April 4, 2008, on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, Jason Estrada, 12-1 (2), won an easy unanimous decision over Lance Whitaker, 32-5-1 (27). Whitaker has long been proof that being big doesn’t mean you can fight. Whitaker is six-foot-eight-inches tall and has a reach advantage over nearly every man he faces, yet he insists on plodding inside and smothering his own punches instead of using a jab to open up simple straight right hands from a distance that would provide leverage and power. (Young fighters of all sizes take note: Learn to jab! Geeze).
Estrada did a fine job of taking what was available to him. Instead of trying to chop Whitaker down with hard punches, he found holes wherever he could and filled them. Estrada isn’t a powerful puncher anyway, but could have more KOs if he planted his feet and fired. That’s not to say Estrada would always win fights that way, because he wouldn’t be as successful as he is, but he does what he can with what he has. That said, more bodyshots tonight might have helped bring Whitaker down had Estrada chosen to throw them.
All in all, Estrada is a talented, speedy, well-schooled heavyweight (over 300 amateur fights) that will likely never reach great success because he isn’t a heavy puncher (it’s a marketability thing). It’s a shame too; I like watching guys like him fight. There are plenty of knockouts to go around, but not nearly enough solid technique among the heavyweights.
On the Undercard
Cruiserweights: Aaron Williams dispensed with Andre Purlett at 2:50 of round two. After knocking Purlett down with three consecutive rights earlier in the round, Williams poured coals on the fire until the referee stepped in to stop the fight. The TKO gives Williams a 17-0-1 record with 12 by knockout, while Purlett falls to 41-3 with 35 KOs.
Light Heavies: In a sloppy but entertaining fight, Joey Spina edged out David Whittam with scores of 58-56 and 57-56 with one judge giving the fight to Whittam with a 57-56 score card. A third round knockdown for Spina made the difference in the fight. Spina’s record goes to 22-1-1 (15) while Whittam’s falls to 10-6-1.
Zab Judah sat directly across from me at a round table interview with several members of the press. The interview, conducted the morning of the Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, was immediately after Judah and “Sugar” Shane Mosley gave a press conference announcing their upcoming fight at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
During the press conference, Judah claimed that his previous losses, poor behavior, and general under-achievement were due to either his willingness to fight on short notice or to “circumstances that happened at the time.” According to Judah, he has, at 30-years-old, “grown up” and dedicated himself to boxing and mature behavior.
After several boxing writers reeled off their questions, with several of Judah’s bejeweled entourage forming a half circle behind him, I took my turn.
“Zab, at the press conference you said that your past losses and various difficulties in and out of the ring were due to either taking fights on short notice or other “circumstances.” In this fight (with Mosley), are you saying that no matter what happens, win or lose, there will be no excuses?”
“You know I have never made excuses,” Judah said with a squinty glare, while his glittering minions whooped in praise of him.
Contradictory? Sure. One can’t expect too much too soon. But starting May 31st in the Mandalay Bay ring, Zab Judah has forfeited the right to blame anything or anyone other than himself for what happens in, or out, of the ring.
I’ll have more to say about this April 12 welterweight match up later, but for now, I caution the reader not to take Alfonso Gomez too lightly. As Teddy Atlas often reminds us, boxing is primarily a mental sport, and Gomez is the poster boy for mental focus and preparation. Beyond that, Miguel Cotto’s supposed strength advantage probably won’t even show itself in the ring since Gomez fought as a middleweight on the Contender series and handed legit middleweight Peter Manfredo his first loss.
Am I picking Gomez to win? No. (I’ve since changed my mind. See Alfonso Gomez link above. April 08, 2008) But it’s going to be a good, even scrap, no matter the outcome.
From Press Row
Cory Spinks, 30, tried fighting Verno Phillips on the inside and it ended up costing him his IBF junior middleweight title. Phillips landed right hand bombs all night as Spinks always seemed just an inch or two from his usual elusiveness. The split decision victory earned Phillips, 38, his fourth world title belt.
In the co-feature, Devon Alexander, 21, dominated Miguel Callist over twelve rounds to earn a unanimous decision.
More details to come…
Former lightweight champ, Juan “The Baby Bull” Diaz, has signed with GoldenBoy Promotions. “I’ve gained a lot of experience over the last couple of years, in and out of the ring, and I can’t wait to prove to boxing fans that I’m the best lightweight in the world,” said Diaz.
Diaz had been promoted by Don King until King backed out of their contract before Diaz’s loss vs. 36-year-old Nate Campbell. King claims that he ended his business relationship with Diaz because of constant disputes with Diaz’s manager, Willie Savannah.
I’m flying out to St Louis, MO tomorrow morning for the Cory Spinks vs. Verno Phillips fight on Thursday at the Scottrade Center. This junior middleweight title fight isn’t televised, but can be seen on the web at www.donkingtv.com. Love him or hate him, old Don is always trying something new.
After the fight I’ll head down the 55 to visit family in Ste. Genevieve for a couple weeks before heading back home to Southern California. Thanks to the internet, and a broadband card for the laptop, work won’t be put on hold, it just won’t be a priority.
