According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former world middleweight champion, Kelly Pavlik will forgo his proposed rematch with Sergio Martinez according to his manager Cameron Dunkin.

Pavlik, who lost a unanimous decision and his title belts to Sergio Martinez on April 17 in Atlantic City, N.J., declined his contractual option for an immediate rematch on Tuesday and will move up to the 168-pound super middleweight division or the 175-pound lightweight heavyweight division.

“My take is that Kelly has been struggling to make weight. He made a comment the other day that he wished he had told us this five fights ago,” Dunkin said.

The decision to abandon the middleweight division was reached Monday when Pavlik, trainer Jack Loew and father and co-manager Mike Pavlik met together in their hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, with Dunkin on the telephone from Las Vegas.

“We sat down and talked,” Loew said. “We don’t know where we’re going. Kelly was 178 pounds yesterday. It’s not 178 pounds of fat. It’s 178 pounds of muscle. We’ll look at what’s the most attractive offer and go from there, 168 or 175. I think we’ll be comfortable in either weight class.

“It will be nice to train for the fight instead of battling the weight the last couple of weeks of camp. For this last fight, we hit a wall and it was hard to budge,” Loew explained. “It was horrible what we had to do to make the weight, sweating it off. It was really hard to get off. We had to get on the treadmill and then get in the sauna. We had to do that repeatedly

“In my own mind, there are several places we could go,” Dunkin said. “I don’t think he’ll have a problem with 168 but he may go to 175. It’s wide open. We want to take the best opportunities. We know what we’ve seen from Kelly, he doesn’t have the same snap he had earlier at 160, before [the weight loss] finally drained him. You want a guy to fight at his best weight.

“When we got to weigh 166 for the rematch with Jermain, it started where Kelly had to go from working out two times a day to three times a day to maintain his weight,” Loew said. “Then when we got to weigh 170 for Bernard, after that it was four times a day. We were training more for the weight than the fight. We have no excuses.

“We were 110 percent ready for Martinez and we really thought the weight would come down easier,” Loew said. “We were battling the weight and it cost us. We kept food in him, but not much. There is no reason to go through that anymore.

“Nobody can ever take away that he was middleweight champ of the world,” Loew said. “He’s still healthy, he still has that drive. But not to work out four or five times a day. That caught up to us. He’s got to train like regular fighter — get up, go running and go to the gym to box. Let’s concentrate on fighting again, not losing the weight. He’ll enjoy it more. It wasn’t good what we had to do.”

“I think Chad Dawson and Kelly Pavlik would be a very interesting fight. Chad is a great kid and fighter,” Loew said. “I think that would be a great fight for him and Kelly. Maybe we’ll be sitting ringside for Pascal-Dawson.”

Photo By Chris Farina/ Top Rank

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, The May 1st mega bout between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley drew an estimated 1.4 million Pay Per View buys making it the second largest grossing non-heavyweight bout of all-time.

The buy total ties the fight with the 1999 welterweight unification showdown between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. However, Mayweather-Mosley generated more money because pay-per-view costs more. Trinidad-De La Hoya grossed $70.6 million.

Mayweather’s 2007 decision win for the junior middleweight title against the now-retired De La Hoya, the reigning pay-per-view king in terms of total dollars, set the all-time pay-per-view record with 2.446 million buys and nearly $137 million in revenue.

DAVID PRICE has returned from helping Albert Sosnowski prepare for his WBC heavyweight title showdown against Vitali Klitschko. The 6ft 8in Olympic bronze medallist (5-0) is the same size as Klitschko and become a Price-less asset in the Pole’s preparations. Price, 26, makes his London debut at Goresbrook Leisure Centre, Dagenham on Friday May 14 when he faces experienced Russian Daniil Peretyatko (16-27).

Promoter Frank Maloney said: “I am a great believer in heavyweights learning their trade in different environments. “Being part of a world heavyweight title fighter’s training camp teaches upcoming professionals so much. “In fact David leant more from sparring with Sosnowski and than he does in some fights and it is a great experience. “His trainer was delighted with the trip to Poland and he caused Albert plenty of problems in their sessions and his confidence is soaring.

“When I managed Lennox Lewis plenty of prospects came into the camp for sparring and went home better fighters. “Later this year, I hope to take David to some American gyms where he will learn even more.”

Peretyatko, 36, is one of the most experienced heavyweights in Europe and a decent test for any prospect. A year ago he outpointed Larry Olubamiwo and he has gone the distance with several leading British fighters including Derek Chisora and John McDermott. Maloney added: “Some people have questioned David’s opposition, but there are no doubts about Peretyatko’s credentials.”

Top of the Sky Sport televised show is a British flyweight title showdown between defending champion Shinny Bayaar (15-4-1) and Cheshunt hopeful Ashley Sexton (9-0)

Ticket prices for the top class night of boxing are £30 and £70. They can be obtained by logging on to www.frankmaloney.com or 0871 226 1508

The Ballroom was dancing Saturday night ,not with feet but with fists, as Kinkaid & Goddard Promotions presented The Battle in the Ballroom. A capacity crowd was treated to 13 exciting amateur bouts with the main event leaving the crowd cheering for more as Jessica Eye (Strong Style MMA) captured the Ohio Women’s Lightweight Title with a decision over Lauren Coney (PAL / Thurogood BC). Both women had their shining moments throughout the contest but it was Eye who stuck to her game plan and wore down the aggressive Coney. Eye, a crowd favorite, is easily making the transition from MMA to Boxing as she has yet to be defeated in either arena of combat.

The 12 bout undercard saw:

Christian White (Terminator BC) def. Daniel Caldera (Freddies BC)
Pat Brown (Downtown Youngstown BC) def. Christian Colon (Raul Torres BC)
Eve Santiago (Health 360) def. Asia Smith (PAL / Thurgood BC)
Rajiu Hernandez (Empire BC) def. James Washington (Raul Torres BC)
Angel Figuerora (Freddies BC) def. Lucian Clinkscale (Downtown Youngstown BC)
John Kutitus (Raul Torres BC) def. David Frum (Terminator BC)
Ashley Barnett (Old School Boxing) def. Carrie Fiol (PC Torres / Warren BC)
Brandon Radiwiec (Freddies BC) def. Abdul Omar (Good Shepherd BC)
Dequilla Smith (PAL / Thurgood BC) def. Matt Brown (Terminator BC)
Brian Park (West Side Boxing Club) def. Latiss Norman (Cory Fight Club)
Darren Rivera (Downtown Youngstown BC) def. Roher Canales (Raul Torres BC)
Greg Gilbert (West Side Boxing Club) def. Kenneth Brown (Cudell Rec.)

Following the event, promoter Todd Kincaid stated, “The Slovenian National Ballroom is an amazing venue to showcase Cleveland’s top talent. The crowd was electrifying, and the intimacy of the venue made everyone feel apart of the show. I want to thank all of our fighters for their dedication to the sweet science and all the staff and sponsors that made this event a success.”

Reading, PA (May 10, 2010) – Fighting is ingrained deep into the genetic material of Van Oscar Penovaroff. A native of Kailua Kona, Hawaii but now residing in Reading, PA, Penovaroff was an alternate on the 2004 US Olympic boxing squad after 120 amateur fights. He also won the 135 pound world title with the Hawaiian-based X-1 World Events mixed martial arts outfit, concluding with a 4-1 record.

When Penovaroff returns to the ring Saturday, May 22 at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA, boxing will be the only combat sport on his mind. Penovaroff will be featured in a six-round bout against Jamar “Sandman” Saunders of Atlanta, Georgia on “Pain on Penn Street”, which will be promoted by King’s Promotions.
The main event will feature Travis Kauffman of Reading, PA fighting Chris Koval of Youngstown, OH for the vacant WBF Intercontinental heavyweight title.

The 27-year-old Penovaroff holds a record of 4-0-1 (3 KO) in professional boxing, with the only blemish being a controversial draw with Francisco Palacios in his last bout. Penovaroff controlled the tempo and appeared to clearly win every round but only walked away with an even verdict. One judge scored it six rounds to none for Penovaroff.
Penovaroff, himself of half-Filipino descent, turned pro in 2006 in Manila, Philippines but fought only once more in boxing before taking time off to focus on mixed martial arts. After two easy knockout wins in Hawaii, Penovaroff signed with manager/trainer Marshall Kauffman and relocated to King’s Boxing Gym in Reading.

Penovaroff once trained at the Olympic Development Program at Northern Michigan University alongside Travis Kauffman and at the American Kickboxing Academy with current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stars Cain Velasquez, Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch.

However, Penovaroff never forgot his first love of boxing and returned to the Sweet Science to follow his dream of being the next great Hawaiian fighter.

“I was an MMA champion but I relinquished my belt just to focus on boxing because of guys like [Hawaiian-raised boxing champions] Andy Ganigan, Jesus Salud, Ben Villaflor and Brian Viloria. I would love to go down as the best boxer ever from Hawaii someday.”

Hawaii’s most recent champion, former two-time 108 pound champion and 2000 US Olympian Viloria, offered his ringing endorsement of Penovaroff’s warrior spirit.

“He reminds me of myself with the hunger and determination to be on top,” says Viloria. “He showed hunger and does all the essential things to be a world class fighter and a champion. Coming from a small group of island thousands of miles away from the rest of the United States, us Hawaiians try to use our talents to magnify themselves on the national and world stage.
“That’s what Van Oscar tries to do every time he steps in the ring, he shows that he belongs there. He trains extremely hard and can and will mix it up with the best out there.”

Though the American Northeast’s climate is a little different from what he’s used to, boxing fans in Pennsylvania are just beginning to warm up to Penovaroff.

“I can’t wait to put on a great show for all the fans in Reading. On May 22, I’m going to make a huge statement and show everyone what I’m made of.”

Tickets, priced at $65, $50, $35 and $25, are on sale now and can be purchased at Kingsboxing.com, the Sovereign Center Box Office at 700 Penn Street in Reading (610-898-7200) and at all Ticketmaster outlets (800-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com).

Here’s what we know. Saturday two welterweight titlists made a non-title match at junior-middleweight on HBO’s “World Championship Boxing.” In the middle of the fourth round of a fight neither was winning conclusively, the mens’ limbs tangled. One ended on the canvas. The other ended outside the ring, where a doctor said he was unfit to continue. His opponent won by technical decision.

Here’s what we can consider. A normally fine fight venue was two-thirds empty. Two normally fine fighters made three insipid rounds. The much taller fighter caused the tangle by dropping his head to waist level. The fighter outside the ring got there by leaping. A man was carted off in a neck brace while waving his arms. And, oh yes, the result.

