David Martinez Boxing

By Tom Donelson

( Member of Boxing Writers Assc. )

The big event in New York was Miguel Cotto seeking revenge against Antonio Margarito but before the big event there were three undercard fights to whet the fans appetite.  Michael Jones began the early rounds against Sebastian Lujan by easily out boxing his opponent.  Over the first three rounds, Lujan had a hard time connecting as Jones connected on some sweet combinations.

In the fifth, Lujan managed to connect on a few more shots but after the sixth round, Jones returned to controlling bout with his boxing skills as he simply started to wear Lujan down with his blistering combinations.   Each round started to look same as Mike Jones simply used Lujan as a punching bag and this fight started look like a sparring session as he won an easy unanimous decision.

The second bout was a rematch for one of the best fights of 2011 as Pawel Wolek challenged Delvin Rodriguez.  The first three rounds appeared to leave off from their last fight as they pounded each other. Rodriguez used left upper cuts and right hand to score big whereas Wolek connected on right hands which scored on Rodriguez’s head.

Delvin Rodriguez opened up on Wolak in the fourth round as he bloodied Wolak nose while stunning him with left hooks and uppercuts.  In the sixth and seventh round, Wolak landed the harder punches as Rodriguez slowed down but after appeared to be hurt in the seventh round, Rodriguez recovered enough to throw quick combinations and Wolak eyes were bleeding at the end of the round.

The ninth round saw two tied fighters who continued to grind it out. Rodriguez used his hand speed to throw in combinations as Wolak right hand landed to the temple of Rodriguez but in the tenth, Rodriguez had Wolak in trouble as Rodriguez landed combinations to Wolak head.  Wolak struggled to stay on his feet over the last minute as Rodriguez tried for the knock out his opponent by throwing punches in bunches but had to be satisfied with a decision victory.   In a round in which many rounds were competitive; Rodriguez quick combinations gave him the edge as he won the easy decision on the scorecard. Read more…

Rusty Rubin is a veteran boxing writer

Interesting an important fight at Madison Square Garden this week, on HBO PPV, and should be worth the price.

Miguel Cotto, from Puerto Rico lays his WBA Jr. Middleweight title on the line against hard punching (particularly with loaded gloves) Antonio Margarito from Mexico.

Since the fight will be in New York, you know the fans will be heavily in favor of Cotto, 36-2, (29), who, at 31, is two years younger than his foe, who defeated him in Las Vegas.

Margarito, 28-7, has a big height and reach advantage always seems to have problems with his defense, or lack of. If Cotto gets inside, consistently, he’ll have Margarito fighting off the ropes and canvas most of the fight.
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(stay posted every month to  David Martinez Boxing  for your complete boxing schedule)

THURSDAY / December 1, 2011 (FSN / Fox Deportes)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Hugo Centeno vs. David Lopez (Junior Middleweights)

FRIDAY / December 2,  2011 (Showtime)
Location: Santa Ynez, CA
Anthony Dirrell vs. Renan St Juste (Super Middleweights)
Jhonaton Romero vs. Chris Avalos (Junior Featherweights)

FRIDAY / December 2, 2011
Location: Mannheim, Germany
Felix Sturm vs. Martin Murray (WBA Middleweight Championship)

FRIDAY / December 2, 2011 (Telefutura)
Location: Indio, CA
Randy Caballero vs. Arturo Santiago (Junior Featherweights)

SATURDAY / December 3, 2011 (HBO / PPV)
Location: New York, NY
Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito (WBA Junior Middleweight Championship)
Brandon Rios vs. John Murray (WBA Lightweight Championship)
Pawel Wolak vs. Delvin Rodriguez (Junior Middleweights)
Mike Jones vs. Sebastian Lujan (Welterweights)

SATURDAY / December 3, 2011 (Showtime)
Location: Anaheim, CA
Abner Mares vs. Joseph Agbeko (IBF Bantamweight Championship)
Anselmo Moreno vs. Vic Darchinyan (WBA Bantamweight Championship)

SATURDAY / December 3, 2011 (ESPN Deportes)
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Roinet Caballero (WBC Featherweight Championship)

SATURDAY / December 3, 2011
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Alexander Povetkin vs. Cedric Boswell (WBA Heavyweight Championship)
Robert Helenius vs. Dereck Chisora (Heavyweights)

SATURDAY / December 3, 2011
Location: Wigan, England
Prince Arron vs. Brian Rose Junior Middleweights) Read more…

By David Martinez / Bioxing Historian

How Kermit Cintron was granted a title shot to fight Saul Canelo Alvarez is beyond me, considering in 2010 and 2011 he had lost two of three coming into this fight; but on Saturday night at the Plaza Mexico in Mexico City, this bout took place, and was televised by HBO.

