Sweetchuck’s Word:
Marrone, Sam Peter, Sultan, Wright-Soliman
and Ruiz-Valuev

By Charles “Sweetchuck” Presnell

I would like to open this week’s edition by congratulating Michael Marrone for an excellent performance last night on the Warrior’s card in FL last night. For those of you who did not hear, Marrone knocked out Curtis Taylor (Kevin Montiy never stepped up claiming Don King would not allow him to take the fight) in the first round by landing a beautiful right at 2:06. Marrone outshined fellow prospect J. D. Chapman with some of the crowd yelling, “Marrone’s going to kill you!” during Chapman’s bout. I spoke to Gus Curren this morning and things are in the works for Michael to open up on ESPN on the undercard of the proposed match up of Oscar Diaz vs. Chris Smith. At twenty years old, Michael is being brought up right and not rushed into fights for a payday or by fighting only bums without a pulse. Next year we can expect more growing and developing Marrone into the next big star in the heavyweight division.

Also appearing last night was Sam Peter’s return to the ring. While I am a solid Peter supporter, I will have to say he did little to impress and show that he has solved the problems he has with guys who can box. Sam was not impressive as he failed to stop someone he knocked down in the first round. To be fair to Sam, he has fought a tough schedule this year. In the last 12 months he has fought six times. Perhaps a fight with Shannon Briggs can help give Sam more confidence if he can put another solid veteran on his resume. Then Sam would need to step back up to the major heavyweights because he is getting nowhere fast fighting the Robert Hawkins and Taurus Sykes type of fighters.

The best thing for Sam would be a break until March. Keep him in the gym working on cutting off the ring, jabbing to the chest and body (this will help him fighting against taller guys like Wlad as well as prevent as much hold) and getting his weight down to around 237. Better conditioning and improving those skills will help make Sam unstoppable. At that time put in him in with Shannon Briggs. Briggs is a safe fight for Peter because it’s one he can win ad give him confidence. Then a fight with another top heavyweight to bring him back into the title hunt.

Sultan Ibragimov continued his climb towards being a solid contender in the heavyweight division with his win over the man they used to call Goofi! The first time I saw Sultan fight, he destroyed Andy Sample. Indeed I was immediately impressed with the power of Ibragimov. Keep in mind, Ibragimov has fought five times this year and defeated Al Cole, Friday Ahunanya, and Lance Whitaker among the five fights. There isn’t much more he can do to prove that he is worthy of a step up to the big boys. Fights with guys like Sam Peter, Monte Barrett or DaVarryl Williamson should tell the boxing public exactly how much potential Sultan has with the heavyweights.

I was excited to see Sam Soliman be a live opponent for Winky Wright. Heck if this guy had a little more pop in his punch he may have won it. I personally had Winky ahead 115-113. I really do not think Taylor’s people are in a hurry to fight Winky Wright and Winky’s bad night will give them a reason not take the rematch right away. I think an HBO doubleheader is in order for Taylor and Wright before they clash because it will build the fight up. That is especially important since they both will want purses only PPV can generate.

Now onto this weekend’s heavyweight title fight. I will be honest with you. I am hoping Jawny Ruiz can somehow pull it off. Make no mistake, Jawny is probably one of the worst fighters to watch due to his Greco-Roman style of fighting. I can see Ruiz fighting mixed martial arts much easier than I can see him fighting. Nonetheless, I will cheer for a Ruiz victory because the chances of a heavyweight unification fight are higher with Ruiz as champ rather than Valuev, who would most likely stay in Germany defending the title against the European circuit and faded American fighters like Holyfield and McCall. I do look at this as a dreadful fight. I cannot see Valuev do anything but fight Jawny’s fight and most likely win a decision that probably should have gone to Ruiz. Ruiz will most likely have to knock out Valuev and unless he can drop Valuev, look for a new WBA champ.

