July 1st, 2009, 9:04 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 It must have been the most violent attack ever perpetrated on another person.
What Will.i.am’s manager, Polo Molina, alledgely did to celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton was the most heinous act that has ever been done to another human being, at least according to Hilton.
The horrific beatdown, which was touched off by several verbal confrontations between Fergie and Will.i.am, took place outside the MuchMusic Awards on Sunday night in Toronto.
The sum total of all the gruesome damage inflicted on Hilton was barely a shiner under his right eye. That’s right, the Black Eyed Peas gave Perez Hilton … wait for it … a black eye.
One would have thought a massacre had taken place if you had seen Hilton’s video blog. Hilton’s video blog might have been the single funniest post-fight interview I have ever seen. Forget funniest, it’s the greatest post-fight interview of all time.
I just kept thinking what if a fighter said some of the things Hilton was saying in a post-fight interview with say the UFC’s Joe Rogan. So I inserted some Perez Hilton quotes in for some fighters.
Wanderlei Silva after bing knocked out by a Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic head kick in Pride’s 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix:
“If you are a victim of violence, speak out, because no one deserves that. Violence is never the answer.”
Frank Shamrock after getting TKO’d by Nick Diaz at “Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz”:
“I am still in shock. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
Tito Ortiz following his third-round TKO loss to Chuck Liddell in their rematch at UFC 66:
“So when the police are taking their time and not coming, and I’m freaking out, I took to Twitter, because I was in shock and I felt helpless. And that was my very public cry for help. And to all of those people who expressed concern and called the police … thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, because I am a human being and no one deserves to be treated that way.”
B.J. Penn to Georges St. Pierre after losing a split decision in their first fight at UFC 58:
“Shame on you. God is looking down on you and shaming you.”
Junie Browning after getting choked out by Cole Miller at UFC Fight Night 18:
“I may not make everybody happy or proud, but I would never hurt someone like that. And I did not deserve what happened to me.”
Those are just some of the gems, but check out the king of post-fight interviews in action right here:
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July 1st, 2009, 7:24 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar were on a conference call earlier today talking about their upcoming showdown for the UFC heavyweight championship belt at UFC 100 on July 11 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Here is what Mir had to say about his improving boxing skills:
“The boxing thing,” Mir said, “I’ve really fallen in love with it because I’ve realized that out of all the different arts, technique is probably the most important in boxing. … It’s funny cause once you hit a certain level with technique and training, you have not these little tiny developments but these huge bursts, like, ‘Wow, I just learned how to do 15 different things better right now.’
“Every time I go, like last night I remember I was throwing, for example, a certain punch and all of a sudden it just clicked on how I was rotating my hips and throwing the punch and relaxing. After I made contact, I noticed I was stiffening up after shots. It’s something I’ve always done … but it never clicked. All of a sudden, last night after I threw a punch, I was extremely relaxed, not just before the strike … but after the strike.
“That’s the thing about boxing; there are just so many details. How you put your toe on the ground affects the punch. You can’t ever, ever actually master it. It seems like the more you do it, the better you get at it and you have these breakthroughs.”
Here is a video of one of Mir’s recent training session:
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July 1st, 2009, 7:17 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 Former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar has taken a lot of shots from critics, many of whom didn’t like his quick ascension in the UFC.
Lesnar silenced many of those critics with his thorough domination of Randy Couture to capture the UFC’s linear heavyweight championship.
Lesnar gets a chance to avenge his lone loss when he faces Frank Mir at UFC 100 on July 11 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on pay-per-view.
“I don’t go around looking for any respect,” Lesnar said. “I just try to get in and do my job. I guess the main thing is I enjoy what I’m doing. I got the best job in the world, I think. It’s great. I get paid to train, paid to fight. I’m home with my family every night. There’s four million people without jobs right now. I’m lucky and feel very fortunate. There’s going to be critics out there and there’s going to be jealous people. There’s going to be people who want to be your friends. No, I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks.”
Count Mir among those who consider Lesnar nothing more than a hired gun. Mir told MMAWeekly.com he fights for the love of the sport and the competition, while Lesnar is only in MMA because of the money.
“He has his desires to fight, and I’ve got mine,” Lesnar said. “I truly love what I’m doing. It just so happens that I get paid a lot more money than he does. At the end of the day, whoever’s happy, that’s his prerogative. I’m happy with the way I’m doing it. Hopefully he’s happy with the way he’s doing it.”
