OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — Light heavyweight Billy Bailey has been in this role before. In fact, he has made it a habit to find himself starring across the ring at an undefeated prospect, or a tough contender, in a situation where he is not the guy expected to win. It has not always gone his way, but sometimes it does. Two things are for sure however. That prospect will be tested, perhaps like never before, and Billy Bailey will have given the ticket buyer ringside their money’s worth when the fight is over. Tonight on the Andre Ward-Allan Green undercard at the Oracle Arena, Bailey takes on emerging light heavyweight prospect Mark Tucker.

Bailey (10-7, 4 KOs) of Bakersfield, California comes into this fight with the bitter taste of a controversial eight-round majority decision loss to Danny Santiago less than one month ago. The fight took place in Santiago’s home state of Florida. “I kind of learned to pick and choose the places that have the reputation of having a good commission, and a fair and straight-up commission,” said Bailey, who has fought in six different states or provinces in his last six fights. “Florida is one of those places, they have a good reputation. You try to do that, but sometimes it doesn’t turn out that way. That wasn’t fairness at all.”

After eight-rounds that Santiago helped make look ugly, Bailey was denied victory by two points on one card, and a head-scratching four points on another. “The ref called the guy at least twenty times for holding and there was never a point deduction, which I believe would have changed the whole course of the fight. That is all the guy did, run and hold, and I don’t know how you can win a fight that way.”

Putting the Santiago fight quickly in the rearview mirror, Bailey makes a long overdue return to California tonight against Tucker. “It is nice to fight in my home state, so much so that I realize when I see the Commission they recognize me, but so much time has gone by, there is no real recent conversation,” said Bailey Friday. “It is great to fight California. It has just been so long since I have done they hit me with the sixty dollar licensing fee. It has been so long since I have paid it.”

In Mark Tucker, Bailey will be fighting a bit of an unknown to him. “I haven’t seen too much film of him,” admitted Bailey. “There has been a few brief clips, but I think they pulled most of what there was on him off [of the internet]. He’s had some close decisions and there was some decent wins against guys kind of on their way down. I guess we will find out tomorrow night, but I feel pretty good about the fight.”

If his quote from a recent press release is accurate, Tucker watched some tape on Bailey. “Billy comes to win and has pulled off upsets in the past, so I had a terrific camp to properly prepare,” said the taller Tucker (13-0, 7 KOs) of Eldersburg, Maryland. The fight is for the vacant WBO NABO Youth Light Heavyweight title, which is an indication to Bailey that he may have not been their first choice for the fight. “It means that I am just the guy to fill the card on that slot basically,” said Bailey, 32-years-old. “You know they weren’t thinking about me. This guy just signed with DiBella, so it is all about him.” Age and experience could play a factor in the fight, and Bailey feels both favor him. “California, regardless of what anybody says, has a lot tougher circuit than most places, regardless of where you go. I think he is used to the guys out there, and I believe this is a different story, but we will find out tomorrow night.”

Over the course of his career, Bailey has earned a reputation for seeking tough fights and giving tough fights to good fighters. Tomorrow should prove no different. “When I see a guy that has the same experience level as I do, I am not intimidated about that,” states Bailey. “I don’t think so much about my reputation, I think more about wanting to go in and do my best and train hard and win the fight. And wherever that takes me I believe that is up to God.”

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — The build-up for the final Group Stage 2 bout of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, extended by two months due to injury, has finally reached its crescendo and all that is left is the fight itself. Andre Ward, the top super middleweight regardless of where some boxing publications rank him, defends his WBA Super Middleweight title for the first time against longtime contender Allan Green tonight at the Oracle Arena. The two counterparts got one last look at each other after weighing in Friday afternoon at the Hilton Oakland Airport.

Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) of Oakland will enter the ring tonight in his new role as the betting favorite to win the entire Super Six tournament. Ward found himself in that role by knocking off the number one 168-pounder in the world, and the original favorite, Mikkel Kessler in his last fight. Tonight’s fight also marks the first time in many years that a native San Francisco Bay Area fighter will be defending his world title in the Bay Area, once a thriving boxing hotbed.

Opposing Ward is the formidable tournament newcomer, Green (29-1, 20 KOs) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who replaced Jermain Taylor after his scary knockout loss to Arthur Abraham last year. Green has been on the cusp of title contention for several years, but never before fought for a world title. Despite the lack of a big fight victory on his ledger, Green was disgusted that he was left off the original Super Six roster and hopes to show the odds-makers why he deserved the sixth spot from the beginning.

Somewhat ironically this is a fight that could have happened two or three years ago. Ward’s promoter Dan Goossen had attempted to put his promising young star in with Green then, but for whatever reason the talks ultimately broke down. Following a Ward victory in San Jose, California, Goossen even told the media on hand that he would not revisit the Green fight because of how poorly the negotiations went. In the two years that followed, advertently or inadvertently, Ward found another way of proving his superiority over Green: by beating old Green opponents more convincingly than Green had, and by beating Green’s lone conqueror, Edison Miranda.

Earlier in the week, those two other opponents, Rubin Williams and Jerson Ravelo, went on record by picking Ward to win tonight. In any event, a fight that would have been a pick ‘em contest two years ago, is not such today, but a compelling fight nonetheless. It is also a fight that could determine much of how the rest of the Super Six tournament plays out. There are too many possible what if scenarios to play out here, but the who wins and how is crucial to every participant in the tournament. On top of everything, it matches two contrasting styles in and out of the ring which should translate to compelling entertainment for those looking on at the Oracle Arena and for those watching on Showtime. Before their final nose-to-nose meeting, Ward scaled 167 ¾-pounds, while Green came in at 166.

Heading up the off-television undercard, unbeaten Steve Upsher Chambers (21-1-1, 6 KOs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will take on venerable journeyman Hector Alatorre (16-9, 5 KOs) of Tulare, California in an eight-round welterweight fight. Chambers, who will fighting outside of his home state for the first time in his career, has fought all but one of his pro bouts at the Legendary Blue Horizon. Alatorre, who had an accomplished amateur career, is coming off of a tenth-round stoppage defeat to Victor Ortiz in February. Chambers scaled 144, while Alatorre weighed in at 142 ½-pounds.

Former amateur standout Michael Ruiz Jr. (2-0, 1 KO) of Fresno, California will see action against the pugnacious Juan Tepoz (4-2-1) of Santa Rosa, California in a four-round bantamweight fight. Ruiz, who scaled 117 ½, fought just last month and scored a devastating second-round knockout of Jose Pacheco on the Paul Williams-Kermit Cintron undercard in Carson, California. Tepoz, who weighed in at 118-pounds Friday, last fought in April, scoring a four-round decision over the same Jose Pacheco.

Making his debut under the DiBella Entertainment banner, Mark Tucker (13-0, 7 KOs) of Eldersburg, Maryland will take on the always tough Billy Bailey (10-7, 4 KOs) of Bakersfield, California for the vacant WBO NABO Youth Light Heavyweight title in an eight-rounder. Tucker has fought almost exclusively in his home state of Maryland, but has chalked up wins over a few faded, but notable names, including the aforementioned Rubin Williams. The streaky Bailey, coming in off of a controversial majority decision loss to former title challenger Danny Santiago in Florida, has fought a slew of prospects and been known to spring the occasional upset. Tucker originally scaled 175 ½-pounds, but was attempting to work off the extra one-half pound at press time. Bailey, a youthful 32-years-old, scaled 175-pounds even.

Welterweight prospect Willie Nelson (13-0-1, 8 KOs) of Cleveland, Ohio will take on former title challenger Jesse Feliciano (15-9-3, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada in an eight-round swing bout. Nelson, in the Paul Williams mold of a welterweight by standing 6’3” with a unique reach advantage over every opponent he meets, took the fight after Kendall Holt passed in order to give himself more time to prepare as he readies to launch a comeback. The well-traveled Feliciano is hoping to end a four-fight skid which has come against top notch competition. Nelson weighed in at 148-pounds, while Feliciano scaled 149.

Opening up the fight card, Alexander Podrezov (1-0) of Los Angeles, California by way of Sukhumi, Abkhazia will take on John Dunham (1-5-1) of Stockton, California in a four-round welterweight fight. Podrezov, who scaled 144-pounds, turned professional in March, posting a four-round decision over J.C. Saade. Dunham, who came in at 142-pounds, broke through to the win column for the first time in his career two weeks ago, as he bested debuting Herman Bacho after four-rounds in San Rafael, California.

Former WBC Lightweight Champion Jessica Rakoczy (31-3, 11 KOs) of Las Vegas had hoped to end a layoff of nearly a year tonight as she begins a campaign at featherweight, however her scheduled opponent inexplicably came in grossly overweight, prompting the California State Athletic Commission to cancel the bout. Ella Nunez (9-6-1, 2 KOs) of Jamestown, New York took the scales only to come in at 137 ½-pounds, some 11 ½ pounds over the contracted weight. Nunez, who has some solid wins on her resume, including a knockout of current titlist Kina Malpartida, may have thought close would be good enough. Nunez outweighed her last opponent, Melissa Hernandez, by eight pounds in February. A dejected Rakoczy weighed in at 124 ½-pounds, but will have to wait longer than she expected to return to the ring.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, Antonio Leonard T&T Productions and DiBella Entertainment, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBA Super Middleweight Championship, 12 Rounds
Ward 167 ¾
Green 166

Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Upsher Chambers 144
Alatorre 142 ½

Bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Ruiz Jr. 117 ½
Tepoz 118

WBO NABO Youth Light Heavyweight Championship, 8 Rounds
Tucker 175 ½*
Bailey 175

Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Podrezov 144
Dunham 142

Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Nelson 148
Feliciano 149

Featherweights, 6 Rounds
Rakoczy 124 ½
Nunez 137 ½
-Fight called off due to weight disparity

*Tucker attempting to lose ½ pound at press time.

Ward-Green Photo by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

Thus far, the Super Six World Boxing Classic has lived up to both its hype and intentions. Every match-up has produced a solid, if not exciting, fight. Outside of a draw, just about every possible outcome of a professional bout has occurred once. Some controversy, some thrills and some upsets. Other than Arthur Abraham, who scored the only knockout in the tournament to this point, every fighter involved is still at risk of being eliminated after Group Stage 3. The idealistic concept has turned into a reality. However, surely the main purpose when this whole thing began was to create one, if not more than one, boxing megastar. If that goal does come to fruition, the Super Six could truly be deemed a success. After only five fights, if you were to pick one fighter that could turn that objective into reality, that one fighter would be Andre Ward, the pride of Oakland, California, who takes on Allan Green tonight on Showtime.

This writer came to choose Ward as the potential “breakout star” of the tournament for many reasons, some obvious and some not. Let us start with the obvious. Andre Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) is the sole remaining undefeated fighter left in the Super Six. While often times too much weight is placed on that “O,” it does seem to mean a lot to the casual fan and the casual fan is the one a breakthrough star needs to attract. The diehard fans can decipher an undefeated record that is built up and one that has been earned. Ward has earned his undefeated record, most especially by supplanting Mikkel Kessler as the WBA Super Middleweight Champion and the top gun at 168-pounds last November.

Ward’s rise to the super middleweight throne was the realization of promise, and the disproving of doubt and it is that road which enriches his back-story. As one would expect for any Olympic Gold Medalist, the highest of hopes were held for Ward when he turned professional in 2004. However, shortly after he entered the paid ranks with an HBO-televised win, whispers started circling Ward. After getting buzzed by Kenny Kost in his second pro bout, and hitting the canvas in his seventh against Darnell Boone, the pundits began questioning his chin. When injuries to his hands or his knees stalled his career, some wondered if he would ever be physically able to reach the upper levels of the sport.

