Friday, February 28, 2014

Lomachenko This two-time Olympic gold medalist may be boxing's next star

Vasyl Lomachenko (R) dispatched Jose Ramirez in October in Las Vegas. (Getty Images)
Vasyl Lomachenko waltzed to a featherweight gold medal in 2008, not one of his matches in Beijing even remotely close.
He was just 20, but clearly was talented enough to turn professional and quickly win a world title. There was little he couldn't do: He was fast, strong and aggressive.
Lomachenko briefly considered it, but after consulting with his father, Anatoly, opted to remain an amateur. He went on to win a second gold medal in 2012 in London and on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, in his second professional fight, he'll meet Orlando "Siri" Salido for the WBO featherweight championship.
Unquestionably, he made the right choice: Had he turned pro in 2008, he probably would have needed five, maybe even six or seven, fights before going for the world title.
This time, he's doing it in just his second bout, though he isn't as giddy about that as most of those around him are.
"He would have rather done this in his first fight," manager Egis Klimas said.
Only heavyweight Pete Rademacher, who won the 1956 Olympic gold medal and then challenged Floyd Patterson in his first pro bout for the world title, fought for a professional championship quicker.
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Vasyl Lomachenko connects with a left on Jose Ramirez's face. (Getty)
But Rademacher, after flooring Patterson in the second round, had a short and undistinguished professional career.
Lomachenko is a freakishly gifted athlete, the kind who comes along once in a generation.
Had he been born in the U.S. instead of Ukraine, he'd already be one of the country's most celebrated stars.
He was 396-1 as an amateur, but he beat the only man to defeat him, Russian Albert Selimov, twice.
It's no stretch to suggest he may be the greatest amateur boxer ever, and he's even more suited for the professional ranks.
In his professional debut at the Thomas & Mack Center in October, he took apart veteran Jose Ramirez in just four rounds. He brutalized Ramirez with body shots and nearly stole the show from Timothy Bradley, who defeated Juan Manuel Marquez in the main event that night.
But because he grew up in Ukraine, he's still largely unknown in the U.S., except to those precious few who live and die with the goings on in the frequently bizarre world of amateur boxing.
When he was 12, he watched boxing and dreamed of one day having a gold medal placed around his neck.
He loved hockey, and would have pursued a professional career in that sport, but his father was one of the country's best boxing coaches and turned his son toward boxing.
Never once, though, did Lomachenko idolize another boxer or see himself following in another's footsteps. From his earliest days, he was supremely confident.
"I didn't have any idols because I was working together with my father, trying to become an idol myself," he said.
He is a powerful and explosive fighter, but he competes with an eerie calm. He never seems to be rattled in the ring and the look on his face is almost always placid.
When one has fought almost 400 times – Saturday's match will be No. 399, including amateur and that one pro fight – it takes a lot to get one worked up.
His training sessions are amazingly intense and almost need to be seen to be believed. He could sell tickets for people to watch him work out and he'd attract a crowd, because his workout is so hard and so unusual.
In addition to his boxing work and all of the other traditional training exercises fighters use, Lomachenko does many unusual things, like walking on his hands.
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Orlando Salido knocked out Orlando Cruz in the seventh round to reclaim the WBO belt. (Getty)
His publicists would love nothing more for him to hop on the scale at Friday's weigh-in upside down, balancing on his hands.
It's just another sign of his strength, power and athleticism.
Whether all of this means he'll go on to professional greatness is another question, though all of the tools are there.
He's clearly not intimidated by facing the veteran Salido, a hard-nosed competitor who is 40-12-2 with 28 knockouts and one no contest in his 18-year pro career.
Salido lost the title to Mikey Garcia on Jan. 19, 2013, at Madison Square Garden in New York, but regained it on Oct. 12 in Las Vegas on the Bradley-Marquez card by stopping Orlando Cruz in seven.
Lomachenko fought two bouts prior to Salido on the latter card and got a good look at him, but whether he was impressed is unknown. A man of few words with the media, Lomachenko wouldn't offer an opinion on Salido's abilities, his bout with Cruz or the biggest problems he poses on Saturday.
"I'll tell you about him after the fight," Lomachenko said. "But I'm very confident in myself and my team. I've been in the gym for two months, and I can tell you this: I am not Cruz. We'll see what [Salido] thinks of me."

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Ruslan Provodnikov-Antonio DeMarco 14/06/2014


