Oliver ….not again! Boxing suffers another ugly black eye. Former World Heavyweight Champion Oliver “The Atomic Bull” McCall is currently sitting in the Broward County Jail after being arrested on February 13th for POSSESSION OF COCAINE, POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA, and PROBATION VIOLATION. McCall was schedule to fight Zuri Lawernce February 16th, no replacement has been found and the fight has been scratched. I spoke with a representative from the Heavyweight Factory, the promotion company handling the event, and they assured us the show will go and there will still be fireworks at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood FL.

The 44 year old McCall is best known for winning the WBC Heavyweight Championship 1994 after scoring an upset knockout victory over Lennox Lewis, in Lewis’ home town of London, England. This was only to be followed by his infamous, in-ring meltdown in the rematch with Lewis.

McCall’s career has often been mottled by several stints in drug rehabilitation facilities and arrests for disorderly behavior. In January, 2006 he was arrested by police in Nashville, Tennessee, who say they had to use a Taser on McCall after he tried running away from officers trying to arrest him for trespassing in a public housing development. Police told reporters that McCall had in his possession a glass pipe and a five-dollar bill containing a small amount of cocaine. They say the 40-year-old McCall later spat at an officer and threatened to kill him. He was held on $299,000 bond and charged with criminal trespass, resisting arrest, assaulting police officers, threatening to kill an officer, and being a fugitive from justice on charges in his home state of Virginia. He was released on 8 May 2006. McCall was arrested for possession of crack in September of 2007 in which he is currently still on probation for. He was scheduled for release of probation in April.

On a recent comeback trail McCall defeated Australian John Hopoate by 2nd round T.K.O on the 22nd of May, 2009 for the vacant IBA Intercontinental heavyweight belt. McCall dominated the fight and knocked Hopoate down twice. He defended his IBA continental belt against Franklin Lawrence by a ten round unanimous decision on the 21st of August 2009 at the Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas. On the 23rd October 2009, He defended his IBA continental Title again by a ten round unanimous decision against 6?8 Lance Whitaker.

This story pains me to write. This is an absolute disrespect to the sport of boxing and to the champions before and after him. Oliver, in my opinion you should have to forfeit the title of champion due to this selfless act! You are a disgrace to the sport and the young kids who look up to the hard fought champions for hope and inspiration.

Life after Amir Khan began for Frank Warren on Saturday at the Wembley Arena in front of around 5,000 people. It proved to be a successful night for his up and coming young guns all getting the W, most of them doing it inside the distance.

In the main event Nathan Cleverly 19-0(9) stepped up from domestic level to European level with little problems scoring a fifth round stoppage over Italian Antonio Brancalion 32-8-2(8) claiming the vacant European crown. After a lively opening round in which Cleverly had the better of things he took over and although he was caught with a few punches the 22 year old landed far more, some impressive flush shots. By the end of the fourth he dropped the Italian with a hard right, the bell rang before Cleverly could follow up. Smelling blood the Welshman went straight for Brancalion who he had on unsteady legs and teetering by the time referee Jean-Louis Legland saved him from any further punishment at 1.15 of the fifth.

The Welshman appeared at the press conference with a broad grin and all three belts he’s collected over the past 15 months. Cleverly described the fight as “A comfortable night” Warren was pleased with his charges performance and praised him adding “I’d be surprised if he didn’t fight for a world title before the end of the year” Though he still has things to learn Cleverly has a very good base to add to and proclaimed “I’m still a maths student….i haven’t taken this business serious yet” Well if this is a part time pro and as he believes he has a further 25% to add to his game the world scene should be on red alert.

Londoner Kevin “The Dagenham Destroyer” Mitchell improved to 31-0(23) with a thunderous second round stoppage over Ignacio Mendoza. In the first Mitchell sized the Columbian up, after that he clearly had the measure of his man. When Mendoza threw a combination Mitchell counted with a booming right hook before landing a left as Mendoza was falling. It was easily the best KO of the night. Mitchell holds the best unbeaten record in British Boxing at the moment.

At the press conference Warren proclaimed that the WBO had given him and Golden Boy 28 days to finalise a fight between Mitchell and there Interim Lightweight champion Michael Katsidis. It’s a fight Mitchell would very much like adding “I’m a big fan of his but i think he’s made for me” When asked about the knockout Mitchell added “I sized him up in the first, in the second i went for him. I caught him and he went down, i thought what a touch!”

Olympic Gold medallist James “Chunky” Degale 6-0(4) scored an impressive second round stoppage over Matthew Barr 14-6(6). Barr was dropped three times before the fight was waved off at 1.38 of the round. Degale later went on to say that he though he’d come a long way in the past year and felt like a much better fighter that he was a year ago when he debuted. It certainly looked that way, in his early fights he boxed on the back foot but he seems to have developed a bit more devil in his work to go with his undoubted talent.

Though he heard the bell for the first time and had a few scratches Frankie “Funtime” Gavin 6-0(5) scored a shutout 60-54 points win over the always durable Peter McDonagh 14-16(2). Gavin’s superior skills and speed clearly won him the fight but McDonagh deserves credit for his toughness. It was a case of get the win and look good next time for Gavin who will without doubt be a better fighter for this fight.

Afterwards at the press conference Frank Warren said he thought Gavin would be ready for a domestic title by the end of the year. Gavin echoed his promoters comments saying “After watching Lenny Daws (The British Champion at 140 who drew with Jason Cook) last night i’m ready”

In a British Heavyweight eliminator Derek “Del Boy” Chisora 12-0(7) made good on his promise to beat up Carl Baker 9-5(6) stopping his over matched opponent in two one sided rounds. The first was a feeling out process for Chisora before he went to work in the second and repeatedly hurt his man before Baker was stopped on his feet at 2.13 by referee Howard John Foster.The previous day at the weigh in when both men squared up to each other for the face off Chisora planted a kiss on Baker’s lips. Baker took exception and pushed Chisora to the ground. It looked at though there would be bad blood between them but it ended up being a one sided beat down from. Word is that Chisora will now face the winner of Sam Sexton & Danny Williams who have been ordered to fight each other by the the British Boxing Board of Control.

Swindon’s Jamie Cox 14-0(8) appeared to have a warm up fight on paper when he met Michael Frontin 2-7-1(0) but it turned out to be anything but that. Though he won the fight he was cut and bleeding at the final bell. Cox won 78-76 on referee Grant Wallis card.

It was a good night for the Walsh clan with Liam Walsh 7-0(6) scoring an impressive four round stoppage over the usually durable Sid Razak 4-41(1) at Super Featherweight.

Ryan Walsh moved to 9-0(3) when he beat Ian Bailey 5-4(0) by the single score of 59-55 on referee Jeff Hinds card at Super Bantamweight.

In Bantamweight action Michael Walsh continued his KO streak to take his record to 7-0(7) with a stoppage over Najah Ali 3-1(1).

Though big brother Kevin had done the business earlier Vinny Mitchell 11-1(2) wasn’t able to complete a good night for the family when he was surprisingly stopped in four by former opponent Jon Baguley 9-17-1(4).

George Michael Carmen successfully made his debut with a four round decision over Matt Seawright 3-25(0) in Welterweight action.

In attendance were Up and coming Light Heavyweight Tony Bellew who hopes to get a fight with Cleverly down the road. European Light Middleweight champion Ryan Rhodes. Along with the Light Middleweight Prizefighter Steve O’Meara who was part of James Degale’s camp. English Soccer player Joe Cole was also ringside.

Nonito Donaire retained the Interim WBA Super Flyweight championship with a third round stoppage over late replacement and undersized Manuel Vargas at The Hilton Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The size disparity was evident early as Donaire pushed Vargas back anytime he needed to with his punches. Vargas was very guarded early as the former minimumweight title challenger knew he was really up against the odds on this night. In round three, Donaire landed a heavy three punch combination that was capped off by a big uppercut that sent Vargas down flat on his back for referee Joe Cortez ten count at 1:33 of round five.

Donaire, 115 lbs of General Santos City, Philippines will now look for a Summer showdown rematch with Vic Darchinyan as his record now stands at 23-1 with fifteen knockouts. Vargas, 114 lbs of Laguas De Moreno, Mexico is now 26-5-1

Fernando Montiel remained his WBO Bantamweight title with a body shot knockout over Ciso Morales.

Montiel landed a left to the body and a grazing right that sent Morales down for referee Robert Byrd’s ten count and the bout was waved off at 2:06.

Montiel, 118 lbs of Los Mochis, Mexico is now 40-2-2 with thirty knockouts. Morales, 118 lbs of Talabon Bohol, Philippines is now 14-1.

Gerry Penalosa turned back the clock and fought through two nasty cuts but showed his experience but still came up on the short end of a close split decision loss to Eric Morel in a WBO Interim Bantamweight title bout.

Morel boxed very well over the over the first few rounds as he jabbed and moved in and out befuddling Penalosa. That didn’t last long as Penalosa was very patient and began to apply pressure in little bunches as he would land some pesky three and four punch combinations. In round six, two accidental headbutts opened up two separate cuts around the eyes of Penalosa but despite the blood, the fight was allowed to continue and that seemed to light a fire under Penalosa.

Penalosa looked to be getting the better of the action over the second half of the fight with his work rate whereas Morel would land some jabs and move but not many power shots behind them. Penalosa could very well have taken five of the last six rounds but it wasn’t to be as Morel got the split decision by scored of 116-112; 115-113 with Penalosa gaining a card 115-113.

Morel, 117 lbs of Madison, WI vis San Juan , PR now will gain a shot at Fernando Montiel with a record of 42-2. Penalosa, 118 lbs of San Caious, Philippines is now 54-8-2.

Bernabe Concepcion hung on for a unanimous decision over Mario Santiago in a Featherweight elimination bout.

Concepcion had a lot of success early as he landed winging rights hands and backed up Santiago with some flush shots. Santiago was jabbing but little else as he ate those shots. In round six, a booming right sent Santiago to the deck and and he was hurt. Concepcion tried to end things but Santiago held him off and landed a enough shots that Concepcion was backing off towards the end of the round.

Concepcion took the next couple rounds to build up his comfortable lead on the cards. Santiago got foing towards the end of the ninth and carried that momentum into the final round as he rocked Concepcion with a barrage of punches against the ropes and Concepcion looked to be in trouble. Concepcion tried to fire back in a wildly entertaining exchange that thrilled the crowd for the last thirty seconds of the fight.

It was too little, too late fro Santiago as Concepcion, 126 lbs of Catandunes, Philippines, won by scores of 98-91; 96-93; 97-92 to raise his record to 28-3-1and earn a shot at WBO champion Juan Manuel Lopez in June. Santiago, 126 lbs of Ponce, Puerto Rico is now 21-2-1.

