The HBO "Boxing After Dark" series makes its way to Southern California when it televises the first title defense of new WBO welterweight champion Paul "The Punisher" Williams (33-0, 24 KOs) from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA on Saturday, February 9th. His opponent will be Carlos "El Indio" Quintana (24-1, 19 KOs) of Moca, Puerto Rico. Williams, is a 6'1'', 147 lb welterweight who's most recent fight was his busy, workmanlike decision win over former champion Antonio Margarito. Quintana, is much shorter than Williams coming in at 5'9'', but is a good fighter with above average speed and enough power in his punch to keep most welterweights honest. However, Quintana will be giving a considerable advantage in height and most importantly, arm length and reach to the champion. This will make the fight interesting as well as the fact that Williams is an extremely busy fighter who is capable of throwing over 100 punches a round the length of the fight. For Quintana to win, he will have to find a way to neutralize the champions advantage in height and reach and slow the champions pace by not allowing him to dictate the pace of the rounds. Look for him to try and attack Williams narrow torso to slow down the champion and deny him from posting his usual gaudy punch counts.
In other action on the same card, exciting prospect and former Olympian Andre Berto (22-0, 17 KOs) will face Michel Trabant (43-2-1, 19 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round fight. This is yet another step in the gradual maturation of the young Berto. Although his opponent has an impressive 43 wins, he is not supposed to cause much problems for Berto due to his perceived lack of power (which possibly explains the low knockout ratio 19 KOs in 46 fights) and quality of his past opponents. Nonetheless, it will be exciting to watch the young Berto continue his development as a talented welterweight prospect into possibly a strong contender by the middle or end of 2008.
Just in case you live in a different part of California and are interested in attending a live boxing event I've researched and put together a list of other cards scheduled for the month of February in California.
Pechanga Resort and Casino, Temecula, CA (February 7th, 2008)
Holly Holm (20-1-2) vs Belinda Laracuente (23-19-3)
Chevelle Hallback (26-5-1) vs Melissa Hernandez (12-8-1)
Red Lion Hotel, Sacramento, CA February 7th, 2008
Michael Simms (19-7-1) vs Damian Norris (10-5)
Christian Cruz (12-8-1) vs Eernesto Castaneda (9-7-1)
Tachi Palace Casino, Lemoore, CA February 29th, 2008
(SHOWTIME) Robert Guerrero (21-1-1) vs Jason Litzau (23-1) (IBF Featherweight Belt)
Travis Walker (26-1-1) vs T.J. Wilson (12-1)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
2008 Shaping Up To Be an Exciting Year for Pro Boxing
For a large period of time the sport of professional boxing was said to be "dying" and losing relevance in the sports community. There was a long list of problems cited by casual sports fans and sports reporters. They said the best boxers in the world hardly ever fought each other, gave uninspired efforts during major events (which fans would have to pay $40-50 bucks a pop for the pleasure of witnessing) and the major casinos priced out the casual boxing fan with four or five figure ringside seats.
But it looks like professional boxing finally woke up in 2007 and started addressing at least some of the issues that have plagued the sport and alienated its fans in the process. Last year brought a number of world class fights which helped distinguish who some of the best boxers in the different weight classes were and the best boxers actually decided to face each other and made compelling fights. No doubt the pressure that came from the emergence and rapid success of MMA (mixed-martial arts) contributed greatly to the promoters and boxers finally waking up and listening to the fans.
Luckily for us boxing fans out there, the pace hasn't slowed down for the upcoming fight schedule for 2008 as we will be rewarded for our devotion to the "sweet science" with many major fights this year. Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor II, Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III, Bernard Hopkins-Joe Calzaghe and a slew of other entertaining fights have already been signed for the first half 2008. Add to this the recent announcement by Oscar De La Hoya of his intentions to fight two times this year and pursue a second bout with Floyd Mayweather for September and us boxing fans are in for quite a treat. Here's a quick list of the three upcoming fights that I recommend any fight fan to mark on their calendar for this year.
1. Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III (SHOWTIME) - On March 1st, these two super bantamweight superstars will meet for the third time in less than a year to settle the score of who is the premiere boxer in this weight class. In the first bout between these excellent competitors it was Rafael Marquez who battered and bruised Vazquez into quitting on his stool in the middle of the fight due to a broken and busted nose. When the second fight came around most boxing experts feared Vazquez was taking the fight too soon considering the injury to his nose and that he'd possibly be bludgeoned by the new champ, Marquez. If Marquez listened to all the hype then he was sadly mistaken as Israel Vazquez was able to overcome another brilliant performance by Marquez to force the referee to stop the fight in the sixth round due to the overwhelming pressure and effective power punches Vazquez was applying to the champ. For me, this is the most anticipated fight of the year because the first two fights were classics and considered to be 2007 Fight of The Year candidates by most boxing authorities like Ring and Yahoo! as well as fans.
2. Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II (HBO PAY-PER-VIEW) - This fight will take place in the middle of March and is a rematch from the disputed draw that both men fought to in their first encounter. In the first fight, Manny Pacquiao blitzed JM Marquez in the first round and succeeded in putting the rugged Mexican on the mat three times! However, Marquez would regroup and take control of the later rounds which forced the judges to render the result of the bout a draw. No doubt, this will be a fight for the ages that I believe will either match the excitement of their first battle or surpass it. A Marquez win could possibly lead to a trilogy which would definitely satisfy the boxing masses.
3. Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor II (HBO PAY-PER-VIEW) - Yes, this seems to be the year of the rematch so far. This is an example of another rematch of a classic first battle as Pavlik rose from a second round knockdown in the first fight to surprise and pummel the former champ/Bernard Hopkins conqueror in the corner until referee Steve Smoger mercifully stopped the fight. The loss shocked most of the boxing world and Jermain Taylor as well and the aftermath led to the firing of his hall of fame trainer Emanuel Steward and Taylor executing his rematch clause. However, the fight will not be held at the 160 lb limit that the first contest was made at. Instead, Taylor opted to make the fight at a higher weight in the belief the extra weight will bring him more power and better endurance into this rematch. The interesting thing to see is how the extra weight will benefit the new champ Kelly Pavlik.
But it looks like professional boxing finally woke up in 2007 and started addressing at least some of the issues that have plagued the sport and alienated its fans in the process. Last year brought a number of world class fights which helped distinguish who some of the best boxers in the different weight classes were and the best boxers actually decided to face each other and made compelling fights. No doubt the pressure that came from the emergence and rapid success of MMA (mixed-martial arts) contributed greatly to the promoters and boxers finally waking up and listening to the fans.
Luckily for us boxing fans out there, the pace hasn't slowed down for the upcoming fight schedule for 2008 as we will be rewarded for our devotion to the "sweet science" with many major fights this year. Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor II, Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III, Bernard Hopkins-Joe Calzaghe and a slew of other entertaining fights have already been signed for the first half 2008. Add to this the recent announcement by Oscar De La Hoya of his intentions to fight two times this year and pursue a second bout with Floyd Mayweather for September and us boxing fans are in for quite a treat. Here's a quick list of the three upcoming fights that I recommend any fight fan to mark on their calendar for this year.
1. Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III (SHOWTIME) - On March 1st, these two super bantamweight superstars will meet for the third time in less than a year to settle the score of who is the premiere boxer in this weight class. In the first bout between these excellent competitors it was Rafael Marquez who battered and bruised Vazquez into quitting on his stool in the middle of the fight due to a broken and busted nose. When the second fight came around most boxing experts feared Vazquez was taking the fight too soon considering the injury to his nose and that he'd possibly be bludgeoned by the new champ, Marquez. If Marquez listened to all the hype then he was sadly mistaken as Israel Vazquez was able to overcome another brilliant performance by Marquez to force the referee to stop the fight in the sixth round due to the overwhelming pressure and effective power punches Vazquez was applying to the champ. For me, this is the most anticipated fight of the year because the first two fights were classics and considered to be 2007 Fight of The Year candidates by most boxing authorities like Ring and Yahoo! as well as fans.
2. Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II (HBO PAY-PER-VIEW) - This fight will take place in the middle of March and is a rematch from the disputed draw that both men fought to in their first encounter. In the first fight, Manny Pacquiao blitzed JM Marquez in the first round and succeeded in putting the rugged Mexican on the mat three times! However, Marquez would regroup and take control of the later rounds which forced the judges to render the result of the bout a draw. No doubt, this will be a fight for the ages that I believe will either match the excitement of their first battle or surpass it. A Marquez win could possibly lead to a trilogy which would definitely satisfy the boxing masses.
3. Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor II (HBO PAY-PER-VIEW) - Yes, this seems to be the year of the rematch so far. This is an example of another rematch of a classic first battle as Pavlik rose from a second round knockdown in the first fight to surprise and pummel the former champ/Bernard Hopkins conqueror in the corner until referee Steve Smoger mercifully stopped the fight. The loss shocked most of the boxing world and Jermain Taylor as well and the aftermath led to the firing of his hall of fame trainer Emanuel Steward and Taylor executing his rematch clause. However, the fight will not be held at the 160 lb limit that the first contest was made at. Instead, Taylor opted to make the fight at a higher weight in the belief the extra weight will bring him more power and better endurance into this rematch. The interesting thing to see is how the extra weight will benefit the new champ Kelly Pavlik.
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