EVERY BOXING DATE & EVENT EVER IN MAY!
May 12,
1902: Joe Gans KO 1 Frank Erne, Ft. Erie, Ontario. Wins World Lightweight Title.
1916: Sam Langford KO 7 Joe Jeanette, Syracuse.
1941: Joey Archibald W 15 Harry Jeffra, Washington D.C. Regains World Featherweight Title.
1962: Harold Johnson W 15 Doug Jones, Philadelphia. Wins vacant World Light Heavyweight Title.
Louie Espinosa born.
1977: Jeff Lacy born.
1981: Antonio Avelar KO 7 Shoji Oguma, Mito, Japan. Wins WBC Flyweight Title.
1991: Terrence Alli W 12 Charles Murray, Rochester.
2001: Felix (Tito) Trinidad KO 5 William Joppy, NYC. Wins WBA Middleweight Title.
Vernon Forrest W 12 Raul Frank, NYC. Wins vacant IBF Welterweight Title.
2006: Vicente Mosquera W 12 Jose Pablo Estrella, Cordoba, Argentina. Retains WBA Super Featherweight Title. For the complete month “May & Boxing History” READ MORE…
Lamont Peterson
New York, NY- By now boxing fans have gotten the news that the Amir Khan (26-2 19 KOs) versus Lamont Peterson (30-1-1 15 KOs) jr. welterweight (140 lb.) title bout has been cancelled. This is because Peterson has been flagged as a user of a banned substance via the comprehensive testing of VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association). VADA is similar to USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), the entity being utilized by Floyd Mayweather beginning with Shane Mosley in 2010. The testing protocols of these agencies are designed to catch cheating athletes who otherwise would pass standard testing procedures. So Far Mayweather and his opponents have come back clean.
TESTOSTERONE IS A STEROID!
For Lamont Peterson, the banned substance has been reported as synthetic testosterone, a substance Peterson admitted to using prior to his signature victory over Amir Khan in December of last year. Ironically Peterson is the one who requested WADA testing in his rematch with Khan, only to himself get popped for using PED’s (Performance Enhancing Drugs) himself. Either team Peterson thought they wouldn’t get caught or somehow the idea of using drugs to improve Testosterone didn’t register as an obvious conflict for an athlete, despite stricter testing protocol. Either way, these missteps have tarnished Lamont’s clean image and may linger with him for the rest of his career.
IS TESTOSTERONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY VALID HERE? READ MORE…
Anne Mathis-Holly Holm
San Francisco, CA- When it comes to female fist-fighting, the sport, although there are more women boxing today, the “superstars” of women’s boxing is few and far between. At one point, Lucia Rijker, the unbeaten 17-0, 14 KOs) female who reportedly lost one fight, that being to a man in a mixed-match, was supposed to fight Christy Martin (49-5-3, 31 KOs) with each fighter getting $500,000 each. If I remember things correctly, Martin, who would have been the underdog, declined the offer.
HOLM HAS BUILT QUITE A FOLLOWING
Although she has lost twice, most recently a KO 7 (December 2011) to Anne Sophie Mathis (27-1, 26 KOs), Holly “Double H” Holm has sold out arenas in and around Albuquerque, NM both as a boxer and as an MMA fighter. The loss to the “rugged” Frenchwoman was devastating to Holm, but instead of lining up a slew of stiffs to fight, Holly told promoter Lenny Fresquez that she wanted to face Mathis again. The rematch is set for June 15 in Albuquerque.
MATHIS A NO “B.S.” TYPE OF PUGILIST READ MORE…
Brian Viloria
Friday, May 11, 2012
Texas Station Casino, Las Vegas, NV- (Showtime) Yudel Jhonson (12-0, 8 KOs) vs. Willie Nelson (17-1-1, 11 KOs) Odds/Prediction: Jhonson 13-5. Although giving up some experience, Yudel looks a level better here. Feeling lucky, thus I’ll put $260 to win $360.
Alexander Brand (17-0, 11 KOs) vs. Badou Jack (10-0, 8 KOs) Odds/Prediction: Brand 11-5. Colmbian favored over Swede.
EWS Arena, Goeppingen, Germany- Alexander Alekseev (23-2, 20 KOs) vs. Firat Arslan (32-5-1, 22 KOs) Odds/Prediction: AA 2-1. Alexander appears the better here, but it doesn’t look like a rout.