It went: Paul Williams TD-4 Kermit Cintron. An unusual line, that. Williams won by scores of 39-37 and 40-36 on two judges’ cards and lost 36-40 on a third. I had it 39-37 for Williams. Any combination of numbers that did not have one guy winning all four rounds was acceptable. Calling a 3 1/2-round fight complete may not be.

Writing of unacceptable, though, how about the size of that crowd in Carson, Calif.? The tennis stadium at Home Depot Center is an excellent venue for a prizefight – when it’s full. But it was nothing like full Saturday. Why not?

Ethnic interests, maybe. Williams is a black Southerner. Cintron is a Puerto Rican raised in the Northeast. Carson crowds prefer Mexican prizefighters. Combining the three didn’t work at all. And the fight’s promotion was overshadowed by “Who R U Picking?” hoopla.

Set ethnicities aside. Williams enjoys significant physical advantages over opponents, but he doesn’t make dull fights. Cintron has a famously fragile psyche, but he also has a higher career knockout ratio than Mike Tyson. There was ample reason to expect an entertaining match from two prime craftsmen.

And yet Southern Californians knew better. They stayed away, and the rest of us found out why. After a month of threatening one another, Williams and Cintron met in a place of sanctioned violence and showed no such impulse for nine minutes.

When two fighters publicly state the worst of intentions for one another, they are, in many cases, quite sincere. But they rarely tear out their corners and bludgeon one another. Why not? Fear. Not a fear of pain; a fear of humiliation. Much as one might desire to render the other senseless, he desires more intensely to foil the other man’s fantasy. This is how we get tense and tentative opening stanzas even between action fighters who feel mutual animosity.

Things picked up in round 4, though. Williams increased his pace. Cintron clocked him with a counter right hand. A fight began. But unfortunately for Williams, lately that means the start of some bad habits.

Williams enjoys an extraordinary edge in height and reach with opponents. Yet he eliminates that advantage by dropping his chin to theirs and ducking punches. Men who would need to leap and turn-over shots or toss ugly overhand rights instead find Williams’ chin level with their power hands. It’s a gift to opponents who mightn’t otherwise have a chance of hitting him.

It was a gift Williams bestowed on Cintron several times and an opening he offered in round 4. Williams dropped low and fired a long left cross from his southpaw stance. It landed. Cintron, though, rolled with it and loaded a right-cross counter. Williams, whose head was actually below the plane of Cintron’s punch, ducked still lower, parried Cintron’s cross with his left shoulder and put himself in a headlock with Cintron’s right arm.

Williams continued forward, trying to punch. He also twisted leftward and down. His long legs went out from under him. Williams fell to the canvas on the seat of his trunks.

Cintron began forcefully in the opposite direction. His feet were not tangled. Perhaps he feared Williams’ long body would land on his ankle because he came to the ropes and exploded through them, pushing off his left foot. Cintron did not fall out the ring; he hit its perimeter like a safety lowering his right shoulder into a wide receiver. He somersaulted onto the scorer’s table, legs splayed. He appeared to come to rest. He raised his glove to his right temple. Then he somehow fell on the tennis court below and finished directly before the event’s promoters, Lou DiBella and Dan Goosen.

A ringside doctor rushed to Cintron. You imagine reflexivity took over from there in a precaution-rich way like this: “Are you all right?” “I hurt my back.” “It could be serious, so don’t move.” “I won’t move.” “You can’t move?” “What?” “Get a gurney!”

That brought the oddest spectacle of all. After only slightly moving his arms and legs while paramedics made their ways to ringside, Cintron got furious when they wheeled him from the ring. Once he was buckled in, Cintron began to resist, waving his arms. After the judges’ decision was read, he punched the ambulance door.

It was a poor night for boxing.

The California State Athletic Commission has a rule that states if three rounds are completed and a fighter cannot continue for some reason other than a punch, a decision must be divined from the judges’ tallies. That rule should be revisited.

Saturday’s ruling, though, should not. A bad law was enforced. Blame the legislative branch, not the executive.

Does that mean anything to either fighter? Not really. Cintron has a third loss on his record. Williams has a 39th win. No title was at stake. Nothing monumental was gained or forfeited. A rematch would be an appropriate remedy.

But that will require an outcry from fans. Based on Saturday’s attendance and the fight’s opening rounds, such out-crying fans had better bring megaphones and an amplifier.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry

This week on the Sunday Sizzler. Paulie Malignaggi Interview! Patty Boom Boom Alcivar LIVE on air!! – Weekend Fight recaps and upcoming fight previews! 15rounds.com’s Johnny Schulz presents: Talking BOXING with JSizzle and New York Dan NYD. And joined by Billy from Philly – A weekly Sunday boxing show covering Boxing from all angles. Alongside and boxing aficionado Danny “NYD” Stasiukiewicz, RTB will cover: • All of the week’s top boxing stories from results to fight previews.

Claudia Bocanegra was onsite on Thurs, May 6th at Aerospace High Performance Gym, where they held their 3rd Annual Fundraiser for the East Harlem School. Owned by Michael Olajide Jr and Leila Fazel, this Meatpacking District’s high end boxing gym packed up about 300 people to attend their competition. Members dressed up in themed costumes and competed in jump rope and hand mitt shadowboxing. Guest Judges included Hugh Jackman, Harvey Keitel, Adriana Lima, and Narciso Rodriguez. On the Mic was Q-tip to introduce the competitors. A silent auction was also held.

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTOS

CARSON, CALIFORNIA — After the most unusual of endings, Paul Williams was declared the technical decision victor over Kermit Cintron due to an injury before the end of four rounds in the HBO World Championship Boxing main event at the Home Depot Center.

Williams (39-1, 27 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia now has a win over Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KOs) of Houston, Texas on his record, but even he is not happy with how it got there. Both fighters got their licks in to end a round one that started out slow, as both looked to have some nervous energy. The action began to heat up in round two. Cintron, 154, caught Williams, 152 ½, with two good right hands in an exchange early in the round. Later in the round, Cintron caught Williams over swinging again with another solid counter.

Round three offered little action, as Williams refused to play into Cintron’s apparent plan of playing the counter puncher. Things changed in round four, as Cintron landed a clean right that woke up Williams and the crowd. Williams quickly responded with a head-snapping shot. For a brief moment, it looked as though the fight may turn from a boxing match to a slugfest. Shortly after a heated exchange, Williams lost his footing and grabbed onto Cintron a bit as he fell to the canvas. As Williams went down, the momentum toppled Cintron through the ropes, on to a table and eventually down to the hard floor.

In moments it was clear that Cintron was injured, but it was unclear how bad the injury might be. Cintron remained in the same position that he fell for some time, as a ringside physician watched over him. According to sources on the side of the ring that he fell, Cintron told the ringside physician Paul Wallace that he was able to fight on, but it was the decision of the doctor to not allow him to continue.

Most ringside in press row assumed the fight would be declared a no contest. However, in the state of California, the start of the fourth round makes the fight official and thus the scores were read. One judge had the fight a shutout for Cintron, 40-36. The other two scored the fight for Williams, 40-36 and 39-37 respectively. Ring announcer Michael Buffer read the scores as Cintron, protesting with his gloved fists, was carried out on a stretcher.

Not only did most ringside assume that fight would be ruled a no contest before the decision was announced, so did Cintron’s promoter. “That rule is ridiculous, it was three rounds,” said Lou DiBella. “That is not a fight. How do you call a fight after three rounds?” Cintron’s trainer Ronnie Shields told the press that he had objected to using the California rules instead of the generally used ABC rules prior to the fight.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Williams after the fight. “It’s a strange way to get a win and I’ll try to get a better one next time.” Just as there was before the fight started, there should be many options for both fighters, including the obvious one – a rematch. Cintron entered the ring as the WBO #2/IBF #3/WBC #3 ranked light middleweight, and his promoter seems to want the rematch. “That should have been a no contest, and it should happen again,” said DiBella at the post-fight press conference.

Williams, WBC #3 middleweight and the WBO #1/IBF #5 ranked 154-pounder, could go the rematch route, but there are other fights out there for him as well. Williams’ promoter Dan Goossen seemed less inclined to make a Cintron rematch right of the bat. “There was nothing that happened in that ring that was compelling enough that would lead me to believe that we want to see the fight again,” claimed Goossen. Lou DiBella vehemently disagreed with Goossen’s assessment of the potential rematch. While Goossen would go onto say Cintron is always a possibility for Williams, it looks as though he has his eyes set on bigger fish.

As he mentioned in the build-up to Saturday’s fight, Goossen made mention of plans to see if the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight is made or not. “If a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight doesn’t get made, then obviously we will be standing there and hopefully we would be one of the fighters to take that place,” said Goossen, who added Williams will not sit and wait on the shelf as talks for that superfight do or do not resume.

Styles make fights, and sometimes styles make dull fights. In what looked to be an attractive super featherweight scrap on paper and turned out to be a lackluster bout, Argenis Mendez claimed the vacant USBA Super Featherweight title with a majority decision over Martin Honorio.

Mendez (16-1, 9 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic proved to be an elusive target for the forward-moving Martin Honorio (28-4-1, 14 KOs) of Bell, California by way of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Honorio, 130, took the fight to Mendez, 130, in the opening round and appeared to be ahead after two rounds.

Mendez, the WBA #10 ranked super featherweight, scored well with hard body shots in round three and the fight began to turn. As the fight went on, Mendez stood his ground less and less, picking his shots and moving out of range. Honorio, the WBO #3 ranked lightweight and IBF #6 ranked 130-pounder, did not display the same boxing skills that led him to a win over John Molina Jr. last year. Too often, Honorio found himself chasing Mendez instead of effectively cutting off the ring.

While he did not exact any sort of dominance in the bout, Mendez did enough to get the nod on two of the judges’ scorecards 116-112. The third official scorer had it even, 114-114. With the win, Mendez may have earned a better ranking, but it is unlikely he gained many fans ringside.

Former amateur standout Walter Sarnoi (6-0, 2 KOs) of Monterey Park, California boxed his way to a four-round majority decision win over Adrian Aleman (6-7-3, 4 KOs) of Cathedral City, California. Sarnoi, 123, was the naturally bigger man, but decided to box and move rather than put his size advantage to use. Aleman, 123, went rounds as usual, but was unable to get much done in the fight. One judge found two rounds to give to Aleman, to make the even score of 38-38. The other two judges scored the fight 40-36, 39-37.

