Photo by Stacey Verbeek

Top Rank Featherweight Roberto Marroquin (23-3, 16KO’s) from Dallas, Texas will be having an open workout at the Vivero Boxing Gym in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 in preparation of his upcoming rematch with Daniel Diaz (20-5, 14KO’s) from Nicaragua. 

It has been approximately six months since he has stepped into the ring and he will be accompanied by the famous Texas trainer, Paul Reyes.  The last time Marroquin met up with Diaz, it was at the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma and this is where they will meet up again.

The fight which is promoted by Bob Arum and Top Rank will be the main event and it will be held on Saturday, December 7, 2013 and it will also be shown live on Solo Boxeo Tecate Unimas.   Come out and meet and greet Marroquin for his open workout, leading up to the big rematch at the Winstar Casino in Oklahoma.

Also scheduled on the undercard:

Alex Saucedo (11-0,  8KO’s) vs. Gilbert Venegas (12-12, 8KO’s), 6 rounds, welterweights;

Gilberto Ramirez (26-0, 20KO’s) vs. Don Mouton (12 - 7, 10KO’s), 10 rounds, middleweights;

 Bo Gibbs Jr. (9-0, 6KO’s) vs. Cordale Ford (3-1, 1KO’s), 6 rounds, light heavyweights;

 Michael Finney (12-0, 10KO’s) vs. Eddie Brooks (9 - 4, 3KO’s), 6 rounds, welterweights;

Tony Lopez (7 - 0, 3KO’s) vs. Isaac Zarate (6 -1), 6 rounds, bantamweights;

Jerren Cochran (9 - 0) vs. TBA, 6 rounds, welterweights;

James Freeman (9-6, 7KO’s) (Former USA Texas Middleweight champion) vs. Jeff Page (10-0, 6KO’s), 6 rounds, light heavyweights

PLACE: Vivero Boxing Gym

                2107 Balboa Drive

               Dallas, Texas  75224

TIME: Noon

Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (55-5, 38KO’s) made it a long twelve rounds for Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (31-2, 23KO’s) at the Venetian in Macau, China on Saturday night.  Although there was talk of a knockout by both camps, Pacquiao decided to play it safe and just punish Rios for the entire fight.  To some, it was a well deserved thrashing after all the trash talking of Rios and his camp leading to the fight.

Before the fight, it was not known how Pacquiao would perform after his devastating loss to Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) a year ago, but it appears that he has not lost a step.  He came out in the first round landing his jab and connecting on Rios from all angles.   His speed and ring movement was too much for the tough Rios and he managed to put Rios on the canvas, although it was ruled a slip.  According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 20 of 54 punches to Rios 5 of 32 in the first round.

Although Rios normally fights with reckless abandon by just coming forward in attempts to turn fights into brawls, Pacquiao would not have any of it.  Rios did say before the fight that he was just focused on winning – not the knockout, and it was apparent early on as he covered up as much as he could, and didn’t seem to want to let his hands go.  The reason he did this was because Pacquiao was landing his jab and right hand so effectively, he had no chance to land the knockout punch he was looking for.  He even admitted as much after the fight by saying “Manny did a great job. He is very fast.”  Rios said he wanted the “best” Manny to fight with and after the fight, his own trainer Robert Garcia admitted, “We were prepared for the best Manny, and he showed and came back better than ever.”

Pacquiao continued to land combinations and move laterally around the ring and fought on the outside in the next several rounds, and Rios had no answer.  Rios was able to land a few punches but he was quickly countered by the faster Pacquiao with endless combinations. 

One of the most notable punches came in the fifth round when Pacquiao landed his jab and followed it up with a lightning right hand that knocked Rios’ head back and forced him to step backward.  From this point on, Rios’ face was beginning to swell from all the hooks and right hands from the eight divisional world champion. 

Another crowd pleasing punch came in the sixth round when Pacquiao landed a four punch combination starting with the jab, followed up with a huge left hand that again shook Rios’ head back violently.  The rugged Rios shrugged it off, but it was obvious that it did hurt.  Pacquiao continue to tag Rios throughout this round with punches from all angles.

By the seventh round, both of Rios’eyes and his face were beginning to swell from the numerous punches that Pacquiao was administering on the younger former champion.  Pacquiao then started to connect with uppercuts as he pummeled Rios throughout the next round.  It wasn’t until the eighth round when blood was noticeably starting to trickle from the left puffed up eye of Rios and his corner was seen working on it just after the bell sounded. 

By the ninth round, Rios’ entire face was beginning to swell and his left eye continued to bleed as the fight commenced.  Nevertheless, the game Rios fought on, but as much as he tried, he had yet to land any power punches to hurt the Philippine champion.  At this point Rios seemed content to just cover up as he moved methodically forward hoping to land that one big punch. 

Pacquiao was putting on a show for the more than 13,000 in attendance at the Cotai Arena in the Venetian Macao and they cheered with every punch that he landed. 