Ruslan Provodnikov to defend his WBO junior welterweight belt against lightweight titleholder Antonio DeMarco on June 14, according to the fighters' promoters.
Provodnikov is promoted by Artie Pelullo, and DeMarco by Top Rank CEO Bob Arum in association with Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran.
"Arum and I are working together on making Provodnikov and DeMarco, and the date that we're looking at is June 14. We're trying to figure out what venue to go to, and we want to fight DeMarco," said Pelullo, of Banner Promotions.
"So that's what we're working on right now. I think that DeMarco is going to make a fight of it, and he's going to come right at Ruslan. The kind of style that he has is going to make Ruslan look like a star."
A 30-year-old nicknamed, "The Siberian Rocky," Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KOs) was last in the ring for a 10th-round stoppage that dethroned Mike Alvarado, whom he floored twice in the final round in October.
The win over Alvarado helped Provodnikov to bounce back from a unanimous decision loss last March to WBO welterweight beltholder  Tim Bradley, whom he floored in the 12th round of a bout that was voted The "Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier" Fight of The Year by the Boxing Writers' Association of America.
Bradley has an April 12 rematch with Manny Pacquiao, whom he defeated by split-decision in June 2012.
"We're trying to make that fight," said Arum. "We're not looking past DeMarco, but we're hoping to get the winner of Bradley and Pacquiao."
A 28-year-old Mexican southpaw, DeMarco (30-3-1, 23 knockouts)will be after his third straight stoppage victory, having scored a second-round knockout of countryman Jesus Gurrola in January, representing his second appearance at 140-pounds.
In his previous fight last August, DeMarco twice dropped Fidel Monterossa Munoz on the way to a fifth-round knockout in his 140-pound debut, bouncing back from an eighth-round stoppage loss to Adrien Broner that dethroned him as WBC lightweight beltholder in November of 2012.
DeMarco had earned the vacant 135-pound belt with an 11th-round knockout of former two-division beltholder Jorge Linares in October 2011 and scored two more stoppage wins in defense of it, includiing a 44-second knockout of John Molina in September 2012.
The victory over Molina was DeMarco's fifth straight win since falling by ninth-round knockout to late Venezuelan Edwin Valero in February 2010.
A potential roadblock to Provodnikov-DeMarco from being on HBO could be the network's insistance on Provodnikov's facing the winner of a March 29 bout between Puerto Rico's Thomas Dulorme (20-1, 14 KOs) and Karim Mayfield (18-0-1, 11 KOs).
"I think that it's a great fight really exciting fight. I've been talking to Fernando Beltran, and he likes the fight. Artie is right. There is a reluctance on the part of HBO to buy the fight. I may end up going to Russia next week, and I may do the fight in Russia. We understand that HBO is the buyer, so they have a right to say that they want to buy this fight and not that fight," said Arum.
"That's because they're paying the money. We then, have the right to say, 'No, we want to do the world title fight, and we'll find a way to do it outside of HBO.' That's the dynamic of that. We may be able to convince HBO to do our fight, but we'll see. So it's all in a state of flux. The point is that the promoters want to do the Provodnikov-DeMarco fight, and the fighters are ready, and we're going to try to get it done with or without HBO. We have to respect the buyer."
Pelullo, nevertheless, wants Provodnikov-DeMarco.
"HBO is trying to make us wait until March 29 and to take the winner of Dulorme and Mayfield. We don't want to wait," said Pelullo. "Because what happens if Dulorme or Mayfield gets hurt. DeMarco's a better fight because of his style. That's what it's all about. We want to sign for the DeMarco fight."
Although both Provodnikov and DeMarco are being trained by Freddie Roach, Pelullo said Roach would stick with Provodnikov, whom he has trained longer, if the bout were to happen.
"That's not going to be an issue with Freddie Roach because Freddie's been Ruslan's trainer longer than DeMarco," said Pelullo. "Just like  he was Manny Pacquiao's trainer longer than Ruslan's."

