Archive for the ‘Boxing’ Category

Jake Giuriceo has been training in California under the watchful eye of Frank Duarte for his upcoming fight on September 29 in Minnesota.  Giuriceo will Jason Litzau, who holds a record of 29-3 with 22 KO’s.  The fight is scheduled for ten rounds and is for the WBA/NABA Lightweight Championship.

“Litzau is a good boxer, a tall fighter at 5’10”, and has been on ESPN”, said Giuriceo.  “He can punch, but he does have a tendency to leave himself open sometimes.  It would be a great boost to my career if I can get the win against him.”

The normal procedure before a Giuriceo fight over the last five or so has been a trip to California for a couple of months and then a return to Keith Burnside in a unique dual training system.

“It is a longer camp than usual”, said Giuriceo.  “We are going ten weeks and Frankie and I worked very hard the first three weeks on the things we have never really had the time to do.  One of my better aspects is conditioning, so I am happy to have a ten-rounder.”

Giuriceo (16-1) lost a unanimous decision in Columbus to journeyman Michael Clark  his last time out.  He did not go to California to train for that fight, but said that Duarte offers him insight that Burnside does not, just as Burnside gives Giuriceo things that maybe Duarte cannot.

*Photo Courtesy of Ron Stevens

Although he would never make excuses or complain about losing a decision, the scores of the judges cards indicate that Jake Giuriceo (16-1) was dominated by Michael Clark (43-7) in Friday’s eight round fight in Columbus.

The judges scores at the end of the fight were 80-70, 76-76, and 79-72, a wide discrepancy.  Before the fight, Giuriceo said he feels comfortable fighting close to home and this result will do nothing to inspire him to fight away from home.

Clark and Giuriceo bumped heads early in the first round opening a cut under The Bull’s right eye.  Later in the round, Giuriceo was hit with a borderline rabbit punch between his ear and the back of his head.

“It was scored a knockdown, but I clearly remember everything and wasn’t hurt”, said Giuriceo.  “Give him [Clark] credit though, he won the fight.  I knew before the eighth round started that I would probably need to score a knockout to win.”

Tasting defeat for the first time as a professional, Giuriceo remained spiritually focused and thankful for what he has.

“I’m all good”, said Giuriceo.  The Lords will was done.  I gave it my all and honored Him with my actions.  I’m honestly good.”

Giuriceo will keep his nose to the grindstone and continue competing.  The hunt for a promoter will also continue.  If Giuriceo can land a decent promoter, the opportunities should increase, despite the loss.  However, in our Catch 22 world, a promoter is less likely to pursue a fighter after a loss.

Giuriceo felt that he had Clark hurt in the third round.

“I caught him with some good shots and thought I scored well enough to win the second, third, and fourth rounds”, stated Giuriceo.  “With that many fights under his belt, he used his ring generalship and experience to escape.”

On Thursday, Jake Giuriceo (16-0) hovered around Keith Burnside‘s new gym trying to cut weight.  With a sweatsuit zipped up to the neck and covered in sweat, he smiled and said I could interview him while he jumped rope.  I waited.  Making 140 is no easy task for these fighters.

Burnside, getting ready to christen his new gym in Struthers, kept tinkering with the scale to ensure it would be reading accurately.  Meanwhile, a heavyweight named Brandon Winner, who also trains for Burnside started to rib Giuriceo about weight while he was doing all he could to sweat out the extra half of a pound that needed to go away.

“Man, you need top get serious about this.  If you can’t be serious about it, you might as well just stay home and quit wasting your time”, said Giuriceo.  “You need to decide whether or not you want to keep eating and drinking, or you want to lose weight and be committed to this sport, because you are a joke at that weight.”

A few moments later, typical good-hearted Giuriceo peeked through with, “I am just telling you that out of love, to help you get focused, you need to get serious, I made the choice to do away with the booze and the food to get serious.”

Late Friday, I received word that Giuriceo succeeded in making the weight, checking in at 140.  His opponent, Michael Clark (42-7) tipped the scales at 140.5.  This fight offers new challenges for Giuriceo.

For starters, he is fighting in Columbus, a market yet to be exposed to The Bull.  According to Giuriceo’s manager, Joe Corvino, the Campbell native needs to learn how to win outside of his own backyard and the fight will serve as a good experience in that regard.

Giuriceo, who recently got married, said that the marriage has been another in a long string of blessings in his life that spiritually motivates him.

“I am married now, so I have another reason to fight for something”, said Giuriceo.  “I could not be happier or more motivated than I am right now.”

“I expect a tough fight”, said Giuriceo.  “You don’t win 42 fights by not being a good boxer, and he is going to be a good challenge.  I worked hard this camp on my power, the way I throw my punches. I was unhappy my last fight even though I was blessed to come away with a win, but my punches did not feel right.”

