&/18.2017… I’m sure over the years Lancaster’s featherweight Chris (Hitman) Avalos feels he’d gotten a raw deal or two. Well tonight  Avalos  (16-5-19K), was on the receiving end when he was declared a fifth round TKO winner over Miguel Flores (21-1-9K) . From my point of view, Avalos was looking as if he was facing the possibility of a late round stoppage loss. This was a rough and tumble fight with lots of rough shit occurring. Chris seemed to get hurt at least once every round and was dropped in the third from a barrage following a Flores straight hand.

A butt that was unseen by the ref caused a bad cut over Flores’ left eye. Admittedly if  the ref didn’t SEE it, he couldn’t call it, though the replay did. Avalos doesn’t seem to react well to shots the way he once did, being hurt several times by the pinpoint shots from the aggressive Flores. Chris landed his share of shots but Flores wasn’t affected much. Flores won every round until the stoppage but this ain’t fishing and Avalos wasn’t throwing it back. He mentioned a rematch but that wouldn’t be a wise move, going off of tonight’s performance. There were numerous exchanges and Avalos always seemed to get the worse of it, being forced to hold on at times. On the knockdown, a straight right from Flores shook Avalos and a follow up assault caused him to take a knee where Flores landed a glancing blow with Chris on his knee. Overall it was an entertaining fight and Chris will gladly take this to the bank.

Not much to talk about in the other two scraps. Undefeated prospect Ahmed Elbiali (15-0-12K) steamrolled a helpless  Christopher Brooker from Philly. This was about the weakest Philly fighter I’ve seen in years. Elbiali landed heavy artillery on Brooker from the start and lots of his shots were behind the head as if Brooker didn’t have ENOUGH issues Brooker was trapped in a corner, dropped and rescued by the ref in the second round. In the finale, an ‘ol vet Carlos Velasquez came in with a record of 25 wins and 24 losses. His peeps had to search high and low to find 24 guys HE could beat. The youngster he fought, Ryan (Cowboy) Karl was no ass kicker, either. Unfortunately this thing dragged on (robbing me of precious sleep) for eight rounds and Karl was the winner by unanimous decision, I think. Also heavy eight Charles Martin, former champ (uggggh) was a ko winner over some Orca that went down whenever he got hit. The only good thing about THIS one was, it wasn’t televised.

7/15/2017-There was a lotta’ swingin’ goin’ on this weekend. I saw guys that had a LOT to learn and a guy that needs to DISAPPEAR.

Robert Guerrero 33-5-1-1D-18K v. Omar Figueroa (26-0-1D-18K)

In most sports, it’s pretty obvious when it’s time to retire but somehow, in the most brutal sport of all, most guys don’t know WHEN to say ‘when’. Gilroy California’s Guerrero is a case in point. The Ghost and his dad with the funny had can’t take even the BIGGEST hint. At the rate he’s going, the Ghost will need a name plate to know who the hell he is. Looking to snap a two bout losing street, he faced a pudgy Omar Figueroa that hadn’t had a fight in over a year. He looked like it too, for THREE minutes. Guerrero came out with his ass on fire, unloading on Omar who seemed to have forgotten to set his alarm. Driving Omar to the ropes, Guerrero was looking like his old self. In round two he looked like his much OLDER self as Omar completely flipped the script.

Omar lured (didn’t take much) the Ghost into a trench war and destroyed the Ghost with vicious, mind numbing uppercuts. Guerrero had some bible stuff written on his trunks and it was appropriate  because he spent a lotta’ time on his knees in a praying position. He went from praying to being preyed UPON. Five times (that’s right), Omar put the Ghost on his knees but couldn’t make him quit. In fact, after the first THREE drops, Guerrero stormed back, unloading on Omar. This was a vicious  three  round war, sorta’ like  Hagler-Hearns. The fight was finally stopped when it was obvious the Ghost was about to get SERIOUSLY hurt.

At the Forum in Inglewood, Ca.

The short reign of New York’s  heavy handed light heavyweight champ was short lived to say the least. It’s hard to call him an ex-champ so soon. Smith (23-1-19K) the blue collar guy just might be smart in maintaining his day job. He faced Sullivan Barrera (sounds like a damn race horse) (19-1-14K),  who informed

Joe that it takes a LOT more than heavy hands to get by in THIS business. Berrera got off to a smokin’ start, nailing Smith with fast combos, rattling the New Yorker. Then Joe did what he does,  he unladed a sweeping left hook high on Berrera’s head, dropping him. But unlike Bernard Hopkins, Sullivan stayed in the ring. In fact, he gave Smith a beating over ten rounds that left no doubt. Aside from an occasional shot,  Smitty was completely dominated and was lucky he didn’t get stopped. At times he looked totally out of his element. Aside from that early knockdown, Smith was never in this fight. It was an impressive win for the Cuban, Berrera. Now, it’s back to the union halls for Smitty and hopefully, back to the drawing board, he has a LOT to learn.

