Los Angeles 6/9/2018- After a long buildup to their long awaited rematch, local featherweights, WBA champion, Leo Santa Cruz (35-1-1-19K) faced his homie,  Abner Mares (31-3-1-15K). Not since the Bobby Chacon-Danny Lopez  days has there been a fight of this magnitude in the 126 class. The hometown crowd was moist with anticipation for this one,  (especially after last night’s semi, but later for that). But how often does the sequel outdo the original? Not often, there’s only so many Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez wars to go around and they did it THREE times, each outdoing the other. Maybe Santa Cruz  and Mares remembered that trilogy.

Tonight’s rematch, while a goody, wasn’t a ‘great’ fight. There were sporadic fire fights but not as many or as sustained as the first time around. One difference was Santa Cruz fought a more measured, distanced fight against the shorter Mares. Also, this time, Abner  had outstanding Oxnard trainer, Robert Garcia, helming his corner. One constant was, Abner  still had the better hairdo and facial hair.

None of this mattered though, as the taller, rangier, hypnotizing you glove shaker, Santa Cruz was in total control in an action fight with  moments of suspense. There  were no back and forth exchanges that had either guy on the mat or even CLOSE to it but it was an entertaining scrap. When he was able to check Santa Cruz’s range, Mares wasn’t able to do any real damage. In the eighth, Leo was slightly cut over the left eye which wasn’t an issue at all. These two guys are among the good guys in tha’ game, not  much smack talking and WHEN they do it, seems  outta’ character. Just grab the lunch pails and get in the Lambo and head off to work, no muss, no fuss. Mares seemed to tire a bit around the ninth round as Leo peppered him from out side. After the fight, the two ‘real’ pros, had nothing but good things to say about each other. I’m surprised they’re able to fight each other as hard as they do. This will probably end up like a buddy-buddy thing like Ward and Gatti, which isn’t a bad thing. Mares yelled, “LA, yall wanna’ see this again, Santa Cruz, Mares3”?  No, sorry Lil Abner, this isn’t one of those ‘do it ‘til you get it right’, deals. Maybe Leo’ll call you since he surely has your number. Btw, he called out Gary Russell last night, psssst, Leo, that’s JoJo Diaz on your phone, better take the call. The cards read 115-113/116-112 and117-111 for Leo. 117-111 ??????????

To all promoters, don’t put two stylish Black fighters on the same card as some little fast, busy Latinos, NOT a good idea. In the semi, unbeaten WBC Jr. middleweight champ (30-0-15K) faced long time vet,  Austin (No Doubt) Trout (31-4-17K) in a fight for Charlo’s belt. This was a strategic affair, (TOO much so) with the strong, heavy-handed champ stalking the gatekeeper. Trying to keep his 7 bout ko streak intact, Charlo was missing wildly on several occasions. He at times looked like Deontay Wilder going for the kill, letting Doubt off the hook. There  were three questionable knockdowns, all scored by the champ. After eating a few shots early on, Trout hung out the ‘Gone Fishing’ sign and just pretty much stayed outta’ harm’s way. Trout says “take away the knockdowns) and I won the fight. That’s what Patterson said when Johanssen dropped HIS ass SEVEN times in the third round. Trout is like Riggundeau (sp) and Lara , they can make you look for the air freshener at times. Somehow, one judge had the fight a draw (must’ve been Adalaide Byrd (lol), while the others had it 115-111 and 118-108 for Charlo. 118-108 was a bit much as well. So now, the shit talking Charlo (runs in the family) wants the hard punching, punch eating robot, Jarrett Hurd. I can see people getting dropped in this one, multiple times, in fact.

It’s been a couple of days now and I wonder if shit talking Jeff Horn has landed a clean shot on the Terror , Terrence (Bud ) Crawford. In the highlights I’ve seen, Crawford beat the kangaroo piss outta’ the Aussie champion and relieved him of his belt in the process. No one expected Horn to have that belt long, anyway. They should’ve had it engraved, ‘ON LOAN TO JEFF HORN’.

6/09/2018…. To BEGIN with, there was not that much happening in that so-called finals, title game. So wth interrupt the fights? I hate that sht. It’s either girl’s softball, Little League W.S. or some other non-descript  bs.  Javale McGee has never been interviewed in his life. This shit should’ve been aired in The Bay Area.