Stan Martyniouk (9-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California rebounded from a flash knockdown in the first round to pull out a six-round split decision over Brian Ramirez (5-3, 3 KOs) of Los Angeles, California. Ramirez, 133, charged out of his corner to open the fight, backing Martyniouk, 133, to the ropes. As the round progressed, Martyniouk settled into a boxing rhythm. Just before the bell to end the round, Ramirez caught Martyniouk with a left uppercut to score the knockdown.

Martyniouk, who did not appear to be hurt from the knockdown, began round two with a sense of urgency, as he pressed the fight. As the fight progressed, the rounds were competitive, but it was Martyniouk that was able to maintain his punching power, while Ramirez’ pace slowed. Martyniouk took the fight after a decisive sixth round which the Sacramento resident swept on all three judges’ cards. Two judges scored the bout 57-56 for Martyniouk, with the lone dissenting judge scoring it 57-56 the other way. Martyniouk hopes to return to the ring June 19th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

Michael Ruiz Jr. (2-0, 1 KO) of Fresno, California blew away Jose Pacheco (2-13-6) of Cudahy, California in the second round of a scheduled four. Ruiz, 118, downed Pacheco, 122, with a straight right hand early in the second. Pacheco rose to his feet, but was clearly not the same. Moments later, a brutal right hook dropped Pacheco hard, prompting referee David Denkin to immediately call a halt to the bout without need for a count. Official time of the stoppage was 1:37 of the second. Ruiz is slated to return to the ring June 19th at the McDermont Field House in Lindsay, California.

Unbeaten Jeremiah Wiggins (8-0-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Virginia scored a unanimous decision win over game free-swinger Juan Carlos Diaz (0-3) of Ciudad Neza, Estada de Mexico, Mexico. Wiggins, 152 ½, showed his superior boxing skills in the first, but found himself slugging it out in some heated exchanges by the second round. Diaz, 153 ½, stood in and took some hard shots, but landed some of his own. The underpowered Diaz was simply out of his league with the more skilled Wiggins. In the end, two judges scored the bout 59-55 and the third 60-54 all for Wiggins.

After less than two one-sided rounds, Mike Dallas Jr. (14-0-1, 5 KOs) of Bakersfield, California was declared victorious over journeyman Daniel Gonzalez (9-28-2, 3 KOs) of Billings, Montana. Dallas, 149 ½, was just too much of everything, speed and power, for Gonzalez, 151. With no reason for the mismatch to continue, referee David Denkin saw fit to call halt to the bout at 2:03 of the second round before Gonzalez could absorb any more punishment.

Before the card, Goossen Tutor Promotions announced the signing of WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Beibut Shumenov, who is slated to defend his title sometime in July against mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Uzelkov.

Photos by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

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

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — Top ten pound-for-pounder Paul Williams takes on perennial contender Kermit Cintron in a non-title twelve-round light middleweight fight tonight at the Home Depot Center in nearby Carson. The fight will be broadcast live by HBO alongside the replay of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley fight from last week. Fighters for tonight’s event weighed in Friday afternoon at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Los Angeles – International Airport.

Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia is the heavy betting favorite Saturday according to most online sportsbooks, but the odds that the fight will be exciting would have to be listed just as strong. Cintron (32-2-1, 28 KOs) of Houston, Texas by way of Carolina, Puerto Rico may have displayed new found boxing skills in his decision win over Alfredo Angulo last year, but he knows he will need to revert back to the slugger of old in order to have a chance against a supreme boxer-puncher like Williams.

The event has been dubbed “Over the Weight,” because both Williams and Cintron have long campaigned as welterweights, and Williams especially has expressed his desire to get a big money fight at 147-pounds. Williams currently holds the WBC #3 middleweight ranking, and the WBO #1/IBF #5 rankings at 154-pounds. Considering Cintron is currently the WBO #2/IBF #3/WBC #3 ranked light middleweight, one would think this fight would have some interim title or alphabet eliminator sanctioning attached to it, but alas it is just a twelve-round scrub between two top fighters with no promises of championships to the winner.

Both Cintron and Williams know that winning eliminators or even titles are not always what they are cracked up to be. Cintron’s win over Angulo was a sanctioned WBC Light Middleweight eliminator, but he did not get a title shot since Sergio Martinez has been tied up with middleweight fights. Meanwhile, Angulo claimed the Interim WBO 154-title over Harry Joe Yorgey. Williams has held titles at welterweight and light middleweight, but his handlers have never been overrun with offers from top notch fighters.

In any event, the winner of Saturday’s fight should be in line for the big money fight they have desired. For Cintron, the upset would be by far the biggest win of his career and catapult himself into the upper echelon of the sport. For Williams, he must win impressively in order to have any bargaining power as he chases the money men of the welterweight division. Williams scaled 152 ½-pounds, while Cintron came in at the division limit of 154.

The off-television undercard is headed by an attractive and meaningful twelve-rounder. Resurgent contender Martin Honorio (28-4-1, 14 KOs) of Bell, California by way of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico will take on 2004 Dominican Olympian Argenis Mendez (15-1, 9 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic for the vacant USBA Super Featherweight title.

Honorio, the WBO #3 ranked lightweight and IBF #6 ranked 130-pounder, leaped back onto the national stage with an upset decision win over previously unbeaten prospect John Molina Jr. last November. Mendez, the WBA #10 ranked super featherweight, has revitalized his career since suffering his only defeat in October 2008, posting three consecutive victories. The winner would likely be in line for a world title or world title elimination bout. Honorio and Mendez both scaled 130-pounds.

In a six-round lightweight bout, Stan Martyniouk (8-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California will meet Brian Ramirez (5-2, 3 KOs) of Los Angeles, California. Martyniouk, who came in at 133-pounds, has not seen ring action since posting a four-round decision over Anthony Martinez in November. Ramirez, who weighed in at 133 as well, suffered his second defeat last time out after a point deduction cost him a draw.

Unbeaten light middleweight Jeremiah Wiggins (7-0-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Virginia will make his West Coast debut against Juan Carlos Diaz (0-2) of Ciudad Neza, Estada de Mexico, Mexico in a six-rounder. Wiggins, who scaled 152 ½, was a chiseled and imposing figure at the scales Friday. Diaz, who sports a far more slender build, weighed in at 153 ½-pounds. Diaz’ two defeats were by knockout to undefeated foes. Wiggins last fought on the Paul Williams-Sergio Martinez undercard in December, scoring a unanimous decision over Manuel Guzman in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Well regarded bantamweight prospect Michael Ruiz Jr. (1-0) of Fresno, California will take on game trial horse Jose Pacheco (2-12-6) of Cudahy, California in a four-round bout. Ruiz, who weighed in at 118-pounds, turned pro last month with a comprehensive decision victory after a distinguished amateur run. Pacheco, who weighed in at 122-pounds on his initial try, fought on the same card last month and dropped a four-round decision. Pacheco was given more time to lose an additional pound.

Former amateur standout Walter Sarnoi (5-0, 2 KOs) of Monterey Park, California will tangle with the naturally smaller Adrian Aleman (6-6-3, 4 KOs) of Cathedral City, California in a four-round super bantamweight fight. Sarnoi, who scaled 123-pounds Friday afternoon, was a member of the U.S. National Team as an amateur before turning professional in 2008. Aleman scaled 123-pounds at the weigh-in, but has fought as a flyweight earlier in his career. Should Aleman, who has never been stopped, be able to handle Sarnoi’s power, he could provide a test for the young pro.

Light welterweight prospect Mike Dallas Jr. (13-0-1, 4 KOs) of Bakersfield, California was a late re-addition to the card and will now open the evening in a four-rounder against well traveled journeyman Daniel Gonzalez (9-27-2, 3 KOs) of Billings, Montana. Given the short notice these fighters will be fighting nearly as junior middleweights today. Gonzalez, weighing in at 151-pounds, is coming in off of twelve straight defeats, but with only two of those coming by way of the knockout. Dallas, who had been penciled in for a step-up fight against Josesito Lopez, scaled 149 ½-pounds Friday.

A last minute scratch from the card was an interesting ten-round heavyweight rematch between Jason Gavern (19-7-3, 8 KOs) of Kissimmee, Florida and Manuel Quezada (29-5, 18 KOs) of Wasco, California. Gavern scored a minor upset over the world ranked Quezada last month, claiming the regional WBC CABOFE Heavyweight title with the decision victory. According to Gavern, who was present at the weigh-in, Quezada pulled out just an hour prior.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Light middleweights, 12 Rounds
Williams 152 ½
Cintron 154

USBA Super Featherweight Championship, 12 Rounds
Honorio 130
Mendez 130

Lightweights, 6 Rounds
Martyniouk 133
Ramirez 133

Light middleweights, 6 Rounds
Wiggins 152 ½
Diaz 153 ½

Super bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Ruiz Jr. 118
Pacheco 122*

Super bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Sarnoi 123
Aleman 123

Light Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Dallas Jr. 149 ½
Gonzalez 151

*attempting to lose one pound at press time

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

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA — Former amateur star DonYil Livingston and former Contender series star Deon Elam each scored knockout wins to highlight a night of both boxing and mixed martial arts before an energetic crowd at the Circus Disco on Thursday night.

Taking on Lamar Horne in his professional debut, Livingston (1-0, 1 KO) of Palmdale, California started out the fight aggressively. Horne (2-6, 1 KO) of San Diego, California was competing for the first time in three years and seemed to be caught a little off guard by Livingston’s determined start. Livingston, 166 ¼, varied his attack to the head and body of Horne, 170, and landed in combinations.

Midway through the second round, Horne was stunned by a straight right, and began to hold on. Soon enough Livingston was able to break loose on the inside and landed four unanswered left hooks with Horne against the ropes, prompting referee Raul Caiz Jr. to call a halt to the bout. Official time of the stoppage was 2:57 of round two.

The most recognizable name on the card was that of cruiserweight Deon Elam (12-1, 6 KOs) of Van Nuys, California, a member of the season four cast of The Contender, who took on Vashon Daniels (6-5, 4 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas. Elam, 192, had a sizeable height and reach advantage over Daniels, 202, who had trouble finding his way to close quarters without getting caught with hard shots en route.

A stiff jab, right hand combination was successful early for Elam, but it would be a left to the body that would first drop Daniels to one knee. Daniels was able to reach his feet, however Elam soon found a home for a few more body shots to score a second knockdown. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. immediately waved off the fight without a count at 2:35 of the first round. For Elam, it was his second win in two weeks after ending a more than one year layoff following the taping of The Contender in Singapore.

