According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the proposed September 11th showdown between world Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin is off due Povetkin missing a press conference earlier in the week.

The IBF mandated that Klitschko start negotiation with the next highest available contender Samuel Peter and all indications is that fight will be made for the same date.

K2 Promotions, Klitschko’s company, complained to the IBF about Povetkin missing the news conference because it had won the promotional rights to the fight with a purse bid of $8.313 million. With so much money on the line, K2 needed him there to promote the fight, which was to take place at the 55,000-seat Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt.

The IBF sided with Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs) and ordered him to begin negotiating with the next available contender, Peter. The former titleholder knocked Klitschko down three times but lost a decision in their 2005 title elimination fight in Atlantic City, N.J.

“The IBF ruled that Povetkin had violated its rules by failing to come to the press conference this past Monday,” John Hornewer, Klitschko’s attorney, told ESPN.com. “The IBF had told him he needed to attend based on his duty to provide reasonable promotional support to fight and he didn’t get on the plane. Then the next day, he went to the doctor to get a doctor’s excuse. The IBF has instructed us to begin negotiating with the next available contender.”

“They were told beforehand that they had to be at the press conference to help promote the event,” Said Bernd Boente, manager of Klitschko. “That was their obligation after the purse bid.”

One of the theories behind the pullout was that Povetkin’s trainer Teddy Atlas felt his pupil wasn’t ready for the challenge.

“I think he deseves the chance to develop,” Atlas said. “I’m in the middle of training this kid, which is obviously an important time in his life for the future of his career. I’m doing my job. I am not moved by the title fight and what the biggest fight is out there. My job is to do the best job I can for the fighter and to make sure he is the best he can be when he’s in a situtation to fight, whether to fight Klitschko, Samuel Peter, [Tomasz] Adamek or Joe Shmoe.

“I am not controlled or dictated by anything other than that. I told him from the beginning I wanted more time. I was never really for the fight right now. Let me have more time with him. Does the mandatory dictate when he fights or do the circumstances of him having the best chance to win the fight?”

“I get 10 percent of that, but I decided the most important thing was to do what was the best for the fighter,” Atlas said. “My judgment was is the fighter ready for this moment? My opinion was more time would be good.”

“Wladimir felt honestly that Povetkin would not show up because Teddy Atlas kept telling people he didn’t think he was ready for the fight, so Wladimir was concerned,” Boente said. “He wants to fight Sept. 11 and we appreciate the IBF making a decision quickly so we can save the date, because if Wladimir wins in September, he wants to come back and fight for a third time this year in December.”

“Wladimir and myself think the Peter fight is a great matchup,” Boente said. “It’s a rematch of a good fight. There are a lot of people more interested in that fight than the Povetkin fight.”

“The IBF has done the right thing and we are negotiating a deal. I expect it to go a lot smoother and a lot quicker than the previous negotiation Klitschko had with Povetkin because we actually want the fight,” Said Ivalo Gotzev, who manages Peter. “This is a very big fight for the German population and we’re going to make it a very big fight for the heavyweight fans around the world.

“You have an exciting matchup that has already proven to be a competitive one. I still get people asking me how Samuel lost when he knocked the guy down three times. We are going to finish what we started in September 2005. This year, it will be a September to remember.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former Cuban amateur standout and undefeated Bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux has signed a promotional deal with Top Rank and will be trained by Rinnie Shields.

“We finally got it finished,” Bob Arum told ESPN.com. “It had gotten bogged down over some details but finally everybody has signed off on it. No more legal problems over this right or that right.”

“The kid was the greatest amateur fighter ever and fits in with all these great featherweights,” Arum said. “A guy like that could fight for a title by his 10th fight. In less than a year, he could be in a big event. I saw him in the gym and he’s one of these terrific-trained Cuban fighters, well-schooled, and he technically is better than Gamboa. I don’t know if he punches as hard, but he’s a marvelous prospect. He’s certainly a lot better than a lot of our American kids.”

“It became obvious that the Arum deal was the best deal,” Said Pat English, who is the attorney for Gary Hyde who is Rigodeaux’s manager. “Arum believed he could reach a deal with the DeCubas group, so then people had to work to get a deal that was acceptable to everybody. It’s a deal that is expected to advance Mr. Rigondeaux’s career substantially and quickly.”

“One of the attractive things is that he can fight from 118 pounds to 122 and can easily move up to 126, which opens up tons of potential fights. He just fits in,” Said Carl Moretti of Top Rank. “So we’re bringing in a guy who the TV networks like, who clearly can fight and doesn’t need a lot of development. One or two fights and you put him into the mix and see where it shakes out.”

“We found him an apartment and we’re going to put a lease on it and he should be here by Wednesday,” said Shields, who also trains junior middleweight prospect Erislandy Lara.

“This kid is a really good fighter,” Shields said. “He can fight. I’m trying to get everything situated so when he gets here everything will be set. I looked at some tape of him and went over a few fights and, just looking at him, I know what his style is. He’s a southpaw, but I worked with Pernell, who was also a southpaw. I don’t have any trouble training southpaws. I know what they like to do and what they don’t like to do. [Rigondeaux] is 29 years old, and with as many amateur fights as he has had, it’s like he’s been a professional for a long time. He’s ready to go. He knows how to fight.”

The World Boxing Council will be heading to the capital of Wales, Cardiff at the end of July. Cardiff will be hosting the WBC Night of the Champions a 3 day event that the WBC hope will break the world record for most past or present World champions under one roof at the same time. So far over 80 have confirmed there attendance including Roberto Duran, Vitali Klitschko, Azumah Nelson, Miguel Cotto, Ken Buchanan, Joe Calzaghe & Nigel Benn.

The event kicks off on Thursday 29 July at the Cardiff International Arena where the movie premier of Risen will air. The motion picture is of former Welsh World Champion Howard Winstone. It shows how Winstone over came adversity rising to become Featherweight World Champion. The cast contains around 15 former World champions, notably Erik Morales, John H Stracey & Tim Witherspoon.

Tickets are priced at £20 whilst the V.I.P section will be £125 which includes access to a private function room with food and beverage’s provided with various champions in attendance. Doors open at 6.30pm.

You can view the movie trailer on the link provided http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzmcE7QnJtU&feature=player_embedded

The second day of the event will see a night of Amateur boxing with Team GB against a Rest of the World team. It is widely thought that this will pit some of Britain’s 2012 hopeful’s against some of the best amateurs from around the world at the moment. It promises to be a real showcase for the potential stars of tomorrow.

Tickets are available from £25 (Second Tier), £30 (First Tier), £40 (Floor), £50 (Second Ringside) & £100 (Ringside) also again hospitality boxes can be provided. Doors open at 6pm with the first bell at 7pm.

Finally on Saturday 31 July the WBC host the prestigious The Night of Champions Gala Awards Dinner. It is hoped that over a hundred past or present World Champions will be in attendance for the show piece event. It promises to be a once in a life time chance to meet and greet many of the very best fighters though out Boxing history.

Tickets for this are £250 per person and the doors open at 6pm.

The WBC will also be helping several charities including The Noah’s Ark appeal which supports children’s hospitals in Wales.

World Boxing cares which is a non profit organisation which the WBC set up at the last Night of Champions convention in Cancun, Mexico in 2006. They send it’s fighters to Youth centre’s, hospitals and orphanages where they make a donation. It is thought that the Champions help bring hope and inspiration to the children and their family’s in 163 countries.

WBC Sporting chance which is designed to support young people and help them with various schemes that will help them towards a better future.

Tickets can be purchased on +44 02920 224488 for all 3 days. Hospitality packages are available on +44 02920 234567

For the latest developments about the event you can visit http://wbcnightofchampions.com/

Any question’s or queries i can be contacted on elraincoat@live.co.uk

Paulie Malignaggi is now a free agent after leaving the only promoter he has had during his professional career after buying himself out his contract with Lou DiBella confirmed Dan Rafael of espn.com

The buyout fee was $75,000 said sources.

“It was a good run,” said Malignaggi, who is coming off an 11th-round knockout loss to junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan on May 15. “I’ve had my ups and downs with [DiBella Entertainment] but in the end you want to finish your relationship having made money and I did that. No hard feelings. There were some things we disagreed on, so it’s probably better to part amicably so the relationship remains. If we remained together, we’d probably end up hating each other and neither of us wanted that. So the best thing to do is part ways and remains friends. But it’s not like I’m just walking away. I’m paying $75,000 to get out of the deal. I think it’s the best-case scenario for both parties.”

Said DiBella, “When I met Paulie he was a 19-year-old kid. Now he’s [close to being] a 30-year-old man. So there’s a different dynamic, like in a family almost. I guess he feels it’s time to take it in another direction. I can respect that.”

“Paulie wants to be the master of his own boxing career and we worked out an amicable split,” DiBella said. “I’ve been approached by promoters for fights for Paulie and I am noting those inquiries and will forward them to his camp. This split is totally amicable. I love that kid. We had a great 10-year run. Sometimes it’s a good time to end a business relationship with somebody and it’s time for them to start fresh with no hurt feelings or bad feelings on either side. It’s the end of the business relationship, but not the end of our relationship.

“We had a lot of fun together and we’ve been very close. It’s not the kind of situation where you want to see it end and blow up in bad feelings. So we got something done with the settlement and called it a day.”

“I think I still have a lot of options,” Malignaggi said. “I’m not going to buy out my contract and not fight. The intention is to fight. I’m taking a chance because I am probably not going to make $75,000 in my next one or two fights. But to get this release, it was a risk I was willing to take. We’ll see where it goes. But so we remain on friendly terms, this was the best way to go.”

“I’ll try to pursue the European market,” said Malignaggi, adding that he hopes to fight there before the end of the year. “On this side of the pond there are a lot of people who think Paulie has seen better days and I want to avoid being an opponent. Over in Europe it will be different and fresh. I still like the rush of fighting and it’s something I won’t always have the option to do. So while I can still pursue this, I will.

“I don’t have a new promoter yet, but I will weigh my options. I’ll be a free agent see what the best-case scenario is. I’m not looking to be an opponent and have a promoter match me with their up-and-coming star. Ultimately, this is a business and there is still some money to be made.”

“To win a European title would mean a lot to me,” Malignaggi said.

“If he wants honest advice from me, he knows my phone lines are always open to him,” DiBella said. “He and I are ending this business relationship as well as you can.”

Widely regarded as the best 140-pound fighter in the world, Timothy Bradley jumped into the Welterweight division with a twelve round unanimous decision over Luis Carlos Abregu in a batt;e of undefeated fighters at the Agua Caliente Hote and Resort in Palm Springs, California

In round one, Bradley suffered a cut over his right eye from an accidental headbutt. Bradley got things going in round two as landed a pair of flush rights on the chin. In round four, Abregu was cut over his right eye from a punch.

In round seven, Bradley bent down to throw a hook to the body but again clashed heads with Abregu and the fighter from Argentina slumped to one knee for just a moment. Sensing that his opponent was hurt, Bradley jumped all over Abregu by landing a furious combination. In round nine, Bradley upped the temp as he landed flush with a a pair of lefts and a good right. After a few rounds that was void of action, the two stood toe to toe which excited the near capacity crowd in the ballroom which saw their man coast to the victory by scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.

Bradley, 147 lbs of Palm Springs, CA is now 26-0. Abregu, 146 1/2 lbs of Argentina is now 29-1.

Alfredo Angulo continued his positive momentum as he scored a first round stoppage over former WBA Super Welterweight champion Joachim Alcine in a bout scheduled for twelve rounds.

Midway through the round Angulo and Alcine got tangled up which left Angulo’s right hand free. Angulo pounded on Alcine that got him hurt. Late in the round Angulo landed a left and a flush right hand that had Alcine out on his feet. Angulo landed three hard punched that was cluminated by a huge left hook and big right which forced referee Lou Moret to stop the bout just one second before the end of the opening frame.

