With the continued success and expanding popularity of Boxing Wise we
will now feature live reporting from boxing events. Boxing Wise will
have pre and post fight coverage from various venues, along with ringside
analysis. We wish to thank Top Rank, America Presents, Don King, Cedric
Kushner, Frank Warren, Main Events, Universum Promotions, OPI 2000, M&M
productions, Bill Mordey, 8-count productions, Bobby Hitz, Ballroom Boxing,
Jeff Fenech and Mogens Palle for their help in providing access to their
events.
January 27, York Hall, London, England
Main event: Nedal Hussein vs. Delroy Pryce
It was a night of mixed fortunes for the South Wales fighters on the bill in the
atmospheric east end heartland of London boxing, York Hall, on Saturday night. Mountain
Ash Light Heavyweight prospect Nathan King, making his pro debut fought a tumultuous
battle, over six rounds with the far more experienced, Tony Oakey, before losing a
points decision.
Enzo Calazaghe trained Bradley Pryce turned in a display of quicksilver power
punching in forcing referee Ken Coates to rescue his opponent, Joel Viney thirty two
seconds into the third round of a scheduled six in their Lightweight tussle. Viney was
down in both the first and second rounds. Both occasions he fell victim to Bradley’s
lightening quick straight punching. He was a game opponent but had no answer to
Bradley’s speed and heavy hands. As Bradley himself stated “any Lightweight in Britain
who feels my power is going out.”
Brother and stablemate Delroy Pryce, fighting Commonwealth Super Bantamweight
Champion, Nedal Hussien, was dropped by an outstanding left hook to the body which left
him unable to beat the referees count late in the third round. In one of the cruel
twists of fate boxing serves up so dramatically Delroy had the better of the opening two
rounds. He began aggressively, carrying the fight to Hussien, allowing the taller man no
time to settle. With Joe Calzaghe shouting encouragement from ringside he lead with left
hooks and impudently, straight rights, avoiding counters with good head movement and a
schooled defence. As the round progressed the Australian Hussien began to counter and
employ the jab to greater effect. Yet the points belonged to Delroy.
More was follow in the second. Through timing and sheer determination Delroy out
jabbed the languid Hussien but as the pace slowed both fighters began to instigate
clinches. The fight became increasingly bad tempered in the third and it appeared that
honours would be even until Hussien crashed home his body shot. It was a wickedly
damaging punch and Delroy winced with pain as he took to one knee. After the fight he
was dejected but not discouraged. “ I lost concentration for a moment and got caught
with a good shot,” he stated before adding, “ but I’ll be back.”
All three fighters are hoping to be on the undercard for Joe Calzaghe’s return to
Wales on the seventeenth of March in Cardiff.
Promoted by: Top Rank
Reported by: Gareth Welch
January 26, Ballys's Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
Main event: Monte Barrett vs. Mario Cawley
Tim Witherspoon was victorious in 2 of his most recent three fights in 2000 and was
preparing hard for a possible breakout bout against Monte Barrett on January 26th.
Unfortunately, a car accident earlier in the week cut Witherspoon's forehead at the
hairline. Murad Muhammad's headaches continued when Mario Cawley missed the plane on
his way to replace Witherspoon on the card. Cawley's quick thinking got him on a train
from Chicago and into Atlantic City.
As he looked upon the full audience, Witherspoon said, "I am disappointed about not
being able to perform in front the people". "Barrett will be right for me to come back
against" Terrible Tim continued. As we talked during the 7th round he stated that
he "would do well today" against what he saw Barrett delivering, but "Barrett might be a
different fighter with me in the ring".
This was the first fight for Monte Barrett after being stopped by Wladimir Klitschko
in July. Barrett weighed 211 lbs and started slowly against the shorter Mario Cawley
(22-7; 224 lbs). Barrett was holding and cut under the left eye in the second round,
but stated working the body and scored with effective uppercuts while keeping Cawley on
the ropes in the 3rd. Monte kept his hands busy and appeared in fine condition.
