Boxing Blog – TSS Tidbits

Rahman-Maskaev undercard taking shape

Jose Armando Santa Cruz will put his WBC interim lightweight championship on the line against David Diaz (31-1-1) of Chicago on the undercard of the Hasim Rahman vs. Oleg Maskaev PPV championship fight card on August 12 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Santa Cruz (23-1, 13 knockouts), a 25-year-old from Mexico, holds 2006 wins over Michael Lozado (NABF title fight), Edner Cherry (NABF ‘Fight of the Year’) and Chikashi Inada (WBC Interim Lightweight Championship).

A veteran of the 1996 Olympics, Diaz, age 30, is 5-1 in his last six fights.

Diego Corrales is the WBC lightweight titleholder but the sanctioning body wanted someone to vie for the strap, so they had Santa Cruz and Inada battle for it on May 20.

(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)

Juan Urango fights for title tonight on ESPN2

On the surface, it can seem like a contradiction: a man who believes deeply in God and worships frequently feeds his family by beating up other men.

But junior welterweight Juan Urango sees nothing peculiar about the intermingling of his faith and his bloody vocation. “It’s in God’s hands,” Urango said when asked about his return to the ring after a 10-month absence because of a hand injury. “My strength in my religion created a miracle. It allowed my hand to be better now than ever before.

“I prayed and prayed and prayed. I got healed. Whatever happens is my destiny.”

The Colombian Urango, 25, fights Australian Naoufel Ben Rabah for the vacant IBF junior-welterweight title at the Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena. The 12-round fight will be shown live on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights (9 PM).

The IBF championship was vacated by Ricky Hatton, so Rabah (24-1, 13 KOs), the IBF’s No. 1 contender, faces the No. 4-ranked Urango(16-0-1, 13 KOs), who emerged as the leading available contender.

“He is deeply rooted in God and his Christian Pentecostal church, which I think is where he draws his strength from,” manager Luis Navarro said to the Florida Sun-Sentinel. “He goes to church and Bible study three days a week, which I find unique in a fighter.”

“I am an athlete who doesn’t smoke or drink and dedicates myself to boxing,” Urango said. “I believe in the name of Jesus, and with all my heart I will be world champion.”

(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)

Freddie Roach says Larios is gone by the sixth

Manny Pacquiao and Oscar Larios are sure to try and remove each others’ heads from their bodies on Saturday in Manila, but at a Thursday press conference, there was not a hint of real animosity.

Pacquiao declined to say how long the scheduled 12-rounder would last, but trainer Freddie Roach allowed himself a crack at guessing when Pac Man would finish off Larios: the fight won’t go past six, Roach declares.

“I am excited to fight,” said Pacquiao(41-3-2), who is heavily favored to beat the Mexican, to the Manilla Bulletin.

“Manny is going to treat him so well by ending the fight early,” said Shelly Finkel after hearing Larios’ agent, Rafael Mendoza, tell how the Philippines have treated the Larios crew with open arms.

“Beating Pacquiao is not impossible,” said Larios (56-4-1). “I am not even nervous and it doesn’t matter if this fight takes place in Las Vegas, Mexico or here in the Philippines.”

“I know this is a tough fight, but I am thinking of a win,” added Larios, who is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya.

Not impossible?

Thinking of a win?

Doesn’t sound like Larios is that sure of himself. The bookies are taking tons of bets on the round when Larios gets stopped. Makes sense…

(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)

Real Deal wants to retire as heavyweight champ

Evander Holyfield has a specific goal in mind, and it isn’t to make money because he’s frittered away his purses, as cynics might think.

No, the 43-year-old boxer wants to strap another title belt around his waist before he calls it a day. “To me, a champ retires a champ,” he said to the Dallas Morning News. “I’m proving to people you can choose your end, and I choose to be the heavyweight champion when I walk away from this.”

Holyfield’s quixotic quest to become the first five-time heavyweight champion begins Aug. 18 at American Airlines Center.

The event has been dubbed “Holyfield V, The Final Chapter.”

Cripes, we can hope…

He’s lost his last three fights but is determined to silence critics.

“His goal is to be heavyweight champion one more time, then bow out gracefully,” said Ronnie Shields, Holyfield’s trainer since 1988. “You can have goals at 65 and 75. This is a goal for him.”

I suppose stranger things have happened. Maybe Holyfield gets lucky against Valuev, for example. But part of me would like to see his Aug. 18 opponent Jeremy Bates give Holyfield a stern, conclusive message that retirement is the only option…

(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)

South Pole nabbed on illegal firearms possession

Andrew Golota was charged Thursday night with illegal possession of firearms after Chicago police were called to his home by a 911 call from two women, police said.

Golota, 38, was charged with 12 counts of possessing unregistered firearms, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The troubled boxer’s Firearm Owner’s Identification Card had been revoked, a department spokeswoman said.

He has a July 19 court date.

Apparently, the two women who ratted the boxer out were new acquaintances. After they left his household, they called law enforcement to alert cops about the gun stash. Also, cops say, the women made other allegations about Golota, but specifics have not been released.

(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)

Top Rank releases Rahman-Maskaev undercard

Heavyweight Hasim Rahman will work to erase a painful memory when he takes on a foe who bested him in Nov. 1999, Oleg Maskaev, on Aug. 12 in Las Vegas.

The matchup will be a PPV offering, and Top Rank today released the identities of some of the participants that will fill the card.

Humberto Soto (39-5-2) vs. Bobby Pacquiao (27-11-3)
Soto is unbeaten in his last 17 fights including a points win over Rocky Juarez in Rosemont, Ill., on August 20, 2005. Soto stopped Oscar Leon in nine rounds on Feb. 17. Pacquiao, trained by Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif., traded power punches and then stopped Kevin Kelley on the Cotto vs. Malignaggi card in New York City. Soto and Pacquiao will fight in a WBC eliminator at 130 pounds.

Jose Armando Santa Cruz, WBC Interim Lightweight Champion (23-1, 13 KOs) vs. TBA
Santa Cruz, trained by Rudy Hernandez, of Lincoln Heights, Calif. is having a solid 2006 with wins over Michael Lozado (NABF title fight), Edner Cherry (NABF ‘Fight of the Year’) and Chikashi Inada (WBC Interim Lightweight Championship). Santa Cruz will defend his new title on this card.

Vanes Martirosyan (9-0, 6 KOs) Glendale, Calif. vs. TBA
Martirosyan, a USA Olympian, is trained by Freddie Roach and managed by Shelly Finkel, Nick Khan and Keith Davidson.

Also, heavyweight Travis Kauffman will see action on the card. And word is that Rahman will take off for Big Bear, California to start training camp on July 1.

(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)

B.A.D. welcomes back welterweight prospect Paul Williams

In the ‘win some, lose some’ department, promoter Dan Goossen wasn’t overjoyed to see his heavyweight reclamation project Dominick Guinn getting worked by Tony Thompson last night in San Jose.

But Goossen’s welterweight prospect, Georgian Paul Williams, opened eyes everywhere with his rock-solid performance against Walter Matthysse on HBO last month, and will be rewarded with a gig on Boxing After Dark on Aug. 19.

No word yet on an opponent for the 30-0 Williams, a 6-2 southpaw who beat Matthysse with a TKO10 in California…

(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)