Frank Gonzalez is a boxing fan turned boxing writer

Frank Gonzalez is a boxing fan turned boxing writer. As a teenager he boxed at Jack's Gym in Brooklyn, where he grew up. He started a newsletter on campus when in college. Now a freelance writer, Gonzalez has joined the great columnist here at Inside Boxing. Enjoy Gonzalez' articles and commentary as he writes about his favorite sport, Boxing.

eMail: dshark87@hotmail.com

The Mayweather Pacquiao Debacle Debate By Frank Gonzalez

Jr.What kind of businessman boxer lets a 30 million dollar fight go down the drain (more)

Ali Funeka Beats Joan Guzman But gets Robbed in Quebec City

The 'Cobra' Beats 'The Matrix

Thank God for The Super Six Super Middleweight Tournament.


Klitschko Shines in KO Win Over Thompson
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: On Saturday at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg Germany, WBO #1 contender Tony Thompson (31-2, 19 KO’s) of the USA, fought IBF/IBO/WBO Heavyweight Champion, Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KO’s) for eleven tough rounds, scoring more punches against Klitschko than anyone I’ve seen and yet lost...More

“Witherspoon’s Corner Gets Him DQ’d After Third Round Pounding from Chris Arreola”
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

Reflecting on Mayweather’s Retirement

“Arthur Still King as he KO’s Miranda in Rematch”
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: If you remember the first time Edison “Pantera” Miranda (30-3, 26 KO’s) and “King” Arthur Abraham (27-0, 22 KO’s) fought (back in September of 2006 for the IBF Middleweight title), Miranda broke Abraham’s jaw and bullied him for most of the fight but lost a controversial decision because Miranda was penalized for a total of five points during the course of the fight. More
Favorites All Win On HBO’s Triple Header: HBO’s Boxing After Dark series featured three prospects in fights against three, “respectable opponents” Saturday night. First up was a Jr. Middleweight contest starring James Kirkland (22-0, 19 KO’s), who scored a first round KO over Eromosele Albert (22-1, 10 KO’s). Not much of a fight there. Albert came into the ring with a bulbous mound on the right side of his head that looked like he just got whacked upside the head with a hammer in the locker room. More

Being Unbeaten Is Over Rated: Friday night in Atlantic City N.J., formerly unbeaten Light Welterweight, Lanardo Tyner (19-1, 11 KO’s) saw his 0 go after stepping up and finally facing his first respectable opponent (in his 20th professional fight) against “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis (19-2-2, 9 KO’s). This 12 round fight was for the USBA Light Welterweight Title. Tyner had never been past ten rounds as most of his fights ended by early KO’s.
White Boy Beats Bernard Hopkins
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: Undisputed Super Middleweight (WBA/WBC/WBO) Champion, Joe Calzaghe (44-0, 32 KO’s) made his debut fight in the USA, as a Light Heavyweight Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, against America’s legendary, former undisputed Middleweight Champion and current (IBO/NBA, no, not basketball) Light Heavyweight Champion, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 KO’s). More
After Bogus Loss to Chad Dawson, Glen Johnson Speaks the Truth
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: Saturday night at the St. Pete’s Forum in Tampa Florida, WBC Light Heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (26-0-1 NC, 17 KO’s) defended his title against one of the toughest guys in all boxing, former IBF Light HW champ, Glen Johnson (47-12-2, 32 KO’s). More
Listening to Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr.: On ESPN’s Friday Night Fights this week, the guest fighter at the talk table with Robert Flores (not Brian Kinney) was Floyd Mayweather Jr., who recently (and appropriately) changed his nick name from “Pretty Boy” to “Money.” Floyd is a polarizing figure among fight fans—they either love him, or can’t stand him but no matter how you see him, he IS a great fighter. Floyd can sell PPV tickets because half the fans want to witness his greatness and the other half can’t wait to see him get knocked out. His brash arrogance resonates with the same fans who loved Roy Jones Jr. with blinding loyalty. More
Casamayor TKO’s Katsidis in Ten!
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: WBO Lightweight champ, Michael Katsidis (23-1, 20 KO’s) entered the ring at the Morongo Casino in Cabazon California wearing a Spartan helmet, a tattooed sun that takes up the whole of his back and an undefeated record. He’s known as a big puncher and he fights with an intensity fight fans love. More
Peter Pummels Maskaev in Six
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: Saturday night at the Plaza de Toros in Cancun Mexico, WBC Heavyweight Champion Oleg Maskaev (34-6, 26 KO’s) lost his title to the younger Sam Peter (30-1, 23 KO’s) after Peter delivered a series of power punches in the sixth round that forced Maskaev to cover up, get rocked a few times and ultimately be saved by the referee, who stepped between them and stopped the contest. More
Nate ‘Galaxy Warrior’ Campbell Gets His Due!
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: Congratulations to Nate “Galaxy Warrior” Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KO’s) who dethroned WBO/IBF/WBA Lightweight Champion, Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (33-1, 17 KO’s) at the Plaza de Toros in Cancun Mexico Saturday night. It was an exciting fight from start to finish, as Nate chose to go right after Diaz’ body and pressure him like no one ever has. It was a good strategy and Campbell proved to be the more accurate puncher of equal tenacity. More
Marquez vs. Vasquez III, the Great Rivalry Continues
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: It was a year ago that they met for the first time in the ring, Marquez was the WBC Champ then and after six brutal rounds, Marquez had broken Vasquez’ nose so badly that he couldn’t breathe, so he retired on his stool. Marquez got the win and they signed up for a rematch five months later, where Vasquez won by TKO 6 after the referee stopped the fight after Marquez was being hammered and not answering with punches. More
Wladimir Dominates Ibragimov with his Jab
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, Ukrainian Heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko (50-3, 44 KO’s) defended his IBF and IBO titles against Russian WBO champ, Sultan Ibragimov (22-1-1, 18 KO’s). Klitschko stood four inches taller on paper but looked a foot taller in the ring. Ibragimov earned his stripes beating former WBO champ Shannon Briggs...More
Pavlik vs. Taylor II at 166
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: Five months after Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29 KO’s) knocked out Jermain Taylor (27-2- 1 Draw, 17 KO’s) and captured his WBC and WBO Middleweight Titles; they met again Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Taylor got a chance to redeem himself and win back his pride if not his Titles, which were NOT on the menu for this rematch. More
Carlos Quintana Conquers Tall Paul Williams
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: Congratulations to the new WBO Welterweight Champion, Carlos “El Indio” Quintana (25-1, 19 KO’s), who challenged Paul “The Punisher” Williams (33-1, 24 KO’s) and came up big against the biggest, most feared fighter at Welterweight. More
Alex Povetkin Neuters Eddie Chambers
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: Congratulations to the still undefeated, newly deemed IBF top Heavyweight contender, Alexander Povetkin for a solid victory over “Fast” Eddie Chambers, a man with quick hands and quality boxing skills, who brought his undefeated record to the ring when they met Saturday night in Berlin Germany. Povetkin won a twelve round decision by scores of 117-111, 119-109 and 116-112. More
Friday Night Fighters: Edison “Pantera” Miranda (30-2, 26 KO’s) vs. The Contender’s David Banks (15-4-1, 2 KO’s) was the featured Main Event for FNF last night. More
Suggestions for 2008: 2007 will go down in the books as a good year. There were some better match ups and the rise of some up and comers that show lots of...More
Calzaghe Too Crafty For Kessler: Saturday night in Cardiff Wales, reigning WBO Super Middleweight Champion, Joe Calzaghe (44-0, 32 KO’s) treated his loyal hometown fans at the Cardiff Stadium to the toughest fight of his career, taking on the younger and arguably stronger, WBC Champion, Mikkel Kessler (39-1, 29 KO’s) of Denmark.; Once again, Joe Calzaghe proved he is the best fighter in his weight class as he used speedy hands, tricky ring generalship, toughness and a vast array of punches to tame the technically sound Mikkel Kessler during the course of 12 exciting rounds.
“Juan Diaz Silences Julio Diaz in Nine”: Julio “Kidd” Diaz’ (34-4, 25 KO’s) bark turned out to be bigger than his bit on Saturday night, where in Chicago, he finally got to fight WBA/WBO Champ Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (33-0, 17 KO’s). It was a RARE unifying title bout that would see the winner possesses three of the four major recognized title belts. More
McCline Drops Peter Three Times and Still Lost: The last time a Heavyweight got dropped three times in a big fight and won was when Wladimir Klitschko got dropped three times by Sam Peter but still out-boxed Peter and put enough rounds in the bank to win the fight. More
Pavlik Ends Taylor’s Reign as Middleweight Champion: Two undefeated fighters in their prime, facing each other for the Championship Title. Does it get better than this? And so history was made Saturday night in Atlantic City NJ, where Kelly Pavlik got battered and knocked down badly in the second round, but got up, survived the round, regained his legs and went on to win the fight by TKO in the seventh round when he knocked down Taylor who did NOT get up. More
Some Thoughts on Roy Jones Jr.: Its not that surprising that nobody cared much about the return of Roy Jones Jr. (51-4-0, 38 KO’s) and his fight against Anthony Hanshaw (21-1-1, 14 KO’s) that aired on PPV Saturday night, the same night HBO delighted fans with a -triple header of exciting and defining match ups.; I read a few articles about Jones vs. Hanshaw on the only real place for boxing news—the Internet. What really closed the door of interest about the Jones fight Saturday was that it was on Pay-Per-View. Why on Earth would anyone pay to see Roy Jones Jr. in a potentially boring fight, when they could catch three great fights for the price of subscription to HBO on cable TV? More
HBO’s Triple Header: Saturday night in Atlantic City, fan favorite and ripened legendary warrior, Arturo Gatti (40-9-0, 31 KO’s) came to the end point of his exciting career. His opponent, 26 year-old Alphonso Gomez (17-3, 8 KO’s), systematically picked him apart with aggression, jabbing and combination punching that proved more than Gatti (at 35 years old) could handle. With Mickey Ward in his corner as a trainer, it was a feel good situation that concluded in disaster. Not on account of Ward’s instructions but because Gatti simply could not keep up with Gomez, who always beat him to the punch and was able to take what few punches Gatti managed to land during the course of seven rounds. More
Nonito Donaire KO’s Darchinyan In Five: 7-7-7 didn’t turn out to be lucky numbers for Vic Darchinyan (28-1,22 KO’s) Saturday night in Connecticut, where he defended his Title against Nonito Donaire, the brother of a former beaten Darchinyan opponent, Glenn Donaire.; Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (18-1, 11 KO’s) had superior boxing skills and used his jab to keep Vic out of range and ineffective. Donaire repeatedly landed counter punches that were clean and hurting Darchinyan, who didn’t appear very strong against the bigger Donaire. More
Hatton Bodyshot KO’s Castillo In Four
By Frank Gonzalez
: Saturday night in Las Vegas, Ricky Hatton (43-0, 31 KO’s) entered the ring at the Thomas and Mack Center wearing a blue Mexican Sombrero; to face one of Mexico’s highly rated, former Champions, Jose Luis Castillo (55-8-1, 47 KO’s). Castillo is best remembered for his two fights against another fan favorite, (and now legendary) Diego Corrales, who was lost to us all after a motorcycle accident took him recently. Castillo also fought Floyd Mayweather twice, beating him the first time but losing the decision, then choking in the rematch, where Floyd dominated him. More
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.: In a WBC, 140-pound eliminator bout Saturday night in Las Vegas, former Welterweight Champion “Vicious” Vivian Harris (28-2-1, 18 KO’s) took on former Lightweight contender, Juan “The Hispanic Causing Panic” Lazcano (37-4-1, 27 KO’s) in a Welterweight fight that told a story of two fighters, one disciplined mentally and one who struggled to pay heed to his corner’s good advice. More

Sharkie"s Machine December 3, 2006

"Cotto Wrecks Quintana In Five"
December 3, 2006 - Saturday night, winter said hello with some icy wind on a cold, clear night, but inside the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City NJ, a heated battle was on the menu as former 140-pound World Champion, Miguel Cotto (28-0, 23 KO’s) of Caguas battled fellow Puerto Rican, Carlos Quintana (23-1, 18 KO’s) of Moca, for the vacant WBA Welterweight Title. More

Sharkie's machine november 11, 2006

"Klitschko KO’s Calvin Brock"

November 12, 2006 - Heavyweight Contender Calvin Brock brought his unbeaten record of 29-0, with 22 KO’s to Madison Square Garden Saturday night in hopes of winning a major Title and fulfilling his dream. The reigning IBF Champion Wladimir Klitschko (46-3, 41 KO’s) would be his biggest obstacle he ever faced. He was not ready. More

Sharkie’s Machine October 8, 2006
“Valuev Too Big For Barrett”

October 8, 2006 - Saturday night at the Allstate Arena by Chicago, Monte Barrett (31-5, 17 KO’s) showed big heart in challenging gigantic, WBA Heavyweight Champion, Nicolay Valuev (45-0, 33 KO’s). Maybe if Barrett had a better sling shot, he might’ve slain the mighty Goliath that is Valuev. Instead, Valuev won this sloppily fought contest by TKO in the 11th round after Barrett was floored a few times and ran out of gas. More

Sharkie's Machine September 23, 2006
“Jorge Arce TKO’s Makepula in Four”

September 24, 2006 - On his way to partake in a WBC Super Flyweight Eliminator bout, Masibulele “Hawk” Makepula looked in a trance. He sang a religious song as he marched very slowly to the ring. It felt like 20 minutes. That’s a great strategy if you aim to put the crowd to sleep. I also notice that often times when guys sing spiritual hymns en route to the ring, they get knocked out.

