Archive for March, 2011

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Quebec Press Conference Goes Wild Pascal & Hopkins Close To Blows Again

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

By William Trillo & Daniel Cloutier

For the second day in a row I will defer to my friend Daniel Cloutier who was present for Monday’s wild festivities in Montreal and sent this fantastic blow by blow account:

The Hopkins vs. Pascal rematch press conference we saw at the restaurant 9-4-10 at Bell Centre took a very bad turn at the end. The press finished with a serious conflict between Jean and Bernard when Hopkins put oil on the fire in saying directly to Pascal,  “My promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, won the purse bid held by the WBC, as you know. Richard Schaefer was ready to put the fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, or my own town, Philadelphia, and I said no. I told him I want to get the rematch in Montréal. I want to humiliate you and kick your ass in your backyard, in front of your fans. You have no chance to beat me. I am a legend and a real warrior. You are a good fighter for four rounds, I am a great fighter for 12 rounds. I am a disciple of the Broad Bullies of Philadelphia (the Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970), and you are an amateur fighter in comparison to me.”

Pascal took the microphone and replied, “Hopkins, do you remember that you had to steal my WBC belt at the Québec City Hall in December just to be provocative? But I know it is natural for you to steal. It is not for notihng that you spent time in jail when you were young. But I will not give you the chance to commit a theft in Montréal. Take my two belts (he put his WBC and Ring Magazine belts in front of Hopkins), keep them until you return in Montréal, I don’t care. But don’t forget to bring them back to Montréal in May, because after our rematch, these two belts will be around my waist.”

And Pascal became provocative saying,  ”Bernard, a lot of boxing fans in Canada are wondering how a fighter of 46 years old can be so energetic. They are believing that you take steroids. I have no doubt about you, but just to chase the rumors, you should take a blood test before the rematch.”

Hopkins replied, “If the Québec Athletic Commission ask me to take a blood test, trust me, I will do it.”

Pascal said, ” Hopkins, forget about the Québec Athletic Commission, and take this test. Come on, take the test. Hopkins, come on, take the test…”

Hopkins became very frustrated and he said to Richard Schaefer, “Richard, I want to get out of here. I got enough of this shit.” Hopkins got up, and at the moment he was walking out, Pascal came very close to him, and repeating, “Hopkins, take the test…”

Hopkins pushed Pascal on the wall, and both tried to punch each other. Yvon Michel, Bernard Barré, Richard Schaefer, Russ Anber and Marc Ramsay became very nervous, and tried everything possible to force Pascal and Hopkins to go in different directions.

Immediately after this press conference, Pascal and Hopkins went to the airport, because HBO will organize another press conference with Pascal and Hopkins tomorrow noon in New York.

Yvon Michel said, “I really believe that we will draw over 20,000 fans May 21st. The tension between these two is real. And it will be the first time in the Québec boxing history that a promoter will present the same night two fights so important. Pascal is the WBC light heavyweight champion of the world, Hopkins is a legend who beat so many big names, and Adrian Diaconu and Chad Dawson are in the Top 5 in the world. HBO is very excited, and Golden Boy Promotions and we are too.”

Looking over Daniel’s account at first glance it seems to me that Bernard may have Pascal exactly where he wants him, but then I take another look and I can’t remember a time where Hopkins actually was baited into an outside the ring near tussle like Pascal has managed to do.

One thing I can be pretty sure about, Bernard is as clean as a whistle, they can test him today and every day from now until fight night, the man is clean. He won’t even allow anyone to cook his meals with wine and believe me, he checks! If I am Pascal I worry a lot less about what Bernard is using as his Fountain Of Youth and concern myself more with why I can’t get past 5 rounds without totally gassing out.

Posted in Boxing | 1 Comment »

Diaconu vs. Dawson To Go Forward

Monday, March 28th, 2011

By William Trillo & Daniel Cloutier

Last week I got in touch with my good friend, Ace Montreal boxing journalist Daniel Cloutier in regard to the rumors flying around that Adrian Diaconu was not going to fight Chad Dawson on the Hopkins vs. Pascal undercard. Cloutier quickly responded with these insider notes:

The rumor last week was that Jean Bédard presumably asked Adrian Diaconu to back off of his fight with Chad Dawson, because Bédard wanted to use him for his boxing show at Colisée Pepsi in Québec City, June 4th. It appeared Bédard made an agreement with Showtime to organize the “Super Six” semi-final between Carl Froch and Glencoffe Johnson. Johnson was refusing to fight in England. He pushed Showtime to find a neutral place. Finally, Diaconu, who wanted very much to fight Dawson, forced Bédard to forget his plan to use him June 4th.

Thursday, Yvon Michel confirmed by a press release that Diaconu and Dawson signed their contract to fight May 21st at Bell Centre. Yvon Michel said,”It is fabulous. We will get a historic show in Montréal May 21st. Never in the Québec boxing history has a promoter offered to the fans a doubleheader at this level: Pascal-Hopkins and Diaconu-Dawson. Pascal is the WBC champion of the world, Hopkins is a legend and still one of the best pound for pound fighter in the world, and Diaconu & Dawson are among the best five contenders in the light heavyweight division.”

Yvon is expecting a crowd of over 20,000 May 1st. Monday at 11.00 o’clock, at Bell Centre, Pascal and Hopkins will meet the Montréal press.

For one, I am glad the card will go on as planned and I am sure the night in Montreal will be one to remember. Having been to The Bell Center for numerous major boxing events my only regret is that I most likely will not be in attendance to cover the event. On the upside we will have Cloutier and out own team in the house so I am sure our coverage will be top notch.

If anyone saw the Bute vs. Magee televised event you know Quebec does their boxing right. Hopefully one day American promoters will follow suit and put on a no holds barred show of their own…hopefully!

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

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“All In” Friday Night Flores vs. Garcia

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

By William Trillo

This Friday night, March 25th, All-Star Promotions will present a fight card at The Commerce Casino that should be one of the best nights of action to come around the turnpike in quite sometime. Headlining the show will be former NABA Light Middleweight Champ Jose “Shibata” Flores (45-10, 26KO’s) vs. Roberto Garcia (28-3, 21 KO’s), who in his last fight went the distance with Antonio Margarito. This is a “must win” for both fighters who are looking for a shot at a title. For fight fans, that means the action is going to be hot and if you are the area The Commerce Casino will be the place to be on Friday night.

For Flores, who fell short in a World title fight against Fernando Vargas, the stakes are high, and he knows it. “Garcia is a tough fighter. He is just the kind of fighter I will have to beat if I want to get another shot at a World title,” said Shibata who added, “I was a bit dinged up in my last fight which I won, but this time I will be a full strength.”

As for Garcia he too knows this is a fight he must win. “Boxing is a crazy business and you never know what’s going to happen, but if I can get by Flores on March 25th maybe I can hit the lottery and get a shot at “Canelo” Alvarez, you just never know,” said Garcia.

With that said, if you are a real fight fan you will want to come out to see this action, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. Tack on an action packed undercard and this Friday night should prove to be a fun night for everyone.

For more information and tickets call 323-816-6200

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

Posted in Boxing | 2 Comments »

Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men? “The Shadow” Knows!

Monday, March 21st, 2011

By William Trillo

# 1 Heavyweight pretender Odlanier Solis is also known as “La Sombra”. Loosely translated, La Sombra means, The Shadow. When it come to the strange events that occurred on Saturday in Germany and the supposed knee injury, The Shadow knows, and apparently so do a few of the staff at his promotion company who have stated Solis entered the ring with the injury. If these accusations prove to be true Solis should have his purse withheld and someone should hold Arena Promotions liable for all costs concerned with the promotion of this championship fight.

X-rays at the hospital confirmed the knee injury and the attending physician said, “I haven’t seen a knee torn apart like this in a long time.” Of course you haven’t. Apparently he went into the ring with a pre-existing injury and after Vitali dropped a right handed bomb off The Shadow’s head the injury exploded.

Having watched the first and only round of the fight numerous times I can tell you Solis and his team are more than delusional with their view of the fight. “The world was watching and waiting for Vitali Klitschko to be dethroned,” said Oner. “The first round was exactly as we had promised: exciting, spectacular and competitive heavyweight boxing on a very high level. I think the fight started calls for a re-match.”

Exciting? Spectacular? Competetive? Not really!

And sorry Ahmet, but Vitali is a pretty good guy and in Europe he is very popular, no one was watching and waiting for him to lose.

What fight were you watching? The only punches I saw Solis land were small slaps that had ZERO effect on Klitschko. Some websites that are run by 800 pound apes said, Most spectators saw Solis winning the first round against Vitali before hurting his knee when he accidentally fell on it after Vitali had caught him off-balance with a flash knockdown.

What spectators? You and your 13 cats?

Look, the replay is up on EPIX for all to see for free right now. If you can go there and say you thought Solis was winning the first round of the fight…well…you are wrong.

“Vitali knows exactly what it means to lose a fight due to an injury,” added Oner. “He has been asking Lennox Lewis for a re-match for years and years and it didn’t materialize. We hope that Vitali will not put Solis in a similar situation like he has been in. Solis has earned a second chance.”

Umm…Ahmet… Pull your fist out of your mouth and wise up. Comparing the Klitschko vs. Lewis fight to this debacle that took place on Saturday is pure insanity. At the time of the stoppage Vitali was way ahead on the scorecards over Lennox and had it not been for one of the ugliest gashes ever seen in the history of boxing the fight would have went on and Vitali would most likely have won. Furthermore, Vitali did not enter the ring with the injury and no one was trying to cover it up just to get a payday…allegedly.

Oner then went on to say, I think the way the fight started calls for a re-match.”

Correction. The way the fight ended calls for you and La Sombra to go away, as far away as possible. And if by some chance the quote from your underling Malte Mueller-Michaelis proves to be true, you know, the one where he told the German press, “We knew it, (about the injury) but we didn’t want to let it jeopardize the fight against Vitali. His manager Jose Perez knew about the previous problem, but it was thought it would go away if there was enough training and the muscle stabilized the knee,” well then Mr. Oner that tells me you threw “La Sombra” into that ring to collect that million dollar purse and nothing more. If that’s the case I hope boxing sends you and La Sombra away El Permanente.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

Posted in Boxing | 7 Comments »

Solis Entered Ring With Knee Injury!

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

By William Trillo
Photos By Sumio Yamada & Team Klitschko

When WBC champion Vitali Klitschko stopped Odlanier Solis in one round after landing a right hand to the top of the Cubans head it appeared to most that Solis had somehow injured a leg or a knee in the awkward fall. Others thought that maybe the wobbly legged Solis was really hurt, but I never bought into that, I was sure his wobbly legs were due to injury. Likewise former Heavyweight Champ and EPIX commentator Lennox Lewis quickly & correctly speculated that maybe Solis already had the injury and did not reveal it because he did not want to sacrifice a one million dollar purse.

Bingo!

In a report by Mark Vester at Boxingscene, after examination at Cologne’s University Hospital it was confirmed Solis had torn his cruciate ligament and damaged cartilage.

But did it actually happen in the fall?

Maybe not as German newspaper paper Die Welt revealed that Solis had pre-existing issues with his right knee!

Could that explain why Arena promoter Ahmet Oner was busy chomping on his knuckle as Solis sat straight legged in the corner? Could it be Oner knew the lid was about to get blown on the cover up? How was Oner so quick to diagnose his fighter’s injury before he had it examined?

Well someone knew something because in the words of Arena Promotions spokesman Malte Mueller-Michaelis, “We knew it, but we didn’t want to let it jeopardize the fight against Vitali. His manager Jose Perez knew about the previous problem, but it was thought it would go away if there was enough training and the muscle stabilized the knee.”

It seems pretty clear to me. “We knew it,” said Mueller-Michaelis.

As I said minutes after the bout on both Twitter and Facebook, They need to hold Soils’ purse pending investigation!

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

Posted in Boxing | 4 Comments »

“The Ducking Worst” – Donaire Bolts From Yet Another Promoter

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

By William Trillo

We shouldn’t be surprised at the news that Bantamweight Champ Nonito Donaire has turned his back on his current promoter Bob Arum from Top Rank and has jumped into the arms of his new promoter Oscar De La Hoya at Golden Boy. It’s no secret that Golden Boy is in the business of poaching already established Champions, the record speaks for itself so please don’t argue with me about that.

But I digress, the point of this blog is as follows; this is not the first time Nonito has darted from a promoter after a big win….remember? After his astonishing victory over Vic Darchinyan, Donaire began to complain about the treatment he was getting from his promoter Gary Shaw and it wasn’t long before he fell into the waiting arms of Bob Arum.

As I recall Arum promoted Donaire to further heights by feeding him a handful of pint sized stiffs, keeping him as far away from the Bantamweight Tournament as possible and then served up a long in the tooth Fernando Montiel whom I told you from day one had ZERO CHANCE against Donaire. Arum promoted the hell out of this Donaire/Montiel fight and even though it was more smoke & mirrors than anything the victory over Montiel got people talking about Donaire’s place in boxing.

All that talk went to Nonito’s head quickly and the next thing I knew there he was prancing around at the Golden Boy promoted Saul Alvarez coming out party. Any writer who didn’t see this jumping ship coming after that needs to find another line of work.

Bob Arum was quick to speak about the Golden Boy, “We Signed Nonito”, press release. In an interview on Boxingscene.com on Tuesday Arum said, “We have a valid, binding, legal contract in full force and effect, and we are going through our lawyers to pursue our legal remedies. The point is, that we have a valid contract, and nobody is going to push us around, and we are going to enforce our contract. And anybody that doesn’t respect our contract we are going to go after!”

Personally, I lay the blame of this one squarely on the Victor Conte constructed shoulders of Donaire. He bailed on Shaw when he thought he could get a better deal elsewhere and now he is trying to do the same to Arum.

There was a time a few years back when I thought Nonito was a great kid and a budding talent. But things have changed, the young man has let success go to his head and in his quest to be the next “Manny” he has become a lot less than the humble young warrior we knew pre-Darchinyan.

If Arum has a case and he takes this to court, Donaire will be put on ice for a while and then instead of becoming the next Manny he can spend his days in litigation and become the next Floyd.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing truth.

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Social Network Or Bust…

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

By William Trillo

Well, I finally joined the ranks of the social networking world and have fired up my own Facebook and Twitter accounts. Will wonders never cease? It was over the last 2 weeks that I noticed all my peers around me in media row tweeting away during the fights. I figured it was time to step into the new millennium.

You can find me, join me and be my friend and/or be a follower at Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Trillo/100002153723984

and Twitter at http://twitter.com/Billyboxingblog

I hope that you find my comings and goings worthwhile and you will visit often.

Thanks!

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

Posted in Boxing | 4 Comments »

154 Reasons Why Boxing Is Not Dead

Monday, March 14th, 2011

By William Trillo

O.K…. I really don’t have 154 reasons, but I do have a Jr. Middleweight division that tops out at 154 pounds to present to you that should lay all the boxing is dead theories to rest. Over the past 2 weekends we have seen the top fighters in the Junior middle division present a very convincing argument. From this weekends brawl between Cotto and Mayorga to last weekends premature coming out party for Saul Alvarez, the attention of boxing fans was placed squarely at 154 pounds. Throw in Sergio Martinez’s stunning performance at a bigger than usual 160 pounds and what we have here is the makings of some pretty good scraps down the road.

With Antonio Margarito sitting ringside and lurking in the wings for Cotto and the watchful eye of other fighters like, Pacquiao, Martirosyan, Angulo, Kirkland, Bundrage and more, it is high time to give boxing it’s just do as we anticipate some seriously good match ups.

The biggest problem could be the promoters who have a tendency to lock out their peers fighters. It’s time to end the Cold War and let these guys settle things in the ring instead of in someone’s office. It’s only then that we will get the fights the publics demands.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

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Life Is A Rose, Beware Of Thorns

Saturday, March 12th, 2011
By William Trillo
Photo: Chris Farina - Top Rank

Ricardo Mayorga wasn’t exactly extending an olive branch when he offered up that red rose to WBA Light Middleweight Champion Miguel Cotto as he stepped on the scale on Friday afternoon in Las Vegas. In fact, if Mayorga has his way Cotto will come away with a fistful of thorns on Saturday night and “El Matador” will walk away with Cotto’s belt and look ahead to a future that may already be headed in the direction of Manny Pacquiao.

That’s right!

Why else would Mayorga have gotten himself in maybe the best shape of his career? Why else did we not see him break out the lit cigarettes on the press tour? Could it be that the Pacquiao carrot was dangled in front of Mayorga? Could it be that Don King’s & Bob Arum’s rekindled friendship will put only King fighters on the short list for Pacquiao?

If that is the case, and presumably it is, Ricardo Mayorga has all the reason in the world to try to pull off a major upset here. Given his track record…he just might be able to do it. Oh, sure, the smart money will go in the direction of Cotto who along with Emanuel Steward claim to have had a great camp and look forward to disposing of, “The Idiot”, as Cotto has referred to Mayorga this week.

As usual the always stoic Cotto has had little or no reaction to Mayorga’s antics, but that’s to be expected. What also is expected is a Cotto victory, but in my book it’s not a given. Miguel has been in some wars over the past years and he even got a little wobbly in the knees from a Yuri Foreman shot as I recall. If Mayorga should land one of those haymakers it could be lights out for Cotto, there is no way a hungry Mayorga will let him off the hook. It’s going to be bombs away tonight in Las Vegas and if you are deciding if you should buy the PPV or not, I would say this will be a worthwhile investment.

If things go like they are drawn up on paper, Cotto should blow out Mayorga sometime in the middle rounds.

But that’s why they fight.

Ricardo Mayorga has a chance here and he also has a lot of motivation. I am sure it won’t matter to Mayorga how he wins, KO, decision, Cotto quitting on stool…whatever. If Mayorga can walk out of the ring with the Champions Crown it won’t matter to him or Don King how he got it.

That which we call a ”championship” by any other name would smell as sweet.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

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The Chosen One?

Monday, March 7th, 2011

By William Trillo

 

 

 

There were those who said my previous blog titled, “Thou Shalt Not Create False Idols”, was a bit over the top and treading on a touchy area, and I must admit I was starting to have second thoughts. I threw those thoughts out the window on Saturday night when at the Alvarez/Hatton Post Fight Press Conference Oscar De La Hoya proclaimed in front of packed media room, “He,(Saul “Canelo” Alvarez),is ‘The Chosen One’! And that’s not coming from him, that’s coming from me…he is ‘The Chosen One’.”

With one statement De La Hoya took Alvarez from being an albeit created Champion to proclaiming him as The Saviour…boxing’s Saviour. Taking that statement into consideration it doesn’t make my story about putting Oscar in the sandals of Moses seem so blasphemous….does it?

That “Chosen One” statement might possibly be one of the most unfair statements ever uttered by The Golden Boy. It’s unfair to the fans, it’s unfair to the fighters but most importantly it’s unfair to Alvarez.

It’s unfair to the fans because Golden Boy is somehow proclaiming Saturday night as history and there will be more to follow. They will tell us that Alvarez is the youngest fighter to capture a 154 pound title. That may be so and that feat will go down in the record books, but let’s be honest here, that was far from history. That title was as poorly orchestrated as that Banda music that was blaring in the back of The Honda Center on Saturday night. Everyone saw through that ruse from day one. Alvarez may have walked away with the belt, but no one sees him as the real Jr. Middleweight Champ….No One! You don’t make history by making deals in some office in Cancun, Mexico and it’s unfair to try to tell the fans otherwise.

It’s unfair to the fighters because while other warriors like Vanes Martirosyan and Alfredo Angulo have gotten to the top the old fashioned way, by earning it, they may never see a WBC title fight with Alvarez because of some (ahem) politics… they most likely won’t be getting a whiff of Cinnamon anytime soon. Never mind seasoned veterans like Kermit Cintron and Paul Williams who certainly will never get a crack at Alvarez either.

It’s also very unfair to just about every other fighter at Golden Boy Promotions who have given their heart and soul to boxing and Golden Boy and now have all become second and third fiddles to Alvarez. When they heard Oscar call Alvarez “The Chosen One” how do you think almost every other fighter on Golden Boy’s roster felt? I’ll tell you how that felt, “like sh*t”, and that’s a direct quote from one of their own.

I remember Golden Boy’s hype machine working overtime a few years back for a promising and undefeated fighter from Mexico by the name of Marco Antonio Rubio. According to the hype machine Rubio was “The Real Deal”. If memory serves me correctly Rubio lost a couple fights and saw himself getting buried on a card in The Ukraine. That’s a true story, look it up.  I’d love to hear the words of advice Rubio would have for Alvarez.

And as I said, the one this charade is the most unfair to is Alvarez himself. Golden Boy Promotions has pulled this uneducated kid out of Mexico and shoved him into the National spotlight in America announcing him as The Second Coming. They have grea$ed the wheels and grea$ed his palms in a fashion the likes of which has not been seen in years.

And do you think Alvarez is buying into the hype?

THIS KID IS 20 YEARS OLD!! OF COURSE HE IS!

Shame on everyone at Golden Boy for taking advantage of this young man.

How many times have we seen young fighters get huge expectations and championships thrust upon them only to watch their careers and their lives spiral out of control? Remember a guy named Mike Tyson? And that record “Canelo” broke belonged to a guy named Fernando Vargas…you remember him don’t you?

If and when Alvarez hit’s that major bump in the road, and it’s more likely to happen than not, I hope his Promoters are there to help him pick up the pieces and not just kick him to the curb, like a lot of their roster feels they have done to them right now.

Look, Alvarez is a good young and strong fighter and has some promise for a decent future if brought along properly. Dragging him out of Mexico and shoving him into a title fight less than one year after you introduced him to an American boxing public is a far cry from bringing him along properly.

Oscar ripped Bob Arum pretty good on Saturday night but in all his years I have never seen him handle a fighter in this fashion, and as you may recall, he has promoted more than his fair share of fighters to the top.

I know this doesn’t compute in the minds of some people, but sometimes the amount of money you have in your pockets doesn’t make you the smartest or the best. Sometimes good old fashioned common sense and wisdom go a very long way.

Anointing a 20 year old Saul Alvarez as “The Chosen One” makes no sense and it is is far from wise. For that young mans sake I hope he has a good head on his shoulders, he is going to need it when he realizes he is not “The Messiah”.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

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