Ronnie Shields: “Erislandy Lara would have knocked out Vanes Martirosyan in the 10th or 11th”

Ronnie Shields: “Erislandy Lara would have knocked out Vanes Martirosyan in the 10th or 11th”By Joseph Herron: Last night on “The Pugilist KOrner’s: Weekend Wrap”, veteran trainer Ronnie Shields shared his thoughts regarding Erislandy Lara’s (17-1-2, 11 KOs) technical draw with Vanes Martirosyan (32-0-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday night at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Although the Cuban exile didn’t take full advantage of his opportunity to meet Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2013, Mr. Shields is very proud of his Junior Middleweight star for fighting through a very unexpected situation.

“What most people didn’t realize was that Erislandy injured his right hand in the first round,” proclaims Ronnie Shields. “After the first round, he came back to the corner and whispered something into his manager Luis Decubas Jr’s ear. I didn’t find out until after the second round had started that Erislandy severely injured his right hand in the opening round.”

“I told Erislandy to just box Vanes and feel him out for the first few rounds. That was the primary game-plan anyway. I wanted to see what Freddie Roach had planned for Martirosyan to begin the fight. I had a feeling that they were going to have Vanes uncharacteristically fight while moving forward, because they felt Erislandy wasn’t as effective fighting while backing up.”

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Wach blew his chance against Wladimir by not throwing enough punches

Wach blew his chance against Wladimir by not throwing enough punchesBy Michael Collins: In dissecting what went wrong for the huge 6’7 1/2″ Mariusz Wach (27-1, 15 KO’s) last Saturday night in his embarrassingly one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) in Hamburg, Germany, it comes down Wach’s failure to let his hands go.

Wach had the built in power to win the fight if he had thrown some damn punches, but no. Wach fought passively by just covering up and every once in awhile throwing a wild right hand that frequently missed badly.

Wach’s mistake was that he just covered up like a sparring partner instead of taking advantage of what could be his only opportunity to ever fight for a world title. I can’t see Wach ever getting another chance at a strap unless the sanctioning bodies give him an inflated ranking off of a bunch of wins over lower level opposition.

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Tyson Fury vs. Kevin Johnson on December 1st

Tyson Fury vs. Kevin Johnson on December 1stBy Michael Collins: Unbeaten #4 WBC heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) will be taking a big step u in competition against former heavyweight title challenger 33-year-old Kevin Johnson (28-2-1, 13 KO’s) on December 1st at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Johnson has fallen out of the top 15 since losing a lopsided 12 round decision to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in December 2009.

However, Johnson remains a tough out for a guy like Fury simply because of Johnson’s superb jab, good left hook and experience. Believe it or not, Johnson is a huge step up for the 24-year-old Fury, who has been matched very, very carefully by his promoter Mick Hennessy during Fury’s four year pro career.

Fury said to Sky Sports News “I am getting closer to a shot at Klitschko myself and I’m going to show Vitali why he has to fight me because when I do a number on Johnson and him out of there I’ll have done a better job than Vitali did.”

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Will Virgil Hunter make a difference for Amir Khan?

Will Virgil Hunter make a difference for Amir Khan?By Robert Jackson: After seeing Alfredo Angulo – following a 10 month respite from the ring, KO Raul Casarez Saturday night, it had me wondering how effective would Amir Khan be in his next fight. Both Angulo and Khan now train under Virgil Hunters watchful eye and if Angulo’s performance was any indication, Khan may have made the right choice and can be expected to perform excellently.

After the fight ended, Hunter was the first one in the ring to offer support to his charge, there was a genuine closeness between the 2 men that could be seen as both men embraced each other. Hunter remained at Angulo’s side keeping the emotional Angulo calm as El Perro answered post fight questions posed by Showtime’s Jim Gray.

What was as wonderful as the comraderie between Angulo and Hunter was the near flawless performance that Angulo put on that saw him quicker and stealthier in his boxing technique than in previous fights. Granted Casarez has a lot to learn as a fighter, he hadn’t lost in 5 years and is highly regarded as an up-and-coming middleweight. Angulo’s body also looked leaner than he’s looked before.

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Has the time has come to create a new division – a superheavyweight division?

Has the time has come to create a new division – a superheavyweight division?Rob Moore: After watching another Wladimir Klitschko win, this time over the even bigger Mariusz Wach, I had to face up to the fact that my interest in watching much of what the heavyweight division has to offer, has waned considerably . The same division that that used to excite me and initiated my lifelong interest in the sport.

So many fights are truly underwhelming with guys showing limited range of skills, movement and conditioning, leading me to bore my kids with accounts of quality of fighters who graced the division in the past. You could never accuse Wladimir of not coming in in top condition and Wach showed great heart, but was the fight really top quality boxing and entertainment?

Unfortunately it seems like my diminished interest is shared by many, particularly in the US which just isn’t good for the sport’s future. There is certainly a valid point made by many that the Klitschko brothers have dominated the division for so long that it has hurt the division outside of Germany. While there is some mileage in that view, I see the problem as being more fundamental, and can be largely attributed the sheer size and weight of modern day heavyweights and the limitations this brings.

