By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS — David Benavidez did the shuffle, touched the canvas, gestured at fans and his opponent.

He did it all.

He won.

In an often contentious light-heavyweight fight, Benavidez always survived, sometimes dominated and ultimately prevailed, scoring a unanimous decision Saturday night over Cuban David Morrell in front of a roaring crowd at T-Mobile Arena and an Amazon Prime pay-per-view audience.

The bout was called an eliminator, a bureaucratic euphemism that could mean just about anything. Maybe, a shot at 175-pound division’s undisputed title awaits. Maybe, the winner of the Feb. 22 rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dimitrii Bivol awaits.

But Saturday fight was loaded with evidence that Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) isn’t waiting on anybody or anything. He delivered a multi-angled performance that overcame some difficult moments with the kind of resilience that suggests he won’t be eliminated any time soon. 

Against the clever Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs), there were moments when a premature end to all his promises could have been there. He got knocked down late in the 11th when he was off balance and his gloves touched the canvas. Immediately, he rallied, with a furious assault in the round’s final seconds.  Morrell, stunned, reacted a second too late. He popped Benavidez with a counter one second after the bell sounded an end to the round. A one-point penalty was assessed by referee Thomas Taylor.

Would it have mattered? No. Benavidez had a solid advantage on all three scorecards. It was 115-111, 118-108 and 115-111, all for Benavidez. But his quick thinking in response to sudden chaos was a sign of some inexhaustible poise and a stubborn will to fight. It’s what Monsters do, he suggested during an interview in the middle ring immediately after the victory. This Monster is not extinct, despite talk that suggested otherwise.

“He knows that,’’ Benavidez said as he nodded toward Morrell’s corner. “Everybody knows that the Monster is still here. Now he does, too.’’

Morrell had no complaints in the immediate aftermath. He did not rip the referee for taking a point. He did not hurl profanities at Benavidez. They hugged after it was all over..

“It’s OK,’’ Morrell said. “I’m not going to criticize. Thank you, David Benavidez. I want to fight you again. I know I can beat you 

 The violence, promised by promoter Tom Brown, was there — fully locked and loaded — in an explosive fourth round. 

It happened at both sides of the ring, in opposite corners, each neutral only in name. First, there was Benavidez, trapping Morrell in one corner and unleashing punches at a familiar, yet still astonishing rate. Initially, it looked as if Morrell couldn’t tell where the punches were coming from. They rained in on the Cuban from impossible angles. Benavidez was delivering chaos. But  Morrell escaped, stepping to his right along the ropes and into the relative calm of the center ring.

But that calm proved to be an illusion, a little bit like the eye of a storm.

Within seconds, the winds of violence blew Benavidez into the opposite corner. This time, it was Morrell’s turn. With Benavidez’ back up against the ring post, Morrell unloaded a skillset noted for more precision than chaos. One big shot landed, rocking Benavidez’ head back almost as if it were attached to his shoulders by a long, loose spring.

“He hit me, but I thought he would hit harder,’’ Benavidez said.

Translation: Morrell couldn’t take away some of the intangibles that continue to make Benavidez so effective. He always has an answer. They were there Saturday night, at every moment and in every corner.  

Fulton wins, crowd boos

The sequel is never as good as the original.

Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa proved the old line, ad nauseam, Saturday with an oh-so-dull rematch of their first encounter in November 2021.

Then, they did it at super-bantamweight in a bout won by Fulton in a majority-decision. Saturday, they were at featherweight with a World Boxing Council title at stake. But it didn’t matter. Fulton 23-1, 8 KOs) won the belt, scoring a unanimous decision.But there was no celebration. Only boos

On any scale, a restless T-Mobile Arena crowd waiting for the David Benavidez-David Morrell main course  just wanted it to end.

The crowd began booing in the fourth round. The booing continued for the next few rounds before some in the crowd began to chant insults and expletives in Spanish. In any language, Fulton-Figueroa 2 was boring. It also took some air out of the arena after an entertaining junior welterweight bout won by Isaac Cruz over Angel Fierro in the prior bout.

Neither Fulton nor Figueroa was able to mount, much less sustain, any kind of an attack. Fulton landed a powerful right. But not much more from either fighter after that.

In the twelfth, there were finally cheers from a crowd happy only that it had ended

Isaac Cruz wins decision in tough fight for belt named after Israel Vazquez

Israel Vazquez would have been proud.

Isaac Cruz and Angel Fierro fought with some of the heart and much of the same stubborn skill that defined the late Vazquez through 10 competitive rounds for a WBC Aztec belt named after the late Mexican great Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

In the end, Cruz prevailed, winning a unanimous decision.

Go ahead and argue with the scores — 96-94, 97-93, 98-92, all for the better-known, more popular Cruz.

But there was no argument with the fight. It was a toe-to-toe, back-and-forth battle between two Mexicans. In the end Cruz (26-4-1, 18 KOs) prevailed. Perhaps, he had just a little bit more bite, although the 98-92 didn’t indicate that. It should have.

 But Fierro (23-3-2, 11 KOs) didn’t complain.

“I came here to give the fans a great fight and leave it all in the ring,” he said through an interpreter. “I don’t care about the judges, I care about the fans. But I do hope that ‘Pitbull’ gives me a rematch, because I think I deserve it.”

 With the crowd woofing and the dog still apparent in Cruz, nicknamed the Pitbull, things suddenly changed in the third round. That’s when Fierro let the barking fans and the aggressive Cruz know that he wasn’t going to go away meekly. 

Fierro, of Tijuana, used his advantages in height and reach to catch the incoming  Cruz with a succession of shots that wobbled him. Suddenly, some of that barking began to sound like begging in the pro-Cruz crowd..

Through the next two rounds, Cruz, of Mexico City, would back up Fierro with his power. But the stubborn Fierro always knew where he was. Cruz was moving, always incoming. He knows no other way. Hence, the dogged nickname.

Fierro caught again in the fourth 

And again in the fifth..

By the seventh and eighth, both junior-welterweights began to tire. Cruz didn’t pursue with the same energy. Fierro’s hands and shoulders began to droop, then drop. But in the 1oth and final round, both stood, exchanging blow after blow.

Israel Vazquez must have been smiling.

Ramos wins middleweight TKO, plans to go back to 154 pounds

Losses are lessons.

Lesson learned.

Jesus Ramos applied what he remembered from a painful, controversial loss to Erickson Lubin in his lone defeat and beat Jeison Rosario Saturday at T-Mobile Arena with a definitive finish.

He won by stoppage. This time, he eliminated any chance at a scorecard debate.

“I was hoping for a knockcout,” said Ramos, who plans to go back down to junior middleweight after the 160-pound victory, his second straight win since the Lubin loss.

But he didn’t quibble with the technical part of it, although Rosario appeared to when the referee ended at 2:18 of the eighth round on a card featuring David Benavidez-versus-David Morrell.

By then, Ramos (22-1, 18 KOs), who ended it with a succession of punches — two to the head and two to the body , was in complete control with a thorough body-to-head attack that broke down Rosario (24-5-2, 13 KOs). It also knocked him down in the seventh.

Ramos, fighting out of a southpaw stance, was effective with lead left hands in the opening round and again in the second. Rosario, a former welterweight champion, moved forward, but his advance was repeatedly met by agile combinations, body to head and head to body.

After three rounds, Ramos had landed 38 body punches, according to a ringside computer.. By the fifth, Ramos appeared to be gaining control of the middleweight bout. His fans, many from his hometown of Casa Grande in central Arizona, thought so.

“Ramos, Ramos,” they chanted.

By the sixth, Ramos’ body shots were having an impact — one that echoed through the arena. Rosario’s forward movement began to slow. His hands began to drop. It was an opportunity, and Ramos capitalized with one uppercut after another. Rosario was hurt. In the seventh he was down, dropped by a right-left combination from Ramos.. 

Photo by Ester Lin/Premier Boxing Champions

Vergil Ortiz Jr. fough through adversity, but showed he is a legitimate contender to comeback and stop former world title challenger in round eight of their scheduled 12-round welterweight bout at the Star in Frisco, Texas.

In round two, Kavaiauskas hurt Ortz with a right hand, and set off a fiery exchange that looked like it sent Ortiz to the canvas but it was ruled a slip. In round three, Kavaliauskas hurt Ortiz again with a right hand, but this time Ortiz came off the ropes and fired off a left hook that sent Kavaliauskas to the canvas.

In round eight, Ortiz dropped Kavaliauskas three times. The first was a left hook to the body. The next two were from hard left hooks to the head and the fight was stopped at

Ortiz, 147 lbs of Grand Prairie, TX is 18-0 with 18 knockouts. Kavaliauskas, 146.1 lbs of Lithuania is 22-2-1.

Ortiz said, “I feel good. The fight started off slow in my opinion and I just had to adjust. After the second round, I had to adjust and try to find a way to wear him down. I started using my jab more and fought more intelligently. After the third round, I felt more confident because I knew that I could control the fight moving forward. But he is a tough guy, a very strong fighter, and I respect that he came to fight.” 

“I came here to fight, I was sure I would stop him. I prepared myself so hard to be ready for this fight. I was 100% in shape, I was fast, I was strong. But you know, it is what it is, today he was stronger, he is a tremendous fighter. He has good power and good speed, good jab, good technique, he is a good fighter. I was thinking that I was going to end the fight in the second round, but he survived. He is a warrior,” said Kavaliauskas. 

Gutierrez Decisions Alvarado; Retains 130 lb Title

Roger Gutierrez defended the WBA Super Featherweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision from the man he won the belt from Rene Alvarado in their trilogy bout.

Gutierrez, 130 lbs of Venezuela won by scores of 116-112 twice and 115-113 and is now 26-3-1. Alvarado, 129.2 lbs is 32-10.

“I hurt my right hand, it was very inconvenient because I feel like I could have ended the fight earlier. But I want to thank god we were victorious and that is the most important thing. I know Rene is a warrior, but we had a good fight today and we are happy to take on the next challenge, and perhaps fight Leo Santa Cruz,” said Gutierrez. 

Alvarado stated, “I feel like I dominated the majority of the fight. I do not feel like the decision was fair. In the last round, I did get the cut on my left eye and I couldn’t see, but I know that I closed those two rounds.”

Alvarado Destroys Vazquez in 1

Light-Flyweight world champion Felix Alvarado destroyed late-replacement Israel Vazquez in the opening round of their scheduled 10-round non-title bout.

Alvarado landed a hard counter right that sent Vazquez down and out at 2:50.

Alvarado, 107.6 lbs of Managua, NIC is 37-2 with 32 knockouts. Vazquez, 107.6 lbs of Bayamon, PR is 10-5-2.