It in turn caused the  ‘ol guy to get his hopes dashed. The fights I’d recorded earlier were not fully recorded and I KNOW I set my recorder set. However, here’s what I DID see and I hope things are better tonight. I saw a Damar Singleton (10-2-1-9k) face a guy that couldn’t fight sleep. His opponent Tommy Hughes (6-1-3K) In the sixth round of a so-so affair. Singleton struggled to finally stop Hughes on a nasty cut over the left eye which bled profusely. It was a weird stoppage because there were no punches thrown by either guy for an entire MINUTE before the ref waived it off. Singleton went bonkers, as if he’d done something, jumping around, dancing, praying, jumping on the ropes and he hadn’t done Shit.

Next up was an even WORSE fight. A guy that was 10-0-11K named Turvel Pulev knocked out a TOTALLY inept Armando Ancona (8-7-2K) in the first round, PITIFUL.

Then came the main event. Now, this is where the ‘ol guy’s gonna’ irritate the masses. Lancaster’s Jose Hernandez (19-3-1-9K)is a very popular, aggressive two fisted type  that doesn’t fear a good brawl. At least, that’s the guy I watched from ringside at the PEC Center in Lancaster. His trainer, Allan Cox, a long time friend  from our Hoover St. Days, is the very capable trainer of Hernandez. I ran into Big Al  and his son a few days before his effort to win NABO light heavy weight  title against the hoagie hype job, Mike Lee.  Lee (20-0-11K) whose claim to fame was as  a former   Notre Dame footballer and pitch man for the Subway food chain. Big Al was saying “ this is a VERY winnable fight for us Don, if we take care of business”. Al had just come from hooping with his son and giving him grief about the lessons just administered. His son wasn’t taking things too well, looking like Trump when Merkel was chewing at his ass. He was VERY irritated.   Now,  about the fight. When Big Al said the fight was “winnable”, he was ON IT. Jose should’ve beaten this guy. He didn’t much resemble the guy I’d seen live. Lee was no submarine, but Jose had this thing won. Not saying this was Jose’s case but sometimes a fighter thinks a situation may be too big for him, fighting in the guy’s home town, he’s undefeated, he’s the guy with the hype, etc. In MY eyes, however, Jose was too tentative at times. He wasn’t as imposing as usual. He and his camp KNEW the situation and KNEW they had to “take this”. This was a tough, grueling affair and I was going, “c’mon Jose, c’mon, man”. In my eyes Hernandez just didn’t push hard enough. He took all Miller issued and was right there. He moved Miller back often when he wanted to. I see a lotta’ friends on FB raving about Jose’s performance but THIS Jose looked about 85%. He should’ve kicked this guy’s ass, he was the better fighter. My recording stopped in the ninth round, so I don’t know how Jose closed.

Promoter Bobby Hitz said “Lee broke two ribs in the first round”. If true, he GOT his ribs broken, HE didn’t do it. And  IF true, if only Jose’s team knew. The body attack is one of Jose’s attributes. Al should ask for a redo, tell Hitz, “we want him, without broken ribs, no excuses. But if Lee’s folks are smart, he’ll leave Jose alone, maybe treat  him to a Subway sandwich. Can’t  wait to hear from Big Al on this one. Lee won the tiff and remains unbeaten and is the NABO champ, enjoy it mike and don’t make Jose your first defense.

And now, it’s on to tonight and Santa Cruz and Mr. Cool, Abner Mares and Charlo-Hurd.

5/13/18- MSG- N.Y.- I missed the original airing of the Vasily Lomachenko  fight against WNA lightweight champ Jorge Linares. Now, I’ve deduced I either need my eyes examined or get my tv fixed. After  Lomachencko (10-1-8K) stopped the champ in the tenth round with a combo capped off by a hard left hand to the liver. Linares (44-3-27) had fought well ended up taking the ten count on his knees. I’d read the comments of the new champ’s performance as “a fight for the ages, a candidate for the FOTY and how “brilliant” Loma’s performance was. PLEASE, STOP! This was a good fight and no more. I saw other fights this weekend that were better. The talking heads were complicit in forming opinions as they constantly and I DO mean CONSTANTLY, ranted and raved about Loma’s performance. If they’d heard him pass gas, they would’ve hyped THAT as well. This was obscene. They went on and on about the short time it was taking Loma to win his third title. I got the feeling there would’ve been some very disappointed people had Loma lost.