Eventually the punches took their toll on Cawley. Mario grabbed Monte in a clinch
and threw him on the canvas. As Tony Perez was informing the judges to remove one point
from Cawley, trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad was instructing Barrett to keep his cool and
box. Eddie's advice was heeded while Monte landed his hardest punches of the evening.
Barrett clubbed the tiring Cawley to the canvas and referee Perez immediately called a
halt to the contest at 2:34 of the 9th round.
Barrett, 24-2; 15 KOs, showed nice boxing and a good mix of punches. Cawley brought
some guts with him from the windy city. Realizing that he has lost to Ed Mahone, Lamon
Brewster, John Ruiz and Lawrence Clay-Bey, Cawley has a foundation on which he could
rebuild.
Co-featured Michael "No Joke" Stewart displayed why he should be considered for a
top 10 spot in the Junior Welterweight division and why Bally's would love to have him
back on future cards. Stewart gathered the loudest audience response and manufactured a
methodic piece of work against Joshua Smith (15-3; 14 KOs; 147lbs). Stewart began to
swell under his left eye in the second, but his left hook was beginning to land, so
Smith had to carefully select his times to throw the right hand. Stewart would either
catch him with the hook or set up a nicely toned straight right. Michael, 143 lbs,
painted Smith with a one-two and finished with a left hook to the body; later "No Joke"
hit him with everything and earned a TKO at 1:28 in the 4th round. Stewart (24-0-2
10 KOs) just turned 23 so he has a little time if the exciting junior welterweight
division doesn't open a top ten spot for him soon. His best chance at a top ten ranking
is in the WBO, who ranks him #12.
Oh by the way, New Jersey's trial period for the Majority Scorecard has ended, they
have returned to announcing all three judge's scores and treating them individually.
In remaining action: Junior Welterweight Freddie Cadena keeps busy with his second fight
in January. This time he stopped Alberto Santiago a nano-second
before the final bell. Cadena is 5-0; 4KOs. Santiago is 2-1.
Horatio Pitman (2-5; 146lbs) stopped Mujtabba Muhammad (0-2) in the
2nd. Tony Thompson (7-1; 3KOs) toppled 281 lbs Liyadi Alhassan in
the 1st. Debuting Jerome Laster beat Ray Praylow by split decision
over 4 rounds.
Reported by: J.C Cohen
January 25, Michael's Eighth Avenue, Glen Burnie, MD
Main event: Dana Rucker vs Derrick Whitley
I purposely am starting to think promoter Scott Wagner let the fans have a month
break in between shows because the excitement may have been too much if we had a show
last month. On this night, which may have been the greatest the ballroom has ever seen
and proves why Michael's continues to be a shining example of how an exciting and well
put together club show should be. As always, the ballroom was sold out with standing
room only.
The ballroom which has it many celebrities who always attend the fights and tonight
was no different with former IBF Junior Middleweight Champion, Vincent Pettaway, current
IBF & UBA Women's Lightweight Champion Isra Girgrah along with Baltimore Oriole great Al
Bumbry. The main event was for the Maryland State Super Middleweight was actually a much
anticipated rematch between Dana Rucker (12-2-0, 9 KO's) and Derrick Whitley
(13-15-0, 6 KO's).
In their first meeting, Whitley knocked out Rucker which set up the rematch. This
fight would be different especially in the case of Rucker. Rucker was the superior
boxer this time around and constantly tagged Whitley who seemed to only go for the one \
punch knockout throughout the fight. When the decision was announced Dana Rucker won
the rematch by an unanimous decision (97-93, 98-92, 97-93) and now holds the Maryland
State Supermiddleweight Belt.
In the CO-feature of the evening and maybe one of the most exciting fights the
ballroom has ever seen saw highly regarded Del "The Hatchet" Matchett, (14-2-1, 8 KO's)
lose by 10th round TKO by the hands of Manuel Rodriguez, (11-1-0, 8 KO's). Throughout
this competitive bout, both combatants landed bombs that rocked each other. Rodriguez
was the stalker throughout and Matchett the usual superb boxer changed styles in this
fight and decided to slug with his opponent vice box which I have seen him do
beautifully.