Results will be posted here once I get them.  Good Luck Jake!

Popo Salinas is headed for bigger roads soon, real soon.  The Youngstown native and future East High School senior had a tough opponent in Lucian Clinkscale, but he was able to still impress the standing room only crowd at the Saxon Club with a convincing first round knockout.

Salinas entered the ring in a full camo outfit (below), and fought like he was in a war.  Salinas knocked Clinkscale down three times in the first round.  The third time, right at the three-minute mark, would end the fight.

“Lucian Clinkscale has probably fought the top four or five kids in the country, and he has never been stopped like this”, said Jack Loew.  “For a young 17-year old to come in here and knock him out cold says a lot not only about his strength, but where he will be in this sport very soon.”

Salinas is headed to Kansas City to compete in the Ringside National Tournament later this year.  If this fight was a tune-up, Salinas ran great.

Legendary Youngstown former champion, Greg Richardson, is Clinkscale’s uncle.  Richardson, who I have gotten to know better as a teammate in a nine-ball league, sat with us at ringside for the quick win.  After the first knockdown, Richardson leaned over and quietly whispered, “Man, this Salinas kid is good, it’s gonna be a long night for my nephew.”

Chronologically, Richardson could not have been any more off as the fight only went three minutes.

“It was a great night”, said Salinas.  “I really feel good right now and tonight makes me proud of how working hard at the gym is paying off.  I will continue to work as hard as I can to get ready for the Ringside Tournament and I will do my best to make Youngstown proud.”

Salinas has developed quite a following for a 17-year old amateur.  The crowd reacted almost every time he landed something and the three-minute battle provided plenty of electricity.

If Loew had his way, Salinas would be on HBO next week.  “The kid hits harder than most 30-year olds, he is ready to face men as he makes the transition to manhood.  His skills are so well developed and I can’t wait to see what his limits really are.”

The Saxon Club was the setting for the 5^th Annual Bob Roth Amateur Boxing Show.  Jack Loew promotes the show in honor of Roth who Loew claims, “did more than anyone could ever imagine” for the Youngstown boxing scene.  A good turnout of people came to the event which raises money for Loew to pay entrance fees and transportation costs to amateur national tournaments.

This year, Loew will take Popo Salinas, Lavelle Hadley, and Derrick Eggleston to Kansas City, Missouri to compete in the Ringside National Tournament later this year.

“Fighting against graduations, weddings, and vacations, I am really happy to pull in a standing-room only crowd in the middle of the Summer”, said Loew.

One of the three headed to Kansas City, Derrick Eggleston, has not been boxing very long, this was only his second fight, but he looked like a seasoned veteran for the majority of his fight.  Eggleston (below, right) is grateful for the opportunity to compete in the National tournament in just a few weeks.

“It’s going to be a good experience going to Kansas City, if I do well, we will talk it over and maybe turn pro”, said Eggleston.  “I’m going to push myself in the gym to make a statement at that tournament, to win the whole thing.”

“Lavelle [Hadley] is a boxer, he can fight.  We just have to eliminate some of his lazy tendencies.  Derrick [Eggleston] is raw and strong and doesn’t look like a kid who has only had one fight, I think he will do fine in the novice division”, remarked Loew.

The results of the undercard were as follows:

133 – Jimez Mire (Cleveland) stopped Chris Miller (SSBC) TKO 3^rd round

71  – Derrick King (Cleveland) def. Chanze Kelly (SSBC) decision

80 – Christian Archer (Cleveland) def. Davion Daniels (SSBC) decision

152 – Darien Wilder (Cleveland) def. John Gregory (SSBC) decision

Sup Hvy – Shawn Edge (Youngstown) def. John McNeil (Cleveland) decision

152 – Cody Luckey (SSBC) def. Devon Johnson (Cleveland) decision

183 – Derrick Eggleston (SSBC) def. Quincy Mitchell (Cleveland) decision

152 –  Ronnie Hamayle (SSBC) def. Dan Rozenburger (Burnside) decision

152 – Lavelle Hadley (SSBC) def. Miguel Acevado (Youngstown) decision

Kelly Pavlik made it known with a third tune-up fight that he is ready to take a step up in competition at the 168-pound level.  Pavlik’s experience proved to be too much for a game Will Rosinsky, and the former middleweight champ continued his progression as a boxer instead of a fighter successfully.

Pavlik caught Rosinsky with a short right hook in the second round.  Rosinsky bounced back up seemingly unhurt but Pavlik managed to score a 10-8 round sandwiched in between a close first and third round.

