KO Digest exclusive Q&A with Will "Power" Rosinsky!‏

Will Power!

Super middlweight prospect Will Rosinsky knows a thing or two about hurting people and helping people, and he's very good at both. That's because in addition to being an up and coming professional prizefighter, Rosinsky is also a certified EMT with the NYC Fire Department.

In this exclusive one-on-one interview with KO Digest, Rosinsky discusses both of his careers, his recent fight with Edwin Rodriguez on SHOBOX, the controversial scoring of that fight, as well as several other topics including his thoughts on CompuBox, judge Glen Feldman, and where he hopes to go from here.

At 26 years of age and with a record of 14-1 w/ 8 KOs, Rosinsky is poised to make a run at the top after putting his name squarely on the map following his outstanding performance against Edwin Rodriguez last month on Showtime.

KO Digest caught up with Will Rosinsky two weeks after his SHOBOX war with friend & rival Edwin Rodriguez. Here is what "Power" had to say:

KO Digest: Many fight fans might not realize that fighting is not your only job. Can you talk about your career as an EMT in New York and how you first got involved with that?

Will Rosinsky: I work for the NY Fire Department as an EMT and I love my job. It's a totally different way of living in terms of boxing. As an EMT, I'm trying to help people. As a boxer, I'm trying to hurt them. I got into it by seeing some promos for it at a local B&B and I took it one step at a time and ended up doing what I'm doing now.

KOD: How long have you been an EMT?

Rosinsky: I got my certification about a year and a half ago, but I've been working for the fire department since February of this year.

KOD: Are there any similarities between your career as a boxer and your career as an EMT?

Rosinsky: I think they are two jobs on different ends of the spectrum. In fighting, you are trying to hurt people, as an EMT you're trying to help people. Both jobs definitely take patience and just being calm in situations. That's a similarity they both have.

All in a day's work: Saving lives and kicking ass!

KOD: As an EMT, what has been your most memorable on the job experience?

Rosinsky: Actually, the day before I had my little vacation, my days off to get ready for the fight - we had a lady, a call came over for respiratory distress. She had a problem breathing, we got there and she was already in cardiac arrest. Myself, my partner, my Captain, and the paramedics who got on scene after us helped to bring her back and we got a pulse. We got her to the hospital in more of a lively state, she was still unconscious, but her body was functioning again.

KOD: It sounds like you saved her life.

Rosinsky: Ya, well, not just me. I had help from other people.

KOD: Let's shift to boxing. How did you get "Power" as your nickname?

Rosinsky: When I was an amateur, I actually had that name already, not because of any type of punching power but rather because somebody in the gym once told me while I was working out hard, "You just keep going, you have a lot of willpower." So from there, it just kind of caught on with the name and just in terms of having the will to just keep going and keep moving forward. So, it stuck.

KOD: You mentioned your amateur career, what was your amateur record?

Rosinsky: I don't know exactly, but I usually tell people it was around about 85 wins and 12 losses.

KOD: Can you talk about your amateur accomplishments?

Rosinsky: I won the Golden Gloves from 2005 to 2008. I was US National Champion in 2005. I won the "Outstanding Boxer" award in the tournament in 2005 for the Golden Gloves. I won the New York Metros twice. I won the Northeastern Regional once. I participated in the PAL a couple of times, the National Golden Gloves, got to the semi-finals and fought twice, unfortunately I lost there. And I was the captain on the USA team in 2005-2006 when we went to Russia, for the world championships and in Hungary for a duel. I was able to be the captain for that which us a good experience.

KOD: In the amateurs, did you fight anybody who went on to have any notable success as a professional?

Rosinsky: A lot of guys are still making that success. I fought only 3 or 4 years ago in the amateurs so guys like Brandon Gonzales who just fought the week after me against Ossie Duran, I fought him. I fought Marcus Oliveira. Guys that are undefeated now I fought and beat in the amateurs. Guys like Romell Rene, he beat me in the amateurs, he's had success. He's undefeated, 12-0. I had some good experiences.

KOD: Can you describe your friendship with Edwin Rodriguez and how that originated?

Rosinsky: They used to room the 165's and 178's together, so he was fighting at 165, I was fighting at 178. So he was one of the guys I got along with on the team because we were roommates, but not always. He'd always want to room with Demetrius Andrade who was from Rhode Island so they knew eachother much better. It was me, Edwin and a couple other guys and we just clicked being on the team together. We were in China together, we were in Hungary together, so I guess when you're with somebody often or when you go elsewhere, away from home and you're with the same people, you just start getting comfortable with them. And so we became friends that way. He's a real good guy and we just clicked.

KOD: Your recent SHOBOX fight against Rodriguez was very entertaining to watch. What was it really like from your perspective to be in there fighting so violently against a friend?

Rosinsky: You know what, you put all that stuff aside. It was actually a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. I knew it was gonna be a tough fight from the get-go. I knew the kind of heart that Edwin came with. So everything that happened, I expected which doesn't always work out like that. I expected him to be tough, and I expected him to throw good body shots. I knew that he wasn't gonna give in to anything, so a lot of it I expected and that helped me with the fight.

Rosinsky having fun in there! (Photo: Pattee Mak)

KOD: Have you had a chance to sit down and actually watch the fight on TV?

Rosinsky: I would say I've watched the fight 20 to 30 times!

KOD: That must be a very surreal experience for you. What did you think about the Showtime announcers, they all scored the fight a draw, 95-95.

Rosinsky: I don't want to say they were against me but they were underestimating me from the get-go. If you listen to them talk in the beginning, it's very negative, "Will hasn't fought anybody yet. Will has been brought up very lightly. Will has not been tested at all yet. Will got dropped in his last fight against a guy that was 11-11." And then when they spoke about Edwin, it was, "Oh Edwin has been brought up perfect. Edwin has great body shots. Edwin has a great trainer in his corner." For the announcers to actually round-by-round, switch to the other guy which was me and say, "Rosinsky is showing a lot more than we expected. Rosinsky is staying in there and being aggressive, I actually had him winning this round!" - that was a good feeling and I think I deserved it the way I performed.

KOD: By the way you fought, it sounded like you earned their respect, do you think that's true?

Rosinsky: Absolutely. I did earn their respect and I don't think they expected a lot from me so when I came with that kind of fight, which I told them I was coming with, I think they started to open their eyes and say, "This kid has absolutely come to fight." As a fighter, you always talk confident, no fighter is gonna go to an interview and say he's not ready for a fight. Fighters always talk confident but it takes action to actually prove yourself and I think once they realized I was talking confident but that was because I was being honest - they saw that I was really there to fight.

KOD: Let's talk about the controversial scoring. All three judges scored the fight 100-90. You called that a "mockery" at the post fight press conference. You also said that you were not busy enough in the ring and it seemed like you accepted that you'd lost the fight even though you were not happy with the wide marginal of victory for Rodriguez. Talk about your initial reaction to all of that and how, if at all, your feelings have changed about it since.

Rosinsky: First of all, people have been putting words in my mouth about that, that I thought I lost. I just felt I could have been busier. As a fighter when you go into a fight, you have a picture in your head on what you want to do. My goal was to be busier than I was. To say that I wasn't busy enough doesn't necessarily make me say that I thought I lost the fight because I wasn't busy enough. I also mentioned something about the scores at the post fight press conference. I said whether it's 100-90, 99-91, or 98-92 - it's still a loss. The point there I'm trying to make is that everyone is making a big deal about the 100-90 loss, but for me I don't even care about what the score is. The fight is over, I already lost the fight so even if it's scored 96-94 and I lost the fight, I still lost the fight! I didn't want to even accept the fact that I lost. People are making a bigger deal about the scoring rather than the fact of if it's a loss or a win.

KOD: Do you think you won the fight against Rodriguez?

