The Boxing Diary

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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

2 IEDs explode at a boxing event in Leyte, Philippines, 27 injured

Hilongos, Leyte -- Two improvised explosive devices (IED) reportedly exploded at a boxing event in Hilongos, Leyte on Wednesday night, 28 Dec in a plaza.

The victims were treated at a local hospital according to Dennis Maliwanag of Inquirer on his Twitter post.

The authorities were still investigating the blast site.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

New York State Boxing Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2017

NEW YORK (December 26, 2016) - The New York State Boxing Hall of Fame (NYSBHOF), sponsored by Ring 8, has announced its 15-member Class of 2017. The sixth annual NYSBHOF induction dinner will be held Sunday afternoon (12:30-5:30 p.m. ET), April 30, at Russo's On The Bay in Howard Beach, New York.


"Once again, "said NYSBHOF president Bob Duffy, "we're honoring New York's finest in our sport. This is all about recognizing great fighters, as well as others involved in boxing, from the state of New York. We're expecting another knockout night."

Living boxers heading into the NYSBHOF include Manhattan welterweight Gaspar "El Indio" Ortega (131-39-6, 69 KOs), Yonkers' world heavyweight title challenger Renaldo "Mr." Snipes (39-8-1, 22 KOs), Yonkers middleweight Doug "Cobra' Dewitt (33-8-5, 19 KOs), and "The Bronx Bomber," world middleweight title challenger Alex Ramos (39-10-2, 24 KOs)

Posthumous participants being inducted are Queens' former middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Dick Tiger (60-19-3, 27 KOs), Brooklyn/Manhattan light heavyeight world champion Jose "Chegui" Torres (41-3-1, 29 KOs), and "The Nonpareil", Williamsburg middleweight world champion Jack Dempsey (51-4-11, 23 KOs).

Non-participants heading into the NYSBHOF are Queens' International agent Don Majeski, Long Island matchmaker Ron Katz, Manhattan manager Stan Hoffman and past Ring 8 president/NYSAC judge Bobby Bartels.

Posthumous non-participant inductees are Brooklyn boxing historian Hank Kaplan, Long Island cut-man Al Gavin, Bronx referee Arthur Donovan and New York City columnist Dan Parker.

Each inductee will receive a custom-designed belt signifying his induction into the NYSBHOF.

The 2017 inductees were selected by the NYSBHOF nominating committee members: Jack Hirsch, Steve Farhood, Bobby Cassidy, Jr., Randy Gordon, Henry Hascup, Ron McNair, Angelo Prospero and Neil Terens.

All boxers needed to be inactive for at least three years to be eligible for NYSBHOF induction, and all inductees must have resided in New York State for a significant portion of their boxing careers or during the prime of their respective career.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Smith stops 51 year-old Hopkins

In the 2:28 minute mark of Round 8, Bernard Hopkins fell out of the ring after a series of punches landed coming from Joe Smith.

It was a bizarre scene to end an extraordinary 28 years boxing career that began in 1988. He was stopped for the first time during the final fight of his incredible career.

The 51-year-old Hopkins (55-8-2 32 KOs) was knocked out of the ring.

This happens to boxers who hang around a little bit too long. The sport will push you out of retirement. Well for me the best time for Bernard to actually retire was when he beat Beibut Shumenov. He got a title at that time, he was 49. But well, it was really tempting to have another shot at age 50. I think that was a record also in boxing. He lost to Sergey Kovalev when he was 50.



Well, for Hopkins it may look like a "controversial" loss because of what had happened. If he did not fell out of the ring, he could have got up before the count of ten and manage to continue. In fairness, he wasn't unconscious when he landed outside the ring.

But anyway, I hope this result will convince Hopkins not to fight again any more and sticks to retiring. He should not wait to be knockout cold out there. Just like what happened to Roy Jones Jr. in one of his recent fights.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Jermall Charlo earns more haters than fans with TKO win over Julian Williams

During the build-up a fight you can trash talk to the highest level you want, but after all the punches thrown and done, it's time to show what the word sportsmanship is all about.

Jermall Charlo (25-0, 19 KOs) was booed by the California boxing fans present at the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles, Saturday night after he knockout Julian Williams in Round 5 of their junior middleweight title clash live on Showtime.

Julian Williams (22-1-1, 14 KOs) went to Charlo's corner to show sportsmanship. But Charlo and his corner refused to accept it. It was too late then when they realized that it wasn't the right reaction. Then Charlo went to Williams' corner to extend his gesture of sportsmanship, but this time it was Williams and his team declined. There was a little commotion going on, but it was obvious that Charlo was in the negative end as the California fans booed in unison.

Charlo remained undefeated and successfully defended the junior middleweight title for the fourth time since capturing it in September last year.

It was a chess match early in the fight. Both fighters were too cautious to open up for offense. They were ready to unload heavy counters that could end the fight early. Both men has power to knock each other out. In Round 2, Charlo scored a knockdown. He connected with a solid jab that put down Williams.

In between the fourth and fifth round, Charlo's trainer Ronnie Shields instructed Charlo to double it up.

"Back him up, back him up with the jab don't let him rest. Double it up with the right hand and hook right back," said Shields.

Williams fired a textbook one-two combination from outside that connected to the head of Charlo. But as Williams retracted back his punches, Charlo came back with a huge right uppercut. Williams did not even saw it coming. And boom! Down went Williams.

He managed to get back on his feet, but Charlo was ready to finish him. After the referee signaled to resume the fight, Charlo was all over Williams firing combination at close range and got one clear punch in and that's it. Williams went down again and the referee did not even bother to count. The referee waived the fight off. The official time: 2:06 in Round 5.

"Sorry my emotions took over me at that time. You know what that's not me," Charlo said when Jim Gray ask about his refusal to accept Williams' handshake.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Classic Boxer-Puncher match-up Oscar Cantu vs. Aston Palicte

LAS VEGAS (December 8, 2016) - The 10-round main event on December 17 of the final 2016 installment of the popular "Knockout Night at the D" series, featuring undefeated Oscar Cantu and Aston Palcite, is a classic match-up of styles between a boxer and puncher.

"Knockout Night at the D" will air live (7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET) on CBS Sports Network from inside the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center indoor facility, located in the heart of the downtown Las Vegas casino district, one block away from the world-famous Fremont Street (200 S. 3rd St.), and FloBoxing.tv will live stream the Dec. 17th undercard worldwide, starting at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET), in addition to three main card TV bouts - excluding North America - beginning at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET).

The "Knockout Night at the D" series, presented by the D Las Vegasand Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, is promoted by Roy Jones Jr. (RJJ) Boxing Promotions.

Jim "J.R." Ross and Joey Varner will call all the action live from ringside, while Jeff Huston will be the ring announcer and fight-week master of ceremonies.

Cantu vs. Palicte will be contested for two belts as Cantu defends his North American Boxing Federation (NABF) super flyweight championship, in addition to the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Inter-Continental super flyweight title.

Rated No. 4 by the World Boxing Council (WBC) as a flyweight, the 25-year-old Cantu (14-0, 1 KO) will face the toughest test of his 4+-years professional career in the heavy-handed Palcite, but he's excited to be headlining this nationally televised show from Las Vegas.

"I feel honored to be headlining a card in Las Vegas," the Texan said. "The opportunity is what every boxer wants because Vegas is the biggest boxing hum in the United States and it has produced great champions in the past. I want to thank Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions for this opportunity.

"A victory can help me open doors to the world title and allow me the show everybody what I stand for, which is being God's humble champion. The outcome of this fight will come down to who wants to win more. I'm sure that adjustments will need to be made throughout the fight. Either way, I am well prepared to get this victory."

Palicte (21-2, 18 KOs) is a dangerous Filipino fighter who is world rated at No. 11 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 15 by the WBO. Now training in Los Angeles, Palicte is looking forward to making his American debut Dec. 17.

"I'm really excited," he remarked. "I've been training o hard, pushing myself to the limit, because I also want to excel as much as the other Filipino fighters. I am grateful for this opportunity to fight in the main event. Knowing he is undefeated, this is going to be an exciting, challenging fight.

"I've always dreamed of fighting for the world title and I'm taking things one step at a time. Through my promoter, RJJ, it was mentioned that there's a big possibility for a world title challenge in 2017 if I win this fight. I've fought some quality fighters and I think I can do what I want in the ring, though I won't say it's going to be easy to control the fight."

Styles made fights and a classic match-up between a consummate boxer (Cantu) and powerful puncher (Palicte) guarantees an intriguing fight that should be highly entertaining and incredibly competitive. Both fighters also respect each other.

"Palicte brings an impressive record and a lot of experience," Cantu noted. "The road to a world title is a tough one, which means no easy opponents. I am really excited about this challenge. This is a classic fight because of our styles and I am sure we won't let the viewing public down. I am ready to become the next great American champion in this weight class."

"Cantu is a smart boxer," Palicte added. "I'd compare him to Ismael Garnica, who I fought in our Showdown at Sands in Macau. (Palicte won by way of a seventh-round TKO.) He (Cantu) is kind of a runner, too, always moving around the ring, but we can never tell one's ability until we've fought.

"This is going to be an exciting fight. I'm really looking forward to getting a hold of those belts. Cantu is also a good boxer but with my experience and power, I think I have much more advantages than him. I know he's also doing his best training, so, it's going to be a really good fight come December 17th."

Unbeaten Chilean junior middleweight champion Angelo Baez (15-0-1, 11 KOs) will make his U.S. debut against Jamaica-native Nathaniel Gallimore (15-1-1, 12 KOs), fighting out of Evanston, Illinois, in the eight-round co-feature.

Los Angeles' Flavio Rodriguez (5-0, 4 KOs) meets Mexican invader Dilan "El Terrible" Loza (5-0, 3 KOs) in a six-round battle of undefeated welterweight prospects to open the televised segment of the evening.

The Las Vegas Big 3 - 21-year-old junior lightweight Randy "El Matador" Moreno (7-0, 6 KOs), 26-year-old welterweight Jeremy "J-Flash" Nichols (7-0, 2 KOs) and 18-year-old bantamweight Max "The Baby-Faced Assassin" Ornelas (6-0, 3 KOs) - will be showcased Dec. 17th.