Category: Uncategorized

Garcia vs. Salka

Philadelphia’s Danny Garcia needed a big performance on Saturday night against Rod Salka to silence his critics.  On Showtime’s headlining bout from Brooklyn, New York, Garcia may have done just that landing a spectacular left hook and knocking out Salka at officially two minutes and thirty-one seconds of the second round.

Garcia, who improves to 29-0 with 17 knockouts, has been chided by some in boxing circles not only since his bout against Salka, (19-4, 3 knockouts) was announced but ever since his controversial decision against Mauricio Herrera. Some felt that he had lost the fight to Herrera and were outraged that he chose to follow up that fight against the lightly regarded Salka from Bunola, Pennsylvania, a small town just outside of Pittsburgh. Not all of the criticism was warranted however as Garcia’s last eight opponents all had been former or current champions. Neither of Garcia’s titles was on the line in this one as both the WBA and WBC refused to sanction the bout. The bout was fought at a catchweight of 142.

From the opening bell, Garcia’s speed and size were evident against the overmatched Salka.  Garcia easily won round one by consistently landing a quick jab, doubling up the left hook to the body and stalking his opponent. Salka was able to land a few counter punches but Garcia’s speed and movement were too much. Interesting to note is that Salka’s right hand was surprising low in round one which was odd since you would have thought that they would have trained to guard against the Garcia left hook.

In round two, Garcia landed a huge overhand right which was set up by a picture perfect jab/feint to the body. Salka was visibly rocked by the shot and went down after Garcia followed up with multiple body shots. Salka was up at the count of seven but Garcia jumped on him and landed multiple shots to the side of his head causing Salka to take a knee. Salka once again rose to his feet and Garcia attacked him ruthlessly by landing huge power shots and wobbling Salka again. Salka was game and motioned Garcia to bring it. Garcia obliged him by landing a wicked left hook which flattened Salka, this time he would not beat the count.

After the fight, Garcia was asked by Showtime’s Jim Gray if he (Garcia) took an easy fight by choosing Salka to which Garcia replied, “I came here and did what I was supposed to do, it doesn’t always happen in boxing, I trained hard, I didn’t listen to the people saying it was going to be an easy fight, cause if I would have taken it lightly, he would have came in here and probably upset me but I took this fight like I take any other fight. I came prepared and did what I was supposed to do”

Garcia continued, “No fight is easy unless you put the hard work in and I put the hard work in.  I got the W, It has nothing to do with my opponent because when Danny Garcia is at his best he can beat anybody and I already proved that”

On the prospects of fighting Lamont Peterson, who was victorious on the undercard, Garcia stated “I’m all about fighting the best fighters, I’ll leave it up to Al Haymon, but if he wants it, he can get it too, cause that’s what I do, I’m a fighter”

Peterson vs. Santana

Destroy the body and the head will fall is an old adage in boxing and although Edgar Santana didn’t fall, his body was destroyed by Lamont Peterson. Halfway through the tenth round, ringside Doctor Barry Jordan had seen enough and stopped the fight.

If you missed the fight, you need only watch any one of the nine previous rounds prior to the tenth round stoppage to understand what happened in the fight. Every round was virtually a carbon copy of the next. Peterson dominated each round by utilizing excellent lateral movement, changing angles, landing tremendous hooks to the body and head, and stunning Santana with timely uppercuts. The ShoStats showed that 219 of Peterson’s 281 total punches landed were power shots. Comparatively, Santana only landed 94 total punches. Santana could never get going in this one and seemed to be tiring throughout the fight fell to 29-5 with the loss.

Peterson of Washington D.C. retained his IBF Junior Welterweight Title and improves to 33-2-1 with 17 knockouts.  Said Peterson after the fight, “I was able to show a lot of dimensions of my game, boxing well, fought on the inside well, I really think I should have probably got him out of there earlier than I did, overall I give myself an ok grade”

When asked if his next opponent would be Danny Garcia should he win, Peterson stated, “I hope so”

Article submitted and posted at Behind The Gloves.com

Can The Alien Be Krushed?

