Just less than a year and a half ago, a hard-hitting Argentinian made his United States debut on HBO. He was introduced to American audiences as a “knockout artist,” having won all but one of his twenty-four victories by way of knockout. The boxer: Marcos Maidana. The result: a sixth round TKO victory over then-unbeaten Victor Ortiz.

On Saturday night at Newark’s Prudential Center, another hard-hitting Argentinian “knockout artist” will make his American debut on HBO. The boxer: Lucas Matthysse. The task: derail the ‘comeback’ of Zab Judah, whose last three fights have led the boxing world to believe he has recaptured his championship form.

Matthysse will try to mirror the winning efforts of Maidana in his American and HBO debut, and if successful, will help avenge his brother, Walter Matthysse’s, HBO debut loss, which marked the beginning to the end of his career.

In late 2005, an undefeated Walter Matthysse easily won his first fight on American soil with a first round knockout against Xavier Tolliver. Less than a year later, the heavy-handed Argentinian found himself on HBO trading blows with fellow undefeated contender, Paul Williams.

In a spirited effort, Matthysse hung in with the “Punisher” for nine-plus rounds before the fight was stopped by referee Jack Reiss in the tenth. Matthysse never recovered from his loss to Williams, losing four out his next five bouts, three of them by knockout.

Having had two Argentinian “knockout artists” in their HBO debut’s blaze two very different trails before him, the importance of this fight with regards to the direction of Matthysse’s career is clear.

In preparation for Saturday night’s showdown with Judah, Matthysse set up camp at the World Crown Sports gym in Oxnard, California, where he trained alongside fellow Argentinian and middleweight champion, Sergio Martinez.

Matthysse, who sports both a ponytail, as well as a tattoo of his mother, is primarily trained by Luis Dionicio “Cuty” Barrera; but while in Oxnard, also worked with Martinez’s trainer, Gabriel Sarmiento.

Undoubtedly, with Martinez and Sarmiento will benefit the hungry Argentinian. A win over Judah would simultaneously propel Matthysse into title contention and all-but end Judah’s ‘comeback’ campaign.

There is little chance Matthysse outboxes “Super” Judah and an even slimmer chance he’d be awarded a close decision in Newark if he did.

It is for this reason that the Argentinian “knockout artist” will need to win in his usual fashion and do so by landing power punches with the precision of a da Vinci portrait.

With regards to his ponytail, Matthysse told AOL Fanhouse’s Elie Sechback through a translator, “It is a promise to myself that when I win a world a world title, I will cut it off.”

A win will put Matthysse’s hat in the ring of 140 lb. contenders, while a loss would sabotage any plans for a haircut.

For more on Argentinian boxing, I urge you to read Anson Wainwright’s comprehensive piece titled “State of the Game,” that first ran on 15Rounds.com on Oct. 27.

Admittedly, I am a sucker for documentaries. The past year alone, I’ve watched documentaries on crossword puzzles, mayoral elections, and the corruption that exists in America’s beer industry. In truth, there aren’t many documentaries I pass up on.

And so — predictably — on Saturday night I found myself racing home from Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center, where I had witnessed the Buffalo Sabres romp the New Jersey Devils, to arrive just in time to plop myself in front of my 52” Samsung TV and enjoy the first installment of “HBO’s 24/7 — Pacquiao-Margarito.”

This particular installment of the award winning series opened up with a storyline that boxing fans have become very familiar with: How will Team Pacquiao overcome all the distractions that distractions in the Pacquiao camp?

At times — such as in the “24/7” series leading up to the Miguel Cotto fight, the distractions in the Pacquiao camp centered around internal conflict (Michael Koncz vs. Alex Ariza) or the fact that Manny shares a house in L.A. with ten-plus friends.

While there still may be an internal conflict on the brink, or a distraction with regards to Pacman’s posse, so far this installment focused on Manny’s new job as a Filipino congressman. Further, Freddie Roach expressed his desire to head back to the Wildcard Gym and leave the Philippines where he feels there are too many distractions.

Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice…well, you know the rest.

There will always be “distractions” in the Pacquiao camp; it comes with the territory. I’m not buying into the “distraction” storyline this time — no matter the origin. Pacquiao always has something going on — whether it is politics, music, basketball, or boxing.

He likes to keep himself busy, it’s as simple as that. If you’ll allow me to steal a line from modern-day baseball vocabulary, it’s just “Manny being Manny.”

On the flip side, after detailing the handwrap incident with Margarito, the glimpse into the Tijuana Tornado’s camp leads viewers to believe that everything is on-point. With the likable Robert Garcia running the show in Oxnard, Margarito looks to be in great shape, and is on pace to make weight with ease.

But no matter what storyline HBO throws at me, I won’t be had again. Pacquiao is the superior fighter and for good reason, is a 5:1 favorite. I embarrassingly allowed myself to believe Cotto would give Manny all he could handle, and I’m pretty sure “24/7” played an important role in shaping my thoughts. Never again.

I’m not going along for the ride this time and no storyline can convince me that Margarito will be victorious on the Nov. 13.

But as Bart Barry pointed out in his Monday column, “24/7” isn’t for me, it’s for the casual fans.

So with that said, it doesn’t matter if this “24/7” seems like a rerun to me, it was meant for someone else. Plus, I’m a sucker for anything documentary-esque, so I’ll be watching anyway.

What’s most important is that the casual fans buy into this installment of “24/7” hook, line, and sinker. “24/7” continually sparks an audible fistic dialogue amongst casual boxing fans — a dialogue that has been reduced to a whisper in recent years.

Perhaps this is the perfect time for casual fans to get their boxing fix. Just maybe the boxing ball will still roll beyond Nov. 13 and even pick up steam when Sergio Martinez takes on Paul Williams the following Saturday and Juan Manuel Marquez squares off with Michael Katsidis the Saturday after that.

I expect the casual fans to buy into this installment of “24/7” and hope the PPV numbers reflect their excitement. As for hoping that their excitement stretches beyond Nov. 13., well, that’s just wishful thinking.

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The main event of the night featured the Bronx’s Jorge Teron vs. Rock Hill, South Carolina’s James Hope in a junior welterweight fight scheduled for eight rounds at Capitale in New York City

In round 1, neither fighter established control, as Teron tried to keep the short Hope on the outside, while Hope found success landing to the body of his opponent. Hope threw more power punches in round1, and landed the round’s most significant punch, a straight right that momentarily stopped Teron in his tracks.

The second round saw an aggressive Hope come out and let his hands fly. He lunged in and landed numerous combinations landing at a high success rate. About a minute into the round, Teron landed his most significant punch to date, a right hand that was thrown perfectly over the jab of his smaller opponent. Teron jabbed less in round 2 and Hope took that as an invitation to throw more punches, but Teron was able to land quality counterpunches. The taller Teron, although not elusive, was never in any harm in round 2.

In round 3, both fighter’s came out exchanging punches, with Teron landing a meaningful left hook on Hope. Hope — whose power punches have been thrown wildly and violently — continued to look for the home run, and when he missed, Teron was able to counter. Midway through the round, Teron started to bleed from his nose and a cut began to release a steady stream of blood from above his right eye. The referee ruled that the cut above Teron’s eye was due to an accidental head-but. As the round came to a close, Teron landed a flush left hook — and followed it up moments after with a nice right hand.

As Teron came out for round4, he sported no blood on his face, as his corner was able to stop the bleeding. Teron came out with cruel intentions in round 4 and decided it was time to take over. He came out as aggressive as ever, landing at will to a defenseless Hope. Teron pummeled Hope up against the ropes, where he covered up in a defense guard, and never threw back. At the 1:38 mark of round 4, referee David Field called a halt to the bout, awarding Teron the TKO victory.

With the win, Jorge Teron improves to 24-2-1, 16 KOs, while Hope falls to 6-6-1, 4 KO.

Elmer Vera vs. Abdellah Smith

In a strange opening bout, Abdellah “The Pitbull” Smith defeated Elmer Vera by second round TKO.

From the opening bell, both fighters — who were making their professional debuts — felt no need to waste punches and came out swinging. Midway through round 1, Vera suffered an injury to his right shoulder, which momentarily stopped the fight. The doctor gave him the green light to continue, and Vera did so, only to get rocked seconds later by a huge straight right. Vera never touched the canvass, and Smith failed to immediately follow up. They continued to exchange until the bell sounded to end round 1, with Smith getting the better of his opponent.

In a strange round 2, Smith continued to find success with power punches, as Vera tried to fend off his opponent behind a stiff left jab. As the round progressed, Vera found himself with his back turned to his opponent, resting on the ropes. The referee forced Vera to turn around and continue, but about a half-minute later, Vera once again turned his back on his opponent, and Smith took advantage, reaching around and sneaking a right that caught Vera flush on the face.

It was at this point that the referee called a halt to the bout. The time of the stoppage was 2:47 into round 2.

Smith starts his career off 1-0, (1 KO), while Vera starts his career 0-1.

Hairo Sujak vs. Naseem Deen

In an action packed opening round, both fighters were able to dish out some punishment — and in doing so, excite the Capitale crowd. About a minute into the inaugural round, the Bronx’s Sujak sent Brooklyn’s Deen to the canvass courtesy of a vicious left hook. To Deen’s credit, he found his legs, and was able to rock Sujak with a straight right that sent him stumbling back into the ropes.

Round 2 was Deen’s most successful round of the four round bout. He forced most of the action, as Sujak spent the majority of the round with his back against the ropes. There were good exchanges littered throughout the round.

Round 3 was similar to round 2 in that the majority of the round, one fighter’s back was against the ropes, except this time, it was Deens. The two traded violent power punches, but it was Deen on the receiving end of most of the punishment. At the end of the round, Sujak hurt Deen during an explosive exchange that created a cut under Deen’s right eye and sent him back into his corner. Sujak bull-rushed Deen to close out the third round by landed a big straight right as the bell sounded, hurting Deen.

