1/27/2018- Inglewood, Ca.- In NO way did the fights at the Fab Forum last night elicit memories of bygone years, at LEAST not the aired ones. From what I read though, there were some nice scraps on the undercard. However, from what aired on HBO, the main event,  featuring Argentinean Lucas Matthysee (38-4-1NC-35 kos) and Thailand’s Tiwa Kiram (38-0-28K) was a REAL snoozer for the better part of eight rounds, even drawing boos from a crowd that figured, given the ko percentages of these two, there would be some serious leather flying. Matthysee, once one of the most feared bangers at ’40 didn’t look like much as he stalked the bigger man around the ring but not landing much. He looked slow and not even close to the guy he once was. Perhaps ’47 is too big for him. This was for the vacant WBA welterweight strap. My advice to Lucas is to go BACK to ’40 because I don’t see him being competitive with the top guys at welter. How the hell Kiram ko’d  28 ANYTHING,  is a puzzle to me. He seemed to outweigh Lucas by at least ten ponds but sure didn’t seem to punch very hard. The only drama came between rounds five and six when Kiram’s corner man was trying to feed him some brown stuff from a little cup. Shades of Panama (“no, the one I mixed”) Brown. I don’t know what that crap was but it wasn’t doing Kiram any justice, ANYWAY. This was about the same time the boos started. Basically, this fight sucked.  Suddenly in the eighth round, after realizing he was pretty much shadow boxing,  Matthysee decided to pick up his attack, dropping Kiram with what appeared to be a so-so right hand. Upon rising, , another so-so shot from the left side landed on the Thai’s jaw and after a few seconds of contemplation, he dropped as if he’d been shot. Lucas called out all the top guns but I’m sure wiser minds will prevail, belt or NO belt, he‘s too small for the top ‘47’s. Ref Raul Caeiz warned Kiram often for holding but apparently missed all the rabbit punches Lucas landed.

In the co feature, the talented Jorge Linares (43-3-27) didn’t have too much to deal with in Mercito Gesta in a battle for the WBA and RING belts. Yeah, Gesta  (31-1-2D-17K) was there all night and was in good shape but a threat, he was NOT. He was pretty elusive for the most part and made Linares miss a lotta’ shots. His counters were nothing to cause concern for Linares. There were no drops in the bout in which the scores read 118-110/118-110/117-111 all in favor of Linares, who wants Mikey Garcia and Vasyl Lomachenko  badly.

1/20/2018-New York- After witnessing the annihilation, the thorough, no further questions, your honor, ass whippin’ that IBF undefeated welterweight champion Earl Spence administered to his ‘friend Lamont Peterson, I really see the ‘other’ champion Keith (One Time ) Thurman putting even more distance between himself and Spence. In past interviews, Thurman has let it be known in NO uncertain terms that he wants absolutely NADA  to do with the brutal, destructive, heavy handed Texan. Spence, now 23-0-20k has been calling Thurman’s digits for a minute now. In this game, there is often speculation about whether or not there’s some ‘ducking’ going on but with One Time, he’s letting us KNOW what time it is. This guy wishes the boxing folk would just stop mentioning Earl’s name to him at ALL. And all the while, Mr. sleepy eyes  is just saying to Thurman, “c’mon man”.

Last night at Barkley Center, Spence was a brutal, single minded wrecking machine. He speared Peterson with sapping shots to the body (and sometimes, beyond) and bounced mind numbing bombs off his noggin. Now, this is a man that Spence considers a ‘friend’, so imagine what’s on the menu for the petrified Thurman. Thurman figures there are WAY better things for HIM to do than become a piñata for the heavy handed Spence. The fight started slowly, for Lamont, that is, not so much for the southpaw champion. He was punishing Peterson (now 35-4-1-17K) as soon as the ref gave his instruction. This was pretty sad, actually. Peterson, as game as they come seemed to get old in a hurry and found out early, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even when he tired of Spence’s two fisted attack and launched his own vicious body shots, this only revved Spence up even more, leading to further problems. In the fifth round, after another two fisted assault from Spence, Peterson was dropped, courtesy of a finishing left hand to the temple seemed all but done. Actually he was THAT way as early as the fourth round. Eyes swollen  and his left eye cut, Peterson’s corner showed THEIR bravery by sending their warrior back into the wood chipper. At one point, Lamont was engaged in a long conversation with his trainer, saying, “I’m losing every round”. His trainer then said, “don’t give me a reason” ( to stop it) I was like, ‘what the HELL’, Spence was giving you all the reasons you NEEDED The announcers were all saying Lamont wanted to continue, BULLSHIT, he wanted  Earl to leave HIS ass the hell alone. After being played with and battered around the ring in the seventh, Lamont’s corner arrived at their senses and told ref Harvey Dock to stop it. MUCH to the relief of the  man from DC. Spence scored his 11^th straight ko.

