BARRERA VS JUAREZ II…A SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE SHOWDOWN!
RINGSIDE LA WITH JOHNNY ORTIZ
SEPTEMBER 12, 2006
BARRERA VS JUAREZ II…A SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE SHOWDOWN!
This Saturday night, September 16th, the MGM Grand Hotel will play host to a much anticipated rematch between WBC Super Featherweight Champion, Marco Antonio “Baby Faced Assassin” Barerra and Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez. On May 20, 2006, the two brave little warriors waged a fistic war that was very close to call. After reading the score cards and pronouncing the fight a draw, it was later learned that one of the judges had erroneously marked his card. When the error in addition had been resolved, Marco Antonio was declared the winner by a mere point. Needless to say, the rematch which is being appropriately called, “Too Close to Call,” have avid fight fans anxious to see what figures to be another hotly contested bout. After watching their first encounter, I could have lived with a draw, but if there was to be a winner then surely it was Marco Antonio. I was raised to believe that you have to take it away from the champion, Rocky did a fine job, but not enough to have his hand raised. I am not about to make excuses for Marco Antonio, but during their fight I could not help but think that this was not the Barrera whose career I have watched from the very beginning. I was not in the habit of seeing him back up as much as he did, something had to be wrong. Marco would not hear of making any excuses although it had been ascertained that he wore a new mouthpiece into the fight. There was talk of it hampering his breathing, I can only assume that they did not bring his old mouthpiece into the corner in the event that this could happen. It could also be taken into account that Marco with 67 fights under his belt opposed to Rocky’s 27 bouts, might have taken Rocky a little lightly. Knowing Marco Antonio as well as I do, it is very hard for me to believe he would take anyone for granted. He is, and always will be..the consummate professional. All in all, I expect to see a more motivated, more mentally prepared and physically stronger Baby Faced Assassin come the night of September 16th. If Marco Antonio is indeed starting to wind down after a long, brilliant career, it will be all the more reason to reach back and show the brilliance that has made him one of the most revered, tough as nails champions to ever come out of his beloved Mexico. On the flip side of the coin, Rocky Juarez has a lot to be proud of, at a young age he came very close to winning an Olympic Gold Medal and his near win against one of boxing’s legitimate superstars has put his name on the boxing map. He is now very confident of beating Marco Antonio in their rematch, his gallant stand against one of boxing’s most feared champions, made fight fans stand up and take notice that here was a young man of 26 who is now ready to serve notice to the other super featherweight champions and contenders that they will have to deal with him in the near future. It will be a great fight, Marco respects Rocky’s power and vise-versa. I am picking Marco Antonio to win, having already fought Rocky, Marco Antonio will make all of the necessary adjustments needed to have his hand raised. Having had him on my radio show several times, he is one of the best mannered, humble young men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He is the kind of role model boxing needs. He never has a bad word to say about anyone including his opponents. Where Marco will make the proper adjustments to his game plan and relying on his vast experience, I look for the younger Rocky to stick to the way he fought their first fight, he cannot improve very much on his previous performance, it damn near won him the title. If there is anything he could possibly improve on, it is that he may have to take more risks, apply more pressure and start faster. I did have Rocky on my show a few years back, he too is a very polite, friendly young man. When the bell sounds for the first round, all of the nice things go out the window, they can resume their friendly ways after their little, big war comes to an end. On August 20, 2005, Rocky lost a featherweight bout by a unanimous decision to Humberto Soto, a veteran at 26, Soto has engaged in 48 fights. Humberto won by scores of 112-114, 113-114 and 113-114, he would have won by two more points on each of the scorecards if he had not been penalized a point in rounds 9 and 10 for hitting behind the head. I am sure Barerra and his braintrust have studied the film of this particular fight, anyway you look at it, Marco Antonio should be better prepared going into the rematch. If Humberto Soto can outbox Rocky over twelve rounds, Marco Antonio has but to call on the masterful boxer who humiliated hard-punching, undefeated Prince Haseem Hamad, this and his adequate punching power should keep Rocky guessing throughout the bout. If this great bout were not enough, Golden Boy Promotions in association with Main Events, have put together a terrific card. In all, there will be three championship bouts, aside from Berrera-Juarez, WBO Super Featherweight Champion Jorge Rodrigo Barrios will take on challenger Joan Guzman. I like Barrios big in this one. The other title fight will pit WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Israel Vasquez defending his crown against WBO Bantamweight Champion Jhonny Gonzalez. Jhonny, an excellent champion in his weight class, will have his hands full going up four pounds to take on an equally talented champion in Vasquez. All three title bouts are really as good as a fight card can get. If you are a fight fan, you do not want to miss this exceptionally competitive card.
