Boxing top ten upsets past 15 years

On the undercard of Sam Peter – James Toney bout, Eric Aiken (16 – 4 12ko’s) is set to make the first defense of his newly acquired IBF featherweight title against Roberto Guerrero (18 – 1 – 1 11ko’s). Back in May Aiken pulled off a highly unlikely upset victory over Valdemir Pereira to win the strap. While this accomplish might pale in comparison to Buster Douglas beating Tyson or George Forman capping off a 10 year hiatus by winning the heavyweight title, most people like when the underdog pulls it out. So in the spirit of JJ Braddock and Iran Barkley, I give to you my 10 biggest and most unlikely upsets over the past 15 years of boxing.


10) Eddie Sanchez over J.C. Candelo – It was hot August night back in 2004 and it looked like the fight fans were in for a treat as the undefeated prospected Joachim Alcine was set to take on J.C. Candelo, the then #5 ranked middleweight by the IBF. Candelo was fresh off of losses to Winky Wright and Kassim Ouma and needed a big performance to stay in the mix. Everything chanced quickly as Alcine failed his medical exam and was not allowed to fight. It looked like the fans were robbed of a good night of boxing. 7 hour before show time, ESPN finally dug up Eddie Sanchez to replace Alcine. On top of having no time to prepare, Sanchez had to drop 8 pounds to make weight. Most viewers probably changed the channel when this was announced, expecting a blowout. Those who stayed tuned were treated to Eddie Sanchez giving the fight of his life, taking the Middleweight contender to the limit over 12 rounds. Though Candelo did score a knockdown, he wasn’t able to muster up much offense while Sanchez just fired away and kept on top of his opponent even though he was visibly running on fumes from the 6th round on. The fight went to the cards and all three judges scored in favor of Eduardo Sanchez. While this fight wasn’t for any major titles and didn’t involve “big name” fighters, it made for great TV and showed why Friday Night Fights is worth watching. We haven’t heard any noise from Eddie Sanchez since, but for one night he was awesome.

9) Sergei Liakovich over Lamon Brewster – Coming into this fight Lamon Brewster was on a tear. He was the reigning WBO Heavyweight Champion and earning a rep amongst fight fans as one of the more entertaining brawlers in the division. In his last three he left contenders Wladimir Klitschko, Luan Krasniqi and Andrew Golota lying on their backs. Along comes Sergei Liakovich, a little known white European cut from the mold that Brewster has been feasting on. In a fight that Brewster was supposed to win by early knockout turned into a 2006 fight of the year candidate as they went the distance in an absolute slugfest. From the opening bell both men went at it. Liakovich showed a big heart and a very solid chin. It is said that Brewster suffered a detached retina early in the fight and continued with basically one eye. He almost put the White Wolf away in the 7th which is a candidate for round of the year. Liakovich sucked it up and dished his own punishment out down the stretch which was enough to earn him a unanimous decision and the WBO heavyweight title. Brewster has been on the bench recovering since while Sergei is on the verge of a fight with Shannon Briggs.

8) Ivan Robinson over Arturo Gatti – 1998 was a pretty exciting time for the sport of boxing. We got our first taste of Fernando Vargas and Floyd Mayweather. Erik Morales was starting to make a splash, and to top it off there were two epic battles between Ivan “Mighty” Robinson and Arturo Gatti. Arturo Gatti was already known for his barnburners but this was supposed to be a bounce back fight after suffering a surprising loss to Angel Manfredy. Ivan Robinson took the saying “Philly Tough” to a new level as these two men fought at a frantic pace throughout. There were many moments where it looked like each fighter was ready to go. Robinson did hit the deck in the 4th but the Philly fighter got back on his feet and did enough to earn a split decision victory in Gatti’s hometown of Atlantic City. This fight cleaned up the Ring Magazine awards as it won Upset of the Year, Fight of the Year while the 3rd frame of the rematch took Round of the Year. This marked the first of many times Arturo Gatti was written off though he bounced back to participate in many more crowd pleasers. Robinson was never the same after his wars with Gatti.

7) Bernard Hopkins over Felix Trinidad – The final portion of Don King’s Middleweight World Championship Series pitted Felix Trinidad against Bernard Hopkins. Felix Trinidad was 28 years old, 40 – 0 with 33 ko’s, held a win over De La Hoya and was one of the hottest names in the game. B-Hop was at the time 36 years old and never faced anyone of Trinidad’s caliber making him a 3 – 1 underdog. On top of that, Hopkins did a lot to piss Trinidad off before the fight giving Tito that extra motivation to do a job on the Philly native. Emotions were running high and there were a lot of sub plots, this was a few weeks after 9/11, Hopkins was just freed from Don King, the flag throwing in Puerto Rico incident. A lot of people were saying Trinidad was going to smoke B-Hop, but Felix really had no chance in this fight and might have won two rounds before his corner threw in the towel. The Executioner turned in a master piece and made it look easy. He wore down the undefeated Trinidad in the early rounds jabbing and countering, and turned up the heat late. He finished strong scoring a 12th round TKO becoming the undisputed Middleweight Champion of the World. This fight launched Hopkins into the national spotlight and sent Tito into his first retirement.

