Chris Byrd: “I don’t believe Manny Pacquiao or Juan Manuel Marquez will change very much in part four”

09/15/201610/31/2012 ESB

Chris Byrd: “I don’t believe Manny Pacquiao or Juan Manuel Marquez will change very much in part four” By Joseph Herron – With the fourth installment of Pacquiao/Marquez just six weeks away, both men have begun the sparring portion of their preparation for the big December 8th boxing showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While Pacquiao and Roach have boldly stated through various media sources that a knock-out will be imperative to win for a third time, former IBF Heavyweight Boxing Champion Chris “Rapid Fire” Byrd believes that a KO victory against the Mexican legend will be a task that is much easier said than done.

“Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez will always be a great fight,” insists the lifelong boxing proponent. “This is still maybe the toughest fight out there for Manny Pacquiao other than a match-up with Floyd Mayweather Jr.”

“One of the reasons why a fight with JMM will always be difficult for Manny is that Marquez is so smart, he cuts you in half. He uses his footwork in a way that strategically makes a southpaw reach over his body to try and hit him. This ultimately leaves Manny out of position and open for a Marquez counter.”

“JMM patiently picks his shots because he knows he doesn’t have the edge in hand speed. He sets up his shots extremely well and delivers with precision. Because Manny has more to lose in this fight than Marquez, due to his questionable loss to Bradley and his controversial win against JMM, you might see Manny Pacquiao fight with more of a sense of urgency which could lead to more careless mistakes that a smart fighter like Marquez could exploit.”

“Rapid Fire” makes an excellent observation. Manny Pacquiao indeed has more to lose going into the fourth contest with JMM.

Because of Pacquiao’s inability to put away his last five opponents, and due to the controversial nature of his last two outings, the Filipino boxing icon has seen his pound for pound ranking among many fight fans and boxing scribes slip considerably.

Trainer Ronnie Shields: “Emanuel Steward was unbelievable”

09/15/201610/30/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron – On Thursday afternoon, October 27 th , the boxing world learned the tragic news of the untimely passing of boxing legend Emanuel Steward.

While every boxing pundit felt the loss of the all time great fight trainer, maybe none more profoundly than expert trainer Ronnie Shields. The lifelong boxing proponent initially met Emanuel when he was competing as an amateur boxer at age 13.

After their early encounter, the mutual friendship grew over several decades and was based on a genuine fondness and deep rooted respect for each other.

Ronnie shared his personal feelings on the air during Sunday night’s episode of “The Pugilist KOrner’s: Weekend Wrap”.

“Thursday was probably one of the worst days I’ve ever experienced in my entire life,” admits expert trainer Ronnie Shields.

Exclusive Interview with WBO Middleweight Champion Peter ‘Kid Chocolate’ Quillin

09/15/201610/30/2012 Geoffrey Ciani

“With Gennady Golovkin I can say he’s a very strong fighter, very determined, but he doesn’t put any fear in my heart at all”—Peter Quillin

Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – I was recently afforded the opportunity to speak with the new WBO middleweight world champion Peter ‘Kid Chocolate’ Quillin (28-0, 20 KOs) following his title-winning victory against Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (27-1, 17 KOs) last Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Quillin spoke about his performance, talked about his future, and gave his views on the current middleweight landscape and where he would like to go next. Here is a complete transcript from that interview.

Audio:

GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello boxing fans. This is Geoff Ciani from East Side Boxing, and I am joined here today by the newly crowned WBO middleweight champion of the world, Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin. Pete, how does it feel to win your first world championship?

PETER QUILLIN: It feels great. It feels good to come a long way to have some kind of achievement to what my hard work has given me. But most importantly I got to know that there’s going to be some more fights in the future that’s going to allow me to show what my class is really about.

CIANI: Now Pete, during the fight, it appeared to me during the first three rounds that you had a little trouble with his rhythm and that you weren’t able to time him maybe as well as you would have liked to. Reflecting back, what was going through your mind during those first three rounds?