Pacquiao continued with his boxing clinic in the eleventh and twelfth round and it appeared that he eased off because he knew he had already won the fight.   According to CompuBox, Pacquiao had a total of 281 punches landed to Rios’ 138, 790 thrown to 502, a 36% to 27% advantage.  Manny Pacquaio went on to win the WBO International Welterweight Title by a unanimous decision with the cards reading 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110.

After the fight, Pacquio’s trainer Freddie Roach, was very happy about the fight and said “All I can say is, many Manny punches," "He fought the perfect fight. He let him off the hook. I wanted him to knock him out.”  Regarding the speculation if he was back, Pacquiao said, “This is still my time," "My time is not over."  And because of the typhoon destruction in his country, Pacquiao went on to say “this isn't about my comeback," he insisted. "My victory is a symbol of my people's comeback from a natural disaster, a national tragedy.  It's really important to bring honor to my country with this win."

Xtreme Knockout catered once again to its rabid fan base of fight aficionados Saturday night as XKO 20 went down at the XKO Arena in Arlington, Texas.  A night of high-octane fights was on the docket and all in attendance had reason to cheer throughout the event.

XKO’s first ever female main event lived up to the hype as Dallas’s Amber Stautzenberger looked dominant in grinding out a unanimous decision victory over Colorado’s Lacey Schuckman.  Scores were 30-27 on all cards.

Longview’s Josh Foster retired long time heavyweight James Hall with a brutal first round TKO.  The official time of the stoppage was 1:19.

Sabrina Garcia backs up her extreme popularity in North Texas behind a spirited fight with the tough Alice Yauger in what was the fight of the night.  Scores for Garcia were 30-27 on all three cards.

Razak Alhassan looked impressive in his pro debut in stopping Kolby Adams in the opening round.  The time was 0:25 in round one.

Darius Yancy scored a unanimous decision victory over Jacob Capelli.  Scores were 30-27 on all cards.

Leville Simpson stopped Aaron Culpepper with a first round TKO.  The official time of the stoppage was 1:19.

Fernando Salas submitted Alex Melendez with a first round triangle.  The time was 1:40 in the opening round.

Cody Walker looked impressive in submitting Casey Hudson with a first round guillotine.  The time was the submission was 1:45 in the round.
 

Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (54-5, 38KO’s), the former pound for pound king of the ring and the only eight division boxing champion in history, makes his return to the ring against Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (31-1, 23KO’s), former WBA world light welterweight champion.   The WBO Welterweight Title will be on the line and the fight will be held at The Venetian Macau’s Cotai Arena on Saturday, November 23, 2013 ( U.S. local time ) in Macau, China.  There is a fourteen hour time difference from the United States, but locally it will held  at approximately 9 p.m. ET/6 PT on HBO PPV.

There are many factors for both fighters coming into this fight, and one is that both boxers are coming into the fight after losses.  Rios is coming into this fight with a unanimous decision loss to Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KO’s) in March of this year and Pacquiao is coming off a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) and a controversial loss to Timothy Bradley (31-0, 12KO’s).  Some consider the knockout controversial as well, including Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, who has been quoted as saying “it was a lucky punch.”  Nevertheless, this is the first time that the Pacman has not fought at least two fights in a single year in his entire career.  Time will tell if the thirteen month layoff has rejuvenated Pacquiao or not.

Another factor leading up to the fight is supposedly the height and weight issue.  For the Pacman, this has never been a real issue for him at all.  Throughout his career he has fought heavier fighters and has proven that in his escalation to the heavier weight divisions.  As for height, he has been successful against the likes of Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31KO’s), Shane Mosley (47-8, 39KO’s), Joshua Clottey (37-4, 22KO’s), and Antonio Margarito (38-8, 27KO’s), who happened to be 5` 11`` inches tall.  In each of those fights, the Pacman defeated all of those opponents, including knocking out Cotto and pummeling the much taller Margarito.  As for Rios, the taller fighter, height will not be to his advantage.  Although Rios is moving up in weight from light welterweight to welterweight, the added pounds shouldn’t be an issue for Rios because he has had problems making weight in the past.

One of the biggest factors in this fight will be the age difference and wear and tear of each fighter.  Will this make the difference?  Rios is the younger boxer at the young age of twenty seven and Pacquiao will be turning thirty five come this December.  Pacquiao has undoubtedly the most wear and tear on his career so far, and his devastating loss in his last fight will definitely be a factor.  For some fighters, the knockout can change their careers dramatically, especially those toward the latter part of their careers.  This fight will be the true test for Pacquiao as to how his last fight has really affected him.  Indications from his camp conclude otherwise, and that he is at his sharpest, but only the fight will tell the truth.

The southpaw and speed factor – will the slower Rios be able to handle the southpaw stance of the Pacman?  If the Pacman’s speed can continue as in the past, it will make a difficult night for Rios.  Coming into this fight, it should be apparent that Pacquiao will be overly cautious of any type of knockout punch by the power punching Rios.  It is true that most orthodox fighters do not like to fight southpaws, and in this case, Pacquiao is one of the most dangerous in the business.  For Rios to attempt to take advantage of these two traits, he must cut off the ring and try to land the knockout punch.  But in doing so, he takes the risk of getting knocked out himself.  Rios had initially said that he will knockout and retire the Pacman, but recently he has changed his tune.  Rios said “This time I am focusing on winning – not on the knockout – and Robert (Garcia, his trainer) and his Dad have designed a lot of ways for me to do that.”  Speaking of knockouts, Pacquiao will be looking for the knockout as well, but his trainer Freddie Roach has been more adamant about it.  He recently said “This was the happiest and most productive camp I have had with Manny in years.  I know I predicted that Manny would knock Rios out inside six rounds, but based on our last workout, I don't see how Rios makes it past the fourth round."   

Although the main event is between Pacquiao and Rios, trainers for both sides have been very outspoken and yesterday it culminated into a strange episode between Hall of Famer, Freddie Roach, the trainer for Pacquiao and Robert Garcia, the trainer for Rios.  It then escalated into a cheap shot (actually a kick) by Alex Ariza to the chest of Freddie Roach.  While at the workout facilities for both fighters, words were exchanged between Freddie Roach and Robert Garcia regarding training time for the fighters.  Apparently Roach was said to have approached Garcia and expletives were exchanged, then another Rios team member got into a verbal rant with Roach.  In between all of this, additional words were exchanged between Roach and as he approached Alex Ariza, Ariza physically kicked Roach in the chest.  The exchange of words continued between Roach and some of the Rios team members until Roach was escorted to a locker room.  Before entering the locker room, Roach had requested that Ariza and one of the unknown Rios team members to be arrested.  [See video on internet]. 

Despite this latest incident, I doubt it will have any bearing on the fighters because Pacquiao and Rios have been calm and cool up to this point.  Although, after the incident, Freddie Roach said “He's going to be upset, but I'll put on the mitts and he'll hit me hard, and it'll be OK." 

The odds are supposedly against Rios, but in boxing, anything can happen.  Rios probably has a two-part plan.  The first will be to start out cautiously and test the power of Pacquiao.  If he feels he can take the power, he will go for the knockout early.  The second part of his plan will be to defend if Pacman starts landing with both hands from all angles, and then he will be forced to resort to his old style of just coming forward and trading punches.  

For Pacquiao, he will rely on his old style of using his punching speed and power to offset Rios.  After several rounds of landing with both hands to the head of Rios, and as soon as he wears his opponent down, he will go for the knockout.  Although Rios can take a punch, if the Pacman returns to his old form, it will end by stoppage or knockout for Pacquio.  Pacman also is quoted as saying “Am I confident for my fight with Rios?  I am more than confident.  Rios is bigger than me.  Remember, Goliath was bigger than David and yet David needed just one stone to fell the giant.  I enter this fight stronger than ever.  I have the strength of my county and my people coursing through my body.  I fight for them, not for me.  I fight for the glory, not mine.”

Many predictions have been made and the following are some from former world champions:

George Foreman – Foreman expects the fight to last the distance.  “I think it’s going to be a 12-round decision, and I give Pacquiao the hometown decision.  Both guys know this is a showdown for their career.” 

Roberto Duran – “Yeah, Manny Pacquiao’s a well-known star, but the stars are in the sky, and on Earth everybody is equal.  But he’s not finished by any means.”

“Sure, he’s embarrassed because of the Marquez loss, and because it happened in front of millions of people, and he needs to redeem himself.  So Brandon needs to be very, very careful.”

“I was knocked out but I was able to come back and win a title, so by no means can you count out Manny Pacquiao.  He’s still very, very dangerous, so Brandon will need to be very, very careful.  I just give Brandon Rios the advice to go in and attack and to not hesitate, because he can win if he just fights intelligently.”

I just think that Manny Pacquiao is still a dangerous fighter, so Brandon Rios needs to be intelligent in the ring and protect himself at all times.  Because with Manny Pacquio, you don’t know where the punches are going to be coming from.  And again, Manny Pacquiao is not finished in my eyes.  I still believe that he’s one of the world’s most dangerous fighters around right now.”   

Sugar Ray Leonard – “What Brandon Rios has to do against Manny Pacquiao is to let him forget about what happened to him in that last fight, so Rios has to really come out and jump on Pacquiao.”

Leonard also predicted a Pacquiao victory but did not count out the hard-hitting Rios, who is a former lightweight world champion.  “I think Pacquiao will win, although I give Rios a shot – a big shot.”  It’s not going to be an easy fight.”  “I’m picking Manny to win because he is Manny Pacquiao,” he added.

Undercard:  

There will be several fights on the undercard, but one of the most notable will be undefeated heavyweight Andy Ruiz (20-0, 14KO’s) from Mexicali, Mexico against Tor Hamer (21-2, 14KO’s) from New York.  Ruiz will be defending his WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title and will be pursuing the vacant NABF heavyweight title.  Ruiz is an explosive fighter with some of the fastest hands in the heavyweight division.   The twenty four year old Ruiz is coming into this fight with two TKO’s in his last two previous fights and Hamer has two KO’s from his last two fights, so expect to see some type of knockout.  

IBF Featherweight Title – Billey Dib (36-2, 21 KO’s) from Australia versus Evgeny Gradovich (17-0, 8KO’s) from Ingrim Russia.   