In other action, Artur Bernetsyan (3-0, 2 KOs) of Glendale, California scored a second round stoppage over Nichoulas Brannies (1-5) of Bend, Oregon. Bernetsyan, 142, scored a knockdown in the first after hurting Brannies, 144, with a right hook and following up with a flurry. Bernetsyan focused on the body of Brannies early in the second round, eventually doubling him over with his attack. With Brannies in trouble, Bernetsyan again followed up with a flurry to score another knockdown and the fight was waved off at 1:09 of the second round.

In the fight of the night, debuting Richard Contreras (1-0, 1 KO) of Riverside, California scored a minor upset over former amateur standout Vachik Avagyan (2-1, 1 KO) of Glendale via third-round knockout. Avagyan, 117, got off to a solid start and outboxed the taller, lanky Contreras, 116, in the both first and second rounds. Avagyan, a former member of the Armenian National Team, displayed a hit-and-run style that suited him well as an amateur. Avagyan landed a hard left hand in the second that could have been scored a knockdown had he not fallen over on top of Contreras.

For two rounds Contreras could not pin the southpaw Avagyan down long enough to land more than one or two blows in succession. Finally in the third, Contreras countered Avagyan with a clean right hand to drop his opponent hard to the mat. Avagyan rose and quickly returned fire, rather than hold on or move away to completely clear the cobwebs. Both fighters went toe-to-toe for a stretch, before a vicious right uppercut dropped Avagyan again to end the fight. It was clear that Avagyan, who had gamely battled back toward the end of the round, was not going to get up and no count was needed. Time of the stoppage was 2:14 of the third round.

MMA

In the featured MMA attraction, Noad Lahat (4-0, 1 KO, 3 Submissions) of Glendale scored a quick submission victory over Richard Schiller (6-1, 5 Submissions) of Torrance, California. Lahat, 145, quickly gained control of the fight on the mat. Before Schiller, 144, could get acclimated to the ground game, Schiller cinched in with a rear naked choke. Schiller, displaying the will of an undefeated fighter, was able to get to one knee with Lahat locked in on his back. Unable to break free, Schiller had no choice but to tap out at 2:15 of round one.

In other mixed martial arts action, Andy Dermenjyan (4-1, 2 KOs, 2 Submissions) of Van Nuys scored a first-round stoppage over Jason Williams (1-6, 1 KO) of San Bernardino, California. Williams, 153, came out swinging, but was quickly taken to the mat by Dermenjyan, 150 ½, who immediately took control of the fight. Dermenjyan eventually worked his way to Williams’ back and locked in a choke hold for the tap out. Time of the stoppage was 2:50 of the first round.

In a competitive three-rounder, Jared Papazian (8-5-1, 3 KOs, 1 Submission) of Glendale took a hard-fought unanimous decision over Tyler Weathers (6-5, 4 Submissions) of Lakewood, California. The fight included some roughhousing, including an instance in the second round when Weathers, 144, ducked out of the ropes only to get hit by Papazian, 144, from a punch over the top rope. The fight was won in the third, as Papazian completely controlled the action. All three judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Papazian, who returns to the ring June 4th at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California.

Local favorite Cooper Gibson (1-1, 1 Submission) of Hollywood scored a quick submission victory over Ulises Figueroa (1-2, 1 Submission) of Lakewood. Gibson, 145, forced Figueroa, 145, to the ground a quickly applied a guillotine choke to get the victory. Time of the stoppage was 1:22 of the first.

Haik Tsaturyan (1-0) of Glendale made a successful pro debut with a unanimous three-round decision win over Chris Wolf (0-4) of San Bernardino. Tsaturyan, 135, controlled most of the first round, outside of one shot that sent him down to the mat. Tsaturyan quickly got up continued his success over Wolf, 135. Rounds two and three were turned completely into wrestling matches, where Tsaturyan had a decided advantage over Wolf. In the end, two judges scored the fight a shutout for Tsaturyan, 30-27, with one judge finding a round to give to Wolf with the score of 29-28.

Thursday’s card was the first offering of upstart promoters King Of The West Promotions.

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

Last year America went to the World Championships in Milan, Italy hoping to have more success than they’d had at the Olympics the year previous. They took a young squad and gave them all important International experience, unfortunately the experience wasn’t a good one for most of the team as they went out early. That wasn’t the case for Frankie “Pitbull” Gomez though he exceeded all expectations and came home with a Silver medal that catapulted him into the American publics view. A few short months later the 18 year old who comes from the same area of East L.A as his hero Oscar De La Hoya they also spookily share the same birthday decided to except an offer to to pro and signed with the aforementioned De La Hoya’s promotional company Golden Boy. Since then Gomez has made his debut on the Hopkins-Jones 2 undercard when he scored a third round stoppage. He won his most recent fight at the Tropicana Hotel Casino the night before Mayweather-Mosley to take his record to 2-0(2). Here’s what one of the brightest young prospects in America had to say on various subjects.

Hello Frankie, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Congratulations on winning your debut fight on the Hopkins-Jones Jr 2 card. How happy were you with the performance?

Frankie Gomez – Overall, I thought it was an exciting experience and one that I will never forget. As far as the boxing aspect, I thought I performed ok. I would give myself a C+ rating. It was a great learning experience though and one that I can grow from.

Anson Wainwright – You seemed a little nervous, with all the pressure on your shoulders. Would you say that was fair? Can you tell me how you felt before the fight?

Frankie Gomez – It’s fair to say I was nervous. But I wouldn’t say I felt any additional pressures going into my first fight. I think it was the nervousness that naturally goes into any professional debut. I was just glad to finally get in the ring and fight.

Anson Wainwright – Do you know when you’ll be back in action next? If so against who and where?

Frankie Gomez – I just fought again against Ricardo Malfavon at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. I won via TKO in the 2nd round. My next fight will be at the Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California on May 27th.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your younger years when you were growing up and how you first got interested in Boxing up until when you first took part in Boxing?

Frankie Gomez – I have always been boxing. It has been something that has been a part of me my entire life. I started at 5 yrs old with my first trainer Ronnie Rivota. He was the first one to bring me along and introduce me to the sport of boxing. Then a couple of years later I joined the Los Angeles Police Department’s PAL Boxing program. It is through that program that I began my amateur career. Ronnie Rivota and Hector Ibarra have been my trainers ever since.

Anson Wainwright – Who are your team members, your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym do you use mostly to work out at?

Frankie Gomez – Team Gomez consists of Ronnie Rivota as my Manager/Trainer, Hector Ibarra as my Manager/Conditioning Coach, George Ibarra as my weight training and diet coach and Tony Gomez, my brother and motivator. Oscar de la Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions Company promote me and we mainly train at his gym in Los Angeles, California.

Anson Wainwright – You had a stellar amateur pedigree in which you won Silver at last years World Championships. What can you tell us about how you look back on that tournament? What made you turn pro so young and not wait until 2012 Olympics?

Frankie Gomez – The tournament was tough but I got through it alright. Looking back, I thought my last fight in Italy was a little closer and could have gone either way, but that is the sport of amateur boxing. Overall, I felt like it was great learning experience facing off against some of the best competition in the world.

As far as me turning pro, I thought it was just time to move on. After looking at all the factors, my team and I felt it was best, both inside and outside the ring, to go to the professional ranks. Golden Boy offered a very fair contract and I thought it was best for my family and myself to accept.

Anson Wainwright – What other titles did you win in your amateur career? Also what was your final record? Who was the toughest guy you fought in the amateur’s?

Frankie Gomez – My amateur titles include four Junior Gold Glove titles, four Silver Glove titles, six Junior Olympic titles, the Gold Medal at the AIBA Cadet World Championships in 2007, one Ringside World title in 2008 and the Silver Medal at the AIBA World Championships in 2009.

My overall amateur record finished at 120 wins and 8 losses.

The toughest opponent I ever faced was during the AIBA World Championships in 2009. The boxer from Uzbekistan (Sanjarbek Rahmanov, Gomez won 19-10 in the third round)Â was a tough opponent that I truly respect.

Anson Wainwright – It seems that a few years down the road there could be a rivalry with you and Jose Benavidez Jr and Michael Finney. While it is obviously early days. What do you think of that? It could be the three musketeers?

Frankie Gomez – I believe in taking it one fight at a time. If that day comes, when I face one or both of them, then I will worry about it then. But it is exciting to see such talented boxers on the rise. The future of boxing will be fun to watch.

Anson Wainwright – It has been said you have more of a pro style, what do you consider your best attributes as a professional fighter?

Frankie Gomez – I do not worry about the “pro-style” or anything like that. I am constantly trying to get better at my craft and work hard everyday to get that done. I believe in my three S’s: Smarts, Speed, and Strength. If I can improve a little bit each day on those three things, I believe I can be successful.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do away from Boxing? Do you have any hobbies?

Frankie Gomez – Any chance that I have to relax and be away from boxing, I like to spend with my family. I travel and am away from them so much that when I do have the time, all I want to is spend time with them. I believe they give me the strength to go in the ring and perform well. They continue to give me the love and support I need to be successful.

Anson Wainwright – What boxers do did you like growing up and who do you enjoy watching now? What did you think of the Mayweather-Mosley fight?

Frankie Gomez – Growing up, I was always a big fan of Oscar De La Hoya. He was a big influence on my life and boxing career. It means a lot to be working with him now on my professional career. I rooted for Shane Mosley this past weekend but unfortunately he wasn’t able to win. Now, I always root for boxers from my hometown!

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans? I know many of them were very proud of your performance at the World Championships.

Frankie Gomez – I just want to thank all my fans for all the support they have shown me throughout my career. It means a lot to have everyone come out and cheer for me. It gets me motivated for my fights. Thank you to everyone that followed me during the World Championships, it was amazing to have that support. I look forward to one day winning a world championship and I want everyone to know that that day will be soon!Â

Thanks for your time Frankie, keep up the good work.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

Weights for Friday Night’s card at The Arena (Formally The New Alhambra)

Danny Garcia 141 ½ – Christopher Fernandez 141
Karl Dargan 137 – Jorge Ruiz 138
Latif Mundy 163 – Todd Eriksson 164
Andre Espuet 174 ½ – Charles Hayward 173 ½
Mike Dargan 154 – Jason Montgomery 152 ½
Jose Ortiz 130 – Jason Sosa 129 ½
Julian Williams 152 ½ – Antonio Fernandez 154

WEIGH IN QUOTES:

Chris Fernandez: “I know he is going to try to come out and entertain his fans. That’s the problem going into someone’s hometown but I have been here before. I have fought in Philadelphia before and fought in hostile environments. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. I am prepared and ready”

Danny Garcia: “I am happy to be back in Philly. You are going to see a lot of smartness, Speed and power and I will give the fans what they want.”