Much like the skinny-legged, junior lightweight version of Oscar De La Hoya who hit the canvas in the early stages of his career only to prove to have a sturdy chin, Ward seemingly did the same when he moved up from middleweight to 168-pounds in 2007. And while injuries can creep up at anytime, the fact that Ward healed quickly enough from a recent setback with one of his knees to make this weekend’s fight against Allan Green is a good sign for his future. Nothing can endear a fighter more to his fans than the ability to overcome, and Ward has proven he can do that.

Ward has an opportunity to take another leap towards superstardom when he defends his WBA title against Allan Green before his rapidly growing fan base at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. Just as styles make fights, differing personalities can add an intriguing side story to a prizefight. Ward has been a breath of fresh air for a sport that too often showcases fighters as they turn up their braggadocio to the nth degree. A modest, deeply spiritual family man that likes to let his fists do his talking, Ward shies away from boasting about his accomplishments at nearly any cost. Allan Green in many ways is the anti-Ward, a cocky trash-talker if there ever was one. This contrast, which has been played up to some degree by the Fight Camp 360° documentary series on Showtime, adds a second layer to an already intriguing fight. Should Ward win, it could be perceived by some, unfairly perhaps, as a victory of good over evil.

The general sporting public is always a sucker for a good human interest story and over the years boxing has provided many. When a fighter allows light to be shed on an emotional personal story it can go a long way in connecting them with fight fans. In recent weeks, some in the media have pointed out that Ward will defending his title, for the first time, on Father’s Day weekend. Frank Ward, Andre’s father, a former amateur fighter himself, introduced his son to boxing before passing away suddenly in 2002.

Andre never saw his father fight, since home video cameras had not yet made their way into widespread use, but that did not stop Frank from inspiring his son to pick up the sport he loved. “Listening to my dad, he was the ultimate competitor, like I feel I am,” Ward told Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s Greg Papa earlier this week. “And he did not like to lose. That being said, all I had to hear was some of my dad’s old war stories, and that was enough to introduce me and get me to want to start boxing. Just hearing his stories alone, and how passionate he was about preparing for fights and fighting in general, that was enough to make me want to become a boxer.”

Fighting on Father’s Day weekend does add additional motivation for Ward. “Father’s Day was [my dad’s] favorite holiday,” revealed Ward. “He never wanted me and my brother to buy him a card. He always wanted us to make him a card. Father’s Day was his day, so I am going to dedicate this fight to Nick Charles, the Showtime analyst battling cancer, but also to my father because Father’s Day was his day. Those are the type of things you use as a champion, and as a challenger, to drive you and push you to victory and I am going to use that Saturday night.”

Sports athletes are often propped up as heroes or role models, and more often than not they should not be. While no one should be held to the standard of being a role model for simply making their living in sport, Ward’s character allows you to feel comfortable tagging him in that way. It is for that reason more so than any other, that Ward has a chance to be the brightest star that emerges from the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he can fight too.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — Boxing returned to the City by the Bay for the first time in several years, as local welterweight prospect Karim Mayfield kayoed Sergio De La Torre in the main attraction before nearly 2,000 of his vocal supporters at the Kezar Pavilion on Saturday night.

Mayfield (13-0-1, 7 KOs) of nearby Daly City, California brought his home crowd to their feet early and often in five rounds of one-sided action. De La Torre (11-14-3, 1 KO) of Escondido, California had been stopped just three times prior to Saturday night, but he was clearly feeling Mayfield’s punches beginning with the first overhand right that was landed early in the first round. Mayfield jumped on his opponent right away, landing a flurry of clean punches with De La Torre leaning against the ropes. Clubbing overhand rights were the weapon of choice for Mayfield, 146.5, as he closed out a dominant first round.

De La Torre, 147, continued to show off his durable chin in the second round as a vicious right, left hook combination landed for Mayfield early on. However, it appeared a Mayfield overhand right forced a knockdown late in the round, but referee Jon Schorle ruled it was a push. Finally in the third, De La Torre began to crack, as a looping left scored the first official knockdown in the fight for Mayfield. De La Torre was downed again, this time by a three-punch combination, just before the end of the third.

To his credit, De La Torre kept coming forward, proving his gameness as the fight continued. Another overhand right stunned De La Torre in the fourth. Mayfield followed up with a left and right that forced the Escondido native to fall into the corner. While it was clear the turnbuckles kept De La Torre off of the mat, a knockdown was not ruled.

The knockdown count would prove to be academic, as a solid right would get De La Torre in trouble again late in the fifth. With the crowd anticipating the stoppage, Mayfield landed an overhand right and a left hook to prompt Schorle to call a halt to the bout at the 3:00 mark of the fifth. As Mayfield found himself hoisted on the shoulders of his team, much of the crowd rushed the ring to celebrate with their emerging boxing star.

Despite competing with San Francisco Giants-Oakland A’s interleague game taking place simultaneously down the highway at AT&T Park and the Andre Ward-Allan Green WBA Super Middleweight title fight which takes place across the Bay next weekend, Mayfield showed he could become the first boxing draw San Francisco has had in many years. That fact, coupled with his exciting style and flair for entertainment, could go along way in making him attractive to a major promoter – something he has been seeking since he turned professional in 2006.

In the co-feature, Tony Hirsch (12-3-1, 5 KOs) of Oakland, California scored a second-round knockout over pudgy journeyman Jovanni Rubio (6-12, 5 KOs) of Santa Rosa, California. Hirsch, 163, controlled the fight from the outset, continually finding a home for his thudding overhand right. Rubio, 167.5, was roughly a foot shorter than his opponent, and was never able to get inside Hirsch’s long reach to do any damage.

After dominating the action with his right hand in the first round, Hirsch turned up the aggression in the second, unleashing flurries with both fists. Finally late in the round, with Rubio retreating from corner to corner, Hirsch unloaded his arsenal with referee Dan Stell standing in close looking for a reason to stop the fight. Hirsch gave the referee the reason he was looking for by landing a big right to stagger Rubio and force the stoppage. Time of the bout was 2:34 of the second round.

In the most competitive bout on the card, former National PAL Champion Bruno Escalante Jr. (1-0-1) of Waimanalo, Hawaii moved up in weight to score his first professional victory over Jonathan Alcantara (4-2-1) of Novato, California in an exciting four-rounder. Alcantara, 120.5, started out well, as he found a home for his straight right against his southpaw opponent in the first round. Escalante, 118.4, turned the fight in the following round with quick flurries and lateral movement.

Fast-paced, high quality fight action continued through the final two rounds and until the final bell. In a fight that could have gone either way, one judge scored the fight 39-37 for Alcantara. That tally was overruled by the scores of the other two judges who had the fight for Escalante, 39-37. Escalante turned pro at 112-pounds, fighting to a draw against Takashi Okada in February. Okada upset the highly touted McWilliams Arroyo in New York on Saturday night.

In the curtain raiser, Benjamin Rivera (1-3) of Fresno, California moved into the win column for the first time in his pro career with a unanimous four-round decision over the still winless Shawn Wate (0-5) of Los Angeles, California. Wate, 138, may have been slowed down by the large afro he sported in the ring, since he was consistently outworked by Rivera, 138.5, for much of the four rounds. In the end, all three judges scored the bout for Rivera by the scores of 40-36 and 39-37 twice.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — For the first time in over four years, professional boxing returns to San Francisco tonight as local welterweight prospect Karim Mayfield headlines a four-bout card at the Kezar Pavilion. Mayfield, who found boxing growing up in the Fillmore section of the city, will take on journeyman Sergio De La Torre in the eight-round main event. Fighters weighed in Friday afternoon at Gussie’s Chicken & Waffles.

Mayfield (12-0-1, 7 KOs) of Daly City, California has fought in the Bay Area eight times in his thirteen fight career, but never before in San Francisco. In his last fight, this past March, Mayfield scored a razor thin six-round majority decision over Mario Jose Ramos in Reno, Nevada. Known for his entertaining style, Mayfield will look to be more impressive in front of his home crowd against De La Torre tonight. Mayfield, who has often fought at junior middleweight to get fights, weighed in at 146 ½-pounds Friday.

The well traveled De La Torre (11-13-3, 1 KO) of Escondido, California has won just twice in his past fifteen fights, with many of those fights coming against touted prospects. De La Torre comes in off two tough losses to well regarded light welterweights Mike Dallas Jr. and Josesito Lopez last year. Despite his lopsided record, De La Torre does come to fight and has only been stopped in three of his defeats. In a site note, De La Torre fought in the main event of one of the few events held in San Francisco in recent years, and was stopped in eight by Juaquin Gallardo at the Cow Palace in December of 2003. De La Torre weighed in at 147-pounds Friday.

In the co-feature, former San Francisco Golden Gloves Champion Tony Hirsch (11-3-1, 5 KOs) of Oakland, California will take on Jovanni Rubio (6-11, 5 KOs) of Santa Rosa, California in an eight-round super middleweight fight. Hirsch, who played for the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League, weighed in at 163-pounds. Rubio, who began his career as a light welterweight, scaled 167.5-pounds Friday.

Somebody’s “O” must go, as Benjamin Rivera (0-3) of Fresno, California will meet Shawn Wate (0-4) of Los Angeles, California in a four-round bout pairing winless light welterweights. Rivera, who turned professional last year, weighed in at 138.5-pounds. Wate, who dropped his opponent twice in his pro debut and still managed to lose a four-round decision, scaled 138.

In the fight that may steal the show, all-action Jonathan Alcantara (4-1-1) of Novato, California will take on former amateur standout Bruno Escalante Jr. (0-0-1) of Waimanalo, Hawaii in a four-round super bantamweight fight. Escalante, the 2008 National PAL Champion at 112-pounds, trains out of the same Undisputed Boxing Gym in San Carlos, California as fellow Filipino and current Interim WBA Super Flyweight Champion Nonito Donaire Jr. Alcantara, the naturally larger fighter, has experience against former amateur stars, with upsets over both Aaron Alafa and David Clark. Alcantara scaled 120.5-pounds, while Escalante weighed in at 118.4.

Advertised bouts involving San Francisco-based young pros Richard Hargraves, Miguel Lopez and Cynthia Talmadge were unfortunately cancelled when their opponents fell out and replacements were not found in time.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Mo’ Betta Entertainment and Hard Knox Promotions, are available online at Vbotickets.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Mayfield 146.5
De La Torre 147

Super Middleweights, 8 Rounds
Hirsch 164
Rubio 167.5

Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Rivera 138.5
Wate 138

Super Bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Alcantara 120.5
Escalante Jr. 118.4

Photos by Junior Beronilla

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA — In the ring for the fourth time since ending a nine-year sabbatical from boxing last year, Paul Nave scored a third-round stoppage over journeyman Daniel Schlienz in a return bout at the Marin Center Exhibit Hall, capping a four-fight card on Friday night.

Nave (19-8-2, 8 KOs) of San Anselmo, California had been out of the ring since scoring a six-round decision over Schlienz (7-20-1, 4 KOs) of Duluth, Minnesota last November. Nave, 146 ½, began the rematch a bit more aggressively than he had in their first meeting. Nave knocked Schlienz, 145, off balance once in the opening stanza and seemed to take the round by simply outworking his well traveled opponent.

The second round was more of the same, as Schlienz remained in a defensive posture until pressured by Nave, who had to force the fight at times. Late in the round Nave began to open up, flurrying as Schlienz looked to cover and counter. The fight turned early in the third as Nave wobbled Schlienz with a jab, right hand combination. Nave moved in to follow up, but Schlienz was already on his way to the mat when he attempted to land a hook. The punch missed over the falling Schlienz’ head and the Minnesota native made it to his feet on unsteady legs.

With referee Marty Sammon watching close, and the ringside physician already on his feet on the arena floor, Nave leaped in with an overhand right that landed flush and dropped Schlienz for a second time. Schlienz hit the mat hard and the fight was immediately called off as the doctor rushed in to check on the fallen fighter. Official time of the stoppage was 2:35 of the third round.