If the 27 year old unbeaten champion is hoping to lure any of the other ‘47’s into the ring, he sure didn’t fight like it last night. Other than Terrence Crawford, who else IS there? And I’d strongly suggest Crawford have a couple fights at welterweight before calling Spence’s number. This is a one man wrecking crew folks and is only getting better and admits he “has a lot to work on”. One thing he needs to work on if he wants further action, is to not be so damn savage in the ring. This is the guy that supposedly messed up Mayweather’s  ribs as a teenager during a sparring session. When asked by the annoying Jim Gray if this was the end, Peterson said, “I just have to think about it”. Don’t worry Lamont, there’s only ONE Earl Spence and he is SPECIAL. I couldn’t help but notice that the Watsons were in fine lens hugging form last night, making sure they were in damn near every shot, They need to do some background work in the movies because they are always visible. Between THEM and that sista’ with the Ronald McDonald wig…..

In the semi on this Showtime card, big talking IBF lightweight champion, Robert (Ebunny) Easter (20-0-14K) struggled to a questionable split decision over the crouching, dirty fighting, Javier Fortuna (33-1-1-23K). They say, ‘styles make fights” and for the most part “styles” tonight, made for an ugly clinched filled 12 rounder. Easter had a five inch height advantage and a much longer reach, but chose to make this an inside scrap. As short as he is, Fortuna still found a way to end up pushing down on the taller man’s neck and in the second round as the champ was leaning through the ropes, landed six (count ‘em) straight rabbit punches. There were a few spirited exchanges along the way but this was more a grappling match than anything else and actually seemed longer than twelve rounds. Memo to Easter, this type of performance won’t even faze Mikey Garcia.

1/12/2018- Verona, N.Y- After whining all last week about the lack of attention and money paid to her, the Big Bad T-Rex, had her hands full with a 41 year old grandmaw last night. Cleressa Shields, (5-0-2K) said given all her accomplishments, she should be “getting paid like Lomachenko”. I’m no huge Vasyl Lomachenko fan but Shields is delusional. You’ve  only had five fights youngsta’ so SLOW ya’ roll. Tori (Sho Nuff) Nelson 17-2-2k ‘showed enough’ to inform Shields, she has work to do. Shields, has two belts already, which shows how weak the 168 lb. Class is for the ladies. Nelson with a very limited offense wasn’t the typical Shields opponent in that she didn’t throw in the towel at the first sign of danger. The bout was rather one-sided and at times, Shields’ trainers were very frustrated with her showing. At times, she looked very ordinary. Never hurting Nelson seriously, Shields had to work the entire 10 rounds. The plodding, limited Nelson was just there to boost Shield’s stats. To be such a thug, Claressa sure complains to the ref a lot. Supposedly Shields is dropping to 165 where there’s supposed to more competition and HOPEFULLY, fewer grannies. Shields is 22, her opponent was 41.

In a rousing semi, Tall, sharpshooter Jesse Hernandez (10-1-ND-7K) administered what to ME, seemed like a pretty convincing ass kickin’ on short, stocky Ernesto Garza over eight rounds in a super bantamweight struggle. Garza (9-2-5K) was able to get under the long armed attack of Hernandez for the most part, even landing a short, crisp hook dropping the eventual winner. Hernandez has an assorted arsenal and was able to drop all sorts of shit on the game Garza. There was action galore in this scrap but Hernandez just had the physical AND skill set  advantage over his shorter opponent. This should’ve been the main event.

In the other aired contest, showboating Pakistani Shonjahon Ergashev  (11-0-11K) got very little resistance from Sonny Fredrickson (18-0-12K). How Frederickson stopped 12 people is a mystery to this writer. He was never in this one-sided rout that only consumed three rounds. Ergashev a bit of a showboat is an ass whippin’ waiting to happen. After getting dropped and not offering up

much resistance the ref saved the reluctant Fredrikson form an extended ass whippin’.

Here we go again. Tired-ass Ghetto Boy Adrien Broner is back with his usual brand of bullshit. Now he’s talking about how he was “rushing my training camp “ for the last few fights. Save it Broner, we’re not interested in your recycled bullshit, at LEAST I’m not. I’m glad they’re making Lamont Peterson get rid of that hobo beard, heading to his inevitable beat down at the hands of Erroll Spence Jr. Next week, Now I see why hot prospect Devon Haney (18-0-12K) isn’t seen much on the tube. The undefeated, talented youngster is self promoted and no longer with TMT. I’m really looking forward to the Brandon (Bam Bam ) Rios (34-3-1-25K) encounter with once beaten Danny Garcia (33-1-19K). Heavyweight boss Deontay Wilder is always talking about other fighters on drugs. Well, he just got popped (“it wasn’t mine”) for weed. Now David Ortiz can get out HIS bowl of shit.