Photos by Chris Farina/Top Rank

Ji Hoon Kim scored a fifth round stoppage over Tyrone Harris in a scheduled ten round Lightweight bout at The Pechanga Hotel and Resort in Temecula, CA.

Harris came out early and controlled the action over the firt stwo rounds as he used his technical ability and landed some nice right hooks from his southpaw stance. The bout slowly started to change in Kim’s favor as he applied the pressure and started to back Harris up.

In round four a little cut opened up over the right eye of Harris. Kim started the fifth out like gangbusters as he applied serious pressure and scored a knockdown from a barrage of punches to the body. Kim jumped on Harris and landed several unanswered punches that led referee Wayne Hedgepath to stop the bout at 1:52 of round five.

Kim, 133 1/2 lbs of Goyang City, South Korea is now 20-5 with seventeen knockouts. Harris, 132 1/2 lbs of Lansing, MI is now 24-6.

Ruslan Provodnikov scored an eighth round stoppage over former IBF Lightweight champion Javier Jauregi in round eight of a scheduled ten round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Provodnikov dominated the action as he landed vicious shots to the head and body of Jauregui with Juaregui throwing and landing very little throughout the affair.

In round eight, Provodnikov landed some solid lefts and then a perfect right that set up a flurry on the ropes until referee Jack Reiss stopped the bout at 2:10 of round eight.

Provodnikov, 141 1/2 lbs of Brazuka, Russia now is 15-0 with ten knockouts. Juaregui, 142 lbs of Guadalajara, Mexico is now 53-17-2

Maxim Vlasov scored a first round stoppage over Julius Fogle in a scheduled six round Super Middleweight bout.

Vlasov was more aggressive until he landed a right hand that sent Fogle to his knees. Referee Wayne Hedgepath counted to ten just as Fogle got to his feet and the fight was over at 2:42 of round.

Vlasov, 166 1/2 lbs of Russia is now 16-0 with seven knockouts. Fogle of Cary, NC is now 15-2.

Garrett Simon made quick work over an overmatch and rotund Francisco Mireles in a scheduled four round Heavyweight bout.

Simom dropped Mireles with the first punch of the fight and then got the victory after a barrage on the ropes for which referee Jack Reiss mercifully stopped the bout.

Simon, 202 lbs is now 2-0 with two knockouts. Mireles, 262 lbs of Agua Prieto, Mexico is now 8-5

Big time Boxing kicks off in Britain this Saturday when Frank Warren Promotions stages “The Night of the Champions” from Wembley Arena in London. It’s a double header that see’s Wales Nathan Cleverly fight Antonio Brancalion for the Vacant European title and Londoner Kevin Mitchell will be making the first defence of his WBO Intercontinental Lightweight crown. Also in action are former amateur stars James Degale & Frankie Gavin. At Heavyweight Derek Chisora fights Carl Baker in a British title eliminator.

In an interesting cross roads battle Nathan Cleverly 18-0(8) will be looking to complete his old fashioned route to the top by claiming the European title having already conquered Britain & the Commonwealth. Brancalion looks like a step up for Cleverly with vast experience in his 34 years which has seen him boast a 32-7-2(7) ledger. Though Brancalion may be starting to slip if last years defeat to Jurgen Braehmer is anything to go by when he was demolished inside a minute and a half. Though Cleverly’s power is getting better with 5 straight coming inside the distance it’s unlikely Cleverly can do it as quick but look for him to use his speed and pick off Brancalion early before stepping up the action and forcing the Italian to quit in the middle rounds.

The WBO Lightweight number one contender Kevin “The Dagenham Destroyer” Mitchell 30-0(22) will be bidding to please his hometown fans and get an impressive win whilst making the first defence of his WBO Intercontinental title. Though he has World title asperations it’s important Mitchell keeps up the impressive form that saw him put on a clinic last time out against hard hitting Breidis Prescott one time conquer of Amir Khan. Again he’s matched with a Columbian, Ignacio Mendoza 27-5-2(18) who has been on British shores before when he lost in 8 to John Murray. Mitchell will slightly better Murray’s result forcing a seventh round stoppage.

When Danny Williams pulled the plug on his British title fight with Derek “Del Boy” Chisora 11-0(6) it left Chisora scrambling for a replacement. Thankfully Carl “The Fridge” Baker 9-4(6) stepped up to the plate and will be hoping to provide the second shock of his career after outpointing the afore mentioned Danny Williams in Prize-fighter late last year. Though Baker will have in excess of a two stone weight advantage it’s Chisora who has the pedigree and that should see him see off Baker inside 6 rounds.

World amateur champion Frankie “Fun time” Gavin 5-0(5) will be looking to keep hold of his perfect record against his toughest opponent to date Peter “Connemara Kid” McDonagh 14-15(2). Many believe Gavin 24, has looked the best so far of his fellow Olympians. However tough Irishman McDonagh will have designs on not only making him look bad but also getting a surprise win. McDonagh is better than his record suggests and is more than capable of giving Gavin a few problems. Just last year McDonagh went the full ten with British champion Lenny Daws in and English title fight. If Gavin is able to do what only Giuseppe Lauri has done so far and stop McDonagh then that will be a clear statement of intent making people sit up and notice. Though that maybe tough as he only has 6 rounds to do it, look for Gavin to post a clear points decision.

In preparation for his Fight with Matthew Barr, James “Chunky” Degale 5-0(3) has been sparring with Heavyweights and reportedly is in the form of his life. If Degale who fights for the first time at home in London can put it all together he should get get the stoppage inside three or four rounds.

Swindon’s impressive Welterweight Jamie Cox 13-0(8) stays busy fighting novice pro Michael Frontin 2-6-1(0). Cox will be favoured to take care of business relatively quickly.

Also seeing action are the three Walsh brothers. Michael 6-0(6) at Bantamweight where he’ll look to continue his 100% record against Najah Ali 3-0(1), Liam 6-0(5) fights at Super Featherweight against proverbial loser Sid Razak 4-40(1) though Razak has only been stopped once. Ryan 8-0(3) goes up against Ian Bailey 5-3(0) at Super Bantamweight. All three are scheduled for 6 rounds.

Also at Super Featherweight Vinny Mitchell 11-0(2) fights Jon Baguley 8-17-1(4) over six.

Rounding out the show George Michael Carmen makes his debut against Matt Seawright 3-24(0).

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Former IBF 122 lb champion Steve Molitor will have his chance to reclaim that belt when he takes on Takalani Ndlovu on March 27th at Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada.

Ndlovu, who ranked number-one by the IBF was to have fought Caballero but neither his promoter nor Caballero’s promoter, Warrior Boxing made any type of bid for the fight and Caballero was relieved of his title.

It did not seem to be a big deal to Leon Margules of Warriors boxing as he has other plans for Caballlero.

“We didn’t bid because we had no place to put the fight and my guy wants to go to 126 pounds anyway,” Warriors Boxing’s Leon Margules told ESPN.com about why he didn’t bid on Caballero-Ndlovu. “If we had a place to do it and could have paid Caballero his money, he would have made the weight. But we didn’t and now he’s going to move up. There are better opportunities and bigger fights for him at 126 pounds.”

Margules and Top Rank have talked about the possibility of Caballero challenging featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa in the spring or summer on HBO.

“I told [Top Rank’s] Carl Moretti, ‘Yes, we’re interested,’ ” Margules said.

“All I’ve been thinking about is becoming a two-time champion, and nobody is going to get in my way,” said Molitor, 29. “Especially Ndlovu. As good as I was the first time against him, Ndlovu’s crazy to think he has a chance of beating me in a rematch. I’m here to not only regain my title, but to show the world I’m even better now than I was during my first title reign. That means laying an even more convincing beating on Ndlovu this time around.”

“I have earned my mandatory spot in the IBF rankings, and the fact that I’m now No. 1 and Steve No. 2, speaks volumes. This time around it will be far different from the last time I fought Steve,” Ndlovu said. “I’m not overconfident, but the fact that I have agreed to go back to Canada, shows my mindset for this fight. This is most likely my last chance to win the IBF world title and I’m prepared to do what ever it takes to beat Steve.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Gerson Guerrero, who was to challenge Nonito Donaire this Saturday night for an interim 115 lbs title, failed his eye exam and Donaire’s promoter Top Rank is scrambling to find a new opponent to headline this Saturday’s Pay Per View event in las Vegas.

Top Rank Matchmaker Brad Goodman has a short list of opponents to may fill the void.

On Goodman’s short list of potential replacements are two other fighters from Mexico: Manuel Vargas (26-4-1, 11 KOs), a former interim strawweight titlist who has also fought as a flyweight, and Hugo Ruiz (22-1, 21 KOs). Goodman attempted to line up former junior bantamweight titlist Jose “Carita” Lopez of Puerto Rico for the bout, but he was nowhere close to the 115-pound weight limit.

“I guess [Guerrero] has some sort of eye problem, but I am just ready for this fight,” Donaire told ESPN.com moments after being told of the issue. “I’ve always been prepared to fight anybody. I can adapt to any changes. I am ready for anything. Whoever they put in, I’m ready if Guerrero can’t make it. So be it.”

Donaire said, if necessary, he was willing to make Saturday’s fight in the 118-pound bantamweight division.

“As long as I get to fight, I am happy,” Donaire said.

Cameron Dunkin, Donaire’s manager, was consulting with Goodman about a new opponent.

“Nonito used to tell all the time that before I managed him, he never knew who he was fighting and he would take fights on short notice,” Dunkin said. “He would say, ‘I am ready for anybody. I’ll work it out. Just let me know who it is and I’ll be ready to go.’ We’ll get somebody and fight because Nonito is a fighter. A lot of guys would be blaming and complaining, but he’s not like that. He’s got a big smile on his face and says he’s just ready to go.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, world Middleweight champion, Kelly Pavlik will defend his crwon against Jr. Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez on April 17th in Atlantic City and will be televised by HBO.

“We’re waiting for Lou [DiBella, Martinez’s promoter] to send back the contract, which he said there are no problems with,” said Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Pavlik’s promoter. “Kelly is on board and we’re planning a press conference in New York, but HBO wanted us to hold off until after the Olympics. But the fight is agreed to. We’re good on our side and Lou tells me it’s good to go on his side. We’re putting off the press conference strictly because of the Olympics.”

“It’s a great Atlantic City fight, especially with Williams-Martinez having just taken place there and Pavlik being the most proven attraction there in the post-[Arturo] Gatti era,” DiBella said.