“I did feel a little unstable with the change of opponents and of course I would love to fight Eric Lopez, but unfortunately that didn’t happen due to the visa issues. Fortunately, we had a good training camp and we were prepared for Israel. Luckily the fight ended early enough where he wasn’t injured and I wasn’t injured,” said Alvarado. 

Rincon Decisions Buzolin

George Rincon remained undefeated with an eight-round unanimous decision over Nikolai Buzolin in a welterweight bout.

Rincon, 142.2 lbs of Dallas, TX won by scores of 80-72 on all cards and is now 12-0. Buzolin, 143 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is 8-4-1.

“He was a shorter fighter with a very awkward style and I had to be careful with those looping hands. There were a few things that I wish that I could have made more clear during the fight, but his style didn’t really help. Just happy that I was able to be here, fight in my hometown, in front of my friends and family. Glad we got the win and I plan to go back to the gym and keep getting better,” said Rincon.

Alex Martin won a 10-round unanimous decision over Josec Ruiz in a super welterweight bout.

Martin, 137 lbs of Chicago is 17-3. Ruiz, 135.4 lbs of Miami, FL is 23-5-3.

Martin said, “I knew that I hurt him with that body shot in the last round and he started to fold over. I still could have followed up with more body shots, but I am happy I got the win. I am ready to come back. I am motivated and just thankful to God for the opportunity.”

Alex Rincon remained undefeated with a eight-round unanimous decision over Sanny Duversonne in a middleweight contest.

Rincon, 153.4 lbs of Dallas, TX win by scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74 and is now 9-0. Duversonne, 154.8 lbs of Avon Park, FL is 11-4-2.

“He was a tough warrior, you have to respect him. I knew he was going to be a durable fighter. I also knew that I needed to use my jab to counter his jab and set up the shot. But I feel good, I think it was about time I got some war wounds so people can believe I am a fighter,” said Rincon. 

NEW YORK – March 26, 2020 – SHOWTIME Sports will delve into its rich archive of historic boxing events to re-air the epic Israel Vázquez vs. Rafael Márquez trilogy this Saturday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. The telecasts will also be available via the SHOWTIME streaming service and SHOWTIME ANYTIME^®.  

The fierce Mexican rivals squared off in three consecutive award-winning fights which aired live on SHOWTIME in 2007 and 2008 before meeting for a fourth and final time in 2010. The first three bouts were all contested with the WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship on the line.

Described by the network’s Hall of Fame analyst Steve Farhood as, “an explosion of artistic brutality,” Vázquez-Márquez I was a unanimous selection for 2007 Fight of the Year and left the fans and fighters clamouring for a rematch. The two warriors delivered yet again in their second meeting just five months later in another bloody slugfest that produced a Round of the Year winner and a result that demanded a rubber match. Vázquez-Márquez III, contested just 363 days from their first meeting, was the only match in the rivalry to go the distance and was named the 2008 Fight of the Year.

During Saturday night’s re-airing of the trilogy, combat sports analysts Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell will host a live episode of the duo’s popular digital talk show, MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL on the Morning Kombat YouTube Channel. Thomas and Campbell will watch and react to the fights in real time and conduct a Q&A session with fans.

The Vazquez-Marquez series was called by the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^® announce team, all four members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame: host and play-by-play from Steve Albert, popular ringside analyst Al Bernstein, Emmy Award winning reporter Jim Gray and world renowned ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr.

“We all knew the first fight would be great, and it more than lived up to expectations,” said Bernstein, who called all four fights. “The second fight was exciting, and when fight three came, I didn’t think they could top Nos. 1 and 2, but they did just that. It’s one of the top five fights I’ve ever announced or seen. The ebb and flow was tremendous, and you almost felt it didn’t matter who ended up getting the decision because they both had been so great. I can’t admire two boxers more than these two men.”

Fans new to SHOWTIME^® who sign up through the recently announced 30-day free trial before May 3 can watch these fights, the network’s original series, documentaries, specials and movies online via the SHOWTIME streaming service on SHOWTIME.com or the SHOWTIME app, available on all supported devices.

By Bart Barry-

Sometime last week or the one before, the ballot
arrived for this year’s International Boxing Hall of Fame election.  It had too many great fighters to choose only
five, but rules are rules.  I don’t
recall the other four I chose.  They
weren’t necessarily four who will get in but borderline candidates I hope to
help.  My fifth vote went without
hesitation to a man whose name appeared alphabetically towards the bottom: Israel
“El Magnifico” Vazquez.

This won’t be a persuasive piece, necessarily, so
much as a light exposition, an examination, a chance to write once more about
my favorite prizefighter.

I didn’t vote for Vazquez to be in the IBHOF
because I believe you should, or should agree that I did.  I won’t list the most-prominent fighter on
this year’s ballot for whom I did not vote because I know his misanthropic fans
and haven’t a desire or reason in the world to hear from them again – and he’s
getting in anyway.  I don’t have
reductionist criteria to which I cling for making decisions about who belongs
in a hall of fame or deserves of-the-year awards because I feel no compulsion
whatever to justify these decisions.  I
watch prizefighting often enough to write a weekly column and trust the rest to
intuition.  I don’t argue about these
things, either; this column is an asymmetrical medium.

There is no one I have covered in this, our
beloved sport whom I admire more than El Magnifico.  Nobody I can think of who gave more of the
best part of himself to our sport, either, making naught but world championship
fights in his prime and losing his career and right eye to the quality of
opposition he faced.  And in a sport of
counterintuitively decent men, too, he’s the most decent I’ve met.

My first Las Vegas card I covered for this site
was Marco Antonio Barrera’s 2006 tutoring of Rocky Juarez, and that night’s
co-comain featured the best fight any American aficionado saw live, much less
in person, that year.  Vazquez came off
the canvas twice and ground Jhonny Gonzalez to dust seven years before Gonzalez
put a stamp on Abner Mares.

Man, could Vazquez grind!  He had innate a sense as any of another man’s
accumulating weakness; he saw with a jeweler’s loupe the first fissures in an
opponent’s will.  Once he saw the
fissures he pressured them unto cracks and pieces and pieces of those pieces,
regardless what counterpunches hit him en route.

He had many plans, too, not just a plan A, which
means he was nothing like the kamikaze some wrongly credited him with being.  He stayed on his stool, after all, in the
first of his three fights with Rafael Marquez. 
He wasn’t able to breathe and said he wouldn’t fight on.  If that keeps him off someone’s defunct Gatti
List, so be it.

What it proves is Vazquez’s volition; it proves
that every time he marched through his era’s best super bantamweights he did so
voluntarily, capable as he was of calling-off the match if the contest became
futile.  Oscar Larios (63-7-1, 39 KOs),
Jhonny Gonzalez (68-11, 55 KOs) and Rafael Marquez (41-9, 37 KOs): Vazquez
fought these men a collective eight times and went 5-3 (4 KOs).  He knocked-out two of them in rematches after
they’d stopped him, and in the case of the third, “Jhonny” Jhonny, he
knocked-out Gonzalez after being dropped by him a twotime.

El Magnifico’s legacy is, of course, his trilogy
with Rafael Marquez.  As aficionados
bemoan the recesses and tuneups granted men like Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury
and Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, they’re reminded Vazquez and Marquez
fought one another consecutively in three matches that spanned less than a
year.  Marquez stopped Vazquez in March,
Vazquez stopped Marquez in August, and they made the 2007 fight of the year seven
months later.

It’s the best fight in the best trilogy I’ll ever
cover.

You can confirm all that on YouTube.  What you can’t confirm is how ruined, broken
even, Vazquez was in the postfight pressconference after his victory.  There he was, his face like a powdered
Halloween mask – allwhite but for lipstick circles where his eyes and mouth
should’ve been.  He humbly mumbled his
praise of Marquez through torn, swollen lips and graciously ceded the
microphone to Marquez’s jackass promoter and assistant manager and their braying
about protesting some detail nobody remembers. 
Eleven years later, and that scene still boils.

Sixteen months after Vazquez won 2007’s fight of
the year, good fortune put me at a dinner table with him in New York City,
where the BWAA honored him and my mentor and friend Norm Frauenheim.  Who knows how many surgeries Vazquez’s right
eye had undergone by then.

El Magnifico was there with his wife’s brother,
and before dessert Vazquez’s cuñado loped over to take pictures with what
bedizened models accompanied the evening’s presenters.  Vazquez and I exchanged incredulous glances,
and I told El Magnifico his brother-in-law was gaming every woman with a line
about knowing Israel Vazquez.

“Pero, yo soy Vazquez,” he said, and he motioned
to himself and started laughing.  “I’m
Vazquez!” 

I don’t care if empiricism says there are fighters
more deserving of IBHOF induction.  I
don’t care if someone knows so little about prizefighting that he looks at the 27
losses listed above, or the 5 losses (4 KOs) on Vazquez’s résumé, and scoffs at
someone being dumb enough to vote for Vazquez and admit it in a column.  Frankly, I don’t care if this is the last of
my columns you ever read.

Israel Vazquez epitomizes for me everything that
makes prizefighting worth its writing.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

By Bart Barry-

It’s the new year. Time for a preview.

Nope.

Some laziness and more wisdom say a preview of what’s to come in this new year in this new column won’t work well because its writer hasn’t a strong feeling about anything that is to come in 2018 and hasn’t even minimal interest in ingesting or digesting or egesting others’ opinions on it. Here’s a better idea.

Let’s revisit Israel Vazquez versus Jhonny Gonzalez as a reminder of just how special “El Magnifico” is.

There’s the longform preview, the bulletpoint preview – apparently how the leader of the free world takes his intelligence briefings – the panelist preview, even on special occasion the poetry preview. It’s what you have to do with a weekly column and no action on the horizon each January and many a June or July; it’s either that or make an agepoorly review of whatever slim fare happens at the top of the year, pretending some historically inconsequential fight or other is a worldbeater certain to be remembered 11 months later during award season but not actually memorable come even March or April.

Such is the chore of making a constant effort at a subject whose quality is inconstant at best. Which brings us more symmetrically than may appear to the subject of today’s nonpreview column.

Ringside at Vazquez-Gonzalez in 2006, the co-comain of my first Vegas fightcard, I never saw the HBO broadcast or heard its soundtrack, believing as I do there’s no replacement for an eyewitness experience and nothing in a video is accurate as being ringside because there’s an intuitive thing that happens when you’re in physical proximity to an event, there’s an intimate sense for the accumulation of moments that belongs to you, not the cameras of a selfinterested broadcaster, that makes what you feel more trustworthy. The trustworthiness of this intuition is doubly thwarted by sayings like “you’d better think twice” and television’s relentless revenuedriven drive to replace the personal experience with itself, culminating for me years ago in the crowning idiocy of television viewers telling ringside reporters to review fight tapes to see what they missed – like aspiring tourists telling residents to watch Netflix to see what their native country is really like.