NOTES
Undefeated heavyweights Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez will meet at UFC 104 on Oct. 24 at Staples Center, Sherdog.com confirmed on Wednesday. Carwin recently returned to training after suffering a broken nose in his kayo victory over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96 in March. …
Nonito Donaire headlines Top Rank’s “Pinoy Power 2″ pay-per-view on Aug. 15 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Donaire takes on Rafael Concepcion for the interim WBA super-flyweight title. In the semi-main event, WBO featherweight champion Stevie Luevano faces Bernabe Concepcion. …
At a “Pinoy Power 2″ news conference on Wednesday in Las Vegas, Donaire said he was totally crushed by the loss of Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello.
“I have a complete collection of Alexis’ boxing videos, every one of his big fights,” Donaire said. “That’s how I learned to throw a hook, by watching the way Alexis did it on video, while at the same time watching how he carried himself in and out of the ring. He really was a true gentleman and that is how I try to behave at all times.” …
Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan moves up in weight to challenge IBF bantamweight champion Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko on July 11 at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. Fla., on Showtime.
“I’ve seen Agbeko’s fights and they don’t impress me,” Darchinyan said on a conference call. “You will see, nothing compares to my power. I will knock him out with my power. I can open my jaw and let him punch it and he still won’t hurt me.” …
Marcos Maidana and Victor Ortiz put on a fight of the year candidate with their five-knockdown slugfest on Saturday night at Staples center. Maidana scored a stunning sixth-round TKO, but Ortiz stunned many with his post-fight comments such as “I’m not going out on my back” and “I’d rather stop while I’m ahead” and “I’m young, but I don’t think I deserve to get beat up like this.” The talented 22-year-old was obviously emotional after such a tough loss.
“I take full responsibility for my mistakes and actions, but I didn’t mean what I said,” Ortiz said in a statement on Tuesday. “I am young, have things to learn and I guarantee you, I will be a world champion. Mark my words … just watch me.” …
The cast of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10″ will be revealed at UFC Fan Expo on July 10 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. It has already been announced that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson of Irvine and Rashad Evans will be the coaches and UFC president Dana White announced on his blog that Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson would be among the heavyweights vying for a UFC contract. …
MMA continues to make strides in its main stream appeal. The latest issue of Rolling Stone with the Jonas Brothers on the cover features a two-page spead for Gatorade’s “G” campaign featuring UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. …
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June 28th, 2009, 6:45 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 I was absolutely stunned by what I saw Marcos Maidana and Victor Ortiz do to each other in the ring on Saturday night at Staples Center.
The five-knockdown slugfest was unbelievable from start to finish. Maidana was overlooked throughout the entire promotion and he turned Ortiz’s showcase into his own coming out party with his sixth-round TKO victory.
It was one of the most exciting fights I have ever seen, but the ending was totally confusing. Now, it didn’t help that we had crazy Argentinian fans bum rushing the ring at the end of the fight trying to celebrate but almost igniting some beatings from security. It was a tad chaotic. I made my trek from L.A. to the O.C. very quickly following the post-fight news conference, so I could watch the HBO telecast.
Fighters are a different brand of human being. All the training, sparring, road work and punishment they have to take just to get ready for a fight is one thing. But then to actually step into the ring with another fighter whose sole desire is to disconnect you from consciousness takes a different brand of human.
That’s why I am completely baffled by Ortiz and how the fight ended. Ortiz went from battling like a true warrior to quitting. I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. He was giving every ounce of blood and sweat he had one moment and the next moment he checked out and decided he had enough.
Now, Ortiz supporters will say Dr. Paul Wallace was the one who stopped the fight because of the severe cut on Ortiz’s right eyelid and his rapidly closing left eye.
But Ortiz had already made the decision after being knocked down for the second time in the fight in the sixth round. As he got back to his feet he made a motion to referee Raul Caiz Sr. pointing to his eye. When the ringside doctor took a look at his badly damaged face he called off the fight.
Ortiz’s reaction was the reaction of a normal human being, but not that of a fighter. A fighter gets up, looks the referee dead in the eye and dares him to even think about stopping the fight because he is getting back in there to inflict some damage of his own. His eyeball might be hanging out of its socket, but he’s going to keep fighting. If the referee does stop it, a fighter goes bezerk in the ring shouting protests as if he were just dishonored by the referee or doctor, who are only trying save him from himself.
