Archive for the ‘Boxing’ Category

Popo Salinas is his own harshest critic.  Following Salinas’ victory over Canada’s Namah Daghir, Salinas claimed that he needs to work harder and that if he were to have a realistic shot at making the US Olympic Team, he would need to devote more time in the gym and turn it up.  Salinas looked pretty good in front of a very partial crowd at St. Lucy’s in Campbell.  The Youngstown amateur threw some big blows against a very worthy opponent in Daghir in picking up the decision in the main event of an Ohio vs Canada card.

Salinas was bleeding from the nose in the third round and the ref stopped the fight to have the ringside doctor look at it.  Once he determined Salinas could fight on with about thirty seconds remaining in the fight, the decision was secured.  The standing room only crowd of the Lights Out / Jack Loew co-promotion erupted when the decision was read.

“I was bleeding from the nose”, said Salinas.  “He was a very tough opponent and God bless him.  Now, I will have to start facing older competition in the open division.  In the trials, I would like to finish second or third to qualify and then I will come back home and keep training.  I feel pretty good, but when I get back in the gym, I know I will have to work harder.”

In the first round, Salinas landed several big shots but Daghir never went down.  In my estimation, Salinas did plenty to win the round.  The second round was a little harder to score.  Daghir landed more punches through two thirds of the round, but Salinas seemed to land the harder shots.  I scored the round even as Salinas landed his best punch of the round right before the bell.

In the third and final round, Salinas hit Daghir three times solid.   Despite catching the trio of solid shots, Daghir kept firing back.  The ref stopped the fight to check a cut on the face of Salinas, once he determined the fight could continue, the final bell sounded.

When the decision was announced, Salinas got his hand raised in victory and it was announced to the crowd that he would now travel and try his hand at the Olympic Trials.

The first five matches of the night were not ‘Ohio vs Canada’, but rather fillers to lead up to the international portion of the card.

In the opening bout,  Shianne Gist won a three-round decision over Christy Lacy.  The next bout, Lavelle Hadley (Southside Boxing Club) hurt Joaquin Labron in the first and second rounds and coasted to a convincing decision.  Fight number three saw Dorian Wilder of Cleveland outpoint Youngstown’s John Gregory.  Wilder used a strong third round to get the decision.

The next fight featured a couple of locals.  Rashon Cook represented the Southside Boxing Club, and his opponent, Rocky Lucre, represented the Downtown AC.  Cook recorded two standing eight counts in the first round and coasted the ret of the way as the fight was stopped late in the third round.  Good start by Cook, but he was gassed pretty good at the end of three two-minute rounds.

The last fight before the intermission saw Vic Toney of Youngstown’s Southside Boxing Club defeat Doyle Freeman of Columbus.  Toney hurt Freeman with a body shot in the second round.  When the action resumed, Toney landed a few more shots before his corner threw in the towel.

The Team Canada vs Team Ohio portion of the card was next.  Canada got the first win as Lucas Rowe defeated Lucian Clinkscale, representing the Downtown AC.  Rowe hurt Clinkscale in the third and forced a standing eight count to secure the victory.

The next bout saw Canada’s Shawn “The Flurry” Murrey take on Josh Fisher of Columbus.  The Flurry offered a little more than Fisher could handle and Murrey, representing Canada, emerged victorious putting the Canucks up 2-0, via decision.

The third contest pitted Jack Loew’s Southside understudy, Cody Lucky, facing Canada’s David Murray.  The Canadian fighter definitely dictated the pace of the fight and Lucky caught too many shots relying almost solely on counterpunches.  Canada was undefeated through three fights.

The next international contest saw Chris Minor of Cleveland take on Canada’s Roman Sziek.  Minor used an arsenal of shots in the second round that first, forced a standing eight count, and seconds later,  had another knockdown and was woozy enough for the ref to halt the bout in the second.  Minor was the first American to win against a Canadian on the card.

The next to last bout pitted Danny Rozenburg, fighting out of Keith Burnside’s stable against Canada’s Alan Yescas.  The bout was a little stale and featured too much clenching and not enough action over its three round span.  When the judges turned their cards in, Rozenburg was awarded the win via decision.

