Boxing Blog – TSS Tidbits

The good news was that Thomas Hearns was able to go eight rounds and was strong enough to be laying some hurt on his opponent as the fight wore on.

The bad news was that the opponent was pedestrian John Long.

The 46-year-old Hearns prevailed as Long retired in his corner between the eighth and ninth rounds at Cobo Hall in Detroit last night. The crowd was somewhat disappointing – the Detroit News reported it at around 3000 – and in the aftermath, even though Tommy talked about continuing on in pursuit of another world title belt, his son seemed unusually reserved.

“My dad is a very determined guy. He’s going to do what he wants. I guess we just have to be here to support him,” said Ronald Hearns, a pro middleweight who ran his record to 7-0 by scoring a first-round knockout on the undercard.

There were a couple of anxious moments in the first round, as Long came out aggressively and nailed Hearns with a few shots. But ultimately Long didn’t have the physical tools to compete. At the time of the stoppage the cards all had Hearns ahead 6-1-1 in rounds.

Hearns came in at 177 pounds, which means he will probably campaign as a light heavyweight. He figures the world title shot might come two or three fights into the future, but the small crowd would seem to indicate that he’d have a tough time bringing that kind of fight to the Motor City on the strength of his drawing power.

Read the account of the fight from the Detroit News

BROCKTON, Mass. (Campanelli Stadium) – Rodney Toney, 28-4-4 (17 KOs), 176¾, Boston, easily decisioned James Lubwama, 16-3-2 (9 KOs), 176, Uganda, over 10 rounds on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.

Toney, 37, patiently stalked the very awkward southpaw Lubwama throughout. While he landed only sporadically, Toney clearly outworked Lubwama whose style is geared toward survival.

Lubwama was unable to sustain any attack with most engagements ending with Toney landing the harder, cleaner punches. Although Toney faded in the last two rounds, he continued to maintain overall control of the bout and was the clear winner.

Ringside judges, though all scoring for Toney, saw the bout very differently with scores of 97-93, 96-95, 100-91. The Sweet Science scored the bout 98-92.

Televised Undercard:

In a rare battle of between two southpaws, Mike Oliver, 9-0 (4 KOs), 122, Hartford, Conn., stopped Darby Smart, 7-2 (2 KOs), 123, Chisolm, Minn., in round seven of a scheduled eight due to severe cuts. The bout was marred by repeated fouling by Smart, who was docked a point in round 6 for excessive roughness. Oliver clearly won all rounds leading up to the seventh.

Anthony Russell, 9-1-1 (1 KO), 179½, Brockton, scored an eight round split decision over tough Anterio Vines, 4-6-1 (1 KO), 183, Columbus, Oh., in another oddly scored fight. Vines appeared to drop the first round but worked his way into a lead in the middle rounds, landing crisp right hands and left hooks. Russell made a strong run in the final two rounds as Vines tired. Scoring was 59-55 Russell, 58-56 Russell, and 59-57 Vines. The Sweet Science saw the bout at 57-57.

JE Grant

(From press materials provided by Don King Productions)

RICARDO MAYORGA takes on former IBF welterweight champion Michele Piccirrillo for the vacant WBC super welterweight title at the United Center in Chicago and on pay per view on Aug. 13.

Ricardo Mayorga with his trainer Yoel Judah
July 26, 2005 Conference Call Transcript
Miami, Florida Training Camp

RICARDO MAYORGA: I was a great champion at the welterweight level winning two or three titles. I went to the middleweight division, skipping 154 pounds, although I did make one fight there. I think my history as a welterweight and the decision to go to 154 pounds is sufficient enough to give me a shot at the title.

Thank God that my problems outside of the ring are pretty much solved. My attorney has been taking care of everything, and by his advice I am concentrating totally on the fight and leaving the rest to my attorney.

At this point there is nothing going on outside of the ring. The one thing – the rape charges – I have gotten vindicated of all charges. They are trying to reopen the case but eventually it will die out.

Piccirillo fights from the outside. What will be your strategy for the fight?

RICARDO MAYORGA: I am doing great work with my trainer, Yoel Judah, and we are anticipating that what type of fight will develop. We are planning for all types that he might bring to the ring.

Yoel Judah: Ricardo is a strong fighter and we are making a few adjustments with his feet and head movement and his angles – pivoting and all of that kind of stuff. His offense is great. I am trying to hold back on his offense. We are getting the defense down. I don’t think Piccirillo will be a problem for him.

RICARDO MAYORGA: I have seen tapes of this guy – about six of his fights – and I really don’t have a high opinion of him. I don’t think he is going to be able to withstand my pressure and I am going to be able to run right over him.