Rosinsky: I think I won the fight, yes. If you asked me that the day of the fight, or right after the fight, I would have said that I'd have accepted a draw. The reason why I say that is because you don't sit there and count the rounds that I feel I won or lost right when you're done with a fight. I mean, you don't know! It's really something you have to watch first. I felt I put up a good fight. I felt I won a good amount of rounds but I can't say I definitely won the fight because each round was close. But then when I go home and watch it closely and I can see how much more aggressive I was and how he was backing up and how he was on the defensive; it's like how did these judges see that round as even close? He's backing up the whole time and he landed one big punch in the last 15 seconds  and they're gonna give him the round? Meanwhile, I'm aggressive and landing the harder shots, it's just crazy. But when you're in a fight you don't sit there and count the rounds. The fight was close, I would accepted a draw but when I got home ans watched it, I say I won the fight 5-4 with one round even or 6-4.

KOD: You were recently quoted in an interview by the Boxing Tribune and you made a comment about knowing "the fix was in" when you first heard the 100-90 scores. Can you elaborate, what did you mean by that?

Rosinsky: Edwin is the guy that they're promoting. Edwin is the guy that they're putting money into. I'm not the guy that they're putting money into. As soon as I heard 100, I didn't even need to hear the rest, I knew the decision was for him. I knew the decision was not gonna go 100-90 for me. Obviously, if the fight is halfway close and I hear 100 as the first score, it's like, "this fight is fixed" and when I say fixed, look I'm not gonna say the DiBella people paid the judges off because I don't know what goes on behind the scenes but that's gonna raise eyebrows to anybody who watched that fight even if it's ten years from now. Even people who have nothing to do with boxing are gonna say that something was going on there. That's evident. For that one judge, Glen Feldman - for him to say that he tried to give me a round but that he couldn't find one, it's just ridiculous because the performance that both me and Edwin put on, to make that comment that he was looking for a round to score for me shows me that he came to the fight biased. Nobody is asking you to look for a round to score for me. Score the fight as it is, you don't have to look for anything. You go round by round and score for who you think won the round, but looking for a round to score for me, that's ridiculous.

KOD: The CompuBox stats for the fight seemed to statistically justify the wide margin of victory for Rodriguez. Have you seen the CompuBox report?

Rosinsky: Yes, I have. I looked at it. It shows him landing some more punches percentage-wise. One thing that CompuBox doesn't show is ring generalship. It doesn't show how much a guy is on the defensive. A guy can still be a boxer and move and box, and still win a fight. I'm not saying that a guy coming forward getting blasted with shots is always gonna be the aggressor, or the guy who should always wins the round but I think those CompuBox numbers are a little deceiving.

How did CompuBox score this punch?

KOD: In the 8th round, he hit you with a monster left hook that seemed to stun you. Were you hurt by that punch and if so, how did you manage to take the punch so well and hide the fact that it hurt you by coming right back with shots of your own?

Rosinsky: I wasn't hurt. It was a good punch. I really wasn't  hurt and I think that mainly that is because I was in great shape. When you're in great shape like that I guess your body can do a lot more and it was only one punch. He didn't come back with anything. Maybe if he'd come back with something it would have hurt a bit but it was almost like he was satisfied with that one punch. It looked a lot worse than it really was because my head came back. I wasn't hurt. And if I was, I wouldn't have been able to come back. I tried to come back quick, just to show him that I wasn't hurt because I know that sometimes by the way your head goes back it almost looks like it had to hurt, but really - I wasn't hurt with that punch at all.

KOD: Rodriguez is known as a body puncher. You stood up extremely well to his body attack. What do you attribute that to and what is it like to be hit in the body by Edwin Rodriguez?

Rosinsky: It's all about being in shape. I was ready for that. I know that's his signature, going to the body, so we were doing a million crunches a day. He caught me with some good body shots, nothing that hurt me though but it was stuff that I felt. But it was nothing that took me off my game and made me stop what I was doing.

KOD: Promoter Lou DiBella said after the fight that he was interested in continuing to work with you moving forward. Have there been any developments between Lou and yourself in terms of what's next for Will Rosinsky?

Let's make a deal?

Rosinsky: I believe Lou wants to do more of a long term thing. There was something in the contract for the Rodriguez fight that he would have a three fight option on me. I think he wants to throw that out and do something long term. If the offer is right and the deal is right, I'm willing to do that. I do have a job, so it depends if it's worth it for me to leave my job as an EMT and do boxing one hundred percent. There a lot of advantages that my job has that boxing can't offer. I'm gonna cross that bridge when I get to it.  

KOD: What can your job as an EMT offer you that boxing can't?

Rosinsky:  A pension, health benefits, things like that. Things that people look past. Nothing is guaranteed in boxing. The money is great but I'm thinking long-term like what I'm gonna being doing in 20 or 30 years. But if the price is right, we can work something out and then I'll have no problem signing something. That's something that will need to be worked out and I'm in the midst of doing that right now.

KOD: How much was your purse for the Rodriguez fight?

Rosinsky: Fifteen thousand dollars.

KOD: The Rodriguez fight was your first scheduled ten round fight, only your second fight outside of New York, and your first fight on a major cable network. A huge step up and a big risk. In the end, was it worth it?

Rosinsky: It was worth it. I wish I had come back with the win but it was worth it. The main reason I took this fight, I knew it was a big risk against Rodriguez, but I knew that if anything, if I were to put on a great performance - and this is the honest truth- and I said this to my trainer, I said if anything funny goes on, like a funny decision or something ridiculous, the whole boxing world will be able to see it and that's the only reason I took the fight. Because it was on Showtime, and unfortunately funny things did go on but a lot of people saw my performance and a lot of people got to see what I'm all about. Now, if I would have fought him in the middle of Brooklyn or in the middle of Worcester, MA on a card where the place fits a thousand people and only a thousand people saw that fight, all that's gonna be is a sweep win for Edwin that nobody got to see and it would be me crying robbery and nobody would be able to say, "You know, I saw that fight." I have people I don't even know coming up to me at work and they say, "Oh, you're that kid who fought on Showtime and got robbed!" It feels good because people got to see it but it still doesn't take away from the fact that I actually lost, but at least people got to see it.    

KOD:  Rodriguez said after the fight that sometimes friends put on the best fights. Guys like Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward are an excellent example of that. Do you agree with that?

Friendly Pride!

Rosinsky: Yes, because you know eachother from a different level. I guess that makes a difference. I don't know why that's the case but I definitely agree with that. It's more of a pride thing, you have more pride when it comes to fighting a friend and I guess you have more to prove to eachother.

KOD: As a young up and coming fighter, what did you learn from the Rodriguez fight and from the controversy that followed it?

Rosinsky: Don't leave it in the hands of the judges! If I could knock out everyone in the first thirty seconds, I would but it's not that easy. The main thing I learned is maybe to look for the KO a little more rather than scoring points and I never do that because I'm not a huge puncher. I don't look for the knockout ever but maybe I should start.

KOD: Thank you Will. In conclusion is there anything you would like to add?

Rosinsky: Thank you to everyone watching, listening, and writing about the fight. I appreciate the support and look out for my next fight. I'm not sure when that will be but I can guarantee I will put on an even better performance than I did in the Rodriguez fight.

Q&A with Timothy Bradley: Khan ducked me first!

Undefeated WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley addressed the media today via international conference call in promotion of his upcoming WBO title defense against former lightweight champion Joel Casamayor on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight, scheduled for November 12th on Pay Per View. Bradley recently signed with Top Rank and was joined on the call by his promoter Bob Arum as well as by his trainer Joel Diaz and manager Cameron Dunkin. Bradley sounded upbeat about his new career direction and about his upcoming fight against Casamayor - whom Bradley says he must "destroy" before he can think about any other opponents. "I respect every fighter but nothing about Casamayor concerns me and he's not gonna beat me. No way."

