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   Boxing's Dark Side XVII 

                 DELUSIONAL

   Throughout the "Boxing's Dark Side" series, we've identified several personality traits that make the New England boxing scene look a little bit like Jr. high school. We didn't need to consult with Sigmund Freud's spirit in order to figure out what the main disorder was. It's delusion... Or delusional behavior. There are 4 different types of delusion, but one is glaring. That'd be the Grandiose Type. I'm sure you've all heard of someone having delusions of grandeur. Grandiose type is: The delusion of inflated worth, power, knowledge, identity, or special relationship to a famous person. Either there are a ton of people running around the New England boxing circuit with Grandiose Type Delusion, or we are home to the largest cluster of liars in universal history. We took that definition right from the dictionary, and being the master educators that we are, we'll break it on down for you. Who knows, maybe we'll help some people, if they can get over their delusions of grandeur.

Delusion of inflated worth- This doesn't mean monetary worth in boxing. How could it? Anybody that has this delusion, usually gets slapped into reality real quick. Given the fact that sports and boxing is entertainment, you'd have to look at what television companies have offered you recently. That's your worth. If you're a writer, what books or magazines have written checks out to you.

Delusion of inflated power- As sad as it is to say, there are a lot of people that have this part of the delusion, even with the Red Sox and Patriots right up the street. Maybe it's the fact that the sport has a lot of poverty stricken individuals working as the talent (boxers.) Promoters will have fighters calling them almost begging to be a part of their next show. They need the money, and the promoter can provide that. Maybe that gives them a feeling of power. The delusion though, is that Bob Kraft is 15 minutes away, negotiating with an athlete for a contract that will pay him upwards of $12,000,000.00 per season. A promoter will be feeling power in his negotiation with an athlete for $800.00 per fight.

Delusion of inflated knowledge- This one's ugly, and probably the most prevalent. This one can get downright scary. It's probably a combination of the no credentials necessary policy and the lack of interest in the sport that causes this. But it's way out of control. It's very difficult to analyze a sport that you've never participated in, that's just the truth. When someone played baseball as a kid, and they're writing boxing...that's the no credentials necessary policy at work. When they're sitting at ringside. making comments that they think sound good, that's the lack of anyone's interest in play. Think, "Big fish in a small pond."  For the most part, no one is going to say anything to that person. They're going to let him soak in his delusion of knowledge. Because of that though, some have gotten so bad that they think they understand it so well that they could actually be a good fighter. Think about that for a second, it happens all the time. They've never been hit once by a professional or amateur fighter, but they've seen it a bunch of times, so they know that they'd be a good pugilist. They talk to people that do it, so surely they could do it too. It's stupid. Any idiot can be knowledgeable about boxing. It's akin to being knowledgeable about  Montpelier, Vermont Public Access TV. If you know 5 boxers, then technically you'd be considered knowledgeable about boxing. Take a frigging bow. If you were getting accolades for your baseball knowledge, that's an accomplishment. Baseball is America's pastime, and there are some people with mind-boggling knowledge of that game. Boxing isn't America's pastime, and you need a hell of a lot more than the knowledge of the champions from 1970 to get recognized for being knowledgeable.....You need a mirror and a hobby. 

Delusion of inflated identity- This is a problem too. Think "Almost Famous? Not Even Close." Remember that one? If you don't, go check out the Boxing's Dark Side page. Too many people have a deluded identity in this boxing business. As I've said, it seems harmless enough, but people recognize it, and they've obviously decided to turn away. People lost their identity with that knowledge crap. They figured out what a jab looked like from ringside, and they identified themselves as a promising boxer. Do ya see the delusion there? These are people that have never boxed a round in their entire life. That's like watching the Patriots each Sunday, getting to know Kevin Faulk a little bit, and then thinking that you could grind out at least 50 yards every game. Sometimes you lose your identity. You forget that you're a manager, or a promoter, or a writer, or a photographer, or an announcer, or whatever the hell you are. Problem.  

Delusion of a special relationship to a famous person- This one runs rampant, and it's embarrassing as hell. We already explained that Tom Cruise's closest friend couldn't write a book and sell copies. Why? Because he's not famous, Cruise is. It's always bad when someone hears a person speak of how close he is to a celebrity, yet they never hear the celebrity utter that person's name.

   As I said, many of you can relate to these afflictions. Even if you don't think that you have the disorder, then you should be able to readily admit that you're a liar. So while everyone wants to sit around on their ass, and bitch about all the problems in boxing.... These are the problems. You may not want to admit that to yourself, and you might want to continue with the delusions that you've created. But trust me, they're a big problem. Look at the other sports. Watch the way the coaches act. Listen to the way the experts talk. Listen to what the commissioner says, and how he acts. Watch the way the owners act, and listen to what they say and the way that they say it. Don't try to copy them, because you're not smart enough to pull that off successfully, and you'll sound and look like a jerk. Just watch them....listen. Think about the money that they make in their sport, then think about what you make in your sport/hobby. Think about why the public is interested in them, but not you. Then make a choice. Are you delusional or are you a liar?

 

                 Irish Dopes



 
   In what seemed like an early April Fools joke, Irish Ropes sent out a press release/"Open Letter" to a bunch of web sites. Irish Ropes president, Eddie McLoughlin, said that Irish Ropes was out of business because they were "financially strapped."  This of course came right on the heels of John Duddy separating himself from their promotional company, and filing a lawsuit against them. Not surprisingly. Duddy and his attorneys say that Irish Ropes cheated Duddy out of a lot of money. The fact that Irish Ropes had to close down their boxing business immediately, shows that Duddy was the thing keeping the company afloat at all. Everyone knew that, of course, but they couldn't even pull off one more show? Not even one show? Now Irish Ropes is badmouthing John Duddy. He kept them in business, says he caught them stealing his due money, and now they're badmouthing him.
   Andy Lee was supposed to headline this year's St. Paddy's Day show in New York. Lee's team and Irish Ropes weren't able to come to terms, ticket sales were embarrassing, so Irish Ropes pulled the plug. Now Irish Ropes felt that Lee was unfair in his criticism of the company, and decided to counter that with an "open letter." Geniuses.
   Irish Ropes is out of business. What in the world are they doing pumping out press releases? It's over guys. It's too late guys. An open letter? Nobody was buying their stupid tickets anymore, yet they think people are going to read letters from them? They sound like a bunch of babies running around with a log in their diapers. It has to be the most embarrassing public relations move I've ever seen. Just go away now guys. You came and stunk up the state of Massachusetts a few times, and you obviously stunk up the empire state too. Nobody wanted your tickets, and nobody wants your open letters. Shoo now. Go away.

 

          Rodriguez, Kielczewski Win!!!!!!

   DiBella Entertainment came to Worcester, MA last night, and held their first show at Mechanic's Hall. Though the crowd wasn't really enough to be truly considered a "crowd," hometown hero, Edwin Rodriguez, gave the faithful a good performance. Rodriguez battered the durable Patrick Thompson throughout the first round, and forced the referee to stop it in the second.
   Quincy, MA native, Ryan Kielczewski, took the biggest step of his career by defeating his toughest foe to date. Many were surprised to see Kielczewski taking on 2-1 Aaron Chavez, after feeding on no-hopers so far in his career. Kielczewski looked good in the outing, scoring a 4th round stoppage. Chavez was a good measuring stick, and Kielczewski passed the test.
   Fall Rivers Dustin Reinhold stopped Valdarin Muriqi in the 4th round. Reinhold looked very good in the bout.
   Brooklyn's Phillip Jackson Benson went to a meaningless 3-0 with a TKO over Dameon Marshall. Benson still hasn't faced anyone that owns a win.
   Worcester's Valar Boise looked very good in dismantling Brockton's Huston Crayton. Crayton had his moments in the first round, but Bois applied relentless pressure. While Crayton showed a lot of heart in staying on his feet, his corner threw in the towel midway through the 2nd round.
   Ireland's Steven Ormond used a savage body attack to beat up Jon Ocassio. Ormond never stopped throwing his hands, and looked like the real deal. It should be noted that his opponent was NOT the real deal. He quit after round 1.

 

 

  
 
                  Same Old Story at This  



  Year's St. Paddy's Day Show
 


   As expected, last night's St. Patrick's card at the Dorchester Armory was less than stellar. The "main event" of the show saw Pat Hyland win a pedestrian decision over Carlos Guevara.
   We told you that the co-feature had a creature in it that was subpar. We were referring to Juergen Hartenstein. Mark Tucker knocked him out in the 1st round. Co-feature?
   Weymouth's Jimmy Leblanc was DQ'd in the 4th round against Gary O'Sullivan. The fight was the most boring spectacle of the evening, which is saying something.
   4-11 Anthony Cannon served as cannon fodder yet again. He moved to 4-12 after getting TKO'd in 7 minutes and 14 seconds by Nick Brinson.
   Massacusetts' Dan Conway couldn't have asked for a better opponent in his pro debut. He faced the winless Rafael Jastrzebeski, who was 0-6-1. We assume that Conway's career will be finished at 0-1, after he was knocked out in the 2nd round. Jastrzebski earns his first win in 8 tries.
   We told you about the excitement the promotion showed when they added Danny O'Connor to this card. We also told you that it was overblown, because O'Connor was facing someone that doesn't stay upright for long into his fights. His fight with Charles Wade was over in the 1st round.

-In the two "all pro debut' fights:

-Alexis Santos TKO'd Steve Jaegar in the 3rd.
-Justin Palau won a 4 round decision over Antonio Fernandez.

 

  St. Paddy's Day Card in Dorchester       

            Tonight Looks Terrible 

 

  

Last year's St Patrick's day boxing card was promoted by Paschal Collins. It was named the worst New England boxing show of 2008. It's early, but the one scheduled for Saturday night looks disgusting. Last year's show was held at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. We counted roughly 47 people in attendance. This one will be at the Dorchester Armory, so it won't appear as empty, but it's doubtful that many people will come to watch this failure of an evening.
   Pat Hyland is in the main event. Hyland is undefeated at 15-0. He was in the main bout of last year's debacle too. He fought Mike Dobbs, who was 10-17. That fight lasted a little over a minute. This time his opponent is Carlos Guevara, 12-8-1. Guevara has had all of his fights in Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. His last outing was his first fight on US soil. He got knocked out upon entry.
   The co-feature will see undefeated Mark Tucker take on Juergen Hartenstein. Hartenstein is 12-13-1. After losing 9 consecutive bouts, Hartenstein was able to score a TKO over a 2-7 fighter in his last bout. Unfortunately, it was his first win in 6 years, and the guys that he was losing to weren't very good. Undefeated Gary Sullivan will face Weymouth's Jimmy LeBlanc, who is 12-15-4.
   The promotion of this event felt it necessary to enlighten people about Framingham Jr. welterweight, Danny O'Connor's participation. O'Connor is 4-0, after barely getting by Jamar Saunders by a majority decision. Saunders had a draw with Rhode Island's Josh Beeman in his previous bout. O'Connor will take on Charles Wade of Philly. Wade was 4-0 at one point too. He's 4-7 now. If you're looking for a silver lining, he did go the distance.........in 1 of those 7 straight losses.
   Dorchester's Danny Conway will make his pro debut on the card. We don't know much about his opponent, except that his name is Rafael Jastrzebski, and he doesn't have any wins in his 7 pro fights.
   There are a couple fight involving debut fighters, so maybe those will be decent, we don't know. But this is an awful fight card. They'll get their guys another win on their record, but they'll further damage boxing's reputation. Thankfully, not many people will be here to witness it, if last year's show at the Orpheum Theatre is any indication.

Eddie Hyland, 11-1, will face Alex Perez, 23-33-4.

Massachusetts/Mohegan Results

 

 
Two shows took place in New England on Friday night. CES had their first show in Plymouth, MA, and ESPN2 televised from Mohegan Sun. Several New England boxers were in action, but the Plymouth show was senseless. Each favored fighter was given a seemingly easy task, but most of them struggled mightily. It was obvious that the show was done on the cheap, but sometimes even that's not enough.   


 

   In the main event at Memorial Hall in Plymouth, MA, Jason Pires shutout Louie Leija. A lot had been made about Pires' return from a 5 year hiatus, and this was the 3rd fight of his comeback. What didn't get mention, oddly enough, was that his opponent was returning from a 10 year layoff. This was only his 2nd fight back.
   In what was advertised as a co-feature, Paul Delgado eked out a spilt decision over Sebastian Hamel. Hamel entered the bout with 10 wins in his 27 bouts. Those 10 wins were against garbage though, and he only has 1 KO against them. Haverhill's Jeff Fraza knocked Delgado out a few years ago, and Hamel looked like he beat him too.

   Manny Lopes returned to action for the first time in several months. He won a close 4 round decision over Eric Clinton. Clinton was winless in his first 6 fights, and he's still winless. Lopes is having an awfully hard time beating these novices.

   Stoughton's Mical Weisberg faced off against Peter Guthy in a 4 rounder. Weisberg was making his second start, after facing a near quadrapalegic in his first bout. Things looked to be hand fed to him again here, as Guthy came in sporting a 1-5-2 record. He had been knocked out in all 5 of the losses. Pretty much everybody thought that he earned the 2nd victory of his career here, but Weisberg was named a majority decision victor. Guthy hasn't been knocked out in all 6 of his losses. If Weisberg plans to continue fighting, then Massachusetts will need to pass a law allowing children under the age of 5 to compete professionally. Otherwise, Weisberg could be seriously injured 
   Andrey Nevsky decisioned a 2-9 guy, and Kali Reis beat Alexsandra Lopes in a 4 round female bout. Lopes was making her pro debut.

            
 At Mohegan Sun Casino, Delvin Rodriguez hung on to win a 12 round decision over Shamone Alvarez in the ESPN2 main event. Providence's Demetrius Andrade scored a 1st round knockout. Frankie Trader knocked out Worcester's Edwin Rosado in the 2nd round. Simeon Dunwell won a 4 rounder over Shakha Moore. Dunwell hasn't gotten any better as a pro.

 Recap of Connecticut Boxing Weekend

 

    Hard Hittin' Promotions made their promotional debut on Friday night in Middletown, CT. The crowd wasn't much, but those that did show up were able to see some good action. Connecticut's Tony Grano got back on the winning track with a decision over Jermell Barnes. It was the main event, and it was 6 rounds. In the co-feature, undefeated Juan Nazario (6-0-1) fought in front of his hometown fans, and seemed to be in a fight that he'd win. He took on a Carolina fighter with a 2-2-1 record. That Carolina fighter, Jason Rorie, chased Nazario around, and appeared to have earned the win. One judge gave it to him, the other two called it even. Majority draw.
   The only other New England fighter on the show was Providence's Keith Kozlin. He took on winless Brandon Burke. Kozlin landed clean shots for the entire bout, but didn't even give Burke a headache. Kozlin moves to 3-0 with the victory, which is strange. 
   Two New England boxers competed a night earlier on The Contender series finale. Brockton's Tim Flamos was knocked out by Felix Cora, Jr. in the 3rd round. Flamos was fairly competitive, but Cora was whipping him until he knocked him out.

   The other New England cruiserweight was Richard Gingras of Concord, MA. Gingras took on Ryan Coyne, who had earlier defeated Flamos by a split decision. Everybody seemed to think Flamos won the bout easily, so Gingras had a very nice match set for him. Gingras had lost 2 fights in a row though. His blowout loss to Harvey Jolley last year was changed to a no decision when Jolley failed a drug test, but he still had been beaten in his last two. Make it three now. Coyne beat the stuffing out of Gingras, and won the fight going away by a near shutout. Gingras shouldn't have been on the show. 
   

 

New England Boxing Will

 

Heat Up Tonight, and it Will

 

Stay Hot for a Month!!!!!

 

   Though there has only been one fight card so far this year, New England boxing will really bust out of the gates tonight. Foxwoods Casino will host this year's championship night of The Contender. While Troy Ross and Hino Ehikhamenor will vie for the top prize, two New England boxers will see action on the show as well. Brockton's Tim Flamos will take on Felix Cora Jr. in a 6 round preliminary bout.  Richard Gingras of Concord, MA will face Ryan Coyne in another 6. 

Two night later, Connecticut will be home to another boxing event. This one will take place in Middletown at the Lion's Den Fitness Center. UFC legend Ken Shamrock owns that facility, but we have no word on his involvement with this card. Hard Hittin' Promotions will make their promotional debut that night. Heavyweight Tony Grano will return to the ring for the first time since September, when he was knocked out by Mark Brown. Grano will fight New York veteran Jermell Barnes in the main event. That one should be interesting. Worcester's Adam Harris will also return from his first defeat on this card. Philadelphia's Simon Carr will provide the opposition.

A week later...on March, 6th,  Delvin Rodriguez will headline an ESPN2 card against Shamone Alvarez. Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut will play host that night. Joe DeGaurdia's Star Boxing will promote. Demetrius Andrade will also see action in a 4 rounder against an unnamed opponent. The Rodriguez-Alvarez fight should be a dandy.


On that same night. CES will start off their Memorial Hall shows in Plymouth, MA. Jason Pires will box Louie Leija. Manny Lopes will box someone. Isander Beauchamp will fight Elton Dharry, and Providence female Kali Reis will be in a 4 round bout

.A short week later on March, 14th, Dorchester Armory will hold an Irish themed card.Patrick Hyland is in the main event, but none of you care. In a Massachusetts battle though, Eddie Caminero will take on the returning super middleweight, Steve Detar. A few other New England guys are on the show, but most don't have opponents.


On March,19th Lou DiBella and Peter Manfredo, Sr. join forces to promote a card at Worcester's Mechanics Hall. Newly signed DiBella soldier, Edwin Rodriguez, will be in the main event. While Quincy, MA lightweight, Ryan Kielczewski will box in a 4 round bout. 

  True Recap of Twin River Show

 
   In a super middleweight rematch,  Joey McCreedy and Richard "Bobo" Starnino repeated their slugfest from last year. Being the geniuses that we are, our prediction of a close McCreedy win was accurate. The judges gave McCreedy a majority nod. 
 
   We also said that the Joey Spina vs. Matt Gockel bout was a terrible fight..... We said it was a cheap fight. It was over in less than 2 minutes.

   We told you that Adam Harris would lose his undefeated record in his bout with journeyman David Williams. CES recently signed Harris to a deal. They should have signed us to a deal as their matchmaker, but they would've had to pay us 10 times what they pay their current one.
 
   The Eddie Soto-Sean Ecklund fight was closer than we thought it would be. Don't get us wrong though, we got the result right. Ecklund fought his best fight yet, and this fight probably helped him grow as a boxer more than all of his others combined. We thought that Ecklund deserved the decision, so they'll have to do it again.
 
   We told you that Rashad Minor was making his pro debut, because his first official bout was against a dead body. We told you that Sean McLean had some useful experience. The matchmakers at CES apparently thought that Minor was better than he is. McLean knocked him out in 27 seconds. That's including the 10 seconds that the referee spent counting. Minor is a very big guy, so he may want to become a bouncer at a nightclub. He just needs to make sure that it's not within 60 miles of Lincoln, RI.
 
   Jesus Caro was supposed to fight Olade Thomas. Thomas isn't very good, but he's been durable in his short career. We were interested to see Caro extended for the 1st time as a pro. Caro has fought absolute garbage so far, and it didn't get any better Friday. Instead of fighting Thomas, Caro was opposed by Jerry Pressley, who was 0-1. Pressley's first fight ended with him knocked out in 1 minute and 43 seconds. This one ended in 1 minute and 49 seconds. So Pressley's getting better.

   Brian Macy was knocked out 46 seconds into round 3.  Anthony Pietrantonio who hadn't won a fight in over 4 years did the honors. Pietrantonio picked up the biggest win of his career, as his best result prior to this was a win over a 2-1 fighter.      


   Jay Holland knocked out Kevin Varnadore in 51 seconds. Varnadore drops to 0-5, having been knocked out in all of those. Holland stays an amateur at 0-0.
 
   As we said, Josh Beeman got beat by James Saunders. As we said, the judges acted funny. They declared the bout a draw.


 

 

 

           Twin River Predictions

 

 

   CES will be staging New England's first professional boxing card tonight at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, RI. The matches appear to be fairly competitive ones, although there are some horrid looking ones too. We'll give you our predictions here, to actually give you an idea of what is being sold. While it has been promoted as a card full of great fights, it might be time to get a hold of ourselves. Read on to find out what will happen tonight. 

 

Richard "Bobo" Starnino vs. Joey McCreedy- While the Richard Starnino vs. Joey McCreedy bout doesn't have much talent involved in it, it's a local rematch that promises to be kind of exciting. Neither McCreedy nor Starnino belongs in an 8 rounder though, but so what. It's the main attraction of the card, and it's a rematch of their spirited battle from last year. Everybody except the judges saw Starnino beat McCreedy that night, but the bout was ruled a draw. Assuming both fighters trained hard for this one, it should be the same type of bout. McCreedy should win this fight, and if he doesn't, he should stop fighting.

