A Dana White of Boxing.

A former boxer, Bobby Hitz has hired Tom Tsatas as the new President for his promotional company, Hitz Boxing. Together they make quite a team.

Their next show, loaded with talent, is scheduled for February 20^th, 2010 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond Indiana. And they are looking to do big things in the future.

“Bobby is old school,” said Tom Tsatas about his new boss and a personal friend:” He is an honorable, descent guy who wants to put on big events. I am a little more new school, working the marketing aspect. I wouldn’t mind being a Dana White of Boxing, a guy who throws it out there, who says it the way it is. My motto is – I would rather have you loose exciting than win boring.” Tsatas, entrepreneur by nature, who owns nine restaurants, wants to put a new twist into an old idea, bringing back the days of old when boxers were called prizefighters. Tsatas would like to be able to pay bonuses to fighters for performance, a concept practiced in UFC.

Formally educated at the North Eastern University and University of Chicago with a degree in business marketing, Tom Tsatas might have gotten some philosophy training from an unlikely source, a boxing coach from Hollywood, California, Freddie Roach. “We were there for most of 2006,” said Tsatas:” When Freddie trained Fres Oquendo (a heavyweight contender managed by Tom). Manny Pacquiao was out there training, before he blew up. Justin Fortune was there. Those guys, they tell it the way it is; no B.S., no sugar coating. I think I want to be the same way.”

Tom believes in telling his fighters the truth: “There is nothing wrong with telling your fighter that he lost,” said Tsatas:” My philosophy is put on big shows and be honest. I don’t need to lie.”

Fres Oquendo is headlining an upcoming show at Horseshoe Casino in a ten round bout against a very dangerous veteran Demetrice King. King recently stopped previously unbeaten, very highly touted Bowie Tupou. Should Oquendo come out victorious, he will become relevant in a heavyweight division once again. George Foreman lll, the third son of a former heavyweight champion of the world, was recently added to the card. Foreman lll is not promoted by Hitz Boxing, but undefeated heavyweight is definitely an attraction. The company is also developing some young talent.

Among them is a junior welterweight Achour Esho, with the record of 6-0, he looks a little like Amir Khan. Undefeated cruiserweight Terry Martin, who fights like Mike Tyson, will face Rodell Boler in a four round bout.An Irish amateur stand out Henry Coyle will also be featured on the card.

“We have too many people to put on the card,” said Tsatas:” we will have a couple of shows and then we will see.” This should be a pretty interesting show. Tom Tsatas and Bobby Hitz are off to a great start. Stay tuned. As I believe, you will hear their names again and again.

 ”My vision is take the great sport of boxing out of the stone age of thinking,” said Tsatas:” Or the selfish me me promoter attitude, and give the fans a dynamic and exciting show not just a fight. We want to give our fans the best product around. Good shows, good fights, great energy.”

Valero demolishes DeMarco and keeps his KO streak intact.

Photo by Tom Casino

WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero battered number one challenger and interim belt holder Mexican Antonio DeMarco from pillar to post for nine brutal rounds on Saturday night in Monterey Mexico until Demarco’s corner has seen enough and threw in a white towel. Passing the toughest test of his professional career with flying colors, Valero extended his record to 27-0 with all of his wins coming by way of knock out, but more than just his brute power and force, Valero was able to demonstrate his boxing skills and the heart of the champion.

“This was definitely my best performance,’’ said  28-year- old Valero after making the second title defense of the 135-pound belt he won in April 2009.  “I learned I have to pace myself and can’t just come out in the beginning rounds so aggressively. I have to save some of that for the later rounds.”

Despite adversity early on, Valero was bleeding from the nose, caused by his opponent’s stiff jab in the first round, a cut on the right side of the cheek bone, a huge gash on his fore head caused by an accidental but very hard elbow in the second round and another cut on top of the right eye in the third, Valero controlled the action, pushed his adversary back with sharp vicious combinations. Valero pumped a shot gun jab with a regularity of a machine to set up his devastating four, five, six, and eight punch combinations that kept assaulting the challenger round after round. Demarco was not just a punching bag; he boxed well, especially early on in the fight moving and counterpunching with authority, landing some stiff jabs of his own and a few hooks that cought the attention of the champion and the crowd. Surprisingly Demarco looked to be the stronger man in the ring, possibly because his very infrequent connects were accompanied by the roar from the partisan crowd.

“I felt I was the stronger fighter but it wasn’t my night,” conceded the 5-foot-10, 24-year-old DeMarco: “He got the best of me.  I went out there tonight to fight but my body did not respond.”