There was some controversy earlier in the week, as the California State Athletic Commission had reservations about approving Schlienz for the fight. Since losing to Nave in a fairly competitive bout last year, Schlienz had been stopped inside the distance in both of his next two fights. In retrospect, the concerns the Commission had regarding Schlienz proved to be warranted. Schlienz, who is 40-years-old, did appear less coordinated than he had in November, and his response to punches were not what one would hope for from a professional prizefighter.

Nave, who turns 50-years-old in September, had a differing opinion after the fight. “I think I hit him harder,” explained Nave. “I came out a little out more aggressive and eight ounce gloves and I caught him. I don’t think there ever should have been a controversy. We had gone six good rounds, I just happened to catch him.”

Nave last scored a knockout in March of 1997, putting away Jose Luis Madrid in eleventh round of a rematch in San Rafael. Nave fought six more times before stepping away from the sport, and had fought three times in his return prior to Friday’s rematch with Schlienz. “At the older age, I try to box more instead of just trading,” explained Nave. “I used to go out with a reckless abandon and I had a lot of early knockouts years ago. The idea is now, why take those punches if you don’t have to? I have a lot of experience now, so I might as well use my experience and try to outbox him. Outbox him, get the points win and go on to the next fight.”

Nave hopes to get back into the ring within the next few months. “I just need to fight more consistently before I jump up the proverbial ladder,” said Nave. “I need to fight more consistently and then go for it. Fight the best guy for the most money and I want to fight for a title if I get the opportunity.”

In addition to preparing for the fight, Nave was also the promoter of the event and he has been co-producing a documentary series about himself that airs on Sunday nights on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. As one might expect, Nave admits the workload was challenging. “I trained real hard for this fight, and I have been doing this reality show for two-and-one-half months and it has been a lot of work,” said Nave. “I wore a lot of hats, and the last hat really did me.” Local fight fans can expect Nave to return to San Rafael for his next fight. “I love fighting in Marin. It’s a professional venue and there are great people here so I love fighting here.”

In the other rematch on the card, Jose Alfredo Lugo (10-13-1, 5 KOs) of Richmond, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico evened up the score with a six-round split decision victory over Jaime Rodriguez (5-7-3, 2 KOs) of Reno, Nevada. The two- way action started right off the bat with a back-and-forth opening round. The forward-moving Lugo, 133, landed a few clean hooks that may have earned him the nod in the second round.

The taller and more fleet of foot Rodriguez, 132 ½, began to box in the third, which would be his best and worst round. It was a solid round for Rodriguez since he was clearly frustrating Lugo by keeping his distance and landing from the outside. However the fight began to turn against him in the very same round, as he seriously injured his right hand sometime during the three minutes. Even with the injury, Rodriguez had a strong fourth round as he caught Lugo with several one-two combinations as the Mexican made his way inside.

With an injured hand, Rodriguez nearly shut his offense down in the fifth, which allowed Lugo to get in range and land his shots. Lugo would rock Rodriguez with two hooks late in the round, prompting an apparently tired Rodriguez to hang on until the ring of the bell. Both fighters summoned the strength to let loose with their punches to close out the sixth and final round which brought the crowd to their feet. In the end, Rodriguez had a wide lead on one card, 59-55, but that score was overruled by the other two judges who both had the fight 58-56 for Lugo.

Both Lugo and Rodriguez have spent most of their careers giving touted prospects tough fights. The most noteworthy result on Lugo’s resume is a six-round draw against well regarded light welterweight Mike Dallas Jr. in 2008. Likewise, Rodriguez earned a four-round draw against unbeaten former amateur star Mel Crossty in May of last year. While they may not be elite fighters, Lugo-Rodriguez III would be a welcomed bout to a future undercard. Their first fight, a decision win for Rodriguez which took place on the first Nave-Schlienz undercard last November, was an exciting toe-to-toe battle that could have gone either way.

Jason Montgomery (2-0-1) of Hayward, California spoiled the ring return of previously undefeated Ulysses Caballero (4-1-1, 3 KOs) of San Pablo, California by taking a four-round unanimous decision. Montgomery, 153, was the busier boxer and more accurate puncher throughout. Early on Montgomery found a home for his uppercut and he would go on to land it almost at will for much of the fight. After outboxing Caballero, 150, for two rounds, Montgomery landed an overhand right in the third to score a knockdown. The determined Caballero returned to his feet but had a badly swollen left eye by round’s end.

In a nearly dramatic turn of events, Caballero turned the tide in the fourth, landing a double left hook that stunned Montgomery early in the round. With his corner imploring him to throw hooks and uppercuts, Caballero chased after Montgomery for much of the round hoping to score a fight-saving knockout. Montgomery, holding an insurmountable lead on the cards, boxed and moved as Caballero continued to apply pressure. Time eventually ran out for Caballero, who had a throng of supporters cheering him on and Montgomery was declared the victor unanimously by the scores of 40-35 and 39-36 twice.

John Dunham (1-5-1) of Stockton, California got himself into the win column for the first time with a four-round split decision over Herman Bacho (0-1) of Santa Rosa, California. Dunham, 144, caused the left eye of Bacho, 144, to swell badly by the second round. The injury may have been the result of a headbutt, as Dunham came rushing in ram style at times in the bout. By the third round it looked as though Dunham was just about out of gas, but the previously winless fighter outlasted the fatigued Bacho, downing him with less than thirty seconds to go in the fight. A left hand, followed by a looping right officially caused the knockdown, but it looked as though Bacho’s conditioning may have failed him. In the end, two judges scored the fight for Dunham, 39-36, with one lone dissenting judge having it 38-37 the other way.

Promising super bantamweight Jonathan Alcantara (4-1-1) of Novato, California was originally tabbed for the card, but after originally scheduled opponent Eder Peralta and then his replacement, Danny Pantoja, fell out, his fight was cancelled.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA — Competing for the fourth time since ending a nine-year absence from the sport, Paul Nave will take on Daniel Schlienz for the second time in a row in the welterweight main event of a four-bout card at the Marin Center Exhibit Hall in San Rafael tonight. Fighters weighed in on Thursday afternoon at the Embassy Suites San Rafael – Marin County.

Earlier this week, it appeared as though Nave would be taking on local journeyman Dario Castillo instead of entering into a rematch against Schlienz, over whom he had scored a six-round unanimous decision last November. In his two bouts since meeting Nave, Schlienz (7-19-1, 4 KOs) of Duluth, Minnesota has gone 0-2, with both losses coming inside the distance. After first approving Schlienz, the California State Athletic Commission asked Nave to find a new opponent. At the eleventh hour, the Commission relented and approved Schlienz, who arrived yesterday morning.

Nave (18-8-2, 7 KOs) of San Anselmo, California has been out of the ring since the November bout, but hopes that tonight’s fight marks the beginning of a busier schedule. Nave, who is also the promoter of tonight’s event, is the co-producer and subject of the reality television series Paul Nave: Goin’ The Distance which is currently airing on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. Tonight’s main event will be filmed and portions will air as part of a later broadcast of the show. Nave scaled 146 ½-pounds, while Schlienz weighed in at 145.

In the co-feature Friday night, Jaime Rodriguez (5-6-3, 2 KOs) of Reno, Nevada will fight Jose Alfredo Lugo (9-13-1, 5 KOs) of Richmond, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico in a six-round lightweight rematch. Their first encounter, which took place on the Nave-Schlienz undercard, was an exciting toe-to-toe battle that could have gone either way. Rodriguez weighed in at 132 ½, while Lugo scaled 133-pounds.

Ulyses Caballero (4-0-1, 3 KOs) of San Pablo, California will end an eight-year layoff and take on Jason Montgomery (1-0-1) of San Leandro, California in a four-round light middleweight fight. In an interesting side note, Caballero is trained by Robert Salinas, who trained Montgomery for a time as an amateur. Montgomery, who currently trains out of the Kennel Boxing Gym in San Leandro, weighed in at 153-pounds. Caballero, whose last fight was a decision over then 10-1 Jesse Gonzalez in May of 2002, scaled 150.

Also slated for the card is debuting Herman Bacho of Santa Rosa, California who will take on John Dunham (0-5-1) of Stockton, California in a four-round welterweight fight. Bacho and Dunham both weighed in at 144-pounds.

Promising local super bantamweight Jonathan Alcantara (4-1-1) of Novato, California was slated to take on Danny Pantoja (0-3-2) of Fairfield, California in a four-round bout. However Pantoja was a late scratch from the card and a new opponent was not found in time.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Liberty Boxing Enterprises, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Welterweights, 6 Rounds
Nave 146 ½
Schlienz 145

Lightweights, 6 Rounds
Rodriguez 132 ½
Lugo 133

Light Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Montgomery 153
Caballero 150

Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Bacho 144
Dunham 144

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected]

Ward, Green Talk up Title Fight

On June 19th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, Andre Ward will defend his WBA Super Middleweight title for the first time against longtime contender Allan Green as part of Group Stage 2 of the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Ward and Green, a replacement in the Showtime-televised tournament for the departed Jermain Taylor, discussed their upcoming fight at a press conference held in Oakland on May 10th.

Green (29-1, 20 KOs) of Tulsa, Oklahoma decided against making the cross country trip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he is training to Oakland for the presser, but appeared on screen via a live stream. The normally self-aggrandizing Green was a bit more subdued than was expected, but he still exuded confidence in regards to the June bout. “Andre Ward is a good young fighter. Very skilled, very talented and I do respect his skills. But against a fighter like myself, he is going to have to bring a lot more to the table than he did against Mikkel Kessler,” said Green referring to Ward’s title-winning effort. “I did admire what he did to Kessler; no disrespect there, but at the same time, come June 19th I will be WBA Super Middleweight Champion.”

Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) of Oakland refused to talk down Green in anyway, and if anything built up the Tulsa native. “In my opinion, Allan Green is a beast,” said Ward. “That’s what I am preparing for. That’s what I am eating, sleeping and drinking. I’m getting ready to fight a monster, that’s how I am looking at it.”

Fighting in Oakland for the third time in a row, which accounts for all of the fights he has had in his hometown, Ward sounded eager to get back in front of his supportive fan base. “We have a date, June 19th. When you have a date and you got a dancing partner, there not much else that needs to be said. We have that, and I look forward to putting on another tremendous performance for the fans and, believe it or not, I am going for three points in this fight,” said Ward in reference to the points a knockout victory would earn him in the tournament.

Ward’s reserved, but well stated trainer Virgil Hunter was a bit more tongue-in-cheek in his assessment of the June 19th fight. “We understand what we have to do,” claimed Hunter. “It didn’t take much to go back to the drawing board because, basically, you are getting ready to fight a guy that specializes in knocking out people that have been knocked out before several times. So you have to ask yourself that when you are making your preparation. How do you prepare for a guy that specializes in knocking out people who have been knocked out? So it gets pretty simple after that.”

Tickets for the event, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, Antonio Leonard Productions and DiBella Entertainment, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Schlienz Out; Nave Lines up New Opponent for Friday

Paul Nave, three fights into his return to boxing, was tabbed to rematch journeyman Daniel Schlienz this Friday, June 4th at the Marin Center Exhibit Hall in San Rafael, California. Nave defeated Schlienz by decision back in November, and had hoped to improve upon that outing by taking the rematch in more decisive fashion. However, Schlienz was ruled out after suffering a stoppage defeat last month, which left Nave and his matchmakers looking for a new opponent to fill the slot.

Two weeks and three days before the fight, Nave received a phone call from Assistant Chief Athletic Inspector Che Guevara informing him that his opponent would not be approved by the California State Athletic Commission. Nave was especially frustrated with the ruling coming so close to fight date, and because he disagreed with the commission’s decision.

“Their job is whether, in their eyes, the fight is safe or not,” said Nave (18-8-2, 7 KOs) of San Anselmo, California. “Is it a mismatch or a blow out, or is it safe. I already fought the guy. There was no knockdowns and it went all six rounds. He is not suspended and I had a competitive fight with him, it was no blow out.”