6) Ricky Hatton over Kostya Tsyzu – Just think, a little over a year most boxing fans people on my side of the pond couldn’t tell you jack about Ricky Hatton. So when Showtime wheeled him out as an opponent for the legendary Kostya Tszyu back in June of 2005, 99.9% of the folks in the States thought he was going to get killed. Tszyu, recognized as the 140 lb kingpin, has beaten a long laundry list of top notch fighters while The Hitman’s best work at the time came against mid carders Ben Tackie and No Joke Stewart. All of that went out the window from the sound of the opening bell as Manchester’s favorite son put an all out assault on The Thunder from Down Under. The body pounding that Hatton administered left Tszyu unable to continue after the 11th and with a set of ribs that probably still hurt to this day. Overnight, Ricky went from unknown to star and now he is the reigning Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year for 2005. This sort of thing happens when you make a legend quit on his stool. This was a coming out party for the Hitman as he has gone on to win the WBA light welter title and WBA welterweight title while Tszyu has hung up the gloves and went dancing with the stars.

5) Bernard Hopkins over Antonio Tarver – You are probably looking at this and thinking what is it doing here but leading up to this fight no one was giving B-Hop a snowballs chance in hell to beat Tarver. They said he was washed up, had nothing left after the Taylor fights. No way he was moving up two weight classes and taking the belt. You couldn’t get away from Tarver and his big mouth either. Talk shows, magazines, he was everywhere talking about how he is going to put away the old man for good etc. Well when it came time to fight, B-Hop made Tarver pay. For 12 rounds the cagey ring veteran picked his shots and made Tarver look like a novice. Not only was this one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, it was one of the greatest finishes to a career. We haven’t seen or heard from Tarver since.

4) Corrie Sanders over Wladimir Klitschko – Now this fight was a text book tune-up bout. In March of 2003 Klitschko was ripping through the Heavyweight division and was set to fight in his native Germany against the 37 year old Sanders, coming into the contest openly discussing retirement, putting in only three rounds of work in three years prior to the contest and was unranked (until HBO announced the fight). It was a tailor made easy night for Dr. Wlad but Sanders absolutely starched Klitschko in this one. The Steel Hammer turned into a rag doll in a matter of seconds and ate the canvas 4 times before the fight was officially stopped near the end of the 2nd round. The chink in his armor was exposed to the world and still to this day his chin is questioned. I will never forget the big stupid dazed look on the good Dr’s face when Corrie Sanders rocked him with that first big, swooping left nor will I forget Sanders post fight celebration and sense of victory. It didn’t last long as big brother Vitali went seeking revenge and beat the snot out of Sanders a year later. It’s ok though, Sanders took the big paydays and jumpstarted his golf career. This was the start of a nasty slump for Wlad Klitschko though he has bounced back strong in recent years.

3) Evander Holyfield over Mike Tyson – The fight that was supposed to happen five years prior was finally going to happen. While it wasn’t as appealing as it would have been back in say 1991, this was still a pretty interesting contest. The jury was out on Holyfield who was coming off some tough fights against Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer and Ray Mercer, two of which he lost. Combine that with a brief suspension for an irregular heartbeat and many were saying he was washed up. On the other hand, Iron Mike was fresh out of the slammer and put serious beatings on Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon, reaffirming his claim as the baddest man on the planet. No one gave Holyfield a chance all saying he was going out early. The MGM Grand was rockin’ and Tyson put an early barrage on Evander but The Real Deal was able to hang on. Before long Holyfield was in control, refusing to be bullied and by the 11th, Mitch Halpern was calling a halt to the contest. Evander pulled off the impossible becoming the WBA heavyweight champ though most thought it was a fluke job. The rematch led to the biggest pay per view sale ever and provided one of the strangest events in boxing history, the infamous ear biting. This was truly the beginning of the end for Tyson while Holyfield went on to win the IBF title from Michael Moorer.

2) Carlos Baldomir over Zab Judah – Seriously, where the heck did this come from? I was at the Garden for this one and if anyone tells you that they picked Carlos Baldomir to win this fight, you have my permission to call them a liar right to their face. My first impression of Baldomir he was a member of the ring crew. Baldomir has the appearance of a guy who turned pro around the age of 8. He isn’t built very well, his face is battered, and his stance is weird. When you combine that with the facts that the fight took place on a Don King card in Judah’s backyard, hand picked opponent was written all over this one. The first few rounds were terribly boring; Judah was clowning around and not caring much. It was even until the 7th frame where Tata laid a serious beating on Judah almost putting him out. Baldomir brought out the dog in Judah who was running for his life. You would have thought the 12 kayo’s on Baldomir’s ledger was a typo. The fight went to the scorecards and I seriously thought he was going to get jobbed of the win but all three judges saw the fight in favor of the career journeyman. Judah’s career is now in shambles while Baldomir, the true welterweight champion, is making a serious run at 2006 fighter of the year after his destruction of Arturo Gatti. Tata is scheduled to fight Floyd Mayweather in November.