In the final round, Sujak dominated the action from start to finish. Sujak knocked Deen down early in the round, and the Bronx native was unable to recover. He spent the rest of the round fending off his opponent to the best of his ability, but failing to show much offense.

Two judges scored the bout 39-35, while one judge saw it 40-34 all in favor of Sujak.

With the win, Sujak improves to 6-1, 2 KO, while Deen drops to 2-3.

Elton Dharry vs. Jose Rivera

In the night’s third fight, two fan favorites squared off in a bantamweight bout, scheduled for six rounds.

The opening round served as a ‘feeling out’ round for both Brooklyn’s Elton Dharry and New Rochelle’s Jose ‘Chily’ Rivera. Both fighters kept their distance, exchanging jabs throughout and landing nothing significant.

In round 2, the fight started to come into its own, with Rivera pressing the action, while Dharry was content to try and pick of Rivera’s punches, and counter them. Round two was a tough round to score, as both fighter’s found sucess at times, and excited their loud fanbases, who battled back and forth with chants of “ELTON! ELTON!” and “CHILY! CHILY!”

Round 3 was a carbon-copy of round 2, with Rivera pressing the action and Dharry trying to counterpunch. Rivera found a bit more success this round, but once again it was a tough round to score. Both fighter’s shoed impressive boxing ability and a unwillingness to stray away from their gameplan.

In the fourth round, Rivera landed a vicious combination that hurt Rivera momentarily and put him back against the ropes. This woke Dharry up however, as he fired back with murderous intent. For the first time in the fight, Dharry was the aggressor, throwing vicious power punches, and landed them with little opposition. Dharry went on the offense and hurt Rivera with a big right hand. Towards the end of the round, blood began to flow freely from Rivera’s nose and a mouse began to develop under his right eye.

The fifth round opening up with blood continue to stream from Rivera’s nose, and the fight resorted back to its previous ways with Rivera moving forward and Dharry moving backward, counterpunching quite effectively. Although Rivera had spurts of success, he ultimately ate more than he dished out in round 5.

The final round saw Rivera score well with his jab, but Dharry effectively counterpunching the already injured Rivera. To his credit, Rivera battled through the bloody nose, and ever-swelling eye, to give Dharry all he could handle. As the fight wound down, both fighter’s exchanges blows to the delight of the crowd.

After six rounds of action, it went to the scorecards.

One judge saw the bout 57-57. While two judges scored the bout in favor of the winner, Elton Dharry, by scores of 59-55 and 58-56.

Dharry improves to 6-5-1, 1 KO, while Rivera falls to 2-2-1.

Eileen Olszewski vs. Suszannah Warner

In the only female fight of the night, Eileen Olszewski squared off against Suszannah Warner in a bout scheduled for 6 rounds, for Olszewski’s IBA world flyweight championship.

In the opening round, both fighters were content with trading jabs and getting acquainted with one another.

The second round saw more action with Warner getting the better of the exchanges. She landed a huge right flush on the face of the champion, sending her back against the ropes, where Warner continuing to land meaningful punches to both the body and the head.

In round 3, Warner pressed the action, fighting well on the inside, landing uppercuts that sent Olszewski’s head back. Warner pressed the action continuing to walk forward and fire punches. Olszewski, although retreated for much of the round, was never in danger, and found her share of success as well in the third round.

In the fourth round, Olszewski came out more aggressive than ever, letting her hands fly, but never inflicting much damage to her opponent. About a minute into the round, Warner landed a huge right on the button, a trend that would continue as the round progressed. That same bullet-like straight right hand found a home on Olszewski’s face — seemingly hurting her momentarily. Warner closed out the round strong, continuing to throw punches in bunches.

In round 5, Warner made it a point to go to the body of her opponent more often. She pummeled Olszewski with lefts and rights to to Olszewski’s unprotected midsection. To Olszewski’s credit, she never stopped firing back, but it was clearly Warner who won the round.

In the final round, Olszewski, sensing she was behind, came out aggressively, throwing countless combinations to Warner’s body and head. Warner wasn’t deterred, however, always firing back at the champion. Towards the end of the fight, Olszewski landed her best punch of the night, a straight right, flush on the button, but even still, it was Warner who outworked her opponent the entire fight.

Although it was clear Warner used effective aggression throughout and landed the fight’s most devastating punches, the judges saw the fight in favor of Olszewski. A unanimous decision was awarded to Olszewski by scores of 58-56 twice and 59-55.

With the win, Olszewski retained her IBA world flyweight champion and improved her record to 6-2-2, while Warner fell to 9-9-1.

Light Heavyweight Sean Monaghan scored a second round stoppage over Nick Whiting in a scheduled four round bout.

Monaghan dominated the action as he landed countless booming shots in round one that hurt Whiting on more than one occasion. In round two, Monaghan came out looking to end things and he got what he desired as he landed a big left hook that was follwed by a combination that backed Whiting up. Monaghan landed a paralyzing left that sent Whiting down and the bout was stopped immediately at 1:38 of roud two.

Monaghan, 174 1/2 lbs of New York is now 4-0 with three knockouts. Whiting, 176 1/2 lbs of Bermiji, MN is now 2-14-1

Photo By Claudia Bocanegra

PART 1

PART 2

There is a reason that New Yorkers have garnered a reputation for being tough. On Saturday, Brooklyn’s Shannon Briggs embodied that reputation by going the distance with WBC heavyweight champion, Vitali Klitschko.

In doing so, Briggs became just the third fighter to ever go to the scorecards with the dominant Ukrainian. Unfortunately, his doing so also meant paying a steep price, one that could have and should have been avoided.

A first round bicep injury to Brigg’s left arm went undetected by ESPN3.com’s broadcast team of announcer Jon Anik and analyst BJ Flores, but surely not by Briggs, who didn’t come out as aggressive as anticipated. Post-fight knowledge of the injury puts the pieces together as to why Briggs shied away from throwing the haymakers he promised the pre-fight press conferences.

From the opening bell, Briggs was never in this fight. Klitschko controlled the action throughout, using his stiff jab to keep his shorter opponent on the outside. The big Ukranian effortlessly landed crushing rights at will, repeatedly finding on the left side of Brigg’s face. By round six, it was clear that Klitschko would retain his title. The only question left unanswered was whether or not Briggs would make it to the final bell.

As I watched Klitschko dominate round after round, I was brought back to September 2009 when “Dr. Iron Fist” battered Chris Arreola around the Staples Center ring for ten full rounds.

Klitschko easily won all ten rounds against the “Nightmare”, continually landing his vicious rights against Arreola’s ever-swelling face. While Arreola sat on his stool waiting for the round eleven bell to sound, trainer Henry Ramirez stepped in and told referee Jon Schorle to stop the bout.

When Ramirez stopped the fight, Arreola’s immediate reaction was one of devastation and disappointment. As he got up from his stool, Arreola screamed “No!” at Ramirez and raw emotion in the form of tears began to stream down the “Nightmare’s” red puffy face.

Although it was against his fighter and good friend’s will, Ramirez saw that Arreola didn’t even possess a fighter’s chance by the time round ten had ended and consequently threw in the towel.

Conversely, with regards to Brigg’s courageous efforts against the elder Klitschko, the “Cannon” was apparently calling his own shots.

“Despite prior reports, throughout the contest my trainer, Herman Caicedo wanted to stop the fight, but I made it clear that stopping was not an option. Thank you for all of your support and hopefully I showed you the heart of a lion and the perseverance of a Champion,” said Briggs in a released statement following the bout.

Nobody questions the heart of Briggs or Arreola (at least when he is in the ring). If Arreola had his way, he would have fought the championship rounds against Klistchko.

While Ramirez stepped in and saved his fighter from taking excessive, unnecessary abuse, Caicedo stayed quiet, letting his defenseless fighter take absorb a cringeworthy amount of punishment.

Perhaps Caicedo let him go because he — and Briggs — are both well aware that the fighter is well onto the back nine of boxing’s golf course, only a hole or two away from heading into the clubhouse and calling it a career. For the former WBO heavyweight champion, it was do or die, and Caicedo knew it.

Conversely, when the “Nightmare” was stopped by Klitschko last September, it can be presumed that it was Ramirez’s intent was to preserve his young fighter’s future, learn a lesson, and move on.

When thinking about the two fights and how both played out, I wondered if Briggs was in Arreola’s position at the time of the Klitschko fight — a young undefeated contender — would Caicedo have thrown in the towel and saved his guy for another day? My honest guess would be yes — the logic be that you’ll work your way back into contention down the road. But with this being a last hurrah type fight for Briggs, Caicedo let his guard down and failed to appropriately look after his fighter’s safety, as did British referee Ian John-Lewis, for that matter.

There is no doubting the heart of Briggs, who fought thirty-six minutes with Klitschko and was never sent to the canvass. Unfortunately for Shannon the Cannon, he went from spending time with “Dr. Iron Fist” to spending time with German doctors afterwards as he was found to have a suffered torn ligament in his left arm, multiple facial fractures, and a concussion.

Let this be a lesson in unnecessary punishment. There was no way Briggs was going to quit on his stool — he has too much pride, too much courage. But as a trainer, part of your job is protecting your fighter — not only preserving your boxer’s future in the sport, but also a healthy future outside of the ring.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

At age 41, Antonio Tarver is two days away from dipping his toes into heavyweight waters.

After suffering back to back losses to Chad Dawson, Tarver spent about a year and a half away from the ring. He will make his return inside the ropes as a heavyweight when he takes on 24-year old Dominican, Nagy Aguilera, Friday on Showtime.

Tarver, who in an October 5 conference call insisted that his walking around weight was 225 lbs., is foregoing fighting as a cruiserweight and making the jump from light heavyweight to heavyweight.

A few thoughts come to mind with regards to Tarver’s decision:

It must be REALLY hard to step away. REALLY REALLY hard.