Now that Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev successfully defended his WBO Light Heavyweight belt, he will take on the Bernard “The Alien” formally known as “The Executioner” Hopkins in November. Much has been said about the age of Hopkins, who will enter that fight at 49 years young; however, don’t let that fool you, he has a legitimate shot of making this fight ugly and upsetting the champ. His ring IQ, solid chin, and rough tactics give him more than just a chance here.

In Need Of Remedial Training?

I’m not condoning Vic Drakulich’s stoppage of Brandon Rios and Diego Chaves foul filled affair this past Saturday night but point deductions were warranted during the fight to keep it under control. I get Chaves’ deduction in the third; he had been holding Rios every time they got in close and wouldn’t release even when told to do so. Equally, I am ok with Rios’ deduction in the fifth for ensuring Chaves hit the mat by muscling him down. The second point deduction for Chaves occurred in the eighth when both men were in the clinch and utilizing dirty tactics in close. Thing is, Rios was giving as good as he was getting in there, just so happens Chaves retaliated last and was caught scraping Rios across the face. Due to the position of Drakulich at the time, only seeing the last foul clearly and where the fight had been prior to that point, I can see his reasoning on this one. That said, VDrak lost control of this fight early and because of that, it ended up going down a road where a DQ was probable. Seems Drakulich could have benefitted by penalizing both men at the same time to send a stronger message and even warned both corners in between rounds?

And The Award For Best Actor Goes To…….

Shannon Briggs was at it again, tormenting Wladimir Klitschko in public with his rant of “Everywhere you go, I go, everywhere you go, I go champ!!” This time he chose to conduct his tirade while Klitschko was eating in a restaurant with a new rant of “Whatever you eat I eat!!” Briggs took Klitschko’s food and started eating it prompting the champ to pour water over his head. Once this occurred, bedlam ensued with the video ending with Briggs being “escorted” out by well placed actors….ahem…excuse me…body guards. As I watched the video, I looked for the microphone erroneously hanging too low into the scene prompting the director to yell “CUT!!!!! Who the hell is placing the microphone in the scene???”

Let’s Go To The Judge’s Score Cards….On Second Thought…..

Eyebrows were raised once again this past weekend when the scores for the Jessie Vargas v. Anton Novikov bout were revealed. Vargas won two cards by seven points and the third by six in what most observers thought had been a close fight. Also recently was the ridiculous 117-111 card in the Canelo Alvarez Erislandy Lara fight and who can forget Bradley-Pacquiao? It’s not that bad judging hasn’t occurred from time to time throughout the sport’s history but over the past several years it is occurring at an alarming rate. Accuracy on the scorecards for what really happened in the ring shouldn’t be too much to ask. Yes, the cards on close fights should vary but reasonably within a point or two. The governing bodies should work collaboratively to develop a remedial training program for judges who score fights so absurdly that it’s obvious to even the most casual fan. The overused “black-eye for boxing” is appropriately used when speaking about bad judging and it’s time for a change.

Kovalev-Caparello

Sergey Kovalev knocked out Blake Caparello in the second round to retain his WBO Light Heavyweight belt. Kovalez knocked Caparello down in the second round with a crisp body shot. Caparello got up but then the Krusher closed the show by landing accurate power punches and adding a few more knockdowns before the referee stopped the fight. Kovalev actually went down in the first round on a stiff punch by Caparello but it was more of a case of Kovalev being off balance than being hurt by the punch. Replays showed that Caparello stepped on Kovalev’s foot as usually happens when a southpaw and orthodox fighter get together.  With the victory, Kovalev will now face Bernard Hopkins, the ageless alien in November.

Rios-Chaves

Brandon Rios and Diego Chaves went to war on Saturday night and when the dust settled it was the referee who had the biggest impact. Vic Drakulich disqualified Chaves in the ninth round for holding? He had already deducted a point from Chaves in the third round for holding and in the eighth for scrapping Rios across the face with his glove when he was told to break. Rios wasn’t immune to the wrath of VDrak, he also lost a point in round five for adding a little MMA and utilizing a takedown. The fight was close at the time of the stoppage; however, Chaves was winning on two of the three judges scorecards but the case could have been made for either fighter. Rios claimed that Chaves was poking him in the eyes at the time of the disqualification and earlier in the fight. In watching the fight, I did see that occur a few times in the clinch, as slight as it was, Chaves was doing it.