Prediction: McCreedy by Decision
Joey Spina vs. Matt Gockel- There's one other 8 rounder on the card. Joey Spina is in that one. Matt Gockel of Kansas is his opponent. Gockel has a record of 12-9. He's been knocked out in all but 1 of those losses. Terrible fight. Cheap fight.

Prediction: Spina by KO
Adam Harris vs, David Williams- Worcester's Adam Harris will fight in a 6 round bout against Philadelphia's David Williams. Harris is 10-0, Williams in 6-2-1. This will be a very good fight. Williams is undefeated in New England at 3-0-1. Harris has been inactive for over a year, and has been inconsistent as a pro. This one has upset written all over it.

Prediction: Williams by Decision
Eddie Soto vs. Sean Ecklund- Soto is10-0, Ecklund is 6-2. While both have good records, neither has fought anybody decent. The best fighter Ecklund has faced is a guy that was 1-4. Record's of people that Ecklund beat? 2-18. Combined record of those that have beaten Ecklund? 1-8. Mind boggling.
Soto has stretched the definition of professional too. After edging out a 5-17 fighter for a majority decision last February, he eked out another close one over a 1-1 fighter. This is almost funny. Still, it's an interesting tilt. It gives the appearance of a step up for Soto, and we have to assume that's the point. For Ecklund, this at least shows that he'll fight someone that isn't a corpse. If things don't go well though, we shouldn't hear of him again.

Prediction: Soto by Decision
Jesus Caro vs. Olade Thomas- Jesus Caro is 3-0, and will fight 1-3 Olade Thomas. This should be a decent scrap though. Thomas hasn't been knocked out yet, while Caro has extinguished all three of his foes. We'll take what we can get?

Prediction: Caro by Decision
Rashad Minor vs. Sean McLean- Rashad Minor fought a dead guy in his only pro bout, so we consider this his pro debut. Shawn McLean is 2-4, but he's fought tooth and nail with some good fighters. Minor will be tested more than he was in his last "fight."

Prediction: Minor by Decision
Brandon Burke vs. Kieth Kozlin- Burke will be the 2nd 0-4 fighter that Kozlin's faced in his 3 fight career. Useless, senseless fight.

Prediction: Kozlin by KO
Jay Holland vs. Kevin Varnador- Holland will make his pro debut here, while Varnador will bring an 0-4 record in. He's been knocked out in all 4 of them, 3 times in the 1st. In his career highlight in 2007, Varnador was knocked out in the 2nd round by 1-4 Ryan Shay. The glory of that feat didn't last long, because 2 months later Shay did it in 1 round.

Prediction: Holland by KO
Josh Beeman vs. Jamar Saunders- In November of last year, Josh Beeman pulled an upset in Niagara Falls. That same night,  Jamar Saunders picked up a win too. This should be a good fight. Beeman will probably get beat in this one, but the judges could act funny.

Prediction: Saunders by Decision
Brian Macy vs. Anthony Pietrantonio- Pietrantonio has fought only twice in the past 4 years, he's lost both of those bouts. He was stopped inside of 1 round in his last outing, so Macy better get rid of him with ease. Macy was awarded a gift decision over limited Bobo Starnino last year, so he has pressure on him to prove he's worth something.

Prediction: Macy by KO 


 

        Boxing's Dark Side XXII                   

 

               WE'RE BACK!!!!!!!!

 

   Things have been pretty busy around here lately, but we're back in business. We've finalized all of the itinerary for our trip to Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa Bay on Sunday, and we'll head out on Friday evening. If anybody else plans to be in Tampa for the festivities, please let us know and we'll get you tickets to the best pre-game party in the city, hosted by NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com.

   Jimmy Burchfield's CES Boxing will run a show next month in Lincoln, RI. We'll get to that tomorrow. It looks like there is a couple decent fights taking place on the card, but for some reason I doubt that you'll be seeing too much about it on ESPN....or in the newspaper. They might pay to have some story written about it, but you'll probably just come to this site to get the true scoop. You always do.

   Given the fact that everyone knows how unpopular boxing has become, why have no changes taken place? While other sports are flourishing, boxing is becoming more and more obsolete. When we head down to Florida we'll get a chance to see the drastic difference up close and personal. And when I say drastic, I do mean drastic. There's two major problems with boxing, many more problems stem from them, but the two that have made boxing into a sport that is about as popular as pogo sticking, is the promoters and the commissions.
   Why are fighters that are making their pro debut, always opposed by other fighters without experience? It contradicts the whole concept of "professional." Tiger Woods certainly wasn't playing against other recent college graduates when he made his pro golfing debut. Tiger was teeing off against the world's best. He had already went through the amateur level. Because so many people in boxing are unintelligent, they may try to make the case that "Golf is non-contact!!" What about Matt Ryan, the rookie quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons? Did the NFL make sure that he played his first 3 games against 23 year olds? No, Ryan had to go against 300 pound linemen that ran the 40 yard dash faster than some college receivers. He had to stand in the pocket with veteran pro bowlers breathing down his neck. Boxing commissions would be appalled if a matchmaker ever tried to put a pro debut fighter against a recently dethroned world champion with a 29-2 record. Now, in the commission's defense, most of them know as much about boxing as Ethiopians know about a full stomach. So they basically follow the crowd. That's probably not the defense that they want, but it's the best that I can do. This "system" that boxing uses though, it's not a system that relates to professional sports....or professional anything, really.
   Go through the world champions.....all 1,941 of them. See who their first "professional" bout was against. You won't recognize any of the names. If somebody says, "Boxing's always been that way," then they don't even know that high school badminton draws a bigger crowd than "pro" boxing. NFL commissioners don't get involved in the selection process of the participants, that's not their job. Their job is to make sure that they have a league that rakes in billions of dollars. They accomplish that mission over and over. It just keeps getting bigger and better. What have the geniuses of the "ABC" come up with? The Boxing Severity Index. While that may sound like a paper one of your friends wrote in the 4th grade, it's also what the "ABC" must have cracked their balls apart configuring. With all due respect to the members, this is the stupidest thing you'll have looked at today:
                         

                  BOXING SEVERITY INDEX (BSI)

 

1)      ACTIVITY (fights in the last 2 years)

1 (or less)         +1 

2)      RECENT RECORD            

Lost 5 or more in a row               +2

Lost 3 of last 4                           +1

Won 3 of last 4                            -1 

3)      KO or TKO

More than 4 in last 2 years          +3

3 or less in last 2 years               +2

Last fight by KO                          +1 

4)      Age                            

Greater than 44                            +2

Greater than 35                            +1 

5)      RING AGE               

Greater than 500 rounds             +1

Amateur experience

Each fight = 1 pro round

Greater than 5 years              +1


TOTAL SCORE:         
              
+3 - +4 = High Risk Category “C”

+5 - +6 = High Risk Category “B”

+7 - +9 = High Risk Category “A”

           Categories A, B, and C indicate the fighter needs further clinical evaluation by the commission and their medical advisory board before licensure. This scale is not meant to replace good judgment, but to be utilized as one objective tool to determine suitability to compete.

   There you have it folks. You probably are somewhat confused over some of that. Anybody would be, that's why you don't hear anybody ever mention it. Chances are good that your grandchildren won't be studying it after they get through with the Declaration of Independence. But hey, these guys are being paid well to come up with these incredible formulas. If these commissions want to be taken seriously, then they should have to answer to some malpractice questions. They don't want that though, do they? Go to the "ABC" web site. Check out the meeting minutes that they have available  for public viewing. It'll tell you the same thing that it's told you forever, "Please check back soon for information regarding the ABC meeting minutes."  Soon? Does that mean check back in a few years? Judging by the Boxing Severity Index, and the rest of their tremendous works, I'd say that the "ABC" as a unit has booked about 7 minutes.
   The promoters haven't exactly set the world on fire either. 3-0 boxers are opposed by 0-1 boxers regularly. It's the common practice, even though it's a proven failure. We'll delve into that stuff tomorrow. We are back in full swing here, so our operation will base in Florida tomorrow night. Tomorrow afternoon we'll have a preview of next week's CES show.

Tomorrow: Boxing's Dark Side XXIII

Tomorrow: Preview of the CES show

    Attempted Murder Case Against McInerney   

                     

                      Looking Weak



 

   With Stoughton cruiserweight, Chris McInerney, due back in court on January 27th to answer to an attempted murder charge, it needs to be mentioned that the case against him isn't a very strong one. McInerney told NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com that he expects to be cleared of these charges, but understands why they are taken so seriously.
   A couple months ago, McInerney was arrested on a charge of attempted murder. It was originally reported that the girl had called 911. McInerney claims that it wasn't the girl that called 911 though, it was a drug addict that wasn't even present when the alleged incident took place. According to McInerney, his accuser is also a drug addict. McInerney told NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com that he never struck the girl, and said that he has the police photos showing the woman with an unmarked face. McInerney also said that he drove the woman home himself, at 3:00 am.
   It's important for everyone to remember that when we publish these stories, we make sure that they are the truth. You won't ever see inaccuracies on this site. We published what the police and media were reporting on the case. What's our official take on this situation? We think it's a pretty weak case against McInerney. And while him threatening to kill her dog adds quite a bit of fascination to the story, we've all said some things that we don't really mean. The police report said that the woman went to McInerney's home to retrieve her things......at 2:00 in the morning. 2 am?????? That isn't a very fashionable time for a property retrieval, unless of course you're an addict, like McInerney says she is. Of course she could just be a night owl, but something smells fishy there.
   We'll keep you posted on this story, and the coming legal proceedings. It's important for everyone to remember that McInerney is innocent. The constitution even says so. That won't change unless the prosecution can prove him guilty. I can't imagine how anyone could find him guilty of attempted murder though, can you? Not one rational person could conclude that McInerney tried to kill the woman. That's retarded. The case has drawn quite a bit of local media attention though, and McInerney is somewhat concerned that people will take those as truths. In that case, McInerney will be happy to know that we've looked the case over quite a bit. We've found the case to be weak. We are experts with a capital EX. We're also a site that has traffic running through it all day and night, and that goes on for 7 days a week. When this case is tossed out of the courts, which we believe it will be, everybody will know it. We are your source for New England boxing. We are NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com

 

           Dicky Ecklund Charged

            with Intent to Murder

 

  Lowell's Dicky Ecklund has been charged with assault with intent to murder, intimidation of a witness and assault and battery. This is the 2nd criminal charge involving the "M" word for a New England boxer, past or current, in the last three months. Stoughton's Chris McInerney was charged with attempted murder in October.

  Ecklund's charges stem from an incident early Saturday morning. After an argument, police say that Ecklund choked his girlfriend. Apparently Ecklund's not an ear guy, so he then bit her nose...according to police. When his frightened girlfriend went to call the police, Ecklund allegedly pulled the telephone out of the wall. Before Ecklund appeared at his arraignment, his girlfriend withdrew her claims. Prosecuters have decided to keep the charges going, and I assume that means her nose had a nibble mark.

  Filming was supposed to have already begun for the movie, "The Fighter," which is about the lives of Ecklund and his half-brother Micky Ward. A few months ago, Mark Wahlberg stated that he wasn't sure if the movie would happen or not. Ecklund has some experience with film crews though. In 1995 he was one of 3 featured addicts on an HBO documentary, "High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell." The film crew followed Ecklund around for 18 months, and documented the heavy toll that crack-cocaine has on a person's life. By the end of the film Ecklund was serving a lengthy prison sentence. 

  In 2006, Ecklund was a suspect in the beating death of a Lowell man. Due to witnesses failure to cooperate and otherwise lack of evidence, charges were never filed. In the current case, Ecklund was released on $1,000 bail. It's kind of hard to imagine these charges sticking, with the girlfriend recanting her story. Either way, when you have a couple murder related charges in Massachusetts boxing circles in a 3 month period, doesn't Boxing's Dark Side seem like an appropriately named series? I mean, call us Nostradamus, but weren't we going to do a story a little over 3 months ago entitled, "Boxing's Dark Side: Murder in Boxing?" Yes, we were. Our intuition told us to hold off on that one for a little while. Our intuition proved correct.   

   

 
    Boxing's Dark Side XXI:

                       

                         Ron Borges Is Not Gorgeous 
 

      Ron Borges is a well known writer, relatively speaking. Ron Borges is wrong more than most people, and while that may seem rather harsh, it's true. Ron Borges knows very little about the sport of boxing. Ron Borges doesn't consider Bill Belichick a great coach. Ron Borges has been in only one fist fight that anyone knows about, and in that fight he earned a draw with an elderly man that needs the help of a cane to stand up. Ron Borges considers himself an expert on figuring out when a boxer needs to hang up his gloves. Ron Borges is a former sports writer for the Boston Globe. He was suspended last year for plagiarism....the cardinal sin among journalists. Borges said that God would reveal the truth about what occurred, but thanks to the "internet age," God's intervention wasn't necessary. Borges copied an article practically word for word. There are other instances of this happening with Borges, but who cares?

      Borges, probably out of embarrassment, left the Globe, and joined The Boston Herald staff. While The Herald has a superior boxing scribe in George Kimball, I figured that Borges would be relegated to making an ass of himself while writing about the Patriots. Unfortunately, Borges has been called on to do some boxing pieces recently. He gave his opinion on what the outcome would be when Oscar De La Hoya faced Manny Pacquiao. The headline of his December 6th article was "Little Faith in Manny Pacquiao." The article began with the sentence: "There is a reason they have weight classes in boxing, as Manny Pacquiao is about to find out." Borges went on like a Harvard professor in the article, explaining to us all how easy of a fight this will be for the Golden Boy. Great call Ronald. De La Hoya was smacked around the ring for a few rounds, and then he quit while sitting on his stool. Michael Katz gave Borges an even fight and that guy's a cripple! Why the hell did Borges think a few pounds was such a big factor? The next day Borges reported on the Pacquiao-De La Hoya fight as if he'd never said a word. No accountability. A week later Borges was bashing Evander Holyfield's pursuit of the world championship. Borges said that Holyfield had no chance of winning the title. Apparently Borges had never seen Nikolai Valuev fight. Holyfield pitched a near shut-out against the Russian, and was robbed of his win by a split-decision. Again, no retraction from Borges. He belittled the fight and Valuev, and he continued to bash Evander. Not a word about his idiotic prediction though.
     The question looms.... Is this guy ever right???? God!!! A few years ago Borges stated that he thought Bill Belichick was a guy that used to have his lunch money taken from him at school. I don't know if Borges realizes this or not, but Bill Belichick would be chucking noogies off of Borges head while cranking his Fruit of the Looms up to his ears if the two had attended school together. This is a guy that was copying other people's stuff, and he still wants to voice his irritating opinions? My opinion is that Ron Borges should brush up on the sport of boxing a little bit. Brushing up means learning, not running around and telling everyone that will listen, how you and Teddy Atlas are such close friends. Not getting into a fight of the century with a handicapped old man, and for the love of God...... It's not writing boxing articles for anyone else to read. If Borges continues to contribute boxing pieces to the Boston Herald, here's some advice: Revert back to your past behavior, sneak over to George Kimball's desk, grab his notebook and copy his articles.
      It's no secret that Ron Borges is an angry man. The simple fact that he picked a fight with a handicapped man in his sixties should speak loud enough about the man's temperament. I could get into a complete psychological evaluation of "Far from Gorgeous" Borges, but I won't do that right now. The argument could be made that Borges has a lot of reasons to be angry, and that point would be noted. After all, getting roughed up by a crippled clone of George Burns isn't going to work wonders for one's ego. If you thought "Far from Gorgeous" Borges was pissed before he tangled with a near double-amputee, think about the rage he must have felt as he was getting tossed around by the gimp!! His anger was probably further stoked when he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak, while plagiarizing someone's literature. If Borges went home that night and took a good look in the mirror, he most certainly became infuriated..... Have you ever seen Borges? Hence, "Far from Gorgeous." All of this in addition to his failed Nostradamus impression has made him quite the reject. So rather than tell the world when it's time for everyone else to quit plying their trade, maybe Borges should put down his pen, his spy satellite, his cripple club, or whatever he uses to write his garbage.

 

                       2008 New England Boxing Timeline

 

1/1- NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com debuts, forever changing New England boxing.

1/25- CES stages first New England boxing show of 2008 at Foxwoods casino. Matt Remillard and Jason Estrada both win by decision. Lowell's Joey McCreedy beats Holyoke's Chris Traietti in another decision. The embarrassing loss to McCreedy seems to give Traietti the hint... He hasn't fought since, because nobody was looking when they set him up with a near paraplegic in an MMA exhibition.
1/26- Peter Manfredo, Sr. makes his promotional debut a good one at the Mansfield SportsPlex . Missy Fiorentino won a technical decision in the main event.

2/8- Telefutura televises from The Castle in Boston. Golden Boy Promotions promotes, but Oscar isn't there.
3/7- In the co-feature at Foxwoods, the judges embarrass boxing again by ruling a ridiculous Draw in the Jason LeHoullier vs.Joe Luis Gonzalez bout. LeHoullier may have won 1 round.

3/15- The Orpheum Theater in Boston decides to give boxing a shot. They regret that decision now though. This was New England's worst show of 2008. Awful fights+Awful crowd= Awful everything.
3/21- Highly touted Andy Lee is knocked out in 7 by Brian Vera at Mohegan Sun Casino.
4/4- Jason Estrada decisions Lance Whitaker at the Twin River Events Center

4/16- Police search the Lowell home of cutman Jerry Colton, on a warrant, finding numerous computers, memory CDs, mini disks, zip drives, a digital camera and marijuana. Loose papers found at the home contained personal information about the Lyons family from Andover, MA, including phone numbers, dates of birth, social security numbers and the names of their two teenage sons. Colton is arrested soon after.
5/7-Live on ESPN2, Hartford's Mike Oliver is destroyed in the 3rd round by Reynaldo Lopez. The Roxy in Boston hosts.

5/17- From Freeport Hall in Dorchester, MA, Robert DaLuz ekes out a split decision over Castulo Gonzalez. The fight wound up being New England's fight of the year. Peter Manfredo, Sr promoted.
5/23-CES promoted Aaron Williams is knocked out in 5 by Jose Luis Herrera on ESPN2.
6/7- Sergio Mora wins a split decision over Vernon Forrest at Mohegan Sun casino.
6/28- In what was ultimately named "New England's Disgrace of the Year," John Duddy wins a meaningless decision over Charles Howe at The Castle in Boston.

8/8-Jose Rivera makes his promotional debut, and fights in the main event at the armory in Worcester, MA.

9/1- Brockton's Tim Flamos departs for Singapore to compete in the Contender 4.

9/27- CT heavyweight Tony Grano is knocked out by 40 year old Mark Brown at the Harbour Yard Arena in Bridgeport, CT. 
10/17- Andover's Gail and Bill Johnson are arrested in the cyber harassment case involving Lowell's Jerry Colton. Colton had already been arrested months prior. The Johnsons are blaming Colton, Colton's blaming the Johnsons. Trials are set for 2009.
10/23- Stoughton, MA cruiserweight, Chris McInerney, is charged with attempted murder. The incident was at McInerney's home with a former girlfriend. Details of the case are sketchy, and McInerney is free on bail while he awaits trial.
11/13- Providence's Peter Manfredo, Jr. is blistered by Sakio Bika in 3 rounds at the Dunkin Donuts Center in his hometown.

Coming Saturday: Boxing's Dark Side XXI- Ron Borges Is Not Gorgeous...

On Saturday I'll give you the 21st installment of Boxing's Dark Side. Accountability is a forgotten virtue these days, and Boston Herald sports writer, Ron Borges, has plenty to account for. Borges is a very opinionated sort, but his boxing opinions have been so off the mark, that I often wonder if he watches the sport at all. I assume that he's not spending his time working out, because how much exercise does it take to tangle with elderly disabled people? I'll give you the Borges scoop tomorrow. This is one story that I can guarantee you he won't be copying. 


 

Boxing's Dark Side XX/2008 NE Boxing

 

Award Summary.



 Since it's the holiday season and we don't want to sound like Scrooge, we'll acknowledge this years recipients of the New England Boxing Awards. We'll tell you why we chose them, and who they beat out for the award, in some cases. This is a chapter of Boxing's Dark Side, because..... Read on.