We see it all the time in every sport and boxing is no exception. Sometimes athletes don’t know when to “hang it up.” Or they do know, but refuse to leave the game (Hello, Brett Favre and your 1-3 Vikings. Hello, Roy Jones, Jr.).

For what it’s worth, Tarver is neither Favre nor RJJ. In fact, with only 33 professional fights under his belt, Tarver’s body is less spent than either of the aforementioned aged legends.

But Tarver was seemingly content with life after boxing, doing a more than capable job as an analyst on Showtime. His rich analysis and insight offer viewers a refreshing take on the bouts; plus the “Magic Man’s” personality meshes well with the likes of Steve Farhood, Al Bernstein, and Curt Menefee.

If he never set foot in the ring again, Tarver would be remembered as an outstanding amateur boxer, an Olympic bronze medalist and the first man to knockout Roy Jones, Jr. (and beat him twice), as well as for his role as Mason “The Line” Dixon in the movie “Rocky Balboa,” among other things.

Now, Tarver, who won’t have to worry about losing weight, will add another chapter to his career when he throws his hat into the ring of heavyweight contenders. From the long list of athletes that came before him, it is definitely not easy to give it up.

Tarver feels his name alone will get him a title shot in the near future.

And that might be accurate. In a diminished, European-owned heavyweight division, perhaps Tarver would do a more admirable job than Chris Arreola or Eddie Chambers as the elite American heavyweight.

“I just need about two or three fights to show I’m a real threat,” Tarver said on the conference call. “You just look at the name. If it’s Tarver-Klitschko, Tarver-Haye, that’s a big name, that’s big business.”

But no matter the reasons for his foray into the heavyweight division — be it because he is opportunistic or he simply got the itch to fight again — Tarver’s experiment at the very least is something to keep an eye on.

The best result that Tarver can hope for is a carbon-copy of Tomasz Adamek’s career as a heavyweight. Like Tarver, Adamek also left the light heavyweight division after losing to Dawson. Difference is, however, Adamek made a two year pit stop cleaning out the cruiserweight division before he decided to step up and bang with the big boys.

Further, while Adamek’s transition to the heavyweight division has been a well-calculated, elongated process ultimately aimed at getting him a shot at a Klistchko brother or David Haye, it is unlikely Tarver will enjoy that same luxury.

Without father time in the 41 year-old Tarver’s corner, the “Magic Man” must rely on his name and hope it puts him on the fast track to a title shot.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

On Friday night at The Arena in South Philadelphia, Golden Boy Promotions in association with Joe Hand Promotions and Tecate presented a six bout fight card, headlined by Philadelphia’s own Danny “Swift” Garcia squaring off against “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis. The main event was broadcast on Telefutura as part of their Solo Boxeo series. 15Rounds.com was there to cover the action.

Danny “Swift” Garcia vs. “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis

In the night’s main event, Golden Boy prospect Danny “Swift” Garcia stayed undefeated and improved his professional record to 19-0, 13 KO after an impressive TKO victory over “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis, who fell to 22-7-2, 10 KO.

In the first round, both fighters seemed content with feeling one another out. Arnaoutis didn’t provide much offense, but was able to deflect most of Garcia’s attacks. Garcia found some success in the bout’s opening round with sweeping rights to the body, which was a trend that continued throughout the three-plus rounds of the fight.

In round two, it was Arnaoutis who landed the cleaner punches, delivering a left-right combo that split Garcia’s gloves. Arnaoutis was able to land punches around Garcia’s defense, as well, opening up a small cut over his opponent’s left eye.

In round three, Garcia was more efficient with his punches, as his punches were finding their target more often than not. Although Garcia was able to penetrate “Mighty” Mike’s defense better than he was in the previous two rounds, Arnaoutis fired back and landed a sharp 1,2 combination on Garcia. In the closing moments of round three, Garcia landed a devasting straight right-left hook combination that sent Arnaoutis to the floor as the bell sounded. Arnaoutis struggled to get to his feet and collapsed midway through referee Gary Rosato’s 10 count, but was able to scramble back to his feet and convince Rosato he was capable of continuing.

In round four, Garcia came out aggressive smelling blood in the water. The pro-Garcia crowd was up on their feet as their fighter unloaded on Arnaoutis. For the immediate time being, Arnaoutis was able to weather Garcia’s initial attack. However, at about the one minute mark into round four, Garcia caught Arnaoutis with a violent left hook that resulted in Arnaoutis collapsing to the canvas with a loud thud. Rosato began to administer a ten-count, but “Mighty” Mike’s corner smartly stepped in and threw in the towel. The official time of the stoppage was 1:05 of round four.

Victor Vasquez vs. Bryne Green

Fan favorite Victor Vasquez improved his record to 12-4-1, 6 KO with a hard-earned split decision victory over Vineland, New Jersey’s Bryne Green (5-4, 3 KO).

The tipping point in this split decision bout came about two-thirds into the inaugural round when Vasquez landed a clean and punishing left hook on Green, who was thrown off balance. Vasquez smartly followed up and sent Green for the canvas, earning a 10-8 score in the opening round.

Green showed a lot of character and resilience as he battled back, winning the next two rounds on 15Rounds.com’s scorecard. Working behind a strong and powerful jab, Green let his right hand follow to inflict damage to both Vasquez’s body and face. Ultimately, it was Green’s commitment to working Vasquez’s tattooed body that led to his success during the bouts middle rounds.

Heading into the sixth and final round, the match was still up for grabs, but it was undoubtedly Vasquez who earned the 10-9 this round, throwing countless combinations and often scoring with them.

Two judges scored the bout 57-56 in Vasquez’s favor, while the dissenting judge scored the fight, 57-56 for Green.

Bastie Samir vs. Joe Dunn

2008 Beijing Olympian, Bastie Samir (5-0, 5 KO) made quick work of Philadelphia’s Joe Dunn (0-2) when Referee Benjy Esteves Jr. stopped the bout at the 2:39 mark of round 2.

Samir, who captained the Ghanaian Olympic team, quickly wore down the overmatched Dunn with a barrage of punches. Samir continually landed straight rights over Dunn’s jab and overwhelmed him with superior hand speed and lightning fast combinations. Ultimately, after already surviving one knockdown, Dunn was unable to protect himself while he was backed up against the ropes. That is when Esteves called a halt to the bout.

Anthony Flores vs. Arash Usmanee

In an intriguing opening bout, Philadelphia’s Anthony Flores (9-2-1, 6 KO) was defeated by Canada’s Arash Usmanee (9-0, 5 KO), who remained undefeated.

Round one started with Flores forcing the action, landing clean punches and seemingly hurting Usmanee in the early goings. However, all it took was one straight right to send Flores off-balance and one left hook to follow to send Flores crashing to the canvas for the first of two times in round one.

This trend would continue throughout the fight, as Flores would show flashes of success, but never put Usmanee in any real danger. Flores frequently took two steps forward and one step back.

In a carbon-copy of round one, round four saw Flores start well, working behind a jab that was called for by his corner, but suddenly Flores found himself on the mat after being a straight right, right on the button.

Flores would never be able to overcome being knocked down three times and the judges awarded Usmanee the unanimous decision victory.

Two judges scored it 79-70, while one judge had the bout 78-71.

Wanzell Ellison vs. Aaron Anderson

In perhaps the most entertaining bout from a theatrical standpoint, Newark, New Jersey’s Wanzel Ellison defeated Knoxville, Tennessee’s Aaron Anderson in a four round contest.

Ellison (3-0, 2 KO) won 40-36 on all three judges scorecards, but it was Anderson (1-8) who won over the crowd.

Anderson, a late addition to the card, entertained the crowd — and himself — by exposing his entire arsenal of taunts. Throughout the fight, Anderson took requests from the fans, who were suggesting different taunts, and interestingly enough, he listened.

The “Ali shuffle”, the Hulk Hogan “flex”, and the popular new dance move, “the Dougie” were all on display. These taunts were in addition to Anderson’s touching his glove to the heel of his shoe before throwing a punch, sticking his neck out with his hands behind his back, and yelling to Ellison’s corner that their fighter was “too slow.”

Unfortunately for Anderson, the judges were not scoring his dance moves and taunting skills, as they awarded all four rounds to Ellison.

Kareem Cooley vs. Eilud Torres

Philadelphia’s Kareem Cooley improved to 2-1, 1 KO when he outpointed Allentown’s Eilud Torres who fell to 3-2-2, 2 KO.

Cooley controlled this bout from start to finish, outworking his opponent, but not dominating him. Cooley found success working behind his jab and frequently throwing hard punches to Eilud’s midsection.

Two judges scored the bout 40-36, while one judge scored it 39-37 all in favor of Cooley.

During his reign as tsar of Russia some three hundred years ago, Peter the Great created his own social experiment with the city of St. Petersburg. Knowing full well that his beloved Russia was technologically and culturally lagging in comparison to powerful European nations, Peter turned St. Petersburg into a modern European city. He made sure that European ideas, goods, and merchandise infiltrated the Russian city so that his citizens could get a glimpse of what the rest of Europe looked like with the hopes that his country would ultimately change for the better. For this reason, St. Petersburg was dubbed the “Window to the West.”

This past Friday, in the Bowery section of Manhattan’s Chinatown, the extravagant Capitale banquet hall served as a modern day St. Petersburg. Except this time it was the Chinese, not the Russians, involved — and this window peered into the East.

Friday’s “Empires Collide” fight card, presented by Dino Duva and Global Sports Entertainment, featured eleven bouts between Team USA and the Chinese national team. Duva, who has traveled to China fourteen times in the past two-plus years, has taken special interest in the development of Chinese boxing, developing a strong working relationship with the Chinese Boxing Federation.

The successful New Jersey-based businessman and promoter certainly senses that the next great generation of fistic superstars may emerge from the Middle Kingdom. He tapped his father, the legendary Lou Duva, as well as accomplished trainer Al Mitchell to help train the Chinese nationals while he showcases them in duals across the United States.