 “As a Mexican fighter, I did not want to quit,” said DeMarco (23-2-1,17KO’S):” But my corner saw throughout the fight that Valero was the better fighter.’’

Valero was definitely the better fighter on Saturday night, but what was really surprising was his defense and boxing skills never on display before. Valero unleashed his atrocious combinations and moved back avoiding getting hit by return fire from DeMarco. Despite his obvious disadvantage in height and reach, Valero rolled his shoulder and moved his head out of the way, Mayweather like, to avoid getting hit with clean punches. In fact it was Demarco who was reaching and missing with his blows most of the night like he was the shorter fighter. Valero was always one step ahead of his challenger gaining dominance with each round and showing his mastery of the sweet science.

“I wasn’t surprised the fight lasted nine rounds. I was expecting it to last the full 12,’’ he said. “I knew I had to keep doing what I was doing in order to win. They thought I wasn’t a boxer and that I couldn’t deal with his reach. They didn’t know that I was a lateral fighter. I showed them that I had a better defense and better legs.’’

 Valero’s introduction to a wide American TV boxing audience was awe inspiring and should bring him much coveted big fights with boxing elite.

Hernadez stops Corley and Contreras destroys Castaneda

Photo by M.L. Preisel

Former light welterweight champion, veteran DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley (36-13-1,21KO’S) took on a rising Mexican prospect, once beaten Freddy Hernandez(28-1,19KO’S) in a ten round welterweight bout in the main event that took place at Chumash Casino on Friday night and was televised by Sho Box The New Generation.

First round produced fireworks with both guys landing some bombs and Freddy Hernadez on the floor from what looked like a punch, but referee Pat Russell called it a slip allowing the action to resume. Shorter southpaw Corley used his experience to outmaneuver young contender. Corley landed some very effective shots in the second that included wild left hands and short right hooks, but the most damage that Corley has caused came from a head butt right on the button. Corley’s head caused  younger prospect a lot of discomfort, but besides his head veteran was landing some crisp right hooks and uppercuts. In the fourth Corley went down from what looked like a punch again, but referee called it a slip as well. By the fourth Hernandez started to land some powerful body shots.

“My corner kept telling me to throw the right hand more and pick up the pace,’’ said Hernandez, who came out for the fifth with renewed intensity. “We’d seen tapes and saw where Corley slowed down a little after three or four rounds.” He  continued the body work in the fifth that set up a straight right hand which wobbled the veteran, and then another jab and a straight right hand right down the middle dropped Corley hard at 1;48 of the fifth stanza. Referee Pat Russell didn’t even bother to count as Corley was listless on the canvas. It was a brutal and spectacular one punch knock out. The crowd applauded as Corley got up seemingly unharmed. Great outing for a young Hernadez who spoke very highly of his opponent:“His experience gave me lots of difficulties. That and the fact he was a southpaw and that we only had a week’s notice to prepare. I fought a southpaw before (Damian Frias on Oct. 23, 2009, on ShoBox) but I had a month to prepare for that. I cut in all my fights so I wasn’t concerned about them.This is definitely my biggest victory. To knock out an experienced former champion who never gets knocked out is great.’’

Photo by M.L. Preissel

In the first bout televised by Sho Box The New Generation, undefeated Dominican lightweight Francisco Contreras (13-0,12KO’S) demolished his Mexican opponent , Juan Castaneda(16-3-1,12 KO’S) by 1:38 of the very first stanza.  Off the ropes Contreras landed a right hand left hook and followed up with four more punches that dropped Castaneda, who tweaked his knee on the way down. Referee Jerry Cantu counted till ten and just like that the fight was over. Lanky Contreras looked very relaxed in the ring.

Early Results from Chumash Casino

In the opening light middleweight bout Ruben Rivera (4-0-1,3KO’S) out of Maywood, California made a quick work out of his opponent Derrick Thomas (2-9, 1 KO) The bout was stopped at 49 seconds of the first round after Ruben landed ten unanswered punches.

 Jose Pacheco (2-11-6) from Las Vegas took on a local pug from Santa Maria, California, Rufino Serrano (4-2) in a four round featherweight contest. Serrano used his height, reach and speed advantage to dominate; he bombarded Pacheco with combinations, at times on the verge of stoppage, but could never quite finish the job. All three judges were in agreement scoring the bout 40-36 for Serrano.