Jezreel Corrales (21-1-1NC-8K) v. Robinson Castellanos ( 22-11-14K)

In a rather odd encounter, you had a guy with blonde hair, a black beard and a ten lb weight advantage against a guy that has lost HALF his bouts and has been stopped 6 times. This didn’t figure to be too interesting but it turned into a pretty decent  scrap, especially after the limited Catellanos dropped the heavily favored  Corrales in round five. In a foul fest, both guys were guilty of head butts, rabbit shots and a few other things. Things became so messy that it was stopped in the6th round, with the win going to Corrales

Miguel Berchelt (31-1-28K) v. Takashi Miura (31-3-20-24K)

Now, I REALLY got my popcorn  ready for what was predicted to be an all outer. The WBC Super featherweight strap was on the line and there were no prisoners scheduled to be taken. WRONG, what we actually got was the champ Berchelt  dancing and skipping around, leading the plodding Miura around like his new best friend. If Miura had a game plan, I don’t know what it was. He was totally schooled by the elusive Mr. Berchelt  the entire fight and I don’t think he won more than ONE round. Most times he seemed to have concrete boots on and flailed away wildly, often missing by FEET, and throwing himself into the ropes. The number of clean shots he DID land could be counted on one glove. This was so one-sided, I thought Miura was a last minute sub. Hell, I expect McGregor to be more competitive .True, Berchelt was aware of the ‘threat’ his opponent presented and he was never in position to get hit cleanly more than once, giving Miura angles and movement that rendered his power moot. This was a very disappointing main event and ugly. The only knockdown came in the first round when Miura was put down from a left hook. There were numerous rabbit blows from Miura as well as Castellanos and was discussed at length by the talking heads. In fact, ref Raul Caiz gave the champ a little respite following one of the many. The moments Miura DID have were few and far between.

In other weekend action, highly regarded JoJo Dan (36-4-19K) had his issues with the length and reach of Jamaal James (20-1-9K). James showed decent boxing skills and movement but not much power DESPITE his fierce grunting with each punch he threw. Dan stalked and punished the grasshopper-like James when he had him against the ropes. A couple of times James seemed ready to go after Dan was able to corral him but rallied the next round to regain control. To me, it was a pretty close fight but the judges saw a unanimous win for the lanky one. The question IS, what’s next for JoJo ?

Freddy Figueroa (12-0-8K), younger brother of Omar probably thought he was in the gym hitting one of those heavy bags the way he battered a game but inept  Fatiou Fassinou (28-6-3-15K). Fatiou’s game plan must’ve been to see how many times Freddy could hit him before wearing himself out. Well, Freddy had a lotta’ energy and this was a bout that could’ve / should’ve been stopped at several stages. Round after round, Fassinou got the cat piss beaten outta’ him. The only respite he got was the beginning of the last round when Freddy decided to box a little. Evidently he found that to be boring and once again started blasting away at this heavy bag with arms and legs. I always found it amazing, the amount of punishment the human body can take without collapsing. Fassinou was a punch absorbing sponge and is the type that will be back in the gym sparring tomorrow, ten rounds. Keep THIS shit up and his friends will have to tell him what he did for a living.

THE CIRCUS

This shit with McGreggor and Mayweather is becoming MORE and MORE embarrassing. All the cussing and strutting around the stage is REDICULOUS. Floyd thinks he’s a damn rapper and Connor thinks he’s  the wittiest thing on two feet. I keep struggling to find the ‘entertaining aspect’ of this thing and I’m not doing too well. After calling his ‘opponent’ a pussy and a faggot, he says afterwards, “I don’t disrespect NOBODY”. With his tax issues, Floyd looks ridiculous ‘making it rain’. He then asks the people not to  stream this fight because “it takes stuff away from my kids” REALLY, Floyd REALLY?

By Chris ‘Rab’ Butler.

Well I’m back again with my rantings and ramblings from here in England, hoping you haven’t missed me, because I have either been lazy or incompetent when it comes to saving my work on my laptop and losing the damn thing that I was going to email Mr. Dinkins a while back. So no more excuses, here we go.

Last time I told you about the mandatory for Billy Joe Saunders the WBO middleweight champ Advantil Khurtzsidski, the Georgian who shocked a lot of people here by knocking out Tommy Langford. I told you this bloke was as mad as a box of frogs, well if you didn’t know, him and 30 others of questionable morals and so on from Russia and Georgia got busted for all sorts of naughty Mafia stuff including stealing a load of chocolate! Who the hell wants to steal chocolate? I did once from a shop when I was a little kid and got my legs slapped and rightly so, but hey, maybe it was laced with something those hoodlums could sell on somewhere. Anyway, Billy Joe is now squaring up against Willie Monroe Jr. on September 16^th at the Copper Box in that London. I predict an easy nights work for Billy, who not so long ago called out Gennedy “GGG” Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez at a presser over here again, in that London. GGG told Billy he talks too much, whereas Canelo didn’t say too much himself but blushed and farted in his seat because Alvarez was slated to fight Saunders but for whatever reason (probably money and not enough of it), it didn’t happen.