1) Hasim Rahman over Lennox Lewis – And coming in number one is not only the biggest upset of all time but the biggest fluke in the history of the sport. Never has one lucky punch carried a fighter’s career so far. Rahman big win in 2001 still has him fighting for titles in 2006 although he has beaten virtually no one in that time span. Lewis came into the fight way over confident and was busy filming a movie when he should have been in camp. Shame on him and boy did he pay the price. Rahman came to fight and in the 5th round crushed Lewis’ jaw with a right. Lewis avenged this loss soon after and went on to beat Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko before abruptly retiring. Rahman has since fought in a long line of stinkers and hasn’t won anytime the competition has been stepped up.


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Mora, Gomez & Ishe weekend: contenders or pretenders?

When Mark Burnett came up with idea of bringing of 16 professional boxers to a national audience, they sold the package as an inside look at the lives of potential world champions. The suits at NBC bought into it and before long, a product that was a cross between a boxing telecast and reality TV quickly captured the public’s imagination. Over a three month span it became a must see for die hard and fair-weather fans alike. In the process, it also brought instant recognition to a group on hungry, yet still developing fighters who quite possibly would not have achieved this level of fame if not for the show. While the sweet science experiment was a success in moving boxing back towards the main stream audience, the admission paying jury is still deliberation on the verdicts of the young Middleweights featured in the first season. There is more than meets the eye in this great sport and truth be told, The Contender editors can do enough film cutting to make a John Ruiz fight look like a barnburner. As you know, Sergio Mora defeated Peter Manfredo Jr. in the final round to take the million bucks and earn status as a “contender”. While none of the original cast has made a big splash on the scene just yet, some are on their way to bigger and better things while others are being exposed as pretenders. This Friday, three of the more notable participants of the inaugural Contender series lace up the gloves and continue chapter two of their journey up the Middleweight ladder. In this article I will take a look at Sergio Mora, Alfonso Gomez & Ishe Smith’s match ups and go in depth to see where the Magna Cum Laude of season one have been, where they can go, and what the public is saying about them now.

This weekends action start off in Sacramento where ESPN will showcase two of the favorites on the next to last segment of Friday Night Fights as Sergio Mora (18 – 0 4ko’s) takes on Sacramento native Eric Regan (26 – 2 17ko’s) for the IBA Continental Middleweight title. In the co-feature, Alfonso Gomes (14 – 3 – 2 5ko’s) will due battle against an opponent that we have become quiet familiar with this season on ESPN, the ever dangerous ham and egger fighting on about one day notice. Head a few miles east to the Desert Diamond Casino in Arizona and you can catch Ishe Smith (17 – 1 7ko’s) once again fighting under the Golden Boy Promotions banner. Since winning a release from his Contender contract, Smith is reaping the benefits of being a Golden Boy prospect. The ODH led promotion is making a habit of swelling their young fighter’s records against cupcake competition. Not to say they aren’t a very skilled stable, it is just hard to get a good read of where they stack up. This night will be no different as Smith gets to have his way with sacrificial lamb Oscar Gonzalez (9 – 6 3ko’s) who has one win in his last 6 contests. Telefutura will be there to televise the public offering.

After winning The Contender tournament and a million dollars, Mora was back on ESPN seven months later taking on fringe prospect Archak TerMeliksetian. Things weren’t looking good early for “The Latin Snake” and he got dropped in the 2nd round. To his credit, Mora pulled himself off the canvas and eventually figured out his stronger opponent. From the 4th round on he was in control and by the 7th, the ref waved off the fight though some argue that it was a quick stoppage. So while it was a bumpy start, ESPN’s much ballyhooed contender got the duke on national TV. This win still didn’t earn him the respect of the boxing world. No one illustrated this better than promoter Lou DiBella. DiBella’s preliminary plan for Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor was to have his young titlist take an easy fight in his hometown against “Bozo the Clown” level opposition. Soon after that statement it was widely rumored that Sergio Mora would serve as the jester. When Sergio took a few minutes to discuss the possibility on Wednesday Night Fights, Teddy Atlas dumped more salt on the wound. He looked the Snake in the eye and told him he wasn’t ready for a fight like this. While he has never faced a fighter close to Taylor’s caliber,this game is all about money which continues to make this fight a possibility. All Mora has to do is get past his next opponent, Eric Regan. Regan is a bit of an unknown but it is said that when on his game he is very sharp in the ring and has some good pop in his mitts. The 30 year old hold wins over decent competition, highlighted by a dominant performance over Yory Boy Campas in the early part of 2005. In his next fight, he moved up in weight and got beat down by journeyman Darmel Castillo. He has won two straight since his return to middleweight.