“It’s a terrific fight and I think Kelly is going to win, but we know this is a very tough fight,” Said Bob Arumn who promotes Pavlik.”But I think that Kelly has the firepower to come through and win the fight.” Pavlik, who is 6-foot-2, is the naturally bigger and stronger fighter compared to the 5-11 Martinez, 34, who is a southpaw and faster.

“Sergio Martinez is the best 154-pound fighter in the world, but he simply could not turn down an opportunity to take on the true middleweight champion of the world,” DiBella said. “While size is not his advantage, speed is, and sometimes David slays Goliath. We had to bite the bullet a little bit, but it’s a great opportunity even though it is above the weight where Sergio prefers to fight. But he didn’t do so badly at middleweight against Williams did he? We all know that a lot of people thought Sergio won that fight. At some point, he’d like to move down and fight in his own weight class, but this is a big opportunity for him.”

“There are no substantive issues on the paperwork between me and Arum,” DiBella said. “The only issue that exists is that Kelly has had some health issues and I want to know that if Sergio trains for the fight and Kelly is forced to pull out for some reason that Sergio would able to fight another opponent we agree on in Montreal on the Bute undercard.

“If something happens and Kelly’s staph infection comes back or he has another problem with his hand, we want to be able to fight somebody else on that date. My guy can’t have another long layoff. But there is no issue about anything between me and Bob. I just need to get this worked out with HBO, but I don’t think it is going to be an issue.”

Pavlik, 36-1 with thirty-two knockouts and Martinez will compete in a bout for which HBO will be televising another fight from Montreal featuring IBF Super Middleweight champion Lucian Bute defending against Edison Miranda.

These two bout could be the groundwork for a possible Bute-Pavlik fight later in 2010 should both champions retain their titles.

Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com., a proposed bout between WBO “Interim” Lightweight bout Michael Katsidis and IBF Jr. Lightweight champion Robert Guerrero is off due to Guerrero’s wife being seriously ill as her bout Leukemia has returned.

“It’s a very tough situation,” co-manager Shelly Finkel told ESPN.com. “He can’t fight like that. That’s what we all told him and he finally agreed. It’s too much.”

Guerrero’s wife, Casey, was diagnosed with leukemia two weeks before then-featherweight titleholder Guerrero was scheduled to defend his belt against Martin Honorio in November 2007.

Guerrero left his wife’s bedside just a couple of days before the fight, knocked Honorio out in the first round, and returned to his wife and their two children.

Casey Guerrero’s leukemia eventually went into remission but is back. She underwent a bone marrow transplant recently and has been at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., for about 10 days, Guerrero’s co-manager Bob Santos said.

“They won’t really know if the bone marrow is going to take, so we’re hoping that it does,” Santos said. “Robert wanted to fight. He thought he could spend half the day with her and train the other half the day, but she started to take a turn for the worse. I told him point blank there is no way I would allow him to fight. Me and Shelly had to talk him out of it. This is a tough sport and if he’s going to fight somebody like Katsidis you have to be 100 percent focused. With this situation, how could he be?”

“She had just been diagnosed and there was a lot of hope and optimism,” he said. “The doctorshttp://www.15rounds.com/wp-admin/media-upload.php?post_id=12472&type=video&TB_iframe=true were like, ‘We can try this and we can do that.’ In this case, it’s hit or miss. We just don’t know if the [bone marrow transplant] is going to work. If this doesn’t work there is nothing they can do for you. She’s at a point where if this doesn’t work, unless there is divine intervention, she’s in big trouble.

“I got the call and they said it’s very serious,” said Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, who promotes Guerrero. “All of our prayers are with Robert and his wife and we hope that she can pull through. I feel so bad. They have two young kids. I hope that she will be able to make it. His wife is fighting for her life. That is way more important than any fight in a ring.”

Tomasz Adamek is originally from Poland, but when he fights thousands of miles away at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, he is right at home. 10,123 screaming Polish fans packed the arena last night for his second fight at heavyweight and chanted non stop from the moment they entered the building; and they sure had a lot to cheer for.

Adamek retained his IBF International heavyweight title with a hard fought twelve round unanimous decision over 2004 US Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada. Estrada came out aggressive against Adamek, who is generally a slow starter, tagging the Secaucus, NJ based Pole with a plethora of overhand rights. Adamek started to take control of the pace beginning in the third, working off of multi punch combinations to Estrada’s head.

The bout continued to be fought in close quarters, with Adamek putting together combinations, while Estrada used a Floyd Mayweather style defense before countering with right hands and left hooks. It was evident that this fight was a test of wills and who would be the first to break down. Adamek has been in similar battles in the past, but was a true test for him at an unfamiliar weight.

Estrada landed a number of good left hooks that stopped Adamek in his tracks, but he was unable to capitalize, electing to consistently throw just one punch. Adamek had trouble with the slick and motivated Estrada, but continually used a high punch output to take competitive rounds.

Estrada began to fight with more urgency in the 10th, using clubbing rights ala Samuel Peter, but Adamek’s famed chin kept him out of any serious danger. The challenger got off to a solid start early in the 11th, but a consistent workrate by the champion over the next round and a half guided him to victory.

Scores were 115-113, 116-112, and a questionable 118-110 for Adamek. 15Rounds scored the contest 116-112 for Adamek, as did a number of ringsiders.

Adamek improves to 40-1 with 27 KO’s, while Estrada, who came in at a career light 237 lbs and displayed that he is no push over, returns to Providence, RI 16-3 (4 KO’s).

The victory most likely sets up an April 24 HBO aired match up between Adamek and heavyweight contender Cris Arreola, whose trainer Henry Ramirez was ringside for tonight’s action.

Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin is back in the New York groove! After a year layoff, Quillin stepped back into the ring against a fearsome opponent in Fernando Zuniga. They wasted no time in getting to know each other, as they immediately began exchanging punches. In the first round, Quillin had the upper hand as he landed two strong left hooks, but Zuniga is certainly no slouch himself, as he closed out the round with an illegal blow to the back of Quillin’s head hoping to impose himself as the bully in the ring.

They continued until the third round, where Quillin landed a strong right hand and Zuniga followed up with a right hand of his own. For Quillin, the rust was definitely there. His punches were sharp and strong,
but they came only a few at a time. Still, Zuniga’s awkward style makes it difficult for anyone to throw solid combinations.

As they entered the seventh round, Quillin was in control, and it looked as if Zuniga was worn down. Quillin continued with his workrate while Zuniga was content with looking for a knockout punch that wouldn’t come. By the time the final round came along, a tired Quillin popped his jab to keep the resurging Zuniga at bay. It was too little too late as the final scores read 98-92, 100-90, and 100-90 for Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin.

Quillan is now 21-0 with 15 KO’s. Zuniga drops to 28-10 with 20 KO’s. The victory also gave those at ringside free chocolate, as Quillin continued his famed post fight tradition of tossing candy into the crowd.

Popular Atlantic City, NJ based Pole Patrick “The Machine” Majewski scored an impressive six round unanimous decision over Youngstown, OH’s Anthony Pietrantonio. Majewski came into the ring with a buzz cut and plain red trunks, thus bared a resemblance to his countryman Tomasz Adamek. Majewski is also an all action fighter, who will give two to take one if necessary. Fortunately for him, it wasn’t tonight.

Majewski controlled all six rounds of the super middleweight contest, tagging the awkward Pietrantonio with hard right hands and thunderous hooks to the body. Pietrantonio was hurt in the third and sixth rounds, but represented the fighting city that he hails from well by never giving up. Scores were 60-54 on all three cards for Majewski.

“I can’t say I was trying to knock him out and wasn’t frustrated that I couldn’t finish him” said Majewski, who upped his record to 12-0 with 7 KO’s after the victory. “He was a much bigger fighter than me. He fought at light heavyweight in the past and I am naturally a middleweight”.

Majewski also made it known that his ring attire was no coincidence.

“Tomasz Adamek is a great fighter and I have followed him from the beginning. I study his tapes he is very smart, dynamic and has a good jab”.

Pietrantonio falls to 6-4 (5 KO’s) with the loss.—Matt Yanofsky

2008 National Golden Gloves Middleweight Champion Denis “Mommas Boy” Douglin of Morganville, NJ upped his record to 7-0 (3 KO’s) after decision late replacement Eddie Hunter from Seattle Washington. Douglin used a consistent offensive attack to control virtually the entire fight, but was unable to deck his much bigger opponent. Scores were 60-54 twice and 59-54.

Douglin was originally scheduled to fight at junior middleweight against Latif Mundy, but scaled in at 162 lbs tonight to Hunter’s 167. He plans to fight at 154 in his next bout.–Matt Yanofsky

Cruiserweight Patrick Farrell of Jersey City, NJ scored an impressive four round decision against local rival Jon “The Fighting Marine” Schneider. Farrell decked the Contender Season 4 participant with a right hand in round one and three, but the Yonkers, NY native showed tremendous heart and never stopped moving forward. The scorecards read 40-33 and 40-34 twice.

Farrell moves to 5-0 (3 KO’s) with the victory as Schneider dips to 7-5-1 (4 KO’s).–Matt Yanofsky

Decorated amateur Ismayl Sillakh of the Ukraine improved to 10-0 (9 KO’s) after stopping tough Houston, TX native Larry Pryor inside of four rounds. Sillakh displayed why he is considered a notable prospect, tagging Pryor with hard jabs, straight right hands and body punches during the first three rounds. Pryor was decked hard twice via left hooks in round four and referee Steve Smoger stopped the one-sided contest following the second knockdown at 0:47. Pryor falls to 6-6 (4 KO’s) with the defeat.—Matt Yanofsky

2008 US Olympian, Sadam Ali of Brooklyn, NJ took on fellow Brooklynite Jason Thompson in the walk out bout. Ali, a storied amateur, was in zero danger throughout the contest, but had a major mishap in the dressing room. After arriving at the arena, Ali opened his bag and realized his boxing shoes were nowhere to be found. Luckily, Denis Douglin, who fought earlier in the night, offered a helping hand, or should we say shoes.

Ali was in control throughout the entire bout. He routinely landed powerful straight punches throughout the fight and was able to land then in rapid-fire combinations. Despite the constant barrage of powerful punches in a very one sided fight, Ali was unable knock his opponent down. That came as quite a shock to those still left in the arena. In the end of this welterweight contest, all three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Ali.

Ali improves 5-0 with 2 KO’s, while the noticeably bigger Thompson, who somehow missed weight by 18 lbs for a fight in 09’, drops to 5-5-1 (4 KO’s).

