ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — In the main event of the evening, Yuriorkis Gamboa sent Jorge Solis to the mat five times in four rounds to remain undefeated in front of a sold out crowd at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall.

The opening round saw little action as both fighter’s were content with feeling one another out. The second round was a different story, however, as Gamboa overwhelmed his counterpart, sending him crashing to the canvas on two separate occasions.

Gamboa’s first knockdown came courtesy of a crisp left hook. Solis beat the ten count, and quickly regained his legs, only to be met with a flurry of punches from Gamboa. Eventually, Gamboa dropped Solis again after a combination ending with a right hand, combined with little push, sent Solis down.

Gamboa cruised through the third round and with only ten seconds remaining he delivered a skull-crushing left hook that collapsed Solis to the mat for a third time. He was able to beat the ten count and walked backed to his corner between rounds on shaky legs.

In the fourth, it was more of the same, Gamboa landed a quick one-two flush that sent Solis flying on his back and to the mat for a fourth time. Solis, looking over at his corner while on a knee, waved to his corner to let the fight continue. That proved to be unwise because as soon as the fight continued Gamboa rushed to Solis and fired off a flurry of punches that would ultimately send Solis to the canvas for a fifth and final time.

Referee David Fields stepped in and called a halt to the bout at the 1:31 mark of round four.

“Of course, I knew that Solis had shown a great fight against Pacquiao”, said Gamboa after the fight. “And, of course, it was an extra motivation to beat him faster than Pacquiao did. I wanted to make a statement tonight. I always enter the ring to prove that I am the best fighter in the world. Whoever wants to prove me wrong should just come and fight me. I don’t care about my opponent’s names – I want the big fights to show the world that I am the best.”

Promoter Ahmet Oner was once more thrilled by Gamboa’s performance. “That was exactly the Yuriorkis Gamboa we all know and want to see”, said Oner. “He didn’t look as determined and explosive in some of his last fights. But today he showed the full package again: his extraordinary hand speed and overall movement plus his enormous power and accuracy. He is definitely one of the most exciting fighters in the world today. And I don’t see anybody he has to be afraid of. Gamboa is simply made for this sport. He’s a natural born boxer and winner.”

With the win, Gamboa remains undefeated and improves to 20-0, 16 KOs, while the veteran Solis drops to 40-3-2-1, 29 KOs.

In another championship bout featuring two undefeated fighters, Miguel Angel Garcia became the new NABF and NABO featherweight champion as he stopped the former unbeaten fighter, Matt Remillard.

The first round saw good action, with Oxnard, California’s Garcia ultimately getting the better of his counterpart. The best action came about two minutes in when Garcia hurt Remillard with a barrage of punches that hard a hurt Remillard covering up his face with his back against the ropes.

In the second round, Manchester Connecticut’s Remillard found success by applying constant pressure. His best punch came about midway through the round when he landed a straight right flush on the left side of Garcia’s face.

Garcia started break Remillard’s defense in round three as he continuously sent shots straight up the middle, Garcia’s fists always finding their target. At times in the third round, Remillard seemed a bit lost, his only answer to Garcia’s punches was to flick an ineffective left jab at him.

The middle rounds belonged to Garcia, as continued to breakdown the red-faced Remillard. Garcia fired straight shots up the middle, but when Remillard would sure up his guard there, Garcia would hook in punches around the gloves.

In the ninth round, Garcia dropped Remillard with a grazing left hook. Remillard beat the referee’s ten count but stood on shaky legs. Garcia quickly greeted the hurt champion with a barrage of punches that forced Remillard into retreat. Garcia then landed a crushing left hook right on the button that sent Remillard violently back to the canvas. He impressively beat the ten count once again and stood just in time to hear the bell concluded round nine.

In the tenth, Garcia picked up where he left off, continuing to punish the champion. Once again Remillard went down the canvas, this time courtesy of a Garcia right to the head.

In between rounds ten and eleven, Remillard’s trainer, Mike Skowronski stepped in to save his fighter and stop the bout.

As a result, Miguel Angel Garcia captures the NABF and NABO featherweight titles and improves his record to 25-0, 21 KOs, while Remillard suffers his first professional defeat and falls to 23-1, 13 KOs.

In an electrifying USBA super bantamweight title bout, Philadelphia’s Teon Kennedy successfully defended his title against a tough Jorge Diaz.

It was a battle of wills between the two undefeated prospects, a battle that would somehow go the distance even though each boxer was on the receiving end of some vicious blows.

The fight opened with Diaz acting as the aggressor. He constantly came forward, continuously finding a home for his right hand. Kennedy, who is an above average counterpuncher in his own right, seemed uneasy and awkward in the opening rounds in this fight.

In the second round, Diaz caught Kennedy flush with a left hook to the side of his face. It was quickly followed a by a straight right, a combination that momentarily hurt the champion. It also resulted in a cut to open over Kennedy’s right eye.

In the third round, Kennedy began to turn the tides. With his back nearing the ropes, Kennedy caught Diaz with a left hook high on Diaz’s head, forcing the challenger off-balance to the point where both his gloves touched the canvas, resulting in a knockdown. It was only after this knockdown did Kennedy come forward for the first time in the fight.

In the fourth round, the two continued to exchange blows. A divided crowd was more than alive by this point as chants of “Jorge! Jorge” were countered by chants of “Teon! Teon!” Late in round four Diaz seemingly hurt Kennedy with a straight right, but Kennedy recovered quickly.

In the sixth round Kennedy countered a Diaz right hand that sent him crashing to floor. Somehow Diaz was able to beat referee Steve Smoger’s ten count and continue the fight. The game Diaz stood on clumsy legs, wobbling back into the ropes as Kennedy tried to finish the fight. Four consecutive head shots were landed and any other referee other than Smoger probably would have stepped in and called a halt to the bout. He didn’t and no less than twenty seconds later did the resilient Diaz rattle off a three punch combination of his own. As the round concluded, Diaz — who was clearly still hurt — clutched Kennedy’s hip and dragged them both mat as the bell sounded.

When round seven opened up, Diaz clinched frequently, buying time for his legs to regain their strength. By this time, Diaz’

s eye was beginning to severely swell, to the point where he was having trouble opening it. Smoger kept looking in at Diaz’s face, but decided to let the bout continue.

The fight continued to electrify the crowd for the final three rounds, as each fighter was willing to eat a few punches to dish out a few of their own. Both fighter’s fought to keep their undefeated record until the final bell sounded.

When it did, the judges scored the bout a unanimous decision in favor of the champion, Kennedy. Judge Steve Weisfeld saw the bout 115-111. Judge Alan Rubenstein scored the fight 118-109 and judge John Poturaj had it 117-109, all for Kennedy.

With the win Kennedy retains his USBA championship and improves his record to 17-0-1, 7 KOs, while Diaz loses his first professional bout and drops to 15-1, 9 KOs.

Baltimore Ravens’ safety and former Notre Dame football captain, Tommy Zbikowski improved his professional boxing record to 3-0 with a win over former MMA fighter, Caleb Grummet.

Zbikowski, who trained under the tutelage of Emanuel Steward for this fight, showcased an impressive arsenal of weapons throughout the first two rounds of this bout, before fading heavily.

Zbikowski began the fight as a southpaw, making a visible commitment to attack his heavier opponent’s body. Grummet took the punches well and returned fire with a few successful body blows of his own.

The second round was all Zbikowski as he hurt Grummet early in the round. With Grummet dazed and agains the ropes, Zbikowski was able to land some devastating uppercuts, as well as a vicious three punch combination to Grummet’s body. Grummet was able to survive Zbikowski’s onslaught in the second round and came out firing on all cylinders in the third round.

Grummet came out aggressive in the third round, constantly walking forward, forcing Zbikowski to retreat. The former cage fighter continuously landed flush punches to a fatigued Zbikowski, but he was deducted a point for his third low blow of the round.

In the fourth round, Grummet continued to fight like it was his Super Bowl. Again he was relentless with pressure, forcing an absolutely exhausted Zbikowski against the ropes. Zbikowski absorbed three minutes worth of Grummet punches, and twice during the round, took his eyes off his firing opponent to check how much time was left in the bout.

In the end, the first two rounds coupled with the point Grummet lost due to low blows, was enough for Zbikowski to earn a unanimous decision and improve his record to 3-0, 2 KOs. Judges scores read as follows: 39-36, twice, and 38-37.

With the loss, Grand Rapid’s Michigan’s Caleb Grummet falls to 0-1-1.

Undefeated prospect and former Manny Pacqiuao sparring partner, Glen Tapia, scored a unanimous decision victory over the durable Eberto Medina.

The first opened up with good action, both fighters throwing a healthy mix of body and head punches. The highlight of the first round came midway through when Tapia landed a one-two that stunned Medina momentarily.

The second round began with Tapia bombarding his surprised counterpart, who immediately backed against the ropes where he was met with a head-snapped right hand. Medina, who was clearly hurt by that punch, went from corner to corner in retreat. Tapia continued to apply pressure, but Medina was able to weather the storm early in round two.

Medina started to find some success in round three as he continuously applied pressure and walked Tapia into corners. Tapia seemed comfortable fighting with his back near the ropes, as he successfully countered Medina time after time. Towards the end of round three, Tapia caught Medina with a left hook that sent him stumbling backwards until he took a seat on the canvas. He beat the referee’s ten count with ease, and continued on to hear the bell to conclude round three.

The fight continued to entertain as both fighters continued to engage one another. It was Tapia, however, who continued to land the cleaner, more devastating blows. Credit Medina for battling, however, as he continued to pressure Tapia in hopes of landing one big punch until the final bell sounded.

In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Passaic, New Jersey’s Tapia. Scores read as follows: 59-54, 60-53, and 60-52.

With the win Tapia improves his already perfect record to 9-0, 5 KOs, while Newark, New Jersey’s Medina drops to 5-6, 1 KO.

Former National Golden Gloves Champion Miguel Cartejena probably didn’t anticipate his professional debut to be a brawl — and it wasn’t at first. But after a vicious wild-swinging exchange between he and Omar Gonzalez opened the third round, that’s what it became.

For the final six minutes the two fighters dug in and traded blows, with Cartejena consistently getting the better of the southpaw, Gonzalez.

It wasn’t an aesthetically pleasing bout, with both fighters colliding numerous times due to the orthodox-southpaw match up. It was a crowd pleaser, however, as the Cartejena fans — who were numerous and audible throughout the bout — cheered their fighter throughout.

Puerto Rico’s Camilo Perez needed exactly three minutes to dispose of his now 0-2 opponent, Desi Williams. It was clear from the onset that North Carolina’s Williams was in over his head. The crisper, more technically sound, and flat-out better fighter — Perez — first knocked Williams down against the ropes with a half punch/half push right hand. Shortly after, with Williams running across the ring in retreat, the stalking Perez landed a left hook to the side of William’s face that sent him down for the ten count.

With the win Perez improves his record to 2-0 with 2 knockouts.

Photos–Chris Farina / Top Rank

The Victor Ortiz that is about to debut at 147 pounds looks the same as the Victor Ortiz that fought at 140 pounds, but he sounds a whole lot different.

Last Wednesday during a press conference to promote his upcoming bout against WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, the normally energetic and charming Ortiz continuously struck a different tone — a more vicious one.

“It wasn’t until last fight…it was one of those things in the end I felt like a piece of gum on the bottom of somebody’s shoe,” Ortiz said to a room full of dining media members.

Ortiz, of course, was referring the criticism he faced following his ten round majority draw with Lamont Peterson last December. It was a fight that saw Ortiz knock Peterson down on two separate occasions, and it was a fight that many, including myself, thought Ortiz deserved to win despite his ghostly act in the latter rounds.