What perception happened quite quickly in my review of the Vazquez-Gonzalez broadcast, then, was the sobriety of the HBO commentary: Jim, then as now, steered the narrative wherever his cohosts directed it, but Emanuel and Larry were simply quieter than Roy and Max. At match’s end, for instance, when Jim set his mind on setting a blaze of controversy, Emanuel simply said, no, the result would’ve been the same regardless, and the whole thing got extinguished. Even were Roy today cogent as Emanuel then, he’d never get a chance to stay the inertia of his partners’ babbling long enough, and Roy is nowhere near so cogent.

In 2006 it felt like reporting. By 2010 it felt like presenting. And today it feels like selling.

OK, back to what matters.

I don’t know why I waited till 2018 to revisit this match – not in the sense that I don’t know why I chose to watch Israel Vazquez on the second Sunday morning of the year but why, if I’m capable of such an impulse, I don’t do it much more frequently. Before I was enamored of Chocolatito I was enamored of El Magnifico. And his match with Jhonny Gonzalez comprises many of the reasons why.

What Vazquez had that I admire most was physical intelligence; Vazquez thought with his body and thought through his opponents’ bodies better than most, neutralizing other men’s superiority of speed and length by doing things more precisely than they did. Vazquez’s underappreciated technique, too: the way he L-stepped from Gonzalez’s righthand towards his own, calculating as he later did in his revered trilogy with Rafael Marquez that as a Mexican-bred prizefighter he could handle well any fellow Mexican’s lefthook as any fellow Mexican could handle his, and so why trade lefthooks when neither he nor his opponents would withstand a rightcross thrown as counter or combo or lead?

It was a calculation that nearly got him undone by Gonzalez, who dropped him with a lefthook lead twice in the match, first with a balance shot then later with something indeed flusher. Whatever lefthook power be his birthright Vazquez changed decisively Gonzalez’s calculus with his right, though, in a match Gonzalez led prohibitively, 60-52, at its midpoint.

Izzy may have won two minutes of the match’s first 18. Yet there he was at each round’s opening bell, bounding off his stool and hustling to ringcenter, eager to seize some initiative from Gonzalez.

Then Vazquez shortarmed his jabs until he knew they counted, bringing the much longer Gonzalez closer and closer, extending fully only when certain a landed punch might undermine Gonzalez’s fitness more than it improved his perception of what Vazquez was up to. And goodness, but Gonzalez was a proper challenger.

Twenty-four years old and 37 prizefights into a 75-prizefight (and ongoing) career Gonzalez dropped Vazquez with a pair of the lefthooks that later razed Abner Mares in a single round, and each time he did Gonzalez finished the round worse than he started it. And Gonzalez threw those lefthooks with abandon, several times imbalancing himself into pirouettes when they missed. Izzy made him miss oftener than posterity records, too.

When the time came for finishing Vazquez was ever more robotic than predatory, enthusiastically applying a template more than attacking another man. And gracious in victory, always.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

INDIO, CA (July 21, 2017): As temperatures begin to swelter in Coachella Valley, so will the ring at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in a true crossroads fight between Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (23-7, 7 KOs) of Riverside, CA and Jesus “Renuente” Soto Karass (28-11-4, 18 KOs) of Los Mochis, Mexico. The two will face each other in a 10-round make-or-break welterweight war on the August 4th edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN, to air on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 9 P.M. EST/6 P.M. PST. Doors to the action at the Fantasy Springs Special Events Center will open at 4:00 p.m. PT.

Special guest and VIP of the night will be former three-time WBC World Super Bantamweight Champion Israel “Magnifico” Vazquez (44-5, 32 KOs) who is revered for his series of four legendary fights against fellow Mexican compatriot, Rafael Marquez. Vazquez was also a longtime holder of the IBF, Lineal and Ring Magazine titles twice from 2005 to 2008. Vazquez will be in attendance for the fights and will be on site to meet fans, sign autographs and take pictures inside the Fantasy Springs Special Events Center before the ESPN broadcast begins. The meet-and-greet is open to the public with the purchase of a ticket to the event.

As chief support, heavy-hitter Vyacheslav “Lionheart-Chingonskyy” Shabranskyy (18-1, 15 KOs) of Los Angeles will be up against rising Philly contender Todd “2 Gunz” Unthank-May (10-0-1, 4 KOs) for the vacant WBC USNBC Light Heavyweight Title. “Chingonskyy” will be on the lookout to take back the light heavyweight belt he lost to Sullivan Barrera this past December.

Hoping to make TV, undefeated Niko “Baby Face” Valdez (5-0, 5 KOs) will face Jaime “Zarco” Solorio (7-3-2, 5 KOs) of San Quintin, Mex. in a six-round super middleweight bout in hopes to continue his impressive knockout streak.

In a six-round super welterweight bout, LA’s Marvin Cabrera (4-0, 4 KOs) will take a massive step up in competition with Esau Herrera (19-8-1, 10 KOs) of Tlaquepaque, Mex. Cabrera was last seen knocking out Quantavious Green at the prestigious 8th Annual “Big Fighters, Big Cause” charity boxing event hosted by legend Sugar Ray Leonard this past May.

Riverside, CA’s Ricardo “El Niño” Sandoval (7-1, 7 KOs) will be fighting Durango, Mex.’s Antonio “Tony” Rodriguez (8-17-1, 5 KOs) in a six-round super flyweight match up. Known to bring the action, East L.A’s Jonathan “Thunder” Navarro (10-0, 6 KOs) will participate in his first eight-round fight in a super lightweight bout against Durango, Mex.’s Angel Sarinana (7-6-2, 3 KOs). Opening up the night’s festivities and representing Palmdale, CA, Cesar Diaz (5-0, 4 KOs) will go up against Angel “Terrible” Monrreal (10-9-1, 3 KOs) of Monterrey, Mex. in a six-round bantamweight affair.

Herrera vs. Soto Karass, a 10-round welterweight fight, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, Born BOLD and Hennessy “Never Stop, Never Settle.” ESPN and ESPN Deportes will air the fights from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino at 9:00 p.m. ET/6: 00 p.m. PT. ESPN3 coverage of the undercard fights will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET/ 4:30 p.m. PT.

Tickets for the event start at $25 and will be available at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino box office, by calling 1-800-827-2946, or by purchasing online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and http://www.espn.com/boxing/; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @ESPN, and @ESPNBoxeo; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing; and follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @OscarDeLaHoya. Follow the conversation using #GBPonESPN.

Photos and videos are available to download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link http://bit.ly/HerreraSotoKarass into a browser. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used.

By Bart Barry-

SAN ANTONIO – Saturday at this city’s fantastic Luna Music Bar & Lounge a talented blues singer from Houston named Annika Chambers, also a friend, expertly played to an enthusiastic full house. As the blues as an artform so obviously comes from a place of pain, and as Annika so exquisitely balances this pain with expressions of euphoria and sexuality, and proper stagecraft, the show afforded hours of opportunity to consider pain’s role in performance, and the traditional if not so uplifting tariff it demands from performers.

Saturday brought a reminder that if you’re going to endeavor to entertain others you must sell it out and leave little of yourself at the end or there’ll be resentment or worse indifference. There’s a sort of preparational willfulness that enables flowing through a performance, even one such as this, but it’s a dangerous place to be, this mania for one’s own maniacal preparation, because it posits some knowledge of others’ preparation, a thing that cannot be better than an estimation and usually much less, and comes with a trickier-still definition of “others” to include one’s past self.

One wonders if it’s possible to flow simply from practice to performance – like a chipping style golf embraced a generation ago wherein a player takes practice chips, three or four, within his stance, then merely extends his hands a few inches out for the fifth practice swing, connecting with the ball and overcoming what anxiety brings yips – or if performance integrity requires one make an intentional shift, one to the other, before doublingback years later to realize all previous performances are in fact practices. When we talk of seasoning and experience in boxing as in the arts we refer to this doublingback, this feedback loop, wherein the performance experience benefits the performer more than further practice would.

But whither preparation?

And again.

Blessed be the performers who ply their wares without this autointerrogation: Either they’re joyful beginners who’ve yet to make improvements substantial enough to interrogate or they’re joyful masters who recognize such questions’ futility as they arise. And in between comes the obligation to make it look masterful onstage regardless of doubt, to occupy one’s performance personality and show boundless authority – because an abundance of authority fools all but the masters (never more’n a handful in any discipline) while an absence of authority is the one sin no member of any sort of audience forgives.

Prizefighters used to know all this and only recently forgot it, using publicity mechanisms to offset their lacking authority onstage, successfully fooling themselves and a few kids following the sport on illegal streams but absolutely nobody who would purchase a ticket or pay-per-view. From here a few will luck into competitive confrontations, matchmade accidentally, and win a relative sort of acclaim and a relative sort of wealth but ultimately it all feels authentic as paying an alltime great like Sugar Ray Leonard to liken Thurman-Garcia to his first match with Thomas Hearns; not Leonard or Hearns or Keith Thurman or Danny Garcia could respect or even like anyone who fell for this.

It betrays a variably concealed sort of contempt for its audience one finds in the very roots of the PBC; where Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya, and before him Don King, often lie boldly and baldly to and about us they do it to keep the balls in the air and attract attention to whatever they’re vending, but the PBC’s founding vision appears to be something like: Anyone who would watch something violent as boxing is a lowlife, a savage, a malcontent, and to that sort of organism only brutality and volume matter, so give them half-naked men punching and lots of neon and noise, then sit back and watch the jackpot pay-out.

We’ll see.

This seems good a place as any to consider the role pain plays in performance, so let us. Some 19th century thinker – must’ve been a German – wrote something about pain being a primary source of creativity, and if it was truer then than now it is only just. Pain brings an agitation of sorts that is alleviated or endured a number of ways, and for some of us no way more effectively than creating, which in this context may be a synonym for performing (which may be a lunge too desperate to connect this column to Saturday’s concert to boxing [we’re about to find out], but in case it isn’t, watch this:).

In the enduringly excellent documentary “Pumping Iron” the preternaturally charismatic Arnold Schwarzenegger, before he became a Hollywood icon or California governor, talks about a willingness to experience a transcendent sort of pain that necessarily changes a person from a contender to a champion, and to punctuate his point Schwarzenegger encourages lifting weights till unconsciousness or vomiting intervene. On the other end of this suffering, provided it be horrendous enough, lies acclaim, which takes one directly to Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s silk-pajamas conundrum. But working backwards, notice how few prizefighters find acclaim enough to stroll happily away from our beloved sport – or for that matter how few writers arrive at a state from which the acclaim-seeking act of publication appears absurd, or how few stage performers blissfully retire on their own terms.

