By: William Holmes
The following is the Boxing Insider notebook for the week of March 26th to April 1st, covering the comings and goings in the sport of boxing that you might have missed.
Bellew and Chilemba Fight to a Draw
Tony Bellew (19-1-1) and Isaac Chilemba (20-1-2)fought to a 12 round draw in their world light heavyweight title eliminator on Saturday night. They were hoping to become the No. 1 challenger for Chad Dawson’s WBC belt.
Golovkin Crushes Ishida, Million Dollar Super Four Finalists Are Set
Undefeated WBA and IBO Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin destroyed Nobuhiro ishida with a third round knockout. A straight right hand caught Ishida high and instantly knocked him unconscious marking a seventh successful title defense for the champion. The end came at the 2:20 mark of the third round.
Unbeaten super-middleweight Edwin Rodriguez defeated Ezequiel Maderna to advance to the final of the “Million Dollar Super Four” with scores of 96-92, 96-92, and 95-92. He secured a knockdown in the ninth round to ensure the victory.
In the other Super Four semifinal, Denis Grachev suffered his first ever defeat to two-time world champion Zsolt Erdei with a split decision with scores of 96-94, 96-94, and 94-96.
Tyson Primed to Unleash Fury in Big Apple
The worldwide branding campaign of undefeated Heavyweight Tyson Fury (20-0) is set to explode on Saturday afternoon, April 20th, as Tyson Fury makes his United States debut against two-time world champion Steve “USS” Cunningham (25-5) in New York City.
Hennesy Sports and Main Events will air this event at 4:00 PM on NBC from the Theater at Madison Square Garden. Fury vs. Cunningham is an official International Boxing Federation (IBF) Heavyweight Voluntary Eliminator for the No. 2 position.
All of the top heavyweights in the world need Americans to watch them fight and that’s why I’m making my U.S. pro debut in New York City for all Americans to see on national television,” the charismatic Fury said from his Canadian training camp at beautiful Casino Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec. “You can’t put the Klitschkos in the same category as me. Nobody outside of the Ukraine and Germany care anything about them. They fought a few times in America. Wladimir fought a real stinker in Madison Square Garden (DEC12 vs. Sultan Ibragimov on Feb. 23, 2008).
“I was supposed to fight in America a few times but they fell out for different reasons. We needed good television, a good arena, and good opponent. Now’s the right time; we have all that.”
“Cunningham is a good boxer and world champion who fought in different countries,” Fury concluded. “He’s a small heavyweight who will come in with a good game plan and strategy. I anticipate him running but, sooner or later, I will catch him and knock him out. If he runs, I hope the fans boo him out of the arena. He’s going to have to fight me. I’m coming to fight and put on a shw.”
Stars Coming Out for 88th Annual BWAA Awards Dinner April 11th
An impressive list of world champions, past and present, have committed to attending the 88th annual Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) dinner on Thursday evening, April 11th at Capitale in New York City.
In addition to 2012 honorees such as Fighter of the Year, Nonito Donaire, and Fight of the Year winner, Juan Manuel Marquez, a virtual Who’s Who of boxing will be guests at the Apr. 11 gala affair. “The way things are starting to unfold this could be the best BWAA dinner in years” an excited BWAA president Jack Hirsch reported. “Every day it seems like another high profile star has committed to attend. Our growing lineup includes Roy Jones, Timothy Bradley, Ruslan Provodnikov, Paulie Malignaggi, Steve Cunningham, Bob Arum, and Jim Lampley. We have also reached out to a major television star that is a big fight fan. She has expressed interest in attending if her schedule permits.”