When Mora beat Manfredo, he was on top of the boxing world for about two minutes. Now you hear all sorts of opinions. Some say he is barely an 8 round fighter, others say his lack of punching power will be his downfall and others think his pure boxing skills will overcome all of these deficiencies. Mora will almost certainly be tested by Regan but if he can pull out the win, he might be in line for a title shot; if he loses he will probably spend the rest of his career as a novelty act. To his credit, he does have an undefeated record and more important, name recognition. As we all know, talent alone doesn’t sell tickets. Time will tell if Mora can parlay his TV success into a successful boxing career.

Alfonso Gomez gets back to business after a hard fought draw against fellow contender Jesse Feliciano in a very exciting, rib battering contest. ESPN just seems to love this guy; he is on just about every episode of The Contender 2, and popping up on ESPN boxing either as a fighter or guest commentator. All negative marks on Gomez professional losses have come against members of The Contender series. He took the loss in a rematch with Peter Manfredo; he also lost to Feliciano back in 2003 and Ishe Smith got the best of him back in ’01. This weekend we will see him in a fight that he is almost sure to dominate as an opponent as yet to be named with less than a day to go. ESPN is sure getting into the bad habit of doing this, turning over all sorts of rocks to find a fighter at the last minute to in most cases take a one sided beating. Gomez did make it pretty deep into the contender tournament but has been untested outside of the ESPN realm to date. My fans seem to really like his bang it out style; it is a strong possibility that you will see him on a Showtime or HBO telecast in the future.

The Vegas born Ishe Smith’s journey has been a storied one. Even before the contender he has taken on and beaten some solid competition. In 2004, he defeated Randall Bailey to win three minor Welterweight titles. Since then he has gotten a rap as a bit of a troublemaker, I see him more as a fighter who doesn’t take any BS. He has been through a few different promoters because of what he calls bum deals and was always arguing on the TV show but overall I would have to say that he is a fan favorite. His services were recently picked up by De La Hoya and company and will get his second fight under Golden Boy Promotions this week. Since joining the team, he is taken a step down in competition. This is possibly a move to keep Ishe happy and fatten his record for title opportunities. If things stay honky dory between Ishe and Golden Boy, it is very possible that he can be the first of the group to win a world title.  

While the best of the group have been given face time on Wednesday and Friday Night Fights this season, not even the comfy confines of ESPN can guarantee success for all contender graduates. A few weeks back on FNF, Super Middleweight hot shot Allan Green (who by the way is a real contender) mopped the ring with Anthony Bonsante and possibly sent the #1 dad looking for a day job. Jesse Brinkley took on Joe Spina, who is a good prospect in his own right, back in May and got kayo’d. While Mora won the tournament, it seems to be Peter Manfredo that most people are buying out of this series. He made quick work of former title challenger Scott Pemberton, knocking out the dangerous veteran in 3 rounds. HBO recently chose him as their answer to Showtimes October 14th date featuring Joe Calzaghe. His name equals ratings but I would have to think HBO would love to see one of their younger prospects make easy work of “The Pride of Providence”.

Out of the 16 contestants, in my opinion there are three worthy of considering as potential titlists, Manfredo Jr, Mora and Ishe Smith. So to ask the question; since Sergio Mora won the Contender tournament, does that mean he will go on to win a major belt in his career? I am going to say no solely because of his lack of punching power but he may see him in a few title bouts because of his name. The other two could pull it off if the right opportunity arises. Overall The Contender is a very good show but it should be noted that it gives a look behind the scenes of a boxing match, not the battle of future world champions.


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Russell Peltz blasts the boxing business

PELTZ SAYS NAME VALUE SEEMS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ABILITY;
CLAIMS KASSIM OUMA IS SHUT OUT
by Mike Casile
www.philaboxingreport.com

Hall-of-Fame promoter J Russell Peltz says name recognition and relationships with rankings organizations and television networks is what makes the boxing business go.
“Never in the history of boxing has a fighter’s ability meant less than it does today,” says Peltz, who began promoting in Philadelphia in 1969. “It does not seem to matter if fighter B is better than fighter A so long as Fighter A’s management has a better working relationship with the ratings organizations or with the television networks.
Peltz is frustrated over the inability of junior middleweight Kassim Ouma, the star of his stable, to obtain a high profile, big-money fight with the so-called “names” like Floyd Mayweather, Winky Wright, Shane Mosley, Ike Quartey or Vernon Forrest.
“Ouma may be the best junior middleweight in the world, but he is treated as an afterthought when it comes to making the big fights,” says Peltz. “Networks would rather recycle old ‘names’ like Ike Quartery, Fernando Vargas, Cory Spinks, Vernon Forrest than to breathe some fresh air into boxing.
“Boxing is a business. It ceased being a sport years ago and that is why it no longer is in the mainstream of American sports. The casual sports fan can tell you a lot about fighters like Marvin Hagler and Robert Duran, but they can’t tell Juan Diaz from Cameron Diaz.”
“If professional football were run like boxing, the New York Giants, in a mega TV market, would be in the Super Bowl every year, and while that may bode very well for the Nielson ratings, it would make a joke out of the NFL. Well, that’s what has happened to boxing.”
Ouma, 27, is considered one of the best 154-pound fighters in the business, but he lost his IBF world title last summer in a shocking