Once back in SoCal, I’ll treat you, dear reader, to a profile of a an 18-year-old amateur welterweight named Travis Samuels. Travis has his first amateur bout coming up in May. There will be periodic assessments of his progress (or setbacks; such is life, after all) and he”l be my photo/video model for technical points in the How To Box series of articles.
Samuels’ trainer is Alex Suarez, brother of welterweight contender, Mark “Poison” Suarez. Alex will be an immense help to the boxing pages here at FightTube in the future.
Since boxing is also a business, I’m putting together some articles on helping young fighters understand their roles as entrepreneurs. You’ll be reading some interviews with high profile people in and around the sport, each of whom are worth taking the time to see what they have to say. Here’s the bottom line: if you are a fighter, especially if you have talent, you are a marketable entity, essentially a product, and it’s worth marketing yourself–and handling your finances–wisely.
The first interview will be one I conducted with Cerveza Tecate Brand Director, Carlos Boughton, the day of the Marquez vs. Pacquiao rematch in Las Vegas on March 15. While not fighter specific, the interview with Mr. Boughton provides insight to marketing product that works on every level. Look forward to this in the coming days.
Against Michael Katsidis tonight at Casino Morongo in Cabazon, CA, Joel Casamayor (36-3-1, 22 KOs) used his experience to conquer the too-eager-for-his-own-good Katsidis (23-1, 20 KOs) as the 27-year-old brawler charged after Casamayor in the opening seconds of round ten and ran into a left that dropped him face first into the ropes. Although Katsidis beat the count, he had no legs, and a flurry by Casamayor convinced the referee that Katsidis had had enough. The fight ended at :30 of round ten.
Casamayor foreshadowed Katsidis’ undoing by dropping him twice in round one with counter left hands. Soon after, Katsidis started keeping his right hand high, negating the Casamayor left. Katsidis coupled his improved defense with constant pressure. Punches to Casamayor’s body set up a right that sent the 36-year-old through the ropes in round six.
Never too old to learn, Casamayor boxed from on the outside from round seven on. When he did get inside, he held Katsidis close, taking away the younger man’s body work that had been so effective earlier in the night. HBO televised the fight on its Boxing After Dark series.
Casamayor retains his Ring Magazine and linear lightweight championship.
Saturday, March 21, 2008:
Andy Lee joins a long list of tall, lanky, Emmanuel Steward trained power punchers to get knocked out in spectacular fashion: Tommy Hearns, Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Kermit Cintron, and Jermain Taylor are the others. Unfortunately for Lee, his beat down didn’t come from a known good, or even great fighter, as did the other men in the list, but from Brian Vera, who got iced in the second round by Jaidon Codrington in the “Contender” series.
Lee came out looking like the future of the middleweight division that he is supposed to be as he dropped Vera with a nuclear left in round one. Vera, apparently not interested in helping along Lee’s career, got up, survived the round, and started dropping scuds as fast as he could load them. Not a particularly accurate puncher, Vera made up for his lack of precision with a kinetic determination that eventually has Lee reeling under a barrage of punches in round seven, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 2:17.
Although Lee had just landed a left and, it could be argued, was mounting his own assault, he waited too long to do so. A fighter cannot take two dozen unanswered punches and assume the referee isn’t going to think he’s finished for the night.
Now 15-1 with 12 KOs, Lee’s career is hardly ruined. He’s only 23-years-old, and, like the other Steward trained fighters listed above, has big fights, and probably world titles, in his future. He just needs to make sure he learned something from the loss. For his part, Brian Vera, 16-1 (10 KOs), showed enough power and heart to get him more TV exposure and and a little higher price tag. Good for him.
March 15:
Manny Pacquiao eeked out a split decision in an emotionally stirring 130 pound contest at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. The judges scores were 115-112 for Pacquiao, 115-112 for Marquez, and a deciding 114-113 for Pacquiao. After getting knocked on his butt by a left in round three, Marquez made a point of circling to his left and countering Pacquiao, who still managed to land hard enough to buckle Marquez’s 34-year-old knees on occasion.
Both men sustained cuts, though Marquez’s appeared deeper and bled more. A late fight surge gave Marquez the last two rounds, but Pacquiao’s power early in the fight made the difference.
Almost as entertaining as the fight, was the post fight press conference as the Marquez camp once again moaned incessantly about unfair judging and what they feel is corruption in the system. While boxing’s history is hardly pristine, the constant whining from the brothers Marquez and their camp comes off less like altruistic policing of the sport and more like sour grapes at each successive press conference.
After listening patiently for nearly half an hour, Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, had finally heard enough and blurted, “This is F—–g ridiculous.”
March 15, 2008: GoldenBoy Promotions announced today that WBO world bantamweight champion, Gerry Penalosa 52-6 (35 KOs) will fight Ratanachai Sor Vorapin 71-9 (47 KOs) on April 6, 2008 at Arenata Coliseum in Manila, Philippines. The fight is the first GoldenBoy promotion outside of the US.
Penalosa won the title by knocking out Jhonny Gonzalez with a body shot in round six of their fight in August 2007.
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