By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
The long-stagnant heavyweight division sprang to life Saturday as Riverside's Cris Arreola and Poland's Tomasz Adamek engaged in a compelling battle of slugging versus boxing, with the lighter Adamek edging out a majority decision.
Adamek was awarded a 115-113 advantage by judge Barry Druxman, a 117-111 score by Joseph Pasquale and judge Tony Crebs scored the bout 114-114.
Adamek (41-1) delivered a swollen face with his precision blows on Arreola's head, even as the Southern Californian's relentlessness and brawn proved impressive in the entertaining clash in front of 6,256 at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
Arreola (28-2) hurt Adamek in the rounds he won, stunning the former two-division champion with an uppercut in the 10th, and twice in the fifth round, backing up the Pole with a hard left and right.
In the end, Arreola said he agreed with the decision, applauding as the final score was read.
"I had him in the fifth round," Arreola said. "I hurt my left hand in the fifth, but I kept going, but it hurt real bad. He has a hard head."
Arreola also said he endured some head butts and joked he "feels like … Shrek now."
Adamek's superior boxing ability allowed him to connect on 70 more punches than Arreola, snapping a scoring left to the face and consecutive combinations in the first and repeating the effort often through exchanges that elicited roars from a crowd thrilled not to be subjected to another one-sided Klitschko-involved bout.
"This was the toughest fight I've ever had," Adamek said in his third bout as a heavyweight after previously winning world light-heavyweight and cruiserweight belts. "This is why I feel I can be world champion."
Adamek dedicated the bout to his country's president and 95 others who perished in an airline crash this month.
Arreola consistently fought like he knew he could take the other guy's best punch, charging ahead in the second and hitting Adamek in the head with some big punches.
Adamek withstood the 33-pound weigh-in disadvantage by landing quick combinations, ducking out immediately afterward as Arreola charged forward in the third.
Adamek was showing pride in taking Arreola's punches until the fifth, when Arreola flung a left that sent Adamek reeling backward and clearly left him on guard. A big right by Arreola again backed up Adamek, but the ex-champ rallied by the bell with a good combination.
The scoring deserved questions. Judge Pasquale surprisingly differed with his peers in the sixth and 10th and Druxman surprisingly gave Adamek the first five rounds. Most ringside reporters had the fight scored as a draw, or a narrow margin either way.
The crowd booed Adamek before the sixth when he took an extended break to adjust his left shoe after being battered.
Arreola, vowing a renewed focus on fitness would help him better chase down Adamek, fulfilled his promise and forced the action, even if Adamek would meet him with scoring combinations at times. Arreola's faith in his chin was on display, and he even took to dancing a bit at the height of his success in the 11th.
In the co-main event, Coachella's Alfredo Angulo produced a superb effort in a tough WBO interim junior-middleweight fight against Colombia's Joel Julio, dropping Julio with a straight right he leaned into in the 11th round for a technical knockout triumph. Julio's right jaw and nose were belted by the blow, and when he struggled to get up, referee Raul Caiz Sr. stopped the bout at the 1:39 mark.
The three judges each had Angulo (18-1, 15 knockouts) ahead on their scorecards at the stoppage, although Angulo said afterward he thought he was trailing, and Julio said he believed he was winning.
"I made a mistake and I paid for it, but I was going to get up," Julio (35-4) said. "It was only one more round.
"They stopped the fight because this was [Angulo's] backyard."
Angulo disagreed: "If the referee let him continue, it'd be the same result."
Angulo started as the aggressor, sticking Julio with jabs, and delivering a hard combination and tough hook that backed up the Colombian. Angulo showed little bother to a nice combination by Julio in the second, backing him up again with a straight right.
Julio scored more in the third, and the fourth had moments of a slugfest, as each delivered one of their finest rights. Julio was showing more swagger, smiling at the bell after a scoring left.
Angulo's right eye started swelling in the fifth, and Julio landed a stinging left, but Angulo's determination remained strong.
The fight appeared dead even after six, as Angulo belted Julio on the ropes, flinched through a sensational exchange of combinations, then ended the round with two hard blows to Julio's body and two more to the head.
The pair swapped rounds again in the seventh and eighth, but Angulo's power edge defined the action, as he rocked Julio early in the eighth.
Julio sustained a cut over his right eye in the ninth, and started to look less energized after a nice left by Angulo and more scoring combinations. Julio's fresher 10th was muted by the deciding blow.
Earlier, Covina lightweight John Molina knocked out Mexico's Jose Antonio Izquierdo in the second round to improve to 20-1 with 16 KOs, saying "the internship is over, now I want to get to the top."
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
Source: latimes.com
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Joel Julio. Tampilkan semua postingan
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Minggu, 25 April 2010
Sabtu, 24 April 2010
Adamek Gets Majority Win Over Arreola -- The Sweet Science
By Michael Woods, The Sweet Science
Another week, another reason to laud the judges. What a stunning streak they're on, seven days after they got it right in the Sergio Martinez-Kelly Pavlik rumble. After a tight main event between Cris Arreola and Tomasz Adamek at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, Californa on Saturday night, the judges turned in cards of 114-114, 115-113, 117-111, and declared Adamek, decisively not the hometowner, the winner.
