Billy's Boxing Blog

By William Trillo

While discussing his upcoming battle with WBA Super Featherweight champ Gervonta Davis (20-0, 19 KO’s) Abner Mares (31-3-1, 15 KO’s) said, “I would like to make this statement: Gervonta Davis has been saying he sees this fight as a Floyd Mayweather vs. Aruro Gatti type of fight. He says this is when Mayweather graduated on that night by beating Gatti. He did get one thing right, I do have the Gatti heart , but he is no Floyd Mayweather, that’s all I have to say!

Not a bad way to fuel the fire for the upcoming February 9th grudge battle that will take place in Carson CA. Mares exudes the type of confidence that comes from a seasoned veteran who has held multiple world titles and fought the best out there. Make no mistake about it; this is a fight Mares feels he can use to prove the naysayers wrong.

When asked how he felt when he heard the fight was a go Mares stated, “Honestly I wasn’t surprised or shocked and the reason was simple…I asked for this fight, I was pushing for it, so when I got the call saying I got what I wanted I said “OK, good”. This is a fight where I am going to do a lot, meaning not just fight but provoke, and really enjoy myself.”

As to why Mares was adamant about this fight and was pressing to make it happen he said, “It was a challenge that I set for myself as an individual and an athlete. It’s a risky fight which will be so much more to savor. I look at it as a challenge. It’s a very big fight that I am going to get so much credit for taking. This is the kind of fight that I need to challenge myself with. It’s the kind of fight that will leave a legacy for my name. I could have taken an easier fight but right now those fights won’t present the type of challenge I am looking for at this stage of my career. I am extremely excited to have this fight in front of me.”

I felt it was only right to remind Mares that as far as his legacy goes that with fights with the likes of Yhonny Perez, Vic Darchinyan, Joseph Agbeko (twice) Daniel Ponce De Leon, just to name a few, that his legacy as a top performer was already sealed. Mares quipped, “Thank you that means a lot to me. Maybe it’s because I can do more as an athlete. I need to prove to myself and to the world what I am capable of doing. I still have only shown some of my boxing abilities and it’s a huge motivation for me and my coach to go out there and surprise the world by showing I can beat a faster younger fighter, because I have the tools. Some of my fights have not worked because of style matchups. This fight might give me some problems at the beginning but at the end of the day I will figure this guy out.”

I asked Mares if maybe Davis was buying into the hype and may be in for a surprise when he meets him in the ring. “Most definitely, said Mares, “ Once he steps into that ring he will see there is no time to play and that he is not in there with some C-level fighter, he will realize that real quick. Honestly, I love the fact he has the big hype and all the people around him right now claiming he is the next big star. I like that! It will be much more satisfying for me to show him that it’s going to take a lot more than quick hands to beat me. I am all about heart and hard work and I have been able to show that in all my fights.”

The fight will be held in Abner’s back yard and he understands the place will be filled with his fans to cheer him on that night. Mares noted “The building has sold out and they are adding more seats to the arena. I am just really happy to be performing amongst my people and my fans. And you know me, I always give a show. This will be another night that I am going to be able to please the crowd and give them great memories to talk about for years to come. I am that type of fighter that you will always remember as an exciting fighter.”

It’s true Mares has given us spectacular nights in both victory and defeat. His battle with Gervonta next month should prove to be another barnburner. And lest we forget, according to Mares he has the heart of “Thunder” Gatti and Davis is no “Pretty Boy Floyd”.

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

By William Trillo

As defined by Urbandictionary.com
Morally Bankrupt: Morally bankrupt is how you define a person or a group of people that have shown a regular history of making choices that are devoid of ethics and/or morals.

I’m going to be brief and to the point here as I direct this blog to the management and/or promoters of one Adrien “The Problem” Broner. The question for you is why are you still promoting this disrespectful bum allowing him to stuff his pockets full of undeserved dollars?

Let me be clear here, Broner made a mockery of your promotion and the system last week with his foul disrespectful mouth. On top of that he went into the ring Saturday night with no intention on winning. That was a pathetic performance at best.

Of course Adrien thinks he won. His plan worked to perfection. Go in there and stay away from any real battle for 12 rounds and collect a check. Trust me, go look at his chalkboard. You want find any plans drawn up on how to defeat Pacquiao and win the title on it.

But why would you expect anything different? In his last 7 fights he is 3-3-1. That is hardly the record of a fighter that should be collecting purses in PPV fights, yet you keep greasing his palms with sacks full of loot.

Both Al Bernstein and Jim Grey are well respected industry standards. They did not deserve the verbal venom that Broner spewed in their direction.

Broner’s entire act last week was embarrassing, disrespectful and without an ounce of dignity. By supporting him in any way you are no better than him. In fact, it makes you worse.

Answer me this. Why do you keep supporting fighters like this? Why don’t you put some sort of ethics clause in their contracts that would help deter this undignified behavior?

Better yet…do you think he is funny? Do you think he is right?

He isn’t and never well be.

Anything short of cutting this guy loose so we never have to see him grace another boxing card again is inexcusable.

Y’all parade yourselves around as if you are God’s gift to boxing yet you let dung like this permeate the sport with their foul mouthed rhetoric. It happens over and over again and 99% of the time there you are right smack dab in the middle of it supporting this very tired act.