Well, the great Roy Jones Jr. says he doesn’t care WHAT we (the public) says, “I’m gonna’ keep fighting”. Hey, LET him, if he’s gonna’ someday need to get scraped up off the canvas with a spatula, that’s HIS damn business. He won’t be the first OR  last that stayed at the party to long. He’s gonna’ need a few more of those canvas eating  kos he’s received in the past to really convince him. Maybe another one like he got from Glen Johnson where he was shaking on the mat like a Greyhound shittin’ a razor blade. He said, “y’all nusta’ fa got”, well, for SURE HE has. Mr. Nine Lives, Ghetto Boy Adrian Broner is making another return to the ring. He hasn’t suffered any knockout losses yet, so it’ll take a minute before he REALLY retires. He needs to rid himself of those parasites he has and start fresh. It’s obvious his camp can’t take him any further.

Speaking of comebacks, the retired, unbeaten light heavyweight boss, Andre Ward is already sounding restless and starting to scratch that itch. Hell, it’s only been a couple of months. Floyd’s starting to sound bored, too. Mayweather (49-0-26K) has more ‘retirements’ than hoes in his house. There are some folks out there already saving their money for the next Floyd FKG. The lure of the limelight is OBVIOUSLY addicting.

I’m tired of all these ‘occasional fighters’. Guys that are as visible as Haley’s comet. David Haye, Tyson Fury, BJ. Flores, Juan Marquez, Chavez Jr. These folks aren’t serious about the game. Put Gary Russell Jr. in that group while you’re at it. Sam Peter is coming back (spare me). Oscar wants Connor McGreggor. Keith Thurman has the type of injury that flares up at the mention of Errol Spence Jr.’s name. Daniel Jacob’s still celebrating his ‘imagined’ win over GGG. Tyson Fury’s a joke. He says he’s a ‘gypsy’ yeah, he GYPS people outta’ their money. Caleb Plant keeps saying David Benavidez’s name. His people better tell him to chill out. He is NOT ready for THAT type of work. Looks like Anthony Joshua (22-0-19K) has no intention of disrobing for Deontay Wilder (39-0-38K) For sure, Wilder is NOT avoiding anyone..His skills may be limited but that right hand erases a lotta’ mistakes. Can’t believe Keith (one Time) Thurman is on Fightype,  analyzing  a Joshua-Wilder fight. He shouldn’t be sayin’ shit about shit. He says Joshua needs “more time and seasoning’. How much “seasoning do YOU need, One Time, to fight you- know- who? Mention Errol Spence Jr. and Keith pees on his sneakers. He trembles like a greyhound poopin’ a peach seed. He also said, Wilder’s been a 12 round fighter longer than Joshua. So tell me again how many 12 rounders Wilder  has on his slate. Aside from Stiverne  everybody  else turned in early, some, REAL early.

As 2017 draws to a close, WCB is anxiously looking forward to 2018. There are a slew of, on paper,  anyway, great scraps to get worked up over and some that DON’T sound so enticing, like this Mikey Garcia (37-0-30K) fighting something called Sergey Lipnets, or Limpnuts or Limpnodes or SOME shit like that. He’s 13-0-10K) which should REALLY cause Garcia to lose some valuable shuteye. On paper this sounds like a joke fight, which could be just the opposite, after all, they said Vasyl  Lomachencko and Riggs was gonna’ be a great fight. I kept warning folks, that was gonna’ be a shitty fight but I was wrong, it wasn’t as GOOD as a shitty fight. The only name I recognize on Limp Bisquit’s  slate is Cosme Rivera who turned 70 last month. What if they’d had Loma-Riggs on the same card as Canelo Alvarez and Julio Chavez  Jr? How painful would THAT shit have been?

Looking forward to Brandon Rios (34-3-1-25K) getting’ in Danny Garcia’s ass (33-1-19K) in ‘Vegas on Feb. 17^th. I’ve already forgiven Rios for getting stopped by feather fisted former champ Tim Bradley. I don’t imagine Rios did ANYTHING right leading up to THAT scrap. Bam Bam’s a tough durable guy and the last guy Tim stopped was ME. Though Garcia’s mitts ARE heavy, I just feel that after winning all those tough fights against the top echelon guys, he seems to have lost his edge and been enjoying the good life too much. Of course he SHOULD reap his benefits,  I  just think Rios will beat Danny in a war. Danny’s loud, gutter mouthed dad won’t help THIS time with his bullshit. That aura of ‘my son this and that,’ has expired. Plus,  Rios talks just as much shit as Angel. Unless Danny lands one of those ‘look away’ left hooks, Bam gets him. The ‘47’s are REALLY heating up and we all know it’s gonna’ require a miracle to talk champ Keith (One Time ) Thurman into even ENTERTAINING the idea of fkng with Errol (The Truth) Spence Jr. I almost feel sorry the way Thurman reacts when someone mentions the IBF champ.  It’s WORSE than ‘uncomfortable’ for Keith. Thurman should change his name to ‘on MY Time’. It’s rare to hear a champion, an UNBEATEN one at THAT say,  “he’s not even in the TALKABLE stage”, about Spence. It’s his way of saying, ‘stop talking about HIM’. Besides, Thurman hasn’t scored a ko since 2013. All those early kos are irrelevant. Next month on the 20^th, the unbeaten Spence Jr. takes his robe off against DC’s Lamont Peterson (35-3-17K) Peterson is battle-tested and game as they come (which MIGHT be a problem, for HIM). I know he’s had a hard life, has slept in cars, was homeless and overcame huge odds, but THIS fight will be about the HARDEST thing he’ll have to deal with. Peterson will be competitive early, will get his shit off but will eventually get steamrolled by the bigger, stronger, younger harder punching Spence, Jr. I see this  going 6-8 rounds with Lamont’s people having to save him between rounds. Errol is a relentless, body punching machine. Spence is on a collision course with Terrence Crawford who just moved up to ’47 and is ANOTHER guy looking to fight the best. Thurman must wonder what THESE guys eat for breakfast, to have THAT attitude.