Bradley discussed his future at junior welterweight by reminding the boxing media that he's still the champion at 140, but says he would love to move up to welterweight. "140 is getting tight to make the weight, I'll be more comfortable at 147 and based on the opportunities available. But if there's a big fight at 140, I'll squeeze down. Everybody knows I want face the pound for pound best out there and that's Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao."

KO Digest then asked Timothy Bradley for his thoughts on the roughhouse tactics of Joel Casamayor, performance based bonuses in boxing, critics who say he ducked Amir Khan, his ranking in RING Magazine and finally about his thoughts on the upcoming Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez fight which Bradley fights on the undercard of, in what promoter Bob Arum called the "semi-wind up fight."



Bradley on the roughhouse tactics of Joel Casamayor: "I'm rough in there too! He can get rough all he wants, I've got my tricks of the trade as well and we're gonna talk to the referee before the fight about his dirty tactics. I'm prepared for all that, we trained for it. He's not gonna sneak me with anything."

Bradley on critics who say he ducked or avoided fellow 140 pound champion Amir Khan in order to take a safer path to a fight with Manny Pacquiao: "It doesn't bother me. Criticism doesn't pay the bills. One day, me and Khan will get it on in the ring and we can settle it then but I was supposed to fight Khan way before - in fact I was supposed to fight him after I fought Lamont Peterson but then Khan went on to sign with Golden Boy and Golden Boy didn't want no part of it. He ducked me first! We tried to make the deal, we kept calling but they never picked up. When the time is right, me and Khan will settle our differences, and we're gonna get it on."

Criticism doesn't pay the bills! Big fights do!

Bradley on being rated #8 P4P by RING but below Amir Khan in their divisional rankings at junior welterweight: "Doesn't bother me at all. I'm #8 pound for pound, he's not even in the pound for pound ratings. Amir Khan, at 140, he can't move without me. He needs me, I don't need him. I'm just gonna fight my fight - fight by fight- and that's it."

Bradley's prediction on who wins the main event on November 12th, Pacquiao or Marquez: "Manny. I say he's gonna stop Marquez in the late rounds, say 8 or 9, he's gonna take him out."

Bradley on 'performance bonuses' in boxing: "Heck ya! It's beneficial, fans want to see a good fight, a good show, so why not? I'm definitely on board with that."

Promoter Bob Arum then chimed in to add his thoughts on the idea of performance based bonuses in boxing, "Sometimes we see some fighters too anxious to quit the fight. We saw that with Josh Clottey against Manny. We saw that with Mosley against Manny and we saw it with an undefeated Argentinian, Omar Narvaez, against Donaire. This is prizefighting, that's what it's called, prizefighting. To induce fighters where the cause doesn't look so promising to get in there and try to pull it out by becoming aggressive - we feel this gives them an incentive to do that, and that we would get better performances and better fights. Top Rank President Todd deBoef announced this to Kevin Iole and I agree with it."

Hit play below to here the whole conference call.

10/21 SHOBOX Octoberfist Results: Rodriguez W10 Rosinsky

Edwin Rodriquez W10 Will Rosinsky 
(super middleweights) In a fight that was better and somewhat more competitive than the scoring would indicate, Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriquez won a ten round unanimous decision over the never-say-die Will "Power" Rosinsky in this SHOBOX main event. Boxing behind an effective jab and going to the body with regularity, Rodriquez won on all three judge's cards by scores of 100-90. Rosinsky was pesky to say the least and he occasionally exploited the still porous defense of Rodriguez with good shots of his own. Easily the best and most entertaining fight of the night. KO Digest scored the fight 98-93, giving Rosinsky the 3rd and 9th with the 7th even. Rodriquez stays undefeated and improves to 20-0 w/ 14 KOs while Rosinsky goes to 14-1 w/ 8 KOs.

A melee broke out in the crowd after the fight between drunken fans unhappy about the decision.
Hit play below to hear what both fighters had to say about the fight and the scoring at the post-fight presser.



Gabriel Bracero W10  Daniel Sostre (junior welterweights) In what at times looked more like a glorified sparring session than a co-main event, Gabriel Bracero stayed busier and more accurate than Daniel Sostre over ten rounds to win the vacant NABF junior welterweight title by unanimous decision. No knockdowns in the fight, and neither fighter was ever really hurt. Bracero stays undefeated and goes to 18-0 w/ 3 KO's while Sostre's record goes to 11-5-1 w/ 4 KOs. Scores: 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91.    

Ryan Kielczewski W6 Willie Villanueva (junior lightweights) The popular Quincy, MA native Ryan "The Polish Price" Kielczewski won an easy six round unanimous decision over Willie Villanueva. Despite the strong crowd support and a particularly strong 4th round, Kielczewski could not seriously hurt his durable but outclassed opponent. The Prince stays undefeated and goes to 12-0 w/ 2 KOs while Villanueva goes to 10-4 w/ 2 KOs. Score in favor of Kielczewski: 60-54 on all three judge's cards.

The Polish Prince batters his opponent in the corner.

Dyah "Ali" Davis W6 Darnell Boone (super middleweights) In a sloppy slugfest, Dyah "Ali" Davis did enough to outpoint and outwork Darnell Boone over six. When it wasn't a slugfest, it was a hugfest. Davis improves to 20-2-1 w/ 9 KOs while Boone falls to 19-18-3 w/ 8 KOs. Scores in favor of Davis: 59-56, 59-55, and 58-56.   

Danny O'Connor W6 Bryan Abraham (junior welterweights) Crowd favorite Danny O'Connor used his southpaw jab and straight lefts to control the pace against opponent Byran Abraham, winning a unanimous six round decision. O'Connor, from Framingham, MA and trained by Ronnie Shields improves to 16-1 w/ 4 KOs while Abraham goes to 5-8-2 w/ 5 KOs. Abraham was down in the first, O'Connor was down in the fifth but in the case of O'Connor, it really looked more like a slip as their legs tangled. O'Connor finished strong, rocking his opponent with a flush left to the face in the closing minute of the final round. Scores in favor of O'Connor: 60-54, 59-54, and 58-54

Danny O'Connor lands his money punch!

Frank Galarza W4 Daniel Lugo (junior middleweights)  In a competitive and entertaining scrap, Frank Galarza won a unanimous four round decision over Daniel Lugo. Galarza improves to 4-0 w/ 1 KO while Lugo slips to 1-2. Scores: 39-37 across the board.

Badou Jack KO6 Eddie Caminero (super middleweights)  Vegas native Badou "The Ripper" Jack used his superior power and boxing skills to defeat Eddie Caminero by TKO in the 6th round. A well placed body blow sent  Caminero down and though he beat the count, he was ruled unfit to continue by the referee. Jack improves to 8-0 w/ 7 KOs while Caminero falls to 7-6 w/ 7 KOs. Time of the KO: 1:47.

Luis Rosa W6 Harvey Murray (bantamweights) This fight was fought after the main event in front a nearly empty crowd, only the die-hards sticking around to watch these two fight it out. Rosa wins to stay undefeated and he goes to 9-0 w/ 5 KOs while his opponent falls to 4-3-2 w/ 1 KO. Score in favor of Rosa: 60-54 on all three cards.

Delen Parsley W6 Jevon Boisseau (junior middleweights) In the evening opener, Brooklyn native Delen "Sniper" Parsley pounded out a unanimous decision over the game but outgunned Jevon Boisseau. Parsley improved to 6-0 w/ 2 KOs while Boisseau goes to 3-6-1. Scores: 60-54 across the board.

Donaire invokes MSG boxing greats - looks to join them!

The Filipino Flash slays Vic Darchinyan

Bantamweight Champion Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire took a break from his training today to address the media via international conference call in promotion for his upcoming fight against the undefeated Omar Narvaez, scheduled for Oct 22 at Madison Square Garden. Donaire was joined on the call by his promoter Bob Arum, as well as by his trainer Robert Garcia and his manager Cameron Dunkin. Donaire assured reporters that he is by no means taking this upcoming fight against Narvaez lightly, "Our opponent has two hands and the ability to train. We're not taking anything away from him. But I believe my power is enough to change a fight. The most satisfying victory is a knockout victory and I look for that."