   Chad Dawson is the 2008 NE Fighter of the Year, obviously. Though he only fought twice this year, wins over Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver made this a no-brainer. The Johnson decision was disputable, but the Tarver decision wasn't. Dawson may be the best light heavyweight in the world right now. In March he'll rematch Tarver for whatever reason, and then he'll look for bigger game....or money. Dawson is from New Haven, CT., which is why he was eligible for this award. The truth is though, Dawson spends as much time in New England these days as a lunar eclipse. Jason Estrada was the 2nd choice.
   The 2008 NE  Fight of the Year was only a 6 rounder at the IBEW Hall in Dorchester, MA. But it was the main event, and it was a war. Rhode Island's Robert DaLuz was 10-11-2, and  Lynn's Castulo Gonzalez was 9-5. Peter Manfredo, Sr. promoted the show, and proved that he had the right idea. Rather than following the usual unsuccessful blueprint of having two people with pretty records fight a probable snoozer, Manfredo opted to have two proven warriors battle each other in the type of fight that has become a rarity. Gonzalez and DaLuz didn't disappoint. They traded leather for 6 brutal rounds, with DaLuz earning a split nod. Since that fight, DaLuz has lost 4 in a row, and Gonzalez has lost 2 in a row. The runner-up was Matt Godfrey TKO4 Emmanuel Nwodo at Mohegan Sun.
   There were a couple good shows in New England in 2008, although nothing really special. The winner for NE Best Fight Card of the Year was the CES show on January 25th at Foxwoods. Jason Estrada vs. Charles Shuffordheadlined. Matt Remillard faced his toughest test. Joey McCreedy and ChrisTraiettifought in all-Massachusetts bout. Manny Lopes was held to a draw with a 2-7-2 fighter. Again, nothing that'll set the world on fire, but it was the best of 2008. There wasn't a runner-up.
The 2008 NE Trainer of the Year is Freddie Roach of Dedham, MA. That doesn't really need any explanation. Like Chad Dawson, Roach left the New England area long ago to advance his boxing career. There wasn't a runner-up.
   Another obvious choice was the NE Promoter of the Year Award. Jimmy Burchfield's CES carried the day for New England boxing in 2008. He was by far the most active promoter. He ran the most shows, and the shows he didn't promote usually had a couple of his fighters representing CES and New England. CES promoted at the Twin River casino in Lincoln, RI a few times, they ran in Providence, and at both Connecticut casino's. Rumor has it that Burchfield will be promoting in Boston, Massachusetts early in 2009. No runner-up, though Peter Manfredo, Sr. is someone to be watched. 
   There were a few nominees for NE Story of the Year. We could have went with Chad Dawson's impressive thrashing of Antonio Tarver, but that story didn't get much attention. So we really don't call that a story, but more of a.....result. The Jerry Colton Stalking Case got plenty of attention though. Unless you are living in the dark ages, you know that those types of things are what captivates the imaginations of our society. So that was why the national media took notice of this odd case. The fact that it involved children allegedly being harassed made it all the more chilling. Lowell cutman Jerry Colton was arrested, charged with stalking and other crimes, he had his computers and computer equipment confiscated. It was ugly. It is ugly. Depending on what happens in Colton's trial, he could be a repeat winner of this award in 2009. Chris McInerney's attempted Murder Charge was the runner-up, while Mike Nosky's accusations of boxing corruption finished 3rd.
   NE Knock Out of the Year went to Tim Flamos KO3 Chris McInerney. In December of last year McInerney stopped Flamos. In March of this year Flamos returned the favor and almost decapitated McInerney. McInerney was using his height advantage for 2 rounds, but the tough Flamos kept plodding forward, and closing the distance. In round 3 he landed a big shot and sent McInerney into orbit, literally. The referee called a halt to the bout just as McInerney was landing. McInerney hasn't legally fought since. Flamos has fought once since, but we're not going to tell you the result of that bout, that was held in the single-elimination tournament recorded for The Contender 4. No runner-up.
   Worcester's Edwin Rodriguez is the NE Rookie of the Year. He fought 8 times, and his record is 8-0 with 5 knockouts. Rodriguez has stepped up the competition a little bit, and will be expected to step up a lot more in 2009.
I gave the NE Writer of the Year Award to Shaun Matthews. I know that you all would have given it to me too, so I took it upon myself. If you're looking to get a nicotine high via your prostate, then I'm not your guy. If your looking to keep your ass cancer-free, you'll think of me as an asspatch.
   The NE Venue of the Year would be the Twin River casino in Lincoln, RI. They took the summer off, but we aren't drill sergeants here. There were 5 shows held at the venue, and Twin River is showing as much of a commitment to boxing as anyone else in the region.
   The NE Upset of the Year occurred in September. Connecticut'sheavyweight, Tony Grano was fighting in his home state. Grano had been in with severely limited opposition going into the bout, and this one seemed no different. The 27 year old Grano was facing 40 year old Mark Brown. Brown had a good record, but his one loss was a quick knockout 2 years ago to Joey Abell. Joey Abell isn't very good either. Grano had a loss too though, to 3-3 Rodney Ray. So maybe people shouldn't have been too surprised when the 40 year old Brown started pummeling Grano all over Connecticut. Grano hasn't fought since, in what appears to be another case of...."the cat's out of the bag." Mark Brown by 8th round knockout over Tony Grano.
The NE Manager of the Year Award goes to Mike Criscio. Criscio is a New Haven, CT resident, and manages Chad Dawson, 14-0 prospect Alfred Angulo, and many other prospects and contenders. We considered Bret Hallenbeck for the honor, but we had to reconsider. Hallenbeck isn't really worthy of the award, Criscio is.

   The NE Disgrace of the Year was John Duddy at The Castle in Boston on June 28th. On May 11th, Bob Trieger, the publicist for Irish Ropes, informed us that all of the fighters would be in competitive bouts, as they didn't need to use "ticket sellers," because John Duddy would probably sell the place out himself. Trieger said that because Duddy was with a new trainer, he wouldn't be in with "a monster." We knew that though. We had already found out who the opponent was, and we knew why Duddy was coming back to Boston. Duddy had his face ripped to shreds a few months prior in New York. The guy that did the ripping wasn't a "monster" either. They lined him up with Charles Howe, who was 17-3....pretty much and identical record to the guy that tore Duddy's face apart in New York, Walid Smichet. The New York commission would never have approved the bout with Charles Howe though, and Irish Ropes knew it. The day after we reported Howe was the opponent for Duddy, Irish Ropes' matchmaker, Jim Borzell reported that he didn't want anybody to get information from anyone but him. About 2 weeks later Irish Ropes announced Duddy's Boston opponent. Charles Howe. How was the show? The show stunk. What is Irish Ropes doing with Duddy these days? Probably suing him. Duddy left them a month ago. How's Charles How doing nowadays? After losing a boring decision to Duddy on the NE Disgrace of the Year show in Boston, he went to Nevada and fought a real contender. That fight was over in one minute and twenty seconds.

Coming New Years Eve: 2008 New England Boxing Timeline-

The Year in Review

   2008 New England Boxing Awards



NE Fighter of the Year- Chad Dawson

NE Fight of the Year- Robert DaLuz SD Castulo Gonzalez

NE Best Fight Card of the Year- January 25th at Foxwoods (CES)

NE Trainer of the Year- Freddie Roach

NE Promoter of the Year- CES

NE Story of the Year- Jerry Colton Stalking Case

NE Knock Out of the Year- Tim Flamos KO Chris McInerney

NE Rookie of the Year- Edwin Rodrigez

NE Writer of the Year- Shaun Matthews

NE Venue of the Year- Twin River casino

NE Upset of the Year- Mark Brown KO8 Tony Grano

NE Manager of the Year- Bret Hallenbeck

 NE Disgrace of the Year- John Duddy at The Castle 

Boxing's Dark Side XIX: Character

 

   If you are a Friday Night Fight's fan, you've heard Teddy Atlas talk about character more times than you can remember. To many people, the word character means someone like Elaine Benes...or Fred Flinstone. Those are characters though. So Elaine Benes was Julia Louis-Dreyfus' characterization of a female with "Elaine's" traits. Fred Flinstone was a cartoonist's invention....an animated character. When talking about someone's character though, it refers to a person's true nature... What traits they have . Are they a secure person or a jealous person? That would be a character trait. Are they an honest soul or a liar? What motivates them most, money or family? Being physically attractive or having a solid moral makeup? What types of reading material gets their heart pumping, spiritual text or celebrity gossip? What's the first thing that they do when they hear of someone's misfortune, say a prayer for that individual, call to offer help to the person, or call someone else to spread the bad news about the person? Those are all character traits. There are many more...several hundred even, but we should all get a fairly good understanding of what it is.
   When Teddy Atlas talks about character, he's always referring to a boxer's character. Boxers have several different aspects of their character tested. Aspects that other human beings will never have tested. That goes from sitting in a hotel room the night before a fight. Dealing with emotions the day of the fight, walking the aisle to fight, and then handling situations that arise during a fight....with a crowd of people watching. So Atlas is talking mostly about how a fighter responds to the adversity of being hurt, tired, discouraged, outclassed, or all of those things. The boxers don't have much of a choice when it comes to showing their character. The people that show up at the arenas, show up to see them. Those are the only characters that they're interested in. Character is so important though. That's why Atlas harps on it so much. What about the character of those behind the scenes though? Let's examine those a little bit. Because while Teddy likes to fancy himself a character guru, he's got his share of flaws. And that character guru thing, that's self proclaimed. Believe it or not, I have my character flaw too. Fortunately, that wasn't pluralized on purpose. I once left my dog out for a minute too long. It didn't have any negative consequences, thank God, but it was a little character flaw. I never did it again.
   As our loyal readers know, we put up educational quotes from time to time. Most of them lean towards character issues. Character improvement. Character flaws. People with good character are usually trusted by people of good character. Good character traits make you trustworthy. That's simple enough to figure out. Bad character traits make you suspect...ya you. People with questionable character are usually liars, to put it bluntly. It goes a lot deeper than that, obviously, but a person with good character has to be a fairly honest person. A person who tries to instill fear in another is lacking good character. Teddy Atlas got into this whole character examination thing while profiling Mike Tyson, his ex-pupil. Tyson thrived on instilling fear...but once people realized it, his character, or lack thereof was exposed to mammoth proportions. Because he could no longer scare people, it got to the point where he couldn't even beat Mini-Me. Any person who mistreats women, tries to intimidate, neglects family, preys on the weak, thinks always about himself, and lies out of habit....they lack any real character. They can tell you that they have it, but they don't. To be a good leader, you really need to have good character. Character isn't something that you can fake. You can try, but there are enough people that can judge character with accuracy. 19 times out of 20, those people aren't going to tell you their judgement. There are also a great many people that are a terrible judge of character.
The Tom Peters Group at Santa Clara University did a study on Good Leaders. Their study showed that good leaders usually had the following character traits:

***The Tom Peters Group findings will be in bold, while the NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com commentary will follow in italics. 

Honest - Display sincerity, integrity, and candor in all your actions. Deceptive behavior will not inspire trust. (Boxing promoters seemed to have lost sight of this. Or of course maybe we're wrong, and boxing is flourishing.)

Competent- Base your actions on reason and moral principles. Do not make decisions based on childlike emotional desires or feelings. (There are many industries that require competence, boxing isn't one of them. People that the NFL would recognize at halftime as a beneficiary of the Make a Wish Foundation, could very well be sitting ringside as an employee of a boxing promotional company.)

Inspiring - Display confidence in all that you do. By showing endurance in mental, physical, and spiritual stamina, you will inspire others to reach for new heights. Take charge when necessary. (Showing endurance in mental stamina means not getting discouraged. If you're someone that shows that he's angry or discouraged often, you are doomed. Period. Others will see that, and they will have no confidence in you or the company that you represent, and neither will your employees. Inspiring isn't done by giving a "Win one for The Gipper" speech every now and again, it's done by truly believing in yourself and those around you. By doing that, more people will want to be around you. If you want to check on your progress of inspiration, check out the stands at your next fight card and count the people. Calculate how long you've been promoting. Then figure out how many more people are there than were at your show a year ago...2 years ago...3 years ago, etc. That'll prove to you how good of a leader you are.....How much you inspire people.)

Intelligent - Read, study, and seek challenging assignments.(Forget it.)

Fair-minded -Show fair treatment to all people. Prejudice is the enemy of justice. Display empathy by being sensitive to the feelings, values, interests, and well-being of others.(The major sports have this...obviously. They really have it though. Many people in boxing try to fake being fair-minded, and that isn't a smart move. People are going to judge you on your actions, not your sweet words. If you think that I'm wrong, turn back around and gaze up into those stands again.)

Courageous- Have the perseverance to accomplish a goal, regardless of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Display a confident calmness when under stress.(That's courage folks. Always display calmness and always be confident in doing so. If you don't, everybody knows that you don't have courage, and that you're a scared little child. People don't want to be involved with people like that, because it's a no win situation. Any person over the age of 16 that lacks courage, lacks character.)

Straightforward - Use sound judgment to make a good decisions at the right time. (Judgement and boxing aren't good together. If they were, there wouldn't be a No Credentials Necessary policy.)

Imaginative - Make timely and appropriate changes in your thinking, plans, and methods. Show creativity by thinking of new and better goals, ideas, and solutions to problems. Be innovative! (The owners of the NFL, NBA. MLB, NCAA, PGA, and NASCAR must have read this thing a hundred times!!!)


Coming Wednesday:Boxing's Dark Side XX 

 

   Boxing's Dark Side XVIII

                                        

 

   The crazy thing is, people do love to watch boxing. While baseball is America's pastime, and football is America's passion, living creatures have always liked to see a good fight more than anything else. Think back to 5th grade. If there were 20 people watching a baseball game during recess, and a fight broke out over by the cafeteria doors, those 20 people were heading over to watch that fight....and so were the baseball geeks. A fight always gets people's attention. Even if it's at Fenway Park during a Yankees-Red Sox playoff game. Even if it's in the bottom of the 9th inning with 2 outs and the score tied. If David Ortiz is facing a full count with the winning run on 3rd, and a fight breaks out in the stands, watch where the Fenway faithful's eyes are locked. It aint on "Big Papi." That goes for every sport, every social function, and every single thing in this life. People love to watch fights. If a fight breaks out at a church, the priest is an afterthought. If a fight breaks out at a funeral, the dead can wait a few minutes. What the hell has gone so wrong that we can't get people excited about something that they love more than anything in this world? Tom Berenger would just look at us and say, "how did you screw up so bad?" If you can't understand the implications of this, it means that if Will Morgan and Chuckie Lambeau got into a fight in the nosebleed section at Gillette, more people saw their fight than a "title" fight that was held at a Rhode Island casino. Will and Chuckie's competition wasn't a high school play across the street either. Their spectators were passing up a piece of the Patriots vs. Colts. Why is it then, that if the Patriots and Colts were playing at the same time as a 7 fight boxing card, and they're taking place across the street from one another with tickets priced the same, that nobody aside from the boxer's blood relatives would choose to watch the fight card? If that doesn't get your mind working, you may have a slight case of retardation. If you don't think it's true, you may be delusional and need to look at Dark Side's past.
   When the word virtue first came into existence it meant manliness or courage. Now, everyone loves a person with virtues, which is why people always had a hankering for a good scrap. The best fights were usually going to be the ones that were planned, because those would test a man's virtues, while a "spur of the moment" fight was more of a testament to a man's vices...which is the opposite of virtues. A planned out fight though, the combatants had to think about what was ahead of them. They knew that there would be people watching the fight, and they'd be watching with great interest. There was anticipation. They also knew that because the fight was planned in advance, that the other person wanted to fight them too. So this was going to be a victimless affair, in a way. Everyone else was going to watch in fascination. The first sport ever to be filmed by a TV camera was boxing, of course. It's popularity was  astounding. Two men agreed to a fight, trained to fight, and fought with a crowd of people watching. How could it get any better? Certainly people wouldn't rather watch a game with a guy hitting a little ball with a wooden stick, would they? They wouldn't rather see 10 guys bounce a ball and try to throw it through a hoop, would they? Especially if they bump into each other softly and get penalized for it? 
   Boxing doesn't compete with the major sports anymore though. So why would people not want to see a fight? Especially when there's going to be 7 of them? Why would they choose to play parcheesi at Dairy Queen rather than pay 20 bucks to watch something that's interested them and everyone they know since they were 3 years old? Why does the media, who grew up on this same fight loving planet, neglect to cover the sport? Ahhh, they turned away because all other sports have great parity. Boxing doesn't have that.  Why? Because promoters don't like it. Because commissions don't require it, contrary to their vows. The small minded commissions only require (sometimes) that the records be somewhat comparable. They think that they'll fool people into thinking that there's great parity, because a 19-0 boxer will be facing a guy with a 16-4 record. Problem is, this isn't like the Sixers and Celtics. The Celt's and Sixers played the same teams. The boxers didn't play against the same competition. Neither the Celtics nor the Sixers were able to face the Baronie Boy's Club basketball squad until they were 10-0. No, they had to play the Lakers, Pistons, Nuggets and other good teams. That 16-4 fighter faced a different level of opposition though. He faced off against the guy that delivers mail to the Baronie Boy's Club, the guy that unclogs the toilets at the Baronie Boy's Club, the kid that was given daily wedgies in the locker room at the Baronie Boy's Club, and a few gym teachers. The 19-0 guy is a former Olympian. There's no parity. What's the commission's solution to a problem like this? Nothing. Make sure the referee jumps in early so that the Boy's Club Bandit doesn't get hurt. Great, that'll keep the fans pouring in. Put the former Olympian in with a veteran that's 18-20, but has some decent wins and will provide good competition? No. That doesn't look good. The bad news is, the public knows how stupid the sport is run. Take a look at Sportscenter this week. It's on all the time. See how much boxing gets mentioned. You'll see plenty of golf, car racing, and just about every other sport. You won't see boxing though. And we just reminded you that everybody loves to watch fights.
   Pro sports teams don't get spotted 10-0 records. They don't get spotted 20-0 records. They don't get spotted 1-0 records. If they did, their record would be considered tainted, thus, their team would be tainted. If someone tried to make the argument that, "Boxing's always been that way," the reply should be, "Good for boxing, other sports haven't always been that way. Now let me finish watching Sportscenter." Would NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, have the Patriots forego playing the St. Louis Rams in order to play 14-0 Mount Union College? Of course not. Why? The Rams and Patriots play against the same competition. Mount Union plays against division 3 college football teams..... and so does their competition. Mount Union has parity. They've been fairly dominant this season, but they're playing the same competition as everyone else. So a Stag Bowl championship actually means something. It means a hell of a lot more than a WBC Intercontimentallyretarded title, that's for sure. Check out the stands for the D3 title game, and then check out the little league baseball sized crowd at one of those goofy "title" bouts. You'll see. If the commissions said that they didn't go by records alone, then they'd have to admit that they are clueless about boxing....and they aren't going to do that. The only other option would be to admit to themselves that they're on an even keel with a little league baseball Commissioner. That's not an insult really....well, I guess it could be interpreted that way. But it is true. If that seems extreme, think of Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner,) then think of Joe Carroll (Norwell, Massachusetts Little League Commissioner.) Which one of those guys do you think has more in common with a boxing commissioner? Which one of those guys do you think a boxing commissioner has more in common with? We'll be back with another one of these things Friday.

Coming Friday: Boxing's Dark Side XIX



 

 Estrada Wins in Rhode Island

 

 

Rhode Island's Jason Estrada, New England's #2 rated heavyweight and #7 pound for pound, cruised to a 8 round decision last night in Lincoln, RI. Estrada pitched a near shut-out against Derek Bryant in the main event of New England's final boxing card of 2008. Bryant hadn't been in the ring in 2 years, so we're not overly excited about Estrada's achievement here. Fightnews.com reported that Estrada said Bryant "cried like a little girl," when Estrada landed his jab. We feel that's a form of Plagiarism, everyone heard Mike Tyson utter something along those lines a couple decades ago. Tyson said it after a knockout win though, Estrada said it after a boring decision. The point is, Bryant wasn't sad enough to even take a knee, so Estrada should work on cranking that jab out a little harded, rather than boasting about how it's making people cry. 

In a 6 round bout, New Bedford's Jason Pires returned to the ring after a 5 year hiatus. He won a close decision over journeyman Frank Houghtaling.

Lowell's Joey McCreedy scored a 6 round unanimous decision over James Johnson.

Demetrius Andrade kept Eric Marriott winless with a 4th round TKO.

Providence's Omar Pena picked up his first win with a 4 round decision over winless Lindberg Freeman.

Pawtucket's Eddie Soto went into his bout with a 9-0 record, while his opponent, Blake Franklin, had a measly 1-1 record. Soto won a 4 round decision in the contest, but many thought it was even at 2-2. One judge had it a shut-out, the other two didn't.

Providence's Keith Kozlin went to 2-0, and became the 8th person to knockout Vincent Robbins. Robbins has 3 wins and 8 losses now.



   

 

Boxing's Dark Side XVI: TOUGH

 

   We'll spare you another story on the ABC for now. We've made it clear that this group is not here to help boxing, but to help themselves. Literally and figuratively... If you know what I mean. We'll get back to them soon, and there will be parts of this chapter that certainly relate to them. If we were in 1st grade, we'd call them bullies. We're not though, so we'll call them state employees. Most of them are at least. All of the phone numbers for these guys are at their state office. How the heck are they being paid by their state to conduct ABC business? I guess we'll have to take that up with the legislature. If they're being paid by the state, and conducting ABC business while on the clock, this would be one of the most blatant slaps in the face to tax payers in at least the past couple minutes. Those that work on casino property, and there's plenty of them, they've got a pretty nice racket going too. Enough about them though. Stay tuned.