“I was hurt,” Ortiz told HBO’s Max Kellerman in his post-fight interview. “I’m not going to go out on my back. I’m not going to lay down for nobody. I’d rather just stop while I’m ahead and that way I can speak well when I’m older.”
Read the rest of this entry »
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June 28th, 2009, 3:54 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 O.C. Register staff writer Damian Calhoun, a.k.a D.C. the guest blogger, was back to blog about the Victor Ortiz-Marcos Maidana card. D.C. is always up for free food and a spot on press row for the fights.
Welcome to another edition of my live (or not-so live) boxing blog.
This time I’m here at Staples Center for the Victor Ortiz-Marcos Maidana fight.
The last time I was here was in January when Shane Mosley laid a whooping on Antonio Margarito, plastered hands and all.
Ortiz is being billed as the next young superstar. He’s legit. However, Marcos Maidana is tough with 24 KO’s in 26 fights.
The doors have opened and the fans are starting to arrive. Carlos Arias hasn’t … maybe he’s waiting for his intro from Michael Buffer.
We need a camera focused on Harold Lederman
Harold Lederman is walking around, now he’s standing. Now he’s sitting. Now he’s up walking again. He just took a walk around the ring and now he’s back in his seat. It amazes me that with all of the shows HBO has come up with no one has ever thought of a day with Harold Lederman.
There are a lot of losses in the ring
First fight of the night has Sergio De La Torre against Jaime Orrantia in a junior middleweight fight. De La Torre is 11-11-2 and Orrantia is 11-23-4!!! They must do it for the love. Anyway, someone is getting that magical No. 12 victory.
Still stuck on No. 11
The horror…. This fight has been declared a majority draw. The fans are booing. The crowd gave Orrantia and De La Torre a good ovation as the final bell sounded. Orrantia suffered a nasty cut over his left eye (all cuts are nasty to me) in the fourth round. One judge had it 39-37 and the two other judges scored it 38-38. When’s the rematch?
5 p.m.
Where are the fans? Where’s Carlos?
There are a lot of empty seats here. Is this a Clippers game? The upper level of seats is empty. Even the majority of the floor seats to my left are empty. Meanwhile, the next pair of fighters has made it to the ring.
Cool Willie vs. The Problem
“Cool” Willie Kickett is set to meet Adrien “The Problem” Broner. These guys are winners. Kickett is 15-1, Broner is 9-0. Kickett is from Perth, Australia, Broner is from the ‘Nati. This is scheduled for eight rounds in the Lightweight Division.
Carlos has arrived
And he is sitting in the front row. That’s why he’s him and you’re you.
Read the rest of this entry »
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June 27th, 2009, 5:31 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 LOS ANGELES — Marcos Maidana spoiled Victor Ortiz’s coming out party, winning a thrilling slugfest to capture the interim WBA super-lightweight championship on Saturday night at Staples Center.
Ortiz is one of Golden Boy Promotions’ prized prospects and came into the fight with a lot of hype. Obviously, he was the focus of the entire promotion and Maidana was just a footnote.
But Maidana, who was making his U.S. debut, made himself known to the boxing world with his stunning sixth-round TKO victory over Ortiz.
It was a fight that featured five knockdowns. Nearly every punch that was thrown had evil intentions on it as both fighters swang for the fences from the opening bell.
“I went down, but I got up with all my heart,” Maidana said. “I saw Victor felt my punches and I said I know I’m going to win this fight.”
“He is a very experienced veteran,” Ortiz said. “He packs some power in those punches.”
Maidana threw wild looping punches with his entire body weight behind every shot. Ortiz was the more technically sound fighter, but he abandoned a patient attack and chose to trade with the dangerous Argentinian.
The first round was a candidate for round of the year as both fighters tasted the canvas. Ortiz dropped Maidana to one knee with a right hook. Maidana picked himself off the canvas and unloaded a right hand that floored Ortiz. Ortiz was in big time trouble, wobbling around the ring and fighting for his life.