The Pole used a brain-based strategy, as he strafed Arreola, and hustled out of range as much as possible, enroute to the win. Adamek got buzzed sveral times, and the Arreola fans thought an edge in power shots would give their guy the nod.
Arreola (age 29; from Riverside, CA; 28-1 with 25 Kos entering) weighed 250 1/2 pounds, while Adamek (age 33; from Poland, living in New Jersey; ex light heavy and cruiserweight champion; 40-1 with 27 KOs entering) was 217.
Tony Crebs, Barry Druxman and Jerry Pasquale were the judges, and Jack Reiss was the referee in this HBO Boxing After Dark feature attraction.
In the first, we saw Adamek would be throwing jabs and following with rights to the soft midsection. A left hook touched Arreola, and then Arreola did the same. Adamek had Arreola looking a little tentative and backing up more than some would've expected. In the second, Adamek landed a combo and an Arreola counter scored. Movement worked for Adamek; he popped a jab, stepped left, rinse and repeat. In the third, Adamek's gameplan, get off, and get out, was on target. Adamek was buzzed early in the fourth, but he won the last three quarters. In the fifth, Adamek got wobbled with a minute left. Was being the smaller man getting to him? FYI The rubber sole on the bottom of Adamek's right boot was coming off, and was taped on after the round. Adamek's lack of bigtime pop in this weigh class hurt him by now, as Arreola just didn't fear the Pole's launches. Adamek got back in it in the seventh and eighth. Arreola showed frustration when the Pole scooted out of range, instead of tracking him down and bullying him. Harold Lederman saw it even through eight, while TSS-EM had Adamek ahead a few points. Side note: people think Arreola comes in too heavy, his people say yes he's big, but physique is overrated. I think he carries too much weight up top, that he's top heavy, and I think it affects his balance.
In the ninth, once again the absence of an Arreola effective jab stood out. At the end of the round, he pouted because Adamek wasn't standing and trading. Useless, and immature. The game is boxing, not fighting, and Adamek was outboxing Arreola, and he pouted, instead of tweaking his strategy, and upping his aggression. In the 10th, Arreola, his left eye swollen, hurt the Pole with a right. But then he threw it again, and winced. The ref asked him if he was OK, and he nodded yes. "We need these last two rounds," Arreola's corner told him. A right tickled the Pole to start the 11th. Adamek came back in the last two thirds, probably stealing it. Arreola's face looked a mess, as a cut dripped on the bridge of his nose. His corner asked him how his hand was, if he could go one more round, and he said yes. In the 12th, Adamek scored some combos, Arreola wanted that home run ball. No dice. We'd rely on the cards. Both men raised their hands, indicating a belief that they'd won. Lederman saw it 116-112, same card as mine.
The stats: 197-631 for Adamek, 127-532 for Arreola. "I'm faster, I'm smarter, and I win," he said in English. He said Arreola never hurt him. He said he wanted a title crack next, but didn't name a target. Arreola said the judges got it right, and admitted the Pole got the better of him. He said he hurt his left hand around the fifth. "He was the better fighter tonight and he fought his gameplan to perfection," the loser said.
In the TV opener, Alfredo "Perro: Angulo (17-1 entering; from Mexicali, Mexico, living in LA; age 27; 153 3/4, 167 tonight; ) met Colombian Joe Julio (age 25; 153 1/4, 166 tonight; ) in a defense of his WBO interim junior welterweight crown. Word was rampant coming in that Angulo was having waaay too much trouble making weight. He was almost two hours late for the weigh in, and blamed traffic for the tardiness. We would see how much energy he had in his tank, or if he wasn't fibbing when he said making weight was no large feat for him.
In the first, Perro came out warm, and winging it. Julio stayed in motion, moving to his left. He looked to drop a hook on the Mexican. Julio's jab didn't have much pop, so Angulo didn't fear stalking the challenger. Angulo clanged with a right cross at the 50 second mark, his best blow to that point. In the third, Julio boxed better. He was first more, and made Angulo back up some. The Colombian's confidence was soaring. The middle rounds unfolded much the same way. We wondered if Angulo could or would do a better job cutting off the ring, if Julio's energy would lag. Angulo was a step behind much of the time, but it's not as if Julio's ring generalship was so stellar that he'd necessarily be impressing the judges. Neither man impressed in the accuracy department, so who knows what the judges were seeing.
In the seventh, Julio kept the feet moving for the better part of the round. He ate the occasional right, but nothing he couldn't shrug off. In the ninth, a cut formed over Angulo's right eye. It came from a punch, for the record. Julio had a slice underneath his right eyebrow, but neither slice looked to be too worrisome. Angulo hustled more in the tenth, advancing quickly at Julio. A right hand in the 11th dropped Julio, and he stood up, but he was wobbly. Ref Raul Caiz waved the bout to a halt. The time of the stoppage was 1:39.
The finishing sequence: Angulo feinted a jab, Julio threw his own slow jab, and Angulo came over the top with a crackerjack right. It landed on the nose, mouth and chin.