Photo by Ed Mulholland/Main Eventa

For more New Jersey boxing news, go to www.gardenstatefightscene.com.

Brandon Rios made a statement in the Lightweight division as he pummeled one-time prospect Jorge Teron in round three of a scheduled ten round fight in McAlllen, Texas.

Rios landed heavy power shots over all three rounds as he constantly had Teron backpedaling away from a vicious assualt of hooks to the face. Teron started to bleed from nose in round two as Rios was relentless in his attack. Rios started round three by landing a hard right that backed Teron into the ropes that was follwed by a huge left that sent the mouthpiece of Teron flying out of his mouth. After a brief break to put the mouthpiece in, Rios landed a barrage of punches that made referee Lupe Garcia step in and stop the bout at 1:13 of round three.

Rios, 135 lbs of Oxnard, CA is now 24-0-1 with seventeen knockouts. Teron, 6’0″ 134 1/2 lbs of Bronx, NY took many shots and didn’t go down but is now 23-2-1.

Tomas Villa scored a tenth round disqualification over Juan Ruiz in the final scheduled round of their Featherweight fight.

It was an entertaining battle with both guys giving supreme effort as well as both having moments in the fight. In round ten, Ruiz and Villa were in a clinch and when referee Rafael Ramos tried to break them, Ruiz threw two punches towards Villa and thats when Ramos called a halt to the action at the :18 mark.

Villa is now 21-6-4. Ruiz is 23-6

Jerry Belmontes was cut on the top of his forehead from a first round butt from Morris Chile but Belmontes stuck it out and won a workmanlike unanimous decision in a six round Featherweight bout.

Scores were 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55 for Belmontes, 126 1/2 lbs of Corpus Christie, TX and is now 11-0. Chule, 126 1/2 lbs of Nairobi, Kenya is now 7-9-1.

Edwin Valero made a splash in his first premium cable performance of his career as showed newly added slick defense and boxing skills, incredible heart and courage and landed enough power shots to force Antonio DeMarco to quit on his stool to retain the WBC Lightweight title in Monterrey, Mexico

The heart and courage aspect took place early as an inadvertent elbow landed on the right side of Valero’s forehead and a deep, nasty gash was formed on Valero. That only seemed to light a fire under Valero but instead of turning into the man who was the all out knockout artist but as a slick boxer who paid very much attention to detail, ring generalship and combination punching. Valero continued to do that after the balance of the and landing some hard straight lefts while getting out of the way of any return fire in a Whitakeresque motion as he was lsick with both head and body movement

Vaero mixed it up to the bosy as well as the head while Demarco was able to land some but very few shots of note and seemed to lose steam in the later rounds.

DeMarco gave himself one more round following the eighth as he looked like a spent fighter and he had little success in the ninth and rather then to come out and face more punishment he decided to fight another day giving Valero the well earned an impressive victory.

Valero, 135 lbs of Miranda, Venezuela kept his perfect knockout streak alive at 27-0 with twenty seven knockouts. DeMarco, 135 lbs of Tijuana, Mexico is now 23-2-1

“This was definitely my best performance,’’ said the 5-foot-7½-inch, 28-year- old Valero after making the second title defense of the 135-pound belt he won in April 2009. “I learned I have to pace myself and can’t just come out in the beginning rounds so aggressively.

“I have to save some of that for the later rounds.”

Valero, the busier fighter throughout, connected with many powerful combinations upstairs and to the body, and was as strong in the last round as he was in the first.

“I wasn’t surprised the fight lasted nine rounds. I was expecting it to last the full 12,’’ he said. “I knew I had to keep doing what I was doing in order to win. They thought I wasn’t a boxer and that I couldn’t deal with his reach. They didn’t know that I was a lateral fighter. I showed them that I had a better defense and better legs.’’

A heretofore unknown despite his amazing knockout record – he won his initial 17 starts by first-round knockout — Valero was ecstatic after his debut on SHOWTIME.

“A star is born,” he smiled. “In me, the people have a great boxing champion and with tonight’s performance they have the proof. The fans now know that they will be happy to see my fights.’’

DeMarco fought patiently, perhaps too patiently. He lacked fire and intensity and seemed content to box and land an occasional single punch. If he was waiting for fatigue to set in with Valero, he still is.

“It wasn’t my night,” conceded the 5-foot-10, 24-year-old DeMarco, who entered the scheduled 12-rounder having won 12 and a row and going unbeaten in his last 16 (15-0-1) dating to May 2006. “He got the best of me. I went out there tonight to fight but my body did not respond.”

While dejected, DeMarco did not dispute his corner’s decision to halt the proceedings. “As a Mexican fighter, I did not want to quit, but my corner saw throughout the fight that Valero was the better fighter,’’ he said.’

Luis Carlos Abregu remained undefeated as he came back from a knockdown and score one of his own on the way to a unanimous decision over Richard Gutierrez in a ten round Welterweight bout.

Gutierrez drew first as he landed a perfect left hook that sent Abregu to the canvas in round two. In round three, Abregu landed a hard right hand that was followed by a couple of “cleanup” shots that sent Gutierrez to the deck. Gutierrez ate a few more hard shots but somehow got out the round. Abregi started bozing and landed some nice combinations and boxed weel for the next several rounds.

In round seven, an accidental headbutt caused a cut over the left eye of Abregu. The doctor looked at the cut and Abregu was deemed fit to continue and cruised down the stretch to win by scores of 98-90, 97-97 and 97-91.

Abregu, 147 lbs of Salta, Argentina is now 29-0. Gutierrez, 147 lbs of Miami, FL is now 24-4-1-1.

“I came in knowing that Gutierrez was tough,” said Abregu, who showed surprisingly good boxing skills, movement and defense. “He’s shown it in all his past fights. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

“I hurt both my hands in this fight, but whatever injury it is, it was worth it. This was a very hard fight and I am very proud of my performance. I won like I’d hoped. I wanted to be the best man tonight and I was.”

Freddy Hernandez scored a fifth round stoppage over former WBO Jr. Welterweight champion DeMarcus Corleyat 1:48 of a scheduled ten round Welterweight bout at the Chumash Hotel and Resort in Santa Ynez, California.

The two combatants fought very hard over the first four rounds with each guy taking turns controlling the action. Hernandez had a decided size advantage and in round five landed a booming right that froze Corley before he plummeted to the canvas for which referee Pat Russell stopped the fight.

Hernandez, 148 lbs of Lynwood, CA is now 28-1-1 with nineteen knockouts. Corley, 143 lbs of Washington, DC is 36-13-1.

“My corner kept telling me to throw the right hand more and pick up the pace,’’ said Hernandez, who came out for the fifth with renewed intensity. “We’d seen tapes and saw where Corley slowed down a little after three or four rounds.

“His experience gave me lots of difficulties. That and the fact he was a southpaw and that we only had a week’s notice to prepare. I fought a southpaw before (Damian Frias on Oct. 23, 2009, on ShoBox) but I had a month to prepare for that. I cut in all my fights so I wasn’t concerned about them.

“This is definitely my biggest victory. To knock out an experienced former champion who never gets knocked out is great.’’

“I got caught, simple as that,’’ Corley said. “It happens to the best. Instead of me going bing, bing, bing (punches) and moving out of range, I went bing, bing, bing and stood up and got caught with a clean shot. Until then, I was frustrating him and fighting my fight.

“But I’m not going anywhere. As soon as I can return to the gym, I will. I’m definitely going to fight again.’’

Francisco Contreras scored an emphatic first round stoppage over Juan Castaneda in a scheduled eight round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Contreras jabbed early until he landed a big right hand that wobbled Castaneda before two more shots put Castaneda down for the ten count at 1:38 if round one.

Contreras, 136 1/2 lbs of Irvington, NJ is now 13-0 with twelve knockouts. Castaneda, 137 lbs of La Paz, Mexico is now 16-3-1.

“I am happy to get this win.’’ the 5-foot-10-inch, 25-year-old Contreras said. “All the shots I was hitting him with were solid. It’s too bad for him he couldn’t continue, but if he had gotten back up, I would have knocked him down again.’’

Castaneda said he felt he twisted his ankle just before he got hit and again after he hit the canvas. “This is really a tough way to lose. I hope he’ll give me a rematch,’’ the 5-foot-7, 26-year-old’ Castaneda said. He got me with a great shot and I wanted to get up and keep fighting. But I just couldn’t.’’

ESPN’s Friday Night Fights broadcast got off to an explosive start with former 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux 5-0 (4KO) throwing 3 punches and ending the night early with a 1st round KO over Adolfo Landeros 20-12(9). The first punch was a straight left hand that rocked Landeros. The next two came in form of a right hook and a scooping left body shot that floored the underdog, down and out! The end came at just 28 seconds of the first round.

Light heavyweight Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson 50-13(34KO) was dominate in a 6th round TKO win over Philadelphia’s Yusaf Mack28-3 (17KO).

Both fighters answered the opening bell with respect for one another’s skill and power. Johnson applied early and steady pressure winning the first three rounds. An excellent exchange started and ended an excellent fourth round. Johnson caught Mack in the corner in round 6 and overwhelmed him with combinations and dropped the Philly fighter in his own corner. Johnson showed his wealth of experience in continuing with a steady and calm attack which dropped Mack two more times before the end came at 2:21 of round 6. Mack was caught on the ropes for the majority of the bout.

We caught up with Glenn Johnson and his head trainer Orlando Cuellar immediately after the fight and asked them how did you get Yusaf to fight your fight? (Glen and his trainer) “By utilizing the jab, continually coming forward and going to the body often” (trainer) “Glen looks like he would be easy to match up against but his style is tough to figure out”

Welterweight Ed Paredes ignited the crowd and made a big statement on the way to a 2nd round knockout over Joey Hernandez 15-1-1. Paredes 24-3(15KO) and Hernandez fought to a draw late of 2009 and picked up the great action from the opening bell. Both fighters found their mark in a very good action packed round one with both fighters landing some solid shots. The stark contrasting styles of the two fighters made for an action packed first. Shortly after the opening bell in round two the fighters stood in close and Paredes set up a beautiful picture perfect left hook that dropped Hernandez down and out. The end came at 1:53 of the 2nd round. This brings the first loss to Hernandez’s career.

Yudel Jhonson improves to 5-0 (3KO) with a big KO1 win over Dorian Beaupierre 12-6(6KO). The end came 2:18 of the first round.

Yordanis Despaigne 5-0 (4KO) scored a 1st round KO over Demetrius Davis 19-19. Frank Gentile stepped in at 2:01 of the third round.

ESPN’s Friday night Fights Early Results from Fort Lauderdale FL.

