Does Sergio Mora have a valid argument? Hug fest after Garcia dominates Malignaggi

08/02/2015 Paul Strauss

(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) The co-featured bout at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY wasn’t even minutes old before Daniel Jacobs 29-1-0 caught Sergio Mora with a short counter right. The punch landed on the button as Mora’s head was down and to his left. He had just finished landing a left to Jacob’s right side. It looked like Jacobs was going to have a easy night of it. Mora beat the count but looked a little shook as the referee Gary Rosato signaled for action to resume. Jacobs jumped on Mora with hard shots, but in the process he squared up and left himself open. Mora caught him with a good left hook, and down went Jacobs and up out of their seats came the crowd. Wow! What a beginning!

The first round ended with matching knockdowns, a tough round to score. The second round action had both men throwing a lot of jabs and combinations. The light punching Mora seemed to be holding his own, but it was obvious Jacobs was throwing the harder punches. Soon he had Mora on the run. Mora tried to shift his stance to give Jacobs angles, but his moves were awkward and ineffective. Jacobs was determined to close in and finish the job.

Pick One – Garcia vs Malignaggi

07/30/2015 Paul Strauss

More than just a few fans might respond to “pick one” by answering, “Do I have to?” Garcia is the heavy favorite, but so what! Both men have failed to please fans. In most cases it’s not a matter of what they did. Rather, it’s what they haven’t done. The match-up certainly wasn’t made in heaven, but it’s a sure bet the winner will look upward while thanking Al Haymon.

What’s at stake? The Premier Boxing Champions contest is being billed as one for bragging rights between Phillie’s undefeated superstar Danny “Swift” Garcia and Brooklyn’s own Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi at Barclays Center. Fans are having difficulty biting down hard on this kernel of corn.

Sergey Kovalev continues to impress; Jean Pascal shouldn’t plan any trips to Cuba

08/01/201507/26/2015 Paul Strauss

The best compliments concerning Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev come from a very knowledgeable source. A fighter could not ask for a more creditable person. It’s none other than Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins. The boxing hall of fame just wishes he would retire so they can induct him into a place of honor. He’s fought them all, done it all, and knows it all. When he speaks we listen, even if he sometimes rambles and gets off track. When it comes to The Krusher, Bernard doesn’t roam or traipse off target a bit. Without hesitation he described The Krusher in simple, but glowing terms.

Hopkins tells us that The Krusher is a destroyer. Bernard tells us he punches with tremendous power. HBO’s Jim Lampley asked if you feel his power? Bernard said yes, you feel one or two and then you don’t feel the rest!

Tough Night All Around – Bradley beats Vargas

06/28/2015 Paul Strauss

Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley Jr., 32-1-1 (12KO) the favorite, did what was expected. He pounded out a unanimous decision over the until then unbeaten Jessie Vargas 26-1-0 (9KO). All too often the 5′ 10″ Vargas gave up his four inch height advantage. He allowed Bradley to control the distance and land his own jab and just out work him. Neither man is a big puncher, so neither man was in serious trouble until the last round. That is when the fun started Saturday night at the StubHub Center, Carson, CA.

With under twenty-seconds left in the fight, Bradley got careless and in the middle of an exchange, he dropped his guard. At just about that precise moment Vargas was uncorking a big right hand.

Porter beats Broner, but is he the better fighter? Maliggnaggi’s opinion doesn’t carry much weight

06/25/201506/23/2015 Paul Strauss

Shawn “Showtime” Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) fought a good fight and deserved his unanimous decision win over Adrien “The Problem” Broner (30-2-0, 22 KOs) on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV. He pressed the action and threw and landed more punches. The judges had no choice but to award him the win. Respectful of his conquered opponent, Shawn explained his win was over a very good fighter, a champion, and he feels it should earn him the right to a fight with Floyd “TBE” Mayweather, Jr., right? Well, that decision is in the hands of one man, and that man is TBE. It’s not likely TBE will select Showtime to be his final opponent. He has bigger fish to fry.
Saturday Broner threw harder, shorter and more accurate punches, just not enough of them to warrant a win. Why he chose to wrestle with Porter is a mystery. He might have mistakenly thought such tactics would eventually slow down Porter, enabling him to gain a later rounds advantage.