What I saw was a fast, accurate, shifty challenger that obviously was more skilled than the ‘ol vet. Drilling Linares with sharp leads and counters,  beating  the champ to the ‘get off’. Loma spun Linares, stepped around for counters, befuddling the champ at every turn, but where was the “brilliance, breathtaking showing by the guy? I’m not THAT sold on the guy. He CAN fight, nobody’s disputing that but I don’t see some FEARFUL monster that’s being promoted (created). When I hear he’s fighting, I don’t block any time to make sure I see him, to me, he’s NOT must see  tv, SORRY. They only real drama came when Jorge drilled Loma with a straight right in the seventh round dropping him. Loma was not hurt, just caught a shot, hey, it’s boxing. The name of the game is hit and get hit, that’s what happens in a fight, REGARDLESS of how many people say, the name of the game is ‘to hit and NOT get hit’. Once again, ALL fighters hit, get hit and EXPECT to get hit. Saying otherwise is to say, in basketball, the intention is to shoot and not miss. Like saying, if it’s raining and you’re running to your car, ‘the aim is to NOT get wet’.

Lastly, I’m glad I DID see the fight, but I was nowhere NEAR overwhelmed, just a good fight. It’s amazing, when a network is massaging the testacles  of a particular fighter on the regular, he can do no wrong. Hell, I’m more interested in seeing  new  154lb champ Jaime Munguia fight again. Now, I’d love to see Loma against Mikey Garcia or Bud Crawford. So sorry to rain on anybody’s parade and maybe I WILL  get these old peepers checked. Jeepers Creepers what about those peepers?

5-13-18-Turning Stone Casino-N.Y.- I thought I was watching the NBA Playoffs, the way Sadam Ali got bounced around by Jamie Mungia Last night.

Sadam Ali (26-1-14K) v. Jamie Mungia (28-0-24K)

In his last fight, a title winning effort against retiring great, Miguel Cotto, the flashy Ali found himself facing a MUCH different animal. He faced a guy that reminded me of a cou0ple of heavy handed, mind numbing, slow bangers, Pipino Cuevas and Big George Foreman. Mungia was deemed unfit to fight GGG and Vanes Martirosyan was sacrificed, instead. Well, Ali should have his entire corner arrested for damn near letting him get decapitated in four rounds. Mungia bludgeoned  the champ, showing absolutely ZERO respect, dropping him four times (should’ve been at LEAST two more). The size difference in Mungia’s favor was so apparent in the first round, as the heavy handed Mungia dropped Ali with the first meaningful left hook he landed. Actually, Ali never recovered from that mind numbing blast. The challenger’s punches seemed to be the slow, wide, type that cause huge damage if you’re there when they land. Seconds later, a flurry put Ali on the canvas again and it became a matter of how long this carnage was gonna’ last. Not very, regardless of how brave Ali’s corner was.  A right hand dropped Ali in the second round and this was starting to resemble Foreman-Frazier. In the third, Ali staged a brief rally but the writing was on the wall, Ali’s corner just didn’t get the memo. Trainer Andre Rozier yelled, “that’s all you need to do, use the jab”. Cornerman Curtis Stevens wasn’t saying shit, he knew how deep the turds were, that Ali was in, he remembers what it felt like when GGG and David Lemeuix put paws on HIS smaller ass. The Dr. was called in to check on Ali as Rozier was hollering instructions and it was apparent the champ didn’t have a clue as to what state he was in, much less which casino. This was becoming very scary as Ali was again sent out to face a youngster (21) that was minus ANY type of pity. In the fifth, a clean, slow, flush, left hook located Ali’s jaw and down he went again. The punch was a sweeping hook that Ali STILL couldn’t avoid. There was no need for any type of count, the next guy to to visit Ali might have been a man in Black, carrying a scythe. It was great seeing my old friend Robert Alcazar, running Mungia’s corner. He’s always been another of the ‘good guys in tha’ game, despite the shafting he got from DeLaHoya years ago. Good job, Roberto, you have a monster on your hands. The only thing I see that might cause his guy issues is the lack of hand speed, but I thought the same thing about Big George. Mungia is now the new boss in the 154 lb class, WBO style.

