How would Sergio Martinez or Chavez Jr. fair against Andre Ward?

09/14/201609/12/2012 ESB

How would Sergio Martinez or Chavez Jr. fair against Andre Ward? By Robert Jackson: Now that we’ve gotten Ward/Dawson out of the way, what’s up next is the Martinez/Chavez Jr fight! The winner of this fight could rightfully be in line for a BIG money PPV match-up against the undefeated Andre Ward. An undefeated Chavez Jr facing and undefeated Ward would be the better match-up unless…Martinez puts on a virtuoso performance while beating Chavez Jr.

Looking at the case for either man facing Ward next you first have Chavez Jr who at 26 is outgrowing the 160lb division, while the 37 year old Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez is counting down to the twilight of his career. The BIGGER interest and promotion would be for Chavez Jr to face Ward, he has a bigger name and following. He fights in the rough-tough Mexican style even though Freddie Roach has added a few wrinkles to his style, and he would bring the fight to Ward.

Martinez a technician just like Ward starts slowly making adjustments along the way to even out a fight and makes more adjustments as a fight moves forwards to pull ahead. Late in recent fights Maravilla has gotten KO’s, after slow starts. He’ll do the same against Chavez Jr in their upcoming fight. Doing this against Ward could result in a chess match with 2 thoughtful fighters trying to out-think each other, a possibly low punch output, less action affair. Fans may anticipate a snoozer of a fight which would make this fight the least desirable one.

Exclusive Interview with super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez

09/15/201609/12/2012 Geoffrey Ciani

“I want to be able to make a statement my next fight to get a guy like Kelly Pavlik, or Arthur Abraham, or one of those big names” – Edwin Rodriguez

Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – I was recently afforded the opportunity to speak with undefeated super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) who is preparing to square off against fellow undefeated fighter Jason Escalara (13-0-1, 12 KOs) on September 29 in a bout that will be televised by HBO. Rodriguez spoke about his upcoming fight and shared his views on his opponent. He also provided opinions on a variety of topics, including the chemistry he shares with head trainer Ronnie Shields, Andre Ward’s impressive victory against Chad Dawson last weekend, his idea on what it would take to beat someone of Ward’s caliber, and more! Here is a complete transcript from that interview.

Audio:

GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello boxing fans. This is Geoffrey Ciani from East Side Boxing and I’m here with super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez. How’s everything going, Edwin?

EDWIN RODRIGUEZ: Everything is great. I’m here in Houston, Texas with Ronnie Shields having a great training camp.

CIANI: Great! Now you have a big fight coming up September 29 against Jason Escalara. You said the training camp is going great. So you’re confident in your preparations for this fight thus far?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes sir, extremely confident. Me and Ronnie had a really good training camp where we were able to sit down and learn a few things, and just get a really good game plan for this next fight. We’ve had really good sparring partners. I’ve been working with Cornelius White, who’s top ten in the world at 175, and Don Mouton and me did ten rounds on Tuesday, and I feel great.

Is Maravilla taking his fight against Chavez Jr. too seriously?

09/14/201609/11/2012 ESB

By Robert Jackson: Yesterday, I wrote a piece asking the question as to whether Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was just putting on an act for the cameras which showed him ‘slacking off’ while training for his September 15th fight against Sergio Martinez. HBO’s 24/7 docudrama featured Chavez Jr. deliberately missing scheduled training sessions, sleeping in, and not training at all in one case. In fact Chavez Jr’s body didn’t look as toned as it could be to engage in an upcoming professional fight.

To Chavez Jr’s credit his 7 day weigh-in had him weighing the same 167lbs as Sergio Martinez weighed in at. For a much bigger, heavier man that says that Chavez Jr IS preparing but playing mind games with us all.

All the while Chavez Jr was supposedly missing training sessions, Sergio Martinez was shown training like a machine with the intention as he put it to make Chavez Jr. “regret taking the fight”. Martinez was shown resting in a hyperbaric chamber to increase his blood-oxygen uptake. Maravilla has been shown executing different drills, conditioning, sparring and bag work to get him ready for battle. A lot of discipline and seriousness has been exercised on the Martinez side of things to be ready on fight night. Maybe a little too serious?

Ricky Hatton’s comeback likely for November 24th

09/14/201609/11/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s) is expected to be making his comeback on November 24th at the MEN Arena, according to the Manchester Evening News. There’s talk of Hatton having met with the British Boxing Board of Control to get licensed to fight. Hatton additionally has lot a lot of weight and this has further fueled speculation that the 33-year-old Hatton will soon be back in the ring. Hatton will be making an announcement this Friday about his plans for the November 24th fight.