Man, I sure guessed wrong on that Billy Joe Saunders (26-0-12K) v. David Lemieux (38-4—33K). I must’ve been wishing with my heart on that one. I’d never paid that much attention to BJS and didn’t know he boxed and move that well OR that he has no appetite for the heavy lifting. David has NO excuse  though, he was taken to school AND sent to detention AND in his home town. I don’t see BJS as a PPV guy, at all. Now, I guess we’ll get him and Daniel (I really DID beat Golovkin) Jacobs. Jacobs (33-2-29K) calls himself “The most feared man at 160 lbs”. Shit, after seeing how he looked against that Arias guy, I SURE as hell have NO desire in seeing him and BJS dance for 12 rounds, I’ll pass on THAT one, thank you very much. BJS said, “Daniels brings nothing to the table and will have to come to London”. If Jacobs goes over there and loses, I can almost IMAGINE the list of excuses  he’ll  come home with. Well, folks, it’s almost time for the Lakers / Warriors and I wanna’ make sure that Rockets game wasn’t an aberration. We’ll have our convict, Kentavious Caldwell Pope with us tonight. He can’t leave the state for awhile since he can’t seem to drive sober. He’s paying to stay in jail until his time is up. If Luke doesn’t  start Kuzma tonight, he needs his ass kicked. I’ll try to  squeeze  one more end of ’17 blog in. If I don’t, EVERYBODY HAVE A SAFE HOLIDAY.

PS: I WILL do another blog, after all, I didn’t say ANYTHING about Mayweather.

12/16/2017- Lancaster, Ca.-WCB traveled a long 4 miles to the PEC (Pioneer Events Center) in Lancaster to catch all the fistic festivities and boy was I entertained. There were TEN fights on the bill and normally, there’s a couple that aren’t  so entertaining but last night was an exception to the rule. There was only one fight that didn’t measure up. Other than that, there were kos, outstanding boxing, hot, up and comers and an all out WAR. So, let’s start at the top. Big props to  the ROMAN-ESTRADA tandem for their help in putting this outstanding event on.

In the main event, welterweights Jessie Vargas (27-2-10K) had a walk in the park as he won every minute of every round (IMO) against Aaron Herrera  of Mexico (24-7-1D 15K). For ten rounds, tough  guy Herrera plodded forward but not raising too much hell in the process. He was like a piñata and Vargas tapped him with every punch in the book. This was a real nice, smooth boxing exhibition by the title-seeking Vargas but he wasn’t even CLOSE to being tested in this one. Not taking any foolish chances and blowing a title shot, Jessie stuck to the business at hand and made the winging, lunging Herrera pay for every mistake he made. The lone knockdown came in the seventh round when Vargas dropped the fading Herrera with a right hand. Knowing it was in the sack, Jessie went back to tormenting Herrera but not getting reckless. Overall, a good win for Vargas and he’s calling out all the 47’s,Errol Spence Jr. (Jessie, don’t be foolish, now) Keith Thurman,  Danny Garcia and  Terrence Crawford, (again, don’t be foolish). The talented Vargas would be good work for all those guys and I’d give him a shot at beating Danny Garcia.

In the semi, tall, lanky prospect from Minnesota, Jamal James (21-1-9K) accepted the challenge of dangerous, battle-tested Argentinean, Diego Chavez (26-2-1D-22K). This one had me on the edge a bit. Tall and lanky ala the great Tommy Hearns, with a similar jab, James was boxing well early, keeping Chavez in his place, at the end of that stick. But my old eyes sensed impending danger as the crouching, ducking Chavez  was stalking James and just missing with some well intentioned shots. James would occasionally blast away with a right hand left hook set but it didn’t slow Diego’s roll and I really become concerned as to whether or not James was gonna’ be able to keep Chavez off his butt cheeks for ten rounds. In the second, Chavez was finding range, catching the Tall One with a sweet  left  hook. James ate it and fired back with a three punch set, stopping Chavez in his tracks. Diego was still a threat though and never stopped coming, that is, until he was rocked by a hard right hand and started giving ground. In the third, James started finding out that Chavez  wasn’t  liking that rib work and really stated digging in. As Chavez was in retreat mode, James landed a rib cracking left hook, dropping him for the count. The crowd was stunned and Chavez spent the next ten minutes walking around trying to relieve the pain of that shot. This was an impressive win for James, considering his last six wins included NO knockouts, and Chavez is one tough hombre. Though he doesn’t have Hearns-like power, James boxes well and OBVIOUSLY hits hard enough to get shit done. I’m looking forward to seeing him again. Talking to his trainers afterwards, they said “we have a lotta’ talented fighters in Minnesota that just don’t get any love from the West coast. Well, if they look like James, bring ‘em on.