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston I: 50 Years later



Fifty years ago today the butterfly sprouted its wings and the bee pulled off its first big sting.
When Cassius Marcellus Clay arrived at Miami Beach's Convention Center the night of Feb. 25, 1964 he intended to shake up the world not once, but twice. He ended up achieving both, and more. The first earthquake was the 7-to-1 underdog's stunning victory over Charles "Sonny "Liston to win the heavyweight championship of the world. The aftershock came the next morning when he confirmed reports that he was a member of the Nation of Islam and that he no longer would answer to his birth name. Eight days later on a radio show emanating from Chicago, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad gave the new champion his new name – Muhammad Ali.
Up until then Ali had been an amusing character best known for his over-the-top boasting, predictive poetry and in-ring showmanship, assets exceeded only by his immense physical gifts. But by aligning himself with the Black Muslims, Ali created an enduring third shock wave that rippled far beyond the athletic arena. He instantly became one of America's most polarizing figures and in subsequent years he paid a steep price for his political and religious convictions: A three-and-a-half year exile that took away the zenith of his prime years.
The hard feelings would change, however. His unwavering anti-war stance despite the punishment he faced combined with a massive shift in public opinion concerning America's military involvement in Vietnam persuaded many to change their minds about him. Additionally, his in-ring exploits once he returned from exile helped to reshape Ali into the revered figure most see him as today.
Every legend has a starting point, and for Ali it occurred during his final fight as Cassius Clay.
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When Clay turned pro 53 days after winning the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, he already had his sights set on two lofty goals. First, win the heavyweight championship of the world, and second, become the youngest man ever to do so. At the time, that meant beating the man who currently held the mark in Floyd Patterson, who, at 21 years 336 days, stopped Archie Moore to win Rocky Marciano's vacated crown. According to Thomas Hauser's definitive biography "Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times," Clay met sportswriter Dick Schaap shortly after returning from Rome and during the visit Clay had a fake newspaper made up bearing the headline "Clay Signs to Fight Patterson." To make his two-pronged dream come true, Clay had to do it by Nov. 13, 1963.
But on Sept. 25, 1962, Clay was forced to change his target. On that night, Liston fulfilled the 5-to-1 odds in his favor by destroying Patterson in just 126 seconds.
Liston-KO-Patterson_RING
If there were any doubts concerning Liston's superiority, they were extinguished in the rematch 10 months later when he took just four seconds longer to retain the title. Perhaps one could blame the time needed to count each of the three knockdowns Liston scored.
The twin demolitions of Patterson led many to declare Liston an unbeatable superman. To some, he was the next link in the chain that included Sullivan, Dempsey and Louis. He certainly looked the part.
Although Liston stood a shade over six feet tall, he owned an 84-inch reach that was second only to Primo Carnera's 85½ among heavyweight champions to date. His upper body was also that of a much larger man: A 46½-inch expanded chest, thickly muscled shoulders, steely abdominals shaped by extensive medicine ball sessions and a shock-absorbing 17½-inch neck. His tree-trunk thighs provided a sturdy foundation and his chin absorbed a punch better than most. His waist, however, was just 33 inches around.
Sonny-Liston58_RING
Liston's offensive weaponry was even more formidable than his physique. His pulverizing left jab knocked out countless sparring partners, his lethal left hook caused sand-filled heavy bags to fly off their supports, his potent right cross shattered bones and his body attack caved in ribs. He also had an inhumanly high tolerance for pain. Liston's only defeat in 36 fights to date came nearly nine-and-a-half years earlier in his eighth pro fight against Marty Marshall. Despite suffering a broken jaw midway through the fight, Liston not only finished the eight rounder but he also performed strongly enough to win on one of the scorecards.
"When I broke his jaw, he didn't even blink," Marshall said in Paul Gallender's book on the Ali-Liston fights. "You hit him with your Sunday punch but he don't grunt, groan, flinch or blink. He don't do nothin'. He just keeps coming on." Liston avenged the defeat twice over as he stopped Marshall in six rounds two fights later and out-pointed him over 10 rounds 11 months after that.
His intimidating public persona completed a most menacing picture. His ex-con past heighted the fear factor caused by his icy stare and he was known to stuff towels underneath his white terrycloth robe to make his shoulders appear even more imposing. He also preferred to work short shifts; of his 25 knockouts, 15 occurred in the first three rounds. If Clay were to achieve his goals,this was the man he had to conquer.
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In order to build momentum toward a potential fight with Liston, Clay embarked on an ambitious and prolonged public relations campaign. He invaded Liston's workouts and hurled every insult he could conjure. On a whim Clay and his cohorts drove a bus from Chicago to Denver, called several newspapers and radio stations and made sure they were present when he unleashed his 2:00 a.m. taunts in front of Liston's house. The invasion got the intended response from its victim. Clay turned the screw further by happily filling columnists' notepads with imaginative barbs every chance he got. His favorite nickname for Liston was "The Big Ugly Bear," and he uttered it so often that it became a permanent part of Liston's identity.
Every article and interview served to plant this seed in the public consciousness: If Liston is a real champion, the only person he should fight next is Cassius Clay.
On November 5, 1963, Clay's efforts achieved their main objective. Liston affixed his signature to a contract mandating a heavyweight title defense against Clay. Clay wasn't going to beat Patterson's record, but he had earned the chance to make his biggest dream come true.
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Clay-tirade_RING
With his date with destiny finally secured, Clay refused to rest on his rhetorical laurels. Instead, he upped the ante:
* "I'm young, I'm handsome, I'm fast, I'm pretty and can't possibly be beat."
* "You're 40 years old, if a day, and you don't belong in the ring with Cassius Clay."
* "He's too ugly to be the world champ. The world's champ should be pretty like me. If you want to lose your money, then bet on Sonny."
* "I predict that he will go in eight to prove that I'm great. If he wants to go to heaven, I'll get him in seven. He'll be in a worser fix if I cut it to six. If he keeps talking jive, he'll go in five. If he makes me sore, he'll go like (Archie) Moore. If he keeps talkin' about me, I'll get him in three. If that don't do, he'll fall in two. And if he run, he'll go in one. And if he don't want to fight, he should keep himself home that night."
* "You tell this to your camera, your newspaper, your TV man, your radio man, you tell this to the world: If Sonny Liston whups me, I'll kiss his feet in the ring, crawl out of the ring on my knees, tell him he's the greatest and catch the next jet out of the country. I am the greatest!"
The stoic, minimalist Liston was no match for Clay verbally and he knew it. He might have been worried if he had signed to engage Clay in a three-hour Lincoln-Douglas style debate but since he was to meet Clay inside a boxing ring, he had every reason to believe that he would remain champion when all was said and done.
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Of 58 sportswriters polled before the fight, 55 picked Liston to win and the vast majority thought he'd end matters quickly. In retrospect it's difficult to believe Clay was such a profound underdog but at the time several compelling reasons fueled their opinions.
First, Liston was a textbook fighter with a complete arsenal of deadly punches while Clay broke every imaginable rule of boxing fundamentals. He kept his hands too low. He leaned away from punches instead of slipping them. He never punched to the body. He knew nothing about fighting in the trenches. His hook and uppercut – which he used rarely – were average at best.
