Billy’s Boxing Blog

By William Trillo

As I stepped off the apron after taking final posing shots of the victorious Guillermo Rigondeaux I was asked by someone from Team Ramos what happened to their now former WBA Super Bantamweight Champ Rico Ramos. For once I engaged my brain before speaking and I asked, “Do you really want to know my opinion?” The Ramos team member said, “Of course I do!”

So I did.

I told him, “I thought Rico tasted that punch that sent him to the canvas early and made a decision he did not want any more of that.”

With a somewhat sullen look he replied, “Yeah, I think you are right.”

That’s pretty much all I have to say about that bout other than Rigendeaux is the real deal and as pathetic as that fight turned out to be he is one to watch in the coming years.

The undercard was anything but pathetic and I think the fans were treated to some real hard fought and exciting battles.

Undefeated young Super Feathers Joel Diaz Jr. and Guy Robb fought their hearts out. It was a real test for both men. Yes, maybe it was stopped a tad too early but Robb had taken a lot of punishment and I can’t say I am up in arms about the stoppage.

Super Flyweight Matt Villanueva kept his win to KO ratio at 100% as he stopped a very game Mike Ruiz Jr. Villanueva was impressive but he got cracked by Ruiz numerous times and his somewhat accessible chin will need to be worked on. Tighten up that defense Matt!

The off TV bouts proved to be a great warm-up for the crowd at Palms Casino and leading the way was Welterweight Javier Molina vs. rugged Albert Herrera. This was the perfect fight for Molina to build his confidence as he had to wok hard to earn a 6 round unanimous decision. This bout was anything but a “gimme” for Molina.

In a four round heavyweight bout big Romanian Razvan Cojanu racked up his second victory with a unanimous decision over Rodney Hernandez. I’d like to see Cojanu throw his hands more and work behind his long left jab in the future. With his size he has the potential to do some damage on his way up the ladder.

In a four round Junior Middle opener Yosami Abreu did enough to take a unanimous decision over Marcus Robinson.

All in all it was a fine night of boxing on Showtimes ShoBox card that was promoted by Goossen Tutor. With the exception of the Main event of course…but really, that was not anyone’s fault but the former Champion Ramos who seemed to be looking for a way out after he got dropped early with a punch to the top of his cranium.

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

By William Trillo

I don’t know about you but I have personally had it with all the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. hype. At this point it can not even be referred to as “Pre-Fight” hype because it seems there will never truly be a fight in the ring. Instead this has become nothing more than a never-ending war of words that has become dull and tedious at best.

After having a discussion with my associate Bret Newton we have decided to boycott anything related to Manny vs. Floyd until an official announcement is made one way or another. As Bob Arum has so eloquently said, “It’s time to fish or cut bait.”

In other words, do something or go away!

I’d like to put out a call to arms to all my boxing writer brethren and ask everyone to boycott this never ending stream of mindless minutia. I know it’s a lot to ask but in the name of all that is good for boxing, please stop giving anyone involved in this disaster any ink at all until they lay down some ink of their own, on an official contract to fight that is!

I can’t speak for the masses but from this point on Pound4Pound promises not to give these guys the time of day until the fight is signed.

Here are a few examples of things we will not post:

• Tweets from Oscar De La Hoya blaming Bob Arum for the fight not being made.

• Quotes from Arum saying he is convinced Floyd does not want the fight.

• Tweets from Floyd calling out Manny to fight on any date, (realistic or not).

• Quotes from anyone in the Philippines saying they just talked to Manny and he will fight under any circumstance, drug tests, catch weights etc. etc.

• Videos on YouTube of Floyd calling out Manny in a foul mouthed dissertation where he shows he doesn’t know one Asian race from another.

Those are but a few examples of material we will boycott but we are not limiting ourselves, because you never know what kind of nonsense is lurking around the corner.

Elections, pending court dates and/or jail time will be considered on a per incident basis, but not if an election is delaying said fight or a supposed fight date is being used to sway a judge to give the convicted criminal more free time.

Of course, if either fighter goes ahead with their plans to fight inferior competition we may grumble about it, but we will post relevant press releases and stories in regard to those scheduled snoozers.

It is our sincere hope that this fight gets made, but until then, Mum’s the word!

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news (well almost all of it).

By William Trillo
Photo-Chop: Bret “The Threat”

Bait advertising defined:
Bait advertising is an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product or service which the advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell.

I am not sure when Twitter became a form of journalism but considering how many boxing websites ran with the Floyd Mayweather Jr. tweet yesterday…well you get the picture. Furthermore I want to say that any ape that just copied the Mayweather Tweet and pasted it on their front page…well you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Look, if anyone thinks there is one ounce of sincerity in Floyd all of a sudden calling out Manny to fight on May 5th only days after “Pretty Boy” was given a reprieve on his 90 day jail sentence, you are gravely mistaken.

With the announcement pending that Mayweather will most likely be fighting Robert Guerrero on May 5th, (and this apparently has been in the works for a while), calling out Manny, who made it clear he will not fight until June at the earliest is nothing more than Mayweather setting the bait for the soon to be disgruntled boxing fans.

When the fans shout that it should be Pacquiao on that May 5th date, Mayweather can point to his Tweet and say, “I called him out and the chump don’t want to fight. What more can I do?”

Seriously?

After umteen months of haggling with no progress whatsoever in “Thee Super Fight” talks, suddenly the fight should get made in just a few days?

Get real.

As ridiculous as that is, all fingers of blame should not get pointed in Mayweather’s direction as Manny along with Top Rank are doing their own version of the bait and switch with the likes of Lamont Peterson being proposed as Pac’s June opponent.

As I wrote a few days ago, this circus is now off the charts and it’s time to put an end to it.

I am appalled at everyone who has bought into this Mayweather Tweet!

Have you been paying attention to this real life soap opera star?

Apparently not!

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

By William Trillo

Am I the only one that chuckled when Super Middleweight Champ and Super Six Winner Andre Ward said Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was a fight he would consider in 2012?

That’s right.

As reported by Boxingscene.com while Ward was accepting his belt in Mexico he fielded a question about Jr. by stating, “In 2012 I hope to continue having big fights and beating the best. Among the opponents that I can have is Julio Cesar Chavez. I know about his career, and what would be better than fighting him in Mexico. I know he’s the world champion at middleweight, but there is not a big difference between his division and mine,” Ward said.

In fairness to both Ward and Boxingscene they did later report a note saying: Ward has stated that he was misquoted in the Mexican press. Ward told the Mexican media that he was “open” to a future fight with Chavez, but never said he was targeting Chavez or looking to fight him in Mexico.

That’s all well and good but if Ward was asked about Chavez Jr. as he claimed, his response should have been more along the lines of, “Look, Chavez Jr. is a middleweight champion but he is inferior competition for me and he doesn’t even appear on my radar!” He did not say that or anything close.

To even acknowledge a Chavez Jr. fight after completely dismissing a fight with Lucian Bute is disturbing to me…to say the least.

I don’t know who is advising Kelly Pavlik but the fact that he plans on getting ready for a fight in the spring, considering his recent trouble,(again), makes no sense at all. I wish there is someone who could talk some sense into this young man. And then I wish he would listen and take the advice.

The Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fiasco is beyond circus-like now and I just wish they would officially scrap the idea and move on. Whether you blame Manny or Floyd, Arum or Oscar, this has just gone to far now.

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

By William Trillo

I just happened to jump on the internet (www.tmz.com) with enough time to watch a Nevada judge grant a reprieve to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and instead of having to turn himself into Nevada authorities today to serve a 90 day jail sentence, Floyd will now get a 5 month reprieve with the notion that he will be fighting a big money fight in May. The judge also noted that part of his sentence was for domestic violence counseling and on that matter Mayweather would not be let off the hook and would have to perform the Domestic Violence counseling on a weekly basis. “Fight or no fight”, the judge said, “Mr. Mayweather will have to perform that duty with no excuses. If he misses one day he will be subject to his 90 sentence immediately!”

If all goes according to this plan Floyd will turn himself in on June 1 of this year….(cough).

As to that big money fight in May, if any of you think it’s finally going to be Floyd vs. Manny…guess again.

In his request to postpone Mayweather’s sentence his attorney said it was, “…to give Floyd time to train for a massive fight on May 5th against an undetermined opponent at the MGM Grand.”

Undetermined opponent?

Talk about opening the door counselor!

Although most of us would love to believe that means the fight with Pacquiao is right around the corner it would be highly suggested that no one holds their breath.

My guess is Manny will fight someone like Lamont Peterson in May or June and Mayweather will either fight someone like the Berto/Ortiz winner, a “Ghost” or a “Ginger Kid” in May. After that talks will begin that Manny vs. Floyd could possibly happen in November. (Although I doubt it ever will).

That should give Mayweather’s attorney another carrot to dangle in front of the Nevada judge and ask for another postponement of that 90 day sentence until 2013, which will most likely be granted as long as Floyd follows through with his court ordered counseling and stays clear of any trouble.

On the bright side, for Mayweather fans, this could be the start of some consistent activity for Floyd who I am sure would rather fight every 6 months as opposed to spending time in Cell Block C.

On the downside, for those not so keen on Floyd, this will be viewed as another high profile celebrity getting preferential treatment and “bucking” the system.

It’s pretty clear the judge in this case could not care less about boxing, and rightly so. But to postpone this sentence for a so called “Massive fight” is ill-advised and haphazard at best.

First, I personally doubt we will ever see Floyd vs. Manny, there are too many issues, personalities and $$$ going into this thing and negotiations will be a veritable nightmare, no one is going to budge.

Second, considering the “Posse” Floyd rolls with it’s hard to believe he will stay clear of trouble and one way or another the judge will have no choice put to throw him in “The Hoosgow” for a yet to be determined stretch of time.

In fact…if you listen closely you can hear Champagne corks popping in Las Vegas right now as calls are being made to every Strip Club in “Sin City” to reserve a table and a case of “Dom” for Pretty Boy and a party of 10. Floyd’s gonna be makin’ it rain up in here tonight!

http://www.tmz.com/2012/01/06/floyd-mayweather-turns-himself-in-jail/#.TwdLszXWZDQ

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

By William Trillo

I would like to start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year, may 2012 be a prosperous one for all. As you may or may not know, I took a bit of hiatus once the holiday season got into full swing but there are just a few things I wanted to get off my chest so I could start out 2012 with a clean slate.

First, there is the WBC and the situation with their Middleweight title (Gold, Silver, Diamond or otherwise). If I am not mistaken Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is presently their champion and although the number one contender, Marco Antonio Rubio keeps winning, somehow the WBC has found a path for Chavez Jr. that takes a detour around Rubio. Personally, I don’t know how this keeps going on but it’s time for Junior to face the music. Much to my dismay rumblings have been heard that Sergio Martinez will be next in line for Chavez Jr. There is also noise that Junior will finally face Rubio and that winner will get a shot with Martinez. The latter makes more sense to me and I hope that is what transpires. No more excuses…PLEASE.

Speaking of Middleweights, although it wasn’t awe inspiring, I think the time off and the move back to 160 pounds is just what the doctor ordered for Jermain Taylor. I will be the first to admit he is far from the form that saw him beat Bernard Hopkins twice but I saw glimpses of Taylor on Friday night that reminded me of the Taylor we knew back in the day. Yes, I know beating Jessie Nicklow does not put him in title contention, but with a couple more fights to shake off the rust I think Jermain and that jab could once again be a force at 160 pounds.

On the same Friday night card we saw the return of Super Middleweight Andre Dirrell. “The Matrix” looked fine, but he too was facing second rate competition as he KO’d Darryl Cunningham in 2 less than memorable rounds. My only trouble with this victory is that the WBC, (them again), have put Andre back in the number one spot in their rankings. That seems very premature to me. We are talking about a guy who claimed neurological damage after his fight with Arthur Abraham. I really think giving him the number one slot to face the Champion Andre Ward is…well…ridiculous. Especially since it seems pretty apparent the Andre’s really don’t want a fight to get in the way of their friendship.