Angulo, 153 1/2 lbs of Mexicali, Mexico is now 19-1 with sixteen knockouts. Alcine, 153 1/2 lbs of Montreal is now 32-2

Carlos Velazquez remained undefeated as he scored a fifth round stoppage in Puerto Rico over Luis Arcos.

This was an entertaining bout throughout at the the two traded from the outset. Velazquez won most of those exchanges and finally got Arcos out of the way after he landed a clipping left hook that staggered Arcos and Velazquez humped on him an began to batter Arcos all over the ring until the referee stopped the bout at 1:119 of round five.

Velazquez, 129 1/2 lbs of Puerto Rico is now 13-0 with eleven knockouts. Arcos, 130 lbs is now 16-2-1.

Jonathan Vidal scored a sixth round knockdown en route to a six round unanimous decision over Felix Perez in a Bantamweight bout.

Vidal, 116 lbs of Guaynambo, PR is now 9-0. Perez of Carolina, PR is now 7-2.

Juan Gonzalez remained undefeated as he scored a second round stoppage over Christopher Rivera in a scheduled four round Lightweight bout.

Gonzalez scored a knockdown early in round two for a hard left cross. He finished the fight by backing up Rivera, who took a knee and began shaking his hand in discomfort and the fight was waved off.

The fight was waved off at 2:40 of round two for Gonzalez, 132 lbs of Toja Baja, PR and is now 9-0 with eight knockouts. Rivera, 129 3/4 lbs of San Juan, PR is now 3-5.

Jamiel Rivera won his pro debut with a unanimous decision over Manuel Torres (0-2) in a four round Light Flyweight bout.

In what was one of the more exciting Heavyweight clashed, Monte Barrett and David Tua fought to a spirited draw in a twelve round Heavyweight bout of former Heavyweight title challeng at The Topicana Hotel and Resort in Atlantic City.

Round two heated up with both guys looking to land hard shots. In round three, Barrett got in a nice counter right and Tua started to breathe heavy from his wild attempta to end the bout with one punch. Barrett continued to stand up to the heavy assault. In the sixth, Tua began the round by landing a thudding right to the body. Barrett landed his punch over the first half of the fight with a crisp over hand right. Tua culminated the frame with a hard left hook along the ropes.

In round nine, Tua came out by landing a vicious three punch combination that had Barrett holding on. Later in the round, Tua came back to land two more explosive rights with the first coming to the body and the latter coming at the end of the round with a flush right on the face. The fight turned in round ten as Barrett started to back up Tua and landed some hard flush shits and even rocking Tua with a big over hand right. Tua rebounded nicely in round eleven as he landed a booming left hook on the ropes that would have put just about anyone down but somehow Barrett stood up to that as well another big left hook late in the round. The last round was a big round for Barrett as he took a big shot early in the round and then was thrown down to canvas by Tua and referee Randy Neumann took a point away from Tua. that lit a fire under Barrett as he landed a flush uppercut that sent Tua down the canvas for the first time in his fifty-six fight career. Tua barely made it to the finish line as Barrett jabbed his way to the bell.

Scores were 115-111 for Tua, while two other judges ruled 113-113 (same as 15rounds.com card) Tua of Auckland, NZ is now 51-3-2. Barrett of Queens, NY is now 34-9-1

Welterweight prospect Raymond “Tito” Serrano scored an eight round majority decision over Ayi Bruce in a nip and tuck battle. Serrano did well by boxing early and then the tough fighter from Ghana came on by making the tussle a dogfight and started getting through with good combinations. Serrano may have sealed the fight with a good eighth round as he landed some good combinations on the ropes. Serrano, 145 lbs of Philadelphia won by scores of 77-76, 78-74 and 76-76 to remain undefeated at 13-0. Bruce, 144 lbs of Accra, Ghana is now 6-3.

In a big upset, perennial spoiler Carlos Vinan scored an eighth round stoppage over IBF #2 Lightweight, Anthony Mezaache in the final round of their Lightweight bout. Mezaache controlled the action by jabbing and moving asnd built ip a lead on the cards. Vinan came out top start round eight like a house of fire and was all over Mezaache and dropped with a furious combination. Vinan ended the fight by jumping on Mezaache and his corner threw in the yowel at thity-seven seconds of round eight. Vinan of Newark, Nj is now 10-8-4 with two knockouts. Mezaache of Clichy, France is now 18-6-3.

In a bit of a upset, undefeated Bayan Jargal had to settle for an eight round draw with James Hope in a Jr. Welterweight bout. Hope landed the cleaner blows while Jargal tried to box more until the later round where he rushed in more and by agression may have won rounds to earn the dubious draw that was scored 76-76 on all cards. Jargal, 138 lbs of Arlinton, VA is now 15-0-3. Hope, 137 1/2 lbs of Rock Hill,SC is now 6-5-1.

In a wild slugfest, Khedafi Djelkhir scored a first round stoppage over Jorge Cordero in a Featherweight bout scheduled for six round. Djekhir dropped Cordero early in the first from a big left hand. Just as soon as Djelkhir thought he had it in the bag, Crodero landed a huge right hook dropped Djelkhir. Djelkhir gathered himself to land a huge right that dropped Cordero into the bottom rope. Cordero got to his fight but stumbled all over the place which prompted the referee to stop the fight at 2:20 0f round one. Djelkhir, 126 lbs of Besancon, France is now 7-0 with six knockouts. Cordero, 126 lbs of San Juan, Pr is now 4-3.

Jason Escalera scored a stoppage over Amador Acevedo at the end of round three in a scheduled six round Light Heavyweight bout. Escalera controlled the action over the first three rounds especially working the body of Acevedo. Acevedo put up one last stand in the third but Escalera’s offense was too much as Acevedo failed to answer the bell for round. Escalera, 173 lbs of Union City, NJ is now 9-0 with eight knockouts. Acevedo, 177 lbs of Moca, Puerto Rico is 3-8-1

Young Prospect Mike Perez scored an explosive first round stoppage over Jorge Ruiz in Lightweight bout schedule for six rounds. Midway through the round Perez dropped Ruiz with a left to the body. Ruiz got to his feet at the count of eight only to each a big right that was followed by a massive left hook. Referee David Francioci began to count but stopped at six as Ruiz had no shot to beat the count. The time was 2:29 of round one for Perez, 135 lbs of Jersey City, NJ and is now 9-0 with four knockouts. Ruiz, 137 lbs of Miami is now 7-13-1.

Photo By Claudia Bocanegra

Fernando Guerrero remained undefeated with a highly entertaining unanimous decision over Ishe Smith in a Middleweight bout at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi.

Smith started out well early as used a punishing body attack in an effort to slow down the the twenty-three year old Guerrero. Round three was especially competitive as the two stood toe to toe. Guerrero seemed to forge ahead slightly as he took the middle rounds in what was very competitive and high paced action.

In round six, Smith was docked for low blows by referee Randy Phillips. Guerrero and Smith continued to pound away at each at close quarters with Guerrero getting the better of the action by the slightest of margins. Guerrero was having a good round eight until he walked into a right hand that sent Guerrero to the canvas. Guerrero rebounded nicely to have a nice round nine as the two continued to land some heavy shots with Smith continuing his vicious body assault. Guerrero started the tenth more aggressive as but Smith did well with his counters and the fight seemed close enough where the winner would be in doubt.

Coming in to tonight’s matchup, Smith (21-5, 9 KOs) was quoted as saying, “I’m going to take Guerrero into deep waters and see if he can swim.” Guerrero (19-0, 15 KOs) proved to be a buoyant battler by withstanding an eighth round flash knockdown and ten rounds of body shots from Smith. Though most of the body work was legitimate, referee Randy Phillips twice warned Smith, of Las Vegas, Nev., for repeated low blows before deducting a point in the sixth round.

It wasn’t the case at the judges had wider then it looked scores of 97-91, 96-93 and 95-03 for Guerrero, 159.7, lbs of Salisbury, MD and is now 19-0. Smith, 158.9 lbs of Las Vegas is now 21-5.

Shawn Porter used a six round knockdown to catapult himself to a ten round unanimous decision over Ray Robinson in a Welterweight bout.

Robinson seemed to be the more consistent fighter as he used cominations to the body as Porter would come in. Porter landed the more telling blows and rocked Robinson on several occasions.

In round six, Porter dropped Robinson from a combination along the ropes. That seemed to have turned the tide as Robinson was not as effective heading down the stretch as he was earlier in the fight.

Scores did not indicate the competitive nature of the bout as the judges turned in cards that read 99-89, 98-91 and 97-92 for Porter, 147 lbs of Cleveland and is now 16-0. Robinson, 148 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is now 11-2.

“It was a hard fought victory. My dad (and trainer, Ken Porter) asked a lot of me and I did what I could to deliver. It took a lot of heart and we’re going to keep going from here.”

Michael Dallas Jr. scored the best win of his career with an eight round unanimous decision over Lanard Lane in a battle of unbeaten Jr. Welterweights

Dallas was quicker and constantly landed some nice combination’s, especially to the body of Lane as Lane never really got into the fight.

Scores were 78-74 on all cards for Dallas Jr., 141.8 lbs of Bakersfield, CA and is now15-0-1. Lane, 142 lbs of Houston, TX is now 12-1.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said early Saturday that he had not heard from Floyd Mayweather, Jr., by a midnight deadline about whether he would fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13, but Arum said the fight could still happen on the proposed date.

Arum said the deadline – midnight Friday in Las Vegas – was only the end of a period of exclusive negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao. Arum said he will now embark on talks with Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto.

“The fight we want to do is Mayweather,’’ Arum said. “We haven’t said anything different. We haven’t acted any different. …Absolutely, that’s the fight we want.’’

Mayweather-Pacquiao could still happen if Mayweather says he wants it during talks for an alternate bout, also on Nov. 13, with either Margarito or Cotto. Arum said he expects those talks to last 10 days.

“Floyd, for whatever reason and I’m sure he has a valid reason, did not want to commit,’’ Arum said after minutes after the midnight deadline passed without a decision from Mayweather

Arum said he was told by Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports, that Mayweather had agreed to terms, including a timetable for random drug testing. A deal for Pacquiao-Mayweather last March fell apart late last year when Pacquiao balked at Mayweather’s demand for Olympic-style blood-testing.
Arum said he heard from Greenburg a few days after Mayweather’s victory over Shane Mosley in early May. Arum said Greenburg then spoke to Mayweather advisor Al Haymon. It’s no secret that that Mayweather-Pacquiao could set pay-per-view records for HBO. It’s estimated that each fighter could earn between $40 million to $50 million each.

Arum continued to speculate that Mayweather might not want to fight this year because his uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, is facing a trial on an assault charge. If Mayweather decides not to fight in November, Arum has said he hopes the bout will happen in May.

Margarito has yet to regain a license in the United States since his California license was revoked for altered hand wraps discovered before a loss to Mosley in January, 2009 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Nevada State Athletic Commission tabled a Margarito application last week. Arum said he will again try to get Margarito licensed in Nevada. If successful and there is still no word from Mayweather, Margarito-Pacquiao could happen in Las Vegas. If unsuccessful, the fight could happen in Monterrey, Mexico.

If Cotto gets the nod and there still is no decision from Mayweather, possible sites are Las Vegas, Cowboys Stadium in Dallas and Dubai.

*Zab Judah twice referenced the date October 2nd as a possible date for his next bout.

*Judah expressed his desire to fight the cream of the crop at 140 lbs. and to be mentioned with in the same breath as the best of the division: Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, and Amir Khan. “Don’t forget about me,” Judah said. “I’m here, I’m coming back. I’m going to be like the ghost in the night…The old Zab Judah is back!”