Live from Fort Lauderdale, FL and Nova Southeastern University inside the Don Taft University Center Arena the great action got started early.

Cuban Featherweight Yoandris Salinas improved to 2-0(1KO) with a TKO3 win over Yuniel Ramos who falls to 0-2.

Cruiserweight Yuniel Dorticos 3-0(3KO) got a big first round TKO win over Gary Lavender 8-14 from North Carolina.

Pedro Rodriguez 1-0 earned his first win as a pro with a big third round TKO win over Hilario Guzman 8-29.

In a four round Middleweight bout Manny Woods (3-0 1KO) scored a Unanimous decision over Erik Quinteros who drops to 2-3.

In a closely contested split decision Glendy Hernandez wins his professional debut over Corey Winfield (3-5) in a battle of the heavyweights.

In attendance Kassim Ouma, Gato Figueroa, Francisco Palacios, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Dieuly Aristotle, Juan Urango, BJ Flores, Freddy Roach.
—
Johnny….
Boxing iWriter & Reporter
15 Rounds.com, GoFightLive.tv
www.15rounds.com/author/jschulz/

www.blogtalkradio.com/jsizzle

Following the withdrawal of Danny Williams last week Derek Chisora’s 11-0(6) will now face Williams Prize Fighter conqueror Carl “The Fridge” Baker 9-4(6). The fight will be billed as an eliminator for the British title. The 28 year old Baker who hails from Sheffield appeared capable enough in Prizefighter and should provide Chisora with a test. It was also rumoured that Tyson Fury was offered the chance to fight Chisora but decided against it.

Also appearing on the Wembley Arena card will be James Degale 5-0(3). He has reportedly been offered £50,000 to fight former amateur rival George Groves 8-0(6) on the David Haye-John Ruiz undercard on 3 April. However it would be a major surprise if this comes off as many behind the scene’s will believe that a few years down the road that the purse they would get for fighting each other would be considerably more than what has been offered at the moment.

Manager Nelson Fernandez informed 15rounds that talks between his newly crowned IBF Junior Flyweight champion Carlos Tamara of North Bergen, NJ and WBO/Ring Magazine champion Ivan Calderon of Guaynabo, PR are likely to take place in the coming days about a unification match in Puerto Rico.

“We understand that Calderon is a longtime champion and a great fighter, but we are looking for a fair negotiation”, stated Fernandez. “Everyone wanted to see Calderon vs Viloria, but Carlos is the man that beat the man, so this is the fight to make!”

Tamara, 21-4 (15 KO’s), scored a shocking 12th round TKO to take Viloria’s belt January 23 in The Philippines. The 2004 Olympian was behind on points, but battled back in what many insiders consider the biggest upset thus far in 2010.

Unbeaten at 33-0-1 with 6 wins by kayo, Calderon is regarded as one of the top fighters on the planet. The slick boxing Puerto Rican was a longtime title holder at Strawweight (105 lbs), before moving to junior flyweight, where he has five successful defenses.

Tamara and a member of Universal Promotions are heading to Puerto Rico Tuesday to stop by a number of radio and TV stations to spice up the potential fight.

E-mails to Puerto Rico based promotional firm PR’s Best Boxing weren’t immediately returned, but Calderon is tentatively scheduled to fight in April.

For more New Jersey boxing news, go to Gardenstatefightscene.com

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Floyd Mayweather finally signed his contract and his mega showdown with Shane Mosley is officially set for May 1st in Las Vegas.

“He signed. It’s going to be a great fight,” said Judd Burstein, who is the attorney for Mosley.

“Al Haymon’s word is gold to me. He told me personally,” Burstein said. “We spoke and he said Floyd signed. It was a short but happy conversation. Shane is excited. We all know it’s going to be a great fight.”

“This one is definitely for the fans as I wasn’t going to waste anyone’s time with a meaningless tune-up bout and asked to fight Shane immediately,” Mayweather said. “I have said ever since I came back to the sport that I only wanted to fight the best. I think Shane is one of the best, but come May 1, he still won’t be great enough to beat me.”

Said Mosley, “I have always wanted to fight Floyd and now it is finally coming true. I am already in great shape and ready to show everyone on May 1 that I am stronger, faster and better than he is. I will have no problem beating him.”

“Floyd has been trying to make this fight for the last 10 years, so he is extremely excited about the opportunity to face Shane,” said Leonard Ellerbe, a Mayweather adviser. “He can’t wait to extend his undefeated record and perform at the highest level. More importantly, he is also happy to set the precedent for random blood testing in order to ensure fair and safe contests for all fighters.

“When two champions of this caliber meet in the ring, you can expect nothing but excellence and that is what we are going to see on May 1,” said Richard Schaefer CEO of Golden Boy Promotions who will promote the fight. “Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of this era and I commend him for not only agreeing to the fight against Mayweather, but also agreeing to participate in a testing process that can only help the integrity of the sport.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, IBF Super Middleweight champion Lucian Bute will defend against former Middleweight title challenger Edison Miranda in April 17th in Bute’s adopted hometwon of Montreal.

“It will certainly be a pleasure for me to box again at the Bell Centre and to defend my title for the fifth time in front of my fans,” said Bute, a native of Romania based in Montreal. “I am taking Miranda very seriously. He demolished many good fighters and is a notorious puncher. I will have to keep my concentration level on high to stay champion.”

HBO will carry live coverage of the bout in the United States and hopes to pair it with Kelly Pavlik defending the middleweight championship against junior middleweight titleholder Sergio Martinez from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Pavlik-Martinez is still in negotiations.

“This is another shot for Edison and with his new trainer, I think we’ll do fine,”Said Leon Margules, who is Miranda’s co-promoter. “We’re excited about the fight. I think he can knock Bute out. Edison wants to show he belongs with the top 168-pounders and this is a great opportunity for him.”

Stephan Larouche, Bute’s trainer, said the styles of the two fighters — Bute being the skillful boxer and Miranda the brawler — should make for an entertaining fight.

“Styles make fights. I know this is a boxing cliché, but it’s the truth,” Larouche said. “Once again we have two world-class athletes with different styles that, when mixed together, have all the ingredients to explode. The fans are in for a treat.”

Atlantic City’s Mike Arnaoutis will have a shot to rebound from his controversial loss to Tim Coleman when he battles Delvin Rodriguez April 2 on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.

Arnaoutis, 22-4-2 (10 KO’s), appeared to do just enough to warrant a victory against the awkward Coleman, but dropped a hotly contested split decision. The former USBA Junior Welterweight champion will move up to welterweight for the first time after reportedly having severe difficulty making the 140 lb limit.

Rodriguez, like Arnaoutis, is looking to get back on track following an L. The Danbury, CT native dropped a unanimous decision in Poland to hometown favorite Rafael Jackiewicz and a split decision to Isaac Hlatshwayo for the then vacant IBF Welterweight crown back in August. Ironically, Rodriguez, 24-4-2 (14 KO’s), was also a USBA titleholder that came up short in his biggest bouts.

Arnaoutis and Rodriguez are scheduled to meet over 12 rounds.

For more New Jersey Boxing news, go to www.gardenstatefightscene.com

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com Manny Pacquiao won the 2009 fighter of the year and also won the fighter of the deacde award by the Boxing Writers Association of American (BWAA)

Pacquiao, who will be presented with his third Sugar Ray Robinson trophy in the past four years, heads the list of honorees who will be invited to receive their awards on June 11 in New York at the BWAA’s 85th annual banquet.

Freddie Roach, who has trained Pacquiao since 2001 and been an integral part of his success, will receive the Futch award for trainer of the year for the fourth time. He also won it in 2003, 2006 and 2008.

“Manny and I are a great team and to win this award you need a great fighter,” Roach told ESPN.com Sunday. “Hopefully, [junior welterweight titlist] Amir Khan will be my next guy. It’s my favorite award because its named after my trainer [the late Eddie Futch].”

Futch trained Roach during his fighting career before taking him under his wing as an assistant trainer.

“I give Eddie all the credit for where I am today,” Roach said. “He gave me great guidance during my apprenticeship with him.”

Lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and former titlist Juan Diaz will share the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier award for fight of the year. Their Feb. 28 all-action slugfest was an instant classic as Marquez went to Diaz’s hometown of Houston and stopped him in the ninth round to retain the title.

Also to be honored by the BWAA:

• ESPN’s Joe Tessitore, the longtime blow-by-blow voice of ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights,” was selected as the Sam Taub award winner for excellence in broadcast journalism.

• Jerry Izenberg, one of America’s foremost sports columnists for the Newark (N.J). Star-Ledger for almost 60 years, will receive the John F.X. Condon award for long and meritorious service to boxing.

• Alexis Arguello, the Hall of Famer who won world championships in three weight classes, will receive the Marvin Kohn good guy award posthumously. Arguello died in July at age 57.

• Showtime broadcaster Nick Charles, who is fighting a battle with bladder cancer, and former heavyweight contender George Chuvalo, will share the Bill Crawford award for courage in overcoming adversity. Two of Chuvalo’s sons died from drug overdoses and a third son, as well as his first wife, committed suicide, and now he speaks to high school students about drug use.

The Nat Fleischer award for excellence in boxing journalism, the highest award the BWAA presents to one of its members, has not been announced yet. Balloting for the lifetime achievement award is ongoing. It is voted on only by past winners.

Photo by Chris Farina of Top Rank

Cruiserweight Patrick Farrell has dominated thus far as a pro, but knows there is plenty of room for improvement.

His first four opponents were a combined 2-5, giving the Jersey City native an opportunity to develop his skills. However, Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, Farrell is taking a notable step up when he meets Contender Season 4 alum Jon Schneider. Schneider, 7-4-1 (5 KO’s), is far from a world beater, but is expected to give Farrell a solid test in their four round bout on the Tomasz Adamek-Jason Estrada undercard.

“He’s a lefty and I have a couple of fights on tape”, said Farrell, who remembers watching Schneider on The Contender. “He is definitely a tough kid.”

Farrell’s last two bouts took place at North Bergen’s Schuetzen Park, a small venue that holds less than 1,000 people. While many young boxers get butterflies fighting in big arenas, especially one as loud as the Prudential Center, Farrell considers it an advantage.

“The arena is five minutes from my house and I have a lot of fans coming out.” “Boxing is an emotional sport so if anything, (the fan support) just adds motivation”.

Farrell, who has sparred with Adamek to ensure he is in top shape, trains at the Passaic Boxing Club alongside his Pound for Pound Promotions stablemates.

Duran-Davis, Tapia-Miles February 27 in AC!