In the war of the night, never-a –dull -moment,  John Molina Jr. (29-7-23K) was in a life and death struggle with Ivan Redkach from Ukraine, (those guys are always a handful). The muscular Redkach (20-3-1D-16) and big hearted Molina Jr. had the place rockin’ from the opening bell. Molina Jr. thinks ‘feeling out process’ is some kinda’ vulgar phrase, walked right to Redkach, who was right there waiting. It wasn’t long before these two were carrying on like they owed each other money. Molina Jr. had shown some boxing instincts when he was trained by Shadeed Saluki, but apparently a war is what excites HIM.  In the second round, Redkach had Molina Jr. trapped along the ropes like a caged animal and dropped him, hurting him badly. It seemed like John was gonna’ be back in his dressing room soon, but for those thinking THAT, you don’t know THIS guy. In a torrid third, things got even hotter. As Molina Jr. sought to gain control, Radkach was being cute, ducking and slipping Molina’s all out assault. He didn’t slip enough though. After a questionable knockdown by Molina Jr. in the third, Redkach barely made it back to his stool. In the fourth, it was the ‘go for it’ round as the fired up Molina, Jr. went after his tiring foe like a lion after a Zebra, unleashing a brutal, double barreled attack, dropping Redkach, setting him up for the finale. Another assault featuring wicked body shots, had Redkach in dire straits along the ropes causing the ref to finally rescue him from Molina Jr’s savage onslaught. Man, when he smells blood….. Molina, afterwards said, “man, my family was here and I wasn’t about to lose, I HAD to dig deep. This was a good win for the once again rejuvenated Molina, Jr. who seems to have nine lives.

Freddy Hernandez (34-8-22K) who seems to fight about once a year, faced Oyewale  Omatoso (26-3-21K) in a welterweight contest and never really got untracked as he was outworked by the Nigerian. In this tussle, both guys had their spots but Omatoso was the busier of the two and had a stronger finish, much to the disagreement of the crowd. After ten rounds of action Omatoso was awarded a unanimous decision but I think a split in his favor was the better call. There were no knockdowns and not much to hang your hat on.

In Other Action

In other action on this big night, Efren Lopez (1-0) of Fresno, trained by former champ, Robert (Ghost) Guerrero won his second straight, with a unanimous decision over Tyler Marshall (1-3-1K). Lopez was the busier, more talented of the two and dropped Marshall with a left hook in the first round. Robert Garcia trained Luis Coria (4-1-3K), was impressive as he battered hapless, pony tailed Leonardo Torres (4-9-1K) into a fourth round stoppage. This was the closest thing to a mismatch as Coria pretty much did what he wanted to do to Torres. Carlos Flores (4-7-1D-3K) went to bed early, as Karlos Balderas (2-0-2K) tucked him in at 1:32 of the opening round. Mark (Anthony) Hernandez (10-1-2K) played a nice tune on Oscar Mora (7-4-6K), stopping him with a vicious body shot at 1:28 of the opening round. Hernandez, trained by Riverside’s Henry Ramirez, showed style and patience as he picked his spots while cleverly stalking Mora. After sampling a few shots from Hernandez, it was obvious Mora would be soon joining the packed crowd. In the funny fight of the night, tough guy Yunier  Calzada (6-2-1D-1K) spent the better part of six rounds against Missael Rodriguez (5-0-3K) doing two things, daring Rodriguez to ‘stand and fight’ and getting his ass beat. Calzada was a tough guy and very entertaining but Rodriguez pretty much had his hands on him all night, almost stopping him in the first round. Calzada managed to remain upright for the duration and Rodriguez stayed unbeaten with an impressive win.

The Pec was loaded with current and past boxing faces of the southland and it’s always a pleasure seeing my old boxing friends. Abner Mares, Caleb Plant, Ghost Guerrero, Armando and Roberto SantaCruz, Enrique Ornelas, the notorious Javier Capetillo, Robert Alcazar, Robert Garcia, Henry Ramirez just to name SOME of the faces in the crowd as well as in the corners. All in all, a long, busy action packed night, one in which I was GLAD I was only a few miles from home.

Nice to be* back WCB’ers and apologies for not keeping you up to date with everything, but to bring you up to speed here’s my latest ramblings and bullshit.