*Judah credited his maturity to both having a child, as well as developing a deeper relationship with God. According to Judah, his hands are so quick he now punches at “GodSpeed.”

*He talked about his conditioning and attributed his fitness to training at high altitude in the Nevada mountains, which he believes will help him in the later rounds of fights.

Former two-division world champion Zab “Super” Judah made a very successful return to his home area as he scored a devastating third round stoppage of former world title challenger Jose Armado Santa Cruz at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Judah began to open it up in round two as he landed a pair of solid straight left hands.

In round three, Judah landed a tremendous left uppercut that sent Santa Cruz to the seat of his pants. When Santa Cruz regained his feet, he was greeted by a barrage of punches that was capped off by a pinpoint straight leftthat drove Santa Cruz to the ropes and forced referee Benji Esteves to stop the bout at 2:33 of round three.

Judah, 141 lbs of Las Vegas, NV via Brooklyn, NY is now 39-6 with twenty-seven knockouts. Santa Cruz, 143 lbs of Lincoln Heights, CA is now 2805.

Brooklyn’s Saddam Ali stayed undefeated with a TKO victory over Philadelphia’s Julius Edmonds.

Ali made easy work out of his counterpart, dominant the fight from the opening bell.

In round 1, Ali sent Edmonds to the canvas with a devastating right uppercut. Edmonds was able to weather the storm for the time being, however, and survive the round.

Round 2 featured more domination by Ali, as he once again sent Edmonds to the canvas. Ali hurt Edmonds with a left hand and as Edmonds was falling backwards, added an uppercut for good measure.

Round 3 last only 1:14 before Eddie Cotton saw fit to stop the bout after Ali hurt his opponent with a left hand and sent him stumbling back into the ropes. — Kyle Kinder

With the win, Ali improves to 9-0, with 5 KOs, while Edmonds falls to 7-8.
In an eight round bout at the Welterweight division, native Newarker Alex Perez scored a unanimous decision victory over Brazlian Edvan Barros to increase his already perfect record to 12-0.

The fight was a tough one for Perez, who was forced to fight at a distance and on the inside.

In the early going, Perez was able to land his right with some frequency. However, as the fight prolonged, it was clear that Barros’s strategy was to keep the fight on the inside.

Not surprisingly, it was on the inside that Barros was most effective, throwing powerful uppercuts to the chin of Perez, forcing his head to snap back.

When Perez did create distance, he proved to be dangerous, as he landed a big left hand in round 4 that clearly hurt his opponent.

In round 6 an overhand right by Barros caught Perez, as he then found himself up against the ropes — a position Barros forced his counterpart into consistently throughout the bout. At the end of the round — as the bell sounded — the two exchanged convincing blows to one another. Barros then attempted, for the second time, to touch gloves with Perez, who purposely failed to acknowledge his opponent.

Round 7 saw Perez in trouble with his back against the ropes and Barros finding success with uppercuts and looping right hands. The tide turned about a minute into the round however, as Perez as able to create some space between he and his opponent and land combination on Perez.

After 8 rounds of action, all three judges scored the bout in favor of the hometown fighter, Perez. The scores were: 77-75, 78-84, and 80-72.

With the win, Perez added to his perfect record, increasing it to 12-0, while Barros fell to 10-10-1. — Kyle Kinder

In a Heavyweight bout scheduled for four rounds, Adam Kownacki scored a second round stoppage over Damon Clement in what amounted to three-plus minute shootout.

Kownacki was in control of the opening moments until he walked into a big left that rocked him back into referee Eddie Cotton, who in-turn ruled a knockdown. Kownacki gathered himself to rock Clement and put him on the seat of his pants with a huge flurry of punches. The round ended with Clement being battered in the corner by twenty unanswered shots. Round two picked up where round one ended with each guy nailing each other all over the ring until a huge right that decked Clement for Cotton’s ten count at forty-two seconds of round two.

Kownacki, 231 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 4-0 with all wins coming by knockout. Clement, 243 lbs of Dayton, Ohio is now 0-3.

Jersey City’s Patrick Farrell fought New York City’s Newton Kidd to a majority decision draw in a six round bout in the Cruiserweight division.

Two judges scored the bout even, 57-57, while one judge saw the bout in favor for Kidd, 57-56.

Barbaric exchanges between the two were frequent, both fighters taking a good deal of punishment throughout all six rounds.

Farrell seemingly outworked Kidd in the early rounds, getting the better of the exchanges, but faded towards the later rounds, allowing Kidd to land more frequently.

Late in round 5, during a flurry of wild and wide punches from both fighters, Kidd was able to land a left hook flush on Farrell’s face, causing a cut to open up over the Irish-American’s right eye.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the fight, both fighters were granted a well-deserved round of applause by the Prudential Center crowd, acknowledging the heart both boxer’s exhibited in the bout.–Kyle Kinder

Angel Concepcion remained undefeated by scoring a four round unanimous decision over Shannon Anderson in a Light Heavyweight bout.

Concepcion controlled the action and rocked Anderson twice in round three first wobbling him with a left hook and a big right in the corner in the middle of a furious flurry.

Scores were 40-35, 40-36 and 40-36 for Concepcion, 178 lbs of Newark, NJ and is now 2-0. Anderson, 178 lbs of Coatesville, PA is now 4-2.

In the final bout of the evening, Staten Island, New York’s Nickey Demarco improved his record to 3-2, with a unanimous decision victory over the Bronx’s Jose Guzman, who, with the loss, dropped to 5-8-1.

The first three rounds belonged to Demarco who continually forced Guzman to the ropes.

To his credit, Guzman never gave up and in the fourth round came out firing dangerous punches at his opponent. However, it was not enough to persuade the judges he deserved the win.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of DeMarco: 40-36 and 39-37 twice. — Kyle Kinder

PHILADELPHIA — In front of his Israeli supporters, the WBC’s 13th ranked Cruiserweight, Ran Nakash, successfully navigated by Oxnard, California’s Victor Barragan to stay undefeated.
With the win, Nakash — who hails from Haifa, Israel, but has fought eleven bouts in Philadelphia — improved to 25-0 with 18 KO, while Barragan fell to 11-6 with 3 KO.

The bout was slow to develop as neither fighter was able to establish themselves as the superior fighter in the ring. After spending the first round feeling one another out, Nakash began to land lead left hooks, which was a trend that continued throughout the fight. By round 3, Nakash had Barragan bleeding from what looked to be the bridge of the nose. While Nakash found success with left hooks, Barragan did most of his damage in the early rounds with combinations and counterpunches. By the mid-rounds, both fighters looked exhausted, lacking in lateral movement, thus making themselves an easy target for one another. Both fighters took advantage of the fact that their opponent was easy to find, but it was Nakash with his barrage of left hooks and straight rights that left their impressions on the judges.

The late rounds saw Barragan eating more and more of Nakash’s punches, but to his Barragan’s credit, he never failed to fire back.

In the end, it was Nakash whose hand was raised by the referee after all three judges scored the bout in the Israeli’s favor. All three judges scored the bout differently: 96-94, 97-93, and 99-91.

The fight was a gut check for both Nakash and Barragan — and both passed. It was a tough fight, and at times a sloppy fight, but Nakash outworked Barragan to stay undefeated.

The co-feature on tonight’s card was between Dominican gold-medalist, Felix Diaz, square off against Troy, New York’s Broderick Antoine. In the first two rounds of the fight, the shorter Diaz, was able to impose his will Antoine, getting within range and firing strong left hands at the face of his opponent.

It wasn’t until round 3 that Antoine started to use his reach to his advantage and stop fighting with Diaz and start boxing. However, just when Antoine had a taste of success in round 3, a nasty cut was opened above his right eye the very next round. When the bell rang for round 5, Antoine’s corner had failed to fully stop the bleeding, and Diaz was able to have even more success with his left hand.

By the time the round 7 came around, blood was flowing freely from the gash above Antoine’s right eye, along with a new stream of blood spewing from the fighter’s mouth. When the bell rang to signal the 8th round, Antoine was inexplicably allowed by the ringside physician to get up off his stool and continue to box. Luckily the referee saw that there was no sense in risking any further damage to Antoine and stopped the bout just :35 seconds into round number 8. Diaz improved his record to 5-0 with 3 KO and Antoine fell to 10-11-1 with 5 KO.

In an entertaining heavyweight bout, Ukrainian bronze medalist, Vyacheslav Glazkov, defeated fan-favorite, Mark “Oak Tree” Brown of Salem, NJ, by TKO in the third round.

Glazkov looked impressive in his win against “Oak Tree,” showing both impressive technical ability and maturity. In the first round, Brown came out unloaded wide, heavy-handed, punches at the Ukrainian, who calmly avoided his opponent’s punches. Glazkov took a very calculated approach to this fight and waiting until Brown fired wide punches before countering with straight rights and lefts.

In round 2, Glazkov troubled Brown by throwing lead left hooks that continued to connect. Finally, in round 3, after stunning Brown, the Ukrainian was able to pin his opponent up against the ropes and finish him with an onslaught of lefts and rights that forced the referee to stop the fight.

Glazkov improved his record to 6-0 with 3 KO, while “Oak Tree” Brown fell to 15-4 with 7 KO.

In perhaps the most entertaining fight of the night, Russian Maks Liminov outpointed North Carolina’s Julius Fogle to stay undefeated. The fight was 6 rounds full of action — both fighters dishing out some punishment, as well as receiving some. In this end, this fight came down to who wanted it more, and by split decision, the judges awarded the victory to Liminov. In the early goings, Liminov was the aggressor, hunting Fogle down, cutting off the ring. Eventually when his back neared the ropes, Fogle would settle in and fire at his opponent. Both fighters landed good, clean punches that undoubtedly got the attention of their opposition. In round 3, Fogle decided to try and push the action, and instead of being the hunted, he started to move forward. Once again both fighters found success, landing straight punches, as well as hooks, seemingly at will.

The later rounds featured an extremely fatigued Julius Fogle, who was able to hit Liminov, but not do any damage. Fogle’s punches had little on them and Liminov was able to walk through them and inflict his own damage on his opponent. In the end, Liminov maintained his perfect record, and improved it to 13-0 with 8 KO, while Fogle’s dropped to 15-6, 10 KO. The judges who scored the bout for Liminov both had the fight 59-55 and the judge who scored the bout in favor of Fogle saw the fight 58-56.

In his professional debut, former Penn State football player, Imani Bell stopped Michigan’s Lee Thomas after two rounds of action in the heavyweight division. The first round saw both fighter’s come out swinging wildly at one another seemingly trying to go for the knockout. Thomas struck first by sending his 282 pound opponent crashing to the canvas after a devastating blow.

However, when Bell returned to his feet, there was little follow up by an exhausted and out-of-shape Thomas to try and stop the fight in the first round.

In the second round, Bell caught a second wind and delivered crushing blows to Thomas. As the result of Bell’s punches, Thomas was sent back to his stool after round 2 with blood streaming from his nose. It was on his stool where Thomas declined to continue the fight. Bell won his professional debut, moving to 1-0 with 1 KO, while Thomas fell to 1-4.

In a fight that took place after the Nakash-Barragan main event, Russia’s Rustam Nabeev squared off against California’s Alejandro Solorio in a super flyweight bout. In the first round, Solorio came out swinging wildly trying to shock and overwhelm Nabeev. Nabeev was able to initially ward of the attack, but midway through the round was caught with a punch that sent him to the canvas. Nabeev would never fully recover and Solorio easily decisioned his opponent. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Solorio. They saw the bout: 39-36, 39-36, and 40-35.

In the night’s first fight, Israeli Oz Goldenberg faced off against Camden, New Jersey’s Marcos Garcia. Both fighters were successfully able to touch up their opposition, but it was Goldenberg who did the more convincing damage. This fight feature a ton of inside work as all four rounds were flooded with tie-ups and holding. To the referee’s credit, he allowed the fighters to work on the inside until they worked their way out of it. In the end, Goldenberg was awarded a majority decision victory. Two judges scored the bout 39-37 for Goldenberg, while the other judge saw the fight a 38-38 draw. Goldenberg improved to 2-0, while Garcia fell to 0-3.