Heading into the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China had earned only one medal in boxing. That medal was a bronze one, earned by Zou Shiming in the 2004 Athens games.

Fast forward to present day and China has added four more Olympic medals to its resume, as well as two bronze medals at the 2009 world championships in Italy. Further, it just bested Team USA in the eleven bout dual by the score of 6-5 at Capitale Friday night.

In Beijing in 2008, Shiming became the first Chinese boxer to ever win multiple Olympic medals when he captured gold in his home country. Xiaoping Zhang also earned a gold medal for the Republic, while both Zhilei Zhang and Silamu Hanati added to their country’s medal count, winning silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Much like the Russian tsar before him, Duva has ‘great’ instincts. Peter wanted to show his country what the rest of Europe had already become. St. Petersburg offered Russian citizens a glimpse into what their country could potentially be.

Similarly, Duva wants to show the world what Chinese boxing has become over the last decade. Seven years ago, China had zero Olympic boxing medals. As the 2012 London games near, China has five — and counting. As Duva continues to showcase the Chinese national team, he offers the rest of the world their “Window to the East.” He gives them a glimpse of what is to come from a country with potential to be the next boxing mecca.

Historically, the Chinese have focused their energies on martial arts such as kung fu or tai chi which honor the country’s rich past. However, with the recent success of Chinese boxing, especially the national team’s success in Beijing, it appears that a boxing undercurrent has been created and it is that is pulling more and more Chinese youth towards the sweet science.

Duva plans to continue to promote the Chinese national team as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics. As he showcases them around the United States and rest of the world, I encourage you to take advantage of watching them fight, take a look through Duva’s “Window to the East.”

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

PHOTO BY CLAUDIA BOCANEGRA

On Friday night at Capitale in the heart of New York City’s Chinatown, Dino Duva and Global Sports Entertainment presented “Empires Collide” — a showdown between the U.S. and Chinese national boxing teams. Those in attendance witnessed eleven bouts total, including three female fights. All mens bouts were three rounds apiece, three minutes per rounds. All female bouts were four rounds apiece, two minutes per round. 15Rounds.com was there to cover the action.

Zhilei Zhang vs. Danny Kelly (Washington, D.C.) — 201+ lbs.

Ref. Michael Rosario

In what could be considered one of the “co-main events” of the night, Beijing Olympic’s silver medalist Zhilei Zhang squared off against Washington D.C.‘s Danny Kelly in the 201+ weight division. Heading into the fight, which was the last of the night, USA and China were tied with five victories apiece. Understanding that a win by Zhang would be a win for the Chinese national team, the overwhelmingly pro-Chinese crowd erupted into a “China! China!” chant before the first bell.

Immediately Zhang assumed control of the fight and backed Kelly to the ropes with a steady stream of jabs. Kelly, who looked soft and out of shape, also looked like he wasn’t interesting in winning this fight for the first two rounds. Zhang controlled the ring, walking Kelly down and unloading on his counterpart while his back was pinned against the ropes. This trend continued through round two, as Kelly refused to mix anything up and seemed content to lay against the ropes. To his credit, he was able to pickoff many of Zhang’s punches and land occasionally counters.

Finally in round three, something the USA corner said must have registered with the D.C. native as he started round three moving forward for the first time in the fight, and not coincidentally, finding his first bit of success. Spending three minutes against ropes. Kelly comes out aggressive, finding success for the first time in the fight. Zhang catches kelly with straight left. In the end, it was too little too late for Kelly as the Beijing silver-medalist won this bout fairly easily. With Zhang’s win, China defeated Team USA 6-5.

Winner by decision: Zhilei Zhang — China. 16-8.

Zou Shiming vs. Santos Vasquez (Reno, Nevada) — 108 lbs.

Ref. David Llarado

In the other “co-main event,” Beijing gold medalist Zou Shiming took on Reno, Nevada’s Santos Vasquez. Vasquez, who was at a significant disadvantage in the height and reach department, struggled to find an answer for Shiming’s quick combinations and well-placed jab. Shiming, a southpaw, looked every bit of a gold medalist — continually putting his jab in Santos’ face, usually coupling it with a lightning-fast left, and then moving away from his shorter opponent. In round three, Shiming continued to impress by throwing — and landing two crisp uppercuts placed perfectly on his opponents chin.

Winner by decision: Zou Shiming — China. 15-1.

Fanglong Meng vs. Marquice Weston (Tacoma, Washington) — 178 lbs.

Ref. Ray Russell

In what was perhaps the most lopsided fight of the night, Fanglong Meng made easy work of USA’s Marquice Weston. Round 1 was highlighted by two straight lefts from Meng that landed flush on Weston’s face. Meng was able to keep Weston at distance, and his quick jab was never intercepted or avoided and landed at will. In round 2, Meng went back to the well and landed two more straight lefts, one of them causing blood to trickle out of Weston’s nose. In round 3, Watson tried to change gears and force the action, but Meng countered Weston’s attack and landed a looping right that deterred Weston from mounting any further offensive-minded attack. No matter what Weston tried, Meng was always one step ahead.

Winner by decision: Fanglong Meng — China. 18-2.

Jianting Zhang vs. Jesse Hart (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — 165 lbs.

Ref. David Llarado

In one of the night’s more entertaining bouts, Philadelphia’s Jesse Hart took on China’s Jianting Zhang. From the opening bell, Hart tried to impose his will on his counterpart, throwing meaningful jabs and following them up with bullet-like rights. His aggressiveness seemed to stun Zhang a bit as he never seemed comfortable in round 1, spending a lot of the round in defensive positions. When Zhang did try to engage, he came out on the losing end, as Hart rocked Zhang with a right, forcing Zhang to stumble as he regained his balance.

In round 2, Zhang put forth a better effort, landing a flurry of punches while Hart’s back was against the ropes. In an impressive showcasing of skill, Hart — who was once again backed into a corner — was able to slip a barrage of punches from Zhang, whose momentum from his whiffs almost threw himself over the ropes. Hart finished the round strong, landing one of his best combinations of the night, resulting in a loud thud on the headgear of Zhang.

In round 3, Zhang tried to be the aggressor and found success and times, but it was too late for the Chinese national.

Winner by decision: Jesse Hart — USA. 15-7.

Jinzi Li vs. Alyssa Defazio (Phoenix, Arizona) — 165 lbs.

Ref. Ray Russell

In a fantastic female fight, Alyssa Defazio of Phoenix, Arizona eked out a victory over Jinzi Li. This fight was one of the more evenly matched bouts, with both fighters matching up well stylistically. In round 1, Defazio seemed to score more than her counterpart, with a steady jab and solid rights. She created angles and moved well-laterally, but Li was not afraid to engage and exchange with her opponent. Round 2 was Li’s round, as she was able to land the cleaner shots. The final round, Defazio, who was seemingly behind in the fight turned it up a notch and was able to score with a slew of combinations. With the addition of women’s boxing to the Olympics starting in London in 2012, I would keep my eye on both Defazio and Li as they seemed to be two of the more polished fighters tonight.

Winner by decision: Alyssa Defazio — USA. +15-15.

Blige Huricha vs. Michael Reed (Waldorf, Maryland) — 141 lbs.

Ref. Ray Russell

In a close bout at the 141-pound weight class division, Chinese national, Blige Huricha, was able to hold-off Michael Reed of Waldorf, Maryland for a 18-15 victory. Reed, who gave up significant height and reach to his opponent, was able to get creative and find ways to get inside his opponents jab to connect and score points. In round 2, the crowd became electric after chants of “China! China!” were countered by the American fans who chanted “USA! USA!” In rounds 2 and 3, both fighters had their moments. As round 3 came to a close, Reed was able to land his best combination of the fight, a sharp jab followed up by a straight left right on the nose.

Winner by decision: Michael Reed — USA. 18-15.

Cheng Dong vs. Patricia Manuel (Commerce, California) — 132 lbs.

Ref. Michael Rosario

In a close bout at 132-pounds, Patricial Manuel edged out Cheng Dong with a late rally in the final round to win 11-10. In round one, both fighters landed a few good shots, the best coming from Dong, who landed a hard right on Manuel. In round 2, roles reversed as Manuel got the better of Dong, with the best punch being a huge left hook that landed just as the bell sounded. In round 3, Manuel forced the action, sending Dong back against the ropes. As Manuel continued to press the action, Dong waited patiently until she finally caught manuel with a beautiful counter that deterred further aggression for the time being. Rd. 1 — fair share of exchanges. Rd. 2 — Manuel getting the better of Dong, best punch landed right before the bell…big left hook. In the final round, Manuel rocked Dong with a huge right sending her flying into the ropes where she continued to pummel the Chinese national. Most likely behind on the scoresheet, Manuel’s fourth round propelled her to a comeback win over Dong.

Winner by decision: Patricia Manuel — USA. 11-10

Qing Hu vs. Eric Flores (Ingle, California) — 132 lbs.

Ref. David Llorado

In another bout where a Team USA was smaller than their Chinese opponent, Eric Flores was able to overcome the height disadvantage to defeat Qing Hu by decision. Hu’s awkward style and “hand on my hips” defense allowed to Flores to neutralize the reach disadvantage and lay some leather on Hu. Hu liked to throw a jab and follow it up with a left to the body, which was successful throughout the fight, but it apparently was not enough, as Flores outscored Hu for the victory. Perhaps a late final round rally that saw Flores landed a vicious jab that violently snapped Hu’s head back added to scoresheet that ultimately resulted in the Flores victory.

Winner by decision: Eric Flores — USA.

Jiawei Zhang vs. Ricky Rodriguez (Greeley, Colorado) — 123 lbs.

