 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
 |
| George
Brett |
 |
|
|
|
 |
| Scroll
down for articles |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Dear Friend:
As you know, the Retired Boxers Foundation is a small
nonprofit and we have learned to do business within
our means, using whatever resources we can find. Today,
we are asking you to sign an online petition to expand
the Boxers Pension Plan beyond the State of California,
across the nation. We are proposing that $1 be added
to the price of every ticket to a boxing show, to be
used to fund a pension plan for fighters. The petition
is a way to show the world that sports fans care about
boxing and the athletes that risk their lives to entertain
us. Please join us and sign the petition at: The
Petition Site.
Thank you! You are an "Undisputed Champion for
DIGNITY!"
Sincerely,
Alex "The Bronx Bomber" Ramos
Jacquie Richardson
THE RETIRED BOXERS FOUNDATION
www.retiredboxers.org
805-955-9064
|
|
 |
| Today
in Sports - May 18 |
 |
|
| 1880 |
|
George Lewis aboard Fonso won the
6th Kentucky Derby in 2:37.5. |
| 1897 |
New York Giants' William "Scrappy"
Joyce tied ML record of 4 triples in 1 game. |
| 1911 |
Cleveland Naps' Ivy Olson hit an
inside-the-park grand slam. |
| 1912 |
George Horine of the USA set high
jump track record in Palo Altos, CA (2.00m). |
| 1920 |
Clarence Kummer aboard Man o' War
won the 46th Preakness Stakes in 1:51.6. |
| 1926 |
New York Yankees' Tony Lazzeri hit
an inside-the-park grand slam. |
| 1929 |
Linus McAtee aboard Clyde Van Dusen
won the 55th Kentucky Derby in 2:10.8. |
| 1931 |
Brooklyn Robins' Babe Herman hit
for the cycle vs the Cincinnati Reds. |
| 1933 |
The first ML All-Star Game was announced
for July 6th at Comiskey Park. It will be played as part of
the Chicago World's Fair celebration. |
| 1943 |
Harry Holiday of the USA set 200m
backstroke swimming record in Detroit, MI (2:22.9). |
| 1951 |
Chicago Cubs' Jack Cusick hit an
inside-the-park grand slam. |
| 1953 |
Jacqueline Cochrane was the first
woman to break the sound barrier. |
| 1957 |
Ada Den Haan of the Netherlands set
women's 200m breaststroke swimming record in Blackpool, England
(2:52.5). |
| 1957 |
Eddie Arcaro aboard Bold Ruler won
the 83rd Preakness Stakes in 1:56.2. |
| 1957 |
Netherlands Team set women's 4 x
100m medley relay swimming record in Blackpool, England (4:57.0). |
| 1958 |
Vasiliy Kuznetsov of the USSR set
decathlon track record in Krasnodar, USSR (8014 pts). |
| 1958 |
Wiffi Smith won the LPGA Peach Blossom
Open at Spartanburg Country Club in Spartanburg, SC. |
| 1962 |
Al Oerter of the USA set discus throw
track record in Los Angeles, CA (61.10m). |
| 1962 |
Dallas Long of the USA set shot put
track record in Los Angeles, CA (20.08m). |
| 1963 |
Bill Shoemaker aboard Candy Spots
won the 89th Preakness Stakes in 1:56.2. |
| 1963 |
Tamara Press of the USSR set women's
discus throw track record in Moscow, USSR (59.29m). |
| 1968 |
Ismael Valenzuela aboard Forward
Pass won the 94th Preakness Stakes in 1:56.8. |
| 1969 |
Sandra Haynie won the LPGA St. Louis
Womens Invitational at Norwood Hills Country Club in St.