During the fight when points weren’t being deducted, the two fighters had their moments. Chaves was effective landing solid rights, lefts and timely uppercuts. He also was controlling the fight in spots when he boxed and fought from the outside. Rios stalked Chaves while landing some wicked body shots and did his best work on the inside with a high output of power shots. Both gave as good as they got and too bad it got a little messy and ended the way it did.  After their fight Rios said he didn’t want to win that way and he’s not back just yet. Chaves stated he’d like a rematch and doesn’t understand why he was disqualified. I would agree a rematch is needed here, many unanswered questions.

“I fucking love this shit!!”, the classic response uttered by “Bam Bam” Brandon Rios after being chastised by trainer Robert Garcia for receiving what Garcia felt was unneeded punishment against Mike Alvarado. Yes, that is Bam Bam, the throwback, energetic, and charismatic brawler fighting out of Oxnard, California by way of Lubbock, Texas. He loves to fight. He doesn’t particularly care for opponents who wish to box, no, Rios 31-2-1 (23KO) wants to bang. He will get his chance once again this Saturday night in Las Vegas against another brawler in Argentine Diego Chaves 23-1 (19KO) in a ten round welterweight clash.

This will be Rios’s first fight after an eight month layoff which included a five month suspension for testing positive for a banned substance after his last fight against Manny Pacquiao. Rios will be entering this fight with two consecutive losses, the only losses of his career, one each to the aforementioned Pacquiao and Alvarado. Rios was actually winning the Alvarado rematch until Alvarado switched from brawler to boxer. It is at those moments, when Rios’s opponents wish to box him that the fight starts to slip away, Rios’s warrior spirit longs for the violent encounter not the sweetness of the game. You figured that his brawling style would have had a chance in the fight against Pacquiao but he was thoroughly out boxed. Back in the ring for the first time since being put to sleep by Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao chose to engage less and box more. The brawling type fight that Rios covets eluded him once again.

Enter Chaves, a hard punching brawler in his own right who has only let three out of his twenty-four fights go to the scorecards. Chaves, a solid amateur, has only lost once as a pro and that was to Keith Thurman. In the fight against Thurman, he gave a solid account of himself and has arguably given Thurman his toughest test to date even surprising him at times with his punching power. Although a brawler by nature, Chaves is fast and has shown excellent movement in recent fights, a combination that could once again spell trouble for Rios if Chaves opts for that approach.   Rios can box when he wants but can he tame the warrior spirit long enough to do so?

Rios is at a crossroads in his career; a third loss in a row would be a major setback. He needs this fight badly to resurrect his career. This time he will get to face an opponent that is less likely to box him and give him what he wants; a back alley brawl.This is when Rios is at his best, however; don’t be surprised if Rios uses his underrated speed and skills to box a little more in this one if needed. Get your mute button ready, when Rios returns to his corner Saturday night its NC-17.

Welcome back champ.

1. Omaha…Omaha… There’s A New Sheriff In Town

No, I’m not talking about “The Sheriff” Peyton Manning barking out audibles, I’m talking about a star in the making….Terence Crawford. Omaha’s Crawford put on a dazzling display last Saturday night in front of his hometown fans in stopping Yuriokis Gamboa, KO 9. Crawford knocked Gamboa down once in the 5th, twice in the 8th and a final time to end it in the 9th. Gamboa had his moments early, mostly due to his speed and may have won several of the early rounds but The Champ was simply better in every aspect as the fight moved on. Crawford will find himself on P4P lists soon and maybe we will see a matchup against Mikey Garcia, wouldn’t that be something?

2. Say It Isn’t So

The P4P King may have his next opponent, and it’s…….Marcos Maidana? No champ, you beat that cat already, you only have a few fights remaining, forget those damn critics who will never be satisfied with your performances and shouted for a rematch…… Maybe I should write an “open letter” to the Champ?