Immediately following that fight, which was televised on HBO as the featured undercard bout for the Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana main event, Ortiz spoke to the media at the post fight press conference.

His opening remarks were, “First off, let me just say that I’m just blessed to be here. I had fun tonight.” He continued on, “The results weren’t quite what I was expecting and I disagree with them…Amir and Maidana had a great fight and it was close, but mine wasn’t as close, I don’t think. But hey I have nothing to say. I thought I pulled it off.”

Ortiz went on to talk a bit more about his fight, crack some jokes about Harry Potter, and he thoughtfully closed his portion of the press conference by wishing members of the media a Merry Christmas.

But that was then, and this is now.

It’s no secret that Ortiz has gone through some very public growing pains — specifically his loss to the aforementioned Maidana in March 2009. Combine the criticism he received after that fight with the equally harsh words that followed the draw with Peterson, and suddenly Ortiz is singing a different tune.

“I’m tired of this ‘Oh, he’s got no heart, he’s got no balls,’…the list [of criticism] goes on and on and on,” Ortiz said last Wednesday.

Minutes earlier, when speaking with 15rounds.com, Ortiz said, “I’ve gone through enough rough patches these last two years. I think it’s a very unfair thing how everyone just criticizes me and treats me. So as far as I’m concerned, I’m done playing that nice role, always trying to please everyone. It gets you nowhere.”

And to that point, I think Ortiz has an argument. Unfortunately in the boxing business The Golden Rule of treating others as you wish to be treated doesn’t apply.

When Ortiz spoke last Wednesday, in many cases he did so with his signature smile. However, it was evident that behind that smile hid frustration and disappointment towards his critics.

In many ways, the move up to 147 for Ortiz can serve as a fresh start — a start that if all goes according to plan would see him leave the MGM Grand at Foxwoods with the WBC welterweight title in tow. That would

“You know what, it’s kind of one of those things where if everyone at 140 is scared to fight you, why stick around? So I moved up to 147,” Ortiz said of his decision to climb one rung up the divisional ladder. “They say Andre Berto is the best [at 147]. I disagree.”

Unlike most of Berto’s previous fights, the outcome of this one is not predetermined, Perhaps that’s why it’s an intriguing bout. Although Berto is the clear favorite to retain his title, Ortiz has some pop in his hands. He put Maidana down three times in during scrap and more recently he floored Peterson twice. Couple Ortiz’s punching power with the relatively untested chin of Berto and we may get a memorable fight in just a few weeks time.

Even though Ortiz spoke in a different tone last week, one thing remained constant — and that was his confidence.

“Alright, hey, it’s my turn,” Ortiz said. “I know I’m against tough opposition. Andre Berto is no chump. He’s the champ for a reason. But April 16th, I’m changing that.”

All of us who love boxing look forward to watching him try.

Kyle Kinder can be found on Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

On Saturday night, the heavyweights waters will become less murky once the result of the WBC championship bout between Vitali Klitschko and Odlanier Solis is finalized.

In late January it was announced that Polish heavyweight Tomasz Adamek had inked a deal to fight one of the Klitschko brothers in September at one of two newly built soccer stadiums in Poland.

The deal was structured so that if all three fighters involved won their interim bouts, the Klitschko brothers would decide which one of them would take on Adamek in September. If one of the brothers lost their bout, either Vitali against Solis or Wladimir against Dereck Chisora, Adamek would square of with the brother who won. Lastly, the Adamek fight would be a no-go if both brother’s lost their upcoming bouts or if Adamek lost his April 9 fight against Kevin McBride.

As if that wasn’t complicated enough, Wladimir pulled out of his fight against Chisora for the second time, citing muscle injuries. In addition, resumed negotiations with he and David Haye went so well this time around that all that’s left to be done is to sign the dotted line.

Fans will get to watch all of these scenarios play out over the next few months act, starting in three nights. It’s almost like a television mini-drama, with the first episode airing Saturday night in Cologne, Germany.

However, it seems silly and like a waste of time to break down each fight when there is no guarantee of certain fights taking place.

With regards to Saturday’s fight — I think a 16 seed vs. a number one seed is an appropriate analogy this time of year. In theory, a 16 seed could upset a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, but it hasn’t happened to date and it might never.

In that same sense, Odlanier Solis could be Vitali Klitschko, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Since coming back from retirement, the elder of the two Ukrainian champions has performed like a machine. It can be argued that the thirty-nine year old hasn’t lost a round since his comeback in 2008. Credit the way he methodically breaks down his opponents with effective jab-work and heavy lead hooks for his recent string of success.

Conversely, while Vitali has defended his crown with relative ease over the past few years, Solis has endured some tough bouts of recent just to earn this opportunity.

Almost three months ago today, Solis squared off against Ray Austin to see who would continue their quest towards a title.

The fight ended with Austin being disqualified in the tenth round. If that wasn’t the case there’s a chance Solis wouldn’t even be in Germany on Saturday night.

Although Solis controlled the later rounds against Austin, at the time of the disqualification, one judge had the bout even, one had Austin winning, and the third had Solis up a few points.

Nothing was guaranteed.

After the bout Austin praised Solis saying (as quoted by 15Rounds.com’s Johnny Schulz), “Solis will beat Klitschko, he is accurate and has great defense, if there is any doubt it would be his chin.”

No offense to Austin, but he’s a far cry from Vitali Klitschko.

After Saturday night — when presumably Klitschko thoroughly handles his Cuban counterpart — things will become a bit clearer. It should put us one step closer to Vitali-Adamek and Wladimir-Haye.

If 2011 does indeed shake out to provide fight fans with both David Haye vs. Wladimir Klitschko and Tomasz Adamek vs. Vitali Klitschko, then regardless of the outcomes, we know we got the best possible fights in the division — aside from Klitschko vs. Klitschko.

But, with that said, it is March, and March means madness. It also means upsets. However, at least with regards to Saturday’s clash, I’m taking chalk. I’d be shocked if Cinderella’s glass slipper fits on Solis’ foot.

—

Lastly, a brief write up by Gabriel Cordero on Fightnews.com brought to my attention the creation and launch of www.SalvadorSanchez.com. The site serves as a sort of e-museum that enables those who visit to learn more about the Mexican legend. Photos and videos of Sanchez of in the ring are accessible from the website, as well as personal photos of Sanchez outside of the ring. The site also has tons of Sanchez memorabilia to look at it from fight posters to ticket stubs. It’s a well-organized and fascinating tribute to the great Mexican featherweight. Check it out.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

On Saturday, March 5, at the AmeriHealth Pavillion at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, Brooklyn’s Zab Judah will clash with South Africa’s Kaizer Mabuza for Mabuza’s IBF junior welterweight title.

A final press conference was held midday Wednesday at the Brick City Bar & Grill in Newark, New Jersey, where Judah and Mabuza spoke their final thoughts before heading into this weekend’s bout.

“I appreciate everything this man has done,” Judah said, acknowledging Mabuza’s gritty road to a title. “But now is not his time, not on Saturday night.”

Over the years, whether it is deserved or not, Judah has gained a reputation of fading late in fights. This time, however, with legendary boxer Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker in his corner, Judah says stamina won’t be an issue.

“I prepared myself for twelve rounds — I prepared myself 100%,” he said.

While Whitaker refused to comment on Team Judah’s game-plan for Saturday night, he did comment on his experience working with “Super” Judah.

“Everything I ask him to do, [he does it and] he does a little more,” Whitaker said. “[On fight night] If he does everything I ask him to do, he’ll win the fight.”

He went on, “Whatever Zab used to do in the past is in the past and now he has a new direction, a great direction. He’s one of boxing’s best so [on Saturday] I expect to see that.”

To that point, Judah agrees; “We prepared ourselves well for this opportunity. On Saturday night, you will see a 5-time champion of the world once again.”

While Team Judah is confident that Zab’s hand will be the one raised at the conclusion of the bout, Mabuza didn’t travel across the Atlantic to fork over his hard-earned gold to Judah.

In fact, the last time he made the trek overseas to New Jersey he demolished heavy-favorite, Kendall Holt, inside six rounds.

“I’m glad to be back in America,” Mabuza said. “It’s an honor for me to fight a person like Zab Judah.”

He continued, “I think he had his time, he’s a former world champion. I think it is my time because I’m still hungry for success. I promise him, when I take the ring I change — I become a new man. I’m hungry for success so you have to expect that there will be fireworks.”

The tough South African will be looking to extend his eight fight win streak and retain his titles on Saturday night, while Judah looks to re-claim the IBF junior welterweight title.

As they say, styles make fights, and all indications with regards to these two fighter’s is that Mabuza is right when he says that on Saturday night, “there will be fireworks.”

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The fight is being distributed by Integrated Sports PPV for a price of $29.95. It can also be purchased on UStream.tv for the same price.

The fight promoted by Main Events and Super Judah Promotions will take place on March 5th at Prudential Center’s AmeriHealth Pavillion in Newark, New Jersey. Doors open at 7:30pm. The first fight is at 8:00pm. Tickets are priced at $253, Ringside, $103 Reserved floor seating, $88 general admission in bleachers, and $53 general admission standing room only. Tickets are available at the Prudential Center Box Office by calling TicketMaster at 800-745-3000 or you can purchase them at www.PruCenter.com.

Although he made his professional debut last August, Shemuel Pagan will get to deposit his first prizefighting paycheck later this month.

The five-time NY Golden Gloves winner donated his entire first purse to the the Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation, the non-profit charitable organization legendary trainer Teddy Atlas created in his father’s name.

“The reason why I am donating it is because I follow the Old Testament — I’m a religious person,” Pagan said at the time. “When God blesses you with anything, he commands that you give the first fruits to him. So when you give to the poor and needy, you are giving to God…I want to help God’s people.”

Now, almost six months later, after he dukes it out with Camden’s Marcos Garcia for a maximum of four rounds, Pagan will step back through the ropes and earn

After multiple fights had fallen through in which he would have fought in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, Pagan will return to Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center as part of the Zab Judah-Kaizer Mabuza undercard this Saturday.

There was a brief moment last month where it looked like it was going to be deja vu ‘all over again’ for Pagan, as another scheduled opponent pulled out.

“They had me fighting against a fighter [Lonnie Jackson, Jr.] I lost to in the amateurs a few years back,” explained Pagan. “I actually lost to him by one point. I was looking forward to fighting him, but he pulled out.”

Luckily, matchmaker Russell Peltz was left with enough to find a replacement opponent, and scheduled Garcia to step in the ring with Pagan on March 5th.

While Garcia’s record reads 0-3, make no mistake — it’s a hard-fought 0-3. The 30 year-old from South Jersey has lost each of his fights via majority decision.

Although he would have preferred to avenge his amateur lost to Jackson, after almost half a year without fighting, Pagan’s ready to do battle with whoever stands before him.

The always smiling, always optimistic Pagan chooses to view the long layoff between fights in a positive light.

“It [the layoff] hasn’t effected me,” Pagan said. “I think it actually helped. It gave my body enough to time recuperate and replenish so I can go back in the ring with fury.”

Back in August, in his debut, Pagan also fought with fury when he easily navigated past Raul Rivera, earning him a clear-cut unanimous decision victory. Pagan floored Rivera twice during their twelve minute dual, but “Shem” was unable to stop his counterpart.

“The only weakness I had that night was that I didn’t knock him out,” Pagan said, reflecting on his debut. “That’s the only thing I wanted to do, but you can’t knockout everybody.”

Although he displayed an impressive arsenal of weapons, used superior foot-speed to create angles, and showcased his signature hand-speed, Pagan was a bit unsettled, and felt that he was trying too hard to get the knockout.

“My weakness was trying to go for the kill,” said Pagan. “I should have been a little more relaxed. I know to everyone else I looked relax, but deep down inside — personally — I wasn’t relaxed.”

During the months between bouts, “The Chosen One” has chosen to address that very issue while at the gym.

“[Relaxing] is a mental thing that starts with training in the gym,” said Pagan. “Usually when I’m training, I’m training with excitement and psyching myself up and training hard. I just go hard every round when I’m working out. I have to learn mental cruise-control when I’m working out, so when I’m fighting [in the ring] I can do the same.”

While Pagan is trying to take a more melodic approach to his craft, one thing he should stay psyched up about his earning his first paycheck via the fight game. After nine years-plus of honing his craft for no financial reward, the charitable Pagan will finally enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

CLICK TO ORDER FIGHT
Mariusz Wach vs. Jonathan Haggler — 10 Rounds, heavyweight

The bigger they are, the harder the fall. That theory checked out tonight when Mariusz “The Polish Giant” Wach kayoed North Carolina’s Jonathan Haggler in front of a passionate crowd at Essex County College in Newark, New Jersey.

In the first round, the 6’8” Wach, who is trained by former heavyweight champion, Michael Moorer, effectively established his jab and set the pace for the fight.

Haggler, for the duration of the bout, had trouble getting inside the reach of “The Polish Giant” and often threw his punches on-the-move, with little on them.

The breakthrough for the Krakow, Poland native came about one minute into the third round when he connected with left-right combination that staggered Haggler and sent him retreating to the ropes. Wach hunted down his opponent and started dropping bombs on his hurt counterpart.

After connecting with a straight right, Haggler bent over to avoid another one. Smartly, Wach greeted him an uppercut instead, which was followed by a left hook and another final flurry, which ultimately sent Haggler crashing to the canvas, where he failed to beat referee Sparkle Lee’s ten count.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:22 seconds into round three.

With the win Wach, 24-0, 12 KO is now the new WBC Baltic heavyweight champion, while Haggler’s record falls to 23-4, 18 KO.

Danny McDermott vs. Osnel Charles — 6 Rounds, lightweight

In a thrilling co-feature, Jersey City’s Danny McDermott was upset by Atlantic City’s Osnel Charles via unanimous decision.

This bout was action packed from the opening bell as both fighters made it clear they were willing to get hit to land a few shots of their own.

McDermott started strong, finding Charles more frequently than Charles found him. Although he clearly won the first round, McDermott’s timing seemed slightly off. Time and time again, McDermott tried to land a big straight right, but Charles consistently bent over backward–Matrix style–to avoid it every time.

In the second round, Charles rebounded nicely, snapping jabs and landing rights that whipped McDermott’s head back. After Charles lost his mouthpiece, there was a momentary break in the action to put it back in. After the break McDermott landed some good shots of his own, but it was not enough to carry the round.

McDermott scored well in the third and fourth rounds, eating some punches, but landing the more effective, more powerful punches.

The tide turned early in round five, however, when the two fighters were tied up in the center of the ring. McDermott clearly intentionally head-butted Charles, who crumpled to the canvas as a result of the blow. The referee saw this and rightfully took a point away from McDermott.

For the rest of the round, when he wasn’t on the receiving end of a Charles punch, McDermott was talking at the referee, expressing his displeasure with his decision to deduct a point. By the time the round concluded, McDermott was sporting a seemingly bad cut over his right eye.

The sixth round belonged to the Haitian import, Charles, who dominated from bell to bell. Charles pressed the action in this round more-so than any previous round, coming forward more frequently.

When it concluded, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Charles. One judge scored the bout 57-56, one saw it 59-54, and another 59-53.

With the win, Charles improves to 7-3, 1 KO, while McDermott drops to 8-3, 3 KO.

Wanzell Ellison vs. Jimmy Smalls — 4 Rounds, lightweight

In the night’s opening bout of the evening, Brick City’s own Wanzell Ellison spoiled Ohio’s Jimmy Smalls professional debut by stopping the Panamanian-born Smalls within two rounds.

In the second round, Ellison, who was finding his target with regularity, nailed Smalls with a huge right cross that momentarily wobbled his opponent and drew blood from his eye. About one minute later, with Smalls clearly reeling from punishment sustained earlier in the round, Ellison turned up the heat and thew his punches with murderous intentions.

Sensing his opponent was nearing the end, Ellison threw a flurry of punches that ultimately forced Smalls to drop to a knee. He would fail to get to his feet within ten seconds, and the bout was called to a halt.

With the win, Ellison improves to 4-0, 3 KO, while Smalls drops his professional debut and is now 0-1.

Rashad Bogar vs. Miguel Corcino — 4 Rounds, welterweight

In a bout that was about two minutes too long, Newark’s Rashad Bogar violently knocked out his previously undefeated opponent, Miguel Corcino, in the second round.

In the first round, Bogar stunned Corcino with a huge right hand that sent him to the canvas. After beating the referee’s ten count, Bogar rushed forward to immediately greet his opponent with a left hook that wobbled Corcino once again.

Bogar chose to spend the rest of the round stalking his prey, and took his off the gas pedal a little bit. Subsequently, Corcino was able to weather the storm and survive to hear the bell at the end of round one.

Most of the second round was unnecessary. Unfortunately for Corrino, neither the referee or his corner thought that.

Seconds into round two, Bogar stumbled Corcino again with a left hook, and followed up quickly with a straight right that sent Corcino crashing to the mat. After barely beating the ten count, when the action resumed, he was met with a crushing left hand that sent him into permanent retreat.

Bogar chased his opponent down and with a vicious one-two, knocked Corcino down in the corner, his body sent halfway through the ropes. Finally, at the 2:13 mark of the second round, the bout was called to a halt.

With the win, Bogar improves to 3-2, 2 KO, while Corcino tastes defeat for the time, falling to 2-1, 2 KO.

Eddie Edmonds vs. Charles White — 4 Rounds, junior middleweight

For the third straight fight, a Newark fighter stopped his opponent inside two rounds. This time it was Eddie Edmonds defeating North Carolina’s Charles White via second round TKO.

In the first round, Edmonds dropped White with a left hook to the body that forced White to drop to a knee in order to recover.

Edmonds caught White once more at the bell, with a left to the body, right to the head combination that sent White down. He beat the referee’s ten count and was able to continue.

In the second round, as the two were tied up, Edmonds threw a right cross that caught White clean and sent him down for the third time in the fight. After beating the ten count, White sent himself to the canvass after missing with a wild punch and his moment him sent himself down.

Eventually, one more right cross sent White crashing to the canvas for the final time. The bout was called to a halt by referee Benjy Esteves Jr., at the :57 mark of round two.

WIth the win, Edmonds improves to 2-1-1, 2 KO, while White falls to 0-2.

Scott Burrell vs. Antonio Parker — 4 Rounds, lightweight

It was evident from the opening bell that Antonio Parker was not a good boxer. He was awkward, his footwork was terrible, his balance was worse, he was hesitant, and he seemed scared.

All of those characteristics that Parker possessed made for an easy day at the office for Scott Burrell.

Burrell, with the help of an inept Parker, broke from the theme of the night and decided to stop his opponent in the first round, not the second.

Three separate times during the 1:39 second bout, Parker was sent to the ground by a combination of a Burrell punch/terrible balance. Parker actually sent himself to the ground during this fight as a result of him hitting only air with a wild punch that sent him off balance to the point of crashing to the canvas.

All things considered, given the level of opposition standing across from him, Burrell stayed composed and focused, letting the knockout ultimately come to him.

With the win, Burrell improves to 2-0, 2 KO, while Parker drops to 0-3.

Rafael Jastrzebski vs. Randy Campbell — 4 Rounds, super middleweight

Atlantic City by way of Bydgoszcz, Poland’s Rafael Jastrzebski easily outpoint Ohio’s Randy “The Rattlesnake” Campbell in a four round super middleweight bout.

Jastrzebski cruised to a unanimous decision victory behind a stiff left jab and well-placed right hands that followed. Campbell proved to be an easy target — especially for Jastrzebski’s jab — and finished the fight sporting a bright red, marked-up face.

All three judges scored the bout 40-36 for Jastrzebski.

With the win, Jastrzebski improves to 4-6-1, 1 KO, while Campbell drops to 3-4.

CLICK TO ORDER THE FIGHT

PART 2

PART 3

“I put a pair of gloves on, sparred a kid, knocked him down, and just been rolling ever since.”

Since that short time less than four years ago, Vinny O’Brien has stormed through New Jersey boxing’s amateur scene, his hard work ultimately paying off last year when he won the 2010 New Jersey Golden Gloves championship at 141 pounds.

Now the twenty-four year old from East Hanover, New Jersey is set to vacate his amateur status and earn his first boxing paycheck. He’s slated to debut against David Navarro (0-1) on March 5th at the AmeriHealth Pavillion at Prudential Center in Newark as part of the undercard for the Zab Judah-Kaizer Mabuza IBF junior welterweight title scrap.

“I’m anxious to get out there and show everyone what I can really do,” O’Brien said. “When I started [boxing], that’s what I really wanted to do…show the world what Vinny O’Brien can bring in the ring.”

While O’Brien is confident and ready for his professional launch, he is well aware of the differences between amateur and professional boxing.

“We had to change our game plan a little bit because the amateurs are a bit faster paced, a little bit more chasing, in a sense,” said O’Brien. “We’re slowing things down and getting good sparring. Everyone I go against [in sparring] are levels above me in experience right now and are great fighters. So right now they’re just building me up and getting me ready to where I have to be.”

O’Brien, who trains at Final Round Boxing and Fitness in Whippany, New Jersey, practices his trade under the watchful eye of former heavyweight Lou Esa, who will undoubtedly have his fighter ready to go for his first prizefight.

Esa, a New Jersey native who ultimately wound up in Miami fighting under the tutelage of Chris and Angelo Dundee, is exceedingly optimistic about his fighter’s future.

“I’m not patting myself on the back because I’m his trainer, but if you watch this kid and you see his work ethic in the gym…he’s off the hook,” said Esa. “He’s going to grab a belt soon,” he continued with a smile. “I don’t know about how soon, but it’s going to be soon.”

Nicknamed “The Lion”, O’Brien suggests he acts more like a chameleon in the ring — able to adapt to anything and everything thrown his way.

“I’m a stalker. I’m going to push the fight, be the aggressor,” said O’Brien. “I’m slick when I move, I’m all around. I can move, I can brawl…I’ll do whatever I need to do, but I will put out that ‘W’.”

When speaking with the 5’9” O’Brien, it was easy to see why people are excited about him. Setting aside his outstanding skills inside the ropes, outside the ring O’Brien is a well-dressed, well-spoken, clean-cut, twenty-four year old.

While talking at the Judah-Mabuza undercard press conference last week, O’Brien made it a point to speak his mind about the state of the game. Aside from capturing a world title, he stated that he wants “to bring class back [into boxing], and bring it back to the days where my mom would get excited about fights.”

While it remains to be seen whether his mother will get excited about fights again is yet to be determined, his appearance and presentation alone suggest that the sport just indeed got a little bit classier. On the day 15Rounds.com caught up with O’Brien he sported a crisp blue button down with a matching blue and white striped tie to accompany his slicked-back hair and neatly trimmed goatee.

At one point Esa even joked a bit about his boxer’s sharp appearance. “As you can see, he’s a good looking kid…for now,” the 6’6” Esa said jokingly, drawing a laugh from his fighter. “We’ll see what happens down the road.”