Pavlik got cut over his left eye in the fourth round on an unintentional head butt.  The cut seemed to awaken Pavlik into being more aggressive and throwing more punches, especially lefts to the body in round 5.

Rosinsky seemed to be running after throwing a good punch every ten seconds or so. Pavlik was dictating the pace of the fight through the seventh round.  Pavlik landed more punches with greater frequency from the fifth round until the end of the fight.

Despite a lack of national exposure, Rosinsky had a very positive amateur career, but had never been in the ring with anyone even close to the level of a Kelly Pavlik. Nevertheless, he [Rosinsky] showed guts and potential, he was no soft bye week for Pavlik.

In the tenth round, Pavlik head some blood streaming down his left cheek parlayed with a right cauliflower ear and if you had just turned the television on, you would have thought Rosinsky’s unharmed mug would suggest he was winning the fight.  It was just the opposite though, Pavlik won the fight, all but maybe two rounds of it.

The thing that Pavlik fans need to be concerned with is that The Ghost did not hurt Rosinsky.  He did knock Rosinsky down once, but there has to be concern that Pavlik can really have issues against better competition.

At the end of the day, it is a win, a nationally televised win on boxing’s biggest stage for Pavlik.  The judges saw it 97-92, 98-91, and 98-91 to give Pavlik the unanimous decision.

“I didn’t counter like I wanted to, but it is a ‘W’ and I’ll take the rounds”, said Pavlik.  “I am still a young guy, but I need to get better.  It is time to make a move, I don’t think I need too many more of these fights.”

Up next for Pavlik, a return to the big spotlight, potentially to face Andre Ward or possibly Carl Froch.  Details will probably be more readily available within a month.

All photos courtesy of Miguel Salazar, and a special thank you to Team Pavlik and Mike Romeo for getting them to me.

Bedford Trails in Coitsville will be the setting this Saturday for the Second Annual Southside Boxing Club Golf Scramble.  The event kicks off at 1:30 and there are still a couple of openings for teams.

The scramble format competition, created by gym owner Jack Loew, covers fees for the Southside Boxing Club to take fighters to national tournaments.  This year, Loew will escort Popo Salinas to the Ringside World Amateur Tournament, and entrance fees, travel costs, and lodging are not free, so part of the proceeds will cover some of those expenses.

“I pay my bills, it’s no secret that I do a lot of blacktop work and pay the bills”, said Loew.  “People should know where the money goes for this event, and it is a great thing for kids like Popo, giving them a chance to fight the best in the world.  This kind of fund raiser allows the trip to happen.”

The cost to play in the outing is $85 per player based on a four-person team, or $320 per team.  The fee includes food on the turn and a great meal at the end of the scramble.  Also included are 18 holes and a riding cart and refreshments to be carted around by some friends of the cause.

On a definite road forward, Kelly Pavlik ran his record to 39-2 and picked up his 34th knockout in Las Vegas Friday night.  The former champion opened a seven round barrage on his overmatched opponent, Scott “Cujo” Sigmon.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the telecast was watching ESPN’s Teddy Atlas expose Pavlik’s flaws before the fight, mentioning that if Sigmon had a shot to pull off the miracle upset it would be by capitalizing on Pavlik exposing himself when he throws an uppercut.

As for the fight itself, Sigmon entered the ring to the Ghostbusters theme song.  Ray Parker Jr. may have put up more of a fight than Sigmon did.  Sigmon showed heart in taking a beating for all of seven rounds until the ref stopped the mauling before the beginning of the eighth round of a scheduled ten.

Pavlik basically looked like he didn’t get hit when the fight ended.  Sigmon was still running his mouth through the blood trickling down his face when the fight was stopped, and will surely proclaim Pavlik did not knock him out.

“I did what I could do, give him credit, he took body shots and what I was throwing”, said Pavlik.  “If I would have stayed down more, the fight would have been over earlier.”

“He didn’t have any power.  Robert [Garcia] and I will watch the film and come back ready.  This is a loaded weight division.  I want a big fight for the next fight.  If it isn’t a world title or a Top-5 guy, the media can come down on me.  No more tuneups, I’m ready for the next step.”

It is going to be interesting to see who the Pavlik camp lines up next.

On Friday, June 8, Kelly Pavlik returns to mainstream television to fight Scott Sigmon on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.  Pavlik (38-2, 33 KO’s) and Sigmon (22-3, 12 KO’s) both recently expressed to me how good victory will taste by winning, problem is, only one of them can be victorious.

“I’m not sure why everyone thinks I am talking trash about Pavlik”, said Sigmon in a recent phone conversation.  “I made the alcoholics anonymous comment, but other than that I haven’t said much out of line.”

“He’s an idiot”, said Pavlik.  “He has some kind of a reality show and I watched some of it.  It was horrible and he is really out there, I mean way out there.”