Rising Mexican Star and aspiring Super Flyweight Champion Jorge Arce said before the fight that he’d move around a bit in the first couple of rounds before knocking Makepula out in the fourth. Arce backed up his words and improved his record to 45-3-1-35 KO’s after losing the first two rounds to Makepula (28-4-0-18 KO’s), then coming on strong in the third and fulfilling his pledge to win by TKO in the fourth round. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 17, 2006
“Latin Warriors Barrios, Guzman, Gonzalez, Vasquez and Barrera Shine!”

September 17, 2006 - Saturday night at the MGM in Las Vegas, the Main Event featured Marco Antonio Barrera (63-4-0-1 ND, 42 KO’s) in a rematch against Rocky Juarez (25-3-0,18 KO’s). Though Barrera won the decision in the first fight, many felt that if it had gone longer than 12 rounds, Juarez would have won, since the momentum shifted his way late in that first fight.

This time, Barrera put on a boxing clinic that showed that his evolution from brawler to boxer is complete. Barrera was more economical this time, saving some gas for the later rounds. He dominated Juarez with cleaner punches and excellent ring generalship all night.

Juarez was rendered ineffective by Barrera’s better boxing skills. By the sixth round Juarez’ right eye was closing fast from absorbing all those Barrera jabs. Though Juarez tried to land a big bomb and close the show strong, Barrera’s mobility proved too elusive to allow that.

The fans booed at times, as Barrera vs. Juarez II turned out to be a less than thrilling, technical match that lacked the firepower of the two fights that preceded it. More

Sharkie's Machine September 3, 2006
“Toney Beats Peter But Gets Robbed!”

In a WBC Heavyweight Eliminator bout Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, 233-pound James “Lights Out” Toney (69-5-3-1, 43 KO’s) faced 257-pound power puncher, Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter (27-1, 22 KO’s).

The consensus among fight fans was that either Toney would win by decision or Peter would win by knock out. Who would’ve guessed that Peter would win by decision?

Though that’s how it will show on the record, the truth is that James Toney landed the cleaner punches at a higher percentage and for 12 rounds, was able to prevent Peter from landing anything particularly flush. Peter showed some improvements in his skills but against the superior boxer that is James Toney, it’s my opinion that Peter lost most of the rounds. More

Sharkie’s Machine August 20, 2006
“The Punisher” TKO’s “Little Big Man” in Four"

August 21, 2006 - Standing at six foot-one inch tall, southpaw Welterweight Prospect, Paul “The Punisher” Williams (31-0, 23 KO’s) lived up to his nick name Saturday night in Reno Nevada, when he punished little five foot-seven inch, Sharmba “Little Big Man” Mitchell (57-6, 31 KO’s) for four rounds in a scheduled twelve round mismatch.

The fight was a tale of two prizefighters going in opposite directions, in a battle between a shop worn Mitchell, a former Champion and current stepping-stone fighter, descending into the twilight of his career—against the young and relentless, Paul Williams, a potential star on the way up. More

Sharkie's Machine August 6, 2006
“The Viper and The Bazooka At The Garden”

Some questions were answered about the reincarnations of Vernon “The Viper” Forrest (38-2, 28 KO’s) and Ike “Bazooka” Quartey (37-3-1,31 KO’s) Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Either guy would make fair opponents for the division’s elites, represented by the current crop of WBA Champ, Jose Rivera, IBF Champ, Corey Spinks, WBC Champ, Oscar De La Hoya or relatively unknown WBO Champ, Sergeii Dzinziruk.

I think Kassim Ouma (25-2-1, 15 KO’s) would probably beat all of the above but has the smallest chance of getting the big names to fight him after again demonstrating his tenacious style in a convincing win over unbeaten Sechew Powell (now 20-1, 12 KO’s). I wouldn’t write off Powell though, he’s still young and learning. His experience vs. Ouma should pay good dividends in the future. A rematch between Ouma and Roman Karmazin (34-2-1, 21 KO’s) might be an interesting redemption match for both. More

Sharkie’s Machine July 23, 2006
“Carlos Baldomir TKO’s Arturo Gatti in Nine”

Saturday night in Atlantic City, Arturo “Thunder” Gatti (40-7, 31 KO’s), took a beating in front of his hometown fans at the hands of WBC Welterweight Champion, Carlos Baldomir (42-9-6, 12 KO’s) of Argentina.

The fight was stopped late in the ninth round after Baldomir caught Gatti against the ropes and landed a barrage of punches, capped off by a left hook that put Gatti down. When Gatti got up, Baldomir pounced on him for the finish, landing another left hook that put Arturo down, forcing the stoppage.

It was clear from the opening moments of the fight that Gatti’s power couldn’t hurt Baldomir. Baldomir recognized that and forced Gatti into brawls that Gatti couldn’t win. More

Sharkie’s Machine June 25, 2006
“Quintana Upsets Julio and Brock Puts Another W in the Bank”

The appetizer turned out to be the main course at Caesar’s Palace Saturday night, as unbeaten Welterweights, Joel Julio of Columbia (27-1, 24 KO’s) and Carlos Quintana (23-0, 18 KO’s) of Puerto Rico battled it out in a 12 round, WBA eliminator bout.

There was never a dull moment in this one as the favorite, Julio, landed a big right hand in the first round that staggered Quintana backwards, his hand touching the canvas. It was ruled a knockdown. Quintana was not to be discouraged though and from round two on, Quintana showed his quality, as he out boxed and out classed Julio with superior overall boxing skills, winning a Unanimous Decision by scores of 115-112, 117-111 and 118-110. I scored it 116-112 for Quintana. More

Sharkie’s Machine June 10, 2006
Boxing At Madison Square Garden “Miguel Cotto Vs. Paulie Malignaggi”

June 11, 2005 - There were some exciting fights on the menu at Madison Square Garden Saturday night in New York City.

Super Featherweight Kevin Kelley was KO’d by Bobby Pacquaio in four. Pacquaio proved too much for Kelley, who hit the deck twice, the second time from a sneaky body shot that left Kevin unable to continue. It was an impressive display for Pacquaio and an obvious signpost for the aging Kevin Kelley.

The son of Boxing royalty was on display as Welterweight Prospect, Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. improved his record to 26-0, with 19 KO’s after scoring a TKO-2 win over unknown, Aaron Drake (10-3, 8 KO’s), who was game, but outclassed by the long armed, cool tempered Chavez Jr. Standing at six feet and still morphing from a boy into a man, Chavez Jr. is a bit too tall to stay at Welter very long. Jr. has very good boxing skills and papa’s must be real proud. More

Sharkie’s Machine May 13, 2006
“Hatton’s Gets Gift Decision in His American Debut”

Saturday night in Boston, former Light Welterweight Champion and the pride of Manchester England, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton made his debut in the USA, facing Brooklyn’s own, 147-pound WBA Champion Luis Collazo.

Ricky Hatton is one of my favorite fighters and I hate to say it but he proved fairly one dimensional against the slick boxing, veteran Welterweight Luis Collazo, who got floored early but came back to figure Hatton out quickly and out box him with cleaner punching and superior defense for most of the night. More

Sharkie’s Machine May 7, 2006
“De La Hoya Takes Out The Trash-Talking Mayorga”

After a fairly long layoff, Oscar De La Hoya returned to the ring in top form, made a ton of Pay-Per-View money and proved that being a gentleman should never be confused with being weak. These days, just about every high profile fight is hyped as, “sworn enemies” and other over-exaggerated labels that fade as soon as the fight is over.

Guys who go out of their way to be obnoxious in promoting a fight are expected to say the usual crap, but Ricardo Mayorga went a wee bit overboard. He insulted Oscar De La Hoya’s wife with sexual innuendos that were totally below the belt. More

Sharkie's Machine April 22, 2006
“It’s Official: Wladimir Klitschko Is Back!”

Congratulations to the new IBF Heavyweight Champion, Wladimir Klitschko, who used his jab and combination punching to pummel Chris Byrd in their rematch in Mannheim Germany Saturday night. Wladimir has experienced the glory of success and the agony of defeat since his first meeting with Byrd back in October of 2000. Though Klitschko utterly dominated Byrd in 2000, this time it was worse.

In the opening moments, it was a tactical boxing match that the six-foot-six, Wladimir slowly started to control with his long, menacing jab. Byrd managed to score a few good shots to the body but nothing of any consequence. More

Sharkie’s Machine April 2, 2006
“The Water Get Stirred At Heavyweight”

April 2, 2006 - The HW division is like water. It is formless. The time is ripe for someone to step up, take over, and become the form that towers over the others.

Congratulations to “The New” WBO, Heavyweight Champion of the World, Sergei “The White Wolf” Liakhovich of Belarus, who was ranked 13th by the WBO before his undisputed Unanimous Decision victory over Lamon Brewster. For Sergei, it was an impressive display of skillful boxing, strategic use of round time, defensive mobility, heart and will to win. Congrats also go to Lamon Brewster, who has been a good Ambassador for the sport during his reign as WBO Champion. All good things come to an end and Saturday night in Cleveland, Brewster’s time was up. More

“Mo Money, Mo Money, Mo Money” Hasim Rahman Vs. James Toney I

March 18th, 2006 - Saturday night in Atlantic City, James Toney (69-4-3-43 KO’s) took on designated WBC Heavyweight Champion, Hasim Rahman (41-5-2-33 KO’s), who was installed as such after former WBC Champion, Vitali Klitschko retired—right before their scheduled fight.

The Rahman Toney fight featured some close rounds but it was Rahman’s jab and work rate that put the most rounds in the bank over Toney on my scorecard.

This was the best boxing I’ve ever seen from Rahman. He used his jab, kept good control of the tempo and even beat Toney at his own game too many times on the inside. At times, Rahman lost his focus and got drawn into Toney’s game on the inside but even when he did, he was at the least, equally effective. On the outside, Rahman used his jab effectively to control the pace, while winning most of the exchanges with stronger punching power. More

Sharkie’s Machine March 4, 2006
“Calzaghe Destroys Lacy”

March 4, 2006 - Saturday night at the MEN Arena in Manchester England, adventuring American IBF Super Middleweight Champion, Jeff Lacy (20-1-1NC-17 KO’s) had crossed the pond to face the best opposition of his career in unbeaten, WBO Champion, Joe Calzaghe (41-0, 31 KO’s).

Careful management, relatively soft opposition, friendly referees and the gushing adoration of the folks at Showtime have propelled Jeff Lacy to stardom. In his climb over the fairly weak Super Middleweight division here in the States, Lacy has demonstrated good power, but power alone does not win fights. It has been obvious for some time that Lacy lacks the technical boxing skills to go with his power, tenacity and promotional influence. More

Sharkie's Machine February 17, 2006
"A U.D., A D.Q. and a T.K.O.?"