   The word "tough," is used in many different ways. Boxing is a sport that's always been identified closely with that word...."tough." In grade school, Jr. high, and high school, people that would get into fights and win were considered tough. People with above average sized muscles were considered tough. People that acted kinda crazy were thought to be tough. At that age, so many people had such little knowledge of what it meant to be "tough," that they just kinda followed the leader. If a person had a strong desire to be viewed as tough, but he didn't really have the characteristics to be viewed that way by others, he'd try hard to associate with the "tough" guys. Because again, with the distorted understanding of what "tough" really was, being an associate of the tough guy was usually enough. We're talking about the teenage years though, not adulthood. As people got older, they developed a better understanding of what the word "tough" means. They figured out that acting crazy doesn't mean that you're tough, beating up little Timothy from sophomore English isn't tough, and hanging out with "Big" Rocco from detention certainly doesn't make you Allen Asskicker either. The problem is, many people in the boxing business forget that this isn't 11th grade study hall. Those people from detention got so comfortable hanging with "Big" Rocco, that they started to believe that they were on the same level of "toughness." And once you're on even ground, surpassing "Big" Rocco is only a step away. But that was kid's stuff, so it's just part of growing up. If it carries over to your adult life, then Houston.....we have a problem.

   Because some people are so hard up for attention, and boxing has a no credential's necessary policy, professional prizefighting has become a gathering spot for these types. They like to have the word "boxing" attached, because it carries that "tough" stigma. Some like to play off of the mafia connection from decades ago too. The mafia is another "profession" that is linked to the word "tough," albeit loosely. The mafia is more linked to the word fear, and ultimately, that's what these hangers on always craved. Then they wouldn't have to be proven a fraud. There is something seriously lacking in these personality types. Why would anyone want others to be afraid of them??? Being tough isn't that important to these types of people. Having people think that they're tough is. We gave you some examples of false tough guys, like Rocco's buddy. In boxing, you'll see tough guys aplenty between those ropes, but you'll also see the other extreme outside of them. The progress of the human race is hurting right now, and false tough guys are contributing to the stench that mankind has become. Because of the coddled society that America has become, I'm going to point out some tips for identifying a false tough guy.

1. Blanketing. This is the most obvious sign of all. A person who wishes to be viewed as tough, but lacks true toughness will resort to this often. It's a very transparent sign, but false tough guys can't see that... They're too blinded by their desire to be seen as tough. Blanketing is making sure that there are others around when any type of confrontation occurs. They may get creative in their quest for an image of toughness, and keep people close by, or at the very least, on the phone. They provide themselves a comfortable "blanket" in that way. A true tough guy, would prefer that they confront each other alone, with nobody else around. They don't need no stinking blanket, and being viewed as tough or ballsy doesn't factor into their thinking.

2. Looking/Lookers. This is a common one. So much so, that it could almost be considered the universal sign of a false tough guy. It's akin to blanketing in a way, and it's an extremely undisciplined behavior for an aspiring false tough guy, but again, very common. A looker is someone that says something to one person in a room with a minimum of 3 people. When they say something that they want to be viewed as "ballsy" to that one person, they look at the other person in the room. Many times they want that person to see them look at that other person, because then they look like they have "backup." It's also a way of that person making their subtle dig seem blatant....without actually saying it. It's an embarrassing tip-off is what it is though, so those of you that do it, get to a gym and workout instead.

3. The Freddy Krueger. The Freddy Krueger is an old one. It's probably the lamest of them all, but it's used quite a bit. The false tough guy tries to instill fear. A true tough guy doesn't try to instill fear, they are what they are. A false tough guy is afraid themselves, although they'll never admit it.... unless they were alone with their nemesis and had to.....if there was no "blanket" available. A Freddy Krueger tries to give themselves a "tough" image. by having people think that they are scary. The mafia has always had that mystique....scary. So sometimes people try to associate themselves with them. After all, what's scarier than a mafia hit man that has 10 kills under his belt? 20 kills? Well, what about the two geek's that killed 12 people and busted up a bunch more at Columbine? How about the goofy jackass that blew away 32 people at Virginia Tech a couple years ago? What about the kid from almost every Jr. High School in the nation that has a cache of weapons siting in his room? If you're someone that takes fear seriously, you'll be one of the people that tries to use the Freddy Krueger. If you're someone that truly has no fear, you'd never even think of it.

**That's just 3 tips for false tough guy identification. There's more, but that should be enough to get your brains conditioned to this line of thinking. Look, we understand that people have problems in their childhood, and we're sympathetic to that. I mean for Christ's sake, PJ was treated like a pincushion as a kid. No, PJ's father is a grand man, he'd never lay a ball on PJ. Take a look at the quotes below, and digest them... Think about them. Don't ever be a blanketer, a looker, or a Freddy Krueger. We just laid it out for you pretty good, didn't we? 6th graders bring guns to school and blow kids away sometimes. Worry yourselves with that stuff, not trying to play the role of Al Capone's sidekick. If you played little league baseball, but didn't have any amateur fights, then you've got a better chance of being a New York Met than you do of being a fighter. That's just simple mathematics and logic fellas. So while our country faces these tough times that we are going through, don't waste you and everyone else's time trying to be tough. If it means that much to you, go to one of the many boxing gyms in your state and be tough. We'll see ya on Sunday.

COMING SUNDAY: Boxing's Dark Side XVII-Murder and Boxing

"No government power can be abused long. Mankind will not bear it. There is a remedy in human nature against tyranny, that will keep us safe under every form of government.”                                                   

Samuel Johnson      

“Power is what men seek and any group that gets it will abuse it.” 
 

Lincoln Steffens       

“Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.”

Eric Hoffer

"You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power - he's free again."

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn   

"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship."

George Orwell

"I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others."

Thomas Jefferson

"Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world."

Epictetus

"When you are tough on yourself, life is going to be infinitely easier on you."

Zig Ziglark

  Josh Beeman Scores 1st Round KO in NY

Providence's Josh Beeman returned to the ring last night after a 3 year layoff. Beeman took the 3 years off after coming up winless in 3 consecutive bouts, the last of which was a 4th round stoppage loss. So when the 3-2-2 Beeman was called to duty in Nigara Falls, NY last night to fight the once beaten, but woefully untested Canadian Scott Paul, it seemed that Beeman would be playing the "opponent" role. Paul had never fought anyone with a single fight on their record at the time they met. Though Beeman had been off for 3 years, and only has 7 fights under his belt, he was far too much for the coddled Paul. It took him about half of a round to get rid of the Canadian. Congats to 'Steamin' Josh Bee

 Bika KO's Manfredo in 3rd

 

   Peter Manfredo, Jr. was blistered tonight in his hometown of Providence. Manfredo, the runner-up of The Contender's first season, was beaten up and then stopped by season 3 winner, Sakio Bika. Most people expected Manfredo to box and move against the stronger Bika, but Manfredo couldn't resist the urge to stand in the pocket.

   Bika's punches found their mark constantly thoughout, and they were hard shots that were landing on Manfredo's head and body. In the 2nd round, Manfredo was credited with a knockdown, although it was a slip, and both men went down. Bika wasn't happy about the bogus ruling, and his displeasure looked like it may lead to him imploding. He didn't though. In the 3rd round he continued the savage beating. He started to really hurt Manfredo, and Peter was no longer throwing punches back. After some brain rattling shots, the referee stepped in and called a halt to the bout.

   To Manfredo's credit, he made no excuses after the fight. He said that his warrior makeup is what caused him to fight Bika's fight. He gave credit to the winner, but felt that he should have been able to continue. We agree that he should have been given the right to go out on his shield. Manfredo doesn't know what his future holds, he's not sure if this was his last fight. The guess here is that Manfredo will come back to Providence a couple more times....and pad the bank account. He may even try to position himself for another run, who knows. For New England fight fans, it'll be a loss when Manfredo hangs em up. Although he didn't get it done tonight, he fought with the usual amount of heart that he brings in the ring each and every time he climbs the steps.

 

Jimmy LeBlanc Scores 1st Round KO!!!!

 

Weymouth, MA. Jr. middleweight, Jimmy LeBlanc, snapped a 6 fight losing streak last night at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. LeBlanc was called to duty for the purpose of getting Luther Smith back on track. Smith had been knocked out in his last 4 fights, just like LeBlanc had. Smith however, had a 2002 knockout win over Oba Carr on his resume, LeBlanc didn't have anything close to that. So when the 22-7-2 Smith stepped in with the 11-15-4 LeBlanc, it seemed to be a no-brainer. LeBlanc has a reputation for fighting 1 round, and then packing it in. Last night, 1 round was all he needed. Never one known for having power, LeBlanc showed some pop in extinguishing Smith in the opening stanza. Congaratulations goes out to the veteran LeBlanc.

  Chris McInerney Charged

   With Attempted Murder 

In a scene fitting for the Halloween season, Stoughton, MA. cruiserweight, Chris McInerney (N.E. #4), has been charged with attempted murder for an incident last week at his home. Police say that McInerney tried to strangle his girlfriend after they began arguing about their relationship. On a sad note, that relationship may very well be over now. In addition to the attempted murder charge, McInerney will also have to answer to two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and witness intimidation. The failed killing happened last Thursday in the early morning hours, at about 2:00. The girl went to McInerney's home to retrieve some of her belongings. When the conversation about their relationship began though, things got testy. McInerney allegedly yanked the girl from the kitchen to the living room. He then allegedly punched her in the face. The living room definetely wasn't the appropriate place for what McInerney allegedly had in mind next. He dragged her into the bedroom, and threw her to the ground and allegedly choked her with both hands. In distress, the girl cried out. At that point McInerney allegedly said, "Stop crying. If you call the police I will kill your family and dog.” Soon after, the woman said that she felt her neck pop. When she started to let out another blood curdling scream, McInerney backed away and told her to beat feet. She did. Risking her beloved dog's life, the woman then contacted police. McInerney's bail was set at $100,000 at his arraignment in Stoughton District Court. He was later able to get it knocked down to $15,000 at Norfolk Superior Court. McInerney is due back in court on December, 12th. Seasons Greetings.

 

             BDS FLASHBACK

 

Boxing's Dark Side II:  Almost Famous?

Not Even Close

      There are roughly 6.6 billion people in the world today. About 305 million of them live in the United States of America. New England's population is estimated at 15 million. There are several psychological factors relating to those that yearn for fame. We won't get into those too much, as they vary quite a bit anyway. To be famous, is to be widely know, which means quite a few of those 6.6 billion people are familiar with you. In part I of Boxing's Dark Side, we talked about the no credentials necessary policy that boxing has. That illusion of fame is what seems to be driving many of the people involved in boxing, and it's become a problem.
     We call this young generation today, "Generation Y." They're also referred to as the "Look at Me" generation. Boxing's the "Look at Me" business, and it's not thriving, because not a lot of people are looking. It seems like it would be a good idea to change that approach. Or, we could lie to ourselves, and say that "we're getting there." We can continue to lie to each other, swap success stories, and leave the room feeling like we're walking off of the Jay Leno set. To have a lot of friends in your business is nice, and it should provide some joy and happiness. The fact that your friends are in boxing, as opposed to say...electronics, shouldn't make us feel famous. There are electrical plants that have many workers, and if one of their workers is a hit at parties, he's probably as well known as 98% of the people in boxing.
     This wouldn't be such a "dark" issue, if it weren't hindering the sport. But it is. The concentration needed to rebuild a severely hurting sport/business cannot be wasted trying to convince everyone that we're famous. Believe me, if you're famous, people will know it. Doesn't that stand to reason? Maybe it's too hard of a pill to swallow. Maybe some people have wanted to be famous and revered their whole life, and they feel that they've earned it. Well, they either chose the wrong business, or they need to reevaluate their standards of fame. Let's go over the numbers.

6.6 billion-That's the estimated number of people in the world. For those that aren't too familiar with that lofty digit, 1 billion is a million....1 thousand times. To picture that number, envision 1 million people on a huge mass of land. Then add another million. Then keep bringing em in by the million, a thousand times. Once you've done that, repeat that process again...5 more times. A lot of people.

305 million- That's the number of people in the USA. Most of us are more familiar with that number, although slightly. It's a great many people.

15 million- That's how many people live in New England. It's just a small fraction of the worlds population, but that's still quite a few individuals.

1,070,000- Rhode Island's population.

6,500,000- Massachusetts population.

3,500,000- Connecticut's population.  

If you're looking for fame, those are the numbers that should interest you. Super Bowl viewership is high, so are regular season NFL games. Everybody knows that boxing is no longer competing with the major sports, or any other programming really, but how many more viewers do they get? We'll throw a couple more numbers at you.  

97.5 million- People that watched this years super bowl. It's always a huge game, and it keeps getting bigger.  

20 million- People that watch each World Series game. Baseball isn't as popular as it once was, still though, those are good numbers.


2.1 million-  People that watched Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. It was the biggest fight in many years. It was a PPV event, and it succeeded. Unfortunately, 2.1 million people aren't dishing out 50 bucks to watch fights. This was so unusual by today's standards, that they'll do it again in a few months, even though the fight wasn't very good. Still, what a drop off from the numbers above it.   

Those numbers are just a gauge to see where we stand. If fame is a motivating factor for you, you've got a steep hill to climb. It's human to enjoy being recognized and adored, that's a natural stimulant. It feels good, so why wouldn't we want more of it? You should want more of it, but it has to come from your family and co-workers...friends, and the like. Otherwise, you'll tell fish stories, and people will leave with a bad impression of you. Thus, they'll have a poor opinion of boxing.

The other thing that won't work, is name association. People can always spot a "namedropper." When you have to prove your self worth by mentioning a more well known name, it backfires. You won't see any books at the library written by one of Adam Sandler's high school buddies. Adam Sandler is ultra famous, but his buddy isn't. It's a bad reflection on the sport when people see it's members acting in that manner. People do see it, and they smile, agree, maybe even congratulate you on your wonderful works. Then they head for home, and throw on a Patriots game. If boxing crosses their mind during that game, it's during the post-game interview. At that point, they're noticing the difference between Tom Brady's demeanor, and the boxing associate that they'd spoken to earlier. Bye bye potential boxing fandit.

Accused Stalker Colton Has 

             Checkered Past

 
     Allegedly, Bill and Gail Johnson chose to use Lowell boxing cutman, Jerry Colton, to settle a score with neighbors. That much doesn't seem to be disputed. How far they expected Colton to go, that does appear to be an issue. We reported on the story when it broke, and there has been information that has not yet been released, or possibly discovered. NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com has delved into this matter, and we've uncovered some disturbing things. First, let's recap what everyone knows. The Johnson's attorney, Ron Ranta, claims that Colton had a strong motive for pointing blame at his clients. Ranta stated, "All the forensic evidence points to Colton. When you look at the course of conduct, it's entirely consistent with Mr. Colton's erratic behavior." To us, the most unsettling aspect was when "someone" called DSS and falsely stated that the victim's (The Lyons) 14 year old son had touched a female student at school inappropriately. DSS showed up at the Lyons' home after 10pm and spoke with the 14 year old boy. The Lyons became fearful for their lives when, after having one bogus craigslist ad removed, saw another one advertising a motorcycle sale. The ad claimed the motorcycle belonged to their "late son." While investigating this disgraceful case, police went to Gerry Colton's house on April 16th with a warrant in hand. They found a bunch of computers, computer drives, computer software, a digital camera, memory CDs, mini disks, and a digital camera. They confiscated 3 computers, and a lot of computer devices. They also found some  marijuana, but that's the least of anyone's worries. In what might be the most telling part of this tale, the following were also found in Colton's home: Social security numbers and the names of the Lyons' two teenage sons, phone numbers, dates of birth, and allegedly some photographs. One police officer simply said, "it's a long list of offenses."
     Boxing doesn't have the greatest reputation when it comes to "smarts", but the victim received an email, "Hello. Please confirm the information below. If it is correct, let the games begin! Remember, if you aren't miserable, I aint happy! Let's play." The information that needed confirming was the Lyons' names and social security numbers, their dates of birth, and their home and cell phone numbers. That "someone", didn't make the brightest move in the world there.  "Someone" tried to open up a few bank accounts with the Lyon's social security numbers. "Someone" even signed Jim Lyons up to donate his body to science when he died. There were many, many other things done in this odd case, but everyone should get an idea of what we're looking at.
     All of that information is for public consumption, many news outlets have reported on the evidence in this interesting case. Bill and Gail Johnson will be back in court next month, but our interest is with the New England boxing guy...Jerry Colton. What the heck is with all of that personal information in your possession? What's going on with children being brought into this crap? And most importantly, what was the plan? We didn't like this one bit, and the prosecution has continuously said how they were appalled by the extent that the defendants went in order to terrorize this family. So were we. The closest thing that we can think of is.....Cape Fear, or In the Line of Fire. We all know, of course, that killing people was the goal of the bad guy in those movies. But you gotta admit, the similarities are eerie. We're told that Colton has done a few years in prison. NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com spoke with Colton on Friday, and when we mentioned a "criminal case" he acted as if he didn't know what we were talking about. After we again identified ourselves and asked him what was on the computers that were confiscated, Colton said. "I aint got nothing to say."

NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com Exclusive!!

     Here's an internet forum that we found a "Jerry Colton from Lowell, MA" on. It hasn't been altered in any way, it's just as it was published. This is an online blog by somebody that was talking about black crime in New York..........

From: Nicholasstixuncensoredblogspot.com

N1TKO said:
Is everyone really surprised? You get these animals together for any type of gatherings and there will be crime. They (spics and niggas) have no respect for the human race. Someone in the crowd should have pulled a gun and just start shooting these mutts.

Jerry Colton
Lowell, MA
Monday, December 24, 2007 2:36:00 PM PST

********Besides the aforementioned jail stint, a few other run-ins with the law have popped up on Colton. Here's another quick blurb.

On December 29th,1990, Gerry Colton was arrested in Lowell on a case that involved guns. It was in the early morning hours, and Colton was outside his car talking to another man who was standing near his vehicle. When the two men saw police approaching, they got inside their cars and hit the road. Not surprisingly, a short time later, a gun hit someone's lawn.....right off the road that the vehicles were traveling on. One of the people...inside one of those vehicles, tossed the gun out the window. The case ended up in court, and state jail time was imposed. The case went to appeals court. Technicalities were thrown around by the defense, and the defendants claimed they were "set up." We're not sure how that case turned out, but it sure is eye opening. Stay tuned.

 "Boo Boo" Andrade Wins Debut

 



Demetrius Andrade got his professional career off to a good start last night. The 2008 Olympian knocked out Patrick Cape a few seconds into round 2. Andrade went to the body well, and he did plenty upsatirs too. To be fair, he was in with a woeful opponent. While Cape carried a respectable 4-2 record into the contest, he stinks. It's no secret that records don't tell much in boxing, and this was a good example of that. It was obvious to anyone of average intelligence what was being done here. The Olympian Andrade was getting an easy touch for his first pro fight, yet the opponent had a decent looking record. Are we being too harsh? For those that think we are, go get some sleep. "It was his first pro fight for God Sakes!!" Right, it was his first pro fight. The first pro fight for an Olympian with a great reputation and hopes to fight for a championship. So we'll spot him his first 7 fights as a pro. The Celtics can't do that. and neither can the Red Sox. The Patriots certainly can't, nor can the Revolution. You Might be saying, "This is boxing!!" Ponder this then, Tiger Woods didn't do it, and Pete Sampras didn't either. This is no knock on Andrade himself, good job with the win. I'm just wondering if maybe that's part of the reason that if Andrade wins a title someday he might get $300,000. When those other guys win titles they drop $300,000 at the mall the next day.

 

    Hartford's Oliver Returns Tomorrow

 

     Hartford's Mike Oliver will step into the ring tomorrow night for the 1st time since he was knocked out. In May, Reynaldo Lopez flattened Oliver on an ESPN televised show. To Oliver's credit, he's facing a decent fighter in his return bout. Not a ton of credit is warranted, because it should be the norm. But unfortunately, it isn't. If the Patriots get upset by the Rams on Sunday, they will play the Colts the following week, they can't play the Lions. Oliver was the favorite to beat Lopez, but he was absolutely destroyed. When he takes on Antonio Escalante Friday, he can regain all of the momentum that he had built prior to the Lopez setback. While Escalante, 18-2 (11), is a worthy opponent, Oliver is still a comfortable favorite in the matchup. Telefutura will televise the 10 round fight live from California.

 

                     New England Shows by year

Here are the facts. This year's not complete, so we haven't included it. This shows the number of fights held in each New England state, from 1988 to 2007. The drop-off has been pretty drastic, with Massachusetts doing a fraction of what they did 12-15 years ago. We also have the total amount of New England fight cards per year. 2007 was the lowest total (by far) in 17 years. There were 25 total cards in the whole New England region last year. 1990 was the last time there was anything less than 30.  2008 isn't finished yet, but 30 is out of the question. We just might equal the dismal year of 2007. Have a looksy. 

 

New England's Top 10  of the

                Past 15 Years

1. John Ruiz (Chelsea, MA)- Turned professional in 1992 at 184 lbs. Won WBA heavyweight title in 2001 with a win over Evander Holyfield. Fought the best of the generation aside of Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers. His style was never exciting, but he beat some very good fighters. Was 1-1-1 against Holyfield. Also defeated Hasim Rahman, Kirk Johnson, Andrew Golota, Fres Oquendo, Jameel McCline, and a bunch of other good ones. His losses were often controversial, and a few happened overseas in split-decision fashion. Nobody comes close to Ruiz in New England over the past 15 years.

