Boxing Insider Notebook: Kell Brock Injured, Broner/Malignaggi, Mia St John, FNF, more

By: William Holmes

The following is the Boxing Insider notebook for the week of April 8th to April 15th covering the comings and goings in the sport of boxing that you might have missed.

Gonzalez and Molina Win on Friday Night Fights

Oscar Gonzalez (21-2) defeated former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Rico Ramos (21-3) at Little Creek Casino in Shelton Washington with scores of 98-91, 96-93, and 97-93. Gonzalez knocked Ramos down in the sixth round with a body shot and controlled the second half of the fight. 2012 Mexican Olympian Oscar Molina (4-0) deeated Daryl Gardner in a 1st round knockout. Molina will be fighting again in two weeks on the undercard of Arreola vs. Stiverne.

Amir Mansour Defeats Jason Gavern in First Round

Amir “Hardcore” Mansour continued to make his case for bouts against top ranked heavyweights by easily stopping Jason Gavern in the first round of their fight Friday night at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino. Mansour is now 18-0 with 14 knockouts. Gavern went down four times before the fight was stopped at 2:43 of the first round.

Braekhus Stops St. John, Masternak and Skoglund Win

WBA, WBC, & WBO Female Welterweight Champion Cecilia Braekhus (22-0) stopped American Legend Mia St. John (47-13-2) in the third round of their clash at Nordic Fight Night in Frederikshavn, Denmark. On the undercard Erik Skoglund (16-0) defeated Luke Blackledge (13-1-1_ with scores of 97-83, 96-94, and 96-95. Masteusz Masternak improved to (30-0) with a ninth round TKO victory over Sean Corbin (15-4). Corbin was dropped in the eighth and ninth rounds.

Tony Mack Defeats Curtis Howell

Tony Mack defeated fellow Texas boxer Curtis Howell at the “Fights at the Fair Grounds” in Dallas Texas last weekend and was awarded the vacant super-middleweight Texas State Title. Mack defeated Howell by KO at 2:32 of the second round and improves to 6-0.

Antoine Douglas Scores 2nd Round Stoppage

On April 12th middleweight prospect Antoine Douglas scored a 2nd round stoppage over Juana Zapata to raise his record to 6-0 with 4 knockouts. Zapata was dropped once in round one and twice in the second round. The third knockdown was the result of a left hook that completely knocked out Zapata in the second round.

Kell Brook Out of Devon Alexander Fight

Matchroom Sport has confirmed that Kell Brook will be unable to fight Devon Alexander on May 18th due to an injury to his right foot. Eddie Hearn stated, “Kell has recently developed right foot pain. Following specialist review and investigations over the last ten days he has been diagnosed with a stress fracture on his right fourth metatarsal and a further injury on his right navicular, both of which require on-going treatment including withdrawl from full training. As a result of these injuries and the time required to recover he has been advised that he will not be medically fit to fight on May 18th. Obviously this is a huge blow and Kell is devastated but we have had to make the right decision for Kell Brook the fighter. We will speak with Golden Boy and hope to re-schedule the bout in the near future.”

Adrien Broner Signs Fight With Paulie Malignaggi

Adrien Broner has signed to go up two weight divisions to fight the WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi. There were rumors of a unification bout with Ricky Burns but this latest announcement puts an end to that rumored matchup. Broner will fight Malignaggi at 147lbs, two weight classes above where he usually fights. He’ll be following in the footsteps of other legends such as Roberto Duran, Shane Mosley, and Floyd Mayweather who previously made the jump to welterweight from the lightweight division.

Greg Cohen Promotions Signs Filipino Jundy Maraon

Promoter Greg Cohen of Greg Cohen Promotions has announced the signing of Filipino bantamweight Jundy “Pretty Boy” Maraon (15-0-1) to a promotional agreement. Maraon is a southpaw and is the current WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight Champion. He made his US debut in September at the Chumash Casino with a third round TKO over Ernie Marquez. Maraon currently trains in San Leandro, California with Nonito Donaire Sr., father of Nonito Donaire Jr.

“I am very excited to be signed with Greg Cohen,” said Maraon. “I’m ready to fight for a world championship and Greg Cohen is the man who can put it together for me.”

Quillin & Brown Riding High into April 27th Title Defense vs. Guerrero

Peter Quillin and his trainer Eric Brown have worked together for the past two years and have offered up some quotes in regards to their upcoming bout on April 27th against Fernando Guerrero (25-1) for the WBO Middleweight Championship.