February 17, 2006 - Friday night in Memphis Tennessee, hot Welterweight prospect, Delvin Rodriguez (18-1-1-10 KO's) was the winner by default against long armed, low-blowing, fellow Dominicano, Alexis Divison (16-3, 12KO's), who wore thin on the patience of referee Bill Clancy, by constantly throwing low punches and hitting behind the head. Clancy could have taken points earlier but only issued warnings. After repeated warnings and another low blow immediately following his last warning, Clancy disqualified Divison on the spot. It was a bit of an over reaction.

I had Alexis Divison up two rounds to one before the DQ. Delvin Rodriguez, a slow starter, was getting cracked fairly regularly in all three rounds. His lazy defense allowed Divison to effectively exploit him. Long and lanky, Divison misjudged his spacing and his punches were arriving too early and too low when he went to the body. Regardless the reason, the ref has to enforce the rules. Clancy's timing for the DQ was questionable though, since Divison was actually winning the fight and many of the fouls looked incidental as opposed to intentional. He could have taken a second point, leaving it to Divison to clean it up, or force a third and final point deduction, leading naturally to disqualification. More

Sharkie's Machine January 8, 2006
"Carlos Baldomir Takes Title From Zab Judah!"

January 8, 2006 - Congratulations to Argentina's new WBC Welterweight Champion, Carlos Baldomir (41-9-6-12 KO's), who outworked and outscored the inconsistent and foul former Champion, Zab Judah (34-3-25 KO's) of Brooklyn New York. This victory for Baldomir shakes things up in a division Judah was perceived to have locked up-so long as he could successfully avoid fighting WBO Champ, Antonio Margarito.

Baldomir demonstrated that just because the boxing media insists certain fighters are great doesn't make it true. Make no mistake, Zab Judah is a dangerous puncher and has a flair for the flamboyant, but Saturday night belonged to the underdogs. O'Neil Bell got off to a bad start but shocked a lot of fans when he knocked out power punching and body punishing, Jean Marc Mormeck in 10 and Carlos Baldomir bested Zab Judah. This could be a good start for 2006. Cheers! More

Sharkie's Machine December 11, 2005
"An Exciting Fight Starring Soliman and Wright"

December 11, 2005 - Saturday night in Uncasville Connecticut, visiting Aussie Middleweight contender, Sam Soliman (31-8-0-12 KO's, ranked #1 by the IBF) took on one of America's top notch pugilists, Ronald "Winky" Wright (50-3-0-25 KO's). It had to be one of the toughest fights Wright ever had. Soliman's game performance won the crowd but lost the decision in the eyes of the Judges at ringside, who scored it a unanimously in favor of Wright by scores of, 117-110, 115-112 and 115-113. The crowd booed the decision. More

Sharkie's Machine November 20, 2005
"Unfinished Business For Floyd Mayweather Jr."

November 20, 2005 - Saturday night in Portland, Floyd Mayweather Jr. made his debut at 147-pounds as he took on the old, but still respectable, Sharmba Mitchell, who at this point in his career, had little chance of beating the man who many consider the best "pound-for-pound" fighter in the sport.

To his credit, Mitchell gave a game effort and even scored a few good combinations that excited the crowd, and at times, surprised Mayweather. Mayweather was the more dramatic puncher and the better defender. In the third round, Floyd landed a right to Mitchell's face that put him down. Mitchell got up and continued to give his best effort to keep things competitive. More

Sharkie’s Machine November 6, 2005
“Jeff Lacy Still Untested.”

November 6, 2005 - Saturday night in Lake Tahoe Nevada, 28-year-old, IBF Super Middleweight Champion, Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy (21-0-1 ND-17 KO’s) put 38-year-old, Scott Pemberton (29-4-1-24 KO’s) on the canvas twice en route to a TKO victory.

Before the knockdowns, Pemberton was working his jab and out boxing Lacy for most of the first two rounds. Whenever Lacy started swinging, Pemberton clinched and forced him to reset. That strategy was working well until late in the second round, when Pemberton got careless with his footwork and got nailed by a wild, Lacy left hook to the topside of the head that put him down. Pemberton was a bit shaken up but rested on his knee and took a full eight count before getting up. More

Sharkie's Machine October 9, 2005
"Castillo's Revenge"

INSIDE BOXING (October 10, 2005) -Congratulations to Jose Luis Castillo (53-7-1-47 KO's), who's left hook found Diego Corrales (40-3-33 KO's) on the sweet spot and ended the fight in the fourth round. Corrales never let the mouthpiece fall out this time either. Both were scoring at will but Castillo was landing the harder shots. The left hook that knocked Corrales down in the fourth looked like it would've knocked out a Heavyweight. It was a perfectly timed shot that hit the mark and made short work in what had to be a lucrative purse for both. Too bad too many boxing fans didn't get to see it. More

Sharkie’s Machine October 2, 2005
“Dominic Guinn Lets James Toney Win”

INSIDE BOXING (October 2, 2005) - Saturday night in Nevada, Dominic “Southern Disaster” Guinn (25-3-1-18 KO’s) faced James “Lights Out” Toney (69-4-2-1-43 KO’s) in the Main Event that almost saved the show after the under card of Chris Byrd vs. DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson had the crowd counting sheep.

Early in the fight, Guinn started by showing some of the spirit that gave him his lift in boxing a few years ago as they both scored in turns but it ended with James Toney waltzing his way to a Unanimous Decision victory. No ‘lights out’ but definitely a ‘Southern Disaster.’ More

Sharkie’s Machine September 25, 2005
“Miguel Cotto Answers Adversity”

INSIDE BOXING (September 25, 2005) - Saturday night in Atlantic City, WBO Jr. Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico scored a TKO 7 Win over unbeaten Ricardo Torres of Colombia. Torres replaced Gianluca Branco (36-1-1-19 KO’s), who was the originally scheduled opponent.

Round One
Cotto aggressively pressed the action in the first round bypassing the feel-out session. He landed some combinations and a left hook that put Torres down. Torres got up and gave a strong account of his self, using his jab followed by chopping right hands over the top that rattled Cotto more than once. Though Cotto scored a knockdown, arguments could be made that it was a 10-9 round for Cotto since Torres clearly won the second half of the round after the knockdown. I scored it 10-8 for Cotto. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 25, 2005
“Vladimir Klitschko Shows His Quality”

INSIDE BOXING (September 25, 2005) - Vladimir Klitschko (45-3-0-40 KO’s) demonstrated that its better to have good boxing skills than just a big punch, as he used movement, his jab and the old one, two combination to frustrate and win a decision victory over dangerous, up and coming, Samuel Peter (24-1-0-21 KO’s). With this win, Vlad becomes the new owner of the NABF Heavyweight Belt. While the NABF may be a notch below the WBO, for Vladimir Klitschko, this is a step in the right direction.

Vladimir was beating Peter to the punch and easily winning the first four rounds until the fifth round, when Peter finally connected with a looping overhand right to the top of Vladimir’s head, sending him to the canvas. Vlad beat the count. A moment later, Peter landed a pushing right that saw Klitschko go down a second time in the round. Again, Klitschko got up in time and the bell saved him from the momentum Peter was building. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 11, 2005
“El Terrible Just Terrible Vs. Z Man”

Photo: Eric A. Van Dyke/InsideBoxing.com (Click on picture for larger view)

INSIDE BOXING (September 11, 2005) - Styles make fights. Its cliché’ but it was a reinforced fact Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where one of boxing’s best fighters, Erik “El Terrible” Morales, 48-3-0-34 KO’s, was just plain terrible against Philadelphia native, Zahir “Z Man” Raheem, who out boxed and beat Morales to the punch for most of their 12 round fight. Raheem advanced his record to 27-1-0-16 KO’s and took home the WBC Intercontinental Jr. Lightweight Title.

Raheem should be 28-0, but in July of 2004, the combination of a biased referee, Robert Gonzalez (who unfairly penalized Raheem more than once) and the unreliable Judges at the Reliant Center in Houston Texas, deemed Raheem the loser of a fight he clearly won over hometown favorite, Rocky Juarez. Juarez, like Morales, proved susceptible to being out boxed all night by the quick fisted, defensively slick Raheem. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 4, 2005
“Technical KO Loss Drops Braithwaite”

INSIDE BOXING (September 4, 2005) - Saturday night favored the underdogs at the Gund Arena in Cleveland Ohio, where Heavyweight, Owen Beck lost a fair and square Decision to Ray Austin on the under card before the Main Event, a Cruiserweight Eliminator bout for the IBF, WBA and WBC rankings featuring Wayne Braithwaite (21-1-17 KO’s) against Guillermo Jones (33-3-2-25 KO’s) turned out to be an exciting fight.

Jones chased Braithwaite into the ropes and hammered him with right hands in a beat down of a first round that saw Braithwaite barely survive. Under pressure, Braithwaite reverted to the same tactics that got him beat the last time—hanging around the ropes and taking too many punches. Instead of using his legs and the ring to box his way out of trouble, Braithwaite made the same mistakes as when he suffered his first loss (back in April) to the WBA, WBC Champion, Jean Marc Mormeck. More

Sharkie's Machine August 21, 2005
"Humberto Soto Conquers Rocky Juarez!"

INSIDE BOXING (August 21, 2005) - Saturday night in Chicago, Featherweight Rocky Juarez faced a replacement fighter named Humberto "El Debate" Soto, who turned in a dazzling performance and won the WBC Interim Title that was up for grabs. The referee, Tim Adams was helpful to Juarez' cause-but Soto proved too determined and too smart to let them take away his big moment.

Soto won the first four rounds easily on my scorecard by dictating the tempo, working his jab and following up with combinations that were scoring with authority. Juarez is a quality boxer and packs a good punch but he could do nothing to deter the crafty and determined Soto. Even when Juarez scored with flush power shots, Soto absorbed it well and kept coming forward, delivering his own brand of effective offense. More

Sharkie's Machine August 19, 2005
"Maddalone Mauls Miller"

INSIDE BOXING (August 19. 2005) - Friday night at Saratoga Springs in New York, Heavyweight, Vinnie Maddalone of Queens NY, improved his record to 25-2 after scoring a TKO 5 victory over Troy NY native, Shannon Miller. It was an exciting contest ultimately decided by a Maddalone left hook that ended it in the opening moments of the fifth round. Both fighters showed enough heart to compensate for the lack of any notable boxing skills on either side.

Maddalone was the favorite considering his longer resume, which included 24 wins, 2 losses and 17 KO's coming in. Vinnie does tend to waste energy winging wide, haymaker punches, and slows considerably in the mid to late rounds. He knew his limitations and was aggressively seeking an early knockout. More

Sharkie’s Machine August 6, 2005
“Robin Reid Wrecked by Jeff Lacy and the Referee”

INSIDE BOXING (August 6, 2005) - Saturday night in Tampa Florida, IBO Super Middleweight Champion Robin Reid, lost his Title to IBF Champ Jeff Lacy, in Lacy’s backyard. Though Lacy fought a very sloppy fight and showed his usual defensive shortcomings, he had the hometown advantage working in his favor big-time in this contest.

This fight was televised on Showtime, where the announcing and the officiating for this event was so biased that frankly, it was not just hard to listen, to but it was disgraceful. The referee, Jorge Alonso, a referee I like, that has given good accounts of himself in the past, was amazingly anti-Reid in this campaign to post another W on Lacy’s resume. More

Sharkie’s Machine July 17, 2005
“Braveheart McCullough Stopped Larios And Doc”

INSIDE BOXING (July 17, 2005) - Overshadowed perhaps by the hoopla surrounding the loss of Bernard Hopkins to Jermain Taylor, there was a Super Bantam Title bout worthy of discussion involving WBC Champion, Oscar “Chololo” Larios and Wayne “Braveheart”
McCullough. Yeah, I know his nickname is the “Pocket Rocket” but I think Braveheart might be more appropriate.

There’s something about Oscar Larios. He always looks to be having a great time in the ring, often fighting with a big smile on his face the whole time. It cracks me up. Watching a guy do what he enjoys most in the world is infectious. But Larios wasn’t smiling much Saturday night when engaging Wayne McCullough in their rematch. More

Sharkie’s Machine July 17th, 2005
“Taylor Out Hustles Hopkins and Takes The Titles”

INSIDE BOXING (July17, 2005) - Middleweight King, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins lost his Crown and his Titles in a Split Decision to young Prospect, Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor, who put enough rounds in the bank early Saturday night at the MGM in Las Vegas for Hopkins to overcome by the time he decided to make it a fight. It was a classic case of too little, too late. I expected Hopkins to win a decision by exploiting Taylor’s mistakes and inexperience but that’s not how it went down.