It was clear from the day you started promoting that it was your intention to take over boxing. If taking over the sport means that you are going to allow fighters like Broner to run slipshod over an entire promotion then your idea of taking over is akin to flushing it down the toilet.

To put it simply, by allowing trash talking fighters to run amuck it is not Broner but rather you that is “The Problem”.

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

By William Trillo

If you came here looking for me to rip the freshly announced Canelo Alvarez vs. Daniel Jacobs title fight that will take place on Cinco de Mayo weekend you are in for a huge let down. Personally I think this is great news for boxing fans, it’s just what the doctored ordered.

The fact of the matter is the writing was clearly on the wall when Canelo stepped up in weight to challenge Rocky Fielding for his soon to be lost 168 pound title. No doubt Canelo’s promoter Golden Boy wanted to see how their top star would handle a much bigger man. As we know Canelo plowed through Fielding with the greatest of ease. No doubt as soon as Canelo passed this Litmus Test the powers that be started drawing up the plans for the announced Cinco De Mayo promotion.

In Jacobs, Canelo will be facing a fighter who not only gave Gennady Golovkin a run for his money before dropping a very close decision but was in the winning corner taking a hard fought Split Decision over a then undefeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Jacobs in no run of the mill contender and should prove to be a formidable challenge for Golden Boy’s superstar.

As far as Canelo goes, he is boxing’s undisputed top dog and will remain so until further notice.

In a world full of big mouth fighters whose words speak louder that their actions, it’s extremely refreshing to see fighters and their promoters step up to the plate to make the big fights happen. Hat’s off to Golden Boy and Matchroom for giving the fans a fight they have been clamoring for.

A fight of this magnitude should sell out in hours, assume tickets will be at a premium. Sponsors will be upping the ante for spots and PPV numbers should be off the charts. The money generated for this battle will be astronomical…like I said, Dollars & $ense!

I suppose the only question now is where the fight will take place. If you’re gonna put money on it the smart bet would be to lay it down on Las Vegas but with the success Canelo had with his Madison Square Garden debut and the fact that Jacobs is a New York native it wouldn’t come as a major shock to see the mega fight end up at MSG.

Whatever the case may be the fight is going to garner a huge amount of attention and rightly so. Canelo vs. Jacobs will be well worth the price of admission and will live up to all the hype coming our way. You can bank on that.

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

By William Trillo

As defined by Freedictionary.com: Handle with kid gloves
To handle with very gentle care, often to the point of coddling.

This weekend as I was going over the 2019 boxing schedule to get an idea of the fights we would be covering this year I came across a very disturbing development that so far is flying under the radar. Next month on the undercard of the Gervonta Davis vs Abner Mares title bout the promoter/ advisor or whatever the hell they are will be spotlighting their somewhat promising prospect Erickson Lubin. The opponent in the Semi-main event will be Ishe Smith.

Ishe Smith?

What…Jesse Brinkley wasn’t available? Have Joey Gilbert, Miguel Espino and Anthony Bonsante retired?

In Smith PBC is feeding Lubin a guy who has lost 5 of his last 9 fights and hasn’t chalked up a W since 2016. Not only is that pretty unimpressive but it once again shows this promoter is trying to pull another smoke and mirror job on the boxing public.

Not on my watch!

Look…long before Charlo exposed Lubin we told you he was far from the cream of the crop. That was back in July of 2016: “What Have We Learned?” By William Trillo

Now he is getting spoon fed a has been in the hopes of rehabilitating his tainted career. Good luck with that.

At best Smith was the fourth runner up in a TV boxing reality show that has long since been forgotten. Should Lubin beat him no one will really care if they notice at all.

My wish for 2019 was that promoters would finally pull their collective heads out and give us some decent fights this year. I guess some of them weren’t listening!

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

By William Trillo

Happy 2019 to all our faithful readers! No lists or Best of the year here. Just a response to our good friend Nick as we follow up on my Charlo thoughts. With that in mind Pound4Pound is hopeful that 2019 will bring us the fights that real fight fans want to see. Let’s see what Nick has to say:

Hi Billy,

You’re too funny, thanks so much for your words and I couldn’t agree with you more. I would like to see for 2019 Jermall vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko, (and I thought Greeks had long last names). Jacobs barely squeaked though that fight but credit to both fighters for a great show. If someone is willing to put on a good show I think many fans would like to see that fight.

Nick,

All my best to you and everyone in Montreal in 2019 Nick. You make a very good point. I’d love to see Charlo follow Jacobs lead and put it on the line against Derevyanchenko. But due to circumstances beyond our control we can pretty much assume the powers that be won’t let that fight come to fruition. After the Charlo (either one) performance at the end of 2018 it’s more likely that they will do a lot of gum bumping before stepping into the ring with yet another unworthy foe.

In a boxing world full of world class talent it’s a shame these guys just won’t step up and earn their shot at the big money fights. If we can hope for anything in 2019 it would be for ALL the top talent to square off against each other instead of floundering around taking on has beens and never were’s.

Let’s hope that boxing promoters around the globe have made it their New Year’s Resolution to make the big fights happen in 2019. It’s what the boxing fans deserve!

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