It looked like Maidana was going to continue his assault in the second round, but Ortiz seemed to thrive under the pressure. A left hook buckled Ortiz’s legs before Ortiz answered with a huge right that leveled Maidana. Ortiz swarmed Maidana and he went down under a barrage of punches in the closing seconds of the round.
Both fighters managed to remain upright in the third, fourth and fifth rounds even though they continued to take turns landing one devastating shot after the other.
The fifth round featured the best exchanges of the fight and Maidana was getting the best of them.
Ortiz had a cut on his right eyelid after the fifth round and things got even worse in the sixth. Maidana connected a right hand to the left side of Ortiz’s face in the opening seconds of the sixth round. Ortiz’s left eye swelled up immediately and Maidana continued to batter Ortiz until a left hook to the body finally put Ortiz down.
Referee Raul Caiz Sr. had the ringside doctor take a look at Ortiz’s and he advised Caiz to stop the fight. Ortiz was ahead by three points on all three of the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage.
“I came out with everything to finish him in that last round,” Maidana said.
Maidana, of Santa Fe, Argentina, upped his record to 26-1 with 25 KOs. Ortiz, of Oxnard, dropped to 24-2-1 with 19 KOs with the loss.
Read the rest of this entry »
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June 26th, 2009, 6:47 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 “The Ultimate Fighter 9″ welterweight winner James Wilks of Laguna Hills will be making an appearance at Nutri Stop at The Commons shopping center in Irvine from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday.
The first 100 guests will receive a free t-shirt and there will be $1,000 in giveaways throughout the event.
Nutri Stop is located at 8681 Irvine Center Drive in Irvine. Call (949) 753-1211 for more information.
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June 26th, 2009, 5:58 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
OCRegister.com videographer Jonathan Khamis was at the weigh-ins earlier today for Saturday night’s HBO “Boxing After Dark” card at Staples Center.
Here is what La Habra’s Enrique Ornelas had to say about his fight against Willis Lockett on the undercard:
Here is what Darnell Boone, who had some unique footwear, had to say about his fight against unbeaten Craig McEwan:
Here is “Vicious” Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana, who meet in the main event for the interim WBA super-lightweight championship, making weight:
Related Links:
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June 26th, 2009, 5:46 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 LOS ANGELES — “Vicious” Victor Ortiz of Oxnard has been getting the star treatment all week leading up to his first world-title fight on HBO Saturday night at Staples Center.
Ortiz is Golden Boy Promotions’ prized prospect and this is supposed to be his big showcase. Oscar De La Hoya has been hyping Ortiz as the next big thing in boxing in all of his interviews. HBO has been running a “Meet Victor Ortiz” video on its website for weeks.
But what is getting lost in the mix is Ortiz is about to step into the ring against a vicious punching machine named Marcos Rene Maidana.
Ortiz is obviously getting all of the attention heading into the fight, but there is a real possibility that the ultra-aggressive Maidana could win the fight because he is such a devastating puncher.
So who is Maidana?
Maidana grew up in a small town called Margarita in the countryside of Argentina located 30 miles away from Argentinian legend Carlos Monzon’s hometown of Santa Fe. Maidana is one of eight siblings. He said his parents didn’t have a lot of money, but they always had a lot of love.
 “It’s a very little town with about 5,000 people living there,” Maidana said. “It’s very easy going and peaceful country town. My father was a caretaker of a hacienda. It was a huge place with a lot of animals. I was actually born there, not at a hospital but at the hacienda.”
Maidana was always an active kid, but he never played organized sports. He was passing the local boxing gym one day when he was 15 years old and he decided to take a peek at what was going on in there.
“I was curious,” he said. “I took a look. There were people boxing in there, so I said, ‘What the hell? I’ll give it a try.’ In one week I was already fighting. I won my very first fight by knockout in the first round. The trainer at the time was in love with me and he said I could make a career out of boxing. So I started boxing for the barrios or neighborhood championship.”
So where did this knack for boxing come from?
“I can’t answer that,” he said. “It’s just in my blood. It’s natural. It’s instinct.”
Maidana said he didn’t really have any heroes or fighters that he looked up to when he was growing up.
“I didn’t really watch any fighters because we didn’t have a TV,” Maidana said. “Of course, I knew about Carlos Monzon because he is such a huge icon in my province and in my state, but I can honestly say I don’t get any instincts from other fighters.”