Mouez Fhima (21-1-1) vs. Goekalp Oezekler (12-1) Odds/Prediction: 6-5 Pick ‘Em. Looks like a close one will lean to Fhima.
BEST OF FOUR CARDS FRIDAY NIGHT IN ARGENTINA READ MORE…
Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather
San Francisco, CA- Having seen great match ups, fights considered epic not come off, the sun still came up the next day. That being said, the sport of boxing is at an all time low popularity wise in the United States and needs something super to make the world stop and look. This mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, was supposed to occur in 2010. Manny made demands that if Floyd came in overweight, he’d have to give up “$10 million for each pound he came in over 147.” Floyd agreed and countered with a demand that Pacquiao take “random drug tests,” to which Manny refused. That decision by Pacquiao killed the fight for 2010.
IS “RACE” THE REASON THIS FIGHT IS WANTED SO BADLY?
If the fight were to occur, I am of the opinion that it will be “all hype and little fight.” I mean if you look at the size, speed and skill levels that Mayweather has over Pacquiao, where’s the fight? While I’m no big fan of Floyd, I just don’t see the fiery Filipino being much of a challenge here. He’ll be looking at jabs and even more importantly eating right hand leads and left hooks like a kid does a bowl of Corn Flakes for breakfast.
MAYWEATHER IS SCORNED, ASIANS WANT TO BE #1 READ MORE…
Openly Gay Emile Griffith
San Francisco, CA- Having been born in a gay bastion, San Francisco, I was first exposed to Gay people when we lived on 22nd & Castro many decades ago. My father was aghast that two Gay men lived in the same building. After doing some work for them, his stance began to waver. When he found out that a childhood friend of his who was seriously ill in the hospital was Gay, my father, once super homophobic, made a 180-degree turn.
CIVIL RIGHTS SHOULD BE CLEARLY ILLUSTRATED
Black people are supposed (or alleged) to have equal rights, no longer do they have to ride in the back of the bus, women can vote, Gay fighters are permitted to box, Blacks can marry Whites, so why should we ban Gay people, somewhere between 15 & 25 % of the populace, deny them a right to the pursuit of happiness? Is it really any of our business what people do in their personal or domestic lives?
EMILE GRIFFITH IS “NOW” OPENLY GAY! READ MORE…
Brock Lesnar
San Francisco, CA- When I first heard the name, “Brock Lesnar,” he was a 270 lb. World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment) brute who to me looked so “monster-like” that if the WWE wasn’t scripted and based on “worked” (predetermined) matches, that he could kick anybody’s ass, maybe even the great “Andre The Giant,” again if the fights were real.
PRO WRESTLING CAREER PRIOR TO UFC
Brock Lesnar-Kurt Angle
LESNAR TRIED TO MAKE IT IN THE NFL READ MORE…
Dominick Cruz-Urijah Faber
San Francisco, CA- In boxing, participants get hurt while training, but no where close to the number of times Mixed Martial Arts fighters are injured. While it’s been a long time since a boxing match has been scratched due to injuries, the UFC, with their top star and welterweight (170 lbs) Georges St. Pierre on the shelf until November, is now joined by UFC bantamweight champion (135) Dominick Cruz, who tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament, one of the four major ligaments in the knee, while training for a June match with Urijah Faber in a battle of Season 13 Ultimate Fighter reality TV show coaches. This opens the door for Faber to fight somebody for the “interim” title. From all indications, Cruz will be out six to nine months.
UFC FIGHTERS “FREE SPEECH” THREATENED BY BEER SPONSOR?
The UFC has had a long going battle with the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas over the fact that the Station Casinos, owned by the Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta are non-union. Lorenzo and Frank together own 77% of the UFC (the Dubai Government has 13% and Dana White has a 10% stake). The union has put pressure on Anheuser Busch beer who sent a letter regarding UFC fighters making “unscripted” comments which might be offensive to certain demographics. Bowing to this pressure, the UFC is going to mandate their fighters attend “Sensitivity Classes.”