Taylor (24-0-17 KO’s) started fast and took the fight to Hopkins 46-3-1-32 KO’s), who was content to do next to nothing for the first four rounds, while Taylor made the most of a majority of the rounds. In the end, Hopkins landed at a higher percentage, but he focused too much on defense and not enough on offensive to beat the man who effectively outworked him most of the night. More

SHarkie’s Machine July 14, 2005
Sizing Up Hopkins vs. Taylor
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

INSIDE BOXING (July14, 2005) - Philadelphia native, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (46-2-1-32 KO’s) has successfully defended his Middleweight Title (a record) 20 times. Outside of the then electrifying, Roy Jones Jr., who was 21-0 when they fought in 1993; Hopkins’ opponents have not been great Middleweights. Jones beat Hopkins by UD 12 in a fight so boring, that it almost knocked me out watching it. Since then, Hopkins has never lost a fight.

Besides his reputation as a sneaky, dirty fighter, Bernard had tenacious talent but hardly anyone was paying much attention to him until 2001, when he faced Puerto Rican sensation and former Welterweight Champion, Felix Trinidad, who had just moved up from Jr. Middleweight. Trinidad was dangerous because of his punching power but he was one-dimensional in terms of his boxing skills. More

Sharkie’s Machine July 13, 2005

“Women Warriors Worth Watching”

INSIDE BOXING (July 12, 2005) - Tuesday evening at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California, young Cristal Morales of Oxnard California, debuted in her first televised fight. Her record consisted of a lone Draw. 0-0-1. She had a tight frame at 128-pounds. Her trunks were loose fitting. This was a hungry fighter lucky for the chance.

Rita Valentini of Los Angeles is 34 years old and sports a newbie record of 5-3-0-3 KO’s. Her trunks snuggly revealed a strong athletic body though she was old enough to have been the mother of her 18-year-old opponent. Both were physically fit and both were more than just pretty faces as they demonstrated disciplined boxing skills when the fight started. More

Sharkie’s Machine June 26, 2005
“Carlos Maussa KO's Vivian Harris!”

INSIDE BOXING (June 26, 2005) - Vivian Harris (25-2-1-17 KO’s) got out-spirited, then knocked out by Carlos Maussa of Columbia, who improved his record to 19-2-0-17 KO’s, while taking the WBA Jr. Welterweight Title in the process. Maussa clocked Harris with a sharp left hook to his jaw that sent him down for the count. Harris got up after 10 and then complained that he beat the count.

Harris started the fight at a furious pace, trying to knock Maussa out in the first round. It proved an expensive strategy. By the midway point of the first round, Harris was winded and getting tagged regularly by the awkward, unorthodox and lanky Maussa, whom Harris must’ve taken for granted. How you lose your stamina after a minute and 30 seconds is a red flag if ever I saw one. More

Sharkie’s Machine June 26, 2005

“Floyd Destroys Gatti”

INSIDE BOXING (June 26, 2005) - It was hard watching Arturo Gatti lose his thunder (and his WBC Title) to the mastery that is Floyd Mayweather Jr. I was shocked at the short sightedness of Vivian Harris’ performance against Carlos Maussa. June has been a big month for the Jr. Welter division. A couple of weeks ago, Ricky Hatton dethroned the mighty Kostya Tszyu and Miguel Cotto quietly but efficiently defended his WBO Title for a third time just two weeks ago.

Floyd needs attention and is all about being flashy to get it. He was carried into the ring on a palled chariot, wearing a fur laced hood and a smug look on his face. It was reminiscent of “Prince” Naseem Hamed’s infamous ring entrance prior to being outclassed by Marco Antonio Barrera. More

Sharkie’s Machine June 19, 2005
“Tarver Ties Up The Series!”

INSIDE BOXING (June 19, 2005) - Light Heavyweight, Antonio “The Magic Man” Tarver outclassed and outscored the gallant, Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson, winning a 12 round Unanimous Decision in a Championship fight. Tarver is 3-0 in rematches now. The little known, IBO Title was the prize. IBO stands for International Boxing Organization, which should be the ONLY Sanctioning Body, since Boxing is an International sport and too many chefs spoil the soup.

Early in the fight, Johnson was busier and more aggressive with his work to the body and occasional combination punching. Tarver boxed outside and after a while, got into a rhythm that consisted of jabbing and following up with combinations that were not particularly powerful but effective enough to win most of the rounds. More

Sharkie’s Machine June 4, 2005
“Hatton Too Much for Tszyu!”

INSIDE BOXING (June 4, 2005) - WBU Jr. Welterweight Champion, Ricky Hatton suffocated IBF Champion Kostya Tszyu for every minute of every round forcing Tszyu to quit on his stool and surrender his Title after the eleventh round Saturday night in the MEN Arena in Manchester England, where Hatton draws much spirit from his hometown crowd.

This was one of the fastest fights I ever remember seeing. It was such a wild pace that each round seemed to fly by. It turned out to be the toughest fight of Kostya Tszyu’s career.

Last November, after Kostya Tszyu (31-2-1-25 KO’s) was away for two years, he came back and destroyed Sharmba Mitchell (55-4-0-30 KO’s) in three rounds, proving he was still a great Champion and not to be underestimated. More

Sharkie’s Machine May 24, 2005
“The Contender Finale”

INSIDE BOXING (May 24, 2005) - Tuesday night at Caesar’s Palace, in Las Vegas Nevada, it was show time for the finalists of the new reality/boxing television program, “The Contender,” which aired Sunday nights, with the finale last Tuesday night on NBC.

Sylvester Stallone and former Middleweight Champion, Sugar Ray Leonard created an entertaining program that has a little something for everyone who likes competition and the drama of (scripted or spontaneous) human relations in a closed environment. More

Sharkie’s Machine May 21, 2005
“Lamon ‘Relentless’ Brewster”

INSIDE BOXING (May 21, 2005) - Strange things are always on the menu in boxing. I expected Andrew Golota (38-6-1-31 KO’s) to put on a solid performance and win by decision over a fighter who recently proved the WBO Heavyweight Title to be the meaningless property of the undeserving. Kali Meehan is the rightful owner of that Title.

WBO Champion, Lamon Brewster (32-2-0-28 KO’s) of Indianapolis Indiana was a great example of how boxing is truly the theater of the unexpected, as he destroyed Andrew Golota with left hooks Saturday night at the United Center in Chicago. More

Sharkie's Machine May 15, 2005
“Nothing But Winky Rights All Night”

INSIDE BOXING (May 15, 2005) - Winky looked relaxed and Tito was sporting a new hairstyle. Both looked supremely confident as they made their way into the ring at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Saturday night. In the battle between power and finesse, southpaw vs. conventional, boxer vs. puncher, finesse found a way of turn power into ineptitude.

Trinidad stepped between the ropes thinking he would knock Winky out. From the opening moments of the fight, Trinidad was using the wrong strategy, always moving to Wright’s right instead of his left, which is the preferable direction against a southpaw. With effective use of his right jab, Wright took away Tito’s powerful left hook and made him look like an amateur for a twelve round shutout. More

Sharkie's Machine May 8, 2005
“Corrales Heroic Victory Far From Controversial”

INSIDE BOXING (May 7, 2005) - Richard Steele was there. Julio Caesar Chavez was there. And though Meldrick Taylor was nowhere in sight, his spirit had to be hovering around the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Saturday night at the conclusion of the “Chico” Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo battle for the WBC and WBO Lightweight Titles.

Though Richard Steele refereed the overshadowed Featherweight Champion, JM Marquez’ near shut out over Victor Polo on the under card, Tony Weeks, the uncontroversial, consummate professional, would referee this one. Weeks did his job well in this fight—though some may disagree with how it ended.

While Castillo vs. Corrales (1) appeared to some to end in controversy, it really didn’t. More

Sharkie’s Machine May 7, 2005
“A Double Knockdown”

INSIDE BOXING (May 7, 2005) - Jr. Middleweight Prospect, Sechew Powell of Brooklyn N.Y., improved his record to 16-0-10 KO’s scoring an unforgettable TKO victory in round one over Detroit native, Cornelius Bundrage (21-0-13 KO’s) Friday night at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. It was a battle that featured two undefeated Fighters and three solid punches in 22 seconds of pure adrenaline.

Bad blood preceded this fight as Powell and Bundrage had to be restrained from swinging it out during their recent press conference. There was no shortage of testosterone in the ring as the stare down was like lighting the fuse for an explosion.

When referee Dick Flaherty instructed both men to touch gloves before the bell, Bundrage slapped down on Powell’s gloves maliciously.

Neither guy wasted time feeling each other out but met aggressively at the center of the ring to duke it out. In the first exchange, Powell landed a left hook direct to Bundrage’s jaw as Bundrage simultaneously landed a right hook into Powell’s jowls. More

Sharkie’s Machine May 4, 2005
“Talking Boxing with Kingsley Ikeke”

INSIDE BOXING (May 4, 2005) - Middleweight Contender, Kingsley Ikeke recently improved his record to 23-1-0-13 KO’s after his bout with Antwun Echols (31-5-1-27 KO’s) on Friday Night Fights a couple of weeks ago. Ikeke put on a textbook performance of solid technical boxing skills, using his jab impressively, which proved to be the decisive weapon in that fight, which he won by Unanimous Decision. Ikeke is six feet, four inches tall and uses his height to his advantage. He is a shinning light in his division. Against the always-dangerous Antwun Echols, he proved that he is a force to be reckoned with at Middleweight.

In the Middleweight kingdom of Bernard Hopkins, Kingsley Ikeke represents a serious challenge to any of the top contenders. Felix Trinidad, Felix Sturm, Howard Eastman and Jermain Taylor, take notice—there is a new kid on the block and he’s big. He’s 6’ 4 and fights tall, utilizing his natural assets with special fluency in the fundamentals. More

Sharkie’s Machine May 1, 2005
“The Quiet Man vs. The Mouth That Roars”

INSIDE BOXING (May 1, 2005) - April 30th in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, WBA Heavyweight Champion, John Ruiz (41-6-1-28 KO’s) lost his Title in a close fight against WBA #1 ranked contender, James “Lights Out” Toney (69-4-2-43 KO’s).

James Toney may have one of the biggest mouths in the boxing, but he sure did back it all up Saturday night. To his credit, “The Quiet Man” showed that he would not go away easily. This contest was surprisingly entertaining, competitive and unmarred by excessive holding.

Leading up to this fight, there has been a lot of talk of Toney dismissing Ruiz from the ranks of the elite HW fraternity. While Ruiz’ methods may not be pleasing to watch, they have proven effective. Ruiz has won the WBA Title twice and defended it twice and that deserves recognition. But Ruiz’ ugly, hit and hold style annoys many fight fans and makes him unattractive in terms of market value. More

Sharkie's Machine April 23, 2005
"Things Look Grim for Dominic Guinn"

INSIDE BOXING (April 23, 2005) - Friday night at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Heavyweights Dominic "Southern Disaster" Guinn (25-2-1-18 KO's) and Friday "The 13th" Ahunayu (20-3-2-11 KO's) faced each other in what may have been one of the least entertaining fights I've seen on FNF-and I've seen a few. Neither fighter did enough to win a single round convincingly. In the end, after ten boring rounds, the Judges scored 97-93 and 95-95 twice, rendering it a Majority Draw.

After rubbing my eyes and several yawns, I tallied up my scorecard. Forget about the ten-point-must system in scoring, I had six of ten rounds even at 9-9, because I didn't think either guy won those rounds. Guinn won the second and third rounds and Ahunayu won the fourth and eighth rounds. I also had it a Draw, but by a score of 92-92. More

Sharkie's Machine April 16, 2005
"Ikeke's Jab TKO's Echols In 10"

INSIDE BOXING (April 16, 2005) - In boxing, everything flows from the jab.

Kingsley Ikeke (23-1-0-13 KO's) demonstrated that to perfection Friday night at the Northern Quest Casino in Washington State, where he took on former IBF Middleweight Champ, Antwun Echols (31-6-1-27 KO's) for the number two ranking in the IBF.

While Ikeke doesn't possess great power, he has a powerful weapon-his lead left jab. He nickel and dimed Echols all night with that punch, swelling his face to a pulp and closing his right eye with the constant tapping of his jab.

For the power punching Echols, his strategy was obvious, get in close and crash Ikeke up on the inside. At times, Echols got inside and landed his punches but-there was something missing. More

Sharkie's Machine April 3, 2005
"Jean Marc Mormeck Drives 'Big Truck' Into Ropes"

INSIDE BOXING (April 3, 2005) - The Cruiserweight division got interesting Saturday night in Wooster Mass., where WBA Cruiserweight Champion Wayne Braithwaite (21-1-0-17 KO's) lost his title to Frenchmen, Jean Marc Mormeck (31-2-0-21 KO's). It was a battle that saw Braithwaite go down for the first time in his career and lose his first professional fight.

If you're a hardcore fight fan in the USA, you've heard about Mormeck, seen his name at the top of the rankings and yet never seen him fight. Mormeck is a stocky figure, 198-pounds at five-feet, eleven inches. He's got a chiseled physique and a blonde beard that finely lines his dark skinned jaw. He has a no nonsense demeanor and has won his last 28 fights.

Most who know Braithwaite, enjoy his tenacity in the ring and his aggressive, 'kick your ass' kind of style. He's about the most exciting fighter in his division today. But Braithwaite's anxious aggressiveness turned against him Saturday, wasting too much energy in the first round and going into the next breathing heavily. More

Sharkie's Machine April 2, 2005
"A Toast to 'The Ghost'"

INSIDE BOXING (April 2, 2005) - Friday night at "The Palace" in Lemoore California, Gilroy California native, Roberto Guerrero displayed his wares in front of an adoring crowd as he defended his NABF Featherweight Title.

Many times, when Prospects gets a lot of positive press, they don't usually live up to the hype. Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero, now 15-0-1-8 KO's absolutely lived up to his press by the time I finally got to see him fight. After hearing so much about this young, Featherweight Prospect (with the aggressive emailing publicity machine behind him) I was impressed with what I saw.

The bout was televised on ShoBox, Showtime's best quality boxing program, which features young fighters in good match ups (most times) and has a professional caliber announce team in Steve Farhood and Nick Charles.

"The Ghost" defended his Title against Adrian Valdez (16-3-3-8 KO's), who is not the typical, 'made to order chump' so commonly fed to Prospects, but a quality fighter at the crossroads of his young career. I saw him face undefeated, fellow Prospect Bernard Dunne (13-0). In that fight, Valdez gave a good account of himself, out boxed Dunne and landing the more telling blows in the bout. But Dunne was the benefactor of a crooked decision that night. More

SHARKIE'S MACHINE March 28, 2005

"Fernando 'Not So Ferocious' Vargas"

INSIDE BOXING (March 28, 2005) - After HBO replayed the highly entertaining war between Erik Morales and Manny Pacquaio, they shifted into a pre-fight interview with Fernando Vargas, who was the featured fighter of the evening. During that interview, Vargas talked about his back problem and how he decided against surgery in favor rebuilding himself with a new conditioning coach and regime. He talked about being a warrior and about how he wants his children to see him. He couldn't hold back his tears as he teetered on the recognition that if things didn't go well in the ring, that this could be the end of his boxing career.

Boxing is an emotional sport. Stamina, punching power, defense, ring generalship and athleticism are the ingredients but the thing that makes those elements work together is confidence. It's the invisible thing that raises or sinks a fighter's spirit in the ring.

Saturday night in Corpus Christi Texas, Fernando "El Feroz" Vargas (25-2-0-22 KO's) made his cautious return to the ring after a fifteen-month layoff. He entered the ring weighing 169 pounds to face the soft punching, Ray Joval (33-4-0-15 KO's). Joval's pressure and volume of punches kept it a fight but it wasn't much to look at. Especially after re-watching Pacman battle Morales for 12 action packed rounds. More

Sharkie's Machine March 20th, 2005
"Morales Conquers Pacquaio"

INSIDE BOXING (March 20, 2005) - Living legend and Tijuana native, Erik "El Terrible" Morales upped his record to 48-2-0-34 KO's on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where as the underdog, he faced dangerous rising Philippine Star, Manny "PacMan" Pacquaio (39-3-2-30 KO's) in a Super Featherweight match up of epic proportions. Morales was insulted by the odds. But the odds makers were wrong.

Manny Pacquaio has been on a mission. In November of 2003, he beat up on Marco Antonio Barrera so badly that Barrera's corner threw in the towel to make it a TKO 11 victory for Pacman. That shocked the boxing world.

Pacquaio's management has had an aggressive agenda and the Barrera fight was just the start of a tour that would include J.M. Marquez (WBA and IBF FW Champion) and Erik Morales, the three most notable Featherweights in the world. More

Sharkie's Machine March 15, 2005
"Thoughts on Morales vs. Pacquaio Next Saturday"

INSIDE BOXING (March 25, 2005) -After watching, "The Contender" on Sunday, I'm ready for some REAL boxing. "The Contender" has some potential but it makes the same mistake Oscar De La Hoya's boxing program (that aired last year) made; they only show 15 second snippets of each round. The program focuses more on non-boxing competitions and interactions instead of duke outs in the square circle.

I'm thinking about this Saturday's showdown between Manny Pacquaio and Tijuana native, Erik Morales, complete with a scheduled 12 rounds of three uninterrupted minutes of pugilism per round. But I doubt this fight goes the distance.

There is a school of thought vested in the logic that, if Pacquaio beat Barrera and Barrera beat Morales, then Morales cannot beat Pacquaio. Not necessarily so. In Football, they say, "On any given Sunday." Well, the same applies in boxing. After all, Morales destroyed Junior Jones (by TKO 4), the man who beat Barrera twice, though eventually, Barrera would win twice over Morales, (though the first win was controversial). The past has no place in the present outside of reference points. When the best face each other, anything can happen. More

Sharkie's Machine March 6, 2005

"Lacy Beats Williams By TKO 7"

INSIDE BOXING (March 6, 2005) - Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy (19-0-1-ND-15 KO's) defended his IBF Super Middleweight Title against Rubin "Hollywood" Williams (26-2-15 KO's), ranked 15th in the division.

This was a good fight. Williams and Lacy were battling from start to finish. Williams had some good moments but he failed to make adjustments, like staying off the ropes, and he fell prey to Lacy's volume and power.

The six foot, two inch tall Williams was effective when he boxed from the outside, where he popped Lacy with his jab, followed by right hands that gave a good account of himself. At times, he utilized his height and reach advantage, but not always. He caught Lacy with regularity in many of the rounds, but he'd always let himself get pressured into the ropes, where Lacy could steal the rounds Williams might have won. To Lacy's credit, he always kept the pressure on and in the end, imposed his will on Williams. More

Sharkie's Machine February 27, 2005
"157-Pound Miguel Cotto Defends 140-Pound Title"

INSIDE BOXING (February 27, 2005) - Saturday night in Bayamon Puerto Rico, WBO Jr. Welterweight Champion, Miguel Cotto (23-0-0-19 KO's), entered the ring weighing 157-pounds, making him a Jr. Middleweight-defending his Jr. Welterweight Title over his 140-pound challenger, DeMarcus "Chop-Chop" Corley (29-4-1-16 KO's).

Corley entered the ring wearing a ridiculous looking head mask that he designed himself. It resembled a Fly with dreadlocks, with big bulging round blackened eyes and black tubes coming off the sides of the head. Last time I checked, Halloween was in October, not February.

Cotto entered in his usual, solemn manner, the Puerto Rican crowd screaming as he walked to the ring. More

Sharkie's Machine February 20, 2005
"Hopkins Makes Historic 20th Title Defense"

INSIDE BOXING (February 20, 2005) - Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins made history again as he improved his record to 46-2-1-32 KO's with a Unanimous Decision victory over Guyanese/British Challenger, Howard Eastman (40-2-0-35 KO's).

The Philadelphia native had a humble start to his pro career, losing his first pro fight in 1988 to another first time fighter, Clinton Mitchell. He followed that loss with a string of 23 wins in a row until losing again to a fighter named Roy Jones Jr. by UD 12 in 1993.

Hopkins started his reign as Middleweight Champion in April of 1995, after facing then IBF Champion, Segundo Mercado in a rematch bout. Mercado floored Hopkins twice in their first match eight months earlier, which ended in a Draw. Hopkins won the rematch by TKO 7.

Hopkins took the WBC Title from Keith Holmes in April of 2001, winning a 12 round Unanimous Decision. He dominated in every round and scored a TKO 12 win to take the WBA version of the Title from Felix Trinidad in 2001 and KO'd Oscar De La Hoya to take the WBO Title last September. Since then, he has unified the Titles and is truly the "undisputed" Champion of the Middleweights. More

Sharkie's Machine February 19, 2005

"Growing Pains For 'Mighty' Mike Arnaoutis"

INSIDE BOXING (February 19, 2005) - Friday night at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez California, "Mighty Mike" Arnaoutis upped his record to 13-0-2-6 KO's as he defended his NABO Jr. Welterweight Title, taking on the unheralded, former Lightweight, Roberto Santa Cruz (11-3-2 KO's).

The Greek pugilist has been a hot property as of late, fighting six times in 2004 and showing improvements with each performance. Arnaoutis is a fairly slick boxer with fast hands, who recently added some sneaky power to his arsenal.

Roberto Santa Cruz has not fought since May of 2003. He gave a poor account of himself in his first two rounds of televised boxing. He hardly threw a punch. After two rounds of target practice, Arnaoutis looked to referee, Jack Reiss as if to ask, "Is this guy going to fight or what?"

For the Main Event on ShoBox, it looked like a lousy match up favoring Arnaoutis from the start. Santa Cruz was not a competitive and gave the impression that he was only be there to make Mike look good. The fans were not getting their money's worth and booed loudly after the second round was more boring than the first. But in the third round, something wonderful happened-Santa Cruz decided to fight. More

Sharkie's Machine February 6, 2005

"Zab Grabs Titles From Spinks"

INSIDE BOXING (February 6, 2005) - Zab Judah (33-2-1-24 KO's) scored a TKO 9 victory over Welterweight Champion, Cory Spinks (34-3-0-11 KO's) Saturday night in front of Cory's hometown fans in St. Louis. This redeeming win over Spinks evens their records against each other at 1-1 and invites a rubber match that might ultimately settle the score.

In December of 2003, Cory Spinks rose to fame, when he put on a boxing clinic that demonstrated how the refined application of the sweet science could tame a savage, brawling beast in the ring-Ricardo Mayorga.

The big punching and less than disciplined Mayorga lost his WBA and WBC Titles to IBF Champion, Spinks, rendering the son of former Heavyweight Champion Leon Spinks, the 'undisputed' Champion at Welterweight and a new Star on the rise. More

Sharkie's Machine - 31 January 2005
"Q & A With Calvin Brock"

On January 21st, Charlotte, North Carolina's Heavyweight Prospect, Calvin Brock stepped up and scored an impressive, third round knock out victory over HW contender, Clifford Etienne at the Reliant Center in Houston Texas.

I spoke with Calvin a week after his KO victory and took the opportunity to ask a few questions.

Frank Gonzalez: Tell me a little bit about growing up in Charlotte. Who were you mentors and what made you want to become a Boxer?

Calvin Brock: Charlotte is a great place and God's been blessing me here. When I was eight years old, I got some boxing gloves as a Christmas present. I would box with my friends in the yard and eventually I ran out of friends to box with because they didn't like it. But I decided I wanted to keep doing it. That's what God wanted me to do with my life and I kept doing it, I loved it. I got started fighting in the gym when I was 12 and been boxing ever since. More

Sharkie's Machine January 30, 2005
"He Could Be 'The Man' If He Beats The Man"

INSIDE BOXING (January 30, 2005) - If you were a Mad Boxing Scientist, who took the chin of Arturo Gatti, the athleticism of Cory Spinks, the tenacity of Erik Morales and the ring generalship of Bernard Hopkins, shook it all up, cast it in a mold and baked it-you might end up with a Kassim Ouma.

Kassim Ouma (21-1-1-13 KO's) has been winning all of his fights since November of 1999, when he faced Agustin Silva (10-16-1). Silva put Ouma on the canvas three times, forcing a loss by TKO 4 in adherence to the Three Knock Down Rule. Since then, Kassim has not fought anyone with a losing record and he has done nothing but win, win, win. Every time I see him fight, he looks better than the last time.

Saturday night in Atlantic City, the 26 year old, Uganda native and IBF Jr. Middleweight Champion, Kassim Ouma won ten of twelve rounds to earn a Unanimous Decision over rising Ghanaian Star, Kofi Jantuah (28-2-0-18 KO's) as the under card feature of the Arturo Gatti vs. Jesse James Leija fight. More

Sharkie's Machine January 23, 2005
"Perception, Reality and Floyd Mayweather Jr."

INSIDE BOXING (January 23, 2005) - Floyd Mayweather Jr. showed off his boxing skills Saturday night at the American Airlines Arena in Miami in front of a less then capacity crowd. His opponent, Henry Bruseles of Puerto Rico, is a member of the Miguel Cotto camp and works as a sparring partner for Cotto and vice versa. Outside of that, there isn't much to say about Bruseles since he has not fought any top-level contenders in his 25 pro fights.

But Bruseles showed plenty of heart and even went eight rounds with the man who is touted as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in all of Boxing.

Though Bruseles showed heart, he was incapable of winning a single round. Mayweather was just too fast and too elusive for him. Bruseles did land a few shots but never anything that deterred Mayweather from having his way with him. More

Sharkie's Machine January 22, 2005
"Baby Bull Needs to Lose The Diapers"

INSIDE BOXING (January 22, 2005) - Friday night in Houston Texas, WBA Lightweight Champion, Juan "The Baby Bull" Diaz (27-0-13 KO's) lost his Title Belt-but not in the ring. According to him, he left the Belt in his car, which was broken into by thieves who stole it along with his car stereo. But Diaz enjoyed defending his missing Belt anyway. On the menu was aged Canadian veteran, Billy Irwin (42-6-30 KO's), who offered himself up like a sacrificial lamb at a slaughterhouse.

36-year-old Billy Irwin's passive, defensive style enabled the furious punching Diaz to have his way with him. Irwin started each round boxing in the center of the ring, then worked his way to the ropes and just stood in one spot, trying to block and duck shots the entire round. He blocked a lot of Diaz' shots but he also ate lots of leather in the process. More

Sharkie's Machine January 22, 2005
"Brock TKO's The Black Rhino"

INSIDE BOXING (January 22, 2005) - Friday night in Houston Texas, Clifford Etienne, "The Black Rhino" (29-3-2-20 KO's) went down in the second round and twice again in the third at the hands of the new kid on the Heavyweight block, Calvin Brock, who upped his record to 24-0, with 19 KO's. Referee Lawrence Cole, who could teach a course on Premature Stoppages, was quick to halt the contest after the third knock down-even though Etienne appeared quite capable of continuing. Cole "insured" that no one got hurt.

It's no surprise that with 24 professional fights on his resume, this was the first time Brock fought a credible or at least recognizable opponent in the division. Brock's last opponent, Wesley Martin, had a 16-45 record. So, Etienne was definitely a step in the right direction for the 29-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina. More

Sharkie's Machine December 18, 2004
"A New Rivalry Begins"

INSIDE BOXING (December 18, 2004) - Something special happened Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Light-Heavyweight Champions Antonio Tarver (WBC Champ) and Glen Johnson (IBF Champ) defied their Sanctioning Bodies, relinquished their Titles and faced each other to show the world who's really the best Light Heavy between them.

In what had to be another humbling experience for Roy Jones Jr. (who was part of the HBO Commentating crew), who had to sit through clip after clip of both Tarver and Johnson knocking him out, Tarver vs. Johnson was an action packed fight that unlike any fight Roy's ever been in.

The question of who's the better LHW between Tarver and Johnson remains unanswered. Although I had Tarver winning by one round on my card, if ever there was an even fight-this was it. This fight screamed for a rematch. Both won their share of rounds and neither man ever dominated the other. Maybe a 15 rounder would've better answered the question. More

Sharkie's Machine December 12, 2004
"Vitali Klitschko Wins As Expected"

INSIDE BOXING (December 12, 2004) - Vitali Klitschko is the most dangerous Heavyweight in Boxing today. He's a very good boxer for a man his size. He hits hard, accurately and from all angles. He usually hurts his opponents quickly. He has won 34 of his 37 fights by knockout. He rose to prominence after his battle with former HW Champion, Lennox Lewis, who retired afterwards. Vitali was pummeling Lewis until getting caught with a Lewis punch that opened up a nasty cut over his left eye, forcing the ringside doctor to stop the fight. A lot of people weren't happy with the stoppage but the cut was serious enough to warrant the stoppage. He lost that fight, but gained the respect and admiration of even the fans that have questioned his ability in the past. More

Sharkie's Machine December 5, 2004
"William Joppy's Contribution To Jermain Taylor"

INSIDE BOXING (December 5, 2004) - Once upon a time, William Joppy was a very good fighter. He was undefeated until he lost his WBA Middleweight Title (by UD12) to Julio Cesar Green at Madison Square Garden in August of 1997. The first thing Joppy did in 1998 was rematch with Green and win his Title back. He won a convincing 12 round unanimous decision. In 1999, he fought a rubber match against Green and won (TKO 7). William Joppy reminded me of Shane Mosley (back when Shane was dangerous at 130-pounds), who had a similar style body attack. Joppy, like Shane, seemed to fight sideways and had quick hands and sharp reflexes. He was a Champion. He was a force.

Saturday night in Little Rock Arkansas, William Joppy was on the menu like a tuna salad sandwich for the up and coming Middleweight, Jermain Taylor. A lot of fight fans have been patiently waiting for Taylor to step up his competition and face at least some of the top fighters in the division if not Bernard Hopkins, the King of the Middleweights. The wait continues. More

Sharkie's Machine December 5, 2004
"Castillo Beats Casamayor"

INSIDE BOXING - Jose Luis Castillo (51-6-1-45 KO's) got the job done Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas against the slick and always-dangerous southpaw, Joel Casamayor (31-3-0-19 KO's).

Casamayor, the former Super Featherweight Champion who moved up to Lightweight has shown in recent bouts that he is not just a highly skilled technical fighter but at times, he can muster up surprising power. Moving up to 135-pounds and taking on one of the best in the division says a lot about his confidence. Casamayor has added ring legend Roberto Duran into his ever-changing training camp this time up.

This fight was a classic match up of the Matador vs. Bull. Early on in the fight, Casamayor was able to outbox Castillo and control the tempo. Castillo had a hard time finding Casamayor in the first three rounds and Casamayor's superior boxing skills rendered Castillo ineffective. Joel was able to score some good shots and easily win the first quarter of the fight. More

Sharkie's Machine November 28, 2004
Barrera Vs. Morales Part III

INSIDE BOXING (November 28, 2004) - Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Marco Antonio Barrera brought his 58-4-0-41 KO's record into the ring to face him ultimate nemesis, Erik Morales (47-1-0-34 KO's) for a third time. The sole loss on Erik's record is compliments of Barrera, who came with four losses on his own record, one-compliments of Morales.

The fight was on HBO's PPV and many fans, young, old or struggling financially couldn't afford to pay $50 to see their favorite fighters go at it so I'll do my best to give an accurate and unbiased account of what transpired in the main event.

These guys made each other famous with their two historic battles in 2000 and again in 2002, where each won a controversial decision over the other. This third fight would break the tie and name the better fighter-for the moment anyway. Morales and Barrera are NOT friends. In fact, they do not like each other one bit. And unlike so many hyped up "Bad Blood" fight promotions; their disdain for each other is sincere. More

Sharkie's Machine November 14, 2004
"Robbery At Madison Square Garden"

NEW YORK, New York (November 14, 2004) - Saturday night in NYC, Andrew Golota returned to the place that made him famous-Madison Square Garden, where eight years ago, he fought former Heavyweight Champion, Riddick Bowe in a fight that made him famous. He lost to Bowe in a fight he was winning because of repeated low blows. This time, eight years later, the opponent was WBA Champion, John Ruiz. It's said that, 'styles make fights' and the combination of Ruiz and Golota promised to be a wild event.

Ruiz' style is awkward and hard on the eyes but he wins fights. He's a scrappy fighter who doesn't get as much credit as he deserves for his tenacity in the ring and the heart he brings to the ring. He's not much of a talker and maybe that's why he calls himself, "The Quiet Man," which reminds me of the classic John Wayne movie about an American Boxer who goes back home to Ireland and tames a wild red headed shrew after brawling with her brother from one side of town to the other. Like him or not, Ruiz is the holder of a major piece of the HW title and taking it from him would be no easy job. More

Sharkies Machine November 7, 2004
"Tszyu Finishes Mitchell in Three"

INSIDE BOXING - Saturday night at the Glendale Arena in Arizona, 140-pound Champion Kostya Tszyu (31-1-1-24 KO's) returned to the ring after 22-months away. There would be no tune up fights and no more wasted time. Tszyu was not back to play games-but to fight top fighters.

On the menu was Sharmba Mitchell, the IBF Interim Champion, who had earned his way there. A knee injury ended his chances in their first fight back in 2001. The chance for redemption finally arrived for Sharmba, who after so much talk and obsession was finally getting his much-wanted rematch with Tszyu after a three-year wait.

After a pretty intense stare down as the ref gave instructions, they touched gloves in the large 22 x 22 foot ring and it began. It's interesting that two highly skilled technical fighters fought such a sloppy, ugly first fight. History was about to repeat itself with a few minor adjustments.
The Fight More

"Put Up Or Shut Up Time For Mitchell" By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

INSIDE BOXING (October 27, 2004 - Flash back to February of 2001. WBA Light Welterweight Champion Sharmba Mitchell taking on WBC Champion Kostya Tszyu at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the Mecca of Big-time Boxing showdowns.

Tszyu hadn't lost since May of 1997 when "Cool" Vince Philips TKO'd him in 10 in a fight considered the "upset of the year." Mitchell hadn't lost a fight since 1994; a TKO 9 loss to Stevie Johnston and prior to that was KO'd by Leavander Johnson in eight rounds at Lightweight. Since then, Mitchell has carefully stayed away from fighters with the last name Johnson.

On a cold day in February of 2001, two great technical fighters fought a sloppy, somewhat dirty fight. Tszyu even got a point deducted by 'fair but firm' Referee Joe Cortez for pushing in the fourth round. There were no knockdowns but Mitchell went down about five times-wrestling out of clinches. Overall, Kostya landed the better punches and was ahead (on my scorecard) leading into the seventh round, when Mitchell tore a ligament in his left knee and couldn't continue. It was deemed a TKO 7 win for Kostya Tszyu. More

Sharkie's Machine October 3rd, 2004
"The Return of Felix Trinidad"

INSIDE BOXING (October 3, 2004) - Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Felix Trinidad returned to the ring after a two and a half year layoff and knocked out Ricardo Mayorga after eight rounds in the most exciting slugfest of the year.

Mayorga (his hair dyed red this time), started fast and tried to knock Tito out early with big haymakers that at times caught him. Trinidad proved he could take Mayorga's best shots. Mayorga even offered Trinidad the customary three free shots to his chin, which he does to demoralize opponents by showing that they can't hurt him. In the case of Tito Trinidad, that was a big, big mistake.

Trinidad's lean frame cloaks his power. Mayorga's bravado proved to be expensive. After allowing Trinidad to land three solid shots to his chin, he wasn't as strong as he might have been going into the next round. In fact, it was the bell that saved him from being floored in that round. The Fight: More

Sharkie's Machine September 26th, 2004
"Big Ego vs. Hard Work"

INSIDE BOXING (September 25, 2004) - In a boxing ring that sported an advertisement for Roy's "music" promotion company in its center, Roy Jones Jr. Presents Body Head Bangerz IN STORES October 26, 2004

Roy Jones Jr. lost every round against Glenn Johnson Saturday night in the jam-packed, Fed Ex Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

Glenn Johnson worked hard, threw lots of punches and always brought the fight to Jones, who stood there posing and fought in spurts of about 20 seconds per round.

In the opening round, after a feel out process of about fifteen seconds, Johnson jumped all over Roy, trying to knock him out. Johnson threw a hurricane of punches, pressed Roy into the ropes and looked to employ a kamikaze fight plan. Jones did very little in retaliation. Johnson was landing clean shots that didn't have much on them and he was doing all the fighting. Jones had his guard up high, covering up and backing up more then anything else.

In the early rounds, I thought Jones must have had a plan to let Johnson wear himself out and then pounce on him in the later rounds and win by devastating knock out. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 19th, 2004
“Oscar Shows Up But Goes Down”

INSIDE BOXING (September 19 2004) - Preconceived notions dominated many a mindset leading up to the Hopkins vs. De La Hoya fight for the Middleweight Crown.

After winning a questionable Unanimous Decision over Felix Sturm last June in his debut performance at 160-pounds, who expected Oscar to have a chance at beating Bernard Hopkins, the best fighter in the Middleweight division? Moving up to 160 after having mixed results at 154 makes it reasonable to assume that this would be more then Oscar could handle. I remember what happened when Tito Trinidad tried that. The result wasn’t pretty.

Oscar De La Hoya surprised many fans Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins was on the menu and Oscar almost made Hopkins look old while winning three of the first four rounds on my card. But by the fifth round, Hopkins got comfortable and used his advantages in height and power to take over the momentum of the fight. In the eighth round, Hopkins landed a left hook to the liver that put Oscar down. He was out for the count. It was the first time Oscar was knocked out. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 12th, 2004
“Santos and Cotto Win”

INSIDE BOXING (September 12, 2004) - Fighting for the vacant WBO Jr. Welterweight Title, Miguel Cotto faced the man who beat him twice in the amateurs, Kelson Pinto of Brazil. Pinto was downed three times and was TKO’d in the sixth. Cotto improved his record to 21-0-0-17 KO’s.

Career-wise, Cotto has kept busy. This was his third fight this year. He fought five times last year. He’s fought progressively better fighters and steadily earned the respect of this fight fan. He keeps his chin tucked in, hands up, elbows low enough to protect the body and knows how to manage his energy well. He uses his hips to turn into his power punches effectively. When he gets his opponent in trouble, he knows how to finish. Right now he is one of the most formidable fighters in his weight class.

Kelson Pinto, (who trains with Acelino Freitas) has been a bit less active, with this being his second fight in 2004 and having fought three times in 2003. The best guy Pinto has faced has a lousy record but is still considered a top fighter—Emanuel Augustus (then 28-20-5-14 KO’s). Pinto beat Augustus by UD 10 in June of 2003. Against the 2004 version of Miguel Cotto, the message to Pinto had to be, “This is NOT the amateurs!” I was impressed by Pinto’s skills and game attitude but Cotto proved too much for him to handle in the professional ranks.

Kelson Pinto won only one round on my card, the fourth, where he boxed effectively from the outside and was able to avoid most of Cotto’s power. Other than the fourth, it was all Cotto. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 4th, 2004
“The Business of Boxing”

INSIDE BOXING (September 4, 2004) - Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, 26 year-old Welterweight Champion Cory Spinks improved his record to 34-2, with 11 KO’s as he put on a boxing clinic against 33 year-old, former Lightweight Champion, Miguel Angel Gonzalez (49-4-1-39 KO’s). Cory is the current holder of the WBA, WBC and IBF Titles.

The first round went Gonzalez’ way as he was able to do some nice bodywork and press Spinks effectively. I thought they split round three and the rest of the rounds were all Spinks. The first few rounds were exciting. I was surprised at how well Gonzalez was doing against the slick boxing Spinks.

After the fourth round, Gonzalez was slowing and losing every round as Spinks got into his groove and danced circles around his opponent and scored at will. Frustrated, Gonzalez resorted to some roughhouse tactics and was penalized a point in the eighth round by Referee Joe Cortez for a blatant low blow. Gonzalez was warned a few times low punches before the point deduction. While Cortez gave Spinks time to recover, Spinks yelled out, “Lets roll!” and the action resumed. More

Sharkie's Machine April 11th, 2004
“Deserves Got Nothing To Do With It”

INSIDE BOXING - Saturday night, Cory Spinks defended his IBF, WBC and WBA Welterweight Titles. His challenger, Zab Judah, the colorful character from the 140-pound division was making his debut at 147-pounds.

The hardcore boxing fan has to wonder how Spinks gets matched with Judah instead of a more deserving contender working hard to get a shot at the title. But, that’s boxing.

Judah vs. Spinks turned out to be a better fight than expected, with Spinks, hot off his win over Ricardo Mayorga and Judah, always dangerous, both southpaws, both primarily boxers and amazingly, both seemingly respectful of each other. A rarity these days. More

Sharkie’s Machine March 28th, 2004
“The Education of Dominic ‘Southern Disaster’ Guinn” Starring Monte Barrett

INSIDE BOXING (March 28, 2004) - Dominic Guinn became a somebody in boxing after he disposed of former HW contender, Michael Grant (38-2), who fell like a tree in a forest full of onlookers after tasting Guinn’s quiet power back in June of last year. Dominic made beating Grant looked easy. But by the looks of (the Teddy Atlas trained) Grant at that time, a decent middleweight probably would’ve knocked him out. Guinn TKO’d Grant in seven.

The unknown Guinn was suddenly on the map.

He later fought the respectable and game Duncan Dokiwari (22-1) in September of 2003 and convincingly won a ten round decision. It was an exciting fight. Guinn’s boxing skills proved to be fundamentally sound, both defensively and offensively. He had good poise, a calm demeanor and a very good chin.

Guinn went on to fight Derrick Banks (20-10) and won another 10 round decision. Nothing too fancy but effective. More

Sharkie’s Machine, March 14th, 2004
“An Honest Decision In Las Vegas”

INSIDE BOXING (March 14, 2004) - When Sugar Shane met Winky Wright Saturday night in Las Vegas, the betting odds were stacked 4-1 in favor of Shane Mosley.

Winky Wright is a good, solid fighter who has waited patiently to get his shot at a big name fighter that could take him to the promised land of undisputed Championship status. Watching Winky over the years, I have lots of respect for his boxing ability but he’s been in some unexciting fights.

It seems like there are two separate 154-pound divisions, one for the big Stars and one for the non-famous. Winky has been king of the non-famous division for quite some time now. He proved it against JC Candelo, Angel Hernandez, Jason Papillion, Robert Frazier, Keith Mullings and a host of other less than stellar names. He has a few losses he picked up along the way, most notably to Fernando Vargas, who many thought was losing to Wright until the late surges by Vargas, who won a questionable decision. With Vargas’ colorful personality, he was bound for the Star division. Winky also lost to (then unbeaten at 16-0) Harry Simon, in a Split Decision in South Africa. Back in 1994, he lost to veteran Julio Ceasar Vasquez by UD12. More

Sharkie’s Machine March 7th, 2004
“Redemption and Rivalry”

INSIDE BOXING (March 7, 2004) - The thing about the sweet science of boxing is, well, the science of it. Sure I love watching Ricardo Mayorga rush his opponent with nothing but power shots and no respect for his opponent’s power. But all that testosterone can be defeated with solid boxing skills. The simplest thing like the jab can be the best asset a fighter has. If Yoda (from Star Wars) were a boxing coach, I could just see him advising his charges, “Everything flows from the jab.”

Though the very talented Vernon Forrest didn’t do it, the smooth boxer that is Corey Spinks--got the job done against the brawling, undisciplined Mayorga. To witness that process captures the wonder of this great sport. As a regular person who enjoys the sport, you might wonder, “what if there were no referees, how would these boxers fare against the brawlers?” It’s a great question.

Every now and then, a marriage takes place between two styles in one fighter. A slugger becomes a boxer. Sprinkle in some killer instinct--and it’s a most dangerous combination. More

Sharkie's Machine February 8th, 2004

"Sharmba Mitchell Enjoys Some Home Cooking"

INSIDE BOXING (February 8, 2004) - Every time the name Sharmba Mitchell comes up, we hear the same story about how he wants Kostya Tszyu and that KT keeps finding ways out of it. He lost to Tszyu in February of 2001 when he was unable to continue due to a torn ligament in his left knee. He looked like he was losing that fight from the way I remember it, slipping to the canvas several times out of clinches. Due to the nature of the loss, he does deserve a rematch. But after all the crap he's talked since, deserve may have nothing to do with it.

He was finally re-re-scheduled to fight Tszyu when Kostya suffered another injury that (allegedly) disabled him from keeping his appointment with Mitchell again. More

Sharkie’s Machine January 25th, 2004 The Sandman, Panchito and a little bit of Thunder

INSIDE BOXING (January 25, 2004) - Boxing is not like other sports where you have this thing called parity. In boxing, one guys always going to be better than his opponent is, who might be considered a better fighter. Boxing has many divisions where only few have more than four really dominant fighters. Boxing is full of stacked decks and unfair decisions but through it all, sometimes we just get a great fight. This week, we had a couple of notables play out. This was the best week in Boxing so far this year. There was Sheika vs. Pemberton, Bojado vs. Clottey and Gatti vs. Branco. All competitive match ups. Here s a look at them in that order. More

Sharkie’s Machine January 4th, 2004 “King Artur Slips on Poo Poo”

INSIDE BOXING (January 4, 2004) - Saturday night at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, a Brazilian 130-lb. Champion faced the WBO’s 135-lb. Champion, from Uzbekistan by way of Germany in “King” Artur Grigorian. Americans are usually quick to point out that in Germany, German fighters always get the nod from corrupt Judges and help from partial referees. Referee Eddie Cotton proved that the US of A can be just as crooked. In some ways, Cotton was more of the story of this fight than the fighters were. More

Undisputed End Of The Year Boxing Cheer

The Holidays are upon us and hard-core fans that paid fifty bucks to watch this weekends Don King Pay-Per-View event got their money s worth. King showed boxing fans how to really throw a party Saturday night in Atlantic City (for a fee of course). Here s a rundown of five of the fights featured on the card. More

Sharkie's Machine Dec. 7th, 2003

The Storm From The East

INSIDE BOXING (December 7, 2003) - Watching Vitali Klitschko, standing across from his opponent Kirk Johnson with that serious menacing glare, answers the question of the Heavyweight issue. There IS a dominating fighter in the Heavyweight division.

As fight fans, some of us like boxer-types, with their flashy moves and counter punching, finesse, the slipping and sliding and landing that big shot out of nowhere. Me, I like FIGHTERS, who come to rip you to pieces guys like Ricardo Mayorga, Manny Pacquaio and Vitali Klitschko. They ain't pretty. Neither have particularly graceful styles to marvel at. But they can punch!

Then incite fear in their opponents and dictate where other negotiate. More

Sharkie's Machine December 5th, 2003 The Ring Magazine and Reality

INSIDE BOXING (December 5, 2003) - Friday night in St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands, fight fans got a look at Courtney Burton, whose claim to fame was a knock out win over the heavily tattooed Angel Manfredy last July. Coming into this fight against Francisco Lorenzo, Burton was ranked #6 by The Ring Magazine. That s pretty high praise for a guy who s done so little so far.

I don t put much stock in The Ring Mag's ranking system since, considering that Derrick Gainer (Featherweight division) was ranked #2 by The Ring Magazine a couple of weeks ago. Then we saw from Gainer s gutless performance against J.M. Marquez that he does not even deserve to even be ranked in the top ten. It makes me wonder how guys get their rankings from that magazine? More

Sharkie's Machine November 9th, 2003

INSIDE BOXING - Congratulations to WBA Heavyweight Champion, Roy Jones Jr. for winning the Light Heavyweight titles. I have to tip my hat to Roy Jones, who after 14 years, was finally in a tough, competitive and exciting fight. With most of Jones recent fights televised on PPV, this was the first time I got my money s worth. Tarver proved to be a cut above Jones usual suspect opponents so I salute Jones for finally providing this fan with some value for the cost of watching him fight.