Ref. Ray Russell

In the most action-packed fight of the night, China’s Jiawei Zhang squared off against fellow southpaw, Ricky Rodriguez. Zhang was definitely pressing the action from the opening bell, but Rodriguez wasn’t going to run. He made it clear he was going to be easy to find and stood toe to toe with the Chinese national, both fighters landing big-time power punches. Towards the end of round one, however, Rodriguez must have been rethinking this strategy as a a huge right hook stunned Rodriguez forcing his clumsy legs to fold until he was on one knee.

In round 2, Zhang pressed the action once again and landed an onslaught of right hooks and straight lefts. Once again, both fighters found each other standing right in front of them exchanging punches, except this time it was Rodriguez who stunned sending him down. In the last minute of round 2, Zhang turned up the heat again and was able to land a big right hook right on the button as the bell rang. Rodriguez collapsed to the ground, was able to get back to his feat, but Referee Ray Russell called a hault to the bout, giving Zhang the TKO victory.

Winner by TKO Jiawei Zhang — China.

Cancan Ren vs. Tyreishia Douglas (Baltimore, Maryland) — 112 lbs.

Ref. David Llarado

In the night’s first bout, Cancan Ren and Tyreishia Douglas kicked off the night by continually engaging each other in violent exchanges. Both fighters — throughout the four rounds — were willing to stay in the pocket and throw punch for punch with one-another, but it was clear that Ren was getting the best of her opponent. Perhaps a reason that Douglas struggled in this bout was because her headgear continually slid down to cover her face. All throughout the final two rounds, Douglas was forced to keep pushing her headgear up so that she could see.

Winner by decision: Cancan Ren — China. 21-10.

Photos by Claudia Bocanegra

BOX: A New View On The Faces Of Boxing

Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr.? For those reluctant to let go of boxing past, perhaps Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson?

These boxing notables above all can pass as “the face of boxing” in some capacity.

But whoever or whatever comes to mind when you hear the four words, “the face of boxing,” it is unlikely that it mirrors that of Holger Keifel.

The German-born, New York based photographer has managed to capture “the face of boxing” in the literal sense in the form of over three hundred black & white photos bound together by glue and protected by a shiny gold cover.

Keifel’s new book, “BOX: The Face of Boxing,” (PQ Blackwell, $29.95) with text by the esteemed boxing scribe, Thomas Hauser, is currently available online through all major bookstore websites and is due to hit the shelves on Friday, October 1.

With regards to Keifel’s mission, Hauser quotes him as saying, “A lot of fighters start with the traditional pose, putting their fists up. I tell them, ‘No, I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in your face.’”

Once immersed in the first few pages of “BOX”, you too will be interested in the fighter’s faces. Every unnatural bump, accumulation of scar tissue, and crooked nose is revealed by Keifel and his camera lens.

The book jacket of “BOX” showcases two of Keifel’s most powerful images. The front cover features a photo of the side of Evander Holyfield’s face, exposing the remainder of his ear, while the back of the book jacket shows the injured and scarred hand of the lesser-known Tokunbo Olajide. The pictures on the 200 plus pages between Holyfield and Olajide readers an unconventional and fresh look at the sport of boxing.

“BOX” is a must-have for boxing and photography fans alike. “BOX” not only is a work of art, it is also a book that documents an era in boxing history. Over 275 hundred faces of the current boxing scene are represented in Keifel’s first book. Countless boxers, trainers, referees, and promoters were unable to escape Keifel’s lens over the past six-plus years and their photos have combined to create his work of art.

For fistic fans, “BOX” will only help you further appreciate the sacrifices fighter’s make every time they step through the ropes and into the boxing ring. Referee Randy Neumann sums it up best when he is quoted in “BOX” as saying, “Hitting other people is easy. Getting hit in the face is hard. Most athletes believe the won’t get hurt in competition. Boxers know they will.”

Every page in “BOX” is a reminder of that. From the aged, scarred face of Jake Lamotta to the relatively unmarked face of Mayweather, Jr., “BOX” forces fans to reassess what they might have perceived “the face of boxing” to be.

On Thursday, in the heart of New York City’s Chinatown, Dino Duva and his business partners held a press conference to promote the Oct. 1 “Empires Collide” amateur boxing fight card between Team USA and China at Capitale in Chinatown.

In attendance were Chinese Olympian’s Zhang Jianting and super heavyweight Olympic silver medalist Zhang Zhilei. The 114 lb. prospect Miguel Cartagena representative of Team USA.

15Rounds.com was present at the press conference and had an opportunity to participate in a conversation with Dino Duva in which he spoke about the upcoming event and boxing in China.

— Duva said he has traveled to China fourteen times since the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where he has developed a working relationship with the Chinese Boxing Federation.

— According to Duva, the success of the 2008 Chinese Olympic Boxing Team, who scored four medals in while competing in their home country, has inspired a new wave of Chinese interest in the sport of boxing. Further, the Chinese government has invested more money into the sport.

— With regards to the amateur boxing system in China, Duva explained that each Cinese province has their own boxing team, with a designated boxing coach. As the fighters travel to the United States, various provincial coaches have accompanied their fighters.

— Duva said the October 1st fight card will feature thirteen bouts, three of them being female matches, since women’s boxing will now be included in the Olympics, starting with London in 2012.

Tickets for “Empire Collide” are priced at $120 for ringside, $70 for reserved, and $25 for standing room/general admission. The reserved and ringside seats include two complimentary beverages. They may be ordered by calling 973-291-4529 or by email at tickets@empirescollide.com. For more information, fans can go to EmpiresCollide.com. Special VIP and sponsor packages are also available.

On Thursday, Goossen Tutor Promotions and DiBella Entertainment held a press conference in New York City to promote the Nov. 20 rematch between Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez and Paul “The Punisher” Williams. The bout will take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey at Boardwalk Hall and is hosted by Caesars Atlantic City.

15Rounds.com was there to cover the press conference. Notes & quotes below.

Sergio Martinez:

— At the beginning of the press conference, Martinez was awarded the Ring Magazine middleweight championship belt.

— Martinez said, “Nobody wants to fight Paul Williams and nobody wants to fight “Maravilla” Martinez, so we have no choice but to fight each other.”

— “What we did the first time, I want to do it again,” Martinez said with regards to the excitement the first fight brought. “I want this fight to be a reflection of my career in the ring.”

— With regards to violence against women, Martinez said, “I love my mother and I want everyone to respect women. Every time I have a camera or microphone, I will always say to stop the violence.” Martinez has clearly taken this issue to heart and it is not the first time he has spoken out about the issue. Following the Edwin Valero tragedy, Martinez immediately spoke out calling for the need to treat all women with respect.

Paul Williams:

— “Exchanges aren’t [necessarily] good for me, but they are for the fans,” Williams said.

— Williams mentioned that in the first with Martinez he wasn’t prepared for all the lateral movement and the quickness. He said all the talk was “Pavlik, Pavlik, Pavlik” and he was preparing for someone to stand right in front of him. This time around, he is sparring with boxers that mirror “Maravilla’s” style.

— With regards to his weight, Williams said the losing weight and getting to 147 lbs. in the future would not be a problem. He also noted that depending on the purse size, money is the ultimate motivator if he needs to lose weight.

— A reporter asked Williams if he were to lose this fight, would a trilogy be in the works? Williams’ answer: “Most definitely.”

George Peterson, trainer of Paul Williams:

— Peterson said the he doesn’t believe Williams will ever step into the ring with either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, but noted that Pacquiao would be the more likely of the two fighters if a fight with Williams ever comes to fruition.

Information:

Martinez enters the fight as the WBC and Ring Magazine middleweight champion and sports a record of 45-2-2, with 24 KOs. Williams enters the rematch with a 39-1 record with 27 KOs.

Tickets for the event are priced at $400, $200, $100, and $50 and go on sale Friday, September 24. Tickets can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at Ticketmaster.com

Photos by Claudia Bocanegra

“Atlantic City is dying.”

That’s if it’s not already dead.

The proclamation that the east coast gambling hub is “dying” passed through the lips of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose administration is planning a massive government overhaul of Atlantic City’s gambling and entertainment district.

Steadily on the decline for the past decade, Atlantic City’s revenue has dropped at alarming rates of late; rates that have declined exponentially since 2006 when slot parlors were first introduced in neighboring Pennsylvania. Couple that with the recent legalization of table games in the Keystone State and sports gambling in Delaware and suddenly Atlantic City looks as unattractive as ever.

But no matter what surrounding states do in their efforts to compete with the gambling capital of the east, Atlantic City will invariably have its rich history on its side. A rich history that, of course, includes the sport of boxing.

Setting aside the fact that “AC” has our country’s oldest and longest boardwalk — since 1870, in fact — for the last thirty years it has served as boxing mecca, along with a gambling one.

Once gambling was given the green light by New Jersey legislators in 1976, casinos soon started popping up on the familiar of street of Monopoly fame.

With the casinos came the gambling and entertainment, boxing included. With the gambling and entertainment came the tourists. With the tourists came the money.

In the 80‘s and 90‘s when Atlantic City was operating like a well-oiled machine, it was the Historic Atlantic City Convention Center, now known as Boardwalk Hall, that hosted some of the best fighters to ever step through the ropes and into a boxing ring: Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio Cesar Chavez, Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, George Foreman…etc, etc. Further, Boardwalk Hall played a part in what was arguably the greatest boxing trilogy in the last thirty years, hosting the final two fights between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward.

While Atlantic City still hosts boxing on a consistent basis, no big promoter has attempted to continually showcase their fighter in “AC” in recent times. Even Main Events, who put together countless cards at Boardwalk Hall have showcased its prized possession, Tomasz Adamek, some 120 miles up the Garden State Parkway in Newark. In years past, the Duva-led promotional company virtually sent all its fighters down the coastline at some point: Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield, Fernando Vargas, and the like. Atlantic City even had an adopted “hometown” fighter courtesy of Main Events in one Arturo Gatti. Towards the end of his career, Gatti could have filled half of Boardwalk Hall if he were shadowboxing.