Last night in that there London, Frank Warren, HOF promoter, put on 2 world title fights and his hot prospects Daniel Dubois and Anthony Yarde on the bill also. The world title bouts were James DeGale defending his IBF strap against Caleb Truax, an Amerikaner from Minnesota. As well as Lee Selby who also defended his belt against Eduardo Ramirez of Mexico. More about them a bit later.

20 years old, heavyweight, Daniel Dubois. Remember that name because he is ‘Dynamite’. That’s his nickname; 6 wins, 6 KO’s. Last night’s offering was Welshman Dorian Darch, whose record read of 12-4-1. Carried a bit of experience then, but only one stoppage win! That reminded me of the quip made by Frank Warren of “a heavyweight without a punch is like a beautiful blonde without a chest!” ‘Nuff said. Anyway, seeing as this looked a fair(ish) match on paper I wondered how long this might last and knowing the power in Dan’s hands I knew it wouldn’t last long. I had a £3 punt (about $5) on ‘DDD’ winning in 2, which he duly did, and me being about 17 dollars in US$ richer! Woohoo! I won’t spend it all at once then! If you’ve not looked on YouTube yet then do so now. As I’ve mentioned before he’s put Joshua on his butt in sparring so have a look and see (you won’t see the spar though).

After that demolition job we then had light heavy prospect Anthony Yarde up against an experienced Montenegrin named Nikola Sjekloca with a ledger of 32-5-1. That name sounds familiar, doesn’t it? No, of course it doesn’t but this fellah actually came to have a scrap! He gave Anthony 4 competitive rounds before Yarde was hitting him and hitting him hard. In the post fight interview Yarde said it was the first time he felt someone actually hit him in a contest since his amateur days. Yarde had only 15 amateur contests so it remains to be seen how he goes further in the pro ranks but he radiates confidence and once he hits you then you stay hit. From what I can gather, most of the top contenders in the UK want silly money, what with the risk-reward situation. Yarde is now 14(13)-0.3zc   `/

So onto the world title bouts and first up was Welshman Lee Selby who you might recall lost his mother earlier this year and with 10 days before a previous world title defence. Lee was up against a Mexican who turned up in this country a week before the fight 8 pounds overweight! As this was an IBF super bantamweight defence the IBF were not very happy. Which begs the question, why bother? Seriously, why waste everyone’s time? Ramirez, as no surprise to anyone came on the scales 2lbs overweight and therefore Selby’s title was not on the line. Lee is a classy little boxer and a former GB Olympian from 2008 and showed in spurts just why he’s so good. I say in spurts because as the title was not being contested I got the impression that Lee was perhaps disinterested and Ramirez had shown everyone a lack of respect by not making weight or basically giving 2 fucks. The scorecards read a unanimous decision of 119-109, 116-112 (not even close) and 118-110. A good nights work for Lee but not all that in retrospect.

To the main event then and James DeGale and his fourth defence of his IBF super-middleweight strap and his first defence at home in the UK. Caleb Truax, who the hell is he? Well, now he is the NEW IBF champ as he gave ‘Chunky’ Degale an unexpected homecoming in what was a lethargic display in my view. The first 4 rounds were nothing spectacular and as I’d been up since 0430 yesterday morning for work, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. Come the 5^th, Truax’s game plan of pushing James onto the back foot were he’d done his homework watching him against Badou Jack, came to fruition. Caleb came in with a hook to the body with Chunky on the ropes and then an overhand right followed by a vicious uppercut which damaged DeGale’s mouth. If you saw what happened to Chunky’s (nickname from the amateurs) two front teeth in the Badou Jack fight you’ll see he wasn’t very comfortable after that. In fact, DeGale was just covering up and not firing back. It was an awful couple of rounds after that, although no knockdowns it was pretty one-sided. In round 9, DeGale must have realised his belt was slipping from his waist and recovered somewhat to show why he was the champion. Alas, a bit too little too late, and the body language from his corner spoke volumes at the final bell. The scores read out at 114-114 from Stevie Wonder, the other two judges gave it 112-115 and 112-116. Truax is a humble and respectful bloke, he had no airs or graces about him in the post-fight interview and a well-deserved winner too. I didn’t begrudge this Yank coming over here to our shores and winning his belt, the fellah is a top lad in my book. To be honest, DeGale has not always being the British public’s favourite either, not humble enough, to be frank.  This scuppers a lucrative rematch with WBA ‘regular’ champ George Groves, who faces Chris Eubank Jr. in the New Year in the Super 6 tournament.

My final thought on the Lomachenko-Rigondeaux fight which I watched this afternoon and avoiding social media, telly and radio reports. 1^st round cagey, after that Lomachenko shows why he is boss and is a genius. I know Donald is not convinced but after only losing one amateur bout in what, 400-odd contests and then avenging that loss and then winning his 1st world title in his 3^rd pro bout when he’d contested for it in his 2^nd bout? Mesmerising his opponents, baffling them so they quit? Rigondeaux’s hand didn’t look swollen once they got the wraps off, did it? No, because he lost his bottle, couldn’t handle the bedazzlement and was looking more like he was auditioning for ‘Dancing with the Stars’ with all the grabbing. Over here gypsy men literally ‘grab’ a woman they want to get with and if you don’t believe me look it up on YouTube, I shit you not. Always the desperate in that contest, methinks.