From the opening bell, Canelo was in complete control. In round four Canelo dropped Cintron with a right hand from which Cintron barely made it back to his corner as the bell sounded to end the round. A friend watching the fight with me said that Cintron’s corner never should have let him come out for round five.  My only comment to that was that his corner should never have let him come out to this fight to begin with.  The predictable end came at 2:53 of the fifth round, when referee Hector Afu stopped the bout with Canelo completely dominating the round and the fight.

Canelo retains his WBC junior middleweight championship and, at this point in his career, certainly needs to step up the competition at 154 pounds. After four rounds, my scorecard was 40-35 or 4 rounds to none in favor of Canelo.

Rusty Rubin is a veteran boxing writer

Since there’s a bit of a lull in major events right now, I heave decided to use most of this space to answering many questions that I get over the course of a year.

The most frequent question asked of me is; ‘is Ring Sports Magazine or the website up for sale’? The simple answer is yes, if the buyer can prove to me that he can maintain the quality we had over the years. It’s not the money here, but the hard-earned reputation. If agreement on a sale is reached, I will return whatever original investments there were, and donate the remainder to the Susan Komen Foundation for breast cancer research.

‘If my best friend “Woozel” died of colon cancer, why am I working on helping those with breast cancer’? The answer to that one is simple; I believe that once a gene is found to cure breast cancer, we are that much closer to the cure of many other cancers. Cancer is an ugly disease and it’s long past time that it is wiped off the face of the Earth. Even if we can save just one life, we are doing a very important thing as well as sending an important message.

‘Are back issues of the magazine available and if so, for how much money’? Most back issues are and the cost is $1.00 per issue plus postage. I’ve tried to keep them as it’s still my memory and my gift to the sport of boxing. If you want a specific issue, we’ll try to find it for you for an extra 50 cents for the labor. We many even have pictures of your favorite fighter….We can check that out for you and charge accordingly…Again, in any event ALL proceeds after the labor of finding and mailing, will go to the Omen Foundation.

A lot of people want to know ‘how I see the Pacquiao – Mayweather fight’. Simply put, although it’s a mega fight, it probably will never happen. Mayweather doesn’t seem to want to step up to the plate, and if he ever does, he probably will be a lot older and slower than he is today.
Read more…

I have met so many wonderful people in boxing over the years. Working with the younger generation at the gym is always a delight for me. As the kids grow up, come and go, and maneuver their way in life, I try to stay in touch. Though with some I seem to lose track, there is one young lady I will always keep in contact with: Desiree D’Alessandro. I have previously posted her on my website and would like to update on her current whereabouts. Desiree graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara this past June 2011 and has relocated to her home town of Tampa, Florida. She accomplished her schooling with a Master of Arts degree and has continued her boxing training with her busy work schedule. Below is a chapter I wrote for her (forthcoming) collective publication regarding her graduate studies and boxing while attending UCSB. I would like to share with you my chapter on UCSB boxing history and my involvement. Desiree and I have stayed in touch on a regular basis even though we live 3,000 miles part. Our maintained true friendship and communication closes the distance.

Boxing from David Martinez / Boxing Historian

My love for boxing started back in the early sixties and has been an integral part of my life for the last fifty years. I have written many boxing articles for various publications and reported for radio and television. I was the former director of the World Boxing Hall of Fame board, have refereed USA Boxing amateur bouts, and was the recipient of the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award in boxing. I was inducted in to the California Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007, and I currently devote my time to working with local boxing gyms and maintaining my informative boxing website: dmboxing.com. Read more…

Hard Luck: The Triumph And Tragedy Of “Irish” Jerry Quarry
AUTHORS – Steve Springer and Blake Chavez
FOREWORD by George Foreman

I have always been a big fan of Jerry Quarry. He was a mainstay in the talent laden heavyweight division during the late 1960s and into the 70′s. His multitude of fans shared in his triumphs and his disappointments throughout his roller coaster career. Whenever you counted Jerry out he would win a major fight to propel himself back to the heavyweight forefront. His victories over Floyd Patterson,Thad Spencer,Buster Mathis Sr.,Mac Foster,Ron Lyle and Earnie Shavers always kept him in the thick of the heavyweight title picture. Then there were the losses to Ali and Frazier who both defeated Jerry twice. There were the losses to Jimmy Ellis, George Chuvalo and later in his career to Kenny Norton.