His fighters Anthony Crolla, Martin Murray, Rendall Munroe and Scott Quigg will be on the November 24th card.

If Hatton does make a comeback on November 24th he’ll likely be matched against a less than dangerous opponent. It’s been three years since he last fought, and he was knocked out in only two rounds in his last fight against Manny Pacquiao. Hatton needs to take things slowly if he wants to find success with his comeback. His chin might not be the same, and we could see Hatton knockout out again if he faces someone too good for him.

Dawson Outclassed

09/14/201609/10/2012 ESB

By Emilio Camacho Esq. – As I predicted, Andre Ward outclassed Chad Dawson; however, there was several misses in my prediction.

First, I predicted that the first round would be uneventful and that Ward would win it. Although round 1 was indeed uneventful, surprisingly, Dawson looked sharp and strong thereby winning the round (at least in my view). Hence, I was only partially correct in my thoughts.

Second, I predicted that Dawson would win rounds 2 – 4. I was wrong. In rounds two and three, Ward unveiled his left hook droping Dawson to the canvas. Dawson had no hope after that and you could see it on his face. This is when we get to what I was talking about and the main argument of my previous article.

First, I stated that Ward would show us something we had not seen before and he did just that. Ward made the guy who defeated Tarver, Johnson, Hopkins, and Adamek, among others, quit in round ten after dropping him again. Dawson said he was “done.” In reality, almost no one expected a stoppage. I did not think the stoppage would come but I did think that Ward would be stronger and would show it in an extraordinary way. Well, he did.

Larry Merchant throws best jab of the night

09/09/201209/09/2012 ESB

by Paul Strauss: (Vitali stops Charr in 4th on bad cut), DeMarco vs Molina – Junior sits it out, Ward vs Dawson – Andre makes another one look easy

To start off the night’s festivities, HBO showed a replay of forty-one year old Vitali Klitschko’s 4th round TKO destruction of Manuel Charr at the Olimpiyskia in Moscow, Russia. After the fight, announcer Jim Lampley asked Larry about the possibility of David Haye remaining a thorn in the side of the Klitschko brothers. Larry reminded Jim about Haye’s “Loser’s Limp” display done after his fight with Wladimir when he removed his shoe to show everyone his injured little toe. The implication was that was the reason for his loss. In Larry’s deliberate manner, he said Haye should have removed his shorts, which would have revealed the the real reason for his loss. It was obvious Larry meant we wouldn’t be seeing any Fruit of the Looms.

Well, Dr. Iron Fist had his boxer shorts on while showing a total disregard for anything Charr might try to do. Vitali kept both hands low, inviting Charr to try something. Charr’s strategy seemed to be to tire out Vitali by letting him tee off on him? Well, let that be a lesson to fledging boxers. If you simply hold up what you hope is a tight guard, but don’t punch back, your opponent is going to find a way to penetrate your defense, as did Vitali. Soon he was getting through with a variety of shots, and by the third round a cut had developed over Charr’s right eyelid. In the fourth, Referee Guido Callverli stopped the action long enough for the ringside physician to take a look. After twice wiping away a considerable amount of blood, the doctor said no go, and the fight was stopped. Larry and Max Kellerman thought it might have been a little premature. They alluded to Moscow’s lack of experience with world title fights. Lampley pointed out the physician seemed to have a German sounding name and not a Russian one, for all that’s worth.

Andre Ward: Snapping At Mayweather’s Heels Pound-For-Pound!

09/14/201609/09/2012 ESB

By James Slater – “Chad Dawson is a monster in there,” Andre Ward

Last night, in taming “monster” Chad Dawson, the reigning light-heavyweight ruler, unbeaten master (yes, master) Andre Ward put on his best display so far in his naturally blessed career. Okay, Dawson had to shed eight-pounds in dropping down to super-middleweight, possibly weakening himself and affecting his punch resistance, but it really is tough to find any other fault with “S.O.G’s”, well, faultless performance.

The dominant force at the in-fighting, at the long range stuff and the harder, more accurate, more spiteful puncher, the 28-year-old from Oakland delighted both his hometown fans and the boxing purists. Indeed, fellow masters such as Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather Junior (two greats Ward has surely studied on tape and has learnt a trick or two from) will have enjoyed, even marvelled over Ward’s 10th-round TKO master class.

How would tonight’s Andre Ward match up against the Joe Calzaghe who beat Mikkel Kessler?