Marco Huck: “The fans will witness one hell of a fight!

09/15/201610/29/2012 ESB

WBO Champion Marco Huck is looking forward to the action in Halle/Westphalia. His fight against former WBA Cruiserweight Champion Firat Arslan promises to be a real highlight. Ahead of the big fight, the 27-year-old spent some time in Mallorca, Spain as well as in Neuruppin, Germany and will present himself in great shape come November 3. And the team surrounding the prodigy of coach Ulli Wegner is convinced, that they did all they could to enable Huck to defend his title for the tenth time. Huck took some time out of his preparations for Arslan for a Q&A.

Marco Huck, your last fight was back in May. After the bout, it was announced that you would take a longer break, which you did. Was that the right move?

Marco Huck: It definitely was. I didn’t really have a lot of time off ahead of the May 5 fight in Erfurt, which showed during the bout. Now my batteries are fully charged and I cannot wait to get back into the ring. I can feel the itch in my fists. The fight against Afolabi wasn’t easy for me. In my opinion that was due to the fact that I fought for the heavyweight championship just a few months earlier which also was a tough fight. But at the end, I got through it and kept my cruiserweight title. Now my whole focus is on the tenth defence of the WBO Championship.

Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez: “My dream is still to become a world champion”

09/15/201610/27/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron – Every young fighter dreams of one day becoming a world champion once they lace up the gloves for the first time.

But the commitment, discipline, sacrifice, and pain that every prizefighter is forced to endure is enough to turn even the most ardent of athletes away from the ring. Despite recognizing the various obstacles on the pathway to glory, every fighter indeed has a vision; and until they accomplish their ultimate goal, most of these brave warriors will continue to place themselves in harm’s way for our entertainment.

2000 American Olympic Silver Medalist Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez (28-10-1, 20 KOs) still possesses this dream; and it still burns feverishly within him just as the first day he began boxing.

“My goal in this business has always been to be a world champion. I feel like I’ve been right there on the borderline. I’ve come so close and have been in a lot of great championship type fights. I know I have what it takes to do it. It just hasn’t officially happened for me.”

The Rock has certainly come unnervingly close to grabbing championship hardware throughout his storied fight career.

After beginning his professional career with a perfect 23-0 record, the hard punching Houston, Texas native was in line to face the WBC Featherweight Champion In-Jin Chi of South Korea in August of 2005. In what was billed as a possible “Fight of the Year” candidate, the highly anticipated match-up was slated to air on HBO as the co-main event of the Fernando Vargas/Javier Castillejo spectacle.

Nonito Donaire: “I want Rigondeaux to be at his best when I fight him”

09/14/201610/18/2012 ESB

(Photo credit: Adrian Hernandez) By Joseph Herron: In less than a full calendar year’s time, four division world champion and pound for pound talent Nonito Donaire (30-1, 19 KOs) has garnered two world titles in the Super Bantamweight division, as well as the WBC Diamond belt and Ring Magazine’s distinction as the man to beat at 122 pounds.

So where does the “Filipino Flash” go from here?

After the 29 year old fighter’s brilliant performance against former WBC Champ Toshiaki Nishioka on October 13th, HBO’s Max Kellerman asked Donaire about a potential meeting with Cuban exile and two-time Olympic Gold medal winner Guillermo Rigondeaux.

While most fight fans were somewhat puzzled with Nonito’s on-air response, the southern California based fighter clarified his reply on Tuesday night’s edition of “The Pugilist KOrner”.

Erislandy Lara: “After I beat Vanes Martirosyan on Nov 10th, I will fight Canelo Alvarez and become WBC Champion”

09/14/201610/18/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron – With just four weeks before his big title eliminator contest with undefeated Junior Middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan (32-0, 20 KOs), WBC number one ranked 154 pound contender Erislandy Lara (17-1-1, 11 KOs) is very excited to be a part of this highly anticipated event on HBO Boxing After Dark from the Wynn Las Vegas on November 10th.