Heavyweights Emad “Magic” Ali from New York and Chris” The Dream” Green from Denver Colorado collided in a six round battle. After a pretty competitive first round Ali opened up in the second and unloaded combination after combination while Green was content to cover up for the most part. Both combatants landed some meaningful shots in the third, but in the fourth Ali was more active once again and controlled the action. In the end Ali was simply the busier fighter and thus remained undefeated. Judges scored this bout 59-55, 59-55, 60-54 in favor of Ali.

 Unbeaten African heavyweight, currently training at Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California, Kayode Lateef (10-0,9KO’S) took on Canadian, David Whittom (10-12-1). After dominating the first round Lateef landed a left hook to the temple of Canadian fighter .Whittom went down and was counted out by referee Jerry Cantu. The time of the stoppage was 1:23 of the second stanza.

Welterweights Anthony McDavitt from Long Beach, California and Romero Javier from Compton treated the crowd to a spirited four round brawl. With not much skill but a lot of will they banged each other with no time to breathe exciting fans with each bomb thrown. Anthony McDavitt was just a little bit more aggressive and thus earned a majority decision victory. Score cards were as follows: 38-38,40-36,39-37.

Pacquiao , Clottey, Mosley, Mayweather!

Photo by Chris Farina

 Comparing negotiations for what could possibly become the biggest boxing event in 21^st century, much anticipated showdown between pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao and self proclaimed king Floyd Mayweather Jr. to playing high stakes poker is not too far off the mark. Just when everything seemed to have been in place for turning over the cards, Mayweather raised (asking to change the rules with unreasonable demands for Olympic style blood tests). Just like in poker, this move was designed to gain a mental advantage, get into your opponents head. Pacquiao called his bluff and left the table.

Pacquiao promptly agreed to battle dangerous African welterweight Joshua Clottey. Taking place in Dallas at the Cowboys Stadium on March 13^th, 2010, this fight is good for boxing and for the fans.

His hand forced, Mayweather had to make a move. Fighting a welterweight champion, Sugar Shane Mosley seemed like the right one. Only this time Mosley did not care about mental advantages or unreasonable demands; he would have probably agreed to fight Mayweather with his right hand tied behind his back. Mosley goes all in and signs a contract with all terms agreed by team Mayweather. Six days later the boxing world is holding its breath for Mayweather to call. “He is not going to fight Mosley,” said Freddie Roach, a famous trainer of Manny Pacquiao while waiting for his star student to show up for a sparring session at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood:” This is all just a ploy to make his fight with Manny even bigger.”

How about Manny? How does he feel about this situation?“Mayweather Senior, a convicted drug offender, makes allegations about steroid use,” continued Roach:” And some of the fans choose to believe him. Manny is very upset. He wants to fight Mayweather in the worst way.”

What if the fight with Mosley does take place and Mosley beats Mayweather?“Then Manny will fight Mosley,” stated Roach:” It will be the only fight and would be the right thing to do.”

Photo by Chris Farina

What about the current opponent, who many experts consider a dangerous test, former world champion, Joshua Clottey? “I don’t see any problems with Clottey,” said Roach:” His defensive style is amateur. There should be no problems getting past that. I just don’t want Manny to prove his manhood and stay on the ropes like he did with Cotto.”

How about all the distractions, including Manny’s political bid?“Manny lives with a lot of distractions,” continued Roach:” That’s the way he likes it. He lives and fights with a lot of distractions. But when he enters the gym, it’s like he leaves everything outside, it’s like he is in church.”

Then the wait is over and Manny comes in to his church, Wild Card Boxing Gym. He smiles and shakes hands with every one of his constituents and gets right to work. A light sparring session is scheduled for today. Behind the ring a sign catches my eye, a quote by famous Johnny Tocco:” You gotta have balls to conquer the world.” Manny Pacquiao’s picture wearing Giants uniform is placed right below it. Watching Manny in sparring, you realize that you are witnessing something special; he is great, but that is the subject for another story.

While I was writing this story the announcement was made that Mayweather did sign the contract to fight Sugar Shane Mosley on May1st, 2010 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. As my dad, a true intrigue monger would say;” As the plot thickens,” both Mayweather and Mosley have agreed to Olympic style, random drug testing. So Mayweather goes all in and seems happy with his move. “This one is definitely for the fans as I wasn’t going to waste anyone’s time with a meaningless tune-up bout and asked to fight Shane immediately,” said Mayweather.  “I have said ever since I came back to the sport that I only wanted to fight the best.  I think Shane is one of the best, but come May 1, he still won’t be great enough to beat me.”

