Fans Witness Woefully Premature 2nd-Round Stoppage As Ovill McKenzie Stops Enzo Maccarinelli

Fans Witness Woefully Premature 2nd-Round Stoppage As Ovill McKenzie Stops Enzo Maccarinelli By James Slater: Tonight in Liverpool, fans were settling into a fight that might well have developed into a most memorable slugfest. Instead, after the wholly unsatisfactory stoppage that took place in the 2nd-round, fans were left with an unforgettable TKO – one of the most shockingly premature you could wish to name.

Big-hitting Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli, he of the notoriously shaky chin, the recent failed drugs test and the run of bad luck as far as impressive performances go, was “saved from further punishment” by the usually more than capable Ian John-Lewis when he was pulled out in the 2nd of his battle with reigning Commonwealth light-heavy champ Ovill McKenzie. Stuck on the ropes “Big Macc” may have been at the time of the most controversial stoppage you will likely see all year, yet the former WBO cruiser king had just landed a right uppercut, was anticipating the blows coming from “The Upsetter,” and was, as he later stated in no uncertain terms, “riding the storm.”

McKenzie, the same age at 32, had got through with a notable right hand upstairs, followed by an even more noticeable left hand to the head, but John-Lewis’ decision to dive in was immediately judged to have been a result of “panic” (commentator John Rawling’s apt description). The fans instantly booed, Maccarinelli was outraged and the potential cracker was reduced to another black eye for boxing.

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Gary Russell Jr. annihilates Roberto Castaneda in 3 rounds

By Joseph Herron: If we learned anything tonight at the Fantasy Springs Resort & Casino in Indio, California, Gary Russell Jr. (21-0, 13 KOs) is one bad dude and will more than likely become a world champion at either 126 or 130 pounds in 2013.

The talented Mr. Russell capped off a very special Olympic edition of “ShoBox: The Next Generation”, which featured the pro debut of five members of the 2012 American Olympic squad of the London Summer Games.

In an obvious “KO of the Year” candidate, the Featherweight sensation destroyed the valiant but outclassed Roberto Castaneda (20-3-1, 15 KOs) in just three rounds with a perfectly timed right hook to the jaw of the scheduled ten round main event of the evening.

The 2008 Olympian took his time breaking down his man, while dominating the action with sharp, crisp punches. Gary showed his class by frustrating Castaneda with speed and precision. He threw lightning fast combinations which scored to the body and head, and ultimately set up the finishing blow that landed in the third and final round.

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Vanes Martirosyan vs. Erislandy Lara: Head to Head

By Joseph Herron — Tonight from the Wynn Las Vegas, HBO Boxing After Dark will broadcast one of the more impactful Junior Middleweight bouts we’ve seen in quite some time.

With an official start time of 9:45PM EST/PST (delayed on the west coast), undefeated Vanes Martirosyan (32-0, 20 KOs) will square off against Cuban exile Erislandy Lara (17-1-1, 11 KOs) for the opportunity to face current WBC Junior Middleweight Champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez sometime in 2013.

Although the superb match-up is finally happening tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada, this battle has been brewing for quite some time. At yesterday’s official weigh-in, tempers flared, and both men got physical while posing for the various media members in attendance.

Erlislandy’s trainer Ronnie Shields had the best seat in the house during last night’s brief altercation between both competing fighters, and he gave Eastsideboxing.com his unique take on what transpired.

“This is what happened. Both fighters were asked to come together and pose for the media and fight fans in attendance,” recollects veteran trainer Ronnie Shields. “Vanes started saying something in English to my fighter, which he didn’t understand. Then Erislandy started saying something in Spanish to Vanes, which he didn’t understand either.”

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Abner Mares vs. Anselmo Moreno: Gogue’s big fight preview

By Joseph Herron — Tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Abner Mares will defend his WBC Super Bantamweight title against slick southpaw Anselmo Moreno of Panama, in the main event of a Showtime Champion Boxing triple-header.

