Archive for April, 2017

The Heavyweight Mail Pouch

Saturday, April 29th, 2017

By William Trillo

As far as heavyweight title fights go in this day and age, the battle of Goliath’s in England is the most exciting thing to come around the turnpike since the days of Ali, Forman, Frazier and Norton. Don’t come to me with your opinion on what is going on Stateside. Deontay Wider is single handedly dragging the heavyweight division down here in the USA. That is a fact and it is indisputable. Yet, across the pond we should be treated to a very compelling title fight. For Wladimir Klitschko, this is his last hurrah, look for him to go out in a blaze of glory. For the Champion Anthony Joshua, a victory will truly signify the changing of the guard and set him atop the heavyweight ranks.

Personally, I see Wlad giving us the best we have seen from him in quite some time. That being said, I doubt it will be enough and I expect him to be stopped somewhere around 6 or 7.

Although it looks like McGarry and I expect the same outcome there is little else we agree on regarding this battle.

Let’s see which one of us ends up looking like the proverbial blind squirrel in the forest.

Dear Mr. Trillo,

On Saturday night, 90,000 people are going to cram into London’s Wembley Stadium. They have bought tickets to a boxing extravaganza, billed as the biggest heavyweight fight of the decade. Those 90,000 people have all been conned. They have paid extortionate prices – thanks in part to the promoter’s indecently close relationship with ticket re-seller Stubhub – for a dreadful mismatch as the main event, and a couple of so-so world title eliminators on the undercard. A few promising novices will also get a chance to fight in a half-empty. huge venue.

That main event consists of IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua defending his title against Wladimir Klitschko. Somehow, the WBA has been persuaded to allow the pair to also fight for their “super” version of the world title.

Joshua has knocked out every one of his 18 opponents since turning pro, and the only opponent to give him any trouble was an out-of-shape Dillian Whyte, who managed to make things interesting for a couple of rounds. Since then, the IBF champion has shown he can take a more patient approach against better opposition if he feels the other guy needs to be broken down before getting knocked out. What makes him such a formidable fighter is his ability to walk through almost anything his opponents have thrown at him and then deliver devastating punches with either hand.

There’s still quite a lot we don’t know about how Anthony Joshua would react to being in a competitive contest that lasted more than seven or eight rounds, but there are only a handful of boxers right now who might have a chance of lasting that long.

In the other corner is Wladimir Klitschko – the closest there has ever been to a world champion who is also a coward. The Ukrainian has size, strength, punching power and technical skills to rival almost any heavyweight in history, but he has no courage whatsoever. In short, he’s a highly accomplished bully who has been rather fortunate to ply his trade at a time when big, skillful heavyweights were extremely rare. In his most recent bout nearly 18 months ago, Klitschko surrendered his titles while barely throwing a meaningful punch over the course of 12 rounds against Tyson Fury. Now, instead of having his licence revoked for contravening the Trades Descriptions Act, he gets a shot at regaining a couple of his titles and a multi million pound payday.

If Klitschko were to win on Saturday night, we face the prospect of a “unification” fight against Fres Oquendo, followed by defences against the likes of Christian Hammer and Robert Helenius. In other words, Klitschko will line up bums that even Deontay Wilder would be too embarrassed to allow as challengers to his version of the world title. This could go on for years, just like it did before Tyson Fury got half the job done a year and a half ago.

On the undercard, 2012 Olympic lightweight champion Luke Campbell will face Darleys Perez in a WBC eliminator and Scott Quigg steps in against Viorel Simion in an IBF featherweight title eliminator.

My prediction:

Joshua brutalises Klitschko in a couple of rounds and that’s the last time anyone ever mentions the name Klitschko in connection with boxing. As this contest is between two very big, strong men, there’s always a possibility that the Ukrainian lands a bomb first and Joshua unravels before our very eyes. This prospect is to awful to contemplate as Klitschko will strangle the life out of boxing for another five years if he does land that lucky punch. Fortunately, I suspect his plan is to wait until the second half of the fight in the hope the younger man gets tired and demoralised. That will allow Joshua several rounds of target practice against a big lump who hasn’t won a fight in over two years.

On the undercard, Campbell should beat Perez, probably by stoppage in the second half of his bout. Perez was knocked out by Anthony Crolla and Campbell is much better and a harder puncher. Whether he has what it takes to beat Mikey Garcia remains to be seen.