2012 BWAA Award Winners:
– Nonito Donaire The Sugar Ray Robinson Award Fighter of the Year
– Robert Garcia The Eddie Futch Award Trainer of the Year
– Juan Manuel Marguez – Manny Pacquiao IV The Ali-Frazier Award Fight of the Year
– Al Haymon The Cus D’Amato Award Manager of the Year
– Kathy Duva & Bruce Trampler The Barney Nagler Award Long & Meritorious Service
– Steve Farhood The Marvin Kohn Award Good Guy
– Danny Jacobs The Bill Crawford Award Courage Overcoming Adversity
– Peter Finney The A.J. Liebling Award Outstanding Boxing Writer
– Dave Kindred The Nat Fleischer Award Excellence In Boxing Journalism
– Max Kellerman The Sam Taub Award Excellence in Broadcast Journalism
WBC (NABF) Super Lightweight Championship Spadafora vs. Frankel April 6th
Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack, & Resort in association with Roy Jones Jr. & TNT Promotions presents “Live Championship Boxing” at The Harv on Saturday April 6th, 2013. In the main event, the vacant WBC (NABF) Super Lightweight Championship will be on the line when undefeated Paul “The Pittsburgh Kid” Spadafora steps into the ring with WBC (USNBC) former Champion “Red Hot” Rob Frankel of Denver Colorado. Spadafora looks to claim his 48th victory without a loss.
Bobby Hitz Encourages Bondorovas/Vera Rematch
Chicago Boxing Promoter Bobby Hitz stated the following:
“Referee Charlie Fitch stopped the fight prematurely and many observers feel that Donatas was robbed. I concur. I am so proud of Donatas and effort he put forth tonight. I like Brian Vera and I respect him as a fighter, but I feel we were winning and according to my team it was the language barrier which caused the stoppage, which is unfortunate. While the judges had Vera up when the fight was stopped, I disagree and I am confident that had they been allowed to continue Donatas would have been victorious. Obviously we want a rematch. Donatas deserves a rematch and the fans, many of whom were impressed with his ‘Friday Night Fights’ debut, deserve a rematch. We need to make this happen. “
Don King Statement Regarding Florida Supreme Court Ruling
The Florida Supreme Court has recently ruled in favor of Don King. http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/28/3311655/fla-supreme-court-sides-with-don.html
He issued the following statement regarding the ruling:
“No matter what the outcome of my return to the Fourth District Court of Appeal may be, the victory for the great people of Florida in the future is that the real estate law has been established and upheld.
“The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 6 to 1 that oral agreements modifying written contracts for a real estate sale are invalid.
“The ambiguity and confusion has been removed. No more ‘He said, I said’ or ‘I believe this one, but I don’t believe that one.’ If it’s important enough to agree to something verbally, it’s important enough to write it down.
“God Bless America and God Bless the Florida Supreme Court. Thanks to my fantastic lawyers Alvin Davis and Tom Egan of Squire Sanders & Dempsey.”
Santana vs. Cardenas Set for ShoBox
Undefeated lightweight Angelo “La Cobra” Santana (14-0) will face Carlos Cardenas (20-6-1) for the WBA Interim Lightweight Championship and undefeated super lightweight prospect Amir Imama (8-0) meets Jeremy Bryan (16-2) in the co-feature on Friday, April 12 at the Treasuire Island Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
The 12-round world championship fight will be the first for both Santana and Cardenas, The WBA’s No. 3- and No. 4-ranked contenders, respectively. Santana, a 24-year-old southpaw, was a two-time national champion in Cuba before defecting to Miami to follow his dreams of winning a boxing title. Blessed with heavy hands, he has stopped his last seven opponents in five rounds or less.
Price vs. Thompson II Is On
David Price will meet Tony Thopson in a rematch at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on Saturday July 6th. Negotiations have been going on between Price’s promoter Frank Maloney and the Washington DC southpaw have been going on for two weeks, and contracts were signed late last Tuesday night.
Adrien Broner Pays Shopper $200 to Jump the Queue
Broner appears to have little patience when it comes to waiting to pay for his goods at the cash register, and paid a shopper $200 to jump the lines and pay for his goods first. This and more about Adrien Broner was reported at http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/30/boxing-champion-adrien-broner-pays-shopper-to-let-him-jump-queue-3565464/
Zou Shiming Breaks Down Asian Barriers With His Fists
The Independent, a newspaper in the United Kingdom, mentioned in an article this week that Zou Shiming, a double Olympic Gold Medallist, will be the first Chinese Boxer to win a gold medal to make his professional debut. He fights on HBO on Saturday night and looks to open up the lucrative Chinese market for his promoter Top Rank. More information on Zou Shiming’s historic debut can be found at http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/boxing-pioneer-zou-shiming-breaks-down-asian-barriers-with-his-fists-8555307.html