Talking of the Copper Box on Saturday just gone (8^th July) there was some serious crowd trouble at the venue after Sammy McNess who was touted for big things, had a large West Ham United football (soccer, to you colonials) following behind him that caused the disturbances after Asinia Byfield battered him from pillar to post. The fight was for a local area title and McNess had been built up and much money invested in him by HOF promoter Frank Warren. Warren was vociferous in condemning the trouble that occurred and quite rightly so. Considering that amongst those in attendance at the show were a lot of women and children, it was disgraceful. The trouble being ignited by McNess’s followers not happy with their boy being defeated (the corner threw the towel in, the ref should’ve stopped it earlier) and of course that thing they call alcohol. Beered up idiots who mob handed act brave and bold but the only time you’d ever see any of these clowns near a gym is running past one to get to the hot dog stand nearby. Besides that, once the trouble had been sorted, the top of the bill was a young man called Anthony Yarde. This chap was fighting for some alphabet bauble called the WBO European light heavyweight strap and against a Hungarian with a 17-1 record. Yarde has had 12 contests now, with 11 KO’s as he dispatched the Magyar in under a round. This kid can bang, trust me. He had only about 15 bouts as an amateur and is learning on the job, but I don’t think he is learning a great deal as 8 of his KO’s have come in the 1^st round. But, Frank Warren does have high hopes for him and he will be tested more as he progresses his career. One to watch, coming to America before long.

Josh Taylor, another prospect trained by Shane McGuigan, son of legend Barry, was in action north of the border at the Braehead arena in Glasgow against Ohara Davies. Josh has fought on the undercard of Frampton-Santa Cruz, in Vegas at the MGM Grand. Josh has excellent amateur credentials as a 2010 British Commonwealth Games silver medallist in 2010 and gold in 2014 as well as an Olympic rep for Team GB in 2012. Josh battered Ohara Davies in 7 that I didn’t catch until later but one of my amateur lads called me as I was in bed with the missus to ask if I’d seen the scrap but kept quiet about the outcome! Good boy, or he’d have an extra lap or three around the track when he gets back to training! Keep an eye out for him and talking of (former) Team GB members, that man Daniel Dubois was in action again and was slated for a 10 rounder in what was for another alphabet bauble being the WBC youth heavyweight title in only his 4th bout. His original opponent pulled out so he ended up boxing some Brazilian chump with a winning record of 14 wins and 0 defeats but weighing 33 pounds less. “DDD” as big Dan is known as put the Brazilian down with his very first punch and from then on it was survival mode for the rest of the round and then in the 2^nd poleaxed him with a whack to the solar plexus which looked a bit innocuous at first but on the telly replay he caught him good and proper. As I’ve said before, keep your eye on this kid, and he is a kid, still only 19 and 6’5” and 233lbs solid.

Lastly, I suppose I better mention the McGregor-Mayweather “fight”. I know Donald is pretty sick of it just at the mere thought, I have to say I am too. We all know what will happen, that is, those of us that know anything about boxing or MMA, and the only thing that will be worth watching is McGregor winding up Mayweather as I’m sure he will. Doesn’t matter what Mayweather says about his credentials, McGregor will have him from behind and dry bum him. Other than that, everyone in Vegas will get paid as everyone will flock like lemmings to see this shit and I shall watch it from home and on a live stream as the worst place I could see it will be in a bar full of drunken idiots who don’t know shit about boxing as a certain uncle once said.

That’s it, thanks for reading and please feel free to praise my writings to the mountains or slag it off mercilessly, all criticism will be taken onboard.

7/02/2017- Ok fight fans, the voice of reasoning is signing in.  Now, I get that Jeff Horn wasn’t supposed to bother the great, legendary Pilipino legend,  Manny  Pacquiao (59-6-2-38K).  Most U.S.  fight  fans don’’t  know Jeff Horn (16-0-1-11K)  from Jeff  ZORN, the former Seahawks qb. But to hear all the ranting and raving over Horn’s win last night, lead by that raving LUNATIC, Teddy Atlas, I don’t get the outrage. There have  always been controversial decisions in boxing, ask Chocolatito  about that shit or some of Danny Garcia’s opponents. Not only did he (Chocolatito), get screwed, his unbeaten streak was snapped AND he lost his title.

Whenever we folks  stateside that don’t know ANYTHING about a foreign fighter with  so few fights, against people we never heard of, we are NEVER in a position to accept them upsetting the established icon. Well, Manny and his fans, PRAY that  ya’ boi NEVER finds himself staring across the ring at ANY of the top welters. They would KILL this version of Pacquiao. Duerte would send his goons after Errol Spence, Jr. or Terrance Crawford. The Aussie, Horn is not the stylish, smooth ko  artist  that people wanna’ see. His style’s not pleasing to the eyes  but so fkn WHAT, neither is Shawn Porter’s. His opponents are always complaining about his rough house tactics and he just smiles and has that, ‘it’s a damn FIGHT aint it” expression.  He had Ghetto Boy Adrian Broner  RUNNING from him at times in their fight. That damn Tyson Fury is the shittiest thing I’ve seen in a hundred years but he sure beat  Klitchko and became hwt. Champ DIDN’T he?