Former WBA super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg is up against someone I’ve never heard of. All I can assume is promoter Eddie Hearn knows what he’s doing and this will be another routine win for Quigg.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

The Mail Pouch: McGarry’s Fight Day Report

Saturday, April 15th, 2017

Here’s a late submission from our reader and contributor David McGarry. You can check if he hits the nail on the head by watching on Klowdtv.:

Dear Mr. Trillo,

This weekend, a super lightweight unification bout is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland. WBA champion Ricky Burns faces Namibia’s IBF champion Julius Indongo. Both boxers are 34 – it was Burns’ birthday two days before the fight. Not much is known about the African fighter, partly because most of his fights have taken place at the Windhoek Country Club against modest opposition. In his previous bout, he travelled to Moscow and stopped previously unbeaten WBA champ Eduard Troyanovsky. His record of 21-0 (11) suggests he can go the distance without too much trouble.

Ricky Burns is Scotland’s first three-weight world champion and has shared a ring with Roman Martinez, Michael Katsidis and Terence Crawford. He has overcome several serious setbacks in and out of the ring and is enjoying a late revival in fortunes. With a record of 41-5-1 (16), the Scot is not considered a hard puncher, although half of his wins at world title level have come early. His main attributes are an excellent left jab and world class stamina.

My prediction: it’s very hard to tell how good an unbeaten world champion really is at the best of times. When that boxer has spent most of his career in obscure venues against very mixed opposition the task is almost impossible. We know he can knock out an unbeaten champion in his back yard and we know he can go 12 rounds against fairly limited opposition. We also know he’s 34 and has never experienced an opponent’s home crowd quite like the one at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow tonight.

If Indongo is going to win, he has to take control from the first bell and hurt Burns early. A much more likely outcome is that after some early rounds are shared, the Burns jab starts to dominate and his excellent stamina allows the WBA champion to dominate the second half of the fight. Ricky Burns to win on points and set up a payday against Adrien Broner.

The undercard features a couple of well matched British title fights plus a second outing for Lawrence Okolie. He’s currently fighting as a cruiserweight, but look for Okolie to become a force in the heavyweight division.

David,

I will be watching on Klowdtv.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news

Sullivan Barrera Q & A

Wednesday, April 12th, 2017

By William Trillo

The first time I met light heavyweight Sullivan Barrera, (18-1, 13 KO’s), I was on assignment in Big Bear to interview a triple initialed middleweight of some repute. During my time with the team I couldn’t help but notice the charismatic Barrera as he quietly made his presence known. I asked him his name and told him I was going to be keeping an eye on him and that I expected him to become a popular fighter.

After our brief meeting Barrera went on to face the likes of Jeff Lacy to Andre Ward. I was fortunate enough to be ringside for his fights against Hakim Zoulikha and Karo Murat. Apart from the decision loss to Ward, Barrera KO’d the rest of his opposition in slick fashion.

In his “what have you done for me lately” fight Barrera took on the highly touted and undefeated Vyacheslav Shabranskyy who sported 14 KO’s in his 17 fight career. In a fight of the year type battle Barrera and Shabranskyy both hit the deck before Barrera put the beat down on Shabranskyy stopping him inside of 7.

After a myriad of problems and finally a cancellation of a huge fight with Artur Beterbiev we will see Barrera step into the ring this weekend on HBO Latino against Paul “Pay-Per-View” Parker, (8 -1,4 KO’s), in a scheduled 10 round affair.

I recently spoke to Sullivan about all the afore mentioned topics in an exclusive interview this week.

Pound4Pound: Let’s start with the basics, tell us about your training camp and preparation.

Sullivan Barrera: It’s been a long training camp. We were supposed to fight someone else, (Artur Beterbiev), and now we got Paul Parker. I have made the necessary changes and am ready to give the fans a good show on April 15th.

P4P: How did you prepare yourself mentally after the Beterbiev fiasco?

SB: I feel fine. I adapted to the situation and have put in the proper work for my new opponent. I am just glad to be getting back into the ring. I understand the boxing business so I am prepared in my mind for these situations. And as I said… at the end of the day I am just happy to get back to taking care of my business in the ring.

P4P: A couple of these guys who want no part of you now reside in Montreal and are promoted up there, that being Beterbiev and Jean Pascal. Can we assume that is just a coincidence?

SB: I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s weird. So I’m just ready to move on.

P4P: Tell me what you know about Paul Parker.

SB: I have seen a few of his fights, the most recent being the fight against Thompson. He is a tall guy with good range and skill. I have worked on some things I can bring into the ring to defeat him. I respect all fighters who step into the ring but come April 15th I am going to show that I am ready for bigger and better things.

P4P: You both have a like opponent in Shabranskyy. I knew Shabranskyy had no chance against you and we saw what you did to him with that big victory. On the flip-side, Parker was KO’d by Shabranskyy. Can we take anything from those very different results as we look to this fight?

SB: With me, Shabranskyy came out way too confident and he took me lightly. It’s my experience that when you step into the ring with anyone with two hands it’s a huge mistake to take them lightly. My experience showed all my hard work in the gym paid off that night.

P4P: What are your goals in 2017? What direction are you going to take with your career and when do expect to get another shot at a title?