Angulo went 167-880, a sad percentage, to Julio's 175-762, almost as bad.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Another week, another reason to laud the judges. What a stunning streak they're on, seven days after they got it right in the Sergio Martinez-Kelly Pavlik rumble. After a tight main event between Cris Arreola and Tomasz Adamek at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, Californa on Saturday night, the judges turned in cards of 114-114, 115-113, 117-111, and declared Adamek, decisively not the hometowner, the winner.
The Pole used a brain-based strategy, as he strafed Arreola, and hustled out of range as much as possible, enroute to the win. Adamek got buzzed sveral times, and the Arreola fans thought an edge in power shots would give their guy the nod.
Arreola (age 29; from Riverside, CA; 28-1 with 25 Kos entering) weighed 250 1/2 pounds, while Adamek (age 33; from Poland, living in New Jersey; ex light heavy and cruiserweight champion; 40-1 with 27 KOs entering) was 217.
Tony Crebs, Barry Druxman and Jerry Pasquale were the judges, and Jack Reiss was the referee in this HBO Boxing After Dark feature attraction.
In the first, we saw Adamek would be throwing jabs and following with rights to the soft midsection. A left hook touched Arreola, and then Arreola did the same. Adamek had Arreola looking a little tentative and backing up more than some would've expected. In the second, Adamek landed a combo and an Arreola counter scored. Movement worked for Adamek; he popped a jab, stepped left, rinse and repeat. In the third, Adamek's gameplan, get off, and get out, was on target. Adamek was buzzed early in the fourth, but he won the last three quarters. In the fifth, Adamek got wobbled with a minute left. Was being the smaller man getting to him? FYI The rubber sole on the bottom of Adamek's right boot was coming off, and was taped on after the round. Adamek's lack of bigtime pop in this weigh class hurt him by now, as Arreola just didn't fear the Pole's launches. Adamek got back in it in the seventh and eighth. Arreola showed frustration when the Pole scooted out of range, instead of tracking him down and bullying him. Harold Lederman saw it even through eight, while TSS-EM had Adamek ahead a few points. Side note: people think Arreola comes in too heavy, his people say yes he's big, but physique is overrated. I think he carries too much weight up top, that he's top heavy, and I think it affects his balance.
In the ninth, once again the absence of an Arreola effective jab stood out. At the end of the round, he pouted because Adamek wasn't standing and trading. Useless, and immature. The game is boxing, not fighting, and Adamek was outboxing Arreola, and he pouted, instead of tweaking his strategy, and upping his aggression. In the 10th, Arreola, his left eye swollen, hurt the Pole with a right. But then he threw it again, and winced. The ref asked him if he was OK, and he nodded yes. "We need these last two rounds," Arreola's corner told him. A right tickled the Pole to start the 11th. Adamek came back in the last two thirds, probably stealing it. Arreola's face looked a mess, as a cut dripped on the bridge of his nose. His corner asked him how his hand was, if he could go one more round, and he said yes. In the 12th, Adamek scored some combos, Arreola wanted that home run ball. No dice. We'd rely on the cards. Both men raised their hands, indicating a belief that they'd won. Lederman saw it 116-112, same card as mine.
The stats: 197-631 for Adamek, 127-532 for Arreola. "I'm faster, I'm smarter, and I win," he said in English. He said Arreola never hurt him. He said he wanted a title crack next, but didn't name a target. Arreola said the judges got it right, and admitted the Pole got the better of him. He said he hurt his left hand around the fifth. "He was the better fighter tonight and he fought his gameplan to perfection," the loser said.
In the TV opener, Alfredo "Perro: Angulo (17-1 entering; from Mexicali, Mexico, living in LA; age 27; 153 3/4, 167 tonight; ) met Colombian Joe Julio (age 25; 153 1/4, 166 tonight; ) in a defense of his WBO interim junior welterweight crown. Word was rampant coming in that Angulo was having waaay too much trouble making weight. He was almost two hours late for the weigh in, and blamed traffic for the tardiness. We would see how much energy he had in his tank, or if he wasn't fibbing when he said making weight was no large feat for him.
In the first, Perro came out warm, and winging it. Julio stayed in motion, moving to his left. He looked to drop a hook on the Mexican. Julio's jab didn't have much pop, so Angulo didn't fear stalking the challenger. Angulo clanged with a right cross at the 50 second mark, his best blow to that point. In the third, Julio boxed better. He was first more, and made Angulo back up some. The Colombian's confidence was soaring. The middle rounds unfolded much the same way. We wondered if Angulo could or would do a better job cutting off the ring, if Julio's energy would lag. Angulo was a step behind much of the time, but it's not as if Julio's ring generalship was so stellar that he'd necessarily be impressing the judges. Neither man impressed in the accuracy department, so who knows what the judges were seeing.