His opponent is also very happy and relieved that Floyd has finally signed the contract.”I have always wanted to fight Floyd and now it is finally coming true,” said Mosley, who signed his side of the deal last Friday in Las Vegas.  “I am already in great shape and ready to show everyone on May 1 that I am stronger, faster and better than he is.  I will have no problem beating him.”

So the negotiations for the biggest fistic event of the twenty first century have created two incredible fights, both tremendous battles all on their own, Pacquiao versus Clottey and Mosley Mayweather. But at the end of the day fans only want to see Pacquiao to fight Mayweather. Would these two battles be the prelude to their unavoidable showdown latter on this year?

Shumenov wins a title via controversial decision.

January 29^th, 2010.

Igor Frank reporting ringside from Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas.

Photo by Ray Flores

In the main even of the evening WBA light heavyweight champion, Spaniard, Gabriel Campillo defended his title for the second time in a row against Kazakhstan’s amateur Olympian Beibut Shumenov. Their first bout last August in Astana, Kazakhstan ended up in a controversial split decision for the champion Campillo.  This time Shumenov got the split decision win, but the controversy remained. Shumenov started the bout with a fierce determination; he attacked and pushed back the champion with hard combinations to the head and body. Second round was a little more competitive, but Shumenov still landed the harder more effective punches. In the third the trend was reversed as the champion turned from a prey to a stocker; he continued to force the action in rounds three and four and seemingly evened out the fight.

 The action got really sizzling in the fifth frame after Campillo suffered a cut on the left eye; both combatants landed some very effective punches with intermittent success. It was a war of attrition in the sixth and seventh, but the momentum seemed to have shifted in the champions favor as he forced the challenger back with fluid and constant combinations. Campillo dominated the eighth stanza and had Shumenov deeply troubled and out of gas. Campillo battered Shumenov from pillar to post in the ninth causing a lot of blood and drama and had the fight on the verge of being stopped, but the brave challenger summoned some unexplainable reserves from within and went on the attack in the tenth, even though his punches did not seem to have the same effect as they did in early rounds. Both combatants left it all out in the ring during championship rounds thrilling fans in attendance with a fierce combat. The crowd booed thunderously appalled by the split decision victory that was awarded to Beibut Shumenov, a new WBA light heavyweight champion. Judge Levi Martinez scored the bout for Campillo 117-111; while Judge Jerry Roth had it 115-113 for Shumenov and Patricia Morse Jarman scored it 117-11 for Shumenov who said that the difference between this fight and the last one is that now he has best trainer in the world. In the end a great action fight was marred by a suspect, controversial decision. May be they should do it again.

Photo by Ray Flores

In the first televised bout of the evening (Fox Sports Net) Cuban amateur sensation, undefeated light middleweight Erislandy Lara( 10-0,6KO’S) took on a rugged veteran, former Contender winner  Grady “ Bad Boy” Brewer(26-12,15KO’S) in a ten round  contest. Brewer appeared out of his league from the onset; he did not seem to know what to do and retreated while more polished Lara plodded forward and landed some hard shots to the body. Brewer looked off balance and his punches lacked power while Lara, although with very deliberate pace, continued to land accurate combinations. Brewer got into the fight in the fourth and landed some good inside shots that seemed to affect his opponent. In the sixth inspired by a huge gash on Brewer’s right eye caused by a head butt, Lara, smelling blood, went on the attack and continued to apply pressure. Lara dropped his adversary in the tenth with a right uppercut and a slight push and continued to pour it on after Brewer beat the count forcing the referee Tony Weeks to end the contest at 2:44 of the tenth round.

Photo by Ray Flores

 Local, crowd favorite welterweight Jessie Vargas (8-0,3KO’S) and a pug from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Rickey Kinney (3-2,2KO’S) treated to an entertaining four round brawl. Vargas was just a bit better, a bit more effective in every round and gotten a unanimous nod from the judges 40-36.

Photo by Ray Flores

Undefeated featherweight prospect from Santa Ana, California Ronny Rios (9-0,4KO) had to work hard for six rounds to stay that way against Wilshaun Boxley (5-4,4KO). Judges scored it for Rios 59-55 twice and 60-54, but the fight was more competitive that score cards indicate.

Photo by Ray Flores

Unbeaten light middleweight prospect from Norwalk, California Carlos Molina (10-0,6KO’S) made a very short night stopping Tyler Ziolowski (12-11,6KO’S) from St. Joseph, Missouri at 54 seconds of the very first round. A short right hand dropped Tyler for the count.