Second, Clay had a questionable chin. He suffered a flash knockdown against Sonny Banks and was nearly knocked senseless by Henry Cooper in his most recent fight eight months earlier. The punch that floored Clay both times: The left hook. And what was Liston's best punch? The left hook.
Third, despite the 14 knockouts in his 19-0 record and the fact that he had stopped 10 of his last 11 opponents, Clay didn't appear to have the one-punch power to earn Liston's respect.
Finally, the experts thought the 22-year-old Clay was mentally unstable and lacked the maturity to be world heavyweight champion. Those criticisms seemingly were confirmed the morning of the fight when Clay instigated the most chaotic weigh-in ceremony the boxing world had ever seen.
Wearing a denim jacket with the words "Bear Huntin'" stitched on the back, Clay barged into the room accompanied by chief second Angelo Dundee, court jester Drew "Bundini" Brown and five-time middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson. He and Brown shouted at the top of their lungs "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, aaaaahhhhh, rumble, young man, rumble, aaaaahhhhh!" Clay banged his walking stick on the floor and screamed at Liston like a madman.
"You tell Joe Louis and Sonny Liston that I'm here with Sugar Ray!" Clay declared. "Joe Louis was flat-footed and Sonny Liston is flat-footed! Sugar Ray and I are two pretty dancers; we can't be beat! I'm ready to rumble!" He lunged at Liston while his entourage held him back and he kept talking and gesturing even as the doctor checked his pulse and blood pressure.
Clay-Liston-weighin_RING
What the doctor saw was astonishing. Clay's blood pressure soared to 200-over-100 and his heart rate was a frazzled 120 beats per minute, more than twice his usual 54. That Liston weighed 218 and Clay 210½ was overshadowed by the pandemonium.
Chairman Morris Klein announced that Clay had been fined $2,500 for his behavior, which prompted sportswriters to speculate that Clay had lost his mind or was so frightened that he wouldn't show up. Even Liston was convinced Clay had a screw loose, for he was quoted as having whispered to Clay "don't let everyone know what a fool you are."
But it was all an act – a perfectly conceived and beautifully executed act. A second examination conducted not long after revealed Clay's blood pressure and pulse had returned to normal and with that any thoughts of canceling the fight were put to rest.
Clay knew that a hardened ex-con like Liston could be rattled by only one thing — a crazy man. And Liston's whispered comment had to have been music to Clay's ears, for that told him that he had mentally snared the Big Ugly Bear.
"(Sonny) had a violent side to him that everybody knew about," Liston second Milt Bailey said during a NBC special commemorating the fight's 25th anniversary. "But Cassius was smart and he was clever. He could get under Liston's skin more so than anybody ever knew."
"Liston didn't know what to expect," Dundee said on the same special. "What came into play there is that tough guys are afraid of guys that are a little goofy, guys that fly over the cuckoo's nest, those kind of guys. Tough guys don't know where to go with that, and he was a tough guy, Liston was. So Liston's kinda of looking at him like this while he's screaming and hollering. The doctor's taking his blood pressure and he's saying 'your guy's scared to death, I ain't letting the fight go on.' I'm listening to the (doctor) and I say, 'it's only playing. He's only playing. We're having a little fun here.'"
Clay's weigh-in ploy was a stroke of genius. By seizing the psychological initiative Clay rendered himself immune to Liston's scare tactics. He took the fight to the bully and in the end he made him blink.
Clay's hype didn't result in spinning turnstiles as only 8,297 paid to watch the fight. One potential reason: Just a few days before the match, reports of Clay's association with the Black Muslims began circulating in the newspapers, which transformed a "good versus evil" fight into an "evil versus evil" match in many minds. Another: In spite of Clay's proclamations to the contrary, many people thought the fight was still going to be a massive mismatch that was unworthy of the high ticket prices. A third: Perhaps Miami's warm February weather offered enough justification to skip the event.
Those who had tickets but chose to stay home would live to regret their decision.
*
Clay was all business once he stepped inside the ring. As the ring dignitaries were introduced (Luis Rodriguez, Willie Pastrano, Eddie Machen, Sugar Ray Robinson and ringside commentators Joe Louis on television and Rocky Marciano on radio), the focused challenger either rested his elbows on the top rope or bounced lightly on his toes. Wisely, Clay was saving all his energy for the battle ahead. As for Liston, he was his stoic, menacing self. Obeying Dundee's advice, Clay drew himself up to his full 6-foot-3 and stared down at the champion during the final instructions.
At the bell, Liston came straight at Clay and fired a left jab that the challenger easily avoided by gliding to his left. Clay looked balletic as his carved clockwise circles around the champion and weaved his upper body side-to-side and up-and-down. As always, the hands dangled at his sides but his lightning-quick reflexes enabled him to snap his head away from virtually all of Liston's incoming missiles. Liston looked markedly slower as he lunged in with punches that missed badly and got caught by Clay's swifter but lighter blows.
Liston-miss-Clay_RING
Liston's first notable punch, a long right to the body, prompted Clay to clamp on the fight's first clinch. After breaking loose, Clay nipped away from Liston's home run hook and deftly used his elbow to block a right to the ribs. Clay's snappy jabs kept Liston at arm's length and his slippery upper body movement appeared to mystify the 33-year-old champion. Liston needed to plant his feet to invest maximum power on his punches but Clay's incredible foot speed delivered him out of range long before that power posed a threat. It was ring generalship at its finest and as a result Liston was always a half-step behind. It quickly became clear that Clay vs. Liston, at least in terms of hand and foot speed, resembled a Ferrari versus a Sherman tank.
With approximately 45 seconds remaining in a tension-filled first, Clay lashed out with a lead right/left hook combination that drove Liston backward and brought cheers from the surprised crowd. Another right to the temple got through, as did a pair of hooks. Clay continued to spear Liston's face with long punches while the champ's ponderous blows disturbed only air. This certainly wasn't the fight most had envisioned, and the thrill of witnessing an unexpectedly competitive contest began to grip the assembled audience.
The crowd's roar drowned out the bell and thus the round went eight seconds longer than the regulation three minutes. But what a round it had been for Clay. He not only hung with Liston, he showed he had the power to at least stun the champion and that he had the smarts and talent to thoroughly flummox him.
That said, anyone can steal a round or two. The true test for Clay was whether he could maintain the momentum.
Round two looked much like round one as Clay circled and jabbed while Liston lunged in with hooks that glanced off the chin and long rights to the body that Clay either swayed away from or blocked with his arms. Liston did better with his jab as he popped Clay's head back from time to time but his follow-up rights and hooks still whooshed past the target. When Liston briefly trapped Clay against the ropes his clubbing blows to the ribs lacked their usual heft. It was obvious by now that the early knockout predicted by many experts wasn't going to happen. In fact, Clay won the first two rounds with ease.
Clay began the third by planting a searing jab to Liston's face and moments later he fired a double jab/right cross/left uppercut combination. A few seconds later, the inconceivable happened.
Clay-attacks-Liston_RING
Clay's double jab set up a right to the ear that wobbled Liston and he shook him even more with a hook to the face. Back at ring center, Clay landed a flush one-two that opened a cut under Liston's left eye. The wounded champion desperately chased after Clay behind winging punches that had "decapitation" written all over them but the young water bug dipped, ducked and dodged every one of them with captivating dexterity. After riding out Liston's storm Clay responded with a fusillade of blows that struck Liston from multiple angles.