upset to Roman Karmazin. Since then, however, he has rebounded with four wins in a row, while Karmazin lost his title to Spinks.
“Kassim has been in The Ring magazine junior middleweight rankings for 232 weeks, an incredible total,” says Peltz. “The closest to him is ex-IBF world champ Verno Phillips (208 weeks), whom Ouma twice beat. The next longest ‘stay’ in the rankings is less than 60 weeks.”
According to the major alphabet groups, Ouma is ranked No. 1 in the WBO, No. 2 in the WBC, No. 3 in the IBF, No. 11 in the WBA.
“Number 11 in the WBA—can you believe that?” asks Peltz. “Get real!”
Ouma fought two high-risk, low-reward fights recently. He got off the floor to beat Marco Antonio Rubio on May 6 in Las Vegas, Rubio’s virtual backyard. Then he went into unbeaten Sechew Powell’s New York neighborhood and dismantled him in a fight many boxing experts picked Powell to win.
“They wanted to use Ouma as a stepping stone for Powell,” says Peltz. “Too bad! As for Rubio, he weighed 170 pounds when that fight began. Ouma is a little guy, even for a junior middleweight. He’s not a big puncher and still we cannot lure the big names. We seem to get more offers when Kassim loses than when he wins. He’s 27 years old and he’s the future of the junior middleweight division, but no one wants to fight him and the networks let the big names call the shots.
“We’ll fight Mayweather, Spinks, Wright, Mosely, Quartey, Forrest, all of them. But there seems to be static on the phone line when Ouma is mentioned.
“Quartey just lost to Forrest, even though it could have gone the other way. He also lost to De La Hoya and Vargas. Mosley lost twice to Forrest. Forrest lost twice to Mayorga.
“Ouma ducks no one. He’s beaten Verno Phillips (twice), J.C. Candelo, Kofi Jantuah, Angel Hernandez, on and on. I think he fought more contenders on the way up than anyone else, including two IBF eliminators. Quartey got an HBO Pay-Per-View date with Carlos Bojorquez last December more than two years after Ouma knocked Bojorquez out. Before that, Quartey beat Phillips, another Ouma victim. Ouma will fight Quartey for the all-African title.
“Quartey, Forrest, Mosely are in their mid-30s. If Cory Spinks were named Cory Jones, he wouldn’t be in the mix, let’s face it.
“I’m extremely disappointed in Winky Wright. He, more than anyone, knows how long he had to struggle to get to the big money. Now he’s doing the same thing he accused everyone else of doing when he was trying to break through.
“Ouma has a great story, being kidnapped as a child and thrown into the Ugandan army, then defecting to the United States. He’s been interviewed by Bryant Gumbel on HBO’s Real Sports show. How many fighters can say that? Will he have to wait until today’s big names are 40 years old? It’s time he got his break.”


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August 2006 Boxing report

ESPN Friday Night Fights

Live from Memphis, the world saw Atlantic City native Shamone Alvarez scored one of the best knockouts of the year as he dropped Marteze Logan with a crisp left that landed square on the jaw. Logan, who was in his 50th pro fight despite being only 22 years old, was a game challenger for the undefeated Alvarez. It was a pretty close and entertaining fight throughout. Alvarez relied primarily on the right jab followed by a straight left and also showed the ability to rattle off combinations. Logan was pretty slippery defensively and picked his spots to go on the offensive. I thought it was even down the stretch, then Alvarez crumpled Logan in the 7th leaving the young journeyman KTFO. Alvarez improves to 15 - 0.

Female banger Anne Wolfe was on the card and she handed out a 6 round beating to a tough Lisa Ested. The Big Bad Wolf inched her way closer to a showdown with Layla Ali but she says the promoters are trying to jerk her on the pay. Hopefully this fight will happen soon.

In the Main Event, Anthony Peterson, one half of the (over hyped) Peterson brothers made quick work of yet another last minute replacement. While Anthony is clearly the much easier brother to watch, I am not sold on him either. His 19 - 0 record is very suspect. I am fully supportive of developing fighters but he has been walking through cream puffs. His last three have come against guys with good records but those records are factory made. Boxrec the names Jose Soto, Adan Hernandez and Jermain White and take a look at who they beat. But that is boxing for you. I guarantee that he will be exposed when he steps up the competition.

To cap off the night, Tennessee rockabilly Ira Terry won a unanimous four decision against Natalio Ponce.