2. Micky Ward (Lowell, MA)- One of the most exciting fighters to ever lace em up. Began career in 1985, but 1997 was when Ward started to make some real noise. After being involved in some great ESPN wars, Ward capped his career off with 3 classic bouts against Arturo Gatti. Those fights were so good, a major motion picture begins filming next year on Ward's life. His patented left hook to the body was second to none. Ward isn't a hall of famer, but he's more famous than most of the people that are in it. His fame will grow much larger when "The Fighter" hits theaters.

3. Vinnie Paz (Cranston, RI)- Paz turned pro in 1983, under his real name, Vinnie Pazienza. Although his best days were behind him by 1994, Paz still had plenty left to make this list. Since 1994, he beat an aging Roberto Duran twice, and knocked out Dana Rosenblatt. Had a few other notable wins in the past 15 years, and even challenged for the world title twice, although he lost both challenges. Retired in 2004 after his 50th career win.

4. Chad Dawson (New Haven, CT)- Dawson turned pro in 2001, and has been highly regarded ever since. Won a portion of the light heavyweight title, and is still undefeated. His last win was a controversial one over Glen Johnson, and it won't get much easier next week. His bout with Antonio Tarver will speak volumes about Dawson's legacy, or lack thereof. Has some good wins, but nothing with name value, except for the Johnson win.

5. Ray Oliveira (Fall River, MA)- Made his pro debut in 1990. Like Ward, he never won the world title. But like Ward also, he was an ESPN favorite for many years. Oliviera will best be remembered for his amazing punch rate, which set compubox records. Beat Vivian Harris, when Harris was undefeated. Beat Charles "The Natural" Murray twice, Vince Phillips, Saul Duran, and many other good boxers. A close decision loss to Ben Tackie was about as good as it gets for boxing fans. Oliveira was relentless.

6. Eric Harding (Hartford, CT)- Harding turned pro in 1991. Biggest win came in 2000, when he beat an undefeated Antonio Tarver in an eliminator to challenge Roy Jones. Harding dropped Tarver in the 11th round of that bout. Less than 3 months later, Harding gave Jones the closest match he had ever been in...except for maybe the first Montell Griffin fight. Harding had also beaten Griffin himself. After losing a rematch to Tarver in 2002, Harding was never the same. Harding's last bout was a decision loss to Chad Dawson in 2006. Harding had Dawson down in round one.

7. Scott Pemberton (Fairhaven)- Began his pro career in 1994. Another ESPN favorite, Pemberton will be remembered best for his 2 wars with Omar Sheika. Pemberton's chin was shaky, but his heart was always stout. The 2nd fight with Sheika was one of the most dramatic come from behind wins you'll ever see. Pemberton was down in both fights, but his hand was the one raised at the end of the two matches. Very hard puncher.

8. Jose Rivera (Worcester, MA)- After turning pro in 1992, Rivera won the WBA championship in 2003, then lost it in his next fight...then won it again in the next fight, and then lost it again the next fight. If you're wondering why you're dizzy from reading that. it's because Rivera was promoted by Don King. Rivera made a quick comeback this year, but now claims to be retired for good. Rivera was a proud warrior in the ring, and he's a credit to the sport out of the ring. Great career. He never beat anybody with any real name value, but was steady through most of his career.

9. Dana Rosenblatt (Malden, MA)- Jewish southpaw had to retire early due to nagging injuries. Was knocked out by Vinnie Pazienza in 1996, and then avenged that defeat in 1999. Has some decent wins on his record, but nothing special at all. The knockout to Pazienza was brutal though, and Rosenblatt deserves credit for winning the rematch, and for even agreeing to a rematch. He did beat Terry Norris (at least a shell of him), although barely. Glenwood Brown was a decent win at the time, and Rosenblatt ekes his way into the top 10.

10. Israel Cardona (Hartford, CT)- This was the hardest pick. Matt Godfrey is making a good name for himself. Peter Manfredo, Jr. is trying to get into some big fights too. Those guys are still trying to achieve, but Cardona was a monster during his rise. "Pito" turned pro in 1993. In 1997 Cardona knocked Ivan Robinson out in destructive fashion on ESPN. That was a year before Robinson beat a prime Arturo Gatti twice!! After a win over Golden Johnson, Cardona went into his world title shot favored to beat undefeated but unknown Paul Spadafora. Spadafora boxed circles around Cardona that night, and Cardona was never the same afterwards. Cardona had an excellent chin, and was a very solid puncher at lightweight.

Darker Than Dark: Thank You Gary Shaw,

but MMA isn't the Boxing Way
    

     It doesn't get much darker than this folks. It's well known that mixed martial arts is blowing boxing away in popularity. There were those that thought MMA was just a fad, and would go away soon enough. That's not going to happen, and any reasonable person should know that. 6 year old kids are in love with the sport for God's sake!! It's here to stay. It didn't have to further damage boxing though. Boxing could have capitalized on MMA's popularity, after all, they were a sort of "sister sport." MMA fans are hardcore fight fans, so they love to see someone get knocked cold. 
     Gary Shaw decided to move over to the MMA arena, and he embarrassed boxing to a laughable degree. Dana White is the boss of the UFC, and the UFC is the only thing that really matters in MMA. Gary Shaw spouted off about how he was going to rise above White though, and then he went on national TV and showed everyone that he thought MMA was the WWF....or WWE...or whatever they call it now. He exposed the dark side of boxing to the masses that didn't know much about it. In BDS VII, we talked about the tremendous business plans that other pro sports have. Then we compared it to the disgraceful business plan that most boxing promoters have. We likened boxing's business plan to the New England Patriots playing the Bay State Gas touch football team. MMA doesn't follow that model. The UFC and MMA go by the NFL business plan. There's no bringing in tomato cans for the promoter's fighter to get a soft win. No. Those guys fight tough fighters each and every time out. That's why they don't want boxing promoters coming over to their sport. Dana White used a simple business blueprint, and made into an undisputed empire. He went against all of the things that have ruined boxing, and moved far ahead of it in a couple of minutes time.

     But a boxing promoter had to jump on over, and here's what Gary Shaw had to say about Dana White's business approach after wrestling star Brock Lesnar was beaten in his UFC debut. “I like Brock, but it just shows that Dana doesn't know what he’s doing. Every time he signs someone, they get beat right away. I guess if you want to get beat right away, you should go to the UFC." Brilliant Gary, absolutely brilliant. Dana White responded to the ridiculous comment like this, “Gary Shaw is a fucking loser, if we were getting competition, it’s not coming from Gary Shaw and both of the people who are watching his shows. This guy is a low-level bottom feeder. He didn't like MMA a few years ago, but when he finally couldn't make money at boxing anymore, he came over to this sport to try to leech money out of it.” Game set match to Dana White.
The boxing promoters that have faith in what they're doing, are rising up and succeeding. The ones that admit that they can't promote boxing, will fade away or try to slither their way into the MMA arena. They'd be better served just fading away though, because they have a red X on them when they try to infiltrate that sport.
     As a boxing promoter, Shaw is nothing special, as White pointed out. Gary Shaw likes to wear a warm-up suit while he does his boxing business. You'd think he was one of the boxers if it wasn't...HIM in the warm-up suit. He was in boxing though, so he probably felt tough....worthy. Maybe that's why he has such a big mouth. It's kind of like the example of people posing for pictures with their fists clenched. Gggrrrrrrrrr. We love you Robert Kraft. The end.

******* This is NOT a part of Boxing's Dark Side. This was just a little something to tide you over. We have gotten many letters from MMA fans, and we seem to have developed quite a fan base with those guys. Several have voiced their displeasure with the stuff mentioned above, so we gave some thoughts on it. Friday though, guess. Friday will be the superb Part VIII of Boxing's Dark Side. Be here.

Cruiserweight "Contenders"

 

   Well, we didn't really want to do this. For over a month, we've known who the contestants for the next "Contender" series were, but we thought it best not to spoil the surprise. The official announcements were made today, and we've received 4 emails with the newest roster of pugilists. As most people know, two New England fighters will be on the show. New Hampshire's Rich Gingras and Brockton's Tim Flamos were never really thought of as contenders, but they'll be appearing on a show called "The Contender." Flamos scored a spectacular KO over Chris McInereny in has last bout, so it's good to see him able to parlay that win. How Gingras got there is anybody's guess.
   Because it's widely known that boxing is getting more and more obsolete, we will continue to go against the grain....and tell it like it is. It doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to draw the conclusion that The Contender doesn't do well in the ratings. If it did, the show wouldn't be treated like a cheap hooker. After NBC decided to be one and done with The Contender, ESPN had enough after 2 seasons. Now Versus will air the show. The talent on the original season of The Contender wasn't great, but it was fairly good. Just not good enough to give a national network reason to do it twice. The 2nd and 3rd seasons each saw a decline in talent and viewership, that's why they kicked the show off of their network. Versus has picked up the most inappropriately named show in history. The ratings for this season will stink worse than Butterbean's underwear. There are 3 or 4 good fighters on this season's series, and there are some that wouldn't win sparring sessions with grocery baggers. In fact, some haven't won actual matches with grocery baggers.
   Let's take a look at the list of adults taking part in this season of "The Conten.... We can't say it." We'll tell you their names, records, and some recent history.

Mike Alexander  12-2 (8) ** Has lost 2 of his last 3 fights.

Felix Cora Jr. 18-2-2 (9) ** KO' d in his last 2. fights. New Englanders should remember his 2nd round KO loss to Matt Godfrey a couple of years ago. That was his last fight.

Ryan Coyne 9-0 (3) ** His best win was over a 4-3-1 fighter, Coyne has never fought outside of Missouri.

Ehinomen Ehikhamenor 12-3 (7) ** Has lost 3 of his last 4 bouts.

Deon Elam 9-0 (5) ** His opposition has been dreadful. 28-56-4 is his opponent's combined record.

Alfredo Escalera Jr. 15-1-1 (11) ** lost to a 7-2-1 fighter in his last fight . Best win is over Harvey Jolley in a razor close decision, where Escalara was down in the first round.

Tim Flamos  20-4-1 (8) **  2-2 in his last 4 bouts. 1 loss was a KO to Chris McInerney, the other a decision to a guy that was 2-1. He did avenge the McInerney KO, with a more devastating one of his own. Flamos will be a sentimental favorite for locals, but the 41 year old isn't going far.

Richard Gingras  9-1 (5) ** Has never fought anyone that didn't have a losing record. In his last fight, he was KO' d by one of them. 6-7 fighter, Harvey Jolley blasted Gingras out early in the 3rd. Gingras hasn't fought since. His name shouldn't be mentioned in the same chapter as the word contender.

Joell Godfrey  9-0-1 (5) ** Won a majority decision over 5-11 Gary Lavender in last bout. Lavender had been knocked out 7 times in those 11 losses.

Rico Hoye 20-2 (15) ** Lost 2 of his last 4, both by KO. Both were to good fighters though, and he has some decent wins. Hasn't fought since his latest KO loss, which was in May of 07. Still, Hoye is superior to the fighters that we've listed before him. If he were to fight any of those fighters, it'd be downright dangerous.

Akinyemi Laleye 10-1 (5) ** Was KO' d by a 5-2-1 fighter in 07. Has no good wins.

Troy Ross 17-1 (12) ** 2 time Olympian from Canada. Has beaten some good fighters as a pro. Like Hoye, Ross is in a different league than the vast majority of these guys.

Jon Schneider 7-2-1 (5) ** Is 0-1-1 in his last 2. Was KO'd in 2 rounds by 4-3-1 fighter, Clarence Moore in his last bout. Before that he drew with Massachusetts' Tyrone Smith. Schneider wouldn't win the Silver Mittens.

Lawrence Tauasa 30-5-1 (17) ** Big record, all of his fights were overseas. Doesn't appear to be very good. One of the top 4 in this tourney though, and that's bad.

Erick Vega 8-2-1 (6) ** Hasn't beaten any good fighters. Has lost to some fighters that weren't good. The math there isn't good.

Darnell Wilson 23-7-3 (20) ** Turned pro as a light heavyweight, bumped up to cruiser, and even tinkered at heavyweight real quick. Mr. Excitement, hard puncher, but limited. A step above most of these guys.

 

     Boxing's Dark Side VII

 

     Ya gotta hand it to the NFL, they sure are an institution. Boxing promoters struggle to get 600 people at their events. Football owners have to turn people away because they've already reached their 68,000 capacity. Talk about getting people interested in a product!! Seldom does a day go by that you don't hear someone in the office talking about their fantasy football league. How many people take part in that childish game? The figure ranges somewhere between 20,000,000-60,000,000. That's 20 million to 60 million people, you read those figures right (we hope.) How do they get so many people interested? How does boxing get so few people interested? How can the NFL sell out the biggest outdoor arenas every week? How can promoters not sell out the smallest indoor gathering spots 3 times a year? We've already talked about the "blame game," and how people in the boxing business love to play it, but how can their be such a drastic difference in the people's athletic entertainment interests? We figured that the best way to come up with some answers was to compare the business plan of both.
     The owners of football teams have a lot of money, otherwise they wouldn't own a team. Boxing promoters don't necessarily have much, but they at least have some. Otherwise they shouldn't be promoting. Unfortunately, the ones that don't have much money can still run low budget events. An elementary school janitor could run a pro show if he saved a year's salary. An elementary school janitor couldn't buy season tickets to the Patriots if he saved 2 year's salary. You know what though? If the Patriots were playing Westfield State College, the Marlboro Shamrocks, the University of Connecticut Huskies, or the Bay State Gas intramural two-hand touch team, they wouldn't be selling many tickets either. That's why it'll cost you 5 bucks to see Westfield State, a dollar to watch the Shamrocks, 3 to 7 bills to catch a Connecticut Huskies game, and you can recline in your car seat for free while you watch the Bay State Gas squad play tag. If you think that pairing them with an elite team like the New England Patriots would draw a ton of fans, think again. The novelty aspect of it might draw some people for a few weeks, after all...everybody loves a train wreck. But the fans would dwindle rapidly, and by the 6th week, they'd be back in the parking lot playing.
Those above references to college, intramural, and men's football teams were the basic business plan of many promoters. The Patriots? Now that's an NFL team. Surely they don't take that business approach. No, they don't. They fill their 70,000 seat stadium week after week, year after year. They play professional football. So they compete against other professional football teams. Every single player is making tons of money, for a few reasons. They are great players. Their bosses (all of them) have plenty of money. And people love to watch the team. Would they love to watch them play against a team of players that were making 500 dollars for the game? No. "But that's all the other owner can afford!!" Then why is he trying to own a football team? The owner of a professional football team also sits out of sight. Why? People don't go to football games to see the owner in a suit jacket. They don't go to any professional sports competitions to see anyone other than the participants. If they go to a basketball game, they do so to see the athletes in shorts. Football games, the pros in pads. Baseball games... yada yada yada. Boxing?? Those who go to a boxing event, they don't care to see anybody else in between the ropes, but people with gloved fists...or string bikinis.
Now, if it's obvious that boxing is far behind all the other professional sports in terms of owners/promoters bankrolls, why are the boxing promoters so eager to be seen or noticed? You'd think it would be the opposite. Why are the football owners running their company in the confines of their office, out of sight? We think it's because the football owners know that they're not the product that they're trying to market. The athletes are what the NFL owners are selling to the public. You think that you'll ever see John Henry and David Ortiz in a photo with both holding a bat on their shoulder? Please. Do you think you'll ever see a professional boxer in a photo with a non-boxer, both holding up a clenched fist? Yep, you'll see that often enough, don't you worry. It's become a physical cliche..... A photographic cliche... Whatever. Remember, customers are buying a ticket to watch a professional boxing match. So when marketing an event, market the people that will be partaking in those matches. Do NOT try to market the company that will be staging the event. People don't go to arenas because of that. That has been proven. Take a look at the other sports. Check out the stands, and see how many people are watching. The owner is nowhere to be seen. Check out the next fight card you go to. Glance out into the audience, estimate the amount of people you see. The promoter is right in front of you and them. Take the figure from both, and then compare them. If the number is lopsided, we've got a problem.
There are so many other parts of the business plan, but we'll let you just chew on those little pieces for a moment. We have much more to talk about, and that's why Boxing's Dark Side VIII is right around the corner. We were talking about the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) last week, and we have much more to touch on there. The Association of Boxing Commissions....They have the NFL Players Association. Major League Baseball has players Association. The NBA has one, and so does the NHL. Boxers? No, boxers don't have an association. In boxing it's the Association of Boxing Commissions. "You mean the Association of Boxers, right?" Nope. Boxing has the Association of Boxing Commissions.

 

  Simms wins, Grano KO'd!!!!

 

     In Bridgeport, Connecticut last night, Tarvis Simms won a lopsided decision over late replacement Delray Raines. Simms was expected to prevail in front of his hometown faithful, and he did. Heavyweight Tony Grano was considered a virtual lock in his contest as well, but things didn't turn out so well for the Connecticut resident. Grano was facing Mark Brown of New Jersey, who carried a 13-1 record into the bout. The one loss however, was a 2nd round drubbing to Joey Abell 2 years ago. Abell has turned out to be a bust, but that was clearly the best opponent that Brown had faced. Throw in the fact that Mark Brown is 40 years old, and not many people thought Grano would have any trouble. The 40 year old Brown took Grano into troubled waters though, and Grano wound up sinking to the hospital. In the 2nd round, all was going according to plan for Grano. Brown was issued two standing eight counts in the second round, but survived, and made it clear that he wasn't a "fall down" guy... He was there to win. Although Grano is 13 years younger than Brown, he wasn't in better shape. He was suffering from exhaustion, while the elder Brown was still sucking it up and fighting through his weariness. After 7 rounds, Grano lookes as if he wanted out of the ring. With only one more round to go, Grano answered the bell for the final round. He didn't make the end of it though. Brown tagged Grano so many times that referee, Arthur Mercante issued a standing eight count, then Brown pummeled him until Mercante called the knockout. Grano went to the hospital, and was "unavailable" for comment.

On the undercard, Connecticut's Francisco Palacios lost a decision to Luis Del Valle.  

              Boxing's Dark Side VI

     From a professional sports perspective, boxing has become somewhat of a joke. That being said, it would be remiss to think that state commissions are flourishing, and are not a joke. Some of the so called "reformists" are calling for a national commission. The people that are doing so, either assume that we are all stupid, or they lack intelligence themselves. Maybe it's a combination of both, or maybe they just haven't been paying attention. Regardless of the reasons, NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com has delved into this matter. And you all know what that means, don't you? It means that we have a new installment of Boxing's Dark Side.

     On March 9th of 2001, Greg Page was hurt in a bout held in Kentucky. There was no ambulance available, there was no stretcher, no oxygen, and no licensed doctor at ringside that night. There was one unlicensed doctor there, but he wasn't anywhere near the canvas as Page slipped into a coma. The commissioner of Kentucky boxing was Jack Kerns. He allowed the fight to take place without any of the aforementioned safety measures. A few months later Kerns was elected Vice President of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC). At the time, Pennsylvania Boxing Commissioner, Greg Sirb was the President of the ABC. Sirb has always stressed fighter safety as the number one priority. If those were his genuine feelings and his main concern, he probably would have chose another Vice President, wouldn't you think? Things got so bad that boxing writer Charles Jay wrote a series entitled "Sirb-Gate."  Sirb is no longer the President of the ABC, and Kerns isn't the Vice President. Do you think they're not involved anymore? Mike Mazzulli is now the Vice President, and he told one of our staffers that he talks to Sirb "all the time."  The President of the ABC, Tim Lueckenhoff, is a former police investigator. He's been in the boxing news (as modest as it may be) lately, verbally sparring with WBC honcho, Jose Sulaiman. Sulaiman wanted to use WBC judges for the Tim Bradley-Edner Cherry title fight, while Lueckenhoff insisted that Mississippi appointed judges be used. Uneducated boxing people will take a stand on this, but this is nothing but a political/power play from both sides. The WBC is an easy target to point the finger at. Many blame the sanctioning bodies for boxing's problems. But the WBC and the rest of the alphabet organizations are private companies, they do have the right to award their belt to whomever they choose. Theoretically, they could award their championship belt to William Hung if they wanted to. The ABC was adamant though. They insisted that Mississippi would appoint the judges. The question is, who's more corruptible, WBC judges or Mississippi judges? That's like asking someone which would be better to swim into, an alligator or a shark?

     A month ago, we wrote about Massachusetts Boxers Fund. Nobody seemed to know that such a thing existed, and we wondered, why? Is the money just sitting there? Are there no boxers in need of it? Are Massachusetts boxers being paid so handsomely that the funds are not necessary? Have no fighters suffered such damage that they could use assistance to help them live a better life? Todd Grossman, Deputy General Counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety, is clearly trying to make people aware of these funds. Why is he the only one though? And why hasn't anything been said about this before? We're lucky that we know now. And we're lucky that Todd Grossman brought it to light, because nobody else did. There are states though, where fighters aren't so fortunate.