In the end Dallas’ Will Campuzano proved his naysayers wrong.  The Mohler MMA based fighter had heard the criticism and doubt from fight fans who questioned his placement among the greats in the area.  After all, Campuzano’s fall from the bright lights of the Zuffa umbrella were well documented.  Despite always bringing the action in the cage, specifically during his run in the now defunct WEC, Campuzano was given the axe from the UFC following two listless losses in the Octagon.

It was during this time that Campuzano heard it all.  The whispers and doubt were seemingly everywhere.  There were those who claimed that Campuzano didn’t have the dedication to the sport to do anything in the big leagues.  They pointed at his listless performances and chilled attitude as proof that he lacked the required mental fortitude and intensity to get back to the UFC.  Campuzano heard all the criticism.  He saw the doubt in people’s faces when discussing his prospects as a fighter.  Sure, they would say, Campuzano has talent but that is not enough.  

However, to those who know Campuzano there was little doubt that the young fighter would bounce back.  

I once asked Campuzano how he became a fighter.  His answer was poignant in its simplicity, he said because he was bored.  

“Puros chingasos man.  I grew up throwing down,” explains Campuzano with an unmistakable glee on his face.  “I fought like everyone four times and I was like, man I’m so f--king bored.  By the time I hit 17 and I saw a UFC fight I was like man I’m tired of beating up chumps, I’m going to go to the UFC."

You see, despite the chilled, unaffected attitude, Campuzano is a mother fucking fighter.  The way his training partners speak of his striking acumen you would think they were talking about a featherweight Jon Jones.  Simply put, Campuzano not only knows how to throw down, he enjoys it.  

This explains why Campuzano has rattled off five consecutive wins since being released by the UFC in 2011.  Since dropping his last fight, a decision loss to Chris Cariaso at UFC – Fight for the Troops 2, Campuzano has bested the likes of Josh Sampo, Jimmy Flick, Allan Nascimento, and Hideo Tokoro.  In that stretch he’s captured the Legacy Flyweight Championship (his win over Nascimento) and beat the extremely tough Tokoro in Japan no less.  These are incredibly impressive feats of accomplishments no matter how you slice it.

This is why the UFC has come calling again.  When Vaughan Lee was forced to bow out of his fight with Sergio Pettis (little brother to superstar Anthony Pettis) the UFC needed a fighter who would be able to give the fans a show.  Enter Campuzano.  On Saturday night Campuzano will once again climb into the Octagon with the eyes of the world, both haters and supporters, transfixed on his showing.  Campuzano claims to be ready, he claims he has what it takes to upset the UFC debut of Pettis.  Hell, fighters claim a lot of shit before a fight.  However, you get the sense that Campuzano truly means it when he assures his fans that he is ready for action.  

“Puro chingasos, man.”  That about sums it all up.

The excitement started quickly on Saturday night in Corpus Christi, Texas for Mikey Garcia (33-0, 28KO’s), former WBO featherweight champion.  It began in the second round when he got caught with a straight right hand from former WBO super featherweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez at the end of the round, and he went down.  He quickly got up and finished the round, not really hurt, except probably his pride.

Coming into this fight, Garcia’s pride probably felt worse after winning by a fourth round knockout against Juan Manuel Lopez (33-3, 30KO’s) for what was supposed to be his first defense of his WBO featherweight title in June of this year.  Unfortunately for that fight, Garcia lost the title before he stepped into the ring because he didn’t make the weight.  This was a major disappointment in his career, so he decided to move up from featherweight to super featherweight.  This time he had no problem making the weight and he showed his superior boxing skills on Saturday night.

In the third round, Garcia picked up his game and landed a lead right hand to the head of Martinez and started to connect much better with his left hand jabs.  He continued landing his left hand jabs for the next several rounds as he began to pick up the pace of the fight. 

It wasn’t until the sixth round that Garcia landed a huge left hook to the head of Martinez that rocked him against the ropes.  Toward the end of the round, Garcia landed a crushing right hand that made Martinez step backward, but the backpedalling Martinez shrugged it off. 

Before the seventh round, ring commentators had Martinez ahead 58-55, even though he had lost a 10-8 second round knockdown, although it looked much closer.  In the seventh round, Garcia was beginning to get stronger and the momentum was on his side.  Garcia began putting on the pressure in this round as he continually backed up Martinez and landed several right hands to the champions head. 

Garcia is trained by his brother, Robert Garcia, 2012 Trainer of the year, and a former junior lightweight champion himself.  Robert Garcia has also trained numerous champions including Nonito “the Filipino Flash” Donaire (32-2, 21KO’s), who was on the co-main event of the card.

As the eighth and final round began, Martinez was beginning to backpedal as Garcia continued to land combinations.  Although Martinez attempted to slip shots from Garcia he got caught by a huge left hook to the body and he went down.  He went down grimacing with pain as he was counted out at 56 seconds of the eighth round as Garcia captured the WBO super featherweight title. 