Photo by Ray Flores

In the final bout of the evening super featherweight prospects David Rodela from Southern California and Eloy Perez from Northern California battled it out for ten highly contested rounds. It was a grueling very physically demanding fight with momentum switching back and forth. Rodela was more aggressive in the beginning, but gradually Perez took over the fight with faster hands and shaper combinations. Perez seemed to be in control in the last three rounds and got the unanimous decision from the judges. Scores were 97-93, 97-93, 98-92 for Perez who remained undefeated.

Photo by Ray Flores

The opening light heavyweight bout ended abruptly as undefeated Uzbek fighter, Gayarat Ahmedov (13-0-1,9KO) knocked out Harley Kilfian (8-4,7KO) with a left hook to the body. Referee Kenny Bayless did not even bother to count as listless Kilfian remained on the canvass.

Photo by Ray Flores

The second bout of the evening a light middleweight attraction lasted till the third round. Another Uzbek, Ravshan Hudaynazarov (10-0, KO’S) dominated and finally stopped his opponent from Kenya, Shadrack Kipruto (10-13,7KO’S) at 1:26 of the third with the combination to the body.

Shumenov-Campillo ll this Friday.

Growing up in Kazakhstan Beibut Shumenov could not have dreamt of fighting for a world championship title at the Mecca of boxing, Las Vegas, United States.

Kazakhstan, infamous for housing Gulags (incarceration camps for political prisoners) during Stalin era of the former Soviet Union, is not a place for a faint of heart. Just to give you an idea of weather conditions over there, as a thirteen year old boy I visited what then was a capital of Kazakhstan, city called Almaty. It was winter time. I got off the train and not able to locate a restroom I decided to relieve myself in the bushes; it was so cold that my pee was frozen before it ever hit the ground.

 Beibut was born and raised in Chimkent, the third largest city in Kazakhstan and a major industrial and cultural center, as well as an important railway junction. Shumenov represented Kazakhstan in 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece as a Light heavyweight. He was eliminated in the second round by representative from Turkey.

In 2007 Beibut Shumenov took his show on the road, moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and began a career as a professional prize fighter.

Towering at 6 feet, 2 inches tall, athletically gifted, shaped as a Greek God and with a wealth of international amateur experience behind him, Shumenov ascended up the rankings of light heavyweight division with meteoric speed. In only his sixth professional bout Shumenov dominated a former champion, crafty veteran, Montell Griffin in front of his hometown crowd at Khadjimukan Stadium in Chimkent, Kazakhstan. In only ninth professional outing Beibut Shumenov was fighting a cagey Spaniard, Gabriel Campillo for a WBA light heavyweight championship belt back at home at the new capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. Despite loosing the fight via a controversial majority decision, with most ringside observers believing that he did enough to win, Shumenov blamed no one but himself for the loss and acknowledged that he would have to do a lot more next time to leave no doubt in the eyes of the judges.

 Next time came right away. Shumenov (8-1,6KO’S) and Campillo (19-2,6KO’S) are fighting a rematch for the same title this Friday at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Statistically, most rematches end the same way as original bouts. Would this rematch bring a different result? Shumenov is doing everything he can to insure just that.

Several months ago, he has recruited a new trainer, former Olympian from New Zeeland, Kevin Berry. Well known and respected in the pugilistic circled, Berry has been off the radar in the past six years due to health and legal problems. It took a lot of arm twisting to get Berry to agree to train a new charge, but once they got together it was like a match made in heaven. It’s a win-win situation; Shumenov will get to use wisdom and experience of his new coach in and out of the ring, Berry will be in a corner of a next champion, at least he hopes so.

Shumenov is completely focused on the task at hand and would not talk to reporters before the fight, but I was able to get a hold of Kevin Berry and pick his brain a bit.

“I watched the tape of his previous fight and saw a lot of flaws we could improve on,”said Berry over the phone from Las Vegas:” Two month is not really a long time, but we are making progress.”

“He is a European style fighter, standing straight up,” continued Berry:” We had to work on his balance and sitting down on his punches more. Beibut told me he feels like he hits with more power already. But the most important thing we worked on was his accuracy. Beibut’s shots come with velocity and power, missing would expand a lot of energy, so we worked on his accuracy.”