In the seventh, Julio kept the feet moving for the better part of the round. He ate the occasional right, but nothing he couldn't shrug off. In the ninth, a cut formed over Angulo's right eye. It came from a punch, for the record. Julio had a slice underneath his right eyebrow, but neither slice looked to be too worrisome. Angulo hustled more in the tenth, advancing quickly at Julio. A right hand in the 11th dropped Julio, and he stood up, but he was wobbly. Ref Raul Caiz waved the bout to a halt. The time of the stoppage was 1:39.
The finishing sequence: Angulo feinted a jab, Julio threw his own slow jab, and Angulo came over the top with a crackerjack right. It landed on the nose, mouth and chin.
Angulo went 167-880, a sad percentage, to Julio's 175-762, almost as bad.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Angulo stops Julio in 11th round -- Associated Press
By GREG BEACHAM, The Associated Press
ONTARIO, Calif. — Alfredo "Perro" Angulo stopped Joel Julio with a right cross midway through the 11th round to retain the WBO interim 154-pound title Saturday night.
Angulo (18-1, 15 KOs) dramatically ended a highly competitive fight with one perfect blow to Julio's chin, sending his Colombian opponent tumbling to the canvas. Although Julio (35-4) shakily got back up and wanted to keep fighting, referee Raul Caiz stopped the bout at 1:39 of the 11th.
"Joel never hurt me," Angulo said. "I know he has power, but it is really hard to hit Perro."
Angulo earned his third straight victory after his only defeat against Kermit Cintron last May, while Julio lost for the third time in four bouts despite causing plenty of trouble for Angulo in a fight filled with damaging blows by both boxers.
Julio was furious afterward, saying Angulo was favored because he lives in California.
"I made a mistake, and I paid for it, but I was going to get up," Julio said, mistakenly claiming he was ahead on the judges' scorecards. "I would have fought on. There was only one more round. Angulo was tired. They stopped the fight too early. I don't like what's going on. I don't like it at all. They're doing this because I would have won by decision."
Angulo was narrowly ahead on all three judges' cards, and The Associated Press had Angulo leading 96-94 entering the 11th. The punch statistics were remarkably even, with Julio throwing 118 fewer punches but connecting with a higher percentage.
Angulo landed a big right hand in the second round for the fight's first damaging punch, but Julio put Angulo on his heels in a dominating third round. Angulo rallied even while Julio caused swelling near Angulo's right eye with a big left hook in the fifth.
Angulo was slightly more aggressive than the counterpunching Julio, consistently attacking and peppering the Colombian with combinations, including a nasty series of blows in the eighth round.
After Angulo opened a cut near Julio's right eye in the middle rounds, he repeatedly attempted to finish off Julio but was unsuccessful until Julio missed with a left hand that left him open for the final punch.
A day earlier, Angulo showed up nearly two hours late to the undercard weigh-in, receiving a hefty fine that went straight to Julio. Angulo still made weight with a quarter-pound to spare.
"I care about the fight, not the money," Angulo said. "All that's important is that I perform and win for people who came to see Perro."
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Source: google.com
ONTARIO, Calif. — Alfredo "Perro" Angulo stopped Joel Julio with a right cross midway through the 11th round to retain the WBO interim 154-pound title Saturday night.
Angulo (18-1, 15 KOs) dramatically ended a highly competitive fight with one perfect blow to Julio's chin, sending his Colombian opponent tumbling to the canvas. Although Julio (35-4) shakily got back up and wanted to keep fighting, referee Raul Caiz stopped the bout at 1:39 of the 11th.
"Joel never hurt me," Angulo said. "I know he has power, but it is really hard to hit Perro."
Angulo earned his third straight victory after his only defeat against Kermit Cintron last May, while Julio lost for the third time in four bouts despite causing plenty of trouble for Angulo in a fight filled with damaging blows by both boxers.
Julio was furious afterward, saying Angulo was favored because he lives in California.
"I made a mistake, and I paid for it, but I was going to get up," Julio said, mistakenly claiming he was ahead on the judges' scorecards. "I would have fought on. There was only one more round. Angulo was tired. They stopped the fight too early. I don't like what's going on. I don't like it at all. They're doing this because I would have won by decision."
Angulo was narrowly ahead on all three judges' cards, and The Associated Press had Angulo leading 96-94 entering the 11th. The punch statistics were remarkably even, with Julio throwing 118 fewer punches but connecting with a higher percentage.
Angulo landed a big right hand in the second round for the fight's first damaging punch, but Julio put Angulo on his heels in a dominating third round. Angulo rallied even while Julio caused swelling near Angulo's right eye with a big left hook in the fifth.
Angulo was slightly more aggressive than the counterpunching Julio, consistently attacking and peppering the Colombian with combinations, including a nasty series of blows in the eighth round.
After Angulo opened a cut near Julio's right eye in the middle rounds, he repeatedly attempted to finish off Julio but was unsuccessful until Julio missed with a left hand that left him open for the final punch.
A day earlier, Angulo showed up nearly two hours late to the undercard weigh-in, receiving a hefty fine that went straight to Julio. Angulo still made weight with a quarter-pound to spare.
"I care about the fight, not the money," Angulo said. "All that's important is that I perform and win for people who came to see Perro."