ShoBox Super Middleweight Tournament

The second installment of the Showtime Super middleweight tournament was slightly better than the first one but we did get our first look at Anthony Hanshaw who seems to have the boxing ability and power to be a player in the division. His opponent was Esteban "Rocky" Camou, a Mexican fighter with a straight ahead style and a ridiculously tight pair of ring trunks. As it turned out, Camou was made to order for Hanshaw's style. For the first eight rounds, Hanshaw boxed circles around his opponent. In the 8th he turned on the power and showed excellent hand speed. The fight went to the score cards with all three judges scoring every round for Anthony Hanshaw who advances to the second round.

In the opener, LaFarrell Bunteng scored a 5th round TKO against Jose Luis Herrera. Bunteng, a last minute replacement for Sakio Bika, has won all of his fights by knockout against Charmin soft competition. It was still enough for the suits at Showtime to give him a TV slot. Herrera also won all 14 of his pro bouts by knockout. Is it me or does every Columbian fighter have a high KO percentage? Then they fight in the USA and lose. This fight was a stinker, I never seen so much separation between two fighters for such a long period of time. Punches were thrown here and there and not a hell of a lot landed. The action did pick up a bit in the 5th as the fighters got into it along the ropes. Bunteng connected with about 10 straight punches and the ref stepped in to give Herrera a standing 8 count. It was obvious that Herrera just didn't want to fight anymore when he walked away from the ref so the fight was stopped. Bunteng won but it wasn't impressive at all. He is lucky that his fight with Max Alexander fell through last month, he would have gotten smoked.

ESPN Wednesday Night Fights

Russell Peltz brought WNF back to the City of Brotherly Love once again televising live from the New Alahambra (aka the ECW Arena) in my old hood South Philadelphia. The card opened with a crowd pleaser as two of my favorites on the local scene Jose Medina and Clarence "Sonny Bono" Taylor went toe to toe in an 8 round battle. This fight came as advertised, an good old fashioned Philly style fight. No jabs and no dancing as both men fired away. Medina worked primarily on the inside and Bono was head hunting. While Medina was game, Bono was able to land clean head shots which proved to be too much for El Macho. Bono scored a knockdown late in the fight but Medina was able to get up and finish the fight on his feet. In the end, all three judges scored the bout for Clarence Taylor.

In the next fight, former Philly amateur standout Kassim Wilson out boxed NY native Wes Hobbs over four rounds. After the fight Wilson wore a tee shirt dedicated to the memory of former Philly fighter William Boggs who recently passed away. It was a great gesture and I would like to note that the photo on the shirt was taken by phillykeith.com's #1 photographer "TKO" Teek McGuigan. you can get the full round by round of William Boggs final fight here. R.I.P. Bobcat.

In the Main Event, one of the top dogs in Peltz stable Rogers Mtagwa beat the crap out of Alvin Brown and made Teddy Atlas look like Nostradamus by scoring the 4th round knockout that the legend predicted in the pre fight. Mtagwa was close to sealing the deal in the second as he peppered Brown scoring two knockdowns. Brown weathered the storm and actually got brave in the 4th, firing away power punches. This turned out to be his downfall as Mtagwa traded and buried his foe with a right to the head sending Brown under the ropes and down for the count. Mtagawa retained his USBA featherweight title and is all but ready to take on up and comer Jason Litzau which should be a barn burner.

Trenton, NJ native Chucky Cavallo rounded out the card but unfortunately it wasn't against Max Alexander, a fight I have been calling for in the fights I would like to see made board for a while now. Instead he was matched up against Mike Eatmon of North Carolina. The first round was pretty good as both fighters threw hard punches. Eatmon drew first blood by causing a cut over Cavallo's eye. Chucky returned the favor in the second by busting Eatmon's nose. Eatmon was obviously gassed out and ripe for the picking after the 1st round. If Cavallo moved side to side, it might have been an early night but Eatmon was able to clinch his way to a decision loss.

The Contender week 3

In this weeks edition of The Contender we saw Seattle native Walter Wright challenge and convincingly defeat Brooklyn native Andre Eason in their 5 round contest. Looks like Wright made a few enemies in the process because of his cockiness in the ring, in particular pissing off Eason's homie Cornelius. The yellow team has tied the score at two wins a piece and it looks like the Philly Keith favorite Grady Brewer is itching for his shot against Vinroy Barrett. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't but the ball is in the yellow teams corner so they get to choose who fights next week.

Click this link to read the complete career bios for every fighter on this season of The Contender. With this research I have been taking my man Pete's money all season betting these fights.

HBO Boxing After Dark

In the Main Event we witnessed the return of "Vicious" Vivian Harris and possibly the end of Stevie "Lil but Bad" Johnston. Vivian was in control for the majority of the contest but Stevie showed the heart of a champion by pulling himself off the deck three times and taking the fight right back to his younger, stronger foe. Even though he kept getting knocked on his butt, Stevie stayed cool and had spots where he was giving the youngster a bit of a boxing lesson. Harris power was just too much for the 5'5" Johnston who was constantly caught trying to squeeze his way inside. The fight ended in the 6th with both of Stevie's eyes swollen shut. the vision might have been gone but not the desire to fight although the referee had seen enough and called a halt to the contest. Vivian did look very sharp and had some pop in his gloves. I won't be surprised to see him in a major fight soon.