Well, in just over three weeks, they’ll embark on their journey down the road. O’Brien will be tasked with getting his first professional victory in front of countless fans from his neighborhood that are set to make the short drive over to Newark.

“There are some nerves,” O’Brien admitted. “But this is my moment. I can either let the moment take control of me, or I can take control of the moment.”

Given O’Brien’s track record, I think it’s safe the assume “The Lion” is going to grab the bull by its horns.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

Members of the undercard that will appear on March 5th undercard that will feature an IBF Jr. Welterweight title clash between Zab Judah and Kaizer Mabuza

PART 2

PART 3

World Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez and Super Welterweight champion Sergiy Dzinzurak met the media on Wednesday to announce their world Middleweight title clash set for March 12.

Gabriel Bracero once again thrilled his large and loyal fan base and is quickly becoming “Mr Broadway Boxing” as he scored a eight round unanimous decision over veteran Chris Fernandez at BB Kings in Midtown Manhatten on Wednesday night.

Gabriel Bracero vs. Chris Fernandez — 8 Rounds, junior welterweight

In the main event at BB King’s Bar & Grill in Times Square, Brooklyn’s Gabriel Bracero outpointed Salt Lake City’s Chris Fernandez to stay undefeated.

The first two rounds of the fight served as feeling-out rounds, as both fighter’s tried to establish their jabs. Both rounds were fairly uneventful and difficult to score.

In the third round, with the pro-Bracero crowd chanting “Tito! Tito!” Bracero picked up the pace a bit, putting together more combinations, and finally connected with his best punch of the round — a straight right hand — as the bell sounded to end round three.

In the fifth round, Bracero hurt Fernandez with a right hand and had his opponent backing up against the ropes. Bracero followed up and landed a nice combination while Fernandez was still gathering himself against the ropes. To his credit, Fernandez ate Bracero’s best shots and fired back with uppercuts and short punches. Again, the best action came in the final ten seconds of the round, as the two stood in the pocket, trading punches, with Bracero seemingly getting the better of Fernandez.

Round six looked much like the first two rounds, with both fighter’s throwing mostly ineffective jabs. Bracero won the round, however, when he threw — and landed — combinations. Just like the previous rounds, Bracero broke through late, and found success just before the bell with a left to the body, right the head combination.

The seventh round proved to be close, with Bracero slightly outworking his counterpart. The eight and final round opened with the fans serenading their fighting with melodic chants of “Tiiiiito! Tiiiiito!” Fernandez pressed the action, coming forward more this round than any of the previous seven. It was mildly effective, but Bracero still got the best of Fernandez, opening up a cut over his right eye.

When it was all said and done, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Bracero. The three scores were 80-71, twice, and 79-72.

With the win, Bracero improves to 14-0, 1 KO, while the loss drops Fernandez’s record to 19-12-1, 11 KO.

In the co-feature, Light Heavyweight Mark Tucker remained undefeated with an uninspiring six round unanimous decision over Ray Smith.

Tucker came out very active as he started pumping the jab from the southpaw stance. Smith started to get through with some good shots and started smothering Tucker on the ropes in round two. Smith started landing rights and left that bounced Tucker’s head back and forth and seemed to be finding a rhythm. It was more of the same in round four but Tucker showed signs of life and began picking up the tempo in round five before the two had a action filled round six.

Tucker, 174 lbs of Eldsburg, MD won by scores of 59-55 on all cards to remain undefeated at 15-0. Smith, 176 lbs of Little Rock, Arkansas deserved better and is now 9-5.

Allan Benitez vs. Joseliz Cepeda — 4 Rounds, Featherweights

Before the first bout of the evening, promoter Lou DiBella, announced to the media that Allan Benitez is a fighter to watch. Benitez has a very strong amateur pedigree, and was hoping to showcase his skills in front of a very critical New York media. His opponent was Joseliz Cepeda, who was sporting a record of two wins and one loss. The featherweight bout was scheduled for four rounds.

The bout opened with Cepeda landing a strong right to the body that knocked Benitez back, and then following up with strong overhand rights. Benitez stayed strong, working with a body attack and not allowing himself to get caught up in a sloppy fight. The second round opened up with Benitez going hard to the body and eventually bringing it upstairs. A flurry that pinned Cepeda on the ropes seemed to take some of his confidence, because Benitez was met with much less resistance afterwards.

Despite being in control, Benitez still has a very amateur style in that he does not have any jab whatsoever, and all of his punches are good scoring blows that come in flurries, but there is not punch power behind them. By the end of the third, Cepeda regained some confidence and began landing short left hooks on the inside, and finishing off the round with two strong overhand rights. The last round saw lots of action, with Benitez starting very strong, and Cepeda landing a left hook that knocked Benitez back into the ropes. In the end, the scorecards read 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37 for Cepeda. We scored it 39-37 the other way. It seems as if Cepeda’s harder punches were favored over Benitez’ higher output but soft punches. — Arben Paloka

Steven Martinez vs. Ishwar Amador — 6 rounds, Jr. Middleweights

In a junior middleweight fight scheduled for six rounds, Steven Martinez (7-0, 6 KO’s) took on Ishwar Amador (11-8, 7 KO’s). Martinez is managed by New York Giants halfback Brandon Jacobs and is coming in with lots of support from the crowd and from his handlers.

Neither fighter needed much time feeling eachother out. Martinez started the fight with a hard left hook, and then followed up with a right hand. Shortly afterwards, a right hand, left hook, right hand combination floored Amador. He beat the count, but was greeted with a vicious beating from Martinez that knocked him from one side of the ring to the other. Powerful rights and lefts were landed at will. The referee jumped in to save Amador at the 1:11 mark of the first round giving Martinez a TKO victory. — Arben Paloka

Deano Burrell vs. Sidell Blocker — 4 Rounds, Lightweights

In a major upset at the lightweight division, previously winless Sidell Blocker scored a unanimous decision victory over heavily favored, Deano Burrell.

In the opening round, Blocker was intent on making a statement. The winless fighter came out firing, swinging wildly, looking to land big punches. Burrell looked a bit flustered, and wildly returned fire, often missing. Midway through the first round, Blocker opened up a gash above Burrell’s right eye, courtesy of a left hook. With about thirty ticks remaining int he first stanza, Blocker floored Burrell with a quick right hand.

The second round picked up where the first left off. Blocker and Burrell trading ill-intentioned blows. Just when Burrell was beginning to find success, he stunned Burrell with another overhand right. A quick flurry of punches put Burrell on the canvas for the second time in two rounds. To his credit, Burrell shook off the knockdown and scored big to close out the round. As round two was coming to an end, Burrell landed a bullet-like straight left right on the chin of Blocker, who took it surprisingly well.

The third round opened up with Burrell showing desperation. He began throwing wild, looping power punches, hoping to hit a fistic home run. Blocker, who was a bit reckless for a fighter with a four-point lead through two rounds, traded with Burrell throughout the third.

When the rang for the fourth, Burrell once again pressed the action, constantly coming forward, engaging Blocker. The London-import, visibly tired, continued to through wide left. Once again, Blocker decided to play with fire and instead of tightening his defense, or riding his bike to victory, he stood and traded with the decorated amateur. In a shocking upset, Blocker was able to weather the storm and earn his first victory.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Blocker, 38-37 twice and 37-36.

With the win, Blocker improves to 1-3-1, while Burrell drops his first professional loss falling to 1-1, 1 KO. — Kyle Kinder

Ryan Kielczewski vs. Wilshaun Boxley — 6 Rounds, junior lightweights

Quincy, Massachusetts’s Ryan “The Polish Prince” Kielczewski impressed over six rounds en route to an easy unanimous decision victory over Minnesota’s Wilshaun Boxley.

From the opening round, Kielczewski established a crisp and effectively jab that created the distance necessary for him to go to work. A conscious commitment to the body from the “Polish Prince” proved to be an effective strategy to stop Boxley before he started.

Kielczewski beautifully pieced combinations together, most prominent in the middle rounds, and behind his tight defense, was rarely touched in this fight.

In the sixth round, it was clear that Kielczewski wanted to make a statement and not let this fight go to the scorecards. He came out firing, wailing heavy rights and lefts at the hard-to-miss Boxley. But no matter how hard Kielczewski’s punches landed — and they did indeed land — Boxley hung on to hear the decision read by the judges.

All three judges scored the bout a shutout for Kielczewski, 60-54.

With the win, Kielczewski improves his already unbeaten record to 9-0, 2 KOs, while Boxley drops to 6-8-1. — Kyle Kinder

Boyd Melson vs. Marquise Bruce — 4 Rounds, junior middleweights

The former Army man, Boyd Melson (1-0 1KO), hit the ring against Marquise Bruce (0-0-1) in a lightweight bout. Melson had many of his fellow West Point members in attendance for support. In his debut, Melson was very trigger happy to showcase his power in front of his friends, and ended up getting dropped. This time around, he took a very calm approach to start the fight and looked for his opponent to make a mistake. Melson, a southpaw, set the pace of the fight with his jab and straight left. Bruce tried turning the fight into a brawl, but Melson used his footwork to maintain a favorable style of fight.

In the second things got more heated as each fighter tried hurting the other. Left hooks were traded and neither fighter seemed phased. bruce landed another left hook that briefly stunned Melson, and now it was Melson on the retreat. Melson landed a right to even things out afterwards. The third round was absolutely wild as Melson decided to turn the fight into a brawl. Bruce obliged, but found himself against the ropes. Nothing serious was landed, but Melson was looking to make a statement. The pace slowed down by the middle of the round.

entering the fourth round, both fighters knew the fight was close and that the fight could possibly come down to wh owins the round. Bruce started things by landing a hard shot. Melson followed up with a higher volume of punching, but Bruce was able to land solid blows to counter. Both fighters traded hard straight punches. Melson’s nose began to bleed. The fight ended, and the scores read 38-38, 39-37, and 39-37 giving Melson a majority decision victory. — Arben Paloka.

Keisher McLeod-Wells vs. Melissa McMorrow — 6 Rounds, flyweight

In a female fight scheduled for six rounds and to be fought in the flyweight division, Keisher McLeod-Wells (3-1, 1KO) took on Melissa McMorrow (4-1-3).

McLeod-Wells started the fight utilizing her jab, while McMorrow, who was considerably shorter, tried getting beneath the jab in order to get inside. McLeod-Wells, a golden gloves champion, was too good and didn’t let down her guard. The second round saw McMorrow pick up ground as was finally able to land overhand punches. McMorrow began to work even harder as the fight progressed, and was able to turn the tables and turn the fight into more of a brawl. As the fight progressed, McLeod-Wells stayed disciplined and stuck to her game plan of keeping McMorrow at the end of her punches. In the sixth round, a stong straight right stunned McMorrow and she briefly touched the canvas. The pace of the fight remained the same afterwards, and McLeod-Wells rolled on to a unanimous decision victory with scores of 58-55, 57-56, and 57-56. — Arben Paloka

Seanie Monaghan vs. Angel Gonzalez — 4 Rounds, light heavyweight

In a bout scheduled for four rounds, Long Beach’s Seanie Monaghan squared off against Yonker’s Angel Gonzalez.

Good action was present throughout the first round, as both fighter’s were willing to engage one another. In the first half of the first round, Gonzalez outworked Monaghan, who ate a few powerful left hooks to the body and a series of uppercuts to the chin courtesy of his counterpart.

With an already marked-up face, Monaghan turned it on in the second half of the inaugural round, scoring with meaningful power punches to Gonzalez’s face. Perhaps the most significant punch landed by the fan-favorite, Monaghan, came at the rounds close, when he landed a perfectly placed straight right on the button.