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Source: google.com
Rabu, 21 April 2010
Angulo is Looking for a Dog Fight -- SecondsOut
By Steve Kim, SecondsOut.com
On Saturday night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, the HBO broadcast begins with an expected slugfest between junior middleweights Alfredo “Perro” Angulo and Joel Julio. Between the two, they have 52 professional victories, with 45 of them coming by knockout. On paper, it has the looks of an all-action battle between two bangers. But, of course, that was the case last year when Angulo was matched against Kermit Cintron, who proceeded to outbox Angulo from the outside.
So will it be, as Yogi Berra once famously uttered, be deja vu’ all over again?
"He’s been talking about how he’s going to knock us out. But I expect him to go on the outside and fight," said Angulo, through Miguel Salazar, outside the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. Salazar continued, "I think they all say what they gotta say but, at the end, they’re going to go out and do their work. We’re going to do what we have to, cut the corners and go for the knockout."
Angulo is a hard-hitting grinder, one that thrives on opponents sitting in the pocket with him. He’s no Fred Astaire; lateral movement and a good long jab from the outside will always trouble him. The book is now out on Angulo, box and move on him. But can Julio, who’s known as a puncher, execute that type of game plan?
"Joel Julio is a tough fighter; he has a top-ten ranking. He’s won 35 fights, 31 by knockout, only three losses. It’s not an easy fight for ’Perro,’" said his trainer Clemente Medina. “’Perro’s’ in great shape; he’s working with Roberto Garcia, very good rounds. So, I think for the fight, we never say, ’’Perro’s’ going to knock him out.’ But I think ’Perro’ wins."
But like just about anyone else that will face Angulo, will Julio try and put a leash on ’Perro’ from the outside? Angulo and his trainer believe that there were mitigating circumstances to that night in Hollywood, Florida, last May. "Yeah, Cintron boxed for that fight, but everybody knows that ’Perro’ was sick for that fight. Maybe if he’s not sick it’s another story. But right now, ’Perro’ is in great shape. Anybody that comes to ’Perro’, he knocks them out. But when you get in there, they run and move."
The fighter says, "The week of the fight I had a stomach virus; I got a little sick. The day of the fight I was 159 and Cintron was 170. I felt a little sick the week of the fight."
From a fan’s perspective, you hope that Julio does what he does best: bang. He tried to back up and employ lateral movement against the hard-charging James Kirkland last year and proceeded to get run over. Angulo-Julio could be a barn-burner if both fighters stay true to form.
"I would hope so," said Gary Shaw, who promotes Angulo. "I’m sure he’s going to come right at Angulo; that’s what Angulo likes and I’m hoping that it’s a five, six round fight. But I will tell you, I have a lot of respect for Julio; he can punch and Angulo’s got to be able to take that punch. The question is, can Joel Julio take getting stalked from the opening bell?"
The reality of Angulo is that, whether or not he has any type of illness coming into a fight, he is not a speed merchant and is a slow starter; certain styles will always give him trouble. Therefore, he will be prone to getting out-pointed by those who are willing to fight safely and conservatively. But the thing about Angulo is simple- you can’t take the fight out of this dog. Win, lose or draw, he consistently makes for entertaining fights and good TV.
Isn’t that more important than any undefeated record?
"100-percent," agreed Shaw, who says that the precise reason why Angulo was put right back on “The Network of Champions” was his proclivity for making fun fights. "I’m not even sure the names even make a difference. I think the fan-friendly fighters are the answer. So I gotta give credit to Ross Greenburg and Kery Davis, who immediately after the Cintron fight, said, ’We’re with Angulo; he’s staying on our air. He makes exciting fights.’ And look, Arturo Gatti, who helped make the network at HBO, he sure didn’t have the undefeated, unblemished record.
"So it’s about the fighters and great fights."
NO RESPECT
Both Angulo and Shaw were a bit miffed at the perceived lack of respect given to them for this promotion, which is headlined by the heavyweight bout between Chris Arreola and Tomasz Adamek. The lead promoter for “Ring of Fire” is Dan Goossen, who reps Arreola.
"Look, I’m not going to term it as disrespect; Dan can term it anyway he wants. I thought originally when HBO proposed [it] that we’d do a co-promotion with Angulo and Arreola; it would be great for the west coast, great for the L.A. area. Two Mexicans doing great Mexican business, press conference at Olvera St. to build up. When it came to it, it was nothing," said Shaw, on Tuesday afternoon, at the open workout for the fighters at the Nokia Plaza at L.A. Live, which was eventually scrapped as it started to rain. "Angulo was just a blip on the radar. He even showed me in the gym how small his name is on the poster. They did an opening press conference; he wasn’t invited. So it is what it is. Whatever the reason Dan did it this way, he’s a promoter. I respect him as a promoter and Angulo just said to me yesterday, ’They didn’t need me for this whole promotion. I’m not going to the press conference.’"
But they did show up to the open workout, which basically turned into a media luncheon at the near-by ESPN Zone as the rains came, after threatening to no-show.