I realize that it's politically incorrect to not think the world of Roy Jones Jr. Anyone who criticizes Roy is immediately dismissed as a hater by his cadre of ever loyal fans. Considering the low quality of opponents Jones has built his record on, I think he is fair game for critical evaluation. Especially since he calls himself the best pound for pound fighter in the world. To his credit, he answered the question that lingered for a decade; how would Roy deal with adversity? He took his lumps and never went down. I respect him for that. More

Sharkie’s Machine October 5th, 2003
“Morales’ Moves Up”

INSIDE BOXING (October 5, 2003) - After being a dominating force at Featherweight, Erik “El Terrible” Morales made his move up to 130-pounds. He was struggling to make weight at Feather (126 lbs) and this is a long overdue step in the right direction. 140-pounds should be the overall goal for his height and skill level.

WBC Featherweight champion Erik Morales started his Super-Featherweight campaign by facing Guty Espadas in an Eliminator bout at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. This would be rematch of their February 2001 match at 126-pounds, where Morales got the Judge’s nod in a ‘controversial decision’-- in that fight where Espadas seemed to get the better of him. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 28th, 2003
“Baby Joe Steals The Show”

(Inside Boxing, September 28, 2003) - “Baby” Joe Mesi ran over DaVarryl Williamson Saturday like a Mack Truck before a sold out house in Buffalo N.Y.

The fight started with Mesi charging forward, throwing bunches of punches that proved too much for the unsuspecting Williamson, who was caught several times before being dropped to the canvas in a fight that lasted 97 seconds.

There was a lot of talk recently about this fight being a defining moment for Joe Mesi. For DaVarryl “Touch Of Sleep” Williamson, it was viewed as a lateral move, career-wise. The reality is sobering for the Williamson camp. For Mesi, it’s time to take the Pampers off and move up. More

Sharkie’s Machine September 21st, 2003
“Merchant, Lampley and Foreman Wrong Again?”

(INSIDE BOXING September 21st, 2003) - From Las Vegas to Uncasville Connecticut, bad decisions in professional Boxing know no boundaries. Although the names and venues change, the results are the same; the winner is deemed the loser.

On Saturday night, Chris Byrd, the IBF Heavyweight Champion, defend his title against the IBF # 2 ranked fighter, Fres Oquendo.

Since beating David Tua, Byrd has earned the right to fight WBC Champion, Lennox Lewis but Lewis has never shown any real interest in a Byrd fight.

Why? More

SHARKIE"S MACHINE SEPTEMBER 14, 2003

(INSIDE BOXING September 14, 2003)-The new millennium has been bittersweet to “Sugar” Shane Mosley. He was heralded as one of the best “Pound For Pound” fighters after his narrow victory against Oscar de la Hoya in June of 2000. A lot has happened since.

Looking at his career since the turn of the millennium, Shane beat Willie Wise by TKO 3 in Jan. 2000, then in the biggest fight of his career, he dethroned Oscar De La Hoya by SD 12 in July of 2000. In Nov. he beat the mediocre Antonio Diaz by TKO 6. Sugar Shane rode a wave of popularity for a while, getting commercial deals, lots of favorable press and always baring that million-dollar smile. He was a big Star. More

Sharkie’s Machine August 11, 2003
“Popo Or Poo Pooh?”

(IB-August 11, 2003) - In South America, Brazil and Argentina are big-time rivals in the International sport of Football (that’s ‘Soccer’ to Americans).

Brazilian Acelino “Popo” Freitas defended his WBO and WBA Super Feather Weight Title this past Saturday in what turned out to be a fierce battle against little known Argentine, Jorge Barrios, who upped his stock this weekend with his show of heart and determination.

Freitas controlled and dominated Barrios in the beginning. After the 3rd round, Barrios left eye was a bloody mess, compliments of Freitas jabs. It was a nasty pair of gashes but not as bad as Heavyweight Vitali Klitschko’s cut eye was when they stopped his fight with Lennox Lewis a few weeks ago. More

Sharkie’s Machine AUGUST 6, 2003
Hector Camacho Jr. “Bringing Excitement Back To Boxing.”

(INSIDE BOXING, August 6th, 2003) - Little John Brown (23-11 with 11 KO’s, who lost four of his last five fights) never showed up for his scheduled fight with Hector “Macho” Camacho Jr. at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, DC. But a last minute replacement was found in Bryon Mackie (21-9) of Ontario Canada, who had just lost to Ray Olivera only two weeks ago, on July 18th by UD-10 in Ray’s hometown. Why don’t they have back up fighters in place at least a month in advance in case the need arises? Most of us know the answer to that. Fighters like Camacho Jr. need the kind of replacement fighter who is guaranteed to lose. How exciting. More

Sharkie’s Machine June 10th, 2003

Waving Goodbye to Michael Grant

Against Dominic Guinn, Michael Grant demonstrated that Professional Boxing is not his calling. Whatever skills Grant once possessed have disappeared along with his confidence. Anyone can be chiseled with muscles but lack that spiritual element that makes them fighters. Strong will and a healthy dose of ruggedness is essential. You have to have an attitude that translates into imposing your will on your opponent if you want to succeed in boxing. If you stay in the game without that spirit, you become a punching bag for fighters on their way up. More

Sharkie’s Machine May 10th, 2003

“Tony Orlando N Wrong”

(IB-May 10, 2003) - Heavyweight contender Jameel McCline (29-3-3-16 KO’s) made his comeback to the ring after being knocked out by Vladimir Klitschko last December, taking on Charles Shufford (19-3-0-9 KO’s) at Bally’s Grand Ballroom in Atlantic City, NJ.

Shufford was offering up an interesting test for Jameel McCline, when suddenly in the third round, the plug was pulled.

So stay tuned for this week’s episode, “The Premature Stoppage.” Starring, referee, Tony Orlando (sorry, no Dawn). More

Sharkie’s Machine May 4th, 2003

Boxing & Pay-Per-View

(IB-May 4, 2003) - What would happen to the great American Pastime of Baseball if the best games were on Pay-Per-View? And worse yet, what if the games on PPV weren’t as good as games that were on free TV? I bet their fan base would shrink. Boxing fans can relate to that question. Who in their right mind actually paid to see such a non-suspenseful affair?

Did ANYONE think Campas had a chance to win? Why Campas? Because regardless of whom DLH fights, fans will pay PPV to see it. At least that’s what Bob Arum and Oscar think. They are right, aren’t they? More

Sharkie’s Machine April 20, 2003

Mayweather’s Dreams And Reality

(IB-April 29, 2003) - Saturday night at Selland Arena in Fresno Ca., undefeated, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather successfully defended his WBC Lightweight Title taking on gamely Dominican, Victoriano Sosa.

There’s no denying it, Floyd can fight. His defensive skills are masterful. The way he uses his shoulder, like a shield that blocks punches is remarkable. His jab is accurate and effective. Whether you like him or not, Mayweather deserves credit for his ability to box, to hit without being hit. Unfortunately, Floyd has hand problems that have forced him to rely more on jabbing and finessing his way to success than by power-punching his way to glorious knockout victories. Floyd is like a modern day Sugar Ray Robinson minus the power and the fan base. But Robinson had a charisma that appealed to fans across the board. Mayweather’s skills far exceed his charm. Other than referring to himself in the third person during interviews, he does seems less arrogant these days. More

Sharkie’s Machine April 19th, 2003

The Atlas of Michael Grant

(IB-April 19, 2003)- Friday night, the Palace Indian Gaming center in Lemoore, Ca. featured former Heavyweight contender, Michael Grant (37-2-0-29 KO’s), in his seventh, “confidence building,” match against an unknown and unlikely southpaw named Gilbert Martinez (15-4-1-7 KO’s).

Teddy Atlas, the animated commentator/analyst for ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” is Grant’s trainer. I watch FNF often enough to know that Atlas has been cautiously bringing his charge along after Grant’s devastating losses to Lennox Lewis in April of 2000 and later to Jameel McCline in July of 2001. But Teddy’s fingernails are getting awfully dirty digging up those graveyards, looking for the safest possible opponents to fight Grant. Gilbert Martinez started his boxing career as a Jr. Middleweight but came to face Grant at 236 pounds. It’s safe to say, this was a safe fighter for Grant. More

Sharkie’s Machine April 6th, 2003

General Hatton: Ready for War

(IB-April 6, 2003) - There’s something about the energy at the MEN arena in Manchester. The unified chants of the crowd, the moments of silence and the chorus of song at just the right moments, a sense of fellowship between audience and fighter, unlike anything I’ve seen elsewhere. So it was, Saturday night, as Manchester’s own Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton took his midterm examination against former IBF Jr. Welterweight champion, “Cool” Vince Phillips in defense of his WBU Light Welterweight title.

24-year-old Ricky Hatton is a high volume puncher who attacks his opponents in disruptive fashion, forcing them to adapt to him instead of focusing on their own fight plans. His energy is relentless and --although he cuts easily, he never lets his own blood get between him and his opponent, he just keeps coming forward, always firing away. Though he seems reckless in his pursuit, his defense is getting better, just like the rest of his game. More

Sharkie’s Machine March 30th, 2003

“What Fight Was Judge Robert Grasso Watching?”

(IB-March 30, 2003) - The under card of Hopkins vs. Hakkar turned out to be the only entertaining fight at the First Union Spectrum in Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Considering the match up, with Tua’s knockout power vs. Rahman’s boxing ability and respectable power, I thought Rahman coming in at 259 would be too heavy to execute the plan of out-boxing Tua for 12 rounds -- without running out of gas and paying a big price.

Rahman noted that no one was making a similar fuss over Tua, who also came in 20 pounds heavier than the last time they met back in December of 1998. Maybe that’s because fans know that Tua has an iron jaw and the kind of power that can win a fight no matter how deep it goes and no matter how tired he looks. More

Sharkie’s Machine March 29th, 2003

Middleweight Mediocrity’s Main Event

(IB-March 29,2003) - The first round of Bernard Hopkins vs. Morrade Hakkar reminded me of a scene from the Monty Python film, “The Life Of Brian” where the Romans sent a skinny, long haired man into the arena to be slaughtered by a Gladiator but the skinny man ran around the circular Coliseum, the Gladiator chasing him in his heavy Armour until he has a heart attack and collapses. The skinny man raised his arms in victory. Here was the WBC’s number one contender, in the ring with the Champion, running away. The difference being that this runner would lose in equally boring fashion.

Hakkar represents what the Sanctioning Bodies consider a “Number One Contender’ these days. Hakkar wasn’t competitive. His strategy showed that he came to get paid and not to win the fight. More

SHARKIE'S MACHINE MARCH 10TH

The Year Of The Upsets

Wladimir Klitschko Vs. Corrie Sanders

(IB-March 10, 2003) - For all the criticisms professional Boxing takes for unbelievably lame mismatches, bogus rankings, questionable judgments and corruption, every now and then something happens to dispel the illegitimacy of the sport. Something real happens.

Anyone who follows boxing on a regularly is aware of the sorry state of the Heavyweight Division. It’s been about 20 years since that division has been well stocked with talent. The days of Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton are long gone. The 15 round championship fight is history, replaced by the 12 round varieties. Like everything else, the quality of things has declined while the price of it all has soared. A new Cadillac in 1975 might cost anywhere from $7000 to $9000. It was big and comfortable, with all the status and creature comforts that make a luxury car worth being called such. Today’s cheapest Caddy, which looks like a less than elegant, typical General Motors vehicle, starts at around $20,000 to $40,000 and is designed to break down within five years. Times have changed. More

Sharkie's Machine February 24th

Seconds Away From The Big Pay Day

(IB-February 24, 2003) - Why are people still so fascinated with Tyson? He hasn’t been a dominating figure in the sport for more than a decade. Outside of troubles in his personal life (if you can call it that), what has Tyson done besides lose to the only other two Champions he’s faced since the late 80s?

He certainly didn’t earn a title shot against Lennox last time and whoever saw that fight knows there’s only one reason for making a second one; money. More

The Fight That Could Have Saved Boxing? By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

Acelino Freitas Quits After Eight Against Juan Diaz By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

Champion Calzaghe Stops Contender Manfredo In 3

Wladimir Klitschko KO's Ray Austin But Eludes Redemption. By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

Boxing The Way It Ought To Be: Rafael Marquez Vs. Israel Vasquez! By Frank Gonzalez

“Gary “Kid” Stark Jr. Outboxes Mike “Machine Gun” Oliver But Loses On Official Scorecards” By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

“Juan Lazcano, Tony Weeks And Vivian Harris”