But recent trends have seen a decline in interest with regards to the once-lively Atlantic City fight crow. When Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams fought on HBO last December, a measly gathering of about 5,000 fans were in attendance. Undoubtedly, there will be more to witness their rematch on November 20, but the numbers from their first bout are telling.

“AC” was mentioned — almost in passing — by Bob Arum as a possible site for the November 13 PPV bout between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito but once the Texas Athletic Commission licensed Antonio Margarito, Arum took his business back to Cowboys Stadium, where upwards of 70,000 boxing fans are expected to show up.

The Atlantic City boxing scene has much more of a pulse than the city itself. However, what the two do have in common is a decline in quality over the past few years. While fewer and fewer fights that would qualify as “super” fights or PPV worthy events come to Atlantic City, one can argue that the quality of fights occurring at Boardwalk Hall has declined greatly since the “Glory Days,” with a few outliers here and there (the upcoming Martinez-Williams II being one of them).

It is possible that if Atlantic City begins to thrive once again that the boxing industry will take notice and major PPV events and mega-fights could return to the Jersey Shore.

So it is up to Governor Christie and his team to construct the plan to resurrect this “dying” city.

According to Business Week, Governor’s Christie’s plan would allow the state to “direct the agency that runs Boardwalk Hall…to attract more meetings and shows.”

The plan also includes funding to create multiple entertainment districts, outdoor amphitheaters, waterparks, and new sports complexes — perhaps one that will host the next slew of big fights to pass through the oceanfront city.

It is still Las Vegas, however, that is the go-to spot for the big fights and big PPV events, despite the trend toward stadiums that has emerged over the last year or so.

But in order for Atlantic City to once again compete with Sin City for the biggest fights the sport has to offer, it needs the makeover that Christie has in mind. For a desperate city whose casinos are struggling to stay in the black, a fresh approach to the entertainment aspect of the city might just be what the doctor ordered.

Then, and only then, will Atlantic City transform into “Las Vegas East.”

One thing is for sure, the Christie administration is counting on the wise words of one Terrance Mann as portrayed by James Earl Jones.

If you “re-build” it, they will come.

With regards to both tourism and to boxing’s biggest fights: at least that is the hope.

You can reach Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

“Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole” — Oscar Wilde.

Simply put, to date, 2010 has not been a great year for the sweet science. Much has been made — and written — about what could have been. The superfight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. never came to fruition. David Haye settled for bouts with John Ruiz and Audley Harrison instead of taking on one of the Klitschko brothers and one of boxing’s bright spots, Showtime’s Super Six tournament, has hit monumental speed bumps, perhaps discouraging promoters and fighters from entering tournaments in the future.

Further, negative press has cast a shadow over boxing in recent weeks as a direct result of misguided actions by boxers outside of the ring. We can hope it has all come to a head with the recent Mayweather debacle and Ricky Hatton drug-binge.

With regards to the action, like any year, there have been entertaining brawls and there have been snooze-fests. Recently, in back-to-back weekends, two Fight of the Year candidates took place outside of the United States. Ricky Burns upset Rocky Martinez in a twelve round slugfest in Scotland that saw Burns overcome a first round knockdown and ultimately capture the WBO super featherweight title in front of his hometown fans. The other took place a week prior when Giovanni Segura — playing the role of hunter — went into Ivan Calderon’s backyard of Puerto Rico where he stalked his prey for seven-plus rounds until the formerly undefeated Calderon was unable to continue after eating a barrage of devastating body shots. As a result, Segura and his team traveled back to Mexico with the WBO light flyweight and the WBA Super World light flyweight titles in tow.

Unfortunately, recent media coverage — including my own — has not focused on these two superb bouts. Rather, the recent focus on the sport of the boxing has primarily been dominated by the negative actions of both Mayweather and Hatton.

I, for one, do not subscribe to the theory that all press is good press. That is why the rest of this article will be dedicated to shining a light on fights to look forward to before the year’s end.

This upcoming weekend’s HBO Pay-Per-View card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is a decent fight card that is being marketed toward Mexican fans with the lure that on the weekend that celebrates Mexican Independence, three fighters of Mexican decent will look to provide their Mexican brethren with one more reason to celebrate.

Victor Ortiz looks to continue on the comeback trail after he was stopped by Marcos Maidana in June of last year when he faces off against veteran Vivian Harris, who in his last fight was the victim of an extremely premature stoppage in Mexico at the hands of Argentinian, Lucas Matthyse. Prized Mexican prospect Saul “Canelo” Alvarez confront his toughest challenge yet when he fights aged veteran Carlos Baldomir and the main event will feature Sergio Mora against Shane Mosley.

By no means is this a card to be thrilled about, but there is some intrigue with regards to both the Alvarez and Mosley bouts. Alvarez was rocked in the first round of his last fight against Jose Miguel Cotto, but ultimately recovered to get the TKO victory. We’ll have the chance to continue to watch him mature and see if he can stop the grizzled veteran Baldomir for the first time in sixteen years.

The Mosley fight is interesting because Las Vegas says it is interesting. The Sin City betting lines for this fight opened with Mora a +280 underdog. Since then, the action has moved in the “Latin Snake’s” direction changing the line to Mora a +220 underdog — meaning a majority of the betting public believes Mora pulls off the upset.

On Oct. 15, arguably the best super middleweight in the world, Lucian Bute, squares off against his mandatory challenger, Jesse Brinkley in a bout that can be seen on ESPN3.com. That same night, boxing fans can witness Antonio Tarver’s foray into the heavyweight division when he faces Nagy Aguilera in a fight televised on Showtime.

The next day, ESPN3.com will air Vitali Klitschko’s title fight with Shannon Briggs, live from Hamburg, Germany.

Nov. 6 is a big day for boxing when Juan Manuel Lopez (JuanMa) takes on Rafael Marquez live on Showtime from Las Vegas. If JuanMa successfully navigates by Marquez, it will hopefully set up a bout between him and Yuriorkis Gamboa for sometime in early 2011.

That same night, HBO will televise a “Boxing After Dark” card live from Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center that will be headlined by Zab Judah against Lucas Matthyse. Judah looked extremely impressive on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” earlier in the year and one or two more dominating performances can make him a player at 140 lbs.

The Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout from Cowboys Stadium speaks for itself. HBO’s 24/7 will certainly drum up drama and help create storylines leading up to the November 13 PPV. Kelly Pavlik will battle with Daniel Edouard on the undercard. This marks Pavlik’s first time in the ring since he donned a stomach-churning crimson mask courtesy of Sergio Martinez back in April when he lost his title. We’ll get another glance at Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux and also get a peak at highly-touted welterweight prospect, Mike Jones.

On Nov. 27, Juan Manuel Marquez returns to the ring to take on battle-tested Michael Katsidas in a bout that should feature great action. An exciting Panamanian fighter, Celestino Cabellero will be featured on the undercard, and rumors continue to swirl that Andre Berto may be placed on this card as well, making it a triple-header.

A Nov. 20 fight in Atlantic City that has yet to be finalized would feature Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams II and be shown on HBO.

Dec. 4 may play host to an interesting bout between Miguel Cotto and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Chavez Jr. is fresh off arguably his most impressive performance of his career against John Duddy and a win over Cotto will finally earn him the respect he has insisted he deserves.

Dec. 11 may mark the biggest night of all as Showtime kicks off the semi-finals of it’s bantamweight tournament when Abner Mares faces off against Vic Darchinyan and Yohnny Perez takes on Joseph Agbeko. This date is also a tentatively scheduled date for what would be a much talked about fight between Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana.

Finally, scheduled to take place on Dec. 18 in Quebec City is a bout between Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. Pascal is fresh off his upset victory against Chad Dawson, while the “Executioner” looks to regain relevancy and prolong his outstanding career.

Perhaps it’s foolish to view the remaining 2010 fistic schedule as whole doughnuts. The doughnuts would have been the Super Six proceeding flawlessly, a bout between a Klitschko brother and David Haye, as opposed to Klitschko-Briggs and Haye-Harrison, and of course, the elusive super fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather, among other wishes.

It is equally foolish to view the remainder of 2010 as the empty hole in the doughnut, failing to acknowledge the interesting fights that have yet to take place, and instead choosing to dwell on what could and should have been.

The remaining 2010 boxing schedule is the equivalent to munchkins — made popular by doughnut chain, Dunkin Donuts. They are not the whole doughnut, nor are the empty center of the pastry. However, they are born from the center of the doughnut and serve as a sample of the whole doughnut — an appetizer of sorts. They are enjoyable, but not filling. They are enough to hold you over until the bigger meals arrive.

You can reach Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

A few months back I penned an article focusing on the upside that new media has presented the boxing industry. I encouraged athletes and fans alike to embrace new media (Twitter, Facebook, Ustream, YouTube, etc.) and realize the potential these outlets possess to help keep the fistic flame alight while traditional media continues to sweep boxing under the rug. While I wrote almost exclusively about new media’s upside, I only scratched the surface when describing the potential dangers that it presents athletes — citing an ill-advised tweet by Andre Berto calling women “motherf***ers” after Edwin Valero killed his wife, then himself.

However, last week, with one ten minute racist and homophobic rant, Floyd Mayweather exemplified the dangers that new media presents to athletes.

“We’re going to cook that little yellow chump…Once I stomp the midget, I’ll make that motherf***er make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice,” Mayweather said about the Filipino Congressman, Pacquiao.

He continued, “Step your game up, f****t…That mother f***er Pacquiao, he can’t speak no English…Mother f***er signed with two companies. Look it up. And then this mother f***er with Nike only got 70 Gs. How stupid can a mother f***er be? Reebok gave me a million dollars for three weeks. I wore Reebok s**t for a week for a million dollars. This mother f***er’s name is Emmanuel. He got a fake name, taking power pellets.”

The following day Mayweather issued an apology in which he claimed he was just “having fun.”

The National Federation of Filipino Americans Association rejected Mayweather’s apology and issued a powerful statement condemning PBF’s “uneducated” remarks.