Sigmon claims this fight is his stepping stone.  “I don’t care how, I just want to win.  I’m probably not going to be the first guy to knock him out, but I think my conditioning and my toughness can give me a win.”

“He made this personal.  I am going into the weigh-in and I don’t want to say much.  To sum it up, he has me really pissed right now and I can’t wait for the fight.  I’m not sure whether I want to beat the hell out of this guy for five or six rounds or hit him hard early-on for a quick finish”, said Pavlik.

Pavlik has something at stake in the nationally televised main event, the chance to get back on a pay-per-view, possibly in mid-November, possibly with Carl Froch.

“I feel really good and sparred 18 rounds in the last two days, which is quite a bit for me”, claimed Pavlik.  “I am about three-and-a-half pounds from making weight and it will not be an issue.  I am working hard and want to make a statement in this fight.  People say I’m overlooking him [Sigmon], but the reality is that I wanted this fight really bad because of his ignorant and disrespectful comments.”

On the downside, Pavlik stated that he wanted to extend his best get-well wishes to Paul Williams.  Williams was involved in an accident that has left him paralyzed from the waist-down.

“You never want to see something like that.  I was shocked when I heard about it”, said Pavlik.  “He is a fighter and I want to go on the record and let Paul Williams know that he is in my prayers and that I know he is a fighter and he can beat it and walk again.  I want to try to make contact with him after this fight, maybe send something or shoot a text to let him know that my heart is with him during something I can’t imagine going through.”

When I talked with Kelly Pavlik about writing an article focusing on athletes dealing with adversity, he could have easily dodged the conversation knowing I would have had a million other things to ask him.  However, the former champion embraced the idea and gave me very honest and well-thought out answers.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Pavlik shocked the boxing world and pulled himself up nearing a ten-count to storm back and beat Jermaine Taylor.  Many years later, Pavlik has found himself trying to get up from a different ten-count, the soap opera that his life was becoming.  Pavlik couldn’t sneeze and wipe his nose properly before one of his many critics would verbally insult him.

After the first Taylor victory (he beat him twice), Pavlik couldn’t walk into a bar where people would not be lined up waiting for their chance to buy the new champ a drink. The new champ, by the way, was barely of legal drinking age.  Most guys his age have the same trips and frequent the same places, they just don’t take the same criticism for doing any of it.

After a loss to Bernard Hopkins, Pavlik may have turned to the bottle for comfort to ease his mind.  Still not 25 years old, the pressure associated with the fame he was garnering might stress any mortal out a bit.  After this loss, the bar crowd, some of the die hard fans who rode his coattails, and even people he thought he could trust started yapping about what a big problem Pavlik had, how he was just an alcoholic, or how his best days were behind him.

“You really learn a lot about your friends and family during a period like that”, said Pavlik.  “People you thought you could trust, people you thought had your back no matter what, you hear things and are shocked to hear where others got their information, and it isn’t even accurate most of the time.”

Pavlik has faced plenty of adversity included a well-documented trip to rehab, a family squabble with his brother, a bitter separation from longtime trainer Jack Loew, and everybody running their mouth as fast as they could about what the former champions next gaffe would be.

So how does The Ghost deal with these issues?

“Adversity is a tough thing, really tough”, commented Pavlik.  “Everyone will have something in their life that they need to deal with, and we all know I have had my share.  Getting through the tough times are something you have to find within yourself.  I did a lot of soul searching these past couple of years and what matters most to me are my wife and kids, my family, and my friends.  For those fans that have stuck by my side, I am truly grateful and hope to make them happy again real soon.”

Pavlik still considers Youngstown home, but is now training under Robert Garcia in California.  He has a fight coming up on ESPN in just a couple of weeks against someone who typifies exposing the adversity of someone else when they are down.  Scott “Cujo” Sigmon (22-3, 12 KO’s) has drawn the ire of Pavlik with his tireless self-promoting rants on Facebook and to any media outlet that would listen.

“He made this personal, and I wanted this fight really bad.  I don’t think he has been in the ring with a fighter of my caliber yet and I am going to show up ready, I really want to shut him up live and in-person.  He is going to feel it when I hit him.”

As Pavlik trains for the fight, rumors are already circulating that with a good performance, The Ghost can look forward to a big-time fight in September or October either on HBO or on a Pay-Per-View card.  He returned to California a couple of weeks early to start training and to promote himself as a rekindled spirit in a sport that buries itself in adversity.

“I have made some mistakes and I am in a much better place in my life right now.  I feel great and I am rededicated to the sport of boxing.  I will be making a lot of noise in the near future and I can’t wait to prove my critics wrong again.”