At the time of our interview, local journeyman Dario Castillo (5-10-1) of Pittsburg, California was tabbed to replace Schlienz in the main event. Should Castillo be the guy, Nave will have some adjustments to make. “He is left handed I hear now, and I have probably not fought a left hander in twenty years and now I will be fighting a left handed kid,” said Nave about the southpaw Castillo. “My preparation is going pretty good, but it is just frustrating that I am not sure who I am fighting now.”

Nave is not only preparing for a fight, in which his company Liberty Boxing Enterprises is the promoter, but he is the co-producer and subject of the reality television series Paul Nave: Goin’ The Distance which airs on Sunday nights on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. The series has followed his family life and documented all the preparation it takes to promote and get ready for a fight. For many, this would be an impossible workload and balancing act. “It is a lot of work, and it is not easy,” admits Nave.

In the co-feature Friday night, Jaime Rodriguez (5-6-3, 2 KOs) of Reno, Nevada will fight Jose Alfredo Lugo (9-13-1, 5 KOs) of Richmond, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico in a six-round lightweight rematch. They originally met in a highly entertaining bout on the November undercard, with Rodriguez taking a contested six-round unanimous decision.

All-action super bantamweight Jonathan Alcantara (4-1-1) of Novato, California will take on Danny Pantoja (0-3-2) of Fairfield, California in a four-round bout. Alcantara is coming in off of an upset unanimous decision over former amateur standout David Clark on April 1st. Pantoja, who has been matched quite tough in his career, comes in off a decision loss to former National Golden Gloves Champion Efrain Esquivas on April 23rd.

Ending an eight-year layoff, Ulyses Caballero (4-0-1, 3 KOs) of San Pablo, California will take on former amateur standout Jason Montgomery (1-0-1) of San Leandro, California in a four-round light middleweight fight.

Also slated for the card is debuting Herman Bacho of Santa Rosa, California who will take on John Dunham (0-5-1) of Stockton, California in a four-round welterweight fight.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Liberty Boxing Enterprises, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Julaton Takes on Villalobos June 30th

Looking to rebound from a decision loss to Lisa Brown in March, Ana Julaton will return to the site of that recent defeat, the Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada to take on Maria Elena Villalobos on June 30th. Their fight, for the vacant WBO Super Bantamweight title, will be shown live nationwide in Canada on TSN.

Julaton (6-2-1, 1 KO) of Daly City, California is not only returning to the Casino Rama, but the June bout will mark the return of Freddie Roach to her corner. Julaton had been trained by either Nonito Donaire Sr. or Rick Noble before her past three fights. At a recent press conference Julaton sounded excited to return to Rama and rejoin Roach. “I am hoping to provide amazing boxing,” said Julaton. “I feel that is what the fans want. On June 30th that is what I provide, especially with Freddie back in the corner. He is the first guy I started out with for my first six professional fights. Just to be reunited with him. The chemistry is not only there, it is a lot stronger.”

Villalobos (6-3, 3 KOs) of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico is coming off of a failed attempt at the WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Marcela Acuna in Argentina in April. In that fight Villalobos went the full ten round distance, but lost a unanimous decision to perhaps the top fighter in the division.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Orion Sports Management, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Two Strong Showings at 2010 National Golden Gloves

Northern California was represented by two boxers at the 2010 National Golden Gloves in Little Rock, Arkansas last month. Eros Correa, a 108-pounder out of San Jose, California, and Eric Altamirano, a 132-pounder out of Concord, California, both advanced to the quarterfinals at the national tournament.

Correa, who fights out of the San Jose PAL Sports Center, notched a decision victory over David Carlton of Cincinnati, Ohio in the preliminary round. In the quarterfinals, Correa was defeated by Santos Vasquez of Sun Valley, Nevada by decision.

Altamirano, who trains at the Community Youth Center in Concord, scored two victories en route to the quarterfinals. In his first bout, Altamirano scored a decision win over Ryan Martin of Knoxville, Tennessee. The following day Altamirano scored a first round stoppage of Christopher Singleton of Gonzales, Louisiana. In the quarterfinals, Altamirano lost a decision to Duran Caferro of Helena, Montana.

Photo by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

World ranked welterweight contender Jesus Soto Karass was the headliner, but two fighters with just seven combined pro fights stole the spotlight Saturday night on the latest installment of the “Top Rank Live” series from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

WBC #15/IBF #13 ranked welterweight Soto Karass had hoped to get back in the win column after a disappointing finish to his bout against Alfonso Gomez on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard in March. Instead, Soto Karass again went home disappointed Saturday in Chicago after his fight with completely unheralded Gabriel Martinez was ruled a no contest after a single solitary round.

Nothing of note occurred in the three minutes of action, other than an accidental head clash that opened a terrible gash underneath Martinez’ left eye. As Martinez (24-1-1, 13 KOs) of Empalme, Sonora, Mexico took a step forward, Soto Karass (24-4-3, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico leaped in with a looping right hand. The end result was the headbutt, which caused the stoppage in between rounds one and two.

For Soto Karass, 149, Saturday’s no contest was just another speed bump in a long career that has come a bit off track. Two point deductions cost him a draw against Gomez in their abbreviated six-round encounter. Prior to that bout, Soto Karass had gone on a solid win streak, picking up wins over some noteworthy names since his last defeat in 2005. For the unknown Martinez, 149, a precious opportunity was dashed and his cut will likely keep him out of the ring for some time. Martinez previous credentials included a draw against then unbeaten prospect Euri Gonzalez in 2007 and a kayo by ten against praised Mexican welterweight prospect Saul Alvarez in 2008.

The ticket-seller, as well as most locally and nationally publicized fighter on the card Mike Lee (1-0) of Chicago launched his pro career with a four-round unanimous decision over Emmit Woods (0-4-1) of Saint Joseph, Missouri in the night’s special attraction. Lee, reportedly singled-handedly responsible for $110,000 in ticket sales, pleased his large contingent of supporters as he won every round against the perfectly-matched Woods. Lee, 174, played up his Notre Dame graduate status by wearing the colors of the “Fighting Irish,” before taking the fight to the defensive-minded Woods, 171.

Woods presented little resistance, which was by the matchmaker’s design obviously, but Lee did prove to have the basic fundamentals of at least an ordinary fighter. Whether or not Lee, who has been under the tutelage of renowned trainer Ronnie Shields for the past two months, can turn into a true prospect remains to be seen. Lee does have the promoter in Top Rank that a fighter in his situation would want. Those who thought the career of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was moved painfully slow may need to hold on for the path that Lee’s career will tread.

Even with the action coming from one direction, the Lee crowd found reasons to chant his name, hoot and holler. After four rounds of arm-punching flurries with Woods covering up against the ropes, a visibly winded Lee was declared the winner on all three judges’ scorecards. Scores read 40-36 across the board for the former Chicago Golden Gloves Champion Lee.

With all the attention heaped on Lee, many fight fans at the UIC Pavilion on Saturday may end up recalling their presence at the event one day as the night they saw a young Jose Benavidez Jr. knockout Ronnie Peterson in one round. That is exactly what happened in the first fight of the night, which was held back to be the final fight on the Fox Spots en Espanol telecast.

Benavidez Jr. (6-0, 6 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Phoenix, Arizona grabbed headlines earlier in the week when his scheduled July 17th Arizona homecoming was cancelled. The event was called off when sponsors threatened to pull out if it were held in Arizona, due to the controversial legislative measure SB 1070 that was signed into Arizona law. In public protest, Benavidez wore a shirt with the characters SB 1070 written across it with a circle and slash through it.

Peterson (3-2, 3 KOs) of Mounds View, Minnesota was in over his head with the classy Benavidez, 139, from the start. It would eventually be a body shot that would down Peterson, 138 ½, and end the fight. Time of the stoppage was 2:45 of the first. The July 17th event is reportedly moving to border city Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, but Benavidez will first return to the ring on June 24th on the Latin Fury card emanating from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Light welterweight prospect Ivan Popoca (14-0-1, 10 KOs) of Chicago, Illinois by way of Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico survived a brief scare to pass the toughest test of his career thus far and score a fifth-round stoppage over Jose Luis Soto Karass (20-15-1, 18 KOs) of Los Angeles by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Popoca, 138, quickly found Soto Karass, 138, to be a determined and willing adversary, as the two combatants got right to work from the start. After flip-flopping the opening two rounds, Popoca briefly looked to be taking control before a sudden turn in the fourth. About thirty seconds into the round, Soto Karass landed a perfect right hand counter to surprise and drop the crowd favorite Popoca. Popoca got back to his feet, but was still on unsteady legs as he tried to hold on to Soto Karass. By midway through the round, Popoca, who had not yet completely regained his footing, was out landing a tired Soto Karass.

Soto Karass seemed to hurt Popoca early in the fifth, but the Chicago resident would not stop coming forward. As Soto Karass again began to slow his output, Popoca landed a crisp right hand to wobble and eventually drop his opponent. With a little help from one of the middle ropes, Soto Karass got to his feet before the count of ten. However, referee Gerald Scott waved of the bout at 2:07 of the round

Antonio Avila (3-1, 1 KO) of Chicago scored a four-round unanimous decision over David Laque (2-5-1, 2 KOs) of Bloomington, Minnesota. Avila, 134, had trouble with the southpaw stance of Laque, 138, in the first round. By the opening of the second round, Avila settled into his boxing stance and began to time the awkward Laque. A wide left hook for Avila excited the crowd and removed Laque’s mouthpiece late in the round. Avila proved to have the better conditioning, as Laque never gave up, but seemed to run out of gas. Some heated back-and-forth action closed the fight which was scored unanimously for Avila, 40-36.

Wendel Boyd Henley (5-0-1, 5 KOs) of Kansas City, Missouri and Marcus Thompkins (5-0-1, 2 KOs) of Michigan City, Indiana both remained undefeated after fighting to a six-round majority draw. Henley, 147, was the aggressor, but Thompkins, 145, was at times an effective counter puncher. In the end, the scores were 59-55 for Henley and 57-57 twice.

Krzysztof Zimnoch (3-0-1, 3 KOs) of Bialystok, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland remained perfect with a third-round knockout of Michael Moncrief (3-7-1, 1 KO) of Cleveland, Ohio. Zimnoch, 230, landed a right uppercut that stunned Moncrief, 245, in the third. Zimnoch quickly followed up with a hellacious series of unanswered shots that prompted referee Gerald Scott to stop the contest at 2:12 of the round.

Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected]

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

Top amateurs from the Northern California, both male and female, will compete at the 2010 USA Boxing Senior National Championships Northern California Regional today and tomorrow, beginning their quests for national titles. The event takes place at the USF Koret Recreation Center in San Francisco, California.

Although the USA Boxing Senior National Championships is the most crucial amateur tournament each year, the Regionals often do not receive the fanfare that one would expect. Tournament Director Ben Bautista hopes that trend can change beginning this weekend. “This tournament does not get as much publicity as the Golden Gloves, but it is more important as far as getting a national ranking or qualifying to compete in the Olympics,” says Bautista. “The Golden Gloves are not a qualifier for the Olympics. So this is the biggest amateur tournament. These fighters are fighting for national rankings and a position at the Olympic Box-offs. Families, friends and fans come out and support. It would mean a lot for these fighters.”

Adding greater significance to the tournament this year is the fact that there will be a women’s division at the Olympics for the first time in 2012. Female fighters competing can now look toward the possibility of making the U.S. Olympic Team. Among the hopefuls from Northern California is Janelle Gonzales, who competes at 125-pounds and fights out of the Golden State Bloodhounds Boxing Club in Sacramento under trainer Ray Woods. Janelle is the wife of undefeated middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzales.