With a minute remaining Liston launched another wave of power shots, and this time some of them got through. Clay groped for Liston's shoulders but the champion slipped under and landed a good right uppercut to the jaw.
"Hold the phone," Theater Network Television blow-by-blow man Steve Ellis declared. "Cassius is a bit hurt." It was, by far, Liston's most effective attack of the fight but it eventually fizzled out in the waning seconds, by which time Clay had re-established his darting jab.
Clay continued his effective hit-and-run tactics in the fourth and his pecking jabs widened the cut under Liston's eye. A jolting lead right/left jab drove Clay backward but otherwise it was yet another round for the challenger.
But as soon as Clay sat down on the stool, he began blinking his eyes wildly. He yelled for Dundee to "stop it!" as in stop the fight. A lesser chief second might have folded under the pressure but Dundee's quick thinking saved the fight, and, in many ways, saved the legacy that would spring from it.
"I didn't know what the heck was going on," Dundee recalled on the NBC special. "He said, 'cut the gloves off. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' And I said, 'whoa, whoa, back up baby. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. What are you doing? Sit down!' So I get him down, I get the sponge and I pour the water into his eyes trying to cleanse whatever's there, but before I did that I put my pinkie in his eye and I put it into my eye. It burned like hell. There was something caustic in both eyes.
"Joe Pollino (one of Liston's trainers) had used Monsels Solution on that cut," Dundee continued. "Now what had happened was that probably (Clay) put his forehead leaning in on the guy – because Liston was starting to wear in with those body shots – and my kid, sweating profusely, it went into both eyes. Let's face it, biggest fight of his life and he's blind. He can't see and he's hitting the panic button."
The commotion wasn't lost on referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. The challenger, his arms held high in surrender, was demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, fearing the fight might indeed be halted, gave his charge a one-word order: "Run!"
In Hauser's book, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, who was working Ali's corner for the first time, perfectly illustrated the impact of Dundee's actions.
"What he did between rounds was the best example I can give you of a corner man seizing a situation and making it right," he said. "Now, he had a willing subject, because as the world later learned, Muhammad Ali was as courageous as any man who ever put on a pair of boxing gloves. But that moment belonged to Angelo. If Cassius had been with a corner of amateurs, there never would have been any Muhammad Ali. The fight would have been over. Liston would never have fought him again. And as a member of the Muslims, who were about as popular then as the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), Cassius would have sunk from view."
Fighting Liston with two healthy eyes required uncommon courage but to do so while blinded and in severe pain demanded an even higher level of fortitude. The champion was well aware of Clay's predicament and for the first time since the opening bell he had reason to think victory was within his grasp.
Liston-jab-Clay_RING
A pair of Liston jabs forced Clay to wince dramatically and seek out a clinch. In that clinch Liston whipped in 16 unanswered blows to the body before Clay finally broke free and skittered away. Clay somehow blocked Liston's hook and avoided a right to the chin before clamping down again. For the next minute Clay used every survival tactic at his disposal; he stayed on the move, he poked out his left arm to keep track of Liston's whereabouts and he managed to roll away from most of the punches he saw coming.
Incredibly, the damage was minimal. As the round wore on Clay's eyes started to clear and Liston had begun to tire. The pace slowed to a crawl in the round's final 30 seconds and when the bell sounded, Liston's last best chance at victory vanished.
His vision now restored, Clay began the sixth by nailing Liston with a flush right to the jaw. As Ellis declared Liston an "easy target," Clay tenderized the champion with whipping jabs that set up beautifully delivered combinations while Liston dutifully tossed out half-speed jabs but tried little else. Clay had regained his earlier form and this time his dominance appeared unstoppable.
The final half of the sixth featured the slowest action yet and it looked as if Clay was on his way to a lopsided points win. But the furious activity in Liston's corner suggested something else was afoot.
One second rubbed Liston's left shoulder while another held a small icepack on the back of the fighter's neck. Still another, Pollino, administered to the cut under Liston's left eye while an bigger icepack was placed on the mouse under the right eye. But for all the work devoted to Liston's body, the real action was taking place inside the champion's mind. The man who had been beaten with night sticks outside the ring and absorbed the blows of the era's hardest-hitting heavyweights inside it had finally reached his breaking point.
Liston-corner_RING
Liston told his corner he couldn't lift his left arm anymore, the arm he used almost exclusively during the sixth round. As the 10-second whistle cut through the air Clay rose from his stool and peered across the ring. An instant before the seventh round bell sounded, Clay lifted his arms and broke into a celebratory shuffle. He knew before just about anyone else what had just happened: Sonny Liston, the supposedly indestructible killing machine, became the first heavyweight champion to surrender his title on the stool since a battered and broken Jess Willard did so against Jack Dempsey 45 years earlier.
What Clay had just achieved was mind-blowing: Not only did he beat the Big Ugly Bear – he made him quit.
With Bundini Brown's arms still wrapped around his waist, Clay galloped toward the ropes and began a wild celebration. He ran toward his own corner and began calling out every reporter who had predicted his doom.
Clay-Liston-Jul64-cover_RIN
"He was wrong!" he said to one. "And you were wrong!" he told another. He then climbed on the ropes and swept his left arm from right to left and declared "this row….and this row (was wrong)."  In his ultimate moment of triumph, Clay made sure to remind the doubters that they had erred badly. He also told them to never, ever, make that mistake in the future.
"What are you gonna say now, huh?" Clay asked during the post-fight press conference. "'He can't go one round. He might go two. He holds his head back. He holds his hands too low.' Well, I'm still pretty. All you reporters made it hard on Liston. Never write about me like that. Never make me six to one; it just makes me angry. Never make me no underdog, and never talk about who's gonna stop me. Ain't nobody gonna stop me. Not a heavyweight in the world fast enough to stop me. Liston's one of the most powerfulest in the world, and he looked like a baby. I held my hands down. I just played with him. I shook all of you up."
When he asked the reporters who the greatest was, no one said a word.
"No justice," he said. "I don't get no justice. No one's gonna give me justice. I'll give you one more chance. Who's the greatest?"
After a moment of hesitation, a few in the group dully answered "you are."
In the years that followed, the man who would become Muhammad Ali in a few days' time would prove himself time and again. He didn't always win – Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick would go on to beat him – but win or lose Ali showed himself to be a true champion inside the ropes and a tireless crusader outside them.
Long before Ali hung up his gloves for good in December 1981, those who were lucky enough to watch him, journalist and layman alike, came around to his line of thinking. They didn't have to be asked anymore who the greatest was; they said it on their own and they did it with enthusiasm in their voices and conviction in their hearts.
And the series of events that led to all that began a half-century ago today.
*
Photos / THE RING
Lee Groves is a boxing writer and historian based in Friendly, W.Va. He is a full member of the BWAA, from which he has won 10 writing awards, including seven in the last two years. He has been an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 2001 and is also a writer, researcher and punch-counter for CompuBox, Inc. He is the author of “Tales From the Vault: A Celebration of 100 Boxing Closet Classics. To order, please visit Amazon.com or e-mail the author at l.groves@frontier.com to arrange for autographed copies.