Louis, MO. |
| 1974 |
Miguel Rivera aboard Current Little
won the 100th Preakness Stakes in 1:54.6. |
| 1980 |
Daley Thompson of Great Britain set
decathlon track record in Götzis, Austria (8622 pts). |
| 1980 |
Donna White won the LPGA The Coca-Cola
Classic at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, NJ. |
| 1980 |
Karin Rossley of East Germany set
women's 400m hurdles track record in Jena, East Germany (54.28). |
| 1985 |
Pat Day aboard Tank's Prospect won
the 111th Preakness Stakes in 1:53.4. |
| 1986 |
Becky Pearson won the LPGA Chrysler-Plymouth
Classic at Fairmount Country Club in Chatham, NJ. |
| 1991 |
Jerry Bailey aboard Hansel won the
117th Preakness Stakes in 1:54. |
| 1995 |
Guiquing Zhong of China set women's
pole vault track record in Taiyuan, China (4.08m). |
| 1996 |
Pat Day aboard Louis Quatorze won
the 122nd Preakness Stakes in 1:53.2. |
| 1996 |
St. Louis Cardinals' John Mabry hit
for the cycle vs the Colorado Rockies. |
| 1997 |
Chris Johnson won the McDonalds
LPGA Championship at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, DE. |
| 1998 |
Oakland A's Mike Blowers hit for
the cycle vs the Chicago White Sox. |
| 2004 |
Arizona Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson
pitched a perfect game vs. the Atlanta Braves 2-0. |
|
|
 |
| Scroll
down for articles. |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Sixpack Sez | Clip-clopping their way into beer
lore
|
 |
|
|
By Joe Sixpack
Posted on April 4, 2008 on Joe
Sixpack
SEVENTY-FIVE
years ago today, on April 4, 1933, America was
in the midst of the Great Depression. A panic
had just forced the nation's banks to close for
a week. The unemployment rate was 24.9 percent.
But three days later, on April 7th, things started
looking up.
Beer was back.
A long-awaited revision
to the infamous Volstead Act that had kicked off
the Prohibition paved the way. Yes, the brew was
just 3.2 percent alcohol, and it would be another
8 months till the 21st Amendment officially ended
Prohibition and brought back more potent booze.
But on this day, it was
time to party.
New York, Chicago, Philadelphia
– the streets were a sudsy celebration. An estimated
1.5 million barrels of beer were drained in the
first 24 hours after the modification of the act,
according to the Brewers Association.
This week, U.S. brewers
are trumpeting the end of beer prohibition with
special events and tributes. But it would be hard
to top the public relations scheme cooked up by
one brewery on that glorious day three-quarters
of a century ago.
Not surprisingly, it
was Anheuser-Busch that grabbed the headlines.
The St. Louis company wasn't the dominant beer
maker in America at the time (Schlitz and Pabst
were still giving it a run for its money), but
there was no one better at attracting attention.
"So much of the story
is folklore," said Budweiser
brand director Tom Shipley. "But put yourself
back into 1933. You've got August A. Busch – his
father, Adolphus, started the company in 1852.
He's 67 years old, a brewer who couldn't brew
beer."
His younger son, Gussie,
is 33. "He'd gone through his entire career and
had never gotten to brew beer," Shipley said.
A-B's brewers maintained
their beer-making chops with Bevo, a near beer
that was essentially de-alcoholized Bud. To make
ends meet, the company turned to the production
of soft drinks and ice cream, and sold off real
estate to generate cash. As the nation's economy
sank into the Depression, Busch reportedly spent
$34 million out of his own pocket to keep the
business alive.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Alex "The Bronx Bomber" Ramos'
Commentary on De La Hoya-Forbes Fight
|
 |
|
|
Erin Niemela,
Sr. Editor,
MyWorldofSports.com
The California Home Depot Center
filled with anxious fans awaiting the anticipated
junior middleweight fight between Oscar De La
Hoya and Steve Forbes this Saturday, May 3rd,
2008, and as De La Hoya entered the ring, donning
a black and orange robe, the crowd roared for
their obvious favorite. This fight was the first
of a farewell tour for De La Hoya, and his win
will lead him to a rematch against WBC welterweight
champion "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather
Jr. in Las Vegas this coming September, 2008.