Read this article before advancing.  Jack Loew gave me his side of this story a month-and-a-half ago. The emphasis was that he was unsure if he was still the trainer of Kelly Pavlik or not, and hadn’t heard from him.

WFMJ aired comments by both Pavlik and Loew in a good piece by Dana Balash.  I spoke with Pavlik to follow-up on what was unfolding, and got his side of the story, as well as, new comments from Loew.

“He is a good kid, but he is ruining his life”, said Loew.  “He has ruined his body.  He drinks and smokes a pack of cigarettes every day and is going downhill fast.  When he cancelled the fight in Youngstown, he has probably drank each day since.”

“He better watch what he says”, stated Pavlik. “He has a lot of skeletons in his closet, and if I do not hit him with a defamation of character lawsuit, I have a lot that I could bring up, I have been biting my tongue.”

Pavlik has been given another chance by Top Rank to fight.  The former champion said he is leaving on December 29 for California where he will start training with Robert Garcia.  He also said that he can potentially fight on a Top Rank card at New York’s Madison Square Garden on February 25, his son’s birthday.

“I never missed a day of training”, said Pavlik.  “yet all I ever hear is that he keeps shooting off his mouth telling people that I still have a drinking problem.  His comments are harsh and ignorant, and for all he has because of me, he sure seems unappreciative.  He told people I am not welcome at his gym.  Does he not understand that without me there wouldn’t have been a gym?  He must have forgot that I had to beg Top Rank to keep him on when they wanted me to get rid of him.”

Loew said he is tired of the drama and just wants to move on. “I have plenty of other things going on.  All I ever wanted from Kelly was to meet and discuss his options.  I had to read about his intentions on the internet and that would basically tell me that it is time to move on and that I am obviously done with him.”

“Jack’s kids are grown”, added Pavlik.  “I have babies to feed, and I have to do what I have to do to make sure they are taken care of.  If that means going to California, then that is what I have to do.  I plan on making the most of this second chance that Top Rank has given me.  People could say I’m washed up all they want.  I lost two fights, one to the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Sergio Martinez, and the other to a living legend in Bernard Hopkins.  I beat Jermaine Taylor , twice.  I am not done.”

Loew disagreed with that philosophy.  “He is done.  He will never be a champion again because of what he has done to himself, to his body.”

Campbell’s Chris Hazimihalis ran his professional record to 8-0 after a third round TKO of Eric Ricker.  The bout was the Main Event at the Morgantown Events Center on Wednesday night.

Hazimihalis used an effective body attack to knock Toledo’s Ricker down in the second round.  Sore ribs are easy targets (below) as Hazimihalis capitalized with another body shot in the third that would end the fight.

Hazimihalis has been training in Detroit with Emanuel Steward since the Summer and reports from his camp are that he will be more active in 2012 with bigger goals and longer fights.

Look for the Campbell native to fight locally at some point next year.

Grab a pen and paper and write down the name of Popo Salinas.  Fresh off of a P.A.L. National Championship, the 16-year old Youngstown fighter has his sights set on making the United States Boxing Team for the next Olympic Games.  The number one-ranked amateur in his weight class nationally, put on a show for the hometown crowd with a first round knockout of Lavell Briggs.  In the minute-and-a-half or so that the fight lasted, Salinas showed a little bit of everything – defense, speed, power, and agility.

“It feels wonderful to have my family and some of my friends here to see me win this bout”, said a happy Salinas after the win.  “I thank God for this beautiful opportunity.  I am hungrier than Mayweather if you can believe it.  Just hearing people cheer, hearing my name, and knowing that these people were behind me hyped me up, but I was able to stick to the game plan.”

“I want to focus on the Olympics next year, and then I want to go pro.”

The fight itself was brief.  After Salinas entered the ring with George Thorogood’s, ‘Bad To The Bone’, blaring through the venue, the shirt came off and it was go time.  Briggs came out swinging, Salinas avoided most of what was thrown at him.  After using the jab for about thirty seconds, he went back on the defensive briefly.  Salinas then landed a powerful four-punch combination in a neutral corner that put an exclamation point on what his trainer, Jack Loew, has been preaching for three years – this kid is really good.