"We changed our mind together," explained Shaw." He said, ’Look, they’re might be some fans out there.’ He don’t want to diss the fans. He knows that at a press conference, there’s very little fans, especially since he wasn’t blown up as one of the fighters at the press conference. So he felt that he should come out here."
But this begs the question, wasn’t part of the reason why a promoters’ union was formed so that there would be better working relationships between the promoters? The reality is this, if this fight was in Newark, New Jersey, where Adamek packs them in, they’d have 20,000 at the Prudential Center. They’d be thrilled to get half of that amount in Ontario this weekend. Doesn’t a fighter like Angulo need to get a push?
"Look, it surprises me," said Shaw, "If somebody would give me an Angulo on one of my cards to help me sell tickets and whatever, we should all be doing what’s best for boxing, period. So why not blow up and make it an event, rather than just about one fighter? I don’t get it. I’m looking around, there’s no fliers, no posters. I don’t see anything that has Angulo and Julio, which is a great fight. But whatever, I’m not the promoter of the show."
MEDIA DAZE
Shortly after posting this picture of the proceedings on Tuesday afternoon on my Twitter page ( http://twitpic.com/1h3u1h), I received this tweet by Chipp7, "It looks pretty empty there at Nokia. I wish they would do these things when us working stiffs can see them."
Y’ know, I can’t argue that. Unless it’s a fight of major magnitude (like anything involving a Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather), it’s hard to get the public out to these type of functions on weekdays. The “Ring of Fire” open workout was held on Tuesday around noon and even before it got wet, the audience was sparse. Functions like this usually have to be staged on the weekend.
But a good point was brought up; why not just have this open workout later in the day or evening? LA Live, has become quite the destination for a lot of people, after a hard day’s work. Later on this particular day, was the Lakers playoff game against the OKC Thunder. Now, I don’t know if, logistically, if it would’ve been possible to do it at that point, but the old argument about having to have these events early in the day so that the newspaper writers can make their deadlines doesn’t really seem to hold water nowadays.
First of all, newspapers, for the most part, have an online platform and most websites don’t really have hard deadlines at all. I’m sure there are other issues to contend with; you have fighters and trainers that may not want to disrupt their normal training schedules, but if you’re going to stage open, public workouts, shouldn’t they be done at a time when the public can actually attend them?
THE GOOD DIE YOUNG?
Is it just me, or do you find it a tad disconcerting all the concern over the unfinished career and unfulfilled potential of the late Edwin Valero? When the real concern, first and foremost, should have been over his murdered wife and now, the two orphaned kids that remain. To me, whether he could’ve one day beaten Timmy Bradley, Marcos Maidana and eventually Manny Pacquiao and become one of the all-time greats is inconsequential. In fact, it was this pure focus on his ability as a boxer and what he could accomplish that played a part in his downfall. There was a big priority on his career, but, unfortunately, not enough attention paid to his personal demons.
Feel sorry for his wife and kids. Valero? Well, not so much. Not to sound callous, but you could make a strong argument that the world is a safer place now that we no longer have to contend with his pathological behavior. Yeah, you could argue he needed help. You could also argue he wasn’t in any rush to receive it.
But this goes to another theory I have, nothing does as much for your reputation and legacy as dying early. Whether it’s Tupac, Biggie, or James Dean, do some notable things early in your career and then pass away prematurely, you will be given legendary status whether you deserve it or not. Because at this point, it’s all speculation and you really haven’t had time to screw up. In fact, as it relates to boxing, just having your career truncated does wonders for your reputation. Just look at the examples of Tony Ayala Jr. and Ike Ibeabuchi, two highly fractured individuals whose infractions with the law took away their livelihoods. But some swear that they were legends in the making, monsters of the ring who others were lucky to have never come across.
When history actually shows us that the real greats usually have an abundance of character, not a lack of it.
But pretty soon, Valero’s legendary status will reach a point where folks will be saying he would’ve been the guy to topple the Klitschko brothers. But really, does it matter, what he could’ve, should’ve and might’ve done?
ON-THE-CLOCK-FLURRIES
I was told that a bout between undefeated junior middles Vanes Martirosyan and Joe Greene will lead off the June 5th HBO broadcast at Yankee Stadium before Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman do battle...Shane Mosley said he has never tested positive for steroids. Well, isn’t that precisely the reason he went to BALCO?...Eloy Perez defends his NABO junior lightweight title against Gilberto Sanchez-Leon on the Mayweather-Mosley undercard on May 1st in Las Vegas...I remember as a kid when the NFL Draft was on a weekday early in the morning and I could only see the first few picks before going off to school. Then they moved it to Sunday afternoon. Then it was all weekend. Now, it’s a Thursday night prime-time affair. Amazing how this affair has grown in stature...Great opening match-up in the NFL between N’Awlins and Minnesota on Sept. 9th...Speaking of New Orleans, I think “Treme” on HBO is worth sticking with. I’ve given it two episodes and I think it’s gathering momentum...This Thursday night will be my first “Fight Night Club” of 2010 as I’ve been out of town for the first couple of installments at the “Club Nokia”...Any questions or comments can be directed to k9kim@yahoo.com and you can follow me at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. You can also become a Facebook fan of Maxboxing at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing
Source: secondsout.com
On Saturday night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, the HBO broadcast begins with an expected slugfest between junior middleweights Alfredo “Perro” Angulo and Joel Julio. Between the two, they have 52 professional victories, with 45 of them coming by knockout. On paper, it has the looks of an all-action battle between two bangers. But, of course, that was the case last year when Angulo was matched against Kermit Cintron, who proceeded to outbox Angulo from the outside.