Those who have reserves of pain abundant enough to master their craft – and recall: longevity is an equal partner of talent and originality’s – probably deplete themselves so fully in the performance act they continually return to a weakened state that lets more pain seep in. That’s the ambivalence Annika’s performance brought Saturday that was the same ambivalence Israel Vazquez’s third match with Rafael Marquez brought years ago at ringside: As an admirer I have no right to ask this much of another person; but as an audiencemember, gosh, I’m glad their preparatory suffering was so thorough.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

By Bart Barry–

SAN ANTONIO – Tuesday at Aztec Theater, the oldest theater in this old city, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and James Kirkland announced their May 9 fight in Houston. Saturday at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Keith Thurman decisioned Robert Guerrero. In between those two middling affairs, Showtime announced plans to honor its televised trilogy of Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez – a trilogy unlikely to be matched in quality or ferocity even by a 2025 highlight reel called “Premier Boxing Champions: The First 10 Years.”

What Alvarez and Thurman have in common is above-average talent and a poor era; they are b-level fighters elevated to millions-dollar purses through some balance of mediocre opposition and needy fans. Alvarez is better tested and more beloved and unlikely to improve, while Thurman is more athletic, even while his power has moved with inverse proportionality to his opposition. What Vazquez and Marquez were, and made together, is another thing entirely.

There’s an inauthenticity to the televised experience, today, that wasn’t nearly so pronounced a part of our sport in previous decades. Boxing writers’ lamentations about television are well-noted and quite old, of course, and this isn’t intended to be so much another tired protest of the inevitable as a commentary on what’s worsened.

Boxing long preserved a griminess, a degree of filth, other sports lost generations before; boxing retained a sense of the unexpected in a way that made other sports appear overwrought and scripted. There was ever a touch of irony to this – with spectators accusing boxing results of being fixed, which they often were, even while phantom rules violations in the NBA and NFL influenced just as dramatically who became those sports’ champions. Television was a guest at boxing events, or at least telecasts felt like they were conducted by guests; proper boxing matches had a sense of inevitability to them, an implication this grievance would be settled, regardless of witness, at this time, on this evening, and television cameras just happened to be there.

Saturday’s NBC debut, instead, had other sports’ feel: We are here because television invited us, and do you know how great is the reach of public airwaves? and have you seen our incredible commentating team? and would you please have a listen to our soundtrack? If it did not feel quite scripted, it neither felt like a collection of brawls that were going to happen even if television cameras went dark. Aficionados are noticeably insecure about public acceptance of our sport, too, and that marked social-media depictions of a few good rounds in an otherwise poor night of NBC boxing with the usual trimming: Don’t you see, everybody, this is why you should love boxing as much as we do!

Tuesday’s press conference, or media event, as they’re now called since “press” – derived from printing press – no longer has any meaningful place at these clubland mashups where seats labeled Deadline Media get occupied early by women with enormous promotional posters and boys with eager black sharpies, and the deejay stands both closer to fighters and with a better chance of interrogating them than anyone carrying something antiquated as a notebook or pen, had promoters beseeching the partisan-Mexican South Texas crowd to show the world Texans were the very best fans by driving 200 miles to Houston in May to purchase the promoters’ product. Oscar De La Hoya was there, looking jittery as he’s appeared since warming up to fire Richard Schaefer (who must’ve watched Saturday’s NBC telecast and realized, much like HBO’s Kery Davis before him, he was disposable to Al Haymon as print media is), and of course Saul Alvarez and James Kirkland were there too.

Evermore, De La Hoya appears a refreshingly outdated model; he likes or appreciates the press and adheres to the olden-day rules of being unbothered by gliding through 20 minutes of frictionless inquiries so long as his inquisitors are equally unbothered by 20 minutes of countlessly refried cliches. There was a time De La Hoya was unique in the sport for his lack of sincerity. De La Hoya is no more sincere today than he was then, but our beloved sport now plumbs such depths of insincerity a De La Hoya sighting has all the charm of a throwback jersey; at least Oscar cares enough to smile and wave and remind us he was a great fighter who did fight other great fighters.

As an antidote to all that, last week Showtime announced it would commemorate the best trilogy to improve is airwaves, when it replayed Israel Vazquez versus Rafael Marquez. There appears nowhere on our horizon the likelihood of another such trilogy. The quality and violence of the combat shared between those two Mexican prizefighters, their willingness to avenge both defeats and victories, at a withering pace – they fought three times in 363 days (just after Vazquez stopped Jhonny Gonzalez in a particularly brutal affair) – is so far from what we have now it is barely believable Vazquez-Marquez 3 happened only seven years ago.

Then, as now, many in our ranks were discontent with boxing’s trajectory. Try not to imagine how bad things will need to go for us someday to look back longingly at Thurman-Guerrero.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

NEW YORK (March 3, 2015) – SHOWTIME Sports will offer boxing fans a chance to relive one of boxing’s most intense and brutal rivalries as it rolls out content in celebration of the classic showdowns between Mexican legends Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez.

Tonight, on the eighth anniversary of their epic first battle, SHOWTIME EXTREME (10 p.m. ET/PT) will present Vazquez-Marquez I, a unanimous selection of 2007 Fight of the Year. Then on Wednesday, Vazquez-Marquez II, an old-school slugfest that produced a Round of the Year Winner, will air at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The third installment, the 2008 Fight of The Year, will air on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME.

Plus, Vazquez-Marquez I-IV will air in a “Roadblock” this Saturday on SHOWTIME EXTREME beginning at Noon ET/PT.

In honor of the rivalry, SHOWTIME Sports will also release classic photos, quick-hitting highlights, stats as well as full rounds. The third round from Vazquez-Marquez I and the third round from Vazquez-Marquez II (2007 Round of the Year) will be available on YouTube, Facebook and the SHOWTIME Sports website. Additionally, The Boxing Blog will release three posts from SHOWTIME boxing analyst and historian Steve Farhood as he looks back on the first three epic meetings between the 122-pound warriors.

All four Vazquez-Marquez fights will be available on SHOWTIME ANYTIME and SHOWTIME ON DEMAND beginning Monday, March 9. Below is the full schedule of action on SHOWTIME EXTREME:

TODAY/Tuesday, March 3

· SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: Vazquez vs. Marquez I, 10 p.m. ET/PT

Wednesday, March 4

· SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: Vazquez vs. Marquez II, 11 p.m. ET/PT

Thursday, March 5

· SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: Vazquez vs. Marquez III, 10 p.m. ET/PT

Saturday, March 7

· SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: Vazquez vs. Marquez I, Noon ET/PT

· SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: Vazquez vs. Marquez II, 1 p.m. ET/PT

· SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: Vazquez vs. Marquez III, 2 p.m. ET/PT

· SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: Vazquez vs. Marquez IV, 3 p.m. ET/PT

Described by Farhood as “an explosion of artistic brutality,” their first meeting had all the action and drama of a Hollywood blockbuster and left fans –and the fighters– clamoring for a rematch. Vazquez and Marquez delivered yet again in their second meeting just five months later in yet another old-school, bloody slugfest that produced a Round of the Year winner –the third– and a result that demanded a rubber match.

Vazquez-Marquez III, contested just 363 days from their first meeting, was a celebration of boxing at its finest, the only match in the rivalry to go the distance and the 2008 Fight of the Year. The two would meet for the fourth and final time again in 2010.

# # #

About Showtime Networks Inc.:

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND, and the network’s authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

Los Angeles (Jan. 23) – Golden Boy Promotions held a press conference at the Golden Boy Building in Los Angeles on Thursday, Jan 22., to announce the Feb. 27 IBF Bantamweight World Championship fight between the titleholder Randy “El Matador” Caballero and Alberto “Metro” Guevara. The event was hosted by Oscar De La Hoya, Founder and President of Golden Boy Promotions and was attended by more than 50 local and international media outlets. Seven-time world champion in four weight classes, Erik Morales and former WBC and IBF Super Bantamweight World Champion Isreal Vasquez were also in attendance.

Other fighters featured on the card participated in the press conference including Mexicali’s Diego De La Hoya (8-0, 6 KOs) who fights in his first eight-round bout as the co-main event against Los Angeles’ Manuel “Suavecito” Roman (17-3-3, 6 KOs). Plus, Chinese heavyweight sensation Taishan (2-0, 2 KOs) spoke about his upcoming opening telecast bout on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes, a four-round fight against Roy McCary (3-2, 3 KOs). Also, newcomer Nick Arce (1-0, 1 KO) and the undefeated Oscar “Jaguar” Negrete (7-0, 3 KOs) discussed their upcoming fights, both against opponents yet to be announced.

Tickets for the event, priced at $105, $75, $55, $45 and $35 are on sale now, at the Fantasy Springs Box Office, by calling (800) 827-2946 or online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Below is what the fighters had to say today at the Golden Boy Building, in downtown Los Angeles:

Oscar De La Hoya, Founder and President of Golden Boy Promotions:

“I’m really excited to be presenting to you what we call a homecoming. ‘The Homecoming’ will consist of a champion who traveled all the way to Monte Carlo and brought the world title back to Coachella. Back to where he grew up, where he trained. Back to all his people that always supported him at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino

“[Randy] is a champion that has always represented his roots from Nicaragua. That for many years another great champion, my idol, Alexis Arguello represented. For Randy it will be a great honor to fight in front of his public, his hometown.

“Thank you to FOX for this great opportunity. It’s going to be a tremendous showdown on FOX Sports 1. This is what FOX Sports 1 is all about giving you the best action not only from the future champions, but as we can see now ‘The Champion,’ Randy Caballero.

“We will be bringing back Fight Night Club live from downtown. That will be an exciting series. It will give us an opportunity to cultivate the next generation of Los Angeles champions.

“We believe in Taishan, we believe in his ability. He has talent, speed and tremendous power as demonstrated in his last two fights. We know how to build champions; therefore we have no doubt in our mind that Taishan can become the heavyweight fighter that everyone dreams to of.

“It goes to show you the character in Manuel [Roman]. He’s chasing after his dream, he wants that world title, but he has to get through the next young fighter.

“This next fighter has the same last name as me, De La Hoya; yes he is my cousin. But this is a serious fight. This is a real fight. This is a dangerous fight. Diego is all about facing the toughest challenges. He wants to go as fast as he can towards a world title.

“[Alberto Guevara] has recent wins that have put him back on that championship level and now he is back challenging for a world title at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.

“[Randy] has fought 12 times at Fantasy Springs Casino and every single time he comes out more explosive, hungrier than ever, working harder and harder, all for the fans. All to make sure that the fans leave satisfied having witnessed some great fights.”

Randy “El Matador” Caballero, Undefeated IBF Bantamweight World Champion

“I want to thank Alberto for taking this fight, it’s going to be a war.

“I went around the world to win this title. Trust me, it wasn’t easy and I am not ready to give it up. I am going to make sure to keep it right by my side and we are going to conquer 118 pounds one fight at a time.