DONAIRE WINS BY TKO IN NINTH ROUND:

After a seven month layoff and after getting schooled by WBA and WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8KO’s) back in April of this year, former WBO super featherweight champion Nonito “the Filipino Flash” was on the comeback trail.  It led him to Corpus Christi, Texas where he was taking on 37 year old Vic Darchinyan (39-6, 28KO’s), a former foe he had already knocked out back in 2007.  This was supposed to be a supposed warm up fight to continue Donaire’s eleven year winning streak, that is, the one he had before meeting up with Rigondeaux.

It was much more than a walk in the park for Donaire as some boxing enthusiasts might have thought.  Donaire struggled throughout the fight as Darchinyan held his own in an attempt to hopefully win the rematch. 

Behind on the cards, and going into the ninth round, Donaire finally caught Darchinyan with a crushing left hook to the head that sent him to the canvas.  After taking the count, Darchinyan attempted to hang around, but Donaire sensed the kill and went for it.  He pummeled Darchinyan in the corner with numerous left hands until referee Lawrence Cole stepped in to stop the fight at 2:06 of the ninth round.

The third championship fight of the night was between undefeated light middleweight Demetrius Andrade (20-0, 13KO’s) against formerly undefeated Vanes Martirosyan (33-1, 21KO’s) for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title.   Although Andrade was taken down in the first round by a left hook by Martirosyan, he was able to dominate most of the fight.  Andrade went on to win by a split decision as the cards read were 114-113, 117-110 for Andrade, and 115-112 for Martirosyan.

Other boxing results on the card:

Alex Saucedo (10-0, 7KO’s) won by KO in the 3^rd round against Steve Hall (6-4, 6KO’s)
Nicholas Walters (22-18) won by TKO in the 4^th round against Alberto Garza (25-5, 20KO’s)
Erick De Leon (5-0, 2KO’s) won by unanimous decision against Jesus Aguinaga (1-1)
Oscar Valdez (6-0, 6KO’s) won by TKO in the 5^th round against Jesus Lule (6-6, 1KO)
Oscar Cantu (5-0, 1KO) won by unanimous decision against Roberto Ceron (3-0, 1KO)

Vic Pasillas (5-0, 2KO’s) won by KO in second round against Salvador Perez (2-2-1, 1KO)

Promoted by Top Rank, and shown on HBO, this was another Texas boxing event promoted by former heavyweight champion George Foreman with Foreman Boys Promotions.  Foreman, originally from Marshall, Texas and now residing in Houston, Texas has teamed up with Top Rank promotions.  Keep an eye out for more upcoming professional bouts in Texas this coming year.

Photo © Sean Malone

Bellator MMA returned to the familiar confines of the WinStar World Casino to close out three of their exciting tournaments from this season.  Bellator 107, as it was more commonly referred to, featured the anticipated finals for the Bellator heavyweight, bantamweight, and middleweight tournaments and in what has become commonplace for a Bellator card at the WinStar, the action was in full effect.  

Headlining the SPIKE TV televised card was the Bellator heavyweight tournament finals pitting former UFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo against the always-tough Peter Graham.  In a grueling and bloody affair, Kongo out landed and out hustled Graham over three rounds to emerge the winner by unanimous decision.  Scores were 30-27 on all three cards.

Bellator superstar Joe Warren put on an exciting exhibition of wrestling and striking in battering a game Travis Marx over two rounds.  Marx tried in vain to make something happen but Warren smothered him from the opening bell with his excellent wrestling.  In the second round Warren landed a mean knee that sent Marx tumbling before Warren was able to end the fight behind a flurry of unanswered punches.  The official time of the TKO was 1:56 in the second round and with the win Warren wins the Bellator bantamweight tournament.  

Brash young prospect Brennan Ward unleashed a brutal beatdown to Mikkel Parlo eventually grinding down Parlo over two rounds.  The official time of the ref stoppage was 1:39 in the second round.  With the win Ward wins the Bellator middleweight tournament.  

FEATURE FIGHTS

Derek Campos of Dallas scored a unanimous decision over Martin Stapleton.  Scores were 30-27 on all three cards.

Patricky Pitbull scored a unanimous decision over Edson Berto.  Scores were 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28.

Jonas Billstein defeats Cortez Coleman by unanimous decision.   Scores were 30-27 on all three cards.

Mike Mucitelli defeats Ryan McCurdy by unanimous decision.  Scores were 29-28 on all three cards.

Raphael Butler defeats Josh Burns via Submission (verbal) - Round 1, 2:14

Linton Vassell defeats Matt Jones by unanimous decision.  Scores were 30-27, 30-27, 30-26.

Chris Jones defeats Robert White by unanimous decision.  Scores were 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28.
 

Known as the "Siberian Rocky," Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16KO’s) never let up on former light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23KO’s) on Saturday night in Broomfield, Colorado, just north of Alvarado’s home town, Denver, Colorado. 

Televised by HBO and promoted by Top Rank, this was Provodnikov’s second chance at a WBO world title after losing to a close but brutal fight back in March of this year to Timothy Bradley (31-0, 12KO’s).  In that fight, he put Bradley on the canvas in the twelfth round, sent him home with a major concussion, but was not able to take him out in the fight. 

This time around, he was on his way to knocking out the tough Alvarado, but the fight was stopped by Alvarado’s corner just before the eleventh round started.

Provodnikov, who hails all the way from Beryozovo, Russia, started the first round by pressing the action against the former champion Alvarado and quickly started connecting with his left jab and following it up with big right hands.  Although Alvarado was able to land a nice uppercut in this round, the busier Provodnikov clearly landed the most punches.  This round was just a preview of what Provodnikov had in store for Alvarado the rest of the fight.

Having trained for this fight with famed trainer Freddie Roach, he followed their game plan, even though Roach was on the other side of the world training eight time world champion Manny Pacquiao (54-5, 38KO’s).   “I knew that I had to win it for Freddie," Provodnikov said. "Not having him here, I miss him, but we did his game plan exactly."

This was the first defense of the WBO light welterweight title for Alvarado after winning his rematch fight against Brandon Rios (31-1, 23KO’s) also in March of this year.  Rios is now in training for his super match with Manny Pacquiao in Macao, China at the end of the year. 

In the second and third round, Alvarado got on his bicycle and started boxing and was able to land good body punches and land punches with his right hand as Provodnikov continued to stalk him around the ring.  On occasion, Alvarado would switch to southpaw in an attempt to confuse Provodnikov, but it appeared to not have much effect as Provodnikov continued his pursuit.

The day before the fight at the weigh-in, Alvarado had two hours to knock off one pound to make the weight limit.  He returned from his workouts after his second attempt weighing 139.8 pounds.  Whether this had any effect on him during the fight is unknown and Alvarado made no mention of it.

At the beginning of the fourth round, Alvarado came out dancing again and he was able to land a solid right hand on the Siberian Rocky.  Alvarado continued to switch to southpaw in this round as they went toe to toe until the end of the round.  The same continued in the fifth round, but this time Provodnikov began to press again as Alvarado’s right eye began to swell.  Provodnikov kept up his attack in this round as well and he didn’t appear to be slowing down. 

In the sixth round, both fighters were landing heavy punches as Provodnikov continued his march forward.  In this round, Alvarado was dancing again but this time he was able to land some heavy punches, but nothing seemed to hurt Provodnikov. Alvarado switched his stance at the end of the round again and appeared to have won this round.  The fight was even at the halfway point according to ring side commentators.

Before the seventh round, Provodnikov’ corner was heard telling him to land double left hooks.  As the fight continued, Provodnikov began landing with his left hand as Alvarado’s right eye was beginning to get worse for the wear.  

The most exciting part of the fight happened in the eighth round as Provodnikov pounded the tough Alvarado to the canvas with a multitude of punches as he was against the ropes.  Just as the exhausted Alvarado went down, the referee started counting quickly, and Alvarado barely made the count. The fight continued and the crowd went crazy as Provodnikov went after Alvarez and then knocked him down again with a barrage of punches on the other side of the ring.  After the count, the tough Alvarado was able to survive the round and even land a few punches at the end of the round.

In the ninth round, Provodnikov began to walk down Alvarado as he continued the onslaught by snapping Alvarado’s head back with heavy left hooks.  He continued to force the fight as Alvarado tried his best to block as many punches as he could.  Much of the same continued in the tenth round as Alvarado danced his way around defensively as Provodnikov continued to land numerous combinations as he pounded Alvarado all over the ring.

After the beating that Alvarado took in the tenth round, he actually went toward the wrong corner and needed to be assisted by the referee to go to the correct corner.  The tough Alvarado had given his all, but Provodnikov was able to cut off the ring all night.  Just before the beginning of the eleventh round, Alvarado’s corner called off the fight and Provodnikov was announced as the new WBO Light Welterweight Champion. 

After the fight, Provodnikov was quoted as saying "If you want to be a world champion, you have to risk it -- go and fight the best, go to his hometown."

Undercard:  Juan Diaz (38-4, 19KO’s) v. Juan Santiago (14-11, 8KO’s)

In the third fight of his comeback journey, former unified WBA, WBO, and IBF lightweight champion Juan Diaz came out in the first round and landed a three punch uppercut on the taller Santiago and his mouthpiece came flying out.  The game Santiago was able to withstand numerous left hooks and combinations by Diaz in the next several rounds and for some reason, he decided to stand in between rounds. 

In the fourth round, Santiago, who had a 5 ½ inch reach, was not able to use it to his advantage on the former champion who stalked him around the ring.  In the fifth round, Diaz began to go to the body and landed a triple body shot on Santiago, to the delight of the crowd.  After the round ended, the tough Santiago from Denver, Colorado finally decided to take a seat when he returned to his corner.

This was the third fight for Diaz after almost a three year layoff from the ring after losing a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7, 40KO’s) for the WBO lightweight and WBA super lightweight title in July of 2010.  He took the time off to attend law school and eventually starting up a successful trucking company.  But the lure of regaining another world title and after teaming up with Top Rank, Diaz has decided to go for another title shot.