Although the 12 round championship bout won’t begin until about 11:30PM EST, the actual three fight broadcast has a start time of 10PM EST, with Angulo/Casarez and Santa Cruz/Zaleta kicking off tonight’s action.

While Gogue has been preparing his Junior Middleweight fighter, Raul “El Tigre” Casarez, for the always rugged Alfredo Angulo, the 29 year experienced trainer gave us his unique breakdown of the highly anticipated main event on this week’s episode of “The Pugilist KOrner’s: Weekend Wrap”.

Even though the astute fight coach recognizes the talent and skill level of the incumbent WBC title holder, James Gogue believes that Anselmo Moreno will indeed be the toughest assignment for the 26 year old, two division champion thus far.

“Moreno is a tall order for anyone,” insists the expert fight trainer. “Mares has fought southpaws before and has been successful against them. The 26 year old Champ is undefeated going into this bout, but he’s never faced anyone quite like Moreno.”

“He’s really never faced anyone with the athletic gifts of Anselmo Moreno. The slippery Panamanian is a beautiful counter-puncher with excellent upper body movement and brilliant footwork. He’s the consummate matador in the ring. He pivots around his opponents at angles and works in a way in which he doesn’t leave many openings for his opposition.”

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Ashie versus Tagoe: All set for Clash of Kings in Ghana

By Prince Dornu-Leiku – All is set for the expected biggest fight night in Ghanaian boxing history Saturday evening at the Accra Sports Stadium when the curtain is finally drawn on the much trumpeted ‘Clash of Kings’ maiden promotion by Ghana national soccer team skipper Asamoah Gyan’s BabyJet Promotions.

A tense weigh-in session invaded by fans galore pledging varying allegiance to either Emmanuel Tagoe or George Ashie who clash in the headliner and a much anticipated showdown which has two of the finest trainers this country can boast also in the respective corners. Legend Azumah Nelson pits his technical aptitude up against Godwin Djanie Alloway, arguably Ghana’s most outstanding boxing coach, the same man who trains Joshua Clottey.

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Mares-Moreno: The ideal Boxer against puncher contest

By Corey Quincy – This Saturday live on Showtime’s World Championship Boxing series we will see Anselmo ” Chemito ” Moreno ( 33-1-1 ) face off against Mexican brawler and WBC World Champion Abner Mares ( 24-0-1 ) in a key match up for total Bantamweight supremacy. And I believe it could turn out to be very interesting.

The fight is making many regular boxing viewers highly enthusiastic as it features a strong contrast of that Boxer against brawler style that often leads to highly entertaining fights.

Mares is the WBC World Bantamweight champion and is well known for retaining his title by out-brawling his opponents in fan-friendly battles. His shots are often ” telegraphed ” and his style is pretty basic but his youthful stamina and relentlessness rarely gives even his top opponents times to act on his flaws. Moreno will have to disregard these difficult patterns and not allow Mares to trap him and set his shots off like he manages to do often with other opponents.

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The Legacy of Emanuel Steward Part 3: Perspective from Naazim Richardson

“I’m proud to say I knew the man. I’m honored to say I had a personal communication and I’m fortunate to be able to say that I got to see him work.”—Naazim Richardson

Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – This is Part Three of an ongoing series dedicated to the memory and legacy of a remarkable individual, Emanuel Steward, whose extraordinary contributions to the boxing world spanned sixty years. In this installment, trainer Naazim Richardson provided his perspective and shared some of his experiences with the legendary Hall of Fame trainer. Here is a complete transcript from my discussion with Naazim:

GEOFFREY CIANI: Naazim, it was a sad day for boxing and we lost one of our greatest ambassadors in the sport when Emanuel Steward passed away nearly two weeks ago. I’m wondering if you could share your personal views on the impact that Emanuel had on boxing?