Coverage of the Rey Vargas Azat Hovhannisyan, war, late

2/17/2018- El Paso, Tx.-There were so many fights last night, I lost track, so don’t mess with me if I get a few stats wrong. But, let me start with this. I saw Caleb Plant’s debut at the Galen Center years ago and said, “damn this White dude is smooth and has skills. That was about four years ago and after watching him last night, I see very little difference, YET, whenever I see him being interviewed, he’s calling out David Benavidez, “that’s a fight I’d like” he said. Trust me, David would knock Plant’s dickstrap loose. Benavidez is now my favorite guy to watch (and Errol Spence). If Caleb Plant EVER lets his peeps put him in a ring with David, it better be just to take a picture. With that light spraying, Plant (16-0-10K) likes to do, I don’t think Benavidez, with HIS chin, would even have to block them. Plant would never have the luxury of strolling around the ring like he’s at the damn beach, with Benavidez . Plant faced a guy that was so slow and inept, it was pitiful. I’ve seen sloths faster than Porky Medina. I thought that was a rap by Tone Loc. There were times when Medina (38-8-32K) would miss by such wide margins, Plant would just clown him by waving his gloves in the air and those Latinos in El Paso did NOT like the shit he was doing ONE damn bit. I’ve seen guys shadow boxing land more punches than Porky last night. Plant has a smooth style, slick moves, but is BOOOORING as hell at times. Thing is, he never tries to hurt anybody,  too busy stylin’ smilin’ and profilin’ and he’ll do that shit for ten rounds. Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see where he goes next, if he plans on being a star, he’d better change his lackadaisical ways. PPV,  yeah RIGHT. Oh, Plant won a unanimous decision (yawn).

Now, I have NO idea what the judges were drinking during the Devon Alexander (27-4-14K)- Victor Ortiz fight. Ortiz (32-6-3D-25K) tried his damndest, didn’t quit but STILL got his ass whipped by the sharp shooting Alexander. This was a pretty good hookup though as one NEVER knows what the hell Ortiz might do. He might enter the ring on a surfboard. Vic’s a classic underachiever, has power, talent but never really had a fighter’s mentality and if the heat got to be too much, he has no problem asking “where’s  the nearest exit”? Devon was pretty much on point, raking the game Ortiz with uppercuts, straight left hands and whatever else he wanted to toss in Vic’s direction. Ortiz got his shit off, but never really did more than buzz Devon a few times. There were no knockdowns. Ortiz’s left eye started swelling as early as the fourth round and I thought oh, oh, quitting time, but he hung tough and lasted the distance in this WBC welterweight elimination scrap. Then came  the  Adelaide Byrd moment. The fight was scored a split decision DRAW. I saw it at 8-4. Talking head Virgil Hunter couldn’t hide his enthusiasm for Devon and didn’t give Ortiz many props at all, that was left to the other talking scalp, Ghost Guerrero. The welters are a hot division and Ortiz doesn’t belong in THAT mix, any way.

In a four rounder, hot prospect, Olympian, Carlos Banderas (3-0-3K) caught an erection after rocking the world of Jorge Rojas (4-2-2K) with a blistering one-two set early in the opening round and spent pretty much the rest of the time seeking a spectacular ko. Rojas wasn’t just there to entertain Bandaras and after getting drilled from time to time, informed the young upstart that ‘some of us can go more than four’. It was a good learning experience and should bode well in Bandaras’ future. Carlos is super quick and accurate and looks very promising, just has to be a little patient at times.

Mandalay Bay- Las Vegas

Errol Spence’s next victim, Yourdanis Ugas (21-3-10K), scored a hard fought victory over Philly’s Ray Robinson (24-3-12K), dropping him twice and scoring a TKO at 1:05 of the seventh round. Ugas, as rugged as they come, finished matters with an overhand right. Robinson had his moments in this back and forth affair but was finally worn down by the strength and power of Ugas.