"No prediction on the fight but I want to get him as early as I can and not get hit."

Donaire seemed genuinely excited about the opportunity to fight at Madison Square Garden. He invoked the names of legendary fighters who've fought there in the past and he clearly looks forward to joining them. "To fight at Madison Square Garden, it's a historical place with a long list of fighters, it's an honor to fight there and to prove like Jack Dempsey and those old school Irish and Jewish fighters, that I have some old school in me too. Looking at the old time fights, names like Sugar Ray Robinson, Carmen Basilio. Those guys were incredible, they fought with everything, they fought with no fear, they fought their opponents over and over again regardless, they just showed incredible heart and a great history of boxing and that is something I want to bring out there. We're gonna put an energy there like Dempsey and Tyson did. That's how I am as a fighter."

Promoter Bob Arum talked about the history of boxing at Madison Square Garden and his connection to that history through Top Rank, "Forty years ago, Top Rank did it's first fight at Madison Square Garden and it was Muhammad Ali vs Oscar Bonavena. Back in those days, the fight scene was centered on the East Coast where the fighters tended to be higher weights and in the West the fighters were primarily lighter weights. All that's changed. It's a different world, it doesn't matter the size of the fighters now. The idea that a bantamweight fight would be at Madison Square Garden in the 60's and 70's was unheard of but it's different now. The last 40 years have really flown by but it's so great for me personally to be back at the Garden with Nonito Donaire and of course we're back again at the Garden on December 3rd for Cotto against Margarito."     

"We're looking forward to unveiling Nonito Donaire and his talents. There's nothing like Madison Square Garden."

When asked, Donaire analyzed the punch sequence which resulted in his devastating second round KO of Fernando Montiel last February, "Most of the punches I see coming. I didn't expect him to throw a looping right. I was expecting a hook and I just sat on it and when he threw it looping straight - that was his mistake because I was set with the hook. We predicted the fight would end like that and it did." Promoter Bob Arum was a bit more blunt about the punch, "Nonito caved in Montiel's face, and it was as scary as shit!"

Scary as shit KO!

Asked about the hardest punch he has ever been hit with in the ring, Donaire talked about a punch he took from an opponent early in his career, "It was in my 6th or 7th pro fight. I knocked the guy out in the second round but he buckled my knees. I didn't fall, I stood my ground and I knocked the guy out right after that." Asked if the size difference between he and Narvaez will make a difference in the fight, Donaire said, "It's not always about size. If you're the better fighter, you can beat anybody." Donaire of course is a hard punching powerful bantamweight who has been struggling of late to make the bantamweight weight limit of 118 pounds.

Boxing fans anticipate a move up to junior featherweight and featherweight for Donaire, where high profile matches against fighters like Toshiaki Nishioka and Yuriorkis Gamboa await him. 

Nonito Donaire fights Omar Narvaez at Madison Square Garden on October 22nd. The fight will air live on HBO Boxing After Dark. Hit play below to hear all of what Nonito Donaire, Bob Arum, and Robert Garcia had to say.

Rhode Warriors Boxing Results!

Burchfield Sr, Vinny Paz, Hank Lundy

KO Digest was ringside on Friday night at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI for what promised to be an entertaining evening of professional boxing. The card, billed as "Rhode Warriors" and promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports, featured a number of local fighters as well as two separate but highly anticipated fights involving Rhode Island natives Richard "Bobo The Bull" Starnino and Vladine "Mr Providence" Biosse.

As noted, the card featured many local fighters and the fans were very supportive of the fighters they came to see. The fights proved to be generally competitive and there were even some surprises along the way.

Former world champion and Rhode Island boxing legend Vinny Pazienza was in the crowd and he briefly took the mike and spoke to the fans about his career after a video was shown featuring some of his greatest hits.

Vladine Biosse D8 John Mackey (super middleweights) In the main event, Mr. Providence Vladine Biosse appeared to have outlasted and outfought the slick John Mackey to win a decision but instead had to settle for a majority draw. Fighting behind the jab, Biosse found it difficult to put together truly effective combinations on the inside against an opponent who showed excellent reflexes and defensive abilities. Mackey made it interesting by clearly winning the fifth and sixth round but he lacked the energy and punching power to close the gap and truly challenge for the win. Scores: 77-75 Biosse and 76-76 & 76-76 even.  Knockout Digest scored the fight 78-75 for Biosse who goes to 11-1-1 w/ 6 KOs. Mackey goes to 13-6-3 w/ 6 KOs. Asked what he thought of the decision, Biosse said after the fight, "This is my house and I thought I won the fight. I pulled a muscle in my left shoulder in the first round but no excuses, he came to fight."  

Reynaldo Rodriquez TKO4 Richard Starnino (super middleweights) Coming to the ring to the sounds of "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People, the wildly popular Providence native "Bobo the Bull" Starnino was all Bull for the first three rounds as Reynaldo Rodriquez played the role of Matador, gradually setting up his charge for the finish. In the fourth round of this co-main event, the matador finally put the bull away, dropping him with a sweet left hook to the chin of an onrushing Starnino, who beat the count but was ruled unfit to continue by the referee. Starnino falls to 9-6-2 w/ 2 KOs while Rodriquez improves to 6-2-1 w/ 3 KOs. Time of the stoppage: 1:07

Chris Chatman TKO5 Rahman Yusubov (junior middleweights) In a grueling affair, the heavy handed Chris "The Psycho Crusher" Chatman pounded the durable Rahman Yusubov from pillar to post, busting up his face and earning a TKO win after five rounds had been completed. Chatman goes to 10-1 w/ 5 KOs while Yusubov falls to 11-5 w/ 9 KOs. Chatman has good power but lacks speed and needs to tighten up his defense.

Benny Costantino W4 Odais Dumezil (super middleweights) After a slow start from the local favorite Benny Costantino, things heated up in the second and third as Costantino started going to the body of Odais Dumezil. In the fourth, Dumezil used his superior boxing skills against the tiring Costantino and landed several sharp left hooks to win the round. Costantino hangs on to win a unanimous decision by scores of 39-37 on all three judge's cards. Knockout Digest scored the fight a draw, 38-38. Costantino goes to 7-0 w/ 4 KOs while Dumezil falls to 3-7 w/ 1 KO.  
 
Alex Amparo W4 Nicholas Lavin (light heavyweights) In an entertaining give and take battle, Providence native Alex Amparo won a majority decision over the game but outgunned Nicholas Lavin. Amparo almost got Lavin out of there in the second, Lavin came back well in the third, and the fourth was a a toe-to-toe war, with Amparo getting the best of it. Amparo goes to 2-0 w/ 1 KO while Lavin falls to 2-2 w/ 2 KOs. Scores: 38-38 even, 38-37 & 39-37 for Amparo.

Amparo & Lavin do battle in the fight of the night. 

Bryan Abraham TKO3 Johnathan Vazquez (welterweights) In a mild upset, the undefeated Johnathan Vazquez was stopped in the third round of what had been up to that point a pretty good fight. Vazquez was knocked down three times in the third round, and the fight was stopped when he hit the canvas for the third time. Vazquez falls to 4-1-1 w/ 3 KOs while Abraham improves to 5-7 w/ 5 KOs. Time of the TKO 2:55. 

Kevin Cobbs W4 Steven Chadwick (light heavyweights) Vermont native Kevin Cobbs pounded out a majority decision win over Florida native Steven Chadwick. Chadwick, who somewhat resembles MMA legend Chuck Lidell, was cut in the forehead in the forth round. Cobbs improves to 2-0 w/ 1 KO while Chadwick falls to 0-2.  Scores: 38-38 even and two scores of 39-37 for Cobbs.   