“The people on this card are great. We are glad to have it at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.

“I’m going to make sure I am the fight of the night and you guys leave satisfied. Hopefully he is ready, because I am going to be giving it my all. I’m not letting this title go anywhere.”

Alberto “Metro” Guevara, Bantamweight Contender

“I am prepared, happy, excited, and motivated. I think that on the February 27 we will win, I come with that attitude.

“Thanks to the champion, thanks to Golden Boy for giving me this opportunity. It is my time. I deserve it. I have worked very hard. I have the attitude. I have the talent to win the world title.

“I can assure you that February 27 will be a very good fight, a fight you don’t want to miss. It will be explosive and, at the end of the night, I will be the new world champion.”

Diego De La Hoya, Super Bantamweight Prospect

“I’m very happy to be here and very happy with my promoter that is taking me and guiding me in the right way. I’m very happy to be a part of this card and with a companion, a stable mate like Randy and to have it be at Fantasy Springs, which is like a second home to me is very exciting.

“I’m training hard. I’m fighting an opponent with a lot of experience. There is no other way than victory for that night. I am going to win.

“I want to make it clear: I’m not afraid to be fighting with fighters at this level and this much experience because I’m confident of what I’ve done: De La Hoya is going to win.”

Manuel “Suavecito” Roman, Super Bantamweight Contender

“I want to thank Golden Boy for this opportunity and all the media for supporting this event.

“I’m in great shape for this fight. I just recently changed trainers, I’m with Isreal Vasquez and I think he is going to benefit me a lot. Having a world champion in my corner, you’ll see some changes

“I know my opponent comes as an undefeated fighter so I’m getting ready for everything.”

Taishan, Heavyweight Prospect

“I’m so excited to see you all here to support this upcoming fight at Fantasy Springs.

“I want to thank Fantasy Springs Casino Resort for inviting me back into the ring. Thank you Oscar De La Hoya for giving me this opportunity to fulfill my dream in boxing.”

“I will do my best to fight each fight, I want everyone to come out on February 27 to support me.”

Nick Arce, Super Featherweight Prospect

“First, I want to thank you all for being here today. I also would like to thank my team at West Side Boxing and my promoter Golden Boy Promotions for giving me this opportunity”

“I’ll give a great show on February 27 so that people can start knowing who Nick Arce is.”

Oscar “Jaguar” Negrete, Bantamweight Prospect

“I want to thank Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar, Leo Santa Cruz and my management team.

“I invite you all to come and meet the ‘Colombian Jaguar’ on February 27.”

John Carvelli, Vice Chair of the California State Athletic Commission

“I want to reiterate our pride and support for Golden Boy Promotions a California born and bred company, they are our most active promoter in the state. We are proud of Golden Boy Promotion’s professionalism.”

# # #

Caballero vs. Guevara, a 12-round bout for Caballero’s IBF Bantamweight World Championship is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona Extra, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Mexico, Live It To Believe It! and Golden Ram Group. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and the first bell rings at 5:30 p.m. The FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes broadcast airs live at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.FOXSports.com/FOXSports1, www.FOXDeportes.com, follow on Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Swanson_comm, @FOXSports, @FOXSports1, @FOXDeportes and, become a fan on Facebook at Golden Boy Facebook Page, www.facebook.com/FOXDeportes and visit us on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing.

LAS VEGAS (Aug. 28, 2014) – Aggressive, determined and fearless. Proud Argentine and former welterweight champion Marcos “El Chino” Maidana has won the respect of some of the greatest Mexican world champions of our time for the fiery intensity he brings each time he steps through the ropes.

The fact that Maidana is the only boxer to defeat Adrien Broner and one of the very few in history to give 11-Time World Champion and perennial No. 1 pound-for-pound superstar, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, a legitimate test only adds to the anticipation heading into their upcoming rematch.

Here’s what the Mexican champions have to say about Maidana as we inch closer to “MAYHEM: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2” on Saturday, Sept. 13 live on SHOWTIME PPV® from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ, three-division World Champion and Boxing Hall of Famer
“We all know Marcos Maidana is not a technical fighter, but nobody can deny he is a very dangerous one, perhaps one of the most dangerous fighters Mayweather has ever faced.

“I must confess I was amazed to see how courageous Maidana was; he squared up in front of Mayweather and just went at it with everything he had.

“Maidana possesses a singular characteristic that we usually see only in Mexican fighters – he is simply fearless. He is brave and powerful and from the moment he steps into the ring he fights like there’s no tomorrow.”

ERIK “EL TERRIBLE” MORALES, first Mexican-born boxer to capture World titles in four different weight classes

“When you think of what makes a great Mexican Champion, you think of determination, aggressiveness, heart and the guts to get the job done. That’s what it means to be a great Mexican warrior; you leave everything in the ring, your heart and soul are out there.

“I remember watching the first Mayweather vs. Maidana fight back in May and I can say, Maidana left his heart in the ring. He fights with passion and aggressiveness. He leaves it all out there.

“There’s no boxing in Las Vegas or anywhere without great Mexican fighters. We all know that. And Maidana has the heart of a Mexican warrior.”

ISRAEL “MAGNIFICO” VAZQUEZ, former super bantamweight World Champion
“Marcos Maidana’s boxing style resembles that of the great Mexican fighters. He is fearless, doesn’t stand down, he likes to pressure his opponent and has a very powerful punch.

“You have to give Maidana some credit for his boxing skills; he has won the lead role in a rematch fight against one of the best fighters in the world, Floyd Mayweather.

“Besides being a very good fighter, Marcos has a very nice characteristic, he’s truly humble. That’s a feature you don’t find that often in boxers of his caliber.

“This is a very tough fight for the both of them; that’s why I’ll refrain from any predictions. Both fighters have a big test in front of them.

RAUL “DIAMANTE” MARQUEZ, Former IBF 154-Pound World Champion
“Maidana is a fighter that takes the lead and doesn’t back up. He comes prepared and he comes to fight.

“Nobody thought that he was going to stand up to Mayweather like he did. He left his heart in the ring.

“He made all Latinos proud. He stood in front of Mayweather like true Mexican champions do.

“He can go the distance if he wants, he’s aggressive. He fights with the determination of a Mexican.”

# # #

In other PPV fights, undefeated Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15 KOs), of Los Angeles, will defend his WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship against Mexico’s Manuel “Suavecito” Roman (17-2, 6 KOs), Miguel “Títere” Vazquez (34-3, 13 KOs), of Tijuana, will defend his IBF Lightweight World Championship against Mickey “The Spirit” Bey (20-1-1, 10 KOs), a Mayweather Promotions’ rising star from Las Vegas, and Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo (22-4, 18 KOs) will move up to middleweight to face James De La Rosa (22-2, 13 KOs) in a 10-round bout. .

Preceding the PPV telecast, SHOWTIME will present a live 10-round junior welterweight bout between John Molina (27-4, 22 KOs) of Covina, Calif., and Humberto “La Zorrita” Soto (64-8-2, 35 KOs) on “COUNTDOWN LIVE” (SHO, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT).

# # #

“MAYHEM: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2,” a 12-round world championship bout for Mayweather’s WBA Welterweight Belt and WBC Welterweight and Super Welterweight World Titles takes place Saturday, Sept. 13 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona Extra, O’Reilly Auto Parts and “The Equalizer” in theaters Sept. 26. The event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) and is the fourth fight of a six-fight deal between Mayweather and Showtime Networks Inc. In the co-main event, Leo Santa Cruz defends his WBC Super Bantamweight Title against Manuel Roman in a 12-round bout and Miguel Vazquez faces Mickey Bey in a 12-round bout for the IBF Lightweight World Championship. In the PPV opener, Alfredo Angulo squares against James De La Rosa in a 10-round middleweight bout (162 lbs.). The event will be available in Spanish through secondary audio programming (SAP).

Tickets for the live event are on sale now and are priced at $1,600, $1,200, $850, $600 and $350, not including applicable service charges and taxes. Tickets are limited to eight (8) per person with a limit of four (4) at the $350 price range. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Mayweather vs. Maidana will be shown on the big screen in over 500 movie theaters across the country via Fathom Events. For more information visit www.FathomEvents.com

By Bart Barry

Quick, off the top of your head, name the contracted terms of Sugar Ray Robinson’s rematch with Jake LaMotta in 1943. No? OK, how about the purse split between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns for “The War” in 1985? Not springing to mind. What about the name of Israel Vazquez’s advisor during cable-network negotiations for his second fight with Rafael Marquez?

It’s hard to recall such trivia because, contrary to today’s coverage of our beloved sport, history rightly consigns these details to its dustbin, recalling only the swapping of punches. And it does not remember at all fights that were never made – hell, not even a YouTube search can find Floyd Mayweather’s matches with Kostya Tszyu or Antonio Margarito.

Saturday, Russian light heavyweight titlist Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev stopped someone named Cedric Agnew in forgettable fashion to set-up a long-longed-for fight with fellow titlist Adonis Stevenson, one Kovalev and Stevenson’s network, HBO, dedicated quite a lot of its subscribers’ time to setting-up – except that shortly before Kovalev’s match, subscribers learned Stevenson was no longer with HBO, rendering them suckers for caring a whit about Kovalev’s meaningless tilts with Agnew and someone else named Ismayl Sillah, or Stevenson’s 13 forgettable rounds with, let’s see, Tony Bellew and Tavoris Cloud.

As 2014 continues along, matters become incrementally more futile. If an aficionado took every fight worth seeing this year and added them together, he would have trouble paying for a month’s subscription to HBO or Showtime, and no chance of justifying both, much less both and a gaggle of overpriced pay-per-view offerings. Everything is marketed to him like it is portentous; nothing is meaningful in and of itself, but each thing might be consequential someday in a where-were-you-when sort of way.

HBO has taken two Russian-speaking prizefighters, Sergey Kovalev and Gennady Golovkin, and promised its subscribers historic things from them, creating hours of highlight reels in lieu of paying meaningful opposition to fight them. After losing Floyd Mayweather, the network locked-in Andre Ward as its pound-for-pound superstar, giving him a microphone without requiring that he fight. It marketed Nonito Donaire in all his portentous finery only to see him lose the first meaningful fight of his HBO tenure, only to have no apparent opposition for Donaire’s vanquisher, only to transition to Mikey Garcia – as settled along a path as the network’s Next Nonito as any fighter currently plying his wares.

Maybe Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is not serious about his craft as Ward or Donaire, but he does a lot more fighting than they do, and he does it in matches that sell tickets and happen on HBO. That’s scheduled to change, though, as it appears Chavez may fight Golovkin on pay-per-view in the summertime, in a fight with no right whatever to an additional tariff: Chavez is 0-1 against world class opposition, and Golovkin has yet to face any. In a serious era, Chavez-Golovkin would make a fantastic Boxing After Dark main event and a passable World Championship Boxing offering, and so it takes tremendous chutzpah to threaten beleaguered subscribers, the long-suffering fools who’ve sat through meaningless Golovkin match after meaningless Chavez match, seasoned in Golovkin’s case with hysterical allusions to all-time greats before Golovkin has proved himself even an all-time good, with tollgated access to their match.