Interestingly, Forbes was trained by Jeff Mayweather,
Floyd Mayweather's uncle, while De La Hoya has
trained under Floyd Mayweather Sr, his father.
MyWorldofSports.com caught up with Alex "The
Bronx Bomber" Ramos, 4 time New York Golden
Gloves champion, founder and president of the
Retired Boxers Foundation, and a boxer with 30
plus years of experience, for his commentary during
the fight.
Prior to Forbes' and De La Hoya's
grand entrances, Ramos anticipated some problems
for the fight: "Of course, you know, there's
a big height difference in this fight, which is
gonna be kind of a lot of trouble, I expect. [Forbes]
is fighting a guy that's 5'10 ½, whereas
he's 5'7 ¼, so, it's gonna be tough
you can see the difference in height." De
La Hoya stepped into the ring, "Now Oscar
De La Hoya's coming out, it's unbelievable, he
looks very focused
everybody's going bananas!"
"I always figure out in the
first 30 seconds which fighter gets the fight,"
Ramos told us into the first round. De La Hoya
delivered a series of jabs right off the bat,
but Forbes countered with his own double jabs.
De La Hoya threw a nice left hook, but Forbes
kept up with his jabs, "He's fighting back,
he's looking good!" Ramos said of Forbes,
"You can tell right now that the difference
is, of course, that you've got a bigger fighter
which is 5'10, and Steve Forbes was a junior lightweight
which is 130lbs, and he needs to
keep the pressure, and be able to take the fight
to [De La Hoya]. When you have a taller guy in
front of you, you gotta keep the pressure!"
Forbes threw body shots, De La Hoya countered
with jabs, then right handed body shots, and De
La Hoya landed some overhand rights. Forbes pushed
him with a shoulder and delivered a combination
of hits to close the round, in favor of De La
Hoya. Ramos told MyWorldofSports.com, "He
just hit him with a left hook, right hand, left
hook, double up - beautiful combination by Steve
Forbes
I love it, I love it, I love it.
So, right now, the fight's pretty even
I don't have no predictions
as I've said,
the 5'10 De La Hoya [is] fighting a guy that's
a lot smaller than he is, and he's throwing punches,
but Steve Forbes is coming back," Ramos explained.
The second round began with body
shots by De La Hoya, "De La Hoya's got the
bigger reach. De La Hoya hit him with a good body
shot
I think he hurt [Forbes] right now,
it's gotta hurt
but Steve Forbes come back
with a double left punch he just hit De
La Hoya with a right hand and a left hand, back
to back." De La Hoya continually caught Forbes
with jabs, but Forbes managed to connect some
body shots and a small straight before the close
of the round. Ramos commented, "[De La Hoya]
keeps catchin' him with a jab. I'd give this round
to De La Hoya." De La Hoya continued to connect
those jabs into round three, along with several
hooks to the body. Ramos mentioned, "If [De
La Hoya] was a big puncher it'd be a different
story. If he was a big puncher, he could hurt
[Forbes] possibly
he's controlling him
very easy with the jab, but Steve Forbes is fighting
back
[Forbes] does not have the power to
stop him. You gotta have power to punch him."
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Primo Carnera - "The Walking Mountain"
|
 |
|
|
FREE World
Premiere movie set for April 22 at MSG!
By Mike Indri
Retired Boxers Foundation
April 18, 2008
Madison Square Garden will again
play host to a truly significant event in remembrance
of the late Italian boxing champion Primo Carnera.
Seventy-five years ago the 6 ft.
6 inch, 260-pound Carnera knocked out Jack Sharkey
in Madison Square Garden to become World Heavyweight
Champion. The Italian giant lifted all of Italy
on his broad shoulders that June 29th in 1933
and forever became a legend.
"Carnera This Tuesday night,
April 22nd, a FREE world premiere screening of
- The Walking Mountain" will be presented
in the Wamu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The free admission is due to the
main sponsors, Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia and
Angel Devil.