Shelito Vincent W4 Karen Dulin (female bantamweights)  Crowd favorite Shelito Vincent made a successful pro debut and won a unanimous four round decision over her opponent Karen Dulin. Scores: 40-36, 39-37, and 39-37. Vincent starts her career 1-0 while Dulin falls to 2-10 w/ 1 KO.  

Thomas Falowo W4 Borngod Washington (middleweights) In this crowd pleasing fight, local Rhode Island prospect Thomas Falowo won a four round unanimous decision over the game but outclassed Borngod Washington. Falowo won the first two rounds by staying busier and more accurate to the head and body. The third was a slugfest and Falowo was close to stopping his opponent with rights to the head. Falowo goes to 5-0 w 4 KO's while his Washington slips to 2-9-1. All three judges score 40-36. 

Augustine Mauras TKO2 Christian Rivera (lightweights)  In the evening opener, Augustine Mauras pounded the head and body of MMA fighter Christian Rivera who was making his pro boxing debut. A vicious left to the liver sent Rivera to the canvas in his own corner where the referee ruled the fight over without a count. Time of the TKO 2:34 of the second. Maurus improves to 2-1-1 w/ 2 KOs while Rivera starts his career 0-1.

Ring Posts III

Money Shot

Welcome to the third installment of my monthly boxing column, Ring Posts! The Big Money Mayweather fight is history, and as far as my prediction, Norris vs Leonard is certainly wasn't!

This month's column will be devoted exclusively to my thoughts on what came to known as Mayweather KO4 Ortiz: Protect Yourself At All Times!     

After the fight was over, many people were calling what Floyd Mayweather did a cheap shot. It wasn't. There was nothing cheap about it, in fact it was pure Money! It would have been a cheap shot if Mayweather had punched Victor when Ortiz was approaching him in the corner to kiss and hug him immediately after the headbutt. That would have been a cheap shot! All Floyd did was mitigate the risk to himself against an unpredictable opponent who was melting down mentally and needed to be stopped before he injured himself or others.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. did the right thing by knocking out Victor Ortiz like he did, and he did exactly what needed to be done to protect HIMSELF at all times! While Ortiz wasn't, Mayweather was!

Victor Ortiz should have very well known that Floyd Mayweather is not to be trifled with, kissed, or excessively apologized to for anything in the ring. Mayweather did the same thing to Arturo Gatti, and then again to Sugar Shane Mosley, though neither of those two were dumb enough to kiss Floyd Mayweather! Ortiz was either a fool for letting that happen, or he was fooled into letting it happen. Either way, Ortiz should have known better and if he didn't then he definitely got what was coming to him after landing his best combination of a the night, a flying headbutt followed by a kiss to the cheek!

Boxing Rule #1: No kissing. Ever. Really!

Also in Mayweather's defense, something really needed to be done about all the recent buddy-buddy stuff in the ring, all the excessive apologizing and glove tapping. The answer is a good swift punch in the face, so kudos to Mayweather for that. In the ring, it's a fight not a night out with friends. If only Manny Pacquiao had slipped one of Shane Mosley's 42 friendly glove taps and punched him in the face! Imagine the possibilities, a fight might have broken out!

Fouls are part of boxing and fighters commit them for a reason, usually to get an advantage of some kind. But if you're gonna do it dirty, do it well, and stand behind it! Instead of apologizing for it, a dirty fighter should crack the crooked smile of a man who wants his opponent to think he just might do it again. Victor Ortiz really screwed up the biggest night of his young career but after the fact he showed far more class than Floyd Mayweather, who followed up his big win with a disgraceful tirade against the 80 year old Larry Merchant. And for anyone who says that Larry Merchant is biased or unfair and had THAT coming to him from Floyd, I'll remind you of the fact that when Marvin Hagler was upset with Larry Merchant in the 80's for not giving him the perceived proper credit, The Marvelous One never cursed or verbally assaulted him. Hagler simply went into the ring and did what it took to earn the man's respect. Period.

Hagler earns RESPECT!

 And for the young and/or forgetful fans who thought there had never been anything in boxing history quite like what happened between Mayweather and Ortiz, I give you Donald Curry vs Tony Montgomery from 1987. The lunging headbutts from Montgomery were just as flagrant as Ortiz's, if not more so and the fight even ends with a heck of a "sucker punch" too, from Curry, who was normally a pretty mellow guy in the ring! Being intentionally headbutted can bring out the animal in even the most sportsmanlike of fighters and if you follow the sport of boxing long enough, there's an historical precedence for just about anything that could possibly happen in a ring. 



Bottom line: Victor Ortiz called himself Vicious but in the end it was Floyd Mayweather who proved to be truly vicious in the ring when it mattered most. It was as if the two fighters should have switched nicknames going into the fight because on fight night Mayweather was Vicious and Victor Ortiz fought and acted like he was really just there for the Money!

See ya next month!

Dawson happy to be back with Scully, ready to regain title!‏

"Bad" Chad Dawson addressed the media today via international conference call along with his trainers John "Iceman" Scully and Ronald "Winky" Wright in promotion for his upcoming fight against Light Heavyweight Champion Bernard Hopkins.

Boxing fans will remember Wright and Scully for their many in the ring exploits but now both former fighters are turning their attention towards training former champion Chad Dawson as he prepares to face Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins on October 15th in a fight for Hopkins' Light Heavyweight Championship.

Dawson answered several questions about his recent decision to switch trainers for the fight. When the fight was initially signed, Dawson was with the legendary Emanuel Stewart. Last month, Dawson surprised the boxing world when he announced that he was parting ways with Stewart and had decided to go with one of his former trainers, John Scully as the new lead trainer. Dawson described the decision as a "great move" and emphasized the fact that he feels most comfortable working with Scully, who trained him back in 2004-2005 for Dawson's fights against Darnell Wilson, Carl Daniels, and Efrain Garcia.

Trainer John Scully describes the initial split with Dawson as "nothing personal" and seemed excited to be back with Team Dawson. Dawson went on to say that he regretted ever parting ways with John Scully in the first place and described the brief period of time that they did work together as the time that he was most happy, "And now it's like we've picked up right where we left off."

Dawson talked about how in the past few years he had grown into a "bored fighter" and described the trainer switch to Scully as just what he needed bring the best out of him. Asked what he brings to the table as an advantage over the 46 years old Hopkins, Dawson described himself as "younger and faster with better legs."

Though not known as a knockout artist, Dawson actually did say that he thinks he can hurt Bernard and get Hopkins "outta there" but he stopped short of predicting a KO victory, instead predicting a twelve round unanimous decision victory over Hopkins. As for how he hopes to achieve that against a fighter as cagy and experienced as Hopkins, Dawson stated that he wants to throw somewhere between a thousand and twelve hundred punches against Hopkins, "If Hopkins throws 30 punches a round, we want to throw 80."

Hear all of what Chad Dawson, John Scully, and Winky Wright had to say by hitting play below.

Chad Dawson battles Bernard Hopkins for the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World on October 15th on HBO PPV.

Does the name Jack Obermayer RING a bell?

KO JO

(Jeffrey Freeman, KO Digest) A week or so ago I was going through some of my old Ring Magazines, long forgotten issues from the 80's. In the back of the magazine was a feature I always liked called Rings Around the World, or Ringside Reports which was basically as described, reports from fight cards across the country and around the world. As I was reading them on my trip down memory lane, I came across a name I had long forgotten about.

Jack Obermayer.

Jack was a boxing reporter who did hundreds of these reports and he had a style of doing them I really enjoyed. Jack was funny, occasionally sarcastic, and he made really good reports. He was definitely a favorite of mine. At that moment, I literally thought to myself,  "I wonder whatever happened to Jack Obermayer?"

A week or so later, The Boxing Universe gave me the answer. Last Wednesday night when I was covering the fights up in Manchester, NH for Knockout Digest, take a guess who was suddenly sitting right next to me in press row? You guessed it, none other than Jack Obermayer. I could not believe it!

More than a coincidence I thought, The Secret applied to the boxing world.