Berry was very impressed with his new charges athleticism and tremendous work ethic:“The guy is a physical specimen. You do not have to light a fire under him to train. He does the work. We’ve sparred a lot more rounds for this fight than he usually does, but there is a fine line between working hard and overtraining.”

 The last world champion from Kazakhstan was a cruiserweight Vassiliy Jirov, who lost his IBF crown in a thriller to James Toney in 2003. Would this little country get another champ on Friday? Stay tuned.

Be careful of what you wish for, you might just get it.

I was ringside in Las Vegas on a wild Halloween night when Mexican lightweight contender Antonio DeMarco dominated and finally stopped a dangerous Nicaraguan heavy hitter, Jose Alfaro in the tenth round. It was an inspired performance that featured skills, boxing, patience and consistent following of a game plan that was set by DeMarco’s team to win the fight and thus earn an interim WBC belt. I remember, not too long ago, Antonio’s promoter Gary Shaw said: “He has great boxing skills, but it all goes out of the window as soon as he gets hit. The Mexican comes out in him and he starts to brawl.” It did not happen like that against Alfaro. Lanky southpaw DeMarco used his reach, boxed intelligently and moved , avoiding an inside firefight, keeping  the shorter, heavy handed Alfaro frustrated and confused, landing his combinations with more regularity as the fight progressed. The knock out came from a body punch in the tenth round when the outcome of the contest was pretty much decided by then.

It was the best performance of his professional career and DeMarco knew instantly that his game was just elevated to the next level. Elated DeMarco exclaimed:” I will fight anybody. Let me fight Valero.” Edwin Valero just happens to be a real WBC champion with a record of twenty six wins with all twenty six ending by way of a knock out. He has stopped the first eighteen of his opponents in the first round. I remember thinking that DeMarco’s wish might have been a bit too emotional, may be a bit premature. But he did express it and everybody heard it. Showtime executives heard it and they liked the idea. In fact they liked it so much that despite Valero’s legal problems with fighting in this country, they decided to make this fight. The WBC twelve round lightweight championship fight is scheduled to take place in Yucatán, Mexico on February, 6th. It will be televised by Showtime Championship boxing. Showtime suits are breaking an eighteen year old ban of not televising any fights from Mexico to broadcast this one.

The closer this fight gets the more excited I become. None of Valero’s opponents have heard the final bell. Valero has dominated all of his foes and did not have to face any adversity, except an occasional cut. Would Demarco be the one to challenge him?

 “I have always said that God does certain things for a reason. God put this opportunity at my doorstep and I have to take advantage of it. This is the right time for me for this fight,” DeMarco said. “As far as Valero, when I said it was personal, I meant it as it is a personal challenge for myself. There is a lot of negative people that say that I won’t make it past three rounds in this fight and it is a personal challenge for myself to prove to those people and to myself that I am ready for Valero and much more.”

 DeMarco is a skilled boxer puncher with a reach and height advantage in the contest. Would he be able to exploit his advantages and box a disciplined fight and stay out of the harms way for twelve rounds? Or what would happen if he does get hit? Antonio Demarco believes that he has what it takes to challenge the champion.

“I focus on my work. I don’t focus on the work of Edwin Valero. I don’t focus in his power or his record. I focus in my work so that we climb into the ring 100% ready and do the right things,” DeMarco stated as he finished off another training session. “I don’t notice the record of my opponents or on anything that I might be impressed by. I take care of working hard, at 100%, even if it means getting home dead tired. That is all I can do, to focus on my job and not what Edwin Valero is doing.”

 Training at home in Mexico, 24 year old DeMarco believes that most fights are won and lost in the gym and therefore he and his team pay special attention to preparation and sparring partners.

“It is very important, the sparring partners help me with my work and they are willing to do anything. The partners I am using right now have the right style for Valero,” said DeMarco of Los Mochis who currently resides in Tijuana, Mexico. “They are pressuring me and they are making me work. I am working on my reflexes and working me hard, at full capacity. I do think that I have the correct sparring for this fight and I do dare to say that my partners are more technically sound than Valero. Valero has power but my sparring partners are more complete boxers.”

Aside from his crushing power Valero has speed and ferocity of a piranha; he is not there to box, he is in the ring to eat you alive and so far he has been one hundred percent successful. Valero is a man of a very few words, but his actions show that he is taking this fight seriously. He moved his training camp to Mexico to prepare for the battle with DeMarco.

“I’m very happy because I am once again in Mexico, I am Venezuelan but when I’m here, I feel that I’m at home,” Valero stated upon arrival. “I hope like always to give a great show and I know that DeMarco, who is the interim champion, has his own style and that is why I am preparing myself so that I can give the best of me and continue to be the WBC absolute champion.”