I was fired up to watched my favorite guy to watch, David Benavidez, tha’ games youngest champ at 21. Benavidez (19-0-17K) out to inform us that this rematch with the ultra rugged, Ronald (the Thrill) Gavril (18-2-14K) in this super middleweight hookup. In their first encounter, Benavidez survived a knockdown in the final round but was ahead on the cards. Both guys had been threatening a different result this time. The Thrill questioned the maturity of the youngster and David just said, I’m gonna’ knock his ass out this time. The tall and super talented Benavidez was like an unchained Cobra, piercing the tight defence of his opponent with laser jabs from the gate. He then switched to a vicious body attack that had the normally aggressive Gavril on the lam. David is one mean youngster. Gavril would barrel forward with his strong body shots but was met each time with a hail of leather from the young, well conditioned champion. This was a beautiful performance by Benavidez as he showed a maturity beyond his years. He doesn’t have a fighter’s body, hardly any muscles to talk about but he can and WILL bang. It seemed like the only time Gavril landed was when Benavidez allowed him to,like when he was on the ropes. Things got pretty tortuous for the hard trying Gavril who had NO help from his corner. Former lightheavyweight champ (and a good one) Eddie Mustofa Muhamed kept repeating the OBVIOUS, “you’re taking his best punches, look at how tired he is, he’s dead-ass tired”. He said this after nearly every round. Problem was, he was lying about the “tired” part. I’m sure The Thrill was thinking’ yeah, I’m taking his shots now wtfk   can I DO about it’? Eddie had NO solutions and the ass whippin’ continued. Gavril had fleeting success but otherwise just got trashed. It was reported that he suffered a broken jaw AND nose. Did I say David can ram? The only think that kept him from stopping the rugged Gavril was the injury suffered to both hands in the ninth round. He only threw about six rights over the last three rounds. Overall, a brilliant performance and  a bad sign going forward for this division. So, THIS is what Caleb Plant wants, DON’T fkn make me laugh.

In an interesting hookup, Philly’s Danny( Swift) Garcia (33-1-19K), with his heavy hands, faced the supposedly rededicated tough guy, Brandon (Bam Bam ) Rios. The Oxnard vet (34-3+-1D-24K). Rios had shown some improvement since reuniting with one of California’s top trainers, Robert Garcia of Oxnard. Early on, Rios was seen slipping shots and a better defense. Garcia showed lots of patience, boxing well, behind good movement an a stiff left jab. Rios started getting inside in the third and landing with uppercuts but Garcia was starting to fire bac, landing jarring rigt hands to Brandon’s face.Both guys were landing well but Garcia was started to really get to Rios with big hooks to the body and head slowing Rios down. In the seventh, Brandon was pretty much walking in and dieting on Danny’s power shots. It was pretty obvious at this point that Rios was in deep caca. Danny’s shots were starting to shake up Rios. Rios would shake his head ‘no’ but I think those rights were rocking his head. With his face showing the wear and tear, Brandon was a sitting duck as Garcia was duck hunting. A lazy jab sealed Rios’ fate as Garcia counter with a monster right hand, putting Rios flat on his back. Forever the gamester, Rios got to his feet at nine and when ref Kenny Bayless  asked if he wanted to go on, Brandon said ‘yes’ but his underpinnings told a different story. If Bayless had allowed Garcia to get off another right hand like that, he’d be considered an accessory

Then, things got REAL funky. As they annoying Jim Gray was interviewing Garcia, top contender, Shawn Porter started yapping at Danny. Needless to say, Danny and daddy weren’t having it. The shit was flying and I never understand why a guy in a three piece would get in the face of a fighter with gloves on and STILL hot from the battle. Danny told Porter, “go back home, boy, this is my town” Porter said, “I live here, I train here, I’m from here”. Garcia” we can do it now, we can take it to the streets. Porter: No, I wanna’ do it for money, make the fight. Garcia: this is the Danny Garcia show, tha’ fk outta’ here”. The boxer’s dads were chirping as well. If they sign, it would be great theater. And somewhere, the slow-healing champ, Keith (Sometime) Thurman was trying to show some spunk. He was in shock when Rios hit the deck, but perked up when he saw the lens was pointed at HIM. Poor Thurman can’t catch a break. He sounds like that Sow Sarah Sanders dodging, when asked a direct question. You ask that swine where she’s going, she’ll tell you where she’s been. Thurman’s like that when asked about Spence. This morning, however, I read he said, “Spence can’t beat me, I’ll whip his ass, I’ll handle him”. It’s about TIME he started at least SOUNDIN unafraid.