Karl Dargan: “This is my first co-main event. I haven’t fought since February 25th and there is going to be a lot of anger, excitement, skill and determination”

Promoters: Golden Boy Promotions in assoc. with Joe Hand Promotions
First Bell : 7:30 pm est
TV: Telefutura

Paulie Malignaggi is not from Arizona. I am, which must mean there is reasonable cause to suspect my sanity.

As I sit here wearing a Los Suns jersey with passport, an Arizona driver’s license and enough money for bail nearby just in case Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio sees the Los and translates it into reasonable suspicion, I listen to Malignaggi go off on a rant that in tone sounded like the screaming that has turned this piece of the desert into an overheated corner of the immigration debate.

I’m not sure of everything said by Malignaggi, who was talking Thursday from New York about concerns that Amir Khan had yet to acquire proper documentation – a work permit – for their welterweight clash on May 15 in The Theatre at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Malignaggi conceded he was animated, which is beyond the capability of an ordinary digital recorder. An F-16 in hot pursuit is quieter.

But it is safe to say that Malignaggi, a New Yorker, is angry at the attempted car bombing late Saturday night at Times Square by Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan. Pakistan is also home for Khan’s parents, who immigrated to Britain where their son was born in Greater Manchester, took up boxing and won a 2004 Olympic silver medal for the UK.

Malignaggi started talking about a grandfather, who travels between Italy and New York. For the last few summers, he said, his granddad has been stopped at customs “like some kind of criminal.’’ After what almost transpired at Times Square, Malignaggi says U.S. immigration has been stopping the wrong guy.

“It’s a bleeping joke, when you got guys already in the country, blowing shit up or looking to blow the shit up’’ said Malignaggi, who is confident Khan will get the papers he needs for his first fight in the United States.

I’ve heard the same sentiment yelled from street corners, screamed in headlines and by grandstanding politicians in the debate over SB 1070, Arizona’s new immigration law. The dumbest grandstand play came from the World Boxing Council’s Jose Sulaiman, who declared that the WBC would not “authorize” Mexican boxers to fight in Arizona. I’m not sure whether Sulaiman got a sanction fee for the edict, but, please, since when did the WBC gain the authority to issue Mexican passports?

Sulaiman’s rush to grab a headline sums up a stampede to capitalize on a controversy that is reaching ridiculous proportions. The Boycott Bandwagon is getting very crowded. Like a lot of people, I don’t like the Arizona legislation because reasonable suspicion, like driving erratically, is in the eye of the beholder. If you look down to change the radio station and inadvertently cross the white line for a split second, the cop behind you could decide you are driving erratically. Make sure you’ve got your papers and leave the Los Suns jersey at home.

The immigration issue is especially relevant to boxing, which is more international than any sport other than soccer. As of Thursday, there are all kinds of rumors as to why Khan has been unable to get a work permit. He left Los Angeles about 12 days ago for Vancouver, B.C., to apply for a work permit. According to Golden Boy Promotions Chief Operating Officer David Itskowitch, the hope is that the papers will be arrive in time for Khan to be in New York by Monday. The process has been underway since early March.

“This process has been going on since way before anything happened in Times Square,” Itskowitch said.

But it’s not clear why the process has taken so long.

“We don’t know,” he said. “The only thing we’re told is that an administrative process is going on and that they don’t divulge that kind of information.’’

There were questions Thursday about whether Khan’s name, Pakistani roots or the failed bombing at Times Square has held up the process.

“We don’t what it is,’’ Itskowitch said. “We have no indication.’’

Khan’s father told the Bolton News, the boxer’s hometown newspaper, blames the delay on the name and not for reported driving offenses.

“The delay is nothing to do with his motoring convictions as has been reported,’’ Shah Khan told the newspaper. “It is because of his name.

“Because of what happened on 9/11, Amir gets stopped every time we come into the country.

An application for work permit is a more comprehensive process, Shah Khan said.

“He always gets interviewed and is asked which countries he has visited, but now they know him and know who he is, the interviews are not as rigorous.

“But with a visa application there are certain checks that have to be made and it takes time. I don’t blame them and we have nothing to hide.”

For Arizona, there is a surprising twist in a process forcing Khan to get a work permit. About two years ago, boxing in Arizona was brought to virtual standstill by immigration law that required fighters from Mexico or any other country to get a work visa, a so-called P-1. They had been allowed to fight with a tourist visa, which is easier and less expensive to acquire. The law forced prospect Erislandy Lara, a junior-middleweight prospect who escaped Cuba, off a Golden Boy card last June in Tucson. Lara, who had fought in Europe before moving to the U.S., did not get a work visa in time to fight on the Arizona card.

But the requirement for work visa has been changed, according to Dennis O’Connell, the new chief of the Arizona State Boxing Commission.

“I have confirmed that you need to establish a lawful presence in the state,’’ O’Connell said.

That means a tourist visa again works. It also means boxing is beginning to come back to Arizona, a state with a colorful history that includes Mexican Salvador Sanchez, Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez and Nicaraguan Alexis Arguello.

Top Rank has scheduled a card for July 17, which will feature junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr., at Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino in his first bout in Phoenix, his hometown, since he turned pro a few months ago. Other smaller cards have been scheduled for the next month, two in Phoenix and one in Tucson.

Each card is an opportunity for boxing. The Suns expressed their opposition to the Arizona legislation Wednesday with Cinco de Mayo-null uniforms in an NBA playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs. Agree or disagree, a boycott only hurts the Mexican and Mexican American boxer. It also is reasonable cause to suspect that Sulaiman and crowd of other grandstanders care about them or an immigration controversy that is a lot bigger than Arizona. They care only about themselves.

Wild Bill’s Fight Night 27
Friday at 7:30PM ET
Friday, May 7th, Duluth, Georgia will play host to Wild Bill’s Fight Night 27. The action starts at 8:30pm ET in a card many would say is a “futures” event. Eight amateur bouts are set to take place and some of the state’s and region’s top up-and-coming fighters will be featured. Many of the bouts will be for vacant amateur title belts, making these some of Wild Bill’s 1st amateur belt holders.

Fighters from AMAC, AL MMA, Legacy Fight Club, HardCore Gym, Genesis MMA, RUSH MMA and many more, will pit their skills against evenly matched, tough opponents. Be sure to check out www.GoFightLive.tv to see the full fight card and see these rising stars take home a title!

For event information or to purchase a pass for online viewing, go to http://www.gofightlive.tv/showEvent.do?eventId=675.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Steve “USS” Cunningham will take on Troy Ross for the vacant IBF Cruiserweight championship, June 5th in Neubrandenburg, Germany.

“This is a chance of a lifetime for Troy and we are confident he will win the title,” said Yvonne Michel, who is Ross’s promoter. “The fight being in Germany we believe it will be an even playing field for both.”

“He is very skilled, powerful and mature,” Michel said of Ross. “We know Steve Cunningham and we have a lot of respect for him. It is going to be a very spectacular and contested fight but Troy will prevail.

Last Saturday, two fighters presumed to be among the top three welterweights in the world squared off before millions of viewers on pay-per-view. Of course, Floyd Mayweather Jr. completely outboxed an older version of former pound-for-pound kingpin Shane Mosley in a fight that left many at home wanting. This Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Paul Williams will again be auditioning for an opportunity against one of the top two welterweights as he takes on Kermit Cintron. Their fight will be televised live by HBO and be paired coincidentally with the rebroadcast of the Mayweather-Mosley fight.

Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia will not be fighting at the 147-pound welterweight limit Saturday, but instead in the junior middleweight division. But if you ask Williams if he can still make 147, it won’t be the first time he has heard the query. “I’ve been asked the same questions so many times about fighting in different weight classes that my answers are almost like turning on a recorder and pressing play, but only with my mouth moving,” said Williams Wednesday at a press conference. “But, make no mistake; I don’t mind getting the attention and all the questions. I am confident and comfortable fighting in different weight classes and I will continue to do so for as long as I can and it is feasible.”

Williams has not made 147-pounds since avenging his sole defeat in June of 2008, a first-round stoppage over Carlos Quintana to reclaim the WBO title. In his four fights since, Williams has bested Verno Phillips to claim an interim 154-pound title and fought at middleweight in the three others. The idea of fighting in different weight classes in order to chase the big fights came from the Williams brain trust.

“Originally we came to the understanding that at the welterweight division, which is his natural division, it was becoming harder and harder to find takers for him out there, mainly because of the size discrepancy,” said Williams’ promoter Dan Goossen, referring to himself, Williams advisor Al Haymon and trainer George Peterson.

“But it is not Paul’s fault that he is 6’2” with a longer reach than the Klitschkos. We all came to the solution that the best way to keep his career progressing was by fighting in different weight divisions. But what has never left us was to crack that superstardom. And the way to do it is to make the superfight. The fight we would like to make, with a win Saturday night, is the [Manny] Pacquiao, is the Mayweather [fight]. The [other] top welterweights have gone by the wayside, the Cottos and the Margaritos. So there are three welterweights out there in my opinion that are the top guys today and they should all be mentioned in the same breath, and that is Pacquiao, Mayweather and Williams.”

Maybe it is because the boxing pundits did not understand their plan, but rarely do you hear Paul Williams name pop up as a potential opponent for either Mayweather or Pacquiao. Case in point, at the end of last Saturday’s pay-per-view broadcast. When HBO commentator Jim Lampley asked the rest of the broadcast team who they would like to see in with Mayweather, should the blockbuster with Pacquiao not come to fruition, neither could come up with a definitive reply. Especially considering the fact that Williams would be appearing on their network just seven days later, one would think Williams would be the name that came to their mind. However, this oversight is nothing new in the world Paul Williams lives.

“Every time a fight is mentioned, nobody even mentions my name,” says Williams frustratingly. “They know I am a threat, but most of them don’t want to put me in that category with them guys. So they mention me like real easy and don’t say too much. I’ll let Mr. Peterson, Al and Dan deal with it.”

If those who overlook Williams as a threat to the welterweight elite due so because they doubt his ability to still make 147-pounds, Williams’ trainer George Peterson has their answer. “[The critics] make decisions for people, when they should let the fighters make their own decision,” says Peterson. “Paul is saying, ‘Give me a 147-pounder, and let me show you I can make the 147-pound [weight limit]. And if you are that much in doubt, watch me eat breakfast before the weigh-in.’”