Jack needed a little help with his computer and a few other things and so I was  glad to help him, honored in fact. I told him how much I always enjoyed his work, and that I had just recently been wondering whatever happened to him and so he filled me in on some recent details of his life and I was surprised to find out we had quite a few things in common, more than just boxing. Jack no longer reports for The RING but he was there covering the fights and collecting stats for a boxing website (fightfax.com) that currently employs his statistical talents, and meticulous attention to detail. As the night went on it was a treat to be seated next to him and it was great to chat boxing with a true old school boxing guy like Jack Obermayer! A statistical prodigy, Jack knew exactly how many boxing cards he'd been to in his entire life, on this night: 3,307 to be precise. Jack also told me that he likes boxing trivia and so I said, "Hit me with your best shot Jack!"

Here was his trivia question to me: Since Liston-Patterson, name the five heavyweight champions who weighed less than 200 pounds when they won the title. Now keep in mind, he told me that this was not limited to linear champs, and just about anyone who ever held a heavyweight title belt would apply for the answer, so long as they weighed less than 200 pounds for the fight.

Bible of KO

I got 4 out of 5 of the correct answers. For the record, the answer is Michael Spinks, Leon Spinks, Roy Jones, Jimmy Ellis, and the one I didn't get, Ernie Terrell, which pretty much means that I don't know Jack!

10th Annual "Fight to Educate" with Gerry Cooney!

KO Digest was live at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH for what promised to be an entertaining & charitable evening of professional boxing. The card was headlined by undefeated 2008 US Olympian Demetrius Andrade who took on the challenge of rugged veteran Saul Duran in a 10 round junior middleweight contest. Duran twice challenged for a world title in his career and holds a recent win over Hector Camacho. Andrade is coming off a win over Grady Brewer on ESPN's Friday Night Fights.

KO Digest caught up with former heavyweight contender Gerry Cooney prior to the start of the fights. Cooney was in attendance along with former champs Vinny Pazienza and John Ruiz for the fundraising portion of the evening. Hit play below to hear all of what Gentleman Gerry had to say! And be sure to catch Gerry along with Randy Gordon on SIRIUS radio talking boxing on Friday nights from 7-9pm!





Fight to Educate Results:

Demetrius Andrade KO3 Saul Duran (junior middleweights) The favored Andrade did what he was supposed to do tonight, he won handily and looked pretty good doing it, against admittedly limited opposition. Duran was down in the second and then down again in the third. Mercifully, his corner stopped the fight between rounds and so it was No Mas for Duran who did not come out for the fourth round.  Andrade improves to 15-0 w/ 10 KO's while Duran falls to 38-19-2 w/ 31KOs. All in all a good performance for Andrade who mixed his punches up well to the head and body. Said Andrade after the fight, "My plan was to use the jab, and go to the body. But he made me mad at the weigh-in so I came out aggressively. I hope to fight one more time this year." 

Saul Duran upsetting Boo Boo Andrade!

Jose Medina KO2 Anibal Acevedo (middleweights) In this scheduled 6 round co-main event, Stinger Medina controlled the first and then dropped the 40 year old Acevedo in the 2nd with a hard right hand. Acevedo beat the count and survived the round but his handlers stopped it in the corner, to the surprise of the crowd. Medina improves to 15-9-1 w 7 KOs while Acevedo falls to 13-8-1 w/ 11KOs. 

Danny O'Connor KO1 Jamal Del Cid (junior welterweights) The Irish Danny O'Connor dropped the grossly outclassed Del Cid in a heap with a combo to the head and body. Time of TKO 1:20 of round 1. O'Connor improves 15-1 w/ 4 KOs, Del Cid falls to 7-6 w 3 KO's.  O'Connor is trained by Ronnie Shields.

Dan Powers W4 Luis Rosario (featherweights) Powers busier through four rounds as both fighters fought on the inside the whole fight. Powers improves to 4-0 w/ 2 KOs while Rosario slips to 4-16 w 2 KOs. 40-36 on all three judge's cards. Neither fighter hurt in this decent, entertaining scrap.

 Chris Gilbert KO1 Noel Garcia (welterweights) In the evening opener, Chris Gilbert stopped Noel Garcia with a right uppercut in the first round. Time of the KO 1:33 of the 1st. Gilbert improves to 2-0 w/ 2 KOs while Garcia quite literally falls to 2-12-1 w/ 1 KO. Garcia beat the count but was on wobbly legs and was ruled unfit to continue by the referee.



Proceeds from tonight's card will go to benefit the SEE Science Center, The Bobby Stephen Fund for Education and Saint Joseph Community Services and their Meals on Wheels program.

Kiss Me Deadly - Floyd Mayweather KO's Victor Ortiz

By Jeffrey Freeman

Protect yourself at all times.

It's a simple rule of boxing as old as the sport itself and Victor Ortiz simply failed to follow it. That lapse in judgement cost him his WBC Welterweight Championship last night in Las Vegas as Floyd Mayweather stayed undefeated with an emphatic fourth round KO. 

Floyd Mayweather won the first three rounds easily with his amazing defensive prowess and lead right hands. In the fourth, Victor had some success mauling Mayweather on the ropes but then in an act of sheer frustration, a vicious Ortiz flagrantly lunged at Mayweather's face with his head. Referee Joe Cortez immediately took a point from an overly apologetic Ortiz, but then seemed to lose control of the fight following this call.

As the fighters came face to face to resume the action following a command of "let's go!" from Cortez, Ortiz must not have been finished apologizing. Big mistake! Ortiz went to hug Mayweather again, and Mayweather, who had already been kissed by the overly apologetic Ortiz, hit Ortiz with a left hook and then a straight right which sent Ortiz crashing to the canvas as Joe Cortez looked away with a confused look on his face. Ortiz, badly hurt, failed to beat the count and Mayweather had a KO win, which he guaranteed in the buildup to the fight.

It might not have been the classiest move but it was perfectly legal and Floyd was well within in rights to take advantage of the inexperience and naivete of the young Ortiz. Floyd definitely did not like being headbutted but he seemed to dislike being kissed by Ortiz even more. So he kissed him back. With his fists.

Things then got very ugly after the fight as Mayweather verbally assaulted HBO's Larry Merchant in the ring. Mayweather assailed the 80 year old Merchant with a verbal tirade fit for an internet message board. It was truly disgraceful.

To his credit, Victor Ortiz was classy and respectful after the fight. He made no excuses and called the fight a learning experience. For a guy who just got his ass kicked in front of millions of people, Ortiz handled it pretty well.

The quote of the night, hands down, belonged to a bemused Larry Merchant, who responded to Floyd Mayweather's ugly post-fight tirade by saying, "I wish I was 50 years younger, and I'd kick your ass!"

With his ugly verbal assault against HBO's Larry Merchant, Floyd Mayweather effectively closed whatever remained  of the gap between boxing's historic civil discourse and the kind of gutter level trash talk that permeates most boxing message boards these days. All that was left for Floyd Jr. to do was call Merchant a Victor Ortiz "nuthugger" and a "Pactard."

Mayweather vs Ortiz Preview & Prediction‏

They say that history repeats itself, and in the case of Floyd Mayweather against Victor Ortiz, history's repetition might be right on time for those doomed to repeat it. Twenty years ago this past February, Terry Norris defeated Sugar Ray Leonard by unanimous decision and with that unexpected victory he catapulted himself to boxing superstardom and began a lengthy run on top that included victories over Donald Curry, Meldrick Taylor, and Simon Brown just to name a few. Ironically, Norris' own inevitable fall from the top would be most terrible of all but for Leonard, the defeat was his first since Roberto Duran in 1980, it was his first official in-ring thrashing, and he would never win another boxing match; fighting only once more in an embarrassing KO loss to Hector Camacho six years later.

Fast forward twenty years to the present, and it's very nearly the same situation Floyd Mayweather is facing against the 24 year old Victor Ortiz.