To ensure and reserve seating for
this special event, visit www.thewalkingmountain.com
and register on the site.More than just a movie,
this April 22nd event will be a gift to the boxing
world and to all people that embrace courage,
integrity, love of family, kindness and certainly
prevailing over life's hardships.
While reaching the pinnacle in boxing,
becoming the World Heavyweight Champion, no other
fighter - let alone a champion - was ever treated
with more corruptness, less decency, and picked
more completely of dignity than Primo Carnera.
Under the brilliant direction of
famed Italian director Renzo Martinelli, the true
meaning and greatness of the humble giant, with
an even bigger dream, is brought to light.
Fully enveloped within the slimiest
facet of the ruthless business of boxing, any
chance the naïve former laborer, bricklayer
and sometime stonecutter from the tiny village
of Sequals, in Northern Italy, ever had of goodness
and prosperity within the prize ring was doomed
before he ever even set foot on American soil.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Sixpack Sez | The new Miller Lite: The Kenny
G of beers
|
 |
|
|
By Joe Sixpack
Posted on February 29, 2008 on Joe
Sixpack
BEER
EITHER just jumped the shark, or the universe
has a strange sense of humor.
I refer to Miller Lite's new
Brewers Collection: "Craft-style light beer."
It took me 20 minutes
to get my head around the idea before I could
crack open the first bottle. There is so much
wrong - and so much unsurprising - about a product
whose slogan brazenly promises, "Craft Beer. Done
Lite."
The collection includes
three basic, easy-sipping styles: amber, wheat
and blond ale. Each contains 110 calories per
12-ounce bottle, about two-thirds of the amount
in similar non-light styles.
Don't look for it on
shelves in the Philadelphia area, yet; it's being
test-marketed in just four markets (the closest
is Baltimore, if you care to take a ride down
I-95).
The three styles are,
as you'd expect, thin, fizzy and light-tasting.
The wheat is reminiscent of Sprite, the blond
is tinny and the amber is Miller Lite with a tan.
Nothing terribly offensive or remarkable.
But, honestly, you don't
have to taste it to get the point.
Essentially, Miller is
attempting to sell a product that wants it both
ways. It's a product that purports to offer all
the complexity, depth and quality of a small-batch
brew along with the bland, inoffensive, one-dimensional
flavor of a factory-made light beer.
The crazy thing is, Miller
just might pull it off!
This is, after all, the
same brewery that 30 years ago managed to convince
"real men" that it was OK to drink diet beer.
We all know, of course,
it's not really diet beer. Most of the guys you
see guzzling light beer are about as fit as a
bag of potato chips. People drink it not because
they're counting calories, but because its watered-down,
ordinary flavor allows them to mindlessly pound
one after the other without the inconvenience
of actually tasting the stuff.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
American Football League Ring
|
 |
|
|
Hello, AFL fans and former players:
Herff Jones, a world-renowned
known maker of high-quality high-school, college
and professional championship rings, including
Super Bowl rings, still has the major portion
of a die for an American Football League ring
that they first fashioned in the 1960s.
I have paid for them to make dies
for two modifications of this ring, around the
top face. One says AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ALUMNI, and the other says AMERICAN FOOTBALL
LEAGUE FAN.
The top of the ring has a simulated
stone set above the letters AFL. The stones
are available in birthstones, or in the color
of the American Football League team of your choice.
One side has a relief of a football
gridiron, and underneath that is a 'ribbon' that
can be engraved with up to 10 spaces of your choice
(last name or team, for example). Below that is
a football helmet in relief, and below that another
'ribbon' which can be engraved with up to 4 spaces:
initials, or a short name.
The other side of the ring has a
relief of the American Football League logo. The
inside of the ring is engraved with your initials
and a date.