Within two years he made Argentina’s national team. He won national titles in 2002 and 2003 and he was a quarterfinalist in the 2003 World Championships. He just missed qualifying for the 2004 Olympics, losing a close decision to eventual U.S. Olympian Rock Allen in a qualifying tournament.
“A lot of people were telling me that my style was tailor-made for the professionals,” Maidana said. “But in Argentina there is a regulation that says you cannot turn pro until you are 20 years old.”
Maidana, 25, turned pro in 2004 and knocked out the first nine opponents he faced. Maidana has compiled a record of 25-1 with 24 KOs, including 10 first-round knockouts. Only five of his opponents have made it out of the third round with him.
“The only thing that matters to me,” Maidana said of his style, “is to hit my opponent and do whatever it takes to knock him out.”
Maidana is coming off a controversial 12-round split decision loss to WBA 140-pound champion Andreas Kotelnik in Germany four months ago.
“I don’t think I really lost that fight,” Maidana said. “That fight made me even more hungry for this one. I’m hungry to become a world champion this time. There is no room for me to waste this opportunity.”
Once again he is fighting in the other guy’s hometown with the interim WBA super-lightweight title on the line. Maidana said he plans to take the verdict out of the judges’ hands this time.
“I think it’s going to be a great fight,” Maidana said, “but it’s going to be a very very short fight.”
 VICTOR ORTIZ VS. MARCOS MAIDANA
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Where: Staples Center
TV: HBO, 10 p.m. (tape delayed)
Outlook: Ortiz (24-1-1, 19 KOs), of Oxnard, gets his first crack at a world title when he takes on Argentina’s Marcos Maidana (25-1, 24 KOs) for the interim WBA super-lightweight title.
Undercard: Middleweight Craig McEwan (15-0, 9 KOs) of Edinburgh, Scotland, vs. Darnell Boone (16-10-2, 6 KOs) of Youngstown, Ohio; super-featherweight Mike Perez (2-0-1, 2 KOs) of Newark, N.J., vs. Thomas Herrera (2-1-1) of Tucson, Ariz.; super-featherweight Adrien Broner (9-0, 6 KOs) of Cincinnati, Ohio, vs. William Kickett (15-1, 5 KOs) of Belga, Australia; middleweight Enrique Ornelas (28-5, 18 KOs) of La Habra vs. Willis Lockett (12-8-5, 5 KOs) of Tacoma Park, Md.; and featherweight Juan Velasquez (9-0, 5 KOs) of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, vs. Fernando Quintero (7-1-1) of Oxnard.
Tickets: Call 800-745-3000 or go online at ticketmaster.com for tickets ($25-$200).
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BIG JOE MIRANDA/FIGHTNEWS.COM
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June 26th, 2009, 4:01 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley (3-0) will lock horns with former K-1 and Pride superstar Bob “The Beast” Sapp (10-4-1) in the super-heavyweight main event of the “Ultimate Chaos” pay-per-view card on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Ms.
In the co-main event, Dutch KO artist Gilbert Yvel (35-13-1) goes up against three-time UFC heavyweight title-challenger Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo (16-8).
Here are the other bouts on the card: TUF 4 veteran Din Thomas (24-8) faces former King of the Cage lightweight champion Javier Vasquez (12-2); former IFL lightweight champion Chris Horodecki (12-1) takes on William Sriyapai (12-4); Affliction veteran Brett Cooper (9-4) vs. Waachim Spirit Wolf (5-4); Affliction vice-president Tom Atencio (1-0) gets in the cage against lightweight Randy Hedderick (0-0); welterweight Colin McKee (3-2) vs. Lance Thomson (4-2); two-time All-American wrestler and NCAA boxing champion Eric Bradley (2-1) vs. Kelly Leo (5-0).
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June 26th, 2009, 3:06 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 Donald Cerrone will take on Ben Henderson for the interim WEC lightweight championship at WEC 43 in September, Cerrone confirmed to mmamania.com on Thursday.
Cerrone (10-1) was supposed to face WEC 155-pound champion Jamie Varner in a rematch, but Varner’s hand injury is keeping him from defending the title. The site and date have yet to be determined.
Cerrone lost to Varner via technical decision at WEC 38 in January when the bout cam to a premature end because of an illegal knee by Cerrone. Cerrone came back with a first-round submission of James Krause at WEC 41.