3. Speaking of Announcements…

Mayweather stated that there will be a “surprise opponent” for May of 2015. All indications are that it would be Manny Pacquiao. Probably so and I’m guessing it would be in Macau. Money wins this fight and puts another notch in his résumé for T.B.E.

4. Take The Test, Take The Test

Paulie Malignaggi criticized Pacquiao this week via Twitter rants about the Pac Man never taking random drug tests while he was on a run of “destroying” people. The Magic Man tweeted “I don’t give credit to guys who hide and duck from random drug testing while accomplishing things that seem pretty amazing, Paq should have been the first to volunteer for those random tests when he was destroying people while constantly jumping weight classes”

A Star Is Born

Last Saturday night, Vasyl Lomachenko became a World Champion in only his 3^rd pro fight, tying Saensak Muangsurin, owner of the record since 1975. Lomachenko defeated the previously unbeaten Gary Russell Jr. by majority decision in route to winning the WBO Featherweight Title. What made the win so impressive was the way in which Lomachenko started breaking down Russell from the opening round.  Lomachenko attacked the body early and often with damaging blows, the effects of which, were evident in the championship rounds. His movement and ring generalship was of the highest caliber which allowed him to avoid most of Russell’s power shots which were coming at him at blistering speeds. Russell has some of the fastest hands in the business and Lomachenko was up to the challenge as he never seemed to get caught cleanly. Lomachenko banked rounds early and sustained his game plan throughout the fight. He showed great discipline by not obliging Russell in a slugfest when the moments presented themselves and fighting consistently throughout the fight. Lomachenko strategically picked the moments he would land his power shots and when he would box and move. A masterful game plan executed at the highest of levels.

Ghost Protocol- For The Love Of The Game

After over a year out of the ring, Robert Guerrero returned last Saturday night and beat a very game Yoshihiro Kamegai. We were reminded once again why we love this guy. He flat out comes to fight. He doesn’t care once he gets in there. On Saturday, he looked like he was ready to box Kamegai and after a well publicized training regimen powered by CrossFit, looked like he could go 15 rounds +. Well, that was short lived because once he tasted a solid power shot from Kamegai, all bets were off and as his last name implies; the Warrior came out.  Guerrero acknowledges this, saying after the fight, “I fell into that banging again, and that’s something I got to work on. I wanted to box on the outside but I have a habit of banging anyway and exchanging anyway” Guerrero fought most of the later rounds with a cut and badly swollen left eye and exhibited visions of Rocky not only  in his corner, “Ya got to cut me Mick” but also with his relentless attack “you ain’t so bad”.  Yes, he loves to fight and he does it for the love of the game. Welcome back Ghost, your Warrior style was missed. Rehab that eye and don’t make us wait so long this time. God bless brother.

Thunderdome Doesn’t Disappoint

As stated in the previous article Welcome To The Thunderdome, the StuHub Center is the venue where fight of the year candidates take place. Saturday night was no different as Guerrero and Kamegai did battle for 12 rounds. This fight is now the top candidate for FOY with another StubHub fight earlier this year, Lucas Matthysse and John Molina Jr. StubHub, a modern day Colosseum of sorts, is turning into a legendary boxing venue.

Somebody’s O Must Go

This Saturday night, Yurikos Gamboa 23-0 16 KO will face WBO Lightweight Champion Terence Crawford 23-0 16 KO. Gamboa will be at a disadvantage in both height and reach but his speed could be an equalizer.  The fight will be held in the Champion’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska which sometimes is not a good thing; however, Crawford’s skills should be the difference. I’m not sold on Gamboa’s chin and Crawford’s reach and speed may stop Gamboa as he works to get in close. I don’t see the title changing hands.

Honor & Glory

The July 12^th fight between Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara is heating up. Canelo is on record saying that Lara “was scarred and trembling” when he confronted him back in March while Lara recent soundbite is that that “Canelo is an insecure fighter who knows he’s going to lose” This fight is not to be missed nor should the pre-fight hype Showtime series All Access which airs tomorrow.