
a dazzling display of defense and comic book superheroish
hand speed, Floyd casually dismissed Baldomir while
barely breaking a sweat.
In a bizarre post fight press
conference, a tearful Floyd announced that he would
have just one more fight (Mayweather-Delahoya has
been scheduled for May 5 at the MGM). If that is
the case, this might just be Floyd's final reign
as Lvboxing.com Las Vegas Fighter of the Year.
LAS VEGAS FIGHT OF THE YEAR:
OLEG MASKAEV TKO12 HASIM RAHMAN 8-12-06 AT THE THOMAS
& MACK
I have to admit after viewing
the tape a week after the live event, there was
not quite as much action as was impressed onto my
brain at the time at ringside. The unexpected drama
that unfolded that night along with the crowd hysteria
slightly amplified the experience in my memory.
Nevertheless, there was no fight in Las Vegas this
year that provided more suspense, more inspiration,
or a more stunning ending than Hasim Rahman-Oleg
Maskaev II.
On paper Rahman-Maskaev II was
another unfortunate money-grubbing stunt, not worthy
of a Las Vegas main event. Rahman was a paper champion,
gifted with the WBC heavyweight title upon the retirement
of Lennox Lewis, and 37 year old Oleg Maskaev had
no significant victories and was knocked out three
times in the period following their first encounter.
To put this in a little perspective, Maskaev was
one year younger than Muhammad Ali at the time of
Ali-Holmes, and two years older than Sugar Ray Leonard
when he was embarrassed by Terry Norris. This fight
was made solely on the basis of that first fight
in 1999 when Maskaev knocked Rahman out (of the
ring). The promoters threw in some false patriotic
hype (Maskaev, a naturalized American, was portrayed
as a foreign invader) which still leaves a bad taste
in my mouth and undoubtedly in the mouth of Maskaev.
The potential for danger was introduced
in the first round, as both men ominously loaded
up their right hands. In the first half of the fight,
they would both land those big right hands, often
during