Henderson (9-1) is coming off a second-round TKO over Shane Roller at WEC 40.
Posted in: MMA • WEC | Post a Comment »
June 24th, 2009, 8:32 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
 There is a lot going on in the super-lightweight division.
Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s reigning pound-for-pound king, demolished Ricky Hatton inside of two rounds to stake his claim as the top fighter at 140 pounds.
Young guns Victor Ortiz of Oxnard and Marcos Maidana of Argentina will scrap for the interim WBA super-lightweight title on Saturday night at Staples Center on HBO.
And Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley of Palm Springs will face the toughest challenge of his young career when he defends his WBO 140-pound title against former unified lightweight champion Nate Campbell on Aug. 1 at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage on Showtime.
“I never really imagined winning two world titles in less than one year,” Bradley said at a news conference in Pasadena on Wednesday. “I just think I’m on the fast track. I’m on the fast track right now and I don’t know what’s going on. All I know is that I want to fight the best fighters. I tell my promoters to put them in front of me and I’m beating them. That’s all I know.”
Bradley stunned the boxing world, but not those who followed him as he worked his way up the ranks fighting on Thompson Boxing Promotions’ cards at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario or at Omega Products International in Norco, when he went to England to upset Junior Witter and claim the WBC super-lightweight title on May 10, 2008. Bradley completely outclassed Edner Cherry in his first title defense on Sept. 13. He earned a hard-fought unanimous decision over Kendall Holt to unify the WBC and WBO titles.
“I just believed in myself and believed in my abilities and believed that I was ready,” Bradley said of his fight against Witter. “This was my chance to shine and I was ready. Stepping into that ring, I just went into the ring like I was the big dog, like I was the champion. That was the mental stand point that I had going into that fight. It didn’t matter about the boos. It didn’t matter about anything. All that mattered was he was going to have to deal with me that night when I get into the ring.”
In Campbell, Bradley will be facing the most experienced and craftiest fighter of his career. Bradley calls Campbell “the Bernard Hopkins of the lower weights.”
“I know his style,” Bradley said. “He is rugged. I’m rough in there too. He uses different tactics. He can bang in there. He can move and box. He can use angles. He’s very clever in the ring. But I’m very clever as well.”
NOTES
The rematch between WBA featherweight champion Chris John and Rocky Juarez was supposed to be the co-feature on the Victor Ortiz-Marcos Maidana card on Saturday night at Staples Center, but John contracted some kind of blood illness and was unable to fight, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told FightNews.com. John tried to work through it, but he collapsed during a sparring session on Saturday and it became apparent he would not be able to fight this weekend. …
The six-bout card at Staples Center starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The HBO telecast is tape-delayed at 10 p.m. La Habra’s Enrique Ornelas, who is coming off a split decision loss to Marco Antonio Rubio in a WBC middleweight eliminator, is looking to get back on track when he takes on Willis Lockett on the Ortiz-Maidana undercard. Go online at ticketmaster.com for tickets ($25-$200). …
Nate Quarry, Leonard Garcia and Brett Cooper will be the guests on “Inside MMA” on Friday at 6 p.m. on HDNet. …
“In This Corner: Featuring Eddie Alvarez” debuts on Friday at 7 p.m. on HDNet. The show follows Alvarez’s rise to stardom during the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix, including his fights against Andre Amade, Joachim Hansen and Tatsuya Kawajiri. …
PHOTO COURTESY OF BIG JOE MIRANDA/FIGHTNEWS.COM
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June 24th, 2009, 8:18 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
PASADENA — One would have thought Nate “The Galaxxy Warrior” Campbell was radioactive the way fighters and promoters fled from him following his split decision victory over Juan Diaz to capture the IBF, WBA and WBO lightweight titles last year in Cancun, Mexico.
None of the top 135-pounders wanted anything to do with the Campbell, 37, a veteran of 39 fights and probably the most ring savvy and craftiest fighters in the lower weight classes.
When Campbell finally did get a fight 11 months after his triumph over Ali Funeka, he failed to make weight and lost his titles on the scales when he failed to make weight. He did win a majority decision over Funeka.
But Campbell finds himself back in the spotlight with a major fight when WBO super-lightweight champion Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, 25, of Palm Springs chose to test himself and defend his belt against Campbell.