Ossie Duran is one of the toughest gatekeepers in boxing, but is amongst New Jersey’s least known fighters from a local standpoint. The Ghana native never fought in the Garden State and is well traveled, spending time in England and Rhode Island before relocating to Paterson.

Duran doesn’t have a promoter or the luxury of fighting in his hometown, thus has been used as an opponent for a number of good boxers. Duran’s last four bouts came against contenders James Kirkland, David Lopez, former top ten rated Eromosele Albert and hot prospect Fernando Guerrero, who were a combined 91-14. While he was competitive in all four fights, Duran’s record in those bouts was 0-3-1, with all three defeats coming by razor thin decision.

Duran, who now trains under watchful eye of fellow Paterson native Aroz “Terrific” Gist, surprisingly received an offer to take on Philadelphian Jamal Davis February 27 at Bally’s in Atlantic City. While far from a pushover at 11-5 (6 KO’s), Davis is the least experienced opponent Duran has faced in five years. Even though Davis is not on the same level as his recent opponents, Duran isn’t taking him lightly.
“I train for every fight like it’s a world title fight”, said Duran, a former British Commonwealth Champion”. “I am looking forward to this fight and taking him out because (even with the losses) I am still knocking, so hopefully (a victory will) open doors”.

Duran and Davis meet over six rounds at Junior Middleweight.

Passaic’s Glen Tapia will also appear on the card. Tapia, 3-0 (2 KO’s), had a terrific amateur background and served as one of Joshua Clottey’s main sparring partners leading up to his fight with Miguel Cotto last summer. The junior middleweight was featured on the Cotto-Clottey card at Madison Square Garden, scoring a four round UD over David Lopez (who is unrelated to the David Lopez Duran fought)

Camden’s Tyrone Miles is scheduled to be Tapia’s opponent. Miles is 1-2 as a professional, most recently dropping a close decision to former New Jersey Golden Gloves champion Tyre Roberts. The Tapia-Miles fight is scheduled for four rounds and is also part of the Kendall Holt-Kaizer Mabuza undercard.

THE FARRELL FIGHT CAN BE VIEWED WWW.GOFIGHTLIVE.TV

for more information click www.gardenstatefightscene.com

RENO, NEVADA — In the performance of his career, Jesse Brinkley weathered an early onslaught to outbox Curtis Stevens going away and claim the IBF #2 super middleweight ranking before his loyal fan base at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino on Friday night.

Stevens (21-3, 15 KOs) of Brownsville, New York surged out of his corner as was expected and put a hurt on Brinkley’s face in the first. A solid left hook early in the round knocked Brinkley’s mouthpiece three rows deep ringside. By the end of the first round, Brinkley (35-5, 22 KOs) of Yerington, Nevada, had a badly swollen right eye and looked to be in some serious trouble.

By midway through the second round, Stevens, 165, was in complete control of the fight. Then Brinkley, 167 ½, turned boxer and it was a whole different ballgame. Surprisingly, Stevens let off the gas pedal completely in the third, and Brinkley began landing in combination. A Brinkley flurry with Stevens against the ropes brought the crowd into the fight, and the energy in the building carried through until long after the sound of the final bell.

With the momentum now in Brinkley’s favor, the stage was set for one of the best rounds of the year thus far. Both fighters came out fast to start the fourth. Early in the round, both fighters decided to just stand in the middle of the ring and unleash bombs, with little to no regard for defense. While it was hard to decipher which fighter got the best of the exchange, it was Stevens that began to take a more measured approach. Brinkley resumed outboxing Stevens as the round came to a close.

In the fifth, Brinkley had Stevens against the ropes for stretches three different times. One clean right hand hurt Brinkley midway through, but the round was clearly Jesse’s. Things heated up late and both fighters kept going after the bell. Brinkley trainer Peter Manfredo Sr. rushed at Stevens, which prompted referee Vic Drakulich to bar him from entering the ring for the rest of the contest.

Early in the sixth, Brinkley wobbled Stevens, but did not pounce on his wounded prey right away. Brinkley stalked Stevens cautiously and eventually dropped him with a right hand. Stevens got up to a knee and rose to his feet. Fortunately for the New Yorker, the bell sounded before Brinkley could test how hurt he really may have been.

Midway through the seventh, Stevens seemed to clear the cobwebs and began to counter Brinkley effectively. Stevens looked good in the eighth as well, as Brinkley failed to press the action. Knowing he was behind on the scorecards, Stevens pressured Brinkley in the ninth, but seemed to get discouraged when he could not find a way to land any really telling blows.

By the tenth, the fight was back in Brinkley’s hands, as he jabbed Stevens silly for long stretches. Stevens would land some hard hooks in near desperation, but somehow Brinkley would walk through them and work over his opponent. In the twelfth, Brinkley’s conditioning seemed to outlast Stevens’. The result of a quick exchange sent Stevens down for a second time with less than thirty seconds left in the fight. To his credit, Stevens got back up and landed several hard shots with Brinkley throwing a heavy arsenal his way. But Brinkley showed his chin, and kept coming at Stevens until the bell ended the fight.

In the end, Brinkley won by deservedly lopsided scores of 117-109, 118-108 and 119-107. “I made it to this level maybe four times, and I failed every time,” reflected Brinkley. “This time I trained hard, fought a very tenacious puncher and I took him all the way and beat him nearly every round.”

Going into the fight, Stevens claimed he would knock Brinkley out early, and the Yerington native was weary of his punching-power at the outset. However, Brinkley found that he had overestimated Stevens’ knockout power during the fight. “He didn’t have the same kind of power I thought he would have,” said Brinkley, who believes Stevens would be better suited for the 160-pound middleweight division. “He didn’t have the same power as a Otis Griffin. He wasn’t as strong as a Jason Naugler.”

Brinkley, who also made a successful defense of his regional WBC USNBC Super Middleweight title, now has his sights set on IBF 168-pound champion Lucian Bute, who has an April 17th date set without an opponent. Bute is scheduled to fight at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and on HBO. “It is looking a lot like it is going to be me [on April 17th.] But if the money is not right, I am not going to hop in there with him,” said Brinkley. “It’s for the world championship. That is what I want, but I am not just going to hop in there for peanuts with him.”

The fact that Brinkley may be fighting for a world title makes his career turnaround one of the better boxing redemption stories in recent years. Winning a title would be a monumental achievement, but Brinkley understands that Bute will undoubtedly be the toughest test of his career. “Coach and I are going to have to handle a 6’1” left hander that is one of the nastiest in the world for a fight that is the exact opposite of what we just fought,” said Brinkley. “We just fought a short right hander and now I am going to fight a tall, lean left hander. I know it is coming. I am not going to turn it down. Offer me high six digits and we are going to fight.”

No matter the result, should the Bute fight come to fruition, Brinkley plans to make it exciting. “Honestly I would like to knock him out or catch a heart attack trying,” said Brinkley. Given the excitement he and Stevens provided Friday, sounds like a recipe for an entertaining fight.

In the co-feature, welterweight prospect Raymond Serrano (12-0, 6 KOs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania boxed his way to an eight-round unanimous decision over Ronnie Warrior Jr. (13-3-1, 4 KOs) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Coming off of a long layoff, Warrior, 147, came out in a completely defensive posture to open the bout. Serrano, 146 ½, seemed to sweep the first three rounds by simply outworking Warrior.

Serrano did his best work in the fourth, as he backed Warrior into a corner and unloaded some heavy shots. The fight turned in the fifth, as Warrior finally got out of his shell and began throwing some punches. Serrano may have utilized a bit too much movement, as Warrior gained confidence and pressed the action. After two more rounds of little action, Serrano came out aggressively to start the seventh. However, one Warrior flurry seemed to bother Serrano late in the round. A close eighth closed out the fight. In the end the judges saw the fight a bit wide for Serrano, 79-73 across the board.

Middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzales (10-0, 9 KOs) of Sacramento, California flashed the punching-power that has made him one of the top prospects on the West Coast, stopping usually durable Dewey Welliver (18-20-1, 6 KOs) of Snoqualmie, Washington in the second round. Gonzales, 163, varied his attack to the body and head and Welliver, 159, was never in the fight. Early in the second round, a straight right hurt Welliver and the follow up dropped him. Referee Russell Morris immediately stopped it at 1:25 of the second.

In a pairing of pro debutants, Carlos Gayton (1-0, 1 KO) of Reno scored a brutal second round knockout of Jack Montgomery (0-1) of Dayton, Nevada. Montgomery, 173, left his chin dangerously exposed, and paid the price. Gayton, 171 ½, pressed Montgomery to the corner and uncorked a ferocious right that had him out before he hit the mat. Official time of the stoppage was 2:03 of the second.

Reno’s Tyler Hinkey (5-1-3, 4 KOs) fought to a unanimous six-round draw with William Mitch Williams (3-2-1, 3 KOs) of Jackson, Michigan. Williams, 215, weighed in with his clothes on, but Hinkey, 270, could not use his size advantage to any great success. After six rough rounds fought at close quarters, all three judges were in agreement at 57-57.

Chad Forrester (1-1) of Sparks, Nevada successfully avenged the loss he suffered in his pro debut nearly two years ago, scoring a four-round unanimous decision over Michael Goins (1-4, 1 KO) of Las Vegas, Nevada. Forrester, 220, wobbled Goins, 227, with a right in the third, dropping him with the following combination. The knockdown was more than enough to earn Forrester the nod, with scores of 38-37 and 39-36 twice.

Let’s Get It On Promotions bring both boxing and mixed martial arts back to the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino for “Reno Xtreme Fights III” on March 20th.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Jorge Arce captured the WBO Super Flyweight champion via a technical decision over a nasty cut was opened up over the right eye of Angky Angkota during round seven of their scheduled twelve round main event in Mexico City.

Arce continously cornered the smaller Angkota and wailed away on the game native of Indonesia. Angkota showed a lot of spunk and courage as he would try to fire back some wild shots. Angkota tried to “goad” Arce as he made body gyrations towards Arce in round seven in an effort to convince Arce that his punches were not effective.

Later in that round, the fighters clashed heads and a nasty cut started to drip blood down the right side of Angkota’s face.

When the scores were read, Arce 115 lbs of Los Mochis, Mexico was ahead by scores of 60-54, 60-54 and 58-56 to win a fourth world title and is now 53-6-1. Angkota, 115 lbs of Semerang, Indonesia is now 23-5.

“This is for my baby who was either born tonight or tomorrow”,said Arce

Former world title challenger Eduardo Escobedo scored a ten round unanimous decision over Joksan Hernandez in a Featherweight bout.