These rings are available in the
non-precious metal White Ultrium (used
for many college rings) for $346, in non-precious
yellow Sunglow for $411, and in
white or yellow precious 10 Karat Gold
for $797. These prices include sales tax,
shipping and handling, plus $5 towards the set-up
costs that I've already paid.
If I don't sell enough to cover
the set-up cost, I'll eat it. If I collect more
than the costs of the rings to me, all excess
funds will be sent to the retired Pro Football
help fund Gridiron
Greats with the stipulation that the funds
be used to help a retired American Football League
player in need. I neither want nor will
I accept any profit from the sale of these rings.
If you're interested, please see
my page at www.remembertheafl.com/AFLRing.htm.
It shows photos of a mock-up of my own ring, and
photos of the metals and the stones available.
It also has an order form you can print out and
send to Herff Jones. Prices on the gold
rings are good only through July 1, 2008. After
that, a new price will be established based on
the market value of gold.
If you're a former American Football
League player or staff member who never had a
championship ring or a players association ring
(or even if you do), this is your chance to show
your pride in having been part of what even the
NFL calls "the league that was the genesis
of modern pro football". If you're 'just'
an American Football League fan, you can show
your support for the memory of the greatest pro
football league ever.
Regards,
Ange Coniglio
AFL
Ring
|
|
 |
Read
more...
Posted on April 7, 2008 By Ange Coniglio |
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Lanardo Tyner: "This is huge, it's my opportunity!"
|
 |
|
|
Major step
up against Arnaoutis headlines ESPN Friday night
By Mike Indri
Retired Boxers Foundation
May 8, 2008
Last year undefeated jr. welterweight
prospect Lanardo Tyner made the sacrifice of uprooting
his family from their Detroit, Michigan home down
to Houston, Texas - with the notion that following
his boxing idol, former world champion Frank Tate
(a fellow Detroit native), would be a boost to
his professional career.
Tate, who earned the International
Boxing Federation middleweight championship by
picking up the vacant title with a commanding
15 round unanimous decision victory over Michael
Olajide in 1987, and was dethroned the following
year by Michael Nunn, had left the Motor City
after his fighting career ended and was training
fighters at Hank's Gym in Houston.
Tyner quickly realized the move
to be a big plus, "This is the place to be.
It's good for family and to stay focused. My fun
time down here is to train!"
The greatest benefit to the 32 year-old
fighter would be the connection with gym owner
Kenneth Richardson Sr. Richardson serves as manager
and trainer, and the highly respected, no-nonsense
boxing "good guy" made sure that the
undefeated Tyner fit his criteria.
"No one works harder in the
gym than Lanardo, and he has the punch. He is
nicknamed "Pain Server" for a reason",
proudly stated Richardson, who cited Tyner's record
(19-0) and eleven knockouts. Richardson then firmly
stressed, "But, Lanardo is also a family
man and that is a must. You have to be good outside
the ring. If they (any fighter) are not good OUTSIDE
the ring - then you are in trouble.
If Lanardo Tyner is not good INSIDE
the ring this Friday night, against USBA light
welterweight titleholder Mike Arnaoutis, he will
be in a lot of trouble!
In challenging "Mighty Mike"
for his USBA crown, Tyner will be facing his most
lethal opponent, by far. While feasting on lesser
opponents throughout most of his five-year career,
Tyner has not attracted much attention outside
of Texas and will enter the ring Friday night
at the Bally's Ballroom in Atlantic City, as the
betting underdog.
The likable Tyner will also be taking
on the unenviable role as the "opponent"
for the very first time as well, opting to travel
into the popular Arnaoutis's Atlantic City hometown
to face the rugged and feisty twenty-eight year-old
southpaw.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Sixpack Sez | A good bar fight you can't win
or lose
|
 |
|
|
By Joe Sixpack
Posted on March 28, 2008 on Joe
Sixpack
THERE
ARE two kinds of bar fights.
The
one where a naked android from the future cracks
a pool stick over your head, then walks off with
your sunglasses and sawed-off shotgun.