Power and Excitement – No shortage of it with Triple G and Chocolatito

05/18/201505/17/2015 Paul Strauss

Punching power is one thing. Destructive power is another. The heavy handed type is devastating, brutal, and ruinous. That is an apt description of WBC flyweight champion Roman “Chocolatitio” Gonzalez 43-0-0 (37KO) and WBA and WBC interim middleweight champion Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin 32-0-0 (32KO). They continued to demonstrate as much in front of a full house at the Forum in Inglewood, CA. A full house saw Chocolatito destroy Edgar Sosa 51-8-0 (30KO) inside of two rounds. Triple G’s feature bout looked as though it was going to be a repeat performance, as he had Willie “The Mongoose” Monroe 19-2-0 (6KO) down twice in the second. But, to Monroe’s credit, he recuperated and actually won a round or two before being stopped by Triple G at :45 of the sixth round.

Money and Pacman – We have a winner, but questions remain

05/13/2015 Paul Strauss

Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. should be feeling like he is on top of the world, celebrating what some thought would be the biggest win of his career, a unanimous decision over Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao at the MGM, Las Vegas on May 2nd. There would be no more irritating questions like, when will you fight Manny? Why won’t you fight Manny? His big win should have brought an end to the pestering, but it has not. Why? Now there is a new set of questions.

Now that Manny “Pacman” Paquiao has undergone the knife (tear rt. rotator cuff), and is faced with a lengthy recuperative period, will he retire? If Manny had been one hundred percent healthy, would things have been different? Did Money beat someone other than the real Pacman?

Pacman vs Money: Who will have a leg up

04/27/2015 Paul Strauss

It seems everyone will be tuning in May 2nd to the mega fight between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. The fight has generated wide spread interest far beyond mere crossover appeal. Everyone is curious. People who generally aren’t interested in sports are talking about this one. They sense something special is about to happen and want in. They search for friends or acquaintances, hoping to find someone who will be buying the PPV, so they can impose upon them. They’re intrigued by the PPV cost which is close to one hundred bucks! What makes it worthy of such big bucks they wonder? They want in. They want bragging rights,”Come on”, they say, “Let me watch. I’ll bring the chips!”

Miracle Man Jacobs TKOs Caleb Truax in 12th

04/25/201504/25/2015 Paul Strauss

Bright lights, lots of hoopla, and celebrities in search of a microphone. Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs 28-1-0 (26KO) was hyped and ready for his first WBA world middleweight title defense. He knew going in that he was the low man on the title totem pole. Ahead of him were Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, and Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillan.

If Jacobs wanted to be looked upon as their equal, he needed to make a good showing against Caleb “Golden” Truax, 25-1-2 (15KO) who had never been stopped or even knocked down in his nine year career. Caleb’s last two fights were at UIC Paviion in Chicago, tonight’s venue, the site of tonight’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBS) broadcast on Spike TV.

PBC Seems to Have Forgotten Caleb Truax

04/13/201504/13/2015 Paul Strauss

Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) offered another big show this past weekend. Danny “Swift” Garcia squeaked out a decision win over Lamont Peterson, and Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillen knocked Andy Lea down twice, and came away with a draw. A notch lower comes Friday the 24th, on Spike TV when fans will see Anthony Dirrell battle Badou Jack.

The co-feature pits Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs 28-1-0 (25KO) against Caleb “Golden” Truax 25-1-2 (15KO). A check of PBC’s premierboxingchampions.com website provides profiles for each of the fighters, with the exception of Caleb Truax? Undoubtedly, it was just an oversight, but Caleb merits at least a few words.