The mouthpiece of Santiago came out again in the sixth round after Diaz landed a solid right hand as he continued his onslaught.  During this round, Diaz landed three solid right hands as Santiago’s right eye began to swell.  In the seventh, it appeared that Diaz took the round off, although he continued to press Santiago, whose right eye was starting to close.

The battered Santiago came out in the eighth round with a rejuvenation of stamina, and momentarily landed several combinations on Diaz as he was against the ropes.  At this point in the fight, Diaz appeared to be going through the paces and he was picking his shots.  This was the best round for Santiago but Diaz was clearly way ahead on all the cards.

In the ninth, Diaz started to land his patented body shots that we were accustomed to seeing early in his career.  He also duplicated the first round by landing a triple uppercut and once again, Santiago’s mouthpiece came out.  The tough Santiago made it through the tenth and final round and Diaz went on to win by unanimous decision.

Diaz is scheduled to return to the ring in January or February of next year as he attempts to attain another world title shot.

According to the tale of the tape, Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40KO’s) was the taller fighter, the most experienced, the one with three times the amount of knockouts.  He was going into this fight as the favorite, having just knocked out Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38KO’s) and being considered one of the best counter punches in the business.  Yet, right after the first bell rang for the beginning of the fight, he appeared physically to be the smaller fighter.  In this fight, Marquez had told the boxing world that he was going to rely on his experience, and this is what was seen in the first round of this fight.  Marquez came out in the first landing left hooks to the head of Bradley (31-0, 12KO’s) and countering his way around the ring as we have seen him do in the past.

Unfortunately for Marquez, the first round appeared to be the only round that really looked good for him.  From then on, it appeared to be a Bradley fight all the way, as Bradley started to land the quicker jabs as he followed them up with hard right hands to the head of Marquez in the second round.  Not only was Bradley the busier fighter in this fight, but he was able to move around the ring and not allow Marquez to close in on him.  And when Marquez did attempt to close the ring, Bradley made him pay for it with the quicker exchanges.

Both fighters had an agenda in this fight after turning down a bigger money fight with Manny Pacquiao.   Marquez’ feeling was that a fifth fight with Pacquiao wasn’t needed at this time because of his sensational win last December.  He was more interested in the attempt to be the first Mexican fighter to ever win in five weight divisions.  This was something his countryman Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and even the great Julio Cesar Chavez had never achieved.  He was going into this fight with hopes of making Mexican boxing history and being in the super star group of fighters like Manny Pacquiao (eight divisions), Oscar De La Hoya (six), Sugar Ray Leonard (five), and Thomas Hearns (five), who among others, stand on top of the boxing records.

As for Bradley, he wanted to stop Marquez, one of the greatest boxers from Mexico and attempt to let the boxing world recognize him as one of top three pound for pound boxers in the world.  He was also trying to prove that he wasn’t damaged goods, considering the thrashing he took from number one contender Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15KO’s) last March.  Although he won that fight by unanimous decision, he was hurt early in this fight and almost knocked out in the last round.  In addition, he also has surprisingly admitted that he had suffered a concussion that had him slurring his speech for approximately two months.  

As mentioned earlier, the reason Marquez didn’t appear to be the stronger fighter, it may have been because he didn’t come into this fight as bulked up as he was against Manny Pacquiao.  For this reason, one would have thought that he would have probably been faster in his hand speed.  But it was the hand speed of Bradley and his ring movement that was making the difference in the fight. 

In the second round, both fighters went toe to toe as Bradley landed some good right hands to the head of Marquez.  Although Marquez slipped in some good counters, they didn’t appear to hurt Bradley, who snapped Marquez’ head back at the end of the round.  As the fight continued toward the middle half of the fight, it was apparent that Bradley was in control of the fight.  Bradley continued to use his hand speed and was not allowing Marquez to make it a brawl, which in turn didn’t allow Marquez to use his counter punching ability. 

By the start of the eighth round, it was apparent that Bradley was outworking Marquez and beating him to the punch.  It was during this round that Marquez’ left eye was beginning to swell from all the jabs he was receiving from Bradley.  It wasn’t until the beginning of the ninth round that Marquez started to get in closer and land some good punches.  This was also a round that Bradley looked like he was starting to just go through the motions because he knew he was ahead on the cards.  Bradley could probably see the desperation in Marquez’ eyes at this point as he stayed away from Marquez as he continued to land the quicker punches.

It was apparent that it was a pro Marquez crowd, as you could hear them chanting his name throughout the fight and after every punch that Marquez landed.  Although he may have had the crowd, it was Bradley who had all the points.   Marquez appeared to have won the ninth round, but he was rocked in the tenth round by a huge right hand by Bradley.  Marquez was the busier fighter in this round as well, but only a knockout would help him win.  In the final round, Marquez attempted to go for the knockout several times, but it was he who almost got knocked out with a huge left hook by Bradley that sent him hurling backward and almost falling down.

Marquez was taken out of his game by the hand and foot speed of Bradley and that is what made the difference.  When the first card read 115-113 for Marquez, I knew that Bradley had won the fight.  The next card ready 116-112 for Bradley and all kinds of suspense was felt just before the last card that was announced.  It read 115-113 for Bradley, who was able to defend the WBO Welterweight title.  After the fight, it was somewhat bizarre, but Marquez was quoted as saying “We came to win and we did, but the judges saw something else, we won.”  These are the kinds of statements we have heard before, but unfortunately it could not be used for this fight.