Last week’s machinations with Adonis Stevenson’s migration to Showtime, after a pair of preparatory Stevenson fights on HBO to prepare us for more preparatory fights on HBO, since HBO hadn’t the budget to cajole Stevenson’s signature onto a contract with Sergey Kovalev – a possibility too absurd to consider – are relevant to Golovkin and Chavez, and Mikey Garcia and Andre Ward and Guillermo Rigondeaux and a roster of hitherto anonymous lads whose greatest collective attribute is being unmarketable enough not to interest Al Haymon, for this reason: HBO’s want of credibility now subverts its marketing of every fight and fighter.

Kovalev appears to be an excellent puncher whose offense may be susceptible to a touch on his chin, but he’s fighting in a division Roy Jones Jr. dominated in bygone days, and even Krusher’s kinfolk might have a konniption at komparisons between Kovalev and Jones. When Jones fought meaningless matches, that is, at least subscribers knew they were seeing a once-in-a-generation talent icing unknowns, instead of a man who may or may not be better than a hard-punching Haitian journeyman unhinged when unhooked from his canary-yellow bra-cape.

Kovalev-Stevenson was the fight aficionados most wished to see in 2014, and it was wholly makeable, and HBO deserves all the blame for not making it; it shall be remembered as the greatest failure of the current regime and possibly its last. So much of the promotion of Kovalev’s fight with Agnew focused on Kovalev’s fight with Stevenson that not-overlooking Agnew was the advice served to what journalists attended Kocktails with the Krusher in San Antonio a month ago, when Kovalev was in town for Chavez-Vera II and answering questions, sort of, in his rich Russian brogue.

Kovalev is a large man, an alpha male, who should have no trouble being moved to cruiserweight, if Andre Ward cannot be enticed out of semi-retirement to fight him, but Kovalev probably will not go anywhere, or fight Ward, because, you know, promotional issues and purses and all the complications of making a prizefight, ideas so legally entangled and algorithmically indecipherable no member of the laity should expect to understand them. No member of the laity should be expected to understand them, regardless of complexity, because they make not a whit of difference to the experience for which any audience member at any spectacle pays.

There is nothing Adonis Stevenson will do on Showtime that will have him remembered long enough to show up on a Canastota ballot after he retires – he chose currency over legacy, and his accountant will have to render ultimate judgment on him because boxing historians shan’t be bothered. By agreeing to fight the Ismayl Sillahs and Cedric Agnews of the world, Kovalev now unwittingly ambles a similar path to well-paid obscurity, or however one says “if it makes dollars it makes sense” in Russian. If Krusher hopes to be remembered at all, he’ll have to do something far more audacious than Saturday’s offering.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

I started to write about boxing because of Erik “El Terrible” Morales, whose face, along with those of Israel Vazquez and Juan Manuel Marquez, is the first my mind associates with the word “prizefighter.” Morales was not my first favorite fighter. He wasn’t even my favorite fighter in his first two matches with fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera. Morales’ charms were not immediate or obvious as other prizefighters’. But they were lasting.

Morales’ third match with Barrera was the first time I wrote about prizefighting – in an email exhaustive enough for a friend to post on his website. Columns followed. My seventh treated El Terrible’s victory over Manny Pacquiao. Morales UD-12 Pacquiao induced a euphoria, even through television’s bastardizing lens, that I innocently assumed would be a regular compensation for journalizing the sport. How naïve. I’ve revisited that euphoria scarcely more often since March 2005 than Morales has visited the indomitable form he showed against Pacquiao seven years ago.

And yet. Saturday I will cover El Terrible from ringside for the first time. It is an honor I did not believe would happen, a privilege for which, had you presented me a contract 380,000 words ago, I would have gladly written volumes about prizefighting. Morales will fight undefeated Philadelphian Danny Garcia for something called the WBC light welterweight title, in Houston’s Reliant Arena in a fight HBO will televise, though the fight itself is mostly beside the point. That point, championship-level violence, will be lent support by a 10-round undercard scrap between Texan James Kirkland and Mexican Carlos Molina. The main event needs help because nobody should follow any sport in which a 35-year-old Erik Morales is the greatest 140-pound practitioner.

We didn’t grow up together though we’re close in age. The first time I wrote seriously about El Terrible, he was at the apogee of his prime, already the bloated, dehydrated/rehydrated victim of a fair and unfavorable decision in his rubber match with Barrera. What Morales presented was an initial catalyst, a first promise that struggling to describe boxing holds a private reward of its own, independent of others’ affirmation. That late-prime Morales remains a standard against which I judge prizefighters and find most deeply wanting.

Morales was an unlikely standard. He was not eloquent as Barrera. He was not thrilling or durable as Pacquiao. He was steered wide of Marquez. He didn’t throw the hook like a Mexican but used instead a deceptive and jarring right uppercut triggered by the touch of a glove on his elbow, a punch to dissuade his countrymen’s voracious, liver-feeding left hands. He was awkwardly skinny, too, a gawky, rib-tallied Tijuananense with a big nose.

Good God, but he made the masculine choice every time.

Masculine, macho, entertaining – Morales was all of these words, not one a synonym for “prudent.” His finest moment was imprudent as hell. Ahead on official scorecards after 11 rounds against Manny Pacquiao, Morales fought the 12th as a southpaw, several times realizing his folly before willing himself back in an awkward stance that assured Pacquiao every chance to hurt him. This, just after his father pleaded with him not to do anything crazy – y nada estupido. Before you compare your favorite fighter to Morales, ask first: Would my guy offer his head to Pacquiao for three minutes of a fight he is winning, just to entertain someone like me?

Six months after such unforgettable boldness, Morales moved up to lightweight to fight Zahir Raheem and proved, definitively, that a man who cannot make super featherweight is by no means a lightweight. Then Pacquiao blew him out, twice, and the David Diaz match came nine months after Pacquiao KO-3 Morales. By then I’d published enough to be credentialed for Chicago, but see, El Terrible had said goodbye thrice against Pacquiao – once when he winked at his dad from the canvas and twice in an interview bungled by HBO’s former interpreter – and I took him at his word.

Morales’ comeback, after 2 1/2 years of retirement, has a whiff of boredom to it, as if El Terrible were sitting at home one night, tired of domesticity and grown fluffy, and saw Amir Khan hightailing from Marcos Maidana while being called great, and said “¡Ya basta!” to his television set. Morales has a Twitter account for combating boredom, too, one he uses to retweet wife jokes and regularly post, of his training regimen, “The mouse likes cheese.” There has been no reason to board a plane for a Morales fight since 2007, as any aficionado knows, but Houston is within driving distance.

Morales’ comeback also feels a little like Julio Cesar Chavez’s “Adios” tour. Chavez was 12 years and pounds beyond his prime, at age 42, further beyond his prime, by far, than Morales is at 35, and came back in pursuit of money. A few tilts in, Chavez found himself a patron to pay for the tour and promote his son. In a fine show of incremental audacity, Chavez’s one “Adios” fight became “Adios Los Angeles” then “Adios Arizona” then “Adios Phoenix” – with “Adios Tucson” and “Adios Flagstaff” lurking – before someone named Grover Wiley put an end to the silliness in America West Arena.

Danny Garcia should decision Morales, Saturday – and what ever happened to Grover Wiley, anyway? So long as Morales acquits himself nobly, though, he’ll be presented a WBC silver or diamond belt before April Fools’ Day, and his comeback will go on till he tires of training or being beaten on. Or maybe Morales will win Saturday like he did in September, in a fight you probably watched, even if you can’t now remember Morales’ opponent or its official outcome.

It will be an honor to sit ringside at a Morales fight, regardless. A feeling of pride, a certain personal indulgence, will wash over me when the name “El Terrible” rings through Reliant Arena. We made it, kid.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

Several years ago Jhonny Gonzalez 47-7(41) won the WBO Bantamweight title he defeated Marc Johnson & Fernando Montiel and the future appeared rosey. He stepped up to 122 and fought Isreal Vazquez for the WBC crown in the main event on the Mexican Independance in 2006 and was performing incredibly well, ahead on points and having dropped Vazquez. However the fight took a drastic U-turn in the tenth when Vazquez stormed back and pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. That lead to Gonzalez now 29, returning to Bantamweight after one more successful defense he lost to Gerry Penalosa who stopped him in the seventh with a debilitating liver shot. He did what his body had told him for awhile and moved up in weight, after 6 wins he once again fought for the WBC title this time against Japan’s Toshiaki Nishioka, despite a good start in which he dropped the champion Gonzalez was stopped in the third. Gonzalez has since moved up to Featherweight and is on a seven fight winning streak with all of them by knock out, proving he maintains his power even at 126. It is widely rumoured that Gonzalez will face Hozumi Hasegawa for the WBC Featherweight championship early in 2011. He is currently ranked WBC 1, WBA 2 & IBF 4.

Hello Jhonny, welcome 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Just a few weeks back you beat Jackson Asiku, what can you tell us about that fight?

Jhonny Gonzalez – The fight of Jackson was an important fight for me as for all the Mexicans because it’s a very special date September 15 Is the Independence of Mexico.

Anson Wainwright – Though it’s early do you think you’ll be back in action? If so can you tell us when & against who it maybe?

Jhonny Gonzalez – I just fought against Santos Marimon. I am going to dispute the world championship of the WBC against the champion Hozumi Hasegawa of Japan there are plans that be in the month of February in Mexico.

Anson Wainwright – Who are members of team Gonzalez, who is your manager, trainer & Promoter? Also what gym do you train at?

Jhonny Gonzalez – My managers are Oswaldo and Reginaldo Kulche. My coach is Ignacio beristain, my brother Miguel Angel Gonzalez and Ulysses help too. My promoter is Promociones Del Pueblo & I train in the La Romanza, Mexico City.

Anson Wainwright – Your campaigning in the Featherweight division which has many talented fighters at the moment what are your thoughts on that? Are you targeting anyone in particular?

Jhonny Gonzalez – The division is very tough, there are Juanma Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Chris John, Elio Rojas,etc. I feel capable to face any of them in the 2011

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your early years growing up in Hidalgo? Were things tough growing up and how did you first become interested in Boxing?

Jhonny Gonzalez – There is an error, I am from Mexico City. My first fight was there and it appears on my record.

Anson Wainwright – You previously reigned as a Bantamweight World champion from 2005 to 2007. Looking back what are your thoughts on what it was like to be champion and what it meant to you?