NATE DIAZ READY FOR UFC TITLE SHOT? READ MORE…
Saul Alavarez On The Offense
San Francisco, CA- As I sit with MacBook in lap, I’m in a quagmire when it comes to writing either boxing or MMA. Too many hot topics to write about, while at the same there is the fear that somebody will beat you to the story. So, what’s a guy to do? The headline gives it all away, but if you’re not catching on, the next big fight of 2012 will not involve either Manny Pacquiao or the man that would “own” him if they did fight, Floyd Mayweather. The fight that has the telephone lines between boxing’s powerbrokers, excluding Don King, Boob Arum or Gary Shaw, the top dog in the new generation of boxing shot callers Richard Schaffer of Golden Boy Promotions will be dealing directly with Miguel Cotto Promotions and the HBO PPV suits to insure that Saul Alvarez will be defending the WBC 154 lb. laurels against the man that gave Floyd Mayweather a good fight Saturday night, Miguel Cotto in September.
Miguel Cotto Wants Alvarez
For those that thought the Mayweather-Cotto fight was close, you’re either Puerto Rican like Cotto, a member of the Klu Klux Klan, or you don’t know the criteria in scoring professional boxing. For those of that don’t know the exact method of scoring a fight, I’ll break it down for you. 1) Clean punching. 2) Effective Aggressiveness. 3) Defense. 4) Ring Generalship. That being the way professional boxing is scored, if you can sit there with a straight face and say that Cotto was superior in any of these four categories, your nose is growing like Pinocchio. There is no getting around it, Mayweather was by far the superior fighter Saturday evening.
MEXICO VS. PUERTO RICO FIGHTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MONEYMAKERS! READ MORE…
FIVE YEARS SINCE HIS DEATH: DIEGO CORRALES, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE REALITY!
May 7th, 2012 By Pedro Fernandez
Diego "Chico" Corrales
San Francisco, CA- Today marks the five-year anniversary, and I always have a tough time associating the word anniversary with the loss of life, but tonight it’ll be five years since an inebriated Diego Corrales was killed driving his motorcycle in Las Vegas. Although he had a great mother, Olga who was always there when he would let her be,”Chico” as he was known to friends like a lot of people had great pluses and destructive minuses. When it came to boxing, a career that started outside of California, even though his family was then living in Sacramento, CA, Corrales was at one point “second to none” at 130 lbs. and was even in the top ten “pound for pound” lists of some pundits.
HAD HIGH IQ THAT FEW PUGILISTS POSSESS
Although alcohol precipitated his death, Diego was a complex guy who while realizing his boxing career was over, and that he had little money left to live on, more importantly he was very depressed at the on this day which is five turns of the Roman calendar ago, May 7, 2007. Involved in another marriage that was failing, as I said already, his boxing days were over, even though he was only three months or so shy of his 30th birthday. Said to be a “mean drunk” when he got boozed up, there were Felony Domestic Violence charges that landed him a stint in a California Prison Work Farm in 2001, stemming from a vicious assault on his spouse in 2000.
FLOYD FIGHT WAS ALL ABOUT PAYING OFF EX-WIFE & BILLS!
With jail just a few weeks away, an ill prepared and weight starved Corrales took a fight for “the money” with Floyd Mayweather and was stopped in ten frames. Upon his release from jail, although we were estranged after being friends for a few years because of the unbridled attack on the ex-wife, we patched things up at the Bernard Hopkins-Antwun Echols fight in Las Vegas. In a conciliatory tone, Corrales admitted his wrongdoings and said that he couldn’t blame me for writing the truth, but still it was painful.
DIEGO CORRALES HAD HIGH-HIGHS & LOW-LOWS! READ MORE…
LISTEN NOW “RING TALK BOXING & MMA HOUR” WITH JEFF MAYWEATHER & KYLE KINGSBURY
May 6th, 2012 By Pedro Fernandez
SUNDAY SHOW WAS A BOXING & MMA WRAP!