And a "Bargument" - a
debate with no right or wrong answer, which must
be uncomplicated enough to discuss after three
beers.
The latter is the topic
of a fun little book called "Barguments" (Simon
Spotlight Entertainment, $9.99) from Doug Hanks,
a reporter with the Miami Herald who, like me,
apparently managed to convince his editors that
his weekly bar tab is a legitimate business expense.
Where
I spend a lot of time fretting over beer, Hanks
focuses on weightier topics. Like:
•If
you could date a cartoon character, who would
it be?
•Which TV show has
better acting: "Saved by the Bell" or "Baywatch"?
•Is it harder to be
a pitcher or a running back?
•You're about to move
into an apartment with extremely thin walls.
Pick your neighbor: a bass player, a sex addict
or a parrot breeder.
•With $1 million on
the line, would you rather shoot a free throw
or flip a coin?
•And, perhaps most
importantly, who would win in a fight: a bear
or a lion?
That last one is the
fateful riddle that prompted Hanks to tackle this
book. He and one of his drinking pals noticed
a tap handle that looked like a bear wrestling
a lion and someone wondered: Who would win?
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Sixpack Sez | A beer so local they called it
Philadelphia
|
 |
|
|
By Joe Sixpack
Posted on March 21, 2008 on Joe
Sixpack
FOR THE first time in
almost 60 years, Philadelphia has a namesake brewery.
Philadelphia Brewing Co., a spin-off created when
the owners of Yards Brewing split last year, hit
the streets this month with a portfolio of ales
that evokes some of the city's iconic images:
Rowhouse
Red, a so-called biere de Mars whose
label displays one of the city's classic, red-brick
two-story rowhouses. On draft, it's poured from
tap handles crafted from recycled banister spindles.
Newbold IPA,
a hoppy ale named after the resurgent Newbold
neighborhood west of Broad Street above Passyunk
Avenue in South Philly.
Walt Wit,
an unfiltered Belgian-style witbier named for
the great American poet, Walt Whitman, who lived
across the river in Camden. Its tap handle is
a giant pencil.
Kenzinger,
a light, golden ale that recalls a classic,
extinct Philly brand, Esslinger, as well as
the brewery's home, just off Frankford Avenue
in Kensington.
"We are all about being
a Philadelphia brewery first," said Nancy Barton,
who owns Philadelphia Brewing with her husband,
Bill. "That's why we chose the name."
That Philly First attitude
rings throughout the brewery, especially in its
connection to Kensington. The Bartons have been
fixtures there since Yards moved its brewery to
Amber Street in 2001. (Yards founder Tom Kehoe
will reopen his brewery this spring at a facility
on Delaware Avenue in Northern Liberties.)
"When we first moved
to Kensington, our initial thought was we'd probably
come to work, close the big door out on the loading
dock and not necessarily be a part of the community,"
Barton said. "But somehow, we just bonded with
our neighbors. Our neighbors are just awesome."
On any given day, you'll
find locals inside the mammoth, 19th-century brewery;
on my visit earlier this week, I bumped into Robert
Fritz, head of the East Kensington Neighbors Association,
helping out with some plumbing.
Besides hosting frequent
community events, the brewery works closely with
the urban Greensgrow Farm on nearby Cumberland
Avenue and is donating space (and beer) for the
farm's cheese-making operation.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Cotto punishes Gomez - Margarito crushes Cintron!
|
 |
|
|
No Surprises
at the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall
By Mike Indri
Retired Boxers Foundation
April 12, 2008
Atlantic City, NJ - With the Boardwalk
Hall filled, and HBO broadcasting to millions
at home, Miguel Cotto tore into Alfonso Gomez
and in the same ring where the "Contender"
fighter enjoyed his greatest win (TKO 7 vs. Arturo
Gatti, 7/14/07), punished the likable and big
willed fighter, sending Gomez to his most demoralizing
defeat.