In the opener, Joshua Clottey and Richard Gutierrez ripped off vicious body shots at each other with lots of low blows and clinches mixed in. Points were deducted, Heads were butted, I was waiting for a manager to come running in with a steel chair when the ref wasn't looking. It was like an ECW style boxing match. Not to say it wasn't enjoyable at times but the next time I want to see two guys fight dirty it better be the Sandman vs. Sabu.

Roy Jones boxes the socks off of Prince Badi

I don't know if anyone actually bought this pay per view but all reports say the Roy Jones Jr. gave "The Boxing Prince" a serious lesson in Boise. This leads me to believe that Roy won't hang them up just yet.

ShoBox Super Middleweight Tournament

Showtime out together a tournament of eight unknown Super Middleweights hoping to find a diamond in the rough. The first half of the first round came off with mixed results. In the opener, Henry Buchanan beat Lucas Green Arias by unanimous decision. While it was a clear cut victory, the fighters left the ring to a parade of boo's because of the boring action. In the second fight, Jean-Paul Mendy smoked Dallas Vargas scoring a 1st round stoppage after landing a 8 punch flurry two minutes into the round. Vargas looked totally outclasses from the opening bell and Mendy applied the pressure all round. Next week the opening round comes to a conclusion as Sakio Bika takes on Jose Luis Herrera and Anthony Hanshaw goes head up with Estaban Camou. Hopefully the action will be more lively and competitive.

ESPN Friday Night Fights

I only caught bits and pieces of it and it looked to be a decent fight between Sultan Ibragimov and Ray Austin although it ended up in a draw. Sultan floored Austin in the first but couldn't seal the deal. The winner was supposed to be in the running for a shot at Wladimir Klitschko's IBF title. Now not only are the titles a mess, they can't even get the contender situation in order. I saw boxing needs to get rid of the draw, it sucks. If the cards are even at the end of a fight, bring both guys out for the 13th round. The fans would love it and I would think fighters would give it their all to pull out the victory.

Boxing debuts on OLN

The inaugural segment of OLN's "Fight Night" has come and gone and I have to say overall it was a solid show. The night started with Philly middleweight Anthony "The Messenger" Thompson taking on Mohammed Said. This fight was a real stinker for the first 6 rounds and was dangerously close to putting me to sleep. Something clicked in the 7th as both fighters turned into street brawlers. Thompson's finally let his hands fly and for once was impressive in the ring. He connected with about 20 straight shots. Said took them, backed Thompson into a corner and fired off a few of his own. The 8th round was more banging and Thompson's hand speed was evident. In the 9th, The Messenger landed a three punch combo to Said's chin putting him out for the count.

In the Main Event, NABF Middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik took on boxing fossil Bronco McKart. McKart looks like a real dirtball and is exactly the type of fight Pavlik needed. An old grinder that will bang it out with you for a little while. While the commentators tried to hype McKart up as a potential player, you had to know he was a hand picked opponent. This was a very exciting fight for the first four rounds. Pavlik would bang inside, McKart would fire back. McKart just seemed to give up after that. in the end he just dropped for no apparent reason, maybe exhaustion, maybe something else. Either way he hit the deck in the 6th and didn't return to his feet intil the post fight interview to kiss Pavlik's ass. Can we say McKart did the "job"?

Also on the card was Philly tough guy Omar Pittman who scored one of the best Knockouts of 2006 with a short left to Victor Paz jaw leaving him rolling around the ring unable to get to his feet.

Kid Diamond also punished some scrub for about 6 rounds.


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Philly circuit top 10 lb for lb August 2006

Philly’s top 10 pound for pound list for the month of August 2006

Philly is the world’s number one fight town; only a fool would argue that. Our local fight circuit is the best in the world; only a fool would argue that too. Our fans are beyond a shadow of a doubt the toughest, most loyal and knowledgeable crowd this business has ever seen. They pay $35 for a ticket just to sweat their ass off at the Blue Horizon in the dead of summer. They will give a journeyman a standing ovation and will boo a stinker right out of the building. They love a good fight and love to argue.

So I will give you something to argue about, who is the best of the best in our fighting town? I think it is the 10 fighters listed below. My criterion is simple, if they fight on the Philly circuit on a regular basis they were considered for the list. I pay no attention to who their promoter, manager, trainer or baby’s momma is. Some are young, some are old, and some will go on to fight for world titles while others will struggle to end their career with a record close to .500. I give to you the first ever Philly top 10 pound for pound rankings. Email me to discuss, debate, praise, curse or quietly state your opinion.