2/3/2018 Sloan, Ia. The only decent thing about last night’s telecast was I didn’t have to wait ‘til 10:30 to watch it. I was all situated with my popcorn, anxiously awaiting the coming out of the pheenom, undefeated Devin Haney. What I got instead, was probably the worse card I’ve seen on Showtime in years. This was some bullshit. In the opener, there was this guy that goes by the name of “Too Pretty and and after seeing him bogeying to the ring with his cornerman holding a big mirror so he could admire his good looks once in the ring. Montana (Too Pretty) Love (8-0-4K) spent more energy OUTSIDE the ropes than BETWEEN them. He faced a guy (Sam Teah from Philly) 12-1-1-+5K. This guy will never make one forget Briscoe, Frazier, Hayward, Benton, YOU get my meaning. After each round of this snore fest, his trainer pleaded with him to “do something, man”. How a guy trains daily (I guess) then get in the ring and NOT fight. Man, this eight rounds seemed like TWENTY EIGHT. Too much shake ‘n bake and too much bullshit for ME. Love must pattern himself after Ghetto Boy Broner but minus the hairbrush. Anyway, enough on this thing, Love went on to win a boring eight round nod. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Devin where ARE you?

The second fight featured a guy that can’t hit hard enough to hurt your feelings (Rolando Chinea (15-1-1-6K) v. Thomas Mattice (10-8K) Chinea just plods forward with his feather fists, swarming all over his opponents. I’ve never seen him hurt anybody and there’s nothing worse than a guy trying to be Joe Frazier but punches like Paulie Malinaggi. For over six rounds, the better skilled guy, Mattice had no answers for the high energy Chinea. Then suddenly in the seventh and way behind on my scorecards, Mattice drilled the windmill with a big left hook, buzzing him and pinning him on the ropes where it was bombs away with Chinea out on his tootsies. One more shot as the ref jumped in, sent a beaten Chinea to the mat. The time was 1:31.

The main event was a little better but there must have been some Adalaide Byrds sitting ring side. Ronald Ellis (14-0-20-10K), in my eyes did enough to win over a game (at times) over Jr. Younan. Younan was another guy that had to be scolded several times about “not doin nuthin, man”) by his corner. Ellis was the aggressor with Younan acting like he was in the gym sparring. Ellis pushed the pace and scored the better shots. Several times there were too many voices in Younan’s corner, no wonder he wasn’t sure what to do. So that was pretty much the deal and Showtime, don’t do this to me again.

12-16-2017 Montreal Ca.- I’m a David Lemieux fan (I like bangers) and I really DID wanna’ see him stop Billy Joe Saunders (25-0-12K) just to see if big mouth Daniel (I really DID beat GGG) Jacobs would dare challenge him. Jacobs talks more shit for doing NOTHING than anybody in the game. Course if David doesn’t  ko Jacobs, Jacobs will claim the win. In any event, Lemieux (38-3-33K) was taken to school and told where to sit tonight as Billy Joe boxed circles around the Canadian in front of his OWN fans. I’m STILL waiting for David to land a clean shot and the fight’s been over for two hours . It wasn’t the most interesting fight to watch, not even competitive, really. Lemieux chased, pursued, ran, all with the intent of putting those heavy hands on the WBO middleweight champ. By the ninth round, a tired, bloody nosed Lemieux was getting beaten up and rocked. After the fight, Lemieux said he hurt his left hand (at LEAST he didn’t QUIT) and couldn’t do what he wanted. David proved to be a very one dimensional guy and had no idea what to do with Billy Joe’s movement and quickness. He acted as if he’d never SEEN Saunders fight. This was a disappointing rout (for ME, anyway).

I’ve watched Antoine Douglas (22-1-16K) fight just twice and both times he was beaten to a pulp. In his first loss, his peeps screwed up by taking on a last minute sub (Avantandil Khurtsidze 31-2-2 20K) that proved to be a battle-tested veteran and he put a bad beating on the youngster stopping him in six rounds. Douglas was barely twenty, undefeated and his people didn’t need to take a fight like that. Lesson learned? NOT. Tonight, Douglas was after his first major title when he faced another battle-tested dude, Gary O’sullivan (26-2-18K). To begin with, though talented, Douglas isn’t big or strong enough for the middleweight division and he doesn’t hit like a ’60 pounder. O’Sullivan a rough, tough, strong as an ox Brit, completely  overpowered Douglas, stopping him after seven brutal rounds. The hard charging O’Sullivan had no respect for the youngster’s power. Douglas would fire his pinpoint combos, but O’Sullivan smiled, ate them and walked Douglas down, mentally wearing out the youngster and landing some heavy shots up and down. This fight looked so much like Antoine’s other loss, it was eerie. Douglas has a bad habit, thinking he’s a killer, standing and trading when he should be boxing and moving. He also stands too erect and gets hit with everything. He really needs to fight at ’54. O’Sullivan now owns the WBO Intercontenental  belt and would be a problem for most middleweights around today.