In the second round, both fights came in close and never left. Both fighter’s went to work ont he inside and neither proved to be particularly elusive. Monaghan was able to land straight rights at will, while Gonzalez consistently landed his uppercuts. Midway through the first round, Monaghan cranked it up a gear again. He scored with a series of right hands, one so powerful it violently snapped Gonzalez’s head around. To his credit, Gonzalez came firing back, landing a series of punches while Monaghan was backed into the corner. Similar to the end of round one, Monaghan hurt Gonzalez with only seconds to spare in the round — this time it was a left hook to the body that had Gonzalez in pain.

Round three opened up with Monaghan once again finding a home for his straight right hand. Overall, round three belonged to Monaghan, but it didn’t come without him being on the receiving end of some punishment. With about a minute left in the round, a gassed Monaghan took a quick rest against the ropes. Gonzalez, who was equally as exhausted lost tons of steam on his punches by the third round.

When Gonzalez returned to his stool, he sat slumped over, his head resting just above his knees. The ringside doctor caught site of this, examined Gonzalez, and ordered the referee to call a halt to the bout before the fourth round began.

With the win, Monaghan improves to 5-0, 4 KOs, while Gonzalez drops to 2-5, 2 KOs. — Kyle Kinder

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

“I know he’s [Brian Vera] motivated, I know he wants this win big…[but] I’m not 100% super-motivated with [fighting] Brian Vera.”

You don’t say!

The day before stepping in the ring and dropping a split decision loss to Brian Vera, Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora spoke to Joe Tessitore on ESPN’s Heavy Hitting Boxing Podcast.

After stating that he lacked motivation, “The Latin Snake” went on to tell Tessitore, “Yet, I fear that he’s going to be stronger than me and hit harder than me. There are going to be moments in this fight when he’s actually going to connect and who knows how I’m going to react to these shots.”

So, Mora knew there were times where he would be tested. He knew Vera was a banger, and could dish out some punishment. And he knew Vera would be the crowd favorite, fighting in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. Yet even with all of this knowledge, Mora was still lacking 100% motivation.

Going into the Vera fight, Mora was fresh off a draw with future hall-of-famer Shane Mosley — a fight that headlined a PPV card.

Perhaps it was the lesser name, Vera, or the fact that this fight was on ESPN, not PPV, that Mora was unable to get fully motivated. Or maybe it was the massive drop in pay that Mora would receive from the Mosley to Vera fights. Or perhaps it was the fact that the tough Texan had just one win in his last five bouts.

Whatever his reasons may have been, I found Mora’s admission to be quite telling and extremely honest.

In my brief thirteen months covering the sweet science, I have interviewed countless fighters. In most instances, before a fight, myself or other media members will ask how training has been going. Never once have I heard that a fighter is lacking motivation.

In fact, the answer we get is usually the exact opposite. More times than not it’s, “This is one of the best training camps I’ve ever had…I’m hungry to go out and get the win…etc, etc.”

I expected to hear something similar from Mora, as well. So when he admitted that he wasn’t fully motivated, I wasn’t sure if his words were refreshing or red-flag raising.

During the course of the twelve minute interview, Mora also confirmed to Tessitore that he trained by himself for this fight, ditching trainer Dean Campos in favor of doing it the old-fashioned way.

So as I watched the first stanza unfold, I saw a Mora who was a bit surprised at how relentless Vera was. “The Latin Snake” wasn’t particularly elusive early on, and was a bit befuddled by Vera’s early early success.

As the fight progressed, it was really just more of the same. Constant, non-stop pressure from gritty hometown kid. Mora had his moments throughout the thirty minutes between the ropes — landing some nice combinations in the middle-rounds — but they were few and far between. He was consistently inconsistent throughout.

When the bout concluded, one judge scored the fight 96-94, Mora, while two saw it the other way, 96-94, Vera, awarding him a hard-earned split decision win.

In a sport where so much rides on any single fight, there never should be a lack of motivation. This wasn’t supposed to be an easy fight for Mora, and like he said, he had his fears entering the bout. Unfortunately for Mora, Vera turned Mora’s fears into a reality.

While credit must be given to Vera for pulling off what was arguably the biggest win of his career, a fully motivated Sergio Mora with Dean Campos in his corner, beats the best Brian Vera nine times out of ten.

While we don’t know how Mora will rebound after this loss, one thing we can bet on is that this was the last fight “The Latin Snake” would have struggled to find motivation.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

On Saturday night, forty-five minutes before Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander did battle in Pontiac, Michigan, I got this text from one of my few friends who enjoys boxing.

“I forgot this fight was on till a little while ago. Who do you think is going to win?”

Presumably, his second sentence was to aid him in a potential gambling proposition.

I replied, “Bradley by decision, but I think he’ll have to come from behind in the second half to win a close fight.”

I then texted my 28 year-old brother and reminded him the fight was about to start. He responded by saying, “I don’t get Showtime.”

I told him it’s on HBO, to which he said, “In that case I’m going to watch it.”

My friend is much more of a boxing guy than my brother, but brother, who is a lawyer, watches pretty much every HBO fight and is extremely opinionated about certain fighters.

In December he was literally screaming for Marcos Maidana to knock out Amir Khan in the tenth round of their Fight of the Year bout. At some point in the last year and a half, he decided he didn’t like Khan. Nor is he a fan of Floyd Mayweather, Zab Judah, or Chris Arreola, apparantly. He likes Tomasz Adamek, Paulie Malignaggi, and Manny Pacquiao — and Buboy Fernandez, though. But for whatever reason, there is no in-between with him.

There was a point in time where I was almost certain that myself and another writer-friend of mine were going to make the trip from North Jersey, drive the length of the Keystone State, through Ohio, to Pontiac. Plans fell through, and I watched it from my bedroom.

But during the interim, I talked up this fight, I was excited. I thought what most people thought: these were easily two of the best three fighters in one of boxing’s deepest divisions. The fight matters, so it had to be good.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. Bradley outclassed Alexander from beginning to end. Alexander “The Not-so Great” didn’t use his height or reach to his advantage, and all but once unleashed an uppercut (the punch that so viciously knocked out Juan Urango last year). Not sure why he kept it on the shelf. Flustered, perhaps.

Bradley was constantly charging forward, throwing wild at times, but never letting Alexander fight his fight. Bart Barry summed it up well, writing about what he saw from his ringside perch, “Alexander was out of his depth, discomfited throughout. Bradley was too far away, too near, and never where he wanted him. The rounds were close, but you could argue Alexander didn’t win any of them. Then head butts took his mind away.”

So when the fight was stopped and Bradley’s hand deservedly raised, my phone buzzed again with texts.

The first came from my friend. It simply said, “Fight is over…that’s shitty.”

Then came my brother’s. After expressing his opinion that Alexander legitimately couldn’t continue, he proclaimed, “That fight was dumb.”

He concluded with, “Bad for boxing…in my opinion.”

Well, it certainly wasn’t good for boxing. But we must remember this is a fight that everyone wanted to see, and I’m glad HBO made it. I am not so glad about the concessions HBO made in order to make this fight, however.

In his latest column about Pacquiao’s move to Showtime, Thomas Hauser addressed the details of the Bradley-Alexander fight by writing, “Each fighter (in tandem with his respective promoter) has been guaranteed a second fight for a license fee of at least $3,000,000. This means that, unless their first encounter warrants a rematch, three fights involving these two boxers will command almost 25% of HBO’s license fees in 2011.”

Further, according to John Chavez of The Boxing Truth fame, Bradley-Alexander drew 1.345 million live viewers. Sad to say, but I’m almost certain that number will decrease for Alexander’s next bout. To put things in perspective, the Manfredo-Eduard fight on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, drew 788,000 live viewers, and they paid a hell of a lot less than the $4 million HBO paid for this fight.

While I’m glad HBO made Bradley-Alexander happen, they grossly overpaid and made too many concessions. Then again, I would definitely not be writing any of this if it turned out to be a twelve round thriller.

That wasn’t the case, however, and head-butts and Bradley’s determination and grit earned him the title as world’s best junior welterweight.

But unfortunately for boxing fans like my brother, there’s a good chance that both Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander ended up on their ‘dislike’ list. The next time Alexander is on HBO I’ll try to get my brother to watch, but I don’t think he’ll take the bait. I have a better shot at getting him to watch Bradley fight again.

When he said, “Bad for boxing…in my opinion,” — that’s the way I feel about 25% of HBO’s 2011 license fee’s being linked to these two fighters.

We wanted the fight, we got it. Most likely, we won’t want to see Alexander against a bounce-back opponent. Too bad, we’re getting it.

We’ll just take the good with the bad I guess. That’s boxing.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder & KyleKinder1@gmail.com

It’s hard to believe that less than four years ago, Tomasz Adamek would step onto a physician’s scale the day before a fight and the balance beam would find a happy medium somewhere around 175 pounds.

Since those light heavyweight days not so long ago, where he engaged in two all-out brawls with Paul Briggs and lost a hard fought bout to Chad Dawson, Adamek has breezed through the cruiserweight division capturing the IBF and Ring Magazine championships before setting his sights on heavyweight gold.

Now, just fifteen months after bidding adieu to the cruiserweight division, the highlander from Poland will get an opportunity to become a heavyweight champion of the world.

As Dan Rafael of ESPN first reported yesterday, Adamek and his camp — Main Events & Ziggy Promotions — publicly announced that they had finalized a contract to fight one of the Klitschko brothers in September, at one of two newly constructed stadiums in Poland.

The initial report stated that if both Vitali and Wladimir win their upcoming bouts, against Odlanier Solis and Derek Chisora, respectively, it will be most likely be Wlad who steps through the ropes in September to participate in one of the biggest fights in Polish boxing history.

If one brother loses, Adamek will square off against the brother who won, and if both fall, the fight with Adamek is off.

The last condition states that the Pole must win his April 16 bout in Katowice, Poland against the always dangerous TBA in order for his September title bout to take place.

While the fight will no longer be against Samuel Peter, as once reported, but it will come against “a popular opponent who is taller than me,” according to Adamek.

Back in December, at the post fight press conference for the Adamek-Vinny Maddalone fight, Duva admitted to reporters that she had been in contact with representatives of the Ukrainian champions.

While acknowledging the two sides had participated in discussions regarding a championship title bout, Duva shot down rumors that Adamek would do battle with a Klitschko in March of 2011 at Madison Square Garden, which was a popular rumor in early December. The significant of a heavyweight title fight taking place in March at Madison Square Garden is because it would mark the 40th anniversary of “The Fight of Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

While I presume there was some appeal to make that fight in late March at the Garden from a marketing standpoint, Duva ultimately stayed loyal to the Prudential Center in Newark, which has become Adamek’s home away from home.

I imagine that for the Klitschko’s there is little appeal in fighting in Newark. Therefore, the fight shifts to Poland, where new stadiums are sprouting up throughout the nation to prepare for EURO Cup 2012, when they will play co-hosts to the big soccer tournament, along with the Ukraine.

As recent as July 2009 there was buzz around the soccer world that the scheduled host counties might possibly be switched to Hungary and Germany if the building of the facilities in Poland and the Ukraine didn’t pick up the pace.

With hard work, Poland put skeptics to rest as three entirely new stadiums will be up and running by the time EURO 2012 rolls around. Two of them are in the running to host Adamek vs. Klitschko.

Both Stadion Majeski and Stadion Nawodwy (National Stadium) are set to be completed in June 2011. The Stadion Nawodwy, which is located in the capital city of Warsaw, will be able to seat 56,000, while Stadion Majeski, located in the city of Wroclaw, will hold 42,771.

