East Side Boxing News

Broner vs DeMarco on November 17th

September 14, 2016September 30, 2012 by ESB

By Michael Collins: Former WBO super featherweight champion Adrien Broner (24-0, 20 KO’s) and WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco (28-2-1, 21 KO’s) will be mixing it up on November 17th on HBO at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey,. The fight is now official, according to Dan Rafael. This should be a really good fight and perhaps the best lightweight fight of this year.

Broner is moving up from the super featherweight division where he previously held the WBO belt. He could have stayed at that weight, but he wanted to have more strength and didn’t have to have to melt down quite so much. He had been fighting in the mid-140s and draining down to make the 130 pound super featherweight limit. Broner gets a lot of criticism from fans for fighting so high over his old weight, but compared to former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Broner isn’t all that bad. But now that he’s fighting at 135, it won’t be nearly as big a deal because it’s only 10 pounds that Broner will be putting on after he rehydrates.

Demarco is fighting a very high level right now and he could be the best at this weight right now, at least until we see what Broner can do with him. DeMarco has victories over notable fighters like John Molina and Jorge Linares. He’s proven with those wins that he’s a legit champion and not one of the many paper belt holders that exist nowadays.

Wladimir Klitschko doubts that Povetkin will fight him

September 14, 2016September 29, 2012 by ESB

By Rob Smith: WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) easily took care of Hasim Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KO’s) earlier tonight in a 2nd round TKO win in Hamburg, Germany. It was impressive stuff from Povetkin in beating an over-matched and badly past his prime 39-year-old Rahman. The question that boxing fans now want to know is when if ever will the 33-year-old Povetkin step it up and take on IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko or his brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.

Povetkin said this after the fight as quoted by espn “When [my promoters] say it’s time to fight Klitschko, I will be ready. He’s the best heavyweight in the world and I will be ready to fight him.”

Wladiimr doesn’t think Povetkin wants the fight, saying to Sports Illustrated “Right. Where was he before? Please.”

Rahman blames his loss to Povetkin on being dehydratred

September 14, 2016September 29, 2012 by ESB

By Dwight Chittenden: Nothing went right for 39-year-old Hasim Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KO’s) tonight in him losing to WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) by a 2nd round TKO at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany. Rahman waited four years for this title shot and when it came he looked weak, lethargic and incisive in getting demolished by the Russian Povetkin.

Later after the fight, Rahman blamed the defeat in part on being dehydrated, saying as quoted by ESPN “I was weak and dehydrated. I was in the hospital last night for fluids. I couldn’t move. He’s not a terribly big puncher but I couldn’t establish my jab. I was flat.”

Even if Rahman was on the level about this, it was on him for being dehydrated the night before the fight. What was he doing that dehydrated this close to a fight? It’s not as if Rahman was having to boil down to make weight or something. This is heavyweight and Rahman could come into the fight weighing a fat 300 pounds and the fight would have still taken place. If he was working out hard a day before the fight then he shouldn’t have been because that’s when you take it easy.

Rodriguez stops Escalera; Darchinyan dominates Del Valle

September 14, 2016September 29, 2012 by ESB

(Picture: Edward Diller – DiBella Entertainment/Star Boxing) MASHANTUCKET, Conn. (September 29, 2012) – Undefeated Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) made a major statement tonight in the main event, punishing a tough, previously unbeaten Jason “Monstruo” Escalera (13-1-1, 12 KOs) until referee Steve Smoger called off the fight at the start of the eighth round, on tonight’s special HBO Boxing After Dark tripleheader in MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

“Road To Glory” was promoted by DiBella Entertainment, in association with Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Gary Shaw Productions.

Rodriguez came out after the first bell throwing bombs and nearly dropped a game Escalera on several occasions, winning 10-8 on all three judges’ scorecards, and the dynamic Dominican living in Worcester (MA) never let up in his first United States Boxing Association (USBA) title defense. He won every round convincingly, showcasing his entire arsenal in the process. Rodriguez is closing in on a major fight, if not a world title shot, and is rated No. 3 by the World Boxing Council (WBC), No. 4 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), No. 8 by the World Boxing Association (WBA), and No. 9 by The Ring Magazine.