It was a seesaw battle throughout and going into the last round, Rodriguez was up on
two of the three scorecards and if Matchett would have taken the round, the best he
could have gotten was a draw. Matchett game as ever was just overpowered and with a few
seconds left in the round, was caught up against the ropes with huge bombs landing on
him. The referee jumped in at the right time and stopped the fight awarding Rodriquez
the TKO victory and what I feel was a huge upset win.
Some side notes I like to make about the Matchett vs Rodriguez fight are this. I
have become very close with the Del "The Hatchet" Matchett over the last year and seeing
him get knocked out like that was very emotional to me even though as a reporter I have
to be unbiased in my reporting. With that said, I just want to let the readers know
that this young man went out on his shield and fought up to the very last second he
could and as a true fan of boxing, you can't ask for more.
Shortly after the fight, Matchett was taking to the hospital for routine tests and
of course I was concerned about his health. Everything turned out all right and the
love and support of not only the fans, his team and the commission for one of our own
fighters was a very moving thing. This whole entire incident is the reason till my last
breath I will be an advocate of a retirement fund for all boxers because their next
fight may be their last fight.
In the case of Matchett, who by the way is fine and I can confirm this since I just
spoke to him on the phone. He will be back and if I know Del, better than ever.
The undercard results are as follows: Jr. Welterweight - 6 rds Ebo Elder (7-0) TKO3 Luis
Rosales (5-8-1)
Lt. Heavyweight - 6 rds Darryl Hollowell (11-9-1)
D6 Darrin Whitley (9-15-5) 58-56 Hollowell, 57-57,
57-57
Jr. Lightweight - 4 rds Jose Reyes (4-0) TKO3
Jaime Palma (3-2-1)
Jr. Middleweight - 4 rds Tony Jeter (1-0) TKO1
Ervin Fuller (1-2)
As always fight fans, keep reaching for the stars and all your dreams can be fulfilled.
Promoted by: Scott Wagner
Reported by: Brad Berkwitt
Matchmaker: Josh Hall
January 20, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV
Main event: Floyd Mayweather vs. Diego Corrales
A world class pugilist turned into a mega superstar on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. dealt Diego Corrales a lesson in the sweet science, and took Lennox
Lewis' newly coined term "boxingology" to the upper division of everybody's P4P list.
The syllabus of Mayweather's dominance included explosive short lefts that sent the
previously unbeaten Corrales canvassward a total of five times, when mercifully, his
corner had seen enough punishment bestowed upon their fighter in the tenth round. Lost
among Mayweather's fabulous footwork and lightning jabs was a disappointing showing on
the part of Corrales. Despite following Mayweather around the ring, the economical
movement of Diego's leather weapons left the decidedly pro-Corrales fan contingent in a
state similar to that of the great depression, probably perplexed at a jab on vacation,
and hands that were less busy than the Maytag repairman. Landing single digits in every
round, Corrales was like a predator with no teeth. Mayweather out-threw him by an over
two to one margin and outlanded him 220-60 overall. The performance by Mayweather will
demand the boxing public to again take notice to a fighter who is fulfilling his
potential and then some. The most impressive part about Mayweather was the fact that
his punches were picking up steam as the fight wore on, using the stamina gained from
the 150 miles that he ran to prepare for this fight.
In the semi-main event the 7,926 in attendence was treated to a serious barnburner
in Jose Luis Castillo vs. Cesar Bazan. An explosive fifth round found Bazan walking
into a left uppercut by Castillo that began the undoing of what was a coin toss of a
fight. Both Bazan and Castillo left the ring as warriors on this night, with Bazan
showing an impressive arsenal himself before bowing down to the WBC Lightweight
Champion. The bottom line is that both of these guys do some serious damage and are
excellent punchers who would be a difficult challenge to anybody. Castillo's
performance will quiet the critics who believed that he still had marginal power even
with a 78% kayo record.