So will it be, as Yogi Berra once famously uttered, be deja vu’ all over again?
"He’s been talking about how he’s going to knock us out. But I expect him to go on the outside and fight," said Angulo, through Miguel Salazar, outside the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. Salazar continued, "I think they all say what they gotta say but, at the end, they’re going to go out and do their work. We’re going to do what we have to, cut the corners and go for the knockout."
Angulo is a hard-hitting grinder, one that thrives on opponents sitting in the pocket with him. He’s no Fred Astaire; lateral movement and a good long jab from the outside will always trouble him. The book is now out on Angulo, box and move on him. But can Julio, who’s known as a puncher, execute that type of game plan?
"Joel Julio is a tough fighter; he has a top-ten ranking. He’s won 35 fights, 31 by knockout, only three losses. It’s not an easy fight for ’Perro,’" said his trainer Clemente Medina. “’Perro’s’ in great shape; he’s working with Roberto Garcia, very good rounds. So, I think for the fight, we never say, ’’Perro’s’ going to knock him out.’ But I think ’Perro’ wins."
But like just about anyone else that will face Angulo, will Julio try and put a leash on ’Perro’ from the outside? Angulo and his trainer believe that there were mitigating circumstances to that night in Hollywood, Florida, last May. "Yeah, Cintron boxed for that fight, but everybody knows that ’Perro’ was sick for that fight. Maybe if he’s not sick it’s another story. But right now, ’Perro’ is in great shape. Anybody that comes to ’Perro’, he knocks them out. But when you get in there, they run and move."
The fighter says, "The week of the fight I had a stomach virus; I got a little sick. The day of the fight I was 159 and Cintron was 170. I felt a little sick the week of the fight."
From a fan’s perspective, you hope that Julio does what he does best: bang. He tried to back up and employ lateral movement against the hard-charging James Kirkland last year and proceeded to get run over. Angulo-Julio could be a barn-burner if both fighters stay true to form.
"I would hope so," said Gary Shaw, who promotes Angulo. "I’m sure he’s going to come right at Angulo; that’s what Angulo likes and I’m hoping that it’s a five, six round fight. But I will tell you, I have a lot of respect for Julio; he can punch and Angulo’s got to be able to take that punch. The question is, can Joel Julio take getting stalked from the opening bell?"
The reality of Angulo is that, whether or not he has any type of illness coming into a fight, he is not a speed merchant and is a slow starter; certain styles will always give him trouble. Therefore, he will be prone to getting out-pointed by those who are willing to fight safely and conservatively. But the thing about Angulo is simple- you can’t take the fight out of this dog. Win, lose or draw, he consistently makes for entertaining fights and good TV.
Isn’t that more important than any undefeated record?
"100-percent," agreed Shaw, who says that the precise reason why Angulo was put right back on “The Network of Champions” was his proclivity for making fun fights. "I’m not even sure the names even make a difference. I think the fan-friendly fighters are the answer. So I gotta give credit to Ross Greenburg and Kery Davis, who immediately after the Cintron fight, said, ’We’re with Angulo; he’s staying on our air. He makes exciting fights.’ And look, Arturo Gatti, who helped make the network at HBO, he sure didn’t have the undefeated, unblemished record.
"So it’s about the fighters and great fights."
NO RESPECT
Both Angulo and Shaw were a bit miffed at the perceived lack of respect given to them for this promotion, which is headlined by the heavyweight bout between Chris Arreola and Tomasz Adamek. The lead promoter for “Ring of Fire” is Dan Goossen, who reps Arreola.
"Look, I’m not going to term it as disrespect; Dan can term it anyway he wants. I thought originally when HBO proposed [it] that we’d do a co-promotion with Angulo and Arreola; it would be great for the west coast, great for the L.A. area. Two Mexicans doing great Mexican business, press conference at Olvera St. to build up. When it came to it, it was nothing," said Shaw, on Tuesday afternoon, at the open workout for the fighters at the Nokia Plaza at L.A. Live, which was eventually scrapped as it started to rain. "Angulo was just a blip on the radar. He even showed me in the gym how small his name is on the poster. They did an opening press conference; he wasn’t invited. So it is what it is. Whatever the reason Dan did it this way, he’s a promoter. I respect him as a promoter and Angulo just said to me yesterday, ’They didn’t need me for this whole promotion. I’m not going to the press conference.’"
But they did show up to the open workout, which basically turned into a media luncheon at the near-by ESPN Zone as the rains came, after threatening to no-show.
"We changed our mind together," explained Shaw." He said, ’Look, they’re might be some fans out there.’ He don’t want to diss the fans. He knows that at a press conference, there’s very little fans, especially since he wasn’t blown up as one of the fighters at the press conference. So he felt that he should come out here."