The Mailbag:

This one was sent to Greg Leon’s Mailbag as well as Boxing2005’s!
Hey guys I just read the interview you guys did with Johnson (note this interview was not on Boxing2005 or any of it’s affiliates) and I don't think you have your questions right because I am ranked in the top 10 and my last fight might have moved me out but you need to give respect to those who deserve it and as far as I can see, it was Johnson who backed out of the fight with me because when I was offered the fight I did not hesitate when they told me who I would be fighting and it kills me to read that he will fight the best and I am one of the best in our division which me and Johnson have a lot in common...It would have been fight of the year too end 05...Well I am a little upset because I am one of the only fighters that I know that will take a fight on short notice and come to fight and be in shape at my young age of 41...I am currently a 5x World Champion Kick boxer and I know what it takes to stay focused and ready for anything...And there is so much talk about Julio Gonzalez which I fought and they say he is one of the best in the division I find that funny because when we fought I had a stomach virus and he could not hurt me on my sickest day, so and you say he is one of the best then I ask you if I had the fortune of a big Promoter behind me I would be one of the best also...Well I have said all that I can say I respect Johnson but I think that when it comes down to it Roy gave him a shot, so I think if he is man enough I will get a shot at him... Happy Holidays
~ THE WARRIOR ~
Olando Rivera

Sweetchuck: Olando, please buddy feel free to sound off to us. Unless you’re a name, Leon is not on top of it. When I handed Leon interviews with Nonito Donaire and Michael Marrone, he snubbed them. The interviews were videos like he wants them to be as well. Leon is tight with fighters, all the way until they lose and look bad. To be fair to Leon, that’s how most boxing journalist are. I can tell you this, Boxing2005 never hides from the truth even if you were to say we are a terrible website. We welcome all fighters to come on here if they want their voice heard. Not to mention, we were the first to confirm Klitschko-Rahman being off, get statements for Sulliman about Toney’s number one ranking, as well as scooping everyone twice this week with the confirmation of Gilbert-Lange 2 and the Tarver-Hopkins talks. Boxing 2006 is going to be the hottest website in cyberspace and REMEMBER WHERE YOU HEARD THAT FIRST!

Charles, What the HELL!!?!?! I saw a picture of Ruiz standing next to Valuev and thought it was photoshopped picture. That man is HUMONGOUS! His freaking FIST is the size of Ruiz's HEAD! I don't even want to be in the zip code when Ruiz gets hit. The shockwaves will find its way all the way to Spokane, and knock me out of my chair, to be sure. Does Ruiz have a chance against this guy? He's never really showed much power, and he's always been one to hold and slow down the fight. I'm almost afraid for the big Russian to lay into Ruiz. He may be gone for GOOD after this fight. Gary in Spokane

Sweetchuck: Yeah Gary, Jawny’s chances don’t look too good. While I would rather watch Ruiz lose to Brewster, Jawny will probably not leave Germany with the title. I do expect this fight to go the distance because Valuev has not shown devastating punching power. Jawny’s biggest chance to with this fight would be to knock out the big Russian, but I don’t see that happening. Valuev wins another hometown decision and Jawny finally retires for good. Here’s to hoping Valuev fights Byrd next rather than “some guy” in Germany.

I doubt you can help at all, but I'll give it a shot. I'm interested in going to the Corrales/Castillo
rubbermatch in El Paso. The only thing is that I won't accept nothing less than ringside seats.
However, the closest I ever got to being ringside (via ticketmaster) is about 6 rows back and I had a plump
cameraman blocking my view. Since this is going to be a great fight, I want to be really, really close to the action. Are ringside seats even possible for the general public at all? I'd love to be sitting across from the cameraman so instead of blocking my view, he can film me with my new Boxing2006 t-shirt!!!
Anyways, I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. Thanks in advance for any info you can give me. Carlo

Sweetchuck: Carlo, Very few of the ringside seats will be available to the public. Several of them are reserved, nonetheless, some are available. I suggest not sitting on the floor. Take a look at the floor plans before choosing a seat so you can get a general idea of where the best seat in the house is. Good luck though in scoring the tickets, I would love to see that shirt on there. By the way, the shirts will be available early January.


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