Cruiserweight contender Ran Nakash remained undefeated by pounding out a ten round unanimous decision over Victor Barragan at the Arena in Philadelphia.

Nakash was more active and boxed effectively against Barragan, who gave a good account pf himself despite fighting much of the bout with a bloody nose.

Nakash, 204 1/2 lbs of Haifa, Israel won by scores of 99-91, 97-93 and 96-94 and is now 25-0. Berragan, 198 lbs of Oxnard, CA is now 11-6.

2008 Olympic Gold medal winner, Felix Diaz scored an eighth round stoppage over Broderick Antoine due to cuts in their scheduled eight round Welterweight bout.

Antoine was cut over his left eye and the fight was stopped thirty-five seconds into the final round.

Diaz, 146 1/2 lbs of the Dominican Republic is now 6-0 with 4 knockouts. Antoine, 145 1/2 lbs of Troy, NY is now 10-11-1.

2008 Olympic Bronze medal winner Vyacheslav Glazkov stopped Mark Brown in round three of their scheduled six round Heavyweight bout.

Glazkov dominated the bout until a big barrage on the ropes forced Benji Esteves to stop the bout.

Glazkov, 219 lbs of Ukraine is now 6-0 with 4 knockouts. Brown, 223 1/2 lbs of Salem, NJ is now 15-4.

Oz Golenburg remained undefeated by scoring a four round majority decision over Marcos Garcia in a Lightweight bout.

Scores were 39-37, 39-37 and 38-38 for Goldenburg, 129 1/2 lbs of Israel and is now 2-0. Garcia, 132 lbs of Camden, NJ is 0-3.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com former Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik could be heading for a December 4th showdown with undefeated and immensely popular Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. possibly in Cowboys Stadium.

That’s the fight we are looking to do,” Said Bob Arum, who promotes both Pavlik and Chavez Jr.

“We were sitting around having drinks and we came up with it,” Arum said. “We checked with [Chavez trainer] Freddie Roach and he loves the fight. Cameron Dunkin )who manages Pavlik) checked with the Pavliks and they love the fight, so let’s get it on.”

“When I got back [to Las Vegas] from San Juan, I checked with both sides again and everybody was on board,” Arum said. “We’re going to move ahead in the next couple of weeks and get the deal done. I think we can do a lot of business with that fight.”

“The fight will be at 160 and he’ll get a nutritionist, a dietitian, whatever he has to do,” Dunkin said. “He’s fired up about this fight. He is fully committed to the fight. He’s even willing to leave [his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio] to train.”

Arum said he has not spoken yet about the fight with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones yet, but “I spoke with his guy in general about the date and this is the kind of fight that is right up their alley — a white guy from the Midwest fighting the son of the Mexican legend in Cowboys Stadium with reasonable ticket prices. I think we can do 40,000 or 50,000 people.”

“We want the fight, we absolutely want the fight,” Dunkin told ESPN.com. “We were told by Bob that it was going to happen.”

“After we got back from Puerto Rico, Bob called me again to talk about the fight and I told him. ‘Everybody was on board so let’s make the fight happen,’ ” Dunkin said.

“I still need to know the money,” Dunkin said. “Bob said he’d give us a guarantee and a really good upside and everyone will make a lot of money. He said, ‘I can’t promise you a lot of guaranteed money, but if the fight does well everybody will make money.’ We’re fine with that. We’re willing to earn our way. I think it’s a very sellable fight. I think people would like to see it. I’ll tell you one thing — it’s a fun fight and it will be an action fight. Both of these guys can hit and both of them get hit.

“We’re ready to go. We’re just waiting for Bob to let us know what exactly he’s talking about financially. Other than that my guy is itching to go. When he heard it might be at Cowboys Stadium, he got really excited. He said that would be a lot of fun.”
Photo By Chris Farina / Top Rank

According to Dan Rafael, WBA Featherweight champion Chris John’s July 26 title defense against Fernando Saucedo due to a rib injury.

“He got an injury sparring in the ribs, so the fight won’t happen on the 26th,” Said John’s advisor Sampson Lewkowicz. “We’ll look for another date, but we won’t know when because it depends on what the doctor says.”

“It’s very, very disappointing, but s— happens in boxing,” Lewkowicz said. “He’ll follow up with the doctor and see how long he will need to rest and then we’ll reschedule the fight with the same opponent.”

Morden’s Lenny Daws showed great ring generalship as he made a second successful title defence of his British light welterweight title has he turned back bloody but brave challenger Steve Williams after ten rounds.
Williams last time out had beaten Tottenham’s Michael Grant for the vacant English bauble back here at the York Hall in Febraury on the undercard to Daws first defence which ended in a draw against Welshman Jason Cook.
However to begin with it was Williams who got off to a rip roaring start as he outfought the notoriously slow starting champion, who did very little compared to the challenger whom kept in close banging away with both hands on the inside as Daws could’nt match the workrate being metered out by the determined Liverpudlian.
In the second Lenny did seem to pick things up a bit more and when he did he showed the better accuracy of the two if not the determination of Williams, it seemed to myself that Daws was mearly saving something for later on, Williams though seemed to skate the first three rounds with ease.
Fourth round action saw things pace wise dip a little, but when both did spring into action Daws found himself backed up, but it was the champion who now and again showed some nice combinations as he found his range, and was it seemed to be testing the water as he fought mostly in spurts as if he was testing his man skill wise and obviously conceded the early rounds though Williams was missing more than Daws, it was with greater conviction and overall workrate that Williams was applying himself, throwing four punches he was landing two or three, but they were two more than Daws was throwing!
The fifth saw a turn in the tide as Daws, true to form started to ease his way in as he started to land with flurrys, even one burst of shots opened a cut over Williams right eye as Daws took control of the fight from the ring’s centre and it was the challenger who was looking rather disorientated due to Daws better accuracy, the blood from the afforementioned cut did’nt help matters as Daws notched up the fifth.
From thereon it was all Daws has he blocked most of Williams attacks and countered nicely, it was more than evident that Lenny was doing a job, however in the Seventh Williams workrate dropped, Daws was now controlling the destiny of the bout and it seemed it was a matter of time until the fight was eventually awarded in favour of the champion, but in boxing it ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings’ and though there seemed from here on that Williams was’nt going to pull out a miracle punch, it was his right hand that did land now and again on Daws unprotected chin, but it seemed unlikely to say the least that Williams could turn the tide, Daws himself had his signature punch, a left hook that kept landing as Williams had defeat written on his face at times.
In the next stanza the eighth Williams was drinking in the last chance saloon as the blood flowed from the cut over his right eye, coming out throwing himself at the champion with a fusilade of leather, but Daws had his number as early as the second it seemed before moving up the gears, in the ninth Williams again kept trying gallantly and found the target on the odd occasion, but still Lenny evaded most of the attacks coming his way and counter punched effectively on the open target that was Williams!
At the start of the tenth Williams had a little more success as he landed twice with combinations, but has he came on the inside, it was there that Lenny tied up his man in the clinches before again finding his range and outboxing his man, at the end of the round third man Ian John Lewis was called over to the challenger’s corner where Williams remonstrated as he was over ruled by his corner and Ian John Lewis waved it over with the challenger on his stool.
So what next for the champion, Daws who a brilliant tactician and technician could be in line for a shot at Northern Ireland’s European champion Paul McCloskey in a battle for the British and European titles.
{For the record, the judges officiating had thing’s almost level at the end, I wonder what fight these so called professional’s were watching?, I has a few other observant ringsider’s had Daws leading}
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The undercard featured the comeback of Matt Skelton the former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion and former W.B.A title challenger, opposing the Bedford man was Lee Swaby a durable veteran type in a rather labourous six rounder, things were a little messy through out until the finish, when Skelton landed an over hand right that dumped Swaby to the deck, on arising referee Ken Curtis waved things over as Swaby bravely got to his feet at the 1:00 mark of the fifth.
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Bradley Pryce former Commonwealth light middle king looked impressive in dismantling Brixton’s ‘Dangerous’ Ted Bami in just two rounds.
Things looked like they were shaping up nicely in the opener as Bami pressured the taller Pryce, who worked nicely off of the left jab before whipping in some spiteful looking left hooks and doing enough to take the opener, things in the second were of a similar veign to that of the opener, however just before the end of the session Pryce smashed in a big right just before the bell that had Bami over before getting up where Ref Jeff Hinds waved it over, though some felt the stoppage a little premature, it obviously was’nt the case as Bami almost seemingly collapsed in a heap after the bouts conclusion, ref Hinds decision was spot on and he should be commended for his timely intervention.

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Canning Town’s George Hillyard coming back from a the disapointment of last Febraury’s Prizefighter to eventual winner Prince Arron who also featured on the undercard here tonight.
Hillyard looking strong and in tremendous shape kept up the pressure through out the six rounds has he banged in good body shots to Keiron Gray’s midsection, chasing the Telford man for the best part of the contest, one big left hook from the Canning Town man staggered Gray towards the end of the opener but Hillyard could’nt follow up.
From here on Gray got on the move and did little but survive to the bell though he did try in the third Hillyard shook off the effects with out any trouble has he continued to dominate his man, in the fourth Hillyard’s work fell by the wayside as Gray did manage to pick it up a little has he picked off the Londoner, who finished the fight a little sluggish but who’s earlier work had easily clinched it, a he claimed a fairly conclusive 59-57, I had it by a far wider margin myself.

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Enfield’s Chris Evangelou got off to a fairly impressive start to begin with has his army of adoring Greek fans in the hall showed there support for there man.
Evangelou coming off an easy thirty second blast out back in April, came out landing nicely with two handed attacks, however despite his early success the bout took on a rather scrappy sloppy look as both got in close, at the fights conclusion Evangelou was awarded a charitable 40-36, I had it closer despite Chris taking the opener comfortably from there on Fox hardly sly himself, hence his surname showed a good work rate when in close, though things were has I mentioned earlier decidely messy I had it 39-37 myself.

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Bradley Evans from Hertfordshire closed the show, but had to settle for a easy four round points decision over Sheffield’s Jason Carr, who could’nt get out of first gear {sorry for the pun guys}
Evans got inside of the gangly looking Carr and put his foot on the gas as he drove Carr backwards, the taller Sheffield man kept on the move and was never in the contest as Bradley won everything with better workrate throughout and was deservedly awarded a decision.

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On getting to the venue late, thanks to the fifty or so mile journey from Work, I got in for the Matt Skelton v Lee Swaby fight, however before I made my way in Barry Morrison a former British light welter champion who had succumbed to bill topper and current British 10st boss Lenny Daws last year for the then vacant British light welter title, had a fairly easy time of it has he over came Worcester’s Billy Smith inside of a round, with a few more good performances Morrison could feature in another tilt at Daws in what would prove to be a rubber match, has Morrison won there first encounter a few years ago, before Daws exacted revenge to annex the British title.

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Also featured was Prizefighter champion at light middle, Prince Arron who dropped Birmingham’s Tony Randell twice throughout there six rounder at light middle, the last knockdown prompting the third man to step in a save Randell from further punishment in the sixth and final session, and while on the subject of Prizefighter champion’s, Michael Lomax the inaugural winner of the welterweights in Barry Hearn’s tournament chalked up a victory has he beat Ghana’s Stephen Okine at welter in a scheduled six three’s.

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Poland’s Gregorsz Proksa boxing out of Redhill, Surrey beat and back in Febraury won something called the European Union title at light middle, as if there is’nt enough titles in boxing, we now have two European champions per each division, please don’t laugh but one’s called the European Boxing Union, and the bastard child the European Union, confused? try not to be!