Geographically, Wroclaw is significantly closer to the German border than Warsaw. A fight at the Stadion Miejeski in theory could draw more Klitschko supporters than if it were to be held in the further Stadion Nawodwy. Make no mistake, however, regardless of location, this crowd will be overwhelmingly pro-Adamek, but being that the Klitschko brothers are now based out of Germany, thousands of their supports will undoubtedly spill over the German-Polish border to witness their beloved champion do battle, whichever brother it may be.

For me, the most intriguing part about this fight is that one of the champions will be facing the best Tomasz Adamek they can possibly face. Unlike most of their recent opponents, who prematurely jump at the chance to get a crack at the crown, Adamek has been to the top of the mountain in two different weight classes already.

He has set goals for himself and hasn’t stopped until he has grabbed titles. For the last fifteen months, Adamek and his team have been preparing for the very moment that will come in September.

He has proven he could take a heavyweight’s punch when he duked it out with Chris Arreola over twelve rounds. He has proven he could beat a taller fighter when he outpointed the 6’7” Michael Grant. And perhaps most importantly as a heavyweight, Adamek proved that he is world class boxer.

After his first two heavyweight fights — against Andrew Golota and Jason Estrada — Adamek and his longtime trainer Andrzej Gmitruk split ways, allowing Gmitruk to tend to his own health concerns. That’s when “Goral” picked up Roger Bloodworth as his primary trainer.

Since linking up with Bloodworth, Adamek is noticeably more mobile. He has Americanized his fight-game and sharpened his defense. He hits and he moves. He throws countless combinations and less willing to go blow-for-blow with an opponent, as he was accustomed to at lower weight classes.

Adamek was quicker than the five heavyweights he’s faced so far, and he’ll be quicker than both Klitschkos. I don’t think many people will be giving Adamek much of a chance against either Klitschko, but it’s comforting to know that the to-be-challenger is a ex-champion who deserves his crack at heavyweight glory.

At the age of 34 and having done it twice already, Adamek knows what it takes to be world champion. After handpicking opponents to prepare him for a meeting with one of the Ukrainian giants, come September Adamek will be as ready as he’ll ever be.

Kyle Kinder can be reached via Twitter at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or at KyleKinder1@gmail.com.

At the Hamilton Manner in Hamilton, New Jersey, former Olympic bronze medalist, Terrance Cauthen, outpointed Philadelphia’s Philip “Mongoose” McCants to recapture his winning ways.

For Cauthen, this bout marked his first fight since losing John O’Donnell in London last September, while for McCants, this was only his second fight since 2006.

Each stanza of the six round bout seemed to be a mirror image of the previous round. The fight was riddled with clinching and holding — and for the first time all night, the crowd demanded more action.

For the type of fight this turned out to be, there was no doubt Cauthen was better suited. The quick southpaw would throw one or two punches at a time before (and to his credit, landed them at high success rate) leaning on McCants, waiting for the referee to step in and separate the two.

McCants had trouble finding ways to let his hands go, as much of his punches were thrown with little to nothing on them while he and Cauthen were in close, tied up.

The “Mongoose” had no answer for Cauthen’s speed as the former Olympian’s jabs and straight lefts were beginning to leave their stamp on McCant’s face as early as the second round. As the fight progressed, McCants’ right continued to swell at an alarming rate, undoubtedly making it more difficult for the native-Philadelphian to conduct his work.

While it was Cauthen who did much of the leaning and holding, McCants was a guilty culprit at times as well and in the fourth round, the referee took points away from McCants and Cauthen for that very reason.

In the fifth round, Cauthen shoved McCants a bit, forcing him off-balance and at the same time threw a punch that grazed McCants and sent him to the canvas. The referee ruled it a knockdown and subsequently the round should have been scored 10-8 Cauthen.

Similar to American super middleweight Andre Ward, Cauthen is a fighter with an outstanding amateur pedigree. There is no doubt that he can box when he wants to.

However, also like Ward (of recent), Cauthen saw it fit to initiate clinching between he and his opponent and fight an unpleasing style.

With that said, “Heat” did what he had to do to get back in the win column and that’s all that counts.

All three judges scored the bout in favor for Cauthen. Judge George Hill had it 58-53; Luis Rivera saw it 59-53; and Gene Williams scored it 59-52.

With the win, Cauthen improves to 36-7, 9 KOs, while McCants falls to 8-2-1, 3 KOs.

Charles Hayward vs. Jason Burrell — 6 Rounds, light heavyweight

Philadelphia’s Charles Hayward went all Bachman Turner Overdrive on Wilmington Delaware’s Jason Burrell and took care of business before three rounds, improving his record to 6-2, 2 KOs.

Sporting Duke University trunks (basketball shorts), Burrell seemed a little out of place from the start, when he and his team walked to the wrong corner of the ring.

Having not fought professionally in over five years, Burrell showed no immediate signs of ring rust, engaging in a brawl with Hayward from the opening bell, exchanging wild, ill-intentioned power punches with one another.

This proved to be a bad idea for Burrell when he got caught with a left-right combination that sent him to the canvass. He beat the ref’s ten count, but less than a minute later was dropped with another left-right combo at the bell. Burrell flamboyantly returned to his feet, raising his arms in the air to signal to the crowd he was alright.

However, after returning the stool on unsteady legs, referee Dave Franciosi wasn’t convinced. When Burrell stood up for the start of round three, Franciosi didn’t like what he saw and called a halt to the bout, awarded Hayward the TKO victory.

Burrell drops to 2-6-3, 2 KOs with the loss.

Derrick Webster vs. William Chouloute — 4 Rounds, middleweight

Although he dropped a four round decision to Derrick Webster, he won me over with his fantastic nickname: William “21 Gun” Chouloute.

Trenton’s Webster using a snapping jab to keep Chouloute on the outside for all four rounds, making him pay a dear price when he dared to rush inside. After cruising through the first three rounds, the undefeated Webster turned up the heat in the fourth, clearly making an effort to add another KO to his record.

With a barrage of rights and lefts, Webster overwhelmed Chouloute until the finally was knocked off balance, letting gravity due the rest. “21 Gun” Chouloute beat the referee’s ten count, however, and survived to hear the final bell.

Webster won on all three scorecards by scores of 40-35. He improves to 6-0, 4 KOs, while Chouloute drops to 1-2, 1 KO.

Alando Swain vs. David Navero — 4 Rounds, super middleweight

Philadelphia’s David Navero’s professional debuted lasted all of just 1:44 seconds. That was all the time Alando Swain needed to drop Navero twice and force referee Al Huggins to step in and call a halt the bout.

About a minute into the inaugural round, Swain perfectly placed a right hand on Navero’s chin, sending him to the canvas. After the Philly fighter beat the 10 count, Swain immediately picked up where he left off, throwing two vicious left hooks to Navero’s body, before dropping him for the second and final time with one more right hand.

With the win, Swain improves to 2-1, 2 KO, while Navero starts his career 0-1.

Mark Ford vs. Tyaab Beale — 4 Rounds, heavyweight

In a battle of two big men, Newark’s Tyaab Beale easily navigated by Trenton’s Mark Ford, sweeping a decision on all three judge’s scorecards, earning himself a unanimous decision victory.

Beale was slightly more athletic and undoubtedly in better shape than his opponent. After a mildly competitive first round, Ford got up off his stool and was gassed. He spent at least two-thirds of the second round catching his breath while taking punishment with his back pinned against the corner of the ring.

Beale capitalized on his opponent’s lack of punch output and outworked his opponent in all four rounds.

With the win Beale improves to 3-3, 1 KO, while Ford drops to 2-2, 1 KO.

Marcus Smith vs. Bernard Porter — 4 Rounds, junior welterweight

Trenton’s Marcus Smith decided it was time for his “O” to go. When he entered the Hamilton Manner’s doors he was an 0-3 fighter, having just been stopped in his last fight.

When he exited the ropes after his fight concluded, he was the proud owner of a 1-3 record, with that coming by way of second round stoppage.

Both fighters weren’t particularly hard to find, and in the first round they both got touched up. When the round concluded, Porter — who was making his professional debut, was sporting a bloody nose.

Unlike the first round, which featured a bit more back and forth action, the second round belonged to Smith. The Trenton native dropped Philadelphia’s Porter early in the round courtesy of a short left hook. Shortly after he beautifully countered a straight right with a straight right of his own that landed right on Porter’s chin, sending him crumbling to the canvas. That’s when Porter’s corner stepped in and stopped the fight at the :56 mark of round 2.

Yehudi Fracas vs. Jesse Crawford — 4 Rounds, welterweight

In the night’s opening bout, Trenton’s Yehudi Fracas bested Philadelphia’s Jesse Crawford via majority decision to start his professional career with a 1-0 record.

Both fighter’s found success at different times throughout their twelve minutes in the ring together, however, it was Fracas who continually got the better of Crawford, who spent too much time going backwards.

When it was all said and done, one judge scored the bout even, 38-38, while two judges awarded Fracas the decision by scores of 40-35 and 39-36, respectively.

Part 1/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 2/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 3/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 4/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 5/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 6/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Alicia Ashley vs. Crystal Hoy — Jr. Featherweights, 8 Rounds
In the first ever female main event in New York City boxing history, Brooklyn’s Alicia Ashley bested Sin City’s Crystal Hoy by a unanimous decision at the Masonic Temple in the historic Fort Hood section of Brooklyn.

Ashley lived up to her nickname, “Slick,” as she cruised to her wide-margined victory over eight rounds. It was clear from the get-go that Hoy would have trouble with her much taller opponent, and subsequently, Ashley was able to keep her opponent at bay.

The opening round set the pace for the fight, with Ashley getting the better of Hoy, while still playing host to a few solid shots thrown by Hoy. As the fight progressed, Ashley continued to implement her strategy of firing off a few punches, then swiftly move out of harm’s way.

Hoy spent most of the fight attempting to apply pressure to the elusive Ashley. Unfortunately for the Filipino-American, success was few and far between. Although her corner repeatedly pleaded with Hoy to throw more punches as the two were tied up, insisted that Ashley was feather-fisted, screaming “She can’t hurt you!” she was unable to fully capitalize while on the inside with Ashley.

In the eight round, much to the delight of the hometown fans, Ashley scored a knockdown courtesy of a grazing left hook. Hoy was unshaken by the knockdown, but at that point it was all academic anyway.

Ashley defeated Hoy by scores of 80-71 and 79-72, twice.

With the win, Ashley improves to 16-9-1, 1 KO, while Hoy drops to 5-4-3, 2 KO.

“I felt a little rusty,” said Ashley, 16-9-1 (1 KO). ” I wasn’t being the typical slick fighter I am because Crystal forced me to fight her fight at times.

When asked how she felt being a part of female boxing history Ashley said: “It was nerve wracking. I was so nervous but I’m glad I came out on top and won the fight.”

“This was an amazing event, the support for both the females from all in attendance was overwhelming and it meant a lot. It showed the changing tides in accepting an athlete for an athlete, regardless of gender. I want to thank Global Boxing’s Mariusz Kolodziej for believing in me and helping make this all possible.”

“I was very pleased to be a part of this milestone in boxing history,” said Global Boxing CEO Mariusz Kolodziej. “But I was sitting and watching; It was all Maureen Shea. I’m so glad to see her succeed.”

Eilon Kedem vs. Jose “Chily” Rivera — Jr. Welterweights, 6 Rounds

In what was undoubtedly the fight of the night, New Rochelle’s Jose “Chily” Rivera eked out a close majority decision victory over Brooklyn’s Elion Kedem.