Jhonny Gonzalez – My dream was achieved because every boxer dreams of that I was fortunate to achieve it and to be able to face tough fighters.

Anson Wainwright – Having fought down at 118 you quickly moved through 122 and now fight at 126 how do you find making weight now? What weight are you between fights?

Jhonny Gonzalez – Well I believe that my body needed me to rise from division because I struggled with those pounds, now in 126 I feel better I believe that this is my natural weight at this time.

Anson Wainwright – You have fought Israel Vazquez in 2006 on the Mexican Independence card it was a fantastic give and take war, you were ahead at the time of the stoppage. Looking back what do you think of that fight now? How good do you think Vazquez was?

Jhonny Gonzalez – It was a great experience for and in my career as a boxer, I was on the verge of winning a tough fight but he actually went on to win.

Anson Wainwright – When your not Boxing or training what do you like to do with your time to relax? Do you have any hobbies or interests?

Jhonny Gonzalez – I like to be with my family because when I have a fight I feel very tired and it’s very difficult to be able to be a lot of time with them. I have a business in Mexico City a rostiseria. I like the video play

Anson Wainwright – I remember reading that your father spelt your name wrong when he registered your birth can you tell us exactly what happened?

Jhonny Gonzalez – By an er. ror, but he never went to change it.

Anson Wainwright – What do you consider you best performance so far? Who do you think is the best fighter your have shared a ring with & why?

Jhonny Gonzalez – When I won my first world championship in Tucson Az. There have been various one’s Vazquez, Fernando Montiel and the but recent to Jackson Asiku.

Anson Wainwright – Do you have a message for the Featherweight division?

Jhonny Gonzalez – That the champions fight Jhonny Gonzalez to make it a better division over the next year. I want to achieve big things. Many tough Mexican’s they command a greeting to all the people that trust my profession.

Thanks for your time Jhonny.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

Midweek Musings – Bernard Hopkins certainly looked to have done enough to beat Jean Pascal on Saturday. Pascal looked devoid of ideas and seemed to have no plan B. He couldn’t figure out the puzzle that is Bernard Hopkins. Hopefully we get the rematch, not sure Pascal is in any rush, seems like he may exercise the rematch clause with Chad Dawson…Canada wasn’t the only place where the home guy was given the benefit of the doubt seems like Luis Lazarte did against Ulises Solis in Argentina…Word out of Britain is Frank Warren has offered Amir Khan an undisclosed amount to face Kell Brook.

LOS ANGELES – In the hot blood that came immediately after his loss, blood that had streamed in his left eye and made a red mask of his face yet again, Israel Vazquez expressed a desire to fight Rafael Marquez a fifth time, to break their tie. Thirty minutes later, when everyone’s blood had cooled, Vazquez’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya shared a wiser sentiment.

“It’s 2-2,” De La Hoya said, “and that’s the way that it should be.”

Saturday in Staples Center, Vazquez and Marquez made an unusual fourth fight that ended at 1:33 of round 3 when referee Raul Caiz Jr. astutely read Vazquez’s body language and precluded any further damage from being done to one Mexico City native by the other. Before Vazquez could drop to the canvas a second time, Caiz stepped in front of Marquez and waived the end. Marquez had evened the series. There was no reason to fight any more.

Finally, there was little reason for Vazquez and Marquez to have made their legendary trilogy into a disappointing tetralogy. If any energy coursed through Staples Center during the Friday weigh-in and Saturday undercard, it was an obligated sort. Those of us present showed dutifulness more than excitement. The larger venue and paychecks, too, were more honorary than celebratory:

We’d like to give you guys an apt send-off and pension, but to do it, unfortunately we’re going to need you to fight once more.

Vazquez and Marquez obliged – or should it now be Marquez before Vazquez? – and made an uneven end to their fantastically even beginning and middle. But if the fourth fight had to happen, its conclusion was unexpectedly merciful. For that we should be grateful.

Throughout, there was an appropriate theme of unity. Both men were Mexicans, world champions and gentlemen. This theme happened best during ring walks, when for the first time in memory, two fighters shared the same band, a Mexican mariachi group that paid homage to “La Patria.” The Staples Center crowd of 9,236 – a couple thousand more than attended Vazquez-Marquez III in nearby Carson, Calif. – was predominantly Mexican, too, if smaller than hoped.

If there was a moment that reminded you of the last time Vazquez and Marquez fought, it came in the opening seconds. The two men touched jabs more than gloves, and then Vazquez tossed a wild right hand Marquez’s way. It said, “We both know how you were at the end of our third fight, why don’t we pick things up right there?”

That was Vazquez’s most confident moment of the night and perhaps his last. Asked afterwards when he knew his opponent was in trouble, Rafael Marquez said he felt it on the end of his jab in round 1. As he once more sunk knuckles in Vazquez’s flesh, that is, Marquez noted something less resolved, a bit softer, somewhat less steeled. Fighters do sense that sort of thing; it’s a requisite tool in the box when your craft is hurting other men.

Ringsiders would not notice the slice Marquez put beneath Vazquez’s left eyebrow till it became gruesome in round 2. But it was there. Even from 30 feet away, a redness could be seen over Vazquez’s damaged eye in the first minute. And looking at pictures from early in Saturday’s fight, you now see darker blemishes in the tissue than the rosy hue that has dusted Vazquez’s eyebrows at his public appearances since 2008. Were it anyone else, you’d wonder if some handler had taught the man how to apply makeup en route to press conferences and award ceremonies, to ward away errant inquiries from careful journalists.

Marquez’s masterful right hand, among the finest seen in a generation, instantly knew better. It quickly took the flesh over Vazquez’s eye from nick to gash to wound.

“You could see the bone,” explained Vazquez’s veteran cut man Miguel Diaz afterwards. “You cannot stop these things with the medicine that we have.”

Then you stop the fight! Well, yes. Or maybe no.

Better that you do what Vazquez’s corner did. You tell your charge he gets one more round. You give him a last chance to measure himself, and you hope nothing gets permanently altered within him but his desire to fight on. And so, in the third round of his fourth fight with Rafael Marquez, Israel Vazquez relented.

He went down differently than he’d gone down in the fourth round of their third fight. He didn’t get knocked to the canvas by a concussive blow. He blindly wandered into a Marquez right cross, instead, and kneeled hopelessly. It was a distress signal from one of prizefighting’s noblest men. All read it. And had Caiz not closed things a few seconds later, Vazquez’s corner would have.

Had the fight been stopped by a ringside physician after round 2, the prospect of Vazquez-Marquez V would haunt both men, and their managers, and their fans. Were Vazquez able to attribute his loss to an accident of some kind, chances are good some of us would have to make another trek to California and see things to their bitter end. Who, after all, would deserve another chance if not Israel Vazquez?

No, it ended better this way. Vazquez was beaten, his incredible will subdued. Pushed for a retirement announcement at the post-fight press conference, he used the Spanish verb “meditar” – to meditate. He and his family will meditate on his future, think about it thoroughly, and see what it holds for them.

Those of us who came to this city to honor Vazquez and Marquez, to stiffen the ranks on press row or stand and cheer the men’s sacrifices as they walked to the ring, could never return for a fifth fight. All the reasons that brought us to this one would bar us from another.

Bart Barry can be reached at [email protected]

After going toe to toe in an eagerly awaited fight where neither guy lost anything and both guys helped there cause for future paydays. Both Perez & Mares former amateur rivals and good friends squared off for the first time as pro’s though not likely the last time. Over twelve fast paced rounds 2 of the 3 judges couldn’t separate them.

Proceedings started with Gary Shaw talking about Yonnhy Perez saying how fond he was of him “Yonnhy truly is one of the sweetest people i’ve ever met, he’s very loyal”

He continued with a story about Perez. “When Yonnhy won his last fight we (Shaw & Alex Camponovo who is Thompson’s general manager) said we’d come and visit him in Colombia. We flew over and stayed in a nice hotel and then drove to Yonnhy’s house. On the way the neighbourhoods got worse the streets weren’t paved. We arrived at Yonnhy’s house it was made from Cinderblock and there were curtains hanging in the door ways inside acting as doors there were openings for windows but no windows. I said we need to give him some money. If he wins his next fight he can move to a nicer neighbourhood”

To which Perez answered “I will never leave, this is my home, these are my people, this is where i live”

If that’s not enough to show how humble Perez is then Shaw added that Perez stays at trainer Danny Zamora’s home when he’s in America training and sends all his money home each month to his family except $400 which is what he uses for his rent and food.

“Danny is one of the best trainers around” Shaw added when talking about Perez long-time trainer.

Shaw continued saying he’d speak to Richard Schaefer about a rematch but also added he will also speak to Fernando Beltran who was on hand about a possible fight with newly minted WBC/WBO champion Fernando Montiel. It also came to light that Perez had hurt his hand in the fourth or fifth round the extent of the injury wasn’t divulged.

At this time it was Perez turn to take the podium “Thank you guys, you saw a great fight, Abner’s a great fighter and friend”

“Abner will become a world champion. He has four ways WBC, WBA & WBO but not by winning the IBF title”

“You guys are on about a rematch but where going to sit down and see. Darchinyan called me out and that’s a fight i want”

Next to the dais was Oscar De La Hoya turned the assembled pressroom’s attention to his guy “Yonnhy gave a great fight, but we witnessed a star in Abner, we feel we have a great fighter”

Mares next took his time to speak “You guys saw a great fight, i showed i’m a warrior but i won the fight”

“I fight for the people and the people saw i won the fight”

“Lets do a rematch”

“Yonny didn’t close like a champion in the twelfth i did”

Quick to speak up for his man Gary Shaw countered “Abner your good looking, you speak two languages. But Yonnhy came in with the belt and left with it. You need to remain humble”

At this point Rafeal Marquez & Israel Vazquez entered the press room.

It was announced the live gate was 9,200 generating gate receipts of 549,000.

LOS ANGELES – Despite bleeding profusely from both eyes before 10 minutes of combat were up, Israel Vazquez never retreated in his fourth match with Rafael Marquez. He made no backwards laps round the ring, a tactic that, in boxing parlance, is called “getting on your bicycle.”

Unfortunately, a number of local aficionados who might otherwise have been at Staples Center to honor Vazquez and Marquez in “Once and Four All” were unable to make it – mostly because so many men were on their bicycles outside.

Saturday’s crowd arrived late and, with an announced attendance of 9,236, was perhaps a few thousand lighter than hoped and many thousands fewer than deserved. Blame the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race time trials, which began just outside Staples Center, at L.A. Live, round 1:00 p.m., causing street closures and barricades all round the arena ticket office and main entrance till about 5:00 p.m.

“Parking was a nightmare” was the theme on press row. This caused one prominent scribe to ask, “How many Mexicans got within a mile of the stadium, saw the road closures, and went home to watch on television?”