Escobedo dropped Hernandez in round three from a nice counter shot. The action was wildly entertaining especially at the outset of round’s eight and ten as the two stood toe to toe which was much to the delight of the crowd.

Escobedo, 126 lbs won his sixth straight fight since dropping a shot at then WBO Super Bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon in 2007, won by scores of 97-92, 97-93 and 96-93 to raise his record to 27-3. Hernandez is now 17-2.

Alonso Lopez scored a third round stoppage over Sergio Cruz at 2:02 of round three of a scheduled four round Super Flyweight bout featuring debuter’s.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

While Peter Manfredo Jr. may never be among the elite of the division, he certainly looked impressive as he took apart fellow middleweight Matt Vanda over 10 rounds. Vanda (of St. Paul, MN) looked good during the early going as he sunk body shots to the midsection of Manfredo (Providence, RI.) But Manfredo quickly answered back with body shots of his own and in the second began to incorporate his most important punch of the fight; a short right uppercut aimed at the head of Vanda. This punch would begin to land with scary accuracy over the coming rounds and seemed to completely bewilder Vanda every time he attempted it. Manfredo also began working a double jab, right hand combo that was often the starting point for 4, 5 and 6 punch combos which were the norm during rounds 3-8. Despite his best efforts, Vanda never seemed to be in range to land his punches. He was either too far out and missing wildly or smothering himself on the inside while he ate uppercuts from Manfredo. In the sixth, Vanda charged in and was met with a perfectly placed left hook to the liver from Manfredo which put him on the canvas. Vanda rose and was battered around the ring for the remainder of the round. He survived on sheer heart and at times it seemed the fight was only mere seconds away from being stopped. Vanda knew just when to throw though and was able to keep the referee convinced that he was still in the fight. The seventh round was more of the same with Vanda doing just enough to keep himself from being stopped. Vanda had his greatest success in the 9th and 10th where he truly gave it his all, throwing every punch in his arsenal in an attempt to catch Manfredo. Unfortunately for Vanda, it was too little too late and when the final bell sounded, the outcome was never in question. People were heading for the exits when the scores were announced: 99-90 and 100-89 all for Manfredo who is now 34-6 18Kos. Vanda (42-10 22Kos) showed great heart throughout the fight but at this point should probably consider hanging up his gloves for good. Neither fighter was ever among the truly elite of their weight class but if tonight’s fight showed anything, it’s that Manfredo still has reason to believe he can be among he best, while Vanda should start taking a serious look at his reasons to continue fighting.

Local Featherweight prospect Matt Remillard of Manchester, CT needed one round less to dispatch outgunned Irvington, NJ native Rafael Lora in a rematch of their bout back in September of 09. Lora seemed intent to overturn his first loss to Remillard and came out working a stiff jab which seemed to have Remillard perplexed. Lora’s success ended after the first when Remillard began to open up with a jab of his own. .Remillard used the jab as a set up to push Lora to the ropes where he would unleash vicious shots to the body. During the third, Remillard began going both upstairs and downstairs with his left hook and was soon ripping of 3 and 4 punch combos on the wilting Lora. Right at the bell for round 3, Remillard got in two punishing body shots which had Lora limping back to his corner. He wisely decided to stay there instead of coming out for round 4, handing Remillard the TKO victory. Still unbeaten, Remillard runs his record to 21-0 12Kos while Lora, having lost his second fight to “The Sharpshooter” is now 11-2 5Kos.

A swing bout between welterweights Joseph Elegele of Melbourne, FL and Chris Russel of Shaddock OK was over a mere one minute and thirteen seconds after it began. Both fighters circled and felt each other out for the first minute before Elegele snuck in a left uppercut to the body of Russel which paralyzed Russel for the full ten count. Elegele improves to 3-0 2Kos while Russel slips to 1-1.

To a cascade of boos, lightweights Arash Usmanee of Alberta Canada and Jorge Ruiz of Miami, FL fought 4 and ½ rounds mired by incessant grappling and wild, inaccurate punches. Usmanee held a slight advantage in effective punching when, in a fitting end to such an ugly bout, the fighters heads came together and prompted referee Dick Flaherty to call a halt to the fight. Because 4 rounds had been competed, the scorecards were tallied and Usmanee came out on top; winning by scores of 48-47, 50-45 and 49-45. Usmanee remains unbeaten at 5-0 2 Kos while Ruiz drops to 7-11-2.

Welterweight fan favorite Adelita Irizarry (6-4 2KOs) of Hartford, CT was on the losing end of a split decision when she was out crafted over 6 rounds by Fayetteville, NC’s Rachel Clark (5-3-1 3KOs.) In her typical come forward style Irizarry started fast and began winging punches at the head of Clark, who initially was content to retreat and counter punch from her southpaw stance. Perhaps realizing that Irizarry was not going to stop moving forward, Clark began fighting back to good effect. She began to land a straight left hand that would halt Irizarry’s attacks long enough for her to move and reset. The defining moment in the fight came in the fourth when Irizarry, charging in as usual, walked into another straight left and was dropped to the Canvas. The knockdown proved to be pivotal as Clark narrowly took two of the judges scorecards 58-55 and 57-56 while Irizarry got the nod from only one 57-56.

In a four round lightweight bout, local up and comer Joseph Perez of Hartford, CT narrowly out pointed Luis Quezada of Caguas, Puerto Rico. Perez had a good opening round in which he scored with left hooks to the head of Quezada. The middle two rounds were highly competitive as the fighters took turns backing each other to the ropes and unleashing the best they had. Perez managed to steal the fight in the fourth as he backed Quezada along the ropes and scored well with both hands. Quezada had little to offer in return and let the fight slip away in the final minute and a half. When the scorecards were read, Perez snuck by with a majority decision: 38-38 and 39-37 twice. With the loss, Quezada fell to 1-2 which Perez improved to 3-0 1KO.

In the opening bout of the evening, Detroit MI super middleweight J’Leon Love made a successful pro debut by icing Philadelphia PA’s Vince Burkhalter in under two minutes. Wasting no time, Love went straight after Burkhalter from the bell. About a minute into the fight, Love dropped a left hook to the body and followed with a crisp right hand that dumped Burkhalter to the canvas. Burkhalter rose but was quickly pinned on the ropes and ate another right hand that dropped him face first to the canvas. Ten seconds later, the fight was over and Love had notched his first professional victory. Burkhalter dropped his third in a row and now stands at 0-3.

LAS VEGAS – Beibut Shumenov, a lawyer in Kazakhstan, had a plan. Gabriel Campillo, a boxer from a country known best for fighting bulls, had the power. Put them together and you might have a good light-heavyweight. As it is, Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson don’t have much to worry about.

The plan prevailed.

Shumenov won a split decision Friday night and took the World Boxing Association’s version of the title from Campillo in a rematch that had a different winner, yet some of the same controversy from last August’s majority in Kazakhstan. Campillo won that one, although Shumenov has been arguing about it ever since.

This time, it is Campillo’s turn to argue.

“I got robbed and I want it investigated,’’ Campillo said as he stood in the middle of the ring at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino while his angry trainer, Sergio Martinez, had to be restrained from taking the bout into some extra-curricular rounds.

It safe to say that the left-hander from Spain won’t be getting any legal advice from Shumenov, who was bloodied, yet nimble enough to jump through enough loopholes to escape with a decision. Shumemov (9-1, 6 KOs) won 115-113 on Jerry Roth’s card. Judge Patricia Morse Jarman scored it 117-111 for the Kazakhstani attorney. On Levi Martinez’ card, it was 117-111 for Campillo (19-3, 5 KOS), who also suffered a cut over his left eye.

“I’m not surprised by the decision,’’ Shumenov said. “I thought I won.’’

There was plenty to argue about. After the opening couple of rounds, Campillo’s superior power appeared to be the ruling factor. Shumenov, often looking dazed, began to back away. If nothing else the argument figures to continue until the two fight for a third time. No matter what happens, there doesn’t figure to be much of an argument about who doesn’t belong at the top of the light-heavyweight division. Shumenov and Campillo don’t.

In time, may be. At least, that was the suggestion from Shumenov, who had former David Tua trainer Kevin Barry in his corner for the first time.

“The difference is that I have the best trainer in boxing,’’ said Shumenov, whose company co-promoted the card with Oscar De La Hoya’s company, Golden Boy. “He gave me all the directions to win this fight.’’

Directions good enough for two judges, anyway.

On the undercard:

The 10th lesson plan in junior-middleweight prospect Erislandy Lara’s education got off to a slow start, grew rocky and ended with him scoring a 10th-round TKO of Grady Brewer in the first televised fight on Fox Sports Net. Early on, Lara (10-0, 6 KOs) a former Cuban amateur, looked flat-footed and one-dimensional. He tried to set up his best punch, a straight left. In the fifth, Brewer (26-12, 15 KOs), who won The Contender in 2006, delivered some of his own reality television with rights that stunned Lara. But a head butt badly bloodied Brewer over the left eye in the sixth. Brewer never seemed to recover. He was dropped by a left late in the 10th. Referee Tony weeks stopped it 16 seconds before the closing bell.

The card’s first fight ended in front of a lot empty seats. Anybody looking for their seat would not have seen it anyway, because of a quick body shot from Gayrat Ahmedov (13-0-1, 9 KOs), a cruiserweight from Uzbekistan. Sixty-five seconds after the opening bell, Ahmedov landed a short left that dropped Harley Kilfian (8-4, 7 KOs), a Wisconsin cruiserweight who crashed onto the canvas like a wrecked motorcycle.

The body work continued in the second bout, thanks to another fighter from Uzbekistan, junior-middleweight Ravshan Hudaynazarov (10-, 9 KOs), who threw a left that sent Kenyan Shadrack Kipruot (10-13, 7 KOs) backpedaling onto the seat of his trunks and unable to continue in a TKO defeat at 1:26 of the third.

Eloy Perez beat the stroke of midnight and David Rodela.

With late Friday just a few minutes from turning into early Saturday, super-feather weight Perez (16-0-1, 4 KOs) of Salinas, Calif., battled through 10 bruising rounds for a unanimous decision over David Rodela (14-2-3, 6 KOs) in the final fight on a card that featured Beibut Shumenov’s split decision over Gabriel Campillo for a piece of the light-heavyweight title.

Rest of the undercard:
Las Vegas welterweight Jessie Vargas (8-0, 3 KOs) won a four-round unanimous decision over Rickey McKinney (3-2, 2 KOs) of Baton Rouge, La.