Michael Angelo Serra

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Golden Boy Promotions for 90 days due to The promotional company failure to turn in paperwork as relating to the May 15th fight card that featured Amir Khan’s WBA Super Lightweight title defense over Paulie Malignagii and Victor Ortiz’s uananimous decision over Nate Campbell at the Madison Square Garden Theather.

“The reason that it was issued was the lack of disclosure of information on their previous show at Madison Square Garden related to their promotional agreements,” said Ralph Petrillo, who is the commission’s director of Boxing.

“They are obliged to supply to the commission any promotional agreements for any boxers they have on that show. They didn’t do that,” Petrillo said.

New York attorney Judd Burstein, who is representing Golden Boy, told ESPN.com the paperwork was turned over to the commission Monday. He was contrite about the situation.

“The commission is not wrong. Their unhappiness was well justified,” Burstein said. “There were innocent errors of omission by Golden Boy. I became involved on Friday. Since then every single document the commission requested has been provided. We’re in talks with the commission to resolve this matter. There’s nothing to hide.”

“This is not a situation where I will say the commission is acting irrationally by being upset,” Burstein said. “There was no willful intent or false statement made. The guy [David Itskowitch] who usually handles it went on his honeymoon and the guy [Armando Gaytan] who [handled it] didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. It’s a completely honest mistake.”

“We were in constant weekly e-mail contact with them after the fight asking them for it,” Petrillo said. “We went back and forth. They were going to check with their legal department was what we were told in the last [e-mail] about three weeks ago. They originally signed our disclosure form saying they would release [the contracts]. They said they hadn’t disclosed their contracts to other states.”

San Juan, P.R.- The main event of the evening featured unbeaten Puerto Rican star Juan Manuel “JuanMa” López against Filipino promise Bernabe “The Real Deal” Concepción for Lopez’s WBO featherweight title. Both fighters wore pink and white showing their support for breast cancer research.

The fight got off to a fast start when JuanMa hurt Concepción with the first left hook he landed and dropped him later in the round only to be dropped himself close to the end of the round by a counter left hook. Both fighters looked ready to keep on fighting but the bell ended the action.

Lopez again dropped Concepción early in the second with a perfect straight left that appeared to really hurt Barnabé and again halfway through the round to finish the fight. Concepción appeared hurt but willing to continue when referee Luis Pabón waved it off at 2:37 of the second round.

Both fighters showcased their power but JuanMa was a little stronger and much more precise. As was the case with Sonsona, Concepción received a standing ovation even after loosing by stoppage as he had the crowd on the edge of their seats for as long as the bout lasted. JuanMa improves to 29-0 with 27 KO’s and sets himself up for the match against Rafael Márquez while Concepción drops to 30-3-1 with 17KO’s.

After the fight, López stated that he “wasn’t hurt” by the punch; only he opened his eyes to find himself in the canvas. With Bob Arum, Orlando Piñero (Lopez’s manager) and Fernando Beltrán (Rafael Marquez’s manager) in attendance for the press conference after the fight, talks of a future match-up between Lopez and Marquez were the main topic of discussion. Beltrán confirmed that on his fighter’s side the contract was already signed and only Lopez’s signature was missing.

López spoke about that fight extensively stating that it is the fight he has been wanting for two years now but has had to wait for the four fights between Márquez and Israel Vázquez to end before he got his chance. He added that before signing, some things must be ironed out but is confident the fight can be officially announced soon.

The televised portion of the show started with Nonito “Flash” Donaire of General Santos City in the Philippines defending his WBA Interim super flyweight title against Hernán “Tyson” Márquez of Sonora, México. Márquez started off with a lead right hookk from his southpaw stance and land two more punches to barely take an uneventful round. Donaire countered well and landed several straight lefts to take another slow round in the second and started to show off his defense making Márquez miss frequently. Márquez took the third round by being more aggressive and even pinning the “Flash” against the ropes who seemed tentative to let his hands go.

Nonito opened up in the fourth and smartly used his jab to make for an entertaining yet close round. Márqeuz appeared to be dealing well with Donaire’s upper body movement in the fifth until several hard shots followed by a short left hook dropped him halfway through the round; he hit the canvas again close to the end of the round but referee Roberto Ramírez didn’t rule it a knockdown. Donaire owned the sixth tagging his opponent from both stances throughout the entire stanza and took the seventh on precision and number of punches landed.

Márquez appeared to get a second air in the eight until a perfectly timed counter left uppercut from the champion dropped him. The challenger beat the count but on advice from his corner, the referee stopped it at 2:59. Nonito improves his record to 24-1 with 16KO’s and leaves the division to campaign at bantamweight while Márque drops to 27-2 with 20KO’s.

After the fight, donaire took a moment to speak with 15rounds.com and shared his thoughts on the fight. About his slow start, Donaire said he was looking to counter but since his opponent didn’t throw any jabs and was so short it made it hard for him. The Flash said it was also his first time fighting a southpaw and he wanted to get loose before he poured it on.

About his opponent’s power, Nonito said that although he had heavy hands, he was never hurt by Márquez and knew from the start he could finish his man before the limit. Still, he added that he had an injury on his left side and his legs were killing him, two factors that made him decide to finish the fight. He thanked the fans in attendance and expressed his desire to travel the island and get to know it better.

Jonathan “Polvo” Oquendo (18-2, 11KO’s) was up next against Eden Sonsona (21-5, 7KO’s) of Paranaque City, Philipines. The fight was for the NABO Super Bantamweight Title and set for 10 rounds. Both fighters landed in the first round but Oquendo, of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico may have had the edge with some powerful rights to the head and good body work on his southpaw opponent. The second was a close round with both fighters landing their respective straights as their clearer punches. Sonsona had a very good third round landing with both hands and backing up his opponent for the second half of the round.

Oquendo managed to make the fourth round close by being more aggressive but Sonsona gave as good as he got. An unintentional head butt at the beginning of the fifth opened a cut over Oquendo’s right eye and jump started the most entertaining round in which both fighters traded to the delight of the crowd. By now both fighters were visibly exhausted and hurt but went at it in the sixth again when Oquendo momentarily switched to southpaw to great effect and took the round. Referee José H. Rivera ruled it was a low blow that dropped Sonsona early but after that both fighters traded big shots in a round where the Puerto Rican seemed to edge his opponent in accuracy alone.

After another head butt to start of the eight, the referee took a point from Sonsona even though it didn’t seem intentional. Oquendo was then warned for hitting low twice and when the ref didn’t take a point from Oquendo, the boos from the crowd started filling the air. Finally, after what didn’t seem to be an intentional low blow, Oquendo was penalized a point and immediately afterwards dropped Sonsona with a straight right hand to the head. Another right hand dropped Sonsona in the ninth but this time the Filipino warrior didn’t have enough to beat the count. Official time of stoppage was 1:05 of the ninth round and both fighters were rewarded with standing ovations from the pumped up crowd.

Sonsona sees his record drop to 21-6 with 7 KO’s and has a long way to climb back after this defeat while Oquendo, now 19-2 with 12KO’s may have set himself up for a title challenge possibly against fellow countryman Wilfredo Vázquez Jr.

Cruiserweights Carlos Negrón of Villalba, Puerto Rico and Gustavo Enríquez of Ciudad Juarez, México fought next at a bout set for eight rounds. Former Olympian Negrón (9-0, 7KO’s) started using his jab and working the body from the first bell and dropped his opponent midway through the round with a right hand but couldn’t finish him right then and there. Enríquez (15-9, 12KO’s) started the second round aggressively but was quickly dissuaded and dropped from another right hand. The third fourth rounds were slower ones dominated by Negrón fighting from a distance and with the use of his jab while the Mexican chased. Scores were 40-35 on all three of the judge’s score cards.

Up next were lightweights Jose González, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico (11-0, 7KO’s) and Mathew Robinson of Bridgeport, Barbados (3-2, 1KO) in a bout set for four rounds. Both fighters appeared to start slowly but halfway through the round González caught Robinson with a counter right hand that appeared to hurt him. A few seconds later, a straight to the body put the man from Barbados down for the count. Official time was 1:49 of the first.

Action for Top Rank’s and PR Best Boxing’s “The Challenge” got underway when heavyweight Victor Bisbal, Salinas, Puerto Rico (17-1, 12KO’s) quickly disposed of overmatched David Whitton, Quebec, Canada (10-13-1, 6KO’s). The bigger more aggressive Bisbal ended the fight with a left to the body that dropped Whitton who couldn’t beat the count. Time of stoppage was 2:33 into the first.

Former Cuban Olympian Erislandy Lara scored an easy first round knockout over William Correa in a scheduled ten round Middleweight bout in Denver, Colorado

Lara was all over Correa in round one as he dropped him with a perfect straight left that sent him face down. Correa got to his feet only to suffer more abuse. Lara was all over Correa and a big flurry sent Correa down for a second time. Again Correa got to his feet but the referee waved the bout off at 2:34 of round one.

Lara, 155 lbs of Mimi is now 9-0 with seven knockouts. Correa is now 8-4.

Derrick Wilson scored two first round knockdown en route to a six round majority decision over previously undefeated Ricky Lopez.

Wilson dropped Lopez early in round one from a big left hook and again from a right.

Wilson, 123 lbs of Fort Myers, FL won by scores of 58-54, 57-55 and 56-56 and is now 7-1-2. Lopez, 122 lbs of Denver, CO is now 7-1

Raul Carillo remained undefeated as he stopped Joel Vargas in round two of a scheduled four round Welterweight bout.

Carillo battered Vargas until finally putting him down in the second frame and the fight was stopped.

Carillo, 145 lbs of Longmont, CO is now 7-0 with six knockouts. Vargas, 148 lbs of Dodge City, KS is now 2-1-1.

Nohime Dennison scored a four round unanimous decision over Brittany Cruz in a four round ladies Jr. Featherweight bout.

Scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37

Down on the scorecards by a wide margin, John Molina scored a come from behind stoppage over previously undefeated Hank Lundy in round eleven of a scheduled twelve round Lightweight bout at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

Lundy came out boxing very well from the southpaw stance as he featured different punches from round to round. He showed a deft jab in the first and started landing the straight left from the southpaw stance over the next few stanza’s. In round five, Lundy’s shots were beginning to show their effect as Molina started to swell under the right eye. Molina came back towards the end of the frame as he got through with a couple of right hands.

The fight started to turn in round eight as Lundy got caught with his hands down and Molina clocked Lundy with a perfect right hand that sent the previously undefeated fighter from Philadelphia to the canvas. The fight got very exciting as the two stood toe to toe over the last thirty seconds of round ten.

In round eleven, Molina landed a couple of shots on the ropes which was mad easier as Lundy left himself wide open by holding on to the ropes. Lundy was chastised by referee Ricky Gonzalez. Moments later, Molina backed Lundy up on the ropes and landed a flurry for which all but two big right hands and Gonzalez jumped in, maybe a bit prematurely and stopped the fight at 2:17 of round eleven.

Molina, 135 lbs of Covina, CA is now 21-1 with seventeen knockouts. Lundy, 135 lbs of Philadelphia, PA is now 18-1-1.

Vladine Biosse remained undefeated by scoring an eight round unanimous decision over Joey McCreedy in a Supper Middleweight tussle.

Biosse was more pinpoint with his punches against the hard charging McCreedy in the entertaining battle of New England rivals. Biosse was crisp with combination’s and featured the uppercut in his arsenal.

Biosse had a 151-49 punch advantage and won by scores of 79-73, 79-73 and 78-74 for Biosse, 165 lbs of Providence, Rhode Island and is now 7-0. McCreedy, 166 lbs of Lowell, MA is now 11-5-2.