Floyd Mayweather chooses Marcos Maidana for May 3

Stephanie Trapp / SHOWTIME
Stephanie Trapp / SHOWTIME
On the day he turned 37 years, Floyd Mayweather went to Twitter today to announce his next opponent.
“I will be fighting Marcos Maidana May 3rd on Pay-per-view Showtime/CBS,” Mayweather announced on his Twitter account.
With the only two realistic options for Floyd being Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana, there is no doubt Maidana is the more deserving of the two. After losing a lopsided decision to Devon Alexander in 2012, Maidana (35-3, 31 KO) stormed back with four straight wins, including a shocking victory over Adrien Broner last December where he knocked Broner down twice and manhandled him throughout the fight.
BronerMaidana_Hoganphotos
“I am extremely happy to be facing Floyd Mayweather because it will give me the opportunity to show the world that I am the best welterweight in the division,” said Maidana, via Showtime press release. “I just handed a great defensive fighter his first loss and I plan to do the same to Mayweather. I don’t care whether he’s the best and undefeated. I will bring some real Latino power to him on May 3rd.”
Mayweather (45-0, 26 KO) had an impressive 2013 that saw him outclass Robert Guerrero in May and Canelo Alvarez in September.
“Marcos Maidana’s last performance immediately brought him to my attention,” said Mayweather, who celebrates his 37th birthday today. “He is an extremely skilled fighter who brings knockout danger to the ring. I think this is a great fight for me and he deserves the opportunity to see if he can do what 45 others have tried to do before him – beat me.”
While there were rumblings about the fight possibly taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it appears the fight will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas where Mayweather has fought exclusively for his past eight fights.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Sullivan Barrera joins Main Events

Main Events doesn’t have a deep stable of fighters under contract, but many of the fighters it does promote are in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. 

At light heavyweight, its central figure is titleholder Sergey Kovalev. A good promoter is always looking to build interest in a division in which it has a stake as well as build opponents for the star to fight. 

That brings us to Cuban light heavyweight Sullivan Barrera (10-0, 6 KOs), Amateur Record: 285-27
who signed Thursday with Main Events, adding yet another 175-pounder to a roster that already includes Kovalev, Anatoliy Dudchenko, Isaac Chilemba, Lionell Thompson and Ilshat Khusnulgatin. 

"I am very happy and very excited. I thank Main Events for the opportunity to let people know who Sullivan Barrera is,” Barrera said. “I feel I am the best in the light heavyweight division. The problem I've faced is that I wasn't given the opportunity to compete. Now that Main Events will give me the opportunity, I will be able to show my talent." 

Barrera figures to gain national exposure on Main Events’ slate of “Fight Night” cards on the NBC Sports network. 

"We are very excited to have Barrera on board with us here at Main Events. He has it in him to be an electrifying performer and the sky is the limit,” Main Events chief executive Kathy Duva said. 

Barrera, 31, lives in Miami and turned pro in 2009, and he has had long stretches of inactivity. He fought only twice in 2011 and once each in 2012 and 2013. But as an amateur, he was 282-27 and holds victories against former light heavyweight world champion Chad Dawson and reigning titleholder Beibut Shumenov. 

Barrera found his way to Main Events in part because his adviser, Egis Klimas, manages Kovalev and Khusnulgatin. 

"Sullivan was always a fighter, but even as a veteran he continues to want to learn more,” trainer Milton Lacroix said. “He wants to continue progressing towards his ultimate goal, which is to be the best light heavyweight and champion of the world." 

Said Klimas, “The light heavyweight division is getting to be one of the most interesting in boxing today, with champions like Bernard Hopkins, Beibut Shumenov, Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev. When we started with Sergey in 2009, the division was almost dead. We have a lot of young talents coming up into the division, young and aggressive fighters. Adding Sullivan Barrera to my list of fighters is great. He was not recognized for some time, just like Sergey Kovalev, until we signed him with Main Events." 