The stage is set. “I’ve made my wish and I hope it comes true on February 6th,” DeMarco stated as he blew out the candle on the day of his 24th birthday.

New Blood Debuts with a bang on January, 22nd, 2010.

Photo by Ray Flores

Ontario, California – Southern California promoter Ken Thompson of Thompson Boxing Promotions has been raising pugilistic talent in Inland Empire with a simple formula: bring young hungry fighters together for competitive match ups. It’s a win-win situation;Fighters go through a tough development and fans love it and pack up the sold out shows.

Such was the case on a rainy Friday night’s card dubbed “New Blood” with 1800 knowledgeable boxing fans pack up the Double Tree Hotel Arena in Ontario like a can of sardines, enjoying sizzling action between young prospects. With all the hard work and well planned matchmaking, Thompson Boxing Promotions has enjoyed a measure of success in last two years, developing two world champions Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley and Yonnhy Perez who were on hand to cheer on their young stable mates.

Photo by Ray Flores

 The opening bout of the evening was a thriller, a four round light welterweight contest, a professional debut for both combatants, Anthony Reyes, from Riverside, California and Jonathan Garcia from Watsonville. It was the kind of fight that got the capacity crowd right into the action; both guys left it all in the ring.  Taller Garcia, using his reach advantage, landed more accurate and more telling blows while Reyes’s shear aggression earned the respect of his adversary and fans alike. In the first round Anthony Reyes slipped off balance, but the referee David Denkin called it a knock down which proved to be the difference in the fight. Garcia earned a split decision victory with one judge scoring it for Reyes 38-37 and two judges for Garcia: 39-36, 38-37. No matter who was the winner, both guys showed a great spirit and courage and determination, captivating the hearts of the fans in the audience.

In the main

Photo by Marlene Marquez

event of the night, an eight round bout, rising light welterweight prospect Patrick Lopez (18-2.12KO), trained by Joel Diaz, took on a forty one year old veteran John “The Eastern Beast” Brown (24-17-2,11KO’S) who had former champ Virgil Hill in his corner. With all the talent in and out of the ring, it turned out to be one ugly fight due to clash of styles. Younger and stronger, southpaw, Lopez, with a huge reach advantage, pressed the action and chased illusive midget veteran John Brown around the ring. Brown knew that his only chance was to get inside, but every time he did get there he tied up, perhaps not being able to deal with a much stronger opponent. In the third round the awkward styles and jerky movements of Brown produced a cut on Patrick’s right eye. That might have been the only damage John Brown cased in a fight. This was about the same time the crowd started to get restless and voiced their displeasure with loud boos.

Despite best efforts of Lopez and occasional body hooks that landed, Brown refused to engage. In the eight frame Lopez turned up the heat and landed a vicious body combination that finally dropped Brown on the canvas grimacing with pain, but the old brave veteran managed to get up and finish the fight under heavy fire. All three judges scored the contest wide for Lopez: 80-71, 80-71, and 79-72.

The best fight of the night was a six round featherweight attraction between undefeated Efrain Esquivias Jr. (7-0, 5 KO’S) from Carson, California, who brought his own cheering section, and a tough and lanky Randy “Savage” Arrellin (2-2,1KO) from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The battle started at a brusque pace bringing fans on their feet from the onset. Arrellin found home for his overhand right and was causing a considerable amount of damage and produced a bloody cut on the right eye of Esquivias. In the second Arrellin landed a few big right hands and had Junior in the corner absorbing shot after shot. Just when I thought that referee might stop the fight Esquivas weathered the storm and landed some big left hooks that got him back into the fight. Taking all the best shots from his opponent in the second, Esquivias Jr. took over the bout in the third with vicious body assault; he forced Arrellin to take a knee in the fourth and fifth and convinced the referee David Denkin, although it was a round too late, to stop the mayhem at 2:40 of the sixth frame.

Crowd favorite, light middleweight Alberto Herrera(7-0,5KO’S) from Riverside, California, brother of Mauricio Herrera, recently featured on ShoBox The New generation, dominated his opponent from Idaho Hilario Lopez(1-9,8KO’S) over six rounds. Herrera set up his attack with body punches that softened up his adversary for the head shots. Despite being outclassed, Lopez kept busy making the fight competitive. All three judges scored the fight 60-54 for Herrera.