“I thought he did real good, just like I told everybody he would”, said Loew. “He is an exciting kid, he can punch, and it is time for him to go to the next level, and I think that he is ready for it.”

Salinas stood by the runway to the ring and thanked everybody for coming. Surrounded by his proud family, this kid makes no bones about it, he is a boxer with a gift, a plethora of promise, and the support staff of a WBC Champion, and he is only 16.

If you did write down that name, put a piece of tape on it, put it on the refrigerator, and wait about a year before he gets a crack at bigger things.  Here is a picture (below), courtesy of Ron Stevens, to print and tape to the fridge with the name.

Wednesday night, the amateurs took center stage at St. Lucy’s in Campbell for the Bob Roth Memorial Boxing Tournament.  Jack Loew has put a lot of time and effort into the show as a tribute to Roth.  The card was very entertaining and featured the emergence of Popo Salinas as maybe the next big thing for Youngstown sports notoriety nationally.  In front of a good crowd, there were nine other bouts besides the Salinas Main Event that deserve mention.

In the opening bout, Keith Bebbs of Youngstown squared off against Delorane Gray of Cleveland in a battle of 152-pounders.  Gray caught Bebbs in both the first and second rounds with short hooks that floored Bebbs.  After a standing eight count later in the second, the fight was stopped and Gray was declared the winner via TKO.

The next fight featured a pair of 175-pound fighters. Laquan Brooks of Youngstown and Josh Fisher, who represented Columbus.  Fisher caught Brooks in the second round with a sharp right.  Brooks never full recovered and tried to continue, but after a standing eight count, the referee made a good decision and stopped the one-sided fight from continuing.  Fisher picks up the win with a second round TKO.

Lavell Headley of Youngstown faced Ron Hicks of Cleveland in a 155-pound contest.  Near the end of the first round, Hadley knocked Hicks down, but the bell rang and he did not have time to finish.  Hadley again floored Hicks in the second round, this time he did have clock to work with as he unloaded a barrage of offense until the ref stopped the fight.

In surprisingly one of the best technical fights of the night, Carrie Foil, fighting out of Loew’s Southside Boxing Club lost a three round decision to Christy Lacy of Cleveland (above).  It was classic cat and mouse boxing as Foil was using good footwork to avoid taking too many punches.  Lacy did most of the chasing, and probably landed a few more punches on her way to victory.  Foil used a nice jab, especially in the third round, but the more experienced Lacy hit a few combinations to get the nod.

The most entertaining fight of the night was a 152-pound contest between Kewan Griffin of Youngstown and Anthony Blane of Columbus.  Both fighters emerged from their corners swinging.  Midway through the opening round, a charging Griffin was given a WWE back-body drop (top photo) and Blane had a point deducted.  Griffin was the better fighter in the first round.  However, in the second round, Griffin landed a couple of haymakers, scored a couple of knockdowns, and left no doubt who the winner was.

Vic Toney representing Youngstown, and Russell Scott of Cleveland had a good fight at 165.  Both fighters were pretty technically sound and seemed to have split the first two rounds (that of course through my eyes, and I am not a boxing judge).  Toney used a couple of big flurries in the third and final round to pick up the decision.

In other fights, Ali-Abu Gouman of Youngstown lost a decision to Romeo Rodriguez in a 60-pound, battle of young four-footers. Mike Fisher of Columbus fell to AJ Materna via decision in a 180-pound match.  Lucian Clinkscale of Youngstown challenged Romeo Hernandez of Cleveland.  Hernandez separated himself on his way to a decision victory when he sent Scott to the canvas with a solid body blow that drew an eight count.

Loew saw the show as a tribute to a friend, and a success.  “Bob Roth was the type of guy that bugged the hell out of the sports people about boxing.  He kept it going.  We were good friends, and it is the least I could do for a guy like that.  It was a good crowd.  People might look around tonight and say that it wasn’t as crowded as the Saxon Club in years past, but here we set up 520 chairs and it was quite full, we could only set 300 chairs up at the Saxon Club.”

