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The scuffle was aggressive in nature, with not only name calling, but race as well as Roach’s Parkinson’s disease used as verbal weapons. Alex Ariza went farther than most would, not only kicking Freddie Roach but also mimicking his speech stutter.
Roach and Ariza never worked together in harmony, and their professional relationship also ended in a bad fashion. Words were said, and there was an abundance of finger-pointing coming from both sides.
Remember when, after his awesome KO win over Michael Spinks, an upset Mike Tyson told the media at the post-fight press conference that he may well have fought his last fight and was retiring due to his general disgust at the way the media types had treated him? Of course Tyson never meant it, even if he was angry at the time.
Well, another fellow named Tyson who has not been altogether happy lately, namely Tyson Fury, has also announced his “retirement” from boxing. The word retirement has the speech marks surrounding it because no-one really believes or takes seriously the announcement Fury has made via Twitter, yet who knows for absolutely sure?
Fury, no doubt disgusted at his big money fight with rival British heavyweight David Haye having been cancelled twice, wrote:
Groves believes he can win this fight and so do I. He believes he has the attributes to do so and so do I.
What are those attributes?
Terrific handspeed and accuracy: power (15 KOs in a 19 fight unbeaten record tells no lies): excellent lateral movement: the ability to throw shots from different angles: ring awareness: the discipline to box to a gameplan, as demonstrated against James De Gale when he defeated him over 12 rounds in 2011. Perhaps most important of all, he is superb when boxing off the back foot.
The up and coming orthodox welterweight pugilist, “Speedy” Rashidi Ellis is one of the best prospects to come out of New England in the last couple of years and his outstanding amateur success has him poised to accomplish significant achievements in the near future.
“I`ll be a world champion in a couple of years because I`m extremely confident in all my skills especially my speed and defense which is good enough to compete with anyone and with additional fights, I`m only going to get better,“ said Ellis.
Ellis is getting a great deal of publicity due to his stellar amateur success. He recorded an impressive 60-11 record against really good competition. This year, he won a Silver Medal at the Independent Cup in the Dominican Republic, losing a close bout to Cuba`s Roniel Iglesias, a gold medalist in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know about you, but I think the heavyweight division can be exciting once again. The idea is to begin matching up the young guns and letting them go at each other.
There is one thing I’ve noticed in quite a few recent fights involving heavyweights not named Klitschko. The heavyweights are letting their hands go and producing interesting and entertaining fights. It started a few years back on NBC, NBC Sports, and CBS where some up and coming prospects decided to do something that has been missing in years… a thing called PUNCHING! The results of those fights were that the networks signed up for more fights.
Dexter R. (Tampa, FL): I think it’s time Andre Ward gets serious consideration in the P4P discussion. Is it far-fetched (in your opinion) to label him as the best P4P fighter in the sport?
Vivek W. (ESB): I’ve been a huge Andre Ward fan from day one, and back in 2009 when people were laughing at me and questioning him, I said with confidence, (feel free to check the archives), that he would not only win the Super Six Tournament, but in my estimation, was already viewed as the #2 P4P fighter in the sport, trailing only behind Floyd Mayweather. That being said, perspective should always be measured down the center, with few emotions attached. Bottom line, Ward’s performance was as brilliant as you can ask, coming off such a major injury and lengthy layoff. He performed to perfection with poise and brilliance. I have nothing but praise for him, but when we speak along the lines of perspective, it’s important to note that this victory came over Edwin Rodriguez. Think about that!
It looks like those fight fans who remained interested in seeing Tyson Fury get it on with David Haye will be disappointed on a permanent basis. The heavily hyped British heavyweight showdown, that was postponed from September due to a cut suffered by Haye in some late sparring, has been called off for a second time – this time due to shoulder surgery Haye underwent in Germany this past Thursday.
And now, with some experts telling Haye he must retire from the ring, Team-Fury are searching for a replacement foe for the February 8th date the Haye fight was rescheduled for at The Phones 4U Arena in Manchester (the fight set to go out live on Sky Box Office).
Two days ago defending WBA and Ring Magazine Champion Andre “S.O.G”. Ward (27-0, 14 KOs) declared that he would come back better than ever after a 14-month layoff, and he lived up to his claim on Saturday night by dominating challenger Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (24-1, 16 KOs) in earning a lopsided unanimous decision victory at the Citizen’s Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif.
Scores were 118-106, 117-107, 116-108.
Billed as “THE RETURN”, the HBO® World Championship Boxing televised main event was the headliner of a nine-bout card presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions and sponsored by Toyota, Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, and the City of Ontario. The Ward-Rodriguez bout was presented in association with S.O.G. Promotions and DiBella Entertainment.
Hamilton City, Claudelands Showgrounds: Ringside: Chants of Tua! Tua go up! The ring announcer gets an A plus for animation. Never quite seen or heard a ring announcer throw himself around the ring with so much vigour and enthusiasm in introducing fighters. Fair to say he is an excitable type of chap.
Alexander Ustinov ring walk: All you can really say about the man is he is one very big piece of humanity. His ring walk music of the Russian variety is music not often heard in this part of the world. He leaps the top rope of the ring with ease and that impressed the hell out of the crowd. At 6ft 8 and 139 kilograms (according to ring announcer) his immensity makes him a proposition for the sheer fact of his immensity – he carries no excess weight and appears in exceptional condition.
It will have been just over 14 months since the last time Andre Ward graced the HBO airwaves as a fighter when he enters the ring this Saturday to face unbeaten Edwin Rodriguez.
Sidelined with a shoulder injury much has been said and written about Andre Ward.
Some of it was said using facts.
While other articles, tweets, and forum posts clearly had biasness oozing out of it, whether directed at Ward personally or at the way in which he was taught to fight.
The style of fighters and fans vigorously debating over the topic is nothing new.
I will never forget some of the arguments that my grandfather, the man that introduced me to the sport, and I had over who was better fighter and why between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard.