LOS ANGELES, CA (June 7, 2009) World ranked Alex Valdez returned to action on Saturday night in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico and was dominant earning a seventh round stoppage of Genaro Carmago. Working angles, using his height and reach advantage and a terrific, radar-like jab, Valdez controlled the action from the outset bloodying the brawling Carmago’s face before his corner called a halt to the action after the sixth round. With the win, the 25 year old Valdez improved to 21-3-2 (15KO’s), while Carmago moved to 24-7-0 (17KO’s). It was Valdez ’s first bout since his loss to WBC Bantamweight World Titlist Hozumi Hasegawa on October 16th..
Going into the bout against Carmago, Valdez was world ranked at #11 by the WBC and the IBF.
Said manager Frank Espinoza, “This was the best of Alex. He was terrific with his jab, using his height and reach perfectly. He boxed beautifully. Carmago was trying to make it an inside brawling type fight but Alex wisely used his great footwork to constantly work his way out of trouble.”
“Ideally, we’d like another shot at the WBC title, but we’ll explore all of our possibilities. With what Alex showed me last night, he’s ready for any of the bantamweight title holders.”
The ESPINOZA BOXING CLUB was started in 1991 by Los Angeles area businessman Frank Espinoza.
Espinoza, born and bred in East Los Angeles, was a huge fan of the sport and eventually went on to establish himself as one of the top managers in the world of boxing.
In 2006, Espinoza was awarded the Manager of the Year award from the World Boxing Hall of Fame and inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame.
Espinoza’s management style has earned him numerous accolades from several respected print and internet boxing writers. In the September 2008 issue of Ring Magazine, Espinoza was praised for his outstanding handling of the career of junior featherweight world champion and “Pound for Pound” superstar Israel “EL MAGNIFICO” Vazquez.
Along with managing Vazquez also manages a young squad of talented and promising fighters composed of Luis Ramos, Carlos Molina, Abraham Lopez, Ronny Rios, Manny “Suavecito” Roman and Jesus “Pollo” Hernandez.
Among the world champions Espinoza has managed in the past are Martin “Gallito” Castillo, Enrique Sanchez, Isidro “ Chino ” Garcia and “Mighty” Mike Anchondo.
It is the goal of the Espinoza Boxing Club to always fight for our fighter’s best interests and to maximize their potential.
Brähmer, Boytsov Win In Germany
Universum’s light heavyweight Jürgen Brähmer needed just 83 seconds to annihilate mandatory challenger Antonio Brancalion on Saturday night to defend his Euro light heavyweight belt. A crowd of 3000 spectators at the König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen were witnesses of Brancalion’s first knockout defeat in his career. It was an imprssive demonstration of Jürgen Brähmer.
Although Brähmer expected a tougher fight, he dropped Brancalion after just 15 seconds of round one with a left hand. Afterwards the southpaw Brähmer send Brancalion to the canvas for three more times within a minute, especially with his left hand. The fouth knockdown meant the end for Brancalion as the fight was waved off by referee Terry O’Connor. Euro king Brähmer is taking aim at another shot for a world title fight in the next months. It was Brähmer’s 33th win in his 35 fights with 27 by KO.
Denis Boytsov knocks out Taras Bidenko in round 6!
Boytsov on his way to a world title fight! The Hamburg based Russian Denis Boytsov was victorious in the co-event in Oberhausen as he defeated stablemate Taras Bidenko. In a emotionally charged clash of heavyweight contenders Universum fighter Denis Boytsov impressively knocked out spotlight boxing fighter Taras Bidenko in round six. He retained his WBA Intercontinental title and added the WBO Europa title. After a slow first round, the heavy hands of Boystov began to take their toll. The bout finally ended in round six after a brutal assault by Boystov put Bidenko on the deck. Time was 2:00.
Super featherweight Vitali Tajbert of spotlight boxing returned successfully to action after his loss to Euro champ Sergey Gulyakevich to outpoint the Spaniard Rudy Encarnacion after 8 rounds.
Unbeaten heavyweight Manuel Charr scored an impressive third round TKO over the experienced American Ramon Hayes.
Unbeaten light heavyweight Igor Michalkin outpointed Frenchman Karim Bennama over eight rounds clearly.
In his third pro bout Christian Hammer defeated the Latvian Aleksandrs Borhovs by knockout in round two.
Gregory Soszynski of Poland, who is trained by former Euro champ Danilo Häussler won his light heavyweight bout against Sergey Beloshapkin by unanimous decision.
Oliveira Provides “Next Champ” with a Reality Check
It was not the Hollywood ending that Otis Griffin had hoped for Friday night when the Underground Boxing Company’s undefeated light heavyweight prospect, Marcus Oliveira (19-0 with 15 KO’s) knocked the former reality show star out in the 2nd round of their 10 round scheduled bout.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota, Oliveira and Griffin met in the center of the ring from the opening bell. Both fighters had their moments, with Oliveira landing some hard shots to the body that seemed to hurt the former reality show star. But then Griffin was able to come back and landed a left hook behind the head that seemed to bother Oliveira a bit. The round ended with both fighters readily exchanging combinations to the head and body.
The second round started the same as the first, as both fighters met in the middle and began exchanging again. Shortly into the round, however, Oliveira began to find more success with his jab and was able to create some separation that shifted control of the action in his direction. As the round was coming to a close, Oliveira stepped back towards the ropes and threw a perfectly timed right uppercut as Griffin was stepping towards him. The punch could, literally, be heard throughout the entire arena and spun Griffin’s head violently upward towards the ring lights. He crumbled to the canvas where the referee quickly waved it off. Otis Griffin remained unconscious on the canvas for several minutes as the doctors and officials tended to him. The bout ended at 2:45 of the second round.
Griffin, who originally gained fame from winning Oscar DeLa Hoya’s “Next Great Champ” reality series, was coming off of one of his best showings against former world champion, Jeff Lacy. In a close bout, that most ringsiders felt he decisively won, many thought it would represent the start of bigger and better things for Griffin. However, this dramatic loss to Oliveira not only puts a damper on those aspirations, but it also leaves his continuing career and ability to come back from that type of devastating stoppage in question.
With plenty of diverse opposition in today’s top light heavyweight picture, including a fading Antonio Tarver, an over-the-hill Roy Jones Jr. or a dominating Chad Dawson, it seems that Oliveira will have a wide variety of champions and former title holders to pick from as he continues to step up the competition. But for right now, after this impressive performance, his place in the light heavyweight picture has, at least, taken on a clearer focus.