Curtis Woodhouse wins British title and confirms retirement

Former professional footballer Curtis Woodhouse won the British light-welterweight title in a thrilling win over defending champion Darren Hamilton - before confirming his retirement.
The 33-year-old ex-Sheffield United and Birmingham City midfielder beat Hamilton on a split decision at the Hull Ice Arena.
"I want to bow out as a champion," Woodhouse told Sky Sports.
Also on the card, Olympic champion Luke Campbell stopped Scott Moises.
Hull fighter Campbell, 26, who took bantamweight gold at London 2012, has now won his five professional bouts after stopping Moises in the eighth and final round.
Home favourite Woodhouse, who quit full-time football in 2006 to become a fighter, went into his bout as an underdog against Bristol-born Hamilton.
Continue reading the main story
There is a rumour going around that I had a £5,000 bet on myself to win the British title at 50-1
Curtis Woodhouse
But, in a close contest, Woodhouse grew in belief as his jab caused the defending champion, who was bidding for a third successful title defence, problems.
Woodhouse improved his record to 22 wins from 28 fights as he lifted the Lonsdale belt.
"There is a rumour going around that I had a £5,000 bet on myself to win the British title at 50-1," said Woodhouse. "I can neither confirm or deny these rumours but the drinks are on me.
"I have fought some really good guys but that was the hardest fight of my life."
Also on the card in Hull, Gavin McDonnell won the British super-bantamweight title with a sixth-round stoppage of Leigh Wood.
McDonnell, 27, was trailing on the scorecards but turned the fight in his favour with a sixth-round onslaught that forced the referee to intervene.
Both fighters were unbeaten in 11 contests, but McDonnell followed in the footsteps of his twin brother Jamie, a former British champion, to win the vacant title.
Meanwhile at London's York Hall, Romford's Tony Conquest beat Australia's Daniel Ammann to win the vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight belt.
The 29-year-old won a unanimous decision and hopes the win will lead him to a bout against the victor of Jon Lewis-Dickinson and Neil Dawson's British title fight in March.


We would like to thank everyone that has supported Curtis from the start and throughout his career. 

He proved his passion, dedication and pure strength last night in the ring. 

Darren Hamilton asked what his purpose was, and Curtis replied "I made a promise I intended to keep." 

Curtis is a true inspiration and proof of never giving up on your dreams!

Coldwell Boxing

https://www.facebook.com/coldwellboxingpromotions

Friday, February 21, 2014

Top Rank continues to collect 2012 Olympians like coins

Alexander Gvozdik, a 2012 bronze medal winner, signed with Top Rank on Friday (AP)
Top Rank continues to reel in 2012 Olympic boxing medalists at a staggering rate, with the latest signing being light heavyweight Alexander Gvozdik of Ukraine.
A bronze medalist, Gvozdik becomes the sixth medalist and the ninth 2012 Olympian to sign with Top Rank since the conclusion of the London Games. Top Rank signed gold medal winners Zou Shiming of China, Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine, Ryoto Murata of Japan and Egor Mekhontcev of Russia. They also inked silver medalist Esquiva Falco of Brazil and non-medalists Jose Ramirez of the U.S., Felix Verdejo of Puerto Rico and Oscar Valdez of Mexico.
It may be the best Olympic haul Top Rank has ever had. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said boxing is bigger than ever in other parts of the world and that led to Top Rank's great haul.
"For years, people have wondered why the U.S. has done so [poorly] in the Olympics," he said. "There were a million reasons. People thought that the amateur body in this country (USA Boxing) is so dysfunctional that they couldn't turn out good fighters. Another theory was that the Olympic style was different than the professional style and that American amateurs come up in more of a pro style.
"But then the light bulb went on for me: Maybe, just maybe, these kids from other countries are excelling because they're better. All of these kids we've signed have exciting, fan-friendly styles and our matchmakers love them."
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Alexander Gvozdik (L) fires a punch during the 2012 Olympics (AP)
Arum said Gvozdik, who speaks very good English, is from a region of Ukraine near Poland. He said he'll probably debut on April 11 or on April 12 on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley card in Las Vegas.
He kidded that he couldn't pass up the two light heavyweights (Mekhontcev and Gvozdik) when their manager, Egis Klimas, offered them to him. He made that mistake once before and lost out on one of the game's most exciting fighters, light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
"Obviously now, I can see that Kovalev is a terrific fighter and a highly entertaining guy to watch," Arum said. "That doesn't take a genius to figure. But when [Klimas] came to me, I thought, 'What the hell do I want a Russian light heavyweight for?' But I talked about it with my matchmakers and we passed.
"So Egis called up Kathy Duva and she very smartly signed him up and she's done a great job with him. But I learned my lesson. I wasn't going to make the same mistake again."
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2012 Olympian Felix Verdejo is 10-0 with seven KOs as a pro (Chris Farina/Top Rank)

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Miguel Vazquez and Zou Shiming Saturday February 22 at The Venetian Macao!