“This disgusting diatribe against Pacquiao is a racial slur against all Filipinos and Filipino Americans and an embarrassment not only to the boxing community, but to all Americans,” said Greg Macabenta, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) national chairman in a statement.

In addition to the backlash Mayweather has received from the Filipino community, there are also various petitions circulating online aimed at alerting adidas and Reebok that the companies stand to lose customers if they do not reprimand their client.

When thinking of the dangers new media presents public figures, I could only think of one analogy. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

Similar to the way that guns can serve as collector’s items as opposed to weapons, new media can be used as a promotional tool, or a platform to broadcast hateful messages. Unfortunately for Mayweather, he logged onto Twitter to direct fans to his Ustream page where they witnessed a cringe-worthy tirade against Pacquiao and all Filipinos.

While the immediate reaction was and still is one of disgust, it is not necessarily one of shock. Mayweather’s narcissistic attitude has been well-documented, whether it be through interviews, news stories, or even HBO’s 24/7. He lives a lavish lifestyle and flaunts his money and material items whenever he gets the chance. Since new media removes traditional communication barriers between public figures and the general populous, it is the responsibility of the public figure to create his or her own filter,and understand the raw access that new media provides.. New media websites such as Twitter allow individuals to broadcast messages without anyone telling them what to do or say. All who participate in social media websites are responsible for their own words and actions — anything that is written or said can potentially reach millions of eyes and ears.

The less-than-humble Mayweather occasionally allows for a sneak peek into his lavish lifestyle by posting pictures on his Twitter page. By doing so, he also exposes his disconnect with the world around him — especially to boxing fans, who have historically been a blue-collar group.

In the past two weeks alone, Mayweather has posted pictures of himself standing next to his Cadillac golf cart, a picture of himself holding a luxurious watch in front a briefcase full of banded $100 bills (which until then I only thought existed in movies), and a picture of himself posing in front of a large portrait of…HIMSELF.

Considering that most users of new media are teenagers and young adults, Mayweather’s narcissism along with that of celebrities and athletes from other sports, can have a profound impact on the impressionable youth in America and abroad. For example, here are some of the comments on the Mayweather’s twitter pictures:

“Everything you own is the greatest, just like you.”

“You always have stacks of money in your hands.”

“I’m trying to be just like you when I grow up.”

According to Leonard C. Groopman, M.D. and Arnold M. Cooper, M.D.’s work on Narcissistic Personality Disorder, two potential triggers for the disorder are “excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic feedback” and “being praised for perceived exceptional looks or talents by adults.”

Further, board certified physician and addiction medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky (from Loveline and VH1’s Celebrity Rehab fame) co-authored a book with Dr. S. Mark Young, titled The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Endangering Our Families And How To Save Them.

In the book, Dr. Pinsky writes, “I can’t help but conclude that there are many more individuals suffering from unhealthy levels of narcissism than there are patients diagnosed with narcissism as a psychological disorder…Another reason Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) can be difficult to diagnose is that narcissism, even at NPD levels, doesn’t stop people from attaining positions of power, wealth, or prestige. Narcissists often develop attractive or persuasive social skills to help them maintain the persona they have constructed to get what they want from the world.”

Pinsky continues with a revealing fact, “Any challenge to a narcissist’s unrealistic self-image is likely to provoke rage, disdain, denial or other protective behaviors, as the individual struggles to protect the pseudo-self at all costs.”

Perhaps the backlash and disappointment aimed at Mayweather after he refused to accept Pacquiao’s latest challenge humbled Mayweather a bit and made him resort to taking cheap-shots and name-calling.

Whatever the reason for Mayweather’s rant — whether he truly believes the things he said or if he was just “having fun” — it all can be traced back to a lack of filter – a lack of filter that is a common trait found in most narcissists.

When you feel that you don’t have to answer to anyone, you are more willing to speak what is on your mind. Most of the time, new media can act as a positive vehicle for the athletes that use it — giving them the opportunity to share their story and connect with fans on a human level — without managers and publicists intervening. For the most part, boxers on Twitter have understood and embraced this concept. I hope to see more boxers join new media sites and allow fans to interact with them on levels that were nonexistent even five years ago.

I further hope that Mayweather’s rant on Ustream won’t discourage other athletes from joining new media websites, as I truly believe it can be integral part of boxing’s future. In addition, I think it is important to take what Mayweather says with a grain of salt. You can make of it what you want, but I’ll stick to my gun analogy.

Similar to guns, the potential for new media to be used as both a force of good and evil exists. However, it is important to remember that new media doesn’t harm people, narcissistic people exposed by new media harm people.

You can take Dr. Drew Pinsky’s Narcissistic Personality Test here. The average score for non-celebrities is 15. www.jimpham.com/2009/04/dr-drews-narcissism-test.html

You can follow Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

As ESPN readies to turn thirty-one later this week, the boxing industry should feel free to join in any celebrations the world wide leader plans on having. Since Chris Berman, Bob Ley, & co. emerged on television screens across the nation in September ’79, ESPN has televised boxing on a regular basis — both professional and amateur bouts. The relationship between ESPN and boxing is a crucial one that must be maintained and through the use of the internet, hopefully expanded.

This past Saturday, ironically, the network’s Friday Night Fights season series wrapped up in Montreal, Canada — marking the end to yet another entertaining and successful year of fights for the Disney-owned network. While both HBO and Showtime’s fistic budget dwarfs that of ESPN’s, Doug Loughrey, ESPN’s boxing director of programming, has done an admirable job putting together intriguing and exciting fights.

This past season, specifically, while HBO and Showtime created storylines and built-up fighters (Chris Arreola & Chad Dawson to name two whose scripts were rewritten), ESPN seized on opportunities for create and air fights that already had intriguing storylines built-in.

For instance, back in February, Antonio Escalante (24-2, 15 KO) took on Mickey Roman (30-7, 22 KO). Built-in storyline: Escalante and Roman were childhood rivals, both having grown up in Juarez, Mexico. They scrapped once some thirteen years previous to this bout on the streets of the city and had a chance to run it back once more inside the ropes in El Paso, Texas — Escalante’s adopted hometown. After ten hellacious rounds in front of the pro-Escalante crowd, the judge’s awarded the fan-favorite the unanimous decision victory.

Then in June, Zab Judah (39-6, 27 KO) returned to the ring in front of five thousand fans in Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center. Built-in storyline: Judah returned back to 140 lbs. and claims he is refreshed. This interested 625,000 people enough to tune into Friday Night Fights to watch “Super” Judah stop Jose Armando Santa Cruz (28-5, 17 KO) within three rounds — landing a crisp, beautifully thrown uppercut to drop his opponent in the third.

I could continue to rattle of a laundry-list of built-in storylines that were flushed out during this past Friday Night Fights season, but that would be silly. Point is, Loughrey’s vision in what to invest in and create for his Friday Night Fights series is admirable. What is even more exciting for boxing fans is that it seems Loughrey has a vision for boxing on ESPN that stretches beyond the television set — which could lead to endless possibilities.

A few months ago, ESPN announced that it had struck a deal with the English Premier League, Italy’s Seria A, the German Bundesliga, and Spain’s La Liga — among others — to air select soccer games on ESPN3.com. The stream, which pending one’s bandwidth has the potential to come in clearer than on a television set, is offered for free, even if the game is not shown on ESPN or ESPN2.

On July 31, ESPN announced that, only after HBO and Showtime passed up the opportunity to televise the fight, it will be showing the September 11 Wladimir Klitschko-Samuel Peter IBF & WBO title fight live on ESPN3.com and replay the bout the following day on ESPN.

On the following Friday, the 17th of September, ESPN3.com will air the live flyweight bout between Edin Dapudong vs. Wilbur Uicab, live from Cancun, Mexico and replay it the next day on ESPN Deportes.

If ESPN’s budget grows next year — like it did with soccer this year — ESPN3.com can serve as a crucial player in how boxing fans will be able to watch intriguing fights in high quality for no cost.

The relationship that boxing has with ESPN is vital — regardless of the talent they are able to book for Friday Night Fight cards. When ESPN has a financial investment in a sport, they are more willing to support it and promote it. If their financial investment grows, there is little doubt that the coverage will mimic that.

ESPN has the potential to drive and push sports. When it increased it’s stake in NASCAR at the expense of hockey, ESPN created the NASCAR Now television show, while axing National Hockey Night. Once ESPN shut the door on the NHL completely, hockey turned Versus to air their national games, including playoffs. This led to a columnist at the spoof-newspaper The Onion to pen an article titled “NHL Signs Broadcast Deal with Food Network” — an obvious jab at being forced to televise their sport on deep cable.

None of us want boxing to end up on the proverbial Food Network and the opportunity with ESPN3.com emerging as a serious outlet for major sports to be televised live on is great news for boxing. Hopefully the Klitschko-Peter fight draws enough traffic to the site that it will catch the attention of the big wigs at the world wide leader. If that’s the case, then like soccer, maybe the people running the show at ESPN can kick a little more cash boxing’s way. And with an expanded boxing budget for ESPN, we’d all reap the rewards.

The Polish National Anthem — Mazurek D?browskiego — recalls a time when Polish General Jan Henryk D?browski and thousands of his Polish soldiers marched alongside the great Napoleon Bonaparte aiding in his conquests. The patriotic hymn serves as a reminder to Poles that they will always fight for their existence and for their pride.

On Saturday night in Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center, Tomasz “Goral” Adamek played the part of General D?browski as 10,972 Polish fans flocked to the Garden State’s largest city to be by their fighter’s side. Just moments before Adamek and his opponent, “Big” Michael Grant, made their way to ring, everyone in the arena outfitted in the red and white of Adamek’s homeland partook in what was possibly the loudest rendition of Mazurek D?browskiego ever heard on this side of the Atlantic.