There are many obvious parallels between Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Mayweather Jr. as fighters, but there are also some interesting parallels between Leonard's 1991 fight against Terry Norris and Mayweather's September 17th fight against Victor Ortiz. In February of 1991, Sugar Ray Leonard was coming off a 14 month layoff following his December 1989 victory over Roberto Duran in their anticlimactic rubber match. Terry Norris was chosen by the 33 year old Sugar Ray Leonard as his latest comeback opponent because he was considered to be a beatable, but legitimate young gun. The 23 year old Norris was not particularly well known at this time but he was the WBC Super Welterweight Champion, and had recently knocked out John "The Beast" Mugabi in stunning fashion. Not long before that however, Norris was himself knocked out by the hard punching Julian Jackson. It was the type of loss that could have easily shattered his confidence as a fighter.

From Ray Leonard's perspective, Terry Norris was a safe fight that he was expected to win, but also a fight that would test his ability to hang with a young and hungry boxing champion. For Leonard it was a bit like fighting a younger version of himself. A win over the upstart Norris would prove to Leonard and to the boxing world that Sugar Ray was still sweet.



Like Leonard, Floyd Mayweather is coming off a similar layoff. Mayweather is 34 years old, and facing a WBC Welterweight Champion ten years his junior. In his last fight 15 months ago, Floyd was rocked in the second round by a past-his-prime Sugar Shane Mosley but to his credit, Mayweather bounced back, dominated the rest of the fight and won easily. Mayweather has not fought a young hungry lion like Ortiz since 2007 when he dispatched a then undefeated Ricky Hatton in ten rounds. Mayweather is likewise expected to win against Ortiz, who can be seen like Norris was, as a safe but legitimate - handpicked opponent - who should test him and prepare him for a Superfight against Manny Pacquiao. Ortiz, like Norris in 1991, has a devastating loss on his record to go along with a recent big win. If the 2009 Marcos Maidana defeat took Victor Ortiz to hell, the Andre Berto victory brought him from hell and then back.



And so it goes that Victor Ortiz now stands on the threshold of a victory that would redeem him in every imaginable way. A victory over Mayweather would make Ortiz an instant star, he would most likely sweep all the major year end boxing awards, and a win over one of boxing's biggest stars would go a long way towards earning forgiveness for boxing's gravest sin, quitting in the ring as he did against Marcos Maidana in 2009 and then infamously declaring afterwards, "I'm not gonna go out on my back. I'd rather stop while I'm ahead so I can speak well when I'm older. I'm young but I don't think I deserve to be getting beat up like that."

If Ortiz beats Mayweather, his critics will have to take a second look at the Maidana fight and consider the possibility that by "quitting" to avoid serious injury, Ortiz in effect preserved himself as a fighter and by doing so actually made it possible to take advantage of the bigger opportunities when they ultimately came knocking on his door. Against Andre Berto, Ortiz answered the knock of that opportunity and won the WBC Welterweight Championship, a title belt that Ortiz truly coveted. Opportunity is again knocking for Victor Ortiz, this time very loudly against Floyd Mayweather.

Will Ortiz answer the door this time, knowing what lies behind it?


Can he beat one of the two best fighters in boxing?

Conventional wisdom says no. Las Vegas odds say no. And Floyd Mayweather Jr. will probably have something to say about it too. Still, if you follow boxing long enough, you realize that no fighter is invincible and that time catches up to even the very best of them. There is always somebody out there with your number. Mike Tyson had his Buster Douglas. Julio Cesar Chavez had his Frankie Randall. Sugar Ray Leonard realized this painful truth in 1991 when Terry Norris beat him up and humiliated him. A 35 year old Roy Jones Jr realized it against Antonio Tarver in 2004, and the unbeaten 32 year old Aaron Pryor realized it against Bobby Joe Young in 1987. Father time finally caught up to Ray Leonard and when it happened, Terry Norris was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of it. Granted, Leonard was not undefeated when he fought Norris but at that time he had yet to be truly humbled in the ring by a fighter he was expected to beat.

By continuing to push his luck in the most unforgiving of sports, there is now an air of vulnerability for Mayweather just as there was for Leonard in 1991.

So what will happen on fight night? Will history repeat itself? The feeling here is that it will. Floyd Mayweather is a great fighter but time will finally catch up to him as it does for everyone and he will realize very early in the fight that he made a terrible mistake by fighting so infrequently against naturally smaller opponents as he got older. He will learn why so few fighters are able to stay undefeated forever. He will come face to face with the fact that boxing is a young man's game. Mayweather's layoff, combined with his inactivity and advanced age will create the perfect situation for young Victor Ortiz to take advantage of, and Victor will seize the moment and do just that.

Prediction: A highly motivated and vicious Victor Ortiz staggers a declining Floyd Mayweather early to get his respect, drops him midway through the fight, and goes on to pound out a clear cut unanimous decision victory over Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather will have his moments in the fight, but the night will belong to Victor Ortiz, who recently stated that he wants to fight the best Floyd Mayweather possible on September 17th. No he doesn't. The best Floyd Mayweather beats him and does so with relative ease just as the best Sugar Ray Leonard would have most certainly beaten Terry Norris. But that wasn't the best Sugar Ray Leonard in 1991 and neither will Mayweather be at his best come September 17th. A dominant performance by Ortiz will come as a great surprise to many just as it did 20 years ago when Terry Norris manhandled the great Sugar Ray Leonard.

For Mayweather, it will be his first loss and a test of his greatness in terms of how he responds to it. For Ortiz, it will be the biggest win of his young career, it will position him for another huge fight, perhaps against Manny Pacquiao but most importantly for Ortiz, a win will mean true redemption.

To the Victor go the spoils.



Result: (9/18/11) Mayweather KO4 Ortiz. Protect yourself at all times! 

Leonard-Norris it certainly wasn't!

Title Bout: Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs Robbie Sims

Hagler stalks Sims

In this scheduled 12-round "Title Bout" fantasy fight billed as "Sibling Rivalry" - reigning middleweight champion Marvin Hagler took on the unorthodox challenge of his half brother Robbie Sims. Hagler was coming off his 1986 title defense against John Mugabi and Sims was coming off his 1986 victory over Roberto Duran.

The 12-round championship fight was scheduled for New Years Day 1987 at the historic Boston Garden. It was the first time in boxing history that two brothers would be fighting for a major title. Like a bad car crash, people just could not help but watch. 

Hagler came out guns-a-blazing in the 1st and he pounded his younger half brother like an overused sparring partner. Sims was dazed from shots to the head and entered the second round vulnerable to his brother's superior power.

Incredibly, instead of folding in the 2nd, Sims stood his ground and staggered Hagler with an uppercut, the first of several that Sims would sneak in throughout the fight to good effect. Sims also proved there was no love lost between he and Hagler as he went low midway through the round, and received a warning to keep the punches up. Hagler, stupefied that his own brother would not only hurt him but hit him low, came roaring back in the second half of the 2nd and staggered Sims with a powerful left hook.

Brother vs 1/2 Brother

Hagler came out quickly in the 3rd and landed a nice combination of punches that caused Sims to buckle. With Hagler pounding on his wounded prey, and with the ref looking closely at the action, Sims landed a desperation uppercut that again hurt Hagler and this time held him off from finishing Sims. The brothers are now going at it, like brothers!

The 4th was dead even as Sims held his own punch for punch against his brother. Hagler won the 5th and continued to build a comfortable lead on the cards. In the 6th, Hagler was warned for rabbit punching as he roughed his brother up inside and won the round easily.

The 7th was a big round for Hagler, who began to really put the punches together. Fatigue began to set in for Sims in the 8th and again Hagler was beginning to tee off on his brother when once again, Sims somehow found an opening for his uppercut and staggered his half brother with it twice to close the round and win it on the scorecards, taking his first round of the fight.