In my opinion, I can just look at his record. Basically he is fighting guys that are stepping on grapes to make wine. He has not fought a guy of my caliber and you will see that when I knock him out in two rounds.

Did you learn anything from the Trinidad fight?

RICARDO MAYORGA: To begin with, I don’t believe I made an error in fighting him. Everyone takes a calculated risk. I took a calculated risk to move up to the middleweight division to see what I had. It was a little too much weight for me, but I am not using that as an excuse. It was a bad night for me and I don’t take anything away from Trinidad. Now I am at the junior middleweight division, which is a weight that I am real comfortable with.

I think if I had better training and better conditioning I think I would have had a better fight. However, I had issues outside the ring that didn’t allow me to concentrate for the fight. I had the car accident and the charges that were brought against me. My head was not in the fight that night. But I want to repeat, I am not making excuses, but it was a bad night for me.

What has it been like working with Yoel Judah?

RICARDO MAYORGA: I am doing good work with him and my chief second and things are going well. Yoel is helping me out punching the mitts under the direction of Luis Colon, my other trainer and brother-in-law.

Without a doubt, Yoel has shown me a lot of defensive techniques. I have picked up a lot of wisdom from him and I have nothing bad to say about him … only good.

Yoel, how is it working with Ricardo Mayorga?

YOEL JUDAH: I can’t convey everything I want to. Ricardo has been picking things up very well and is very receptive. Everything I tell him to do he does it. Personally, and I will say it again, he will not have a problem with Piccirillo.

Have you seen any changes in Ricardo?

YOEL JUDAH: He’s not getting hit, number one. For Piccirillo to land one or two, he’s really going to have to earn it now. If he tries to hit him, he’s going to get hit. He’s moving his hands and doing short pivots. He’s getting low and staying behind his jab, putting his hands in front of his face. He’s doing a lot of good things. The first week or two was hard, but it’s like anything else, you have to keep going over and over it. I do a lot of pad work and we do a lot of one-on-one off to the side. We start off slow and quicken until we get to normal speed. Everything I’ve taught him so far he’s done pretty good.

He loves it. The things I’m showing him – he loves it. He’s not getting hit and he’s hurting guys. He’s a different fighter. He’s going to be different and you can tell everybody that.

Ricardo is a very receptive guy and he picks up things well. I’m just trying to show him little moves. He’s a helluva puncher and he always been able to take a punch. I’m showing how to throw a punch and how to throw all the punches without getting hit. Mainly I am working on defense, because everything else he’s in the ballpark with. Power, speed, movement, and aggressiveness – he’s got everything. Sometimes he likes to take two or three punches before getting on in.

Ricardo, who would you rather fight? Vargas or Castillejo?

RICARDO MAYORGA: Obviously I would like to fight Vargas and I think he should beat Castillejo. I want to face the better fighter. I want Vargas to come to my fight. In case he is low on cash I will pay for his ringside ticket on August 13th. Once I win and do my job, I expect him to do the same and I think it would be a great fight. I don’t think he’s man enough to beat me, but we’ll see what happens if he gets by Castillejo.

At its annual convention in Atlantic City on September 23, the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians (AAPRP) will be giving its “Administrator of the Year” award to the executive director of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB), Larry Hazzard. Now, to be honest, I’m writing within a certain context here; after all, the “Physician of the Year” is going to Dr. Michael Schwartz, who is the AAPRP’s president. And “The Contender” reality show, which has been cited by some journalists for breaking a few regulations here and there, is named for “Outstanding Contribution to Boxing.” But in the case of Hazzard, the award is well-deserved, and not because the AAPRP is giving the honor to a “local” either. Granted – there are hardly that many brilliant candidates out there to choose from, but even if there were, Hazzard would stand out from his colleagues in so many ways.

For one thing, this is not an individual who is likely to cast his eyes upon the atmosphere around him, shrug his shoulders, and say, “Oh well, that’s just the way it is.” I have seen regulators (like one of Larry’s neighbors to the north), assume their offices, announce they were going to institute real changes, and quickly degenerate into “job-saving” mode, which customarily means “do-little” mode. When you have an opportunity – and are in a position – to get something accomplished and choose not to, you are a loser. Hazzard isn’t particularly interested in losing; the statement the NJSACB made in pulling out of the Association of Boxing Commissions was more powerful in and of itself than anything uttered at one of the ABC’s rather insipid conventions.

He’s got his own way of doing things, and even if it may not appear to be right, or if we don’t agree with it, there’s always the feeling that he’s doing what HE feels is best for the sport.

That’s all you can ask.