I wish Marco Antonio and Rocky the best, they only know one way to fight, and that is to fight their hearts out. Marco Antonio Barrera is my guy, you do not want to miss him in action, his kind are extremly rare. With that said…Viva El Gran Campeon de Mexico!!!
AN INDICTMENT OF INCOMPETENCE!
After watching the James Toney-Samuel Peter fight once again in it’s entirety, no one can ever convince me that James Toney did not win that fight. I consider myself a boxing purist, I am old school, the judges scorecards gave me cause to wonder what fight were they watching? Having been a fighter myself, a fighter knows whether he won or lost, it’s a built-in thing. When two of the ridiculous scorecards favoring Peter were announced, his corner seemed surprised and jubilant. James Toney’s disappointment was very evident, he knew he had won the fight, he just did not get the right call. Yes, there were a few close calls for James, once in the 3rd round when he got hit with a Peter right hand, James returned the favor in the sixth round, stunning Peter with an assortment of punches. In the end, it was Peter who had the visable face marks, James had none. Over all, what the two incompetent judges failed to see were the many times James made Peter miss and the many times he hit James with illegal punches to the back of the head, just as he did against Wladimir Klitschko. Toney’s trainer, Freddie Roach engaged referee Raul Caiz prior to the fight and asked him to keep an eye on Peter’s illegal punches. Not once during the entire fight did referee Caiz warn Peter of such punches. I saw them, everyone saw them, how could he not see them being so close to the action? James did enter the ring as an IBA Heavyweight Champion, the IBA is not numbered among the top four boxing organizations, but whether or not the IBA is recognized, James is their champion, he was introduced as such. Samuel Peter did not do enough to take the crown, there was a time when Ring Generalship played an important part in deciding a winner. James made the heavy-handed, one-dimensional fighter miss time and time again enabling him to land the more effective punches throughout the course of the fight. Because of James ability to constantly slip the punches of Peter, he was in control of the fight for the better part. What made the scoring even more ludicrous was the fact that the two judges, Dick Flaherty and someone by the name of Alejandro Rochin turned in the exact scores of 116-111. It doesn’t end there, if a point had not been deducted from Samel Peter in the 9th round, their scores would have been 117-111, a six point difference in Peter’s favor??? Please, I will admit the fight was close, I had James winning 115-112, A poll of approximately twelve boxing writers taken at ringside had them all scoring the fight in favor of Toney. Even Al Bernstein had my same score. The decision was not a very popular one among the 9,852 in attendance at the Staples Center, they loudly voiced their displeasure. Not one person I talked to who saw the fight thought Peter did enough to win, winning by a five point margin is absurd! To reiterate, had a point not been deducted, Peter would have had a six point edge, that my friends is what is wrong with boxing. A gambler these days has to be a fool to bet on the outcome of a fight. Until these things are corrected, boxing and its fans will suffer. I have no clue who Dick Flaherty and Alejandro Rochin are, but I would venture to say that according to their scorecards, neither one ever saw the inside of a ring. There are plenty of articulate ex-fighters, some champions, some well-known challengers, along with some very adept trainers, why not employ them to be judges or commentators, they would certainly know what to look for in determining a winner. There are some commentators who make outlandish remarks during a fight, it only tells me that they too, have no clue what it is to have been in a squared circle. If I appear to be on my soap box, you are right, I am just tired of hearing inept people telling us what is going on during a fight, I often find myself turning off the sound if someone who knows boxing is not present during a telecast. When I listen to a Sean O’Grady, Bobby Czyz, Roy Jones, Lennox Lewis, Teddy Atlas or an Emmanuel Steward, to name just a few, they have my attention, why,? because they know what they are talking about…been there, done that. At the end of the fight, Jim Gray made this comment to James Toney, “Freddie Roach was kind of urging you going into the 12th round to knock him out, that he felt you were behind.” James was quick to tell him that Freddie had said no such thing, I did hear Freddie say at the beginning of the twefth round, “Let’s go to work, put him on his ass, put him on his ass!” Jim Gray should get his act together. An old trick the great trainers use in a close fight they know their fighter is winning, is to tell them that they need the last couple of rounds to win the fight, even though he knows his fighter is ahead, he does it to give them that extra incentive, the motivation to go out and win the rounds. If Mr. Gray knew anything about boxing, he would not ask such stupid questions. It is not the first time I have heard him ask something nonsensical, it’s just the first time I felt like addressing this and his past accumulation of ignorant remarks. I think George Foreman summed it up best about guys who never laced on a glove when he once told Larry Merchant after a fight in which Larry made an absurd comment, George, besides having been a two time heavyweight champion, knows everything that goes on inside a ring, he told Merchant, “Larry, you see boxing, you don’t know boxing!” George merely substantiated what I have been saying all along, only qualified boxing people should be the ones who should be calling the fights. I have been a fighter, a trainer and a manager, I truly believe I know who wins a fight or who does not. James “Lights Out” Toney may or may not get a rematch with Samuel Peter, but one thing is for sure, he definitely won the fight last Saturday night…end of story!
