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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Rigo the Great!!

Not actually…Guillermo Rigodeaux 2-time Olympic gold medalist and now unified WBA/WBO Super Bantamweight champion has a lot more fish to fry to be considered great in the professional ranks. Having out-skilled and outclassed P4P fighter Nonito Donaire is just the beginning.

Prior to this fight Rigondeaux was considered by many just another decorated Cuban amateur fighter. Hosting an 11-0, 8-KO record, Rigondeaux had done nothing significant that would indicate he was any threat to the #3 or #4 P4P rated Donaire whose scalps on his boxing resume included names like Montiel, Arce and Darchinyan.

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Donaire Relinquishes Lofty Status to Rigondeaux

Nonito “The Filipinio Flash” Donaire had it all. He was riding high, a fan favorite, a top P4P fighter, 2012 fighter of the year and someone who seemed to have no weaknesses. His speed, power and ring savvy had been too much for anybody he faced. A few bruises here and there, an occasional hand injury to remind him of his dominant performances and a pocket full of dough to dull the pain. His face was becoming more and more recognizable to celebrity seekers.

He did and said all the right things. He pushed for VADA type testing for everyone. He often expressed a willingness to fight anyone, including Abner Mares; although, he did express a reluctance to fight Rigondeaux, but not because he feared him. No, it was for more of a practical reason. He didn’t think Guillermo Rigondeaux deserved the shot. Donaire felt Rigondeaux needed to beat a big name first.

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Guillermo Rigondeaux outclassed Nonito Donaire with nearly flawless execution

By the mid rounds of the super bantamweight unification showdown between Guillermo Rigondeaux and Nonito Donaire, it became abundantly clear that the Cuban fighter was in command of the action. Rigondeaux was successfully controlling the range, and not just through use of his feet. He also mixed in a varied assortment of head, shoulder, and upper body movement, all of which acted to befuddle and neutralize the uncharacteristically gun-shy Donaire. It was vintage Rigondeaux. He was slipping and sliding, moving and grooving, ducking and dodging, mesmerizing with a hypnotic pawing jab, maneuvering his foe into unfavorable positions, and when opportunity permitted, zapping the Filipino boxer with stinging sharp flush lefts. This dazzling display of finesse and skills left Donaire extremely reluctant to engage, and whenever he did let his hands go Rigondeaux was usually making him miss, sometimes wildly. Guillermo thoroughly succeeded in making an explosive specimen like Nonito look ordinary.

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Juan Diaz Triumphant in Comeback

By Marc Livitz at ringside in Corpus Christi, Texas, photo gallery by Adrian Hernandez – Juan Diaz scored a sixth round TKO victory over Hernando “Pipino” Cuevas, Jr. tonight at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Diaz (36(18)-4) had taken a respite of sorts from the ring. The Houston, TX boxer last fought in July of 2010 in a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez. He lost a sound unanimous decision and the result was a far cry from his initial meeting with Marquez in February of 2009.

Although Diaz was knocked out in the ninth round, their battle in front of Diaz’s home crowd in Houston garnered “Fight of the Year” Honors. In between his two meetings with “Dinamita” Marquez, “Baby Bull” Diaz went one up and one down with Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi, who many felt was robbed of a victory in their first meeting in Houston. Tonight, Diaz faced off with the son of former WBA welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas, Sr.

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Rigondeaux dominates Donaire

WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 KO’s) proved to be too fast, too skilled and too talented for WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 KO’s) tonight in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Radio City Music Hall, in New York, New York, USA.

The judges scored the fight 114-113, 115-112, 116-111. The fight wasn’t nearly as close as the two judges that nearly had Donaire winning. Those scores were pretty sad and scary because you have to wonder what fight where those judges watching. I only had Donaire winning 10th round and that was because he nailed Rigondeaux with a left hand when the two were in close in a clinch.

Donaire wrestled out of it and hit Rigondeaux when he wasn’t expecting a shot while he was standing straight up. Let’s be honest: that was the way Donaire could knock Rigondeaux down because he was too slow and missing all night long with his shots. Rigondeaux got up from the knockdown and immediately resumed schooling Donaire and making him look really, really bad.

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Cecilia Braekhus defeats St. John

Photo: Wende — 45-year-old Mia St John (47-13-2, 18 KO’s) looked like a spectator from the crowd that had mistakenly walked into the ring tonight against WBA/WBO/WBC female welterweight Cecilia Braekhus (22-0, 6 KO’s) at the Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark. Braekhus nailed St. John at will in every until the fight was halted in the 3rd after St. John was staggered by the ropes from a storm of heavy shots from Braekhus.

This fight resembled someone getting attacked by a swarm of angry bees because St. John was just covering up and cowering for much of the fight. When she did throw punches back, she was pushing her shots and looking both weak and slow. I’d seen her fight years ago when she was younger and a little faster, but tonight the 45-year-old St. John looked and fought her age.

The difference in talent between the two was startling. St. John was no match from the start and I was surprised she made it out of the 1st round because she was getting hit cleanly with nonstop punches, especially near the end of the round when Braekhus trapped her against the ropes and unloaded on her.

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