A fair question. Both main-event fighters hail from Mexico City. Mexican fight crowds are known throughout boxing as “walk-up crowds” – those that buy tickets at the box office the day of a fight. That raised an interesting question: What happens to a walk-up crowd, if it can’t?

The upper deck was closed Saturday, and good seats were available for $25. But to collect a ticket from will call at 2:50 p.m., 10 minutes before doors were originally scheduled to open, required a security escort and a long stroll round the outside of the arena. Ticket buyers, too, were required to wait till their escort returned – so fearful were the Amgen organizers that fight fans might abscond with free food from one of their otherwise empty tents.

When the first bell rang at 4 p.m., fewer than 500 people were in the arena. Standard attendance for Las Vegas, but disappointing for Southern California.

One fight fan who strolled through the front door, ticket in hand, was trainer Freddie Roach, who performed as Israel Vazquez’s chief second in the first match of the Vazquez-Marquez tetralogy, in 2007.

Asked if he’d had to buy his ticket, Roach gave a big smile.

“No,” he said. “They gave it to me.”

Pressed for an insider’s view of what might happen, Roach was quick to concede he was no insider at Vazquez-Marquez IV.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know anything you don’t.”

Shortly before Vazquez-Marquez II, when he was no longer training Vazquez, Roach said that he wished Vazquez would retire. He felt his former charge was taking too much punishment and no longer the fighter he’d previously been. Vazquez would prove his old trainer wrong a few months later.

Saturday, fans learned that Roach was not wrong – just early.

LOS ANGELES – In the end, a fourth time meant most of the punches and all of the momentum were there for Rafael Marquez.

For Israel Vazquez, there was only blood, which flowed like tears from deep wounds near both eyes.
For their memorable series, it was the fourth and probably the final time. A fifth isn’t necessary, although both said they would agree to another chapter if the fans asked for one.

If the fans don’t demand another encore, however, the end came Saturday night at Staples Center with two victories for each. The fourth, this time at featherweight, belonged to Marquez (38-6, 35 KOs) for nearly three full rounds of one-sided violence for which Vazquez (44-5, 33 KOs) simply had no counter.

Before opening bell, the theory was that Marquez would win, outlast, Vazquez because he had endured less damage in the first three fights. Only the outlast part was wrong, horribly wrong. Long-term damage to Vazquez erupted quickly.

A sharply-thrown right, laser-like in accuracy and effect, from Marquez opened up a huge cut above Vazquez’ left eye at the end of the first. Throughout the second, Vazquez struggled to see through the flood of blood that collected like a pool in an already scarred eye that had been damaged in his prior fights with Marquez.

“That was the plan,’’ Marquez said. “Go directly to the eyes.’’

Only the sight of blood, his own, told Vazquez that he was in trouble

“He hit me with a good shot and my eye just opened,’’ said Vazquez, whose cut-man, Miguel Diaz,said the cut was so deep that he could see bone.

After the second, Marquez knew he was close to finishing the fight and probably the rivalry with his own kind punctuation. Before heading to his corner before the start of the third, he stopped along the ropes and said something to his management team, Gary Shaw and Fernando Beltran. But Shaw and Beltran didn’t have to look in Marquez’ eyes to know what was about to happen. They could see it in Vazquez’s eye.

In the third round, a clash of heads, a butt, wounded Vazquez above his right eye. More blood flowed He went down to one knee, as if to forestall the inevitable. Moments later, referee Raul Caiz, Jr. stepped in, ending it and perhaps the series with a stoppage at 1:33 of the third.

Before Marquez’ quick stoppage of his old rival, Yhonny Perez and Abner Mares put together a performance that would have been worth a rematch regardless of the scores on the judges’ cards. Their brilliance through 12 rounds screamed for an encore. So did the fans. As it turned out, a rematch was – is – in the cards. The judges virtually guaranteed with a majority draw.

Gwen Adair of Beverly Hills, Calif., and Regina Williams of Atlantic City, N.J., each scored it 114-114. Marty Denkin of of West Covina, Calif., gave it to Mares, 115-113.

“I’m really sad,’’ said Mares (20-0-1, 13 KOs), who grew up in Southern California and was the crowd favorite. “I thought I won the fight and I’m not the only who thought that.’’

In the twelfth and final round, It looked as if Mares was close to knocking out Perez (20-0-1, 14 KOs), a Colombian and the International Boxing Federation’s bantamweight champion. Mares rocked Perez with a beautifully-executed, left-right combination.

During the middle rounds, however, Mares backpedaled as though he was wary of Perez’s power, which was displayed with an uppercut that hurt Mares in the third. Mares on the run angered fans, who booed him. But he quickly won them back over in the later rounds when the two fighters switched styles. Mares moved forward and Perez began to back away.

“I won this fight,’’ said Perez, who waved a Colombian flag at the predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American crowd after the final bell. “It was not a draw. I’m willing to fight a rematch. But it’s up to my promoters.”

There’s not much to decide. Promoters do more than count. They can read too. They know what’s in the cards.

Off TV, but on the undercard:
The best came from Los Angeles junior-middleweight Rodrigo Garcia (7-0, 5 KOs), whose hands were as heavy as they were unstoppable for the second third and fourth rounds in a stubborn assault that left Taronze Washington (14-13, 7 KOS) of Dallas with a bloody nose and a loss by unanimous decision.

The rest: Unbeaten junior-lightweight Ronny Rios (11-, 5 KOs) of Santa Ana, Calif., got the show started with unanimous decision over Guadalupe De Leon (8-11, 4 KOs) of Weslaco, Tex., hours before Vazquez and Marquez turned their trilogy into a four-peat. Rios scored in the early moments with sharp combinations, then sustained his pace and advantage.

And in a junior welterweight bout, Carlos Molina (12-0, 6 KOs) of Los Angeles threw the sharper punches for a unanimous decision over Mexican Humberto Tapia (15-13-1, 8 KOs).

Vazquez – V- Marquez
Hometown Huntington Park, Ca Mexico City, Mexico
Record 44-4(32) 38-5(34)
Rounds Boxed 278 192
KO% 66.67 % 79.07%
Age 32 35
Height 5?4 5’5
Reach 66 68
Nickname Magnifico
Titles IBF Super Bantamweight IBF Bantamweight
WBC Super Bantamweight x2 WBC Super Bantamweight

World title Record 8-2(6) 9-2(7)

The odds with the Bookies have Marquez a slight favourite at -162 Vazquez while is +125.
Tickets are still available ranging from $250 down to $25.
Doors open at 3PM with Perez-V-Mares scheduled for 6PM

He sat at a table a year ago in a New York restaurant, dressed in a conservative suit and unknown to most in a crowd that was there to honor him. Israel Vazquez didn’t care. It also didn’t bother him that the plaque, the symbol of his honor, was not there either. It, like him, had apparently been overlooked

But Vazquez was there.

He was happy for the honor at the Boxing Writers Association’s 84th annual dinner and business-like in his acceptance of a professional milestone, the 2008 Fight of the Year, on a night when rival and partner Rafael Marquez couldn’t be there because of an auto accident near the Mexico City airport earlier that day.

It was a moment when other fighters might have felt insulted and angry enough to complain loudly and often. Vazquez didn’t. Celebrity has never been part of a job definition that he and Marquez will define and refine for a fourth time Saturday night in a Showtime-televised encore at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Vazquez-Marquez, already a memorable trilogy, is about to become further entrenched in historical lore, although both approach it without any of the tired hyperbole attached to Fights of the Century that now seem to happen every other year.

“It is the biggest day of my life,’’ said Vazquez, who won the two rematches, yet also looms as the underdog in the fourth because of scars that include a broken nose and damaged retina. “With this fight, Marquez and I will definitely be part of boxing history, even more so than now.’’

History speaks for itself, although Floyd Mayweather Jr. often speaks as though it has yet to say enough about him and how he belongs alongside Sugar Ray Robinson, or Muhammad Ali, or Julius Caesar. But Vazquez and Marquez aren’t trying to talk their way into history. They are only trying to make some.

“There are no words to say,’’ Marquez said. “There are no introductions to make. Everybody knows us.’’

Their understated fashion leaves no room for role playing or mind games. What everybody knows about Marquez and Vazquez is that they what to be known for what they do and not what they say. Imagine that. I’m not sure what old-school means anymore. If there is a face book for what it was, however, the defining faces are Vazquez and Marquez. In part, that’s why so many historical parallels are being drawn to their four-peat.

It’s rare and evocative with names from black-and-white newsreels of Ezzard Charles-versus- Jerry Joe Walcott and Willie Pepp-versus-Sandy Saddler. Boxing was big in those days. It might never be again. For one night, however, Vazquez and Marquez will explain why it was with workmanship that says it all instead of the words that say so little.

More Four
The former King of the Four Rounders, Eric “Butterbean” Esch, is attempting to become a heavyweight promoter. How heavy? He is somewhere near 400 pounds. Esch, whose promotional interest and personal preference is in mixed martial arts, is promoting a pay-per-view MMA card, Moonsin, Friday night (9 p.m. ET) at the DCU Center in Worcester Mass., featuring Tim Sylvia against Mariusz Pudzianowski.

Esch also had planned to fight. But the Massachusetts commission reportedly wouldn’t approve an exhibition between him and former Boston Bruins enforcer Lyndon Byers. Apparently, Esch’s ring experience, which includes everything from boxing to sumo wrestling, was cited as a factor. No truth to the rumor that nobody could find a stool big enough to support 400 pounds.

The entertaining Esch, now 43, hasn’t abandoned boxing, even though his former division, heavyweight, almost has. He would like to promote a boxing card featuring 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Deontay Wilder in Birmingham, Ala., not far from his home in Jasper. Wilder, an unbeaten heavyweight in the initial stages of his pro career, is from Tuscaloosa.

“But nobody in the state Alabama knows who he is,’’ Esch said. “I’d like to get him some recognition in his home state.’’

Notes, anecdotes
§ Esch grew up in Alabama, but there isn’t a hint of a Southern accent in the many interviews he does with the media. “At home with my family, you’d hear it,’’ he said. “But not in the media. If the accent was there, they might have to include those subtitles.’’

§ Marquez promoter Gary Shaw thinks his fighter will stop Vazquez. “My prediction is that this fight does not go the full five rounds,’’ he said.

§ And there’s been some talk that a fourth fight between Marquez and Vazquez is one too many. There’s fear that the fighters will suffer long-term damage because of the series, already 25 rounds long and noteworthy for its sustained violence. “I recognize that,” Vazquez said Thursday at a news conference. “I don’t have anything against people who think like that. But I’m very sure that May 22, they’re going to feel different. I’m going to prove it. Honestly, of course the three battles that we had took something from us. Something from Marquez, something from me. This is boxing. This is a contact sport. You are expecting that. It is normal.”