NAAZIM RICHARDSON: Well like you said, Emanuel was a great ambassador for the sport and a very intricate part of the sport as we know it in the last few years, and he touched on all facets of it in that he was, you know a commentator, trainer, manager, promoter. He was just in every detail of the sport, and like I’ve said, it’s a great loss but it’s one of those situations where we lose, but in a sense there’s a piece of Emanuel that’s going to exist forever in the sport from when he sat down and what he let the world share from the Kronk’s Gym on to when he was analyzing the fights as a commentator. So he’ll be with us as long as the sport is around.

CIANI: One of the things I remember that Emanuel said about you once, it was when he was still training Chad Dawson and he was looking forward to the challenge of going up against you, and Bernard, and all of the great boxing minds from your corner. He actually said it reminded him of when he was training Evander Holyfield and he had to go up against the old school corner led by Eddie Futch. One of the things Naazim, you’re known as a great preparer of your fighters, and I’m wondering if you could tell the fans out there how you gauge Emanuel when it came to preparing his fighters to give them their best chance at victory?

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Mikey Garcia is ready for the world

By Joseph Herron: Since turning pro at age 18, Oxnard, California based fighter Miguel “Mikey” Garcia (29-0, 25 KOs) has been cultivating his pugilistic skills for the single crowning achievement of becoming the Featherweight Champion of the World.

From the time Mr. Garcia made the fateful decision to become a prizefighter, the 24 year old boxer/puncher has been perfect; racking up an impressive record of 29 victories, no losses, and 25 wins coming by way of knock-out.

This Saturday night, at the Wynn Las Vegas, the talented young fighter will be gracing the airwaves of HBO once again in the co-main event of the evening, as he takes on tough Argentine Featherweight Jonathan Victor Barros (34-3-1, 18 KOs).

Although Mikey is currently fighting in an era in which network dates have become a more scarce and coveted commodity than any sanctioning body’s world title strap, the top ranked Featherweight claims that his ultimate goal will perpetually be to win a universally recognized world title.

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Mr. Gary Russell Jr: “2013 is going to be a tremendous year”

By Joseph Herron – After beginning his professional fight career with a perfect 20-0 record including 12 knock-outs, former Olympian Gary Russell Jr. feels that his ceiling for success in the sport of boxing is unlimited.

Despite stopping his last two opponents on HBO and Showtime respectively in dramatic and impressive fashion, the talented 24 year old fighter believes that his best effort has yet to be seen.

“My team is definitely planning on having a tremendous 2013,” claims the talented Mr. Russell. “Although our expectations are high, we don’t overlook any fighter and we go into each and every fight with the realistic view that any fighter can defeat anyone on any given night.”

Tonight on a special “Olympic Edition” of ShoBox: The Next Generation, the hard punching southpaw will take on Robert Castaneda (20-2-1, 15 KOs) at the Fantasy Springs Resort & Casino in Indio, California in the ten round main event of the evening.

While most boxing pundits will view this bout as a “stay busy” fight for the highly touted Featherweight, Gary claims that his humble approach going into each and every contest is one of the many reasons for his success in the ring thus far.

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Q & A Interview with Millville New Jersey’s light middleweight prospect Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna

By Lou McLaughlin: Millville New Jersey’s streaking light middle weight prospect Thomas “Cornflake” Lamanna takes his unbeaten record 9 (KO 5) to fight for the first time in his hometown of Millville, N.J. on November 10th taking on Erick Hernandez Perez at the New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, New Jersey. LaManna had hoped to fight at his old high school but for reasons unknown to him the school board decided not to move forward with fight. This was an enormous disappointment to LaManna. Fortunately, the New Jersey Motorsports Park of Millville stepped forward as a venue and rescued the fight card. Thomas’s opponent Perez‘s last fight in September was a draw against an 18 fight veteran Daniel Garcia. LaManna began his pro career February 11, 2011 and in the 21 months since has racked up 9 impressive wins fighting every 2-3 months. Thomas has fast tracked his way through 6 four round fights in 2011. Beginning 2012 he entered 6 round competitions and was finishing with energy to spare. He generously took time from his training and pre-fight activities for an interview with me.

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