Refreshingly, this is not a political hack but someone who has been known to stand up to those bureaucrats who sit above him on the administrative food chain. And over the last couple of years, he’s had to endure a lot of nonsense from that sorry clique indeed.

First, you had the idiot Gerald Gormley, installed as chairman of the NJSACB in a blatant example of both nepotism and pure politics that was extreme even by standards of the corruption-laden Garden State. Gormley, who had no experience in boxing, got the job by way of his brother, a powerful and influential state senator, and with enough hubris to fill the Trump Taj Mahal, decided that getting $80,000 for a no-show job wasn’t nearly enough. No – he had to extort an excess of complimentary tickets out of promoters and freebies from Atlantic City casinos – a pattern of behavior that led to his unceremonious removal (go to this story for more).

Then there was the lying, corrupt Governor Jim McGreevey, who, after Hazzard had granted Mike Tyson a license to fight in the state, took it upon himself to blackball Tyson by asking that the former heavyweight champ be banned from any state-owned or operated facility. Tyson didn’t wind up fighting in New Jersey after that, but it wasn’t because Larry didn’t step up and tell McGreevey (who resigned from office amidst scandal) and his successor Richard Codey to get lost.

And in the wake of Gormley’s shameful exit from office, there was the full-scale political attempt to insert the unprepared, unqualified Gerry Cooney into the chairmanship of the commission, as a way of insulting Hazzard. Thankfully, that effort was beaten back by exposing what kind of embarrassment Cooney’s many conflicts of interests might have become (OK – I had a little something to do with that – click this link for the full story, and be prepared to do some reading).

So there you have it: three overbearing political opponents looking to trample on Hazzard’s turf; three individuals who in the end had to stick their tail between their legs (in McGreevey’s case please pardon the pun, if you see one) and walk away in disgrace.

And guess who’s still standing?

You can give the guy an award on that alone.

ODDS THAT NEVADA COMMISSION WILL OVERTURN DUANE FORD’S SCORING OF ROUND 12 OF HOPKINS VS. TAYLOR:

250,000–1

(Press Release)

MASHANTUCKET, CT– Foxwoods Resort Casino will play host to yet another knockout night of boxing, as ESPN 2’s “Friday Night Fights” returns Friday, August 5th at 8 PM. Fight fans will experience two of boxing’s most exciting heavyweight performers, as Hartford’s own Lawrence Clay Bey (18-4-0, 15 KOs) battles Derek “The One Man Riot” Bryant (21-3-0, 16 KOs) from Philadelphia.

Another Connecticut native, Delvin Rodriguez (15-1-1, 8 KO?s), will battle Luther “Sugarman” Smith (22-3-2, 12 KO?s) from Washington, DC. This 10-round co-feature bout, which promises to be a fight to remember, will be shown live in primetime on ESPN2 and seen nationally. The action-packed card is presented by Northeast Promotions, in association with ESPN2 and Foxwoods Resort Casino.

We take great pride in bringing the best in championship boxing to Foxwoods Resort Casino and this fight card in particular will be a must-see for local fans? said Tom Cantone, Vice President of Entertainment at Foxwoods. “We’ve worked closely with Northeast Promotions to showcase two of Connecticut?s rising stars.”

The remainder of the fight card will be announced closer to the event. Tickets, priced at $65, $50 and $30, are available by calling Foxwoods at 1.800.FOXWOODS or by visiting the Foxwoods box office. More information is also available at www.foxwoods.com.

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Challenger Agapito Sanchez, 37-9-2 (22 KOs), 122, Bronx, NY, stopped defending, and highly rated, Art Simonyan, 14-2-1 (7 KOs), 122, Armenia, to take the USBA 122 pound title in the fifth round of a scheduled 12.

Although Simonyan, 29, working behind straight and short punches, won a close opening round, Sanchez, 35, began regularly catching his foe with very wide right hands and left hooks in round two.

Simonyan had no real answer for what seemed to be repeated invitations to counters.

In round five, Sanchez unloaded a looping right hand to the chin of Simonyan dropping him flat. Although he was able to make it to his feet, he was clearly not fit to fight. The bout was stopped at 1:30 of the round.

* Hot prospect John Duddy, 11-0 (10 KOs), 157, Ireland, was impressive in knocking out tough journeyman Patrick Coleman, 29-12 (20 KOs), 156, San Diego, at 2:30 of the eighth and final round of their bout on the undercard. Duddy, 26, delivered tight left hooks and right hands against a very live Coleman. Both fighters were marked up going into the final round, but Duddy had built a shutout lead. Coming off the ropes, Duddy landed flush with a left hook, right hand combination to send Coleman crashing to the canvas. The referee stopped the bout instantly as it was obvious that Coleman could not continue.

J.E. Grant