06/22/202009/09/2012 Geoffrey Ciani

by Geoffrey Ciani – Yes! It has already reached that point. Andre Ward is so good we are forced to look into the past in order to find a competitor worthy of his attention. That is the unique distinction Ward has earned with his total domination of ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson. Andre now finds himself in a similar situation as the Klitschko brothers. They are so dominant, that debating how they would fare against current contenders has become all too predictable. Creating hypothetical match-ups where the Klitschkos are pitted against former heavyweight greats is far more interesting than discussing the length of time it would take Wladimir or Vitali to dispose of someone like Alexander Povetkin. Unfortunately for Andre Ward, super middleweight history does not run as rich or deep as boxing’s most prestigious weight class. Therefore we are forced to look back on guys like Joe Calzaghe or Roy Jones Junior circa 1994 in order to actually find someone who may pose as a perceived challenge to Ward’s still growing talent (no disrespect to Andre Dirrell and Edwin Rodriguez).

Yes! Chad Dawson was weight drained. And yes! Andre Ward probably should have taken the fight at the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds, but based on what we witnessed tonight, I do not believe it would have mattered whether they fought at 168, 170, 175, or hell, even 190! Ward simply proved to be a cut above Dawson. If the fight took place at light heavyweight Chad may well have possibly avoided the three knockdowns and made it to the final bell, but tactically speaking he had no answers for Ward. Everything Andre did was like a perfectly synchronized harmony. His movement, from head-to-toe, created a remarkable degree of elusiveness that Chad found impenetrable. This was abundantly clear right from the onset when Dawson could not find opportunities to even commit to his best weapon, his jab. Ward easily neutralized it from the get go, no adjustments necessary. Ward seized complete command of the action and dictated the fighting range to his liking throughout the one-sided contest. There was no one thing in particular that troubled Chad. Each and every thing Ward did worked, whether he was jabbing, throwing lead hooks, working the body with both hands, shifting Chad into position, owning the infighting, landing crisp blistering rights, slipping out of harm’s way, tearing brilliant uppercuts, or simply just keeping Chad wherever he wanted him to be. It was complete mastery of his opponent by Ward, and it all stemmed from his footwork and upper body movement, which were enough to neutralize Chad’s jab. Game over.

Matthysse blasts out Ajose

09/14/201609/09/2012 ESB

(Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime) LAS VEGAS (Sept. 8, 2012) – Lucas Matthysse powered his way through previously undefeated Olusegun Ajose to claim the WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Championship Saturday night on SHOWTIME® from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Matthysse’s power proved to be too much for the game Ajose and after a fantastic display of courage from both fighters, Matthysse scored a fight ending knockdown at 2:59 of the 10th round.

In the co-feature on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, up-and-coming prospect J’Leon Love stepped into the spotlight and claimed the win over fellow prospect Ramon Valenzuela by disqualification due to unsportsmanlike conduct at 0:37 of the eighth round.

In the main event, Matthysse proved to be stronger and faster from the opening bell. Matthysse, who has had great success against left handers, stayed busier throughout and landed punishing combinations against his southpaw opponent. But Ajose showed his mettle and proved his toughness and resilience by staying on his feet through the biggest punches Matthysse could dole out.

As the rounds went on, Ajose tried to keep his opponent at a distance, but Matthysse continuously broke through, often attacking the body before going for the head. While neither fighter had ever been knocked down, Matthysse’s strength sent Ajose to the canvas in the tenth forcing referee Russell Mora to step in and halt the action. It was the first loss of Ajose’s professional career.

Ward stops Dawson; DeMarco destroys Molina in 1st round knockout

09/14/201609/08/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: It’s safe to say that Chad Dawson (31-2, 17 KO’s) learned a tremendous lesson tonight about the dangerous of losing weight to fight out of his weight class. Dawson, 30, was completely dominated in every sense of the word by WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) in losing by a 10th round TKO at the Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California. Dawson was knocked down three times in this fight, if you want to call it fight. After the 3rd knockdown, Dawson told referee Steve Smoger that he’d had enough and the fight was halted.

You don’t want to make excuses for Dawson, but it was hard looking at how poorly he fought and how weak he looked throughout the fight and not feel that he was perhaps weight drained from making the foolish mistake of agreeing to drain down to 168 lbs to take the weight. I’m betting that Dawson wishing he hadn’t done that right now because he really got a humiliating beating by Ward. This wasn’t even close after the 2nd.

Ward was just battering Dawson with left hooks, right hands and hard body shots and Dawson just looked like he was trying to survive. He was getting badly punished in this fight and it’s too bad his trainer John Sculley didn’t step and stop the massacre by the midpoint of the fight because there was no reason to let the fight continue after the 6th round.