“I wanted everybody to know that, even though I haven’t been in this game too long, I’m an athlete,” Biosse said after the fight. “Any chance I get, in life, not just in boxing, I overcome adversity and did that tonight. I’m hoping for bigger and better fights. Joey’s tough. He gave it his best, never quit, and tonight I was the better man in the ring.”

Photo By Emily Harney

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, disgraced former Welterweight champion Antonio Margarito was told by the Nevada Athletic Commission that he first my be granted a boxing License in the State of California before they would consider a license in it’s state.

The California State Athletic Commission revoked Margarito’s license following his Jan. 24, 2009 ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley in a welterweight championship fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles over a hand-wrapping scandal that erupted in the dressing room in the moments before he was supposed to walk to the ring.

“If I would have noticed there was something irregular or wrong I would have been the first person to say I can’t go out and fight,” Margarito said through a translator.

“I think he needs to go to California and clean this matter up,” commissioner Raymond “Skip” Avansino said during the hearing. “They should be the first to rule.”

Commission chairwoman Pat Lundvall, the lone dissenting vote, argued strongly on Margarito’s behalf both for taking a vote and for licensing him.

“I do not think he has a duty legally or morally to go back to California,” she said. “It is incumbent upon this commission to act upon the application. … There is no value in kicking the can down the road.”

“We were hopeful that the commission would rule on the application after hearing our presentation and hearing Antonio answer all of their questions. He did and he did magnificently,” David Marroso, Margarito’s attorney, told ESPN.com after the hearing. “We’re disappointed in their decision to, using their words, kick the can down the road, but we heard their instructions. Antonio, his family, the lawyers and Top Rank will huddle and decide what options we’ll pursue.

“We believe he has paid his price. He’s taken responsibility. We will assess our options and keep fighting just like he’s always done. We will continue to fight. He didn’t become Antonio Margarito by just staying down.”

“I understand their position, but don’t necessarily agree with it,” said Top Rank president Todd duBoef, who was at the hearing while Top Rank chairman Bob Arum was in Puerto Rico promoting Saturday’s Juan Manuel Lopez-Bernabe Concepcion featherweight title fight. “He has served his punishment in California and is not looking to fight in California, so why apply there for a license?

“The Margarito side doesn’t believe the California commission was objective [when the license was revoked] and that they could not get an objective hearing from California now. They were hoping that Nevada would be more objective and see that a commission that Margarito is currently in litigation with would be compromised.”

“Before the fight, my trainer Javier Capetillo, my former trainer, put a knuckle pad made of gauze on my hand,” Margarito said through a translator. “I learned later the knuckle pad had something irregular on the inside but I didn’t know that truthfully in the moment. The knuckle pad didn’t seem different to ones he had put on my hands before.

“I never felt anything hard or irregular. Everything I felt was that it was a knuckle pad that was normal. In that moment, I was focused on one thing and that was preparing myself to go out to the fight with Mosley.”

“I thought about it and talked to my family and decided not to fight,” Margarito said.

“I accept responsibility because they are my hands and that is why I have taken steps to make sure this never happens again.”

“We could take the commission’s instructions and proceed to California,” Said Marroso. “This is not something we expected so it’s not something we had thought through. We’ll let Antonio digest this. We’re going to digest it and huddle and come up with a game plan. It won’t be long until the game plan is set and we act on it.”

Margarito, 32, could go to California, he could fight again outside the United States or he could apply in another state.

“I think everybody was disappointed,” Said Todd duBoef of Top Rank, which promotes Maragito. “I think he’s being victimized by red tape and a process prohibiting him from making a living. I sat next to his wife and you know she wonders where the next paycheck is coming from and that’s very difficult.”

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

Welterweight prospect Mike Jones stopped Irving Garcia in round five of a scheduled twelve round bout to remain undefeated at Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Atlantic City, NJ

The action picked up in round two as Jones started to unleash some lethal offense he started pumping his jab that set up some nice combination’s while Garcia was able to sneak in a couple of decent right hands. The fast action continued in round three as Garcia landed several big right hands that more than just got the attention of Jones. Jones shot back later in the round with a hard combination that backed up Garcia. Jones started to unleash the heavy artillery at the end of round four and carried that mometum into round five when he drilled Garcia with countless shots on the inside as he was battering the visitor until a body shot that may have strayed a little low put Garcia down for referee Randy Neuman’s ten count at 1:22 of round five.

Jones, 146 1/2 of Philadelphia is now 22-0 with eighteen knockouts. Garcia, 146 1/2 lbs of Vega Baja, PR is now 17-5-3.

Lanardo Tyner scored an upset ninth round stoppage over Antwone Smith in a scheduled ten round Welterweight bout.

It was a close fight throughout as the the two fighters stood close and there wasn’t any running from either man. Smith started to forge a head slightly as he started putting punches together in the middle rounds. Smith started to swell up from his right eye from the continuous assault of Tyner as he seemed to pick up a second wind as the fight headed into the last third of the fight.

In round nine, Tyner landed a huge left to the body that was followed by a right to the head that dropped Smith to the canvas. Looking beaten up, referee Earl Morton ended Smith’s night at 1:15 of round nine.

Tyner, 148 lbs of Houston, TX is now 24-3 with fifteen knockouts. Smith, 145 1/2 lbs of Miami is now 18-2-1.

Ardick Butler scored an opening second knockdown of Manuel Guzman but he wishes that the fight could have been over right then and there as Guzman came back to score an explosive second round knockout at 2:53 of round two of their scheduled four round Jr. Middleweight bout.

Butler scored his knockdown from a right hand shortly after the fight began. In round two, Guzman uncorked an overhand right the knocked Butler out cold for several minutes.

With the victory, Guzman, 146 1/2 lbs of Lancaster, PA is now 7-9-2 with three knockouts. Butler, 148 lbs of Philadelphia is now 5-2.

Ryan Belasco boxed his way to a unanimous decision over Kevin Carmody in a six round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Scores were 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55 for Belasco, 137 1/2 lbs of Wilmington, DE and is now 12-4-3. Carmody, 138 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is now 10-13-2.

Jason Sosa stayed undefeated as he pounded out a four round unanimous decision over Bryheim Douglas in a Jr. Lightweight bout.

Sosa was more active and landed some good shots on the inside while Douglas was very game as he landed some good shots but it was Sosa who got the better of the action.

Scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 for Sosa, 128 1/2 lbs of Camden, NJ and is now 3-0-1. Douglas, 129 lbs of Philadelphia is now 3-4-2.

Steven Martinez kept his perfect knockout streak in tact as he stopped Jason Thompson in round two of a scheduled four round Jr. Middleweight bout.

Martinez was caught with a right hand and looked to be dropped at the end of round one but it was ruled a slip by the referee. In round two, Martinez shook off the late round punch and went on the offensive dropped Thompson with a big right and. Thompson got to his feet only to eat a vicious flurry that had the fight stopped 2:37 of round two.

Martinez, 152 1/2 lbs of Bronx, NY is now 5-0 with all wins coming early. thompson, 151 1/2 lbs of NY is now 5-6-1.

Anthony Caputo remained undefeated as he scored a second round stoppage over Walter Edwards in a scheduled four round Light Heavyweight bout.

Caputo rocked Edwards at the bell at the end of round one witha huge right hand. Caputo was methodical in round two until a flurry on the ropes forced referee Steve Smoger to stop the bout at 2:44 of round two.

Caputo, 179 lbs of Kennett Square, PA is now 5-0 with four knockouts. Edwards, 173 1/2 lbs of Wilson, NC is now 1-5.

Josh Mercado scored a four round unanimous decision over Kywame Hill in a four round Welterweight bout.

Mercado was more aggressive and he was egged on by a loud cheering section as he hails from nearby Cape May, NJ.

Scores were 39-37 on all cards for Mercado, 145 lbs of Cape May and is now 5-1. Hill, 143 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is 1-5.

Miguel Corsino needed just fifty-eight seconds to dispatch of Epi Cosme Rodriguez in a scheduled four round Welterweight bout.

Corsino scored two knockdowns, the first was set up by a huge right hand that was follwed by a flurry that dropped Rodriguez. With Rodriguez clearly hurt, Corsino landed a two huge uppercuts that was follwed by a left hook that sent Rodriguez down for a second time as referee Steve Smoger waved off the action.

Corsino, 145 lbs of Camden, NJ is 2-0 with both wins coming by knockout. Rodriguez, 145 1/2 lbs of Harrisburg, PA is now 0-3.

In the opening bout, Rafael Jastrzebski scored a four round unanimous decision over Joe Dunn in a Super Middleweight bout.

Jastrzebski battered and blooded Dunn by landing countless flurries for which the debuting Dunn had no answer for.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Jastrzebski, 167 lbs of Atlantic City, NJ who is now 3-6-1. Dunn, 162 lbs of Philadelphia is now 0-1.

Carolina, P.R.- Fighters for this Saturday’s “The Challenge” weighed in today at the Verdanza hotel in Isla Verde, Carolina. The event is a co-promotion between Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions and the brothers Rivera PR Best Boxing Promotions to be televised by SHOWTIME®. Mr. Arum himself was there for the event as was Lee Samuels. Fighters from Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Mexico, Barbados, Canada and the United States make up the fifty eight round, seven bout card with fights from super flyweight division all the way up to the heavyweights.

After all fighters were weighed, Puerto Rican Juan Manuel López stayed a while to talk to the press about his upcoming fight, his future plans and his support for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

About Concepción, López said he knows he is a young, strong fighter with a rather unorthodox style but was confident of having all the necessary tools to come away with the victory. He added that Concepción looks just like he did for his fight against Mario Santiago and other than the awkwardness of the style, doesn’t expect any surprises.

When asked about the similarities between this fight and his life and death struggle against Tanzanian Rogers Mtagwa, López answered that that had been at 122lbs. where he was too weak from the struggle to make weight unlike this time where he now is well accustomed to 126lbs. He added that if there are people taking the Mtagwa fight as an example that he isn’t as good as some of the other champions in the division, they are making a big mistake. This since in that fight he proved he can be hurt but still keep on fighting and bring home the victories. López admitted that Concepción might be a difficult fighter because of his style and the volume of punches he throws, but he believes he has faster hands that also carry more power

About possible future rival Rafael Márquez, López stated that he had wanted to fight him, and Israel Vázquez, since 2008 but not until now had they shown interest. JuanMa added that even though Marquez is a very dangerous opponent, he believes his style makes for a more comfortable fight than Concepción as it is a more orthodox style of boxing.

López will be wearing pink and white shoes, robe and gloves which will later be auctioned off to help the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, a cause he has taken under his wing for this fight.

Blue Corner Red Corner

WBO Featherweight Title-12rds.
Bernabé Concepción-125lbs. Vs. Juan Manuel López-125.3lbs.
Rizal Province, Philippines (28-3-1, 15KO’s) Caguas, Puerto Rico (28-0, 25KO’s)

WBA Interim Super Flyweight Title-12rds.
Hernán Marquez-115lbs. Vs. Nonito Donaire-114.5lbs.
Empalme, México (27-1, 20KO’s) General Santos City, Philippines (23-1, 15KO’s)

NABO Super Bantamweight Title-10rds.
Eden Sonsona-121.6lbs. Vs. Jonathan Oquendo-121.4lbs.
Paranque City, Philippines (21-5, 7KO’s) Vega Alta, Puerto Rico (18-2, 11KO’s)

Cruiserweight fight-8rds.
Gustavo Enríquez-192.9lbs Vs. Carlos Negrón-194.6lbs.
Ciudad Juarez, México (15-9, 12KO’s) Villalba, Puerto Rico (9-0, 7KO’s)

Bantamweight fight-6rds.
Jason Rorie-118.3lbs. Vs. McJoe Arroyo 119.6lbs.
Winston, North Carolina (6-7-2, 3KO’s) Fajardo, Puerto Rico (3-0, 1KO)

Lightweight Fight-4rds.
Mathew Robinson-133.9lbs. Vs. José González 136.6lbs.
Bridgeport, Barbados (3-1, 1KO) Toa Baja, Puerto Rico (10-0, 6KO’s)

Heavyweight Fight-6rds.
David Whittom-218.5lbs. Vs. Victor Bisbal-236lbs.
Quebec, Canada (10-12-1, 6KO’s) Salinas, Puerto Rico (16-1, 11KO’s)

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, an intriguing IBF Super Middleweight elimination bout between undefeated Jean Paul Mendy and former world title challenger Sakio Bika has been added to the off-tv portion of the packed cardthat will feature the Lightweight title rematch of the 2009 fight of the year between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz that will take place July 31st in Las Vegas.