The powers that be in boxing swore on their mama’s panties that they’d FINALLY found a guy that Manny could stop, just like they found one coming up, for Floyd Mayweather. I imagine the master plan was to rematch Manny and Floyd and bring all the suckers BACK into the tent.

Well, the club fighting Jeff Horn  fked up THAT cha-cha, DIDN’T he? Now, let’s get REAL here. From the OPENING bell, this dude let Manny and everybody else know  that he had ZERO respect for Manny OR his legacy. He was in Manny’s shit from the opening bell and didn’t stop roughing his ass up. Elbows, head butts, wrestling, he just didn’t GIVE a shit. At times, he had Manny in full flight trying to slow his flow. He was too big, too young, too strong and WAY too rough for Manny. Manny looked  every bit  the 38 year old former great that he is. Those who see Manny stopping this guy in a rematch are DREAMING. Manny’s biggest moment came in the 9^th round when he put  some SHIT on the Aussie, so MUCH so, the ref, came to Horn’s corner and said, “I’m here to protect you, do something or I’m stopping the fight”. Well, with all the bleeding Manny was doing, who was there to “protect” HIM? And after punching himself out with wild swings, Manny didn’t do shit for the next two rounds and the rejuvenated youngster was back in his ass. Manny should’ve had a saddle on. Sure, Manny had his moments, he SHOULD, he’s the damn champ, but this guy was MORE than Manny could deal with. He wouldn’t let Manny ‘do  his thing’. There were times Horn would pin the champ on the ropes and unload on him and Manny would shrug and try to play it off and we KNOW what THAT means.

Manny wants a rematch, WHY, Horn’s style is a NIGHTMARE for him and always WILL be. After the fight, Tim Bradley said “this guy will give ANY of the top guys problems”, and Stupid A. Smith thought he said “he could beat any of those guys”. This guy hears what he WANTS to hear. Goin’ WAAAAY back, Horn reminds me of Gene Fullmer  (yes, I’m THAT old) from Utah. His style was ugly as hell, but he became champ and beat Ray Robinson (the FIRST time) with his rough  way of doin’ things. Marciano never confused anyone with Ali, but he SURELY got shit done. The scores from tonight’s fight sent everybody out for their pitchforks. Hell, I’ve seen a LOT worse and I aint  tryna’ hear that home town shit, Manny knew where he was and what he had to do. I hate to hear that shit, same for Kovalev,  NONE  of the circumstances were a surprise. Do what you gotta’ do and if you can’t, TDB (too damn bad).

The reality is, Manny’s shelf life has LONG expired. When club fighters with so FEW fights just get in there and TOTALLY  disrespect  and abuse you, it’s time to pack yo’ shit. Manny Pacquiao has always been one of my favorite guys to watch, he’s had many wars came up from 106  to as high as ’54 and has done it all in tha’ game, but it’s TIME, baby, go home and let  Jinka  console you, ( I can think of a LOT worse things to do), stop running that little dog to death and sit back and enjoy life. Next time, I wouldn’t be surprised if Horn STOPS him. Hey, Father Time doesn’t even have any DRAWS on HIS record.

ESPN needs to put a muzzle on Atlas’ ass (AND his mouth). He doesn’t  help with his rantings  about bad decisions, he acts like he lost money. Being objective is ONE thing but those are just your OPINIONS, Teddy, NOT facts. Stop acting like this was the FIRST or WORSE ‘bad’ decision you’ve ever seen. He told Horn, “I think you lost” I wish Horn had said, ‘ and I think you’re an arsehole’

.Poor Tim Bradley, he wanted SO badly to say a Horn verdict wouldn’t surprise him, but loudmouth Atlas looked him in the eye and made Timmy change his opinion. Bradley could only say, “this fight is closer than you think”. When Atlas stared at Bradley  it was like that actor (Liotta, I think) that walks into the bar and sees that brother with the ‘wrong’ drink, gives him that death stare and makes the brother reorder, scared the SHIT  outta’ that dude. Horn is now the WBO welterweight champ.