Among the male prospects is longtime amateur standout Cymone Kearney, who fights out of King’s Gym in Oakland and trains under Virgil Hunter. Kearney advanced to the semi-finals of the 2007 U.S. Olympic Team Trials before losing to eventual winner Christopher Downs. Another touted prospect is Manuel “Tino” Avila who fights at 123-pounds and trains out of the Vacaville PAL. Avila impressed observers during the California Golden Gloves tournament earlier this year, before losing to Victor Pasillas of East Los Angeles in the finals. Avila was the USA Boxing #6 ranked amateur bantamweight following the 2009 USA Boxing National Championships.

From up north is Joaquin Lopez, who fights out the Pride Boxing Club in Ukiah and competes at 165-pounds. Lopez advanced to the finals of the Northern California Golden Gloves Regional before losing to Ricardo Pinelle of San Francisco. Two other prospects train out of Bautista’s Straight Forward Boxing Club in San Francisco. Greg Good fights at 152-pounds and advanced to the finals of the Northern California Golden Gloves Regional this past February. John Chicas fights at 141-pounds and won the Northern California Golden Gloves Regional.

The Regionals will continue June 5th in Sacramento, with the 2010 USA Boxing Senior National Championships taking place in July at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Last year two Northern California representatives, Fresno’s Michael Ruiz Jr. and San Francisco’s Richard Hargraves, medaled at Nationals. “Both of them medaled last year, earned national rankings and had the opportunity to fight for Team USA,” said Bautista. “They got international experience, got to fight at Colorado Springs, which are all good experiences for them.” Both Ruiz, who took the bronze at 112-pounds and Hargraves, who earned the bronze at 152, have moved on to the paid ranks.

The USA Boxing Senior National Championships not only lead to potential international experience and world rankings, but a good showing could also attract the attention of professional promoters. Look no further than last year’s 141-pound finalists Frankie Gomez and Jose Benavidez Jr., both of whom recently signed deals with Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank respectively.

Today’s event, which takes place at the Hagan Gym at the USF Koret Recreation Center, begins at 2 PM, with weigh-ins beginning at 10 AM. For more information, contact Ben Bautista at 415-573-5791.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

LEMOORE, CALIFORNIA — In an entertaining ten-round affair, longtime journeyman Jason Gavern scored the biggest win of his career and upset the future plans of WBC #9 ranked heavyweight Manuel Quezada in the process, taking a split decision on Thursday night at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino.

Quezada (29-5, 18 KOs) of Wasco, California got off to a good start in the first, stalking his opponent early before finding a home with some stiff right hands. Gavern (19-7-3, 8 KOs) of Kissimmee, Florida did more playing to the crowd than anything else in the first, as he would mug to the crowd after Quezada landed a clean blow.

The momentum of the fight seemed to change in the second, as Gavern, 226.2, caught Quezada, 228, with an accidental headbutt that visibly shook up the defending WBC CABOFE Heavyweight Champion. One point was deducted from Gavern for the headbutt due to an absurd WBC rule penalizing the uninjured fighter after an accidental foul. The headbutt, and the resulting point deduction, seemed to invigorate both fighters, who went toe-to-toe to close the round. While Quezada landed his share, Gavern clearly got the best of the exchange.

Quezada was the busier fighter to start the third, but Gavern picked up the pace late which may have earned him the round. On several occasions, especially during the middle rounds, Quezada would land one solid shot at a time, and Gavern would laugh it off or play to the crowd. After some posturing, Gavern would turn offensive again and win heated exchanges.

Quezada opened the sixth with some solid straight right hands, but still Gavern turned and shook them off. Midway through the round, a normally inconsequential left caught Quezada off balance, sending him to the mat. Referee Marcos Rosales waved off the knockdown, much to the chagrin of Gavern, but the house replay suggested that it was a knockdown. Either way, Quezada was clearly not hurt by the blow, and both fighters closed the round with more gave-and-take action. Again Gavern appeared to be getting the better of the exchange.

The pace slowed in the seventh, as both fighters, Gavern especially, looked drained from the fast-paced bout. Even with their stamina depleting, there was plenty of action in the seventh and to close the eighth. With Gavern resting against the ropes, and looking to hold at times on the inside, Quezada may have won the ninth. Both fighters went all out in the tenth, but a somewhat rejuvenated Gavern got a bit more done. In the end, one judge scored the bout for Quezada, 95-94, but was overruled by the other two judges who both scored it 95-94 the other way.

“I wasn’t supposed to get this fight,” said Gavern after the bout. “I lost my last two fights, and that’s why I think they picked me.” Gavern cited personal issues contributing to defeats to unbeaten prospects, Neven Pajkic and Denis Boystov, in his last two fights. “I lost my last two fights because of my mental state, I wasn’t really ready for those fights, but this time I was prepared.” The prepared Gavern of Thursday night upset a fighter who late last year was ranked WBC #4 and could have been a fight or two away from a title eliminator or a big money fight overseas. While there was no stipulation for a rematch in the event Quezada lost, Gavern said he would be more than willing to give Quezada a rematch. “He gave me the opportunity, so I have to give him the opportunity back.”

After the fight, Quezada sounded like someone who was hoping for another opportunity at Gavern. “As soon as I can get back in the ring, I want to get back in the ring, and if it is with him I would love that,” said Quezada. “As soon as we can do it, let’s do it. If I put my hands together, and got busier, I can definitely beat this guy.” The usually busy Quezada had not fought since October, and feels that may have played a part in his performance. “I don’t take anything away from the guy,” said Quezada. “I knew he was going to be a tough guy. What didn’t help me was the sixth-month layoff. It is what it is, but we have to go back and get at it.”

Rising light welterweight prospect Mike Dallas Jr. (13-0-1, 4 KOs) of Bakersfield, California obliterated journeyman Genaro Trazancos (22-11-1, 13 KOs) of Fort Myers, Florida in the opening round. Dallas, 142.8, dropped Trazancos midway through the first and Trazancos, 140.8, never recovered. A left hook wobbled Trazancos again, this time against the ropes, which brought referee Dan Stell in close to the action. A devastating uppercut and right hook combination sent Trazancos down again, prompting Stell to leap in before he hit the mat. Official time of the stoppage was 2:51 of the first.

The kayo of Trazancos was the second straight impressive knockout victory for Dallas this year. Early in his pro run Dallas had more of a shoeshine style, but has made efforts in sitting down on his blows, and the results are speaking volumes. “A lot of people told me I would hit harder if I slowed it down, since I still had more of an amateur style,” said Dallas. “I have been taking my time, and it has been working in fights. I am hitting much harder.” There has been talk about a fight against Josesito Lopez for Dallas on either the Chris Arreola-Tomasz Adamek undercard on April 24th at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California or on May 8th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on the Paul Williams-Kermit Cintron card.

Former amateur star Michael Ruiz Jr. (1-0) of nearby Fresno, California looked impressive in his professional debut, scoring unanimous shutout over durable Jose Luis Mares (0-3) of Lompoc, California. Ruiz, 117.6, stayed in the pocket and picked Mares, 117.4, apart for the four rounds. Any offense Mares could muster was quickly countered with precise shots. Early in the third, a straight left counter busted up a discouraged Mares’ nose. By late in the third, Mares was mostly defensive, which limited Ruiz’ ability to land clean counters. Ruiz, the USA Boxing #3 ranked flyweight before turning pro, won by the unanimous score of 40-36. Ruiz is slated to return to the ring on the May 8th card in Carson.

Forward-moving Juan Tepoz (4-2-1) of Santa Rosa, California pounded out a unanimous four-round decision over game late replacement Jose Pacheco (2-12-6) of Cudahy, California. Tepoz, 122.2, was clearly the harder-puncher and was able to stun Pacheco, 125, at times in the bout. What Pacheco lacked in speed and power, he made up for in heart, as he never took a backward step. After four action-packed rounds, all three judges gave Tepoz the nod at 40-36. Tepoz was originally scheduled to take on Ephraim Martinez (4-0, 1 KO) of Buttonwillow, California, who was forced to pull out after a recent automobile accident.

In a back-and-forth corker, Paul Mendez (4-1, 2 KOs) of Bakersfield, California scored a four-round split decision over previously unbeaten Tyrell Hendrix (4-1-1, 2 KOs) of Los Angeles, California. Hendrix, 170.8, got off to a solid start in the first, as Mendez, 167.8, seemed bothered by his speed and languished on the ropes for long stretches. Action began to heat up in the second, as Mendez settled in as the counter-puncher against the aggressive Hendrix.

Mendez looked briefly winded in the third, which prompted Hendrix to open up even more. Mendez sucked it up and wobbled the onrushing Hendrix coming in late in the third. The fourth featured more two-way action, as Mendez cut Hendrix early in the round, before Hendrix got his second wind and came on late. In the end, one judge scored the bout for Hendrix, 39-37, but was overruled by the other two, who scored the fight 40-36 and 39-37 respectively for Mendez. Mendez may fight in May, but will return to the Central Valley on a June 19th card at the McDermont Fieldhouse in Lindsay, California.

In an entertaining opener, Rufino Serrano (5-3) of Santa Maria, California scored a hard-fought four-round unanimous decision over determined Eder Peralta (1-2, 1 KO) of Pasadena, California. Serrano, 126.4, pressed on the gas pedal late in the first to take control of the fight. Peralta, 127, was not the gifted boxer-mover his opponent was, but it did not stop him from pressing forward for the four rounds. Serrano countered Peralta coming in with a right hand late in the fourth to score the only knockdown in the fight. In the end, all three judges scored the bout for Serrano, 40-35.

2008 U.S. Olympic teammates Shawn Estrada and Javier Molina were originally slated for the card, but had to withdraw with nagging hand injures. Estrada, a former resident of nearby Hanford, was in attendance.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

LEMOORE, CALIFORNIA — In the years following a Summer Olympics, the top amateur boxers must make the decision to either stay in the unpaid ranks for another four years and attempt making the next Olympic team, or turn professional and begin their hopeful journey to fame and fortune. Over the past couple of months, some highly touted former U.S. amateur stars have made the leap of faith and turned professional. Tonight at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, one of the top 112-pound fighters in the nation over the last two years Michael Ruiz Jr. takes that first step on the road to prominence.

Ruiz, who hails from nearby Fresno, California, will take on Jose Luis Mares (0-2) of Lompoc, California in a four-round bantamweight bout. Despite being just shy of his 21st birthday, Ruiz handles himself like a veteran and appears to be completely satisfied with his decision to put his amateur days in the rearview mirror. “This is just the perfect time,” said Ruiz yesterday. “The Olympics are 2, 3 years away, and they wanted me to get away from my pro style and go more towards the amateur style. I have more of a pro style, and I wanted to keep it, so I decided to go pro.”

Despite what he describes as a pro style, Ruiz’ did just fine in that style as an amateur. Ruiz came close to winning a national title on several occasions, claiming the silver at both the 2008 National PAL Championships and 2009 National Golden Gloves. Currently Ruiz is ranked #3 at 112-pounds by USA Boxing.

“I believe I went about as far as I could go in the amateurs,” says Ruiz, before qualifying that statement. “I could go further, and I appreciate everything they did for me in amateur boxing. The last couple of years I was one of the top amateurs in my weight class, and there were some nationals I could have won, and some I felt I did win, but that is the amateurs. It is time to turn pro. I did as much as I could.”

The United States boxing team had its worst showing in history in claiming just one bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. That showing may serve as reason for many of the best American amateurs to turn pro and start earning a paycheck, rather than waiting it out for 2012. While Ruiz says 2008 had no bearing on his decision, he pulls no punches when talking about the American showing.

“The people that made the Olympics, they just didn’t have the heart to fight more for their country,” surmises Ruiz. “They already knew that they were going to go places, so they didn’t have their heart fully into it as amateurs. So they should have decided to go pro a long time ago, and let people with heart look forward to it. Right now I have my heart more into being a pro and not as much as being an amateur, so shouldn’t keep myself as an amateur when this is where my heart is at.”

