Gerald Washington, a big man looking to do big things

09/18/201409/18/2014 Michael Montero

http://youtu.be/f4XJKZPbVAw

If you fancy yourself a heavyweight boxing fan, especially American heavyweights with an exciting style, then undefeated prospect Gerald Washington (14-0, 10KO) is someone you need to keep an eye on. The 6’6” 250 pound physical specimen turned pro two summers ago at the advanced age of 30. And it’s been quite a journey that has led the California native to the ring.

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The Calm after the “Mayhem”

09/15/201609/15/2014 Michael Montero

On Saturday night Floyd Mayweather did what he was supposed to do earlier this May – dominate Marcos Maidana. The rematch billed “Mayhem” turned out to be anything but, as boxing’s pound for pound king pitched a near shutout in front of 16,144 fans at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

Mayweather, clearly more focused this time around, kept the match in the center of the ring and moved or held to avoid taking punishment from his slower, plodding opponent. Other than a flush right hand Maidana landed at the very end of the third round and a bizarre hand biting incident in the eighth, this was pretty much a glorified sparring session. Punch stats tell the story, as the Argentinian slugger threw more, but landed at less than half the rate than Floyd did. Marcos landed just 17% of his jabs (41-237) and 26% of his power punches (87-335), while “Money” landed 43% of his jabs (64-149) and an astonishing 58% of his power shots (102-177). It was target practice, and Floyd’s holding and mauling tactics quelled “Chino’s” attack. Compare that to the first bout, where Maidana threw almost as many power punches (540) as he did total punches (572) in the rematch.

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“The Great Wall” hits the heavyweight scene…HARD

09/15/201609/10/2014 Michael Montero

They call Chinese heavyweight Taishan Dong “The Great Wall”, and it’s a nickname well deserved. At 6’11” and over 280 pounds of solid muscle, the 26 year old former kickboxer gives a whole new meaning to the term “super heavyweight”. It’s rare that a boxer with virtually no amateur experience fights on national television in their professional debut; but then again you don’t exactly see NBA center-sized Chinese heavyweights all too often either.

Taishan’s July 18th pro debut was a successful one, scoring a second round TKO over Alex Rozman (2-7 1KO) on a FOX Sports 1 card. Now manager George Gallegos and promoter Golden Boy Promotions are on the hunt for the next opponent. In the meantime, their fighter is soaking up all things boxing like a giant sponge. “He’s thinking about boxing 24 hours a day”, said Gallegos, “Whether it’s punching, footwork, or bag work, he’s going to go home and practice and you’ll see (the improvement) the next day”. The successful lawyer and longtime boxing fan met Taishan completely by random. “He walked into my office to ask a few legal questions”, said Gallegos, “when we were talking I asked him what he did and he said he was a fighter and he wanted to fight here but didn’t know how”. After that original meeting, Gallegos made some calls, got Taishan working in the gym and things took off from there.

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Manny Pacquiao – Chris Algieri LA Presser Coverage

09/15/201609/04/2014 Michael Montero

On November 22nd the new kid on the block Chris Algieri (20-0, 8KO) faces Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38KO) in Macau, China. For the past two weeks both fighters and their camps have travelled almost 25,000 miles on an epic worldwide media tour promoting the event. Today’s stop was in Los Angeles, as a sizeable crowd of press and fans gathered at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on the Avenue of the Stars.

For Huntington New York native Chris Algieri, 2014 has truly been the year of his life. Back in February he faced the more experienced Emmanuel Taylor on ESPN Friday Night Fights and pulled the mild upset, which earned him a spot on HBO against the feared brawler Ruslan Provodnikov in June. After a disastrous opening round in which he was dropped twice and suffered a gruesome injury to his eye, Algieri bravely fought on and scored a major upset via split decision. In a matter of months the former kickboxer with a master’s degree in nutrition has punched his way from obscurity into the opportunity of a lifetime against Pacquiao. But can he keep the upsets coming?

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Golovkin-Rubio “Mexican Style” Kick Off

09/15/201608/28/2014 Michael Montero

On October 18th at the StubHub Center in Carson California, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin makes his west coast debut against rugged veteran Marco Antonio Rubio. The Mexican is a serious underdog, yet he rides the momentum of a six fight winning streak and should draw love from the southern California crowd. While Golovkin, the German based Kazakhstan native, is yet to taste defeat as a professional prize fighter. This afternoon the two fighters and their teams met in downtown Los Angeles to officially announce their promotion, which is being dubbed “Mexican Style”.

Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions emceed the event and was clearly excited to be bringing his star middleweight to the LA area. “We’ve had a great response for bringing Gennady Golovkin here”, said Loeffler, “the presale at the StubHub Center has been the biggest we’ve ever had.” Sampson Lewkowicz, who represents Rubio, was very complimentary of K2 and their ability to make the negotiation process drama free. “K2 is A to Z one of the best promoters and easy to work with”, said Lewkowicz. He also promised Golovkin that he’d have his hands full ‘Mexican style’ and that this would be his toughest fight to date.

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Trout gets off the canvas and back into the win column

08/23/201408/23/2014 Michael Montero

In the 2014 ESPN Friday Night Fights season finale, Austin Trout looked to get his career back on track at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California squaring off against Daniel Dawson. It was a mismatch on paper with 25:1 odds in Vegas. But in the sport of boxing, the only thing one should expect is the unexpected.

Former kickboxer and muay thai fighter Daniel Dawson traveled all the way from his native Australia for the biggest opportunity of his boxing career. New Mexico native Trout, a southpaw, was not only the stronger man, but the younger, fresher fighter as well. The 28 year old was in cruise control against his 36 year old opponent through the first two rounds. However things changed in a big way in the third as Dawson lured his man in and dropped him twice with two hard right hand counters.

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Brook Upsets Porter to take home the title

09/15/201608/17/2014 Michael Montero

There’s something about the atmosphere at the StubHub Center when the sun has fallen and it’s time for the main event! Over 7,000 fans came out to watch American Shawn Porter defend his welterweight title against England’s Kell Brook. The Brit made his way to the ring first, practically jogging his way through the crowd and between the ropes, looking eager to get it on. Porter’s ring walk was slow and calculated, making his opponent wait for him. Jimmy Lennon announced the fighters in his classy, unique way. Brook drew boos from the partisan crowd, yet had plenty of British supporters making their presence felt.

Porter came out with a lot of energy, trying to get inside on his taller opponent and work the body. Brook seemed content to hold and back up; while Porter looked like a pit bull in the early going. In the second round a clash of heads caused a small cut over Brook’s left eye, yet his cut man did a great job with it.

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Figueroa stops Estrada in an exciting fight

09/15/201608/17/2014 Michael Montero

Another great night of boxing at the StubHub Center in Carson, California! After an entertaining undercard featuring Deontay Wilder, Jorge Linares and other notables, the tripleheader broadcast kicked off with Texas native Omar Figueroa defending his lightweight title against Daniel Estrada of Mexico City. It was an exciting opening to another solid tripleheader from Showtime Boxing, which was criticized for the one-sided Al Haymon showcase in Brooklyn they broadcast last week (topped off with the Garcia-Salka fiasco).

Figueroa started cautiously in the early going, attempting to move his head and responsibly. It didn’t last long. By the end of the first round both men were exchanging blows on the ropes. Figueroa stalked forward and seemed to do the better work, yet Estrada stood his ground and made his presence felt. A low blow in the third round seemed to really bother Omar, as he took a long break at the suggestion of referee Raul Caiz to recover.

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Dirrell wins rematch with Bika, takes home the belt

09/15/201608/17/2014 Michael Montero

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) The first time these two fought in Brooklyn last December, a rough and rugged contest ended in a controversial draw. Bika, of Australia by way of Cameroon, held onto his title but the sanctioning organization mandated a rematch take place. It’s clear to anyone who’s paid attention during the build up to this rematch that Bika and Dirrell don’t like each other, as they jawed back and forth at the presser and weigh-in earlier this week. But how would all that animosity translate into the ring? It didn’t take long to find out.

The first round of this boxing match looked more like a wrestling match, as the fighters took turns slamming each other into canvas. Referee Jack Reiss tried to establish control of the fight early and told the fighters to knock out the rough stuff or he’d take a point. Dirrell, the quicker, slicker boxer, attempted to confuse his opponent by switching between the southpaw and orthodox stance.

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Showtime Tripleheader Preview & Weigh-In Results

09/15/201608/16/2014 Michael Montero

Fans, media, fighters and their teams gathered at the StubHub Center in Carson, California this afternoon, as the official weigh-ins for tomorrow’s Showtime Boxing tripleheader took place.

Omar Figueroa 23-0-1 (17KO) vs. Daniel Estrada 32-2-1(24KO)
Lightweight title bout

Figueroa returns to the StubHub Center, where he narrowly escaped with a controversial split decision victory over Jerry Belmontes in April. For Estrada, this is his first bout outside of his native Mexico, and easily the biggest stage he’s ever fought on. Estrada hit the scales first, weighing in at 134.5 pounds; while Figueroa came in right at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds.

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