Povetkin stops Rahman’ Pulev stops Ustinov; Culcay defeats Thompson

September 14, 2016September 29, 2012 by ESB

By Marcus Richardson: In a fight that should have never been allowed to happen, WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) destroyed 39-year-old former WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KO’s) in the 2nd round at the on Saturday night at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.

Rahman just looked shot to pieces, like a fighter that didn’t belong in the same ring with Povetkin due to his faded skills. In the 2nd round, Povetkin staggered Rahman with a left hook to the head that caused Rahman to staggered back against the ropes. Povetkin then teed off on Rahman with combinations until the referee finally stopped the fight at 1:46 of the round.

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Unbeaten EBU heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) defeated the huge 6’7 1/2″ Alexander Ustinov (27-1, 21 KO’s) by an 11th round knockout in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator bout.

Q&A with Gabriel Rosado

September 14, 2016September 29, 2012 by ESB

How frustrating is it to you to keep getting all these wins and not be able to get the big fights?

Gabriel Rosado: “I just gotta keep chipping away. I just gotta keep doing’ what I’m doing’. That’s why with Charles Whittaker, everyone kept telling me ‘Don’t look past Charles Whittaker, don’t focus on something else, something big.’ And you know I didn’t. I knew that it was important to make a statement, not just to win. I had to stop that guy and I had to dominate because I do want the big fight. You know, it gets a little frustrating because what makes sense to me is just putting (together) good fights. You just gotta deal with the politics that involves itself with boxing. I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. I’m not going to let it distract me or lose focus. I’m going to just keep getting better.”

J Russell Peltz: “I don’t think it’s that frustrating for me. Sometimes Gabby wants to go from kindergarten to his PhD without going through junior high and high school. When we first got together I remember him saying to me, ‘I’ll fight anybody, I need someone to protect from myself.’ We’ve come a long way in a year.”

“I think to expect that Canelo or Cotto or one of those guys was going to say three, four , five months ago, even after the Sechew Powell fight, ‘Yeah we’ll fight Gabby’, I think that was a little unrealistic…

Sulaiman doesn’t want Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez immediate rematch

September 14, 2016September 29, 2012 by ESB

By Marcus Richardson: If WBC president Jose Sulaiman gets his way there won’t be an immediate rematch between former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) and newly crowned WBC champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) in early 2013. Sulaiman says that the WBC doesn’t allow immediate rematches for one-sided fights like the September 15th fight where Chavez Jr. took a real pounding in losing by a lopsided 12 round decision to the 37-year-old Martinez.

Sulaiman said to fightnews.com “The WBC is not in favor of immediate rematches, unless there is overwhelming public demand due to some unusual circumstances in the first fight. The fight was one-sided…There was no unusual circumstances to necessitate an immediate rematch.”

Of course there wasn’t. It’s painfully obvious that this is just an opportunity for Chavez Jr., Martinez and Top Rank to make a lot of money in a rematch that could take place at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas. It’s not a fight that’s in high demand but rather a fight that would do well because all of Chavez Jr’s fights do well. Id venture to guess that Chavez Jr. could fight at the Cowboys Stadium against pretty much any middleweight in the division and the fight would pack in at least 40,000 fans and do well on HBO pay per view.

Is Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez ready to headline HBO?

September 14, 2016September 29, 2012 by ESB

By Joseph Herron – “Where the heavyweight division goes, so goes boxing,” was an age old adage that seemed to characterize the popular sentiment of the sport within any era. But in the new millennium, “Where HBO goes, so goes boxing,” would be a more appropriate maxim to sum up the current state of the industry.

An impressive or disappointing performance while headlining HBO’s “WBC” or “BAD” has become more impactful to a fighter’s career than actually winning or losing a major world title. It is widely viewed as the benchmark for success in boxing.

Tonight on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark”, Super Middleweight contender Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) will appear in the main event of the popular television series for the first time in his promising career.

In what could be a defining night for the DiBella Entertainment hopeful, the Worcester, Mass resident will face the big puncher from Jersey, Jason Escalera (13-0, 12 KOs), in a Super Middleweight battle of unbeatens.

Is Edwin ready for his biggest moment as a professional?