Other skirmishes

Shane Mosely Jr. lost a split decision to Aussie David Toussaint (10-0-8K) Son of the great former champ, Sugar Shane Mosley, middleweight Mosely Jr (10-1-7K). fought a tough eight rounds against Assie and lost a split decision. Rocked early, the robotic Mosely showed durability b rallying late to make things interesting. Toussaint was just to quick and elusive for Mosely. Mosely was a sitting duck early on, walking in on a lin with very little head or upper body movement, bute he’s tough, but like Chavez Jr, ‘he aint his dad’ Former Bronze Olympic winner. Michael Conlin (2-0-2K) did more work than he needed to in stopping mediocre Jerrett Owen. Owen fron down under entered the ring weraring a sombrero, no doubt preparing for a siesta given the numer of times he’s been on the mat. Conlin won a t=TKO in the second round and this was an STD (something to do ) fight. In an entertaining battle for the IBF Jr. Flyweight belt, Manny Pacquiao’s  countryman, champ Jerwin Ancajas (24-1-16K) was smooth and patient as he boxed well against Teiru Kenoshita (25-1-1-8K). In what was anticipated to be an all outer, never happened. Teiru was aggressive but the sharp lefty Ancajas was in no hurry, KNOWING he had the power edge.A head clash caused a nasty cut over Kenoshito’s right eye which turned into a swollen eye, almost shut. As if he wasn’t having enough issues with the champ Teiru started gambling and was being jolted with counter shots when in the 7^th round a big-time right to the rib area sent the challenger to the canvas ending things at 1:53 of the round, By THAT time, Teiru was fighting with one eye.

06/30/2017-  I watched a couple of fights last night and OBVIOUSLY they weren’t the same ones a few judges ‘watched’. I don’t mind a LITTLE home cooking but give me a damn break, that shit last night was a damn smorgas board. Good thing they weren’t judging the JRock Williams-Joshua Conley fight, they would’ve given it to Conley AFTER he got stopped. The irony was the similarities of the two fights, two talented slick Black fighters and two one gear Russians.

Jamontay Clark (11-0-7K) v. Ivan Golub (13-0-11K)

In a tightly contested bout  between two guys fighting like they were making millions. Long and lanky, homeboy Clark had all he could handle with this little foreign tank with no reverse gear. Clark, a slick boxer with decent pop caught HELL trying to keep the short,  stocky  Golub off his ass. Clark needed every trick he could master, good lateral movement, pivots, shoulder rolls, you name it. Golub chose to keep shit simple, ‘ just let me get my HANDS on you’. Golub has an impenetrable chin, or else, Clark doesn’t carry too much firepower. Golub  (with  Abel Sanchez in his corner) was in excellent shape and never stopped bringing the heat.

Clark tried to use his reach but the little tank wasn’t in the mood for giving up real estate. He constantly pinned Clark to the ropes, draining him with body work. Clark was able to flash his sets a bit, but mostly was under constant duress. In the fourth round Golub blasted Clark with a right hand along the ropes. Clark went down but somehow this wasn’t called a knockdown. Talk about home cooking, Clark received DESERT.  Golub should’ve known after that ‘no knockdown’, he didn’t have shit comin’. With the grinnin’ Adrian Broner in his entourage, this was a stacked deck.

Robert Easter Jr. (19-0-14K) v. Denis Shafikov (38-2-20K)

Highly touted prospect Robert Easter Jr. faced a hard as nails short, stocky brawler who was there for the duration. Easter, for SOME strange reason decided to make this a phone booth scuffle, even though he had a six inch edge in height and eight inches in reach. This, needless to say was exactly what  Shafikov ordered. He didn’t give a shit WHERE his shots landed as long as Easter was on the ends of them. Rabbit shots, low blows, this guy was a true roughneck. Easter did his dirt as well, but his biggest mistake was just ‘sitting there’ with this guy and he paid the price. He was drained from this rough encounter. His corner kept telling him to box but Denis wasn’t home the day THAT memo was delivered. He ate everything tossed his way and out punched AND out landed Easter throughout. If Easter wasn’t getting outworked inside, he was pinned along the ropes getting roughed up. To me, this was gonna’ be a close, split decision in Shafikov’s direction but then again, I forgot the chefs were working overtime.

Julian J Rock Williams (22-1-14K) v. Joshua Conley (14-1-1-9K)

I was anxious to see how my homeboy Williams was gonna’ bounce back from a brutal ko loss to Jermall Charlo a fight I thought was a little too big (as was Carlo) for J Rock at that moment. He was facing a relative newcomer in Joshua Conley from Riverside, trained by my long time buddy Henry Ramirez. Was Josh ready or would this be another Williams-Charlo thing? Early on, Williams set out to prove to Josh he wasn’t ‘ready for this work, YET’. Stabbing Conley with piercing jabs and sharp right hands, Joshua was in retreat out the gate. With his back to the ropes, Conley was making it easy for the Philadelphian. Conley seemed to think the ropes were a safe haven for him but J Rock was sharp and on point, hurting Conley with ripping shots on the inside. When Conley decided to ‘move his hands’,  he was able to get some things done but was reluctant to really start anything. He landed some nice shots but would then retreat to the ropes where he was duly assaulted. Williams suffered a cut over his right eye but wasn’t affected by it. In the sixth after taking a shot from Williams, Conley took a few steps back, then took a knee. He looked done at that point, really. He continued the good fight until a flurry of shots had him in trouble near the ropes causing a White towel to come flying in from his corner at  :58 seconds of the round. I hadn’t seen Conley in a while and he has really improved. I’m sure when he and Henry watch the tapes, Josh is gonna’ stand up and kick himself in the ass at what ‘could have been’. I’m sure he’ll learn from this and if he becomes a bit more aggressive in the future, he’ll be someone to deal with. Hopefully this won’t be too much of a setback for him. Get back in the gym young man, I can see you meeting Williams down the road, possibly for a strap. For J Rock and Breadman, nice bounceback on BOUNCE TV.

Well, it seems  the circus is TRULY coming to ‘Vegas, well ACTUALLY, one half already LIVES there. The official date is Aug. 26^th and SHOULD be held at Circus, Circus (if it’s still there). This Connor McGregor – Floyd Mayweather shit is in full happening mode now. The boxing folks I talk to ( I may run a poll on WCB, later), are only talking about the LUNACY leading UP to this shit. This is like a guy paying big bucks for the foreplay, KNOWING the sex will SUCK. If somehow, the little Munchkin says ‘to HELL with the script’ and upsets Mr. Delusional, it’ll be the BEST thing that’s ever happened to the boxing world for TWO reasons. First, it would serve Mayweather right for breaking a record (Marciano’s 50 straight wins ) against a guy that’s NEVER had a boxing match, AT ALL. It would also be good for ‘Vegas for staging this money grab. Sadly, the record books don’t come with asterisk. At LEAST Ali –Anoki’s  event was CALLED an EXHIBITION, which is EXACTLY what it WAS and all this really IS.

Secondly, it would be the talk of boxing for the next twenty years. People would forget Tyson –Douglas, Tyson’s ear nibbling of Evander Holyfield and all the outrageous decisions that have occurred in recent memory, it DAMN sure would be a bonanza for THIS scribe. I would NEVER stop talking / writing  about  this shit. Hell, if Mr. D. fails to STOP this guy it would be a travesty in MY eyes.  I KNOW he’s only stopped TWO guys since 2006 (Ricky Hatton 12/8/2007 and Victor Ortiz 9/17-2011). Mayweather’s not a big puncher but THIS guy’s a fkn’ NOVICE. What if somehow McGregor DOES  get BADLY hurt, could my favorite sport  have a BIGGER Black eye? People would  come  outta’ the woodwork calling for a ban on boxing. Luckily for Conor,  chances of Floyd hurting him are extremely slim.  If this thing goes according to form, people will be talking about it for a WEEK, if THAT long. When Floyd made us wait five years to fight Paquio and it turned into the RICHEST FLOP in boxing history, you’d think the minions would have learned SOMETHING, but  OBVIOUSLY, NOT. Last time he just put it in, this time he’s gonna’ move it around and his fans will just lie there and take it, like a Sunset Strip hooker.

Floyd should charge for his sparring and count THEM as wins too. I’m SURE some people would pay for THAT. Some people would pay to see the guy masturbate. Floyd just had breakfast and is taking his ABC (after breakfast crap), ooh, I wanna’ watch, how much is he charging? Can I wipe? I think if he charged people just to LOOK  at  him, walking down the street, they’d make it rain. Today, I read Floyd saying, “I’m not taking  Conor  lightly. He said it without laughing, too. I also noticed the writers are not mentioning that this will count on Floyd’s record as his 50^th straight win. Are they THAT embarrassed to say it? They also listed McGregor’s record, give me a freakin’ break, WHAT in the lord’s ass does his MMA record have to  do with THIS shit?

It’s a good thing we have Canelo-GGG, Garcia- Broner and a slew of REAL matches to  sorta’ take our minds off THIS foolishness. But this rumor of LH champ Andre Ward possibly moving up to face HW champ Anthony  Joshua doesn’t make sense to me. What a piece of Russian shit   Sergey  Kovalev turned out to be. He first says he practically “trains himself,” THEN says he needs “a new trainer”. I guess that last blistering right hand from Ward screwed him ALL the way up. Now, he’s entertaining the thought of having Ward’s trainer train HIM.

6/17/2017- Las Vegas—Dammit,  just  LAST  week,  Sergy (Krusher) Kovalev was bragging on how he beat up six guys at once in Russia, didn’t even have to go get his hammer. Last night Kovalev (30-2-26K) bitched and moaned about ONE guy landing low blow. Hey Krush, Andre Ward has nuts as well. Don’t hate, RETALIATE. That should be instinctive. Andre Ward remained undefeated (now, 33-0-16K) when the ref Tony Weeks deemed Kovalev to hurt to continue. From WHAT, a few questionable belt shots? These ‘Vegas refs are always involved in some DUBIS shit. I wonder if they ever work outside of ‘Vegas.

First off, I am SO glad I didn’t pay for this card, I don’t like seeing that old-ass Cuban, Riggondeaux fight, ANYWAY. They say he’s 33, BULLSHIT, that dude’s older than burnt toast. He was THIRTY when he LEFT Cuba and that was ten years ago. The Ward –Kovalev fight was NOT exciting, damn what the talking heads were saying. As good as he is, Ward’s  fights ALWAYS comes with LOTS of holding, headlocks and grappling. He’d have a good shot in an MMA fight. Kovalev,  with all his threats of mayhem, “I wanna’ end Ward’s career”. Man, you couldn’t stop him from assaulting your ‘boys, forget about “ending his career”. This guy is always whining about SOMETHING, his training, conditioning, his trainer Jackson can’t speak Russian and whatever ELSE that he can dream up.

