Day 1: Canelo-Trout Fight Week — Media Workouts, Exclusive Gallery and Quotes

The state of Texas is once again on the boxing spotlight: Saul Alvarez VS Austin Trout fight week has finally arrived in San Antonio, TX!

Although the fighters have been in the city for a few days already, the events that are open to the public and the media officially started this Wednesday 04/17/13. Day 1 featured public workouts from the main fighters on the card: Abner Cotto, Jermall Charlo, Raul Martinez, Austin Trout, Omar Figueroa, Jr. and Saul Alvarez. Even though the activities were taking place during a cloudy afternoon with no sunshine at all and vague mists of rain, the weather did not stop the fans from coming out and showing their support and excitement!

The fighters showcased some of their workout drills, routines and shadowboxing right in front of the historic Alamo monument in downtown San Antonio, TX. WBA Welterweight Champion Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi was at hand to lead the event along with Jesse James Leija, a fantastic live band and mariachi group. I had the privilege to capture quotes and visuals from the event.

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Gary Buckland wants a place Welsh history

GARY BUCKLAND wants to secure a place in Welsh boxing history.

In recent years a number of boxers from the Principality have followed the examples of greats such as Jimmy Wilde, Percy Jones and Howard Winstone by having success at world level

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New Jersey’s Golden Gloves Open Class Finals at Newark’s Prudential Center Saturday April 20th

Nearly every big name elite boxing champion starts his career at a young age in the amateur competition of the Golden Gloves. Name any elite champion of the past 40 years-Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, or even New Jersey’s “The Real Rocky” Chuck Wepner started competing for the glory of trophies. New Jersey Golden Gloves is a nonprofit organization that promotes amateur boxing, runs local tournaments and sends the state’s best boxers to the Golden Gloves of America’s national tournament each year. It is headed by Mr. Dan Doyle who selflessly devotes many hours per week organizing and managing this Tournament.

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Donaire vs. Rigondeaux: The Agony and the Ugh

Move aside and let the fighter enjoy and partake in the spoils which resulted from the biggest night of his professional career. Recognition is slowly seeping in simply because the shock may be finally headed towards the door. Prior to last Saturday evening, Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire was among the top pound for pound fighters on the planet.

News flash: he still is. Concurrently, Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux was indeed the jackal of sorts for the vast and overwhelming majority of twelve rounds in the ring set upon a stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. He put on a master class, yet the fact that he thoroughly and soundly beat Donaire isn’t a chorus line which has happily resonated in the eyes of much of the boxing public. What more must he do.

He was in the right venue, so maybe Rigondeaux needs to stick around to become a top pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

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Martinez vs. Murray: Definitely Maybe?

Almost 104 years ago three young men took shelter in the foyer of a dilapidated urban railway station in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires. An unexpected downpour condemned their game of football to a premature conclusion. As they stood gazing at the heavy raindrops dancing on the cast iron window sill they romanced at the notion of constructing a sports stadium nearby.

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Action packed ”Fight Night at the Park” Results from North Bergen, N.J.

This past Saturday night April 13, KEA Boxing Promotions and Global Boxing presented” Fight Night at the Park” at Schuetzen Park in North Bergen New Jersey .The evening consisted of six bouts. The venue was sold out to a very vocally enthusiastic audience. With ticket prices beginning at $55 it was an evening of great entertainment for local boxing fans. Among the boxing celebrities in attendance were former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Bobby Czyz, famed promoter Don Elbaum, former junior welterweight and welterweight champion now trainer James “Buddy” McGirt.

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Ik Yang and the Chinese Invasion of America

“I want more Chinese to pay attention to boxing and like boxing because of me”—Ik Yang

Slowly but surely, China is beginning to have an impact on the global scene of professional boxing. Two recent examples over the last five months help clearly illustrate this point. The first happened November 24 of last year when Xiong Zhao Zhong made history as he defeated Javier Martinez Resendiz by unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBC Minimumweight Championship, giving him the unique distinction of becoming the first Chinese boxer to ever win a major world title. The other occurred just over a week ago when two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner Zou Shiming reportedly earned an astounding $300,000 for his professional debut, a victorious four round contest that was broadcast virtually everywhere in China. The fact that these two success stories unfolded at a time when boxing was already experiencing growing popularity in China is surely no coincidence. Quite the contrary, when considering the noticeable momentum Chinese boxing has gathered since competing in its first Olympic Games in 1992, it is reasonable to believe that this trend will continue and we will inevitably see more and more Chinese talent (and champions) surface in the foreseeable future.

This past Friday another Chinese boxer made headway in a groundbreaking performance when lightweight Ik Yang (12-0, 8 KOs) defeated Mexican pugilist Ivan Zavala by second round knockout. What made this victory noteworthy according to Yang’s trainer and co-manager, Chauncy Welliver, was that “he just became the first Chinese fighter to win on US soil in almost 85 years—as far as I know he is the first Chinaman to do this since Harry Soo won his last fight in 1928, and I looked pretty deep into this”.

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Sam Soliman: In trouble because of a caffeine drink

According to an Australian press report, middleweight contender Sam Soliman has allegedley admitted that he took the stimulant “oxilofrine” before his recent bout with former world champion Felix Sturm in February.

Journalist Ron Reed wrote in an article, which was published on 3/28/2013 in the Australian newspaper “Harald Sun” and later tweeted by Sam Soliman on his official Twitter account (@samkingsoliman), that “he [Soliman] has landed in trouble because he used a drink he bought from a suburban health food shop after being assured by the supplier and the manufacturer it did not contain a banned substance” and further that “private testing has confirmed it was a caffeine formula drink, similar to coffee, that Soliman purchased to help counter the effects of broken sleep during training.“

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Left-Hook Lounge: Rigondeaux, Donaire, Garcia, & Roach!

Christopher N. (Atlanta, GA): How would you rate Donaire’s performance? And would you entertain the thought of placing Rigondeaux on the P4P list?

Vivek W. I think the best way to address your questions is to point to something I said a long time ago and have maintained ever since. The way I see the whole P4P topic is totally abstract from what the rest of the sport feels. I once touted Donaire’s talent as much as anyone else, but when the topic shifted to such accolades as “Fighter of the Year” and “P4P” worthy, I openly stated that I would take no part in such dialogue. The kid is better than average. His heart is bigger than average. He’s a good lookin’ kid, and a very likable guy outside the ring. All that being said, for those who understand the greatness behind pure fundamental skills, there’s no hesitance to address the fact that he simply isn’t on that level.

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Will Tyson Fury Become The Next Heavyweight Champion?

fury544 Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko have dominated the heavyweight division for the last several years and since this time there has been no viable contender that has been able to dethrone them. Samuel Peter, David Haye, Odlanier Solis, Thomasz Adamek, Chris Arreola, among others, tried, however, they were all unsuccessful in their attempts to become a new world champion. The trash talking, extremely confident, undefeated Irish Heavyweight Champion and World Boxing Organization (WBO) Intercontinental Heavyweight Title Holder, Tyson Fury (20-0, 14KOs) believes he`ll be the pugilist to end the Klitschko`s reign in the heavyweight division.

“The heavyweight division, especially the Klitschko brothers are no good. They are all bums. All pins, should would have beens and I`ll knockout all of them and clean up this division once and for all,” said the 6’9” 250 pound, Fury. “We need a change in the heavyweight division and I`m going to bring that change soon.”

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