In regard to Ward, although I didn’t see his victory over Carl Froch, from all accounts I heard he put a good beatdown Froch and I congratulate him for that. It took three calendar years but finally we have “Super Six” Champion. I tip my hat to Ward.

What comes as no surprise to me is the fact that Ward shows little or no interest in fighting IBF 168 pound champ Lucian Bute. I am not suggesting that Ward is ducking Bute either. I had heard for a while that a few involved in the “Super Six” took offense to the fact that Bute saw it as some kind of “fight-off” to get the right to fight him, and quite frankly, I don’t blame them. Although I think Lucian is a premier 168 pounder I thought it was a tad arrogant for him to suggest the ” Super Six” winner would somehow be worthy to get a shot at him… I mean really, who does he think he is?

On Bute, it looks like there is a two fight deal in the works for him to take on Carl Froch, with the first fight in Montreal. This comes as no surprise to me as Lucian’s promoter, Interbox’s Jean Bedard was recently quoted as saying he was glad the Andrade vs. George bout was postponed as it would give him time to make another fight for Bute before he had to face Andrade or George who would be Lucian’s mandatory defense. “We have no interest in fighting Andrade again,” said Bedard.

Mr. Bedard, if you are looking for the “Promoter’s Reason Not To Fight Andrade” line you will have to get in the queue right behind Leon Margules.

In closing I would like to tell Raider fan that settling for 50 yard field goals, lousy special teams and piss poor clock management will never get you into the playoffs. Have fun hanging your hat on that most penalties by a team in one year record you set yesterday…see ya’ next year.

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

By William Trillo & Tim Donaldson

Happy New Year to everyone. Another year has come and gone and it’s time reflect one last time on 2011 before we move on. I asked our ace reporter from Philly, Tim Donaldson if he would like to start out the New Year by going over his Top Ten fighters of 2011 and then follow-up quarterly with an update. Tim was more than up for the difficult task and I commend him for that. If there is any sport that leaves itself open for argument when it comes to the best of the best…it’s boxing.

With thank Tim for taking up the challenge…so without further ado:

Looking Back on 2011 With An Eye Toward
Those Who Will Be Remembered in the Future
By Tim Donaldson

As I sit in my office, pondering the past year and wondering what I should write, my eyes fall on some of the boxing memorabilia that I have collected over time. Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano, and Smokin Joe Frazier stare back at me, inspiring me. They are remembered and will be remembered as some of boxing’s greatest champions. I start to wonder. Who, out of those I have watched fight this year, will be remembered 50 years from now? Who will I be talking about when I am a toothless old man?

So I got to work on a list. I asked friends and family their thoughts as well. And what I have found is that we all have our own favorites, and we all put them in our own order. So this is my list and my reasons, starting with number ten.

10. Andre Ward. I have included Ward for a few reasons. I got to see Ward fight live for the first time at the Super Six Final, and I have to say I was impressed. For me, boxing is as much a sport about out-thinking your opponent as it is a sport of brute force. Ward controlled the fight against Froch from beginning to end. Most of the British press realized this, even though the judges failed to see it. And beyond this one fight, you have to give Ward credit for making it through the Super Six tournament undefeated.

9. Yuriorkis Gamboa. Despite the fact that Max Kellerman seems to think that Gamboa simply is not exciting enough (does Max actually watch all the fights aired on HBO? There are many worse fighters getting exposure on your network, Mr. Kellerman.), Gamboa continues to win fights in a convincing way. Will he be the next Pacquiao as some suggest? Only time will tell. But if his career continues on the current path, I do expect that he will be remembered years to come.

7 & 8. Vladimir and Vitali Klitschko. No disrespect to the Klitschko brothers, but too many of us in the United States, we see them as the two headed giant that rules the Heavyweight division. So many here like to complain that they are boring and only remain on top because of their size. However, this is a weak argument. Every fighter has a weakness, this includes Vladimir and Vitali, but no one currently in the Heavyweight division has been able to exploit their weaknesses. Size might get you to the top of the heap, but it will not keep you there.