The winner of Bika-Mendy will earn a mandatory shot against 168-pound titleholder Lucian Bute.

“This is truly a ‘Fight Freak’ card for the ages,” said Richard Schaefer , CEO of Golden Boy Promotions who will promote the card. “We are going all out to make July 31 a night to remember for boxing and sports fans. The addition of Bika versus Mendy is another all-action fight which supplements a card which I consider to be one of the best top to bottom boxing events in the past few years.”

Schaefer said Bika-Mendy will take place just before the HBO PPV telecast begins but that highlights of the bout would air during the broadcast. However, he said is working on having the fight, along with another undercard match featuring blue-chip junior welterweight prospect Frankie Gomez, shown live as a free preview in the hour preceding the start of the pay-per-view telecast.

“We’re trying now to secure the free window from the PPV channels,” Schaefer said. “Looking good.”

Carolina, P.R.- Fighters, managers and trainers for this Saturday’s upcoming fight card spoke with 15rounds.com at today’s press conference. The show will feature Puerto Rican Juan Manuel López against Filipino Bernabé Concepción and Vic Darchinyan conqueror Nonito Donaire aginst Mexican Hernán Marquez as the co-features.

Nonito “Flash” Donaire (23-1-0, 15KO’s) stated that he felt good, strong and ready for his upcoming bout against Hernán “Tyson” Marquez (27-1-0, 20KO’s), Sonora, Mexico. Donaire said he’s seen Marquez and knows he has a good record and is a strong fighter who hits hard and is hungry but thinks he has an advantage in speed and height that will help him carry along his plan of fighting from the outside.

The new Filipino “Flash” said this would be his last fight at super flyweight as it is becoming increasingly hard for him to make weight. When asked about what fights at bantamweight he would like, the name of Mexican WBC and WBO titlist Fernando Montiel immediately came up though he said he would not have it in Mexico as he doesn’t want to be at a disadvantage. The names of Eric Morel and Jorge Arce also came up as possible candidates. He would go on to state that his plans are to move all the way up to super bantamweight and mentioned Puerto Rican WBO titlist Wilfredo Vázquez Jr. as a possible opponent stating that he would carry the weight very well and be very comfortable at 122lbs.

Donaire also commented on the rivalries between Filipino, Mexican and Puerto Rican fighters on a positive note stating that fans want to see it. He finished by thanking his fans for all the support saying that it is them who give him determination.

His trainer, Robert García, also acknowledged Marquez’s strength, power and hunger and even admitted that the fight could end early favoring anyone of the fighters. Although he expressed, as had Donaire before, that making weight had become increasingly hard, he was clear that it wouldn’t affect this fight and that Nonito was ready to go twelve rounds if necessary.

Nonito’s opponent, “Tyson” Marquez, told us he’s been watching Donaire for a long time and knows his opponents strengths but also his weakness. The Mexican fighter was quick to point out Donaire’s height, explosiveness, speed and power and catalogued him as a dangerous fighter. Still he said that even though he doesn’t get hit very often, when he has gotten caught, he’s been hurt.

Clear about his plan, Marquez said he would look to get inside and try to get to him first. This, since he admits that whoever gets clocked first will most likely go down. He worked out for this fight for seven weeks, two of them at sea level and the other five at high altitude on Mexico’s D.F.

His trainer, Rudy Pérez, knows Donaire is a very complete boxer that must be approached intelligently yet that won’t be a deterrent for there to be “candela” (fire) come Saturday.

Juan Manuel “JuanMa” López (28-0-0, 25KO’s) kept it short at the podium regarding boxing as he took advantage to speak on behalf of breast cancer research, a cause he has taken into consideration for this upcoming bout. Still he gave credit to his next opponent, Filipino Bernabé “The Real Deal” Concepción (28-3-1, 15KO’s) who is coming off a career-best performance against Puerto Rican Mario Santiago.

López said that pads are easier to hit than he is and they won’t hit back like he will. About Concepción’s training in Manny Pacquiao’s camp, he said that many fighters want to be like the Pac-Man, whom he called a good friend, but only Manny can do it. Jokingly, he said that if Manny, who was supposed to be at the fight, would get on the ring to fight on Concepción’s behalf, he would call up former three-division world champion, Felix “Tito” Trinidad to back him up.

About the looming fight with Rafael Marquez, JuanMa, in a sort of contradiction, said that he wasn’t going to talk about that fight but at the same time that it was a reality. Rafael Marquez is coming of a TKO victory over Israel Vázquez that settled their four fight “fiesta” at two wins a piece.

López’s manager, Orlando Piñero was a little less discreet and made it clear that no matter how good Concepción was, JuanMa is the best champion out there right now and he will prove it come Saturday.

Concepción was also brief at the podium barely stating that this fight was an honor for him and that everybody knows JuanMa is a tough fighter. When asked afterwards about how he felt being in Puerto Rico, he replied that he felt comfortable as did his team and his manager Michael Koncz as the weather is very similar to that in the Philippines.

He assured 15rounds.com that his training, held in Los Angeles, California, was pretty good as he had three sparring partners from the famous Wild Card Gym. He told us he was very comfortable at the weight and didn’t foresee any trouble in this area.

About the fight, he predicted it would probably not get to twelve rounds since they both have power. When comparing the fight to his previous one against Santiago, another Puerto Rican southpaw, Concepción said that the main difference would be in the power López has and Santiago doesn’t. He admitted both could move, but López has more power from what he has seen in a couple of his fights.

Regarding his DQ loss against Steven Luevano, who was later stopped by López, Abe said that when he watched a video of the fight he realized he had to throw more punches. In that fight, two of the judges had Luevano ahead at the end of the seventh round when Concepción landed a punch after the bell that knocked out Luevano. Regardless of the outcome, Concepción said he was “disgusted” with his performance and as a result changes were made in his corner.

His manager, Michael Koncz, jumped in the conversation and spoke about many adjustments being made in the physical aspect but also on the technical aspect of his fighter’s boxing. About the technical changes, Koncz said we would have to wait until Saturday to see them.
Bernabé knows he is an underdog in this fight, although a very live one, and wasn’t very enthusiastic about speaking of future plans but said he would definitely sit down and talk about a fight with Rafael Marquez should he win this weekend.

He ended saying “for all the fans, thank you so much and I hope you don’t miss it”.

Another Filipino fighter appearing on the card will be Eden Sonsona (21-5-0, 7KO’s) who will be facing interim WBO Latino Super bantamweight titlist Jonathan “Polbo” Oquendo (18-2-0, 11KO’s) of Vega Alta Puerto Rico. Sonsona didn’t want to make a prediction on how the fight was going to end, but said his camp had been good and he was happy and excited to be part of the event.

He urged his fans to watch the fight as it was going to be the most exciting fight.

The card will feature a host of upcoming Puerto Rican prospects including ex-Olympians Victor Bisbal, McJoe Arroyo and Carlos Negrón and will be televised around the world and broadcasted in the United States on Showtime. Tickets are available at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot and through Ticketpop. Prices range from $400.00 to $35.00

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com disgraced former Welterweight champion, Antonio Margarito will appear before the Nevada Athletic Commission in effort of regaining his boxing license in that state.

“We have him on last because that will be the longest part of the meeting,” commission executive director Keith Kizer told ESPN.com on Tuesday.

“He’s going to have to answer some tough question here,” Kizer said. “He has to be here in person. It’s a heavy burden for him to satisfy, but it’s his burden to meet. He’ll have to explain anything the commissioners want to ask him about. I assume the commissioners will ask him a lot of questions. Some may be easy, some may be hard, but the burden is solely his.”

However, in the minutes before his fight with Shane Mosley on January 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, drama had unfolded in Margarito’s dressing room. It was there that Mosley trainer Naazim Richardson objected to the way Margarito’s left hand had been wrapped.

California officials eventually cut off the wrap to check it and discovered an illegal pad coated in a plaster-like substance, which had obviously escaped the notice of the commission inspector who oversaw the wrapping procedure. When the wrap on Margarito’s right hand was also cut off for examination, an identical illegal pad was also discovered.

Margarito’s hands we re-wrapped and he went on to lose the fight. Three weeks later, Margarito’s claim of ignorance at a hearing was rejected by the California State Athletic Commission and he had his license revoked in a 7-0 vote, as did trainer Javier Capetillo.

“I really believe he should get his license in Nevada,” Said Bob Arum, who promotes Maragrito. “He and his attorney will present the reasons and the Nevada commission will decide. We went to Nevada because that’s where we are planning for him to fight. If it’s not against Pacquiao in November, it would be against Cotto in December.

“I’m optimistic the Nevada commission will do the right thing, but I haven’t talked to anyone on the commission, not one person, and neither has [Top Rank president] Todd [duBoef].” Arum said they are approaching the Nevada commission now so they don’t have to rush like they had in Texas earlier this year.

“If Floyd elects not to step up to the plate and fight Pacquiao and Pacquiao elects to fight Margarito, if that happens, we need to make sure Margarito has a license,” Arum said. “You can’t go to Pacquiao and see if he will fight Margarito if the guy doesn’t even have a license. So we are doing this now instead of rushing around at the last minute.”

“This is not that different from other situations where people had things in their past that the commission wanted to ask them about before deciding about a license,” Kizer said. “We did it with people like Mike Tyson, Zab Judah and Roger Mayweather, who had all been disciplined in Nevada. Margarito’s situation was in California, but we have the same rules as they do. Margarito was revoked, and after a year you are free to apply anywhere. He sat out for [more than] a year, and now he can reapply.”

“They have full discretion and jurisdiction,” he said. “I know there will be a lot of people on both sides. If they do grant him a license, there will be a lot of people yelling, ‘They’re crazy for giving him a license.’ And if they don’t, there will be a lot of people yelling, ‘They’re crazy for not giving him a license.’ They’ll be criticized either way, so they don’t have to worry about it. The five commissioners will listen to what he has to say and make the decision.”

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, an agreement has been reached between Featherweight beltholder’s Yuriorks Gamboa and Elio Rojas in a bout that will take place on September 11 in a site to be determined.

“We’ve sent them a draft of the contract for them to review and we’re waiting for their comments, but we’ve agreed on the terms,” Carl Moretti of Top Rank, who promotes Gamboa told ESPN.com.

Before Salido got the fight with Gamboa, Rojas had been the target. However, according to Top Rank, issues between King and Rojas’ manager, along with the tight schedule, forced Top Rank to turn to Salido, who it also promotes.

Once Salido dropped out and there was more time to make a fight for Gamboa, Top Rank made another run at Rojas because that is who HBO preferred, Moretti said.

“Style-wise, Rojas presents Gamboa with a different kind of fight than Salido,” Moretti said. “Salido is right-handed and in front of you and can punch. Rojas is a lefty, he’s taller than Gamboa and not easy to hit. He’s more of a pure boxer.”

“It’s Gamboa’s title against Rojas’ title. Pretty simple,” Moretti said.

“It shows that they really believe they have a shot to win the fight, which they do,” he said.