While Goossen mentions both Pacquiao and Mayweather as the fighters that he targets for Williams, it seems farfetched to think that the “Pacman’s” promoter Bob Arum would let his moneymaker in the same building as the 6’2” man known as the “Punisher.” Reportedly Pacquiao’s handlers rejected a fight with 5’11 junior middleweight Yuri Foreman based mainly on his height.

If Pacquiao is out of the question, Mayweather would seem the logical target for Team Williams, which makes Saturday’s fight of the utmost importance. With the Williams-Cintron bout being aired alongside the replay of last Saturday’s fight, everyone will be drawing their comparisons between the two. Many fighters in Williams’ position would feel the pressure of competing against a high-caliber fighter such as Kermit Cintron, knowing many watching will be measuring his performance against Mayweather’s. Williams however is not most fighters. “My main thing is to keep winning and the doors will open up.”

Photo by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

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

Kermit Cintron has been on this stage before. Since 2004, Cintron has been at the doorstep of breaking through to the upper level of the sport. Just one win away from the big money fights, Cintron has come up short each time. On Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, another such opportunity presents itself. Standing in his way is one of the world’s elite and most avoided fighters, Paul Williams.

Cintron (32-2-1, 28 KOs) of Houston, Texas by way of Carolina, Puerto Rico, can sympathize with the oft-evaded Williams. In May of last year, Cintron took on the most feared junior middleweight prospect at the time Alfredo Angulo. Cintron, known to be much more of a puncher than a traditional boxer, put on a clinic and won eight rounds on all three judges’ scorecards.

In winning the fight, especially by such wide margins, one would figure Cintron would be in line for a high profile fight, or at least welcomed back with open arms by HBO, which televised the Angulo bout. Neither possibility happened for Cintron in the ensuing twelve months. Adding insult, Angulo has fought twice on the network since last May and even picked up an interim title. Meanwhile Cintron has fought just once during that stretch, stopping journeyman Juliano Ramos in Puerto Rico.

Cintron’s promoter Lou DiBella is understandably a bit bitter about the whole situation. “It is frustrating when you beat a guy from pillar to post and then the guy gets two easy touches and a lot of money on premium cable while you have to fight a keep busy fight and wait for a guy who frankly most people in boxing don’t want to fight,” said DiBella during Monday’s conference call. “The idea that you can lose nine out of twelve rounds, and you are brought back as if you won, and the guy that won is sitting around waiting, that’s troubling. The other thing that is troubling is when you get passed over by the WBO for a vacant interim title, when you have beaten the guy that is fighting for it and you are not even offered the fight.”

While the Angulo aftermath clearly bothers Cintron, he has seemingly put it into the rearview and used it as motivation for Saturday’s fight. “The whole situation with Angulo, them putting him ahead of me, it is what it is,” said Cintron. “I’m not going to cry about it. I know I beat his ass, so right now I feel like I am the champion. I’m just going to move forward in my career and I am looking forward to May 8 against Paul Williams. We are going to put on a good show and the best man is going to win. I am going to go in there with the attitude that we are going to win, because I am not an opponent for nobody.”

When a big fight comes along, it is customary for fight scribes to compare their performances against common opponents as a way to gauge the outcome. Cintron and Williams have three common opponents. Williams beat all three, while Cintron went 1-2-1 against the group. They both stopped Walter Matthysse, which makes their fights against Antonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez the most notable. Last December, Williams edged Martinez in a close and competitive fight and fight of the year candidate. Earlier in the year, Cintron struggled against Martinez in an awful fight that most felt he should have lost. Cintron was counted out in the seventh after he went down from what he thought was a headutt, but the fight was allowed to resume. Later in the bout, a point deduction from Martinez would seal the draw.

Cintron’s most defining fights to date came against Antonio Margarito. Two years before Paul Williams outpointed Margarito, the “Tijuana Tornado” completely dominated a young and raw Cintron before scoring a fifth-round stoppage. Three years later, and trained at the time by Emanuel Steward, Cintron was stopped by Margarito again, this time by a body shot in the sixth. The events of last January, namely plaster of paris being found in Margarito’s hand wraps, put a cloud of doubt over those two Cintron defeats.

DiBella puts those three Cintron performances in perspective. “Particularly the second loss to Margarito [hurt him] and Kermit is not the type of guy to complain, but with all respect Margarito is a cheater, the worst kind of cheater,” stated DiBella. “Right now you have Sergio Martinez standing right with Paul on everybody’s pound-for-pound list. That was a tough fight for Kermit, but when you look at it now in 20/20 hindsight, and how competitive a lot of those rounds were, you see that he stands with the best fighters in the world. And again, you should not be penalized for being willing to fight the best.”

The best fighting the best, regardless of titles or treatment from the premium cable outlets, is what Saturday’s fight is all about, especially to Cintron. “This is a great opportunity for me to be able to fight Paul Williams,” stated Cintron. “A lot of fighters are avoiding us and best needs to fight the best. That is why I am here, to fight the best and to be the best.”

Photo by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

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

Las Vegas, NV- Seasoned welterweight veteran Ishe Smith(21-4 9ko’s) who was invited into pound for pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather’s training camp as a sparring partner is now aiming to make his own return to the ring.

Smith who was recently followed by whispers of a match up with Kassim Ouma, has no fight signed as of now, but would like to make it clear that he is aiming to take on the man that gave him the first loss of his career over five years ago, Sergio Mora(22-1).

“ Coming off the opportunity to spar in the Mayweather camp I learned a lot, and am primed for a major fight. The first time we fought it was a split decision in a five round fight. I’ve been calling for the rematch since then and he has never shown any interest” Smith said regarding Mora.

Smith, who came up short in his last outing against rising star Danny Jacobs(19-0), made a statement in 2008 by handing prospect Pawel Wolak (26-1) the first loss of his professional career. While Mora previously held the WBC junior middleweight title, his last outing was at 160 pounds, a weight Smith has said he has no problem with.

“There is no reason not to fight. People only got to see the edited version of the last fight and didn’t see how bad I hurt him in the last 30 seconds”

Smith and Mora first squared off in the semi finals of the inaugural season of NBC’s The Contender. Mora edged out a split decision, in a five round bout. Although Smith had experience going ten rounds, and Mora eight at the time of the fight, the five round format was a part of the tournament that served as a disadvantage to the more experienced contestants.

Sergio Mora is listed to appear on the recently announced Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz card July 31 at Mandalay Bay, although no opponent has been announced.

Smith has stated that he is open to bouts at either junior middleweight or middleweight.

Ishe Smith turned professional in 2000, and has captured NABO, WBC Continental, and USBA welterweight titles. Becoming a household name by participating in NBC’s The Contender in 2005, Smith has since appeared on national television numerous times.

Along with holding several marquee victories Smith has also shared the ring with Floyd Mayweather, Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosley, and Oscar De La Hoya as a sparring partner. Smith is based out of boxing’s capital city of Las Vegas, Nevada.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 5, 2010) – Hungarian-born and Germany based Zsolt “Mr. Lefthook” Bedak, the WBO No. 1 contender, fights outside of Europe for the first time in his pro career May 29 against WBO Junior Featherweight Champion Wilfredo “WV2” Vazquez, Jr., headlining the “Undefeated Champions” pay per view event, airing live in the United States from Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

“Undefeated Champions,” presented by PR Best Boxing in association with All Star Boxing, features three world title bouts. It is being distributed in the United States by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9 PM/ET – 6 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, and DISH Network, for a suggested retail price of only $34.95.

Boricua star Vazquez (18-0-1, 15 KOs), the son of a former world champion (Wilfredo Vazquez), makes his first title defense against unbeaten challenger Bedak (14-0-1, 12 KOs), who doesn’t believe fighting for the first time outside of Europe will be a problem for him.

“This will indeed be my first pro fight outside of Europe and, sure, this is a new situation for me,” Bedak explained. “However, I am not really concerned about this. Also, the champ is in a special situation because it can be even harder to fight in one’s hometown as fans, friends, family, sponsors, etc. can put quite some pressure on a boxer defending his title and not wanting to disappoint them.”

Bedak, 26, captured the WBO European and WBO Inter-Continental super bantamweight titles last year. “This will, of course, be my most important fight and it’s an honor for me to be shown in television in the U.S.,” Zsolt added. “I expect a fair and open fight. I am prepared to go 12 rounds – I always do — and would not be surprised if the fight goes the full distance.

“I rely on a good combination of technique and power, as well as quick moves and jabs. Vazquez is a complete and very skilled fighter, offensively. I’ve fought four Latin fighters, so I have some experience with that style.”

WBO junior lightweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez (22-0-1, 14 KOs) makes the second defense of his title in the 12-round co-feature against WBO No. 10 rated Gonzalo “El Destructor” Mungia (17-6-3, 13 KOs) Martinez, rated No. 3 by The Ring, takes on the reigning WBO Latino super featherweight title-holder, Nicaraguan challenger Mungia.

The third world title fight on this explosive, highly-entertaining card matches females Hanna Gabriel (9-0-1, 5 KOs) and Gardy Pena (9-1-2, 6 KOs) for the vacant WBO super welterweight crown in a 10-round bout. Fighting on the undercard are the Arroyo twins, bantamweight McJoe (1-0, 1 KO) and McWilliams (1-0, 1 KO), the former Puerto Rican Olympians. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Integrated Sports Media: North America’s leading distributor of International Pay-Per-View and Closed Circuit sports events has presented World Championship and world-class boxing matches featuring Erik Morales, Ricky Hatton, Cristian Mijares, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., Ivan Calderon, Rocky Martinez, Nicolai Valuev, Amir Khan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Arthur Abraham, David Haye, John Ruiz, Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr. and Ruslan Chagaev. In addition, Integrated Sports Media distributed numerous International soccer matches showcasing teams like Club America of Mexico and the National Teams of Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador and the USA, as well as World Championship and world-class mixed martial arts shows featuring Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Bobby Lashley, Bob Sapp, Jeff Monson, and Roy Nelson. For more information on upcoming Integrated Sports events visit www.integratedsportsnet.com.

10+ Great Bouts, Including a Women’s Title Bout and 2 Feature Bouts.

WHAT: Live Amateur Boxing

WHEN: Sat. May 8, 2010

WHERE: “Historic” Slovenian Nat’l Ballroom

(6417 St. Clair Ave. / Cleveland, OH 44103)

This Saturday night, May 8, amateur boxing returns to the Slovenian Nat’l Ballroom in Cleveland for “BATTLE IN THE BALLROOM” The 10-plus bout event is being promoted locally by The West Side Boxing Club, in association with Kincaid-Godhard Promotions. The event will be the second this year for the Cleveland-based promotional company. Last January, they held the excellent “War at the Armory” card in Brook Park. Like that event, “BATTLE IN THE BALLROOM” is sure to be a fun night watching some of the best amateur fighters in the area.