6. Miguel Cotto. Maybe I am partial, or maybe my wife is making me put him in the list, but I do believe he belongs here. Cotto seemed unstoppable until Antonio Margarito did exactly that back in 2008. But Cotto has now put that demon to rest. Truly, the two Cotto, Margarito fights will be talked about for years. Unfortunately for Cotto, just like Ali cannot be mentioned without Frazier, Cotto’s name will be forever linked with his arch enemy Margarito.

5. Sergio Martinez. Martinez will be remembered for many reasons. What boxing fan can forget the way Martinez knocked out Paul Williams in the second round of their second fight? However, the real reason he belongs here is his fighting style. For most fighters, fighting with hands down would be a dangerous strategy, but for Martinez it seems to be a strength. Not only does he fight hands down, but he likes to stick his chin out there, just taunting his opponent to hit him. When his opponent does attempt to hit him, he manages to land his shot. As he himself has said, he would not be “Maravilla,” marvel or wonder, if he did not fight with his hands down.

4. Floyd Mayweather. Floyd and Floyd fans will be upset that I put him at number 4, but as I said this is my list. Floyd Mayweather is a great fighter, no doubt, but he will be remembered as much for his antics outside of the ring as those in the ring. But so is Muhammad Ali and many other great fighters. Mayweather is a great defensive fighter, who can dictate a fight to his opponent. For you doubters, I am sure you are saying what about Ortiz? Yes, it seemed like a cheap shot to me, but he got away with it and he won the fight. For Mayweather, it is all about winning.

3. Manny Pacquiao. Now I have made the Pacquiao fans mad. What? How can this be? Manny not at number one? Pacquiao truly is one of the great fighters of our time. He has beaten nearly everyone put in front of him, and he almost always makes it look easy. There is one thing that will plague his reputation, however. Floyd Mayweather? No. It is the man in the number two slot.

2. Juan Manuel Marquez. Even without fighting Pacquiao, I would consider Marquez one of the greatest fighters of our time. He consistently chooses the best opponents to fight. How many fighters can we say that about? And then there are the three fights against Pacquiao. Yes, I do believe Marquez was robbed in the last fight. It is not the first time either. The really great thing about Marquez is that you know that if he fights again, he will once again choose the best.

So, now you are asking yourself who I picked for my number one. As I said before, this is my list, and I admit, it is quite arbitrary. I could have put the top five at any order and been happy. But since I am from Philadelphia and in my forties, I am going to let my bias come through.

1. Bernard Hopkins. I put Bernard Hopkins at the top of the list for one reason. In two weeks he will be turning 47. How many of the fighters on this list will still be fighting when they are 46 or 47? However, Hopkins is not simply fighting, he is winning. He is one of the most consistent fighters in boxing, and he just keeps proving this to us. Sure he likes to show off, doing pushups between rounds at the Pascal fight. But why shouldn’t he show off? Typically if a fighter fights into their 40’s, they simply end up embarrassing themselves. But not Hopkins. So that is why I believe Bernard Hopkins deserves the number one spot.

Click Here For Pound4Pound.com’s P4P Top 10 Page

By William Trillo

Okay, so fight night in Mexico this past Saturday night didn’t go exactly as planned, that goes without saying. But in all honesty the rest of the week went beautifully.

The resort town of Cozumel was ready for the show and with a fight card a dozen bouts deep there was no doubt the island was in store for more boxing here than ever before. But even those with a keen sense of boxing betting insight could not have predicted how the Main Event battle would eventually turn out.

We arrived onto the island on Monday afternoon, the people were friendly and the sunset was like a painting without flaw.

Not wanting to get caught up in the resort atmosphere Librado Andrade and Enrique Ornelas put in a good hard day of work on Tuesday in a steamy gym that was the perfect place to cut the last few pounds.

Wednesday was a bit more relaxed and after the fighters worked out it was time for a little casual dining followed by the most spectacular sunset of the entire week.

Things started hopping on Thursday as the fighters met in town with promoter Pepe Gomez for the final press conference to announce the festivities to come.

Later that evening the fighters met again in town, this time it was to perform in an open workout for the islanders. Nothing like watching the principals at work to get the fans to gobble up some tickets.

Friday was weigh-in day back in town and everyone seemed pretty relaxed.

Ornelas and Andrade posed for the cameras before they hit the scales.

Donovan George hooked up with some of his hometown folks for some photos as well.

After that Andrade and George exchanged some kind thoughts as they prepared for the final photo shoot.

Meanwhile Team George and Andrade’s trainer Danny Zamora sat down with the officials to go over the rules one more time.

With ring girls present Jimmy Zeek Hartofilis did not pass on a photo opp of his own.

Back at the hotel George sat poolside and collected his thoughts for what was in store in 24 hours.

Saturday…fight day! Nothing like collecting your thoughts while swinging at the bar on the Caribbean coast.

Only a couple hours before the fight one can only wonder what Donovan Goerge was thinking as he checked out the ring…that was the closest he got to it all night.

Yes, the ring girls were present and under the clouds and rain they seemed to be having a splendid time.

Golden Boy’s Abner Mares was ringside in Cozumel and was taking a breather after his spectacular win over Joseph Agbeko. Moments after I took this shot I was informed George had been advised to pull out of the fight.

Back at the hotel Team Andrade sat down for a good meal and took what happened only hours before in stride. It was a difficult situation to handle but we made the best of a tough situation.

On Sunday as we prepared to leave Hartofilis tossed me his camera and asked me to take a photo of he and Leon Margules. After I shot the photo Zeek asked me what I was going to title it. All things considered I could not come up with anything suitable but Hartofilis came up with a good one…
”A Greek and a Jew walk into a bar…”

Badda Boom Badda Bing!

In all honesty Sunday was an awkward day, even more awkward was that both teams shared the same flight back to the States.

While awaiting our flight at the airport Hartofilis looked at me and said, “Hey did you drop that?” I looked down and saw a crumpled twenty dollar bill. I looked at Jimmy and shook my head no. He pointed to the bill again so I bent over to pick it up. As it turned out the bill was attached to a string and another member of Team George pulled the bill out from under me right as I was going to grab it.

We all had a good laugh.

This past week Leon Margules put Donovan George in front of the boxing community and said he was the man to beat Librado Andrade. But like that twenty dollar bill, moments before the fans were set to cash in on a very good fight, Margules pulled his fighter out from under everyone.

No one was laughing.

By William Trillo

Hello William,

Dale

————————————————————————————————————-

Hey Dale,

Thanks for the email!

First of all I agree it was a huge disservice to Donovan but the responsibility is not on his management team. That disservice lies firmly on the shoulders of his promoter Leon Margules.

Neon Leon was barking to everyone within earshot that fighting in Mexico was not to his liking and he knew something like this would happen. If he really had that kind of foresight he would have had either himself or someone on his staff in place to see to it everything went according to plan. Instead he and his assistant were in Las Vegas pandering to Jose Sulaiman and the WBC.

Like you, I believed George was more of a slugger than a mover but subtle hints and innuendo suggested maybe his game plan was to move during this fight. It’s hard to say how that plan would have worked as we all know that once a battle ensues and you get busted in the mouth a lot of the pre-fight strategy gets tossed out the window and reflexes and old habits take over. It’s hard to say what might have happened in any size ring and it’s even harder to say that we will ever find out.

Sorry you got stuck watching that Super Six finale, I hear it was a real let down…what a surprise. :/

Now that Ward has won that disaster of a tournament and apparently is going to abandon Lucian Bute, maybe Margules can get his fighter a shot at Andre. If he does Leon can expect to fight in Wards hometown of Oakland, California. We know how unhappy Margules was about bringing his fighter to Andrade’s home of Mexico, I can’t imagine he would be any more thrilled about beautiful downtown Oakland. I also assume that 15 x 15 foot ring will start looking pretty enticing this time, the last thing he will want to do is give Ward any kind of room to move.

I have Pepe Gomez’s contact info and would be glad to supply it to Margules for a small fee and a better ranking with the WBC. If he gives Pepe more than a 45 minute notice I am sure he will be able to get that ring to Northern California in time for the fight.

Dale, you know Andrade and I am sure you read the interview he did this week on Boxingscene where he said that he would rather get beat up than pull out of a fight. That’s the fighter his fans have come to know and love.