As for Bradley, he was clearly the winner on Saturday night, and although some may think he is not worthy of fighting Mayweather, he should be given the chance.  What’s next for him will only be decided down the road, but his record does show a controversial win over Pacquiao and now a clear win over the man who defeated Pacaquiao.  Now let’s see if the self-proclaimed Mayweather is willing to take the challenge.

“Life is hard. No one will hand you anything. You have to work for it, but you can’t quit,” explained Hector Vazquez of Irving, TX, the reigning super welterweight title holder, to a group of athletes he was encouraging at his Alma Mater, MacArthur High School in Irving on October 10, 2013. Hector made this comment shortly before finding out he was up for another challenge in his own life with perhaps the fight of his life. As it turns out, Vazquez’s title challenger for the upcoming http://www.standing8promotions.com/ [Bud Light Pro Fight 5 __title__ www.standing8promotions.com] main event on October 19th. Salvador Amir Roa got injured while training for the title fight. The boxing commission would not allow Roa to fight due to the severity of his injury. Unfortunately for Hector, his remarks to the young athletes were foreshadowing of the more difficult opponent who has risen to take the challenge for the title on short notice. 

Vazquez will now be facing the highly skilled Cory Yett from Austin, Texas. Since Yett and Vazquez already had a competitive fight in 2011, which Vazquez won by unanimous decision, Yett is only looking for one thing: retribution.  Since determination often accompanies revenge, Vazquez knows he must be ready and keep his guard up on the 19th.

Fortunately, when Vazquez advises teenagers about overcoming adversity, he speaks from experience since he is no stranger to succeeding despite trials. For example, just a few months ago, Vazquez was able to win the Texas Super Welterweight Title after a long recuperation from a hand injury that required surgery. As a matter of fact, overcoming challenges seems to be the story of Vazquez’s professional career. He started off his professional career as the object of heavy recruitment from some of boxing’s best managers as a result of a solid amateur career which included 165 contests, multiple national titles and wins over top prospects such as current Welterweight Champion Adrien Broner. These successes led to Vazquez’s selection as the 2008 Olympic Alternate for Team Mexico. He started off winning a 1st round KO in his debut on national television. After a loss in his second contest, however, Vazquez found that the phone had stopped ringing and the opportunities were few.

Later that year, however, after looking strong in sparring sessions with names like Amir Kahn, he was on a role again with 3 wins in 5 months in 2011/2012 until a career threatening hand injury put him on the sidelines for a year and a half.  In August after his long recuperation, Vazquez returned to the ring and won the Texas Title.

After overcoming all these challenges, it is no wonder that Vazquez can motivate high school students with these reassuring words, "You are going to lose but it's about what you are going to do when you get back up". Vazquez has lived out those words.

“Winning the Texas Title meant a lot, but defending it will be much harder. Everybody is telling me that Cory Yett is going to be a much tougher opponent than Roa,” said Vazquez. "I have always looked up to Oscar De La Hoya and Marco Antonio Barrera. To become great they had to turn back the challenges. If I want to be great, I have to do the same. I am preparing for this fight to be the toughest of my career, but know that on October 19th I will leave the ring still the champion,” added Vazquez.

While the main event will be exciting, this battle for the Title is preceded by a solid undercard. In the 6 round co-main event, rising Fort Worth star Tony Lopez looks to cap off his rookie year with a big statement squaring off with the tough Jamal Parram of St. Louis, Missouri in a JR. Featherweight contest. Lopez has exploded onto the Dallas/Fort Worth boxing scene in the last year with victories on national television, on the undercard of the Mikey Garcia-Juan Manuel Lopez in June, and with skill and explosive punching power in Arlington in June and August.

Another fight to get excited about at Bud Light Pro Fight 5 is the heavyweight bout between Julian Walters from Dallas and Dwight Gibson from Lufkin, TX. The seven bout card will also feature the popular and inspirational Middleweight Mike Tufariello of Carrolton, TX, who started his professional career with 2KO’s at 38 years-old, against the Daniel Henry of Austin, TX.  The 7 bouts will also feature Ann Wolfe trained Lightweight Travell Maizon (3 KO’s) of Austin, TX, and the pro debut of four highly publicized amateurs including Desmond Fields, Jamal Lawson, Jonathan Ramirez and Cameron Johnson.   

Bud Light Pro Fight 5 bouts will begin at 5:00 PM. Doors open at 4:30 PM. The event is at Cowboys Dancehall in Arlington, Texas and is open to attendees of all ages. Standing 8 Promotions events are known for great entertainment as well as great fights, offering something for everyone looking for a thrilling night. Attendees will enjoy celebrity visits, live music performances, a comedian from Arlington’s IMPROV Comedy Club, free massages, contests & giveaways and after party at Cowboys with a live band and dancing. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased by calling 817.265.1535 or online at www.standing8promotions.com.