PATH to GLORY RETURNS!
ZUÑIGA vs. BOONE in MIDDLEWEIGHT CLASH
Orange, CA - On Friday, September 15, Thompson Boxing Promotions will feature what will be another sold out event. This will be the last show from Omega Products International in the city of Corona, CA, and the last of Thompson’s “Path to Glory Summer Series.”
The high-octane event will feature the explosive talent of two South American warriors, the experience of valiant boxers, and the speed of flashy youngsters.
In the main event, Fernando Zuñiga (23-8, 18 KOs) from Esmeraldas, Ecuador, fighting out of Downey, CA, will face Darnell Boone (10-6-2, 4 KOs), from Youngstown, OH, in an eight-round middleweight clash.
Zuñiga is an unorthodox brawler who faced opponents such as William Joppy, Thomas Tate, and Sam Soliman and wants to get back into the limelight with a victory next Friday. The Ecuadorian is a consummate showman that has only being knocked out once by powerful David Lopez. Boone, on the other hand, is a rough customer who went the distance and even knocked down Olympian Andre Ward. He also beat James Countryman and Ronald Johnson who were undefeated before the faced Boone.
The under card will feature Colombian powerhouse Yohny Perez (5-0, 4 KOs) against human windmill Larry Olvera (6-6-2, 4 KOs) in an eight round bantamweight bout. Also, Benjie Garcia (10-7-3, 1 KO) from San Diego, will battle Jesus Valadez (4-5) from Los Angeles, in what could be a six round slugfest in the super flyweight division.
Also on the card, highly regarded California prospect Anthony Salcido (9-0-1, 6 KOs) from San Diego, will test the super featherweight division in a six round fight. The Ñformer lightweight has been training in Mexico with legendary champion Marco Antonio Barrera. An opponent will be announced shortly. Finally, featherweights Hector Roman (1-1), from Los Angeles, will face Osvaldo Medina, from La Habra, will be making his pro debut.
Very few tickets remain available for sale and can be purchased by contacting Alex Camponovo at (714) 935-0900. Omega Products International, the host of this event, is located on 1681 California Ave., Corona, CA. Off the 15 freeway, exit Magnolia Ave. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.; first bell will be at 7:45 p.m.
Press release by Alex Camponovo
Let me again remind you that this will be the last of Thompson Boxing Promotions, “Path to Glory Summer Series.” if you have not had the opportunity to watch great, competitive fights under the stars, make it a point to be there on Friday, September 15, 2006. President Kenneth Thompson is keeping boxing alive in the Southland with his many, highly entertaining boxing shows. He is a man who is totally dedicated to the sport of Boxing. After Friday’s show, Kenneth Thompson and his fast rising matchmaker, Alex Camponovo, will move their monthly boxing operations to the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif. We will keep you posted on the new fight dates. Be sure to bring your friends this Friday evening and enjoy an unforgettable night of fun, making new friends and a fight card that is as competitive as a fight card can be. I’ll be there, if you see me, be sure to say hello to Johnny O.
JOHNNY ORTIZ IS A MEMBER OF THE WORLD BOXING HALL OF FAME BOARD OF DIRECTORS
JOHNNY ORTIZ IS A MEMBER OF THE GOLDEN STATE BOXERS ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
JOHNNY ORTIZ IS A MEDIA ADVISOR FOR THOMPSON BOXING PROMOTIONS
JOHNNY ORTIZ IS A FORMER CO-OWNER OF THE WORLD FAMOUS, LEGENDARY MAIN ST. GYM
JOHNNY ORTIZ IS A FORMER TWELVE YEAR RADIO HOST OF HIS OWN ORIGINAL BOXING SHOW
UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND…PEACE AND GOD BLESS!