“He wanted this fight. He wanted Gamboa or [titlist] ‘Juanma’ Lopez, and now he has one, and when he beats him, he would go for another unification fight,” Victor Rojas, Elio’s uncle and one of his representatives, told ESPNdeportes.com.

To prepare for the fight, Rojas has hooked up with a new trainer, the highly regarded Kevin Cunningham. Cunningham, who is training unified junior welterweight titlist Devon Alexander for his Aug. 7 fight with former titleholder Andreas Kotelnik in Las Vegas, said Rojas joined the camp on June 30.

“They called me and asked me if I would train him,” said Cunningham, who first met Rojas several years ago at King’s training facility in Orwell, Ohio. “Elio is a good kid. He watched the way I run my camps when we were in Ohio and he has wanted me to work with him and this opportunity came up.

“This could be a very, very good fight. You’ve got Gamboa, who’s coming in with good hand speed and he can punch and he has had his way with everybody he’s fought so far. But I think Elio is the most talented opponent Gamboa would have seen so far in his career, so I like Elio’s chances. He’s going to have to be at his best and extremely sharp, but I see a lot of mistakes that Gamboa makes. I got nine weeks to get Elio ready and he will be ready.”

The planned co-feature is a lightweight title eliminator between Anthony Peterson (30-0, 20 KOs), of Washington, D.C., and Brandon Rios (24-0-1, 18 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., both of whom are promoted by Top Rank. The winner is supposed to become the mandatory challenger for titlist Miguel Acosta, another Top Rank fighter.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former world Heavyweight title challenger, Chris Arreola will take on fellow Mexican-American Heavyweight Manuel Quezada on August 13 in a bout that will take place at the Citizens Business Bank Center in Ontario, California.

The bout will be braodcasted on ESPN 2.

“This fight is an opportunity for Cris to jump back into the thick of things with a win,” Dan Goossen, who promoted both Arreola & Quezada said. “And this is something Quezada has been asking for for quite awhile. He’s been asking to fight Cris. He feels like he’s taken a backseat to Cris and he thinks he’s just as interesting and aggressive and exciting as Cris is in the ring. I know that Cris has never had any problem fighting Manny, but it never worked out that way the last few years. Now, obviously, here it is. They’re both coming off very disappointing losses and they need to win this one.”

“Cris has to perform and also this is Manny’s big shot,” Said Henry Ramirez, who trains Arreola. “You’ve got two guys whose backs are against the wall, my guy and Manny. Whoever loses is basically done. But I’m hoping Cris knows his back is against the wall. Manny is a tough guy. I like Manny a lot and I respect him a lot. I know him well. He’s a good friend of mine. But Cris has been in the gym and sparring for about a week.

“I think Cris knows the only way to get back to those paydays he had and to get back into the limelight is for him to take the fight seriously and to pull his head out of his ass. Is it pulled out yet? Little by little it’s coming out. For this fight he hasn’t missed any workouts — yet. But I know Cris. Let’s see if he can take this seriously.”

“Our conversations with HBO, as it relates to the heavyweight division, is if you’re not out there giving 100 percent and showing that aggressive style and the ability to draw fans and ratings, that it’s a hard road back to HBO, and Cris knows that,” Goossen said. “I believe the winner of this fight comes right into a fight with Adamek, either a rematch for Cris or a shot for Manny. Cris would love to have that rematch and Manny would love to pull the upset on Aug. 13 and jump into Cris’ shoes.

“I think Aug. 13 is a springboard to having one of the fighters come out and say, ‘I’m ready to take on everybody and to do it in tip-top shape.’ ”

Arreola is 28-2 with twenty-five knockouts. Quezada is 29-5 with eighteen knockouts.

RENO, NEVADA — In a measured performance, world ranked light flyweight Ulises Solis scored a ten-round unanimous decision win over shop-worn former titlist Eric Ortiz at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino on Saturday night. Their bout headlined a fight card which was part of a celebration weekend, honoring the centennial anniversary of the Jack Johnson-James J. Jeffries World Heavyweight title fight which took place in Reno.

Solis (31-2-2, 21 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico fought far more cautiously than many had expected he would against Ortiz (32-11-3, 21 KOs) of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. After all, Solis was completely dominant in their first encounter which took place in 2006 and ended in a ninth-round stoppage.

Solis, 113 ½, started out slowly before Ortiz, 114, landed two rights in the second round that seemed to wake up the former IBF Light Flyweight Champion. Solis, currently the IBF #1/WBO #3 ranked 108-pounder, began to assert himself in the third, most notably landing a hard leaping lead left hand.

As the rounds went on, Solis utilized his superior boxing skills and built up a heavy lead on the scorecards. Ortiz could not make his way around Solis’ stiff jab, and thus was a sitting duck on the outside. As the fight moved into the seventh round, Solis began to press the fight as Ortiz began to fade.

Early in the eighth, Solis stunned Ortiz with a left hook, but did not press the issue with an aggressive follow-up attack. Ortiz burst with a quick flash of energy in the ninth and pressed Solis into a corner, where he landed some feather dusting combinations. Ortiz seemed to begin to lose his legs as he leaned on Solis moments later. With Ortiz already falling over, Solis gave him a shove that accelerated his fall to the mat. For that action, referee Jay Nady deducted a point from Solis.

The shoving incident proved to be an indication that Ortiz was deteriorating in the fight. Moments later, Solis landed a quick jab, overhand right combination that forced Ortiz to touch his right glove to the mat to score a knockdown and negate the point deduction. Ortiz would make it out of the round, but another right would result in another knockdown for Solis in the tenth. Ortiz, who outperformed expectations based on his recent performances, proved game until the end as he continued to come forward until the final bell.

In the end, Solis earned the nod in lopsided fashion by the scores of 99-88 and 98-89 twice. Solis is the mandatory challenger for the IBF Light Flyweight title currently held by Luis Lazarte. However, Lazarte already has a defense scheduled for September 4th against Carlos Tamara. Instead of sitting on the shelf waiting for his mandatory to be enforced, Solis took the calculated risk of fighting Ortiz. “He had everything to win, and I had everything to lose,” said Solis after the fight. “But I feel I showed I am a world class fighter. The meaning on this fight was to get ready for the next title, and not waste any time.” Solis’ next fight will likely be against the winner of Lazarte-Tamara, although Omar Nino, holder of the WBC version of the title, is another possibility.

In the co-feature, welterweight hopeful Mark Jason Melligen (19-2, 13 KOs) of Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines scored a ten-round unanimous decision over Anges Adjaho (25-3, 14 KOs) of Geneva, New York by way of Cotonou, Benin. Adjaho, the IBF #9 ranked contender at lightweight, fought well down the stretch, but was not active enough in the early rounds to win any favor with the official scorers.

Melligen, 147, landed well to the body of Adjaho, 146 ½, at times early in the fight. However, it was when Melligen would wow the crowd with his attack on Adjaho’s midsection, that the Benin-born contender would wake out of his defensive posture and mount an offense of his own. Far too often though, Adjaho would cover up and wait for Melligen to stop throwing before attempting a punch of his own.

Adjaho came out of his shell some in the sixth, landing first for a change and buzzing Melligen with at least one shot mid-round. Melligen turned the tide late in the stanza, as he backed Adjaho up just before the bell. After a nondescript seventh, Adjaho controlled most of the eighth before Melligen landed a quick flurry to close the round.

Adjaho continued to press a tiring Melligen in the ninth. Each had their moments in the round, but the flow seemed to favor Adjaho. After a tenth round in which both fighters seemed to have little left in the tank, all three judges scored the fight rather widely for Melligen. Scores read 99-91, 98-92 and 97-73.

Melligen had been pegged to fight Michel Rosales Saturday, the last man to defeat him. However Rosales opted to take a fight in Mexico for a minor light middleweight title, and bowed out of the planned rematch. “I would like to fight Rosales,” said Melligen after the fight. “I accept my loss, but if Rosales would like to rematch me I will fight him.” Melligen stated he has tentative plans to return to the ring in August.

Joey Gilbert (20-2, 15 KOs) of Reno continued his rise back into contention with an eight-round unanimous decision win over the always tough Billy Bailey (10-9, 4 KOs) of Bakersfield, California.

Gilbert, 172, utilized an excellent body attack in round one, but the telling blows, especially upstairs, were landed by Bailey. Gilbert fell back on his boxing skills in round two, far outworking Bailey, 173, and landing best with hooks to the body. Gilbert started out on his toes in round three, and found success by landing potshots and getting out of range. Inexplicably, late in the round Gilbert allowed himself to get into a heated, flat-footed exchange with Bailey. Both landed their share of punches, but more importantly Gilbert was giving Bailey the one shot he had in the fight.

Gilbert regained control of the fight in round four, as he was again busier than the onrushing Bailey, and landed the stiffer blows for the first time in the fight. Round five featured some excellent two-way action, but it was Gilbert that landed in combination, while Bailey’s shots were usually one at a time. Again in the sixth, Bailey landed the cleanest punch in the round, but allowed Gilbert to outwork him for the majority of the three minutes.

Gilbert punctuated a seventh in which he outboxed Bailey again with several hard rights to the body, one after another. Throughout the fight, Bailey had just missed with several swings at Gilbert’s chin. As the bell rung to open the eighth, it was clear Bailey would need to do something dramatic to win the fight. A now bloodied Gilbert gave Bailey the opportunity again, as the two stood in the red corner and unloaded to close the fight. In the end, all three judges had the fight for Gilbert by the scores of 80-72 and 79-73 twice.

In the opening fight of the night, 2008 Mexican Olympian Francisco Vargas (2-0, 1 KO) of East Los Angeles, California by way of Mexico City scored a four-round decision over the game Juan Sandoval (1-4, 1 KO) of San Bernardino, California. Sandoval, 132, came to fight, but did not have the skill set to match the former amateur star. Vargas, 130, went all out in the fourth, landing several cracking blows against the defensive Sandoval. All three judges scored the bout a shutout in favor of Vargas, by the scores of 40-35 and 40-36 twice.

Carlos Gaytan (2-0-1, 2 KOs) of Reno pounded Alex Rivera (2-2, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada en route to a second-round stoppage victory. Gaytan, 169, was the aggressor from the outset. Rivera, 168, was often in retreat, but was able to take several head shots without going down. Unable to put a dent into Rivera with punches to his head, Gaytan stuck a left hook to his body that downed the Las Vegas resident, forcing him into submission on the mat. Official time of the knockout was 1:33 of round two.

In the final walkout bout, Khadaphi Proctor (5-5-1) of Hesperia, California evened up his journeyman record with a hard-fought six-round split decision over John Figueroa (7-6-3, 3 KOs) of Salinas, Puerto Rico. Figueroa, 137, started out well as he rocked Proctor, 138, with a looping overhand right halfway through the first round. As the fight progressed, Proctor slowly began to seize control of the fight. In the end, one judge had the fight for Figueroa, 58-56. That tally was overruled by scores of 60-54 and 59-55 for Proctor.

Let’s Get It On Promotions will bring fight action back to Northern Nevada on August 28th at the Churchill County Fairgrounds in Fallon. USBA Light Heavyweight Champion Otis Griffin is expected to be part of a card that will feature both boxing and mixed martial arts.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

WBO 130-pound world boxing champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez ran the route of the Torch of Central American and Caribbean Fire, this Sunday, July 4 in his hometown of Vega Baja. He toured the Carr.155, from Angel Sandin Martinez School into the public square and the athlete was responsible for the protocol activity.

“For me it is a true honor to represent the people who saw me grow up in such a prestigious event. My boxing career has not been easy but I want you to know that whenever I’m in the ring I’m not alone because I have the strength and support of my people, “said Martinez.

This family sporting activity also included the participation of other native athletes of Vega Baja, of whom four were part of the Games of Central American and Caribbean in the athletic disciplines of cycling, taekwondo and swimming.