Jr. welterweight Cletus Seldon (21-1ND-17K) came in with a reputation as a fan friendly, heavy handed ko artist. He had only three amateur fights and it showed tonight. He faced Yves Ulysse Jr, a good boxer but not a big hitter. Surprise, after three rounds, the man who calls himself ‘The Hammer’ looked more like the nail, as he was pounded to the mat three times. Seldon didn’t have a clue what to do with the fleet footed, quick handed Ulysse. It was shocking seeing just how limited this guy was, to be fighting on HBO. He was constantly chasing his opponent around the ring and getting blasted when he closed the gap. After the early damage he did, Yves decided to mount his bike and was for the most part, was in a different zip code than his opponent was. It became a real ugly affair, THAT coupled with the lack of skill displayed by Seldon. His people have a LOTTA’ work to do with this guy. Ulysse went on to win going away.

EVANS-ROJAS HEAT UP CLEVELAND

11/10/2017-Cleveland, Oh.—Watching that torrid featherweight main event between Yuandale Evans (19-1-14K) v. Luis Rojas (23-0-11K) had me thinking I was back at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, watching the great little flyweight from D.C., Mark (Too Sharp) Johnson and the many wars he had with all those bad ass Mexicans they kept hooking him up with. Matchmaker Tony Curtis seemed to have an endless pipeline. This card was actually a decent run up to the big action tonight. I wonder if I’ll see the all out madness I saw tonight, though. In a scrap for the vacant WBC Continental featherweight title, these two came in ready to go the whole ten. With the rash of high profile guys that can’t seem to make weight or perform at a high level (Bermaine Stiverne), it was good seeing Evans and Rojas showing how it SHOULD be done. Whatever they were paid, it probably wasn’t enough for all the hell THEY raised. They started out like this was a continuation of something that started earlier. Thirty seconds in, these two guys were on it. The muscular, once beaten Evans seemed to want to establish some ground rules early but Rojas had his OWN agenda which was ‘let’s compare cajone circumferences. The ring was a small one, even for these little guys but it didn’t matter, they seemed to be sharing breathing space as they snuggled up to each other and just did their jobs. The action made it hard for the judges because it went ‘to and ‘fro’ all night. There was no noticeable change until around the seventh round when Evans drilled Rojas with a powerful straight left, shaking him up. To nobody’s surprise, back came Rojas with both hands, driving his tormentor into the ropes. At the final bell with the ref having to literally jump in to stop the action, nobody really knew who had the advantage. After a lengthy delay, the final score was read as Evans winning a split decision and we ALL know there has to be a repeat of festivities on this and I’m sure both warriors will say, ‘damn right’. This was a goody, folks.

In a welterweight scrap, Radzhab Butaev (7-0-6K) from Romania but training  out of the Wild Card gym in Hollywood, squared off against Janer Gonzalez (19-0-1D-15K). In the corner of Gonzalez was the man with THAT hat, THOSE shades and THAT plaid shirt, looking like he was straight outta’ Ramona Gardens, Ruben Guerrero, dad to former champ, Robert. There wasn’t a lotta’ action in this one, actually there was more stylin’ and profilin’ than anything else. Neither guy mounted anything resembling a heart felt attack. Plus, this went on for eight rounds with Butaev winning a unanimous decision. Just a so-so affair, really.

Shades of last week’s so-called title fight between heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder and the big, passive Haitian slob, Bermaine Stiverene. Heavyweight Junior Fa (12-0-7K) didn’t even break a sweat against an outta’ shape Fred (Too slick) Lathem (9-0-1NC-2D-5K). Lathem came plodding out in search of a cheeseberger but was immediately jumped on by Fa. Backed into his own corner, Lathem was under heavy duress as Fa, from New Zealand unloaded a barrage of shots rendering Lathem out on his feet and hungry. He never landed one punch. His nickname is ‘too slick’ but the only thing ‘slick’ about him was he was too slick to hit the canvas as he was literally out on his feet and propped up in his own corner. This was a brief affair, lasting just 67 seconds. That was about how long Stverne  lasted. Maybe those two should fight to see who goes to sleep the fastest. It was too quick to tell, but at LEAST Fa was in shape.