At the post fight presser,  man , Krusher’s promoter Kathy Duva was hot enough to screw. She told the media she hopes to “never see you all again”. C’mon Kit Kat, don’t BE so mean.  Your supposed monster has been exposed. Given HIS background, NOTHING in a damn ring should bother HIM. The fight itself was nothing to get excited about but Ward’s tactics work for him, just not very exciting to watch, much less PAY for.Ward even admitted HE didn’t know why ref Tony Weeks (another ‘Vegas ref) stopped the bout. Maybe those refs were auditioning for that shit coming up with Mayweather- McGreggor.

Now as for Rigondeaux, I wish they’d just put his ass in with Lomochencko so I can say, bye, bye. That guy’s older than Castro (oil, that is). Guillermo (17-0-12K) fought some screaming Banshee named Moises Flores (25-1)  All this guy did was swing wild and holler loud. He was swinging from  ABOVE the rafters  and the sly Cuban had no trouble avoiding them. Toward the end of the round, Riggs grabbed his noisemaker behind the head and hit him with a series of illegal shots. Then, as they ‘exchanged’ the champ Guillermo landed a shot after the bell, and Flores went down and for ONCE, wasn’t yelling. He knew he was fouled and tried  to milk it like a Jersey farmer, creating all kinds of confusion

And NOW, since the circus is OFFICIALLY coming to Sin City in September, I will be all OVER this shit, in FACT that’s EXACTLY what I will be calling it. Not, ‘an Event, NOT a Happening, NOT a Fight, JUST, ‘THAT / THIS shit. I just read where Floyd said, “I’m ONLY coming back to fight Connor because the public is DEMANDING it and I wanna’ give them what they want”. I ASSURE you, if “the public” mentioned ‘Errol Spence’, Floyd would tell “the public” to kiss his rich ass. Most of the folks I talk to are more interested in the circus atmosphere, KNOWING this shit is as BOGUS as tits on a bull. I’m waiting for the first tape of these two ‘rehearsing’ the script, just like when Floyd and Manny met in that hotel room to discuss shit.

Well fight folk, it’s 111 in Lancaster today and my computer is overheating. So, ‘til it cools off, I’M DON, and I’M DONE .

6/11/17 Lancaster, Ca.- WCB was back on the road last night, making that long (10 minute) drive to the fight sight. The last fight I attended was 80 miles away in Ontario. I was sitting ringside with my old friend and fellow scribe Francisco Salazar, who told me it was a 90 minute drive for him from Ventura. I’m sure it was worth it because there was some FIGHTING going ON, tonight. I had the pleasure of chatting with two of boxing’s brightest stars, light heavy  David Benavidez and super middle, Caleb Plant. Saw a lot of my fight family I hadn’t seen in YEARS, Effie (The Israeli Bomber) Schneider, (whom I trained). Effie made his debut  on the same card that Oscar DeLaHoya made his. They both scored opening round kayos and after the fight Oscar’s dad asked me if I wanted to match the two. Baby Tyson ( a REAL character) and Greg Fajardo,  to name a few. Now, what we REALLY came for……

Brandon (Bam Bam) Rios 33-3-1D-23K) v. Jose Herrera (23-6-1-14K))

Back in the squared circle after a 19 month layoff, Rios, a guy I LOVE to watch in action, got in some excellent work with the lanky Herrera. This dude wasn’t just in Lancaster to help Rios get the rust  off, he was trying to get some ass. Rios under his new trainer Ricky Funez, showed some improved defense early as he semi-stalked Herrera early. Brandon is too much of a warrior to do too much changing, though and it wasn’t long before he was involved in a shootout. Rios smothered Herrera, winging looping left hooks along with some jarring uppercuts inside. The crowd was already hyped from the earlier action of which there was PLENTY. This was an outstanding card. Those that don’t like Sunday afternoon boxing missed it.

The script for the fight was Rios applying the heat with both barrels and Herrera rallying with some beautiful right hand shots and his hooks weren’t bad either. He went toes with Brandon and made SURE he got his. At one point he dug two serious left hands to the body, a left to the head and another left to the body pumping up the crowd with his variety of shots. Rios was undeterred though, he had shit on his mind and plans for the future and wasn’t gonna’ let Herrera mess up his cha-cha. By the fifth round, Brando shifted to another gear and Herrera’s replies were becoming less frequent but the size of his cajones  showed NO signs of shrinkage. He was a game dude but the writing was on the wall. Rios was pinning his wilting foe on the ropes and raising HELL. At the bell, Rios, SOMEHOW still unmarked and still wearing that diabolical grin, that, ‘I’m LOVIN’ THIS shit, grin. Finally while pinned against the ropes under an all out assault, Herrera was drilled with a rib rattling right hand, putting closure to his night’s work. He took the count on his knee after giving it his all. This scribe was very impressed with seeing the old Rios in action and he gave the crowd what they wanted with his ‘take some to get some ‘ style.  I’d LOVE to see a Tim Bradley rematch. Brandon was asked pre fight about his return and he said all the right things and  GET THIS, he didn’t cuss ONCE, now THAT my friends, bears reporting.