Sims started the 9th tired and punched out. Hagler took advantage and put together a combination that dropped Sims along the ropes more from pure exhaustion than from the actual punches. Still, Sims is badly hurt but family pride pulls him to his feet at 9. Hagler cannot believe it and moves in for the kill, ending the fight fittingly with a devastating uppercut that drops Sims in a corner where is he counted out at 1:56 of the 9th round.

Marvin Hagler retains his title as Undisputed Middleweight Champion of the Family!

Said Hagler afterwards, "I still love my brother but I'll destroy any man who tries to take my title away from me."



Result: Marvin Hagler KO9 Robbie Sims
Scores at the time of KO: 89-83, all three judges.
Time of KO: 1:56 of Round 9

Boxing vs MMA: Yahoo's Kevin Iole weighs in!

Very few people cover Boxing and MMA. Yahoo Sport's Kevin Iole is one of them. Today, Iole was a guest on the RingTV radio show hosted by Doug Fischer and Michael Rosenthal.

Iole spoke at length about the upcoming Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight before turning his attention to MMA. Through the fine folks at RingTV and their use of Facebook, I was able to ask Iole what he considers to be the biggest difference as well as the biggest similarity between the two sports.



Click play below to hear all of what Kevin Iole had to say about Boxing and MMA.

Berto stops Zaveck in 5, answers critics.

BILOXI, MS ~ Andre Berto returned to the ring last night for the first time since his decision loss last April to Victor Ortiz. Berto stopped the game but overmatched Jan Zaveck after five rounds when Zaveck could no longer see clearly through a swollen, badly cut right eye. It was a must-win situation for Berto and he got the job done in a fight where a loss would have been a devastating setback to his career, and to his marketability as a fighter. Berto answered his critics with a strong entertaining performance, despite the fact that Zaveck appeared to be turning the tide when his right eye was cut and nearly closed in the 5th, forcing the stoppage.

Berto took the first three rounds with his speed, athleticism, and aggressiveness. He hit Zaveck at will to the head and body, and took little in return from the defending champion. It appeared that Zaveck had no answer for Berto and would be lucky to go the distance. Things changed in the forth however when Berto appeared to slow down a bit and the fighting went to the inside, where Zaveck was surprisingly effective at hitting Berto with many good rights to the head, winning the round convincingly. The fifth was similar to the fourth for Zaveck except for the fact that Berto opened a nasty gash over Zaveck's right eye which nearly swelled shut.

The cut, combined with the swelling caused Zaveck's corner to stop the fight between rounds. Zaveck wanted to continue although it appeared he was having difficulty seeing out of either eye, both of which were cut. It was a good stoppage, and a good win for Berto who picked up the IBF welterweight title, and kept himself firmly in the mix at welterweight. After the fight, Berto called out Victor Ortiz for a rematch, which seems like a natural given how excellent their first fight was.

"Victor Ortiz and I can definitely do it again."

Monday Morning Recap: Good comeback win for Berto. He fought his fight for the first three rounds, looked pretty good doing it, and then overcame the determined advances of Zaveck to win the thing. Good fight, good showing by BOTH fighters. Definitely was punches that busted up and opened up Zaveck's face. No headbutts, and no controversy as claimed by some. Berto really put a whoopin on Jan in the last half of the 5th. In the corner after the 5th, Zaveck knows how badly he is injured, and how much jeopardy he and his title are in at that moment. He screams out in frustration over it, and at one point when they have an endswell over his right eye, a panicked look comes over his left eye that tells me he could not see out of that one either. Good stoppage by Team Zaveck. (9/5/11)

Ring Posts II

Welcome to the second installment of my monthly boxing column, Ring Posts! Here is where you will find my latest rants on a variety of fight related subjects that got my attention in the past month.

People often ask where Manny Pacquiao ranks alongside the all time greats? Could he have beaten Henry Armstrong? Was his punching power greater than that of Roberto Duran? I always say the same thing when I hear questions like that: Manny Pacquiao is currently too polarizing a figure in the boxing landscape and I refuse to discuss him and his place in history until after he retires, and some proper perspective can be gained.

There was a lot of talk after the Abner Mares-King Kong Agbeko low-blow fiasco about some of the worst referees throughout the history of boxing. Doug Fischer of Ring Magazine came up with a great list covering the worst offenders of the past decade but you have to go all the way back to 1995 and the brutal Nigel Benn-Gerald McClellan fight to point the finger at Alfred Asaro for "worst referee" in recent memory. His negligence and his incompetence did not cost a fighter a title, or the fans a good fight. It cost Gerald McClellan his career and very nearly his life. If you don't believe me, go watch the tape. It's sickening.

Young boxing fans who were born too late sometimes ask why Muhammad Ali ended up the way he did. They see a man who can barely speak, and wonder how could this be the greatest of all time? The answer is simple really. It's because in the ring, Ali was willing to sacrifice his body and his mind for the HONOR & GLORY of being remembered as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, and one of the greatest fighters who ever lived. Because he was the exact opposite of Victor Ortiz in the Marcos Maidana fight, and because Ali was willing to die inside the ring. Ali knew that his body was only a temporary vessel and he was more than willing to run that race car into the red, and beyond. Because Muhammad Ali was willing to pay the high price for true greatness. That's why.



Having a great chin is not always about not going down, but rather how you respond when you do go down. Because of this, Larry Holmes deserves special consideration for all the monster shots he sponged up without going down, and more importantly for the monster shots that did drop him but failed to keep him down. Ernie Shavers and Renaldo Snipes both dropped Holmes with HARD shots and Larry got up like nothing happened and went on to win those fights by KO. Shots like the ones that decked Holmes would knock out inferior chins. Larry had a rock solid jaw. It took all of a prime Mike Tyson to finally cut him down, and keep him there.



Speaking of great chins, Marvelous Marvin Hagler really was a one of a kind Champion. His approach to defending the Middleweight Championship of the World was something you simply DO NOT see today, at any weight. Hagler considered anyone challenging him to be trespassing, and trespassers were prosecuted to the fullest extent of his fists. He came to destroy you, not just beat you. Hagler was perhaps the last of that kind. Greatness mattered to him and he fought like he always had something to prove. Marvin also had the right temperament for a Boxing Champion. He was not there to outpoint you, or just merely beat you. He was there to punish you for having the nerve to step into a boxing ring with him and for daring to think you could take his title away from him. That attitude translated into power and greatness. Hagler was said by some to fight with the advantage of "three hands" in the ring. His left, his right and that shiny bald hard head, which Hagler once aptly said if cracked open would reveal a boxing glove.



What's the deal with Carl "The Cobra" Froch? The Super 6 finalist has fought the toughest schedule in boxing the past couple years and when his opponents do hit him, he responds with an overwhelming number of volume punches to the point where no matter what you do against him, Froch can do more and better to you. He's one of the best in the world, and on the brink of winning the Super 6 tournament. All he has to do is beat Andre Ward. No easy task. Can he? I'm leaning towards a Froch upset win in this fight, but I'm not ready to make my final prediction just yet. Still, Froch is not to be trifled with, the guy is a beast in the ring. It should be a great fight, a good blend of styles, and the stakes could not be any higher. Winner takes the Super 6, and wins recognition as Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champion. Also, there are Pound for Pound implications for the winner, and loser.




Long time fans of boxing sometimes talk about the good old days. For me, those good old days were 1985 thtough 1990, that was my Golden Era of Boxing. In that short six year period, boxing saw the rise and fall of Mike Tyson, the sport was full of superstars, and boxing fans saw some of the best and most important fights in boxing history. Just to name a few: Hagler KO3 Hearns, Douglas KO10 Tyson, Chavez KO12 Taylor, Leonard W12 Hagler, Hagler KO11 Mugabi, Cruz W15 McGuigan, Duran W12 Barkley, Leonard D12 Hearns II, Holyfield W15 Qawi, and Holyfield KO10 Dokes. It was an amazing time to be a young fan, and from that perspective, it seemed like it would never end.