“Expectations are high for both of us,” Quillin spoke about their solid relationship. “Eric raised the his bar last year as a Trainer of the Year candidate (Brown also trains WBA Welterweight Champion Paulie Malignaggi). I always work hard. He expects a lot out of me, and if he doesn’t get what he wants, we work even harder in the ring. I know that he really cares and values me. I’m very comfortable with Eric, learning a lot from him, in and out of the ring. I’m blessed to have two other great trainers to work with in Robert Garcia (nutrition and conditioning) and Brad Bose (strength).”

April 20th an Afternoon Delight for Boxing Fans at MSG

Boxing on a Saturday afternoon TV used to be the norm for boxing fans and on Saturday afternoon, April 20th, boxing fans will get to experience Saturday afternoon fights when Heavyweights Tyson Fury and Steve Cunningham square off in a 12 round bout at the Theater at Madison Square Gardon. Doors open at 1:15 PM and the main event and co-feature will be broadcast on NBC at 4:00 PM.

Fury is 20-0 with 14 Kos who measures a staggering 6’9” in height and will be making his American debut. Cunningham is 25-5 with 12 Kos and has two world cruiserweight championship betls in his trophy case.

Serrano Sisters Now Ranked by WBC, IBF, and WBA

The Serrano sisters from Bushwick, Amanda and Cindy, have been classified in three of the most important major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing.

Amanda is ranked #1 by the IBF, #2 by the WBA in the super featherweight division and #5 by the WBC in the featherweight division. Cindy is ranked #4 by the IBF and #5 by the WBA and WBC in the super featherweight division.

Acquinity Sports Signs Three New Prospects

Acquinity Sports has announced the recent signings of 2008 Cuban Olympian heavyweight Robert Alphonso and top Egyptian super middleweight prospect Ahemd Albiali to exclusive promotions contracts. They have also signed super bantamweight Mexican prospect Moises Flores who is currently 18-0.

Book Review of the Final Round by Gary W. Allison

Author Gary W. Allison understands the mind of an underdog, growing up in Southeast Michigan on the borders of Detroit City. Now he explores the life of a man who overcame the most extreme circumstances to forever solidify his place as one of the greatest fighters in boxing history. The book is entitled “The Final Round” and it tells the story of Billy Miske, heavyweight prizefighter of the early 20th century.

“It’s a story that just can’t be ignored,” the author said. “Miske makes Rocky look like a china doll.”

Gary was attracted to the story after a film director approached him on the idea of writing a screenplay based on Miske’s life. “After learning of Billy Miske, I called the director back and said, ‘That’s a movie.'”

The script was written and the production wheels started turning, but the story remained. Gary decided to take it a step further and turn it into a book. But, a biography was not the way to go. Instead, he decided to write a novel based on Miske’s life.

“I took my cue from Capote,” the author said. “A novel served the story much better as there was very little knowledge of Billy’s personal life. I didn’t want to write another statistics book about a boxer.”

The novel explores the mind of man up against the ropes in the ring, as well as in life. “It’s literally and figuratively filled with blood, sweat, and tears.”

Gary W. Allison has written two books. His first one was the novella “There is a Season.” This is his second. He is a produced screenwriter and award winning short story writer. Gary lives in Michigan with his wife and two children.

Combined Records of 105-2-2 Tells Story of April 19th ESPN Tripleheader

The combined records of six combatants tell the story of the show that is scheduled for Friday, April 19th, 2013 at the ESPN televised tripleheader entitled “Fortuna vs. Zamudio” presented by Sampson Boxing at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City.

The main event will be a 12 rounder featuring Dominican Republic’s Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (21-0) defending his interim WBA World Featherweight title against Mexico’s Miguel Zamudio (25-1-1. John “Dah Rock” Jackson (15-1) will be taking on Cerresso Fort (16-0) in a junior middleweight bout, and Emmanuel Lartei Lartey (14-0-1) will be facing Jonathan Batsita (13-0)in another undefeated matchup.

“You cannot set up easy fights on ESPN,” said Sampson Boxing President, Sampson Lewkowicz. “(ESPN Boxing Chief) Doug Loughrey and the network have set strict quality standards for their air, so none of these fights are easy or certain victories for any of the fighters. This is going to be one of the best shows this year with three terrific match-ups for the fans.”