Much has been documented on Jerry’s career and his battle later in life with Dementia Pugilistica. A battle that would take his life in 1999. The authors of this book do a tremendous job of detailing Jerry’s life and career from the beginning to the bitter end. It brought back a lot of memories both good and bad but it also reminded me of why I was such a fan of Quarry and that era of heavyweight boxing.

This is more than a book on Jerry Quarry. It was like reading and reliving that historic time frame in fistic history. Other then Muhammad Ali himself,no one stirred the pot of controversy better then Quarry during that time frame. Along with his great boxing ability Jerry had something else. Loads of charisma that most of today’s heavyweights lack.

I highly recommend this book to all boxing fans. It is a great read. If you are a Jerry Quarry fan…Well what are you waiting for ???

By Tom Donelson

(Member of Boxing Writers Assc.)

Peter Manfredo, Jr. has never been one of the elite fighters but since his days on The Contenders, he has maintained his popularity and this has allowed him shots at big money fights and even championship bouts.  In the prefight interview, Manfredo, Jr. noted that he was a blue collar fighter who loves to mix it up as he prepared to fight  another money making machine, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. whose linage has allowed him to be a feature fighter in his own right.   Chavez is the son of the great hall of fame fighter, Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr. and while he is a bigger fighter than his dad, he has yet shown that he is a great fighter in his own right. He is a good fighter with a good career going so far but with the Chavez name, being just a good fighter is not an option.

Manfredo came into the fight as the underdog and knew that he had to win or essentially his career was over. Chavez entered the ring just behind his dad, the living legend loved by many of his Mexican countrymen.  Chavez Jr. had the cross of living up to his father reputation as he defended his version of the Middleweight championship.   This promised to be a fight of two bangers and Manfredo came out jabbing as he advanced behind those jabs as Chavez boxed to avoid the charges while he counter with those classic Chavez left hooks.   Chavez spent the first round feeling out Mandredo as he wanted to absorb Manfredo’s punches, checking out Manfredo’s power. Read more…

By Jim Amato

( Senior Boxing Writer )

In the 1970′s and 80′s the bantamweight division was loaded with talent. Great champions like Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate, Daniel Zaragoza and Jeff Chandler forged their Hall Of Fame careers in that era. So did Lupe Pintor who should be in the Hall Of Fame. There were also fine champions like Rafael Herrera,Chucho Castillo,Rodolfo Martinez,Romeo Anaya and Alberto Davila.
One tough hombre from that era just missed being crowned a world champion. Nevertheless his all out action style repeatedly drew big crowds to the Olympic Auditorium and the Inglewood Forum. His name was Frankie Duarte.
Duarte was born in 1954 in Santa Monica,California. He joined the punch for pay ranks in 1973 and quickly became a fan favorite. He won his first 16 bouts but then lost a decision in 1974 to rugged Joe Guevara. In 1975 he split a pair of decisions with Tarcisco Gomez.Frankie would then reel off 11 straight leading to a bout with the talented Alberto Davila. This was a WBC title eliminator bout and on this night the scappy Davila halted Frankie in round five.

Read more…

By Tom Donelson

( Member of Boxing Writers Assc.)

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez finished their trilogy Saturday night or have they?  A few observations on the fight begin with the Oscar De La Hoya syndrome.  In 2004, De La Hoya was beginning his promotion for his bout with Bernard Hopkins and the promotional team thought of a having a double header with Hopkins defending his title while De La Hoya would attempt to wrestle German fighter Felix Sturm title away. Hopkins won his bout but De La Hoya found the German Middleweight a little more than he could handle. While De La Hoya took the early rounds, Strum dominated the second half of the fight and most observers had him winning the fight  seven rounds to five but he lost by that score.  While De La Hoya threw nearly double the punches, Sturm was more accurate, connected on more punches and his punches started to shake De La Hoya.   Many of the judges gave the close rounds to De La Hoya and there were many who wonder how much the prospective Hopkins-De La Hoya fight was a factor in the scoring.  Many Marquez fans will be wondering; did the prospect of a Mayweather-Pacquiao color the judges’ decision in a fight with many close rounds?

There is the Ken Norton Syndrome that affected Team Marquez.  In his third fight with Ali, Norton gave the last round away as he thought he had the fight in the hand. In addition, he gave away another round in the middle of the fight.  He lost a decision that he should have won by simply giving away the last round in a fight that was much closer than Norton thought. Team Marquez told their guy that he had the fight in the bag, so Marquez simply took the foot of the gas pedal and lost the last round, a round that could have cost him the fight.  Marquez should have known better and so should have his corner.  Team Marquez had as much to do with their fighter losing as any one. Read more…