Featherweight Ronny Rios of Santa Ana, Calif., stayed unbeaten (9-0, 4 KOs) with a six-round unanimous decision over Wilshaun Boxley (5-4, 3 KOs) of Coons Rapids, Minn.

And a long night proved to be a short one for junior-welterweight Carlos Molina (10-0, 6 KOs), who needed only 54 seconds to score a first-round knockout of Tyler Ziolowski (12-11, 6 KOs) of St. Joseph, Mo.

Chris Avalos remained undefeated as he pounded out Jose Nieves at 2:20 of round four of a scheduled ten round Bantamweight bout at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

After a slow first round, Avalos dropped Nieves in round two with a hard right to the body. In round four, Avalos landed a combination that dropped Nieves for a second time. Avalos finished the fight as landed yet another flurry of punches that sent Nieves down for referee Rocky Burke at 2:20 of round four.

Avalos, 118 lbs of Lancaster, CA is now 15-0 with twelve knockouts. Nieves, 119 lbs of Carolina, Puerto Rico is now 17-2-3

“Avalos turned the fight with one shot,” said ShoBox’s expert commentator Steve Farhood. “As soon as Nieves backed to the ropes, in essence, the fight was over.

“He kept his poise and took what was given to him, and, when he turned it up, it turned out that Nieves couldn’t handle it.”

“I’m beyond happy, but I didn’t think it would end that quickly,” Avalos said. “I thought it would go into the sixth round. He was a good fighter, I take nothing from him. I was just the better fighter tonight.”

Archie Ray Marquez remained undefeated with an eight round unanimous decision over Derrick Campos in an entertaining Lightweight scrap.

Campos did not do much of anything over the first three rounds as Marquez used his height and reach to box well and stay out of the way of anything Campos could offer. Campos started to turn up the pressure in the middle rounds and had a little success.

Marquez was more consistent over the last three rounds and scored a knockdown when he landed a hard right to the head and the feet of the two fighters collided and Campos hit the ground on what was ruled a knockdown.

Marquez, 131 lbs of Albuquerque, NM won by scores of 80-71, 79-72 and 77-74 to raise his record to 9-0-1. Campos, 132 lbs of Topeka, KS is now 20-8.

“I like his style, but he needs to work on his power,” said Tarver, who served as ShoBox’s guest analyst. “He needs to turn his opportunities into power shots, rather than boxing away. I look forward to seeing him again and I think he has a bright future.”

LAS VEGAS — Shane Mosley has signed to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 1 at the MGM Grand, Mosley attorney Judd Burstein said Friday night while sitting at ringside after Beibut Shumenov took the World Boxing Association’s light-heavyweight title with a split decision over Gabriel Campillo at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Mayweather has yet to sign, but his advisor Leonard Ellerbe said he expects him to.

Burstein also said that Mosley will be willing to undergo Olympic-style blood-testing. Burstein was linked to performance-enhancing drugs in testimony to a grand-jury that investigated Balco. Mosley was listed as a Balco client.

“We’ve agreed to anything as long as Floyd is doing it,” Burstein said.

Talks for a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight on March 13 broke down when Mayweather demanded that Pacquiao undergo Olympic-style blood-testing. Pacquiao refused and instead will fight Joshua Clottey on March 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

RENO, NEVADA — The super middleweight division has been thrust into the boxing media spotlight of late, and yet another intriguing clash of 168-pounders takes place tonight at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, as hometown hero Jesse Brinkley takes on Curtis Stevens in a bout with world title implications. Their twelve-round bout, with the IBF#2 super middleweight ranking up for grabs, headlines ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. Fighters weighed in Thursday evening at the casino’s Xtreme Sports Bar & Lounge.

For Brinkley (34-5, 22 KOs) of Yerington, Nevada, the last two-and-one-half years have culminated to the position he finds himself in tonight, perhaps one win away from a crack at a world championship. It was then that Brinkley ended a two-fight skid and, with the help of his promoters Terry and Tommy Lane of Let’s Get It On Promotions, righted the ship of his career by beginning the eight-fight winning run that brought him back into contention. It has been an impressive turnaround, but Brinkley needs to win tonight for it to pay off. Brinkley, the IBF #7 ranked super middleweight, weighed in at 167 ½-pounds on Thursday.

Stevens (21-2, 15 KOs) of Brownsville, New York has rebuilt his career with a four-fight unbeaten run over the past two years. The last time Stevens took center stage was his biggest a career disappointment, as he lost a lackluster decision to Andre Dirrell on HBO in 2007. Stevens, once one of the more highly touted prospects in the sport, signed with Star Boxing and worked his way back up the ladder. Most impressively, Stevens is coming off of a third-round knockout of previously unbeaten Piotr Wilczewski last July. Stevens, the IBF #8 ranked super middleweight, came in at 165-pounds.

With the IBF title one of two 168-pound championships not locked up in the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament, the stakes could not be higher for Brinkley and Stevens, as the winner would be in excellent position to challenge reigning champion Lucian Bute. The Canadian-based Romanian Bute does not have a deep pool of challengers to choose from, especially considering two of the top IBF contenders are in the Super Six tournament. Currently both the IBF #1 and #2 rankings are vacant.

In the televised co-feature, welterweight prospect Raymond Serrano (11-0, 6 KOs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will take on Ronnie Warrior Jr. (13-2-1, 4 KOs) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in an eight-round bout. Serrano, who weighed 146 ½, is coming off of an up-and-down victory over journeyman Anthony Bowman last November. This is Serrano’s second appearance on ESPN2, as he scored a near shutout in a six-rounder over Jay Krupp last March. Warrior is a more experienced fighter than his record would put on, as he is a veteran of 24 fights, including several no contests. The southpaw Warrior scaled 147-pounds.

Reno heavyweight Tyler Hinkey (5-1-2, 4 KOs) will see action on the undercard against William Mitch Williams (3-2, 3 KOs) of Jackson, Michigan in a six-round heavyweight fight. Hinkey, who scaled 270-pounds, is looking to get back into the win column after going 0-1-1 in his last two bouts. For his last fight in August, Hinkey weighed 254-pounds. Williams, weighing in with his clothes on, scaled 215-pounds.

Middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzales (9-0, 8 KOs) of Sacramento, California will take on always game journeyman Dewey Welliver (18-19-1, 6 KOs) of Snoqualmie, Washington in a six-round bout. Gonzales, who came in at 163, is coming in off of a fourth-round kayo of Victor Villereal in Reno in December. Villereal had never before failed to last the distance. Welliver, who has been in with just about everybody from 154- to 168-pounds over his career, scaled 159-pounds Thursday.

Chad Forrester (0-1) of Sparks, Nevada gets a second opportunity to start his boxing career tonight against Michael Goins (1-3, 1 KO) of Las Vegas, Nevada in a four-round heavyweight rematch. In June of 2008, Goins scored a technical stoppage when the referee stopped the fight with Forrester taking a flurry against the ropes. Forrester weighed in at 220-pounds, while Goins scaled 227.

MMA competitor Jack Montgomery of Dayton, Nevada will make his professional boxing debut against Reno’s Carlos Gayton, also making his pro debut. Montgomery, a 7-7 striker in mixed martial arts, weighed in at 173-pounds. Gayton, who trains out of the Arce Boxing Club in nearby Sparks, scaled 171 ½-pounds.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Let’s Get It On Promotions and Star Boxing, are available online at GrandSierraResort.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

IBF Super Middleweight Championship Eliminator, 12 Rounds
Stevens 165
Brinkley 167 ½

Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Serrano 146 ½
Warrior Jr. 147

Heavyweights, 6 Rounds
Hinkey 270
Williams 215

Heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Forrester 220
Goins 227

Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Gonzales 163
Welliver 159
Light heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Montgomery 173
Gayton 171 ½

Photos by Mark Ortega

Mario Ortega Jr. can be contacted at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, The historic heavyweight bout between former undisputed Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and Francois Botha slated for Uganda has been postponed and may be revived in the United States.

Holyfield’s Feb. 20 fight against Francois Botha in Kampala, Uganda, is off and plans are in the works to reschedule it, the former heavyweight champion told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

Holyfield was scheduled to face South Africa’s Botha in a 12-round bout at Nelson Mandela Stadium, where organizers predicted a crowd of 80,000. However, Holyfield said the promoter failed to make a scheduled payment, forcing him to scrap the idea of going to Africa.

“I’m not going over,” Holyfield said. “We’re moving the fight to the States, but they haven’t got a site yet. But I’m still supposed to fight Botha.”

Ken Sanders, Holyfield’s manager, told ESPN.com that Miami was a possible location for the fight. He also said that besides trying to reschedule the Botha bout, Holyfield would also fight April 24 in Las Vegas.

“But the guy never did come up with the money,” Holyfield said. “They were supposed to pay us before we went over there, put the money in an escrow account. And they missed the payment. Three months we been waiting and we never did get it. So we made the decision.”

“We sat down and had a good conversation and I asked Evander if he wanted to do this and he said he did,” Sanders said. “I asked his trainer, Tommy Brooks, the same thing and he said he’ll have no problem, that Evander just needed two or three weeks after the first fight and he’ll be ready to go for the second one. He’s already in great shape.”

Between Holyfield’s age — 47 — and the number of rounds he’s boxed professionally, it could be difficult for him to get a license in Nevada, where the commission has rigorous standards. However, Sanders said he was not worried about it.

“He’ll pass all the tests,” Sanders said. “I’m not concerned.”

Holyfield said he was looking forward to fighting in Uganda.

“I was kind of excited about it when they talked about 80,000 people,” he said. “The point is to be able to go to different parts of the world. The U.S. is a great place to fight, but it’s not the world.”

“There are so many places that want to have the fight,” he said. “We’re trying to find out the best place.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com,. former three-divison world champion Erik Morales will comeback after a two and a half year retirement to take on former Lightweight beltholder Jose Alfaro on March 27 in Mexico.

“I think he’ll sell pretty good, but not like he did last time,” Said Nacho Huizar, who will co=promote the fight along with Morales, referring to Morales’ onetime position as a significant pay-per-view attraction.

“After I heard he was going to come back, he called me and begged me to be his partner,” Huizar said. “It’s an honor to me for him to pick me. If I don’t do it, somebody else will.”

Morales-Alfaro will be televised in the United States via Integrated Sports pay-per-view.

“We’ll see what happens,” said Huizar, who said he promoted Morales’ first five pro fights before Morales went on to become a major star under the guidance of co-promoters Top Rank and Fernando Beltran’s Zanfer Promotions.

“That’s it,” Morales said at the time of his loss to then WBC Lightweight champion David Diaz . “No more fighting. I am done. Too many punches, particularly to the head area.”