Librado is going to land on his feet and whether he fights George or gets a direct path to Lucian Bute no one will question his willingness to fight and give everything he has no matter if he is fighting in a phone booth or an airport hangar.

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

By William Trillo

A teary eyed Donovan George walked into Librado Andrade’s side of the dressing room to apologize for the fight falling out, he told Andrade he wanted to fight but on the advice of his team the fight would not go on. The two embraced in a tearful hug and then went their separate ways into a rainy Cozumel, Mexico night.

There was no reason for Donovan to apologize, he wanted to fight and cancelling the show was not his agenda.

The reason for their tears was simple, they are fighters who wanted to prove they belonged at the top of the Super Middleweight division and the only way to get there was to settle it in the ring.

If only it were that easy.

On the advice of his promoter Leon Margules (Executive Director of Seminole Warriors Boxing Promotions), Donovan George was left no choice but to pull out of the fight because of an issue with the size of the ring.

I should have known something was going to go wrong when after a beautiful week on the island of Cozumel in Mexico, the clouds began to roll in on fight night and before the canvas could be stretched over the ring in question, Mother Nature let out with a thunderous cry and a tropical rain ensued. (Contrary to rumors Golden Boy was not responsible for in weather).

From that moment on things would only get worse.

With the doors not officially opened yet we made our way into the baseball field dugout that had become a makeshift dressing room for the principals. I wished Andrade and his brother Enrique Ornelas my best and I left the muggy dugout to go find a spot on the apron mat to shoot my photos.

As I sat in my marked territory I saw members of Team George hit the field for the first time. They came to the side of the ring I was on and they were more than displeased with the fact that George’s corner was on the dirt side of the baseball diamond infield. That issue paled in comparison when they realized the size of the ring was not to their liking.

The ring construction crew was still on hand so it wasn’t long before Team George had a tape measure in their hands and were checking the numbers on the ring size. They came up with a ring size of 15 x 15 feet.

That fact was indisputable.

According to Margules, the contract stipulated that the ring be 20 x 20 feet and he immediately told Golden Boy representatives the fight would not take place in that particular squared circle.

After reviewing the contract it was noted that it also had a stipulation saying that if a ring 20 x 20 could not be provided that the promoter would use their best efforts to secure a ring of a comparable size. Margules was well aware of that and told me so himself during a heated exchange we had at the hotel only hours after the fight was cancelled.

During the war of words back at the Hotel, which members of both teams told me they thought it was going to get physical, I told Margules that in my opinion his decision screwed both fighters and someone needed to be held accountable. Taking offense Margules shouted, “My fighter is not getting screwed, I will pay him the $20,000 myself.” I told Margules that wasn’t the point at all, “I know Librado worked his ass off for this fight and I am sure Donovan did too, they came here to fight, not bicker about the size of the ring,” I said, “ Now tell me who is responsible? Someone needs to be held accountable!”

Margules answered, “I don’t know, I asked Golden Boy and they said it was on the local promoter, you would have to ask them.”

I did inquire with Golden Boy and they chose not to respond at the present time.

I also spoke to the local promoter Pepe Gomez about that ring his company supplied. My question was simple, “Was the ring the fighters were in at the open workout 2 days before the fight the same ring used on Saturday night?’

“Of course,” said Gomez. “We don’t have rings at our disposal like on the mainland. This is a small island and this is what we have to work with.”

No one complained about the ring at the open workout and no one raised an eyebrow when they stepped in the ring on Thursday. Maybe Margules would have been aware of the ring size that night but since he was busy hobnobbing with the WBC Presidente in Las Vegas he came in late for the fight in Cozumel.

If you are questioning where his priorities are, so am I and so should everyone on Team George. This was the most important fight of Donovan’s career, if I am his promoter I am there with the team days early.

Ask yourself, what is more important, scoring points with the WBC or being there early to represent your fighter to see to it he gets a fair shake at a world title, the most important fight of his career?

Showing up with just enough time to pull the plug is inexcusable.

Another fact that is indisputable in my opinion.

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