Thanks for reading, see you here again soon. Promise!

Notable fights from Saturday are memorable for different reasons. Of course, the amazement of Rigo saying No Mas stands out as numero uno. Who would’ve thunk it !! This just adds to the testament of the extraordinary abilities of Lomo to make an opponent we thought was formidable into a can of mush !! Nuff said. Can’t wait for his next fight whomever it will be.

That ear !! Yukkk !! Saw it one time before about 5 or so years ago but can’t remember the guy’s name.

Tevin Farmer. AGAIN, if you listen to the commentary of dumbass Max and blindass Lampley, you would think Farmer was the second coming of Sweet Pea. The only resemblance I saw was the constant dirty tactics. Pernell WAS a bit of a dirty, sneaky fighter although that’s where the similarity ends as far as fighting. What surprised me was that the ref, Bayless, let him throw all those low blows and as you said, Donald, only two or three times told him to “keep them up”. Farmer threw at least 10 to 15 low blows every round. He should have gotten a few strong warnings and then had points taken away. That, in itself doesn’t tell the whole story of the fight. I rewatched it yesterday and it was close. Ogawa was definitely the aggressor and Farmer, for the most part, the mover. That’s where the similarities to Sweet Pea ended. Sweet Pea was very offensive minded with all his shuckin’ and jivin’, where Farmer was not. I think that influenced the judges. And, it may sound silly, but the “costume” that Farmer wore seemed to me to take away my concentration sometimes as to what was really going on. Wear some normal black trunks like Mike Tyson and you might have gotten the nod for a few of those rounds. This isn’t a fashion show, it’s a FIGHT !!! So, after viewing it a second time, I can see how Ogawa won.

12/9/2017-A fighter’s fighter’s long career was brought to a brutal end in Las Vegas when Orlando Salido (44-13-4D-1NC-31K) was given a brutal sendoff at the heavy hands of Miguel (Mickey) Roman (57-12-44K).  Between the two warriors, there were 131 fights with 75 knockouts. To say these two were battle tested, would be a colossal understatement. I’ve rarely seen Salido in a bad or dull fight and even toward the end of his career, if you catch him ‘right’, you could learn something. He knew all the tricks in the book and THEN some. He gave the young upstart Vasyl Lomachenko his lone loss. In tonight’s tussle, this was pretty much a do or die fight for both guys and they certainly conducted themselves accordingly.

From the opening bell, Roman was pressing the action, forcing the slow to heat up Salido to the ropes and administering a blistering body attack. Salido got his wakeup call with about a minute left in the round and seriously wobbled Roman with a roundhouse right, causing a break in Roman’s assault and causing him to hold on. This was pretty much the template for the entire fight. In round four, a two fisted assault dropped Salido, causing hysteria to his family sitting ringside and this wasn’t to be the only time they were put through this. Salido was starting to bruise up and his reactions were slowing down as was his counter attacks. Roman was in full attack mode, punishing Salido with both hands, whenever he trapped him along the ropes. The eighth was another brutal round for the fast fading Salido as he was again dropped and looking as if this was indeed, his last fight. His heart wouldn’t allow him to quit, though, he’s no Rigondeaux and he finished the round. The brutal end arrived in the ninth as Salido was battered by Roman and dropped again, causing ref Robert Byrd to mercifully call a halt. This was a hard fight and Salido has seen his share of those. He’s been in a few fights of the year and nominated for others. Afterwards, he informed Max Kellerman that this was indeed his last fight. It’s been a long, hard road and Mr. Salido comported himself with class and dignity and never short changed the fans. He may have lost a fight or two to the scales but never due to lack of effort. Good luck in the future Orlando, it’s been a great ride. So now, the 32 years old Roman is calling out all the ‘30’s and 35’s. With his heavy hands and dogged persistence, he won’t be ANYBODY’S plaything.

In the semi, Philly’s clever, talented, southpaw Tevin Farmer (25-4-1-5K) proclaimed weeks ago, “if I can’t beat somebody like Ogawa, I may as well quit”. Never a good thing, to talk that sorta’ shit, especially when you have FIVE kos in THIRTY fights. His opponent, the much bigger Kenichi Ogawa (22-1-17K) was not impressed in the least with Farmer’s boasts. He pressed the action early even though he found the defensive minded Farmer an extremely elusive target.  Farmer’s a slickster, in the mode of the former great champion, Pernell (Sweetpea) Whitaker, though ‘Pea’ had a LOT more offense. Farmer’s tricky too, and got away with lots of low blows. I guess since Ogawa didn’t complain, the ref saw no need to call Farmer on it more than once or twice. Farmer started to come on in the second half of this so-so fight and I though he did enough to pull it off. Wrong. The scores rendered ware, 116-112 farmer and 116-112 and 115-113 for the new IBF 130lb champ Ogawa. I think Ogawa was credited for pushing the action or maybe just weren’t impressed with Farmer’s safety first style of combat. Not ALL fighters from Philly are PHILLY FIGHTERS.