The fight is scheduled for Aug. 1 at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage and it will be televised by Showtime. Both fighters were at The Langham, Huntington Hotel and Spa on Wednesday to promote the fight.
Here is an interview with Campbell following the news conference:
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June 24th, 2009, 7:31 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
PASADENA — WBO super-lightweight champion Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley of Palm Springs gets a chance to fight in front of his hometown fans when he defends his belt against former unified lightweight champion Nate Campbell on Aug. 1 at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage on Showtime.
Bradley and Campbell were at the Langham, Huntington Hotel and Spa for a news conference to promote their fight.
Here is my interview with Bradley after the news conference:
On beating Junior Witter in England to capture the WBC super-lightweight title:
“I just believed in myself and believed in my abilities and believed that I was ready. This was my chance to shine and I was ready. Stepping into that ring, I just went into the ring like I was the big dog, like I was the champion. That was the mental stand point that I had going into that fight. It didn’t matter about the boos. It didn’t matter about anything. All that mattered was he was going to have to deal with me that night when I get into the ring.”
On the possibility of fighting Manny Pacquiao in the future:
“I’ve been crying for a Manny Pacquiao fight. Everybody want to fight Manny Pacquiao, but he’s at my weight, 140 pounds. You got 147-pounders calling out Pacquiao because they going for the money. It’s not more or less the money for me. It’s more or less that I want to be the best fighter in my weight class … No. 1. There are too many world champions. I tried to capture the WBO, the WBC, I wanted to go after the WBA. But now I’m learning it’s a little different in boxing now. It’s not like it used to be when Mike Tyson was the undisputed champion. The older fighters there was only one champion. Now there is just too many. I want to be the reigning star at 140 pounds in the world. In order for me to get there I have to beat guys like Nate Campbell and hopefully get a chance to fight Manny Pacquiao who they consider is the king at 140. He beat Ricky Hatton, so he is the king at 140 hands down.”
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June 24th, 2009, 5:45 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
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June 23rd, 2009, 8:20 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
Former WEC lightweight champion “Razor” Rob McCullough of Huntington Beach checks in with his latest video blog after a training session on Tuesday afternoon at H.B. Ultimate Training Center.
Posted in: MMA • Videos • WEC | 2 Comments »
June 23rd, 2009, 8:09 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
Eddie Alvarez completely outclassed Toby Imada to take the Bellator lightweight title and Hector Lombard turned Jared Hess into a bloody mess en route to claiming the Bellator middleweight title at Bellator XII on Friday in Florida.
Here is Alvarez finishing off Imada:
Here is Lombard’s bloody victory over Hess:
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June 23rd, 2009, 7:05 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
I had never heard of Argentina’s Marcos Rene Maidana when it was announced that he would be fighting “Vicious” Victor Ortiz for the interim WBA super-lightweight title on Saturday night at Staples Center on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark.”
So I did some research, got on YouTube and looked up as many of his fights as I could find. I’m picking Ortiz to win, but this Maidana dude means business. This guy can bang and he is very aggressive. It should make for a great fight.
Maidana is 25-1 with 24 KOs. The lone blemish on his record came in his last fight when he dropped a split decision to WBA 140-pound champion Andriy Kotelnik on Feb. 7 in Germany. Maidana has fought nearly all of his fights in Germany or Argentina. This will be his U.S. debut when he takes on Ortiz.
Here is Maidana’s fight against Laszlo Komjathi from 2007 (Maidana had Komjathi down in the first and second rounds before stopping him in the third):
Here is “Matador” Maidana against Esmeraldo Jose Da Silva from 2008 (Check out the brutal lefts to the body he uses to set up his overhand rights):
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June 23rd, 2009, 6:35 pm by CARLOS ARIAS
I believe “Vicious” Victor Ortiz of Oxnard has the potential to be one of the next superstars in boxing. The kid is loaded with talent, has an exciting style of fighting and he is very personable.
So Cal fights fans should get out there and see Ortiz (24-1-1, 19 KOs) fight in person when he takes on Marcos Rene Maidana (25-1, 24 KOs) of Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the interim WBA super-lightweight on Saturday night at Staples Center.
Here are some of Ortiz’s greatest hits:
Here is a great video HBO put together on Ortiz, who had very tough childhood:
Posted in: Boxing • HBO BAD • Videos | 2 Comments »
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