Date: Saturday, October 10, 2009

Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

Promoters: Top Rank

Coverage: Pay-Per-View

It’s not difficult to reach me because most afternoons I am at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia working out in the boxing gym—training kids or in the dojo learning a new discipline—Wado Ryu karate. Therefore, when I heard promoter Bob Arum earlier in the week proclaiming that Rogers Mtagwa’s (25 wins – 12 losses – 2 draws – 18 kos) title shot would be a tune-up for WBO junior-featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (26 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 24 kos) and his impending showdown with WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, I wondered why Bob didn’t reach out to me and solicit my opinion before making such a statement.

I know Rogers “The Tiger” Mtagwa, having met him when he first arrived from Tanzania in 2000 and started training at the Marian Anderson boxing gym. Over the past nine years I have developed a good feel for what drives him and why nobody in their right mind would consider him a “tune-up,” much less a world-class promoter like Arum. Mtagwa is

not only fighting for his two kids (little Sinia and baby Rogers), he is also fighting for his country driven by an indomitable will to succeed and a noble spirit. Therefore, there was no way I would not be at the Garden to witness him win the championship.

Maybe Arum would not have made the statement had he spent a few hours watching Mtagwa work out or some time getting to know him. I remember one day when I had completed my weight training, Mtagwa came over after having sparred ten rounds and wanted to know how much weight was on the bench press. To my amazement, the little man took his gloves off, got on the bench and easily pressed the two-hundred and five pounds a couple time over his head. It was not meant for someone that small to be that strong!

The word fear doesn’t appear in Mtagwa’s dictionary because he will fight anyone. And if you hurt him, he becomes even more dangerous, like a wounded animal ready to kill in order to cheat death. I don’t know if Mtagwa has ever sparred with anyone his size. For this upcoming match he routinely sought out welterweight prospect Dangerous Darrell Jones and junior-welterweight Ramon Ellis for his sparring at Anderson. The little man with bricks in his fists relishes mixing it up with bigger guys. I knew that he would walk to Juan Manuel Lopez and punch him right in the kisser. Arum should have “hit a brother up!” I would have told him don’t tune-up with a tiger, get a duck!

Look what happened on Saturday night! Mtagwa engaged Lopez in a dog fight, took his best shots, bust him up and had him hanging on for dear life in the final two rounds. Lopez’s swollen face was a testament to what he was served from Mtagwa’s menu— hearty portions of roundhouse rights, left hooks, right hooks, uppercuts to the head and solar plexus and a few sucker punches at the bell in several rounds. Mtagwa swarmed all over Lopez and took the last five rounds. Chef Mario Batali could not have comprised a better five-course meal. The once confident champion who started the fight by sharp shooting on the outside had faded down the stretch due to the challenger standing his ground, ducking shots and throwing nitro-laced rights that oftentimes found Lopez’s chin.

The predominant Puerto Rican crowd held its breath as Mtagwa battered Lopez from pillar to post in the final round looking for that one punch that would send the fatigued champion to the canvas. But Lopez became a drunken octopus, clutching, holding, pushing his energized victimizer through the ropes hoping to avoid the inevitable. Referee Eddie Cotton should have penalized Lopez for excessive holding but I will need another article and risk being sued for giving you my theory on why that was not going to happen. Lopez made it to the end and had to be helped back to his stool.

It is a rebuttable presumption that you will not win by decision in the Garden against a Puerto Rican champion, ask Joshua Clottey. Therefore, I will not use any space to make a compelling argument for why Mtagwa should have left with the WBO belt. What I will tell you is that at the conclusion, Mtagwa walked around the ring to the raucous applause of the pro-Lopez crowd. Boxing fans are cut from that rare cloth that allows them to support their own but at the same time show respect to a gladiator who left it all in the ring. I will also share with you that the Garden was eerily quiet, and I swore that I heard crickets fornicating out on 34^th Street and 8^th Avenue.