In a pretty good action bout, ex camp Francisco Vargas (23-1-17K) the perennial Red Cross donor, faced a guy named Smith. This would be Steven Smith (25-3-15K), one of the fighting Smith brothers from England. Seems  like there’s a dozen of them. Both guys were active early, taking turns putting hands on each other. One thing I found annoying in this fight was ref Russell Mora, who has a very bad habit of knocking down a fighter’s hands when they’re tied up. He should either break them up or leave them the hell alone. There were no knockdowns in this one but there was something a helluva’ lot WORSE. In the eighth round, coming out of a clinch, Smith’s left ear was damn near ripped off. This made Tyson’s ear nibbling look like a picnic. It was grotesque, with blood streaming down Smith’s chest. Needless to say, the doctor stopped it and Vargas, ahead, was awarded a technical unanimous decision. Smith showed very little action to this horrible incident which was surprising.

12/09/2017-New York-Well, I’d been saying all along this was gonna’ be a lousy fight and that’s EXACTLY what it was. All this pound for pound, brilliant this, brilliant that, bullshit wasn’t on display tonight. This had been billed as a ‘fight of the decade’ type thing, just like all that crap that was spewed when Mayweather fought Pacquio. Once again, the fans got rooked. This wasn’t even boxing, this was some GRAPPLING shit. Vasyl  Lomachenko (9-1-7K) had no problems at all, with the tepid, sorry, pitiful boxing exhibition put on by Guillermo Riggondeaux (17-0-11K). What we had here folks, was a smaller, 37 year old guy with 17 fights and a 27 year old with TEN fights and YET people bombard us with accolades saying how great these guys are. PLEASE, SPARE ME. Maybe I’m too old school, but ten fights doesn’t  make you a great ANYTHING. Riggs was just a little old boxer coming up two weight classes and making no attempt to win the fight. This was an exhibition in holding, wrestling, tussling, complaining, apologizing, loss of points, you get the idea. There were very few clear, hard punches and they were landed by Lomachenko. He spent most of the night trying to find ways to get out of the octopus like clutches of his opponent.

The end result was Riggs quitting on his stool after the sixth round, complaining about an injured hand. Injured HOW? It damn sure wasn’t from punching, because I can’t recall more than a dozen clean shots from Riggs and I’m playing Santa. He didn’t do shit. People say, ‘man, Loma’s killing people, making them QUIT. This was like the second Leonard-Duran fight. It wasn’t  as if Riggs was taking punishment, getting dropped, beat up, cut up, or ANYTHING of the sort. I think he was just frustrated with Loma’s herky-jerky now you see me, now you don’t style. He was behind Riggs as many times as McGreggor was behind Mayweather. Riggs better be glad that wasn’t  Adrian Broner behind him, or he’d be pregnant in a month. So, what’s next for Lomachenko? I’d like to see him move up and try Mikey Garcia. He won’t have to worry about a lotta’ holding and grappling, trust me. Loma answered the bell at 137, so he was pretty much a Jr. welter. So he retains his WBO strap and will be called the GOAT by many but not THIS scribe.

In other action, prospect Michael Conlan (4-0-4K) didn’t get the chance to go home early tonight as he had to work the entire six rounds to get the win over Luis Fernando Molina (4-3-1K). It was a workman like effort with not many questions asked and I’m sure his coach, the capable Manny Robles was glad to get his fighter back in the win column. His last two got stopped. The most destructive guy I saw tonight was unbeaten, heavy handed Christopher Diaz (21-0-13K), who put some serious hurt on Bryant Cruz (18-2-9K) Seems like every time Diaz would land a tough shot on Cruz he caused some weird reactions. Three times, Cruz was dropped and each time his legs did some strange things before he tasted the deck. Diaz seems like he’d give a lotta’ guys problems at 130. Dude has some heavy mitts. In the aired opener, I don’t know why they even DID this. Hot prospect,  Shakur Stevenson (3-0-2K) faced a guy that had NO damn business in the ring with him, in Oscar Mendoza (4-2-1K), I could’ve put up more resistance. I understand building a prospect but DAMN, give me a break. Stevenson is a Silver Olympic finalist with an outstanding amateur career, so unless he was coming off an injury or something, wth does a fight like this do for him? Screaming each time he threw a punch,  Shakur made it sound like he was REALLY putting work. Good thing Mendoza DIDN’T fight, because he can’t.

I’m already tired of Screaming’ A Smith and Teddy Atlas’ comedy act. Smith is trying to act like he’s an expert on boxing these days, I guess he’s Max Kellerman’s protégé. Lomachenko had the line of the night, saying “I should change my name to Nomo chenko,” since so many guys quit on their stool when facing him.