     Patricia Love-Page is the wife of Greg Page. When Page was injured in that bout in Kentucky, his wife wasn't treated well at all. Out of the fund that had been collecting money, Greg Page and his wife received $300. That's 15 twenty dollar bills. Greg Page can't walk. Love-Page also claims to have had a game played on her. According to Charles Jay, Greg Sirb, who was represented by attorney George Bochetto, never asked her about the status of her husband or how he was doing. She said that one day she received a message on her answering machine from attorney Bochetto. After identifying himself, Bochetto said that he was working with Sirb at the Pennsylvania athletic Commission, and would like her to call him back. When she did call him back, the lady that answered the phone said, "Pennsylvania Athletic Commission." Bochetto never got on the phone, and he never returned the call. When Page researched the number, she found that it was from the address of Bochetto's law firm. It wasn't from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission. The reasoning? Who the hell knows. Intimidation? That's quite possible. We've alluded to that a couple of times on NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com. Do commissioners, and other non-participants try to use intimidation to get their way? Absolutely. There's no question about that. We don't know if that was the aim here, but it certainly stinks.

     This article won't be very popular with some of the commissions, but we feel you have the right to know a little bit more, and you will know a lot more very soon, we've just scratched the surface. We have uncovered some very serious things, alarming things..to us at least. We will continue to give you the lowdown on the ABC, and any other groups that "participate" in this great sport. The ABC is looking to run things in boxing, and look at the power play they made in Mississippi!! Let's just make sure that we are improving the sport, and not harming it even more. For Greg Page's wife to say that she has "no respect" for the ABC...that makes us wonder. Intimidation, power plays...we don't want that!!!  

"Professional Boxers' Bill of Rights"

Here are 4 of them.  There's many others, but here's 4.

8. You have a right to have a doctor at ringside at all times as well as emergency medical personnel and/or an ambulance present at the location at all times.


9. You have a right to have medical insurance to cover any injuries resulting from a bout and to know the name of the insurance company and the amount of coverage that is being provided.


12. You have a right to appeal any and all suspensions and to be informed on exactly why you were suspended and the length of your suspension. To check if you are on the National Suspension List just go onto the Internet at www.sportsnetwork.com and click onto Boxing then onto the National Suspension List.


13. You have a right to contact you local commission or the Association of Boxing Commissions to report any violations, ask any questions or seek any advice.

 

    New England Boxing: 2008

 

2008 TOTALS 

Total New England Boxing shows:20

Connecticut Boxing shows: 8 (Foxwoods 3, Mohegan 4, Conn. Convention Center 1.)

Massachusetts Boxing shows: 8

Rhode Island Boxing shows: 4  

PROMOTERS

8 shows: CES-Jimmy Burchfield 

4 shows: Cappiello Promotions- Richie Cappiello

2 shows: Peter Manfredo, Sr.

1 show:  Rivera Promotions, Irish Ropes, Gary Shaw Productions, Pugnacious Promotions, Banner Promotions,  Packie Collins, Golden Gloves Promotions, Star Boxing-Joe Deguardia, Golden Boy Promotions.

 

        New England Boxing Summary: April-August



1/25/08-Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT. (CES-Jimmy Burchfield) Main Event: Jason Estrada UD10 Charles Shufford. Co-Feature: Matt Remillard UD10 Manny Perez.

Recap- Excellent card here. Estrada picks up his biggest win, as does Matt Remillard. Joey McCreedy upsets Chris Traietti in an "all Massachusetts" battle. Manny Lopes is held to a draw. Brian Macy, Addy Irizarry, Aaron Williams, Angel Camacho, and Eric Pinaretta all pick up wins too.

4/4/08-Twin River Events Center, Lincoln, RI. (CES) Main Event: Jason Estrada UD10 Lance Whitaker. Co-Feature: Aaron Williams TKO2 Andre Purlette.

Recap- A pretty solid card on this night. Jason Estrada faced his toughest challenge to date, and easily outpointed Lance Whitaker. Aaron Williams blew Andre Purlette out in the 2nd round. The undercard was packed with young New England talent. Joey Spina was very lucky to be awarded a split decision over David Whittom. Joey McCreedy wasn't so luck though. McCreedy was set up with a seemingly easy foe here, but was upset by Henry Mayes in a decision. In 4 round action, Isander Beauchamp won a decision, as did Andrey Nevsky. 

 

4/12/08-The Roxy, Boston, MA. (Cappiello Promotions) Main Event: Donald Orr UD8 Clarence Taylor. Co-Feature: Dat Nguyen MD8 Robert DaLuz.

Recap- Cappiello Promotions seemed to run into some trouble with the Massachusetts Boxing Commission here. What was expected to be a full card of fights, turned into a 4 bout event. The fans didn't suffer much though, because all of the fights provided some entertainment. Donald Orr looked average in his New England debut, but picked up a win. Dat Nguyen battled Robert Daluz in razor close fight. The judges gave Nguyen a Majority Decision win. Simeon Dunwell and Edwin Rodriguez were the other victors.

 

5/7/08- The Roxy, Boston, MA. (Cappiello Promotions) Main Event: Reynaldo Lopez TKO3 Mike Oliver. Co-Feature: Antwone Smith KO3 Aaron Torres.

Recap- This was televised live on ESPN2. Mike Oliver had been calling out the champions of the super bantamweight division, but he must have forgot about veteran Reynaldo Lopez. Oliver was introduced to some hard punches, and he didn't respond well. He was knocked out in the 3rd. The co-feature of the telecast was woeful. Former Cappiello fighter Aaron Torres showed why he is "former" Cappiello fighter. Torres never should be in a co-feature, and he certainly shouldn't be in one that's televised. He got pummeled and quit in the 3rd round of this one. Frank Trader, Eddie Caminero, and Sean Ecklund all picked up wins.

 

5/17/08- Freeport Hall, Dorchester, MA. (Peter Manfredo, Sr.) Main Event: Robert DaLuz SD6 Castulo Gonzalez. Co-Feature: Edwin Rodriguez TKO4 Anthony Cannon.

Recap- Manfredo, Sr. did a good job here, thanks in large part to his matching of the main event. In a back and forth slugfest, Robert DaLuz edged Castulo Gonzalez in a 6 rounder. Fast rising prospect Edwin Rodriguez dispatched Anthony Cannon in the 4th and final round, in what was the event's co-feature. Mark DeLuca, Jose Sanchez and Jesus Caro were the other New England fighters. All 3 won.

 

5/23/08- Twin River Event Center, Lincoln, RI. (CES) Main Event: Jose Luis Herrera TKO5 Aaron Williams. Co-Feature: Jason Estrada TKO7 Moultrie Witherspoon.

Recap- Aaron Williams was having his way with this opponent, then the walls fell in. As Williams was enjoying his comfort zone, Herrera turned up the heat, and he turned it up high. A short while later, Williams was in his dressing room wondering what happened. Jason Estrada came into the co-feature in good shape, he left in good shape too. After winning every second of his bout with Moultrie Witherspoon, the ref had seen enough by the 7th. Joey McCreedy avenged his loss to Henry Mayes on the undercard. McCreedy got the nod by a split decision. Angel Camacho and Richard "Bobo" Starnino also picked up wins.

 

6/7/08- Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT. (Gary Shaw Productions) Main Event: Sergio Mora MD12 Vernon Forrest. Co-Feature: Paul Williams TKO1 Carlos Quintana.

Recap- This was the biggest show in New England this year, and Showtime was there to televise. In a major surprise, former champion Vernon Forrest was decisioned by Contender 1 winner Sergio Mora. Both fighters spent much of the fight trading shots, and Mora's movement allowed him to come away with the win. In the co-feature, Paul Williams made it quick. In a rematch with Carlos Quintana, Williams bludgeoned him until the ref called a halt to it....about 2 minutes into round 1. Other New England boxers appearing, Missy Fiorentino was knocked out in the 3rd round, Otis Tisdale was KO'd in 2.

 

6/13/08- Connecticut Convention Center, Hartford, CT. (CES) Main Event: Matt Remillard UD10 Jose Magallon. Co-Feature: Tony Grano TKO1 Leroy Childs.

Recap- Matt Remillard was in his 1st main event, and easily outboxed Jose Magallon. Leroy Childs took on Tony Grano in the co-feature, which is embarassing to all involved in that being the case. Childs came in at 274lbs, and he's not a tall man. You do the math. The debacle ended before the 1st round was complete, thank God. Childs was happy to get a paycheck, and Team Grano looked to be overly excited too. In an undercard matchup of 2 New England products, Richard "Bobo" Starnino gave Brian Macy all he could handle. Starnino looked like he got the better of things, but the judges gave Macy a majority nod. Connecticut native Addie Irizarry pounded out a 4 round unanimous decision over Kim Harris. 

 

6/28/08- The Castle, Boston, MA. (Irish Ropes Promotions) Main Event: John Duddy UD10 Charles Howe. Co-Feature: Doanld Orr UD8 Roberto Valenzuela. 

Recap- In what was supposed to be one of the better cards of the year, this one flopped. John Duddy was able to get some heads in the door, but they didn't see anything special.  Duddy certainly didn't look good against Charles Howe, and he hasn't looked good against anyone in a long time. Donald Orr won a boring decision in the co-feature, and the rest of this card was rather dull too. Mark Clancy beat on a fat Sal Zabian. Edwin Rodriguez however, picked up a good win in beating Hector Henandez in a tough scrap.

 

8/8/08- National Guard Armory, Worcester, MA. (Rivera Promotions) Main Event: Jose Rivera UD8 Clarence Taylor. Co-Feature: Brendon Simonds TKO2 Edwin Rosado.

Recap- Jose Rivera made his promotional debut, and his ring return on the same night. Unfortuantely, he didn't look very good in either one. Rivera was able to get past sub 500 fighter Clarence Taylor, but the scores were too close for comfort. We assume that Rivera will get into a hefty payday sooner rather than later.  The undercard was made up of novice level fights, with Eddie Caminero, Jose Velazquez, Chuck Shearns Keith Bianchini all winning. Worcester's own Edwin Rosado was knocked out in 2.

 

8/22/08- Twin River Event Center, Lincoln, RI. (CES) Main Event: Peter Manfredo Jr. TKO2 Donny McCrary. Co-Feature: Richard Starnino Draw6 Joey McCreedy.

Recap- Peter Manfredo Jr. was in light this time out. The fight was not competitive. The co-feature though, that was very close. After getting slighted by the judges in his fight with Brian Macy, "Bobo" Starnino took on Lowell's Joey McCreedy here, and again he got jobbed. Starnino landed almost at will on McCreedy, and took plenty of shots himself. When it was over it was ruled a draw. Joey Spina, Edwin Rodriguez, Jesus Caro, Angel Camacho and Omar Pena all grabbed wins on the undercard.

 

8/29/08- Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT. (CES) Main Event: Matt Godfrey TKO4 Emmanuel Nwodo. Co-Feature: Matt Remillard TKO4 Adauto Gonzalez.

Recap- In an incredible fight, Matt Godfrey was on the brink of losing his second contest in a row, then came out in the 4th round and attacked Emmanuel Nwodo. After being down the round before, Godfrey forced the referee to end the fight in the 4th. Great win for the cruiserweight prospect. Matt Remillard took on a game, but unprepared opponent. Once Remillard saw Gonzalez tiring, he acted like a veteran and got him out of there. Jason Estrada, Brian Macy, Addie Irizarry and Keith Kozlin were all victorious too.

 

"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle." - Benjamin Franklin

"Eating words has never given me indigestion." - Winston Churchill

"Men use thought only to justify their wrongdoings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts." - Voltaire

"The world can be a very cruel place to an honest man." - Mitch Leary

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most fools do." - Benjamin Franklin

"I am bored with it all." - Winston Churchill

 

Castillo injured: Adam Harris will now face

Harvey Jolley

 

Worcester's Adam Harris won't be facing Elieser Castillo on Friday night in Philadelphia. Harris was scheduled to take a huge step up in competition when he faced the 30-6-2 Castillo. Castillo has an injured hand, and was forced to pull out of the bout. Harris will still be fighting in the main event on the June 6th card, but he'll instead face 8-8-1 Harvey Jolley.

Looking at the records, this would appear to be a much easier task for Harris. It might be a smaller task, but it isn't an easy one...not by a long shot. Jolley knocked out Dorchester cruiserweight Richard Gingras in April, and won again on Thursday night by quick knockout. Despite his 8-8-1 (5) record, Jolley is a good fighter that has faced excellent opposition from the start. Harris will still face his best opponent to date, but it's a much better matchup for him. Harris will go into the fight at 10-0 (7). Gingras was 8-0 (4) when he fought Jolley, a few short seconds into round 3 he was 8-1.

 

 

Irish Ropes will promote Boston show alone

 

A reliable source has told us that Cappiello Promotions is not involved in the June 28th card at The Castle, as we had reported this week. There will be 2 or 3 Cappiello promoted fighters participating, but that is the extent of Cappiello Promotions involvement. Irish Ropes is the sole promoter for this show. We apologize if this caused any confusion.

           Remillard enjoys home cookin’
                           Friday the 13th at the Connecticut Convention Center

 
**CES Press Release**


HARTFORD (May 29, 2008) -- WBC World Youth featherweight champion Matt “Sharp Shooter” Remillard makes his first title defense on June 13, practically in his backyard at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, against Mexican challenger Jose Magallon in the 10-round main event headlining “Connecticut Conquest.”   “Connecticut Conquest,” promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc., will be taped live and air Wednesday, June 11 at 8 PM/ET on CN8,The Comcast Network, as well as Friday, June 20 at 8 PM/ET on Cox Sports Television.   “Every place we go claims to be the boxing capital of the past,” promoter Jimmy Burchfield remarked. “We’re giving each city a chance to show that it is the boxing capital of the future, starting with Hartford, Connecticut. The Connecticut Convention Center is doing everything possible in partnership with CES to bring world class boxing back to Hartford.”   Remillard (13-0, 7 KOs), fighting out of nearby Manchester, won the WBC World Youth crown last  January via an impressive 10-round decision against Manuel Perez (11-3),  after Matt was sidelined for nearly 16-months due to a wrist injury that twice required surgery.
“It feels great to be fighting at home,” Remillard said. “Most fighters don’t get an opportunity to fight in their hometown and I’m privileged to have my first title defense at home. It makes me work even harder in the gym, knowing I’ll be fighting in front of my family and friends. There’s pressure in every fight, especially when you’re unbeaten. I guess it depends on how you deal with pressure. It’s either a negative or positive and I feel that it’s a positive. Nobody can help a fighter in the ring, but there is a hometown advantage hearing your fans root for you. I hope all my fans will be there June 13th.   “I’m not feeling any pain in my hand. I don’t hold back. If I land a punch and it hurts a little I’ll just shake it off and keep going. My hand feels better with the nicer weather. I’d never broken a bone before, but cold and rain bothers the bone. I know my opponent is a tough Mexican fighting out of Las Vegas. He comes to fight and loves to bang. He won’t take a step backwards, like me, and that’s going to make for a great fight.” Remillard, despite losing 16-months because of his injury, still believes he’s being moved at the right pace. “I’m only 21 and turn 22 the day of the weigh in,” he noted. “I’m already 13-0, so I don’t worry about how fast I’m being moved. I’m in the right place at the right time.”   Undefeated Connecticut heavyweight Tony “TNT” Grano (13-0-1, 11 KOs), 2005 U.S. Nationals champion and arguably the most popular fighter in New England, faces an opponent to be determined in the 8-round co-feature.   New Bedford (MA) police officer Jason Pires (20-3, 9 KOs), former USBA super bantamweight title-holder, returns to the ring after a five-year absence, in which, he graduated from college (UMass/Dartmouth) and became a New Bedford police officer. He’s in a special 6-round junior welterweight bout vs. TBA. Others scheduled to fight June 13 include Hartford favorite, junior welterweight and prison guard Addy Irizarry (4-2, 2 KOs), coming off a very close loss by decision in Germany, vs. Janae Archuleta (5-14-1, 2 KOs); undefeated, top super middleweight prospect Brian Macy (3-0, 1 KO), of Ledyard (CT), the 2000 National PAL amateur champion and University of Connecticut graduate vs. Roger Locklear (0-2); Hartford super middleweight Tylon Burris (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Richmond “The White Tornado” Dalphone (0-3-2)..   Tickets are on sale and priced at $35.00 (VIP Bronze), $55.00 (VIP Silver), $80.00 (VIP Gold), $100.00 (Diamond) and $150.00 (Jimmy’s Platinum Club VIP). To purchase tickets go to or call CES (401.724.2253/2254), Connecticut Convention Center (860.249.000), Manchester PAL (860.645.6261), Willy’s Gym (860.614.2281), Connecticut Restorations (860.528.6800), Strikezone Gym (860.444.2845), L.A. Boxing Gym (860.221.5987) and 401 Boxing (401.261.9800).   For more information call CES (401.724.2253/2254), the Connecticut Convention Center (860.249.6000), or go on line at www.cesboxing.com. Doors open at 6 PM/ET, first bout 7 PM/ET.

 Slow movement on June 28th Boston card

 

In 4 weeks, boxing will return to The Castle in Boston, MA. We reported that information more than 3 weeks ago. Through the grapevine, we heard that John Duddy would be facing Charles Howe, an Ohio fighter that shouldn't be fighting anyone that's heard of the middleweight title. Irish Ropes has not said that Duddy would be fighting Howe, so there's still hope. John Duddy's publicist, Bob Trieger, told NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com that nothing had been confirmed as far as opponents go. Trieger told us weeks ago, "Local fighters interested in being in competitive matches will be on the card. This will not be a case of ticket sellers fighting in non-competitive matches." Right now there are 6 fights listed, but only one of those fights has 2 boxers in it. 

We had reported that Simeon Dunwell and Donald Orr would be fighting on this show, and then Trieger gave us the above quote, in which he said that only competitive bouts would take place. Irish Ropes and Cappiello Promotions will promote, and Orr and Dunwell will indeed fight on this card. The one complete fight that has been announced is  Edwin Rodriguez vs. Yason Rashad. So far, so good. Both fighters are 6-0, what more could you ask for. Since we were told that this would be exclusively for fighters that want to be in competitive fights, we are asking for 5 more of those. If Duddy faces Howe, give us 4 more of them, but make sure that those are all great.

It will take place June 28th at The Castle in Boston. We hope to see more than 1 fight announced soon. Trieger claims that Duddy can pretty much sell that place out himself, so there is no need to appease ticket sellers by putting them in with soft competition. If tickets are still on sale though, which we believe they are, it'd be nice to see who's fighting who before you buy a ticket.



 

     Rodriguez opts out of Worcester debut

By Bud Barth TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
hbarth@telegram.com

**As it appeared in the Worcester Telegram on Sunday, May 25th.** 

WORCESTER— After verbally agreeing to make his long-awaited Worcester debut next month on a card promoted by his friend and former sparring partner, middleweight prospect Edwin Rodriguez has had a change of heart, opting for the greater exposure and larger purse of a show on the same night at the Castle in Boston.

So, instead of local boxing fans getting their first look at Rodriguez here at a cost of $20 to $40, they’ll have to make the 90-mile round-trip to Boston and pay roughly double those ticket prices — probably $40 to $100.

José Antonio Rivera, the former three-time world champion from Worcester and now part-time promoter, said he had to “move forward” without the 23-year-old Rodriguez (6-0-0, 5 knockouts) on his June 28 show at the Lincoln Street armory because of a wavering commitment from the fighter’s camp. '); //--> = 0) || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("WebTV")>= 0) { document.write(''); document.write(''); } //-->

Rivera said he was given verbal assurances weeks ago by Rodriguez and his manager, Worcester attorney Larry Army Jr., that the two-time national amateur champion would appear on the show, the first endeavor of Rivera Promotions.

But Rivera said he was told last Sunday by matchmaker Frank Rohacik that Army had abruptly informed him that he would decide “sometime next week” whether Rodriguez would appear in Worcester or on a show being staged the same night by Irish Ropes Productions at the Castle, part of Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel complex. That show has yet to be announced officially.

Rivera, 35, was a frequent sparring partner of Rodriguez before announcing his retirement from the ring last October, a retirement he recently renounced, saying he’ll make a comeback later this year as a middleweight. The two fighters have been friends since Rodriguez and his family came to Worcester from the Dominican Republic in 1998.

“I’m not bitter at all,” Rivera said on Friday. “You can’t be bitter with the kid. They’ve got to do what’s best for him. Maybe (next time) we won’t run into that kind of hiccup where there’s two shows at one time.”

Army admitted that he sought a spot on the Boston card after getting feelers from promoter Rich Cappiello following Rodriguez’s last fight, a fourth-round TKO of Anthony Cannon last weekend at Freeport Hall in Dorchester. Cappiello is a co-promoter of the Castle show.

Army said Rodriguez has been approved for the card, although it won’t be announced officially for another week or so. Rodriguez is expected to take on undefeated Yason “The Assassin” Rashad (6-0-0, 2 KOs), a 31-year-old who would be the fighter’s stiffest test to date.