Lopez won a unanimous decision. Judge Kevin Morgan scored it 114-113, giving Mtagwa the last six rounds with the difference being a knockdown in the fifth round that was scored for Lopez. I didn’t see the punch. Lopez had pushed Mtagwa to the canvas on two other occasions in prior rounds. Therefore, I was somewhat startled when Referee Cotton called a knockdown from what appeared to be a push. Carlos Ortiz turned in a score of 116-111 with four of the final five rounds going to Mtagwa. Steve Weisfeld had it 115-111 with the last three rounds for Mtagwa scoring the final round correctly—10-8.

Mtagwa was a tune-up for Lopez who was looking ahead to a lucrative bout against the explosive, “throw caution to the wind” Gamboa who was sensational in his fourth round knockout of Panamanian challenger Whyber Garcia in the semi-windup. Instead the little man from Tanzania “tuned-up” Lopez, demystifying him, exposing his weaknesses and giving him an old-fashion Philly-beat-down or in colloquial terms—“opening up a case of whup-ass” on him in the last half of the fight. Lopez will never be the same.

Other Results: Cuban heavyweight and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Odlanier “La Sombra” Solis (14 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 10 kos) dropped Monte Barrett (34 wins

– 7 losses – 0 draws – 20 kos) twice in the second round forcing a stoppage at 1:54. Junior-middleweight Pawel “Raging Bull” Wolak (24 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 16 kos) from Mt. Arlington, NJ was impressive in meticulously working the body of Carlos “The Butcher” Nasciemento (24 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 20 kos) from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Wolak controlled the bout with his ferocious body attack dropping the Brazilian in the fourth and fifth rounds of the scheduled ten-rounder. Suffering from a cut over his eye and taking a beating, Nasciemento was saved by the ringside doctor who stopped the bout at the conclusion of the fifth round. Middleweight John Duddy (26 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 17 kos) of New York, NY got back in the win column by taking a workman-like unanimous eight-round decision by scores of 80-73 and 79-73 twice over tough Jorge Munoz (21 wins – 3 losses – 0 draws – 13 kos) of Topeka, Kansas. Junior-featherweight Jorge Diaz (9 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 5 kos) from Jersey City, NJ stopped 2004 Olympic gold medalist Yan Barthelemy (8 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 1 ko) in the sixth and final round with a vicious left hook that knocked the Cuban out cold on the canvas. It has been a long road for the stylish southpaw Barthelemy who beat Gamboa twice as an amateur. 6 feet 6 inches cruiserweight Carlos Negron (4 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 4 kos) of Puerto Rico used his long jab to win a unanimous four-round decision 40-36 and 39-37 twice over Larry Pryor (4 wins – 4 losses – 0 draws – 2 kos) from Houston, Texas. Junior-welterweight Omar Chavez (17 wins – 0 losses – 1 draw – 13 kos) dropped James Gentry (7 wins – 9 losses – 1 draw – 4 kos) in the second round scoring a unanimous decision 59-54 and 58-55 twice. Toledo, Ohio lightweight Martin Tucker (6 wins – 4 losses – 0 draws – 3 kos) spoiled the perfect record of undefeated Michael Torres (13 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 7 kos) from Yonkers, NY by dropping him in the fifth and sixth and final round and taking a unanimous decision 57-56 on all three scorecards. Torres could not avoid Tucker’s counter rights.

For two consecutive years, Mtagwa has been in the Fight of the Year. We can only hope that Lopez will grant Mtagwa a rematch, it is the honorable thing to do. But we know that there is a higher probability of me beating Usain Bolt in a footrace than Arum putting his charge in the ring with Mtagwa for a second time. This is boxing and Lopez is someone’s meal ticket that has to be protected. It was plain to see that Lopez cannot beat the Tanzanian and will be walking in a minefield if and when he faces Gamboa. Stay tuned.

Continue to support the sweet science and remember, always carry your mouthpiece!

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