In earlier bouts, Jackie Kallen's young charge Jose Celaya's stock fell in a
majority decision over the 6-17 Mauricio Rodriguez. While Celaya ran his record to 8-0
with only two whacks it is becoming apparent that he will be the kind of fighter who
will have a nice career and that's about all. Rodriguez of Houston, TX should have been
able to get a draw after pummelling Celaya in the final two round in this four rounder.
Earnest Johnson made a pro debut in stopping the 1-5-1 Jamal Hodges late in the second
round. Mia St. John (20-0) stopped her easy opponent in the third round.
Promoted by: Top Rank
Reported by: Whitfield Haydon
January 20, York Hall, London, England
Main event: Tonto Tontchev vs. Alexander Alexandrov
Dave Walker vs. Ernie Smith
There is indeed TNT in the fists of Kid Dynamite but it was the sheer volume of his
dazzling combination punching which impressed when he forced Stourbridge journey man
Ernie Smith to be withdrawn from their Light Welter contest after just one round. To put
it mildly Smith was totally out classed. He looked fit and strong but up against an
intensely focused Walker he hardly had a look in. From the outset Walker employed his
neat footwork and jab to press the Stourbridge man. As Smith appeared unable to reply
the ex Fisher BC fighter visibly began to enjoy himself and treated us to a
demonstration of rapid fire, combination punching.
He lead with rights to the body, drove in hard left hooks to the ribs and scored
with right upper cuts. In an attempt to gain some respite Smith backed into the ropes
but Walker, in no mood for clemency, speedily closed the gap and gave him none. A knock
out seemed inevitable but a dazed Smith hung on to the bell. He had landed only one
punch of note, a right hook which momentarily grabbed Walkers attention but despite not
appearing to have been significantly hurt it came as no surprise when his corner retired
him. Smith protested but could have no real complaints.
With this victory Walker extends his record to 8 wins, 5 coming by way of knock out.
He hopes to fight again in February before a proposed challenge for Southern area
honours, possibly in the summer.
Tontcho Tontchev vs. Anatoly Alexanderov
Recently Tontchev has been sparring with Dave Walker and Colin Dunne. I don’t know
what they’ve been putting in the water down there in the Lennox Lewis gym because
Tontchev went one better than Walker in producing a devastating display of power
punching to knock out former European and WBO World Champion Anatoly Alexanderov in just
38 seconds of round 1. (If Dunne had been on the Bill I dread to think what he would
have done). There had been speculation that ever since being so brutally knocked out by
Acelino Freitas in a World Championship fight that many expected him to win, that
Alexanderov was a spent force. Despite this there were many at ringside who were
surprised by the ease with which Tontchev brushed the hugely experienced Russian aside.
The upright Kazackstan based Russian found himself pushed onto the back foot from
the opening bell by the Bulgarian who, as if affirming his greater desire jabbed
Alexanderov into a position where he could throw his first right hand. Over the top it
came and its effects were ruinous. Alexanderov took it clean on the chin and instantly
crumpled to the canvas. Clearly badly hurt he scrambled to his feet at the referees
count of 8 but with so long to go in the round he was already beaten. Tontchev for his
part proved that he can finish with the best of them when he followed up with another
straight right. It connected sickeningly and Alexanderov who went down hard, unconscious
on the canvas. As Tontchev began his celebrations there were anxious moments at ringside
as it appeared that Alexanderov could be seriously hurt. It was a huge knock out but
thankfully he returned with some assistance to his corner, fully conscious, where he was
administered oxygen as a precaution.
For the talented Tontchev this is undoubtedly the greatest win of his career to date
and should secure him a tilt at a World Title. All power to him, but spare a thought for
Alexanderov who as countless fighters before him must now be experiencing what it feels
like to find yourself at the end of the line. For him though the realisation was all to
painful.