Competing at the highest level in the same 112-pound weight class for two years, Ruiz undoubtedly has some amateur rivals he will likely see in the pro ranks. But has history has taught us, what happens in the amateurs does not always necessarily translate to the pros. “There’s a lot of guys that I fought already, that they know if it was pros, it would be a different story,” says the ultra-confident Ruiz. “And we will just leave it at that because I have love for everybody in the amateurs. It’s all competition, it’s all good. But now it’s the pros, it’s more serious.”

Adding incentive, if there wasn’t enough already, Ruiz will be fighting close to home as he fights without headgear for the first time. “It is amazing that I get to fight my first pro fight, and all my friends and family get to see me. It helps me feel really confident.” Ruiz promises not to disappoint the local supporters, who unquestionably have high hopes, as he launches his pro campaign. “It is going to be a good show, a really good show,” claims Ruiz. “[My supporters] can expect to see me do what I have trained to do, and what I do in the gym. I am not going to let them down.”

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

LEMOORE, CALIFORNIA — Overlooked heavyweight contender Manuel Quezada will again be featured in the main event at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino tonight, as he looks to further his cause against venerable journeyman Jason Gavern. Their ten-round fight, with Quezada’s WBC CABOFE Heavyweight title on the line, caps a six-bout card. Fighters weighed in Wednesday afternoon at the casino’s Den Sports Bar.

Quezada (29-4, 18 KOs) of Wasco, California has not been beaten in four-and-a-half years, while looming around in WBC world rankings. Quezada last fought in October, scoring a ten-round decision over Nicolai Firtha, and is one fight removed from a surprising first-round kayo of Travis Walker. Quezada, the WBC #9 ranked heavyweight, weighed in at 228-pounds Wednesday.

Gavern (18-7-3, 8 KOs) of Kissimmee, Florida is one heavyweight used to being placed in the role of spoiler. Gavern, a pro since 2003, has been in with several top prospects, scoring the occasional upset. Gavern is on a two-fight skid, one of which resulted in his first career knockout defeat suffered at the hands of unbeaten Denis Boystov. Gavern, vying for his first pro title of any kind, weighed in at 226.2-pounds.

Moving up to eight rounds for the first time, light welterweight prospect Mike Dallas Jr. (12-0-1, 3 KOs) of Bakersfield, California will take on the well-traveled Genaro Trazancos (22-10-1, 13 KOs) of Fort Myers, Florida, United States by way of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Dallas has been on an impressive run since getting a draw on his ledger after a close fight in November of 2008. In his most recent outing, Dallas scored a devastating first-round stoppage over Fabian Luque in a bout televised by ESPN2. Dallas, a 2006 National PAL Champion, weighed in at 142.8-pounds.

Trazancos, who was competitive with high level fighters at 130-pounds, weighed in at 140.8. Trazancos has been stopped in four of his last six fights, but against a high caliber of opposition. A big fight looms as a possibility for Dallas should he get past Trazancos without injury, as there have been discussions about a fight against Josesito Lopez on the Chris Arreola-Tomasz Adamek undercard on April 24th.

One of the top amateurs in the nation over the last couple of years, Michael Ruiz Jr. of nearby Fresno, California will make his professional debut against Jose Luis Mares (0-2) of Lompoc, California in a four-round bantamweight bout. The 20-year-old Ruiz is currently listed as the USA Boxing #3 ranked flyweight (112-pounds). Ruiz weighed in at 117.6-pounds, while Mares came in at a near identical 117.4.

Scrappy Juan Tepoz (3-2-1) of Santa Rosa, California will take on late replacement Jose Pacheco (2-11-6) of Cudahy, California in a four-round super bantamweight fight. Pacheco, weighed in at 125-pounds. Tepoz, originally slated to battle Ephraim Martinez (4-0, 1 KO) of Buttonwillow, California in what would have been an action fight, scaled 122.2 pounds. Martinez was reportedly in a car accident recently, which forced him to withdraw from tonight’s card.

Super middleweight prospect Tyrell Hendrix (4-0-1, 2 KOs) of Los Angeles, California will take on perhaps his toughest test to date in Paul Mendez (3-1, 2 KOs) of Bakersfield, California in a four-rounder. Hendrix weighed in at 170.8-pounds, while Mendez came in at 167.8.

In the scheduled opener, Rufino Serrano (4-3) of Santa Maria, California will take on Eder Peralta (1-1, 1 KO) of Pasadena, California in a four-round featherweight fight. Serrano, who came up just short against the aforementioned Ephraim Martinez last month, weighed in at 126.4-pounds, while Peralta came in at 127 even.

2008 U.S. Olympic teammates Shawn Estrada and Javier Molina were originally slated to compete tonight. Estrada, a former resident of nearby Hanford, California, reinjured his hand in preparing for the fight. Molina is also suffering from a nagging hand injury that may be more serious than was originally thought. Estrada will be ringside at the event.

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

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBC CABOFE Heavyweight Championship, 10 Rounds
Quezada 228
Gavern 226.2

Light welterweights, 8 Rounds
Dallas Jr. 142.8
Trazancos 140.8

Bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Ruiz Jr. 117.6
Mares 117.4

Super bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Pacheco 125
Tepoz 122.2

Super middleweights, 4 Rounds
Hendrix 170.8
Mendez 167.8

Super bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Serrano 126.4
Peralta 127

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

OROVILLE, CALIFORNIA — In the mixed martial arts main event of a three sport card, Jesse Brock outwrestled local favorite Chris David before a sellout crowd at the Feather Falls Casino & Lodge in on Saturday night. Boxing and amateur kickboxing rounded out a fun-filled event dubbed “Playboy Fight Night.”

What looked to be a competitive main event on paper turned into a one-sided wrestling match as Brock (11-5, 2 KOs, 5 Submissions) of Boise, Idaho took David (13-8-2, 4 KOs, 5 Submissions) of Oroville to the mat early and often, never relinquishing control in the fight. Brock, 136, took David, 135, to the mat immediately, but did little real damage in the first round.

David momentarily locked in a rear naked choke with Brock on the mat, but the Boise native quickly broke the hold while maintaining his position on top. For the most part David was either on his back, or on his face, with Brock on his back. In either position he was at Brock’s mercy, unable to get started with any sort of offense. For a brief moment, David broke from Brock’s grasp, much to the delight of his loyal supporters. However, the shift in momentum was only temporary, as Brock took David back down to the canvas. The third round was more of the same before Brock was declared the unanimous victor via shutout, 30-27 on all three judges’ cards.

Fighting for the second time in ten days, Ryan Wong (2-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California took a hotly-contested three-round split decision over previously unbeaten Colin Hart (3-1, 2 Submissions) of Santa Rosa, California. Each fighter had their moments in a tough fight. Wong, 185, fought just last Friday in Reno, but had no problem with endurance. Hart, 184 ¼, fought hard until the end, but two judges saw the fight for Wong, 29-28. The lone dissenting judge had the same score, but for the Santa Rosa resident.

Martin Sandoval (5-2, 3 KOs, 2 Submissions) of Oakdale, California scored a first-round submission victory over Sammy Sanders (1-3, 1 KO) of Santa Rosa. Sandoval, 125 ¼, had his back on the mat, for much of the fight. Sanders, 125 ¾, looked to be in complete control before Sandoval grabbed onto his arm. Time of the submission was 1:03 of the first.

Taylor McCorriston (4-0, 2 Submissions) of San Ramon, California remained unbeaten via first-round stoppage over Bryant Munoz (4-3, 4 Submissions) of Oakdale. McCorriston, 135 ¼, looked to be in some trouble on the mat, but was able to grab a hold of the arm of Munoz, 135, and forced the submission. Time of the stoppage was 1:33 of the first.

Rounding out the MMA portion of the card, Rafael Rios (2-0, 2 Submissions) of Stockton, California forced Junior Villanueva (1-1, 1 KO) of Oakdale to tap out in the first round. Rios, 149 ½, cinched in with an armbar and submitted Villanueva, 147 ¾, at just 1:11 of the round.

In the first boxing match on the card, former amateur standout Richard Hargraves (2-0, 2 KOs) of San Francisco, California scored his second consecutive stoppage victory, this time over J.C. Saade (0-2) of Los Angeles, California. Hargraves, 151 ¾, punished Saade, 151, throughout the first round, flashing hand speed that his opponent could not compete with. Before the bell to begin the second round, Saade told the referee that he could not continue due to fatigue which prompted the stoppage.

In the other boxing match on the card, heavyweights Yohan Banks (3-3-3, 1 KO) of Redwood City, California and Hector Martinez (5-4, 4 KOs) of Broderick, California let loose in an action-packed four-rounder. Banks, 264, dropped Martinez, 228 ¾, with a clubbing overhand right midway through the second. Martinez was clearly dazed, but managed to pull himself up with a little help from the turnbuckle. With some clever footwork, Martinez was able to get out of the round and clear his head.

Banks may have punched himself out going for the knockout, which allowed Martinez to punch his way back into the fight in the third. Two-way action closed the fight out in the fourth, with Martinez getting the best of it over the tired Banks. In the end, two judges liked Banks by the score of 38-37. One dissenting judge favored Martinez by the same score, 38-37.

In the first of two amateur kickboxing bouts, Ignacio Zambrano of Stockton, California scored two knockdowns in the third round en route to a unanimous decision over Mike Spatz of Sacramento. Zambrano, 197 ¾, may not have been body beautiful, but he was able to outslug the reluctant Spatz, 187, for the three rounds.

Gaston Bolanos of Pleasanton scored the stoppage victory over Mitch Thompson of Sacramento, California in a welterweight amateur kickboxing contest. Bolanos, 141 ¾, was the superior fighter and it was fairly evident from the outset. Thompson, 144 ¾, did not give referee Dan Stell the response he was looking for after a standing eight-count in the third. Time of the stoppage was 1:44 of the third-round.

Tonight’s event, promoted by ESMG World, was taped to air at a later date. Adding some spice to the evening was the Playmate Dancers, including 2006 Playmate of the Year Kara Monaco, and a bevy of ring card girls. Former contender Juan Lazcano worked the corner of Hector Martinez and current WBA Interim Super Flyweight Champion Nonito Donaire Jr. was ringside taking photographs.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

OROVILLE, CALIFORNIA — Three combat sports will be on display tonight at the Feather Falls Casino & Lodge. In the mixed martial arts headliner, veterans Chris David and Jesse Brock square off in an important crossroads bout. Boxing and amateur kickboxing are also featured on the “Playboy Fight Night” card. Fighters weighed-in Friday evening at the casino showroom where they will fight tonight.

David (13-7-2, 4 KOs, 5 Submissions) of Oroville will be looking to continue his winning steak, which stands at four fights, in front of his hometown crowd tonight. Brock (10-5, 2 KOs, 5 Submissions) of Boise, Idaho will be looking to bounce back from a knockout defeat this past February. Brock, a Urijah Faber sparring partner, weighed in at 136-pounds, while David scaled 135.

Colin Hart (3-0, 2 Submissions) of Santa Rosa, California will take on Ryan Wong (1-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California in a three-round middleweight fight. Wong, who fought just last Friday in Reno, Nevada, scaled 185, while Hart weighed in at 184 ¼-pounds.

In a three-round flyweight bout, Martin Sandoval (4-2, 3 KOs, 1 Submission) of Oakdale, California will meet Sammy Sanders (1-2, 1 KO) of Santa Rosa. Sandoval, nicknamed “Tarzan,” weighed in at 125 ¼, while Sanders scaled 125 ¾-pounds.

Oakdale’s Bryant Munoz (4-2, 4 Submissions) meets Taylor McCorriston (3-0, 1 Submission) of San Ramon, California in a three-round bantamweight fight. Munoz, looking to rebound from a tough stoppage loss to Alvin Cacdac last October, scaled 135-pounds, while McCorriston came in at 135 ¼.

Rounding out the MMA portion of the card, Junior Villanueva (1-0, 1 KO) of Oakdale will take on Rafael Rios (1-0, 1 Submission) of Stockton, California in a three-round lightweight bout. Villanueva, weighed in at 147 ¾-pounds, while Rios scaled 149 ½.