Dannie Williams got a taste of media exposure a couple of months ago fighting on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.  Since then Williams has been busy getting ready for his first appearance on HBO Boxing, set for January.  Over the last couple of months, Williams has not only been busy training, but also recently signed a deal with Lou DiBella.  The deal with DiBella will hoist Williams to a higher level, perhaps the highest, in his quest for greater national recognition.

Friday in St. Charles, Missori, Williams scored a second round TKO over John Willoughby with a devastating second round knockout.  With the win, Williams improved to 19-1 with 15 KO’s and is sneaking up the lightweight rankings, now recognized as the ninth best in the weight class by Boxrec.com.

Jack Loew talked briefly about the win Friday.  “Dannie looked really good.  The fight served as a tune-up for the HBO bout scheduled for early next year.  I think the guy he beat, Willoughby, injured his leg while falling to the canvas when he got knocked out.  Dannie is ready for what is next.”

Loew has had a hectic week.  He was with Williams in Missouri Friday, flew home to be in the corner of Juan Salinas and Marco Hall at the Lights Out Promotions card at St. Lucy’s on Saturday, and has the Bob Roth Amateur Show on Wednesday night to prepare for.

Durrell Richardson had been out of boxing for 25 months.  He was working at the Olive Garden when something got him thinking about a return to the sport of boxing.  Although it took over two years, he notched a win to go to 13-3.  The win did not come easy against Michael Walker, a cagy veteran who fought Kelly Pavlik in amateur tournaments years ago.

It took Richardson about half of the first round to lose the ring rust.  He stunned Walker in both the second and third rounds en rout to a four round unanimous decision.  The judges scored the fight 40-36, 39-37, and 39-37.

“The hardest thing for me was keeping my weight down”, said Richardson.  “Even with the weight loss, I felt good tonight.  My jab was working for me and he never really hurt me.  Give him [Walker] credit, he came to fight, and I am glad it was like that.”

Under the watchful eye of Sam Calderone, Richardson says he will stay active and is looking for more.

Jake Giuriceo came into his Universal Boxing Organization Championship Fight against Bryne Green in top shape.  When the ten round fight ended, Giuriceo was still fresh and full of energy.  The Bull has the conditioning regimen of a champion, now he has a belt to go with it.  In a unanimous decision, Giuriceo garnered his first piece of hardware and can now be referred to as a champion in boxing circles.

“I knew we had to go ten rounds tonight,”said Giuriceo.  “Frankie [Duarte] told me ‘you have ten rounds to work this kid‘.  I came on stronger and stronger with each round.  I felt like my left hand was going to work tonight.  It is amazing to be a champion, I don’t know where I would be.  I can’t thank God enough for the people he has put in my life, the way he has orchestrated my team, it is really amazing.”

The Welterweight bout started off with a typical first round of two fighters trying to dictate the pace.  Both Giuriceo and Green established they could jab.  In the second and third round, it almost seemed like a contest of who could control the pace.  Green was effectively counterpunching Giuriceo, but The Bull was throwing, and landing, jabs with good accuracy in piling up at least two of the first three rounds.

In the middle rounds, Giuriceo started working the body and using uppercuts to stop Green from covering up his face with both gloves.  As the fight progressed, it became obvious that Giuriceo was not tiring, not in the least.  To start the fourth round, I would estimate that Giuriceo threw at least 30 punches in the first minute.  Constant motion and deception mixed in between every punch.

The ninth and tenth rounds were new territory in Giuriceo’s career.  Stamina will never be a problem for The Bull.  As this fight went on, somehow his energy level seemed to continue rising with each passing round.  The tenth round was Giuriceo’s best of the fight.  A fair estimation was about a 3:1 ratio of punches thrown in favor of Giuriceo.

After the fight, Giuriceo was handed the belt that his 14 wins have earned him.  The jubilant, newly crowned champion was ecstatic and did a little in-ring announcing of his future plans.

“I am going to take some time off and marry my fiance, Jackie Mazias.  We are going to get married on May 20, and I am going to be a very happy man.  There are rumors that I might be on an ESPN show early next year, but I don’t like to spread rumors.”