Promoted by: Frank Warren
Reported by: Gareth Welch
January 18, The Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA
Main event: Danny Perez vs. Luiz Zaragoza
At the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, on Thursday, January 18, Danny Perez of San Diego
improved to 22-2 (13 KO's), with a unanimous decision win over Jose Luis Zaragoza, who
dropped to 17-4 (8 KO's). The bout was more competitive than the three 99-90 scores of
the judges would indicate, however Perez was never in danger. Perez showed the skills
that took him to the top ten, however Mosley and Forrest need not worry just yet. Aside
from some trading in the 6th and 7th rounds, as well as Perez scoring a knockdown in the
bouts closing seconds, the match was relatively uneventful. This may, however, be due
to the one-sided fireworks seen on the undercard.
"Mighty" Mike Anchondo moved his record to 9-0 (9 KO's), with a 2nd round knockout
over Osvaldo Valenzuela, 10-12 (5 KO's). Valenzuela was dropped in the first and second
rounds; finally quitting on one knee after the latter knockdown. Undefeated Sergio Mora
of L.A. got his third straight points win as a professional win he beat previously
undefeated Charles Blake, who now stands at 5-1-1 (1 KO). Both showed skill beyond
their limited experience.
The same could not be said for super middleweight Sheridan Page of Springfield, MO,
and heavyweight Shane Harris of Ventura. Both offered little more than wild rights in
exchange at their respective opponents, and were KO'd in 1 and 2 rounds, respectively.
Undefeated Librado Andrade stopped Page, and Ebow Pouncey started his pro career well by
stopping Harris (also in his pro debut) in two rounds, but not before a rare
simultaneous knockdown, which caused more laughter than awe; due to the comical nature
of Harris's fighting style, or lack thereof.
Promoted by: Roy Engelbrecht
Reported by: Chris Strait
January 12, The Sands Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
Main event: Isra Girgrah vs. Sue Mullet
In female boxing today, we seem to only see the women that cannot fight on TV and
this taints a viewers opinion on the sport. Well, I am here to tell you from first hand
account, these two ladies are a credit to the entire sport of boxing both in and out of
the ring. Both came to fight and gave the fans sitting in attendance at the Sands Hotel
& Casino Copa Room plenty to cheer about.
In the first round, both landed some shots but overall, it was feeling out round.
Round two saw Girgrah starting to land her lethal right hand and Mullet's jab seemed to
be working better for her. Round three saw Girgrah step up the pace and land some of
the most wicked uppercuts I have ever seen. With the round closing, Girgrah landed an
overhand right that dropped Mullet and caused her nose to bleed. Mullet took an eight
count and the round ended. Round 4, Girgrah came out fast and strong pinning Mullet
against the ropes and landing several unanswered punches causing the referee to step in
and stop the bout at :22 seconds of the fourth awarding the UBA title to Isra Girgrah.
Girgrah and the sold-out crowd, celebrated with a roar that shook the boardwalk of
Atlantic City.
In addition, I would like to add some of my observations of the entire week I
spent covering this event. First, I cannot say enough on how much class Isra Girgrah and
Sue Mullet showed in and out of the ring. As I said earlier, they are a credit to the
sport of boxing and more importantly to our society. Both camps conducted themselves as
true professionals during the entire week and this is the side of boxing that we seldom
hear about. Instead, the negative is always reported vice the positive. I want to thank
the following people who made this reporters trip one I will not soon forget. Casey
Dansicker, (Isra Girgrah's manager), Harold Weston, (VIP Boxing), Alfred Luciani,
(President & CEO Sands Hotel & Casino), Basil Dicerbo, (Director of Player Development)
and the entire marketing team of the Sands Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. I also want to
take the opportunity to thank all the Washington, DC and Maryland fans who made the trip
to Atlantic City to support our fighters. Without this support, their rise to the top
would be a lot harder.
In other action: WBC #7 heavyweight Vaughn Bean W10 Abdul Muhaymin; Faruk Saleem W10
Marion Wilson (hvy); Sean Garnett W6 Phillip Thrasher (middle); Marlon Haynes D6 Melvin
Jones (welter); Eric Aiken TKO3 Jhovany Collado (feather); Michael Warrick W8 Jamar
Carter (welter)
As always fight fans, keep reaching for the stars and all your dreams can be fulfilled.
Promoted by: VIP Boxing
Reported by: Brad Berkwitt