The boxing side of the card consists of two fights. In a four-round light middleweight fight, former amateur star Richard Hargraves (1-0, 1 KO) of San Francisco, California will meet J.C. Saade (0-1) of Los Angeles, California. Hargraves, the USA Boxing #3 ranked amateur welterweight before turning pro in December, weighed in at 151 ¾-pounds, while Saade scaled 151 even. Saade is fighting for the first time since 2005.

Heavyweight boxer, and MMA fighter, Yohan Banks was not sure who he would be fighting tonight, or even which rules his bout would be fought under, until sometime shortly before the weigh-in last night. Banks (2-3-3, 1 KO) of Redwood City, California will be boxing 6’5” Hector Martinez (5-3, 4 KOs) of Broderick, California in a four-rounder. Banks weighed in at 264, while Martinez scaled 228 ¾-pounds.

Two amateur kickboxing bouts will open the card. Mitch Thompson of Sacramento, California will take on Gaston Bolanos of Pleasanton in a three-round welterweight fight. Thompson weighed in at 144 ¾, while Bolanos came in at 141 ¾.

Mike Spatz (1-0) of Sacramento will fight Ignacio Zambrano of Stockton, California in a three-round cruiserweight fight. Spatz weighed in at 187, while Zambrano came in at 197 ¾-pounds.

Tickets for the event, promoted by ESMG World, are available by calling the casino at 530-533-3885 ext. 510.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Mixed Martial Arts Results:

Bantamweights, 3 Rounds
David 135
Brock 136

Middleweights, 3 Rounds
Wong 185
Hart 184 ¼

Flyweights, 3 Rounds
Sandoval 125 ¼
Sanders 125 ¾

Bantamweights, 3 Rounds
Munoz 135
McCorriston 135 ¼

Lightweights, 3 Rounds
Villanueva 147 ¾
Rios 149 ½

Boxing:

Light middleweights, 4 Rounds
Hargraves 151 ¾
Saade 151

Heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Banks 264
Martinez 228 ¾

Amateur Kickboxing:

Welterweights, 3 Rounds
Thompson 144 ¾
Bolanos 141 ¾

Cruiserweights, 3 Rounds
Spatz 187
Zambrano 197 ¾

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

This past December, rising Fil-Am star Ana Julaton claimed her second world title in just her eighth professional bout with a comprehensive ten-round decision over veteran Donna Biggers. On Saturday, Julaton will look to make it three-for-three, as she battles world class 122-pounder Lisa Brown for the vacant WBA Super Bantamweight title at the Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada. Their ten-round title fight, the chief supporting bout to the Steve Molitor-Takalani Ndlovu rematch, will be streamed live on GoFightLive.tv as part of “Rumble at Rama XI.”

Julaton (6-1-1, 1 KO) of Daly City, California continues to take the road less traveled en route to prominence in the realm of professional boxing. With only a handful of pro bouts under her belt, Julaton knocked off one of the mainstays in women’s boxing last year when she decisioned Kelsey Jeffries to claim the IBA 122-pound title. Next up is another respected, perennial division leader and reigning WIBA kingpin Lisa Brown (16-4-3, 5 KOs). Adding additional intrigue, Julaton will be attempting to win the title on what amounts to Brown’s home turf. Brown, who has fought all over the world, resides in nearby Scarborough, Ontario.

The fact that the fight takes place near Brown’s home may be a sign of karmic justice. Brown, who has not fought in Canada in over three years, traveled all the way to South Korea for her last bout. In one of the worse decisions of recent years, Brown lost a ten-round decision to South Korea’s Hyo Min Kim. The highly controversial loss ended a four-fight winning streak for Brown.

To prepare for Brown, Julaton returned to train under the architect of her title victory over Jeffries, Nonito Donaire Sr. A scheduling conflict precluded Donaire from training Julaton for her last bout, but the team was been able to pick things up right from where they left off. “She is a very hard-working fighter,” says Donaire. “So I don’t have any problems training her.”

Donaire’s son, world class flyweight Glenn Donaire, was Julaton’s chief sparring partner in camp. “[Ana] is a hard working person, and it really makes you work hard,” said Glenn. “She is ready for this fight, and I know she can knock that girl out.” The younger Donaire was able to emulate the southpaw Brown’s style after studying the champion on film. “It is not hard emulating Lisa Brown, because she stands right here,” said Glenn a couple weeks ago. “I was happy about that. I don’t have to do too much. All I do is emulate her movement and how she throws her punches.”

Saturday’s fight marks the first time that Julaton has traveled outside of the western part of the United States for a fight as a professional. Julaton, the WBO/IBA Super Bantamweight Champion, feels that travel should be part of a world champion’s job description. “I feel the fans out there want to see a world champion that is willing to travel to other countries and fight the best fighters and beat them,” said Julaton. “It is very exciting for me, and I feel it is a great experience.”

If Julaton is able to defeat Brown on her home turf on Saturday and claim the WBA title, it would be perhaps the most impressive victory on an already impressive resume. “She is experienced, she’s game. She is a world champion, and that should say enough about her,” said the respectful Julaton of her opponent. “She wants to fight me, and I want to fight her, and we are going for the world title.”

The fight can be seen LIVE on www.gofightlive.tv

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

RENO, NEVADA — Northern California-based prospects Brandon Gonzales and Karim Mayfield passed perhaps the toughest tests of their professional careers thus far, notching decision victories over tough journeyman opponents before a standing room only crowd at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino on Friday night.

Rising middleweight Gonzales (11-0, 9 KOs) of Sacramento, California outboxed rugged gatekeeper Darnell Boone (16-15-2, 6 KOs) of Atlanta, Georgia, topping the veteran via eight-round unanimous decision. Boone, 163, has been in with just about everyone from 154- to 168-pounds, but Gonzales, 163, proved to be the more complete fighter.

Gonzales flashed power early on, landing a clean left, right, left hook combination that rocked Boone late in the first. Luckily for the Atlanta resident, the bell came seconds later, before Gonzales could really follow up. Gonzales landed well in the second, but was in no rush to try and force a knockout. Boone woke up a bit in the third, but he could not match the varied attack Gonzales threw at him.

Boone changed up his approach in the fourth, bouncing on his toes at a distance and leaping in with the occasional well-timed punch. The pace of the fight slowed in the fifth, which made it easier for Gonzales to settle in and control the fight with his superior boxing skills. Outside of the two-way action that closed the fight, Boone was content to stay in a defensive posture for the final few rounds. Gonzales took what he could get and cruised to the decision. Scores read 80-71, 78-74, 79-73 for the undefeated “Flawless” Gonzales.

When Gonzales buzzed Boone late in the first, it looked as though the Sacramento prospect may become only the second fighter to stop the durable journeyman. “You have got to give credit to his experience,” said Gonzales after the fight. “I got him hurt, dug down to the body, but he dipped down low and survived those final seconds in the round. I couldn’t get him out of there, he survived, and you have to give him credit for that.”

While a knockout win would have been an eye-opener, Gonzales seemed satisfied with the decision victory. “I think we made the adjustments, and maybe if we had a ten or twelve-rounder, we possibly could have got him out of there,” said Gonzales. “He is an experienced guy, we got the rounds in, and I think I passed the test.” Gonzales is slated for a May 22nd card back at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno.

Unbeaten light middleweight prospect Karim Mayfield (12-0-1, 7 KOs) of Daly City, California edged Mario Jose Ramos (17-7-1, 3 KOs) of Phoenix, Arizona to win a six-round majority decision. Mayfield, 150, had trouble with the awkward style the southpaw journeyman Ramos, 150, employed throughout the fight. It was mostly one at a time for Mayfield, but he still landed the clean, more telling blows each round. Scores read 59-55, 58-56 for Mayfield, with one even score at 57-57.

Perhaps some of Mayfield’s difficulties with Ramos could be explained with the brief amount of time he had to prepare for the southpaw, after originally scheduled orthodox fighter Jason Davis withdrew two weeks ago. “He had an awkward style,” admitted Mayfield. “We had a southpaw switched to us within the last two weeks. With the change of opponents, we had to make a different transition. I only had two sparring sessions with a southpaw, so combinations weren’t rolling the same way. Nevertheless, he was real durable opponent, and it was a learning experience.”

Very few fighters have ever looked good against Ramos, but Mayfield was hoping for a more decisive conclusion to impress those watching ringside. “I wanted to make a statement and get him out of there, but he was real durable guy and been in with some top guys,” said Mayfield. “I hit him with some good shots, but we will go back to the drawing board. It was my first fight against a southpaw as a professional and we came out with the victory, so I am happy about that.” Mayfield hopes to land a fight by May, but is slated to fight in June in San Francisco on a card promoted by his brother LaRon’s Mo’ Betta Entertainment.

Rounding out the boxing portion of the card, debuting Omar Zaldivar (1-0) of Reno scored a four-round unanimous decision over Tom Peterson (0-1) of Modesto, California. A mixed martial artist by trade, Peterson, 154, displayed a raw fighting style that was likely better suited for that combat sport. The hard-charging, more technically sound Zaldivar, 154, pressed the fight from the outset and had Peterson in trouble for much of the fourth. Peterson lasted the distance, but lost the fight by scores of 40-36 three times.

MMA

In a quickie, Adam Albright (4-1, 3 Submissions) of San Francisco, California disappointed the home crowd as he submitted popular local attraction Josh Turner (2-2, 2 Submissions) of Reno in the opening round in the night’s main MMA attraction. Albright, 175, quickly gained control of Turner, 175, eventually cinching in with a guillotine choke hold. Seconds later Turner asked the referee for relief at 1:30 of the round.

In the highly-anticipated female MMA bout, Nicole Johnson (2-1) of Roseville scored a three-round unanimous decision over Jenny Trujillo (1-1) of San Jose, California.
After a brutal, back-and-forth first-round, the pace slowed and Johnson, 140, gradually took control of the fight. Trujillo, 145, was determined and had her moments in the fight. However, all three judges scored the bout 29-28 for Johnson.

Rick Randolph (5-3, 3 KOs, 2 Submissions) of Roseville, California scored a first-round submission win over Ryan Wong (1-2, 1 KO) of San Jose in the opener. Randolph, 205, took Wong, 205, to the mat early in the first and held positioning control through nearly the entire round. At 4:05 of the round, Randolph locked in a triangle choke to secure the submission victory.

“Reno Xtreme Fights IV” is scheduled for May 22nd at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, with Reno native Joey Gilbert slated for the main event. Let’s Get It On Promotions also holds a July 3rd date at the Reno Events Center to commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of the Jack Johnson-James J. Jeffries fight.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

RENO, NEVADA — Two of Northern California’s most promising young fighters, Brandon Gonzales and Karim Mayfield, top the bill against experienced opponents at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino tonight, as Let’s Get It On Promotions hosts the third edition of their boxing/mixed martial arts series “Reno Xtreme Fights.” Fighters weighed in Thursday at the casino’s Xtreme Sports Bar & Lounge.

Heading up the boxing side, Brandon Gonzales (10-0, 9 KOs) of Sacramento, California will be taking on potentially his toughest opponent to date in Darnell Boone (16-14-2, 6 KOs) of Atlanta, Georgia in the night’s eight-round middleweight main event. Gonzales has stopped his last four opponents, the last two coming at the Grand Sierra, but could likely be headed for a distance bout Friday. Boone has beaten four previously undefeated prospects, and drawn with another. Furthermore, Boone has been stopped only once, and that came five years ago. Gonzales and Boone both scaled 163-pounds.