Undefeated junior welterweight from Huntington Park, California Hector Serrano (11-0.3KO’) had to put in a day’s full of work winning a workman’s like unanimous decision over a tough veteran from Los Mochis, Mexico, Christian Favela(17-24-6,10KO’S). A gate keeper veteran Favela is a lot better than his record would indicate, came to fight and gave a much more polished Serrano six hard rounds. Judges scored it for Hector Serrano, unanimously: 60-54 twice and 59-55.

Photo by Ray Flores

Body shots seemed to have been a theme of the night as yet another undefeated lightweight prospect Daniel Hernandez ( 9-0, 5 KO’S) ended the night of his opponent, Baudel Cardenas (18-20,2KO’S) with a body hook. Hernandez from South Gate, California was a superior boxer – puncher and landed some powerful combinations early on in the fight, but it wasn’t until the fourth when Hernandez dropped his foe with a body shot that it started to look like the fight would not go the distance. Tough Mexican veteran Cardenas survived the round, but went down early in the fifth and was not able to beat the count.

Great night of boxing ended up with effervescent fans taking pictures with other Thompson Boxing alumni, heavyweight contender, Christobal Arreola, as well as two champions Timothy Bradley and Yonnhy Perez. Would Thompson Boxing produce another world champion this year? Stay tuned.

Pacquiao is to take on Clottey in Dallas.

Photo by Chris Farina

No Mayweather, no problems, Pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao did not skip a beat and promptly turned his attention to number one welterweight contender and a former champion Joshua Clottey. Their twelve round welterweight championship battle scheduled for Saturday, March 13^th, 2010 is dubbed “The Event”, because it will take place in Dallas at the Cowboys new stadium. The stadium will be configured for over forty thousand fans for “The Event” which would make it one of the largest fights in US history since a heavyweight bout between Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton at Yankee Stadium in 1976. Just in case you are not able to go to Dallas, HBO pay Per View will broadcast this bout live starting 6:00 pm Pacific Time. Tickets will go on this Saturday, January 23^rd at 10:00 am and could be purchased either at Cowboy Stadium or through Ticketmaster. Prices vary from $700.00 to $50.00, but every seat in the house is great according to Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones.

Photo by Chris Farina

“I have wanted to bring a major boxing event to North Texas for many years, so why not bring in the biggest and the best?” asked Jones.  “Manny Pacquiao is Boxing’s No. 1 pound for pound attraction and the world champion. Manny’s title defense against Joshua Clottey is not just a great fight, it is THE EVENT, and one we can showcase to the fullest in Cowboys Stadium.  We’re going to promote this like it was the Super Bowl. This will be the fight to remember.”

Stylistically this is a better fight than Pacquiao Mayweather, because Clottey will fight, not run around and pot shot, and he is a big and strong welterweight, who could give Manny problems.

“This is a tough fight for us,” said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trusted coach:” Joshua is a big, strong welterweight, so we have a task in front of us. We have to find his strengths and flaws and figure out how to take away his strengths and take advantage of his weaknesses.”

Despite being a four to one favorite, Manny knows he is in for a tough fight and he is not underestimating his opponent.

“Joshua Clottey’s style is different from styles I have fought, “said Pacquiao:” Clottey is bigger and taller than Miguel Cotto. I thought his fight with Cotto was very close. I have to prepare and train hard for this fight because Clottey is a strong fighter and a former champion. I won’t promise that I’ll win, but I promise a good fight.”

Joshua Clottey (35-3,21KO’S) won an IBF welterweight championship in 2008 when he destroyed Zab Judah. Last year Africa native Clottey registered a controversial decision loss to Miguel Cotto; many ringside believed that he did enough to win that fight. Clottey still can not believe his good fortune at facing Pacquiao, but he plans to make the most out of this opportunity.

 “This is a miracle opportunity for me,” said Clottey:”To share a ring with Manny Pacquiao is something I want to do because he is the best fighter pound for pound. He beat everyone in front of him, but I promise you that we are coming to fight and we will please the people.”

 But nobody is as happy as Top Rank’s promoter Bob Arum. He was able to kill two birds with one stone; find a terrific opponent for his star fighter, Manny Pacquiao and stage it at a spectacular Dallas Cowboys new stadium and thus accommodate much more true fans.

 “Yesterday we held a press conference in Cowboys Stadium, said Arum:” It was truly stupendous. It will be a great event held in the greatest stadium in the world. Those making the trip to Dallas will see a boxing event like they’ve never seen before.”