Mario Barrios (18-0-10K) v. Jose Luis Rodriguez (25-8)

Barrios, a very tall jr welter was very sharp and skillful in his hookup with Rodriguez. When I saw the overrated Virgil Hunter in his corner I said, he’s done. But this youngster can SCRAP, so I’m gonna’ get off Hunter for a while. Barrios  is a sharp shooter with a piercing jab and lots of tools in his box. He unloaded on the hard trying Rodriguez in every round and it was obvious this wasn’t gonna’ go far. I was wrong, wrong. Jose ate everything Barrios put on his plate and waited for desert. He was there for the duration and was giving Mario his money’s worth. Jose would soak up 4-5 shots in a set and fire back with both hands. He started lingering on the ropes too long though and Barrios was looking for the right moment to get this thing over with. Storming out for the seventh round Barrios landed a vicious left hand to Jose’s side and this was ‘case closed’. Jose seemed more disappointed than hurt but couldn’t beat the count. Evidently, those body shots stay around for a minute. So, Hunter has a pretty decent prospect in Barrios and we’ll see where he goes from here. The ‘40’s is a loaded division.

Kevin (Playboy) Watts (11-1-4K) v. Jose Borrego (12-0-11K)

I was REALLY  anxious to see this one. I was also concerned. Watts trains at the AV Boxing Gym in Palmdale which is often MY hangout and was coming off a first time loss and a ko at that. When I saw his opponent’s record and his percentage of  ko’s. I wondered who in the HELL thought THIS was a good idea ?  Watts is a very talented fighter and I feel he should’ve been facing a different type of opponent. The main reason was that Kevin will brawl too much when it’s what his opponent wants to do. Watts is tall and wiry and has outstanding boxing skills with excellent movement but doesn’t always take advantage of his skill set. When I mentioned the fact his opponent had all  those  kos, a friend told me, “man, that doesn’t’ mean shit, they fight a lotta’ bums in Mexico”. I said, “what it MEANS is, this kid can punch I don’t care WHO  the hell he’s been fighting”

If Watts’ peeps had the book on this youngster and knew he was some wild swinger that Kevin could time, that’s another story. That’s NOT what Borrego was. The first round was ‘on’ from the start. Kevin stood directly in front of Borregos, trading shots. Kevin was doing well early, he was faster and sharper than Borrego, landing good body shots and right hands up top. This was ‘good from the get go’. Nothing changed in the second, at first. Watts was still getting his shit off and looking sharp but the youngster was finding his range and switching from lefty to righty showing he was gonna’ be hard to handle as things wore on. By the end of the round, though still ahead, Kevin was starting to catch some shots and the crowd was going nuts. I don’t know if Kevin was playing to the crowd, but he was standing idirectly in fron of Borrego and I told Francisco, “ he can’t fight this kid like this”. Watts has great lateral movement and excellent balance but he didn’t play to his strength and by the end of round two his face was a bloody mess as if he’d suffered a broken nose.  In the fateful fourth, while still in Borrego’s firing zone, Watts was getting drilled with hard shots and by now, it was too late to go to a plan B. A looping overhand left, short circuited  Watts  and he hit the deck and wasn’t in the best of shape. He got to his feet but now, he was just’ prey’ as the youngster backed him into his own corner and fired off both hands. Though he wasn’t getting caught flush with every shot, given this kid’s rep as a puncher, the ref had no choice BUT to call a halt. Especially knowing a guy had gotten severely beaten in a fight just a couple of days ago. So, what now for Watts? For openers, given his skill set, his peeps have to get him the RIGHT matches, especially in order to restore his confidence. Two straight stoppages is a cause for concern. With his switching style and power, and ONLY 19, Borrego has a banging (pun intended) future. He now has 10 straight ko’s.

Danny Fabela (1-3) v. Phillip Percy (0-3)

In the night’s only ‘gimme’, Palmdale’s Fabela faced a wild swinging, eyes closed, head down whatchamacallit.  Phillips had lost all his fights by ko and as wildly as he swings, he probably knocked HIMSELF out in one of those. Anyway, Fabela had a walk over and won a unanimous decision.

Also

Juan Funez, (10-1-4K) son of Ricky was very impressive as scored a 2^nd round ko over Edgar Garcia. A big left hook did the job and EridaannLeon 5-2-1-1K) won a decision over a  stylin’,  smilin’ and profilin’ Issac Freeman (3-5-1-3K). All in all this was a good, entertaining ‘night at the fights’.  That’s it, folks, I’M DON AND I’M DONE.