While preparing under the tutelage of world renowned trainer Ronnie Shields in Houston, Texas, the talented Cuban fighter visited with “The Pugilist KOrner” on Tuesday night and gave his thoughts on the upcoming match-up.

“I feel great and I’m training extremely hard for this fight on November 10th,” stated Erislandy Lara. “I am very happy to be back on HBO and very excited for the opportunity to face another world class fighter like Vanes Martirosyan.”

“Everything is going well in training camp and I have three weeks left to go, but I’m ready to fight right now. I just went ten rounds easy today and I will be very prepared for the best version of Vanes Martirosyan on November 10th.”

“In addition to working with trainer Ronnie Shields, I’m currently working with strength and conditioning expert Edward Jackson and everything is going perfectly. On November 10th, I’m going to bust Vanes right in the mouth and earn my title shot against Canelo Alvarez.”

With the confidence that comes with being an elite level talent, Erislandy is happy that the WBC title eliminator will be one of the best fighters in the packed 154 pound weight division.

Karl ‘Dynamite’ Dargan: “I can’t compare myself to other Philadelphia fighters even though I am from Philly, my style’s versatile, I can do different things”

11/28/202210/18/2012 Geoffrey Ciani

by Jenna Jay (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J) On my 179th edition of “On The … read more

Chris Byrd Interview: The Former Two-Time Heavyweight Champ Talks About “The Byrd’s Eye View”

10/13/201210/12/2012 ESB

By James Slater — Former WBO and IBF heavyweight champ Chris Byrd, a slick stylist who recently hung up the gloves on an illustrious yet at times unappreciated career, feels he and many of his fellow fighters have a pretty tough time of it when it comes to getting a fair shake from today’s boxing commentators.

“Rapid Fire,” now aged 42 and leaving the game with a 41-5-1(22) record in early 2009, wants to give the fans and the sport a new-look boxing show. Set to be unleashed on the web (as well as on You Tube and a number of other internet outlets) this month, “The Byrd’s Eye View” promises to pull no punches. Tired of the often negative attitude a number of the current well known crop of T.V commentators have, and as weary of their on-air criticism (often from people who, as Chris points out, have never ever boxed; HBO legend Larry Merchant being at the top of his hit list!), the southpaw is looking forward to letting people more qualified to call a fight do the talking.

Along with his own, in-the-firing-line-acquired knowledge of the fight game, Byrd will have a number of fellow pros, both active and retired, assisting him to give it real to the fans. Byrd’s show will consist of pre-recorded shows and, later on, live shows that take in big fights – with shows planned for Las Vegas and, next year, London.

Mikey Garcia: “A fight with Yuriorkis Gamboa is ultimately the bout that I want”

09/14/201610/11/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron: With an HBO date already scheduled for November 10th, and a big title fight with WBO Featherweight Champion Orlando Salido on the 2013 horizon, 126 pound contender Mikey Garcia (29-0, 25 KOs) is ready to make his mark in boxing.

The undefeated 24 year old fighter is slated to face tough Argentine Jonathan Victor Barros (34-3-1, 18 KOs) in the main event of a brilliant double header on HBO Boxing After Dark next month. His original assignment was supposed to be a title opportunity against the hard punching WBO champ, but Salido was sidelined after inadvertently slamming his index finger in a car door.

While some boxing pundits have questioned the decision of Top Rank and manager Cameron Dunkin to fulfill the November HBO date rather than wait for the championship opening, Mikey feels confident in his team and his abilities in the ring.

“Because we’ve already committed to fighting on November 10th, and we don’t know when Salido is going to be ready to get back in the ring, we decided to go ahead and fight Jonathan Victor Barros. I’m not too concerned with whether or not it’s a good or bad idea to take an interim fight with a title opportunity on hold; my primary concern is winning the fight on November 10th and getting a decisive victory.”