While he admits breaking a verbal promise, Army insists he was basically told by Rivera to take a hike just two hours after asking Rivera — through Rohacik, who is the matchmaker for Team Rodriguez and for the Rivera show — for one or two days to make a final decision. Army claimed he actually was leaning toward the Worcester show.

“We couldn’t afford to wait until they decided,” Rivera said. “We’re pushing our show, we’ve got to get our tickets printed, and the posters, and we need to give the (right) information. We can’t say Edwin’s going to be on the card if they can’t confirm whether he’s going to be on the card. We had no choice.”

“We understand (the disappointment of Worcester fans),” Army said. “I can say two things about that: First, we are definitely going to fight in Worcester this year, we are making a commitment to that. And second, at the end of the day, we were told we weren’t welcome on that card.”

Rodriguez reportedly will earn between $500 and $1,000 for the Castle fight, about twice what he would have made in Worcester. Plus, the Boston promoters are paying all of Rodriguez’s expenses.

“Edwin doesn’t fight for the money,” Army said. “We’ve had fights where he’s made not enough to drive the car to the arena. But it’s a sacrifice he’s got to make when we’re going the route we’re going, without a promoter.”

“It wasn’t really a money issue for us or them,” Rivera agreed. “They were working with us (on a purse).”

It is, however, all about exposure. While the Worcester card will showcase unknown local pro and amateur talent and attract about 400 fans, the Boston show — billed as “The Hassle at the Castle” — will attract regional and national coverage with unbeaten middleweight prospect John Duddy (24-0-0, 17 KOs) as the headliner. The venue seats about 2,000.

Duddy, a Northern Ireland native now living in New York City, is angling for a fight with undefeated WBC and WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.

That kind of exposure to the media, promoters and other fighters should enhance Rodriguez’s reputation as he seeks to become “the future of the middleweight division,” which is how he is being billed by his publicist, Jim Hunter of Las Vegas.

Also planned for the Castle show are Boston cruiserweight Mark Clancy (7-0-1, 1), another Irish-born fighter, and Lynn junior welterweight Simeon Dunwell (7-0-0, 2). Super middleweight Mark “The Italian Bazooka” DeLuca (5-0-0, 3) of Whitman also is being considered, sources said.

“This fight’s going to be a sellout, no doubt about it,” Army said. “There’s going to be 2,000 boxing fans, mainly South Boston Irish boxing fans. It’s not just that it’s 2,000 fans, but it’s 2,000 fans that probably wouldn’t have a reason at this point in their lives to go out and watch an Edwin Rodriguez fight.”

The Worcester show will include the pro debut of Worcester heavyweight Keith Bianchini, mixed martial arts specialist and occasional super welterweight boxer Matt Lee of Clinton, the return of Auburn middleweight Chuck Shearns (1-0), plus five amateur bouts with prospects coached by Carlos Garcia of the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester.

 

  Twin River (RI) Summary

 

 

Jose Luis Herrera   TKO5   Aaron Williams (1:58)- Huge upset. Herrera is a natural 168 pounder, and he had loose baggage around his middle. Williams had him nearly finished in the 1st round, but with the doctor's help, Herrera stayed in the ring. Williams became more comfortable as the fight wore on, but in the 5th round he got extremely uncomfortable. A barrage of punches put Williams down. When he got back up, he looked like he was failing a fields sobriety test. Before Herrera could blister him, Williams took a seat on his own. At that point the doctor gave him a quick examination, and rightfully called the fight. Wow.  


Jason Estrada   TKO7   Moultrie Witherspoon (1:38)- Estrada looked sharp. Witherspoon looked dull. Estrada didn't lose a second of the fight, and had Witherspoon ready to go in the first round. Witherspoon did show real toughness, and battled gamely, but an in-shape Estrada will be tough for anybody to beat. Awful stoppage by the referee. Witherspoon was not in any more danger than he was in the first, in fact, he was in far less. The outcome wasn't going to be any different, but the fans pay to see more than that. Terrible.

Joey McCreedy   SD6   Henry Mayes- This was the wrong decision. The last time these two fought, Mayes was awarded a split decision. This time, they switched it. McCreedy is an agressive kid, but we thought that Mayes repeated the last performance.

Henry Lundy   UD4   Esteban Almaraz- Another poor decision.Almaraz had Lundy down twice. Once in the 1st, and once in the 4th. Lundy had Almaraz down once in the 1st. In what seemed like an Almaraz win, or at the very least a draw, Lundy was awarded a unanimous decision. 1  judge had him winning by 2 points. We would've thought that was mathematically impossible.


Angel Camacho  UD4   Andre Hemphill- We said we'd know all that we needed to about Camacho after this fight. We know he has poise, and we know he has some boxing ability. For the first 3 and a half rounds, he had his way with the lethargic Hemphill. With a minute left in the 4th and final round, Hemphill gave Camacho a buzz. Thankfully, Hemphill didn't attempt to pour it on. The only question is, who's to thank? Camacho was out on his feet, and Hemphill didn't throw another meaningful punch. Camacho was rocked badly though. After the fight, I hope he thanked Jimmy Burchfield and Ted Panagiotis for scheduling this one for 4.

Richard Starnino   TKO3   Richard Royal 1:28- Starnino was in better shape this time, and he got a much needed TKO win over Dick Royal. Starnino attacked Royal from the opening bell, battering him until the referee stepped in and stopped it in the 3rd. Royal wouldn't have beaten Alicia Silverstone either. Dreadful. If Starnino vs. McCreedy isn't right around the corner, there is no God.

 

    Aaron Williams Upset!!!! KO'd in 5

 

Cruiserweight prospect Aaron Williams had his way with Jose Luis Herrera tonight. He dropped Herrera in round 1, and pummeled him throughout. Herrera stuck around though, and deposited Williams on the canvas in round 5. On unsteady legs, Williams went down a 2nd time to avoid being killed. The doctor came up and took a look, and then advised the referee to end the contest. Herrera should donate half of his earnings to that doctor, because if it weren't for him, Herrera would have been a 1st round loser. After Herrera had been dropped in the first, and the beating continued, the doctor inexplicably came up onto the canvas and wanted to take a look at Herrera. After letting Herrera recover for some crucial seconds, the doctor let him continue. 5 rounds later, his hand was raised.

 

      Friday's Twin River(RI) Predictions

 

AARON WILLIAMS VS.  JOSE LUIS HERRERA- Herrera has 19 fights, and he's won 15 of them. Of those 15 wins, not one guy has went the distance...Herrera has knocked them all out. That all sounds great, until you take a peak at his 4 losses. Those have all been by knockout too. Williams on the other hand, is undefeated at 17-0. He has 12 knockouts, with the last one being a 2nd round blowout of 40-2 Andre Purlette. Herrera is a natural 168 pounder too, which makes that glass jaw even more fragile. Teddy Atlas will mention this stuff tomorrow, but it will be old news to you. For you are NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com readers, thus you are educated.

Prediction: Williams by KO- Herrera was a 168 pounder his whole career. 3 fight ago, he started  weighing in around 177. Williams has been a cruiserweight forever, and a good one. This won't be a difficult fight for Williams. When we say Williams by KO, we mean early.
 

JASON ESTRADA  vs.  MOULTRIE WITHERSPOON- Witherspoon is big, 6' 6" to be precise. He'll have a huge height advantage over Estrada, but so did Lance Whitaker. The 6' 1" Estrada has faced far better opposition than Witherspoon, and it's unlikely that Witherspoon could show him something that he hasn't seen.

Prediction: Estrada by UD8- Estrada weighed in at 239 for this bout, the same as he came in for the Whitaker bout. That isn't good news for Witherspoon. Estrada has been keeping himself very fit lately, and that is why his performances have been so much better. He'll cruise in this one.


JOE McCREEDY  VS.  HENRY MAYES- McCreedy deserves credit for taking an immediate rematch here...I guess. There wasn't much else he could do though. Mayes outpointed McCreedy in April at the same venue they'll fight at this time. At the time, Mayes had a 6-5-1 record. It marked the 2nd time that McCreedy had been beaten, and both were to guys with 500 records. Ironically, the other guy that beat McCreedy will fight Angel Camacho on this show.


Prediction: Mayes by UD6- McCreedy should be happy that we picked against him here. He usually proves us wrong. After seeing the 1st fight between these two, it's hard to see McCreedy winning. The judges were pretty beneficial to McCreedy in that 1st bout, so they may be inclined to give him close rounds. Hopefully Joey can win this one, but we tend to think he won't.

HENRY LUNDY  VS.  STEVE ALMAREZ- This is a good fight. Almarez is from Texas, and is undefeated at 7-0. Lundy is 10-0-1, from Philly, and is promoted by CES. In Lundy's last fight, he was held to a draw by an 8-0 fighter. Almarez has been in with soft competition as a pro, but has a good looking amateur background.   

Prediction: Lundy SD6- Almarez is a very good boxer, and he'll probably earn a win here. Unfortunately, earning a win and getting a win are two entirely different things in boxing. This will be very close.

ANGEL CAMACHO  VS.  ANDRE HEMPHILL- In the 3 fights that he's had since pummeling McCreedy, Hemphill hasn't won any. He has managed a draw, and his competition has been solid. Camach will look to turn 10-0, but it's not an easy assignment.

Prediction: Camacho MD6- This will be a great way for CES to find out what Camacho is made of. Very good fighters blow Hemphill away, good fighters beat him, and over hyped fighters lose to him. Also, if you're a good fighter, and have been facing weak opposition, Hemphill will beat you. Camacho should be able to sneak by him. Either way, we'll find out everything we need to know about Camacho in this fight.

Richard "BOBO" STARNINO  VS.  RICHARD ROYAL- Starnino is 8-3, and Royal is 3-2-1. This is an even matchup, as neither Richard has beaten a good fighter,

Prediction: Royal UD4- There isn't a lot to choose from between these 2 Dicks. Starnino looked woeful in his last bout, and Royal has 6 fights in a 16 year career. We lean toward Dick Royal, due to Starnino's last performance.

Isander Beauchamp vs. Elvis Rodriguez- Beauchamp weighed in a 116 lbs. Rodriguez has yet to weigh in for this bout. We don't know why Rodriguez hasn't weighed in, but we know that he's been 127 and 122 pounds in his two other bouts. He probably needed extra time in the sauna. Rodriguez is 1-1 by the way.

Prediction: Beauchamp KO3-We'll see what Rodriguez weighs in at today, but it's sure to be his lightest as a pro. Chances are, he has been starving himself, and he won't have any time to replenish his system. That's too much of a handicap when you're facing Beauchamp. .



 

 
6 billion-That's the estimated number of people in the world. For those that aren't too familiar with that lofty digit, 1 billion is a million....1 thousand times. To picture that number, envision 1 million people on a huge mass of land. Then add another million. Then keep bringing em in by the million, a thousand times. Once you've done that, repeat that process again...5 more times. A lot of people.

305 million- That's the number of people in the USA. Most of us are more familiar with that number, although slightly. It's a great many people.
 

**Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.  ~Spanish Proverb

**Anger and spite are never lonely; envy always tags along.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

**Most people are other people.  Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.  ~Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, 1905

   Worcester's Rainwater TKO'd in 5th

 

Worcester's John Rainwater was TKO'd in the 5th round on Saturday night in Albany, NY. Rainwater had said that making the cruiserweight limit had become too much of a burden, and that he was excited to be fighting without draining his body. He faced 21-3-1 Gary Wilcox at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, and was beaten up throughout. Rainwater's downward spiral continues, as he falls to 10-16. It was Rainwater's first fight at heavyweight since 2000, when he was KO'd in RI by Joe Mesi. Wilcox was coming off of a 2 1/2 hiatus.

 

         Dorchester Results

 
Tyler Hinkey  UD4   Mike Miller ( 39-37, 39-37, 40-36)

Edwin Rodriquez  TKO4   Anthony Cannon 
        
Mark DeLuca  UD6  Anthony Osbourne (40-35, 40-35, 40-35)

Jesus Caro  TKO1  Levaniel King     
  
Robert DaLuz  SD6  Castulo Gonzalez (59-55, 59-55, 56-58)

Jose Sanchez   UD4   Harvey Phillips (40-36, 40-36, 39-37)  

                        
Promoter: Peter Manfredo, Sr.

Hartford's Addie Irizarry loses decision in Germany

 

Hartford female jr. welterweight Addie Irizarry took her show on the road tonight. Irizarry gave a good account of herself, dropping a decision to German prosepect Cecilia Braekhus. Braekhus had Irizarry down in the 6th and final round, but the Hartford fighter got up and finished on her feet. By doing so, she will probably be able to fulfill her commitment to next month's Hartford show. The loss drops Irizarry to 4-2, while Braekhus remains undefeated at 7-0.        

 

 
   Saturday's Dorchester Predictions
 

Edwin Rodriguez  vs.  Luis Hodge- Rodriguez will fight his first 6 rounder here, and it'll be the main event. His opponent, Luis Hodge, brings a 5-6-1 record into the bout. That doesn't look so bad on the surface, but he's 0-6-1 in his last 7. Rodriguez of course, is undefeated at 4-0.

Prediction: Rodriguez by UD- Rodriguez won't have much trouble in this one. Hodge has only lost to good fighters though, and he has a sturdy chin. It'll be a good workout for Edwin.

Castulo Gonzalez vs.  Robert DaLuz- In an excellent New England matchup, Castulo Gozalez (MA) will take on Robert DaLuz (RI). This is scheduled for 6, and you can expect fireworks from bell to bell. Both guys are of the journeyman variety, and they'll each consider themself the favorite in this one.

Prediction: DaLuz UD6- As good as we are with our predictions, even we have a hard time calling this one. They both gave Dat Nguyen a tough battle. They both have faced stiff competition for most of their career. DaLuz is the harder puncher, and he's probably a little bit better.

Derek Hinkey  vs.   Anthony Cannon- Cannon has been KO'd in 3 of his last 4, he's lost all of them. He did manage a win over a 9-1 fighter last year, so he appears to be a live dog. Hinkey hasn't proven a whole lot either. He knocked out his first 4 opponents early, but in February of this year, he was knocked out himself.

Prediction: Hinkey by KO5- The little that we've seen on Hinkey doesn't tell us much. Cannon should be able to last 4 rounds, unfortunately, the fight's scheduled for 6.
 
Mark DeLuca  vs. Anthony  Osbourne- Osbourne has faced some pretty good competition, DeLuca hasn't. Of Osbourne's 26 losses, he's been stopped only 7 times. Osbourne was even able to beat Saoul Mamby earlier this year, although Mamby was 60...literally. For DeLuca, this is a good fight. He'll step in with his most experienced foe to date, and he's favored to win.


Prediction: DeLuca by UD- It's hard to tell how good DeLuca is. He's looked okay, but it's been with very poor opponents in front of him. Osbourne's experience should help DeLuca grow as a fighter, while at the same time earning another win.

Tyler Hinkey   vs.   Mike Miller- Miller is 3-10-2. Hinkey is 2-0-1. Of Miller's 10 losses, he's only been stopped once, by Connecticut's Tony Grano. Like his brother, we haven't seen much of Hinkey. The question is, did they choose a guy with too much experience?

Prediction: Hinkey by SD- Hinkey has been lighter with each fight, so his conditioning may be better in this fight. Miller has no trouble going rounds, so it should be a very stern test for Hinkey. He'll be lucky to get this win.

Jose Sanchez  vs.  Harvey Phillips- Sanchez is from Pawtucket, RI. Phillips is out of Brockton, MA. Sanchez is 2-0, Phillips 0-4. 

Prediction: Jose Sanchez by KO- Phillips won't be weighing in until later today. That gives us the feeling that he was a last minute fill in. Plus, Sanchez has never lost, and Phillips has never won. That doesn't seem like too tough of a prediction to make. Phillips has been the distance twice, but he won't in this one.

Jesus Caro  vs.  Lavaniel King- The Providence, RI native Caro will make his pro debut here. His opposition is Lavaniel King, an 0-1 fighter from North Carolina. The "0-1 from North Carolina" can raise some red flags, but the fact that it was in the first round......   

Prediction: Caro by KO- Caro gets an easy mark for his debut.                 

                        

Worcester's Adam Harris vs. Elieser

Castillo at The Legendary Blue Horizon

 
On June 6th, Worcester's Adam Harris will take a drastic step up in competition. The undefeated Harris will headline a card in Philadelphia at The Legendary Blue Horizon, where he'll be in a 12 round bout with Cuban, Elieser Castillo. Castillo will enter the ring sporting a 30-6-2 (17) record, while Harris will bring a 10-0 (7) record in. The difference in experience is staggering, and Harris has never been more than 6 rounds. In contrast, Castillo has gone more than six, 19 times. In this bout, Harris is scheduled to go twice that amount of rounds. 

A pro for 12 years, Castillo has fought some of the best heavyweights in the world. Harris obviously hasn't, because like we said, he's never been scheduled for more than 6 rounds. Why the sudden leap of faith? Harris has had some discipline problems in the past, and is currently on probation for one of them. Maybe they wanted to get a few dollars for him. He is promoted by Mike Fingerman of Philadelphia, and is trained by former heavyweight champ Tim Witherspoon. A Worcester paper recently interviewed Harris, and he didn't sound very confident. We won't read too much into that, but it's never a good sign when a fighter says, "Maybe he won't make weight." He was referring to Castillo when he said that, in case you were wondering. It would be a good idea if Harris got that out of his head, because, "He probably will make weight." Harris is talented, but this will be culture shock. It'd be great if we were wrong, but I doubt that we will be.
 

Massachusetts Commission Hearing: No

Changes.....Yet

 

As expected, the Massachusetts Boxing Commision held an open meeting today. Attendance was much lower than we anticipated, but those who did attend, were able to get their comments/concerns heard. As of right now, no changes have been made to the current rules. The commission will now take into account what they heard today, and make changes to the proposal. A vote is expected within the next few weeks or so. 

****In the interim, if anyone wants to send in written comments, they are free and welcome to do so, but should make sure they get them in within the next 10 days or so.

"You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity."

Thomas Wolfe

 

Duddy at The Castle in Boston on June 28th

 

John Duddy's publicist, Bob Trieger, has informed NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com that Duddy will fight June 28th at The Castle in Boston. A source had mentioned May 28th, but it seems they were a month off. It was also rumored that Simeon Dunwell and Donald Orr would appear on this card, leading us to believe that Cappiello would promote. That's not the case either. Irish Ropes Promotions will promote this show, assuming they are granted the necessary license...which they've applied for. "Local fighters interested in being in competitive matches will be on the card," Trieger stated. "This will not be a case of ticket sellers fighting in con-competitive matches."

If Trieger is correct in his forecast, this is great news for New England boxing. Local fighters in competitive matches is a lost concept. Trieger pointed out that Duddy has the drawing power to pack The Castle himself, which negates the need to appease the modest ticket sellers from the area. It'll be interesting to see which Massachusetts fighters step up to the plate for this show, or which New England fighters step up. "Local fighters interested in being in competitive matches will be on the card." That's a winning formula for New England, and it could lead to the best show we have all year. 

        Duddy "Vacationing" in Boston!!??

 

The exact date is in question, but it appears that John Duddy will be coming back to Boston soon. His publicist, Bob Trieger, told us that it'd probably be in June. Friday night though, an unnamed source told us that it would take place at The Castle on May 28th. New Cappiello Promotions acquisition, Donald Orr is rumored to be on the undercard, as well as another Cappiello fighter, Simeon Dunwell. No official word from Cappiello Promotions yet, so it's hard to say for certain what the real deal is.

Duddy's opponent? Nothing has been reported on that front either. We've spoken with several people close to the situation, and Charles Howe (17-4-2) of Ohio is the only name we've heard at all. Howe was knocked out in 1 round by Joey Gilbert in his last fight. It would have been hard to sell this fight to the NY audience, especially after Duddy's last performance. Howe's record looks nice at first glance, but when looked at closer, it's clear why Duddy would select him as an opponent.

Things should develop within the next few days, and we'll keep you posted. Hopefully Duddy doesn't fight Charles Howe, and takes on a more legitimate challenge. Afterall, had he not been cut up in his last bout, he'd be fighting Kelly Pavlik for the world title. Charles Howe would be too drastic of a downgrade.....at least for New York fans.

 

        Oliver and Torres Knocked Out!!! 

 

Mike Oliver had been very vocal lately, calling out super bantamweight champion Stevie Molitor, and referring to him as a chicken. He probably wishes he had shut his mouth now. In front of a national television audience, Oliver was knocked out cold by virtual unknown Reynaldo Lopez in round 3. Referee Dick Flaherty decided not to finish counting, as Oliver was laying with his face on the canvas, and he wasn't moving. Oliver had been hit with a hard right hand in round 2, and seemed to mentally break down. With the upset loss, it's back to the drawing board for Oliver.

We were told that Aaron Torres had a history of quitting. That report has been confirmed.  In round three, Torres was sick of getting beat up by Antoine Smith, and watched the referee count to ten. Torres had been down in round 2, and was never in the fight. 3 months back, Torres told NewEnglandBoxingpromoters.com that he commanded $20-$30,000 per fight. That was clearly an overestimate, and he didn't earn the chump change he made tonight. Torres would be smart to cease putting on boxing gloves. Smith had never knocked out a fighter with a winning record, but he has now.