San Francisco, CA- On Sunday’s, we combine one hour of “Ring Talk” with half being on boxing, the other half on MMA. My boxing guest was trainer Jeff Mayweather and the discussion centered on Manny Pacquiao against Floyd Mayweather. Reviewing the UFC 3 card on FOX TV, as well as previewing the Strikeforce card on May 19 and the UFC 146 card on which UFC light heavyweight contender Kyle Kingsbury, will be fighting underneath UFC heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos & Frank Mier at UFC 146. To LISTEN NOW READ MORE…
Ex-World Champ Frankie Klick
San Francisco, CA- Some of you are probably scratching your heads after reading the title, so in order to fully clarify what I’m talking about, it’ll take a lot more additional verbiage. Having known professional boxers since I could first remember, Frankie Klick, who beat Kid Chocolate for the World 140 lb. crown in 1933 was the first pro I ever met. For the most part, Frankie was always on his back, drunk as a skunk, lying on the sidewalk somewhere on Cortland Ave in the Bernal Heights District of the beautiful City by The Bay.
NEVER FORGET HIS STORIES & MEMORY ISSUES
Frankie, who went 84-26-13, 24 KOs from 1929 to his last fight against an old friend of mine Al Citrino (who was knocked down 12 times by Henry Armstrong, decades before training Pat Lawlor to wins over ex-champs Roberto Duran, Wilfredo Benitez and Rene Arrendondo) in 1943, when he was sober would tell me about the great fighters of his era, Joe Louis, Armstrong, Ray Robinson, even Archie Moore. But he never put himself at their level, admitting that he was brought in to lose to Kid Chocolate, pulled off what amounted to like a 20-1 upset, and lost his next fight, a non-title affair before he defended and lost the championship in 1934 to Barney Ross. My old man said, and Frankie readily admitted that he had been beaten up many times in his career.
ALMOST EVERY FIGHTER GETS BEATEN UP!
I can go through a list of fighters, some local, some national, a few amateurs, but mainly professionals that were beaten up and the residual effects of such are telling today. Bobby Chacon, as goofy as he got from being beaten up, I introduced him once at the California Boxing Hall of Fame and he went up and admitted he was “brain damaged.” Said Bobby, “I’m a fighter and that’s what happens.”
UNBEATEN & “UNBEATEN UP” TWO DIFFERENT THINGS READ MORE…
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For years, Nate Diaz has been in the shadow of his older brother, controversial UFC welterweight contender Nick. But after Nate’s impressive showing Saturday in a nationally televised bout at the Izod Center, that may no longer be the case. The younger Diaz put on a superlative performance in defeating one of the UFC’s top lightweights, Jim Miller, in front of Miller’s hometown fans. Diaz won via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:09 of the second round.
“I went out there and trained hard for this, and the fight was even harder than I thought,” said Diaz (16-7). “He was a tough dude but things went good.” Diaz won a tight, fast-paced first round. Then he really opened up in the second round. The Stockton, Calif., native repeatedly dropped his arms and taunted Miller, causing Miller to charge at Diaz and miss with wild strikes. Diaz responded with crisp offense, mixing his punches, elbows and knees, as he slowly softened up Miller for the finish. READ MORE…
Victorious Floyd Mayweather
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Las Vegas, NV- Floyd Mayweather, (151 lbs), Las Vegas, NV UD 12 Miguel Cotto, (154), Caguas, Puerto Rico. (WBA 154 lb title) Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs) in his toughest test to date does what he has always done, win and win in impressive manner. A relentless Cotto (37-3, 30 KOs) just couldn’t connect cleanly with a defensive wizard like Mayweather. Cards were 117-111 twice and 118-110.
ALVAREZ BEATS MOSLEY INTO DEMENTIA?
Saul Alvarez, (154), Jalisco, Mexico UD 12 Shane Mosley, (154), Pomona, CA. (WBC 154 lb title) Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs) cut over his left eye early by an accidental Mosley (46-8-1, 39 KOs) head butt, bled throughout the fight. The crimson didn’t detour the Mexican hero on Cinco De Mayo as battered the veteran Mosley as if he were a human punching bag. Nazim Richardson, Shane’s respected trainer, should have stopped the fight after round ten. READ MORE…
Dave "The Genius" Meltzer
San Francisco, CA- When it comes to writers, ther has never been a scribe that I’ve enjoyed and learned more from than Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and WrestlingObserver.com The man is a virtual encyclopedia on every form of MMA, every fight, every fighter, I’m telling you nobody knows more than Dave when it comes to the new era of combat sports. That being said, Meltzer was the sole guest on the “Ring Talk MMA Hour” and he rocked! To LISTEN NOW READ MORE…