In the first feature bout, 2008 Cleveland Golden Gloves champion, and fan favorite, Brian ‘The Korean Brawler’ Park (West Side B.C.) will take on Latiss Norman (Cory Fight Club) in a 152-pound match-up. In the co-feature, the best female lightweight in Ohio will be decided when Jessica Eye (Strong Style MMA) takes on Lauren Coney (PAL/Thurgood) at 132-pounds. Eye, the reigning women’s National Amateur Mixed Martial Arts champion, is undefeated as a fighter. Lauren Coney is an accomplished boxer, with many fights under her belt. Their fight is just one of three women’s bouts on the card.

In addition to the two feature bouts, “BATTLE IN THE BALLROOM” will also showcase at least eight main card bouts.

At 119-pounds, female fighters Eve Santiago and Asia Smith (PAL/Thurgood) will square off. At 132-pounds, there are three fights on the card. Former Cleveland Golden Gloves champ Greg Gilbert (West Side B.C.) will take on 2010 CGG’s runner-up Kenneth Brown (Cudell Rec.). Nick Titschinger (Playland MMA) will square off against Christian Colon (Raul Torres B.C.). With Ashley Barnett taking on Carrie Fiol (Warren B.C.), in one of the three female bouts.

There will be two fights on the card at 165-pounds. 2010 CGG’s runner-up Matt Brown (Terminator B.C.) will take on 2010 CGG’s participant Dequilla Smith (PAL/Thurgood). The two men did not meet up in this year’s Gloves, so it could make for an interesting match-up. Also at 165-pounds, well experienced amateurs Kenny Brown (Empire B.C.) and Josh Kroesen (Warren B.C.) will square off.

At 185-pounds, Brandon Radiwiec (Freddy’s B.C.) will fight Rohar Canales (Raul Torres B.C.), in one of two bouts in the weight class. The other will pin 2010 CGG’s participant David Frum (Terminator B.C.) against John Kutitus (Raul Torres B.C.)

Also at “BATTLE IN THE BALLROOM” will be one preliminary high school bout, featuring Christian White (Terminator B.C.) taking on Daniel Caldera (Freddy’s B.C.) in a match-up of 170-pounders.

Other fighters listed on the card, but yet to have opponents are Ryan Forbes, Jason Chisar and Gabrielle Conway. Forbes was the 2010 CGG’s runner-up in the 178-pound ‘Open’ division.

Only a limited amount of tickets remain for “BATTLE IN THE BALLROOM”. Tickets start at just $15 and can be purchased through the Kincaid-Godhard Promotions box office at (440) 223-7409 or on-line at ProBoxingOhio.com.

The Slovenian Nat’l Ballroom is located at 6417 St. Clair Avenue in Cleveland. The event will provide free parking and adult refreshments for purchase. Fights start at 7:30 pm.

West Side Boxing Club is a nonprofit 501C tax-exempt club that works with underprivileged teens and young adults to use boxing as a tool to build character, enrich social development, and gain athletic achievements.

Boxing, unlike most other athletic endeavors, is a sport that one can leave for a long period of time and pick up again down the road. Most fighters pick up the sport at a very young age, and often times get burnt out once or twice in their lifetime before returning to the ring. Back in 2003 and 2004, DonYil Livingston was among the top amateur fighters in the nation. Livingston came close to winning national titles on several occasions, competed at international events representing the United States and had his eye on making the U.S. Olympic squad. When things did not work out, Livingston eventually took a step away from the sport. After a couple years Livingston’s love for the fight game caught back up to him, and he made the decision to return to the ring. On Thursday night at the Circus Disco in Hollywood, California, Livingston will make his professional debut in what he hopes is just step one on the road back to national prominence.

Livingston, who fights out of Palmdale, California, found boxing on a fluke as a ten-year old. “I went to a park to play football during the summer of ’96,” recalled Livingston. “Based on my age and weight, they told me I was too big to play for my age and weight class. As my father and I were exiting the park, I heard a loud pounding inside of a gym. I poked my head in and saw some guys hitting the bag and inside of the ring. We talked to the coach, he gave us a waiver to fill out and we came back the following day. Since that next day I have grown to love boxing.”

Livingston quickly developed into one of the top junior Olympic division fighters, winning national and international titles. At just 16-years-old, Livingston moved into the open division to become one of the top amateur middleweight boxers in the country. “Everybody that I competed against, everybody that I came up with, they are now either title holders or top contenders as professionals,” says Livingston. “I sit back and look at some guys and I am happy for them, but I think to myself that I should be right next to them.”

Competing in national and international competitions in 2003, Livingston would fight some of the top fighters in pro boxing today. At the 2003 U.S. Championships, Livingston would lose by decision to eventual U.S. Olympian Andre Dirrell in the quarterfinals. Livingston also fought reigning WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal at a May 2003 dual in Canada. At the 2003 National PAL Championships, Livingston made it to the finals, before losing to present day prospect Joe Greene.

The following February, Livingston’s dreams of making the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team ended with a preliminary round loss to Jorge Hernandez of Lompoc, California. Livingston would continue his amateur career, including advancement to the quarterfinals of the 2004 National Golden Gloves, but eventually his commitment to amateur boxing would wane.

“After the ’04 Western Trials I stayed in it for a couple years and then I took a couple years off from boxing because I was ready to turn pro,” recalls Livingston. “Mentally I was tired of the amateurs, and I was ready to go pro. All of my friends, all of my peers were going pro. For me to stick around in the amateurs, I didn’t have the hunger for it anymore. So I stepped away from the sport, because if you are not 110 percent into the sport, both mentally and physically, you can seriously get hurt. So I stepped away until I had my mind completely made up.”

In his time away, Livingston’s love for the sport of boxing haunted him at times. “I love boxing and I have been in love with boxing,” says Livingston. “Everything I have been doing, whether it was sports or life in general, I have always found a way to tie it back to boxing. I was getting ready for the Sheriff’s Academy, and we were out there running and everything, but for some reason everyday at five o’clock, I would think to myself I should be at the gym training. I would watch various fights on TV, and I would think I could dominate this guy. My heart and my love is boxing.”

Coming to the realization he was not done with the sport, Livingston made the decision to turn pro. “I couldn’t continue going on, pushing it to the side, because I would have gone miserable. I don’t want to be one of those guys that says later, ‘I could of’ or ‘I should of’. So now I came back and I am ready to go. It is a few years later, but we are more hungry than we were then.”

Livingston’s professional career begins Thursday against Lamar Horne (2-5, 1 KO) of San Diego, California, who is a replacement for a less experienced fighter. The late change in opponents does not bother the well composed Livingston. “When I train, I am not the type to study fighters,” reveals Livingston. “I train to defeat myself. Not to belittle anyone, or overlook anyone, but I know the type of fighter that I am. I am a very talented, very blessed fighter. I look at it that I train to defeat me, and I know I can’t defeat me.”

Livingston, who competed mainly at the 165-pound middleweight class as an amateur, will debut at super middleweight as a pro, but may make the move down to 160-pounds in time. Now matter the weight class, Livingston is just about done waiting, and ready to get back to fighting. “It has been a long journey and I am ready to continue this ride.”

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

LOS ANGELES/PHILADELPHIA, May 4 – ‘The City of Brotherly Love’s’ finest will be back home and ready to fight on Friday, May 7 when Danny Garcia and the Dargan brothers – Karl and Mike – step through the ropes at The Arena (formerly The New Alhambra) in Philadelphia in featured bouts on the next edition of TeleFutura’s “Sólo Boxeo Tecate”.

In the 10 round main event, welterweight Danny “Swift” Garcia looks to keep his unbeaten record intact when he takes on veteran Christopher “Kid Kayo” Fernandez. The co-featured bout of the evening will see lightweight Karl “Dynamite” Dargan in a six round bout against Miami’s Jorge Ruiz, and in a junior middleweight battle scheduled for four rounds, Mike “Sharp” Dargan battles Jason Montgomery.

Garcia vs. Fernandez is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Joe Hand Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate. Doors open at 7:00pm, the first bell rings at 7:30pm and the TeleFutura broadcast begins at 11:30pm ET/PT.

Tickets, priced at $100, $65, and $45, are on sale now at The Arena Box Office and by calling 215-364-9000.

Perhaps the top junior welterweight prospect in the game today, 22-year-old Danny Garcia (16-0, 10 KO’s) has passed all his tests since turning professional in 2007. He has gone 6-0 in since the beginning of 2009 with big wins over Pavel Miranda, Enrique Colin and Ashley Theopane. Now, he returns home on May 7 to dazzle his Philly fans once again.

Salt Lake City’s Christopher Fernandez (18-9-1, 10 KO’s) has been the measuring stick to determine which of today’s top young fighters can graduate to the next level. Having already faced world champions Devon Alexander and Paulie Malignaggi, the 34-year-old “Kid Kayo” is looking for a win on May 7 and to show the world that Danny Garcia is not ready for prime time.

Seen by many boxing insiders as a future world champion, Karl Dargan (7-0, 3 KO’s) is back in Philadelphia to show his hometown fans what he picked up while training in the camp of a current Welterweight World Champion Sugar Shane Mosley. One of the nation’s top amateurs for years, Dargan is staying busy and ready to make his move on the best at 135 pounds in 2010. In the opposite corner on Friday will be Miami veteran Jorge Ruiz (7-11-1).

Back in action after a nearly five year layoff, 27-year-old Mike Dargan (1-1) is also returning from an intense training camps with future Hall of Famers, Bernard Hopkins and Mosley. Dargan has a renewed determination to make it to the top, and the junior middleweight standout is sure to be trouble for Hayward, California’s unbeaten Jason Montgomery (1-0).

In off-TV action, Philadelphia will also be well represented by middleweight Latif Mundy (8-2, 3 KO’s) and debuting 154-pounder Julian Williams, who will take on Trenton, NJ’s Joshua Onyango (15-18-1, 9 KO’s) and Brockton, MA’s Antonio Fernandez (0-4) respectively.

A cruiserweight four round bout will see unbeaten Reading, Pennsylvania prospect Julio Matthews (9-0, 5 KO’s) putting his perfect record on the line against an opponent to be named.