Eddie Caminero was scheduled to fight William Armstead, but instead took on last minute substitution Adrick Butler. Caminero ran his record to 4-0, by knocking Butler out in the 3rd round. It was Butler's first fight. 

Frankie Trader made his pro debut a successful one, shutting out Luis Rosario over 4 rounds. Rosario hadn't fought in 14 years.

Lowell junior welterweight Sean Ecklund beat Worcester's Jose Velasquez by unanimous decision. Ecklund had beaten Velasquez by split decision earlier this year, and looked much better in this one. The win brings Ecklund's record to 6-2, while the loss keeps Velasquez winless at 0-3.
 

Manfredo, Sr. promoting to keep young fighters

busy

By Bob Trieger

 Rodriguez & Hinkey on “Diamonds in the Rough” May 17 in Boston  

PAWTUCKET, Rhode Island (May 6, 2008) – Peter Manfredo, Sr. has been a world champion kick-boxer, owns and operates New England (Manfredo’s Gym in Pawtucket) top gym, and trainsd talented pro fighters such as his son, world title challenger Peter Manfredo, Jr., Jessie Brinkley, Edwin Rodriguez and other promising prospects.   The question is why Manfredo, Sr. has delved into promoting? On May 17 he presents “Diamonds in the Rough,” in association with Let’s Get It On Promotions, at Freeport (I.B.E.W.) Hall in Dorchester, Massachusetts.   “I decided to venture into promoting to give young pros around here an opportunity to fight without signing a promotional contract,” Manfredo explained. “They don’t want to be restricted by signing with a promoter and I’m not looking to sign anybody. I’m giving them a chance to fight, keep busy, and opportunities to build their records.”   Headlining for the first time is Worcester (MA) middleweight prospect Edwin Rodriguez (5-0, 3 KOs) in the 6-round co-main event. The Dominican Republic-born Rodriguez won the 2006 National Golden Gloves Championships and 2005 United States Championships.   Super middleweight Derek Hinkey (4-1, 4 KOs), fighting out of McDermitt, Nevada, is a Native American fighter with a rich amateur career that includes participation in the Olympic Trials. He meets TBA in the 6-round co-feature. A 6-round featherweight bout has been added between Guatamala-born Castulo Gonzalez (9-5, 3 KOs), fighting out of Lynn (MA), against Florida tough guy Robert “Don’t Lose” DaLuz (10-11-2, 9 KOs). Also scheduled to fight on the May 17 card are Whitman (MA) super middleweight Mark “The Italian Bazooka” DeLuca (3-0, 2 KOs), 2004 National Silver Gloves champion; Hinkey’s younger brother, heavyweight Tyler Hinkey (2-0-1, 2 KOs); Providence junior welterweight Jesus Caro, New England Golden Gloves champion; Brockton (MA) welterweight Alexandria Madgziak. Caro and Madgziak will be making their pro debuts. All bouts and fighters are subject to change.   Tickets, priced at $40.00 (general admission), $55.00 (reserved), $75.00 (ringside) and $100.00 (Golden Ringside), are on sale at Freeport Hall and Manfredo’s Gym. Call 401.723.1359 for additional information. Doors open at 6 PM/ET, first bout at 7 PM/ET.

             Wednesday's Roxy Predictions

 

Mike Oliver  vs. Reynaldo Lopez-This will be a good main event. Lopez is tough, durable, and very experienced. Oliver may even be in his toughest fight yet.

Prediction: Oliver by UD- Although he'll probably have to overcome some scary moments in the 1st half of the fight, Oliver is nearly unbeatable once he finds his rythym.

Aaron Torres vs. Antoine Smith- Torres was once a Cappiello promoted fighter. Once he left though, he stopped winning fights. The only time that Torres is able to win a fight, is when he faces D level competition, and even then it isn't easy. 

Prediction: Smith by UD- Smith isn't D level opposition. End of story. 

Eddie Caminero vs. William Armstead- Caminero is undefeated. Armstead is coming to Boston to keep it that way.

Prediction: Caminero by KO- Mission accomplished.

Sean Ecklund  vs. Jose Velasquez- Velasquez doesn't have a win yet. 3 months ago though, he lost a split decision to Ecklund. They'll do it again on Wednesday, and Ecklund will be looking to make this much more convincing.

Prediction: Ecklund by MD- That isn't much more convincing.

Frank Trader vs. Luis Rosario- Our man tells us that Trader was an amateur star. Our record books tell us that Rosario hasn't fought in 14 years, and hasn't won in 15 years.

Prediction: Trader by KO- This won't be pretty. It's not a bad fight for Trader to be in, as he's making his debut against a guy that had experience. It's a terrible fight for Rosario to be in though, and that'll be evident very quickly. Trader will KO him at some point.

Edwin Rosado vs. Emmanuel Roses- This will be an exciting fight. Roses is 0-2, and Rosado is 1-3. Both of Roses losses were in Philadelphia, to Philly fighters. Rosado has faced tough opposition too, which makes for a war. It'll probably be the best fight of the night, and Cappiello deserves credit for putting this on.

Prediction: Rosado by UD- He'll earn a win here. Then he'll probably be meeting Frank Trader.

 

   Manfredo, Rodriguez Win in Idaho!!

In Worley, Idaho last night, Providence super middleweight Peter Manfredo knocked out journeyman Luis Lopez in the 3rd round. Manfredo is scheduled to headline an ESPN2 show in RI next month, but it's doubtful that he'll go through with that bout. Manfredo dominated this one from start to finish, clearly outclassing the game but overmatched Lopez. With the win, Manfredo picks up his 30th win, bringing his record to 30-5.

Another New England super middleweight picked up a win in Idaho. Edwin Rodriguez moved to 5-0 with a 1st round wipeout of Michael Birthmark. Rodriguez is scheduled to fight again later this month in Massachusetts.   

 

New England Boxing: 6 Fight Cards in the

Next 5 Weeks!

Cappiello Promotions will kick off a busy 5 week stretch next Wednesday. ESPN2 will be in town to televise the Cappiello card from The Roxy in Boston, with Mike Oliver headlining. After that, they'll be cards aplenty for the next 5 weeks.  Manfredo, Sr. will be up the street in Dorchester 9 days later. Burchfield and CES have one in Rhode Island, and another in Hartford, CT. Cappiello will do another one at Mohegan Sun....an all female show. Go to our schedule page for the complete scoop. Things are getting busy in New England folks, and the promoters seem to be stepping on the gas. ESPN2 will be here twice during this stretch, SHOWTIME will be here, and even NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com will be here. It doesn't get any better.

http://www.newenglandboxingpromoters.com/schedulenew.html


 

Remillard and Spina enter N.E. P4P ratings

 

The New England pound 4 pound ratings have a lot of changes. Joey Spina and Matt Remillard have both entered, and the Simms brothers have been removed...because they don't fight. Go to our P4P page to see all the changes. http://www.newenglandboxingpromoters.com/p4p-ne-ratings.html



 

    New Haven's Tisdale Loses

 

New Haven, CT heavyweight Otis Tisdale was TKO'd in the 4th round last night in Rochester, MN. In a scheduled 8 rounder, Rafael Butler and Tisdale entertained the small crowd with back and forth action. The loss drops  Tisdale's record to 25-20. The win advances Butler to 31-4.

 

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count.  It's the life in your years.  ~Abraham Lincoln

Rasheem Brown wins in Philly

 

Cappiello Promotions had their super middleweight Rasheem Brown fighting in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA. last night. This was the second fight of Brown's "comeback." He took on 13-12-3 Jameel Wilson at the National Guard Armory, and had no trouble with him. All three judges at ringside scored the bout 9-1 in Brown's favor. The win brings Brown's record to 19-3 (15) 

**Anger and spite are never lonely; envy always tags along.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

**Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.  ~Spanish Proverb

**Most people are other people.  Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.  ~Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, 1905

**We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.  ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

**Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
~William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1600

**Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out.  That is what it is for.  Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself.  ~George Bernard Shaw

**You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted.  ~Ruth E. Renkl

**When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.  ~Jonathan Swift

**A tough day at the office is even tougher when your office contains spectator seating.  ~Nik Posa

Manfredo Tuning up on May 3rd in Idaho

 

Providence super middleweight Peter Manfredo, Jr. will fight a tune up bout in Worley, Idaho on May 3rd. His opponent will be Luis Lopez, who's record stands at 14-12-1 (6). Recognizable names that Lopez has lost to are Hector Camacho, Jr., Jesse Brinkley, and David Banks. Manfredo will be the 3rd "The Contender" graduate to beat Lopez, which has to be a record for "non contenders." New England prospect Edwin Rodriguez is also scheduled to fight on this show, as is former Tilton, NH resident Favio Medina. 

 

Mike Oliver vs. Reynaldo Lopez: The Roxy,

May7th

 
 
There will be a lot of boxing in New England over the next couple months. Mike Oliver is scheduled to headline ESPN2's fights on May 7th. Oliver will take on Colombian, Reynaldo Lopez in a 10 round bout. Lopez has a record of 28-5-2, and is a southpaw. The threat level for Oliver is low in this one though. Lopez has only lost to the elite level fighters in the division, but out of his last 5 wins....his opponents had zero wins. That show will be held at The Roxy in Boston. Richie Cappiello and Cappiello Promotions will promote.

Peter Manfredo, Sr. will promote a show 10 days later on May 17th. Manfredo Sr. will hold his event at the Freeport Hall in Dorchester. Two New England prospects will see action that night, as Edwin Rodriguez will fight in his first 6 rounder, and Mark DeLuca will try to advance his record to 5-0. Less than a week later, on May 23rd, Jimmy Burchfield and CES will put their featherweight prospect Matt Remillard in the main event at the Connecticut Convention Center. No word yet on the undercard. SHOWTIME will carry their telecast from the Mohegan Sun on June 7th. Vernon Forrest will take on "The Contender's" Sergio Mora in the main event. Jose Rivera has been trying to promote his first show for quite some time. On June 28th he is scheduled to accomplish that mission, at the Worcestor Armory.

To check out all the New England bouts that have been announced, go to our schedule page.

           Mike Oliver                    Mark DeLuca               Edwin Rodriguez                Matt Remillard

 "Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish."
Mark Twain

 

    Nguyen, Dunwell, Orr Win!!!!!

 

Cappiello Promotions had only 4 bouts last night, due to some last minute problems. Once the action started though, the crowd got their money's worth. Simeon Dunwell was awarded a slim decision over journeyman Damon Antoine. Antoine seemed to land the more effective punches, and was on offense throughout. Dunwell did counter well, and the judges favored him on all 3 cards.

In the main event, Dat Nguyen got back on the winning track, taking a hard fought majority decision against Providence's Robert Daluz. We thought that this would be a good one, but it turned out even better than we anticipated. Nguyen was coming off of his first career loss, and this wasn't an easy fight to return with. Daluz is a very tough fighter, who is much better than his 500% record indicates. Nguyen used a vicious body attack to keep Daluz honest, but Daluz kept coming. In the end, 2 judges gave Nguyen a slight nod, 1 had the bout even. NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com's Matty Gookas had Nguyen prevailing by 1 round.

Newly signed Donald Orr made his Boston debut a victorious occasion, winning an "easy on the score cards, tough in the ring" decison over veteran Clarence Taylor. One judge had the fight a shut-out, which was obscene. The other two gave Taylor 1 round.

 

   Edwin Rodriguez TKO Winner at Roxy

 

Edwin Rodriguez had his best night as a pro yesterday. Facing the durable yet limited Jeffrey Osbourne, Rodriguez looked like a seasoned pro, stopping him in the 4th round. The win keeps Rodriguez undefeated in his short career, as he moves to 4-0. It also boosts him up the New England ratings to #4. Rodriguez was an amateur standout, and last night he looked like he may be a world champion in the making. Peter Manfredo, Sr. trains the middleweight prospect. 

 

New Haven's Dawson edges

Johnson

 

Chad Dawson retained his WBC title tonight...barely. In a 12 round bout, former titlist Glen Johnson seemed to outhustle the Connecticut champion . Dawson appeared on the verge of being stopped in the 3rd, and he ran into some trouble later on too. Two NewEnglandBoxingPromoters.com staff members scored the fight, with one seeing it a draw and the other feeling Johnson had won by 2 points. The judges in Florida saw it different than us though, but not different from each other. All 3 of them had Dawson winning 116-112.


 

 Source: Okine Had Eye Injury

 

When it was announced that Abraham Okine had signed a deal with Cappiello Promotions, our Worcester sources insisted that Okine was unable to get licensed because of an eye problem. We refrained from printing that, because we assumed that it had been resolved. Last night though, we got word that the reason for the Massachusetts commission's refusal of the Okine-Stofle bout, was due to that eye injury. We're looking into why this decision was made so late in the game, and we'll keep you posted on our findings.

Phillip Miller was forced to withdraw from his bout due to a torn bicep. Tony Lamonica? We haven't gotten an explanation on that one, but we figure it's an outright commission refusal. 5-0 with 4 knock outs, going against an 0-2 fighter.....they probably just said no.


 

   ESPN Says Goodbye to "The Contender"

 
The contestants that took part in "The Contender" have become more popular than they ever dreamed. That's more of a reflection on boxing's suffering image though. Boxing doesn't get much exposure these days, so comparitively speaking, "The Contender's" became popular. Unfortunately, they didn't become popular enough for NBC to pick it up for a 2nd season. From there, Executive Producer Jeff Wald brought the show to ESPN for season 2 and 3. Like NBC though, ESPN wants "No Mas." In a decision that shouldn't surprise us (but it probably does), ESPN has decided to cut the show loose. Wald will try to shop the show to other networks, but this isn't a good sign. "The Contender" cast members are some of boxing's most well known stars now. That being said, ESPN couldn't get enough viewers to make it worth doing again. At the rate they are going, you might see "The Contender" on public access by 2011.
 

 

Sergio Mora vs. Vernon Forrest at Mohegan Sun

 

Vernon Forrest 40-2 (29) will put his WBC title on the line against The Contender's Sergio Mora 20-0-1 (5) at Mohegan Sun Casino on June 7th. The bout will be televised on SHOWTIME, with Carlos Quintana and Paul "The Punisher" Williams fighting a rematch in the co-feature. Quintana upset Williams in their first meeting. The Contender was a fairly entertaining show, which is good for Forrest. Because he'll make a decent payday, and he could spot Mora a helmet and a knife....and still win easily.

Massachusetts Commission Toughening Up

 

This morning we were told by a reliable source, that 3 of the 7 proposed fights for Saturday were denied by the commission. The source requested to be unnamed, so we won't divulge. We checked around, and it appears that the information is true. One of the bouts in question is the co-main event. One source told us that Danny Sheehan was the matchmaker for Cappiello Promotions, but when we contacted Sheehan this morning, he told us that he hasn't done any work with Cappiello since last year. Jack Crider is listed as the matchmaker on the Cappiello Promotions website, but the 4 people we talked to had no contact information for Crider. A press release was sent out this morning for this show, so it appears that it'll still take place. There just isn't any word on what matches will take place. Stay tuned.

 Ian Gardner Loses in Germany

Former Brockton, MA middleweight Ian Gardner returned to the ring today in Germany, and lost a competitive decision  to Gennady Golovkin who was 10-0 going into the bout. The bout took place in Germany, and the scores were reasonably close, but ringside observers say the decision was just. Gardner severed ties with New England promoter Richie Cappiello over a year ago, and this was his 2nd fight since the split. It's hard to imagine where the recently inactive Gardner will go from here. Aside from this loss, his other three blemishes came at the hands of Chad Dawson, Arthur Abraham and Peter Manfredo Jr.

New England Boxing Quarterly Review

 

Total New England Boxing shows: 8

Connecticut Boxing shows: 4 (Foxwoods 2, Mohegan 2)

Massachusetts Boxing shows: 3

Rhode Island Boxing shows: 1

PROMOTERS

2 shows: CES-Jimmy Burchfield

1 show: Peter Manfredo Sr., Golden Boy, Pugnacious Promotions, Banner Promotions, Cappiello Promotions, Packie Collins, Golden Gloves Promotions, Star Boxing-Joe Deguardia 


1/25/08-Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut(CES-Jimmy Burchfield) Main Event: Jason Estrada UD10 Charles Shufford. Co-Feature: Matt Remillard UD10 Manny Perez.

Recap- Excellent card here. Estrada picks up his biggest win, as does Matt Remillard. Joey McCreedy upsets Chris Traietti in an "all Massachusetts" battle. Manny Lopes is held to a draw. Brian Macy, Addy Irizarry, Aaron Williams, Angel Camacho, and Eric Pinaretta all pick up wins too. 

1/26/08-Mansfield SportsPlex, Mansfield, Massachusetts(Peter Manfredo Sr.) Main Event: Missy Fiorentino TD6 Ela Nunez. Co-Feature Richard Gingras UD6 William Bailey.

Recap- Peter Manfredo Sr. made his promotional debut with this event. Due to his experience in many aspects of the sport, he did an acceptable job. He didn't try to go in too deep, and opted to go with a pro/am structured card. As far as the professional side of things went, Fiorentino was in an exciting fight...as usual. Former amateur aces Mark DeLuca and Edwin Rodriguez both appeared on the show, with both picking up a win.

2/8/08-The Castle, Boston, Massachusetts(Golden Boy with Cappiello Promotions) Main Event: Antonio Escalante UD10 Jose Beranza. Co-Feature: Jeffrey Resto SD8 Humberto Tapia.

Recap- This show was promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, with Cappiello Promotions providing most of the undercard. The main event and co-feature provided two entertaining bouts, and the undercard had a couple of good scraps as well. The Castle had a pretty good crowd that night, and the two top bouts were aired on Telefutura. Phil Miller, Sean Ecklund, Eddie Caminero, and Edwin Rodriguez were the local fighters on this card. They all won.

2/15/08-Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut(Star Boxing- Joe Deguardia) Main Event: Delvin Rodriguez UD10 Troy Browning. Co-Feature: Ali Oubaali UD10 Ashley Theophane. 

Recap- 3 New England fighters saw action here. Delvin Rodriguez outpointed the old and undefeated Troy Browning. Brian Macy grabbed a decision win, and Connecticut's Shakha Moore was blasted out of there in the 1st round.

3/7/08-Foxwoods Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut(Banner & Golden Gloves Promotions) Main Event: Cristobal Cruz MD12 Thomas Mashaba. Co-Feature: Joe Luis Gonzalez Draw Jason LeHoullier.

Recap- The only local fighter involved in the show was Jason LeHoullier. The judges at Foxwoods showed their appreciation for his participation by giftwrapping an undeserved draw for him. LeHoullier was beaten handily in the bout, but thanks to shoddy judging, remained undefeated. The fights were on ESPN2, so most boxing fans were able to see it for what it was. In the main event they saw an upset, when Cristobal Cruz threw a million punches and earned a majority decision.

3/14/08-Twin River Event Center, Lincoln, Rhode Island(CES-Jimmy Burchfield) Main Event: Peter Mafredo Jr. TKO6 Shane Benfield. Co-Feature: Jaime Clampitt MD10 Belinda Laracuente.

Recap- Lots of local fighters on tap. Peter Manfredo scored a knockout as expected. Jaime Clampitt won a close decision over super tough Belinda Laracuente, and Tim Flamos avenged a knockout loss by nearly decapitating local rival Chris McInerney. Joey McCreedy, Joey Spina, Andrey Nevsky, and Isander Beauchamp were all victorious as well.

3/15/08-Orpheum Theater, Boston, Massachusetts(Packie Collins) Main Event: Antoine Smith TKO3 Jesse Williams. Co-Feature: Gary O'Sullivan TKO1 Robert Harris.

Recap- The worst show so far...by far. Of the 7 bouts, 6 were ended by knockout, and we're not talking highlight reel stuff. 3 were over in the very 1st round, while the other three ended in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round. The Orpheum Theater in Boston was hosting their very first boxing event that evening, and this show did nothing to make them ever do it again. The fights were awful, and the crowd wasn't a crowd...it was a few individuals.

3/21/08-Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut(Pugnacious Promotions) Main Event: Brian Vera TKO7 Andy Lee. Co-Feature: Aaron Pryor Jr. UD8 Alphonso Williams.

Recap- This show will be talked about for a while. Not that it was the greatest card of the year, or the greatest fights of the year. But it'll probably be the upset of the year. In an absolute shocker, Brian Vera knocked out the  highly regarded Andy Lee. Aaron Pryor Jr. was in a good fight too, but this show was all about Andy Lee...until Brian Vera flipped the switch. Brian Macy and Matt Remillard grabbed wins too.

 

Peter McNeeley Elected to Hall of Fame!!!!!!

In a surprise move, the International Boxing Hall of Fame has voted former Massachusetts heavyweight Peter McNeeley into the hall. Best known for his 1st round knockout loss to Mike Tyson in 1995, the Medfield, Ma native compiled a career record of 47-7. McNeeley challenged for the New England heavyweight championship, and won the USBF heavyweight championship. His well documented drug problems ended his career earlier than expected, but happy April Fools Day just the same.

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