MIGUEL VAZQUEZ vs. DENIS SHAFIKOV WORLD LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE RUMBLE and THE RETURN OF CHINESE ICON ZOU SHIMING HIGHLIGHT “RING OF GOLD” Saturday, February 22 on HBO2® From the Cotai Arena at The Venetian Macao!
The Year of the Horse will get off to a galloping start when world championship boxing makes its 2014 debut at The Venetian® Macao’s Cotai Arena. International Boxing Federation (IBF) world lightweight champion MIGUEL “Titere” VAZQUEZ, of Mexico, and two-time Chinese Olympic gold medalist ZOU SHIMING headline “Ring of Gold,” Saturday, February 22.
Vazquez will defend his title against undefeated top-rated contender DENIS “Ghengis Khan” SHAFIKOV, of Russia, and Shiming will risk his undefeated record in an eight-round flyweight bout against the young seasoned YOKTHONG KOKIETGYM of Thailand. Both fights will be televised on HBO2, beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Video courtesy of Anna SportReporter
The Year of the Horse will get off to a galloping start when world championship boxing makes its 2014 debut at The Venetian® Macao’s Cotai Arena. International Boxing Federation (IBF) world lightweight champion MIGUEL “Titere” VAZQUEZ, of Mexico, and two-time Chinese Olympic gold medalist ZOU SHIMING headline “Ring of Gold,” Saturday, February 22. Vazquez will defend his title against undefeated top-rated contender DENIS “Ghengis Khan” SHAFIKOV, of Russia, and Shiming will risk his undefeated record in an eight-round flyweight bout against the young seasoned YOKTHONG KOKIETGYM of Thailand. Both fights will be televised on HBO2, beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Tecate, the “Ring of Gold” HBO2 telecast will feature Fran Charles handling the blow-by-blow while former world champion Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Hall of Famer Larry Merchant will add expert analysis and commentary.
Remaining tickets for Ring of Gold can be purchased via Cotai Ticketing; prices start at HKD/MOP 80, with ferry and hotel packages also available.
Rounding out the troika of 2012 Olympic gold medalists will be RYŌTA MURATA and EGOR MEKHONTSEV, from Japan and Russia, respectively, in separate bouts on the non-televised undercard. It is exceptional for so many Olympic gold medalists to be featured on the same boxing card. The “Ring of Gold” undercard will also feature former world champion and current No. 2-rated contender AKIFUMI “Sugar” SHIMODA of Japan, in a 12-round Word Boxing Organization (WBO) International featherweight title bout against fellow former world champion MARVIN SONSONA of the Philippines, and undefeated Hong Kong super flyweight sensation REX TSO in a 10-round rumble with MAKO MATSUYAMA of Japan, with the World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian super flyweight and the WBO Asia Pacific junior bantamweight titles at stake.
Vazquez (33-3, 13 KOs), of Guadalajara, México, captured the IBF lightweight title in 2010 when he won a 12-round unanimous decision over Jihoon Kim. Since winning the world title, Vazquez has successfully defended it five times during his four-year reign. Vazquez will be facing undefeated top-rated contender Shafikov (33-0-1. 17 KOs), from Chelyabinsk, Russia. A southpaw with an aggressive style, good skills and movement, the former European junior welterweight champion Shafikov has good punching power and is not afraid to use it.
Zou (3-0), from Guizhou, China, and trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, won his professional debut on April 6, 2013, via a dominant four-round unanimous decision over gritty Eleazar Valenzuela. He followed that up with six-round unanimous decision victories over Jesus Ortega and Juan Toscano on July 27 and November 24, respectively, last year, and all at CotaiArena. One of the most popular Olympic athletes in China, Zou was the world’s greatest light flyweight, capturing gold medals in the World Amateur Championships in 2005, 2007 and 2011, along with gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympic Games. He also owns an Olympic bronze medal from the 2004 games, making him his nation’s first Olympic medallist in boxing as well as its first boxing gold medallist in the World Amateur Championships and the Olympics. He will be graduating to an eight-round bout when he faces Kokietgym (14-3, 10 KOs), of Roi-Et, Thailand. The vastly more experienced Thai enters this fight having won six of his last seven bouts, with two of those victories coming by way of knockout.
Murata (2-0, 2 KOs), from Tokyo, a sensational prospect at 160 pounds, captured the Olympic gold medal in the middleweight division at the 2012 Olympics held in London. It was the first gold medal won by a Japanese boxer since Takao Sakurai in 1964, and also is the first-ever boxing medal in a weight class other than bantamweight or flyweight. The six-foot Murata also became the 100th gold medalist in Japanese Olympic history. He made his pro debut last August, knocking out OPBF middleweight champion Akio Shibata (21-7-1) in the second round. Murata followed up that victory on December 6 with a fourth-round stoppage of David Peterson (13-1). He will be facing battle-tested slugger and one-time world title challenger Carlos Nascimento (28-3, 22 KOs), of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who enters this fight having won 12 of his previous 14 bouts, nine by way of knockout. Their fight is schedule for eight rounds at middleweight.
Mekhontsev (1-0, 1 KO), of Asbest, Russia, won his pro debut on December 4, knocking out Peter Cajigas in the third round. Trained by his father Leonid, Mekhontsev captured the Olympic light heavyweight gold medal at the 2012 summer games and as a heavyweight he won gold at the 2009 World Amateur Championships and the 2010 and 1008 European Amateur Championships. He’ll be battling fellow undefeated prospect Jaritram Atthaporn (3-0, 1 KO), of Bangkok, in a six-round light heavyweight bout.
Shimoda (28-3-2, 12 KOs), of Tokyo, captured the World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight title in 2011, dethroning defending champion Ryol Li Lee via a unanimous decision aided by three knockdowns. Shimoda’s title reign was short-lived, losing his first title defense, to Rico Ramos, six months later. He immediately moved up to featherweight and enters this fight riding a two-year unbeaten streak. Sonsona (17-1-1, 14 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, captured the WBO junior bantamweight title in 2009, winning a decisive unanimous decision over defending champion Jose “Carita” Lopez . Sonsona lost the title in his first defense on the scale coming in two pounds over the division limit, against Alejandro Hernandez, though the official decision was a draw. After losing to Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in 2010 a battle for the vacant WBO junior featherweight title, Sonsona returned to the winner’s circle and enters this fight on a two-year winning streak with his last two victories coming by way of knockout.
Tso (8-0, 5 KOs), is the Pride of Hong Kong. This will mark his third time fighting at Cotai Arena where he has begun to develop a very big following. In his last bout, on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios event last November, Tso scored a first-round knockout of Susu Sithjadaeng Tso will be facing Mako Matsuyama (7-7-1, 3 KOs) of Tokyo, who enters this fight having won a unanimous decision victory over Masatoshi Nakamura last November. They will be facing each other in a 10-round bout for Tso’s WBC Asian super flyweight title and the vacant WBO Asia Pacific junior bantamweight title.
The undercard will also feature local favorite, “The Macao Kid” KUOK KUN NG (2-0), from Macao, China, who will be in a six-round super featherweight and a four-round super welterweight bout, respectively.