From the opening bell, the two junior welterweights made it clear that they were willing to take a punch or two to land a few of their own — and that’s exactly what they did for the entire eighteen minutes spent inside the ring together.

After two rounds of non-stop back and forth action, both fighter’s faces were already marked up, and Rivera had blood dribbling out of his nose.

The third round would feature all that and more when the two to engaged in battle for the full three minutes. To both of these fighter’s credit, they threw all of their punches with purpose — it was an impressive display of discipline and offensive skill on both their parts.

They fought within inches of each other for most of the fight, with Kedem committing to attacking Rivera’s body, while “Chily” consistently snapped Kedem’s head back courtesy of well-placed right uppercuts.

Chants of “Mexico! Mexico!” broke out in the crowd (to support Rivera) and the crowd gave a round of applause as these two fighter’s slugged it out until the final bell.

In a bout in which virtually every round could have went either way, one judge scored it even, 57-57 while two judges scored the bout in Rivera’s favor, 59-55 and 58-56, giving “Chily” the victory.

With the win, “Chily” Rivera improves to 3-2-1, while Kedem drops to 10-4-4, 6 KO.

“I never think about points,” said Kedem. “I just go out there and fight. I never felt I was losing, but I just gotta back harder next time. I’d love to fight him again; I’d fight anyone.”

Armin Mrkanovic vs. Sharieff Hayes — Cruiserweight, 4 Rounds

In front of his legion of Bosnian fans, Armin Mrkanovic scored a unanimous decision victory over Phoenix’s Sharieff Hayes to start off his professional career a perfect 1-0.

Hayes, who sported long black gym shorts because he forgot his trunks — and protective gear for that matter — was battered around a bit for four rounds, never able to stop Mrkanovic’s overhand right that consistently came in around his opponent’s defense.

In the third round, after Mrkanovic stumbled Hayes after battering him with right hands, Hayes was able to catch Mrkanovic and momentarily daze him in the closing seconds of the round.

In the sixty second intermission between bells, Mrkanovic was able to shake off any cobwebs that might have still been lingering and immediately picked back up where he left off in the first two rounds and most of round three.

At the conclusion of the fight, all three judges saw the bout 40-36 in Mrkanovic’s favor.

“I was really happy with the win,” said Mrkanovic, who was 6-0 as a mixed martial arts fighter. “I made some mistakes like trying to pulling back looking for distance to kick. He took some hard hits, I was surprised he didn’t go down.”

Nicholas Lavin vs. Bakari — Cruiserweight, 4 Rounds

Between his tens of noisy and energetic fans scattered throughout the Temple and his opponent, simply named Bakari (that’s all there was on the bout sheet — and after a few failed inquiries as to learn more about this mysterious boxer, I came to accept it), this match had a classic WWF feel to it.

Lavin scored best with his left hook throughout the bout, as Bakari struggled protect against it. Throughout the bout, Lavin proved to be the more athletic and less awkward fighter of the two, and was able to best Bakari working behind a nice jab.

In the fourth and final round, Lavin landed three consecutive left hooks right on the button, sending Bakari into survival mode. After absorbing a steady stream of blows provided by Lavin, referee Sparkle Lee stepped in and called a halt to the bout at the 1:06 mark of the fourth round.

With the win, Yonker’s Lavin improves to 2-0, 2 KO, while Bakari drops his professional debut.

Edward Ayuso vs. Kevin Walker — Jr. Middleweights, 4 Rounds

The first fight of the night saw two boxer’s make their professional debut.

When it was all said and done, Cleveland, Ohio’s Kevin Walker walked away with a majority decision victory over Carolina, Puerto Rico’s Edward Ayuso.

The judges scored the bout 38-38, and 40-36 and 39-37 in Walker’s favor.

Evander Holyfield had just finished working out at New York City’s Church Street gym Tuesday morning when he sat on the ringside steps and answered questions from the media. When asked about his toughest victory, without hesitation Holyfield replied “Dwight Muhammad Qawi.”

“That was a fifteen round fight,” Holyfield said. “It was like somebody blindfolded you and threw you into the ocean. Then you look and you don’t know which direction to go, but you know if you stop you’re going to drown.”

He then went on to explain how he weighed fifteen pounds less at the final bell than he did at the start of the fight. Then he spoke about never giving up; he talked about resisting the urge to quit.

“I rather die before I quit, because I won’t know if I quit if I die. I just don’t want to remember quitting.”

In many ways, Holyfield’s (43-10-2, 28 KO) own words about quitting represent the forty-eight year old’s legendary career.

“The Real Deal” is the only five-time heavyweight champion in the sport’s storied history. Conversely, he is also the only boxer to ever lose his heavyweight title on five different occasions.

But each time Holyfield has lost his title in the past, he has come back to get it, he never quit. However, since losing his last championship belt to John Ruiz in 2001, the championship titles have eluded him.

Just over two years ago, Holyfield was on the losing end of a controversial split decision against Nikolai Valuev, which undoubtedly left “The Real Deal” with a bitter taste in his mouth, knowing just how close he came to reclaiming his crown.

He’ll continue his journey back to the top on Saturday night in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, where he’ll square off against thirty-eight year old veteran, Sherman “Tank” Williams (34-11-2, 19 KO).

With a win over Williams, Holyfield hopes to turn his attention to Denmark’s Brian Nielson (64-2, 43 KO), for an early March bout. If all goes according to plan in Copenhagen, “The Real Deal” said he’ll look to fight once more in 2011.

While Holyfield’s financial troubles have come into public view over the last few years, specifically his woes with regards to his estate and child support payments, “The Real Deal” insists his reasons for being in the ring are centered more on recapturing a title rather than earning a paycheck.

“The big thing is performance. If you love to perform, money will come,” Holyfield said. “I know what I’m doing and if I didn’t want to box, I’d say ‘Okay, I don’t want to do it anymore.’”

If he gets by Williams, Nielson, and his third opponent this calendar year, Holyfield hopes to get a crack at a Klitschko brother or David Haye in 2012. While he noted that he has no preference as to which champion he’d rather face, in answering one reporter’s question, he did agree that a bout between he and Haye would make for an interesting fight, given their similar stature as smaller heavyweights.

“It [a fight with Haye] would be good. We both came up from cruiserweight and he’s a skillful fighter,” said Holyfield. “You find that the young guy brings something, but the older guy brings something too. I’d have to outthink him.”

But first, with three fights his goal for 2011, Holyfield will need to find the same fountain from which the forty-six year old Bernard Hopkins drinks. You know, the one that disguises the skills of a world class fighter inside an aging man’s body.

“When I was younger, they said I was too young and now that I’m older, they say I’m too old,” Holyfield said. “But I was able to do it then…You may not get it when you want it but you may still get it if you don’t quit.”

For a man whose practiced this violent trade professionally for over twenty six years, the sport is Holyfield’s ocean. He didn’t quit against Qawi in ’86 and he was rewarded by winning the WBA cruiserweight title via split decision. Now, the resilient Holyfield is refusing to quit his quest to capture a sixth world heavyweight championship. He’s not hanging it up his gloves just yet, he’s not ready to drown.

Whether you realize it or not, FX has been a power-player in network television for the better part of a decade. Since 2002, FX has continually pumped out above average dramas, and more recently, a few can’t-miss comedy series.

Last night, FX debuted their newest series, Lights Out, a drama that’s centered around a former heavyweight champion, Patrick “Lights Out” Leary (Holt McCallany), and focuses primarily on his relationship with his family, money, and career inside the ring.

The pilot episode opens with Leary laying on a table, his face disfigured and covered in blood. The wounds are a result of an absolute slugfest between he and “Death Row” Reynolds.

I was immediately intrigued by the effort made to by the writer’s to give Lights Out an unexpected authenticity to their story. During the fight between Leary and Reynolds, Kenny Albert and Steve Farhood were calling the action, while top-notch cutman, Danny Milano, worked on Leary in his corner.

The real story takes place five years after that beating, where we learn Leary lives with his family in a suburban area in New Jersey and is the owner of a boxing gym. He’s going through trying times financially and jumps at the opportunity to make a little cash here and there, serving as both the caller in a Bingo hall, as well as “muscle” for some debt collectors.

The pilot ends with “Death Row” Reynolds challenging Leary to a rematch, something his wife immediately voices her opposition to. Presumably, in the next episode, Leary will accept this challenge as a means to financially support his family.

Leary proves to be a likable character — a loving husband and father, who clearly only wants the best for his family. As the series progresses, it will be interesting to see how his relationship with his family members changes as he returns to the ring.

What I’m looking forward to the most about Lights Out is the character development. They have already shot and solidified a thirteen episode season. Therefore, during those episodes, it is my hope that the viewer will get to know the characters — think something like LOST. I’m not hoping for entire episodes to be dedicated to obscure characters, I’m just hoping that over the thirteen hours that comprise of season one, we get to know the main players on a personal level.

I watch a ton of television as is — probably too much. My favorite series of all time are The Wire, Lost, The Sopranos, Mad Men, and 24, in that order. It will be difficult for Lights Out to ever penetrate the gates into my five all-time favorite television series, but I don’t doubt the show’s potential.

The simple fact that FX is the network behind Lights Out makes me optimistic that the series will develop into must-see television.

Having been one of the more consistent networks of the past ten years, FX has thrown their brand behind EMMY award winning series such as, Damages and The Shield. They are also the network behind the EMMY-nominated series Rescue Me and annual EMMY-snub Sons of Anarchy.

Further, they have hit two home runs in the comedy genre with regards to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Louie.

If you are like me and prefer enjoying a series from it’s inaugural episode and not play catch-up later via DVD, then do yourself a favor, and relax, turn the lights out, and enjoy FX’s newest drama.

Lights Out airs Tuesdays at 10 PM on FX.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at KyleKinder1@gmail.com or Twitter.com/KyleKinder

The beginning of 2011 looks promising for the sweet science. Moreso than the beginning of 2010, at least.

After a late rally and strong conclusion for boxing last year, the sport offers intriguing match-ups early in the new year that are sure to keep the fistic dialogue flowing.

January might as well be labeled “The Month of the Prospect” as fans will get a chance to witness talented up-and-comers who are set to become serious contenders in the near future.

In just two days, ESPN’s Friday Night Fights returns with hard-hitting Russian, Ruslan Provodnikov (17-0, 11 KO) taking Mauricio Herrera (15-1, 7 KO). Former Olympian Demetrius Andrade (11-0, 8 KO) will also be featured when he squares off against Alberto Herrera (7-1, 5 KO).

Later in the month, Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (17-0, 13 KO) will face Aaron Pryor Jr. (15-2, 11 KO) in a bout scheduled for ten. Easily the best super middleweight prospect, Rodriguez has been in high-demand as of late, serving as sparring partners for both Carl Froch and Jean Pascal as they prepared for their bouts against Arthur Abraham and Bernard Hopkins, respectively.

Cuban junior middleweight Erislandy Lara (14-0, 9 KO) is coming off three straight first round knockouts. Viewers will get watch him duke it out with Delray Raines (18-8-1, 13 KO), a fight which will air on Telefutura. Also on that card will be two promising Golden State prospects, Frankie Gomez (7-0, 6 KO) and Randy Caballero (6-0, 4 KO).

As per usual during a Telefutura card, I will be sitting in front of the television regretting my decision to quit Spanish in school, in favor of Italian. Regardless, these are three legitimate prospects all in one place on the same night.

In addition to all the prospects that will be televised throughout the month, the most anticipated bout of new year’s first month will take place when Tim Bradley takes on Devon Alexander in a junior welterweight unification bout. Most likely, the winner will face Amir Khan at some point in 2011 to see who the class of 140.