While the bout
actually lasted until the ring doctor advised
referee Randy Neuman not to let the one-sided
debacle continue after round five, the fight was
realistically over in the first round; when the
first few exchanges proved this twelve round title
match was simply a mismatch.
Barely escaping
in round one, a collection of Cotto body shots
towards the end of round two sent a devastated
Gomez to the canvas for his first of three knockdowns.
More nasty body shots by Cotto dropped Gomez again
in the third and a vicious debilitating barrage
sent the overwhelmed fighter to the deck late
in round five. Badly bruised and totally finished,
a demoralized and defeated Gomez managed to slowly
amble back to his stool where he dropped, and
rightfully was not allowed to get back up from.
At times Cotto
seemed to be toying with Gomez, dropping his hands
and pounding on the lesser fighter, all to the
delight of the largely partisan Puerto Rican crowd.
When it was all over Cotto had out landed Gomez
188 to 63 in total punches, and a staggering 125
to 46 in power shots (according to Compu-Box)
basically
every shot from Cotto is a power shot!
Gomez - a contender,
with a heart of a champion, slips to 18-4-2 (8
KO's), while Miguel Cotto improved to 32-0; the
dominating stoppage being the 26th victory by
way of knockout for the humble and classy hero
of Puerto Rico.
In the co-feature
bout Kermit Cintron was defending his International
Boxing Federation welterweight world championship
title, but even more importantly he was defending
his legitimacy and honor against former champion
Antonio Margarito.
Back in 2005
Cintron, then the hot 24-0 undefeated prospect
was rushed into challenging the dangerous Mexican
fighter, who was defending his World Boxing Organization
belt. Cintron was not ready for the big step and
paid dearly with a torturous beating which resulted
in his first loss - a crushing fifth round TKO
drubing, which hurt just as much, if not more,
mentally as it did physically.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Isaac Rodrigues earns title belt with hard fought
victory!
|
 |
|
|
Brazilian
middleweight prospect now owns WBO "Latino"
crown
By Mike Indri
Retired Boxers Foundation
April 5, 2008
Most sports fans would not be able
to tell you the three boxers that hold portions
of the world heavyweight crown these days
that
question might even stump the Schwab!
It takes a real boxing fan to rattle
off Ruslan Chagaev (WBA), Sam Peter (WBC) and
Wladimir Klitschko (WBO & IBF) as the current
kings of all the heavyweights.
So you can imagine the relative
obscurity that so many young and talented, yet
vastly underexposed fighters are plagued with,
while also battling to survive in the most physically
demanding, viciously dangerous and financially
difficult sport for any aspiring athlete.
This past Thursday night Isaac Rodrigues
took a major step towards achieving his dream
of becoming a world champion when he battled ten
long, hard rounds against a truly formidable opponent,
earning a unanimous decision victory and becoming
the World Boxing Organization's "Latino"
middleweight champion.
The result of this fight, which
was held in Brazil, was not broadcast on an ESPN
sports program, or any sports news program. The
news didn't even make it onto any boxing website.
I was informed by the proud trainer of Isaac Rodrigues
- Oscar Saurez, one of the premier trainers and
finest people in all of boxing. (Oscar Saurez
- left - with his fighter Acelino Freitas)

Oscar Saurez - left - with his fighter
Acelino Freitas. |
|
Best known for his handling of now
retired world champions Prince Naseem Hamed and
Acelino Freitas, as well as Paterson native Omar
Sheika (who is slated to take on Elvir Muriqi
next month in Atlantic City), Saurez has trained
the best in boxing and is excited in what he sees
with Rodrigues.
"He (Rodrigues) has got what
it takes, and works real hard," exclaimed
Saurez, "it was a very evenly matched fight,
very competitive. Isaac's boxer/puncher style
and his landing many combinations late in the
fight was the difference."
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Pages
© 2002-2008 by Sports Lore
Contact Webmaster
Contact Chef Mike, Mike
Toone, or Kevin
|
|
|