SB: You know that right now all my focus is on this fight against Parker on April 15th. But I am looking at my next hurdle to be Joe Smith Jr. I must defeat Paul Parker, then we can talk about Joe Smith Jr.

P4P: Do you look at the Kovalev vs. Ward rematch and hope you might get the winner of that fight sometime in the future?

SB: Yes of course. I would love to get a rematch with Ward and obviously, I would want to have a fight in the future with Kovalev.

P4P: You have been in the news quite a lot as of late. First there was the great victory over Shabransky and then the ugly situation with the Beterbiev mess. A lot of us don’t have a grasp on what transpired in that situation other than the fight fell out. That being said, outside of what has been written, what do you want the boxing fans to know about Sullivan Barrera that we don’t know yet?

SB: Ever since I fought Karo Murat I maintained my goal of what I wanted when I came to America, and that is to remain on my path to get to a world title. I am ready to fight anyone. I had no fear when the Andre Ward fight presented itself and I took it. Likewise, when the opportunity came to fight Shabranskyy I took it without a problem. You know Shabranskyy was supposed to be the next “Kovalev” but I was never afraid of him, or anyone. Unfortunately, with the whole Beterbiev situation…well it was a big fight but the way some of the things was presented to me, the contracts etc. was weird. You know with these fights a proper training camp needs to be set up. But there were three different dates at one point, then there were contracts submitted that if the investors backed out then the dates and/or venues could change. It was like they were purposely doing everything they could to get me to say no to the fight. But, at the end of the day I am ready and willing to fight anybody! Anything that is going to help me advance to a title in my career, I am willing to do it.

P4P: Last but not least, would you like to make a prediction or let the fans know what they can expect to see from you against Parker this weekend?

SB: One of the biggest things I have learned, and I learned this in the Andre Ward fight, that with a knockout you have to be patient and let it come. I was so anxious to get ahold of Ward that night and my game plan just went out the window. My main objective in this fight is to execute the things we have worked on in the gym and give the fans in attendance and the TV audience a performance that will make them want to see me in the ring again.

Sullivan Barrera vs. Paul Parker is a 10-round light heavyweight bout presented by Main Events and Mohegan Sun as part of the Mohegan Sun’s Rising Stars Boxing Series. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. ET. The HBO Latino Boxing telecast begins at 11:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) with a ten-round middleweight match-up between Arif “The Predator” Magomedov and Elias “Latin Kid” Espadas. Tickets, which are priced at $50 and $75, are available now through Ticketmaster, the Mohegan Sun box office or the Main Events’ office. The card is presented by Main Events in association with Shamo Boxing and A&T Events and Promotions.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad

Monday, April 10th, 2017

By William Trillo

Yeah, it’s a corny line out of an old Meatloaf song but if you are boxing manager Egis Klimis you might want to add this tune to your car Karaoke repertoire. After watching HBO Boxing’s Saturday night show featuring three of his fighters it’s clear to me Klimis has two firecrackers and a big dud. Now if you are a handicapper going to Las Vegas for some Boxing Betting action going 2 for 3 is pretty darn good, so it’s not a loss for Klimis, but if you are looking to hit the Trifecta…. Think again.

WBO Super Featherweight Champion Vasyl Lomachenko is without a doubt boxings Pound-4-Pound king right now. His victory over Jason Sosa was once again nothing short of spectacular. This guy is in a league all his own. It’s very hard for me to imagine that anyone in his division stands a chance to defeat him. That being said I still have to chuckle when I think about Orlando Salido using that Smoke and Mirror trick at the scales to his advantage and handing Lomachenko his first and only loss.

When someone asks me what kind of fighter do I like to watch the most I will direct them to video of NABF Light Heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk decimating Yunieski Gonzalez inside of three rounds. My expectation is that Gvozdyk will soon be taking the 175 division by storm. I’d like to see him head to Montreal and take on whichever light heavy dares to step into the ring with him. Beterbiev, Pascal and Adonis would have their respective hands full with this contender. On second thought…take the name of Adonis off the list. “Superman” would rather take his chances with a dose of Kryptonite than face this beast.

The first time I saw WBO Cruiserweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk was in Los Angeles last year at The Fabulous Forum. To say I was less than impressed would be an understatement. In fact, here are but a few snippet highlights of my thoughts after that fight:

…he showed less than world class talent…
…awkward if not downright clumsy…
… looked less than pedestrian….
…He has a very short shelf life….

After his decision victory over Michael Hunter this past weekend I haven’t changed my tune one bit. The big southpaw with two left feet is a true specimen of health but once he gets into the ring with someone who can crack his career will end abruptly.

Now don’t be sad.

Why?

‘Cuz two out of three ain’t bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4cb9BHpdhE

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.