But this begs the question, wasn’t part of the reason why a promoters’ union was formed so that there would be better working relationships between the promoters? The reality is this, if this fight was in Newark, New Jersey, where Adamek packs them in, they’d have 20,000 at the Prudential Center. They’d be thrilled to get half of that amount in Ontario this weekend. Doesn’t a fighter like Angulo need to get a push?
"Look, it surprises me," said Shaw, "If somebody would give me an Angulo on one of my cards to help me sell tickets and whatever, we should all be doing what’s best for boxing, period. So why not blow up and make it an event, rather than just about one fighter? I don’t get it. I’m looking around, there’s no fliers, no posters. I don’t see anything that has Angulo and Julio, which is a great fight. But whatever, I’m not the promoter of the show."
MEDIA DAZE
Shortly after posting this picture of the proceedings on Tuesday afternoon on my Twitter page ( http://twitpic.com/1h3u1h), I received this tweet by Chipp7, "It looks pretty empty there at Nokia. I wish they would do these things when us working stiffs can see them."
Y’ know, I can’t argue that. Unless it’s a fight of major magnitude (like anything involving a Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather), it’s hard to get the public out to these type of functions on weekdays. The “Ring of Fire” open workout was held on Tuesday around noon and even before it got wet, the audience was sparse. Functions like this usually have to be staged on the weekend.
But a good point was brought up; why not just have this open workout later in the day or evening? LA Live, has become quite the destination for a lot of people, after a hard day’s work. Later on this particular day, was the Lakers playoff game against the OKC Thunder. Now, I don’t know if, logistically, if it would’ve been possible to do it at that point, but the old argument about having to have these events early in the day so that the newspaper writers can make their deadlines doesn’t really seem to hold water nowadays.
First of all, newspapers, for the most part, have an online platform and most websites don’t really have hard deadlines at all. I’m sure there are other issues to contend with; you have fighters and trainers that may not want to disrupt their normal training schedules, but if you’re going to stage open, public workouts, shouldn’t they be done at a time when the public can actually attend them?
THE GOOD DIE YOUNG?
Is it just me, or do you find it a tad disconcerting all the concern over the unfinished career and unfulfilled potential of the late Edwin Valero? When the real concern, first and foremost, should have been over his murdered wife and now, the two orphaned kids that remain. To me, whether he could’ve one day beaten Timmy Bradley, Marcos Maidana and eventually Manny Pacquiao and become one of the all-time greats is inconsequential. In fact, it was this pure focus on his ability as a boxer and what he could accomplish that played a part in his downfall. There was a big priority on his career, but, unfortunately, not enough attention paid to his personal demons.
Feel sorry for his wife and kids. Valero? Well, not so much. Not to sound callous, but you could make a strong argument that the world is a safer place now that we no longer have to contend with his pathological behavior. Yeah, you could argue he needed help. You could also argue he wasn’t in any rush to receive it.
But this goes to another theory I have, nothing does as much for your reputation and legacy as dying early. Whether it’s Tupac, Biggie, or James Dean, do some notable things early in your career and then pass away prematurely, you will be given legendary status whether you deserve it or not. Because at this point, it’s all speculation and you really haven’t had time to screw up. In fact, as it relates to boxing, just having your career truncated does wonders for your reputation. Just look at the examples of Tony Ayala Jr. and Ike Ibeabuchi, two highly fractured individuals whose infractions with the law took away their livelihoods. But some swear that they were legends in the making, monsters of the ring who others were lucky to have never come across.
When history actually shows us that the real greats usually have an abundance of character, not a lack of it.
But pretty soon, Valero’s legendary status will reach a point where folks will be saying he would’ve been the guy to topple the Klitschko brothers. But really, does it matter, what he could’ve, should’ve and might’ve done?
ON-THE-CLOCK-FLURRIES
I was told that a bout between undefeated junior middles Vanes Martirosyan and Joe Greene will lead off the June 5th HBO broadcast at Yankee Stadium before Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman do battle...Shane Mosley said he has never tested positive for steroids. Well, isn’t that precisely the reason he went to BALCO?...Eloy Perez defends his NABO junior lightweight title against Gilberto Sanchez-Leon on the Mayweather-Mosley undercard on May 1st in Las Vegas...I remember as a kid when the NFL Draft was on a weekday early in the morning and I could only see the first few picks before going off to school. Then they moved it to Sunday afternoon. Then it was all weekend. Now, it’s a Thursday night prime-time affair. Amazing how this affair has grown in stature...Great opening match-up in the NFL between N’Awlins and Minnesota on Sept. 9th...Speaking of New Orleans, I think “Treme” on HBO is worth sticking with. I’ve given it two episodes and I think it’s gathering momentum...This Thursday night will be my first “Fight Night Club” of 2010 as I’ve been out of town for the first couple of installments at the “Club Nokia”...Any questions or comments can be directed to k9kim@yahoo.com and you can follow me at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. You can also become a Facebook fan of Maxboxing at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing
Source: secondsout.com
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