Giuriceo told me after the fight that his wedding reception would be at St. Lucy’s, the same venue that this fight took place in.  The wedding itself will take place at Giuriceo’s church, Metro Assembly.

“I might wear the belt to the wedding.”

“I talked in the locker room before the fight about the sparring I had in California”, said Giuriceo.  “I worked with Ponce de Leon, John John Molina, and many other great fighters.  There was no way I was going to come here tonight and lose to this kid.  I was hoping for an easier night, couldn’t finish maybe the way I wanted to.  I felt excellent during every round, I felt like I won every round.  I even think the scoring was a little off, except for the one judge who had me losing only one round.”

The official scoring for the fight was 99-91, 96-94, and 97-93, all for Jake Giuriceo.

“I feel like I landed some great shots tonight.  I can hear the noises as I punch, the grunts and groans.  I just have to learn to be more accurate.  My opponent tonight was tough, he just upset an undefeated fighter in his very last fight.  He came here to win this belt tonight. If I had to grade my performance, I would say I get a B+, the only reason it isn’t an ‘A’ is because I thought I could have stayed closer to him longer, making it more of a Giuriceo type fight. I let him off a little and I shouldn’t have.”

Joe Corvino, the multi-tasking leader, has something in Giuriceo that few find.  A pure marketability that this sport needs right now.  The handlers, Giuriceo, and Corvino will all be sure to strike while the iron is hot.  Keith Burnside and Duarte will continue to physically shape him.  His bride-to-be will help keep his emotions in check.  God will continue to be the battery that propels him.

For Jake Giuriceo, UBO Champion, the iron has never been hotter.

Jack Loew was mystified when Juan Salinas lost his first professional fight at the Covelli Centre in August.  Loew did not make excuses knowing that an 18-year old kid might have growing pains going from the ranks of amateur to pro.  Saturday, Salinas, now 1-1, erased all doubts against David Burns in knockout fashion.

“Last fight, I was too anxious and too excited”, said Salinas.  “This time I was a little more patient and studied my opponent.  I saw openings and took them, I would hit him in the body and later was using an uppercut after the body shots.  This bout will give me some experience, I’m still getting used to fighting without headgear on.”

Seconds, and I mean, just a few seconds, after the bell rang to start the fight, Salinas floored Burns with a left hook.  The rest of the first round, Burns was off-balance and wildly chasing Salinas around.  Salinas got some good rights off and scored several big shots by the end of the round.

“The kid is only 18 and still has a lot to learn”, remarked Loew.  “He made a young fighter’s mistake in the second when he abandoned boxing and just started slugging.  As a heavyweight, you become free game when you do that, one punch can end the fight at anytime.”

In the second round, Salinas took a couple of shots early and all boxing was thrown out the window.  The two winless fighters threw all they had at each other, no jabs, all haymakers in what shaped into a war.  By the end of the second round, Jack Loew’s fighter was woozy, but Burns was gassed as well.

In the third round,  the fighters slowed a little and the ref gave Burns a standing eight count about two minutes into a round of straight punishment from Salinas.  The fight was stopped less than thirty seconds later, 2:18 into the round, and Salians evened his pro record at 1-1 with a win.

Marco Hall entered his fight 1-0 with 1 KO.  Roberto Harris was testing the waters of pro boxing for the first time.  Harris may want to seek career alternatives after the shots he caught from Hall in a first round knockout.

“Jack [Loew] has me going in the right direction”, said Hall after the fight.  “I have the luxury of being the main sparring partner for Dannie Williams, so I feel like I am always learning something.  We have pretty good chemistry and work well together.”

In the first round, Hall established his jab and worked from the center of the ring out.  Hall knocked Harris down just over a minute of the first round, connecting with a good right.  About thirty seconds later, Harris wildly lunged toward Hall and paid the price.

Harris could not answer the count and the ref put a halt to the fight at the  mark of the first round.

With the win, Hall improved to 2-0 as a professional with two knockouts.  Under the watchful eye of Jack Loew, look for bigger things in the career of Marco Hall.