Saturday night did not mark my first time at the Prudential Center, nor was it my first time at an Adamek fight — or should I say, event. But as I walked around the concourse, making my way to section 128, I noticed an extra “buzz” in the building. Maybe it was because Adamek had not fought in “Brick City” since February or maybe it was because his recent victory over Chris Arreola on HBO gave his already enthusiastic fan-base a little extra excitement. But whatever the reasons were, Adamek’s Polish fans were chanting and singing louder than remembered from the moment security patted them down and the ticket scanner admitted them entrance.

Having recently attended a big fight as part of the general populous and not as a member of the media — Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz II — I immediately picked up on one essential difference in the type of crowd Adamek draws as opposed to other prizefighters (besides the obvious fact that nearly all of Adamek’s supporters are of Polish descent). What I marveled at was how many of Saturday’s fight-goers came with their families. The crowd, which banded together to create rippling sea of red and white was made up of men, women, and children of all ages. It was clear that not all of the fans were bitten by the fistic bug – not that it is a requirement to attend a fight. However, the fans Adamek attracts are proud and loyal Polish fans who have been starved of a superior athlete for quite some time and are jumping at the chance to see one of the better boxers in their countries history.

“It is not often that they [Polish fans] have an event like this,” said Max Krysztopowicz, who made the trek up from Philadelphia to watch “Goral” fight. “This is them venting.”
Call it what you will — and perhaps Krysztopowicz is right — the Poles are a deprived people when it comes to success in the world of sports. The White Eagles (Polish national soccer team) have had no worthy accomplishments of late and the country has been lacking an international superstar since Pope John Paul II. Perhaps Adamek’s fights truly are a venting of sorts for Poles, but it is a venting that I encourage all fight fans to witness and enjoy first hand.

Everything is interesting about the make-up of an Adamek event — from the diversity of the fans, with regards to age and gender, to the merchandise being sold. For the few who entered the Prudential Center without some sort of Polish scarf draped around their shoulders, Main Events was selling a half red, half white, scarf with the words “TOMASZ ‘GORAL’” on one side and “ADAMEK” on the other for twenty-five dollars.

Eventually, after taking in the sights around the concourse of “The Rock”, I rode the escalator up one level and climbed the steps to section 128.
Perched high atop “The Rock” I nestled into my seat in the last row of the arena just moments before the opening bell of the night’s first bout. Admittedly, my seat wasn’t the best to view a fight, but luckily for me, watching the crowd throughout the night was equally as entertaining as some of the bouts — and for that, I arguably had the best seat in the house. From the time the first bell rang at 7:30 pm to the time just before the national anthems were played at 11:00 pm, I watched the arena under my feet transform into Lil’ Poland.
With booze flowing from taps to Polish lips all night long, the electric crowd was up on its feet waving the flag and flying the White Eagle high in the air. As the crowd restlessly awaited the main event, the DJ at “The Rock” — knowing his audience — played “Jeste? Szalona” by Boys — a hit Polish song circa 1997 that sent the crowd into a frenzy. At times, between the bouts, it felt more like I was at a club in Warsaw as opposed to a boxing event.

After Michael Grant received a steady stream of boos from the Adamek faithful, “Pamietaj” by Funky Polak — “Goral’s” entrance song and a song about Polish immigration to the United States blared through the arena’s speakers and out emerged Adamek.

Throughout the twelve round battle, fans cheered “Adamek! Adamek!” “Goral! “Goral!” and “Polska!” “Polska!”, not once taking a round off. When the final bell rang to conclude the entertaining fight, the fans erupted once more, chanting “Dzi?kuj?! Dzi?kuj?!” Translation: “Thank You!” “Thank You!”
The appreciation that Adamek’s fans show toward their fighter stretches beyond his accomplishments inside the ring. They appreciate what he has done for their homeland and they show it by flocking to Newark every time he steps into the ring to cheer him on.

Adamek’s fights at the Prudential Center are events. They are a five hour party with endless booze, music, and dancing. All five times he has fought at “The Rock”, the party has culminated with a referee raising “Goral’s” hand to recognize the Pole as the winner. A unanimous decision victory against Grant has put Adamek in a situation to continue to advance toward his goal of facing a titleholder. There is little doubt that a bout between him and David Haye would be entertaining and it is up for debate as to whether Adamek is ready for a meeting against a Klitschko brother. But rumors have it that “Goral’s” next bout may take place on November 6th in Atlantic City — a bout that if it did happen, would not be for a title. Either way, his win over Grant has put him one step closer to realizing his dream.

Adamek, not unlike General D?browski and Bonaparte, has set out on a conquest of his own. But instead of being rewarded with the takeover of precious territories, Adamek, a former world champion at light heavyweight and cruiserweight, hopes he will one day lay claim to a world heavyweight title for his efforts. While only time will tell whether “Goral” will realize his dream, one thing is for certain: Like D?browski, Adamek has legions of Polish followers that will march in lockstep with and support their Polish brethren whomever and wherever he fights next.

You can follow Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

Photos by Claudia Bocanegra

On Tuesday, Erik Morales and his team held a press conference to promote his September 11 bout with Willie Limond. While the fight will take place in Mexico City, Mexico, the press conference was held in Harrison, NJ at Red Bull Arena. 15Rounds.com was there to see what “El Terrible” had to say.

Part 2

When the sun arose on the morning of September 26, 2009, Cristobal “Nightmare” Arreola was an undefeated prospect, sporting an unblemished record of 27-0, and about to fight for a world heavyweight title against Vitali Klitschko. He was continually built up by and showcased on HBO and was arguably the best American-born heavyweight. By the time the clock struck midnight at the end of that autumn day, Arreola hoped to be the first world heavyweight champion of Mexican descent.

Fast forward just ten months to present day and Arreola is somewhere in southern California, walking around in his 256 pound body with two injured hands, two losses on his record, and no significant titles.

Presumably before then — but ever since the night of September 26, 2009, Arreola has not taken his career seriously.

From the opening bell against Vitali Klitschko, it was clear that Arreola would struggle against the experienced champion. Although pouring his heart out in the ring, Arreola was never able to penetrate the elder Klitschko’s jab-built wall and was continually pummeled with the 6’7” Ukranian’s pulverizing lead left hooks.

After ten rounds of boxing for the WBC heavyweight title, Henry Ramirez, Arreola’s trainer, told referee Jon Schorle ‘no mas.’ There would be no eleventh round and subsequently, no WBC title for Arreola.

During an expletive-laden post-fight interview with HBO’s Larry Merchant, Arreola burst into tears, assuring his fans and viewers that he never wanted to give up and that he “trained his a** off” for the fight.

At the time, nobody had the right to question Arreola’s words. Sure, his stomach was soft and 251 pounds was too much for his 6’4” frame, but up until that point, he had been successful in every professional bout of his career.

It wasn’t until his next fight in December of that year that it became clear Arreola was less than fully committed to his career as a boxer.

Picking up its fallen warrior, HBO came calling for Arreola, putting his bout between he and Cruiserweight-bound, Brian Minto on the Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams undercard in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Embarrassingly, the man who trained his a** off in preparation for his title fight against Klitschko weighed in for his ‘rebound’ fight at a whopping 263 pounds. In two years, during the time between his fight against Chazz “The Gentleman” Witherspoon to the bout against Minto, Arreola ballooned from 239 to 263 pounds.

His fight against the undersized Minto may have actually been the one fight where Arreola needed the extra weight to keep him grounded after Minto continually landed his strongest punches on Arreola’s chin.

After three-plus rounds of barroom brawling, the considerably bigger Arreola dropped Minto for the final time, prompting referee Eddie Cotton to step in and call a halt to the bout.

After the Minto fight, HBO tapped Arreola once again, this time pitting him against the Polish-born, Jersey-based former world champion, Tomasz Adamek. Even though a fight in Newark, New Jersey, Adamek’s home arena, would have drawn about eight thousand or so more fans than Arreola’s home arena in Ontario, California, HBO sent its crew & cameramen to the west coast to watch its fighter take on the aspiring heavyweight.

In advance of his fight with Adamek, Ramirez told the media that he hoped his fighter would weigh in at about 240 pounds — what Ramirez claimed was Arreola’s best fighting weight.

Fat chance, Henry.

Arreola weighed in at a heavy 253 pounds. Having dropped a majority decision to Adamek in front of his hometown fans, Arreola was now clinging to a number ten ranking in Ring Magazine’s top ten heavyweights in the world.

After the Adamek fight, Ramirez informed the media that Arreola had missed multiple days of camp at a time. It showed.

This past Friday night, on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, Arreola (29-2, 25 KO) bested Manuel Quezada (29-6, 18 KO) by unanimous decision.

Coming into the fight, Arreola gave us his same old speech about how hard he worked in prepping for his upcoming bout. This time, Arreola claimed, he only missed two days of training and one of them was because his house almost caught on fire. Further, Arreola stated that Ramirez has had him “boxing” more this camp — working on his skill set.

But just because one is physically at camp does not necessarily translate into a fighter giving everything he has day in and day out during ‘practice.’ At the end of the day, Arreola gained weight during his camp, tipping the scales at 256 pounds for the Quezada fight.

Although Arreola canvassed his opponent on three separate occasions, the “Nightmare” wasn’t able to deliver the finishing blow that people have become accustomed to in Arreola victories. Unable to get Quezada out of there, Arreola had to settle for the unanimous decision in a fight that failed to showcase either Arreola’s power or boxing ability. If possible, while Arreola’s win tally rose, his stock fell.

The choices Arreola have made outside of the ring — whether it be from a dietary or a training standpoint — have not been to his benefit.

But moreso than anything written above, Arreola may have best summed up his attitude toward his career when he said, “If Michael Phelps can smoke pot, why can’t I have a beer?”

When the sun goes down on August 18, 2010, the twice- defeated Arreola will be nursing his broken hand and hopefully be thinking of ways to repair his career.

PHOTO BY Claudia Bocanegra