In the main supporting bout, unbeaten Karim Mayfield (11-0-1, 7 KOs) of Daly City, California will take on venerable journeyman Mario Jose Ramos (17-6-1, 3 KOs) of Phoenix, Arizona in a six-round welterweight fight. Mayfield is coming off an impressive fifth-round knockout of Francisco Santana last November. Santana’s only previous defeat came at the hands of Mayfield in a close bout in 2008. Originally Mayfield was readying himself to fight Jason Davis, but a third-round stoppage defeat earlier in the month ruled the Washington-based journeyman out of the fight. Ramos, a sturdy southpaw, presents a different challenge. Ramos has been in with the better competition, including Lamont Peterson and Demetrius Hopkins. Few have looked good against Ramos, and a convincing win would be a great notch in Mayfield’s belt. Mayfield and Ramos both weighed-in at 150-pounds.

The first boxing bout of the evening pits two debuting light middleweights, as Reno’s Omar Zalvidar takes on Tom Peterson of Modesto, California in a four-rounder. Peterson, who has fought professionally in mixed martial arts, weighed in 154-pounds, as did Zalvidar.

The MMA portion of the card is comprised of three fights. Ryan Wong (1-1, 1 KO) of San Jose, California will take on Rick Randolph (4-3, 3 KOs, 1 Submission) of Roseville, California in a three-round light heavyweight bout. Wong and Randolph both scaled 205-pounds.

In the evening’s female bout, Jenny Trujillo (1-0) of San Jose will take on Nicole Johnson (1-1) of Roseville in a three-round featherweight fight. Trujillo weighed in at 145, while Johnson scaled 140-pounds.

Rounding out the card, Josh Turner (2-1, 2 Submissions) of Reno will meet Adam Albright (3-1, 2 Submissions) of San Francisco, California in a three-round middleweight fight. Turner and Albright both scaled 175-pounds Thursday.

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

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Super middleweights, 8 Rounds
Gonzales 163
Boone 163

Welterweights, 6 Rounds
Mayfield 150
Ramos 150

Light middleweights, 4 Rounds
Peterson 154
Zalvidar 154

Mixed Martial Arts Weigh-in Results:

Light heavyweights, 3 Rounds
Wong 205
Randolph 205

Featherweights, 3 Rounds
Trujillo 145
Johnson 140

Middleweights, 3 Rounds
Turner 175
Albright 175

Photos by Mark Ortega

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quick Weigh-in Results:

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

Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Serrano 146 ½
Warrior Jr. 147

Heavyweights, 6 Rounds
Hinkey 270
Williams 215

Heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Forrester 220
Goins 227

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

Photos by Mark Ortega

Mario Ortega Jr. can be contacted at [email protected].

IBF #7 ranked super middleweight Jesse Brinkley (34-5, 22 KOs) of Yerington, Nevada takes on IBF #8 ranked Curtis Stevens in a twelve-round elimination bout tonight at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada. The winner will move into the IBF #2 world ranking, placing them right in line for a shot at IBF kingpin Lucian Bute. Their bout headlines ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. Fighters weighed in Thursday night at the casino’s Xtreme Sports Bar & Lounge

Watch Jesse Brinkley-Curtis Stevens Weigh-in

The elements are all there for rising welterweight prospect Raymond Serrano to become a boxing star. The former amateur standout has the look, he’s just 20-years-old, comes from a fighting family, fights at the prominent welterweight class and oh yeah, he’s from Philadelphia. Serrano, a gifted boxer-puncher, tests his wares before the world tonight in the ESPN2-televised co-feature from the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada.

Serrano (11-0, 6 KOs) was introduced to the sport of boxing by his father Ramon at an early age. “My dad used to compete as an amateur in Puerto Rico,” explained Serrano. “He got me into it and started training me when I was young, like eight-years-old.” Raymond’s uncle Ben Serrano also boxed professionally, notably defeating eventual titlist Doug DeWitt during a 21-fight career. Additionally, current junior middleweight contender Kermit Cintron is Ben’s nephew by marriage.

Despite the boxing bloodlines, Raymond did not inherit a love for the sport right off the bat. “When I first started boxing, I didn’t really like it,” admits Serrano. “I never wanted to fight.” Perhaps what began to change the young Serrano’s attitude toward the sport was his success. By 2005, the 16-year-old Serrano was making his mark on the national amateur scene. In June and July of that year, Brownsville, Texas played host to both the National and International Junior Olympic Championships, and Serrano won gold in both.

“That was one of the best experiences as an amateur,” said Serrano, recalling his Junior Olympic victories. “I went to a lot of tournaments before that, and made it to the championships and lost. I was determined to win the Junior Olympics, because the year before that I had won the bronze. I wasn’t that happy, so I came back the next year and won gold. It was a happy moment. After that I started traveling with the USA team and I learned a lot from that experience.”

While he went on to gain many accomplishments in the unpaid ranks, including a bronze at the World Cadet Championships in England in 2005 and a Pennsylvania Golden Gloves title in 2006, Serrano began to sour on the amateur game. The change in his outlook was due in part to the much maligned amateur scoring system. “There were a lot of fights that I thought I won, but because of the computer scoring I didn’t,” explains Serrano. “It is hard to fight four rounds and then they say you lost by one point, it is crazy. I went to the Under 19 [Championships], and I fought in the championship and lost, which I thought I won. Then I went to the Eastern Trials and lost by a couple of points. After that, I think I was 17 or 18, I decided to turn pro.”

While his three-point loss to Anthony Walker at the Eastern Trials in May of 2007 marked his final amateur contest, the controversial computerized scoring was not the only reason the young Serrano decided to make the leap to the pros. “I had over 100 fights, and I stopped getting excited when it came time for the amateur fights,” admits Serrano. “I decided I needed some excitement, so it came time to turn pro.”

That October, Serrano made his pro debut inside a hallowed Philadelphia sporting landmark, the Spectrum, making short work of Tierre King. However, it was not until his second pro contest that Serrano came to the realization of what it means to be a professional fighter. “I fought Jorge Delgado, and he had a lot of fights,” recalls Serrano. “It was my first time being in a fight and going the full four-rounds.” Serrano took the four-round unanimous decision. “That was a wake up call that it is not a game. You’ve got to train hard. It is not like the amateurs, because it is important that you don’t get any losses. The guy was tough too, he was a veteran.”

Early in his pro run, Serrano soon assembled the team that supports and prepares him to this day. Prominent promotional outfit Star Boxing, headed by Joe DeGuardia, took an early interest in Serrano and inked the young prospect. “In this business, if you don’t have someone looking out for you, no one will,” says Serrano. “And I have someone looking out for me. We got a good thing going on with Star Boxing, they are good people.”

Besides joining forces with a promoter, Serrano and his father brought in a new trainer, Danny Davis. “I knew Danny since the amateurs,” says Serrano. “We used to have Danny come give me pads in the amateurs. After my second or third fight, we brought Danny into our team. He is great.” Davis, who won a National Golden Glove title in 1991, has worked alongside Nazim Richardson, Freddie Roach and John David Jackson in the camps of Bernard Hopkins.

In addition to his experience working with the most renowned trainers and as a fighter himself, it is Davis’ approach to training that has left an indelible impression on his young pupil. “He goes out there and runs with me, and he pushes me,” says Serrano of his extremely fit trainer. “He doesn’t just tell me what to do, he actually does the workouts with me.”

Any rising young fighter could get caught up in his own hype, but Davis is not afraid bring his charge’s feet back down to sea level. “Somebody has to be grounded, and that’s me. I am the bad guy,” says Davis. “He has the people who tell him he’s great and he is this and that. I am the one that has to keep everything honest, and I do, and he respects me for that.”

In his most recent fight, Serrano moved to 11-0, but not with out some trials and tribulations. Serrano took on journeyman Anthony Bowman on November 21st in Tunica, Mississippi. The time comes in every fighter’s career that he must show he can overcome obstacles and adversity. Serrano was unexpectedly dropped by Bowman in the opening round. Although he was not hurt from the flash knockdown, a two-point round is huge in a six-round bout, and thus Serrano was behind the eight ball. Making matters worse, a headbutt had opened a cut on Serrano before the first round came to a close.

Serrano rose to the challenge, evening the score by knocking Bowman down in the following round, en route to a six-round unanimous decision victory. “My last fight, I didn’t look as good as I normally do,” admits Serrano. “But that is why I went back to the drawing board and trained harder for my fight coming up on ESPN. I also got cut, and that was my first time getting cut.”

Serrano’s trainer believes that the near slip-up against Bowman may be serving Serrano well. “He is back in the gym and I am seeing him really focused, more so than ever, and I have been with him for two years,” said Davis from camp last week. “Sometimes it takes a fight like that. I think that fight did something to him. This is a matter of life and death. I always tell him we have to treat it as such, and that it is a dangerous sport. You don’t know if you are going to come out or not. You have to take it serious.”

Serrano showed he could overcome adversity in his last fight, but his team will not rush their budding 20-year-old prospect. “He is turning into a more complete fighter, but we still have a long ways to go,” said Davis, who would like to give Serrano two or three more years before he tackles the upper echelon of the always tough 147-pound welterweight class. “He just turned 20, so people have to understand he’s still young. He is learning, and he is doing a lot of things better than two years ago when we first started. So I am definitely seeing the progress.

Next up for Serrano is an ESPN2 televised eight-rounder against venerable southpaw Ronnie Warrior Jr., tonight at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada. Warrior (13-2-1, 4 KOs) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is coming off of a two-plus-year layoff and may not have the most imposing record, but Serrano has learned from past mistakes. “I don’t know that much about him,” admits Serrano. “He’s a southpaw and he’s like an inch taller than me. I know not to take anybody lightly though, so I am ready for whatever.”

“This is a great opportunity for Raymond to once again showcase his growing skills on the national stage,” said Serrano’s promoter DeGuardia. “This will be his first scheduled eight rounder, and his first nationally televised co-feature, and he is still only 20-years-old.” DeGuardia has high hopes for him, but understands that it is one step at a time, “Ray has a very exciting crowd-pleasing style, and we expect him to have a very big year in 2010, but first he must get by Warrior on the 29th.”

Raymond Serrano appears ready to meet and possibly exceed everyone’s expectations, adding another chapter to his family’s boxing history. “I want to look good and show people what I got,” said Serrano. “You will be seeing me move up the ladder. My goal is to be champion of the world.”

Photo by Mark Ortega

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

When the unfortunate tragedy of the earthquake which struck Haiti earlier this month forced Andre Berto to withdraw from his scheduled unification bout against Shane Mosley, it forced promoter Golden Boy Promotions to cancel the entire January 30th event which was to have emanated from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The cancellation left several bouts slated for the deep undercard without a venue.

However, Golden Boy has found a home for at least one of the more prominent bouts originally pegged for January 30th, as the meeting between rising super featherweights Eloy Perez and David Rodela has been moved to January 29th. Their ten-round bout will now take place just down the road a bit at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino as a supporting bout to WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Gabriel Campillo’s title defense in a rematch against Beibut Shumenov. Golden Boy is co-promoting the card with Shumenov’s KZ Event Productions.

Perez (15-0-2, 4 KOs) of Salinas, California will be making the first defense of his WBC USNBC Super Featherweight title which he won in a back-and-forth struggle over previously undefeated Dannie Williams this past September. In his most recent bout, Perez scored the biggest win of his career, stopping the naturally larger Juan Santiago to claim the WBO NABO 130-pound crown.

Rodela (14-1-2, 6 KOs) of Oxnard, California last fought in August, cruising to a unanimous four-round decision victory over once-beaten Gamalier Rodriguez. That victory was preceded by three straight split decision wins over Juan Garcia, Marlon Aguilar and faded former champion Kevin Kelley.

The significance of their clash has increased since the bout was first signed. The January rankings issued by the WBO have Eloy Perez ranked #3 in the world at 130-pounds. With only WBO #1 Ricky Burns (who is already scheduled to meet WBO kingpin Rocky Martinez in March,) and WBO #2 Terdsak Jandaeng ranked above him in the rankings, Perez could conceivably be paired in an elimination bout next time out. For the currently unranked Rodela, a win over the WBO #3 contender would undoubtedly catapult the Oxnard native into the world rankings.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].