In the opener, Olympian Charles Conwell (5-0-5K) the hometown favorite, came in as the hot prospect, was pitted against someone that was obviously there to polish his shine by becoming another ko victim. His opponent, one Rogue Zapata (4-1-3-0K) did everything BUT get ko’d as he was tormented for six lop-sided rounds. He didn’t win anything except respect . Course, he can always play his Daniel Jacobs card and say, ‘I didn’t get stopped, so I WON’, right? Conwell looked ok, but has some things to work on, like not being so right hand crazy. He had the perfect foil tonight, willing but not capable. Conwell was, suffice it to say awarded a unanimous decision with no further questions, your honor.

9/22/2017- Things heated up in a hurry in Tucson tonight as WBO featherweight boss Oscar Valdez Jr. (22-0-19K) and Genesis Servania (29-0-12K) let the boisterous crowd know right away they didn’t require a feeling out round. Valdez seems to want to hurt you with every shot he tosses your way and tonight he found a more than willing dance partner. Oscar’s calling card was a draining body attack that I expected would end his opponent’s night after  a good 6-7 rounds but that was not the case. Both warriors showed plenty of resolve along with a fusillade of punches for twelve rounds that had the crowd on its feet almost from the start. Valdez does have a tendency to get a bit wreckless at times which is what happened in the fourth round. Retreating to the ropes, he exited to the his right but his left hand was low and Genesis assumed full advantage, dropping the champ with a big right hand, causing the crowd to hold its breath. Luckily for Oscar, it came at round’s end, as he was on shaky grounds.

In the next round, it was the champ’s turn as a short, sweet, left hook located Servania’s jaw and down he went. He wasn’t in as bad a shape as Valdez was earlier though and was able to get back in the mix. There was action galore in this pitched battle and luckily, both guys were up to the task. Servania always seemed a right hand away from making Valdez give up his belt.  Time and again, during heated exchanges, Valdez would fire a little wide and Servania was there with short jolting shots inside Oscar’s looping shots. There weren’t many lulls in this one and there were several back and forth moments. Over the last three rounds, Valdez went into box mode and kept some space between him and the always dangerous  Servania.  I’m sure nobody would be upset if these two mentioned ‘rematch’ but I’d tell Oscar, ‘don’t do that until you really HAVE to’. Overall, a fine performance from both gladiators, sending the pro Valdez crowd out into the desert night on a good note, with the champ keeping his hardware.

In the semi main, in a battle for the WBO Super middleweight belt, unbeaten champ Gilberto (Zurdo) Ramirez 35-0-24K) only had a few moments of concern with Philly’s unbeaten Jesse Hart (22-0-18K). Now, I’m a diehard Philly boxing fan and I KNOW what a ‘Philly Fighter’ is and I don’t put Hart OR Willie Monroe Jr. in that  group. In fact, the only ‘Philly fighter’ I liken Hart to, IS Monroe. They may have the pedigree but so did Marvis Frazier. Hart’s dad  (Eugene Cyclone Hart)was a fearless, hard punching Philly warrior as was Willie (the worm) Monroe, but Hart and Monroe, Jr. AREN’T. When I read all the shit Hart was spewing about fulfilling his daddy’s dream of becoming a champion ( his dad never did) and saw he had a lotta’ ko’s on his slate, and knowing how Ramirez with his lead feet likes to just walk in, I expected fireworks from Hart.. Guess again, Don. For the first 6-7 rounds, Hart was either plastered against the ropes soaking up shit or skipping around the ring avoiding any type of major confrontations. Every now and then, when he tired of getting hit, Hart would fire back but ALWAYS one shot at a time and most times he didn’t really commit. He didn’t fight like a guy that KNEW he could punch and was always ready to bail. He’d land a good uppercut on the plodding Ramirez, slowing his roll but never put shots together, until the 8^th or ninth rounds. Once, he wobbled Ramirez with a straight right, sending him stumbling backwards but Hart seemed as surprised as Ramirez was and in FACT was moving backwards himself. There’s nothing flashy or fancy about the southpaw Ramirez, not a hard guy to figure out at all. He did manage to drop Hart in the second round and had him in trouble a few other times. To me, Hart didn’t seem to want to ‘take’ the title, in fact afterwards said, “I was glad to go 12 rounds”. Actually I was, too, as his mouth was open as early as the fourth round. Hart staged an all out rally in the last two rounds, making me wonder why he started so damn late. He rocked Ramirez a few times over the last couple of rounds but never seemed wanting to ‘fulfill his life long dream’. Maybe next time