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Tagoe beats Ashie to win WBA International title

Tagoe beats Ashie to win WBA International titleBy Prince Dornu-Leiku – Emmanuel Tagoe lived up to his word by claiming a majority decision victory over compatriot George Ashie as their much trumpeted ‘Clash of Kings’ headliner finally came to a head Saturday night in Accra.

Tagoe, famously called Game Boy had gone into the fight telling anyone who cared to listen that he was going to defeat his big local rival through a points decision and how true his words came alive as the verdict was read after twelve pulsating rounds in which neither boxer could break the foe.

In the end, 114-114, 115-113, 116-112 the three judges had their scorecards tallying in favour of Tagoe who claimed the vacant WBA International Lightweight belt as a result. The crafty GameBoy who entered the ring carried aloft in a palanquin amid carrying a sword like a king, was crowned king and improved his record to 19-1, 8 KOs whilst condemning the amiable Ashie to the fourth defeat of his 28 fight career.

“First of all, I thank God for giving me this victory. I also thank BabyJet Promotions because I’ve wanted this fight for more than six years to prove that I’m the best in the country but never got it. So we thank God that thanks to BabyJet, we have seen the best,” a very satisfied Tagoe told Ghanaian journalists at the unprecedented press conference immediately after the fight at the Accra Stadium Media Centre early hours of Sunday morning.

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Mares has too much Giddyup for Moreno

Mares has too much Giddyup for Morenoby Paul Strauss: Super bantamweight Abner Mares 25 (KO 13)-0-1 literally ran after southpaw Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno 33 (KO 12)-2-1 Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA . He was determined to keep, for the most part, Moreno from getting set and displaying his masterful boxing skills. It’s one thing for a boxer to say he’s going to pressure his opponent and get him out of his game plan. It’s another to actually carry it out, and to such an extent that one judge thought the fight was a shutout.

That judge, James Jen-Kin, was in the minority. Most, including ringside commentators Al Bernstein, Steve Farhood and guest Paulie Malignaggi, all thought Moreno, who hasn’t been beaten in ten years, had managed to keep the fight much closer, despite being knocked down in the fifth and penalized a point in the eleventh for pulling Mares’ head down. The usually calm Bernstein got a little frustrated with what he thought were unfair tactics by Mares. Specifically, he felt Mares was deliberately lowering his head, bull rushing Moreno, and letting go with low-blows. Others chimed in that Moreno was pulling Mares’ head down; hence, the low blows. In fact, as previously mentioned, Moreno was the one who got penalized for doing so.

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Martirosyan-Lara ruled a technical draw; Garcia stops Barros

Martirosyan-Lara ruled a technical draw; Garcia stops BarrosBy Rob Smith: Vanes Martirosyan (32-0-1, 20 KO’s) and Erislandy Lara (17-1-2, 11 KO’s) will have to do it again after fighting to 9 round technical draw in their WBC 154 pound eliminator bout on Saturday night at the Wynn Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The fight was stopped in the 9th round when Martirosyan suffered a nasty cut over his left eye when he banged heads with the 29-year-old Lara, causing the fight to be stopped and go to the judges cards.

The final scores were 86-85 for Martirosyan, 87-84 for Lara and 86-86 even. Without a winner in the fight there still isn’t a mandatory challenger to face WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez next year. Unless the World Boxing Council has another option, Lara and Martirosyan will have to fight again so that a mandatory can be determined to face Alvarez.

Martirosyan fought well and took the action to Lara. Had the fight continued to the finish it’s possible that Martirosyan might have been able to pull out a win. However, we’ll never know now.

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Mares Defeats Moreno in an Exciting Clash

Mares Defeats Moreno in an Exciting Clash(Photo: Showtime) By Michael Montero: The crowd at Staples Center was pumped for the main event, cheering local favorite Abner Mares as he faced off against Anselmo Moreno, the crafty veteran from Panama. Mares, originally of Mexico but now living in Hawaiian Gardens, California, was making the first defense of his WBC 122 pound title. Moreno, the former longtime bantamweight titlist, had moved up in weight for a crack at a title in a second division.

The match started with a lot of mauling, as both fighters tackled their opponent to the canvas at one point in the opening round. Some rough stuff was inevitable due to styles. Moreno, a southpaw, tried to use movement and stay on the outside, but Mares would charge forward and bull his opponent into the ropes, where he’d tee off. This was the pattern during the early rounds, as Mares appeared to land the harder punches.

In the fourth round, Mares landed a hard shot below the belt, prompting Moreno to hunch over and take a knee. The partisan Mexican-American crowd at the Staples Center didn’t like it, but it was a clear low blow. Undeterred, Mares continued to grind to the body, but Moreno would occasionally stand his ground and land his own thudding head shots. At the end of the fifth, Mares hurt and dropped the Panamanian with a vicious combination. He made it to his feet at the count of nine, but was in big trouble and appeared to be saved by the bell.

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