By: William Holmes
The following is the boxinginsider.com notebook for the week of September 3rd to September 10th, covering the comings and goings in the sport of boxing that you may have missed.
Magomed Abdusalamov Knocks Out Jameel McCline
Magomed Abdusalamov (16-0) wasted little time in knocking out Jameel McCline (41-12-3) in the heavyweight division on the undercard of the Vitali Klitschko title fight in Moscow, Russia. This was a result that should have surprised nobody, as McCline is way past his prime and had looked it in his past few performances in the ring. McCline was able to drop Abdusalamov in the first round with a straight right hand, but McCline fell to the ground from a short punch in the second round at 1:57 and was unable to beat the count.
Cunningham and Jennings Victorious in Newark
Steve Cunningham (25-4) made a jump up to the heavyweight division and won a ten round decision over Jason Gavern (21-11-4) in Newark, NJ on Saturday. Cunningham has recently signed with Main Events, and won a clear decision victory with scores of 100-90, 100-90, and 99-90.
Bryant Jennings (17-0) continued to impress and made short work of Chris Koval (25-10) in the heavyweight division. He stopped Koval in just 0:35 of the first round. Koval was dropped twice in that short time span, and the referee waived it off after the second knockdown.
Ivan Morales Defeats Luis Maldonado
Ivan Morales (18-0), the younger brother of Erik Morales, remained undefeated with a decision victory over Luis Maldonado (38-9-1) in the junior bantamweight division in Temecula, California on Saturday night. Morales won with scores of 98-92, 97-93, and 97-93. The fight went to the scorecards in the last round because of an accidental head-butt caused a cut over the right eye of Morales.
Ramos Jr., Denotay Wilder, and Demetrius Hopkins Win in California
Luis Ramos Jr. (23-0) scored an 8th round TKO victory over Noe Bolanos (24-7-1) in the lightweight division on Saturday night in Costa Mesa, California. Bolanos’ corner threw in the towel in the 8th round after Bolanos took a beating from Ramos Jr. The fight was called off at 1:04 of round 8.
Bronze Medalist Deontay Wilder (25-0) remained undefeated with a second round KO over Damon McCreary (14-1) in the heavyweight division. McCreary was knocked down in the first round, and twice more in the second round. The second knockdown in the second round forced the referee to call off the fight at 0:55 of round 2.
Demetrius Hopkins (31-2-1), the nephew of Bernard Hopkins, won an eight round decision over Doel Carrasquillo (16-22-1). It was an obvious stay busy fight for Hopkins, who won with scores of 80-71, 80-71, and 80-71.
Bellew Defeats Miranda In England
Tony Bellow (18-1) defeated the tough veteran Edison Miranda (35-8) by a 9th round TKO on Saturday night in London, England. Bellew’s body work did damage throughout the fight, and a combination to the body in the ninth round forced Miranda to drop to his knees. Miranda told the referee that he did not want to continue and the fight was called off.
Galarza Battles Fox on September 22nd
Frank Galarza will be fighting Alantez Fox in an eight round Jr. Middleweight co-feature at the Resorts World Casino New York in Queens New York. The main event of that card will feature light heavyweight Joe Smith Jr. (10-1) taking on Yasin Rashid (7-2). Junior middleweight Boyd Melson (9-1) will box Yolecy Leiva (5-4) in an undercard bout. Tickets can be purchased at www.newlegendboxing.com and the fights can be seen on www.gfl.tv
Muhammad Ali to be Honored at the 2012 Liberty Medal Ceremony
The National Constitution Center’s 2012 Liberty Medal Ceremony will be a star-studded tribute to Muhammad Ali to mark the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. The award will be presented by Laila Ali and 2012 Olympic Gold Medalists Claressa Shields and Susan Francia. Appearances and performances will be by Lonni Ali, Terrance Howard, Dikembe Mutombo, Joe Louis Barrow II, David Muir, Golden Gloves Boxers, and the Girard Academic Music Program Choir. Video tributes will feature Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, George Hill, and Tyrell Biggs.
This event will take place on Thursday, September 13th at 7:00pm. It will be broadcast live on WPVI-TV/6abc and webcast live on www.6abc.com. For more information visit www.constitutioncenter.org
Zsolt Erdei Suffers Broken Ribs, Withdraws From September 29th Bout
Former two-division world champion Zsolt Erdei has been forced to withdraw from his September 29th light heavyweight bout against Isaac Chilemba at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods after suffering two broken ribs in training. The bout was scheduled to open up the HBO Boxing After Dark telecast.
Erdei stated, “I can’t express how disappointed I am. I wanted this fight so badly. To be honest I was so upset when this happened I thought I would retire, but after speaking with my family and friends I have decided that I will be back. Fighting is my life and I am going to be coming back soon as possible.”
Gary Shaw Reflects on Geale’s Victory Over Sturm
Promoter Gary Shaw offered some words on his fighter Daniel “Real Deal” Geale’s victory over Felix Sturm. Geale became both the IBF and WBA Champion by defeating Sturm.
“Sturm literally thought Daniel’s name was ‘Meal Deal’ and found out the hard way that he’s the ‘Real Deal,'” Shaw said. “Sturm, who acted as his own promoter for this event, must have been occupied with the stresses of being a promoter to think Daniels name was ‘Meal Deal.’ On the other hand, Team Geale was very relaxed going into this fight. Just hours before the fight, we were all hanging out in the dressing room joking around, and laughing to the point we had tears in our eyes. I’ve never been in a fight where the atmosphere was so calm. There was no yelling, just very relaxed.”
“Geale ended sparring 10 days before the fight and was on weight the entire time. There was no struggle to make weight and the game plan Graham Shaw put in place was incredible. Graham is a very underrated trainer. I nominate him for ‘Trainer of the Year’ and he needs to be recognized as one of the best trainers in boxing.”
Shaw plans on having Geale sitting ringside for the Martinez vs. Chavez Jr. fight in hopes that his boxer will fight the winner.
Go Fight Friday Night! To Take Place on October 12th
Dee Lee Promotions, LLC, in association with Tropicana Casino and Resort presents “Go Fight Friday Night” on Friday October 12, 2012. Dangerous Dorin Spivey (41-6) will defent his NABA lightweight title against Rod salka (16-1) in the main event. The undercard fights will include Antowyan Aikens (5-0), Dorsett Barnwell (7-0), Frankie Filippone (9-2) and Fight Quest MMA Warrior Doug Anderson in his pro debut.
The fight will take place at the Tropicana in Atlantic City and more details can be found at www.tropicana.net.