1)Eddie Chambers (26 – 0 14ko’s) – The Heavyweight prospect is very close to reaching contender status. He answered a lot of questions in his last fight when showed up in tip top shape and destroyed once upon a time contender Ed Mahone in four lopsided rounds. Showed some serious pop in his mitts and is now very close to scoring a major fight against a name contender. Scheduled to fight in Vegas next week after 17 straight outings at the Blue Horizon, we will see if he can make the most of this opportunity. Scheduled to return to the Blue in September.

2)Joey Abell (7 – 0 7ko’s) – It has taken the North Dakota born Heavyweight three fights to win over our notoriously tough fan base. Now they come flocking in to see him fight. Looks like a lumberjack and hits like a freight train. His knockout power keeps the EMT’s on standby. In his first fight at the Blue Horizon, he fractured a man’s fibula while landing a left hook to the chin. His last fight there he damn near knocked his opponent out of the ring. Number two might be a stretch due to the lack of serious competition but the ferocity of his knockouts are hard to ignore. I would love to see him fight “Big” John Poore.

3)Yusef Mack (22 – 1 – 2 14ko’s) – He was my number one until he bombed out on ESPN a few months back. I don’t know what happened that night but the guy I saw wasn’t the combo firing, head moving ring maestro that was promising a win over the likes of Calzaghe and Lacy in the near future. With that being said he still has all the tools to be a world champion. He can box and he can finish an opponent off. Has been in the spotlight before and come out on top. Maybe he got too cocky but maybe he will bounce back strong. In my opinion it won’t be long before the crown jewel of Shulers Gym is back in the mix of a wide open Super Middleweight division.

4)Rogers Mtagwa (22 – 10 16ko’s) – For a little guy he is very fun to watch. He is willing to take punches and more than willing to dish out the punishment. Was very impressive on national TV recently, finishing up a strong performance with a big knockout. There are rumors of a fight with Jason Litzau is in the works and Mtagwa will provide a stern test for the hot shot prospect should this Featherweight showdown take place.

5)Max Alexander (11 – 0 – 1 2ko’s) – Max seems to improve with every fight. When he stepped up the competition, he responded with knockout victories. Even his opponents with bad records have all been in against the top young talent in the business. He can fight from both sides of the plate and always seems to come to the ring with a sound strategy. Works both down stairs and up top. The best young Light Heavyweight on the East Coast and possibly in the entire division.

6)Chazz Witherspoon (13 – 0 7ko’s) – No free pass because of his name; Chazz has definitely earned his slot on the list with pure boxing ability. After starting his career on the road, he has come back home in ’06 to please crowds around the city with his heavy hands and fluid body movement. A slow starter at times, he seems to get stronger as the fight moves forward. Very nimble for a Heavyweight. One of the few bright spots in yet another sorry season of Showtime boxing when he cruised to a decision win over the undefeated Michael Alexander back in July.

7)Harry Joe Yorgey (15 – 0 8ko’s) – this Light Middleweight prospect seems to have beaten the injury bug and has his career back on track. He has begun to step up the competition after taking on a laundry list of, well, I won’t say soft but rather “opponent” type fighters. Looked good one ESPN back in June, hopefully he will step up the competition soon. Some are questioning if he is really a contender or just an over hyped pretender.

8)Terrance Cauthen (31 – 3 8ko’s) – To me “Heat” can be painful to watch at times but I always give credit where it is due, Cauthen has boxed the socks off of everyone they have put in front of him. He has lightening fast hands and is very good defensively. If he had a lick of punching power he would be a world champion. He recently won the IBU Junior Middleweight title in Trenton. He packs the house with fans in Philly and Jersey and I am sure he will bring a crowd if given a shot on a card in Atlantic City.

9)Clarence “Sonny Bono” Taylor (11 – 9 – 2 5ko’s) – Don’t let the record fool you, Bono is a tough customer. You won’t find many cupcakes on his resume. He is my kind of fighter, the type that takes only the local tough guys, rising prospects and will give a contender a run for his money. His fight with Joe Christy on Joey Eye’s card at the Diablo Fight Club was one of the best of 2005. Convincingly beat fellow Philly tough guy Jose Medina on the opening bout of Friday Night Fights in early August. Not much style to his approach, he just brings it and his fights always are crowd pleasers.

10)Jamaal “Da Truth” Davis (7 – 1 6ko’s) – He gets no press even with the local beat but he hasn’t escaped my watchful eye. I think he is one of the more entertaining fighters on the circuit. Since losing in his pro debut, this tough middleweight has reeled off 7 straight wins. Moves well in the ring, fights with a mean streak and has teeth breaking power. Always seems to be on the attack. Still mastering the trade but has always been matched up against more experienced competition. A true Philly sleeper but one to keep an eye on.

Honorable mentions
Steve Upshur Chambers, Glen Turner, Charles Cavallo, Gee Culmer, Elad Shmouel, John Poore, Gabe Rosado



If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can email Philly Keith at keithfmt3@hotmail.com

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