Two light heavyweight bouts are on tap, with unbeaten Utica, NY native Andy Mejias (5-0, 1 KO) taking on Dover, Delaware’s Todd Eriksson (1-3-1, 1 KO), and Morristown, New Jersey’s Andre Espeut facing Philly battler Charles Hayward (2-2, 1 KO). Both fights are scheduled for four rounds.

Opening the show will be a four round junior lightweight fight between New Jersey’s own Jose Ortiz (3-2, 1 KO) and Jason Sosa (2-0, 1 KO).

For more information, please visit www.univision.net, www.goldenboypromotions.com, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing.

Just a week after he lost a gruelling Heavyweight fight Chris Arreola was in Las Vegas to watch the Welterweight Super fight between Floyd Mayweather & Shane Mosley. When asked about where he goes next Arreola told me that he will be having a rematch with Tomasz Adamek in New Jersey at the end of August.

It seems a logical fight, both guys were well matched and can make good money in a rematch. It’s also interesting that the fight will go to the East coast where Adamek is extremely popular. Arreola lost a majority decision by scores 117-111 & 115-113 against 114-114. Though he hurt Adamek on several occasions.

SAN ANTONIO (April 23, 2010): Arts Center Enterprises (ACE), an innovative theatrical management and development company that manages the Majestic Theatre, is working with Bellator Fighting Championships, a pioneer in tournament-style mixed martial arts promotion, to bring world-class MMA to the Majestic and to a national television audience May 27.

The event, scheduled for 6 PM May 27, is on sale now. Doors open at 5:15 PM. Tickets begin at $25. Limited ringside seating is available at $145 per ticket. Charge tickets by phone at 800.745.3000, order online at www.ticketmaster.com, or purchase in person at all Ticketmaster outlets, including the Majestic Box Office.

Bellator, currently in its second season, became the first MMA promotion in history to be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks during its highly successful first season. The event now reaches virtually every home in the U.S. after forging a groundbreaking TV distribution alliance through FOX Sports Net, NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

Bjorn Rebney, Bellator Sport Worldwide founder and CEO, said, “We are extremely excited to partner with ACE and appreciate their willingness to help us present our very innovative, nationally televised tournament-style MMA event in the unique environment of the historic Majestic Theatre.”

ACE Executive Director Kirk Feldmann noted that ACE was approached by the Bellator team earlier this Spring. In an account of ACE’s decision process to work with Rebney, Feldmann stated:

“The opportunity to host a unique, non-traditional sporting event here at the Majestic was genuinely intriguing. Being able to premiere this show in San Antonio in conjunction with how it would place the Majestic and our City in front of a national television audience were contributing factors in our decision to proceed. Recent engagements of the Bellator brand at historic theatres such as the Chicago Theatre and the Wang Center for the Performing Arts in Boston added to our decision to bring a professional sporting event into a proscenium theatre environment.”

“We are proud to continue to find new ways of attracting diverse audiences to the Majestic Theatre and reinforce our position as a venue for the entire community,” added Feldmann.

For venue information, visit www.MajesticEmpire.com. For more information about Bellator, visit www.Bellator.com.

About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company with offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. Bellator’s founder/CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production, television production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.

The Historic Majestic Theatre

The Majestic Theatre is located at 224 E. Houston Street in the heart of downtown San Antonio, Texas. Built in 1929 by John Eberson for Interstate Theatres, the Majestic was intended to be the most modern building in South Texas and was the first in the state to be totally air-conditioned. The Majestic remains one of the finest examples of atmospheric theatres ever built, receiving National Historic Landmark status in 1993. Purchased in 1988 by the City of San Antonio, the Majestic, along with the neighboring Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, was renovated at a cost of $15 million. Since 1989, ACE has hosted over 5 million patrons and receives no operating subsidies from the City of San Antonio.

First Offense
Last weekend’s Locked In The Cage: First Offense in Leesburg, Virginia as an “all amateur” show with explosive results. Fans were on their feet screaming for more as LITC provided a lightning fast KO, several TKOs and submissions and only one fight ended in decision.
With 5 submissions on the evening, choosing the submission of the night wasn’t an easy task but the bout between Coalition Fight Club’s Kevin Rohrer and Warpath’s Tyrone Chrisjohn stands out. Persevering through early an early takedown and obvious man-handling, Rohrer was able to lock in an arm bar early and even survive a slam to the ground from Chrisjohn (in an unsuccessful attempt to free his arm). Rohrer locked the submission hold tighter and said after the fight, “I want a title shot on June 26th”. With his submission of the night victory, rumors say he’ll get his title shot soon.

Locked In The Cage is known for action and they didn’t disappoint fans with the fight of the night between Alex Conover and Nah-Shon Burrell. A non stop action packed fight that showed all the elements of MMA, fans witnessed another war leading to a decision. For all the Locked In The Cage: First Offense action and to see the rest of the TKOs and submissions, go to http://www.gofightlive.tv/showEvent.do?eventId=684. today and watch the LITC event with GFL’s Video On Demand feature.

Sport Fight X – Showdown On The Southside
The SportFight X era in the southeast US has begun. Certainly an event filled with great fights, including a triangle choke you can’t miss, the intense anticipation was filling the packed house at the Georgia World Congress Center. The main event matchup between Douglas Lima “the Phenom” and Cortez “Hollywood” Coleman, was of the highest anticipated fight tournaments in Georgia MMA history. “The REDLINE Grand Prix,” sponsored by Redline VPX, was filled with battles and the main event was nothing but the same.

As the 3rd and final round started, both fighters stood facing each other, hearts pounding, dripping in sweat and stomachs in knots, it would be hard to imagine what was going through their heads. Each man had a look of determination and hope in their eyes after 2 rounds of fierce fighting, in where each fighter had failed to finish the other, the 3rd round proved once again, through heart and skill, there’s always a winner. To see the exciting outcome to the main event and to watch all the amazing bouts SportFight X had to offer fans, go to http://www.gofightlive.tv/showEvent.do?eventId=680 and watch the Video On Demand.

Available Wednesday May 5 on-demand on GFL!

Professional boxing returned to the Rubber City of Akron, Ohio as Hall of Fame Boxing and Promotions hosted their inaugural event. The Chapparell Center, which has been home to many professional boxing and MMA events over the years, once again played host to a action packed 6 bout card.

Andy “Magnifico” Mejias remained undefeated 6-0 (2) with a 3rd TKO victory over Randy “The Rattler” Campbell.

John “Tex” Stallings defeated Jerome “Joe Thunder” Black with a 3rd round TKO. Stallings a accomplished MMA fighter captured his first victory as a professional boxer.

Kimdo “X-Factor” Boykins remained undefeated 3-0 (3) as referee George Nichols reached the count of 10 late in the 1st round as C.J. “Heavy Hands” Glover could not withstand the punishing assault by Boykins.

Fan favorite Jason “Big Daddy” Massie remained undefeated 4-0 (3) with a 2nd round TKO over “Lethal Lee Thomas.

Kenyon Graham evened his record 1-1 with a 4 round majority decision of debuting Dominic “The Punnisher” Qurazzo. Judges Jim Price and Mike Wick scored the contest 40-36 for Graham as Judge John Kikta saw the contest 38-38.

The main event saw ring veteran Joseph “The Most Beautiful Thing In Boxing” Rabotte tweak out a 6 round majority decision over fan favorite DeAndre “Showtime” McCole. Judges John Kikta and Mike Wick scored the contest 57-55 and Judge Jim Price saw it even at 56-56.

Hall of Fame Boxing and Promotions will be returning in early July 2010. For more information on Hall of Fame Boxing and Promotions visit their web site at www.hofboxingandpromotions.com

Upset in a closely contested fight by hard-nosed journeyman Jason Gavern this past April, heavyweight contender Manuel Quezada expressed his desire to get his conqueror back in the ring as soon as possible in the bout’s immediate aftermath. Quezada, who had been riding an 18-fight win streak, was on cusp of some potentially big fights before the split decision verdict was announced. On May 8th, exactly one month after their first encounter, Quezada will get his chance at redemption in a ten-round rematch on the Paul Williams-Kermit Cintron undercard at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Their first meeting, which took place on Quezada’s home turf at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California, was an entertaining scrap, especially by heavyweight standards. Quezada (29-5, 18 KOs) of Wasco, California had a solid first round, but both fighters agreed that the momentum of the bout changed directions after an accidental head clash bothered the local favorite in the second round. “I came out ready to fight, but I wasn’t the same after the headbutt and the cut,” admitted Quezada recently. “After that, it was all downhill for me. I got into fighting his fight instead of fighting my fight. I am not going to let that happen this time. The cut actually healed really good, so we are ready to go and I can’t wait.”

Gavern (19-7-3, 8 KOs) of Kissimmee, Florida seemed to gain confidence in that second round and turned up his offense as the fight progressed. What resulted was a heated action fight, which Goossen Tutor Promotions has made available in its entirety on YouTube. “I was able to watch [the fight] and see our mistakes,” said Quezada. “We are going to correct those mistakes and be ready for May 8th.”

Aiding in Quezada’s preparation for the rematch will be the return of famed trainer Joe Goossen to his camp. Goossen joined the Quezada team in early 2009, prior to a fifth-round knockout of Eric Boose. Quezada reeled off two first-round kayos and a ten-round decision in his next three fights, but a scheduling conflict made working with Goossen prior to the first Gavern bout unfeasible. “We didn’t go to camp with Joe because he was really busy with Edison Miranda, getting ready for his fight,” explained Quezada. “Everything is good now. We are back with Joe and getting ready for this fight.”

The end goal of the Gavern rematch for Quezada is to erase the damage the first defeat did to his world ranking and prospects of landing a big fight. Quezada had been ranked by the WBC as high as #4 in late 2009 and was still in the top ten at the time of the Gavern bout. While there was movement above and below him in the WBC rankings, Quezada found himself frozen out of the action as the year began. “It was hard. We were in the top ten in the WBC and we couldn’t get any fights,” explained Quezada. “We were out of the ring for six months almost. It gets frustrating, but that is part of the business and we can’t really do much about it. We just have to wait our turn.”

If Quezada is able to turn the tables on Gavern in emphatic fashion on May 8th, he could see his turn come up sooner rather than later. “We are going to give the best performance we can give, so we can stay in the top ten and they can see that the loss was just something that happened and that we are back where we left off,” says Quezada. The Wasco native knows what to expect this time out, and the fans in attendance at the Home Depot Center should know to expect fireworks. “Gavern always comes to fight, but we are just going to be ready for him, so you are definitely going to see an exciting fight.”

Photo by Jason Pachura

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

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