In February, Mike Jones and Jesus Soto-Karass will run back their ten round brawl and Fight of the Year candidate. While there is little doubt that taking this fight was the best financial deal on the table for Team Jones, to me, his decision to accept a rematch speaks volumes to the type of person Jones is. Although Jones will profit from literal profit and more exposure, as the rematch will air on HBO, he could have foregone a rematch with Soto-Karass

He didn’t. He wants to prove he earned the victory the first time by leaving no doubts in their second battle.

In the first fight, after punching himself in the second round while Soto-Karass was backed against the ropes, an exhausted Jones clearly struggled the rest of the fight. After thirty minutes of action inside the ring, many felt that Soto-Karass had pulled off the upset and was deserving of a victory.

On February 18, he’ll have a chance to prove it.

That fight will be followed by arguably the most anticipated bout in the first two months of the new year: the bantamweight unifying clash between Nonito Donaire (25-1, 17 KO) and Fernando Montiel (44-2, 34 KO).

A DVR-worthy bout that will be airing around the same time as the HBO card will feature Maryland’s (via the Dominican Republic) Fernando Guerrero (20-0, 16 KO) stepping up in competition against tough journeyman, Saul Roman (33-8, 25 KO).

Finally, February commences with a Showtime card that will see Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (26-0-1, 19 KO) duel with Miguel Acosta (28-3, 22 KO) over a scheduled twelve rounds for a WBA title.

We ended 2010 with both November and December’s to remember.

Now we begin with two months that are full of potential, in the form of serious prospects, as well as Fight of the Year type bouts between Bradley-Alexander and Donaire-Montiel.

I highly doubt January and February will be months to forget.

Jean Pascal may have escaped Quebec City’s Pepsi Coliseum with his championship belts last weekend, but he didn’t escape his execution, he simply postponed it.

Now that three days have passed since Pascal battled Bernard Hopkins to a majority draw, the dust is beginning to settle. We have weathered the immediate storm of swirling rumors and conspiracies.

We know now that there wasn’t any tampering with official scorecards, nor did the WBC issue an immediate rematch following the fight.

Pascal and his team, led by promoter Yvon Michel, intend to honor their contractual obligation to make a rematch with Chad Dawson, who Pascal outclassed earlier this year to capture his light-heavyweight titles.

Then, only after Pascal-Dawson II concludes, will Michel look to put together Pascal-Hopkins II.

In his fight with Dawson, Pascal was seemingly cruising to victory, when he allowed his counterpart to come on strong in the later rounds before a clash of heads ended the bout in the eleventh.

At the time of the head-butt, Pascal was gassed. Even with plenty of rounds in the bank, Pascal was going to struggle to make it through the rest of the fight. All he had to do was get on his bike — but there was barely any air left in his tires.

Ultimately, the cut over Dawson’s eye due to the clash of heads prevented the final four minutes of the fight from ever taking place, and it resulted in a Pascal victory.

Since it had already been a knock on Pascal that he fades in the mid-to-late rounds of fights — and seeing how strong Dawson came on late in his most recent fight before Hopkins — you would think Pascal and his team would address his stamina and make it a non-issue.

Not the case. After sending the old man to the canvas twice in the first three rounds, albeit — never hurting Hopkins, Pascal seemed to be befuddled by Hopkin’s work-ethic and work-rate, almost in awe of what the soon to be forty-six year old was doing.

The charges forward that had been so successful against “Bad Chad” in June were few and far between in the Hopkins fight. B-Hop played matador to Pascal’s bull.

Pascal’s punch output, which was never something to awe at anyway, was limited to only 30 per round against Hopkins. He averaged slightly over forty against Dawson.

The Philadelphia native battered Pascal’s body with vicious punches, no doubt contributing to Pascal’s minimal punch output.

When the final bell concluded, after a both fighter’s went at one another for the full three minutes,

Judge Steve Morrow of the United States scored the match 114-112, Hopkins. While Canada’s Claude Paquette and Belgium’s Dan Van De Wielle saw the bout a draw, 114-114 and 113-113, respectively.

From my seat in front of my 52” TV, I scored the bout 114-112, Hopkins. I gave the first three rounds to Pascal, two of them 10-8 due to knockdowns. I also gave Pascal the eight round.

The other eight rounds went to Hopkins, all by scores of 10-9.

But with that said, had I given Pascal round twelve, which was as close as close can be, or any other round I scored for Hopkins, my score card would have read like that of the Belgian judge’s.

So did I think Hopkins won the fight, absolutely. Do I think a draw was highway robbery? No, not really.

To be honest, I fully expected Claude Paquette’s card to read something like 116-111, Pascal, and was pleased when Jimmy Lennon Jr. announced he saw the fight even.

But the unfortunate fact in all of this is that Hopkins cannot fight on forever. He’s been playing the 18th hole of his career for a few years now. At some point, all athletes have to leave Neverland.

At his age, another eight months or so before he gets another crack at Pascal could mean a lot. You never know when or if Hopkins will one day look old overnight.

Even still, there is little doubt in my mind that if the two meet again next year, Hopkins will best him again.

The problem is, I’m not sold Pascal-Hopkins II happens.

Hopkins is well-versed in boxing history, he is a true student of the game. Leading up to this bout, the Executioner was motivated by history — working hard to become the oldest champion in boxing history. That record meant everything to Hopkins.

“I’ll walk through fire with gasoline shoes on to get that,” Hopkins said before the fight.

And he pretty much did. Besides touching the canvas twice, Hopkins did all that could be expected of a fighter his age. His resiliency and performance undoubtedly earned him a rematch, if not an outright victory.

But the scorecards will forever remained unchanged and BHop will have to be patient for another chance to “execute” Pascal.

Only problem is, when that time comes around, Dawson may have already done the honors.

You can reach Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

“I was teaching him boxing because he got beat up one day at school. I was teaching him how to defend himself.”

In that sense, Denis Douglin’s boxing career was born from a mother’s love for her child.

When her son was just eight year’s old, Saphya Douglin, introduced him to the sweet science. She began bringing him to work with her at the since-closed Rivera Boxing Gym in Brooklyn, where she worked as a personal trainer.

“Denis used to run around in the gym, not wanting anything to do with boxing,” she said. “But then he’d see all the other little kids in there and they were enjoying the sport, so he decided it was something he wanted to do.”

While he ultimately committed to the sport, Denis’s relationship with boxing was anything but love at first sight.

“I hated it at first,” he admitted. “I didn’t like the training. But it’s definitely something I’ve learned to love.”

And since those times in Brooklyn some ten-plus years ago, the two have embarked together on a fistic endeavor that has led to Douglin’s emergence as one of the highest touted junior middleweight prospects in boxing.

Under his mother’s tutelage, Douglin stormed through the amateur ranks, racking up New York, New Jersey, and National Golden Gloves titles.

Now residing in Marlboro, New Jersey and nicknamed “Da Momma’s Boy” for obvious reasons, Douglin owns an undefeated record of 11-0 with seven kayos.

After starting his career 7-0 with four kayos, Douglin began a descent in weight from middleweight to junior middleweight, a move to which he attributes his recent string of knockouts.

In his last four fights, although pitted against tough, veteran opposition — who have shared the ring with the Paul Williams and Yuri Foremans of the world — Douglin stopped them all, three of them inside two rounds.

The humble southpaw describes himself as a boxer-puncher who can outbox his counterparts and overwhelm them with meaningful high-volume punching. Douglin likes to throw his punches in bunches and keeps his foot on the gas pedal.

“I try and go in there and let my hands go,” Douglin said. “I try to throw as many punches as I can to get my opponent out of there.”

While “Da Mamma’s Boy” has battered six of his first eleven opponents into submission in two rounds or less, he is well aware of the dangers of getting into slugfests early in fights.

“I’m trying to be a little smarter in my first rounds. I’ve been coming out in first rounds throwing bombs, which leaves myself open,” he said. “We’re trying to work on being a little more calm, working more behind my jab, but after I work behind my jab, I’m still trying to drop a bomb and get him out of there.”

And on Friday night in Monroeville, PA — a small suburb just outside of Pittsburgh — the opponent Douglin will be trying to “get out of there” is West Virginia’s Matt Berkshire.

“I don’t know much about him,” he said. “He’s 11-2 and a right-handed fighter.”

At this stage in his career, Douglin doesn’t need to know much about his opponents. Combine Douglin’s work-ethic with his mother’s demands, and there is little to no chance that Douglin will ever enter a fight unprepared.

Further, the twenty-two year old Douglin frequently works alongside and spars with a world champion, surely drawing inspiration and gaining confidence from those experiences.

“Frankie [Edgar] is full of heart. He’s a small guy, but he keeps coming at you,” Douglin said of the UFC Lightweight Champion and frequent sparring partner. “Every time we spar he comes with something different, something new. I always have to make adjustments. He’s great, it’s been great work for me.”

When Friday’s fight concludes, Douglin will have fought six times this calendar year. While his activity rate seems relatively high, if Douglin and his mother had it their way, they would have fought twice as much this year.

Next year his mother would like to see him fight a “minimum of once a month.”

Douglin would have fought at about that pace this year if not for multiple last-minute fall-outs.

“It’s definitely a little frustrating when you have a date and you’re training towards that date and then you find out two weeks before the fight that the opponent pulled out or something went wrong and now you’re not fighting on the card,” Douglin said of his hard luck. “But I have a goal and that goal is to become a world champion, so nothing can get me unfocused.”

If all goes according to plan on Friday and Douglin finishes 2010 with a 12-0 record, the mother-son duo can look toward achieving their goals set for 2011.

Atop the list for both of them is gaining more exposure.

“My goal for the new year is that he is televised and has a big fight,” Saphya said. “And for us a big fight is not necessarily money — it means exposure for people to recognize that this is a diamond in the rough, that this is a person who can fight, that this is the next Mayweather or even bigger than that.”

Douglin agreed, echoing his mother’s statement.

“Hopefully my managers get me on TV a little more and get a little more exposure because I think my story is great and my style is great,” Douglin said. “I think it’s what boxing needs.”

Also on Douglin’s 2011 wish list: a fight with James Kirkland.

“I want to fight the best. I don’t want to be one of those fighter’s who just have a padded record,” he said. “I want to fight the best fighters out there. I really want to fight James Kirkland.”

But before the ball drops in Times Square and even before Christmas gifts are exchanged in ten days, Douglin has business to attend to in the form of Berkshire.

While Douglin is confident that he can adapt and adjust to overcome any obstacles that may be thrown his way, one constant in Douglin’s game plan is his mother in his corner.

During the fights, Douglin’s strategy is not overly-complex. It’s worked well for him so far.

“I come out in the first round, I see what my opponent has by letting my hands go and seeing how he responds to that,” he said. “Once I see what he does, in the second round and so on I’m able to go on and take over and take advantage of his mistakes.”

Between rounds is where his mother takes over, alerting him to his opponent’s flaws, enabling her son to make the necessary adjustments to succeed.

“My first question is always, “Are you okay?” she said. “But after that, then I start to tell him the things that I saw that he can capitalize on. I also tell him what I think he should do more of.”

Her mother first, coach second approach in the corner has a calming effect on Douglin, who gets the constant reminder that they are in this together.

“The advice that my mother gives me in-between rounds, it’s a relaxed feeling,” Douglin said. “She knows exactly how to get in touch with my emotions and bring the best out of me. It’s like going home in-between rounds.”

And with that said, all opponents of Douglin’s are effectively the road team, no matter where the fight takes place. With his mother in his corner, Douglin will always have home ring advantage.